Natsu no E

Summary: TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Nearing the sixteenth summer of his life, Lloyd Irving considers himself your normal, average, everyday teenager. That is, until the ethereal Colette Brunel moves right next door.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. What do you expect?

A/N: -sighes- Well, this is it; my very first fanfiction! Hello, my name is Kanki and this is my fanfic. It's an AU ToS fanfic mainly focusing on the Colloyd pairing. It's in Lloyd's POV and will stay that way through the rest of the fic. It was directly inspired by the wonderful story, A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. That was the first book I had ever, ever felt warm and fluffy about. While reading it the second time around, I realized how much the main characters, Landon and Jamie, were much like Lloyd and Colette, and, thus, making a plot bunny like this. Well, I hope you like my first chapter; constructive critisism is loved, but no flames please Read on!

Chapter 1: New neighbors

The town of Iselia has always had its own little charm. It's a seaside town, isolated above the busy metropolis of Triet. Iselia was the kind of place where the humidity would rise up so high the children would dance around barefoot as they walked in the streets. The houses here were old yet simple, with dirty windows and white washed walls. The air held the rich smells of pine and salt from the forest and sea surrounding them. And, when you inhaled, the breeze was as crisp as salt air.

In spring, fields of flowers would bloom right next to the ocean, creating fields of different colors blended into one. In summer, there's enough shade to keep out the heat and the streams and small waterfalls nearby make great watering holes. In autumn, the wind gets cool and the leaves turn brilliant colors, also bringing mounds of leaves for the kids to play in. And in winter, the snow can go up to someone's knees and the sledding spots here are the best on the whole coast.

Not too many people lived in Iselia. After all, it's a quaint little community devoid of the hustle and bustle of the big cities such as Palmacosta. People would give a friendly wave to anyone who passed, regardless if they knew them or not, and children could wander off wherever they liked without fear of somebody kidnapping them. It's almost a magical sort of place, really. Life in Iselia didn't revolve around computers or televisions; the outside pop culture was practically nonexistent in this place. But, because of this seclusion, hardly anything happened; all and all, it was a pretty boring town to be in.

I've lived in Iselia ever since I was a baby. I've never known anyplace else. My house is right on the outskirts of the town, in the small cul-de-sac right where Iselia stops and the forest begins. I live there with my adoptive father, Dirk, and my dog, Noishe. It's nice there; no one really bothers us. We sort of just keep to ourselves.

Today was the last day of school. I woke up late this morning and had to run to school so I wouldn't be marked tardy. I live far away, but despite that, I had to walk here anyways, since my dad doesn't have a car.

The day was okay, though. Despite the bumpy morning, the rest of the day had been fairly smooth. Most of the teachers just droned on and on about how we should be careful this summer. Not as if I paid attention to their speeches. I just wanted to get out of here already! But, finally, it's nearly the end of the day and I was attending the last class of my whole school year—History.

I sat nervously in my seat, tapping my pencil against the desk and rocking back and forth in my chair. My eyes were glued onto the clock, watching the minute hand slowly inch its way towards its upright position. Come on, come on.

"Lloyd? Lloyd? Lloyd Irving, are you even listening to me?"

A chalk eraser hit me on the head and I winced, glaring at the woman at the front of the room. "Sorry Professor Sage," I muttered.

She huffed, placing her hands on her hips. "Thank you. Well, as I was saying—" That's Professor Raine Sage, the only teacher who actually tries to teach on the last day of school. She's actually a pretty young for a teacher though; she's only 23 years old. But, despite that, she still forces everyone to call her 'Professor' Sage instead of 'Ms' Sage. It's not like she doesn't deserve it. After all, she is one of the best teachers here at Iselia High.

I felt someone tap me on the shoulder next to me. I turned around to see my best friend, Genis Sage, grinning at me. "Nice going Lloyd," he sniggered.

I scowled deeply. "Shut it Genis!"

Genis Sage has been my best friend for most of my life. Ever since we were little kids, we've played together. He's actually younger than me, you know: about four years younger. The reason that he's in high school with me was that he skipped a couple of grades and ended up in mine.

