#colloydweek2019

Genis was up ahead, discussing the map with Raine and Kratos, so it was just Lloyd and Colette straying behind. Colette looked up at Lloyd in surprise, and her expression changed slowly to confusion.

“...what do you mean?”

“Well, I mean-” Lloyd shrugged his shoulders. “-like, every time we see a dog, you give it a name. It's not bad or anything; it’s actually kinda cute…” He blushed a little as he said that and glanced away as if trying to hide it. “...it just struck me as odd. I mean, after you regenerate the world, you won't have a reason to go back to a little inn like that, right? You might not ever see those dogs again. Why give them names? S-sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but-”

“No.” Colette cut him off, shaking her head. “It’s not a stupid question. Not at all. Actually… I asked that same question a long time ago.”

“Daddy, look! Look what I found!”

Colette came running, nearly tripping over her own feet, into the house. Frank was in the kitchen preparing dinner, but he stopped and turned to see what his daughter was so excited to show off.

“Oh? What is it?”

Colette approached her father, holding up her hands to show him the little pink object that was twitching in her grasp. He knelt down next to her to get a better look.

“A baby bird?” Frank asked, reaching to adjust Colette’s hands so that she wasn't squeezing it. “Where did you find this?”

“Its nest got knocked over in the storm last night,” Colette replied. “That mean old tomcat had it in his mouth, but I rescued it.”

“I… see.” Frank nodded. The baby bird was clearly struggling to breathe and was bleeding onto Colette’s hands, but a five-year-old girl had no concept of what that meant. “Let’s take it away from the kitchen- we can try to bandage its wounds upstairs, alright? Just give me a minute to turn the stove off.”

Frank stood up again, rushing back over to the pot before it boiled over. Colette watched, turning her attention back and forth between her father and the bird, but she paused as Frank gave another instruction.

“In the meantime, why don't you think of a good name for it?”

So she did.

And the next morning, Colette and Frank buried “Poppy’s” lifeless body in the little grove of trees behind the house.

“It’s alright, Colette,” Frank murmured, holding his sobbing daughter in his arms. “There was nothing you could have done. Poppy’s injuries were just too serious.”

Colette clutched Frank’s shirt, digging her fingers into the fabric as she pushed away. “I-if you… you… you knew she was gonna die, then why… why’d you make me name her?”

Frank fell silent, considering the question- or, rather, how to answer it. He smiled sadly, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face and wiping the tears off her cheeks. “Colette, if you hadn't given Poppy a name, do you think you would remember her a month from now? A year from now?”

That question confused Colette. “Remember?”

“A name is a promise. Having a name to call someone means that person will always be in your heart. Even if your time together is short, especially if your time together is short, calling someone or something by a name is a promise to them that you won't forget them. That's why-” Frank stopped, swallowing back a little emotion himself. “-why I call you by your name, Colette.”

Colette began to sob again. “B-but it’s so much sadder when you hafta say goodbye!”

“It is, Colette. It is.” Frank pulled her in close, squeezing her in a tight hug. “But it also means you never really have to say goodbye.”

“Never have to say goodbye, huh…?”

“-and so he said, no matter how short your time is together, a name means you’ll never truly have to say goodbye. So that’s why I give the dogs names- so I can remember all of them, even when I become an angel.”

Lloyd stared for a moment, and Colette was worried that he might laugh or make fun of her. But he finally broke into a big smile.

“That’s so cool! It’s like, if you have a name to call them, they’ll be with you forever!”

Colette beamed. “Yes, exactly!” She leaned in and wrapped her arms around one of his. “That goes for you too, Lloyd.”

That statement caught him off-guard.

“Wh-wha-?” Lloyd blushed again but kept his eyes on Colette this time. “You don’t have to worry about that. I already told you, even if you become an angel, we’ll always be together. Right?”

Colette hoped he couldn’t feel the way her grip tightened as he said that.

Colette giggled, her hands clasped neatly over her knees, moving her legs back and forth. “Hm, I can’t really swim though. And.. I might get in trouble if they knew I was trying to swim.” Her whole dress would take too long to dry off if she tried diving with it.

“Aw, okay.” Lloyd and Genis would go swimming all the time, and though he knew Colette couldn’t really join him, it hadn’t stopped him from asking. Even still…

“Maybe I can teach you next time though?”

