(You didn't think I'd forgotten about Slayers, did you?) I want to preface this fic by saying that I'm trying to be more self-indulgent with the way I write. I know that doesn't sound like a good thing, but I've found more and more as I develop my skills that the stories I feel most proud of in the end- the ones that make me smile long after I've finished writing them- are the ones I write first and foremost for myself. This is not to say that I don't take pride in such things as spelling/grammar/syntax and building a good plot. I simply seek to satisfy myself before anyone else. If I didn't think anyone else would enjoy it, I wouldn't post it, but I know there are people who do. Therefore, I'm putting it out there for others to read if they choose. If it's not for you, you're better off using your time elsewhere. But if you enjoy it- and I hope you do- I'll be working hard on it to make it the best it can be!

As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Thanks for reading!

"Stare decisis et non quieta movere"

-Latin, to stand by decisions and not disturb the undisturbed; that is, to rely on precedent to make decisions that are in line with previous ways of thought

1- On Shaky Ground

The arrival of a world-renowned celebrity in a tiny seaside village was enough to draw people from all over the region. It was quite an event for a little fishing village with an ageing population that had fewer than five inhabitants under the age of thirty. Nevertheless, the very youngest citizen of Gardenos, a fifteen-year-old boy, couldn't enjoy the sudden influx of children his own age. He was sitting against a wall, staring out at the ocean with his knees pulled in against his chest. There were groups of unfamiliar people milling about on the beach and along the sidewalk on the other side of the wall, but the boy looked so despondent, they paid him no mind and simply passed him by.

It wasn't that he was intentionally trying to drive people away from him, but his mind was on other things. The sound of the people around him had become white noise in the background of his mind, and he almost missed the sound of someone speaking to him.

"Are you okay?"

The boy lifted his head to see someone's face staring at him from over the wall. The sun was directly behind her, so he had to move in order to get a better view. He braced himself against a tuft of wildflowers growing along the edge of the wall, pulling himself to his feet as some of the white paint flaked off beneath his fingers. It was a girl, roughly his age, with bright green eyes and a beautiful, round face that was examining him in concern. His train of thought derailed as any pubescent boy's might after being deprived from contact with potential companions for so long.

"What? Yeah, no. I mean, uh, no- yeah. I'm not, like, okay, okay, but I'm okay. Okay?"

The girl stared blankly for a few seconds before an amused smile spread across her face. "...okay. But if you're okay- even if you're not okay, okay- then why are you sitting here all by yourself?"

"Oh, I'm not- uh, it's just…" The boy turned his head away and hopped up to sit on the wall itself. "My grandmother is sick. We're lucky that the Red Priest came by our village, since I don't think she could have made it to somewhere else to see him…"

The girl leaned against the wall next to him, resting her elbows on the surface and her head in her hands. "So is she being seen by the Red Priest now?"

"I think so."

"Are you worried that he won't be able to heal her? You don't have faith in his power?"

The boy jumped off the wall and onto his feet, stumbling and losing his balance as he did so. "N-no, that's not it!" he exclaimed once he'd regained his footing. "It's just that I've never seen my grandmother like that! She's the village's carpenter, and the strongest woman I know. She's had accidents with tools in her workshop before, and she takes pride in knowing how to deal with it. But this one time it got infected, and… and…"

"I see. Your grandmother is a role model for you, and you're afraid that, even if she heals physically, there will be emotional trauma that won't heal. You don't want this to shake her confidence."

The boy frowned. "That's…"

"S-sorry. That's not for me to say, is it?" The girl looked away. "But maybe I can help. Is there something that might take your mind off your worries? What do you like to do?"

"What I like to do? You mean, as a hobby?" the boy stepped back toward her, his expression lightening a little. "I mean, I like to paint, but at a time like this-"

"If it makes you happy, you should do it. Your grandmother wouldn't want you sulking like this, would she?"

"N-no. She dislikes idleness. But I don't know what I'd paint. I just don't have any inspiration when I'm feeling like this-"

"Then you should find some inspiration! Something that would make your grandmother happy! Why don't we look for it together?"

The boy stared at her with a blank expression. His mouth opened just a little, but his thoughts were racing too fast for him to articulate anything. He started to say "I'd like to look with you" but changed halfway to "that would be nice" so his statement came out jumbled together.

