Disclaimer: Namco owns the Tales series. They own these characters too but they were designed by Kosuke Fujishima. I guess that's all, though just for the sticklers, Nintendo owns Gamecube and since TOS comes out for PS2 in a month or so, Sony owns that. And just on a more personal note, this is my first TOS fanfic so...hopefully I won't bore you too much.

Tales of Symphonia

Lonely One's Love

Chapter 1: "Lonely One"

By Cole-san

Flanoir was a beautiful place. Filled with snow and a sort of charming cozy feeling, the city spoke of quiet, special things that one tended to forget in the more cosmopolitan areas of Tethe'alla. For Sheena Fujibayashi, it was just kind of nice to find a place that was quiet and peaceful, much like her hometown, even if this peaceful place was very cold. She was sitting in her hotel room, calmly watching the snowfall from her window. It was late and no one was out and about, or probably even awake. So she continued to think about the sleepy city, as she was unable to sleep herself. The townsfolk were all quite nice, and the extreme poverty versus wealth of Meltokio, or the rabid hatred within Ozette were pleasantly absent from this place. Of course, not all the people living in Flanoir were kind. The doctor who she had suggested the group visit on behalf of Altessa, was quite rude, more so than she remembered anyway. He'd even made their group split up, leaving only herself, Colette, Genis, and...

"Lloyd..." She murmured aloud. The young kunoiichi/summoner was ill prepared for the deluge of feelings and conflicting thoughts that the youth in question brought to mind. When they had first met, she was in the midst of attacking his friend Colette, and then falling down an annoyingly convenient trap door. Not the best first impression in the world, but she supposed it was at least memorable if nothing else. After fighting her way through the mines she'd found herself in, not to mention avoiding a suspicious pile of bones and swords, which gave her a bad feeling, she'd emerged and tried again. This time she battled the group, and was soundly defeated. Even as they fought though, she found herself unconsciously studying the boy with two swords. In her home of Mizuho, such an unorthodox fighting style would have been frowned upon. Just one sword was cumbersome enough, but two? Yet he wielded them with impressive grace and skill. Nevertheless, other than being slightly impressed by his fighting prowess, she hadn't given him much thought at the time, as she was still so concentrated on her mission.

After more encounters, they'd encountered each other again in Luin. Taking a small break from her mission there, she'd been pestered by some local kids to play hide and go seek. A childish game perhaps, but in her village it was encouraged for children as it was one of the earliest training exercises in becoming a ninja. Being able to hide one's self and seek out those who were hidden were very important skills in her profession. So after some good-natured grumbling she'd agreed. It was in this moment of being off-guard and carefree that he found her. As she agreed to be "it" for their third game, Lloyd had stumbled upon her. Apparently the others in his group were scattered about the peaceful city, and so he was alone. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, instead of demanding why she wanted to kill Colette or what her purpose was, or even attempting to attack her, he simply commented that she was "nice."

"No one had ever said that about me before...no one older than six or seven anyway..." Not liking the strange feelings brought on by being complimented not for her killing skills or looks, but rather for something much different, she blushed and tried to cover it up with anger. This wasn't the outrage that she felt whenever Zelos sleazily complimented her however, but much different. This was pleasant, this was...nice. Still she refused to let it affect her too much and darted off to avoid his infectious smile. Later calming herself, she swore to succeed in accomplishing her mission the next time they met. She couldn't allow something as foolish as her heart to get in the way. Wasn't that what her instructors warned her about during her training? Wasn't that sort of weakness what caused her to fail in making a contract with Volt all those years ago? No, she could not let it happen again. She would not fail again. Of course she did in the end. They defeated her again, and were almost finished with their great task. The task that would lead her world to ruin. Yet they spared her. She couldn't understand it. Why were these people so kind? Why did the destroyers of her world have to be so sweet and wonderful? It wasn't fair. She'd retreated once again, unable to deal with these sorts of things as always. Later she met them once again in Luin, injured and weak from the Desian attack on the town. She'd bitterly asked that they finish her this time.

"I was ready to die then...I had nothing left...the same feeling as all those years ago after Volt..." Raine had even seemed to consider the idea. Perhaps she had been wrong; perhaps they were not so merciful. But at least, she would die with honor, unlike how she had lived her life. Yet it was he once again, who stepped forward, and argued on her behalf. Lloyd refused to kill her and instead, begged Raine to heal her of all things! It was then and there that she could no longer deny the attraction. She liked him. She liked Colette too, and Genis seemed nice enough. She respected Kratos, and even Raine, but Lloyd...her feelings for him were varied and strange to her. But it was at that moment that she realized them for what they were. The beginnings of love. Having never felt this way before, she was understandably confused, but she covered it well as always with her feelings, and decided to repay the group by joining them. That was a strange time for her. Fighting alongside the very people she'd been ordered to stop. Aiding them in ruining her world. Yet somewhere deep inside of her, she knew that they were not the monsters they'd been painted as. So she placed her hope in them. She placed her hope in him. Hope that they would not doom her world. Hope that he would find a way to do the impossible.

Shortly after that, she successfully made a contract with Undine. Despite her worst fears and memories, she made her first contract with a summon spirit. They then went to awaken the unicorn sleeping in Lake Umacy. That had been embarrassing. Much to her annoyance, everyone had automatically assumed that only Colette would be "pure" enough to speak with the mythical creature. She was "pure" too damn it! Even though that pervert Zelos would probably have it otherwise if he could. And so they had both spoken to the unicorn. And so her competition with Colette truly began.

Sheena liked the other girl well enough. She was kind and sweet, and really, everything she could have ever wanted in a little sister. Unfortunately, she was also her rival. She was so angelic and so wonderful, that Sheena couldn't help but feel rather inferior by comparison. After all, she was the failure, she was the outcast, she was the...enemy. Not being from Sylvarant, she had felt a certain sense of separation from the rest of the group, at least initially, while Colette was their darling.

"And his darling..." She whispered morosely as the snow picked up. Why was she sitting in her room, unable to sleep? Earlier she'd been pacing, debating whether or not she should go and try to talk with Lloyd. She knew he was under a lot of stress, having recently found out who Kratos really was, not to mention he was the unofficial leader of their mission to stop Yggdrasil. She knew he had a lot weighing down on him, and so she had been trying to work up the courage to try and talk with him about it. Finally she'd decided that she would do it and had silently made her way out into the hall and towards his room. That's when she heard voices form inside. Pressing her ear to the door, she'd listened as Colette asked him to go outside with her, and much to her despair, he agreed. Hiding herself in the shadows, she watched them exit and somberly went back to her room, not wanting to see or hear any more.

"I should have known better..." She'd never kidded herself. She knew he loved Colette. Yet a small part of her had felt hope. She had hoped that perhaps he might grow to like her. Perhaps he might feel more of a sibling love for Colette rather than a romantic one. It seemed that this was not the case. There were times though. All too brief moments in which he'd talk with her or pay attention to her, and the happiness she'd felt, the elation, was indescribable. Here was a young man who was too innocent to leer at her, too kind to insult her, and too strong to disappoint her. He would have been perfect save for the fact that he loved another. She had met him too late. Not like Colette...They'd known each other their whole lives. How could she compete with that?

"The answer is...I can't." She sighed and continued to watch the snow fall. Yes, Flanoir was a beautiful place, but from this moment on, it would no doubt hold nothing but painful memories for Sheena Fujibayashi, the lonely orphan who dared to love one already in love.

Author's note: Um yeah, so there you go. Pretty bad huh? Pretty angsty too...Well, it will be less so in the next chapter, I promise. So until then...