A Fluffy Sheloyd Fic

A/N:FINALLY! I finished this not-so-stupid thing. I started it almost a month ago and have just now completed it. Oh, if you can't tell, I'm writing the Author Note after I wrote the story. Anyways, this is a fluffy Sheloyd fic, hence the title. That means Sheena/Lloyd for those of you who might be new to fanfiction. Having said that, if you do not like that couple then click the back button now. I do not take flamers lightly and I will flame you back. As for spoilers, not really any that I was able to find. I tried to keep them out as much as possible. I also tried to keep my grammar as clean as possible, but if you find any mistakes I would really appreciate it if you would let me know about them. Also note that this is intended to be a one-shot, but if enough people ask nicely enough then I may do a sequel. Now, on to the Disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, yadda, yadda, yadda…Does anyone actually think that we (writers) own anything that we write about? I really hope not. Now, On to the fic.

"talking" – 'thoughts'

(Start Fic)

It was night time, and the group of would-be saviors had decided to take a break from their quest to stop Cruxis' age of lifeless beings, which was why they now found themselves in Zelos' manor. Truthfully, the only reason they were here was because of Zelos' obnoxious whining about not having seen his hunnies for a while. They had all tried, to the best of their abilities, to ignore him but it had quickly become too much. Finally, Raine had broken down and asked what it would take to make him shut up. Lloyd, not being quite as oblivious as everyone seemed to believe, had known exactly what Zelos was going to say the second the red-haired Chosen's gaze shifted over to Sheena. Not even giving him the time to state an answer, Lloyd had immediately announced that they would head for Meltokio the next morning.

This, of course, had irked everyone else to no extent, though each one was somewhat glad for the chance to rest. And that was exactly what everyone had done, for the most part. The exceptions were Lloyd and Sheena, who had gone to the coliseum in hopes of finding out how much their skills had improved since the last time they were here. Both had breezed through the Beginner's and Intermediate classes without being hit once, and had won the Advanced class with only slightly more trouble. They had even talked the receptionist for the party battles into allowing the two of them to participate without a third member. These battles had proven to be more challenging, but they still managed to beat both classes with only mediocre difficulty. The exhibition match which they had been forced to fight, however, had proven to be almost too much for them, and had they not seen one of their opponents use an item, they most certainly would have had their butts handed to them. But, with the knowledge that items were allowed in the exhibition match, they managed to pull off a slim victory, earning Lloyd and excellent armor and a good hat for Genis. After that, the two had returned to Zelos' house for a much needed nap. This was no doubt the reason that Sheena found herself unable to sleep now that night had fallen.

"Arghh…why did I let Lloyd talk me into going to the coliseum with him?" she asked herself, rolling over for the 34th time that hour. 'Oh, who am I kidding, I had more fun today than I've had in a long time,' she thought to herself, letting a soft smile wash over her features as she recalled cheering Lloyd on as he fought, as well as listening to him cheer her on and fighting at his side.

"Lloyd…" she whispered affectionately, letting his name roll off of her tongue. She had developed feelings for him since they had joined forces at Luin to take on Kvar and free the humans imprisoned at his ranch. Even so, she had only realized the depths of her feelings after she had formed the pact with Volt, when he had been the only one to offer her what she really needed, a shoulder to cry on. Since then, she had begun to worm her way into the position that Collette had been holding. And she had done it with surprising ease, which really made her wonder if Lloyd didn't have feelings for her as well.

"Oh great, now I know I won't be getting back to sleep for a while," she muttered to herself, having learned from experience that when she thought about her relationship with Lloyd it would mean a sleepless night. So, giving an exasperated sigh, she got up from her bed and proceeded to go ahead and prepare for the next day.

(character change)

Down the hall, Lloyd was having the same problem that Sheena was. He, however, had resigned himself to another sleepless night over an hour ago and had all ready taken a shower and gotten dressed again (minus his gloves). Unlike Sheena, though, Lloyd had somewhat successfully navigated his thoughts down a different path. Not that he was getting any more peace than she was, mind you. No, Lloyd was being plagued by thoughts of his newly discovered father and all of the other revelations that had unfolded before them. And he was so occupied with his thoughts that he had not noticed anyone else was up until he heard the shower, which was located in the next room over, start up.

