Hope and Love.......Death and Rebirth
By David Goldsmith
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers in any way, form, or fashion. I am merely using the characters to write a work of fiction for the enjoyment of others. I make absolutely no money off of this so please don't sue me! Enjoy!
The woman silently sat by the fire, watching the flames consume the wood and leaves that were currently shriveling up and turning to ash. She fell back onto the ground and let a very long and exhausted sigh pass her lips. Lina Inverse could not recall EVER feeling so depressed in her life. She had just finished visiting Sairaag with Gourry, and Gourry was not currently with her.
Lina had always thought her 'guardian' would stick around until she found someone to spend the rest of her life with.
He obviously hadn't seen Lina's complete disappointment at the fact that she would be alone again. Sylphiel had admitted that she loved Gourry and Gourry had come clean about his feelings for her as well. They both decided that they needed to spend some time together and that meant Gourry was not going to be able to keep traveling.
They had exchanged goodbyes and hugs. She had turned to leave and was about fifty yards away when she turned around to wave, and saw Gourry and Sylphiel openly kissing each other! They didn't see Lina waving at them, and it killed the red-haired sorceress.
"They've already forgotten about me..." She thought sadly.
She had run out of town, not stopping until her legs buckled underneath her and she had the coppery aftertaste of blood in her mouth from her overworked lungs.
She had collapsed near a river and slept for nearly two hours and woke up right at dusk. She had built a fire and started licking her emotional wounds. And she hadn't moved from where she sat even to go after some dinner.
Everyone had left her. Zelgadiss had separated from the group about a year and a half ago, going off in search of another cure that he had heard of. They hadn't seen him or heard of him since he left. Lina had missed him terribly, but she had the others and it was enough to keep her going.
Amelia was next to go. She had yearned to visit her homeland again and upon her return, her father told her that she shouldn't avoid her duties as princess anymore. Amelia then decided to take up her role as crown princess and told everyone to visit anytime.
Lina then only had Gourry to keep her company, and now he was gone. Lina had secretly looked in on Amelia and found her to be very happy to be rid of the red-haired sorceress. Amelia had openly called her a menace to society that hardly deserved the kindness she received seeing as she hardly gave any.
Lina had snuck away without Amelia ever finding out. Gourry had parted rather hastily as well, seeming all too eager to get away from Lina.
Zel had not parted from their group harshly, just said a friendly goodbye and had said he earnestly hoped to meet them again someday. Lina smiled on the thought. Zel seemed to be the only one who wanted to be around her, but his quest had made him take a different path and now he could be anywhere, possibly even dead.
Lina suddenly snapped and broke into tears, realizing that no one wanted her. Sure the Mazuko wanted her to join their ranks, but she still had her dignity and refused them.
She fell into a very restless sleep, dreaming of everyone in the world telling her that she wasn't needed and all she did was bring about trouble. There seemed to be no end to the tears and the heartache that now seized the sorceress.
She had awoken that next morning and set out without knowing where she was going and frankly she could have cared less. She ended up in a mountain range over a hundred miles away sometime that afternoon. She had used Raywing to get up near the summit and was currently engaged in her most difficult internal battle yet.
"Nobody wants me, then why do I go on? Why do I have to suffer? Why me?" She thought. She got up and walked to the edge of a rather tall cliff, and found herself looking down with a longing to feel nothing.
"If I die, what is the world going to lose?" She answered her own question. "A flat-chested, uptight, prissy little girl who has no loyalty to anyone. No one's going to remember me beyond the day when someone finds my body." She thought aloud.
She closed her eyes and spread out her arms, feeling the weight on her shoulders lift with the promise of being free of this misery she was currently engulfed in. "If I just close my eyes and fall, I won't react and cast Raywing to slow my descent, then it'll just hurt for a second or two..." She drifted off as she leaned forward and prepared to meet L-sama herself.
She faintly thought she heard frantic steps coming up behind her, a person literally sprinting at break neck speed, but she knew no one who would try to stop her was there. Just as she was about to topple off the mountain, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and yanked her back from the brink.
She started flailing like a baby, trying to get back to the side of the cliff, hoping the person couldn't cast Raywing.
"LET GO OF ME!! What are you doing? I don't want this damn life!! I DON'T NEED IT!!"
She continued flailing like a landed fish, but her rescuer's grasp was firm and solid. Lina was about to Mono Bolt the bastard who dared to stop her when the person spoke for the first time.
"Why Lina?"
Her blood froze instantly.
She noticed the voice betrayed a lot of concern and astonishment, which was uncharacteristic of the person who was holding her. She looked down at the arms around her waist for the first time and saw the familiar beige cloak and blue stone skin.
"...Zel.....Zelgadiss....?" She asked hesitantly, fearing that this was all just a dream. Her voice was cracking and she knew it, but she didn't care. Tears flooded her eyes as the response came.
"It's okay now Lina, everything's going to be alright...." Zel trailed off, moving one of his hands gently through her hair to soothe her as she twisted on top of him and clutched his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zel eventually sat up and held Lina as close as he could, whispering into her ears all the while, drawing the pain from her heart and letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere.
Zel and Lina had set up camp in the valley after Zel had flown them to ground level, fearing that Lina would try again if she was still at such a high altitude. Lina had been curled into a fetal position for some time now, letting her sobs die away as time passed slowly.
Zel felt his heart wrenching the whole time watching Lina break down in front of him. He had harbored feelings for her for as long as he could remember since joining their little group. No one knew that he ever had. After all, who could he have told? Gourry would have spilled the beans without thinking twice and Amelia would probably murder Lina for stealing HER Zelgadiss's heart! Xellos would use it for blackmail material and Sylphiel would probably have thought it was cute or cared less, seeing as how her heart was set on Gourry.
Zel thought about Filia and decided not to go there, she was a dragon and last he checked, she had never had a crush, let alone been in love.
He had stayed near her the whole time, tending to her as best he could given her current state. "Don't worry Lina, I'm not going anywhere this time. I'm just ashamed that it's taken something this extreme to finally wake me up as to how vulnerable you really are." Zel thought to himself.
Zel settled next to Lina as the sun began to set and he felt Lina automatically clutch his arm and then laid herself on his chest. Zel didn't blush, he knew she was very shaken up and needed time to put herself back together. And if being this close to him helped her recover faster, then far be it from him to deny her such treatment.
Two months later......
Lina and Zel walked into an inn and sat down to a huge dinner. Well, Lina sat down to a huge dinner while Zel had numerous cups of coffee and tea along with a few turkey legs to appease Lina.
"She's finally getting back to her old self." Zel thought, a small grin forcing the edges of his mouth upward. Lina hardly noticed since she was busy making the waiter's jaw repeatedly hit the floor.
When Lina had all but cleaned out the inn's kitchen, cellar, and attic of all possible food stores, she tilted the chair back and put her feet on the table and let a pleased sigh drift from her lips. Zel had already given the innkeeper a couple of bags that contained about forty gold coins apiece for the dinner. He pulled out another bag and paid for their rooms for the night.
Zel and Lina got two rooms that were right beside each other. It had taken Lina over a month to be able to sleep by herself again. Zel remembered staying up so many nights to comfort her from the nightmares that seemed to rage out of control almost every night. Lina only seemed to settle down when Zel was laying right beside her, holding her tightly.
He had long since forgotten how to blush since Lina had not objected to his holding her at night since she had almost committed suicide. She almost welcomed it, like she was also hiding her true feelings from the world.
"Could it be possible that.....no, don't think like that Zelgadiss. She could never love a freak like you, just take a close look in the mirror." He thought to himself.
The next morning was pretty much customary to both Lina and Zel. Lina was downstairs trying to rustle up enough grub for a decent sized breakfast when Zel came down and asked for a cup of coffee.
The day's plans were by no means made until a messenger came through the door with a small piece of paper in his hands that looked like a small picture. He glanced around the restaurant before his eyes settled on Lina and Zel, then he proceeded to walk over.
Zel noticed the seal on his bag matched that of Amelia's family, so he let the man approach. Lina must have noticed the same thing, for she also let the man approach without fire-balling him to high heaven.
"You two are Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadiss?" He asked tactlessly.
"That we are, what business is it of yours?" Zel asked as calmly as usual.
The man reached into his bag and pulled out a rather thin envelope. "I have been assigned to deliver this letter to you from Princess Amelia of Saillune. That is all, I bid you good day." The man was obviously in a hurry to leave, but he was amazingly composed as to every other one of Amelia's servants that trembled from merely seeing the great and powerful Lina Inverse.
Lina took the letter and thanked the man before she brought out her sword and used the tip to break the seal and open the letter. She read it aloud.
Dear Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadiss,
I have recently heard some good news concerning our old group and I implore that you come to Saillune immediately! I promise that I will explain everything when you get here and I might even throw in a little "compensation" as you so like to call it Miss Lina!