Colette raised her head. The sun shone brightly on her hair.

“Yeah! I can teach you! That’d be okay, right? I can bring some of my clothes so you don’t have to use your dress when swimming.” He didn’t notice the blush on her cheeks as he tried devising this plan.

“Is that really okay?” she asked, her voice low, enough that he needed to swim a bit closer to her to hear.

“Sure! If you don’t believe me then… I promise to teach you how to swim! Okay?”

Colette smiled, her feet splashing the water happily. “Y-yeah! Next time, for sure!”

“Hey, you’re splashing on me!”

They both laughed, all while the sun was beginning to set, coloring the sky numerous shades of red and orange. “It’s getting late… but next time then?” Colette asked hopefully.

Lloyd nodded. “Yeah, I told you! It’s a promise!”

But that had been just a few weeks before Colette’s journey, and in a bunch of other promises he made, that particular one had slipped his mind…

The heat underneath Tethe’alla’s sun was much like Sylvarant’s, but the salt spray from the ocean made it different, especially when combined with the humidity. Not like the dry heat of Iselia’s forests, where instead of salt, it was the scent of pine that invaded your senses. But it didn’t make Lloyd not want to go into the waters any less!

“Colette! Come on!” Lloyd was already dashing on the sands, the giant diving flippers he wore nearly making him trip. Some people stared at the boy who not only wore the giant flippers but also diving goggles complete with a snorkel, some of those people including a sighing Zelos.

“He’s such a kid. Never going to get anywhere with anyone dressed like that, right, hunny?” He leaned near a certain voluptuous lady, grinning wide in his speedo and donned sunglasses.

Sheena narrowed her eyes at him. “Why are you talking to me?”

“Lloyd! Too fast!” a voice called out across the beach. Colette was rushing after Lloyd, her bare feet gently padding along the shore, her braided hair bouncing across her back as she moved. Once she reached the water, she flinched, even as the water pulled back, damping the sand beneath her. “It’s cold!”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be!” The rivers near his home were not at all like the waves that kept crashing on Altamira’s shore. Lloyd was already diving through them (forgetting to lower the goggles over his eyes), before coming back to the surface. He accidentally swallowed some of the water which was really salty, but he was okay after coughing for a little while. “Come in already! (Cough!) We can play water tag!”

Colette, however, remained at the shore. Though she smiled as the water rushed around her ankles, she made no move towards Lloyd. “Umm.. I think I’m okay here!”

Well, that wasn't any fun though. Unless she wanted to make some sandcastles, but he and Genis had already started making some earlier that day… until Genis got mad that Lloyd was making a better sand castle than he was.

He was getting distracted, so Lloyd swam back onto the shore, half of a flipper getting caught inside the densely packed sand until he freed it loose. “Is something wrong?”

Colette scratched the side of her cheek nervously. The sun beat down on her hair, burnishing it an even brighter shade of gold. “Ah, sorry! I'm just a little… it's very different from the rivers and…”

The answer soon came to him before she could say it. “Oh man, I forgot already!” That’s right, Colette didn't know how to swim!

“I'm sorry,” she apologized again, knowing what he meant. “It looks like fun though! Maybe Zelos will join you.”

“I don't think he's going to really...” Lloyd mused. At one end of the beach, he could see Zelos being yanked by his hair. Sheena had curled his locks around her fingers, dragging him down as a high-pitched yell erupted from Zelos’ throat. “He looks busy.”

Oddly, Zelos’ screaming jogged an old memory of Lloyd’s.

“Hey, didn't I promise you something?” Okay, well he promised a lot of things but this one was particularly important!

“Oh? What is it?” she asked.

“I said one day I'd teach you how to swim, right?” He remembered the river, Colette seated on the bank, her smile much wider than it usually was, always wider when they sneaked away from the town. “How about it?” He grinned. “We can have those swimming lessons finally!”

“Ah, really?” She looked suddenly so excited, before tempering that away. Just like back then, she pulled back to nervousness, hands fiddling with the tied-up sash that circled her waist, covering part of her bathing suit. “Oh, but… I don't want to get in the way. It'll probably be boring to teach me and we don't get to relax often…”

“No way, how would it be boring?” That didn't make sense to him. The beach was nice and there were no weird worries about the town getting mad. He reached for her hand, noting how wet and clammy his own palm was against her own. “It’ll be fun!”