"Huh…?" he wondered aloud. "Who in the world is taking a shower at this time of night?" he asked himself, temporarily forgetting that he had taken one not an hour ago.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Lloyd decided to check the rest of the bedrooms in hopes of having his question answered. Poking his head out of his door, he looked up and down both sides of the hall and saw that the only room with an open door was the room that Sheena had been in.

Now realizing who it was in the shower, Lloyd felt like smacking himself for not seeing that she was the only other person who had slept most of the day and would therefore be the only other one up. His curiosity, however, had once again proven to be a nuisance as the words "Sheena" and "shower" immediately brought unwanted, though pleasant, images to the forefront of his mind. As a result, Lloyd was unable to stop the severe blush that had forced its way onto his face at the thoughts of him joining her in the shower.

"Damn it, I've been around Zelos way too long," he said to himself shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of the thoughts and blush. That, however, proved to be ineffective and he decided to give a walk in the cool night air a try. Walking as quietly as he could, Lloyd walked down the hall, steps, and through the grand room before exiting the house.

(character change)

Fifteen minutes later, Sheena exited the shower and began the process of drying herself, still unable to rid herself of the unbidden thoughts that had entered her mind as soon as she stepped into the shower twenty minutes ago. But though she would never admit it too anyone else, she rather enjoyed the notion of showering with the brown-haired swordsman who she had fallen for.

"Think I'll go for a walk after I get out of here," she said to no one in particular. "Maybe the night air will do me some good." Ten minutes later, Sheena exited the large manor, never noticing that she was not the only one up.

Thirty minutes later, Sheena was at the lowest level of Meltokio (not including the slums). During her walk, she really hadn't seen any other people, not that she was surprised.

'Heh, most people would be in bed asleep at this hour,' she thought to herself. "Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about anyone sneaking up on me," she said aloud, never expecting what happened next.

(character change)

Having been walking around for almost an hour, Lloyd had covered most of Meltokio, and had successfully gotten rid of his blush. Having gotten tired of being by himself, Lloyd was just about to return to Zelos' house to see what Sheena was up to when he caught sight of the ninja doing the same thing he was doing.

'Well speak of the devil,' he thought. 'Wonder if I can sneak up on her? Well, only one way to find out.' With that thought in mind he set about carefully sneaking up the girl of his thoughts who, thankfully, had her back turned to him.

He was almost directly behind her when he heard her say that she didn't have to worry about anyone sneaking up on her, and it took all of willpower not to laugh. Closing the small distance between them, Lloyd quickly pinned both of her arms to her waist by wrapping his left arm around them and used his right hand to cover her mouth before leaning his head forward to whisper something in her ear.

Upon feeling her arms pressed to her side and a hand clamp over her mouth, Sheena began to twist back and forth violently in an attempt to dislodge whoever it was that had hold of her. It was only when the word "Gotcha" was whispered in her ear, that she knew the person who had hold of her was the object of her affections. She immediately stopped her squirming and became embarrassed that she had once again been caught with her guard down.

Feeling her twisting stop, as well as his right hand suddenly heat up, Lloyd was able to surmise that she was embarrassed at being snuck up on. Letting her go, he moved around to her side and stood there, waiting a moment before he turned toward her and spoke.

"Sorry 'bout that, I just couldn't resist," he apologized, before adding, "besides, even if I hadn't been planning on it, hearing you say what you did would have forced me too," he said cheerily.

The only response he got was a loud "humph" as Sheena crossed her arms under her breasts and turned her head away from him, too embarrassed to look at him.

'Stupid Lloyd, why does he have to make fun of me?' Sheena asked herself, trying to shift her anger towards him and away from herself.

Realizing, from her lack of acknowledgement, that he had upset her, Lloyd decided that it was probably in his best interests to give Sheena a sincere apology.

'Well, here goes,' his mind told him. Turning, so that he was fully facing Sheena, he opened his mouth to apologize and froze. Just as Lloyd had turned, the clouds that had been covering the moon magically disappeared revealing a very full moon, though that wasn't what caused him to freeze.

"Beautiful…" he whispered aloud, his gaze completely transfixed by the Mizuho ninja who, while always stunning, had become absolutely breathtaking while being bathed in the light of the moon.

Convinced that she had heard him whisper something, Sheena put her current thoughts aside and turned to ask Lloyd what he had said, only to find him starring at her as if she were some sort of unnaturally beautiful work of art.

