True Love With a Heaping Side Order of Romance

I don’t feel like talking, so I’m going to hand you over to my muse!

Genis: Yay! I get Presea again! Oh, well…anyway, TheTwilightPrincess doesn’t own me, or Presea, or Tales of Symphonia or…anything!

Presea: Genis, it is time for you to leave. TheTwilightPrincess is finally writing a Gesea in my point of view.

Genis: B-But I’m her muse!

Prologue: Tripping and Falling Right For You

Presea’s POV

“Okay, Presea, now tell me why you wanted to come to therapy.”

I coughed loudly, “!”

The therapist looked pointedly at me through her cat’s eyes glasses. “Would you mind trying that again?”

“My brother-in-law suggested it,” I sighed.

“Alright, Presea. I always start out these sessions by having you state your name and tell me a little bit about yourself.”

I rolled my eyes. I cannot believe that Regal was making me do this. …But I did live off of him and Alicia…so I guess I had to do this.

“My name is Presea Combatir, and I am twenty-four years old. I am originally from Ozette, but when I was eighteen, I went to study in Sybak, and I stayed there until I graduated at the age of twenty-two. I had been an accomplished axwoman back in Ozette, but in this day and age, with all the ‘magitechnology’ we have, people like me were no longer needed.

“So I decided that I needed a form of higher education. Not everyone could get away with being a handmaid to a rich family and still being able to make enough gald to get by…not like my sister, Alicia. So, as I said before, at the age of twenty-two, I graduated, much to my surprise, at the head of my class.

“I was ready to get a successful career; I could finally contribute to my family and support my father after my mother’s sudden death. But then…I fell extremely ill. I had developed a…problem with my heart. The researchers in Meltokio told me I’d have to a special surgery…as soon as possible, or else I would…die. This procedure would include implanting some sort of…crystal into my chest, right above my heart, and infusing some elven blood with my own, because mine in its current state had been too thin.

“I went through with the operation…but something went wrong. Although the crystal might have succeeded in the fact that it cured my illness, but there was an…unforeseen side effect. It completely halted my aging process.

“For sixteen years I was in a ‘coma’ of sorts. I don’t remember anything I did, people I met, places I went…nothing. Sixteen years of my life were spent as some…robot. Finally, a cure was found. Apparently, if they had attached this ‘key crest’ to my ‘Cruxis Crystal’ in the first place, none of this would have ever happened.

“Two years have passed since then, and now I live here in Altamira, with my sister, Alicia, and my brother-in-law, Regal-”

“Regal Bryant?”

“Yes, Regal Bryant. Anyway, now, instead of being three years older than my sister, she’s thirteen years older than me. I…I’m supposed to be forty! Plus, while I was in my ‘state’, my father passed away, and I neglected to bury him until Alicia came by one day…finding him dead in his bed. And to top all of that off, because they had to inject me with that elven blood, I’m now technically a half-elf, which means that-”

“That everyone will hate you?”

I stared at the woman. I seemed to have hit a sore spot when I mentioned becoming a half-elf…

“No, why would you think that? What I was saying is, that because of the blood, not only did I miss sixteen years of my friends and family’s life, I will now live for over nine hundred years longer than they will!”

The therapist’s eyes were wide. But, then again, that was the initial reaction of everyone who I told my story to.

Except for Regal; his was to send me to a shrink.

“Oh, um…well, frankly, I really don’t know what to say. …This isn’t the kind of issue my normal patients come in with…I mean my patients come in with normally!”

I shook my head sadly and slowly. “I…I didn’t think so…”

She looked uncomfortable. “Well, at least you got to…talk about it to someone…”

I stared at her for a while. “Yes, I believe you are right about that. Venting my anger out on you like I was unable to do to any of my family members had made me feel…a bit better. I…I think I’ll come back tomorrow. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“Oh, alright, I’ll see you tomorrow!” the woman called after me as I left her office.

And as I walked back to the Lezareno Company, I knew that awkward meeting would be the highlight of my day.

-:-:-:-

At The Lezareno Company

Regal was walking toward me.

…Wait, you don’t know who Regal is? Regal Bryant is only the richest man in all of Symphonia. He only owns the Lezareno Company and all of Altamira, the most popular getaway in all of…anywhere.

And he just happens to be my brother-in-law.

Yeah, my sister nabbed him while she was working for him. She’s crafty, I know.

