This story is a short one-shot and has an Amelia and Zelgadis coupling.
Catching My Own
Zelgadis Greywords wanders into the open yard of Seyruun's official orphanage. In typical Zelgadis fashion, the chimera is covered head to foot with his hood dawned far over his head with a mask wrapped closely around the bottom portion of his face. He is here for a special occasion and is slightly nervous as he sits down on one of the many benches in the open yard.
The home for lost and abandoned children is a well maintained orphanage. Prince Phil prizes himself in the safety and well being of the future generation of his country, and this orphanage is proof of such care and devotion. The prince has a special fondness for children and he isn't the only one. Zelgadis has always had a soft spot for kids as well, ever since he was a young teen fighting to ensure the local kids had food to eat and supplies to survive. It always hurts the most when he remembers their reaction to his monstrous form. The memory is hard to forget and it is one of reason why he has grown to hate his form so much.
As Zelgadis thinks about his past the caretaker and children of the orphanage come outside to play in the yard. Miss Jeahon is expecting Zelgadis so she isn't surprised to see the hooded figure sitting in her yard. Zelgadis gives her a silent nod of recognition and she smiles back at him sweetly. At first the kids are a little uncomfortable with the hooded stranger in their play area, but after some encouragement from their gentle caretaker the kids waste no time in chasing each other around the yard and playing with different toys sporadically kept within the large fenced in area.
The older children ignore Zelgadis completely, but some of the younger ones stare blatantly at the mysterious swordsman. One of kids drools as he stares while a ball flies through the air and squarely hits him in the face. Zelgadis gives a silent laugh as he watches them, so full of energy and curiosity, it makes him feel lighter.
For the past two years Amelia and Zelgadis have been happily married. The Seyruun nobles looked harshly at their joining, but Prince Phil and Princess Amelia hear none of it. Zelgadis hates the politics' involved and only speaks up for himself when necessary. The Seyruun dignitaries were keeping quiet for a while, even during his wedding they held their tongues, but now harsh rumors are beginning to spread from the noble's mouths once more. The chimera's inability to impregnate Amelia is bluntly obvious and they have been putting pressure on Zelgadis to do something about it or leave her for the betterment of the country. Zelgadis is well aware that Amelia is slightly distressed at being unable to have children, but she always denies it when he asks her about it directly.
Because Zelgadis deeply cares about Amelia, along with the country of Seyruun, and has a keen desire to push the hypocritical upper class aside, Zelgadis is here at the orphanage.
Eventually one of the balls the children are playing with hits Zelgadis and bounces to the ground in front of him. None of the children move to retrieve the ball; even those not playing with the ball now cautiously watch the stranger and wonder how he will react. When none of the children dare come near him, Zelgadis sighs and reaches down for the ball, preparing to toss it back to the unmoving kids. Perhaps he will have more luck another day, after facing many failures in his life already from his cure search, Zelgadis is prepared to face the disappointment of his latest quest.
"Cool hands," A young boy says. Looking up in a bit of shock Zelgadis stares into the blue eyes of a freckled little boy. "You a old man? Old people are blue right?"
Zelgadis doesn't know how to react. Part of him wants to laugh, the other portion wants to growl at the scrawny four year old. "Here's your ball." Zelgadis says instead, handing the ball over.
The boy drops the ball and climbs onto the bench next to Zelgadis, so he is eye level with Zelgadis. "Awesome, you face is like it too!" The boy says bluntly. "And eyes are like mine."
As the boy leans in for a closer look Zelgadis feebly attempts to lean away without falling off the bench. Coming here is looking grimmer and grimmer to Zelgadis; he isn't expecting such attention like this. He is prepared for a scream of terror or a quiet smile, but not a flat out assault into his personal space.
The other children are losing their timidity towards the stranger and begin to come in for a closer look at the humorous event. Zelgadis glances nervously towards Miss Jeahon for some help, but his possible rescuer makes no move to assist him. She simply smiles at him in an attempt to encourage the chimera prince. Miss Jeahon is the only one aware of Zelgadis's true identity; the kids and passer buyers have no clue that he is royalty.
As Zelgadis attempts to move away, the little boy is slightly offended and crosses his arms, trying to imitate a grown up. The boys dark blue wavy locks of hair waft freely in the cool afternoon breeze "That not nice," he says.
"Did anyone tell you that it isn't nice to stare," Zelgadis says quietly with a grin tugging at the edges of his mouth.
"No," the boy says with a smile.
"Yes we have," a girl says nearby. She is a couple of years older than the boy standing next to Zelgadis, but has the same blue eyes and dark blue hair. Zelgadis figures that the two are possibly related.
"Play with us, play with us!" The boy says, shouting as he bounces up and down. "All other grownups play, you play too!"
