Chapter One: Family

"Out! Now!"

This shout was responded by two giggling voices. Within the giggles were words, but they were too swallowed by laughter to understand.

Gourry Gabriev, who knelt in the sun in front of a woebegone garden that surrounded a modest house, looked up from under the brim of his straw hat and sighed. He looked over in the direction of the voices, and sure enough, the door to the modest house he called home crashed open, and out tumbled two girls, laughing so hard that tears came to their eyes.

"FIREBALL!" was the following response.

Gourry got to his feet, feeling a bit of panic rise up, but it turned out that it was unnecessary to even worry. When the blast of fire followed the girls out, the smaller of the two held up a hand and declared, between giggles, "Balus Wall!"

There was a minute flash, and the Fireball suddenly crash into the barrier thrown up by the girl, where it disappeared. The taller girl and the smaller girl exchanged triumphant grins.

"I regret teaching you anything!" the furious voice declared. The source of the voice reached the doorway, and there stood Lina Inverse, giving her worst Dramata glare to the two.

As one, they turned to Gourry and dashed to him, hiding behind him. Their eyes peered out from begin his back, and from the sounds of it, both were trying hard to stifle their laughter.

Lina pointed at them furiously. "Gourry!" she shouted. "Tell your daughters to stay out of my kitchen!"

Gourry sighed and crossed his arms. "You act as if they aren't even yours," he replied.

"Yuki stole some cheese." Lina growled, her eyes flashing dangerously. She aimed her gaze at the taller girl, who blushed right to the roots of her short blonde hair.

"Oops," she muttered, trying to hide completely behind Gourry.

Gourry, however, calmly reached down and grabbed the eleven-year-old by the back of her shirt. Bringing her up into the air, he stared right into her bright red eyes and asked, "So, did you take some cheese?"

When Yuki reddened even more and muttered a "Yeah," the smaller girl giggled uncontrollably from Gourry's other side.

Lina stormed over, as Gourry placed Yuki back on her feet. She leaned down and looked right at the smallest girl. "And you took some cauliflower, right?" she said, her voice eerily quiet. "Didn't you, Ana?"

Ana lowered her blue eyes and hid her face behind her curly, wild curtain of dark brown hair. "But they taste so good," she protested, sounding miserable.

Lina threw her hands up in the air. "Wolverines," she declared. "I've given birth to wolverines!"

Gourry rolled his eyes. "If that were true, they'd be all hairy."

Both girls dissolved into giggles. Lina glowered at Gourry this time. "Don't encourage them! I already stink at cooking. I don't need help making it worse."

Gourry blinked. "These girls will eat anything you cook them. I don't see what the big deal is."

"Yes, and only because they took after YOU!" Lina shot back. With that, she turned on her heel and stormed back into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"At least she acknowledged that she gave birth to us," Yuki muttered sullenly.

Gourry reached down and ruffled her hair. "Now, now," he chided gently. "You should know better than to sneak food away from your mother. You know how scary she can get!"

"Yeah," Ana chimed in, sticking out her tongue and crossing her eyes at Yuki.

In one move, Yuki reached down to her belt and unsheathed her small dagger. She held it up in the air and shouted, "Start running!"

Ana squealed in delight, completely oblivious to the fact that Yuki wasn't exactly playing a game. As Yuki chased her, Ana's happy giggles filled the yard.

Gourry put his hands on his hips, wondering if he should be trying to chastise them further. After a moment, he shrugged and decided to leave it alone. He knelt back down in front of the garden and eyed it suspiciously, wondering if, somehow, the garden was conspiring against him and doing everything possible to keep him from growing anything.

As he worked, his mind wandered. All around him, he could hear the sound of his life, his family: His daughters shouting and screaming at each other, Lina, his true love, mumbling and crashing pans in the kitchen…

For him, it was bliss.

…well, mostly.

A fraying pan narrowly missed his head as it soared out the window. Gourry ducked and covered his head, in case more followed suit, but the only thing that followed it were the word, "Dammit, I quit!"

Gourry sat down, reached beside him, and picked up the frying pan from the ground. Calmly, he placed it in his lap and waited. Sure enough, Lina once again stormed out and wheeled right towards him. Calmly, as she approached, he held up the pan. With a shout, she kicked it out of his hands. Both watched as it sailed away into the air.

Before it landed, a very small Flare Arrow crashed into it. It moved less than an inch from the impact before tumbling to the ground, finally defeated.

Lina turned her gaze to the source of the Arrow. Ana smiled and waved, then yelped and started running again as Yuki shouted at her and swung her dagger towards her. Both sisters knew that Ana was too fast to get caught by Yuki, and even if Yuki somehow managed to catch up to the smaller, lighter girl, she would never actually slice her sister.

With a sigh, her anger now spent, Lina slumped down in the dirt beside Gourry. Gourry, who still had his eyes on the two girls, reached over and put a hand on her knee.

"Leave the food," he said kindly. "I'll finish it."

Lina sagged in relief. Half-heartedly, wanting to be sure, she asked, "You sure?" in a tired voice.

