Woohoo, there's finally a Tales of Legendia category (the ticket system succeeded!)! And I have posted the first story in the category, and thereby have also postedboth the first pairing story and the first Senel x Chloe story. Why am I stating this? 'Cause it makes me feel special.

This fanfiction will follow Chloe's emotions (toward Senel, mostly) as the storyline of Tales of Legendia passes. I plan for it to contain at least ten chapters (I have their titles, but those will be revealed as the chapters come). This originally started as exploring Chloe's thoughts when Senel finds out she can't swim, but as I kept playing the game I found myself saying, "I want to write about what she's thinking here! And here!" And so... a multi-chapter fic it is! All chapters will be in the first-person, but the tense will change along with the style of the story (ie: description-focussed, dialogue-focussed, humourous, serious, etc...)

So, without further blabbing-about-stuff-no-one-cares-about, here is the first chapter:

Summary: "Can't swim, can't swim!" Oh God, please don't let him say anything…

Disclaimer: Remember how I didn't own Tales of Symphonia? Well, I also don't own Tales of Legendia or its characters.

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Chapter I: Can't Swim, Can't Swim!

"Despicable!" The words escaped my mouth in a hiss. There was confusion in the eyes of the boy that I stared at through narrowed eyes; genuine confusion, innocence. Still, I felt no regret.

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I suddenly sat upright, finding myself resting upon concrete flooring with my clothes pasted to my skin by water. On reflex, I shook my arm as dogs tend to do after being given a bath. Still, I was soaked. I opened my mouth and exhaled an exaggerated sigh, sinking my face into my arms folded over my knees. It didn't cross my mind as to where I was, or how I had gotten there. It didn't even cross my mind that I had just had a near-death experience. I was simply frustrated because I despised the feeling of being wet just as much as I despised water itself. If anyone were to ever ask me, 'Chloe, who is your greatest enemy?' I would reply, 'Water!' Sure, water is not a 'who', but it is my greatest enemy nonetheless.

"Are you awake? Chloe, are you all right?"

The sound of that voice caused my body to go stiff; I remembered what had occurred. Slowly, cautiously, I raised my head so that only my eyes peered out over my knees. He was staring at me. Senel. From where I sat he seemed to hold concern in his facial expressions, but that couldn't have been right. He must have been amused, watching me fail to stay above water. How did I end up on land, anyway? "Coolidge, what happened?" I murmured through my knees.

"You nearly drowned. Are you all right?" he repeated.

At last, I completely lifted my head and arranged my body into a more natural sitting position. "Yeah," I basically sighed out the word, "I'm fine."

Senel walked over to where I was seated and crouched down in front of me, eye-to-eye. "I didn't know that you can't swim," he remarked. There was no sense of mocking in his voice, but I still felt insulted by his words.

"So you figured that out?" I squeaked shyly. Within a second of uttering the question, I regretted it; of course he knew. How could he not have known? He was obviously the one that had lugged me out of waterway. Before giving Senel a chance to give some smart remark, I added, "Of course you did. How could you not have? I just didn't want anyone to find out..."

Senel stood up once again, and I suddenly felt very small next to him. I was talking to a marine about being unable to swim. How ironic—a marine! He must have been looking down on me in both a physical and mental way. "Why didn't you tell us that you can't sw—?"

"'Can't swim, can't swim!'" I suddenly blurted out, sending Senel aback. I placed one foot directly onto the ground, my boot's heel clanking against the concrete ground. With my hand over my leg, I pushed up to join Senel in standing. "Can you not say anything else! It's not like I'm proud of it! In fact, I'm really ashamed! So just... keep quiet, okay?"

He stared back at me, his left eyebrow raised slightly above his right. "Okay," his response came monotonously. The lack of expression in his voice simply furthered my frustration with the boy. I was not completely trustworthy of Senel as things had stood before this drowning incident; at that point, however, I had no choice but to leave him with my secret. So I bit my lower lip and didn't say another word. "Come on. We need to find Will, Norma and Moses." I nodded in agreement because I understood that we needed to find our companions, though at the same time I disliked how Senel simply dropped the subject of my... inability to swim. In silence, we began to walk along the dank pathway. My eyes were constantly looking forward. My fingers were closed around the end of my cape, wringing the water out of it until it was too dry to look like it belonged in the waterways. "You still look out of it, Chloe," Senel's voice interrupted my non-existent thoughts, "Are you sure you don't need more rest or something?" he asked.

"I am sure, Coolidge!" Again, my voice came out stronger than Senel would have expected. "Just because I am not a marine like you, does not mean that I am incapable of recovering from a swimming incident!" The marine himself stopped walking at once and locked his eyes on me. I immediately noticed how he had come to a halt by the obvious lack of footsteps, and so I stopped as well; but I didn't realize how he was staring. After a long period of silence and awkwardness, I gave into the subconscious feeling of someone leering and turned to face Senel. The sight of his intense aquamarine eyes caused my heart to give a single, overwhelming beat. Was it surprise, was it fear, was it longing that engulfed me? I dismissed all possibilities in that moment. "What do you want from me?" I asked almost helplessly; my tone was a low growl—a hopeless murmur.

The seriousness in his posture faded in an instant as he raised his arms in a shrug, "You're allowed to have flaws, Chloe."

I let out a loud huff in frustration and stomped my foot down; not in a childish manner, but simply as a means of expressing my exasperation. "I can't afford to have flaws," I said as though I were admitting something in regret. And in a way, I was. Senel hadn't the slightest clue as to what had occurred in my past; my parents' death, that man with the snake tattoo on his arm. He didn't know my intentions when I made the decision to become a knight. All that he had learned about me was that I could not swim. An immense secret of mine, sure, albeit it was never in the same league as the falling of the House of Valens; nothing was. I subconsciously felt his eyes boring into me again, hauling me out of my trance. "Please, Coolidge, keep this between us," I pleaded.

"I already told you!" his words came out forcefully; it almost felt as though they had physically pushed me back a step or two. I braced myself for another optimistic 'no one is perfect' lecture. "...Okay. I'll keep quiet." He spoke in a whisper, holding true to his promise to 'keep quiet' even then. He spoke as softly as someone trying to soothe a child, but he was not treating me as one. He was treating me as what I was: an adolescent girl whose adult mind and priorities were too unstable to be calmed with harsh and true words.

I cast my gaze down shamefully; disappointed in myself for making assumptions the way that I had. "O-oh..." I mumbled, probably inaudibly to Senel. "I... Tha—"

"Senny! C!"

The shriek of Norma's voice could cut through any conversation, despite how solid the discussion had been. Senel and I were enveloped in silence once more as our female companion sprinted up to us, the two males jogging behind her. "Were either of you harmed?" Will inquired the moment after he caught his breath.

Anxiousness washed over me like a wave; which was naturally something to be feared—by me, anyway. I stood still, only allowing my eyes to shift such that I could view Senel as he took the initiative to answer the question.

"...We're both fine."

I could breathe easily again. Senel was honourable enough to keep his word to me, and I had little doubt then that he would take his word back in the future. I hoped, as well, that he would never bring me harm or dishonour in any other way. "Maybe," I considered, "He isn't despicable after all."

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This is basically just an introduction into Chloe's attraction to Senel. Sure, it isn't much here, but she wasn't too fond of him at this point, if you recall. XD There's nothing particularly special about this first chapter, however that's how most of my first chapters are. I am still getting used to the characters' personalities and whatnot, so hopefully things shall improve as I go along. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Next chapter: Truths in Training