A Slayers Fanfic by Majo-chan
**
My sixth sense, fine tuned through years and years of experience, warned me the second before he appeared. I took the wet, dripping dish that was in my hand and flung it in his general direction. Not that I really expected it to hit him, but there’s always a chance. After all, I might get lucky.
Well, today’s my lucky day.
“ Filia-chan!” He whined, the plate embedded in his face. “ What did you do that for??” I calmly dried my hands and retrieved the dish from his face, drying it before putting it away. He touched his nose gingerly.
“ What did I do that for?” I spun around, nose to nose with him. “ You, buster, are in big trouble!”
He smiled innocently at me. “ What did I do?”
“ What did you do? How about what you didn’t do?” I started putting the other dishes away. “You haven’t graced this little shop for years and seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Yami’s birthday party was yesterday, you know? You could’ve showed up for it.” He pretended to look hurt.
“ Filia-chan, Yami-chan’s birthday is tomorrow, not yesterday. You know that.”
I sighed. Yes, I know. But I wasn’t going to let him win on a minor technicality like that. “ Still, it would have been nice of you to be here. It was a party with all her friends. She wanted you to meet them.”
He smirked. “ You mean she wanted to show me to her friends.”
I snorted at him. “ Well, duh. If I barely see you anymore, it’s no wonder that her friends doesn’t think you exist at all.” I sighed. Now I was beginning to whine, and I didn’t like that realization. Resignedly, I softened my tone. “ Yami’s growing up really fast, Xelloss. Don’t you think you should be around a little more?”
The Mazoku scratched his head. “ And how would that make things better?” He asked, eyes opened. “ I should stay here so Yami can have a father, one that is Mazoku and has tons of enemies? Filia, really.”
“ I know the reasons, Xelloss. We’ve both gone through them a million times…” I looked down. There really wasn’t much more that I can say about that anyway. “ I just wish things were different, that’s all.” I heard the soft whisper of his cape as he came to stand by me. “ I feel so alone at times…even with Yami around.”
He put an arm around me and I leaned into that embrace. I would never admit it, but I missed him too. “ Just a little bit longer, Filia-chan.”
We both jumped as the side door slammed open. Xelloss instinctively released me and turned to face whoever it was.
“ DADDY!!!!!!!”
The blur of blond hair and skinned knees and grass stained calico flung itself in his arms. “ Daddy! Daddy you remembered!”
Xelloss sat down, pretty much bowled over by the onslaught. “ My, my. I guess your mother wasn’t kidding when she said you’re getting big, Yami-chan.”
I snickered. It was terribly amusing to see him stunned…“ Why would I be kidding?”
Yami bounced in his lap happily. “ Daddy, what did you get for my birthday?! What!? What! Whatwhatwhat!?”
Xelloss tried to fend off his overenthusiastic daughter. I grin when he was met with little success. Yes…little Yami’s got quite a few tricks up her sleeves too… “ Yami-chan! I just got here! And your mother threw a dish at me!”
“ Present, Daddy.”
He sighed. “ You’re so demanding.”
“ Present….PRESENT!”
Xelloss winked at me. “ Reminds you of Lina-san, ne?”
I groaned. “ Oh, that’s right. Lina-san and Gourry-san might be dropping by later this week, maybe tomorrow, for Yami’s party. Oh, gods, I have to clean this place up!”
Yami wiggled. “ Daddy, present?” She said in her most appealing voice, blinking her blue-violet slit-pupiled eyes at her father.
“ I’ll give you your present tomorrow, Yami-chan.” Xelloss promised in his most sincere tone. Yami wasn’t about to have it.
“ Now?”
He shook his head. “ Not now. Tomorrow.” And so father and daughter had a mini-staring contest right then and there. I stifle another grin and instead leaned back on the counter to enjoy the show. It was really no contest though…
Yami sighed dramatically as she gave up, for now. “ Okay, okay.”
