"We know where Lina is Gourry," the voice said.
Gourry fell off his rock and into the river when he heard that. He looked up and saw Xellos and Filia looking down at him. "You know where Lina is?" he asked, getting out of the river and grabbing Xellos by his shirt front.
Xellos nodded warily. He'd only seen the swordsman this desperate when Lina had been possessed by L-sama and it wasn't something he'd wanted to see again.
Filia pushed her way between the two men. "Lina's in Zephellia Gourry. Xellos found her up in the North Pole and brought her to Zephellia to find me so I could heal her. She's safe Gourry," she said, putting her hands on his arms and forcing him to let Xellos go.
"Why was she up in the North Pole and why did she need to be healed?" Gourry ground out.
"Lina should be the one to tell you," Xellos said.
Gourry looked at Xellos. "Then take me to my wife," he said.
Xellos nodded and took them back to Zephellia.
Luna looked up when the three reappeared in the kitchen. "You must be Lina's husband," she said in greeting.
"Yeah. Who are you?" Gourry asked ,looking around for Lina.
"Her older sister. Come on. I'll take you to her. She's sleeping though," Luna said and led the way upstairs.
Gourry walked to the bed silently, ignoring Zelgadis and Amelia, intent on seeing for himself that Lina was safe. He knelt down and pushed a thick lock of hair off Lina's cheek, careful not to touch the large bruise that marred the pale skin.
Amelia moved out of Gourry's way and closer to Zelgadis. She looked up. "Miss Lina must mean a lot to Mister Gourry," she whispered, turning back to watch the tender scene.
"Of course. He wouldn't have chased after L-sama to get Lina back if she didn't mean a lot to him," Zelgadis replied, also watching Gourry's reunion with his wife.
Lina sighed softly in her sleep, a small smile on her lips.
Gourry took off his armor and sword and sat down on the bed beside Lina, his touch soft as a whisper as he traced her face with a finger.
"There's enough room if you want to crawl in beside her," Luna said from the doorway. "Just be careful. Her body is almost one massive bruise."
"Thank you," Gourry said and crawled into bed beside Lina, gently wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Love you Gourry," Lina murmured in her sleep as she rolled over to pillow her head on his chest. "Now...and forever."
Amelia gave a small, dreamy sigh when she heard that, protesting when Zelgadis pulled her from the room. "But I want to stay with Miss Lina," she said.
Luna shut the door and went back down to the kitchen.
"Gourry can stay with Lina. You and I need to get our own rest," Zelgadis said. He walked Amelia to the guest room Luna had made for her and pushed her inside. "Good night Amelia," he said as he shut the door. He then made his way to the guest room he'd been given and went to bed.
Gourry woke up with a start and sat up. He looked around him, trying to orient himself.
"Gourry!" Lina cried happily and wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug.
"Lina!" Gourry said happily, his blue eyes full of joy. He returned Lina's hug and kissed her for good measure.
Lina sighed happily and gave herself up to the kiss.
"Ahem!" a voice said from the doorway.
Lina didn't break the kiss, she merely waved her hand in a shooing motion.
"Sorry Lina, we aren't leaving," Luna said.
Lina and Gourry reluctantly seperated and looked at the crowd in the doorway.
"Yes?" Lina asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Mom and Dad are coming home today and they'll probably want to meet the man who married their daughter," Luna said. "They'll probably want to meet your friends too."
"Fine," Lina sighed. "Now will you go away so I can spend some time with Gourry and get dressed?"
"Okay," everyone chorused and left.
"Now where were we?" Gourry asked. He grinned when Lina kissed him. "Ah yes."
"Sure. Just let me get my things and we can go. And I have something to tell you while we're out," Lina said as she got off the bed. She grabbed her cloak, the Demon's Blood talismens, her boots and gloves and her mony pouch and joined Gourry out in the hallway. "Ready," she said cheerfully.
Gourry was shown all around Zephellia with a very informative Lina as his guide. He was happier than he'd been in a long time now that Lina was her old self again. But he did wonder what Lina wanted to tell him. "Hey Lina, where are we going?" Gourry asked as Lina led him out of the city.
"I'm going to show you where I played when I was a little girl," Lina replied. She cast a spell that opened up a pathway through the dense forest that suddenly appeared.
"How'd you do that and where did this forest come from?" Gourry asked, looking around him with wide eyes.
"I found this place when I was no more than 4 years old. I tried to tell my family about it, but I stopped when they didn't believe me. You're the first person I've ever brought here," Lina said as she continued to walk along the trail. "We're here," she said softly as the trail opened up to reveal a clearing that could only be described as magical.
"WOW!" Gourry exclaimed. He stepped into the clearing and looked around him.
Lina had thought long and hard about how she wanted to tell Gourry about the babies she was going to have and decided to show him instead. "Look right in front of you Gourry. I want to show you something," she ordered.
Gourry obidiently looked where Lina told him to and fell over in shock. He was looking at a vision of Lina and six little kids. "We're going to have a family?" Gourry asked, turning his head to look at Lina.
Lina nodded and knelt down beside her husband. "I'm going to be having your babies. Six of them," she said.
"How do you know how many we're having?" Gourry asked, pushing fiery hair off Lina's cheek.
"L-sama told me in a dream and then, I found my birth prophecy. I wasn't sure until then how many I was carrying. So, Gourry Gabriev, are you ready to be a daddy?" Lina asked, grinning.
Gourry paled. "I don't know!" he yelped. "Do you think I'm going to be able to do this?"
"Yes. And calm down. Filia has said that we can help her with Val so we at least have a clue about what we're doing. Now, let's just enjoy the afternoon and relax. We're still months away from having to worry," Lina said and settled down to nap.
"How can she be so calm?" Gourry asked, stifling a yawn. He soon gave up fighting it and joined Lina in her nap.