Hope to see you soon!
Amelia
Lina handed the letter to Zel, who also read it and looked at Lina. "I guess we're going to Saillune..." Zel trailed off. Lina looked hesitant, but shook it off and got up to go pay the bill so that they could leave. Soon enough, Lina and Zel were on the road headed for Saillune.
Zel and Lina walked through the main gate to Saillune about a week later. The messenger had arrived in only two days, but he was riding a horse, so that was understandable.
Lina looked rather reluctant and hadn't spoken a word since they had entered the city. Zel picked up on this, but decided against saying anything just yet. It wasn't long before they reached the palace gates and were immediately escorted in by the honor guard.
They eventually came to the throne room and saw Amelia sitting in one of the extravagant wooden chairs. To her right was another person that neither Zel nor Lina had seen before, but could probably guess what he was since he was wearing the clothes of royalty and had a ring similar to Amelia's new wedding band on his ring finger.
"Oh, I'm so happy to see you Mr. Zelgadiss and Miss Lina!" Amelia said, running over and hugging them both. "I was beginning to think that messenger I sent out wouldn't find you in time for the weddings!" She explained.
Zel and Lina blinked.....twice.
"You mean you didn't know? Not only am I getting married, but Gourry and Sylphiel are too! Isn't this great!?" Amelia nearly shouted.
Lina twitched a couple of times before she forced a smile and replied. "Sure it is! Wouldn't want to miss it for the world!" She answered.
Zel noticed the twitching as well and decided to talk to Lina about it later when they were alone again. "She just seems so uncomfortable around Amelia these days, did something happen between them while I was away?" Zel thought to himself.
Zel suddenly noticed that Lina's eyes were glazed over and she looked to be a million miles away. He put a hand on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality. "Are you alright?" He asked.
Lina didn't answer right away, but eventually nodded.
"Amelia, Lina is pretty tired from our trip here, I think it would be for the best if you just showed us to our rooms for the evening." It was more of an order than a request.
Amelia could see the look in Zel's eyes and realized that he was genuinely concerned for Lina. She cringed, knowing this did not bode well for her plan.
"I think you're right Mr. Zelgadiss. Guards, could you please show them to their rooms?" She asked.
The two posted inside the throne room nodded and moved to take Lina from Zel, but he simply put a hand up. "I've got her, just lead the way to her room first." He stated.
Neither guard put up an argument, not wanting to get on the chimera's bad side. Amelia silently fumed.
"There you go Lina, just get some rest now." Zel said. Lina nodded and fell onto the bed behind her and almost immediately fell asleep. Zel was hesitant on leaving her alone, but he was not in any position to tell the guards otherwise.
When the others left the room, Lina opened her eyes to reveal wet eyes that were on the verge of spilling an ocean of tears. "Why.....Why is it always me that has to be alone? What did I ever do that was worth punishing me like THIS!?!" She thought. "I'm always alone.......I'll never be happy. Oh, L-sama it hurts so much....." She thought before she closed her eyes again and let an early sleep find her.
Zel stood in the royal study, waiting patiently for Amelia. It was the middle of the night and he simply didn't like the feel of the whole situation. Amelia was usually in bed at sundown and didn't get up until the crack of dawn.
Furthermore, she had still had that glimmer in her eyes when she looked at him in the throne room. That glimmer meant that she was probably still nursing a crush on him, and she was probably going to tell him that she loved him. "I'm sorry Amelia, but..." He trailed off in thought as the doors opened to reveal the person in question wearing a frilly nightgown.
"Hello Mr. Zelgadiss, I'm glad that you could meet me so late." She began.
Zel frowned slightly, but remained quiet. Amelia saw that he was clearly waiting for her to get down to business. She walked over to him, and in a brash move only Lina Inverse would normally pull, wrapped her arms around his midsection and buried her face in his chest.
Zel was rather shocked to say the least. "Amelia, what's this all about?" Zel asked.
"It's really simple Mr. Zelgadiss. I like you......I love you. I never want to be apart from you ever again." She said with the most sincerity Zel had ever heard in her voice.
He shook his head. "Amelia..." He trailed off. He slowly forced her away from him and looked her in the eye. "I didn't mean to mislead you into thinking that what we shared was love. I thought of you as the little sister I never had and I still think of you that way. There can never be anything between us besides that......I'm sorry."
Amelia collapsed to her knees. Her eyes were tearing up as Zelgadiss stood before her.
"Who......if not me then who......who holds your heart?" She asked, voice cracking.
"I'm not sure about that anymore, but I'll let you know when I figure that out for myself." He replied.
Amelia's head shot upward as Zel walked towards the door. "IT'S LINA, ISN'T IT?!?" She shouted, not caring who she woke up.
Zel stopped, knowing that he was more than a little cornered. "She needs to know the truth..." He turned and came back to her.
"When I was passing through the mountains west of here, I found Lina. She was in the process of leaping off the side of the mountain without any intentions of using Raywing." He started.
Amelia gasped. "That would explain why she's been acting so strange..." Amelia thought aloud. Silent fears slowly came back to haunt her.
"Yes, and for the past few months I've been looking after her as best I can." Zel continued. He took a deep breath, knowing this next part would be the toughest.
"You were right when you said that she held my heart. I do love her, more than life itself. She was the one person who seemed to forget that I wasn't human time after time." Amelia cringed, knowing that she had judged him on his appearance on more than one occasion.
"She was full of life and seemed invulnerable. She also brought me back from the brink of insanity. Now she is the one in need of help, and I simply can't bring myself to leave her nor can I tell her of my feelings. I'm still the monster that I was when we met, how can she ever love someone as hideous, repulsive, and freakish as I am? Despite all that I feel, I'll condemn myself to the bowels of all nine hells before I leave her again." He concluded.
Amelia finally understood. She finally knew why Zel had been so obsessed with finding a cure. To him, finding a cure would mean a chance at happiness, something he had never experienced. Then Lina being Lina came along and presented him the chance without the cure. Zel didn't know what to do.
"Mr. Zelgadiss, I think that you are wrong. You aren't a monster or a cold-blooded man of any kind. I know you have a heart strong enough to move mountains, otherwise how could I have fallen in love with you? You're selling yourself for a piece of silver when you are worth triple your weight in gold." Amelia trailed off.
Zel grinned at Amelia and rustled her hair a bit. "Thanks little sister." He said.
Amelia, through tears, replied. "Don't mention it big brother."
Zel walked through the halls of the palace towards Lina's room to see how she was doing. He eventually reached the room and crept in, afraid to wake Lina up.
What he found was absolutely stunning. Lina was huddled up into a fetal position and was sobbing again. He came over and watched her writhe and tremble for a few minutes before he moved onto the bed and held her in his arms.
She immediately reacted to his touch and clung to him like a drowning person clings to a life raft. Whispers from Lina's lips made their way to Zel's ears. "Zel.......please don't leave me like everyone else.........I don't want to be alone anymore..." She trailed off.
Zel simply held her tighter and soothed her with his soft whispers and light humming throughout the night. "Lina, I promise you this, I'm not going anywhere. I wouldn't leave even if my life depended on it." He whispered softly in her ear. Lina turned over and buried her head in his chest.
Zel looked at her in the dim moonlight. She seemed so small and vulnerable that it was like a completely different person from the Lina Inverse that he knew and loved. "I do love her, but what if she doesn't.........I don't think I could put myself back together if she didn't..." He trailed off.
They slept in each other's arms for the rest of the night.
The next day was definitely an improvement on the situation. Amelia had confronted Zel and told him that her fiancée completely understood her situation from previous experience and they had developed a tight bond in mere hours.
Zel was pleased that Amelia was taking his rejection so well. "Yet I'm sure it's easier for her because she has someone she knows will stay by her side for the rest of her life. Lina doesn't have that, although I admit I would be more than happy to have the job." He thought to himself, silently berating his lack of restraint once more.
Lina was still down in the dumps and needed something to lift her spirits. An idea seemed to leap into Zel's mind as he went searching for Lina. He finally found her in the garden near the only fountain within the royal palace.
He approached carefully and noticed that again, Lina had that same faraway look in her eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder and allowed a smug grin to make its way to the surface. Lina returned it with a shy smile of her own.
"I want to show you something." Zel began. "Ok, where is it?" She asked. "It's not in Saillune, in fact it's about two weeks away. The way I figure it, the weddings don't start for another six weeks or so. We travel there in back in roughly a month and we still manage to make it to the weddings. You look like you're positively stir-crazy anyway, so getting out will do you some good.
Lina strangely didn't argue with Zel and after a brief explanation to Amelia and some quick packing, Lina and Zel hit the road towards the western mountain range in the distance.
Two weeks later.......
"Are we there yet Zel?" Lina asked.
"Almost, we should make it just in time for sunset." He stated. The two had only come across one group of bandits, but these bandits were the persistent kind that rarely gave up once you got them going.