I hid another smile. If I knew anything, she’d find a way to get it from him before the sun is down. Like father, like daughter. “ Yami, why don’t you find Val and tell him to buy some more vegetables? I’ll cook your favorite dishes night, okay?”
The blond girl nodded. “ Okay, Mommy! I’m going!”
And so she went.
Xelloss turned to me and blinked a few times. Yami had the effect on people, sometimes… “ Ano, Filia-chan…how long was I gone this time?”
I hmphed. “ Three years, 245 days, 11 hours and 21 minutes, to be exact.”
“ She was three the last time I checked, right?”
“ Right. Your point?”
He sweatdropped. “ Filia, she looks at least 12. She’s only 6.”
“ Mm-hm.” I nodded. I was enjoying this way too much…briefly, I wondered if his evil nature rubbed off on me…
Nah.
“ Filia, explain?”
I grinned as I poked him in the chest. “ It’s all your fault. Your Mazoku heritage is making her grow super fast.” He looked at me worriedly. “ Just joking, Xel. We think it’s a side effect of her Demon-Dragon heritage. Both Luna-san and Lina-san don’t think it’s going to be a problem. And if she does grow up fast, your prayers would be answered.”
He still didn’t look too convinced. “ Are you sure it’s not something bad?”
I frowned at him. This was…unusual. Xelloss wouldn’t be so pessimistic unless something was really bothering him. “ Positive. Why?”
“ Nothing. At least, I hope it’s nothing.” He shrugged. Before I could ask him what that meant, he held up both hands and said, “it’s nothing. Really.”
Seeing as how questioning would do me no good, I sighed and gave up. As glad as I am, that he’s back, I wasn’t going to willingly get myself into another round of ‘sore wa himitsu desu’ with him…
“ So,” I said softly as I looked away. “ How long can you stay this time?”
“ Long enough that you’ll soon want me to be gone.” Xelloss joked.
I smiled back. “ What, you finally quit your job?”
He stuck his tongue out at me. “ Selfish Dragon.”
“ Workaholic.” I retorted. “ get your lazy butt off my chair and make yourself useful.” I ordered as I snapped a towel at him. “ Shoo!”
With easy grace he avoided my towel. “ Come on, Filia-chan. I can think of better things to do with this free time.”
Primly, I began taking out various ingredients for the meal I will be preparing. “Xelloss, the children are home. Get your mind out of the gutter, please?”
“ Aw…” he perked up. “ I know! I get Xellas-sama to take them shopping tomorrow! And send Jiras and Grabos off on some errand that will take them all day. How about that, Filia-chan?”
I pretended I didn’t hear him. Of course, I can also pretend that my face wasn’t burning. In fact, the comment embarrassed me so much that tomorrow was in fact, Yami’s birthday, completely escaped my mind for that moment.
“ Yo, Filia-chan?” He poked my arm insistently. “ Filia-chan?? Sea of Chaos to Filia-chan?”
“ Pervert,” I mutter. He laughed delightedly.
“ So you did hear me.”
“ I heard nothing.” I replied. When he spoke again, his voice was right by my ear and I jumped.
“ Like how you’re not blushing?”
I elbowed him. “ Pervert.”
“ What, no other insults?”
I elbowed him again, for lack of a better response. “ Val and Yami are going to be back any minute. What do you want for dinner?”
He backed off, smiling. “ Oh, I’ll eat anything, you know that.” He started looking through the cupboards curiously and I glared at him.
“ Be careful with those cups.” I admonished as he took a few of my favorite earthenware and began to juggle them. He stuck his tongue out at me, and then put his hand behind his back. “ Watch it-“
“ What was that, Filia-chan?” Xelloss asked me cutely. I gaped at the cups suspended in mid-air, then threw my hands up in exasperation. Some things never change.
“ Just don’t break anything, Xelloss.”
**
“ Say good-night, Yami.”
Obediently, my daughter kissed my cheek. “ Good-night, Mommy.”
“ Sleep tight.”
“ Mommy?”
I stopped at the door. “ Yes, Yami?”
