Something More Chapter 5

Author: DQBunny Title: Something More - Confused Feelings

Something More

Chapter
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Disclaimer: "Slayers" does not belong to me, but belongs to Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.

Note: This fic was originally written for the LiveJournal community, "30 romances," a themed community similar to "30 kisses". All 30 parts will be combined to form one complete story that is the prequel to "Law of the Land." This chapter contains theme #9 - Rush ; Thrill ; Exhilaration and theme #8 Analysis ; Collection

oOoOo

Chapter Five: "Confused Feelings"

By the time they'd finished relating everything, it was well after dark and they all decided to stay for the night. It was only after Raulf retired that Lina realized that she should had asked him to stay with Gourry while she took over the single room. Granted, her father already knew that she shared a room with Gourry on occasion, but it still felt weird - even though he knew they had separate beds as well.

Lina and Gourry kept to themselves as they got ready for bed. He extinguished the lantern and she simply stared at the ceiling.

Raulf explained that the first messenger that Luna had sent out came back six months later with no word regarding Lina. So, two months earlier, they decided that Raulf would take the next three months following leads on Lina, starting out in Saillune City. In fact, they had barely missed seeing him when Lina and Gourry departed the palace shortly after Lina's birthday. He'd been about to head back to Zefielia when he'd spotted them.

Lina folded her hands behind her head. Dinasa III, the current Eternal Queen of Zefielia. Lina had only seen her from a distance with the exception of that one absolutely tiny incident with the Freeze Arrow. In fact, the queen never did figure out it had been her - wouldn't expect a 10 year old to cast that spell that powerfully. No, Dinasa never figured it out. But Luna had and promptly punished her for it.

She felt a weight settle on the bed and her gaze fickered to meet Gourry's, who was now sitting toward the foot of her bed. She sat up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. You looked worried."

She grinned at him and waved him away. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

She exhaled in a huff. "It's not like we haven't faced a bounty or anything like this before. Though, I do wonder why Dinasa wants me taken out of the public eye." She frowned and mulled over it. "I haven't been to Zefiel City in seven years. Somehow, I've become a threat to her, and she is hoping the Sorcerer's Guild will take me out."

It's much more than that, Lina thought. The Sorcerer's Guild was mainly a political force now and held no real power. It was a ruse and one that any reasonable sorcerer could see though. But, she had to go check it out. She didn't want to risk her family being harmed, though Luna could more than take care of anything that happened. Granted, even the Eternal Queen would suffer should she have the Knight of Ceiphied and her parents harmed.

But in the years since Lina had left home, she finally emerged from her sister's shadow and was on her own. Dinasa wouldn't hesitate to target her.

Gourry watched as the emotions on Lina's face changed from worry, to concentration, back to worry, then slightly angry. He decided there wasn't much more he could do for now.

"Don't worry. I'm sure everything is going to be all right," he reassured her. With that, he leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead.

She stared up at him and felt something inside of her snap. She wasn't sure if it was the combination of the stress from knowing that Zefielia's queen had something against her and trying to figure out what the hell happened in the forest with Gourry the day before or not. Maybe it was because she was now 20 and certain parts of her were waking up. Or maybe she was sick and tired of being treated like a potential lover one minute and a little girl the next. Before Gourry could pull away, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him close and kissed him.

She felt his quick intake of breath as he realized what was happening. After a moment, his arms came around her and he took control of the kiss. It was a good thing too, she realized, because she had no idea what to do next. A faint memory, or maybe it was a dream, of having done this before tugged at her mind. But she hoped he'd known what to do in this instance and was relieved that he did.

She enjoyed the way the kiss made her feel. Something was tingling inside her body low in her abdomen, similiar to whenever she started to conjure a spell. She could smell him - the clove oil he used to polish his sword, the soap from his bath and his distinctly male scent. She felt warm, safe and protected and knew somewhere, somehow, she'd done this before.