Still, Colette hesitated, looking at the ground. The water lapped around their ankles before leaving them in the surf. “The water does feel nice…” she murmured. Maybe she still had all those fears from back then, even if right now they didn't matter. He had to come up with a way to convince her...

“If you learn to swim today, um… I’ll give you something!”

Okay, wait, what actually?

Colette turned back to him with wide eyes. “Oh?”

“Yeah!” he said, already going full on ahead with this choice. “Think of it as like… a reward! For doing stuff!”

“That sounds really fun! What reward do I get?”

Lloyd had no idea. “It’s a surprise!” He really had no idea. “That makes it more fun!” Yeah, he had no clue.

“Oh, it does!” Colette readily agreed. “Then… I guess should try to learn today! And I’ll try to do good too! I hope I don't slow you down.”

“Nah, you won’t,” he said, pulling her along. Maybe he had a spare necklace in his pack somewhere. “And… I’ll promise it’ll be a good reward too!” Now he was just digging himself deeper…

But he could keep his promises to her, and he was sure he could keep this one too.

It was a bit different out here than in the river. The water moved constantly around them, the currents of the waves stronger than either were used to. But Lloyd kept ahold of Colette’s hand until they were just waist deep in the ocean, where the waves didn’t build up as much.

“When we go in a little further, our feet won’t reach the ground anymore. But I got you, okay?”

Colette had her other hand outstretched in the water, her eyes focused around them. “Okay! Do we go out further now or…?”

Lloyd was thinking on how exactly to do this. He had never taught anyone to swim really… and he just sort of learned how to by himself. (Dirk had always talked about how dwarves just sank in deep water.) Then he remembered something that Noishe would do when he swam.

Lloyd reached out for Colette’s other hand, gripping it tight. “Here, first let’s try the doggy paddle! That one’s easy enough.”

He knew immediately that would get Colette’s full attention. “A doggy paddle?” Her eyes widened with glee. “Does that mean doggies swim this way?”

“Yeah, basically!” He didn’t see any dogs on the beach though, and Noishe was stabled somewhere, too afraid of the people again. “But you can also swim with dogs like this!” He pulled at her arms slightly, getting her body to stretch out in the water. The end of her twin braided hair was soaked now, falling beneath the surface. “Just kick up your legs from behind and you’ll start moving.”

Colette looked a bit reluctant to just have her feet leave the seafloor. He could see her hopping a little, fingers entwining with his. “Mm, but what if I trip?”

“I don’t think you can trip in the water… well, maybe!” With Colette, anything was possible. Then another idea took over. “It’s like flying, isn’t it? When you just float in the air? It’s the same thing here! But you’re floating in the water instead.”

With that explanation, he felt some of the tension in Colette’s fingers loosen. “Oh! I guess so…”

“Yeah! Go on, try it!”

Colette had always trusted Lloyd, especially when he was encouraging. She soon moved her body, letting the water buoy her as got she into a horizontal position. “Is, um, this okay?”

Lloyd made sure to keep his grip on her, smiling wide. “Yep. Now try kicking your feet.”

There was something incredibly adorable in the way Colette had to follow his next suggestion. It was like she worried that her feet would still find some way to betray her, but he heard the splashing from behind Colette, the slow way she moved towards him.

Lloyd started to float backwards, helping her along through their clasped hands. “See? It’s easy!”

She was smiling so wide, the sea spray damping her hair, the water hugging her, reflecting flashes of the sun all around her. “Hehe, it is kinda easy… and fun!”

Colette didn’t kick as fast as Noishe did, but she was still doing it! Lloyd figured that was the important thing. After a few minutes of them going across the ocean’s surface this way, Colette kicking as happily as can be, Lloyd decided to try the next step.

“Okay, so I’m going to start letting go a bit more, but you keep on kicking like that, okay?”

Colette blinked, her cheerful expression soon marred with worry. “Ah, are you sure?”

“Yeah! I’ll go slow, so it’s like…” Carefully, Lloyd let slide his fingers over her own, so that their once clasped hands now loosened. The water made the action happen a bit faster than intended. “Just keep swimming, Colette! Use your hands to paddle when I let go!”