Well, as I had been saying, Regal was coming this way.

“So, Presea, how was your session?”

Hmm…I know that telling the truth is usually better than lying, but…I don’t think this was one of those times. If I came out and told Regal that the therapist didn’t help me in the least, he’d probably send me to another one.

And then another one.

And yet another one after that.

I’d have a better chance just lying and going back to the same shrink tomorrow.

“O-Oh, it was great! That therapist is a godsend! She…really got through to me?”

“That’s perfect! I’ll go tell Alicia; she should be pleased. Now, until it’s time for dinner, I want you to get back to work, Presea!”

“Understood, Regal.”

Yeah right, work. I don’t know if anyone could actually consider what I do a ‘job’. Actually, all I do is walk around the amusement park for a couple of hours, making sure that everything is ‘up to par’. Park Moderator; it’s just some stupid, meaningless, insignificant title that Regal gave me because I told him that I had felt like I was mooching off of him and Alicia. I don’t do anything…and I get to ride all the rides and get unlimited free food for…free.

So I left for the amusement park, and upon my arrival, I:

Punched in;

Rode the roller coaster to ‘warm myself up’ for the rest of the day;

Ate some nachos;

Yelled at an operator who forced the Ferris Wheel to break down just so she could go on break;

Ate some more nachos;

Rode the teacups;

Felt nauseous when I realized I’d eaten a few too many nachos;

Gave a thumb’s up to any worker I saw to let them know they were doing a ‘good job’;

Rode the roller coaster one last time;

And punched out.

Oh what a wonderful way to go through life…

-:-:-:-

After I was done with ‘work’ for the day, I realized that the nausea had subsided, and that I wanted some dinner.

But where to go?

Well, probably where I’ve been going every single night since I moved to Altamira; the casino, of course.

Play some blackjack…yeah; this is what I do every night…

-:-:-:-

I hadn’t gotten back to my hotel suite until three in the morning.

Why, you ask?

Well, it’s because after I ate a small dinner of…French fries at the bar, I just had to play some slots!

And after winning it big at the slots, I just had to play some roulette!

And after losing half my money at roulette, I just had to redeem myself by playing a couple of successful hands of blackjack!

And after bombing out big time at blackjack, I just had to drink about three of these tasty pina coladas, and an ‘Altamira Special’- whatever that was.

But, I have to say…it was pretty strong.

And, after falling all over myself, the bar, and anyone else who just happened to be unlucky enough to have run into me, I realized that it was about time to go home.

Or at least try to. And believe me, that was no easy feat.

So this morning, I woke up with what Alicia would call a ‘severe hangover’. All it really is is a throbbing headache…and maybe some dizziness.

…Make that a yes for the dizziness. I just fell down trying to walk to my closet.

Oh what a wonderful way to go through life…

-:-:-:-

I got to my therapist’s office at about noon.

“Hello…”

“Humph…maybe your lateness has something to do with this headline?”

She shoved a copy of this morning’s Altamira Times in my face.

On the cover…was a picture of me! And…Regal, dragging me home last night.

The headline read ‘Party Girl In The Making?’

I moaned inwardly. “Um, could we forget about this and just…talk?”

“Sure; what would you like to discuss today?”

Which of my many problems should I talk about with her today?

I already went over the lost time bit.

Maybe my anti-social tendencies would be a good topic?

My immense boredom and displeasure with my current status?

My slight family issues?

My immense boredom and displeasure with my current status?

My inability to find a ‘romantic partner’?

My immense boredom and displeasure with my current status?

Hmm…which one of those issues came up the most?

“Have you ever felt very…bored?” I inquired expectantly.

“Bored?”

“Yes. Bored; tired and impatient; feeling tired and irritable, either because of being exposed to something uninteresting or because of having nothing to do. It is an emotion, the third one I got back, actually.”

The therapist looked…confused.

“Got back?”

“…Well, while I was experiencing my lost time, I didn’t have any emotions. I just simply…did things, without actually having any say or feelings about it. Once I was ‘cured’, it’s not like I was ‘back to normal’ and all my emotions came flooding back. It was more like…a dam. When it breaks, it’s just a small hole, and only a little bit of water comes through. But as time goes on, the hole gets larger and larger more rapidly, and more and more of the water comes through.

“Well, it was the same thing with my emotions. First to come back was sorrow, then anger…and about a month later, boredom set in. It took me until now to get them all back. The last one was compassion, and believe me when I say that if you wanted sympathy, you wouldn’t come looking for me.”