“ How long is Daddy staying this time?”
“ I don’t know, honey. Why don’t you ask him?”
Her child’s voice was annoyed. “ He said it was a secret.”
I laughed. It seems that my daughter had not learned her lesson, like I have. “Well, I’m sure he’ll let you know soon. Good-night.”
I closed the door behind me as I exited, smiling. Then my smile slipped as I thought of her name, and what it had meant. Why had I named her Yami, meaning darkness in the old tongue? There was nothing dark about the girl that is my daughter, except for the fact that she is half mazoku. But she is also half ryuzoku, and none of that means anything. Why darkness?
“ Mom?”
I jumped as Val stuck his head out of the door to his room. “ What, Val?”
He frowned a little. “ Are we going to open the shop tomorrow?”
My little Val, so responsible and grown-up. The anniversary of our battle against Darkstar, his birthday, was coming up in a few months. I shrugged. “ I don’t think so. We’re going to have a nice, quiet party for Yami.”
“Oh, okay.”
“ Good-night.” I told him.
The shadows in the hall seemed to stretch out ominously as I made my way to my room. There was a strange feeling in my chest, the disturbing sensation that something was wrong, somewhere.
But I cast the thought aside. My world is perfect right now…and if I have learned anything these past years, jumping at shadows would be fruitless at best.
**
“ MOMMY!!!!!”
I jerk awake as the door slammed open and something crashed into the bed. Xelloss sat bolt upright at the sudden slam, and promptly got bowled over (again) by a blur of blonde. He groaned beside me and muttered, “ Something just landed on me.” I couldn’t help but laugh as Yami wiggled out of the tangle of our blankets and began shaking me.
“ Mommy, daddy! Wake up, it’s my birthday!” She said excitedly. “ Daddy! Don’t make that face! Where’s my present!?”
“ She takes after you, Filia-chan.” Xelloss sighed with mock despair as Yami continued to demand her present. “ So persistent and demanding…” Yami gave a cute pout at that, and he laughed. “Let us get up first, Yami-chan.”
“ Yami,” I said gently, “ Go wake up Val and we’ll start your party, okay? Quietly!” I added as she whooped and jumped off our bed to go bounce on Val’s. My little boy was in for a rude awakening… Xelloss laughed and then tried to bury his head under the pillow. I glared at him. “If I have to get up, you do too.” I informed him importantly. Indistinct mumbles came from under the pillow and I rolled my eyes. “Xelloss, come on, get up!”
The mazoku refused to budge and I was forced to resort to violence. Since my mace was lying on top of my clothes on the chair, out of casual reach, I decided to use my pillow instead.
“Hey! Hey!” He protested, finally emerging from beneath HIS pillow after I gave him a few good whacks. “What was that for??” He asked pitifully, giving me his patented puppy-eyed look. I was unmoved.
“Time to get up, Xelloss.” I answered primly, getting out of bed myself now that I know he’s fully awake. “Remember, there’s a party for Yami today, so make yourself presentable.” I was just picking up my mace and reaching for my dress when I felt his eyes on me. Turning, I gave him a pointed look. He smirked and raised an eyebrow suggestively. Despite my best efforts to fight it, I blushed.
“Lovely nightgown, Filia-chan.” He said, giving me a very thorough once-over. “But I think you’d look much lovelier without it on…“ I squeaked and instinctively tried to hit him before he finished that sentence. The jerk must have been expecting it, because somehow, he dodged the fist aimed for his face and grinned infuriatingly when I lost my balance and fell neatly into his arms. “You know I do this because you’re just too adorable, right?” he whispered as I fought to not die of embarrassment.
“Let me up.” I protested. My face felt like it was burning up. I thought that was bad, but it got worse when a quiet knock sounded at our bedroom door.
“Mom? Are you two decent?” Val called cautiously. I was just about to reply when Xelloss clamped a hand over my mouth.
“Nope!” He called out cheerfully. “We’re naked!”