The kid's a prodigy. A lot of hotshot academies out in the cities tried to recruit him for their school but he refused them all, partly because his older sister was teaching here and couldn't move away from her commitment. And his sister just happened to be the same woman who just chucked an eraser at my head.

"Now, I know you're all just dying to get out of here," Professor Sage said, addressing the whole class who had joined me in watching the clock. Oh, come on already! It's almost time! "So I'll just wrap this up right now: have a great summer." As if on cue, the bell rang, and everyone sprung up from their seats in an explosion of cheers. I shouted along with them, jumping up into the air and punching it. Yes! Finally!

Everyone stampeded out of the room, leaving only Genis and me straggling behind. "See you later Professor Sage!" I shouted as I paused at the doorway.

"Yeah, see you later Raine!"

"Wait, Genis!" She went up to him and looked down at the boy. Standing right next to each other, the two looked so very much alike: ivory colored hair and ice blue eyes mirroring the others. "I want you to go straight home today, alright? I'm coming home late today, so I want you to be home when I get there."

Genis scowled at his older sister. "Raine! I'm not a kid you know! I'll be fine!"

Raine shook her head. "Just don't forget this time." She nodded towards me as shooed us off. "Have a good summer Lloyd. No doubt I'll be seeing you around our house."

I laughed, sheepishly scratching the back of my neck. "Yeah, I guess you will. Bye Professor Sage!" Genis and I stepped out of the classroom and joined the stampede of summer-fevered students in the hall.

My friend frowned, kicking a wad of paper off to the side. "Yeesh, why does Raine always have to baby me like that?" he muttered, holding onto the straps of his backpack.

"Dunno," I shrugged, carelessly letting mine hang off of only one shoulder. "But I'm sure she doesn't mean it like that. She's just worried about you—Agh!"

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my neck and a fist rubbed hard into my head. "Hey Lloyd! My little hot headed buddy!" I growled, trying to pry the arm off of me.

"Zelos! Get the hell off!"

The longhaired redhead behind me pouted, only drilling his fist harder into my skull. "Aww. Why should I?"

"Zelos!"

Now, Zelos Wilder isn't exactly what I'd call a friend. He's what I'd call a pervert and a stupid idiot. Zelos is an exchange student from the capitol city of Meltokio. Apparently, he has a very rich family and attended one of the hotshot academies that Genis was invited to. Why he ever wanted to go to this place out in the middle of nowhere, I don't know, but he seemed to have taken a liking to this small, rural town. Why? Mainly because all the girls here are smitten with him. To them, for some odd reason, he was 'hot' and he's gotten very popular because of that. But I honestly don't see it.

"OW!"

I blinked as the arm that snaked around my neck slithered off and looked at the young woman responsible for that. She held a large textbook in her hand, her chocolate eyes set glaring at the boy who held me captive.

"Zelos! Don't do that," she chided, shaking her finger.

"Sheeena!" Zelos drew out in her name in a long plaintive whine. "Did you really have to hit me that hard?"

"Yes," she huffed, placing her hands on her hips. I couldn't help but exchange knowing grins with Genis.

That was Sheena Fujibayashi. She's an exchange student from Meltokio as well; she came with Zelos and is currently living with him at a small apartment nearby. They do this a lot, this fighting. Although Sheena just calls it that, Zelos insists that it's 'foreplay'. (Whenever Sheena hears that little interesting tidbit, she'd run after him screaming) Zelos tends to be a big flirt with all the girls, but I see that he really treats Sheena differently. Genis and I have already started a pool on when they'd hook up. After all, their fighting, although not on the levels of foreplay, seems a heck of a lot similar to flirting.

"Thanks Sheena," I grinned towards the dark haired girl.

"Don't mention it," she said, glaring at the redhead beside her. "It's not your fault this guy's an idiot."

"Hey!"

Genis and I laughed as the four of us began walking to the exit. "Finally, school's over!" I sighed. "It took forever this year!"

"Really?" Sheena blinked. "I thought it went by pretty fast."

"Well, it's going to come back fast anyways," Genis commented dryly. "It's a few months till the end of summer break and that comes faster than you think."