Something pressed against her lips, trying to work its way inside her mouth and she automatically pulled away, confused.

Gourry simply smiled at her. "Open your mouth, Lina."

She did, mainly to ask him why, but instead he took advantage of it and took the kiss deeper. Twin instincts battled - one to kick him to the other side of the room and the other to kiss him back. The increasingly heady, giddy feeling in her body won out and she kissed him back, tenatively exploring on her own.

Once she discovered kissing using tongues wasn't as disgusting as the concept sounded, and the result made her feel quite good in return, she became an enthusaistic partner. She wiggled her way closer to him and wound up straddling him in the process.

Two things happened at once. The first was that she felt something hard probing against her.

The second was that he broke off the kiss.

They stared at each other, somewhat stunned. Lina struggled to find her voice and was disgusted that she couldn't think of anything to explain what had just happened. Curiousity? Well, yes, that was part of it. Nature finally taking its course? Maybe it was that as well. Pride, and a little desperation, demanded that she say something, anything to return things to what they'd been a few hours earlier.

Instead, Gourry was the one who gently extracted himself from the embrace, ruffled her hair and gave her a smile. "Good night, Lina," he told her, before heading back to his own bed and slipping beneath the covers.

What was this? Lina grabbed her pillow and nearly chucked it at him in frusturation. Didn't he want to know why she initiated their kiss? Wasn't he going to explain some stuff to her about what he did to her mouth when he took over the kiss? And just what was that hard thing that pressed against her after she straddled him? The answer to the last question hit her like being doused with cold water and she suddenly fell back, banging her head on the headboard.

She grumbled, rubbed her head and noticed that Gourry was already snoring away on his side of the room. So, with some measure of satisfaction, Lina threw her extra pillow at him, turned onto her side facing the window and willed herself to go to sleep.

oOoOo

He rose over her in the dark. the moonlight catching his hair and turning it pure gold. She ran her fingers through it as she cradled him, held him close to her as he pressed kisses down the nape of her neck. He moved into her and she stretched and accepted him. She heard his long, tortured groan and marveled in the power she had over him. She clung to him, tears leaking from her eyes as he drove them higher and higher. His hand moved between their joined bodies as he sought to give her the same pleasure that he felt. Her head lolled back as his fingers worked their magic on her. Then, just as he reached his climax, she hit hers and cried out his name.

"Gourry!"

"Lina?"

Lina blinked her eyes open and stared at the ceiling. Her sweat-soaked pajamas clung to her skin and her breathing was labored. It took her a moment before she realized that someone was speaking to her - and that someone happened to be in the room, shaking her shoulders and was the object of said dream.

"Lina, are you okay? Do you need me to get a healer?" Gourry sounded worried and she wondered just how much of her dream had been verbal.

She sat up and wasn't quite sure her legs were steady enough to hold her. Something pulsed, deep and low in her body and she couldn't quite identify it or shake it. It felt very much like the feeling that had started to spark inside her when she and Gourry kissed the night before, but much stronger. Her throat felt like someone had shoved rags into it.

"Lina?"

Gourry? Oh, right. She blinked and truly noticed him for the first time and didn't have the energy to shove him back to his side of the room. "I'm fine. It's just...I had a nightmare, that's all," she lied. "I was remembering the time we fought Filbrizo and you got kidnapped. That's all." She managed a wan smile.

He frowned at her and ruffled her hair. "Are you sure you're okay? You were calling my name for awhile. More like moaning it."

"A little shaky, but fine." That she was honest with him about, but the fact that he heard her moaning his name embarrassed the hell out of her. She managed a friendly slap on his back. "I'm just going to change and go outside for some fresh air. Then I'll come right back in and go to sleep."

"I'll go with you." Gourry started for the privacy screen to change.

Lina quickly waved her hands at him. "No, no, it's not necessary! I need a few minutes to myself."

"Well, I need to go with you anyhow. It's morning. Aren't we meeting your father for breakfast?"

