Hey, I'm not sure if you will like it but I have always liked this couple.

This is what I always think of when I picture this couple.

Anywhere, her you go.

-0o0-

Lina sat at the table, for once not eating. Gourry on the other hand was stuffing his face with food. They were sitting in the town's only inn at dinner time. They planned to stay for a day or two depending on their money. "Hey Lina, the food here is really good," he said through mouthfuls of meats, breads, and other food in front of them. "Are you sure you don't want any part of it?"

Lina nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm not really hungry right now." Gourry stopped eating for a second. Lina was never 'not hungry'.

"Are you okay, Lina?" He asked, confused.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I am just a little tired, that's all. I'm going to go to bed early tonight, see you in the morning." Lina said pushing away from the table and walking up the stairs to where the inn kept the rooms. In fact, Lina was not fine, not fine at all. She felt sad, angry and betrayed, although she wouldn't admit it. He had left them, but more importantly he had left her. She tried to stop him but he still left. They're other traveling partner, Zelgadis Greywords. He had said he found a cure for his 'condition'.

(Flashback)

Lina walked into his room to discuss their plans. Gourry didn't really have any opinion on where to go. "Zel, we have to talk." Lina said, but stopped when she saw her friend. He was moving from the closet to the bed where a suitcase sat open with clothes neatly folded inside. "Where are we going?" She asked, confused.

"We are not going anywhere," Zelgadis said, turning to her with a stone face. "I am going."

"Wait, what?" She asked sitting on his bed. "You mean you're going alone?"

"Yes, I have found a possible cure. However, it is dangerous I don't want to risk your lives." Zel explained. He remained standing as he talked to his companion. He was never one to get emotional; Lina always thought his stone appearance went much deeper than just his skin sometimes.

"What do you mean by that? I am the great Lina Inverse, the world's best sorceress." She asked, stunned that Zel would even think of leaving by himself.

"I don't think even the great Lina Inverse can handle this." Zel said, returning to his packing. Lina was so confused. Zel, Gourry, and she had been traveling together for so long, what made him want to leave now?

"Really? There is nothing I can't handle." Lina said with a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I admire your determination, but you are not coming with me." Zel said with half a smile that lasted for half a second.

"You don't even know it will cure you, it probably won't." She said under her breath. She had not intended for him to hear her but he did and sighed deeply. He put the rest of his stuff in his suitcase and closed it.

"That might be true but I have to try it." Zel said. His voice was wavering, almost like he was hoping, praying, needing it to help him.

"Why do you need to try?" Lina asked, in anger. Now it was Zel who was confused.

"Have I not already explained this, or have you forgotten?" He asked. "I need to get back to normal."

"Does that really matter?" Lina yelled jumping off the bed. She couldn't hold her anger in any longer. Zel was taken aback by her outburst. It was more her words which made him do so more than her anger, which he was used to. Of course it mattered. He didn't want to be a bluestone skin chimera anymore. He did not respond to her, and Lina just stared at him. She told him before she was going to help him, why was she going back on that now? Lina, who had had have enough walked over to the door and took hold of the handle, and Zel heard her sigh deeply.

Lina looked over her shoulder at him, and said in a sad voice, "To me this form is normal, Zel. If you change now then you would be abnormal." Lina did not wait for a response, she left closing the door behind her. She also left Zel to think for himself.

(End flashback)

That had almost been two months ago. Gourry and she had moved from that town two days after Zelgadis did. Lina had made sure to leave a little note for the innkeepers addressed to him, just in case he wanted to follow. Lena lay down on her bed, thinking. She didn't understand how she could feel this way. She knew from the beginning that Zelgadis wanted to be fully human again. She wanted to help them too, so what has changed? She knew she had fallen for Zel, but it was obvious he did not feel the same so she had to keep her feelings a secret. Lina then fell asleep with much difficulty that night. Her dreams had been hunted by nightmares for weeks now. It did not surprise her that she was tired. They always awoke her, sometimes two or three times a night. It amazed her that she never woke Gourry with her screams when she did, then again it always did take a lot to wake him up. And this night was no different. She can never remember what they were about when she woke up but she knew if they continued she would go mad from lack of sleep. There was a knock at her door and Lina got up and opened it. "I'm sorry, but I heard your screams and wanted to make sure you were okay." The innkeeper's wife said. She stood there with a lantern and in her night clothes. A scared expression was shown on her tired face.

