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Lina's eyes slowly opened as the golden rays of the morning sun
stroked them. She snuggled in a little closer to the dormant body
next to her. She became fully awake when she realized whom she was
snuggling to. 'Chooto. Why am I snuggling next to Gourry? I'm supposed
to be in MY room,' she thought to herself. So, quietly she left the room
and tip-toed back to "her" room. She fell back and
nearly screamed
at what she saw in "her" room, however. She clutched onto the doorway
for support, then she recomposed herself and began to think. 'Okay...
calm down. I wasn't in my room... I was in the boys' room... however...
what is Zel doing in the girls' room? We arranged it so boys would sleep
in their own room while girls slept in theirs' however, this rule
was tresspassed twice... AND WHY IS ZEL HOLDING AMELIA LIKE THAT?!!! Are
they-...... lovers? Guah! Don't think of that, Lina...
Chooto maate...
Lovers? Then does that mean they-........? Nan?!! Oh well... I'll
squeeze the truth out of them when they wake up.'
* * *
Zel awakened to a tightening from the princess' arms. At first
he was confused but then he remembered the night before. A small
smile crept up his lips. He kissed her forehead gently before leaving
the room to get back to his own. 'Good,' he thought as he saw that
Gourry and Xellos were still sleeping. He quickly got dressed then
headed downstairs to the restaraunt. He nearly shreiked when he
saw Lina down there. He hid back in the stairwell hoping she hadn't
noticed that he had come out. He then remembered that Lina had slept
in Gourry's room. 'Shoot! She might know that I wasn't there last
night... I hope she didn't check in Amelia's room... Well, shit! Of
course she did! Look at her! She's all dressed up! She'll probally
make fun of me about sleeping with Amelia last night... Gua...
I wonder what she'll say...'
He sighed and decided not to delay the inevitable anymore,
so he walked over to the table where Lina was seated. "Have
fun hiding?" she asked when he took his seat next across the table from
her. 'Shimatta... She did see me hide...' he thought miserably. "Actually
... let me rephrase that question. Did you have fun sleeping with
Amelia?" she asked in a teasing tone. He shifted uncomfortablly and
looked down at the ground. Lina leaned on the table and stared at
him with a grin. Then, much to his surprise she said, "Don't worry
about it. There's just a few things I'd like to ask you if you
don't mind." He snapped up. "D-Don't worry? Really?" "Sure. But
I'd like to know a few things before I really do
give you an O.K."
"O-Okay. Nan?" he asked cautiously. "Uh, you guys didn't..... you
know... did you?" Zel turned nearly crimson. "Iie! Of course not!" "All
right, all right! Take it easy! Um... Are you guys goin' steady?"
"Um... I guess so...er...maybe..." He flustered again a heavy red. "What
did you guys do last night?" "Um... Actually I do mind answering that one
..." he muttered. "Oh, okay. We'll just leave it at
that... You
little rascal!" she said as she reached acrossed the table and messed
up his hair, forgetting that his hair was wire-like. After he finished
fixing his hair (which was about twenty minutes) the others came
downstairs. They had breakfast, however Xellos seemed to have lost
his cheerfulness when Mystrivious entered.
'Okay,' Xellos thought to himself. 'I need to take Mystrivious
to my master...Now... There's no doubt about it... I need to do it... I
have to...I... I...but... Chooto... no but's about it. She's got to go...
Chooto... I just can't take her right here. Lina-san would definately
object to that. When? When can I take her?' Xellos then fell silent
in thought, allowing many ideas come into flow. 'I wonder what's with
him,' Lina thought quietly, as she realized Xellos' eyes had opened.
* * *
Later that night, when everyone had retired, Xellos laid
quietly in his bed devising a plan. The rooms had stayed the same,
regardless of Amelia and Zel's sudden relationship: Girls to one room,
that was Amelia, Lina, and Mystrivious, and boys to another seprate
room, and that was Xellos, Zel, and Gourry. 'All right,' Xellos
decided. 'I'm just going to grab her and I'll teleport to the Beastmaster.
Then from there, she can decide what she wants to do with Mystrivious.'
