A/N First Symphonia fic! This has been tough to write, I just hope its not too AU and people arent too OOC. Please stick with it!

Disclaimer: I do not own ToS. If I did, Kratos would be playable in the second game... :(

Lloyd could feel his heart beat in his ears, his knees beginning to shake from fatigue. Springing backwards he managed to avoid the bolt of lightning that followed an attacking surge by his enemy.

His enemy? His father.

They had been fighting for what felt like forever in the small dank clearing in the forest. Evenly matched, Lloyd felt he had the measure of his opponent, and could anticipate most of his moves. However, as the fight progressed, Kratos seemed to land more of his attacks, and Lloyd began to falter.

After narrowly avoiding the lighting strike, Lloyd crouched and planted his left fist, sword in hand, on the floor. He glanced up through his drooping hair into the eyes of his father and gritted his teeth.

It's time to end this. Or I wont last much longer.

Taking a deep breath, Lloyd powered himself forward for one final attack. He noticed a small smirk appear on the face of Kratos, who prepared himself for the attack.

'Clarity of thought', that is what he always said to me. 'Clarity of thought'. Don't just swing your swords around.

Lloyd surged forward and locked Kratos in a quick combination of strikes, some clumsily blocked by the Seraph. Lloyd leapt into the air and readied himself to sweep down on Kratos. Sensing Lloyd's next move, Kratos swung upwards with his sword, sending Lloyd flying over his shoulder and crashing to the ground some 10 metres behind.

Lloyd landed badly and cursed for leaving himself wide open, his back aching slightly. However, he had no time to ponder, as he was forced to leap back to face a barrage of attacks from his former mentor. Lloyd's arms were swinging wildly, trying to block every advancement, before his defenses failed and he was forced stumbling backwards by Kratos's spinning attack, Light Spear.

Kratos didnt relent and moved to deal the final blow to Lloyd and end the fight. Lloyd had only one option, to plant both feet, cross his arms in front of him, and defend himself as he was taught so long ago at Triet ruins. The teenager closed his eyes as he braced himself for the attack which sliced across his arms and sent him hurtling into a tree outlining the edge of the clearing.

A searing pain shot through Lloyd's left hand and up his arm, into his shoulders. He bit his lip to avoid crying out and attempted to pick up his swords, although his injured arm failed to respond properly, so he let it hang limply at his side. Brushing his legs down with his right hand and picking up his sword, he readied himself for another onslaught from his father.

'Lloyd...' Kratos murmured from the other end of the clearing. The older man stood in silence for a few seconds, before letting his sword and shield clatter to the floor. He turned to face the stone slab behind him and held his arms out.

'Kratos!' Lloyd cried, trying to move towards his father, ignoring the pain in his arm, 'Kratos, don't do it!'

It was too late. Lloyd watched as the mana faded from his father into the stone slab before him. Kratos slumped but was caught by Yuan.

'He's alive. I gave him some of my mana.'

Lloyd couldn't sleep.

He lay on his back on that oh-so-familiar wooden floor back at his dad's house in Iselia, listening to the loud breaths of Genis and Zelos who were asleep around his room, Zelos tucked up like a baby in the bed Lloyd had grown up with. He should have been tired after the afternoon's events, but he couldn't shake the niggling feeling that was radiating from his left hand.

Raine had healed his injuries after the battle, Lloyd's shoulder felt right as rain, and nobody thought that the source of his problem came from further down his arm. However, the fight with Origin proceeded, and Lloyd managed as best he could, thanking the goddess that everytime he lost control of his left hand or dropped his sword, nobody noticed. But the tingling, sickening pain increased as the day progressed, weakening the strength of his fingers.

Lloyd sat up slowly in the dark, wincing slightly at the creak made by the floorboard he was lying on. Taking a deep breath, he decided to do what he should have done when he returned home. Squinting through the darkness, Lloyd removed the glove over his left hand, taking care not to cry out when a shooting pain up his arm into his shoulder startled him. He dropped the glove and stared at the back of his left hand. He confirmed what he had known from the moment Kratos's sword had struck his hand.

His key crest had been sliced off.

A thousand questions swam round Lloyd's head. Could he fix this himself? Was it the same as any other key crest?

Although he knew the answer was no; his dad, Dirk, had made this special key crest upon request by his mother. Anna had traveled with Kratos and met up with Dirk alone, providing him with the materials needed to make it. Did Kratos know? Nobody was sure. All that Lloyd is certain of is that Dirk never managed to deliver it to his mother, and gave it to Lloyd to use instead.

Too many questions. Not enough answers. Lloyd began to panic as he stared at his hand. His exphere looked so foreign to him without his key crest and his worry exacerbated the physical pain he felt through his fingers. In the panic, Lloyd stuffed his glove back over his fingers, trying to ignore it.

Calm, Lloyd...calm. You need to think about this carefully. It's no use getting yourself worked up.

As quietly as he could, Lloyd tip-toed over to the glass-less window leading to the balcony. Realising it would be quieter than trying to step over his sleeping friend to the door, he lifted himself out of the window and onto the wood outside. Stopping for a second, ensuring that he could hear no voices from the room downstairs, where Regal, Presea, Sheena, Collette, Raine and Dirk lay asleep, Lloyd lowered himself to the floor by Noishe's pen, dropping silently like he used to do as a child when he felt like running away.

Remaining crouched, he looked as thoroughly as he could around the front yard, fastening his swords around his waist in the process. Lloyd remembered Kratos saying that he wanted to be alone for a while, and him disappearing off to the woods. The teenager was just ensuring he hadnt returned.