Lina and Zel had been climbing up a rather steep trail for the past four hours or so, but they were in excellent shape so it was merely a walk in the park. Zel suddenly stopped in the middle of the trail and took out a small scrap of cloth.
"You're blindfolding me?" Lina asked sarcastically.
"Uh huh." Zel replied, a grin threatening to break out on his face.
"Okay, I'll play along." She replied and allowed Zel to tie the blindfold. Lina held onto Zel's shoulders for the remainder of five minutes before Zel turned her away from him and slowly removed the blindfold.
Before her was a small clearing that was fairly shaded by the tall trees. They were at the base of a vertical cliff that was a couple of hundred feet high. A waterfall cascaded over the edge of the cliff and formed a pool that was quite large enough to be a very oversized swimming pool, but not nearly large enough to be called a lake. At the base of the waterfall and within about twenty feet of the pool was a well-established fire ring next to a worn patch of grass under a tree. The whole area exuded an aura of peace and contentment.
Lina found herself gaping at the waterfall scatter the light as the sunset was reflected off of the falling water. "I have never seen any place this beautiful in my entire life." Lina replied in a small whisper.
"I found it a number of years ago on one of my searches for a cure. I haven't brought anyone here nor have I told anyone else about it, before now that is." He explained.
Lina turned and face Zel, her eyes sparkling for the first time in weeks. "I'm honored that you would choose me to share this with." Lina answered.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Zel whispered almost too low for Lina to hear, but she barely caught it. She lost her ability to speak for several seconds before realizing she was still hugging Zel.
They eventually separated and walked over to Zel's small camp site and sat down to rest for a few days before they had to head back to Saillune for the weddings. Zel and Lina spent the night chatting over a fire and a batch of cooked fish that the pool had handily supplied from above on the upper cliff surface.
Three weeks later.......
Amelia sat in her study with her fiancée, cuddling up closer to his chest when a servant suddenly burst through the door.
"YOUR MAJESTY! The Chimera friend of yours and the red-haired sorceress have returned and the Chimera is seriously injured!" He shouted.
Amelia felt her blood run cold and she raced after the guard to the palace infirmary.
She rushed in to find Lina staring at her blood stained hands, tears falling from her eyes as the numerous mages cast several healings spells on Zel's apparently lifeless body. Amelia saw that Zel's chest was gently rising and falling, the only visible sign that he was still holding on by the barest of threads and shear will power.
Amelia found herself shaking Lina frantically and yelling at her. "WHAT HAPPENED MISS LINA?? TELL ME!!" She sternly shouted.
Lina was in a daze for a moment longer before Amelia's fiancée restrained her so Lina could try to explain what had happened. The group remained until they were certain that Zel was stable.
The mages assured them that he was going to live. He just needed rest after the ordeal he had been through, whatever that had been. They all agreed that they couldn't determined how he had lived through his numerous injuries for more than a few hours. Lina led Amelia, her fiancée, and Amelia's father into another chamber and started to explain.......
"It all started about two and a half weeks ago when we were returning to Saillune. This group of bandits we had repeatedly beat up tracked us out of the mountains and followed us wherever we went. They had repeatedly attacked us with the regular array of tactics; run in and try your best to slash up the enemy. Then when we were about two days from the palace, they attacked us with a few additions to their crew. Two of their men carried enchanted swords and they had two other mages with them that could use the dark magic. We quickly knocked out all but those four. Zel took the two with swords while I battled it out with the mages. It took all that we had to defeat our respective opponents. I don't really recall all of the fight. The two swordsmen were starting to wear down Zel and then they scored a rather large hit across his chest and back, making him drop to the ground and then he was out cold from the shock. The last thing I remember was charging towards the two swordsmen, and then I blacked out. When I finally came to, I found all of the bandits literally ripped apart. The four who challenged me and Zel were the worst. I don't know what happened to them, but I do know that they experienced very painful deaths. I found Zel had come around and managed to stop most of the bleeding from his wounds. From there I carried and dragged his ass back to Saillune without any more trouble from anyone. I assume from that fact that all of those bandits were dead. And you know what happened when we arrived....." Lina explained.
Everyone in the room was baffled to say the least. Yet Lina was exhausted and at the point of collapse, so they simply showed her to the room Zel was in and let her fall asleep.
Two days later......
"Zel, why did you have to throw yourself in front of that blast?" She thought.
Although she had primarily told the truth to the others, she had left out the part about Zel jumping in and taking a huge hit for her. That hit had weakened him to the point where the other swordsmen had managed to land those two major hits on his chest and back.
She had gone ballistic after that. She had come to enjoy Zel's company, maybe even care about him more than any friend would.
She had quickly denied herself of finishing such a thought on the assumption that..."He could never like....love....someone like me! I'm just not the one to deserve his affection, let alone his love..."
She remembered losing control of her powers, then she blacked out, or at least her mind did. It had only happened once before, which was why she feared ever losing control again.
She had leveled a town full of people at the tender age of three after her parents had been murdered. She had lost control then, and she did it again. Only now she was easily fifty times as powerful as she had been at three years of age.
She never remembered what had happened during those few minutes of absolute horror for any bystander, but she had heard enough from her big sister to start training in the arts of magic in order to control her power.
She found herself back in the present after the trip down memory lane. She looked at Zel's still form and suddenly broke into tears. She was losing everyone around her, and she was the sole cause of it. She continued to sob as she thought of how Zel must hate her for making him get injured for her sake.
Zel slowly became aware that he felt lousy. "That's good, means I'm alive."
He thought. Struggling about three times, he finally managed to open his eyes, only to see that the woman he loved was crying again. "....Lina..." He started.
The red head gasped as her head shot up to look into his sapphire eyes. Zel's eyes locked with a pair of shining rubies that were glistening with tears. Lina leapt onto Zel's chest and just stayed there.
Zel sat up and brought Lina into a genuine hug. Lina was seated on his lap with her legs on either side of his, effectively keeping his legs together as she simply broke down as she hugged Zel as she had so many times in the past months.
Lina suddenly realized that he was her sole reason for living now and to lose him would be to lose any and every reason to live. She was truly afraid of what Zel would say next.
She didn't have to wait long for the answer to her unspoken question.
"Lina......what's wrong? Why are you crying like this?" He asked in a voice that was only a whisper.
Lina was trembling, fighting the biggest internal struggle since she had tried to kill yourself. It was good ten minutes before Lina was composed enough to speak, but Zel had the patience of Job and hardly seemed to be in any hurry.
Lina slowly looked up into Zel's eyes, looking for something, anything, to hold onto. What she saw was glimmering hope and lots of confusion. "Could he be as confused as I am about this? Could he actually care about me?" Lina thought to herself.
Lina's tears didn't stop as she buried her head in his chest again. Her voice came in choking sobs, but she knew she had to say what was in her heart or she would never be at peace with herself.
"I thought that I would lose you, the only person I have left who actually cares about me. I thought that you would leave me after you woke up and I would never see you again. I thought that I would never get a chance to tell you what I feel..." She trailed off.
Zel's only reaction was to hold her tighter, silently encouraging her to continue.
".....I.....I love you Zelgadiss Greywords. I know that if you were to leave me, I wouldn't have anything left to live for, I wouldn't..."
She was halted in her ranting by a warm stone finger on her soft lips. When she looked into those sapphire orbs once again, she saw none of the earlier confusion. She only saw an endless sea of devotion and.....love?
"I've wanted to say the exact same thing for a long time now Lina. I am such a coward for not doing it sooner. I love you Lina Inverse......more than you will ever know. You gave me a chance at life even without a cure for my body because you didn't care what I looked like. I honestly didn't think you could love someone like me...." Zel trailed off as Lina looked into his eyes with a stern look before her gaze melted into one of pure affection and their lips met.
Electricity surged between the two as their lips practically seared together. The kiss continued on for what seemed like hours, yet when they separated, it was easy to tell that the sun was only a little lower in the sky.
Relief flooded through their two souls as their doubts were replaced with genuine love. The two finally had to break for air and found themselves gasping for much needed oxygen. Their eyes remained locked as untold dams began to rupture and finally broke, releasing all of their pent up emotions.
They met each other half-way as their emotions surged to the surface. Zel and Lina started to disrobe each other as they slowly realized that this was no dream, but was indeed sweet, blissful reality.
Lina slowly peeled her eyes open to gaze upon the midday sun from her position in bed. She turned over to come face to face with her lover. She snuggled up closer to him and felt his arms encircle her once again. "Zel.....about last night.....thank you." Lina started. "Words can't even begin to describe how special that was." She finished.
Zel smiled, gently caressing Lina's face.
"Is this one of the reasons you train so hard? To have stamina when you need it most?" Lina asked, grinning wolfishly.