"No, I'm the one to be sorry. I'm the one that woke you up. It was just a nightmare, I am fine." Lina said.

"You know, I have a really good remedy to help your sleep if you want it. Come downstairs and sit by the fire and I will make it." The woman smiled and led Lina downstairs. The fire in the hearth was small and beginning to die, so Lina tossed in a small fireball and made it grow. It wasn't long until the innkeeper's wife walked into the room of two mugs in her hands. She handed one to Lina and kept the other for herself. "Drink it while it is still hot for the best effect."

"Thank you." Lina said taking a sip. It was warm and sweet. Lena could feel the warmth going down to her stomach, and it did make her feel better. Although, she did not think that it would help her with her problem.

"You're welcome. Do you want to talk about them? It might lead to the cause of your dreams." She asked, sitting down next to her.

"Truthfully I don't remember any part of them other than that is scaring me half to death." Lina said staring into the fire and taking small sips of her drink. She could already feel the drink calming her down.

"Have you always had them?" The innkeeper's wife asked.

"No, it's been almost a month and a half ago since I got the first one; and since then they have become more frequent in the number per night and per week. I don't know what brought them on, they just started happening." Lina said. She felt like a child explaining her dreams to a mother.

"What happened a month before that? Even the smallest detail might help. Does anyone else know about them? That man that came with you who eats too much maybe?" Lina shock her head with a little laugh.

"No, Gourry is a really heavy sleeper. If he had ever heard me screaming he would come running right away. I usually have to hit him if I want him to wake up." A knock on the door distracted the two women from their conversation.

"Who would be coming so late at night?" She asked more to herself then to Lina. She got up from her seat and put her empty mug on the table. The knock came again, loader this time. "One second, I just need to unlock the door." The woman called through the wood. Lina sat on the couch, completely still. She was busy thinking about what might have started the dreams. She hadn't done anything particularly scary, just traveled from town to town with Gourry. The only thing that came to her mind was Zelgadis leaving, but why would that scare her so badly? "Welcome sir, but I'm sorry to say that all our rooms are full. However, I can offer you the couch if you really would like to stay here for the night." Lina thought the innkeepers' wife was such a nice woman. She had gone out of her way to help her and now being so kind to this late costumer. Lina would have sent him away if she was an inn keeper and this situation came about.

"That will suffice. I will just be staying a few hours." The man said coming into the inn. His voice was familiar but Lina couldn't place it. She continued to stare into the fire and drink from the mug the sweet woman gave her. "By the way, I'm wondering if you have some sort of note from a young woman for me. She has long fiery red hair and a temper to match, and she travels with blond swordsman. It would be addressed to a Zelgadis Greywords." Lina's head snapped up from the fire and turned to the door. Her breath caught in her throat because there he stood in his white clothes. The white cape hung down limply with no wind blowing it around. The hood and mask he always wore were covering as much of his face as they could. Lina still saw the blue stones on his skin and smiled slightly. She told him it wouldn't work but she soon felt bad because he would have sacrificed his life if it meant becoming human again.

"Zel," Lina had really no intention of saying his name but it just slipped from her lips. She wished she could have hid the happiness in her voice, but couldn't. He was here and he was safe.

"Lina," Zelgadis replied looking at her. There was a weird amount of happiness in his voice which he usually covered up. He walked up to her. "I am glad I have finally caught up with you…and Gourry." He said.

"Oh, it seems you know each other. I'll leave you to get re-acquainted while I get some blankets and a pillow for Mr. Gerywords here." The innkeeper's wife quickly scurried out of the room hiding a devilish smile.

The two friends were silent for a few minutes. Their last words to each other sounded back in their minds, and for some reason made both a little un-comfortable with the other. "As you probably heard, I have been following your letters." Zel offered first, sitting down next to her.

Lina smiled. "Yeah I did. I just wanted to make sure if you wanted to rejoin me, I mean Gourry and me you could. How long have you been following them?" She asked. She didn't like her little mistake but the words just were spilling from her mouth without her mind even realizing what she was saying. Lina's eyes never left her friend's face.

