Can it be…? Is this real…? Yes, indeed it is! I've finally written another Tales of Symphonia story! A one-shot Sheelos nonetheless! XD Honestly though, even though ToS is the category I read the most stories for, I keep getting ideas for other games, manga and anime entirely. Ah well, at least I finally thought of something, no?
This story by the way does contain song lyrics. I know I'm just asking for this story to get deleted, but I just couldn't get it out of my mind until I wrote it down, typed it up and posted it! It contains both the Japanese opening theme to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles "Kaze no ne" and the English version "Morning Sky", though it's not exactly a song fic. The songs are actually part of the plot.
Well here goes nothing!
She wouldn't say she was bored; certainly not like a certain someone she knew who would complain about being bored often (and rather quickly). However there wasn't much fun in standing around either. Ever since becoming the emissary between Slyvarant and Tethe'alla, Sheena found herself standing outside the throne room in the Meltokio palace often. She never knew how long she would have to wait before discussing any developments concerning the reunification of the worlds.
Even though she wasn't bored per se, her thoughts drifted a bit, as there was little else to do. Recently Sheena heard a young girl sing an old Mizuhoan song, one she hadn't heard in a while. While old, it was unlike more traditional folk songs as it apparently has some "outside" influence. There was a time when Mizuho wasn't forced to hide from the rest of Tethe'alla, so it's not unlikely.
Semi-conscious of the fact of the fact that no one in the room was close enough to hear her, the ninja found herself quietly singing it aloud.
Kirameku hoshizora wa yume no
Ma ni ma ni
Tadayotteru watashi e to
Katarikakeru
As she began the atypical Mizuho song, the doors to the throne room opened. Far away and immersed enough into the song to not notice, not exactly a good thing for a ninja to do, she would've seen a certain red-haired, head banded and pink-wearing individual walk out. He too had been visiting the castle more often as there was still much to do with the Church of Martel before he could finally be rid of the title of Chosen.
Seeing the ninja right away, Zelos was about to call out to her when he heard the song she was singing. Quiet as the song was, it did not escape his angelic hearing.
Sazameku kaze no ne wa tobira no hiraku ne
Ima hajimaru monogatari no hiraku ne
Habataku teriyaki mo hi o abi tonde yuku
Saa, tabidatsu toki ga kita
Mayowazu ni yuke
Daijoubu--to asayake no sora wa itta
Yurameku kokoro no oku ni
Kakurete wa mieru
Afureru omoide o kakarete"
While not the first time he heard her sing, it wasn't something she did all that often. That wasn't why he was watching her though. She was a good singer yes, but there was something about the song itself…something he couldn't quite put hi finger on. It almost sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember hearing it before.
"Furikaeru na--asayake no sora wa itta
Hatenaki yama no mukou ni
Kakurete wa mieru
Kasuka na hikari made aruite
Hatenaki sora no mukou ni
Kakurete wa mieru
Tashika na miraizu o motomete"
Once finished singing, Sheena immediately became aware of two cerulean eyes staring at her. As she turned to face Zelos, he gave a slight start. He quickly regained his composure, but Sheena didn't notice; she was too busy blushing and thinking if she should run out. He was the last person she wanted to explain to as to why she was so absorbed in a song. She couldn't of course, so she opted to walk past the redhead, averting her eyes from him.
"What, you're not even gonna say 'hello' to me?" He asked the dark-haired girl.
"I don't have time, Zelos, so if you'll excuse me," she replied sternly though not loudly.
"Ah, so the singing didn't wear your voice out," he chided, "You know you have a pretty voice for a banshee."
Though a scowl briefly crossed the ninja's face, she ignored the Idiot Chosen's comment as she reached the door.
"Hey wait Hunny, could I just ask you some-"
Too late. The door had already closed.
"Rats! I just wanted to ask her about that song…" he said to no one in particular. He really wasn't sure why, but he was very curious about the song she was singing and when he was curious something, he found out about it, one way or another.
Sheena let out a sigh as she exited the main entrance to the castle. Another day brought another mission to some town or city. At least it wasn't urgent this time. Before she could take another step forward, an all too familiar voice cried out "Sheena!".
"Wha-" she blurted as she turned her head toward the direction of the voice. Sure enough, running over to her was the man-in-pink himself.
"What are you still doing here?" she asked him.
"Why waiting for you of course. I still have that question I was trying to ask before you closed the door in my face."
"And what question is that?" She inquired, prepared to slap him if the question was something she wouldn't like.
That song you were singing before…what's it called?"
"Huh?" the ninja responded by blinking.
"You know, the one you were singing in the palace. What's its name?"
Sheena cocked an eyebrow, "And you want to know because…?"
