Author's Notes: As usual this and all my Gourry/Sylphiel related material is made for and posted on my Gourry/Sylphiel shrine first before anywhere else.

Check out the shrine at: relm . bravepages . com (just remove the spaces)

Goodnight Kisses

Part Two, Missed

By Relm

Gourry was unusually quiet as he and the others checked out of the inn later that morning. He was still going over the events of the previous night in his head as he went to check his room for things he might have left behind. Though he had eventually accepted the idea of Sylphiel's night-time visit as a dream it still didn't seem right. It wasn't as though Gourry had never dreamt about the quiet shrine maiden before. He had many times. Sure some of those dreams were revolving around food but there were some that weren't.

It may be hard to believe but Gourry has had romantic dreams in the past. Before he went traveling with Lina he used to have lots of them. And those dreams were always centered around Sylphiel. In them Gourry was the dashing hero saving the pretty damsel in distress. She would reward him usually with the honour of holding her hand or kissing his cheek. Never in his dreams did Sylphiel ever sneak into his room, climb into his bed and kiss him on the lips. The idea of Sylphiel kissing him wasn't unappealing. In fact since that supposed dream it was all that he could think about. But Gourry's dreams were usually G and not so PG13 heading towards an R rating. So this didn't make sense.

Since traveling with Lina and deciding that he would be the dragon spooker's guardian thoughts of the shrine maiden had become fewer and far between. What was the point of thinking of a woman you could never be with? Not when you had duties to attend to. Plus in some strange way Gourry decided that he was supposed to be with Lina romantically anyway. Or as romantic as Lina would allow, which really wasn't much. It was a bit frustrating to the blond swordsman to be constantly shot down every time you tried to get closer to someone.

However having these renewed thoughts about Sylphiel made things confusing for Gourry. Because now that they were in his head he didn't want them out. He knew that he should be thinking about Lina, the woman he was supposed to be with. But when faced with thinking about a loud and obnoxious woman ignoring or belittling you or a sweet soft spoken raven haired beauty kissing you it wasn't hard to see where Gourry's mind wanted to go.

As Gourry locked his inn door and headed down the hall towards the stairs one of the other inn doors opened. Coming outside this door was a woman with long dark hair and green eyes. Had Gourry taken a moment longer or she been quicker to get out their paths would have crossed. But as this woman entered the hall Gourry was already heading down the stairs.

The woman let out a yawn as she walked down the hall. She had gotten to the inn late so as such she didn't get much sleep. The woman might have slept longer but she and her traveling companion had a tight schedule.

"Pokota?" She called out as she knocked on her traveling companion's door. "Are you awake? We should get going otherwise we don't have time to eat breakfast before we check-out."

That little piece of information got the stuffed animal doll out of his room in a flash. "Okay let's eat!" Pokota exclaimed almost bursting out of his room.

"Good morning Pokota." The woman greeted him with a stifled giggle.

Realizing his rudeness Pokota almost shrunk down in shame. "Oh right, sorry... Good morning Miss Sylphiel. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes and no. I was having some odd dreams. How about you?" Sylphiel didn't tell Pokota at one point she had to get up and walk around the inn because she couldn't sleep. Her mind was preoccupied with a certain blond swordsmen.

"I slept like a baby. But boy am I hungry!"

"Let's hope the kitchen can accommodate an appetite like yours." Sylphiel joked as the two headed down the stairs and to the left towards the dining area. Had they gone right they would have ended up at the check out/in desk where Lina and company were checking out at that very moment. Since they didn't go right Sylphiel and Pokota completely missed the dragon spooker and her posse.

The dining area wasn't too busy as most patrons had already eaten breakfast. The only tables being occupied were the ones by the windows.

Pokota and Sylphiel sat down at one of the tables by the wall. Had they sat at the window they would have seen Lina and company leave the inn. It didn't seem that Sylphiel and Pokota were ever going to cross paths with the red head sorceress.

"So are you excited about the convention?" Pokota asked Sylphiel after the pair had placed their orders. The waitress cursed several choice words under her breath as she walked away. After serving Lina's table right before Pokota and Sylphiel it wasn't surprising that the waitress was annoyed.

"Yes I am. I haven't been to the White Magic Convention since Siaraag got destroyed by Koppi Rezo."

"I haven't been since Tarforashia was gripped with drum disease." Pokota added his voice full of excitement.

The White Magic Convention was a special gathering that was completely about white magic and non magical healing. It was open for anyone to attend but special VIP invites were sent to each country/kingdom. It was usually one invite per area and the invites went to those who were most proficient or important in white magic or healing of the area. Being a shrine maiden Sylphiel was a natural choice for an invite but Pokota wasn't. But given that Tarforashia was heavier in black and shaman magic Pokota was probably chosen because he was a prince. Pokota's father health wasn't good enough to make the long trip.

