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Chapter 6: The Morning After
The next morning I woke up to the sound of a tray clanging against the table. I rubbed my eyes and looked over to find Gourry walking away from the table and leaving the room. I shrugged it off and stretched my arms out. I turned to my left side to get off the bed when I noticed the necklace was on the end table. I picked it up and looked at it closely. The chain was broken beyond repair but I had no intention of having it fixed at this point. The jewel was still intact though. I looked at the inside to find the odd swirls were now gone from the middle. The jewel now looked dull and dark. I thought about it some more and then thought that maybe that jewel had something to do with what happened the night before. I then put it into my pocket.
As I continued to think about the jewel, my thoughts got interrupted by the sound of footsteps. I looked up and found Gourry had returned. I stood up and faced him.
“Ummm....” I started.
“I just came in for my armor.”
“Oh....what for?”
“I’m going to take a walk. I’ll be back later.” He said as he put his armor on and left the room once again.
I walked over to the door and was about to tell him to stop, but I stopped. ‘What have I done?’ I thought. ‘He doesn’t act like he use to around me.’ I walked over to my bed. I placed my hands over my face and started to cry as I fell to the bed. ‘How could I do such a thing to him? I know we’ve been together for a while but I can’t assume he has feelings for me. Why did I do that stuff to him? I don’t even know if I have feelings for him myself. Here I am, Lina Inverse, the Bandit Killer and Dragon Spooker (even though I despise that name), reduced to a crying heap. I’ve never cried over anything before, so why Gourry? I think I need to go after him and see what he is really thinking. I need to know at this point if he’s going to continue being my protector, or if it’s time I go solo again.’ I stood back up, got changed and left the room, after Gourry.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw Gourry just leaving out the front doors. I ran down the stairs to try and catch up to him, but when I got close enough, I slowed down to see where he was going.
I continued to follow him all the way to the kingdom’s park. I tried to think why he would be going to the park but I just couldn’t think of a reason. It was a nice park though. It was basically a really nice green field with a huge hill and a few big trees. There was a nice, big Weeping Willow tree at the top of the hill and that is where Gourry had stopped. He then sat underneath the tree. I was puzzled even more but maybe he just liked the view. It was a similar view I would get from the window in our room at the inn. I slowly sneaked up behind the tree and hoped he didn’t notice me there. I peered around the tree and could see him. I quickly turned away when he gave out a huge sigh. I had my body flat against the tree and I was trying my hardest to slow my breathing down.
‘Why did I follow him? What am I doing here?’ I thought to myself. I couldn’t think of a real reason. I heard him sigh again and I watched him bow his head. A part of me was feeling sorry for him and wondering what was on his mind. Another part of me just wanted to tell him I was there and be with him. Another part of me also wanted to run away and never face him. I knew that option was out. I couldn’t do that to Gourry. I hurt him enough as it was. The part that wanted to face him was starting to win. I had to prove that I’m not weak. I can tell someone anything that’s on my mind if I felt like it. I wouldn’t cower away and show weakness. I took a deep breath and went around the tree. I was shocked to find that Gourry wasn’t there. I turned back around and sighed. But then I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“What cha doing, Lina? Why are you hiding behind a tree?” Gourry asked with that trademark puzzled look on his face.
I looked around frantically trying to find out what to say.
“I was uh...I was....enjoying the shade. Ya, that’s it. I was out for a walk and saw this tree and thought it would be a nice place to stop. I didn’t know you were here, ha ha ha.” I nervously laughed to try and hide my embarrassment. I didn’t think he believed me at first because he looked more confused than before.
“Uh...ok. Well, I’m going back to the inn.” He said as he walked past me.
I watched him walk off but I came back to my senses.
“Uh...wait!” He turned around.
“Wait a minute.” I looked down at the ground. “I um...wanna talk to you.”
“Oh, what is it, Lina?” He started walking towards me till he was close enough and stopped.
I lifted my hands and pushed my pointer fingers together, showing my nervousness once again. He must have noticed my blush too because he stared at me and moved his face closer to mine. I bowed my head again in an attempt to hide my face.
“Well, it’s about last night...I’m...I’m sorry about what I did. I don’t know what had gotten into me and I’m sorry.”
Gourry looked at me with his usual stupid look. “What did you do?”
I collapsed at his comment. I stood back up and looked at him with a, I can’t believe you said that, look.
“You mean you don’t remember any of it? Oy, Gourry, you are so dense.”
“So what happened? What did you do that was so bad?”
“Oh, never mind Gourry. It’s nothing.”
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Night)
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the Road Again)
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