Something More Chapter 13

Author: DQBunny Title: Something More - Love, Hate, and Other Emotions

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 #23. Roses ; daisies ; carnations ; water lilies and theme #28. Love, Hate and the Like ; Emotions

oOoOo

Chapter 13: Love, Hate and Other Emotions

Lina escorted her friends through the streets of Zefiel City toward her parents' store. It felt weird to be home after such a long time. She noticed quite a few stares and ignored them, too tired to deal with pleasantries. She just wanted to devour large amounts of food and crawl into her bed.

Raulf and Lana waited outside for them, Lana rushing forward when she realized all were alive and relatively healthy. She gave each of them a hug before nudging them toward the door.

"Hurry, else the neighbors will be out asking questions," Lana told them.

The grocery store took up the entire first floor and Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadiss all gawked at the amount of food before them.

"No wonder Lina's knowledge of food is so ample," Zelgadiss muttered. "And her appetite is so large."

Lina slanted a dark look at Zelgadiss. "Did I hear you say something?"

His eyes popped open wide. "I think you're imaging things...oh look, coffee!"

"Zel!" Lina grumbled.

"This is absolutely wonderful, Lana-san!" Amelia spun around. "What a fine grocery store. I hardly see any this nice in Saillune."

Lana beamed proudly. "Grab some fruit for yourselves and head upstairs. Raulf, drop a few silver in the till to cover the cost and close up?" She winked at her husband. He returned with a V-sign and moved behind the counter.

They headed upstairs. "The living area, kitchen and Mama and Papa's room are on this floor," Lina explained. "My room, Luna's and a guest room are on the third floor. Amelia will stay with me and Zel and Gourry will have the guest room. There's also a room for bathing. Papa rigged up the pump so we can pump up water to the bathroom, then Mama or I will heat the water with a fireball."

Lina opened the door to her bedroom and stood in the entrance staring at it. It was much as she left it - a full-sized bed tucked under the window with bookcases lining one wall. Against the other was her desk and wardrobe. The bed was neatly made and there was no dust. Feeling like a little girl again, she stepped inside and over to her desk. She picked up the spellbook she used as a child and absently turned it over in her hands.

Amelia wandered over to the window. "Look at the garden! Lina-san, the view is spectacular!"

Lina joined her and grinned. The back of the Inverse home faced off the side of the mountain, giving a splendid view of the countryside. She wagered that a good chunk of Zefielia could be seen from their vantage point. It was a view that homeowners paid dearly to have, but her parents had been willing to pay that price.

"Look, Lina-san, there's something chained in the yard."

"Yeah, Luna said in one of her letters that she got a pet." Lina peered out the window. Then her eyes widened with shock. "No way...Zelgadiss!" she yelled. "Zel, get in here!"

He stepped into the room, Gourry on his heels. "What's wrong?"

"Look out there." Lina tapped on the window pane. Amelia moved aside to let Zelgadiss look out.

"No way," he gasped. "That's..."

"Dilgear!" he and Lina shouted together and they both raced for the stairs.

They raced out into the garden just as the werewolf-troll halfbreed looked up at them. With a growl, he sprang to his feet. "Lina Inverse! Zelgadiss Greywords! At last, I'll have my revenge!"

Lina's eyebrow twitched. "Uh, Dilgear? You're currently on a chain in my backyard."

He strained at the chain, then suddenly stilled. His eyes widened. "Your backyard?"

"Yeah, I grew up here."

"Spot!" Lana stepped outside with a tray of food. "Spot, dinnertime. Luna isn't going to be home right away, so I'll feed you instead."

"S...s...Spot?" Lina gasped.

"You mean, the dog that your sister wrote to you about a few years ago...," Zelgadiss' voice trailed off and they both stared at a wildly blushing Dilgear. Then they burst into laughter, pointing at the poor beast.

Amelia and Gourry watched them from the doorway. "I don't get it, Gourry-san," Amelia commented.

He shrugged. "Neither do I, Amelia." Well, actually, he didn't remember, but it was about the same thing.

oOoOo

Luna arrived home after they'd devoured half of the Inverse's pantry in their quest for a filling dinner. They were all in the living area when she walked upstairs. Raulf and Zelgadiss were engaged in a game of chess while Amelia told slightly cleaned up stories of the just and heroic deeds they'd done in the past few years to Lana. Gourry polished his sword while Lina sat beside him, looking through her old spellbook.

She removed her robe, revealing a simple tunic and skirt beneath it. Everyone looked up her, but didn't move from their positions.

Luna sat next to Lina. "Well, between the heir and myself, we convinced the palace courtiers that a Mazoku attacked the queen and she will wake up naturally from the Sleeping spell sometime tomorrow afternoon. My suggestion is that you leave before then. The healers wanted to do a Countersleeping, but the heir says that the rest will help her mother recover from the trauma."