“O… okay! Just, um..” He felt her fingers reflexively curl around his, but still he kept trying to go through their lesson. Both their arms straightened out as the space between them widened. The water, with its ever-shifting currents, helped with their separation. Maybe too much though, as Lloyd noted Colette’s kicking had turned from an even rhythm into small flailing.

Before he could say anything, Colette’s upper body then began to sink a little – she had gone overboard in her paddling! As if she was desperately trying to swim over to him but lost her balance while doing so. Her chin went in the water, eyes widening in surprise.

“Ah!” she yelled, or tried to, as her voice was muffled by the water.

“Whoa, it’s okay, I got you!” Maybe they had done this part of the lesson too quick. Lloyd tried to pull her up, reaffirming his grip on her hands. Soon, Colette was already rising to the surface.

And then above the surface, and then – wait, now she was pulling him instead! And upwards! “C-Colette! Wait a second!”

“Oh, whoops!” Colette giggled as she hovered in the air, her wings spread out behind her. “I got nervous… sorry.”

She wasn’t carrying him up too far just yet, but Lloyd could feel himself stretching, his lower half still in the water, as he more or less hung onto Colette. “Did you just panic summon your wings?”

“I didn’t mean to!”

Laughter bubbled in his throat. Part of him wondered if he should just let her carry him like this, flying them both across the ocean. But then, they wouldn’t exactly be swimming anymore if they did that. Lloyd shifted his hands so that they traveled up her forearms for a better hold, urging her to come back. “You dork. You won’t get your reward if you just fly!”

“Oh, you’re right. I’m sorry!” Gently, Colette fluttered back to the water’s surface. She let herself submerge, just up to her torso. Her own hands held onto Lloyd’s arms now. “I won’t mess up this time!”

“And no more apologizing,” he reprimanded. Still, this had been even more fun than expected. He saw a flush of excitement on Colette’s cheeks, whether from the swimming or the sunshine, he wasn’t sure. But she looked really happy – it was always really strange that she was never allowed to do something as simple as swimming. But there were a lot of things she hadn’t been able to do, and Lloyd wanted to help change that for her.

Also, he still needed to figure out a prize for her… Maybe he could win something at the casinos! Oh wait, Regal said he wasn’t allowed to play there. Well, last minute gifts were his specialty anyway, one he was aware of as he saw Colette’s necklace hang down her neck, the sunshine reflecting off its metal surface. The salt spray wouldn’t ruin the finish or rust the chain, forged of special materials known only to dwarves. But he could probably make something better…

“Am I being too much trouble though?” she suddenly asked.

He smiled. “Hey, I promised I’d teach you and that’s what I’m doing! Unless you wanna stop.”

“Mm, no, I want you to teach me.” She nodded. “I want that a lot!”

“Alright!” He tightened his grip on her arms. “Let’s go!”

Lloyd and Colette might have let time get away from them, and they may have forgotten their friends back on land, who started to leave for the comfort of the hotel one by one.

“Hey! We’re going now!” But Genis’ voice couldn’t seem to reach them. He could still hear them splashing, Lloyd’s own loud and encouraging voice traveling over the water, but only aimed at one person. “Ugh, they’re too far out.”

“They’ll be alright,” his sister commented, already heading up towards the beach exit, gesturing for him to follow. “Now let’s go. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

“You just don’t want to be near the water…” he grumbled, but went after her. His two friends apparently had more important things to be busy with today.

Colette had been doing a few swimming techniques Lloyd had taught her – the doggy paddle, a few ways to dive, and even how to float on her back. But Lloyd still tried to get her to actually swim, and once remembering how she tried to get to him when he moved away, it gave him another idea.

“You’re balancing okay?”

Colette’s hands were sifting in the water, but she was afloat, standing within the water despite her feet not touching the ground. “Y-yeah, I think.”

“Okay, now try to catch up to me!”

“Wh-”

Lloyd was soon swimming further out, feet kicking through the water until he was quite a bit aways. But he turned back to her, hands waving. “Over here! You can do it!”

Colette hesitated, but not for too long. “R-right!” Cheeks puffed out and eyes bright, Colette employed everything Lloyd taught her, letting her body get held up by the water, using her arms to paddle through it. She nearly upended herself a few times, somehow, but got back into position, slowly cutting through the water to reach Lloyd.

