Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia does not belong to me.

The physical similarities between Mithos as a kid and Colette were very weird the first time I played through. I guess it has stuck with me this whole entire time. :p This has slight hints of AU (Lloyd's heritage) and Colette may seem slightly OOC, but really, what else does she have to think about all those nights she can't sleep? Counting the stars can get monotone.

ANGELS
"Do you believe there are angels among us?"

"Mr. Kratos," the Chosen says to him one day, "Do you believe in guardian angels?"

The mercenary falters for the briefest of moments as the blonde girl sits next to him by the fire. It shimmers in the night, illuminating the sleeping silhouettes of their companions. She doesn't say anything, just watches the flames and waits for his answer.

"I believe there may be someone watching over us when we need it the most," he offers at last. Colette giggles.

"Not like that, Mr. Kratos." She hesitates, trying to find the right words. "I mean... physical. Do you ever believe there are angels among us?"

Kratos raises one brow. "You are an angel, Chosen."

She sends him a look, somewhat exasperated. Kratos finds himself more and more surprised by the Chosen at night, when she doesn't sleep and counts the stars with him. He knows it gives one an opportunity to think beyond the normal human limits, all that time spent in the dark.

"That is not what I mean and you know it, Mr. Kratos." The girl is smiling but her eyes are not. Kratos thinks that the physical resemblance to Mithos in his youth is uncanny.

"Lucky figurines?" He offers, because Anna loved collecting those. She tended to hold them up to him, compare them, and laugh. Lloyd would just put them in his mouth and giggle.

"Mr. Kratos," she admonishes. The fire flickers. Somewhere, Noishe whines in his sleep and Genis groans.

"Chosen."

There is almost a stare-off as she examines him, still smiling. Finally, she drops her gaze and stares at her hands, clasped in her lap. A moment of silence passes.

"Sometimes," she whispers so low that no one but him would have heard her, "I can see your wings."

Kratos doesn't acknowledge her.

"It started in Triet," she continues, her voice nervous as she begins playing with the grass stalks circling the fire pit. "I started seeing them then. Not always, they flicker when you're angry. Or when you're fighting." She glances up. "When you're worried, too." Briefly, her eyes fall just beyond him. "They're blue, aren't they, Mr. Kratos?"

"Chosen," he begins, quiet, but she shakes her head.

"It's okay," she says, smiling at him, Colette Brunel once again and not ghosts of a corrupted Mithos Yggdrasill. "But, just so you know..." She bites her lip and turns her eyes away. He follows her gaze and stops at Lloyd. The boy shifts in his sleep, murmuring.

"Sometimes," she continues, repeating herself. "I can see his wings, too."

There is no answer, but Colette doesn't mind, because she didn't expect one.

"There stars are especially bright tonight," she says instead, and turns her eyes upwards to trace angels in the sky. The fire continues to crackle in the silence.