Disclaimer: I do not own Namco, Tales of Symphonia, Zelos, Sheena, or "Ice and Snow" and probably never will.
A/N: Yep, another Sheelos fanfic! I'm dedicating this to the wonderful and such grateful people of the Sheelos Lover of Fanfiction! You guys are awesome! I thank those who review Violets and Roses because those reviews got me into writing Sheelos fanfics again! I got the idea of this title and inspiration from D.N. Angel, Rose-Wisteria's wonderful fanfics, and a few other animes as well! Well, hope you guys like this one!
Part 1: Ice and Snow
The red-haired Chosen pulled off his thick gloves, cupped his numb hands and breathed heavily into them. He rubbed his freezing fingers together and breathed over them constantly. His scarf was surely not helping and his gloves were useless against Flanoir's harsh winters. Piling snow rested on the concealed ground, which froze the Chosen's feet. He tried not to stare at the snow, something that gave him a bad memory of the past. He breathed once again which helped him recover from his moment of extreme chill, put on his gloves, and walked to a nearby food stand.
When he reached the stand, the little boy who managed it gave the Chosen a little smile. The redhead tried to smile back, but his face was nearly frozen and he found it difficult to grin.
"Good day to you, Chosen," the little boy said behind the fabric of his scarf.
"G- good day to you, too…" Zelos stuttered and then shivered slightly. "I'll need some beef strips, carrot, and onions…" The boy smiled again and nodded. He placed each item in a plastic bag and handed it over to Zelos.
"Here you go! For free. Take care; don't catch cold!" the kind child said thoughtfully.
"T- thanks…" the Chosen said and tried to smile once more, but failed to do so. He then silently walked off through the falling snow and biting cold to the inn where he could make some warm soup. The thought of steaming food almost made his mouth water and made his freezing legs move quicker. However, a thought struck him as he reached the inn and grabbed for the doorknob. That little boy… he actually has to work in this weather? He turned the knob and pushed the door open.
Inside, lots of people were huddling for warmth, talking with friends, or eating something warm. The fresh aroma of stew reached Zelos and he couldn't help but smirk. And then, his eyes were fixed on the lovely lady behind the counter. She looked at him and smiled.
"Hello, what can I do for you, Chosen?" she said sweetly. The Chosen grinned, took off his gloves once again, and ran his hand through his flame-like hair. This was his chance to be the old Zelos again.
"Hello there, my, you're beautiful," he flirted, trying to do one of his handsome poses. The lady flushed and laughed.
"My, um… thank you…" the lass said and then bent down to get a hold of something. She took out what seemed like a bottle of milk. "Here you go. I know it's not much, but it's warm." Zelos nodded as a sign of gratitude and accepted the bottle of milk.
"Thank you, beautiful…" he said and waited for her reaction. The lady blushed even harder and chuckled. Then, a voice burst out from behind him, a voice he knew very well.
"Out of all the places there are, why did I have to end up in the same inn as the stupid Chosen!" Zelos spun around and then grinned proudly as he saw the owner of the voice.
"Well, well, if it isn't my voluptuous hunny?" he teased and waited for the usual crude remark his old Sheena would always make.
"Don't call me that!" she shouted, but settled down as she saw people around her look up.
"It's so like fate to have us together in this inn, don't you think?" he teased once again. He seemed to enjoy Sheena getting furious at him, since he missed it so much…
"The only fate you have is to be pummeled by me…" Sheena smirked.
"Ouch… now that really hurt…" he said and squinted one eye.
"Oh, you'll know pain alright when my hand makes contact with your face," she shot back.
Zelos kept on smiling at her tough reactions and shrugged. "Well, what are you doing here anyways?"
"Probably the same reason as you," Sheena said, staring dully at the Chosen. "So, why are you here?"
"Ah, just wanted to get away from the cold and eat something warm," he simply said. Then, Sheena sighed.
"Zelos, you do realize that you can hardly cook anything, right?" she reminded him.
"Well, who said I was going to cook it?" he asked, merely teasing her.
"Who else will? Sebastian's not here." The assassin was fully confident with what she had said.
Sheesh… My hunny's sharp, Zelos thought. "Hmm… my, that's very smart of you, my violent banshee!" Sheena fumed after hearing him use another one of his pet names for her.