"I-I'd like to look would be nice. Er, I mean, I would like to look with you- that'd be nice." He offered his hand to her with a grateful smile. "Thanks for being willing to talk to me. I'm Michael, by the way."

She was quick to grab his hand and pump it up and down energetically. "Michael… ?"

"Um, no last name. It's complicated. Just Michael is fine."

"I see. I'm Carmen, then. Just Carmen."

Michael couldn't help an amused giggle. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Just Carmen."

"Nice to meet you too, Just Michael."

Within a few minutes, Carmen had run off to the side of the cliff that hung over the small beach area. There was a walkway that went a short distance up the cliff, and she climbed up until she reached the highest landing, looking out over the ocean. Michael wasn't in as good physical shape as she was, and he found himself having a difficult time keeping up. He stopped a moment to catch his breath and called up to her.

"Hey, uh… could you… slow down a little-"

"Look at this!"

The excitement in her voice was enough to drive him up the last flight of stairs, and when he reached the last landing, he was glad that he had. They were at the same level as some of the houses on the cliff that overlooked the water, and could see far in all directions. Michael sucked in a breath, partially to help him cool down, and partially in awe of the scene. Sunlight dappled the water's surface, and one single cloud cast a shadow on the surface that stood out amongst the other colors. The stark grey-brown of the cliff and the vibrant greens of the palm trees below them framed the blue, and Michael didn't even have to make a pretend frame with his fingers- the painting's composition was perfect as it was.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Carmen set her head on the side of the railing, gazing out at the scene. "I don't visit the sea often, so I forget how lovely water looks when the sun hits it just right…"

"There's so many colors," Michael agreed.

"Yeah. The green of the trees and the blue of the water-"

"But there are so many greens in the trees- dark olive greens and bright saturated greens, yellow greens and even bright yellow… and the water- oh, the water goes from practically indigo all the way through greens and the yellow of the sun's reflection-"

Michael cut off sharply. He sounded like he was lecturing her, and he feared how she might react. She didn't give any reactions, however, examining the scene in front of her before turning back to him.

"You're amazing! To see all the colors in that… you have the eye of a painter."

There were a lot of colors in Carmen's expression as well. Michael almost lost his balance and had to hold onto the railing.

"Y-y-you really think so? I mean… uh… thanks… I guess I just…"

"Look over there! There's a boat!"

In a way, it was disheartening to Michael for Carmen to have interrupted him, but the look on her face seemed to indicate that she could feel his nervousness and wanted him to loosen up. Almost immediately they began another conversation, and continued chatting for what felt like both forever and not long enough. By the time a sharp voice from the bottom of the cliff cut them off, Michael had all but forgotten his worry about his grandmother.

"Hey, you! Boy! Are you Michael Tamaro?"

Michael stopped and looked down. Despite calling him "boy," the kid who had spoken couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen years old himself. "Uh, Emine Tamaro is my grandmother, if that's what you mean-"

"Rafa!" Carmen waved, her smile not wavering. "Come up here and look at this view!"

"Really, Carmen? Goofing off at a time like this? And with one of the villagers, no less? Tell him his grandmother is recovering and wants to see him."

Michael gasped. "Grandma! I-I'm sorry, Carmen, I have to go-"

"It's okay," she replied. "I hope that you can paint this scene for her to make her feel even better. It was nice to meet you, Just Michael."

Running down the steps was so much easier than running up the steps, and Michael quickly made it to the base of the cliff. He passed by the boy who had addressed them, trying to stay out of his way, but it was as though the boy purposefully stuck his foot out to make Michael trip. Of course, it wouldn't be prudent to make any accusations, especially with how clumsy Michael could be, so he simply brushed it off once he was able to regain his balance. "S-sorry-"

"Don't get involved with her."

The whispered response was so quick and off-topic, Michael almost didn't catch it. "Pardon?"

"Don't get involved with her." The boy's gaze flew up briefly to where Carmen was waving at them. "Pursuing a girl like that will only cause you pain in the end."

Michael paid the boy no mind and ran off towards his grandmother's house.

"Whatever."

"And the timer starts… now. Oh, hey! It's a teapot, isn't it?"

"At least wait until I finish drawing the first line. Geez."