"W…why are you staring at me like that?" she asked him nervously, the blush on her face gaining intensity with every second.

Not trusting his mouth, Lloyd instead lifted his left hand to tuck a few stray strands her hair behind her ear before touching her cheek in a feather-light caress.

Unsure what brought on his abnormal display of affection, Sheena raised her right hand to touch the spot that he had just caressed. Raising her eyes to meet his, she was unable to stop her sharp intake of air at the ensemble of emotions that danced across them.

'Does he? Could he actually…?' Sheena found herself unable to finish her question as Lloyd's gaze focused from looking at her entire face to being directly pinned at her eyes.

Both warriors found themselves all too quickly drowning in the other's soul piercing stare. Time came to a standstill and everything around them disappeared as the two found themselves hopelessly lost in the other person's chocolate orbs.

Neither one was aware of how much time passed in their silent stare, seconds, minutes, or hours; neither knew and neither cared. Both were perfectly content in the peacefulness they had found, until they were shaken out of their trance-like states by the sound of an animal knocking over some garbage cans.

Knocked out of their revere, both Lloyd and Sheena quickly averted their eyes, trying unsuccessfully to fight off the bright blushes that now adorned their cheeks. This embarrassment ushered in a rather uncomfortable silence, which neither seemed brave enough to break.

Finally, after several minutes, Lloyd's voice cut through the silence saying, "I'm sorry Sheena, I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that," he told her, sincerely meaning it, though still keeping his head turned away from hers.

"Wha…oh, that," she replied, having forgotten about it even happening. "Don't worry about it, I should have been paying attention," she said quietly, also refusing to look at him.

Several more minutes of silence followed Sheena's reply. Though both found themselves growing more and more uneasy, it was once again Lloyd who broke the silence.

"Hey Sheena?" he asked, forcing himself to look at her again.

"Yeah," she answered meekly.

"I was wondering if you would like to go for a ride on the rheairds with me?" he asked in an uncertain tone.

'Is he asking me out?' she asked herself, lifting her eyes to meet his. She was shocked at what she saw in them, hope and fear danced together in his eyes. 'Does he think that I don't like him? Well, we'll just have to do something about that, won't we.'

"I'd love to," she answered sweetly, hoping to wash away his fears. And it worked just like she hoped it would as the hope and fear were replaced almost instantly by joy and relief.

"Well, let's go," he told her excitedly.

Not giving her a chance to respond, Lloyd took her hand in his own and began walking backwards towards the city entrance, smiling like a child in a candy store.

Blushing, Sheena allowed Lloyd to pull her out into the fields surrounding Meltokio where they would be able to launch their rheairds.

Once they reached a suitable location Lloyd let go of Sheena's hand, not noticing the look of disappointment that flashed across her eyes. Pulling out his rheairds, Lloyd turned to Sheena to wait for her to do the same, only to see her staring down at the ground with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Heh, heh…I kinda forgot mine," she said shyly, after a minute of silence.

"That's okay, we'll just both ride on mine," he told her.

"A… are you sure? I mean, I can run back and get mine real quick," she asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now come on," he told playfully as he seated himself on his sapphire blue rheaird, before motioning for her to hurry up.

Slowly making her way to his rheaird, the blush on her face continued to get brighter with each step. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sheena seated herself directly behind Lloyd and cautiously slipped her arms around his waist for support.

Feeling her arms slip around his waist, Lloyd placed his left arm around hers and gave them a gentle squeeze before starting the rheaird and guiding it slowly into the air. Once the rheaird was a suitable distance off the ground Lloyd began guiding it south of Meltokio.

"Hey… Lloyd?" Sheena asked after several minutes of silent flight. "Where are we headed?"

"Not really sure," he told her. "Why? Is there someplace that you'd like to go to?"

"Not really, anywhere's fine," she answered casually. "…as long as it's with you," she whispering affectionately, pressing her cheek into his back and tightening her hold on his waist.

"Guess we'll just fly around until we find a spot then, won't we," he stated softly, savoring the feel of Sheena's embrace.

The next ten minutes passed by in a blur as both parties were perfectly content to just enjoy the other's closeness, before Lloyd was brought back into reality when he spotted the mountain plateau that they had crash landed on when they first came to Tethe'alla.

'Perfect,' he thought to himself as he began to guide the rheaird to the plateau. 'Nothing will bother us up here.'