"Ugh! I've had enough of this! I'm leaving!" And true to her words, the assassin walked out the door and slammed it behind her. The flirt was surprised at her reaction and decided to run after her. He burst out the door and observed his surroundings. The assassin was nowhere to be seen.
"Sheena?" he called and then sighed when he received no answer. He frowned. Now, where could she have went? He walked slowly toward the entrance off Flanoir and gazed up. It looked us if white fluff fell from the heavens. Well, at least it's white… His blue eyes closed and he felt wetness on his cheeks. Yeah… white… pure white snow… He opened his eyes and held out his bare hands and cupped a few snowflakes. They almost melted in his hand instantly and his hands started to fill with tiny puddles of water. He then let the liquid seep through his fingers and watched it become frozen once again. Zelos shook his head to clear his mind and headed out of Flanoir.
The stupid Chosen actually didn't know why he was walking in the bare snowy plains around Flanoir. Was he looking for Sheena? Or did he just have nothing to do? Actually, he thought the reasons were both.
The snow seemed to fall heavier and heavier while the fallen snow dragged and seemed to pull at his legs. It was even more frigid outside of Flanoir. However, now, Zelos seemed to ignore the extreme weather and just walked straight on ahead. Suddenly, he heard a yelp of pain not far off. He gasped and ran as fast as he could toward where he heard the voice. The Chosen kept on running until he saw a glimpse of a figure sitting on the ground and nearly tripped.
"Be careful. It's slippery," the person cautioned a little too late.
"Well, you could have said that earlier, voluptuous hunny," Zelos said after he recovered. Sheena pouted and Zelos looked downward. "Wow… this is ice… No wonder you fell. You can be such a klutz sometimes…"
"I'm not a klutz! I just let my guard down and kinda… slipped," she protested, not allowing her weakness to show.
"Well, no fear! The Great Zelos is here!" the Chosen said arrogantly. "I'll save you!"
"Oh really? I bet you can hardly save an ant," she remarked. Suddenly, a burst of chilling wind blew violently at them. Snow started to fall rapidly.
"Aw, crap! A snowstorm?" Zelos cursed under his breath and faced Sheena. "Are you hurt?"
"No! Of course not!" she quickly replied and slowly stood up.
"I seriously doubt you can walk miles in this snowstorm after you've fallen like that," he remarked.
"I'm alright! I'm not bleeding or anything!" she yelled and wiped off the snow on her legs. "Forget you!" She marched past him and toward the way he had come.
"You know, just telling you, but we're much closer to the Temple of Ice than Flanoir. Just sharing a piece of my wisdom with you," the Chosen teased, "See you!" He walked off toward the other direction and left Sheena by herself.
"Why you stupid Chosen!" Sheena cried and stomped after him.
"Ah… Temple of Ice… How much I miss my hot beauty, Celsius," he smiled. The wind whipped his crimson hair into his eyes.
"You know, this is no time to be recalling memories, we need to find shelter before this storm gets worse!" Sheena reminded him, partially exhausted from her hike against the heavy snow.
"I know, I know… just lookin'." The Chosen turned around and pointed at an empty cave nearby. "Guess we'll just stay there for now." So the twosome planned to stay in the cave until the storm settled. Sheena stared outside while Zelos tried to light a fire with the few materials they had.
"Ha! The brilliant and beautiful Zelos has done it again!" the idiot bragged to himself. "The Great Zelos has lit a fire!"
"Wow… " Sheena replied sarcastically, "Now can the fire warm both of us or only you… I think the latter…"
"Well, of course only me! Unless, you want to- "
"In your dreams, pervert!" the assassin broke off.
"Now, now, Sheena. That wasn't very nice…" Zelos mocked playfully and looked out toward her.
"Shut… up…" she muttered.
"Sheena!"
"I said… shut… up…" With that, Zelos became silent and stared at the fire he made. Oh, how wonderful Zelos. You just made her officially pissed at you…What else can you ruin? He thought sourly to himself and ran a hand through his now battered hair. Oh man… I forgot my gloves at the inn, too… He sighed and then there was complete silence. However, that silence was broken shortly when Sheena gasped.
"It's gone!" she cried, foraging through her clothes. "It's gone! Corrine's bell is gone!"