Zel, for the first time in months, blushed a rather deep shade of red despite the color of his skin. The fingers on Zel's left hand intertwined with Lina's right as they continued to simply enjoy the presence of each other.
"Everything's different now, isn't it Zel?" Lina asked.
"Yes, now we have each other to share our lives with. We won't be alone anymore and we don't have to dwell on the past either." He explained.
Lina got up and went to the window, despite the fact she was nude. She had only been staring out the window for a few moments when Zel came up from behind her and wrapped a sheet from the bed around the two of them, and they looked out at the world together.
"Going to those weddings now won't be as difficult as I thought it would be my love." Lina started.
"I was thinking that we should try to have one of our own rather than focus on someone else's..." Zel trailed off.
"Is that your way of asking me to marry you?" Lina asked.
"No, I had something else in mind." Zel replied.
"Oh, do tell oh man of mine." Lina giggled s she said it. She suddenly stopped giggling as Zel slipped a ring on her left hand.
"Would you care to wear this with me for a while?" He asked.
"About how long were you thinking?" Lina asked, on the verge of stuttering.
"I'm not sure, perhaps a couple of centuries. Give or take a millennia or two." Zel answered.
Lina's eyes began to tear up again. "That's much better...." She trailed off. "...and I've have to be crazy to say anything but yes." She softly replied as Zel wrapped the sheet around them tighter.
"Want to celebrate a bit more lover?" Lina grinned mischievously.
"And you said men had a one track mind..." Zel answered as Lina practically threw him onto the bed, with her leaping after him cackling like a mad scientist.
Epilogue
Twenty Years Later........
"CHEERS!" The group shouted.
The four couples had gathered at Amelia's palace to celebrate two great achievements as well as numerous smaller ones.
The first great achievement being that Lina had defeated Xellos in battle and thus won his freedom from the Mazuko race. The second great achievement was that Xellos had finally, after five long years, asked Filia to marry him. The dragon priestess had no trouble saying yes because of the fact that Xellos had been released from his bonds to the Mazuko and the relationship that had bloomed between them over the past years.
Sylphiel and Gourry were somewhat busy trying to contain their four children as best they could. Sylphiel was lecturing the six and four year old boys on why they shouldn't make crude comments and hide under a lady's dress. (Filia had promptly fainted over that one.)
Gourry was busy running down his two older trouble makers. The twelve year old boy and ten year old girl had been hanging around their "Uncle Xellos" for too long. When there was a degree of peace among the group again. Amelia stood up.
"I know that you've all been wondering why my husband and I have been so eager to talk to everyone, so we'll keep you waiting no longer. We're going to be having another addition to the family!" She explained. Zel nodded in approval, remembering how responsible Amelia had been with their first little girl.
Their "little" girl was by no means that at the age of fourteen and already showing the Saillune family 'attributes' that Lina was so jealous of for years on end before she had physically aged another four years and "filled out" nicely. Not that Zel had EVER complained.
Zel still hadn't found a cure, but he knew that he no longer needed one. He and Lina traveled around the world on orders from L-sama herself. Lina was by no means knight material, for L-sama's knights can never have been introduced to the other dark arts of magic.
Instead, L-sama had 'hired' the two to traverse the world and correct what her knights could technically never interfere with. It was a pretty good arrangement.
Neither Lina or Zel had ever wanted to settle down. It was simply their nature to continue going forward into the unexplored world while others settled down and lived lives that were more to their liking.
Lina and Zel couldn't have been happier. Zel had noticed that Lina was grinning more than was usual even for HER, and that was starting to worry even Zel. Fortunately Xellos, of all people, bailed him out.
"Lina-san, you seem to be a little perkier than usual, what's the occasion?" He asked rather bluntly, earning a heavy clubbing from Filia's mace.
Lina just set her glass down and continued acting all cheery, smiling and placing a look on her face that shouted, "I know something you don't!"
Zel eyed her cautiously before Lina turned to Xellos. "Hey Xel, technically speaking, is it possible for a user of black magic to bear children?" She asked.
Zel simply froze while Xellos put his chin in his palm and contemplated silently.
"Technically speaking Lina-san, all the negative energy that a black magic user puts off nullifies any attempts for that person in particular, if it's a woman, to bear children. I know for a fact that you've been using black magic almost daily for the past twenty years, so I think you're pretty much exempt from the kid business. Why do you ask? Certainly you of all people would know that." Xel replied.
"Well, I know how you all just love being the God parents of each other's children. So I felt obligated to bring this up in front of everyone." She continued.
Zel's eyes were getting larger by the second at the direction Lina was headed and it took all of his restraint not to jump up and hug her to death.
"You know I've never been one to actually think anything is impossible. So call the record books people! Me and Zel are gonna be parents!" Lina shouted.
Smiles spread like wildfire as Zel literally threw Lina into the air and laughed in front of others for the first time in years.
"When did you find out about your children?" Amelia asked.
"She came to me a week ago with symptoms like morning sickness among other things and when I did an exam, I discovered that Lina was indeed pregnant." Sylphiel spoke up.
"Why didn't I know about this?" Gourry complained.
"You were on that fishing trip with the children if I remember correctly." She explained.
"Oh Yeah!" Gourry echoed.
The group continued the party well into the night, speaking of times that only Lina and Zel experienced anymore in daily life. Everyone enjoyed themselves, knowing that everyone was changing. That is, except for Lina and Zel. For all practical purposes, they were going to live for centuries, possibly even a few thousand years.
Lina's black magic kept her relatively young and Zel's Golem and Demon parts kept him at about the same age as he was when he was turned into a chimera. They cuddled in each other's arms for the rest of the night, knowing that no matter what happened, they were going to be together for as long as both of them lived.
Ten months later........
"TWINS!??!?" Zel shouted, not believing what the midwife was saying.
"Yeah, that's what I said, so get over it!" She shouted as Lina started round two.
Zel thanked L-sama that he hadn't found a cure, because right now the only thing that kept his hands from breaking was the fact that they were made out of stone.
After another thirty minutes of screaming, Zel looked at his two children with satisfaction and pride. Lina was still asleep after her ordeal. Zel looked down at his son and daughter.
His son had lavender hair and the bluest of eyes, with little pebbles embedded on his skin around his joints. His elbows and knees were covered and he grinned.
"No skinned knees and elbows for you young man, you lucky dog." He thought to himself.
His daughter had her mother's fire red hair, but her eyes were an emerald green instead of fire red. The girl didn't have a single stone on her body, which was very relieving to Zel.
Even though their skin wasn't stone, it was still incredibly dense. They could possibly block a sword strike with their bare hands if they were careful, but that remained to be seen. Both of them had somewhat pale blue skin, but in the sunlight, it wouldn't make much difference. His son was a little stronger than any normal baby, but nothing else indicated that his chimera traits had been passed to his children.
"We'll have to wait and see about the other parts." He thought aloud. "
My mother's eyes were green you know...." Lina suddenly spoke from the bed. Zel walked back over and sat beside his wife.
"I didn't know that..." He replied gently.
"I'm proud of you Lina." He whispered in her ear.
"I know." She whispered back. "Now we have a family of our own my love. We can give them everything that we didn't have. They'll grow up strong and surrounded by love, even if the rest of the world doesn't approve of them. These are our children Zel, and they deserve the best life we can offer them." Lina explained.
The short silence was promptly ended by Lina.
"What do you want to call them?" She continued.
"You name the boy, I'll name the girl." He replied.
"Fair enough. Alright then you little tiger, what do you want to be called?" She cooed sweetly to the newborn. The baby looked at her with wonderment in his eyes at the bright smile that his mother was giving him.
"I hereby name you Ryo......Ryo Greywords." Lina said in her best impression of a formal voice.
Zel had been taking a good look at his daughter and the girl also looked at him in amazement.
"And you will be Katherine Greywords my little angel." Zel continued.
"Ryo and Katherine....good names." Lina continued. Zel and Lina sat together on the bed, taking in the sight of their new family.
"I love you Lina." Zel said.
"And I love you Zel." Lina replied.
The two new parents looked at each other and they knew that when Lina was able to get back on her feet, they would hit the road once more on the next part of their adventure with their kids in tow. Of course it would be dangerous, but Lina and Zel both knew that they wouldn't want it any other way.
The two of them had finally found the family that they had both always wanted, and it would be a cold day in hell before they allowed anything to happen to any person in their family. The four of them fell asleep and that night, even the babies dreamed of great adventures to come with their loving parents for the rest of time.
Author's notes: Okay, I just had to write another one! Lina/Zel is my favorite Slayers couple! Please review and tell me if I should do more couplings and with which couples! (Just mention the series they are in as well and I'll try to accommodate all requests. Once again, PLEASE REVIEW! I have a few more chapters planned after this one, so stay tuned! Until my next story faithful readers!
E-mail me at: [email protected] I like feedback! Please let me know if you like the story!
