Nothing was missing. She was now chief of Mizuho, she had succeeded as peace emissary to Iselia and there weren't really any major problems she had to deal with. So why was she feeling this way? What was missing from her life?

Shihna stopped in the middle of writing an important letter. The thing that was missing...it couldn't be. She shook her head. No way, she thought. There was no way it could be him.

Or could it?

The letter could wait, she decided. She stood up quickly, almost knocking her cup of tea over. A little visit won't hurt, she thought as she headed out the door.

"Orochi, I'm going out for a while," she called, not even bothering to wait for a response. It wouldn't have mattered to her if he had told her to stay anyways. She had to go. Absolutely had to.

Many thoughts went through Shihna's mind as her rheaird raced across the clear blue sky. How would he react? What would he say? What should she say? These thoughts still ran through her head as she ran through the gates that lead to Tethe'alla's capital city.

When was the last time I've been to Meltokio? Shihna wondered as she rushed through the city absentmindedly, observing her surroundings. It brought a strange feeling to her, as if she had come home. Strange, she thought. I've never felt at home in this place before. Was it because he was here? Was she really that desperate to see that flirtatious idiot? Sure, he could be a decent person at times, but that didn't mean that he was that important to her. She could go without his crude remarks about her body or the way he made himself seem more important than everybody else. Of course he was the former Chosen, but that didn't mean he could walk around as if he owned everything.

He also happened to be extremely gorgeous. As soon as that thought invaded her head, Shihna blushed. What was she thinking? His looks weren't that special...except for those sapphire blue eyes and his unruly crimson hair. Goddess Martel, that hair made her insane. Shihna felt her face heat up even more. What am I doing?! I can't think of Zelos like that. He's just...he's just...

What was he?

Shihna hesitantly rang the doorbell. Visiting didn't seem like such a good idea any more. She held her breath as the door slowly opened.

"Shihna?"

There he was...the famous Zelos Wilder. He hadn't changed much. He had the same conceited grin that made her want to slap him in the face and the same wandering eyes (that she also wanted to slap him for). For a few seconds he just stood there as if he couldn't believe she was there. He blinked several times to make sure she wasn't an illusion.

"Shihna!" he said again, wrapping his arms around her in a friendly hug. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too," Shihna said softly.

It felt so natural to have him hug her. Had it always been this way? She had pushed him away so many times in the past, but now it just felt so...warm. Suddenly, he pulled away.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I'm just so happy to see you."

"It's okay."

This was strange. Zelos had never seemed embarassed when he hugged her in the past. Of course, she had barely ever let him, but why was he like this now? Had something happened? She stared at him, looking for a subtle change that she might have missed. His brow was furrowed slightly. Was he worried about something?

"I wasn't expecting you," he stated. "I wonder if we have anything..."

"Don't worry about it!" Shihna exclaimed. "It's my fault for showing up so suddenly. I'll only stay for a few minutes-"

"No way! Not after you've come all this way!"

He made her sit on the couch with a grin plastered on his face.

"I'll get Sebastian to make something," he said disappearing into the kitchen. "Oh!"

He came out suddenly. "You better not try to leave, or I'll send people after you." He went back inside again.

Shihna sighed. Why would I try? She leaned back and looked around. Nothing had really changed. There was the piano in the corner and the portrait of Mylene Wilder. It had always captivated her. She wondered what it would've been like if the elegant woman in the picture had lived. Maybe Zelos would've been a different person than he was now.

"It'll be ready in a few minutes," Zelos said.

Shihna's attention turned to Zelos, who was sitting next to her on the couch. She was so spaced out she didn't even notice him sit down. Did he notice that I was staring at the picture? she thought.

"So...anything special happen?" he asked.

"Mmm...not really," she answered.

"Hmmm..."

Sebastian walked in carrying a tray loaded with cake and tea, making the awkward situation even more so.

"It's nice to see you again, Miss Shihna," he said, breaking the tension.

"It's good to see you too."

Sebastian left the tray on the coffee table and left them alone.

"Did you get a boyfriend?" Zelos asked.

Shihna could see the gleam of mischief in his eyes. "Yes, I did actually," she replied nonchalantly.

"Oh," Zelos responded. He pretended to be surprised. "What's his name?"

"His name's work and he happens to be a pain in the butt. You introduced him to me, remember?"

"Hmm...I didn't think you'd mind. You have work to do as the chief of Mizuho too, don't you?"

"I wasn't asking for more work that you could've easily done," Shihna grumbled.

"But hunny, as Tethe'alla's former Chosen, I have lots of things to-"

"Lots of things to do as in flirt with girls," Shihna said. She couldn't help feeling slightly angry. "It was a mistake for me to come here. Sorry for wasting your precious time, Mr. Chosen."

Shihna stood up and started to head for the door. To her annoyance, Zelos blocked her path.

"Whoa there, hunny. Why are you so angry?"

Shihna wanted to glare at him, but she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She wouldn't let him see those tears. Never.

"I'm angry because I came here to see if the thing missing from my life was you. I was denying it in my heart, but I came here anyways. I thought that maybe I was wrong, but it turns out that I'm not! You're still a philandering idiot that doesn't care about anything other than himself!"

Zelos stared at her in silence for a while. Shihna discovered that the tears she had tried to hide were running down her face, but she didn't care any more. Let his last memory of her be one where she was in tears. She didn't care.

"And I thought I was the only one who felt that..." Zelos mumbled. "I was planning on visiting you, but you came to me first. I wanted to tell you my true feelings so badly."

Shihna gasped as Zelos stepped forward and embraced her. She could feel him shaking slightly.

"I love you, Shihna. I don't want you missing from my life any more," he whispered into her ear. "I don't want to let you go ever again."

"I love you too," Shihna managed to say before bursting into sobs. I love you too...

"I should go now," Shihna mumbled a few minutes later. She had said that she'd be out for a while.

"I don't think they'll be mad if you don't come back tonight," Zelos answered. "I'm sure everybody thinks that you need a break."

"You want me stay all night?" Shihna demanded.

"I don't see why not. There's a lot of fun things I could teach you-"

"Pervert!" Shihna pulled away from him. "I was just starting to trust you more and now you ruined it!" She was only joking, just as she knew he was joking about the fun things they could do...she hoped.

"You can sleep in my room if you like, but if you don't want to there's always the guest room," he murmured as he pulled her closer again.

"I don't know if I trust you enough," she replied softly.

"Mmm...maybe you do and just won't admit it."

"Or I just don't..."

Their conversation stopped as their lips met each other. It was interesting, Shihna thought, to have fantasies of doing exactly what she was doing with Zelos now and to actually have them happen. She also happened to notice out of the corner of her eye that Zelos had forgotten to shut the blinds on his living room windows so whoever happened to be walking by could see what was going on inside. She couldn't help being a little smug about being the one Zelos had chosen, and not those rich, snobby girls that lived next to him. It was even better that some of them stopped in the middle of the street to check if their eyes were deceiving them or not. And their facial expressions...priceless.

In the end it didn't really matter to her though. So what if Zelos was the Chosen? She didn't care if people said that she was after his money. She knew the truth and so did he. They were two people who were fortunate enough to have found their missing pieces.

SakuMeiMei Says: I've made it to 50! :D Everybody do the "I got to chapter 50" dance! Yaaay!

I started writing this a few weeks ago...at about twelve at night? Then I finished it at about two in the morning a few days ago. XD Which is probably why some of the descriptions sound so funny. Oh well. I find them interesting.