Originally this was going to be a one shot Z/L romance but there was so much between Lina and Amelia that needed to be spoken of for the background story that it has become another chaptered fic done by both graywords-girl (Jassy-chan) and myself.

1. It will still be a Z/L romance but the next chapter will be written by Jassy and it will have more of Lina and Zel, rather than the other characters. It will be mostly from Lin's POV since she is my favorite character. (Zel is too.) Xellos will probably make an appearance later on.

Samanda

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers nor am I making a profit off of writing this story.

Uncommon Vows

Chapter One: Amelia Speaks

Written By:

Samanda Hime-sama

Graywords-girl

My long red hair fluttered in the breeze as I searched the road ahead of us until it disappeared

into the horizon. It was a beautiful day in spring with very few clouds to hinder the sun so I could see far indeed with my excellent yes.

We were very close to Saillune now. Three hours at the most until we walked through the gates and made our way to the palace. Amelia awaited us there. She was probably nervous and aflutter from thinking that I and my partner would be late to her nuptials.

I looked over to my partner, Gourry. He had learned finally to keep his mouth shut on my lack of attributes and the other sore points he used to bring up with great regularity.

Of course part of the reason is that my body finally matured. The use of black magic slows down the aging process and so it took me six more years before I could drink legally in a tavern without someone calling me a little girl.

But back to the story. Gourry and I had been visiting Nee-chan in Zelphilia when Amelia's wedding invitation caught up to us. I accepted it as a gift from L-sama and hightailed it out of my old hometown like Mazoku were on my heels after one day of reminiscing.

Gourry was happy to be going back to Saillune to see his fiancee, Sylphiel. He had been my protector for so long that it was hard to imagine how my life would be without him. But I would have to do without him. Syphiel needed him to stay with her and rebuild Saairag, not out scouring the country for adventures.

I smiled at my thoughts. Gourry was a good companion. He was always cheerful and I had come to the conclusion it was because he lived in the present. He lived moment to moment, not caring what the future would bring. He forgot the past because it had already been lived and thus, was now unimportant. That still exasperated me but now I was a little more tolerant.

"Lina?" A voice broke me out of my thoughts.

I looked to the left to see Gourry peering at me with one eye obscured by his long blonde hair. I finally glanced around to see that the gates of Saillune were close now, only about an hour away. I refocused my attention on Gourry.

"What, Gourry?" I asked him. Some things about me will never change and that includes a lapse in tact sometimes.

He smiled. "What are you thinking about?"

"Our adventures," I answered. "All the fun we've had."

"Yeah, we had a lot of fun," Gourry enthused. "Do you think Zel will show up to Amelia' wedding?"

I frowned. "I don't know, Gourry. He might not have been invited. He did break Amelia's heart for a while."

"Oh."

It was true as far as it went. Zelgadis Graywords had broken the Princess of Saillune's heart one winter while we had journeyed together to find a cure for him. Amelia had asked Zel when he was coming back to Saillune so they could plan their wedding.

It had stunned Zel. I'm sure that he thought Amelia just had a girlish crush on him that would have evaporated after we had all parted ways the first time. But Zel was wrong. Amelia loved him; really loved him and I think that he finally realized it that night. He had told her as gently as he could that she was a little sister to him and poor Amelia was crushed.

I've learned one thing about love. There is no such thing as gentle words when it comes to breaking a girl's heart.

It had been four years since we had all been reunited. I guess I should be honest at this point. Syphiel, Gourry and I had all run into Zel occasionally, sometimes just Syphiel, Gourry or I. There was also a rare few times when we ran into him as a duo or the single occasion with all three of us, but Amelia and Zel had never seen each other in four years.

I only hope time had eased Amelia's anger and pain.

"Come on, jellyfish." I sighed. "Amelia is expecting us."

***************************************

"Lina-san!" Amelia hurried toward Gourry and I.. " I'm so glad you could make it."

"It's nice to see you, Amelia.†I smiled and gave her the hug she seemed to expect.

Gourry was almost bouncing. "Hi Amelia. Where is Syphiel?"

"In the Royal Library." She answered. "Pyotr will show you."

"Great. See you later." Gourry called as he followed the servant.

I shrugged. "Sorry, Amelia. He really misses Syphiel."

"I know." Amelia smiled.

I followed her to a sitting room. "So, um, how have you been?"

"Exhausted!" She laughed and invited me to sit before doing so herself. "The wedding is taking so much time and effort to put together that all I have time to do after that is just sleep."

I was worried about her and I think she sensed it. "I'm fine, Lina-san. I am happy with my life."

"So you're happy with this guy?" I asked her.

"Dmitri." She supplied the name then nodded. "Yes, Lina-san, for the first time in a long time I am happy."

There was a short silence between us. Amelia rose and stood by the window, staring at the world outside her castle. Amelia had matured and she still believed deeply in justice and how Good would always triumph over Evil. But she had stopped her speeches about Justice for the most part.

I'm not speaking ill of her. Amelia had become my conscience when we first started traveling together but now I could hear her voice in my head even when she had gone home. But Lina-san, you can't do that- has echoed in my head more times than I want to remember.

"I am lucky, Lina-san." She spoke again and startled me in the process. "I thought my heart would never mend after he broke it. But life goes on and people change. Dmitri changed me, Lina-san. I fell in love with him but it took a long time for me to admit it."

"But you did." I said softly.

She heard me. "Yes. And now the two of us are getting married."

She looked at me with a smile on her face. Her eyes were shiny with tears that she wouldn't let fall. I got up and stood next to her. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"When did you get so tall, Lina-chan?" The words were muffled but I heard them anyways.

"The same time you found your Dmitri" I teased her gently.

I felt her smile. "I really am lucky aren't I? A husband, future children, interesting and supportive friends. Will I continue this way?"

"That depends." I told her. "Life is full of surprises, Amelia-chan. But I feel that if we live for the good that they will be mostly good surprises."

"Thank you, Lina-chan." She looked up at me, startled. "I never knew you were so wise."

"I'm not." I laughed. "I've just grown up, that's all."

Her face turned serious. "I know what you mean."

"What's that?" I was surprised.

"I've grown up too, Lina-chan.†She replied. "It's time to stop blaming Zelgadis-san-"

And here I'm afraid I visibly started. Zel's name had carefully not been spoken by either Gourry, Syphiel or myself since it became clear how much Amelia resented him. It had been a word akin to blasphemy to speak it in the princess' presence.

"-For everything." She continued as tears started to fall. "I'm at fault here too. I overreacted and cut off contact when he made his brotherly feelings known."

I told her, "You had the right to be upset."

"Yes, I did," She nodded. "But I felt my feelings were more important than his. That he should love me back like I loved him simply because I was Amelia, the princess of Saillune."

Amelia's one vice was her arrogance in believing that the world revolved around her simply because she was a princess. If she thought something should be a certain way then it automatically was. Amelia's universe was based on truths she had lived with from childhood.

Or so I had thought until now.

"You have grown up, Amelia." I said firmly. "You don't think that way anymore. You have always been more concerned with others and not yourself."

"I'm so glad I'm not that girl anymore," Amelia wiped tears away. "I was so selfish. But now I have a chance to make it up to Zelgadis-san."

"And how is that possible?" I wondered what she had done.

Amelia gave me a watery smile. "I've invited Zelgadis-san to the wedding."