By David Goldsmith
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers in any way, form, or fashion. I am merely using the characters to write a work of fiction for the enjoyment of others. I make absolutely no money off of this so please don't sue me! Enjoy!
The woman silently sat by the fire, watching the flames consume the wood and leaves that were currently shriveling up and turning to ash. She fell back onto the ground and let a very long and exhausted sigh pass her lips. Lina Inverse could not recall EVER feeling so depressed in her life. She had just finished visiting Sairaag with Gourry, and Gourry was not currently with her.
Lina had always thought her 'guardian' would stick around until she found someone to spend the rest of her life with.
He obviously hadn't seen Lina's complete disappointment at the fact that she would be alone again. Sylphiel had admitted that she loved Gourry and Gourry had come clean about his feelings for her as well. They both decided that they needed to spend some time together and that meant Gourry was not going to be able to keep traveling.
They had exchanged goodbyes and hugs. She had turned to leave and was about fifty yards away when she turned around to wave, and saw Gourry and Sylphiel openly kissing each other! They didn't see Lina waving at them, and it killed the red-haired sorceress.
"They've already forgotten about me..." She thought sadly.
She had run out of town, not stopping until her legs buckled underneath her and she had the coppery aftertaste of blood in her mouth from her overworked lungs.
She had collapsed near a river and slept for nearly two hours and woke up right at dusk. She had built a fire and started licking her emotional wounds. And she hadn't moved from where she sat even to go after some dinner.
Everyone had left her. Zelgadiss had separated from the group about a year and a half ago, going off in search of another cure that he had heard of. They hadn't seen him or heard of him since he left. Lina had missed him terribly, but she had the others and it was enough to keep her going.
Amelia was next to go. She had yearned to visit her homeland again and upon her return, her father told her that she shouldn't avoid her duties as princess anymore. Amelia then decided to take up her role as crown princess and told everyone to visit anytime.
Lina then only had Gourry to keep her company, and now he was gone. Lina had secretly looked in on Amelia and found her to be very happy to be rid of the red-haired sorceress. Amelia had openly called her a menace to society that hardly deserved the kindness she received seeing as she hardly gave any.
Lina had snuck away without Amelia ever finding out. Gourry had parted rather hastily as well, seeming all too eager to get away from Lina.
Zel had not parted from their group harshly, just said a friendly goodbye and had said he earnestly hoped to meet them again someday. Lina smiled on the thought. Zel seemed to be the only one who wanted to be around her, but his quest had made him take a different path and now he could be anywhere, possibly even dead.
Lina suddenly snapped and broke into tears, realizing that no one wanted her. Sure the Mazuko wanted her to join their ranks, but she still had her dignity and refused them.
She fell into a very restless sleep, dreaming of everyone in the world telling her that she wasn't needed and all she did was bring about trouble. There seemed to be no end to the tears and the heartache that now seized the sorceress.
She had awoken that next morning and set out without knowing where she was going and frankly she could have cared less. She ended up in a mountain range over a hundred miles away sometime that afternoon. She had used Raywing to get up near the summit and was currently engaged in her most difficult internal battle yet.
"Nobody wants me, then why do I go on? Why do I have to suffer? Why me?" She thought. She got up and walked to the edge of a rather tall cliff, and found herself looking down with a longing to feel nothing.
"If I die, what is the world going to lose?" She answered her own question. "A flat-chested, uptight, prissy little girl who has no loyalty to anyone. No one's going to remember me beyond the day when someone finds my body." She thought aloud.
She closed her eyes and spread out her arms, feeling the weight on her shoulders lift with the promise of being free of this misery she was currently engulfed in. "If I just close my eyes and fall, I won't react and cast Raywing to slow my descent, then it'll just hurt for a second or two..." She drifted off as she leaned forward and prepared to meet L-sama herself.
She faintly thought she heard frantic steps coming up behind her, a person literally sprinting at break neck speed, but she knew no one who would try to stop her was there. Just as she was about to topple off the mountain, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and yanked her back from the brink.
She started flailing like a baby, trying to get back to the side of the cliff, hoping the person couldn't cast Raywing.
"LET GO OF ME!! What are you doing? I don't want this damn life!! I DON'T NEED IT!!"
She continued flailing like a landed fish, but her rescuer's grasp was firm and solid. Lina was about to Mono Bolt the bastard who dared to stop her when the person spoke for the first time.
"Why Lina?"
Her blood froze instantly.
She noticed the voice betrayed a lot of concern and astonishment, which was uncharacteristic of the person who was holding her. She looked down at the arms around her waist for the first time and saw the familiar beige cloak and blue stone skin.
"...Zel.....Zelgadiss....?" She asked hesitantly, fearing that this was all just a dream. Her voice was cracking and she knew it, but she didn't care. Tears flooded her eyes as the response came.
"It's okay now Lina, everything's going to be alright...." Zel trailed off, moving one of his hands gently through her hair to soothe her as she twisted on top of him and clutched his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zel eventually sat up and held Lina as close as he could, whispering into her ears all the while, drawing the pain from her heart and letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere.
Zel and Lina had set up camp in the valley after Zel had flown them to ground level, fearing that Lina would try again if she was still at such a high altitude. Lina had been curled into a fetal position for some time now, letting her sobs die away as time passed slowly.
Zel felt his heart wrenching the whole time watching Lina break down in front of him. He had harbored feelings for her for as long as he could remember since joining their little group. No one knew that he ever had. After all, who could he have told? Gourry would have spilled the beans without thinking twice and Amelia would probably murder Lina for stealing HER Zelgadiss's heart! Xellos would use it for blackmail material and Sylphiel would probably have thought it was cute or cared less, seeing as how her heart was set on Gourry.
Zel thought about Filia and decided not to go there, she was a dragon and last he checked, she had never had a crush, let alone been in love.
He had stayed near her the whole time, tending to her as best he could given her current state. "Don't worry Lina, I'm not going anywhere this time. I'm just ashamed that it's taken something this extreme to finally wake me up as to how vulnerable you really are." Zel thought to himself.
Zel settled next to Lina as the sun began to set and he felt Lina automatically clutch his arm and then laid herself on his chest. Zel didn't blush, he knew she was very shaken up and needed time to put herself back together. And if being this close to him helped her recover faster, then far be it from him to deny her such treatment.
Two months later......
Lina and Zel walked into an inn and sat down to a huge dinner. Well, Lina sat down to a huge dinner while Zel had numerous cups of coffee and tea along with a few turkey legs to appease Lina.
"She's finally getting back to her old self." Zel thought, a small grin forcing the edges of his mouth upward. Lina hardly noticed since she was busy making the waiter's jaw repeatedly hit the floor.
When Lina had all but cleaned out the inn's kitchen, cellar, and attic of all possible food stores, she tilted the chair back and put her feet on the table and let a pleased sigh drift from her lips. Zel had already given the innkeeper a couple of bags that contained about forty gold coins apiece for the dinner. He pulled out another bag and paid for their rooms for the night.
Zel and Lina got two rooms that were right beside each other. It had taken Lina over a month to be able to sleep by herself again. Zel remembered staying up so many nights to comfort her from the nightmares that seemed to rage out of control almost every night. Lina only seemed to settle down when Zel was laying right beside her, holding her tightly.
He had long since forgotten how to blush since Lina had not objected to his holding her at night since she had almost committed suicide. She almost welcomed it, like she was also hiding her true feelings from the world.
"Could it be possible that.....no, don't think like that Zelgadiss. She could never love a freak like you, just take a close look in the mirror." He thought to himself.
The next morning was pretty much customary to both Lina and Zel. Lina was downstairs trying to rustle up enough grub for a decent sized breakfast when Zel came down and asked for a cup of coffee.
The day's plans were by no means made until a messenger came through the door with a small piece of paper in his hands that looked like a small picture. He glanced around the restaurant before his eyes settled on Lina and Zel, then he proceeded to walk over.
Zel noticed the seal on his bag matched that of Amelia's family, so he let the man approach. Lina must have noticed the same thing, for she also let the man approach without fire-balling him to high heaven.
"You two are Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadiss?" He asked tactlessly.
"That we are, what business is it of yours?" Zel asked as calmly as usual.
The man reached into his bag and pulled out a rather thin envelope. "I have been assigned to deliver this letter to you from Princess Amelia of Saillune. That is all, I bid you good day." The man was obviously in a hurry to leave, but he was amazingly composed as to every other one of Amelia's servants that trembled from merely seeing the great and powerful Lina Inverse.
Lina took the letter and thanked the man before she brought out her sword and used the tip to break the seal and open the letter. She read it aloud.
Dear Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadiss,
I have recently heard some good news concerning our old group and I implore that you come to Saillune immediately! I promise that I will explain everything when you get here and I might even throw in a little "compensation" as you so like to call it Miss Lina!