"Uh…well…" the redhead hesitated, " Just curious."
"Curious?" she parroted.
"Yeah…curious," he said again. Then with his usual tone of voice he continued, "And you know about my natural curiosity towards the unknown."
Sheen rolled her eyes. He said the same thing about when he peeped on her in the shower some time ago. Just what was he up to? But was there any real harm in telling him the name of a song?
"It's 'Kaze no ne'" she answered.
"Uh…right…"
"It means 'Sound of the Wind'".
"Ah!"
"Well if that's all you wanted to know, I really need to head back home."
With that Sheena turned around and began to walk away from him.
"Sheena, wait! I'm not done yet!" Zelos shouted.
She thought she should just keep going, but then he might've tried to follow her.
"What is it now, Zelos?" she growled, stopping to face him.
"Whoa, I just wanted to ask one more thing about the song," he said, holding up his hands defensively, "Could you tell me what it's about?"
"What do you mean, translate it or something?"
"Well actually…yeah."
Sheena narrowed her eyes, "You're curious about that, too?"
"Aw, come on Sheena! It wouldn't take that long, would it?"
"Look, I have to get back to Mizuho and-"
"Is it that urgent?"
"Well no but-"
"Then you have time. Please Sheena!"
Sheena let out an exasperated sigh, "If you want to know so badly then tell me why? And don't say just because you're curious."
It was quite unusual behavior the philander. Was he really that interested in a song he just heard, or did he have some ulterior motive?"
"Well to tell you the truth…I'm not really sure."
Sheena looked at him skeptically, but didn't say anything.
"It's been a while since I heard a good song, I guess. I just wanted to know what it's saying to really appreciate it, you know? And besides I first heard it from my most favorite hunny of all. Of course I want to know what it means," he said the last part with his usual smirk.
Why does he always have to revert to being an idiot? Sheena thought to herself, Still though he does look like he genuinely wants to know…
"…Alright I'll do it. You have a pen and paper on you?"
"I don't exactly carry those things with me. Let's just head over to my place."
"That's where I draw the line." she said before turning back around to walk away.
"What? Sheena, come back! It's not like it'd be the first time you came to my place."
"Stop it Zelos!" Sheena said angrily, though trying not to shout.
"Come on Sheena, please?" he pleaded rather loudly. A few people were already staring at the two. If there was one thing Sheena did not like, it was being the center of unwanted attention.
With a growl she said, "Okay, okay, but if you try anything there I swear I'll-"
"Point taken!"
"'If you hide in the depths of a wavering heart, you still can be seen, carrying memories that overflow'…That's not too bad at all."
"You think so too, right?"
Sitting at a table in the foyer, Sheena had already translated most of the song. At first Zelos stood behind the ninja, watching her write until she told him it was bugging her. He sat next to her instead, commenting on the translation.
"Most of this song is pretty good now that I know what it's saying. This line though, 'Flapping birds fly off too, bathed in the sun'…I don't know, 'flapping' just isn't poetic," Zelos said, pointing to the lyric in question.
"I'm translating this word for word. You can't expect the rhyme to say the same between both languages," Sheena said.
"Yeah but what if you used…hmm…" Zelos thought aloud, putting his hand on his chin, "'Flying birds' is kind of redundant…Oh! 'Beating wings'…"
"'Beating wings' still doesn't sound that poetic," the girl commented.
"You're right about that," he replied. The words sort of popped into his head, though he wasn't sure why.
After writing two more verses on the sheet of paper the ninja proclaimed "finished", handing it to the swordsman.
"Aw, thanks Sheena!" he said with a smile. It was not that usual sly smirk he gave to his hunnies or that fake smile he wore among nobles, but a genuinely happy smile. While they were becoming more frequent, it surprised Sheena that something like that would make him smile.
"If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know" Zelos continued.
"Oh no, that's all right," Sheena said.
'But I insist! There must be something I could do for having you translate this song."
"Really, you don't have to do anything."
"Are you sure-" Zelos began to say. Then the aforementioned smirk appeared on his face, "Or maybe my thanks is enough because you love me enough to go out of your way to translate this for me."
"Oh please! I did it because you wouldn't keep bothering me about it!" she snapped.
"Whatever you say, Hunny."
The dark-haired girl growled under her breath before saying, "Now that I'm done I really should be leaving."
"So soon…Well actually I could start working on that thank you right away."
"You're still going on about that? And what sort of 'thanks you' do you mean?"
"Oh you'll see." He winked.
Still puzzled, she decided not to press further and walked out the front door.
Two weeks had passed and Sheena received no 'thank you' from Zelos. In fact she hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Chosen since then. While she wondered about it for the first few days after, by then it hadn't crossed her mind at all.
