Title: Sleeping With Ghosts
Day/Theme: July 1 - a dream is nothing but a ghost
Series: Tales of Symphonia (AU verse - To Die For)
Character/Pairing: Sheena, Zelos
Rating: PG
Note: HEY HAVEN'T DONE THIS IN A WHILE. And, oh god, this is... kinda strange. It's set in a AU future verse I have, called To Die For. Basically, everyone's set to die in a year, and they have to all find their reincarnated companions. Yeah, it's... weird. Feel free to be utterly confused by this. Also this is kinda crap so ahaha ;; *hit*


Shae knew - it had been twelve years since those dreams began. They had always been so strange - feeling more like memories than dreams, always so vivid and descriptive. Even though they were so much more like a fantasy novel, the realism of them had stuck with her. Her name was Sheena in those dreams - if she could call them that. They contained a life in a town called Mizuho, her travels around the world of Tethe'alla, all of her mistakes and fears. Twelve years of watching these as she grew older.

Twelve years of seeing that man.

So, after twelve years of watching these movies play out to her in her dreams, it came as a surprise when he spoke to her. Zelos Wilder was talking to her. And not to Sheena - no, not to Sheena for once - but to her. He had always been such an annoyance in her dreams, even when she was six years old and he was just a kid in them. He had always been there in some way or another, even at her worst times. So to have him speak to her was strange.

At first she thought it was just a usual part of the dream. After all, it was like she was experiencing someone else's memories. She had long grown used to just watching idly as the dream progressed and people talked to her. It was when she finally noticed that what he was saying wasn't quite matching what was going on around him that she paid attention.

"You're starting to realize this isn't just a dream, right?" he said, giving her one of his trademark smiles. "Considering you're finally paying attention to me."

She had been shocked. They had never talked directly to her, and she knew deep down that this was not like the dreams usually were - if she could call them that ever again.

"What do you mean?" she asked, feeling her body stiffen in the dream.

He just smiled at her all the more. "Well, I wouldn't be talking to you if this was just a dream, right?"

Shae faltered. This was too weird. "I could just be having a weird dream. These are weird enough as it is, after all."

Zelos laughed, resting his chin on his hand. "Yes, but we've never really talked like this before, right? And you've never been able to really talk before, right?"

He was right. She had never been able to talk on her own before in the dreams, let alone speaking with someone. "...I-I guess."

His smile grew. "I'm here, you're here. That means the clock has finally started to tick."

Now she was confused. "What the hell do you mean?"

His smile vanished almost as quickly as it had come. He paused for a moment, as if thinking something over before speaking again. "I need you to find me within the span of one year, or we'll all die."

"...Okay, this is definitely a dream. Obviously my subconscious likes to play tricks on me as it is, so-"

"I'm not lying." He was staring at her, his face serious and set. She may only know the man through her dreams, but she knew that face. It had always thrown her for a loop, and she knew that he wasn't joking around, as weird as it was.

"...Wh-what do you mean, we'll all die?"

"Well, I can't go into too much detail, but," he started, his face starting to look tired. "This isn't just a dream, like I was saying. You're someone in the real world, and the same goes for me. I need you to find me - and everyone else from these dreams of ours - before a year is up. If we don't find each other, each of us will die."

Shae paused, staring at him. What the hell was this? She wouldn't be believing a lick of this if something wasn't telling her this was true. Some annoying voice in her head would not shut up, and warning signals were suddenly flying up all over in her mind. The rush of nerves were scaring her. "...Everyone?"

Zelos nodded. "Myself, Lloyd, Colette... Well, I'm not sure if you've met all of them yet, but yup. Our little party has quite the curse on them."

Lloyd... She paused. She knew them. Her dreams about Sylvarant had started recently, including the goofy swordsman and the sweet Chosen. She had the itching feeling there were a couple more she needed to know, but she had a feeling that would meet them soon.

"...I need to find you? How am I supposed to do that?" she started, trying to put aside her feelings of confusion and her fading suspicion of how this was all just one crazy dream - which she was wishing was true all the more. "Can't you just tell me your name, and then I can look for you?"

Zelos sighed, shaking his head. "I wish I could. If it was that simple, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place."

Shae grumbled, feeling her face contort in annoyance. "Like hell. Then, I'll tell you my name, and you can find me. It's-" But she stopped. Her mouth shut closed. She tried again, and again, and then tried to say where she lived, even. Her family's name, anything she could think of that would be a direct connection to her. She couldn't say it.

She heard Zelos chuckle bitterly, and looked up. "Can't say it, can you?" he said.

"Why not?" she choked. "What is this?"

"This is whatever's keeping us here," he said, his look back to being serious. "None of us know the full details, but. Until we all finally find each other, this... curse will keep killing us and bringing us back. This isn't the first time this has happened, after all," he explained, sighing a little. "And don't worry - you'll remember some of the other times, too," he added, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

Shae just sat there, her head reeling a little. This was way too weird. "Can't you give me some sort of hint? Anything?"

He paused, looking thoughtful. "Mizuho. Look for me in Mizuho."

Mizuho? "How can I-"

"Just look for me in Mizuho."

Shae opened her mouth to speak more, but she stopped. The world around her was blurring, and she could hear the faint buzzing of her alarm clock. No- wait-!

Before she woke up, she saw him smile one more time. "Good to see you again, Sheena."

As she felt her eyes open, she stared at the ceiling, her mind racing. This couldn't be real. Still-

Shae grumbled, before reaching over and turning off the annoying buzz of her alarm clock. She had a lot to do.