Always and Forever

Author: Afeni

Beta: Soulsucker

Fandom: Tales of Zestiria the X

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Alisha and Rose are reading the Celestial Records by the lake when they start to talk about someone who they had to leave behind. Will they see him ever again or should they move forward?

A/N: I have wanted to write something about Tales of Zestiria (the X) for the longest time.  The problem has been which canon to follow since I like them both. In this fic I chose the anime version of the story but I cannot help the feeling that I’m picking something from the game too.

Always and Forever

“Look, the sun is already setting.”

Rose looked up from the Celestial Records and saw that Alisha was right. The lake was sparkling in orange and the sky was slowly turning from lilac and pink to deep blue. There was already a mild scent of dampness in the air and birds had quietened and given grasshoppers their turn to tune the peaceful beach near the forest.

“I didn’t realize it was so late,” Rose said. “Didn’t you need to return today?”

“Well, yes. I’m surprised that no one has come to look for me yet.”

“They are probably hiding in the bushes wondering what they should do.”

“You think so?”

Alisha laughed, and her face lit up for a moment. She was surprisingly beautiful when her eyes narrowed, and lips curled upwards. Rose hadn’t realized these little things when they had met the first time. It was just lately when they got together. It was like Alisha had come out from her shell and started to shine in a different way than before. All the hardships they had met had brought them closer than Rose would have ever believed.

“Yeah.”

Rose smiled back and stood up. She stretched her arms and legs which were stiff after sitting on a tree trunk most of the afternoon.

“So, what are you going to do?” Rose asked. “It’s not safe for the Queen to travel by night.”

Alisha closed the Celestial Records and rose up. She looked at the forest like she really believed her guards were there. Her blond hair danced in the evening wind, and Rose’s heart twisted. The wind always made her heart pound a bit louder. It was like… like she could still hear him and yet she couldn’t.

Alisha turned around and walked towards Rose. She smiled but there was also sadness in her eyes.

“Do you think we’ll ever see him again?”

Rose opened her mouth but couldn’t answer. 

“You know… when I met him, I thought that there was something, something special there. No one had ever made me feel so… touched. There were times I honestly thought that when this is all over, we could…”

Alisha couldn’t say anything more. Rose nodded. She knew exactly how her Highness was feeling. 

“I sometimes wonder too… that if there could have been something more… if there had been more time… if he hadn’t gone away…” 

The words were hard to say. Rose hadn’t said them to anyone. She had just smiled and told everyone that it was okay to change him to Zaveid like seraphim were some kind of tools. When one broke down, you just got a new one. When she thought about that moment, she felt like crying but there were no tears. They had dried down even though he would have deserved some. 

“Oh, I figured you two were just friends…” Alisha’s voice pulled Rose back to reality. She blinked her eyes. 

“Well, yes… yes, we were.”

“But you hoped for something more?”

Rose didn’t answer. She didn’t know what she was thinking. They had always been together, but she hadn’t known it until recently. Now she knew that he had taken over her body and made her do things. He had been one with her. What he had done was wrong, but Rose couldn’t make herself to be mad at him. Not anymore at least. And she would have given the world if he would come back and she could tell him that he was a big jerk.

But nothing would bring him back. There was no hope.

You should look forward…

“What?”

“I asked if you hoped for something more with Sorey,” Alisha said. 

Rose blinked her eyes again.

See what’s right in front of you…

“What? No! I couldn’t hope anything more from him. He is saving the world already. He sacrificed himself for everyone.”

You both have lost something dear…

“Yes, and he would like to see us move forward. Don’t you think?”

“Of course he would.”

And you should… There can still be happiness. It doesn’t have to be me. You have each other. 

“Wait… did you just hear that?”

Alisha grabbed Rose’s hands and looked her right in the eyes. She had beautiful eyes, they were like lakes. So deep and drowning. It would be easy to just stare at them and forget everything.

The wind danced around Rose and Alisha and made their hair fly. It grabbed their clothes and tickled their skin.

“I… I think Sorey is trying to say something to us,” Alisha said.

The wind was getting harder. It was like a small tornado all around them pushing them to each other. Rose drew Alisha closer and held her. She didn’t want her guards to blame her if something were to happen. 

I will be there always and forever, but you should take the happiness that’s right in front of you. I’ve seen you. It’s the right choice.

And just like that the wind was gone. Alisha was still in Rose’s arms eyes wide and scared… no, not scared, amazed. 

“I think Sorey wants us… to be together.”

Rose stared Alisha. It wasn’t Sorey. Sorey would never say something like that. He was blind to these kind of things.

It wasn’t Sorey. It was him. The one who knew Rose better than anyone. When they were one he had seen to her heart. He knew everything. He was the only one who knew how she loved.

“Yes, always and forever,” Rose answered to Alisha. To him. 

To Dezel.