She seemed to be taking in everything that I was saying. “So…are you trying to tell me that you’re bored?”

“Yes, bored, jaded, uninterested, fed up; call it what you like.”

“But…how?”

I glared at the short silver haired woman.

“And what might you mean by that?” I snapped impatiently.

My therapist wore an incredulous expression.

“Presea…you’re loaded! You have money coming out the wazoo! Your brother in law is the richest man in the entire world! Presea, you could have anything you want; you could do anything you want to do. You work in the amusement park, for Martel’s sake! You go out gallivanting at ni-”

“Excuse me, but that was once, and I had never tried that ‘alcohol’ before.”

“The point is, how could a girl who has everything be bored?”

I snorted boisterously. Hmm…snorted; I hadn’t done that in ages.

“I can’t have everything I want,” I scoffed.

She raised her eyebrows. “Okay, what can’t you have?”

“Well, my sixteen years back for starters! I, I’m not supposed to be twenty-four year old infused with elven blood…I’m supposed to be a forty year old human woman! I could’ve sworn we went over this already… I…I want a family, a…husband…a real life, like what Alicia has. At this point in my life, I thought I’d have more to live for than…than losing all my money at the casino and trying to get a reputation as some…party girl.”

My therapist (who’s name I should really plan on learning) seemed quite taken aback by my sudden outburst of emotion. But for me…this was good. It wasn’t until recently that I display my feelings like that again.

“O-Okay, we seem to be getting somewhere now… How long have you had said feelings?”

I sighed, calming myself down. “For the past…year and a half… I…I try talking to people, try to make ‘friends’, but they all think I’m crazy! Who wants to have anything to do with someone who hasn’t aged for sixteen years?”

She nodded her head slowly. “I…understand where you’re coming from completely. There has been…many a time when people have acted that way toward me. …I only have some, in my opinion, mediocre advice for me. Go…get some lunch. Then, then think about making a change. Maybe you could leave; go someplace where no one’s ever heard about you. There you’ll find people who won’t…discriminate against you because of your past. …Of course, this doesn’t always work, and they could just end up…well, never mind that.”

I nodded and began to think about what she had just said. …Maybe that could work out in my favor. I could borrow some temporary funds from Regal, find a career that I really enjoy, and go out in search if my new life; a life where I can finally be myself without being considered a freak or having people wanting to use me as a test subject!

“…I’ll think about that, thanks… But I will definitely be going to go get some lunch now.”

She smiled at me. “Well, I hope that whatever you choose will work out for you, Presea. Oh, and be sure to come back and inform me of your decision; I’d like to know.”

“Sure,” was my reply as I was leaving her small, claustrophobic office.

For my lunch, I had decided to go back to the hotel. The café was serving some pretty tasty bagels right about then…

-:-:-:-

At The Café

“I’d like one bagel, please.”

My waiter sauntered away lazily from my table. He looked so tired…I just hoped he wouldn’t fall asleep on the way back with my lunch. As I sat around thinking this, I realized that I had neglected to order some libations- I mean a beverage- I mean something to drink.

I hate when I start talking like a machine. It brings back…memories, and not ones that I’m very fond of, either.

So I stood up and went to find my waiter so I could tell him that I would like an iced tea. But as I was passing by the kitchen…

A waiter came running out from the doorway and collided with me, sending us both flying onto our backs, and all the plates he had been carrying landed with a large ‘CRASH!’

“Ugh…” I heard the young man moaning across from me.

I tried sitting up, and, even though I felt the white hot pain searing through my unfortunate neck that had slammed into the floor, I finally managed it. Looking over at the clumsy waiter, I saw that he was around my physical age. His lanky limbs were sprawled out at his sides, giving him the impression of making a snow angel, and his long, silky, slivery white hair could have easily passed for the snow. The guy seemed…tall, in a way. Well, probably taller than I was by at least half a foot.

After a while, I found myself staring at him.

That was, until, he got up, and his soft blue grey eyes bore into mine, going very wide after a moment or so.

“Oh my Martel, did I knock you over?”

I nodded slightly.

“…Oh, I’m s-sorry; I thought you were a chair!”

“A…chair?”

A deep red blush appeared on the waiter’s milky white face, so I flashed him a small, but still reassuring, smile, one that seemed happy to return. He then stood up abruptly and offered his hand down to me.