Sheena, however, was so deep in her blissful state that she was unaware of the rheaird's movements until it settled on the ground. Lifting up her head to see where they had stopped at, she recognized it almost immediately. After all, how could you not when the scars from their crash landing and the battle with Pronyma were highly visible, even at night.

"Why'd we stop here?" she asked, somewhat confused, seeing as there really wouldn't be anything for them to do.

"I thought that this would be a good spot for us to get to spend some time alone, without anyone or anything bothering us," he responded, turning his head so he could at least partially look at her.

Upon hearing his explanation, Sheena was unable to stop the warm, loving smile that spread across her features, nor did she want to stop it.

"Then you made a good choice," she half-whispered, letting the emotions running through her out on her voice, sending a shiver down Lloyd's spine.

"Yeah," he replied, his voice much like hers. "And as much as I enjoy this, we probably should get off of this thing."

"You're probably right," she said, sighing as she pulled her arms from his waist before standing up and moving out of the way so he could do the same.

Choosing not to put the rheaird back into its wing pack, Lloyd began idly walking around the plateau. This, of coarse, confused Sheena quite a bit and just as she was about to ask him what he was doing he shot off in the other direction tapping her on the arm as he passed her.

"TAG, you're it," he cried out enthusiastically, running as fast as he was able, trying to get as much of a head start as possible.

Sheena stood there for several seconds unable to understand what was going on, then, as if someone turned on the light switch, realization dawned on her. Realizing that he wanted to play with her, Sheena let a large grin quickly envelop her face before sprinting after him.

"You better get back here Lloyd!" she shouted at her companions back, doing her best to make her voice sound threatening, and failing miserably.

"Okay, if you're sure," he replied before doing a split-second 180 and dashing back the other way, silently thanking that he had the Dash and Tough EX Skills set.

Being completely unprepared for Lloyd's maneuver, Sheena could only watch as he sailed past her. Skidding to a stop, Sheena pivoted on her heel and once again set off to try and catch her best friend/love interest, now paying careful attention to his movements so she wouldn't be caught off guard again.

"Just wait till I catch up with you, pal," she exclaimed cheerfully, while happily deciding that this was even more fun than her time with Lloyd in the coliseum this morning.

Lloyd, deciding to try and keep Sheena on her toes, reversed his direction a second time. Being ready for it this time, Sheena was easily able to intercept and tag him.

"Hah," she cried triumphantly. "Now you're it."

"Not for long," he told her cockily, turning around again so that he could pursue her.

Minutes passed by swiftly as the two ducked, dodged, ran, tagged, laughed, and just had fun; something that they had not been able to do much of lately. Chasing each other, everything else was completely forgotten; all of the battles, all of the death and destruction, all of the betrayal and pain, and most of all the knowledge that they carried the weight of the hopes and dreams of both worlds on their shoulders. For now, they were just two normal teenagers doing normal things, and they were loving every second of it.

An hour later, Lloyd and Sheena were resting against one of the large rocks that littered the edges of the plateau.

"That really takes it out of you," commented Lloyd, his chest heaving.

"Yeah, it does," replied Sheena who was in much the same shape that Lloyd was in. "But it was a lot of fun."

"Definitely," he agreed, trying to slow his heart by force of will. "But maybe we shouldn't try so hard next time."

"Where's the fun in that?" she asked him before turning to look at his flushed face.

"Guess you're probably right," he told her, turning to meet her gaze.

Too exhausted and too happy to notice, both Lloyd and Sheena let themselves drown in the other's eyes once again. And just like earlier that night, time came to a complete standstill and everything else disappeared.

Sheena was the first to regain control of her thoughts, and all she was aware of were the dozens of emotions mixing together in Lloyd's chocolate orbs. Frozen by the intensity of his gaze, Sheena was unable to do anything when Lloyd began to close the few feet of distance between them.

Coming to a stop directly beside of her, Lloyd slowly brought a hand up to her face. Cupping her cheek with his gloveless hand, Lloyd began to tenderly glide his thumb over her bottom lip, hoping that his act would dispel the small amount of fear and doubt in her eyes.

Barely able to contain her desire to grab hold of him and kiss him, Sheena parted her lips and prayed that he would take the invitation.

Seeing her lips part, Lloyd allowed his instincts to take over and closed the last few inches that had been separating their lips.