On that day though as she was on her way back to Mizuho after another meeting in the castle, she saw more than the redhead's hide and hair.
"Sheena!"
"Zelos?" she wondered out loud. After not having seen the swordsman in a fair while, to see him calling out toher was a bit out of the blue.
Running over to the summoner, he said, "It's a good thing I caught you before you left Meltokio. I just finished it yesterday."
"'Finished it?' What are you talking about?" she asked, a bit puzzled.
"That 'thank you' I promised, remember?"
It took Sheena a brief moment before she replied, "You're still up to that?"
"Why of course I was! When I want to show my appreciation, I don't stop in the middle of it," Zelos said, "It did take me a little longer than I thought though." He handed the girl a sheet of paper with writing in verse form.
"What's this?" She asked.
"Just read it, you'll see."
Raising an eyebrow at the Chosen, she then paid her attention to what was written on the sheet.
Dreaming of the stars on high that speak to me in secret sighs…Sheena read to herself, Could it be the sacred wind that's calling me to now begin…Beating of the wings up high, beyond the earth, beyond the sky…Wait? Beating wings…
"Is this…'Kaze no ne'? She asked incredulously.
"Not exactly. It's called 'The Sound of the Wind', though it means the same thing," he explained.
"Did you write this?" She asked further.
"Nope. That piece is actually a song from Meltokio's past, sometime before the city became the capital of Tethe'alla."
"But…It's not an exact translation, but it's so similar to 'Kaze no ne'."
"That's exactly what I thought."
"How is that possible though? And how did you find it?"
"The last part I can answer with more certainty. When I first heard you ding it, I thought it sounded almost familiar. When you gave me the translated lyrics, it stared to look more familiar until I realized I had heard a song like it before."
"And you spent the last two weeks looking for it?"
Well, I did more than that. First off while the song was familiar, I wasn't one hundred percent sure how to look for it. The lyrics themselves didn't take too long to find though."
"Then what else were you doing?"
"Finding out what I could about it, like why it was so much like 'Kaze no ne' and what instruments it was played with. I also found out it was written before the people of Mizuho were forced into isolation, so it's possible that Mizuhoans and some other group worked together on it. When the people of Mizuho were driven away, they could've adapted the song.I'm no expert, but the songsound a lot more like Tethe'allan music from a few centuries back."
Sheena was speechless to say the least. To think that the Idiot Chosen took time out of his schedule of flirting and Goddess knows what with his Hunnies to research a song. He must've also seen that she enjoyed the song. It was certainly an unusual way to thank someone.
"So this is my 'thank you'?" Sheena asked, a hint of awe in her voice.
'It's part of it," he responded, "For the rest, you'll have to come with me." He smirked. It wasn't his patented lecherous smirk, but a smirk it was.
Perhaps that was why her first reaction was to say "no way" or walk away. The thought still crossed her mind, after all this was Zelos. Yet she decided to give theswordsman the benefit of the doubt.
"Okay, let me see what the rest of this 'thank you' is," she said.
The pair walked through the streets of the Imperial City, going into the part of town where the nobles lived. Having walked past Zelos mansion, it was clear that wasn't their target. Instead Zelos led the summoner right next door, where parties were held.
"Here?" she asked, pointing at the front door.
"Yep, he answered simply.
Walking through the door, the receptionist looked up and said, "Ah Chosen. Good to see you've arrived."
"Everything set up, right?" Zelos asked the man.
"Of course. They finished not too long before you came."
"Great! Right this way, Sheena," he said, leading the slightly puzzled ninja into the next room. Just what was it that he had set up that needed the hall for?
The answer soon became apparent as they entered the ballroom. In the center were several people, each holding what appeared to be instruments, many of which she never saw before. They were familiar looking ones such as guitar-like stringed instruments, drums and flute-like instruments, but she didn't know the names of most of them.
"I haven't been keeping you waiting for too long I hope," Zelos said to the musicians.
"Not at all, Chosen," one of them said, holding an odd object that looked like a thick sack with several tubes sticking out of it, "We'll start whenever your ready."
"Are they…going to play it?" Sheen asked. She knew it was obvious, but she was still stunned about what was happening.
"Of course, and you're going to sing it," Zelos replied matter-of-factly.
"What?" she exclaimed, blushing a bit.
This is your real 'thank you'. For translating this song which helped me to rediscover the Meltokio version, I got together a group that could play instruments that were used for 'The Sound of the Wind' and give you the chance to sing it!"
"What made you think I'd want to sing it?" She nearly shouted. While still mostly embarrassed, the ninja was starting to get angry.
"It looked like you were enjoying singing to yourself in the castle, so I thought you'd like to sing it to actual music."