Corrine's bell…? Oh, yeah, that was the bell that furry Summon Spirit gave her…, Zelos thought.
"Man, I must have lost it when I fell!" the assassin confessed and started to run toward the opening of the cave, but a hard grasp on her shoulder stopped her. "What is it!"
"I'll go, you stay," he said in a serious tone that was so unlike him. Sheena placed her hand on his and tried to pry it off. If it hadn't been her struggle to get his hand off her, Zelos would have enjoyed her warm touch on his skin.
"Get off me! I'll go by myself!" She rejected his offer.
"No, you stay," he simply said and walked past her without another word.
"Zelos! Wa- !" Sheena started, but it was too late. The Chosen had already left and was nowhere to be seen. "Zelos!" Her call echoed far off into the distance.
Damn…this storm's worse off than I thought… , Zelos admitted to himself bitterly. How am I supposed to find that bell? I don't even remember where she fell! Everything's white, everything looks the same… The Chosen's feet dug in the deep snow that came up almost to his knees. Wind tore at his face and hair; it was a great surprise his headband hadn't fallen off. He crossed his arms, trying to keep out the cold that pursued to numb him completely. Piles of snow caught onto his hair and weighed him down even more, but he didn't give up.
The Chosen kept on walking and looking straight on ahead, instead of staring down at the snow. Wonder what Sheena's doing right now… Hating me to pieces…? Probably… His head drooped at the thought, but suddenly turned away from the gaze of snow. Ugh… snow! Snow! Snow! It's seriously everywhere! Where am I supposed to find a bell in a snowstorm? He observed his surroundings as if anything around him could have helped him in searching for such a small object. He then sighed as he found nothing at all and continued walking. All of a sudden, his foot made contact with something solid, lost its stability, and Zelos fell.
Sheena sat, with her head on top of her knees in front of the fire. It was actually really warm and the assassin regretted how spiteful she had been to Zelos earlier. He's looking for Corrine's bell, which is probably in the middle of nowhere by now, after what I've said to him? He would never do that… He's not that nice… I bet he'll just come back after a while and say that he couldn't find it… Corrine, I'm sorry… Her head sagged even lower. She wrapped her arms around her legs and tried to feel the warmness of the fire. Her fingers weren't numb anymore and the fire had warmed most of her body. I wonder what Zelos is doing right now… probably giving up and heading back… She held out her hands and stared at them. He's probably freezing by now… and I'm… I'm all nice and warm next to this fire… Her hands formed fists. Why am I thinking about him so much? Ugh… I can't believe myself! Sheena stared into the fire and frowned. Its fiery red color reminded her of who was most likely to be frozen stiff already. She put her hands down and stood up. That's it! I'm leaving!
Zelos lifted his face off the frigid surface on which he fell on and shook his head. What the? Oh, I slipped on ice… wonderful… just great…, the Chosen thought unpleasantly. Then, he saw a shiny object in the distance. It- It's the bell! He ran desperately toward it and completely forgot about the fragile surface he was on, which was a bad choice. Without knowing it, his foot made contact with a thin layer of ice and it broke; and that was all it needed to break a large area of ice.
At first, Zelos couldn't feel anything. As he fell into the frigid waters underneath, the biting cold completely numbed him. Water poured into his lungs and bubbles formed everywhere. He didn't know what to do. Panic consumed his mind and he tried to reach for the surface, but couldn't. Then, a glitter caught his eye. The bell drifted peacefully nearby. Without thinking, he immediately went after the bell and groped for it. Using nearly all the strength he had left, he finally grasped the bell in his hand, only to realize that he was running dangerously low on oxygen. He headed for the surface, but his vision was blurred and he thought he was truly going to die.
Then, suddenly, like a miracle, a hand thrust down into the water. Immediately, Zelos reached for it and held onto it for dear life. The hand pulled him up until he reached the surface. The young man gasped for air and shivered terribly. With the help of his savior, he climbed up onto the icy surface with strength he forced out of himself. Zelos didn't need to see who his savior was for she spoke on her own.
