"Bear Hug Attack!"

So far, it had been a quiet night. Too quiet for Zelgadis's liking. Usually, this was a good thing for it meant there was no possible danger. However, the person on guard duty can become easily bored out of his mind.

It was Zel's turn to keep watch while the others slept. He'd switched with Gourry two hours ago, but he could feel the terror of boredom seeping in.

He needed some form of excitement, no matter how trivial, to entertain himself. So, he watched his friends sleep. Not exactly the world's most exciting activity, but it beat sitting on his butt on the frost covered grass.

Gourry was mumbling about a giant cow. He decided not to listen to that any longer.

Lina was snoring with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"She must be dreaming about money." Zelgadis thought.

A sudden whimper caught the chimera's attention.

Amelia was clutching her fists to her chest. Her face was twisted like she was about to scream.

"She's having a nightmare."

Amelia then muttered some kind of justice speech and another whimper came.

"That's it!" Zelgadis was determined to wake her and shook her shoulder.

Amelia grabbed his arm. Still in dreamland, she pulled him forward.

Zelgadis froze. They were so close, he could smell her breath.

Amelia wrapped her arms around him.

And then she cried "Joyful reunion bear hug attack!"

It was the tightest hug Zelgadis had ever recieved. He even found it difficult to breathe properly. Apparently, Amelia was a lot stronger then she let on. It was either that, or she gained super human strength while she was sleeping.

He sighed. "It figures that Phil would teach his daughter all of his attacks."

Then, Amelia's grip loosened, but he still couldn't break free without waking her.

A content expression appeared on her face.

Zelgadis sweat-dropped. "You've got to be kidding me!"

He didn't want to wake Amelia, especially since she had finally gotten rid of her nightmare. Not to mention the awkwardness he would have to deal with if she woke up with him in her arms.

The worse case scenario, Amelia would jump to the wrong conclusion and start punching him on instinct.

He didn't want to find out how strong she was when half asleep!

Zelgadis had no choice for now. He was stuck until Amelia moved her arm enough for him to get out or he found some other means of escape.

Still, the situation wasn't completely horrible. It would have been if someone else was hugging him, but since it was Amelia, he didn't mind so much.

Zelgadis just prayed he could get loose before Lina woke up. He would have a tough time explaining this.