“You want to shake my hand from all the way up there?” I queried.

The young waiter proceeded to scratch the back of his head with his other available hand. “N-No, I…um, I thought you might’ve needed…help getting up…” he replied hesitantly, his hand jerking back slightly.

“Oh, of course how…silly of me!” I almost shouted, realizing I had made him feel even more uncomfortable than before.

I then grabbed his still partially extended arm with such a brute force (which I have been told I have by many a person) that I almost dragged him back onto the restaurant floor with me.

Luckily, for both of our sakes, the guy wasn’t as scrawny as he came off.

“Thank you,” I told the young man earnestly.

“Y-You’re welcome; I was the one who threw you over…” he responded, grinning shyly.

And I realized that…I liked his smile. It was…cute. No one had actually smiled a…real smile in front of me for…too long.

After a while of just…staring at each other, he started to pick up the shards of broken porcelain from the dishes he had been carrying.

“Do you…need any assistance?”

The waiter cast me a nervous glance. “N-No, I’m the one who broke them…”

“Yes, that is true, but if I hadn’t been standing right in front of the door, you wouldn’t have dropped them.”

“That’s okay, um…”

I looked up again. “Oh, my name is Presea, Presea Combatir.”

“That’s a p-pretty name… I-It sounds like a flower. …Sounds like a flower? What kind of stupid remark was that?”

The last part of his sentence was mumbled. “What was that?”

“N-Nothing! I’m Sage, Genis Sage,” he told me in an overly macho voice.

When I didn’t get the joke, he frowned disappointedly. “Oh, I guess you never saw James Bond… My name’s Genis Sage, but you can just call me Genis. That’s what my friends would call me if I had any- I mean…yeah, that’s what I meant,” he offered, tapping a small faux gold plate pinned on his apron.

It read ‘Genis Sage: Assistant Chef - Altamira Café’.

I cocked my head to the side. “You’re a chef?”

Genis huffed. “Yeah, I guess no one would be able to tell that from what that egomaniac in there has me doing. Busing tables; I didn’t spend my entire life cooking for my sister and then two more years in the Culinary Academy of Flanoir just so I could be treated like some bus boy!”

“Oh…yes, I believe Alicia has mentioned the mysterious gourmet the Wonder Chef’s demeaning ways to me once or twice.”

“Yeah…wait, Alicia? Do you know the Bryants?

I nodded. “Yes, I am…Alicia’s younger sister,” I lied cautiously.

“Okay, now I definitely see the resemblance…”

Our eyes darted to and fro until they finally shied away from each other completely.

But then I spotted a patch on Genis’ pants.

“You like Lord Yggdrasill and the Other Two Seraphim?” I questioned happily.

“Most definitely; do you?”

“They’re my favorite. They’ve been around for ages, and it’s like they never age. …I like Kratos,” I added a bit too hyperly.

Genis smiled widely. “Really? You know, if I weren’t a guy, and if I wouldn’t be labeled a queer by the entire staff of this hotel for thinking this, I’d say that Yggy’s the hottest one; he has that long flowing hair. Oh, the things that man can do with a guitar…”

I smirked. “The two of you would make a good slash pairing.”

Genis gawked at me and then laughed uncertainly. “What?”

“Hehe, it’s just something a friend of mine used to say when we were young.”

Genis cocked his eyebrow up. “Young? You still are young!”

“O-Oh yeah, I meant…when we were…children,” I explained awkwardly.

I was not about to let Genis find out about my past.

“Oh, and Yggy just might sing like an angel and play an electrifying guitar, but the group would completely fall apart without the back up vocals and base, hence the fact that Kratos is the best and most important Seraph.”

“Oh really? Well, his name isn’t in the name of the band, is it now?” he retorted confidently.

I rolled my eyes playfully. “Whatever, let’s talk about Yuan.”

“Puh-leeze, Yuan is the persona non grata of the group, and even he knows it! …Anyway, I happen to really like their new single…”

And that was the beginning of what I hope will be a ‘beautiful friendship’ as they say. Genis began talking to me non-stop (his stuttering subsided near the middle of our conversation), so I had no choice but to follow him around during his entire shift. But during that time, I really got to know him. It turns out that there are things about us that are…similar.

