Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, I don't own Lina, Naga, Amelia, or any other Slayers character.

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Dedication: This fic is dedicated to Havoc, an acquaintance of mine who suffered great losses due to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon. He showed such a strong spirit and warm heart that I feel that this dedication is the very least I could do to show him my support. And since he's…well, he knows what he is, any lemons that come from this fic are also dedicated to him…

[The views expressed in this fic are not necessarily those of the people this fic is dedicated to.]

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Chapter One: ' The paths of many fangirls…invariably lead to Zelgadis!'

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The sun shone brightly, white clouds skidding across a brilliant blue sky. The white tents and stall covers of the fairgrounds flapped in the brisk breeze, pendants and banners flapping like they were alive and glad to be. The air was scented with the smells of a thousand different kinds of foods, flowers, and other perfumes. Everyone was in a good mood, nothing could happen on a day like today.

Part of the fair blew up.

It was a beautiful explosion and nobody got really hurt. However, there was a lot of smoke and the magicians stall next to the stall that originally blew up started smoking and then a lot of funny looking creatures started bounding/walking/flying/galloping/oozing out of it, sending lots of people into a panic.

" Ah, that was a good sword too Lina!"

"Don't complain, if it can't stand up to one fireball, how are you supposed to protect me when I can't do magic?"

Gourry stood looking thoughtful in front of the crater that used to be the magic swords both and holding the smoking handle of what used to be a sword. The stall's owner sat just to the side of the crater, his jaw working but no sounds coming out.

" Yosh!" Lina yelled, winding up her arm like a pitcher, a fireball where the baseball would have been. " Get ready Gourry!"

Gourry tossed the sword hilt to the side and grabbed a new sword from a pile to his left. He held the new sword up like a baseball bat and swung it experimentally a couple times, then crouched down with it slung over his shoulder. Lina took that as a cue to pitch and wound herself up, then unleashed the fireball at Gourry. The ball of flame rushed towards him and he swung the sword around to connect squarely with it. The fireball pushed against the sword as Gourry strained to repel the burning flames, and suddenly the fireball was catapulted over Lina's head, across a couple of tents, and blew up in the distance.

" Alright," Lina said, stepping across a pile of debris from the first two swords that they had 'tried out'. " I think we finally found your new sword Gourry!"

" You think so," Gourry asked, rubbing his hand along the blade. " It does feel nice and its balance is good."

Lina took the sword from Gourry's hands and let her expert gaze slide along the blade and the hilt.

" Yup," she said, " a nice enchanted sword, probably done by Matroni or Giglento."

" Who," Gourry asked, scratching behind his head.

" You don't know?" Lina asked, turning to Gourry. " I thought you were all into swords. Matroni and Giglento are two of the most famous enchanted sword makers of all time."

" I am, but I never really needed to research enchanted swords before, I always had the Sword of Light." Gourry gave a sigh.

" It's okay," Lina said, handing the sword back to him and turning to the stall keeper. " We'll take it."

The man just sat and stared at her. His jaw worked and little grunting noises came out and he gestured to the hole in the ground where his stall used to be, then gestured at Lina. He did this several times as Lina gave him a level look.

" Alright then," Lina said, turning on her heel and walking away. " Common Gourry."

" But what about paying the man?" Gourry asked, following her out of the now deserted aisle. " He's going to be mad when he gets out of that thing he's in."

" It's called shock." Lina said, pulling out a bag of goodies that she had purchased earlier. She handed Gourry some meat on a stick, then took one out for herself. " He'll get over it, and if he doesn't, I have a fireball with his name on it. Besides, it's his fault he didn't demand payment for the sword. I mean, I would've paid for it."

" Really," Gourry asked through a mouthful of meat, amazed that Lina would voluntarily pay for anything. " What are we going to do next Lina?"

" What do you mean," she asked turning her head to look over her shoulder at him.

" Well," he said, taking another bite. " I've got a new magic sword, you've got a bunch of treasure from those bandits over on the other side that mountain, those Hawk's Eye people, and our last adventure is over. Amelia's at the palace, Zelgadis is wandering around looking for his cure, --"

" Stupid, stupid dolt," Lina said under her breath. " Amelia doesn't care about that."

" -- Filia's off taking care of Valgaav with Jilias, and…and…that lizard man in her Maces and Vases shop™ and no one knows where Xellos took off to. "

" Well," Lina said, looking up at the sky. " I really don't know. I guess we could always just keep traveling…" she remembered when they had been alone at the fire in the desert, the campfire crackling and snapping and Gourry's words echoing in her brain, ' How long I'll protect you? I don't know, the rest of my life.'

" STOP THAT GIRL!" Came a yell from behind them. " She destroyed my tent and stole a magic sword!"

" Looks like that stall keeper woke up," Lina said, holding her hands parallel to each other and letting a fireball form between them.

" Yosh," Gourry said, drawing his new sword.

" FIREBALL!" Lina yelled, thrusting her hands out and letting it loose at the stall keeper who stood in front of a large crowd of men. The man only had a split second to see the fireball racing towards him, his eyes widening, before it hit.

That was the official signal to start the free for all.

Lina went in, cape and hair flapping and spells flying every which way, Gourry right behind her with his sword drawn and up. Immediately the other guys went flying. Lina aimed a Freeze Brittle at a man with a huge double edged battle ax, freezing him where he stood, but immediately another took his place.

" How you doing over there?" She yelled to Gourry.

" Yosh!" Gourry yelled, " Action! Muscles brought into play! Something physical!"

" SHIN'NE!" Came a yell from behind Lina. She turned and saw a large man looming behind her, both hands raised behind his head, ready to swing a killing blow with his sword. Lina fell on her back, bringing her hands up to ready a spell, her eyes widening as she realized that she had no time to chant the incantation.

" DISFANG!"

Needless to say, the guy went got pinned pretty fast…heck, everybody on that side of the street got pinned pretty fast. The jerks lay twitching while their shadows were pinned to the ground, and seeing how even the magician stall owner was a teenybopper, Zelgadis didn't think they'd be getting free anytime soon. Zelgadis stepped over to where Lina had fallen on the ground and offered his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet, Gourry heading over from where he had just punted the Magicians stall owner into the distance.

" Zelgadis!" Gourry exclaimed. " What are you doing here?"

Zelgadis pulled his hood up over his face and his mask up over his mouth and half turned from them. " Do you think we could go somewhere private to talk?" He asked.

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