Author's Note: I wrote this basically to put it up on Gourry/Sylphiel shrine (see homepage link on profile page). So don't expect any Lina/Gourry in this story (or Zelgadis/Amelia either). As for my Gourry/Sylphiel site, I am desperately looking for more things to put up there. If anyone wants to send me Gourry/Sylphiel fanfics or fanart I would love you all to pieces. I'm really looking for fanart, and it doesn't have to be Gourry/Sylphiel, it can be just Gourry or just Sylphiel. Please email me (also see proflie page, as I can't type the email in this story, it won't let me) with any submissions. Thanks! ^^
Dance Lessons
By Relm
After much hard work, they finally did it. The people of Siaraag managed to rebuild their hometown. And it wasn't just a town, it was a large full fledged city! So to celebrate this momentous feet the people of New Siaraag decided to invite the world and have a weeklong festival. At the very end of this festival would be a grand ball in the city square.
Many people came from all over to see New Siaraag in all its rebuilt glory. And of course since large parties meant lots of food it's no surprise that Lina ended up in town with Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadis in tow.
"Wow! Look at the place! It's almost as if it was never destroyed." Lina exclaimed taking in the sights.
The city did bare a resemblance to old Siaraag but of course it was much larger. Because of the celebration there were tones of people, decorations, food music and dancing.
"How are we going to find Sylphiel's home? There's so many houses!" Gourry whined while eating a kabob. "If we can't find her place we can't have dinner there!"
"Of course you're always thinking of your stomach! I'm sure we can find-"Lina started to say until she saw what Gourry was eating. "Hey where the hell did you get those? Give me one!" Lina went to grab one of the kabobs Gourry had in his hands.
"No! Get your own!" Gourry tried feebly to keep his food away from Lina.
Zelgadis shook his head at the display. "It's always food with those two..." He muttered as he went to the stand selling the kabobs and bought as many as he could hold. "Lina leave Gourry alone. You can have these." He held up the kabobs he just bought to Lina.
"Oh Zel! My hero!" Lina exclaimed with stars in her eyes. She stuck her tongue out at Gourry. "I like Zelgadis ten times more than you. He's not greedy." Lina took all the kabobs from Zelgadis.
"Hey!" Zelgadis protested. "I didn't say you could have all of them."
"Really? You didn't?" Lina flashed Zelgadis the cutest smile she could manage while batting her eyelashes.
"One. Give me one and you can have the rest." Zelgadis demanded.
While this was going on Amelia decided to stay far away from the loud display pretending she wasn't with any of them. So Amelia talked to the townspeople to get directions to where Sylphiel lived.
...
Sylphiel gasped in surprise as she answered the door. "Miss Lina, Amelia, Mister Zelgadis and Gourry-dear! You all came!" Her smile was very large. She had been hoping to get visitors for a while now. "Come in, I was just about to start making dinner." Sylphiel ushered everyone inside her home.
It was a pretty large home with lots of rooms. It was decorated with warm colors and comfortable furniture. Faint smells of baked goodies hung off the air welcoming Lina and the others.
"Wow your home is big Miss Sylphiel!" Amelia commented as she sat herself down on the couch.
"Yeah seems larger still when you live here alone." Sylphiel called out from the kitchen. "I tried to convince my aunt and uncle to come live with me, but they are afraid something else will happen here. But I still hope. Anyway it's good I have lots of room, you all can stay here while you're in town. You are all going to stay till the end of the festival right?" Sylphiel came back into the living room with a tray of drinks and cookies. "We're having a grand ball on the last night of the festival! There will be lots of food and drink with music and dancing!"
"Of course we will!" Lina said right away. Anything with food was an automatic decision. "But are you sure you want us all to stay here? We'll probably eat you out of house and home." Lina joked.
"I'm sure of it! I always make too much food as it is, even though it's just me. And it will be nice to not be alone. In fact stay as long as you want." Sylphiel smiled brightly. She was genuinely happy to have people in her home. Loneliness was a hard beast to bare. "Anyway you all sit and relax and I'll make dinner."
...
Dinner was as expected delicious. And Sylphiel was right; she had been in a habit of making too much food, even for Lina and company to eat. There almost was leftovers even. That night Sylphiel took everyone around New Siaraag showing them around the new city and took in the festival activities. They were all so tired when they got back to Sylphiel's that once everyone was in their beds they were fast asleep.
The next morning Sylphiel hummed as she washed dishes. Even though she had a late night the previous night, she still got up early that morning. It's not that she didn't sleep well, in fact she slept extremely well. But no matter what Sylphiel did or how late she stayed up she was always a morning person.
"Um, Sylphiel can I ask you a favour?" Gourry asked breaking Sylphiel from her thoughts.
Sylphiel was surprised by Gourry's sudden appearance behind her and almost dropped the plate she was holding. She hadn't expected anyone to be up that early much less Gourry. "Gourry-dear! You startled me!" Sylphiel said with a laugh putting the plate down. "Is there something wrong?"
"Well... you know how this festival ends with a big dance right?"
"Yes."
"Well every time I go to these things I end up stepping on everybody's toes. Lina says I'm clumsy and have two left feet. I was wondering if maybe you'd teach me to dance."
At first Sylphiel was elated at the idea. Dancing with Gourry. But then a thought dawned on her. "You want to able to dance and not step on Miss Lina's feet?" Sylphiel asked timidly.
"Yeah that's right."