"And you just got here too," Lana sighed.

"Nothing that can be done about it," Raulf replied. "As long as you get out of here, the queen can't do anything to you. She won't touch us due to Luna, so we'll be fine."

"What type of sealing spell did you put on her?" Zelgadiss asked Luna.

"A temporary one." Luna's gaze fell on each one of them. "It's the same principle as the one that Ceiphied used when she split Shabranigdu to begin with and also when Aqualord sealed Lei Magnus a thousand years ago. Howevever, both of them possess much more power than I do, and I'd never sealed anything before now. We've stopped Shabranidgu from coming out, but I'm not sure how long it will hold. A year? Two at the most? Eventually, that piece of Shabranidgu will have to be killed."

"That's the thing," Lina said. "With Rezo and Luke, it was easy just to kill them. But if Dinasa had been killed, it would had thrown the entire kingdom into chaos. With Amelia being here, the recoil would had eventually hit Saillune, though Luna and I were the ones actually involved in sealing her. But, the truth is, I can't kill her right now. The Oricalhon pebbles boost my power, but nowhere near what the dragon's blood tailsmen did." Her gaze fell on Gourry. "And I don't plan to use the Giga Slave again." Unless I am absolutely forced to, she added silently.

Then she shifted her focus back to Luna. "Sis, I'm curious. Why was the heir content with having Dinasa asleep for so long?"

Luna winked at her and placed a finger against her mouth. "That's a secret."

Lina groaned. "Sis!"

Luna laughed, then quickly grew serious again. "Things aren't what they seem to be, Lina. A lot's happened since you've been away from home. I'm not going to tell you right now, because it would mean breaking a confidence that I worked extremely hard to earn." Her violet eyes flashed for a moment. "You wouldn't want to make me angry by having to break that, would you?"

Lina shrank away and wondered if she could somehow squeeze in between the space between Gourry's back and the back of the sofa. He made such an effective shield. "N...no, Sis."

"Well, there seems that there's just one thing left to do then before everyone goes their separate ways." Luna stood. "Amelia-sama, could you come with me, please? Mama?"

"If I just killed Dinasa, the piece of Shabrangidu simply passes down to her heir," Lina explained as the three left the room. "Dinasa IV is my age, but didn't she get married already, Papa?"

"Yes, she just had her first child, a girl. She'll be Dinasa V," Raulf replied and moved his knight to counteract Zelgadiss' rook.

"That's a lot of people in the family with the same name," Gourry commented, resheathing the Blast Sword.

"She has an enormous amount of hatred for you, it seems," Zelgadiss commented and took Raulf's knight with his priest.

Lina shrugged. "It's no skin off my back. There's more people in this world who'd rather see me dead than who actually like me."

Amelia stepped back into the room, her eyes glazed over and sporting an ecstatic smile. She was followed by Luna, who moved over to the fireplace. She motioned at Zelgadiss and Raulf to get up. Raulf grabbed the chess board, pushed it out of the way, then pulled Zelgadiss to him and whispered in his ear. A sly grin crossed the chimera's face.

Amelia pressed a small bouquet of roses and daises into Lina's hands, then tugged her to her feet. "Here you go, Lina-san!" she announced.

"What's this for?" She asked as Amelia almost shoved her in front of Luna. "Huh? What the..."

"Hey, what's going on?" Gourry cried as Zelgadiss hauled him up and pushed him beside Lina. Then he and Amelia flanked them, moving close enough to where they could easily grab them if one of them decided to make a run for it.

Luna produced a book from behind her hands and opened it. "Be proud, Lina. It's not everyone that gets married by the Knight of Ceiphied. In fact, I'm even willing to give you a discount on my usual fee..."

"Luna...," Raulf warned her.

Luna winked at her father. "...and do this for free."

Lina felt panic start to ripple through her stomach. A wedding? Now? "Wait a minute, wait a minute, don't I get a say in this? It's my wedding!" She whirled around. "Gourry, say something!"

He considered it for a moment, then gave Lina a dazzling smile. "I'm ready!"

The panic grew. "But...but what about the fancy dresses? Flowers? A huge cake? And a ring!" Her voice grew shrill as she realized she was quickly losing control of the entire situation.

"I've got the rings," Zelgadiss said, producing a box from his cloak that Raulf had slipped in there moments earlier.

"We have plenty of food, Lina-chan," Lana spoke up, walking back into the room with a large cake.

Gourry kept his eyes on Lina, reached over and took her hand. "This seems good enough to me. Your family's here and Zel and Amelia. That's all I want."

Lina gaped at Gourry. "You're remarkably simple, you know that?"