"I'm sure it will be great fun and full of useful information. Especially since this will be the first convention I've been to since the barrier has gone down. I hear a former priestess is going to be attending. I'm really looking forward to meeting her. But I am surprised I got an invitation. Siaraag is barely begun to rebuild." Sylphiel admitted. "They didn't invite me the last time we started to rebuild so I'm not sure why they choose to this time."

"I know what you mean. A good part of the world doesn't even know Tarforashia is awake and yet I still got invited. Maybe they have confidence that our homes will not be destroyed again. Siaraag and Tarforashia were the centers of magic and home of the holy trees." Pokota rationalized.

"Flagoon used to be the largest holy tree. It's sad that it no longer stands." Sylphiel sighed sadly as she thought about that massive majestically tree.

"I wish I could have seen it. It had always been a dream of mine." Pokota agreed.

"Well it was a lot like your kingdom's holy tree Bailoon. Only Flagoon was of course a lot larger. But now Bailoon is the largest with that sapling outside Sailune being second."

"Did you plant that seed I gave you the last time we met?" Pokota wondered. As sort of a thank you for helping Tarforashia Pokota and his father gave Sylphiel one of the last remaining Flagoon seeds they possessed. Pokota's ancestors couldn't take Flagoon with them when they left to resettle so they took three seeds of the great tree with them. One was planted in their new home, the early begins of Tarforashia, the second was planted outside Sailune and now Sylphiel had the third one. Because she was planning on rebuilding Siaraag it was only fitting she have a piece of Flagoon to take with her.

Sylphiel nodded. "Yes and it is growing. Though nowhere near as fast as the one outside Sailune. It's going to be many years before it's anywhere the size Flagoon once was."

"Maybe Father will let me go to Siaraag when the convention is over. I would like to see where my people originated."

"Honestly Pokota it's not much to look at at the moment. But I would be happy to have you come home with me. I've enjoyed our travels so far. I must say I'm quite lucky I bumped into you. Otherwise I would have made the whole trip to the convention alone."

"That would have been a long way to go by yourself. Father didn't even want me to go alone but he didn't really have much of a choice. There's still so much to be done with Tarforashia to get it back to what it once was that not a single person can be spared."

"I'm still surprised he let you go anyway."

Pokota's face took on an impish grin. "Well he didn't so much as let as I didn't really give him a choice..."

Sylphiel frowned. "Pokota! You didn't! Does your father know you left? Because if he doesn't he could be really upset if he didn't know where you went. He might think you were kidnapped or something!"

"I'm not a little kid you know." Pokota huffed crossing his arms across his chest. "I went years traveling around by myself."

"Your father was sleeping during that time so as far as he's considered you're still his young teenage son. And it doesn't matter if you can handle yourself or not, he's your father. He's going to worry about you no matter what." Sylphiel chided waving her finger at him. She didn't let on but she was actually very envious of Pokota. What she wouldn't give to have a chance to see her father again.

"I know... He does know where I'm going and he made it very clear that he wasn't happy with me for it. But the benefits outweigh any dangers that can pop up. The White Magic Convention is the best source for any news or discoveries concerning healing. The last thing we need in Tarforashia is a repeat of the drum disease epidemic."

"Well hopefully we can get some useful information to bring home."

The waitress struggled as she carried Pokota and Sylphiel's massive order. Her arms were already sore from the last big order so the poor woman didn't have the strength to do these types of orders all day. 'And it's just the morning too... How the hell am I going to last?' She thought to herself miserably.

...

"So where the heck are we going to again?" Lina whined at Amelia. The bandit killer had wanted to go searching for more treasure but somehow she and the others ended up agreeing to going where Amelia wanted to go. To be fair Amelia rarely ever insisted they head to a certain location but this didn't make Lina happy. Lina didn't even remember how she got roped into going to this gathering the princess wanted to go to.

"We're heading towards the White Magic Convention. It's a must for anyone who practices white magic. I was given a special invitation to represent Sailune so I have to be there. Father is counting on me." Amelia beamed with great pride. Sailune always participated in the convention but this was the first time Amelia was chosen as the special guest. In conventions past Prince Philonel got the invites but he usually took Amelia with him. This would be the first time that Amelia would go to this convention as the sole representative from Sailune.

"Do you need to have an invitation to go to this convention?" Gourry wondered. Being a swordsmen and not a mage Gourry had never heard about this convention before.

"No. It's open to all who study white magic or practice medicine. Or if you are interested in the subjects." Zelgadis explained almost excitedly. "Any new discoveries in healing or healing medicine gets showcased there first."

"You're hoping you might find your cure there." Lina narrowed her eyes at the chimera.

"Are you surprised?"

Lina just rolled her eyes.

'Open to all white mages...' Gourry thought to himself as they traveled. 'I wonder if Sylphiel will be there...' Thinking about the shrine maiden put a strange smile on Gourry's face as well a slight pink tinge to his cheeks.