The sound of crickets softly chirping in the distance began to lull the petite sorceress to sleep. Amongst the gigantic stacks of encyclopedias that seemed to have piled up in a long bout of extensive research sat a lone, young girl. Her fiery tresses spilled down over her shoulders, covering a few of the papers that were scattered here and there beneath her. The clothing of choice for this day-long researching adventure consisted of one simple, half-buttoned down blouse and a pair of sleek black leggings.

She stifled a yawn as she sleepily glanced to the clock set high upon the shelf a few feet away from her. "11:30 already?", the tired girl murmured to herself. "I've been going for nine hours straight now and still haven't found a damned thing." A sigh slipped past her lips as she stood up, wincing as she felt the soreness of her limbs creep over her.

After writing a quick note saying, 'Any who dare disturb any of these books or papers will have to answer to the Dra Matta herself', she taped it to the shortest stack of books with a quick nod of approval. She then slipped out of the library doors, heading down the empty, cobblestone covered street. A few minutes later, she reached her destination, promptly stopping infront of a rather busy and quite noisy inn. Pushing through the two swinging entrance doors, a small smile appeared upon her face as she beheld the sight of her traveling companions.

"Oi, Lina!", the blonde swordsman called out to her, placing his mug of ale down onto the table before him. "Took you long enough! Did ya find anything?"

"Nope, nothing as of yet." Plopping down into the open chair at the end of the table, she let out a groan of frustration. "300 damned books and the only semi-useful information I found was how to make a dragon souffle!"

The hooded figure sitting directly across from Lina shifted in his seat, a low tenor voice spoke up directly, "That's all? That library is rumored to be one of the best in the world. Are you sure you're looking hard enough?"

"What?! I have been working my ass off all day and all you can tell me is, 'Are you sure you're not looking hard enough?'! You have some nerve Zel! You could have at least helped me! But, no! You had to follow yet another lead in the great quest of searching for your cure! And by the looks of it, that didn't turn out so well....did it?" A feral smirk had appeared upon Lina's face after finishing that retort. She was trying her best to not simply get up and Dragu Slave the chimera's stony hide. The only reply she received from him was an icy glare. Those slitted, azure eyes normally would send a grown man running, but Lina simply shrugged it off.

"Um, Miss Lina...Mr. Zelgadis, let's not fight. It's too late in the day to blow up this nice town. And besides, tomorrow you can both resume your important tasks! For no matter how many times you fail, you have to keep on trying! Never, never, never give up! Keep striving on in the name of justice!", exclaimed the perky princess, who was now standing on top of the table in an "heroic" pose. All those then presently at the table just took to bowing their heads.

"Whatever, Amelia... Look, I am going to bed and if anyone bothers me I'll fireball their asses!" And with that being said, Lina made her way up to her room, lightly slamming the door behind her.

"Damnit! Everyone has been so freaking up toght lately. Zel especially. Him and that obsession for his cure are really starting to annoy the hell out of me. Hell, even Xellos would be much better company." The world around her suddenly seemed to come to a stand still. Slowly inhaling a deep breathe of air, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the door. "I wonder where that fruitcake is at the moment. He hasn't been around for six months now.... Oh! W-what am I talking about! It sounds as if I actually miss that damned mazoku! He's probably off happily running errands and not even wondering what in the hell I am doing. So, why waste time wondering about him...?"

Lina's night consisted mainly of tossing and turning and dreaming of a certain purple haired trickster. Before she knew it, the sun had once again risen to usher in a brand new day. Much to her dismay...

After taking a quick morning bath and getting dressed into her usual sorceress attire, she emerged from her room to take advantage of the inn's breakfast menu. As she entered the dining hall, she was actually relieved to see that no one else had woken up yet. Picking a table towards the back of the room, she slumped down into a chair and just laid her forehead down onto the table's cool surface. 'Why...? Why dreams of -him-?! Maybe it was just because I thought of him before I went to bed... But..this has happened before. Damnit Lina..what's wrong with you!!' Her thoughts were silenced when a warm hand landed upon her shoulder. Glancing up from the table, she was slightly disappointed when she looked upon a waiter frowning down at her worriedly.

"Um, Miss, are you okay? Do you need anything..?", the young boy asked nervously as she continued to almost glare at him.

"I..I am fine. Just a bit tired. Not enough sleep I guess. But, you can get me ten orders of your "A" breakfast special and 5 of your "B"..!", her usual cheery voice coming back to her admist the excitement of ordering food. The waiter's face faulted as he took in all that she had just ordered. He simply walked off in a daze trying to figure out how exactly a person that small could possibly take in that much food.