He nodded, turning to her and smiling. "Yup. You tried, and that's good enough for me. Cooking isn't your thing, you know."

Lina puffed out her cheeks indignantly, but only for a moment. She sighed then and nodded. "Yeah, you're right," she agreed.

The two sat in silence for a moment, listening to their two daughters talking, now that Yuki was tired and Ana was bored. They were too far away to hear the actual words, but their murmurs carried in the breeze.

"You know, I don't mind doing all the cooking," Gourry said, leaning over and brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.

Lina rolled her eyes. "I know that, but I really should learn someday."

Gourry blinked, looking, as usual, confused. "Why? I'm always going to be here."

Lina's eyes softened a little. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. "No, not always."

"Hm?" Gourry tilted his head to one side. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because, you know," she hesitated, afraid that if she gave voice to her worries that it would jinx everything. "Because…you'll go away."

"I don't like going on trips without you," he replied, "unless it's for groceries."

Lina felt a bubble of frustration well up in her. "No, that's not what I…" she suddenly paused. "Why don't you like it when I come with you for groceries?"

Gourry's eyes quickly darted away from hers, and instantly she leaped on him, pouncing right onto him and pinning him into the dirt. "What's wrong with the way I shop, Gourry?!" she demanded. "I get everything we need, don't I?"

"It's not that," he squeaked, lying very still and holding his hands up in the air. "It's…your haggling."

"Eh?" Lina frowned. "What the hell is wrong with my haggling?"

"Er…" Gourry's eyes darted away again.

"I mean," she glared at him, smiling dangerously. "I manage to get things to a lower price, don't I?"

"Um…"

"And in doing so, I save money, all of that hard-earned money that we earn six days a week in our shop, right?"

"Uh…"

"So really," Lina said, her eyes glinting. "There really shouldn't be a problem with my shopping."

Gourry grimaced, holding his hands over his head. "I surrender. You win!"

"Say it!" she demanded.

"Your shopping skills are justified and the best in the land," he complied weakly.

Lina laughed in triumph. "Good!" she reached down and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Reward time," she said softly, leaning down. She couldn't help herself. Sometimes, in the most inopportune times, she found that just looking at him could give her simple desire for him.

When brushed her lips against his, he responded by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. She kissed him, and he kissed her back, which brought a purr to her lips. She closed her eyes and nuzzled close, oblivious as he was to the fact that they were lying in dirt.

"Eeww!!"

Both jerked apart at this sudden shout, which was followed by loud gagging noises and shouts of, "My eyes, my eyes!"

Lina sat up and glared at her daughters. "How old ARE you two?!" she demanded.

"I'm much too young to be seeing this!" Ana declared. "I'm only nine!"

"I'm not too young, but I really shouldn't be seeing it," Yuki said, shuddering.

Lina got to her feet and held out her hand. "I hope you know a good place to hide, you brats!" she shouted.

Ana screamed happily, always thrilled at being chased. Already she was running, waving her hands in the air and screaming between giggles.

Yuki and Lina stared at her. "You gonna follow suit?" Lina asked her.

Yuki shook her head. "Nope."

"At least chase her so she doesn't look stupid."

"That ship has sailed."

Lina reached over, and, with a smile, shoved Yuki lightly. Yuki shoved back. "Ah, you wanna fight?" Lina teased, messing up Yuki's hair. The young girl shouted in protest, putting her hands to her hair protectively. "What a vain girl!" Lina laughed.

"I'm bored," Ana said suddenly, halting her running and walking past the two. She walked right over to Gourry, who was still lying in the dirt. She sat down, right on his chest, and demanded, "Entertain me."

Gourry smiled and scooped her up. "Help me cook."

"Me too, me too!" Yuki cried, running to catch up.

Lina crossed her arms. "You traitors."

"We'll bring it out when we're done," Gourry called. "Have a picnic. Maybe you could make the garden work?"

"Yeah right," Lina replied, but she was smiling. She watched the three of them head on into the house, then knelt down to where Gourry had been and picked up his discarded straw hat. Planting it firmly on her head, she cupped her chin into her hands and stared at the desolate patch of earth.

She was worried that, someday, she would lose him. If she admitted it to herself, it seemed easier to bear. They were both getting older, and both of their daughters would soon leave, more than likely due to the inherited wanderlust. Already Yuki was showing some signs of it, which didn't surprise Lina. After all, she had left home herself at 13.

However, as they all aged, so did her worry. Neither she nor Gourry were THAT old, but she still worried. What could she possibly do without him? When you're used to something, it's hard to adjust when you suddenly lose it.

Plus the fact that she loved him with all of her heart, and if she lost him, she wasn't sure she could cope.

She jolted out of her thoughts when she heard a loud shattering noise, followed by three voices saying in unison, "Oops."

Lina scrambled to her feet, cursing loudly. "What have you idiots done NOW?!" she shouted, the hat flying off her head as she ran.

Little did she know that she wasn't the one that was going to lose the ones she loved, but the ones she loved would lose her.