“Xelloss!” I screech as I pulled his hand away from my mouth. “What the heck are you talking about!? We’re NOT naked!”
“But we’re not decent either, are we?” He pointed out helpfully. I smacked him and somehow managed to escape.
“Well, you’re not.” I sniffed as I pulled the door open to see Val looking mildly exasperated. “I’m up, Val. And decent.” I gave Xelloss a significant look and he grinned back unrepentantly.
“Me too.” He answered glibly as he got up.
**
Much to my relief, the rest of the morning went smoothly. Val and Xelloss were kind enough to help get Yami out of my hair for a while as I prepared for the party. My little girl agreed to go shopping with them quite enthusiastically, which left Grabos, Jiras and I to do the decorating. Lina and Gourry’s letter had indicated that they probably won’t arrive until around lunchtime today, since they had started late from Sailloon. I hoped that they had managed to convince Amelia and maybe Zelgadis (if he happened to be in Sailloon) to come also.
“ Jiras, please tell me that you did put in the catering order yesterday?” I called as I started hanging up the ‘Happy Birthday’ poster. I love Lina-san-tachi dearly…but there was no way I would be able to cook enough to feed all of them. It was enough work to just bake the cakes that we needed.
Grabos, who was holding the other end of the poster, nodded. Since he was at least two heads taller than me, he didn’t need to stand on a chair like I did. Just as well, since I wasn’t sure I had furniture that’d hold his weight. “We got the orders confirmed last night.” He answered as I carefully pinned the brightly colored paper to the wall. “The lady thought we were crazy, but it got done.”
“Good.” I sighed. “Can you reach the edge over there?” He secured the edge as I asked, and I took my hands off the paper experimentally. When it didn’t fall off, I hopped off the chair and stood back to admire the handiwork. “Does it look crooked?”
The lizard man also stepped back. “Looks fine.” He commented.
“Okay. I’d better go check out what’s happening in the kitchen…I’ll send Jiras over to help you decorate, you know where the ribbons and flowers are supposed to go, right?” Even as I was giving out instructions, I picked my way to the kitchen.
The kitchen was a glorious mess. I had baked the cake last night, and planned on decorating them this morning. I say cakes, because I know that with the guest line-up we have, one cake would not be enough, no matter how big I make it. I smiled fondly as I remembered the lessons learned from previous birthday parties. Lina and Gourry usually made it a point to come, and since those two usually don’t have pressing business, they are the two that Yami sees most often. Amelia tended to be busy most of the time, with her duties as the Queen of Sailloon, but occasionally she managed to find time to drop in, especially if she is in Atlas for some business or other. Zelgadis shows up rarely, but when he does, he always brings her little gifts. It was so unexpected, the first time he did that, that I was quite surprised and moved.
Xelloss managed to take first prize for infrequency of visits, though. I frown a bit as I excused Jiras from the kitchen and took over the cake decorating myself. As I mixed the frosting and prepared to layer it on, I thought about the father of my child.
He didn’t show up very often…But somehow, Yami had always known who he was. Not many people could see that those two are related at the first glance…Yami looked more like me, with her golden hair. But the first time the purple-haired mazoku had shown up and played with her…I shake my head at the memory. Those two were trouble enough by themselves…together, they were even worse.
Carefully, I laid out the cakes and the frostings. I had a huge batch of vanilla frosting for two of the cakes, and a smaller amount of chocolate frosting for the other one. There were assorted candies and fruits that I intended to top the cakes with, and those were safely laid out in their respective bowls. I adore a well-organized kitchen.
I took a knife and carefully started spreading the white frosting onto the first of the cakes. It was a soothing task that didn’t require all my attention, and so I allowed my mind to wander a bit. Maybe a part of me knew that this was likely to be the only peace and quiet I will get for the next few days…
Somehow, I didn’t find that disturbing in the least.
But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to enjoy my quiet time. If I ignored the occasional crashes from the living room, I can almost imagine that I was the only one in the house. And so I steadily went about my task, humming softly as I prepared my daughter’s birthday cakes.