"So it is a teapot?"

"No. It's not a teapot. Be patient."

"There's no patience in this game- the timer's running. It's a bird!"

"No."

"Not a bird… well, then… it's… oh, oh, a fish!"

"No, it's not a fish."

"What? If it's not a fish, then-"

The game was interrupted abruptly by the sound of a knock at the door and a nervous voice calling "YOUR HIGHNESS? SORRY TO WAKE YOU, BUT I HAVE AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM YOUR FATHER. HE REQUESTS YOUR PRESENCE IMMEDIATELY IN THE-"

By that point, Pokota had already scurried over to the door and opened it to speak with the attendant. Adelaide grabbed the small hourglass and set it on its side so that the time wouldn't keep running while they were being interrupted. A moment later she realized it might be pointless, as they probably wouldn't be able to resume their game, but that didn't matter so much.

"Your highness? What were you doing awake at this hour?"

"I, uh, didn't mean to stay up so late," Pokota admitted. "It's just, Adelaide and I got really wrapped up in this game we were playing, and we wanted to keep going until there was a winner-"

"Lady Adelaide?" It wasn't until after Pokota mentioned her name that the attendant saw her. "What are you doing here?! This part of the palace is off limits to-"

"I invited her!" Pokota quickly interjected. "Now are you going to tell me where my father wants me or not?"

"Your highness, with all due respect, if word got out that you were… consorting with foreign nobility, and during the negotiation of potential treaties, no less-"

"What do you think we're doing?" Adelaide hissed, standing up from her spot on the floor and approaching the door with the sketchbook in her hand. "Can't a pair of friends hang out together without people making something of it? We're playing guess-the-picture. See? It's a whale."

"A whale?" Pokota bristled, jumping onto her shoulder. "But you said it wasn't a fish!"

"Whales aren't fish, stupid. They're cetaceans."

"They live in the ocean!"

"They're mammals."

"But-"

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" Another yell from the attendant broke up the pair's argument. "Please take this seriously! People's lives are in danger. There's been an earthquake, and your father wants your input as they work out how Taforashia is going to respond."

"…an earthquake?" Pokota hopped up onto Adelaide's head. "Where? I haven't felt anything."

"It was to the east, at the Vaccaro Mine where it caused a destructive landslide."

"The mine? Isn't that mostly on Adessi's side of the border? Or was the landslide on the Taforashian side-"

"The landslide was on Adessian soil," the attendant interrupted again, "but close to the border, at the village of Senagra. According to reports, the village was engulfed by the landslide, and those who were able to escape to the west are taking shelter on Taforashian land. That's why your father wants your input- he wants to know what we're going to do to help the citizens of Adessi who've come to Taforashia. You're to meet him in the east conference room immediately."

Pokota and Adelaide exchanged an uneasy glance, and Pokota then spoke up. "Give me just a moment to gather a few things, and tell my father I'll be right there."

"I'll go too," Adelaide offered. "I want to be able to help as much as I can-"

"That's not necessary, Lady Adelaide." The attendant cut her off. "We wouldn't ask a visiting noble to get involved in matters that are strictly Taforashia's business. I'll inform the king that you'll be arriving shortly, your highness. If necessary, I can get someone to discreetly escort Lady Adelaide back to the guest quarters."

Adelaide waved a hand. "That's not necessary. I can find my way back on my own- discreetly, of course."

"Of course." The attendant gave a nod and left before either of the two could say anything. Pokota hopped down from Adelaide's head and scurried over to his desk to gather a couple of notebooks. As he did, he spoke absentmindedly, a bit more to himself than to Adelaide though he expected an answer from her anyway.

"I don't get it… if there was an earthquake as close as Vacarro, wouldn't we have felt it? I didn't feel a thing…"

Adelaide didn't respond to him. She sat down on the floor again, picking up the tiny hourglass and stashing it away in her pocket along with the pencil she'd been using. "They treat me like such an outsider, no matter what you say to them…"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The people of Taforashia don't seem to want me here. Even your dad seems to barely tolerate me for your sake. Is it really a good idea for me to be here at all, much less trying to arrange an alliance between Taforashia and Ruvinigald? With my family background, it's obvious why they'd have a problem with me being the one to establish the connection, but still…"

"They just need some time to get used to you," Pokota replied. "It took them a while to get used to me, and I'm the same person they knew before. In time they'll learn that you're someone they can trust."