He considered her words for a moment and shrugged. "I mean, if you want all that stuff, we can wait for it. But, it doesn't matter to me how we get married. I just want us to be happy."

"Besides, this is cheaper," Lana said. "The less money we spend on clothes, the more we spend on food." Her voice gentled. "Not to mention, Lina, once you leave tomorrow morning, you probably won't get to come home for a very long time."

Her mother's words had the effect of a Damu Brass. It was true, Lina realized. Once they left, if she came back to Zefielia, Dinasa would be sure to have her arrested. They would be back though. They had to extract the piece of Shabranigdu from within her and kill it. But gaining the knowledge to do so could easily take a few years or more. Her gaze shifted back to Gourry. But was she ready to be married now?

You've already waited five years, a small voice in the back of her mind said. Do you really want to wait any longer? What if one of you died?

She thought back to the battle against the second piece of Shabranigdu, just months earlier. Following that, Gourry had expressed a desire to visit Zefielia and she had interpreted it as a marriage proposal. They had both come dangerously close to losing their lives again, and then two years before that with Hellmaster Fibrizo, not to mention Darkstar the year after that.

She knew she loved him and had loved him for years. She'd talked about the fancy wedding dresses, the big ceremony, but she'd already experienced that with the fake marriage to Hallas five years earlier. Would she change anything about this?

Her gaze flickered over everyone in the room and realized that like Gourry, she had all the people who mattered surrounding her. She squeezed his hand back and nodded. "I'm ready."

"Okay, it's settled. Keep hold of her hand and please, pay attention." Luna slanted a look at Gourry. "I do not want to accidentally marry you to the potted plant over there."

And so they were married.

oOoOo

One good thing about weddings - there was lots of food and drink to be had.

Satisfied and somewhat tipsy, Lina stumbled into her bedroom and promptly fell on the bed. She toed off her boots and enjoyed the feel of the soft mattress. This was a little piece of heaven, she decided, folded her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. She could easily fall asleep with her clothes on, but knew the moment that Amelia stepped in that she would wake Lina up and nag her about doing that. Then she would be in a bad mood, and she really didn't want to be.

She heard footsteps and the door close. "Okay, okay, Amelia, I'll get up and change in a moment." She yawned. "Man, what a day. You don't mind that we're sharing the same bed, do you?"

"Not really. I think we're suppose to. And I'm not Amelia."

She cracked one eye open and noticed Gourry stacking his armor by her dresser. Then it hit her. She hadn't attended just any wedding. It was her wedding. And this was her wedding night.

Oh crappish hell...

Lina shot up, fully awake. "What do you think you're doing?"

He paused, about to pull off his shirt. "Um...get ready for bed?"

"I mean, in here?"

"Well, we're married, aren't we?" He gave her a confused look. "Aren't we suppose to share the same bed?"

"Uh...yeah." Lina pressed her index fingers together and blushed, unable to look him in the eye. "And, I'm suppose we're going to do that, huh?"

"Hmm..." Gourry leaned over and pulled off his boots. "I suppose so. What's that you're talking about?"

She let out a low scream of frustration. "Do what married people do, jellyfish brains! Sleep together! Are you that much of an idiot?"

He looked over his shoulder at her. "No. It's just you didn't say what 'that' is. 'That' can mean many different things."

"Oh." Lina turned her back to him.

"If you don't want to do it tonight though, I understand." He gave her a patient smile. "I mean, your folks are below us and Amelia, Zel and your sister are in the adjoining rooms."

Touched by his thoughtfulness, she started to relax. The knot of fear coiled inside of her ease. "Thank you."

Backs turned to each other, they changed for bed and slipped beneath the covers. That's when Lina realized her bed was much too short for Gourry and his feet stuck out over the side of the mattress. Still feeling strange about the entire situation, she almost clung to the edge of the bed. Sharing, she decided, was going to take some getting used to. It was one thing to have Amelia share a bed with her. It was something completely different with the man now considered her husband.

"That's got to be uncomfortable," she commented.

"So's clinging to the side of the bed," Gourry replied.

Well, damn. Warily, Lina scooted in a little and turned onto her side, facing away from him. "Is there another position you could move in that would help?"

"Yeah, one." He turned onto his side as well, facing her back, curling his legs in at the same time. He reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist, then pulled her against him. She stiffened and he rested his cheek against her hair.

"I'm glad we got married tonight," he admitted.

"Y..yeah," she stammered. "I guess so."

Exhaustion settled in, weighing her body down like a stone. Part of her wanted to jerk away, to find her own space, but common sense told her to remain where she was. With a yawn, Lina drifted off to sleep. The last thing she remembered was that she thought she heard Gourry tell her that he loved her. Or maybe it was just a dream.

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