I looked at my best friend dryly. "Study freak! You just want to stay in school all year, don't you?"

A flush raced across my friend's face. "S-shut up. At least I study!"

"Now what's that supposed to mean!"

"Lloyd! Genis! Stop fighting!" Sheena frowned, shaking her head. "Honestly, it's like I'm with a bunch of kids. Including you!" She said, glaring at Zelos before he could say anything.

The red haired boy merely sighed. "Well, I can't wait till school gets back in session either, brat." We all looked at him surprise. "Why?" I dared to ask. There was a gleam in Zelos's eyes as he placed his hands on his hips and laughed. "To play with my wonderful hunnies, of course! I'm going to miss them during the summer!"

We all looked at him dryly. We should have known.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow at Marble's then?" Sheena asked as we stopped at the doorway of our school.

Genis and I nodded. "Yeah, we'll be there."

Sheena grinned and, with that, we split off our separate ways.

Genis lived about the halfway point from the school to my house; I always walked him home then split off towards my own house. We were silent for the most part, tired from the adrenaline rush from the last day of school. When we stood in front of his house, I waved goodbye as he jogged up to the front door. "See you tomorrow Genis!"

"Yeah, I'll see you there!"

I sighed slightly and started my way up the street. I was alone again—it's not like I minded though. I always was alone after I dropped Genis off at his house.

The whole neighborhood was bustling with children fresh out of school. Most of them were still dressed in their school clothes, their backpacks strewn over someone's front lawn. I couldn't help but grin when they bounced a bright red ball accidentally in my direction. I caught it before it could go anywhere and tossed it back to them. "Thanks Lloyd!" one shouted to me as he caught it.

"You're welcome!" I replied, continuing my trek home. About fifteen minutes later, I could already spot my house and the cal-de-sac not too far away. Smoke was coming out of my house's chimney: my dad was home. "Wait a minute…" I frowned as my house came closer into view. "Is that a moving truck?"

It was parked in front of the house right next door. People were walking in and out of it in a single file line, hauling boxes and other things inside. I couldn't help but stare as I slowly made my way to my house. Our neighbors moved five months ago to Triet. I guess they must have sold their house to someone else already. I stared at the 'For Sale' sign lying on the sidewalk, carelessly tossed away by some mover as he crowded the front lawn with stuff.

"Eeek!" Right behind some furniture pieces on their lawn, I heard someone stumble to the ground. I winced, hearing the large 'thud' that followed afterwards. Although I really didn't want to intrude, I dropped my backpack next to my mailbox and jogged over to where the person lay, face down on the grass. "Are you alright?" I asked, gathering the things that she dropped.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I guess I just tripped over my own feet again." Hearing her giggle, I looked at her strangely. She was a girl about my age, wearing a white blouse and a long light blue shirt. Pale blonde hair fell down to her waist and her eyes sparkled a brilliant blue. I felt numb for a second and I couldn't help staring at her as she stood up and brushed the grass off of her skirt. "My name is Colette Brunel. What's yours?"

"My name's Lloyd. Lloyd Irving," I said suddenly, snapped out of my trance. I stood up and placed the box of stuff onto a desk. "I live right next door."

"Oh? Is that right? Well, it was very nice for you to help me Lloyd. I'm sorry about this; I'm such a klutz."

"Don't mention it," I replied easily. "You know, you really shouldn't have been carrying that in the first place; it's pretty heavy."

The girl smiled, cocking her head. "Well, everyone else was helping to move in our things, so I thought that I should too. I'm sorry."

I stared at her strangely. What was with her? I sighed, "Please stop apologizing. Well, at least be more careful, okay?"

"Alright!" She beamed and picked up the box again. I moved in alarm when she wobbled for a second, but she caught herself and smiled again. "I'll see you later, Lloyd!" As I watched her totter off, I sighed. What a weird girl, I thought as I went to pick up my backpack off the ground. Hope I never see her again.

I didn't realize it then, but this summer would be the most eventful one of my whole entire life. All thanks to that girl, Colette Brunel.

Cont.