"But how much time? Will the time required make the whole thing more trouble than it's worth?" Adelaide stood up again and reached out to her friend as they moved into the hallway. "Pokota, I-"

"Don't talk like that." Pokota waved one of his hands toward her dismissively. "It's late, and I'm sure you'll feel better once you get some rest. My father and I will figure out a course of action, and I'll send for you afterward." He jumped up onto her head and leaned over her face with a more serious expression. "I'll be relying on you to help with this situation, no matter what anyone says. If there really has been a natural disaster and people have been forced out of their homes, the background of those helping shouldn't matter. So long as you're doing everything you can to help, that's what matters most."

Adelaide nodded gently, to show her approval without knocking him off her head, but she averted her gaze so that she didn't have to make eye contact with him.

"…okay…"

Gourry awoke first to the sound of Lina's voice and the feeling of her hand shaking his shoulder. She was saying his name, urging him to get out of bed, offering the day's fun plans with Amelia as an incentive for him to get up and get moving. He responded with an unintelligible noise of understanding, but didn't move, and was quickly overtaken by sleep once again.

The second wake-up call came from an almost fully-grown golden retriever puppy who bounded onto the bed and made sniffing Gourry's face his number one priority. Gourry let out a pained yelp as a good 30 kilograms of dog landed on his chest, and he sat up to push the puppy back onto the other side of the bed.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up. You're too big for this, Lucan. One of these days you're going to break one of my ribs jumping on me like that… Lina, can't you do something about him?"

Lina snapped her fingers a couple of times over Lucan's head, and the dog jumped off the bed and sat down at her feet with his tongue lolling out as he excitedly waited for futher commands. "I told him to do that. He wouldn't have jumped on you if you'd woken up when you said you would. Sit up- I brought you a cup of coffee. How's your arm?"

Gourry did as he was told, propping up his pillow so that he could sit up and stretch out his left arm, moving each of his fingers individually and clenching and unclenching his fist. Lina sat down next to him and once she was satisfied that he could move his arm and hand well enough, she gave him the mug of coffee- sweetened with plenty of sugar and a hint of cream, just the way he liked it. Gourry took it with a grateful nod, but didn't drink any and didn't say anything.

"Looks good! It's been almost three weeks since you had any problems with it in the morning. Is that a new record, you think?" Lina leaned in toward him with a smile. "Amelia's already prepared breakfast for us. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you coming to the table in your pajamas if you'd like to eat first and get dressed later, but she could also be patient if you'd like to get ready beforehand and then eat breakfast. What do you think?"

Lucan had hopped up onto the bed and was eagerly leaning over Gourry's shoulder to sniff the mug of coffee. Gourry turned so that his shoulder was between the coffee and the excited puppy. "I, uh, really appreciate all the work on Amelia's part, but I think I'd rather rest this morning." He forced a weak smile. "You can go eat breakfast, and I'll stay here and, uh, get ready at my own pace-"

"Gourry." Lina interrupted him, snatching the mug from his hands and placing it on the nightstand. "I gave you two options. Stay here and skip breakfast was not one of them."

"But Lina-"

"Don't but Lina me. Are you going to go to breakfast first and then get dressed, or are you going to dress and then eat breakfast?"

Gourry pouted. "I'll get dressed first, thanks. You go ahead and I'll catch up."

"Okay, but if you use this as an excuse to fall back asleep, you'll be getting a fireball in place of breakfast."

For the first time that morning, Gourry smiled genuinely. "Oh? Your magic's back so soon? That was fast."

Lina frowned and cleared her throat. "If you use this as an excuse to fall back asleep, you'll be getting a fireball in two days or so."

"That's what I thought."

"…" Lina picked up a pillow from the other side of the bed and smacked Gourry over the head with it.

"Ow!" It didn't really hurt, but his exclamation was more in surprise than in pain. "Hey!"

"Amelia and I will see you at breakfast in a few minutes. Don't make me come back here and sic Lucan on you again."

At the sound of his name, the puppy jumped off the bed and ran to Lina's side, following obediently after her into the hallway with his tail wagging back and forth furiously. Lina closed the door behind them and sighed as they walked down the hallway.