"Not very long, a few weeks at least. You have been traveling quite slowly." Zel said, his gaze wasn't leaving her face either. Lina felt her face heat up a little bit but didn't know if it was because of the fire, the blood under skin, or the gaze that never left.

"Well, you know Gourry hates flying, and there is only so far you can walk in a day." The two were quite again, as an uncomfortable silence grew between them. "Will you be traveling with us again, Zel?" Lina asked trying to re-start some sort of conversation between the two. She put her empty cup on the table in front of her and Zel. The innkeeper's wife was right, it did calm her down a lot but now in Zelgadis' presence she felt like she might need another one.

"If you don't want me to, I will understand." Zelgadis turned his attention to the fire, afraid of the answer. He wondered why he needed to hear her say it when it was quite obvious that it would be okay. If it wasn't why would she have left the notes for him to follow? Unless it was Gourry's idea… no it was Lina's plan to leave them. It was Lina's plan to have him follow them right back to her.

"I would be overjoyed to have you back, Zel. And I'm sure Gourry will have nothing against it." Lina hoped her lightly sarcastic tone would hide the true meaning in her words. Zel smiled under his mask. He was happy to be welcomed back so easily by her.

"Lina, may I ask you something?" He asked in a serious tone of voice, sliding his hood and mask off his head and face. Lina nodded, curious to his question. He was back in the group, and as far as he knew with no bad feelings. She was still a little mad at him for going off and leavening but she had to forgive him, eventually. "Before I left, you said I was normal now. What did you mean by that?" Lina turned her face away from him now knowing it was her own blood pumping through her veins that was making her face so hot.

"I meant what I said, simple as that." She mumbled.

"But how am I normal? I am not completely human, I am a chimera. My skin is blue for Pete's sake, how is that normal?" Zel asked again. Still Lina didn't look at him, she couldn't. His face was so confused and she felt she had hurt him in a way. He wanted to be human, why should he accept her opinion of keeping him the way he was now?

"It's normal to me." She said after a while, her voice barely above a whisper. "We have been traveling together for so long, but I was never afraid of you. It is the fools who run and hide from things that they don't know or understand. I promise not to stop you if you want to leave again, but I don't care what you look like. And I'm quite sure your other friends don't either." Lina felt a little silly for explain all of it. Shouldn't he have realized it by now? "And I'm sorry for what I said before you left. I was just mad that you were leaving me." Zel's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. The two were quiet for a long while. "Well, I'm going to bed now." Lina said getting up, however Zel grabbed her wrist.

"I want to apologize as well, Lina." He said quickly. Lina made a face at him, she was confused. She was the one who needed to be sorry. There was nothing he had been wrong in the first place. "I left, and after we had been traveling for so long together. I should have the least let you decide if you didn't want to go." Lina, much to Zel's surprise as well as her own gave him a tight hug. After a few seconds, Lina let go and smiled.

"There's no reason to be sorry. You were trying to help, even if I didn't agree with you. The major thing is that you came back." Lina said, happily. "I'm not going to keep you chained up, Zel. It is your life, if you want to be human again that's your choice and I will help you with anyway I can."

"Lina," Zelgadis smiled, and before either of them knew what was happening they were leaning forward. They soon found their lips touching in a sweet kiss. It was gentle and it was a welcomed surprise. It wasn't long but it was real.

"I think I will leave your things here for you then. I hope the nightmare stop, Miss. Goodnight" The innkeeper's wife said, before hurrying off to the room she shared with her husband in the back of that inn.

"Nightmares?" Zel asked. Lina took the blankets off the table and wrap them around his shoulders and hers.

"Don't worry. I am quite sure they won't happen any longer." Lina rested her head on his shoulder. Although his body was still stone, Lina felt more comfortable resting against him than she had felt with the softest bed in the world. It was the best sleep either one of them have had in a long time.

-0o0-

So there's a story.

I don't really know what to say for it. It really came out of nowhere.

I hope you like it, and now that it's eight o'clock I need to do homework.

Thank you for reading now, please review.