The boy grabs Zelgadis's cape and forces the chimera to follow after him past the other children. "We play tag and you it! RUN!"
The kids begin to squeal and run around the large yard away from Zelgadis, some of the more crafty ones playfully tug at his loose clothing, baiting him to try and catch them.
Zelgadis smiles and begins to chase after the little people, but he purposefully sets out after the boy first. The boy see's Zelgadis's intent and races to Miss Jeahon's side grabbing her knee, "I'm Safe, I'm Safe." He cries as Zelgadis reaches out for him.
"Who said there were any safe bases in this game," Zelgadis says playfully.
"I did, I did, it a rule." The boy laughs.
"You can't stay there forever," Zelgadis says and begins to chase after the others. He doesn't use his demon speed, because he doesn't want to scare them, but it proves very difficult. These kids are professional tag players. Weaving in and out between one another the children run. They playfully tease the corner of his eye and distract him with flying balls to help their cornered friends. They are making it difficult on Zelgadis, but he doesn't mind. Miss Jeahon is about to intervene when the balls go flying, but Zelgadis reassures her that it is alright.
In a flash Zelgadis begins to gently poke each and every one of them using his enhanced speed, the kids are shocked as they are easily tagged. After they recover from their shock and cries of "unfair, unfair" the kids begin to chase Zelgadis. Basically everyone is 'it' except Zelgadis.
Like a pack of angry ducklings, the kids chase after Zelgadis, who is still using his speed to evade them. Eventually one of the kids gets smart and falls to ground beginning to cry.
"Ouch! It hurts, It hurts!" the dark blue haired girl cries, the same girl as noted earlier. In a flash Zelgadis is at the little girls side, with Miss Jeahon close behind. As soon as Zelgadis is within jumping distance, the girl lunges at Zelgadis latching him around his hooded neck. "Ha! I got you, you are now it!" She says cheerfully.
"Aw I wanted to catch him," the little boy says.
The girl sticks her tongue out at her little brother as Zelgadis gently shifts to remove her from his neck. As he lets her down though, she grabs at Zelgadis's hood and mask causing both to fall away from his face. Her crafty plan is a success.
Zelgadis freezes as he waits for the inevitable.
One child screams followed by even more, as they run to hide behind Miss Jeahon. Rising to his feet, Zelgadis takes a hesitant step back as he reaches for his hood and mask.
"Don't let them scare you sir," the girl says next to him. "They're scared of spiders too."
"You are old," the boy with blue hair says at his feet. The look on his face is one of disgust rather than fear and he scrunches his nose as if he smells something bad. His sister rolls his eyes at him.
"He isn't old duffus," the girls says.
"You sure?" he asks.
As Zelgadis stares at the two siblings he notices that not all of the kids ran away. About six of them gaze at him. Some look curious, others look indifferent, and one looks completely thrilled. He is cover from head to foot with a large hat on his head.
The boy squeals in delight and removes his hat revealing large fluffy purple ears, "you're just like me!" He cries and he hugs one of Zelgadis's legs.
"Hey, he's mine!" the blue headed boy says as he hugs Zelgadis's other leg.
At first Zelgadis doesn't move but then he starts to laugh. A hearty and happy laugh, not a scary one. The children look at him with confusion and some of them start to laugh with him. When a child doesn't know what to do, they laugh or copy something familiar.
"Well, I best be going," Zelgadis says as he carefully removes the boys from each of his legs.
"You gunna come back?" the sister says, poorly trying to act like she could care less.
"I'll come back tomorrow," Zelgadis says as some of the kids wave a friendly goodbye to him.
And so Zelgadis returns to the orphanage for many days in the following weeks and months, that is when he isn't traveling. Zelgadis isn't good at staying in one place for very long. He eventually tells Amelia what he has been up to, and she eagerly joins him in his visits when she can. The children immediately recognize their loving monarch and are shocked to learn that Zelgadis is in fact her husband. Zelgadis thoroughly enjoys their reactions and laughs with great joy at this revelation.
Over the following years, Amelia and Zelgadis adopt many children, visiting the orphanage daily, as if all of the children are their own. The kingdom is thrilled and the nobles have no choice but to bite their tongues. Some nobles even have a change of heart and adopt children of their own. Even children not from their country are accepted and given a home when they can.
Zelgadis's new family may not be related by blood, but they are connected by something deeper. A love of being chosen just the way you are. And it is not based on your ability to play a good game of tag against Zelgadis.
The end
Authors Note: I am adopted, so this story has a lot of meaning to me. I like to think that whoever Zelgadis ends up with (whether Lina, Amelia, or some random OC) that they would adopt if they wanted kids.