Hope to see you soon!
Amelia
Lina handed the letter to Zel, who also read it and looked at Lina. "I guess we're going to Saillune..." Zel trailed off. Lina looked hesitant, but shook it off and got up to go pay the bill so that they could leave. Soon enough, Lina and Zel were on the road headed for Saillune.
Zel and Lina walked through the main gate to Saillune about a week later. The messenger had arrived in only two days, but he was riding a horse, so that was understandable.
Lina looked rather reluctant and hadn't spoken a word since they had entered the city. Zel picked up on this, but decided against saying anything just yet. It wasn't long before they reached the palace gates and were immediately escorted in by the honor guard.
They eventually came to the throne room and saw Amelia sitting in one of the extravagant wooden chairs. To her right was another person that neither Zel nor Lina had seen before, but could probably guess what he was since he was wearing the clothes of royalty and had a ring similar to Amelia's new wedding band on his ring finger.
"Oh, I'm so happy to see you Mr. Zelgadiss and Miss Lina!" Amelia said, running over and hugging them both. "I was beginning to think that messenger I sent out wouldn't find you in time for the weddings!" She explained.
Zel and Lina blinked.....twice.
"You mean you didn't know? Not only am I getting married, but Gourry and Sylphiel are too! Isn't this great!?" Amelia nearly shouted.
Lina twitched a couple of times before she forced a smile and replied. "Sure it is! Wouldn't want to miss it for the world!" She answered.
Zel noticed the twitching as well and decided to talk to Lina about it later when they were alone again. "She just seems so uncomfortable around Amelia these days, did something happen between them while I was away?" Zel thought to himself.
Zel suddenly noticed that Lina's eyes were glazed over and she looked to be a million miles away. He put a hand on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality. "Are you alright?" He asked.
Lina didn't answer right away, but eventually nodded.
"Amelia, Lina is pretty tired from our trip here, I think it would be for the best if you just showed us to our rooms for the evening." It was more of an order than a request.
Amelia could see the look in Zel's eyes and realized that he was genuinely concerned for Lina. She cringed, knowing this did not bode well for her plan.
"I think you're right Mr. Zelgadiss. Guards, could you please show them to their rooms?" She asked.
The two posted inside the throne room nodded and moved to take Lina from Zel, but he simply put a hand up. "I've got her, just lead the way to her room first." He stated.
Neither guard put up an argument, not wanting to get on the chimera's bad side. Amelia silently fumed.
"There you go Lina, just get some rest now." Zel said. Lina nodded and fell onto the bed behind her and almost immediately fell asleep. Zel was hesitant on leaving her alone, but he was not in any position to tell the guards otherwise.
When the others left the room, Lina opened her eyes to reveal wet eyes that were on the verge of spilling an ocean of tears. "Why.....Why is it always me that has to be alone? What did I ever do that was worth punishing me like THIS!?!" She thought. "I'm always alone.......I'll never be happy. Oh, L-sama it hurts so much....." She thought before she closed her eyes again and let an early sleep find her.
Zel stood in the royal study, waiting patiently for Amelia. It was the middle of the night and he simply didn't like the feel of the whole situation. Amelia was usually in bed at sundown and didn't get up until the crack of dawn.
Furthermore, she had still had that glimmer in her eyes when she looked at him in the throne room. That glimmer meant that she was probably still nursing a crush on him, and she was probably going to tell him that she loved him. "I'm sorry Amelia, but..." He trailed off in thought as the doors opened to reveal the person in question wearing a frilly nightgown.
"Hello Mr. Zelgadiss, I'm glad that you could meet me so late." She began.
Zel frowned slightly, but remained quiet. Amelia saw that he was clearly waiting for her to get down to business. She walked over to him, and in a brash move only Lina Inverse would normally pull, wrapped her arms around his midsection and buried her face in his chest.
Zel was rather shocked to say the least. "Amelia, what's this all about?" Zel asked.
"It's really simple Mr. Zelgadiss. I like you......I love you. I never want to be apart from you ever again." She said with the most sincerity Zel had ever heard in her voice.
He shook his head. "Amelia..." He trailed off. He slowly forced her away from him and looked her in the eye. "I didn't mean to mislead you into thinking that what we shared was love. I thought of you as the little sister I never had and I still think of you that way. There can never be anything between us besides that......I'm sorry."
Amelia collapsed to her knees. Her eyes were tearing up as Zelgadiss stood before her.
"Who......if not me then who......who holds your heart?" She asked, voice cracking.
"I'm not sure about that anymore, but I'll let you know when I figure that out for myself." He replied.
Amelia's head shot upward as Zel walked towards the door. "IT'S LINA, ISN'T IT?!?" She shouted, not caring who she woke up.
Zel stopped, knowing that he was more than a little cornered. "She needs to know the truth..." He turned and came back to her.
"When I was passing through the mountains west of here, I found Lina. She was in the process of leaping off the side of the mountain without any intentions of using Raywing." He started.
Amelia gasped. "That would explain why she's been acting so strange..." Amelia thought aloud. Silent fears slowly came back to haunt her.
"Yes, and for the past few months I've been looking after her as best I can." Zel continued. He took a deep breath, knowing this next part would be the toughest.
"You were right when you said that she held my heart. I do love her, more than life itself. She was the one person who seemed to forget that I wasn't human time after time." Amelia cringed, knowing that she had judged him on his appearance on more than one occasion.
"She was full of life and seemed invulnerable. She also brought me back from the brink of insanity. Now she is the one in need of help, and I simply can't bring myself to leave her nor can I tell her of my feelings. I'm still the monster that I was when we met, how can she ever love someone as hideous, repulsive, and freakish as I am? Despite all that I feel, I'll condemn myself to the bowels of all nine hells before I leave her again." He concluded.
Amelia finally understood. She finally knew why Zel had been so obsessed with finding a cure. To him, finding a cure would mean a chance at happiness, something he had never experienced. Then Lina being Lina came along and presented him the chance without the cure. Zel didn't know what to do.
"Mr. Zelgadiss, I think that you are wrong. You aren't a monster or a cold-blooded man of any kind. I know you have a heart strong enough to move mountains, otherwise how could I have fallen in love with you? You're selling yourself for a piece of silver when you are worth triple your weight in gold." Amelia trailed off.
Zel grinned at Amelia and rustled her hair a bit. "Thanks little sister." He said.
Amelia, through tears, replied. "Don't mention it big brother."
Zel walked through the halls of the palace towards Lina's room to see how she was doing. He eventually reached the room and crept in, afraid to wake Lina up.
What he found was absolutely stunning. Lina was huddled up into a fetal position and was sobbing again. He came over and watched her writhe and tremble for a few minutes before he moved onto the bed and held her in his arms.
She immediately reacted to his touch and clung to him like a drowning person clings to a life raft. Whispers from Lina's lips made their way to Zel's ears. "Zel.......please don't leave me like everyone else.........I don't want to be alone anymore..." She trailed off.
Zel simply held her tighter and soothed her with his soft whispers and light humming throughout the night. "Lina, I promise you this, I'm not going anywhere. I wouldn't leave even if my life depended on it." He whispered softly in her ear. Lina turned over and buried her head in his chest.
Zel looked at her in the dim moonlight. She seemed so small and vulnerable that it was like a completely different person from the Lina Inverse that he knew and loved. "I do love her, but what if she doesn't.........I don't think I could put myself back together if she didn't..." He trailed off.
They slept in each other's arms for the rest of the night.
The next day was definitely an improvement on the situation. Amelia had confronted Zel and told him that her fiancée completely understood her situation from previous experience and they had developed a tight bond in mere hours.
Zel was pleased that Amelia was taking his rejection so well. "Yet I'm sure it's easier for her because she has someone she knows will stay by her side for the rest of her life. Lina doesn't have that, although I admit I would be more than happy to have the job." He thought to himself, silently berating his lack of restraint once more.
Lina was still down in the dumps and needed something to lift her spirits. An idea seemed to leap into Zel's mind as he went searching for Lina. He finally found her in the garden near the only fountain within the royal palace.
He approached carefully and noticed that again, Lina had that same faraway look in her eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder and allowed a smug grin to make its way to the surface. Lina returned it with a shy smile of her own.
"I want to show you something." Zel began. "Ok, where is it?" She asked. "It's not in Saillune, in fact it's about two weeks away. The way I figure it, the weddings don't start for another six weeks or so. We travel there in back in roughly a month and we still manage to make it to the weddings. You look like you're positively stir-crazy anyway, so getting out will do you some good.
Lina strangely didn't argue with Zel and after a brief explanation to Amelia and some quick packing, Lina and Zel hit the road towards the western mountain range in the distance.
Two weeks later.......
"Are we there yet Zel?" Lina asked.
"Almost, we should make it just in time for sunset." He stated. The two had only come across one group of bandits, but these bandits were the persistent kind that rarely gave up once you got them going.