"Zelos! Zelos, can you hear me?" she shouted worriedly. The Chosen laid against the ice, coughing up large amounts of water and breathed in short gulps of air. He closed his eyes and shook uncontrollably. "Zelos!" she called. With a last effort, Zelos handed the bell to Sheena and she gasped. The assassin took the bell and gaped at him. "You- you got it?" He smiled weakly at her.
"Anything for Sheena…" he whispered and then fell unconscious against her chest.
"Zelos!" Sheena shouted, this time not of anger, but deep concern. "You can't!" She hugged him closer to her. "No, you can't… you can't leave me here…" His damp body drenched her clothes, but she didn't care. "Zelos…" She felt the delicate edges of the bell he had retrieved for her. Then, a faint light appeared from behind her. Sheena spun around and gasped at what she saw.
"It's been a long time, Sheena… a very long time… have you forgotten me?" the creature that had appeared asked. The summoner gave a slight shake of her head and could hardly move from shock. The fox-like creature's many colorful tails swayed in the cold wind. Its colorful body was unforgettable.
"Co- Corrine!" Sheena stammered.
"Not Corrine, Verius," the Summon Spirit corrected.
"Wh- Why are you here?"
"I am here because I am the Summon Spirit of the Heart. Have you forgotten? Your heart, Sheena. The heart that gave me a life," it said in an ancient tone. Verius looked at the quivering man in Sheena's arms. "He will die if he is not kept warm…" Sheena bit her lip and looked sadly at the freezing Chosen resting on her chest. "You must quickly return to the Temple of Ice, where you were staying before. I will escort you there…" It stretched out so its back was nearly level with the ground. Sheena carried the young man and placed him gently on top of Verius.
"Thank you, Verius…"
Zelos slowly opened his eyes and waited for the blurriness to fade away. He realized that he was lying on his bare back. The Chosen gradually sat up and examined his surroundings. It was the cave he and Sheena had stayed in! He then searched for a certain someone.
"I'm right here… just don't stare at me…" a voice said, and Zelos spun around. If any other normal and decent man had seen Sheena then, he would have blushed immediately and turned away. Unfortunately, Zelos wasn't a very "normal" or "decent" man. His reaction was an annoying grin.
"Wow, hunny. You sure are beautiful," he teased, amusing himself. There she was, huddled in a corner wearing nothing except for her undergarments and the regular bandages wrapped around her chest. The summoner flushed and stared down at the ground, trying to avoid the pervert's gaze.
"Whatever… Verius is outside… it was the one who saved you… show some respect…" Sheena mumbled, completely embarrassed at her lack of clothing and seeing Zelos in his bare chest. Surprisingly, Zelos did as she said without protesting. As he walked out, the Summon Spirit eyed the Chosen curiously, but Zelos completely ignored it.
"Hey, thanks. You know, for saving my life and all," he said simply.
"Do not thank me… Thank Sheena… Because of her, I was able to save you…" Verius said, with its unique tone of voice. Even though Zelos was clearly baffled off what it had said, he decided not go against it.
"What do you mean 'thank me'?" Sheena asked and walked up from behind. "What did I do?"
"It was your heart that summoned me…" the Summon Spirit explained, "It was your pure heart and your desire to save him that allowed me to appear. You were the key…" Sheena felt warm on her cheeks, but quickly shook those thoughts away.
"Anyways, thanks a lot. We would have never made it if it wasn't for you…" Sheena said and bowed.
"Farewell, Sheena… Remember, for I will always be with you in your heart…" And with that, in a flash of light, Verius was gone.
"Verius…" Sheena sighed, clutching the bell in her hand.
"You do realize that it's cold out here. Um… wanna go back into the cave?" Zelos said, stating the obvious. Without answering, Sheena headed back, leaving the idiot by himself. "Hey! Show some concern!"
"About what?" Sheena asked, looking queerly at him.
"About me of course!" he protested and the assassin shook her head.
"Stupid Chosen…" As Zelos saw Sheena's depressed face, he calmed down.
"What's wrong? You're not like yourself…" he said suddenly, acting so unlike himself. Sheena shook her head and sat with her head over her knees again. "C'mon! Tell me…"
"A moron like you would never understand…" she replied dryly. That comment stabbed Zelos like a thousand knives. "Why? Why did you get the bell if you knew you could die?" She asked this without looking up, just staring into the fire.
