A/N: I rarely ever write anything outside of my favorite anime to write fanfics for, but after revisiting the Slayers anime (my all time favorite anime), I decided to give it a try!
I personally always ship Lina with Gourry and Amelia with Zel, but I thought I'd do something different since those pairings are relatively more common. Plus, it's so obvious to me that Lina and Zelgadis are on the same level in the anime, they just click. They may not be the main couple, but they could totally work together. That being said, I hope you enjoy!
*THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN A LEMON, OR SEXUAL CONTENT. IF YOU'RE OFFENDED BY THOSE KINDS OF MATURE THEMES, DO NOT CONTINUE. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.*
Where's all my ZelXLina smut? Ya'll leave me no choice! Hehe ;-)
Set somewhere in the middle of NEXT.
"Miss Lina, you know I love you and Mr. Zelgadis with all my heart. Well, most of it. Actually, justice takes up a pretty big chunk..."
"Amelia..."
"No! Justice is in my blood. It's who I am..."
"Amelia!"
"Ahaha! You've seen how Daddy and I act when we're defending Seyruun from the forces of evil! It runs in the family!"
"Ahhhmeeeeliiiiiaaa! Is there an actual point to this?!"
"Why, yes! You see, Miss Lina, while justice may be very important to me, so are you and Mr. Zelgadis and Mr. Gourry. Your happiness is also my happiness!"
"Is that right...?"
Why does this kid always have to bring up justice all the damn time..
Lina Inverse reached up with a gloved hand and face palmed as the zealous Princess Amelia went on yet another justice-fueled rant over absolutely nothing. Before Lina could get anything out, Amelia immediately went off. That tended to happen whenever she was leading a conversation. The two of them had gone to Amelia's bedroom after arriving back at the castle for some important "girl talk" that they were apparently in need of (her words, not Lina's). As much as she struggled to listen, Lina felt terrible for leaving Zelgadis to stand and wait in the hallway by himself. She wanted to move the conversation along so they could both get going. He didn't look like it, but Zelgadis had admitted to her once that sometimes he felt awkward in Amelia's castle, despite the warm welcome he always received. She supposed it was the anti-social part of him. It was having Gourry as a male companion that made him more comfortable.
Recently, the gang had decided to start disbanding temporarily for a world-wide family holiday. It was a very strange holiday - it never actually had a name, but it was popular and often taken pretty seriously. For 5-7 days around this time of year, people often returned to their childhood family homes to spend as much time as possible with their relatives. Lina hadn't really felt all that much in the mood to stay with her crazy family for more than a night, and Zelgadis briefly stated he had no real home to go back to. Gourry had gone back to his hometown, and Lina and Zelgadis had just escorted Amelia safely back to the castle.
Lina was surprised that Zelgadis had asked her if he could tag along with her (just her!) while they both waited for the holiday to end. It was pretty much him asking if they could spend the holiday alone together, wasn't it? Or was she just getting her hopes up? Maybe it was just for convenience so they wouldn't all be scattered across Seyruun when it was time to meet back up..
And those feelings she recently discovered she had? Maybe it was because of their obvious chemistry together...or the impressive way he used magic...or that heroic part of him...Or maybe it was the lovable, sweet way he protected what was dear to him. Or the way he acted tough when he clearly just wanted to be loved passed his insecurities. Or the way his eyes became really warm and tender when he spoke to her, just her when they were alone... but..
Lina was hopelessly in love with Zelgadis Greywords.
Yes. It had taken some intense denial - a heated battle between her heart and her mind, but her heart won. Lina didn't really want to be in love. It was so inconvenient and so painful, especially to be so taken with such a complicated person. How could she tell that Zelgadis even had feelings for her? He had proven his loyalty to her as a friend, yes, but anything more seemed like one hell of a risk to try and get him to prove. Lina didn't particularly take humiliation well...she usually had a fireball ready to toss to hide any hint of frustration or embarrassment. It had become something she did without thinking these days! Just last week, she threw a fireball at a rude waiter for publicly calling her "monster mouth" for all of the orders she shouted at him. The damage wasn't pretty, and Lina and the gang had to run from the restaurant and it's angry, singed customers and staff.
Running from people you didn't know when you were embarrassed was a lot easier than someone you did know.
And Zelgadis Greywords! They went everywhere together. If he ever found out about Lina's feelings, and there was a pretty great chance he wouldn't feel the same way, Lina knew it would kill her and probably screw up their peaceful, platonic friendship. Even though Lina often, and VERY often..embarrassingly often had very graphic thoughts and steamy dreams about the man she loved, she felt like keeping her feelings a secret was what was best for their relationship. She didn't want to lose what they had - not even a smidgen.
Plus, confessing her love like a sweet, red faced maiden wasn't really her style.
Lina knew how to keep a secret.
Well, to an extent.
Amelia had seemed to catch on to Lina's current reaction to Zelgadis whenever he was in close proximity to her and asked her completely out of the blue a few weeks ago, and though Lina denied it a thousand times over, Amelia discovered her feelings. Since then, she was always there to either tease Lina or try and get her alone with Zelgadis. Now that they were really going to be alone, Amelia mentioned she had a plan to help things progress between them.
"Amelia, I don't really want to keep him waiting..." Lina waved her hands when the princess started to suck in a breath to say something else.