Lina and Zel had been climbing up a rather steep trail for the past four hours or so, but they were in excellent shape so it was merely a walk in the park. Zel suddenly stopped in the middle of the trail and took out a small scrap of cloth.
"You're blindfolding me?" Lina asked sarcastically.
"Uh huh." Zel replied, a grin threatening to break out on his face.
"Okay, I'll play along." She replied and allowed Zel to tie the blindfold. Lina held onto Zel's shoulders for the remainder of five minutes before Zel turned her away from him and slowly removed the blindfold.
Before her was a small clearing that was fairly shaded by the tall trees. They were at the base of a vertical cliff that was a couple of hundred feet high. A waterfall cascaded over the edge of the cliff and formed a pool that was quite large enough to be a very oversized swimming pool, but not nearly large enough to be called a lake. At the base of the waterfall and within about twenty feet of the pool was a well-established fire ring next to a worn patch of grass under a tree. The whole area exuded an aura of peace and contentment.
Lina found herself gaping at the waterfall scatter the light as the sunset was reflected off of the falling water. "I have never seen any place this beautiful in my entire life." Lina replied in a small whisper.
"I found it a number of years ago on one of my searches for a cure. I haven't brought anyone here nor have I told anyone else about it, before now that is." He explained.
Lina turned and face Zel, her eyes sparkling for the first time in weeks. "I'm honored that you would choose me to share this with." Lina answered.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Zel whispered almost too low for Lina to hear, but she barely caught it. She lost her ability to speak for several seconds before realizing she was still hugging Zel.
They eventually separated and walked over to Zel's small camp site and sat down to rest for a few days before they had to head back to Saillune for the weddings. Zel and Lina spent the night chatting over a fire and a batch of cooked fish that the pool had handily supplied from above on the upper cliff surface.
Three weeks later.......
Amelia sat in her study with her fiancée, cuddling up closer to his chest when a servant suddenly burst through the door.
"YOUR MAJESTY! The Chimera friend of yours and the red-haired sorceress have returned and the Chimera is seriously injured!" He shouted.
Amelia felt her blood run cold and she raced after the guard to the palace infirmary.
She rushed in to find Lina staring at her blood stained hands, tears falling from her eyes as the numerous mages cast several healings spells on Zel's apparently lifeless body. Amelia saw that Zel's chest was gently rising and falling, the only visible sign that he was still holding on by the barest of threads and shear will power.
Amelia found herself shaking Lina frantically and yelling at her. "WHAT HAPPENED MISS LINA?? TELL ME!!" She sternly shouted.
Lina was in a daze for a moment longer before Amelia's fiancée restrained her so Lina could try to explain what had happened. The group remained until they were certain that Zel was stable.
The mages assured them that he was going to live. He just needed rest after the ordeal he had been through, whatever that had been. They all agreed that they couldn't determined how he had lived through his numerous injuries for more than a few hours. Lina led Amelia, her fiancée, and Amelia's father into another chamber and started to explain.......
"It all started about two and a half weeks ago when we were returning to Saillune. This group of bandits we had repeatedly beat up tracked us out of the mountains and followed us wherever we went. They had repeatedly attacked us with the regular array of tactics; run in and try your best to slash up the enemy. Then when we were about two days from the palace, they attacked us with a few additions to their crew. Two of their men carried enchanted swords and they had two other mages with them that could use the dark magic. We quickly knocked out all but those four. Zel took the two with swords while I battled it out with the mages. It took all that we had to defeat our respective opponents. I don't really recall all of the fight. The two swordsmen were starting to wear down Zel and then they scored a rather large hit across his chest and back, making him drop to the ground and then he was out cold from the shock. The last thing I remember was charging towards the two swordsmen, and then I blacked out. When I finally came to, I found all of the bandits literally ripped apart. The four who challenged me and Zel were the worst. I don't know what happened to them, but I do know that they experienced very painful deaths. I found Zel had come around and managed to stop most of the bleeding from his wounds. From there I carried and dragged his ass back to Saillune without any more trouble from anyone. I assume from that fact that all of those bandits were dead. And you know what happened when we arrived....." Lina explained.
Everyone in the room was baffled to say the least. Yet Lina was exhausted and at the point of collapse, so they simply showed her to the room Zel was in and let her fall asleep.
Two days later......
"Zel, why did you have to throw yourself in front of that blast?" She thought.
Although she had primarily told the truth to the others, she had left out the part about Zel jumping in and taking a huge hit for her. That hit had weakened him to the point where the other swordsmen had managed to land those two major hits on his chest and back.
She had gone ballistic after that. She had come to enjoy Zel's company, maybe even care about him more than any friend would.
She had quickly denied herself of finishing such a thought on the assumption that..."He could never like....love....someone like me! I'm just not the one to deserve his affection, let alone his love..."
She remembered losing control of her powers, then she blacked out, or at least her mind did. It had only happened once before, which was why she feared ever losing control again.
She had leveled a town full of people at the tender age of three after her parents had been murdered. She had lost control then, and she did it again. Only now she was easily fifty times as powerful as she had been at three years of age.
She never remembered what had happened during those few minutes of absolute horror for any bystander, but she had heard enough from her big sister to start training in the arts of magic in order to control her power.
She found herself back in the present after the trip down memory lane. She looked at Zel's still form and suddenly broke into tears. She was losing everyone around her, and she was the sole cause of it. She continued to sob as she thought of how Zel must hate her for making him get injured for her sake.
Zel slowly became aware that he felt lousy. "That's good, means I'm alive."
He thought. Struggling about three times, he finally managed to open his eyes, only to see that the woman he loved was crying again. "....Lina..." He started.
The red head gasped as her head shot up to look into his sapphire eyes. Zel's eyes locked with a pair of shining rubies that were glistening with tears. Lina leapt onto Zel's chest and just stayed there.
Zel sat up and brought Lina into a genuine hug. Lina was seated on his lap with her legs on either side of his, effectively keeping his legs together as she simply broke down as she hugged Zel as she had so many times in the past months.
Lina suddenly realized that he was her sole reason for living now and to lose him would be to lose any and every reason to live. She was truly afraid of what Zel would say next.
She didn't have to wait long for the answer to her unspoken question.
"Lina......what's wrong? Why are you crying like this?" He asked in a voice that was only a whisper.
Lina was trembling, fighting the biggest internal struggle since she had tried to kill yourself. It was good ten minutes before Lina was composed enough to speak, but Zel had the patience of Job and hardly seemed to be in any hurry.
Lina slowly looked up into Zel's eyes, looking for something, anything, to hold onto. What she saw was glimmering hope and lots of confusion. "Could he be as confused as I am about this? Could he actually care about me?" Lina thought to herself.
Lina's tears didn't stop as she buried her head in his chest again. Her voice came in choking sobs, but she knew she had to say what was in her heart or she would never be at peace with herself.
"I thought that I would lose you, the only person I have left who actually cares about me. I thought that you would leave me after you woke up and I would never see you again. I thought that I would never get a chance to tell you what I feel..." She trailed off.
Zel's only reaction was to hold her tighter, silently encouraging her to continue.
".....I.....I love you Zelgadiss Greywords. I know that if you were to leave me, I wouldn't have anything left to live for, I wouldn't..."
She was halted in her ranting by a warm stone finger on her soft lips. When she looked into those sapphire orbs once again, she saw none of the earlier confusion. She only saw an endless sea of devotion and.....love?
"I've wanted to say the exact same thing for a long time now Lina. I am such a coward for not doing it sooner. I love you Lina Inverse......more than you will ever know. You gave me a chance at life even without a cure for my body because you didn't care what I looked like. I honestly didn't think you could love someone like me...." Zel trailed off as Lina looked into his eyes with a stern look before her gaze melted into one of pure affection and their lips met.
Electricity surged between the two as their lips practically seared together. The kiss continued on for what seemed like hours, yet when they separated, it was easy to tell that the sun was only a little lower in the sky.
Relief flooded through their two souls as their doubts were replaced with genuine love. The two finally had to break for air and found themselves gasping for much needed oxygen. Their eyes remained locked as untold dams began to rupture and finally broke, releasing all of their pent up emotions.
They met each other half-way as their emotions surged to the surface. Zel and Lina started to disrobe each other as they slowly realized that this was no dream, but was indeed sweet, blissful reality.
Lina slowly peeled her eyes open to gaze upon the midday sun from her position in bed. She turned over to come face to face with her lover. She snuggled up closer to him and felt his arms encircle her once again. "Zel.....about last night.....thank you." Lina started. "Words can't even begin to describe how special that was." She finished.
Zel smiled, gently caressing Lina's face.
"Is this one of the reasons you train so hard? To have stamina when you need it most?" Lina asked, grinning wolfishly.
