Namco owns all rights to Tales of Symphonia. I do not claim to own them. This work has been written without permission of any kind and is not intended for any form of profit whatsoever.

I guess it'd be kind of stupid to just launch into the story without any form of background information, so here goes. The plot takes place along the storyline of Sheena's ending in the game, to avoid any confusion with that. In addition, the timeframe for this is approximately three or four months after the game's conclusion. The exact time isn't really relevant, but that's the general idea of it.

This is my first venture into extended, multi-chapter stories in a great while, so I'm still kind of getting back into the game here. I'm going to try to update semi-frequently (probably twice a month at best…don't expect much more than that, and don't be surprised if it's more often something like once a month).

Editing Note: I have revised and updated this chapter slightly, partially due to some grammatical nuances that have been bugging me and also because some parts weren't written very well. Hopefully this'll hold up a little better.

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New Order

Chapter 1: Looking Back

"You know, staring at that fire all night can't be good for you."

Lloyd Irving turned to the sound of the voice. Late at night there wasn't usually much to do but stare at the fire, but he supposed he could tear his eyes away from it for a few moments. "Since when are you awake?"

Sheena Fujibayashi crawled out of a small tent a few yards away and sat up, shrugging. "I dunno. Couldn't sleep, I guess. I suppose I might as well take watch now, huh?"

Lloyd grinned ruefully. "What the heck are we even keeping watch for? All the Desians are gone now, remember?"

The assassin thought about that for a moment. It was true; they hadn't heard anything of the organization in quite a while. It seemed they, along with Cruxis, had been completely disbanded, save perhaps for Kratos and Yuan. But Kratos was floating on Derris-Kharlan right about now, and Yuan…well, no one knew where the hell he was. Looking back, Sheena now thought of how ridiculous it must have been to take all of these precautions. She even remembered Colette telling her once, "Be careful, you don't want to run into any bad people out there!" But then again, Colette worried about squirrels that she thought were climbing too high in the trees. In the end, she supposed it was just habitual.

"Well," Sheena finally replied, "remember that time that gang of looters snuck up on us?"

Lloyd grimaced. "Oh come on, we had the whole thing under control."

Sheena smiled and punched him playfully in the arm. "Sure, right up to the point where they stabbed you in the leg."

Lloyd's arm was smarting from the punch, though he hid it well enough. "Yeah, well, I took care of him right after that."

"You mean I took care of him. You were busy holding your leg."

"Oh whatever." Lloyd was grinning from ear to ear by now. "You know, sometimes I envy Genis. Being able to blast people with fireballs must be extremely satisfying."

Sheena thought for a moment. "…Like Zelos?"

"Don't remind me," Lloyd put in quickly. "Speaking of which, isn't that where we're headed?"

"Meltokio?" Sheena wasn't talking to anyone in particular. The circumstances behind their return to the upscale city weren't exactly along the lines of 'vacation time'. Truthfully, they were concerned about how people were coping with reunification. Some places, like Mizuho, were unfazed by the change, carrying on stoically as though nothing had happened. On the other hand some places like Altamira had been affected drastically. In Altamira's case, the resort had experienced a sudden upsurge in tourism from the newly-doubled population. Not really a bad thing by any means, but it had still been a chaotic experience for the first week or so. Regal hadn't been too thrilled about that, Sheena remembered. She smiled when she thought of him running around in blind panic for once, worrying about his company's quarterly expenditures or something of the sort. 'Normal' life was apparently taking a while to settle in again.

"Yeah," Lloyd replied absentmindedly. "D'you think we'll meet up with him there? You've gotta admit, it has been a while."

The assassin sighed, gazing up toward the stars. "No amount of time away from that pervert is long enough. If we go the whole visit without seeing him, let's just say I wouldn't be overly disappointed."

"Oh come on. He's not that bad."

Sheena snorted. "Easy for you to say. He hasn't peeked in on you showering or had his hand on—"

"All right, I get it," Lloyd interjected. "You know, we don't both need to be up. If you're going to take watch, then…"

"Come on Lloyd," Sheena pouted. "Don't you want to keep me company?"

Lloyd couldn't resist a request like that. "Well, all right," he replied. "If it's all right with you."

"You idiot; I just asked you for permission," Sheena laughed.

The two fell silent. After a while they drew closer, enjoying each other's presence until finally, Sheena fell asleep, leaning on Lloyd's shoulder.

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"Now the key to metalworking," Dirk was saying, "is, quite lit'rally, to strike while the iron is hot. Any hesitation and ye lose some precision. Questions on that, lad?"

