Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME! Besides if I owned these characters I would be doing something more interesting. ^_____^

Hidden Pain - Chapter One

"Boy am I hungry." Lina said out loud as she reached into her bag.

Everyone had already gone there separate ways, and Lina traveled alone once again. She had thought being by herself again would be unsettling. She had thought not having someone to talk to would be to much of a change all at once, but to her very own surprise she enjoyed the peace of being by ones self. As she bit into the apple that came from her bag, she laid back against the tree, listening to the sounds of life. The birds were singing, and the sound of the wind blowing through her hair, gave her the feeling of utter peace, as though time had stopped just for her. But that stillness didn't last . . .

"Oi, Lina-san." Xelloss said from behind her.

The red haired girl sweatdropped at the sound of that voice. Her quite day under the sun had been ruined. She turned her head to find Xelloss, the general pain in the ass standing there, but something was wrong. No, not wrong, different, she thought. Although the trickster stood there in plain site with his soft velvet eyes open, she felt as though something about him was very different? She took a bite of her apple while shrugging and turning her head back around, again resting her head upon the tree trunk. She was attempting to block out his sudden appearance.

Xelloss approached her and sat down beside her. "Ne, Lina-san, why are you acting like I'm invisible?" The priest watched her face for some kind of response, but something else caught his eye, the apple? He shook his head. "Lina-san . . . I need your help . . ." He mumbled.

This captured Lina's attention, in her mind all hell would freeze over before Xelloss would ask for help. Lina tilted her head and met his gaze. "Help?" She asked with a grin that ran from ear to ear.

Xelloss nodded. "Yeah, you see, I had was sent on a mission by my master and I kind of . . . screwed up." He rubbed the back of his head trying to laugh off that he, the general/priest of the lord Zelas would ever /screw up\.

Lina sighed. "And what does any of this have to do with me?" She asked ready to fireball his ass back to whatever hole he had crawled out from.

"Well since I screwed up . . ." He laughed slightly. ". . . I've been turned into a human for three days." He placed a mysterious grin on his face hoping she didn't hear that last part.

Lina's eyes started to water, as she broke out into hysterical laughter.

"Shhh, keep it down . . ." Xelloss whispered, waving his hands in the air as if by doing this would silence her.

Lina choked back on a laugh. "So Xelloss, you mean you have to eat, you can't use magic, and best of all you can't disappear on me?!" She stated, willing herself to contain her laughter.

Xelloss looked blankly at her. "Correct . . ."

"Oh my . . ." She said mocking him. ". . . this is rich, I'm your body guard for three days. You need me!" The sorceress added with pride. The powerless priest looked at her with a sincere smile laced with a hidden pain.

Lina noticed his sadness, and realized it had always been hidden behind his mysterious eyes even when he was a mazoku but she had failed to notice it tell now. "Xelloss . . ." She said softly. "I'm sorry."

The priest looked into her eyes and smiled a true smile, one unfamiliar to him. "Lina-san, thank you."

Lina was stunned by his words, but shock off the feelings as fast as it had come. "All right, lets go." She stood up and offered Xelloss her hand. She realized that his powers were not the only things different, but he had the power to feel now, maybe he could always feel; only now he couldn't hide his feelings.

Xelloss stared at her hand for a moment, puzzled, then accepted, took her hand and stood up. "Hai!"

To be continued . . .

Author Comments: Just to let people know. I don't write long chapters. I find that if I write a long chapter that I want to change something at the beginning of the chapter and it takes to long to change the whole chapter. Hence the short chapters.