Sat in front of his mother's grave, Lloyd began to think more clearly about the situation.

Am I overreacting? How different can an Angelus Exphere be? That is a silly question, I have always been told it is different, but how do I find out how to sort this? Can I tell the others? No way, Collette would freak. I'll go myself. I should be able to get away quietly enough with a Rhiehard. They won't notice I'm gone 'till the morning.

'Lloyd...'

Lloyd jumped at the sound behind him, and did not turn to the familiar voice as he heard footsteps bring the voice closer.

'You really should be resting.' Kratos said, voice as monotonous as always. He stood behind his son, folding his arms.

'I'm just not tired that's all.' Lloyd replied, turning his head over his shoulder and flashing a small, fake smile at Kratos. He absent mindedly forced both of his hands under his legs so he was sat on them. He didnt want Kratos to see his Exphere.

Silently, Kratos sat down alongside Lloyd and the two stared in silence at the stone in front of them. They had not talked properly since the fight earlier, although the events seemed too surreal in Lloyds mind for him to have any desire to do so. Kratos had other ideas, though.

'I was very proud of you today, Lloyd.' Kratos said, not taking his eyes off the gravestone, 'your strength has grown considerably and you have surpassed many of those you seek to destroy.'

'I still couldn't beat you, though.' Lloyd said, turning to his father. Sitting on his hand was not helping relieve his pain, and he fidgeted slightly, 'I overused the same manouver, and you spotted it in the end. I'm talking about Rising Falcon.' Lloyd finished, in response to the confused looks in Kratos's eyes.

'So that's what it was called...'

'Zelos named it.' Lloyd said defensively, 'I had been practising it, and Zelos said it needed a 'cool name'. So he suggested Rising Falcon.'

Lloyd saw a small twitch of a smile appear on his father's face, but the discomfort of his Exphere was causing him to shiver.

'S-Stupid, dumbass Ch-Chosen.' He mumbled, teeth chattering.

'Are you cold?' Kratos asked, 'You should have at least put a jacket on to come out here this time of night.'

'I'm okay,' Lloyd replied, 'I shouldn't have come out here in just a vest, I know. It's probably just that I'm tired.'

Kratos looked at him quizzically as Lloyd faked another smile, avoidining eye contact. With every moment, Lloyd was feeling more and more guilty about not telling his father what was really on his mind.

'It's time I went back upstairs...'

'Do you want me to sneak you in?'

'No, it's okay,' Lloyd replied, pulling himself to his feet. 'I can climb through the window. Where's Noishe?'

Lloyd whistled, but his 'dog' didnt' come. He headed round to the front of the house and whistled again to no avail. Kratos followed, placing a cold hand on the back of his neck and held up his hand to stop him from whistling.

'He's not a dog,' Kratos said quietly, 'so you can't call him like one. You have to whistle like this.'

Kratos let out a low rumbling noise that sounded like a whistle and a hum simultaneously, almost like the sound a bullfrog would make. Through the trees outside, the house, Noishe came bundling towards his two favourite people. Kratos petted him silently.

'Thinking about it, it was always strange that Noishe got on so well with you when we first met.' Lloyd mused. Kratos smiled as Lloyd led Noise over to near his pen, climbed up onto his back and clambered up to the balcony. It was more difficult than he had anticipated, but Lloyd managed to pull himself up.

'Are you sure everything is OK, Lloyd?' Kratos asked, noticing the difficultly his son had in climbing to the balcony, 'It's not like you to be up this late.'

'...Goodnight Kratos.' Lloyd said, with a brief nod. Kratos looked puzzled but shook off his confusion as he led Noishe back to his pen and entered the house through the front door, taking a seat on the floor in the corner of the room, folding his arms and closing his eyes.

Lloyd closed his eyes briefly when he had climbed through the window. Truth was, the fatigue was catching up with him, but he figured Kratos would be on his back if he did nothing until morning. It was time to go.

Glancing round the room, he confirmed both Genis and Zelos were sleeping soundly, Zelos was wrapped in Lloyd's duvet, clutching it with one hand, and sucking his other thumb. Trying to stiffle a laugh, Lloyd snuck over to a rucksack by the stairs and emptied it of everything that he didnt need. He then silently opened his draw and flung a white vest top and some brown combats into it. He pulled his red gloves off and chucked them on the floor, replacing them on his hands with some black ones. He took off his red boots, replacing them with some black ones, and pulled a black jacket on over his vest top. Leaving his trademark red outfit lying in a crumpled heap in the corner of the room, Lloyd fastened his swords around his waist, pulled the rucksack over his shoulder and climbed silently through the window.

Kratos always had trouble sleeping. It's not that it was completely impossible, but it took optimum conditions for him to drop off, and when he did, he would be haunted by nightmares. So Kratos was more content to just sit and rest his eyes, it seemed to do the job of renewing his strength, along with the further advantage of being able to keep his wits about him if he was in a dangerous situation, a skill he perfected when he was traveling with Lloyd and Anna.

Lloyd landed with a thud outside Noishe's pen, his swords rattling slightly. Cursing, he bolted off towards the darkness of the woods, crouching in the shadows. The sound alerted Kratos, but he saw nothing when he looked out of the window, and returned to rest in the corner of the room. When he was sure the coast was clear, Lloyd sped off in the direction of the Rhieards, unsure where he was going to go when he managed to comandeer one.

A/N Please review, it will make my day! And I'm sorry that it doesn't follow the game too well, and my Exphere/Key Crest mechanics may be off, but I have written them for the purpose of the story!