"Emphasis on 'myself'! You can't expect me to sing in front of them and you!"
Zelos shrugged, "It's not like you're singing in front of an audience. I didn't think you'd like singing in front of a lot of people anyway. Besides, you have a nice voice, banshee or not."
Despite the banshee comment, Sheena's cheeks flushed a bit at the swordsman's compliment. He did go through all this trouble anyway…
"Sure, I'll sing it. It might be fun to do it with the instruments it's supposed to be played to. You won't laugh, right?"
"I won't, unless you really start shrieking like a banshee."
Sheena lightly punched the man in the arm, then walked closer to where the musicians were. They gave her sheet music, which she held out in front of her. She didn't really know how to read it, but knew the song well enough to know when to rest and such. She waited as one of the stringed instrument stared to play.
"Dreaming of the stars on high
That speak to me in secret sighs
Drifting on a breeze
Only I can feel and hear "
Several other instruments then picked up as she paused for a bit, more stringed instruments as well as the drums.
"Could it be the sacred wind
That's calling me to now begin
To walk into the dark
Carrying the light of tomorrow?
Beating of the wings up high
Beyond the earth, beyond the sky
Come on, don't hesitate
Don't look back--we've got to go now
Don't fear
You'll be safe from now on
Morning sky watching over all
Deep inside so silently
My heart must beat
Deep inside of me
Memories flickering and shimmering on
Endlessly"
Taking another break for instrumentals the strange bag-like instruments began; producing a sound quite different from any other she's heard. Unusual as it was, it did compliment the piece nicely.
Keeping close to the path
Morning sky watching over all
Moving over endless mountains up so high
Walking to the light
Your heart will see the path
And you will find the way
Just wait and see
Moving over endless sky, oh so high
Tomorrow
We'll follow, when in doubt
Your promises today
Just wait and see
Zelos applauded loudly, shouting for an encore. The musicians also clapped, saying she did very well. The redhead then walked up to Sheena and said, "See, what I tell ya? You did great!" The real smile was back on his face. Though blushing, the Summoner couldn't help but smile as well.
"I really wasn't that good. I mean I had to read directly from the sheet music."
"There's no need to be so modest, Sheena. But you did like singing it, right?"
"Yeah. I think it's a little extravagant with the musicians but I really got into it. I never imagined I would hear it played to these instruments."
"See? Just as I thought."
"Still…you did all this just to thank me? All I did was give a song translation."
"Well you weren't the only one enjoying your performance," he smirked, though it was more of a playful nature," And besides, it made my Sheena-Hunny happy."
"Huh…That doesn't seem like you at all."
"Now, now, there are many things you don't know about me."
Indeed there must've been. Sheena was amazed at what he did, all for one song, all for her. And not once did he say something lewd. They were actually able to be…friends.
She did consider the redhead a friend before as course, but it was obvious to anyone that they didn't always get along. Yet nearing the end of their journey to reunite the worlds, Zelos was becoming more and more tolerable. Or was she becoming more tolerant of him?
A bit of both I guess, the ninja thought to herself. She had to admit, either way, she liked this different side of Zelos.
"You know," Sheena said, feeling her cheeks redden a little, "I would like to practice this song…so that I don't need the lyrics in front of me. And maybe I could sing the Mizuhoan version to the instruments. This version is nice, but it doesn't sound have the have feeling as 'Kaze no ne'."
It sounded more like an excuse to spend time with him than a request, but Zelos only smiled and said, "Of course, just say when."
This is what I get for listening to two versions of the same song back-to-back while washing dishes! I was amazed when I saw the translation to "Kaze no ne" and saw that "Morning Sky" really wasn't all that different from it. It's not exactly a direct translation, but the two songs are much closer than say Kingdom's Heart's "Hikari" and "Simple and Clean" or KH2's "Passions" and "Sanctuary ". I'm still not sure how, but I managed to tie that into Sheelos and well, here it is, heh.
And yes, I called the English version in this fic "The Sound of the Wind" instead of "Morning Sky". Personally I think the former sounds better than the latter, and for plot purposes it helps if it was a translation (a lot of lyric sites still have the English version listed as "Sound of the Wind" instead of "Morning Sky").
Well anyway, what did you think? Great? Okay? Could have been better? Awful? I did enjoy typing this, but that doesn't mean it's good, so please, tell me what you think of it. Thanks for reading and please review!
(Warning: completely pointless statement following. You do not have to read.)
Grr, why did FFCC at least get English versions to it's vocal songs, but Tales of Symphonia didn't? It would've been better if they kept "Starry Heavens" in Japanese, but even a close to the original English version would've been appreciated. Well then again the Final Fantasy series is far more popular outside of Japan than the Tales series :sigh:.