“No wings!” he called out. “Well, unless you really need them!” If Colette found herself overwhelmed by the currents, her wings could help her out with that.

“I’m… okay!” she gasped out, and soon enough, she was just a few feet towards Lloyd, limbs a little shaky, but still there. To help her out, he reached out to grab her arms, and then swung her around, the water droplets falling off Colette and onto him during the momentum.

“Lloyd!” she said with a laugh, and soon she was lowered back to the water, half-falling against him, her hands placed against his shoulders. “I would have tripped!”

“Nah, I had you!” He squeezed her arms in reassurance.

Colette was raising her head to him, her eyes soon seeing past him towards the sky. “Oh, it’s getting dark.”

Lloyd blinked, then raised his head as well. The sky was painted with hues of red and orange, the sun leaving trails of its light within the expanse. The air felt a little colder too. How long have they been out here?

“Ah man, my hands are probably all wrinkly and stuff,” Lloyd complained. Then remembered something even more important! “Agh, we probably missed dinner too!”

Colette lifted her head at that, then looked towards the beach. “Oh! I guess so. Genis isn’t here.”

Well, Lloyd supposed he could munch on some gels instead… “Still though, I can’t believe I didn’t notice the time. I was really into those lessons!”

“Yeah!” Colette readily agreed. Her braided hair was unraveled a bit now, Lloyd noticed. The sea breeze picked it up, lifting it to the air. “Me too… Did I do good, you think?”

Lloyd gave her a thumbs up. “Yep! I’d say you passed the lessons. You can swim for sure now!”

With a cheerful laugh, she bounced a bit in his hold, the water current unconsciously bringing her closer. “Thank you, Lloyd! So, um…” She fiddled with her hands. “You said I’d get a prize if I learned, right?”

“Hm?” A low, passing wave shifted them again, and somehow making him remember. “Oh! Right, that was… yeah!” Maybe he could say it was in his room. And then, quickly make her a bracelet or something in 10 minutes? He might have some spare ones…

“Lloyd?” she asked curiously, seeing him hesitate. “It’s okay if I don’t get anything though. Swimming was really fun.”

“No, no, just uh…” He could come up with something, couldn’t he? And then it did, and then it wouldn’t leave his head.

It was really the only thing he had left on his mind. He couldn’t make her a figure out here, or win her a prize at the amusement park, or anything that sounded at least somewhat cool. But he still wasn’t entirely sure where the idea came from.

When he kissed her, he felt Colette shiver, but not pull away. The water held them both, all throughout his clumsy kiss, tasting the salt on her lips. There was a small sound from her, very soft, and her hands then moved against his chest as her mouth pressed against his.

So, uh, he had to keep kissing her. For the reward, and, yeah.

“U-um, Lloyd,” she whispered, lifting her lips away slightly. How come…? “Your goggles…”

Oh. Oh! “Oh, sorry!” He pulled back, seeing the slight indentation of his goggles against her forehead. Ah man, he had been too stupid. “Sorry, didn’t mean to uh…” Maybe Zelos was right about this dumb thing. He never actually wore it!

Also, he had just kissed her with no warning at all. It just seemed… like a thing to do? He started to let go, but Colette hadn’t moved from him at all, although she rubbed at her forehead a bit. Man, he was an idiot.

“Um, should probably go back, I guess,” he said. Also, he should probably make her an actual prize instead of just whatever that had been…

Then he heard her say, “Thank you, Lloyd. For keeping your promises to me like always.”

That had surprised him to hear. He looked at her, at the way she smiled up at him, the line in her forehead finally fading. The waves shifted around them again, paralleling the hues of red and orange from above.

“And for the prize, too! I’ll… try to earn some more!” Her smiled morphed to a grin, hands still on him, the water so comfortable between them.

“Huh, well… I think you’ve earned plenty more?” Lloyd said, again wondering where all this was coming from. “And I still probably need to give them to you.” Wow, he really didn’t understand but here he was, talking about it.

Colette seemed very okay with that. “Without the goggles though?”

Lloyd laughed, pulling at the strap around his head. “Y-yeah, without the goggles.”