"Alright, I'll just get to the point, then!" Amelia said excitedly, her grin annoyingly smug. Lina rolled her eyes and slid her fingers into her fiery red hair, ready to pull it out. Why couldn't she have just done that before?!
Amelia reached behind her back and pulled out a pair of golden tokens seemingly out of nowhere. Lina wasn't curious enough to ask. What she was curious about were the coins themselves. She swiped the tokens in the blink of an eye, her mouth watering with greed as she let out an ecstatic giggle.
"Taadaa~!"
"What's this?! You're finally reimbursing me for all I've ever done for you?! This is great, Amelia, you're finally coming through! Let's see how much you...what..."
What...the...hell...
Lina took a closer look at the tokens in her hands and squinted her eyes. Upon seeing the symbol of a familiar looking Seyruun bathhouse engraved in the gold, her spirits sank in disappointment. She looked up at her friend like she'd betrayed her and tried to either give them back or start swinging (she couldn't decide at the time), but Amelia jumped back in enough time that Lina missed and fell flat on her face.
"Amelia..." Lina lifted her head, gritting her teeth, "What kind of evil trick is this?"
"It's not a trick, it's a gift!" Amelia crouched down and waved her hands excitedly, "I organized everything, just for you!"
"How in the hell is this a gift? I thought it was real gold! I can't use this for anything, let alone food!"
"Oh, but Miss Lina, you can!"
"What?" Lina looked up at her with her pretty ruby colored eyes, staring at her as if she'd grown an extra 3 heads on the spot.
"These are 2 tokens to the Golden Dragon Bathhouse! It's popular, but really expensive, you've heard of it, I'm sure."
Lina sat up so she was sitting on her calves, eyeing the tokens in her hands closely, "The Golden Dragon..you mean that place only nobles can afford...? Why are you giving this to me?"
"You mean you haven't pieced it together yet? Those tokens can buy you the 5 day golden package! A 24 hour, all you can eat buffet, a luxury hotel room, a nighttime massage under the stars, 5 rejuvenating spa treatments, and more importantly, a private open-air hot spring bath with a gorgeous waterfall!" Amelia spun around as she mentioned everything great that came with having the tokens, but Lina had a feeling she still wasn't quite getting the big picture.
"That's...great, but... something tells me relaxation isn't all you planned for me to have on this trip..You know I love things like this, but you never go this all out for me unless you have an ulterior motive.."
"Miss Lina, how can you be this clueless?" Amelia messed with her dark, purplish black hair, giving a tiny growl of frustration, "This entire trip is for you and Mr. Zelgadis to have together..."
"Oh... that'll be nice."
"...so you can confess your feelings! You have just enough time to seduce him. You two will be alone together, one way or the other is fine. This is your big chance, Miss Lina!"
"Se...Seduce him?! Why in the world would I ever want to do that?!"
"Because, Miss Lina, you, like all people, want to be happy, and also, like all people, you need a push from someone else in order to acquire that because the obstacles are terrifying." Amelia hugged her suddenly into her chest, and Lina glared as she was smothered by the small princess' impressive bosom. Lina, however, couldn't deny the gesture was heartwarming, as unnecessary as she thought it was.
Lina pushed Amelia gently away from her, smiling nervously, "Amelia, this whole thing is really sweet, and I know you just want to give me a chance, but..."
"I know you're scared," Amelia placed her hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes with a seriousness and understanding that caught Lina off guard. "Having feelings for someone can be scary, and it's natural to fear the unknown. But at some point, you're just going to have to be brave and figure out the unknown by taking risks! Otherwise you'll be filled with regret at letting fear dictate your life, right?"
Lina blushed. It was embarrassing how easily Amelia could read her. And not only that, but to be so much wiser than her sometimes even though she was older... The longer Lina considered the idea of taking such a risk, the more her heart started to swell at the idea that the outcome could be something incredible. She couldn't keep her feelings hidden forever, could she? If someone as preoccupied with one single cause like Amelia could see it, who's to say Zelgadis wouldn't catch on sooner or later? Gourry wasn't anyone to worry about, really. But she may as well tell Zelgadis. And if it didn't work out, and things were awkward, their friendship was strong enough to continue through her heartbreak, was it not? She and Zelgadis had been through so much together already!
"Thank you, Amelia. I'm going to do my best." Lina says, gripping the tokens in a fist.
"You're the bravest person I know, Miss Lina. And you're strong and beautiful... you could steal any man's heart!"
"Why of course, I know my charming, womanly looks - don't say anything about my chest - are enough to draw anyone's attention!"
"That's the spirit! And even Mr. Zelgadis, who's heart can be cold and frozen sometimes. I know because I used to have a HUGE crush on him. And I mean, HUGE. I used to have paintings of him hung up in my bedroom. I tried to learn everything I could about him, but you always seemed to know without trying. You can totally win his affection."
"Did you have to mention that...You're making this whole thing really weird, now."
A/N: I normally go for one-shots on these kinds of stories, but I think this is a good place to stop for the chapter since this will probably be reaaaaaally long if I try to add in the lemon and stuff. This might be more 2-3 parts, but hopefully just 2. I hope you enjoyed! I worked really hard on this, this is my very first Slayers fanfic.
Sorry no Zel in this one, he'll definitely be in the next chapter!
Stay tuned, I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can!