"Hmm? Well, you were mad with me and I guess I wanted you to feel better. Gah! I don't really know! I just do what I feel like doing!" he admitted care-freely. He grinned, but received no smile back. He leaned against the cold wall. "Alright, I'll spill it. I thought that the bell was really important to you and I wanted to see you smile again. That's really all…"
"For the risk of losing your life in the process?" the young lass asked, not believing what was coming out of the Chosen's mouth.
"Yeah… what's wrong? You don't believe me, my violent banshee?"
"Ugh, I can't take this anymore!" She hid her face with her arms. "You're talking to me so cheerfully! What's wrong with you?" The young man frowned.
"I don't know… What's wrong with me? Why am I always like this?" the Chosen asked himself as if he was talking to a mirror image. "Why do I always make the people around me unhappy?" Sheena kept silent and didn't even look up. "Ah… Even Sheena hates me now. What type of monster am I?" Then, he looked toward the opening of the cave and stared right at the snow. "Snow… red snow… No matter how hard I try, I can never see the snow as pure white again… Strange how memories can still be remembered after so many years…"
There was complete silence. Only the flickering of the flames between them could have been heard. There was absolute complete silence.
"Have you ever heard of the story, 'Ice and Snow'?" Sheena quietly asked, breaking the ice. Zelos looked baffled for a moment, but answered her question quickly for he knew the assassin wasn't in a good mood.
"Yea… my mother used to tell me that story," he replied, "It's that story about that rich guy and this poor village girl who loved each other."
"Yea… but do you get it?" she asked quietly, still concealing her face.
"Kinda… what do you mean by that?" the Chosen asked, puzzled by her questions.
"I mean… do you really get the deep meaning in that story?" Sheena sighed. "Never mind. I stupid to think you could ever understand such a deep story like that…"
"Well, the title is 'Ice and Snow'. I mean, snow resembles purity and ice could mean… well, death…" the young man explained. "Hmm… let me see if I can remember what my mother told me…"
"Uh, this rich guy named Elliot and this village girl named Freedert fell in love even though their backgrounds were very different. However, they were separated by war. The guy had to go to war and every day, the girl would pray for his safe return. Her prayers failed though… because her boyfriend died… But she made a final wish at the church and said, 'Please, take the remaining time I have and give it to Elliot!' Her boyfriend awoke from death and found out what Freedert had done. He then said, 'Please, give her all the remaining time I have!' The gods were so motivated by their actions of love together that they blessed their village with 'Eternal Time'… and continue to protect them…"
"Well, that's all my mother told me," the Chosen said, sighing. "I just think it's basically some crummy love story… nothing special…"
"Do you believe that ice could mean death?" Sheena said, stressing at the word 'death'.
"Not really," Zelos said simply. "I think it means beauty."
"Then, what if the title 'Ice and Snow' meant beauty, purity, and death? What if this story was telling us more than just what's written? What if it has some deep meaning to it?"
"Gah, Sheena!" Zelos groaned, "Why are we even thinking about this story anyway? It's just a dumb love story somebody wrote to amuse people…"
"But to love someone so much… she would even give her life to him even though she knew she would never see him again… how lucky she is to love someone so much… and have that love returned at the same time…" Sheena whispered as if repeating what someone else had told her. "She wanted him to live… even though she knew she wouldn't be able to stay by his side…"
"Sheena…" the Chosen said, eying her closely. "What's bothering you?"
"Zelos… can you ever really love someone like that? And are you able to return love after it's been given?" she asked in a shaky voice. The young man thought for a while with his eyes closed, deep in thought.
"I've… never really thought about that before. I guess I really don't know," he replied, but went on. "However, as selfish as I am, I really don't think I could love someone like that. The cruel truth is that I wouldn't sacrifice my life for someone I loved. Heh… not the answer you were looking for, isn't it?" He turned and seeing that Sheena was not a bit amused, he continued to stare at her. Then, something caught his eye. "Sheena! Your- your ankle!"
Surprised, Sheena peeked at her ankle and found it bruised. She had ignored it, but since Zelos brought it up, she felt pain again. "It doesn't really matter… It doesn't hurt…" she sighed.