Genis Sage shook his head. "No, I think I've got it." He reached for a hefty-looking sledgehammer. "This should do…"

The young half-elf had always intended to ask Lloyd to show him a few things about craftsmanship (his knowledge of the field extended only to cooking, if that even counted), but in the wake of his best friend's absence, he'd resolved to do the next-best thing: consult the master himself.

Compared to some others (say, Regal), Genis's life hadn't been greatly affected by reunification. In fact, Iselia itself hadn't changed at all. Granted, times were still a little strange and one wouldn't be surprised nowadays to find new travelers wandering through the quaint village, but they'd adjusted to that over time as well. Genis sometimes found himself wishing for maybe just a little change, even considering going away himself to the newly-rebuilt Palmacosta or maybe even Sybak to study, but something held him back every time. Perhaps it was the very nostalgia that he had tried to wish away; he didn't know. Not all of the memories were good, after all. The human ranch still stood (albeit deserted) in the forest by the village, though Dirk was currently making plans to have it demolished.

Presently Dirk was demonstrating how one might shape metal into a weapon such as an axe or sword. Genis had been quick to pick up the theoretical knowledge of the art; however, the actual 'doing' was not so easy. As Zelos had once put it, "Aside from magic and smarts, the kid's about as useful as clothes on Sheena."

"Wait lad, that may be a wee bit heavy…!" Dirk began.

Too late. Genis lost control of the hammer in mid-swing and it came rushing down off-course, striking the red-hot metal at an odd angle.

"Take cover, lad!" Dirk cried, ducking behind his kiln. Genis managed to dodge out of the way just as the burning mass flew up and over his head.

The half-elf looked up just in time to see the metal rod, still glowing red, flying toward Dirk's front door. It cleared the threshold unobstructed, and then there was a hiss as it landed somewhere outside, followed quickly by agitated barking.

"Ooh, that would be Noishe's water trough…" Dirk attested. "Good thing it didn't find those petunias I just put in…."

At that moment small footsteps became audible outside the house, and a moment later a tall white-haired woman with a staff walked in through the door.

Genis cleared his throat. "Oh, hey Raine."

Raine Sage looked around, a bit puzzled at seeing everyone ducking behind various objects. "Hello Genis…did I miss something?"

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"Sheena, I'm tired."

The two had set out again, this time choosing to forsake their Rheairds for the time being and travel on foot. After all, Meltokio wasn't too far away, and they figured they'd enjoy the change of pace. Up to a certain point, anyway.

The ninja turned and put her hands on her hips. "Come on Lloyd, we haven't even been walking for half a day yet." The statement sounded absurd, and she knew it, but by this time the two were used to traversing long distances with little or no rest. She remembered one time when the Rheairds had broken down and they had had to haul them to Sybak for repairs. Walking all the way from Altessa's had not been fun. Raine could have fixed them had she been there, but they weren't blessed with that sort of luxury.

"Besides," she continued, "I can see the city now. We're almost there. Do I have to say it…?"

Lloyd grinned lopsidedly. "I know, I know. 'Be a man!'" he exclaimed, mocking her voice.

"I don't sound like that," Sheena quipped, faking indignity. "You've got the pitch all wrong."

"Well, sorry I'm not a girl."

The two stared at each other for a moment and burst out laughing at the ridiculous statement.

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The two had walked in silence for a while. As they neared the city Lloyd remembered all the times they'd had to sneak into the place through the sewer. More than once they'd had fateful encounters in the place, one instance with Regal and the other with Vharley.

Vharley… The Exsphere broker was long dead by now, and so was Rodyle. Together the two had gathered up a massive number of Exspheres. Only recently had Lloyd and Sheena managed to find the huge store of them. Lloyd actually didn't think of those two anymore so much as Presea. Currently she was living with Altessa; in fact the two had just seen her right before the aforementioned Rheaird incident.

"Welcome to Meltokio."

"Huh?" Lloyd was snapped out of his thoughts by the guard's greeting. Looking up, he realized they were already at the threshold of the city's gates.

Sheena gave him a sharp jab with her elbow. "Thank you very much."

Without hesitation she threaded her fingers through his, firmly grasping his hand. She turned and smiled. "Come on Lloyd."

Lloyd eyed her. "Umm…Sheena? We look like a married couple like this."

The assassin grinned even wider. "Is that a bad thing?"

Lloyd smiled. "I guess I could live with it."

The two walked through the city gates together.