The kiss was everything, and more, that Sheena and Lloyd had hoped that it would be. Any doubts that either one had of the other's feelings were immediately vanquished by the tender, loving embrace. The only emotions left were relief and love. And soon enough, the relief that had risen up disappeared as though there had never been any doubts at all.

After what felt like an eternity of kissing, Lloyd and Sheena reluctantly broke off their kiss for lack of oxygen. Resting his forehead against hers, Lloyd stared into Sheena's half-lidded eyes and smiled at the love and lazy contentedness that he found there, knowing full well that his eyes were reflecting those same emotions.

"Wow," whispered Sheena, her voice full of emotion.

"You can say that again," agreed Lloyd, his voice just as soft as hers.

"Wow," she whispered again, a large grin set on her face.

Chuckling, Lloyd gathered Sheena in his arms and pulled her onto his lap before lowering his head to capture her lips in another tender kiss.

Sighing contentedly, Sheena melted into the kiss, draped her arms over Lloyd's shoulders and began playing with the hairs on the back of his neck.

Slowly pulling back from the kiss after about a minute, Lloyd opened his eyes to find a confused, pouting Sheena who had obviously not been ready to stop. Suppressing the chuckle that formed in his throat, Lloyd tightened his hold on Sheena and pulled her closer to him.

Letting out another sigh, Sheena tightened her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest before tilting her head upwards to look at the man who had stolen her heart.

"You're so beautiful," Lloyd said softly, removing one arm from her waist so that he could gently caress her face.

Blushing slightly and smiling, Sheena closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked softly after several moments.

"Hmmm?" she answered, raising her face to look at him again.

Seeing her look at him, Lloyd lowered his head until his mouth was even with her ear. Suddenly nervous, Lloyd took a deep breath taking in her scent in an attempt to calm himself before whispering, "I love you, Sheena."

Feeling and hearing her gasp of shock, Lloyd pulled back his head to see her reaction. He watched as the tears gathered in her eyes and her face was overtaken in a breathtaking smile.

"Oh Lloyd," she whispered adoringly, before throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug. "I love you, too," she cried out, the tears of joy that had built in her eyes now streaming down her face. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to tell you, to hear you say it. And now you have, and I have, and I'm so happy," she told him, her joyful laughter filling the night air.

Smiling from ear to ear from Sheena's jubilant exclamation, Lloyd waited patiently for her to finish, even though part of him wished that she would continue laughing forever. To him, her laughter was the single most beautiful sound he had ever, or would ever hear. But on the down side, if she continued laughing then he wouldn't be able to kiss her again.

Somehow, as if she had sensed if thoughts, Sheena chose that moment to pull back and look into her love's eyes. Seeing the tears on her face, Lloyd brought his hand up and gently wiped them off of her face.

Loving the way that he regarded her with such tenderness, Sheena reached up and caught his hand with one of her own. Slipping her fingers between his, Sheena lifted his arm up over her head and placed it around her shoulders without letting go.

"Lloyd," she commanded playfully.

"Yes Sheena," he asked with mock meekness.

"Kiss me!?" she said quietly, half demanding/half asking.

Giving no vocal reply, Lloyd pulled Sheena completely to him and planted his lips on hers in a kiss that was neither tender nor passionate, but somehow seemed to display all of their feelings at once.

Several minutes later, Lloyd pulled away to allow both of them to take a few much needed breaths. Then, out of the blue, Lloyd thought about the others. 'Wonder what they'll think about us?' he asked himself. Realizing that telling them right now might not be the best option, Lloyd decided to get Sheena's opinion.

"Hey Sheena?" he questioned, unable to keep his voice from displaying worry.

"Shhh," she told him gently, using her free hand to hold her index finger over his lips. "Whatever it is can wait. Let's not ruin this perfect moment, okay."

Smiling, Lloyd nodded his head in agreement before capturing her into yet another kiss when she moved her hand, letting himself temporarily forget about their problem.

A couple of hours, a lot of kisses, and one sunrise later Lloyd and Sheena prepared to go back to their friends and continue their fight against Cruxis.

"Sheena?" asked Lloyd.

"Hmm?" she replied, her head perched on his shoulder.

"What do you want to tell the others?" he questioned, turning slightly to look at her, knowing that he would go along with whatever she wanted.

"We'll just go with whatever feels natural," she said playfully. "But I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they find out."

"Me, too," he agreed. "Me, too"