It was? Lina managed to get up and stumble over to the window. She blinked in amazement at the sunlight and the people milling about in the street. "What time is it?"

"About 8 o'clock." She heard the familiar ring of metal against metal as Gourry buckled his armor on.

They swapped places and she quickly dressed. The more clothes she donned, the better she felt. By the time she fastened her cloak, she felt more like herself and less like the somewhat bewildered, hormone-crazed woman that inhabited her body for the past 12 hours. She emerged from behind the screen, gave Gourry a friendly slap on the back and reminded him that if he didn't hurry, she'd eat all of their breakfast.

They raced each other to the tavern.

oOoOo

Gourry hung slightly behind Lina and Raulf as they headed down the road toward the Zefielia border. They actually weren't that far from it - still in the northern region of Saillune, though they traveled (by foot thankfully) at a good pace for most of the past week, not even stopping to see Amelia when they passed through Saillune City. Lina had apologized for not doing so, but it would had added on at least a day's extra travel when they needed to travel as fast as possible. They would make it up to Amelia later.

The rear position was one Gourry preferred when there was more to the traveling party than just himself and Lina. It allowed him to keep his senses trained toward the shadows and for anything that would ambush them from the rear or side. Experience taught him that most surprise attacks came from there rather than head-on. He had two people to protect now and he took that job very seriously.

He felt slightly strange. He liked Lina's father, even from the first time that he'd met him. He admitted that if it hadn't been for him, he most likely would had never met Lina to begin with.

One distinct memory came back to him, of when the two were in the village of Kulsida. Lina's father had started talking about his family and the noisy home they caused and noted how he was traveling to waste his time because his family wasn't expecting him back for awhile. Then, he commented about how troubled Gourry appeared to be.

"Don't show your troubled face before the girl with whom you fall in love," Raulf advised him.

That bit of wisdom had rolled around in the back of his mind for years, but Gourry had forgotten where it had came from. He figured it was something his grandmother had once told him and attributed it to that. But he had taken the advice to heart and did his best not to display his worries to Lina. Even when he was worried the most about her, he managed a smile for her. That had even caught Amelia's attention.

"Gourry-san, I do admire your ability to smile," Amelia commented to him when the two were traveling together to find Lina and the others after being separated during the effort to stop Darkstar's portal from opening. "No matter how bad things get and no matter how worried Lina-san is, you still smile at her and you remain by her side and that comforts her."

He found it ironic that the ever-cheerful Amelia even commented on it, but was glad that he'd taken the words to heart. Gourry knew what they meant now. It was why he had questioned Lina the night before after watching her stare at the ceiling for close to half an hour, unable to sleep.

Then, she'd done the strangest thing by kissing him. And he couldn't help but kiss her back. He'd resigned himself to being content with being her protector and keeping her safe. He enjoyed the friendship and camaraderie with them and even now, it was starting to feel a bit strained. That was proven when Lina tried to wave him off after her nightmare.

Except, he was convinced that the way she'd been moaning his name wasn't exactly the way it would sound when someone was scared, but rather when they were aroused.

Usually Lina made it quite clear as to what she wanted. If she wanted treasure, she'd announce her intention to raid a bandit camp. If she wanted food, they'd make tracks for the nearest restaurant. If there was Mazoku to be defeated, she would normally mention something to him.

But now, Gourry had no idea what she wanted - or even what he wanted. Did he want to take things further? What if they did, screwed things up and they lost their friendship in the process?

Raulf had mentioned all those years ago about how he'd been alone, then he had a family and the result was a noisy home. And even though he wandered at times, he always knew that in his heart, he wasn't alone.

Gourry had been alone when he first encountered Raulf. Now he had Lina and she was his family, along with Amelia and Zel. He didn't think he could handle being alone again.

But, a small voice told him in the back of his mind, if you never make a move and she could fall for someone else and you would lose her that way.

He stopped walking.