**
%%%
“Daddy! Look, look!” I felt a tug at my hand and I looked down obligingly. Yami was pointing eagerly towards what looked to be local the pet shop, and I had to hide a grimace. Cute animals and happy children concentrated all in one place, maybe parents filled with the overwhelming joy of seeing such domestic bliss…it’s almost as bad as the candy shop. “I want a kitten. May I have a kitten?” She pleaded with me.
I feel myself weakening as she turned soulful purple eyes on me. It wasn’t really fair, Filia used that look too, and I’ve yet to find a feasible defense against it. Suddenly, walking into that infernal place and getting kitten for my daughter doesn’t seem to be as painful or terrible as it had a moment ago…
I think I know exactly what Xellas-sama’d say to that. She’d snort in that amused way of hers and tell me, “You’re a sap, Xelloss.” And what’s worse is knowing that she’s absolutely right.
Surprisingly, it was Val who came to my rescue. The reborn Ancient dragon doesn’t seem to bear me the same grudge that his previous incarnation did, and was turning out to be a rather helpful little boy. “Yami-chan, Mom’d have a fit if there’s a kitten in the house. It’d get into the shop and make a mess.” The boy pointed out logically. Yami sniffled and her lower lip started trembling. Val wisely changed the subject and pointed elsewhere. “See? There’s the ice cream shop. Why don’t we get some ice cream before we go shopping?”
Yami looked at the kittens longingly and Val poked me with his elbow. He shot me a look that said plainly, “Get her some ice cream unless you want to go mingle with the cute cuddly animals.”
That sounded like a good idea. Considering my own fondness for the dessert, it was altogether an easy decision to make. “That’s a great idea, Yami-chan!” I said cheerfully. “I could use some ice cream myself!” Subtly I moved into her line of vision, blocking the sight of the adorable things that my daughter was currently fixated on and started shooing her towards the ice cream place. “What flavor would you like, Yami-chan?”
That seems to have worked and the lip trembling stopped. She broke into a wide, happy grin and cheered. “Ice cream! Yay!” Immediately, I found my hand grasped tightly as she tried pulling me toward the confections faster. Luckily, she hasn’t developed Lina-san’s ability to haul people at least twice her weight behind her like a sack of potatoes (yet…I make no guarantees for the future), so I managed to stay on my feet, pretty much. Still, it was a close thing.
The shopkeeper smiled when he saw Yami coming, and I guessed that my daughter was a frequent visitor. He looked at me curiously, and I smiled innocently in response. “Welcome.” He boomed when Yami, Val and I finally reached the stand. “what will it be today, young miss, young sirs?”
“You guys can get whatever you want.” After all, human money isn’t hard to come by, even if I don’t resort to killing people for it. Filia tends to disapprove of that. Yami beamed at me and I squashed the urge to grin goofily back at her. Mazoku do NOT grin goofily. Especially not Priest-Generals.
“ Reallyyy???” Her smile was wide, and I grinned goofily back at her. To heck with rules, I never followed them when they didn’t suit me anyway.
“Really.” I reassured her. I just hoped she doesn’t share Lina-san’s appetite.
After a loud and noisy discussion on which flavor was the most desirable, we all finally decided what to order. Yami, not surprisingly, got herself the biggest banana split she could find. Val was a little more conservative with two scoops of ice cream, vanilla with cookie dough and chocolate, topped with lots of cherries, nuts, and chocolate syrup. I was surprised that he didn’t pick the mint pistachio to go with his hair, but I supposed he probably got enough of THAT from all his friends…as for me, I thought I restrained myself rather well. I only got the plain soft serve ice cream, in a cone. Not quite as good as the ones in Amelia’s esteemed kingdom, but quite delicious nonetheless. We passed the time pleasantly; all thoughts of cute and fluffy animals disappearing under the cold and creamy melt of ice cream against our tongues…ugh, yeah. Something like that.
**(5/23/02)