"Sheena…" the Chosen sighed. He crouched next to her and examined it carefully. His hand cupped her ankle and as he his fingers groped near the back, Sheena cried a yelp of pain. Now realizing where it hurt, Zelos pulled his headband off and wrapped it around the summoner's ankle. "Does that feel better?" He stared inquisitively up at her.
"Thank… you…" she mumbled and turned away.
Sheena…, Zelos thought and leaned against the hard wall, enveloped in silence once again. Here we go again… more stillness…Then, Sheena spoke up.
"Thank you… for getting Corrine's bell back for me…" she murmured. "Even though you acted like an idiot back there… saying your 'everything for you, Sheena' thing. If it weren't for Verius, you would've died. You're- "
"But…" Zelos interrupted. "If you weren't there in the first place, I would have never gotten out of the water. It was because of you I didn't drown in that horrible icy nightmare." At the thought, he shivered a bit. "How odd… for a second, I forgot it was snowing…" He stared at the fire as it crackled and suddenly, a thought struck him. "Are you hungry?"
"Not really…" Sheena muttered. Zelos frowned at her reply, but attempted to cook anyway. He took out the food he had bought this morning (which managed to stay dry in his clothes somehow…) and set them in front of him. For a moment, he studied the milk, beef strips, carrots, and onions, and thought about what he should cook. Maybe some type of warm soup? Yeah, that could be nice… He grinned instantly and began preparing his great idea.
"Want some hot cream soup, hunny?" Zelos said, smirking at the soup he had made.
"No thanks," Sheena replied glumly, not even caring that he had used her pet name.
"Oh, Sheena!" he sighed and stared down at his soup. "Are you sure you don't want any?" The summoner slowly nodded. "Well, suit yourself." He took a large sip from the stone bowl (that simply appeared out of nowhere) and licked his lips. The soup was actually quite tasty, which was a surprise even to him. In the corner of his eye, he saw Sheena stare at him. "What? Do you want some?"
"Oh fine…" she sighed and came closer to the fire. Zelos handed her the bowl and Sheena sipped. Afterwards, she smiled a bit and Zelos grinned. "It's actually pretty good. That's a surprise."
"Ow, that hurts!" the flirt commented and Sheena chuckled a little.
"It warms me…" she said soothingly. "It really feels good…" She took another gulp of soup. "Thanks…"
"No prob!" he said with a big grin. "Just happy that I could cheer you up a little." Sheena smiled and handed him the bowl.
"Here, want some?" she asked.
"Nah, it's okay… I can live," he answered and leaned back lazily. After a mere few seconds, Sheena had gulped down the last drop of soup. "Man, you sure drink fast."
"Well, of course," she replied, wiping her mouth. "Anyways, when do you think this snowstorm's going to end?"
"Dunno…" he answered. "Probably not soon. The winds haven't even died down a bit."
"Ugh, just great! Now how did this all start?" she asked herself and laid her back against the wall. "Let's see, first, you got me angry so I left Flanoir. Then, I tripped and hurt my ankle and we got stuck in this storm. After that, I realized that I lost Corrine's bell and you went to find it. I saved you from drowning and now we're stuck here in this cave again…" She sighed and suddenly looked very gloomy. "I'm sorry, I'm acting selfish. It's just that I'm… well…"
"Mad?" Zelos finished for her.
"Well, yeah," Sheena replied. She set down the bowl and stared at the vividness of the flames. This was yet another awkward silence. What was this? The hundredth one they've had?
"Ya know, 'Ice and Snow' wasn't its real title," Zelos said, breaking the silence.
"What do you mean by real title?" Sheena asked suddenly curious.
"Its real title was… 'Ice and Dark'…" he explained. "But many people are too scared too scared to admit that to themselves…"
"And where did you learn this?" the summoner questioned.
"It actually wasn't that long after my mother had died," Zelos said. "I was heart-broken from that loss and I decided to go to the library in the castle to read a good book. You know, to cheer me up a bit, but I didn't find anything. However, when I was about to leave, a little girl rushed out and dropped a book along the way. I called after her, but she was too far away. So, I decided to read the book instead since I had nothing better to do."
"Did you ever see that girl again?" Sheena asked.
"No," he replied simply.
"Then how did you ever give the book back to her?"
"I didn't. It's still in my room," Zelos admitted. "I'm serious. I never saw her again."
"What did she look like?" the summoner probed.