"And I thought he was getting better too. What a pain…" She ran a hand through her hair. "Do you think he's getting sick? I hate to deprive him of rest if he's got a cold or something, but he doesn't look sick and he definitely doesn't have a fever-"

"Miss Lina!"

Lina stopped as she heard Amelia's voice, giving her friend time to approach her. Amelia was running down the hallway, out of breath and pale-faced, and once she reached Lina she had to pause and catch her breath before she could speak again.

"Amelia? Is everything okay?" Lina grabbed Lucan by the scruff of the neck to keep him from jumping all over Amelia. It wasn't that she was concerned about Amelia specifically, but the cat Amelia was holding was the poster-child for feline obesity, and if Lucan were to jump into pursuit, the fluffy ball of lard would never be able to outrun him. "I'm on my way to breakfast and Gourry will be ready in just a few-"

"S-sorry, Miss Lina, but I'm not going to be able to eat breakfast with you. Actually, I won't be able to spend the day with you at all. An emergency situation has come up in Adessi, and I have to leave immediately."

Lina paused, taking in Amelia's words in surprise. "…Adessi? Like, where Seyruun's Botanical Research Institute is? What happened?"

"There was a landslide that buried the nearby village of Senagra." Amelia was scratching the cat's head, and the shakiness in her hand was obvious. "A number of survivors have been taken in by Taforashia, but there's another group to the northeast that is going to be housed at the institute while search and rescue crews try to recover what they can from the village. Adessi is such a small, rural country, it doesn't have the proper resources for this. So that's why they've asked for help from the Seyruun government. I volunteered to help with search and rescue, since they said they needed people, but they said that I would be better off going to oversee the group being housed at the institute."

"A landslide…" Lina murmured to herself, releasing her grip on Lucan, who had calmed some as he felt the conversation grow more serious. "…do you need Gourry and me to help with the search and rescue, then? I'm sure they could use a strong guy like Gourry on their team, and Lucan can help find people who might be trapped in the debris-"

"Miss Lina, I couldn't ask you to do that on such short notice. Besides, you and Mister Gourry had plans for today, didn't you?"

"Our plans were with you. If we're not getting to spend time with you, it doesn't matter. I'd rather do something to help, especially if there are people in danger. Gourry performed search and rescue with the militia he used to work with, so he has experience, and I know plenty of first aid that we can use to help survivors. I know Lucan is still a puppy and hasn't been properly trained, but even he could help find people if they've gotten stuck places that we can't get to ourselves."

At the sound of his name, Lucan jumped up on Lina's side, nearly knocking her off-balance. She was put off for only a moment as she waved him away, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on Amelia's.

"…are you sure about this? I thought you were concerned about Mister Gourry. Last night you said something about him sleeping too much lately, and-"

"I am, but I think this might be just what he needs," Lina responded, crossing her arms. "He's losing motivation, it seems. If we can find a mission that he can focus his energy on, maybe he'll improve. The last doctor that we talked to said that it's better for him not to be idle, but things have been so slow lately with our usual bandit-hunting routine, it's been hard to keep Gourry busy."

"Miss Lina, this isn't work to do just for the sake of work. People are going to be depending on you for their lives."

"I know. That's why I think it will work. Gourry needs to know that he can make a difference."

"This is a serious situation. There might be people you can't save. You may end up watching people die. Do you think he's strong enough to handle that?"

Lina was silent at first. Lucan gave a low whine as he sensed the discomfort in the air, and the noise elicited a low mreow from Amelia's cat. "…I think…" Lina finally began, "that should be Gourry's decision to make."

Amelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again.

"If you really think this is a good idea, there is a group leaving from here in about an hour, bound for Senagra to deliver supplies. I can tell them that you'll be traveling with them. Make your decision in the next thirty minutes or so, and I can-"

"Thank you, Amelia!" Lina ran up and threw her arms around her friend. The hug was a little awkward with a fluffy cat in between them and an enthusiastic puppy jumping at them from the sides, but it was affectionate enough to get the message across.

"You're the ones I should be thanking. For you to volunteer to do something like this-"

Lina cut her off with a smile. "We can talk compensation once all this is figured out."

"Ah."