If they took their relationship to the next level, they could risk losing the friendship they currently had.

If they didn't, she would be in the position to find someone else, especially now that they were traveling to her childhood home. If she was wooed away from him, that would also doom them.

Or...the third option was to try it.

Maybe it would work. It would be better than doing nothing at all and risk losing her that way.

Gourry closed his eyes and remembered the exhilaration of her initiating the kiss, then taking it over. He remembered how energetic she'd gotten and how warm and soft she'd been. For all of the teasing, she did feel like a woman to him. Without that yellow band binding her chest, he could actually tell she had cleavage. It would had been so easy to...

"Gourry! What are you doing?"

His eyes snapped open and he saw Lina and Raulf in the distance, about 100 yards away. Lina had her hands on her hips and she was tapping her foot. She was not happy.

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts."

"You're always lost in your thoughts! Come on. We have about an hour until we reach Hunsta. Step on it!"

"Right!" He broke into a jog, easily catching up with them.

oOoOo

Hunsta did not have a lot of permanent residents. Two small rows of buildings flanked the main road and the town consisted of little else. Its main function was a travel hub and a marker to let travelers know that they were in the kingdom of Zefielia. Until now, it was mainly a visual marker. But as Lina, her father and Gourry approached, they noticed a contingent of guards right before the first building.

"What is this?" Lina asked.

"This is new to me as well," Raulf replied a bit hesitantly. He cast a sidelong glance at Lina and Gourry. "Though, a few months ago, all residents of Zefielia were required to have passports proving their citizenship. It was when the bounty on you extended further than the kingdom."

"In other words, they're trying to catch me as I enter the country," Lina guessed. She took a couple of steps forward and concentrated. "Magical shield's in place. Most people wouldn't notice it, but it is designed to stop a magic-user. I'm not good at this, but let me try something."

Lina held out her hands and muttered a spell under her breath. Sparks flew from her hands, but nothing else. She cursed. "Damn it, we should had stopped by the palace and grabbed Amelia after all."

"Can you break through it, Lina-chan?" Raulf asked.

She shook her head. "Flow Break's a powerful White Magic spell and I never bothered to study it that closely. Amelia's highly skilled, she could probably break through here. But even if I did know the spell, it wouldn't do much good anyhow. I'm not good for much spellwise at the moment."

Gourry stroked his chin. "Ah, that time of the month, isn't it?"

Lina stomped on his foot. "Tell the whole world why don't you?" she hissed, her cheeks scarlet. And in front of her father to boot! He at least knew what she meant by that phrase!

Raulf patted Gourry on the back. "Son, when you've lived in a household of women, you learn when to keep your mouth shut. This might make it better for you, Lina-chan. They'll be looking for a magic-user. If you can't use magic, you're less of a target."

Lina paced. "No, but my description is the same. Luxurious chestnut hair. Wide, beguiling ruby eyes. An extra-proportionate petite body. A winning, endearing smile...how can I hide all of that?"

"Easy! Just be yourself! You're nothing like that," Gourry cheerfully told her.

Lina summoned up the remaining magic she had in her. "Fireball!" she yelled, the spell having just enough punch to knock him back a few feet into a tree.

"Really, Lina-chan, shouldn't you be treating your lover better than that?"

"He's not my lover, Papa!" Lina buried her head in her hands. Yet...but at the rate things are going, I'm either going to sleep with Gourry or I'm going to kill him.

"Ah, I'm sick of this! I'm going into town." Lina marched down the road, but her father quickly stopped her.

"You can't go past those guards like that!" Raulf called out.

She whirled around and threw her hands in the air. "Then, what do you suggest I do?"

Something about Lina's words triggered a memory in Gourry's mind. Or, he figured, maybe being thrown against a tree managed to knock something back into his brain. But as he eyed the border and then Lina, an idea began to take shape. His lips curved into a smile, one that definitely spoke of having been around Lina Inverse too long.

It was payback time.

oOoOo

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