He sighed, then got off his bed and left the room, totally silent.
He quietly made his way down the hallway, into the girls' room. He
made it up to Mystrivious' bed and she was sleeping soundly. He extended
his arm out to her face about to take to her possible death, then he
hesitated as she sighed and turned on her side.
He stopped. He was absorbed in thought and many question itched
in his mind. He turned his hand around and instead of abducting her,
he rubbed her cheek, with the back of his knuckles, in a gentle caress.
'What am I doing? Somehow... I don't know why... but... I... I just
can't bring myself to do it...' he thought. He studied his arm a moment.
It was the one he had lost in the battle with Dolphin.
'I could have lost
a lot more than that... if it hadn't been for... her. First, she protects
me... then she... saves me later. Not just that but... she helped me
regenerate my arm... something even I couldn't do...
All right.
I've decided. She did me a favor once... and now I'm going to do
her one. Since Lina-san wouldn't listen to me about not letting her
come with us, in which I did so I wouldn't have to take her, I'll
tell her myself directly what's going on... Tomarrow. That way, perhaps,
that'll give her a head startand she might get away if she never shows
her power ever again. She saved my life... now I'll try to save
hers. I'll give her the oppritunity, she'll have to make the choice.
Afterall, the Beastmaster did keep her own little secret about not
telling me whom her "friend" was. Now'll I'll just have to have one
of my own. I just hope she doesn't find out.'
* * *
The next morning while everyone was eating breakfast,
Xellos grabbed Mystrivious by the arm as she was on her way
downstairs. "Mystrivious," he started. "I need to speak with
you." "What do you want?" she questioned sounding irritated. "Uh,
I, um..." He looked into her golden eyes and
something told
him not to say anything. "Well?" she said impatiently, placing her
hands on her hips. "Well, you see uh..." He again searched her
golden eyes. They were becoming filled with anger and
impatience. He
no longer could tell her. Again his mind filled with questions. "Argh!
That's enough. I'm going downstairs," she growled as she turned and
started her way down. quickly Xellos siezed her by
the arm and
twirled her around and she tripped into his arms.
"What are you d-" Before she could finish what she was going to say,
Xellos lowered his head to her stunned face and grazed her lips with
his. A tingle of indescribable pleasure skittered up her spine. As
he deepened the kiss, he tightened his embrace, holding her firmly
against his chest. His mouth teased and tantalized like nothing she
had ever experienced. Her head reeled dizzily. Not realizing what
she was doing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed
closer to him. Long before she was ready to stop this new heady
experience, Xellos pulled his lips from hers and stepped back.
No longer supported by his embrace, she swayed drunkenly.
His hands grasped her elbows to steady her.
"Gomenusai," he whispered quietly. He let go of her and went
downstairs. Several long minutes passed before she could think, let
alone move.When her senses returned, with them came her temper
in all its scroching intensity. "The nerve of that low-down snake,"
she muttered. Then she remembered her own response to his kiss. Her
face burning with embarrassment, her anger slipped away. "Where
did he go anyway?" She went downstairs after him, but he wasn't
there. "What's with Xellos?" Lina asked when she saw Mystrivious enter
the room. "Did you see him up there?" "Uh, hai," Mystrivious
answered soulessly. "What's up with him? He just came down here and he
looked redder than an apple and he just walked on out without saying
anything." "Something's on his mind. I don't know what
it is yet. But,
I think it's something involving his past. I think he may be troubled."
* * *
Xellos made his way into the woods completely absorbed in
thought. 'What the hell's the matter with me?! It was to save her life,
to tell her. And why did I... kiss her? This is all so strange. I'm acting
so weird. I actually talked to a human, and told her all my past.
And I just kissed an inbreed. This just isn't right. Hm... What am I
going to tell Zelas? That I haven't even found Mystrivious yet?
That seems okay, however, if she looks into my aura then I'm going
to be in big trouble. Why am I defending her?
This isn't like me.
I'm being careless. I can't believe this... but I think... I
actually beginning to like this.'
To My Best Friend and Brother:
o
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Aqua Tenshi
by
@
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Weir Tenshi