Sylphiel's heart sank. 'Of course this is all for Miss Lina. I may as well be invisible.' She thought miserably. But then she looked at Gourry's hopeful face that she couldn't refuse. 'Gourry is asking for a favour, I can't say no. That wouldn't be right.' "Alright Gourry-dear. Most of the dances are going to be slow ones. So that won't be too bad. Let me get some music going." Sylphiel took her music box and winded it up. It played a soft sweet melody that filled the room.
"No not here." Gourry panicked. "Could we go outside somewhere? I don't want everybody to know you're teaching me. I want it to be a surprise."
...
In a secluded area behind Sylphiel's place by the forest edge Sylphiel and Gourry danced. First she taught Gourry the basics. What steps and in what rhythm. She taught him about leading and where to put his hands to hold his partner.
In the beginning Gourry struggled a lot, stepping when he shouldn't, going the wrong direction, stepping on Sylphiel's feet... but early each morning during the week Sylphiel tried to teach Gourry to dance for an hour before breakfast. They kept their dance lessons a secret from everyone, dancing before Sylphiel made breakfast. And then the rest of the day the five of them enjoyed the festivities.
By the last morning of the festival Gourry had a breakthrough. He finally realized what he was doing wrong. In his mind he thought dancing was harder than it was. If you relaxed and went with the flow it wasn't so hard.
At the end of the last lesson Gourry was dancing as well any guy. Of course he wasn't going to win any dancing competitions, but he could hold his own.
"Gourry-dear I think you've gotten the hang of it. You're dancing very well now!" Sylphiel clapped very proud of her student.
"Gee thanks." Gourry blushed. "But the only reason I can do is because of you. You're a really good teacher."
Sylphiel also blushed. "Well I should get going on breakfast before Miss Lina wakes up."
...
That day was spent taking more of the festival and getting party clothes for the dance that night.
Sylphiel wasn't expecting to get a date for the ball. She was just going to show up and dance with whomever asked her. She expected of course that Gourry would go with Lina and Zelgadis would go with Amelia. But then they ran into some old childhood friend of Amelia's. This old friend had been Amelia's first crush when she was little. So when she asked her to go to the dance with him, she immediately said yes forgetting about Zelgadis. It wasn't until Lina pointed out that Zelgadis was standing right there that Amelia realized what she had done. She felt terrible but Zelgadis couldn't have cared less. It was just a dance and dancing wasn't his favourite pastime anyway.
'Well I suppose I could be Mister Zelgadis' date.' Sylphiel thought to herself afterwards.
"Um, Sylphiel?" Gourry tapped Sylphiel on the shoulder.
Sylphiel jumped. "Yes?"
"Can I talk to you alone?" Gourry's face looked nervous and his voice also reflected that.
"Sure. How about we go over there?" Sylphiel pointed to a bench away from most of the crowd of festival goers.
"So..." Gourry trailed off after they had sat down. "I know I'm supposed to ask Lina to this dance thing tonight."
Sylphiel frowned. "Yes that's why I was teaching you."
"Well It's just... I've had so much fun with you this week that I think I'd rather go with you." Gourry admitted.
Sylphiel was shocked. She didn't know what to say, this was beyond anything she had expected to come out of Gourry's mouth.
"I know what I'm supposed to do, but it's just not the same anymore. I always make Lina mad, she hits me and I'm just too dumb to understand things. And seeing you again... Well it's just got me thinking different. Is it bad that I'd rather be with you than Lina?" Gourry asked honestly.
Sylphiel knew Gourry was expecting an answer but she was dumbstruck. 'Is Gourry-dear saying he likes me more than Miss Lina?' "Um Gourry-dear... You should be with whomever makes you happy."
Gourry thought very pensively for a good minute. "Well then that's you. Would you like to go to the dance with me?"
Sylphiel blushed. "Of course."
"Okay we'll go together. That is unless Lina kills me when I tell her I'm going with you instead."
"You should probably go tell her now."
"Right. Where did she go?"
...
As it turns out Lina was starting to feel the same way as Gourry concerning their 'relationship'. She was relieved when Gourry told her that he was going with Sylphiel. That meant she was free to do what she wanted and not get stuck being with Gourry stepping on her feet. But of course with Gourry with Sylphiel that left Lina dateless. Of course that didn't last long.
"Hey Zel!" Lina called out to Zelgadis. "We're going to the dance together." Lina stated with a lot of authority to her voice.
"Excuse me, don't I get a say in this?" Zelgadis asked half irritated and half amused.
"Nope! I expect a corsage." She grinned like a cat before speeding off not giving Zelgadis a chance to protest.
...
The town square was decorated with lights and streamers. Music was lovely and everything looked magical.
Sylphiel sighed in happiness. Despite showing Gourry the 'proper' way to hold your dance partner, Sylphiel got right up against Gourry leaning her head against his shoulder. Sylphiel had one arm around Gourry's waist and her other on his chest.
Gourry was a little confused but didn't complain. He just wrapped his arms around her as they swayed to the music. He decided this was better way to dance after all.
Author's Note: I know this is fluffy. That's the point. And to anyone who felt my means to get Amelia away from Zelgadis was weak, I know. I tried to do it different ways when I wrote it, but I kept coming back to that. It just didn't seem to work otherwise. If it bothers you just think about it this way. Though to Gourry and Sylphiel this dance/date might mean more to them, it doesn't necessarily mean as much to Zelgadis, Lina and Amelia. It's just a dance nothing more. Thanks for reading. ^_~