As I had thought, Genis is the same age as me, and is very mature, before attending the Flanoir Culinary Institute, he studied at the Palmacosta Academy, and Sybak. So I couldn’t very well tell him that I was in Sybak as well… Genis can come off very sarcastic at times, and many of the things he says are very…humorous.

I actually found myself giggling at times. No, it wasn’t regular laughing, but that annoying flirtatious giggle that you constantly hear irritating girls laughing like.

Credited, I am a girl…

Before either of us knew it, it was closing time, and I was starving.

“Hey, Presea, if you want, I could make us something to eat…”

I stared up at him from where I was sitting. “Sure, that would be…nice.”

Genis’ face brightened. “Good, because I already have the real bus boy bringing out the spaghetti.”

The bus boy came scrambling out of the kitchen.

“Come on Lloyd!” Genis called.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Lloyd stopped in front of our table. He was a tall, well built man, most probably in his late twenties, with unruly chocolate hair that he had attempted to gel over to one side. And he looked very awkward in his too-small uniform.

And, for some strange reason, he had sewn an array of different buttons on the front of his apron, giving him the appearance of an elevator.

“Presea, Lloyd, Lloyd, Presea.”

“Hello, Presea!”

“…Greetings, Lloyd.”

“Lloyd’s my friend from back in Iselia. Little did I know I’d find him here, busing tables!” Genis jested happily, obviously flaunting his title to his unfortunate friend.

“Pft! You’re doing the same thing I am, Genis!” Lloyd retorted, an obvious scathing tone on his voice.

“Yeah, but I have both the title and paycheck of assistant chef,” gloated Genis. “Anyway, I had wanted to actually introduce you to Presea. I just met her…around four hours ago. She’s related to the Bryants, and-”

“We are friends,” I commented, cutting Genis off.

“Really?” Genis asked gleefully.

“Well, aren’t we?” I replied bluntly.

“Well, I-if you say so…”

“Pf course we are, especially,” I stopped to grab a plate off of Lloyd’s tray, “If your spaghetti is as good as you claim it to be.”

Across the table, Genis was a slight shade of rose.

“What is the matter, Genis?” I asked after swallowing a bite of the delectable pasta.

“N-Nothing…it’s just-”

“Genis isn’t used to having many friends,” Lloyd explained. “Back in Iselia…let’s just say he wasn’t the most popular person around.”

“Why?”

Lloyd walked over to Genis, fished through his masses of silvery hair, and pulled out his ears.

“He is an elf; is there something wrong with that?”

Lloyd shook his head. “Half-elf. Genis spent most of his childhood getting chased around Symphonia with only his older sister, Raine. Once he came to Iselia, though, they tried to pretend he was an elf, but everyone found out, and, well, after that, only very few people would talk to ‘em. Once he went away to school, he thought things would get better…but since everyone was jealous of his…intellect, I think, it was all the same there, too.”

Genis sighed sadly. “I can understand if you don’t want to talk to me anymore, Presea. It’s alright, I won’t blame you. I, I mean you’re rich, and your brother-in-law is sort of famous…”

“Genis, I want you to stop this now. …There is no reason for me not to see you anymore… I have never been very ‘social’, but I do know that I can actually talk around you, and I like that. You are the first person I believe I can actually call a ‘friend’ in a long time.”

“Doyareallymeanthat?”

“Huh?”

Lloyd piped in. “He said ‘Do ya really mean that?’”

“Of course I do. Lying is not a skill I excel at.”

Genis looked relieved. “So…if we’re friends, do you think that one friend could come visit the other friend during there lunch break tomorrow at around two?”

“Only if the former friend has something prepared for the latter friend to dine on.”

-:-:-:-

I went back to my therapist late that night, and caught her as she was leaving the office.

“Presea, what are you doing here so late in the evening?”

I beamed at her.

“I do not think I will be going anywhere for a while.”

-:-:-:-

Wow, over 4000 words and it wasn’t a oneshot! That’s right, this is going to be a full fledged chapter story.

Genis: That is, of course, if you review.

Presea: Genis, did I not tell you to leave.

No, get away from my muse, you muse stealer!

Genis: Save me TwilightPrincess!

It’s okay. Please review, or else I’m afraid Presea is going to hunt down Genis with her newly acquired Striker Ax!

Genis: Remember, every time you read and don’t leave a review, a Lloyd kills a Mithos! Review for the sake of all the Mithos-es out there!

‘Til next chapter, TheTwilightPrincess ;)