"I don't remember. All I remember was that she had a pink ribbon tied into her hair," he said. "That's it." Another strange moment of silence occurred.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm… tired…" Sheena confessed and yawned. The pervert immediately grinned.
"You can sleep on me!" he offered. Sheena hit him hard in the back.
"You wish!" she shouted.
"Come on, I was just joking!" he said. "Seriously!" He leaned back and watched the fire as Sheena had done before. "Okay… I'll keep quiet…" Once again, another moment of silence. (Wow, there's a lot of silence…) Zelos observed the fire as if he was examining a new species. He pulled back his crimson hair and watched the flames crackle intently. The movement of the flames reminded him of his blazing red hair. Its color reminded him of his passion and hatred deep in his heart.
Sheena looked toward the entrance of the cave. She saw the snow pile up in the corners as if it was trying to build a wall to conceal them. She stared dazedly at the beautiful white snow that filled the sky outside. It's so… lovely… I never I'd think that, Sheena thought. Zelos was right… The snow's actually really beautiful… I've never thought of it that way…All of a sudden, she felt drowsy. Her eyes were tempted to close, but she tried to keep awake as hard as possible.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long until Zelos felt a weight on his shoulder. He craned his neck and saw no other than his beloved Sheena leaning silently. He smiled, not a sly smile, but a kind and caring smile. Sheena… you're even prettier than the snow…, he thought and brushed her hair out of her eyes. It was even quieter now since Sheena had fallen asleep. Then, he chuckled lightly. So much for not sleeping on me, eh? Actually, Zelos felt pretty lethargic himself, but he knew that the summoner would kill him if she awoke to know that they had slept together.
So to keep himself awake, he decided to concentrate on something. He was too tired of staring at the fire since he had done that ever since they came to the cave, so he observed Sheena instead. He ran his fingers through her raven black hair and caught the scent of roses. Rose-scented shampoo? Zelos sniffed some more and found the smell pleasant. Roses were his favorite flowers after all.
Suddenly, his finger got stuck in a knot in her hair. He held his breath as Sheena tossed a bit and groaned. Once she settled again, he let out a sigh. That was close… Zelos carefully freed his finger without pulling at her hair. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. Well sure she did toss a bit, but still, a placid look was on her face. Zelos reached out and felt the smooth surface of her face. However, then she twitched slightly.
Her tranquil face stiffened and she mumbled something quietly to herself. Zelos noticed this change immediately. She leaned closer to him and her hand groped toward his bare chest.
"No… I didn't mean to… please…" the summoner murmured in her sleep. Zelos grasped her hand and gasped at how cold it was. "Please… forgive… me…" He knew that she was freezing and decided to act. Carefully, he set her head against the cave wall and placed her hand in her lap. Quietly, he walked over to where his clothes were and checked to see if his jacket was still wet. Just a little… I'm sure it'll dry up soon next to the fire…, he thought and brought the jacket back.
Zelos laid the jacket over Sheena like a blanket. She seemed comforted by this because her body became more relaxed. Zelos felt her temple and grimaced at how hot it felt. Oh man, is she sick? He hugged her close to him. She is getting pretty warm… I think she's running a fever…
"Corrine…" the summoner mumbled. Zelos nearly slapped himself. Is that what's been bothering her this whole time?, he thought. She's been thinking of what happened with Volt? Of course, you idiot! He insulted himself, for once.
"It's okay, Sheena… Corrine forgives you…" Zelos said softly.
"Why..?" Sheena whispered. The Chosen tried to think of an intelligent answer for her question.
"Well… because you're alive… and that's all that matters," he replied, quite satisfied with himself. Sheena tossed a bit in his arms.
"But why…?" she said lazily.
"Because your life is very valuable… and if you died, many people would be very sad," he coaxed. After that, Sheena didn't mumble anything else and Zelos felt as if he had become victorious in talking to the summoner in her sleep. Little did he know that Sheena was still trapped in her eternal nightmare…
A/N: Okay! This is supposed to be a three-part story. This is Part 1 so far and I hope it wasn't that bad. I should be starting on Part 2 after a review or so. I'm sorry that Sheena is a bit out of character. I guess she's just really mad at Zelos. Anyways, please review and I'll really appreciate it!