Now, alone once again with her thoughts, she sat quietly cursing herself mentally for loosing her mind at such an early age. 'That's it Lina...no more thinking about that fruitcake mazoku! You have better things to occupy your thoughts!'. Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves tightly about her waist. She froze, her eyes twitching rapidly as she turned her head about to see the culprit, only to find herself locked in a strong amethyst gaze. Shrieking loud enough to wake up the entire inn, she resorted to swiftly pummeling Xellos' face into the ground. Growling angrily, she pulled him into a strong headlock, enjoying the small choking sounds that were being emitted from the mazoku in her firm grasp.

"N-ne...! Lina...I guess this means you missed me!", he managed to spit out in the middle of being choked to death.

After reluctantly letting go of Xellos, she took a step back and in an exaggerated manner lightly dusted off her hands. "And what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit, Xellos? Because if you've come to simply piss me off...you've already done a perfect job of that."

His playful grin only seemed to widen while he straightened out his clothing and listened to her. "Aw, Lina...with a warm welcome like that, I am glad that I happened to drop on by. It's just so nice to see that you care!"

She suddenly froze, her breathe catching in her throat as she replayed that single word...care. Clutching nervously at her heart she took a step back, her eyes trembling as she looked at the ground in desperation. '...I..I do care. Not just care...but..oh L-sama.! When in the hell did I fall in love with..with him?! Why...?!!'.

In a flash, his grin disappeared, only to be replaced with a slight frown. His eyes slowly opened, those piercing,slitted eyes now scanning over Lina... He felt all of the emotions flowing out from the sorceress, it was almost like an explosion. What left him puzzled was what had triggered such a change in moods. Taking a few steps towards the sorceress, he gently grasped both of her shoulders firmly. "Lina..? What is it? What is wrong?"

Her head jerked up at feeling his hands upon her, her body trembled in reaction to his touch. "Why did it have to be you..? Why..?!"

"What do you mean by that?", he asked her quietly. Then, he recognized one very intense emotion that the young girl he held was feeling...love. He merely stood there now, almost looking to her in disbelief.

"I haven't even realized it until now...", she softly whispered as she began to lower her head in shame. In a flash of anger she jerked away from him, shoving him backwards into the wall. "Go ahead Xellos, laugh. I know you're just dying to. The great Lina Inverse reduced to a whimpering, love sick fool.."

A low, eerie laughter began to eminate from the trickster's slumped form.

Xellos' head hung lowly as his violet mane fell down to create a veil over his hidden features. Lina suddenly became aware of the violent shaking of Xellos' tightly clenched fists. Fear soon began to seep into her thoughts as the urgent sense of danger overwhelmed her.

"Do I fighten you -that- badly, Lina?", he softly whispered to her. "You know, you should really think before you speak about such delicate subjects. But, yes, I will take advantage of you in this highly weakened state. Just not in the way you're expecting me to." His head snapped upright, his eyes gleaming in such a way that Lina had never seen before.

Shakily, she brought her hands up to her eyes, swinging her head back in forth, trying to silence the myriad of thoughts racing through her mind. "Damnit, Xellos! What in the hell do you mean by that?!", the infuriated girl screamed as she ripped her hands from her eyes, only to see the wall bare before her. "N-nani..?"

Without warning, Xellos re-appeared before the confused sorceress, snaking his arms about her tiny waist and roughly pulled her against him. He bent over slowly, letting his lips lightly brush against the top of her ear lobe as he began to speak, "Now, Lina, I have been trying to keep my urges under control when it comes to you, since Juu-ou-sama is so interested in you. But after this, I don't think that's a possiblity."

Her body shuddered in response to his touch and the sound of his silky and all-entrancing voice. A warm feeling began to wash over her as she felt her heart rate speed up immensely. He pulled his head back, that fatuous smile plastered upon his face. Feeling the intense heat rising in her cheeks, she quickly turned her head to the side, refusing to meet his gaze. "Xellos, I know you're just playing with me. So, just drop the act--..." She was immediately silenced by a gloved finger coming to rest upon her soft lips.

"This isn't an act, Lina.", he said with a slight hint of annoyance, "Not in the least. If you haven't realized it by now Lina... Aishiteru yo." He cupped her chin gently with his hand, directing her face to back to his, and softly kissed her.

Taking his time down the stairs, Zelgadis ran a hand through the wiery mess that was known as his hair. He hadn't slept well at all last night and something told him today wasn't going to be much fun either. As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he caught sight of them. Lina's arms draped about Xellos' neck as the Trickster's hands traveled up and down her sides in slow, precise strokes, all the meanwhile he continued to kiss her fervently. Utterly mortified by the scene before him, he simply turned right back around and stalked up the stairs. "Kuso...I hate it when my inner voice is right.."