Zel, for the first time in months, blushed a rather deep shade of red despite the color of his skin. The fingers on Zel's left hand intertwined with Lina's right as they continued to simply enjoy the presence of each other.
"Everything's different now, isn't it Zel?" Lina asked.
"Yes, now we have each other to share our lives with. We won't be alone anymore and we don't have to dwell on the past either." He explained.
Lina got up and went to the window, despite the fact she was nude. She had only been staring out the window for a few moments when Zel came up from behind her and wrapped a sheet from the bed around the two of them, and they looked out at the world together.
"Going to those weddings now won't be as difficult as I thought it would be my love." Lina started.
"I was thinking that we should try to have one of our own rather than focus on someone else's..." Zel trailed off.
"Is that your way of asking me to marry you?" Lina asked.
"No, I had something else in mind." Zel replied.
"Oh, do tell oh man of mine." Lina giggled s she said it. She suddenly stopped giggling as Zel slipped a ring on her left hand.
"Would you care to wear this with me for a while?" He asked.
"About how long were you thinking?" Lina asked, on the verge of stuttering.
"I'm not sure, perhaps a couple of centuries. Give or take a millennia or two." Zel answered.
Lina's eyes began to tear up again. "That's much better...." She trailed off. "...and I've have to be crazy to say anything but yes." She softly replied as Zel wrapped the sheet around them tighter.
"Want to celebrate a bit more lover?" Lina grinned mischievously.
"And you said men had a one track mind..." Zel answered as Lina practically threw him onto the bed, with her leaping after him cackling like a mad scientist.
Epilogue
Twenty Years Later........
"CHEERS!" The group shouted.
The four couples had gathered at Amelia's palace to celebrate two great achievements as well as numerous smaller ones.
The first great achievement being that Lina had defeated Xellos in battle and thus won his freedom from the Mazuko race. The second great achievement was that Xellos had finally, after five long years, asked Filia to marry him. The dragon priestess had no trouble saying yes because of the fact that Xellos had been released from his bonds to the Mazuko and the relationship that had bloomed between them over the past years.
Sylphiel and Gourry were somewhat busy trying to contain their four children as best they could. Sylphiel was lecturing the six and four year old boys on why they shouldn't make crude comments and hide under a lady's dress. (Filia had promptly fainted over that one.)
Gourry was busy running down his two older trouble makers. The twelve year old boy and ten year old girl had been hanging around their "Uncle Xellos" for too long. When there was a degree of peace among the group again. Amelia stood up.
"I know that you've all been wondering why my husband and I have been so eager to talk to everyone, so we'll keep you waiting no longer. We're going to be having another addition to the family!" She explained. Zel nodded in approval, remembering how responsible Amelia had been with their first little girl.
Their "little" girl was by no means that at the age of fourteen and already showing the Saillune family 'attributes' that Lina was so jealous of for years on end before she had physically aged another four years and "filled out" nicely. Not that Zel had EVER complained.
Zel still hadn't found a cure, but he knew that he no longer needed one. He and Lina traveled around the world on orders from L-sama herself. Lina was by no means knight material, for L-sama's knights can never have been introduced to the other dark arts of magic.
Instead, L-sama had 'hired' the two to traverse the world and correct what her knights could technically never interfere with. It was a pretty good arrangement.
Neither Lina or Zel had ever wanted to settle down. It was simply their nature to continue going forward into the unexplored world while others settled down and lived lives that were more to their liking.
Lina and Zel couldn't have been happier. Zel had noticed that Lina was grinning more than was usual even for HER, and that was starting to worry even Zel. Fortunately Xellos, of all people, bailed him out.
"Lina-san, you seem to be a little perkier than usual, what's the occasion?" He asked rather bluntly, earning a heavy clubbing from Filia's mace.
Lina just set her glass down and continued acting all cheery, smiling and placing a look on her face that shouted, "I know something you don't!"
Zel eyed her cautiously before Lina turned to Xellos. "Hey Xel, technically speaking, is it possible for a user of black magic to bear children?" She asked.
Zel simply froze while Xellos put his chin in his palm and contemplated silently.
"Technically speaking Lina-san, all the negative energy that a black magic user puts off nullifies any attempts for that person in particular, if it's a woman, to bear children. I know for a fact that you've been using black magic almost daily for the past twenty years, so I think you're pretty much exempt from the kid business. Why do you ask? Certainly you of all people would know that." Xel replied.
"Well, I know how you all just love being the God parents of each other's children. So I felt obligated to bring this up in front of everyone." She continued.
Zel's eyes were getting larger by the second at the direction Lina was headed and it took all of his restraint not to jump up and hug her to death.
"You know I've never been one to actually think anything is impossible. So call the record books people! Me and Zel are gonna be parents!" Lina shouted.
Smiles spread like wildfire as Zel literally threw Lina into the air and laughed in front of others for the first time in years.
"When did you find out about your children?" Amelia asked.
"She came to me a week ago with symptoms like morning sickness among other things and when I did an exam, I discovered that Lina was indeed pregnant." Sylphiel spoke up.
"Why didn't I know about this?" Gourry complained.
"You were on that fishing trip with the children if I remember correctly." She explained.
"Oh Yeah!" Gourry echoed.
The group continued the party well into the night, speaking of times that only Lina and Zel experienced anymore in daily life. Everyone enjoyed themselves, knowing that everyone was changing. That is, except for Lina and Zel. For all practical purposes, they were going to live for centuries, possibly even a few thousand years.
Lina's black magic kept her relatively young and Zel's Golem and Demon parts kept him at about the same age as he was when he was turned into a chimera. They cuddled in each other's arms for the rest of the night, knowing that no matter what happened, they were going to be together for as long as both of them lived.
Ten months later........
"TWINS!??!?" Zel shouted, not believing what the midwife was saying.
"Yeah, that's what I said, so get over it!" She shouted as Lina started round two.
Zel thanked L-sama that he hadn't found a cure, because right now the only thing that kept his hands from breaking was the fact that they were made out of stone.
After another thirty minutes of screaming, Zel looked at his two children with satisfaction and pride. Lina was still asleep after her ordeal. Zel looked down at his son and daughter.
His son had lavender hair and the bluest of eyes, with little pebbles embedded on his skin around his joints. His elbows and knees were covered and he grinned.
"No skinned knees and elbows for you young man, you lucky dog." He thought to himself.
His daughter had her mother's fire red hair, but her eyes were an emerald green instead of fire red. The girl didn't have a single stone on her body, which was very relieving to Zel.
Even though their skin wasn't stone, it was still incredibly dense. They could possibly block a sword strike with their bare hands if they were careful, but that remained to be seen. Both of them had somewhat pale blue skin, but in the sunlight, it wouldn't make much difference. His son was a little stronger than any normal baby, but nothing else indicated that his chimera traits had been passed to his children.
"We'll have to wait and see about the other parts." He thought aloud. "
My mother's eyes were green you know...." Lina suddenly spoke from the bed. Zel walked back over and sat beside his wife.
"I didn't know that..." He replied gently.
"I'm proud of you Lina." He whispered in her ear.
"I know." She whispered back. "Now we have a family of our own my love. We can give them everything that we didn't have. They'll grow up strong and surrounded by love, even if the rest of the world doesn't approve of them. These are our children Zel, and they deserve the best life we can offer them." Lina explained.
The short silence was promptly ended by Lina.
"What do you want to call them?" She continued.
"You name the boy, I'll name the girl." He replied.
"Fair enough. Alright then you little tiger, what do you want to be called?" She cooed sweetly to the newborn. The baby looked at her with wonderment in his eyes at the bright smile that his mother was giving him.
"I hereby name you Ryo......Ryo Greywords." Lina said in her best impression of a formal voice.
Zel had been taking a good look at his daughter and the girl also looked at him in amazement.
"And you will be Katherine Greywords my little angel." Zel continued.
"Ryo and Katherine....good names." Lina continued. Zel and Lina sat together on the bed, taking in the sight of their new family.
"I love you Lina." Zel said.
"And I love you Zel." Lina replied.
The two new parents looked at each other and they knew that when Lina was able to get back on her feet, they would hit the road once more on the next part of their adventure with their kids in tow. Of course it would be dangerous, but Lina and Zel both knew that they wouldn't want it any other way.
The two of them had finally found the family that they had both always wanted, and it would be a cold day in hell before they allowed anything to happen to any person in their family. The four of them fell asleep and that night, even the babies dreamed of great adventures to come with their loving parents for the rest of time.
Author's notes: Okay, I just had to write another one! Lina/Zel is my favorite Slayers couple! Please review and tell me if I should do more couplings and with which couples! (Just mention the series they are in as well and I'll try to accommodate all requests. Once again, PLEASE REVIEW! I have a few more chapters planned after this one, so stay tuned! Until my next story faithful readers!
E-mail me at: [email protected] I like feedback! Please let me know if you like the story!