A one-shot set fairly late on in the game. An angsty piece featuring Colette and Sheena.

Spoiler warning: spoilers for what's supposed to happen to Colette on the journey of regeneration.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I just like writing fanfiction about it. Namco own Tales of Symphonia I believe.

Colette was feeling so many emotions, she thought, that she couldn't decide exactly how she felt. A mixture of anger, sadness and fear. She felt all messed up inside and so was finding it difficult to sleep. No, impossible to sleep! She growled as she glanced at the clock on the bedside table then thumped her pillow for good measure.

She was afraid because of what had been happening on their quest. It seemed as though the group was in almost constant danger, some random monster attacking them or the bigger enemies making life feel like an uphill struggle. She had thought that she would die while on this quest, now she'd been given a chance to live she wanted to see the future with the people she'd grown so close to. She and Lloyd were really close now, the thought of anything happening to him…

She cuddled the shirt he'd left her closer to her body. She hadn't wanted him to leave to go to the room he was sharing with Zelos that night. He'd been holding her in a warm embrace and, somehow, had made the world go away. But then it had been time to go to bed and he'd reluctantly untangled his arms from around her. Not liking the sad, lonely look she'd given him he'd taken off his shirt and left it with her so she would, for a while at least, still have some of his warmth with her. She was glad he had done so, the shirt smelled of him and that comforted her a little.

The sadness she felt was, in a way, connected with him too. She felt that she wasn't fulfilling her role as Chosen very well and she wanted to do her very best for him. She wanted to do her best for all the people that were counting on her but so far, it seemed, she wasn't doing very well. She felt, sometimes, that she was more of a hindrance than a help, needing to be rescued from danger or helped back up onto her feet when she tripped.

Being Chosen wasn't as simple as that though, and that was where the anger came in. Despite the fact that she always had done, and still was doing, her best to be a good Chosen people were saying nasty things about her, giving her looks which were the sort of look she'd image they'd normally direct at things they'd found on the bottom of their shoe. She'd learnt at a young age that life wasn't fair but had still tried to fulfil her role as well as she could. She'd hidden away any negative emotions because she was told that it wouldn't do for the Chosen to look sad. She'd put up with teasing and bullying. She had done her very best to learn all that she could about things that might help her fulfil her role, despite the fact that some days she didn't feel like learning about anything at all. She'd jumped through pretty much every hoop that had been presented to her and where had it got her?

She snorted. What more did the world want her to do? Every day now she was going into potentially life threatening situations, still trying valiantly to save her world plus another whole world on top of that and apparently, still, that wasn't good enough. What was she wondered.

She felt all out of sorts, her emotions threatening to spill out as tears. She looked across to the other bed in the inn room. She didn't want to wake Sheena up but she felt so mixed up she desperately wanted the comfort of her friend's voice, of her hugs.

She got out of bed, still clutching Lloyd's shirt. In her other hand she held a small plush toy dog by one of its front paws. That toy had been witness to many emotional nights, of many tears that were wept soundlessly for fear of someone hearing. If someone had heard her crying she would have been given a lecture and disappointed looks so powerful that they'd hurt, cause actual physical pain.

"Sheena," she spoke so quietly, so softly, a meek little voice hiding in the silence of the night. She received no response and so called out again.

The summoner responded, groggily asking Colette if she was alright in Mizuhoan. Colette understood the question but didn't know how to respond to it. She crumpled onto her friend's bed, tears now running down her cheeks. Sheena woke up a bit more and shifted to wrap her arms tightly around the little angel.

"Shhh, shhh now, it's alright, I'm here," she murmured soothingly, switching languages as the sleep induced bleariness lifted.

"I, Sheena, I," Colette hiccupped, unable to form a full sentence.

"It's OK," the summoner spoke softly, placing one hand on the angel's back and stroking her hair with the other.

Colette found the gestures comforting, the older girl's hand placed firmly but gently on her back was reassuring and strong. The summoner didn't say anything, just held her close, but the little angel knew that she understood. This wasn't the first night that she'd sought out the comfort of her close friend who understood her, who was kind enough to reassure her, who chased away nightmares and who knew when to stay quiet and what to say when it was time to speak.

The shoulder of Sheena's nightshirt was soggy from Colette's tears but still the blonde continued to let out all the frustration and fear in sobs. It was somehow helpful, cathartic, to just weep while being held.

When she'd calmed down a little and her sobs were further apart Colette began to hear Sheena's voice gently humming a tune she'd taught the angel many nights ago. A Mizuhoan song that Colette liked very much. She nuzzled the summoner and the older girl began to sing the words, lyrics about being small and scared but managing to cope. Colette smiled softly, Sheena really did know just what to say in times like this.

"Thank you," the little angel murmured softly, exhausted after letting out all of those emotions.

"It's OK," the summoner replied quietly before continuing to sing.

Colette began to lean more heavily against her, sleep finally arriving to claim her for the night. Gently Sheena moved her down onto the bed, still singing softly. Then she tucked the blanket around the younger girl and wrapped her arm around her.

Sheena sighed. No matter how much she wanted to she couldn't make the world be fair. She could, however, try to protect the little angel from nightmares by being a comforting presence by her side while she slept. It wasn't much but, she thought as she noticed the now peaceful expression on Colette's face, she was sure it was a gesture that was worthwhile and appreciated.