Ah-ha!!! Here's another Zel/Ame ficcie to make up for absolutely NO Zel/Ame in Dragonsword... So, here it is!! Read on, folkies!!! Folkies? Where'd that come from?? *shrug* Anyway, enjoy, peoples! ^_^

Zelgadis took a steadying breath. He had finally gotten up the courage to tell Amelia. He'd never been able to before, but being in the Seyruun castle with just her, with no Lina making snide remarks... Things just added up, and he knew he was ready. He had to tell her now.

"Amelia," he started. They were both sitting on the sofa in the resting room, right beside the fire. Amelia turned to face him, her bright eyes curious. "I have to tell you something, Amelia," he said.

"What is it, Zelgadis-san?" Amelia asked.

Again, Zelgadis steeled himself, and said, "Amelia, I--"

Before Zelgadis could finish what he was saying, the door to the resting room burst open, and one of the counselors of the court dashed in. "There you are, princess," the man said, huffing for breath. "We've looked all over for you. You know we have to talk about the suitor business! You have to marry a prince soon, and..." While he had been talking, the counselor had grabbed Amelia's arm, and dragged her out of the room. The rest of his ranting was lost as he took Amelia further away.

Zelgadis's spirits plummeted through the floor. He had almost-- ALMOST --forgotten that Amelia had to marry a prince. A prince! Furious, Zelgadis shoved himself out of the sofa, and stalked angrily out of the resting room, out of the west wing, and out of the palace. He self-consciously pulled up his mask and hood so no one would see his face.

How could he have let himself forget Amelia had to marry a prince? And he'd been about to blab everything to her, only to have it end up as nothing because... Because... Nothing could ever HAPPEN between the two of them, because Amelia had to marry a prince.

What was he thinking about? Of course nothing would HAPPEN, whether Amelia had to marry a prince or not. There was no way anything could HAPPEN. How could he have been so stupid? He realized then that, if he HAD spilled it all to Amelia, it would have been hell on earth anyway. Amelia was a princess, while he was a chimera. Even if she didn't have to marry, she still wouldn't want anything more than a friendship-- if even that --with someone like him.

Zelgadis's step was now slow, dragged, and glum. He searched around for something to do, somewhere to go. His roving eyes stopped on a tavern just outside the walls of the city. He was at the edge of the city already? He must have stalked quicker than he'd thought.

But a tavern? In Seyruun? Well, technically, it was outside Seyruun, being outside the walls. A tavern was the perfect place to go when he was in a mood like that. He could drown out his miseries with alcohol and forget he'd even thought of telling Amelia anything. Then he could go back to having a nice friendship with Amelia, and staying at the palace.

With determination and resolution, Zelgadis shuffled over to the tavern. He absently noted that there was a forest on the other side of it, across from the city. Strange. He hadn't thought the forest was that close to the city's walls. Oh, well...

Zelgadis turned the handle of the door, and stepped into the dark, smoky, smelly room. He stepped across the floor to the bar, and sat down in an empty stool. When the bartender asked him what he wanted, he just said, "I don't care. Something strong."

"Girl trouble?" the bartender asked as he set down a tall mug of strong ale in front of Zelgadis.

Nodding, Zelgadis realized that he couldn't drink with his mask up. So he took it down, but still left his hood on, trusting that to conceal him enough. He took a deep swig of ale, and felt it go straight to his head. Good. He wanted to forget everything.