(Warnings and Disclaimers same as previous chapter)

To Love a Monster (part 7)

~At the Edge of a Dragon Slave~

by: AniDragon and TheLostZelda

Lunch went as well as breakfast had. Xellos didn't even show up, which made Phil a bit concerned. When he inquired about it. Zelgadis shrugged, "He probably wasn't feeling very well."

"I'm sure he's fine," Amelia said, "He might just be busy."

The lack of worry from the two assured Phil that all was well. He still had some documents to sign regarding foreign affaires, so he got up from the table once he'd finished his plate.

"I'll leave you two to yourselves, then," He told them as he left the room. This time, Zelgadis was sure he caught Phil's wink.

Well, there's no question about who he's rooting for, Zelgadis thought with an amused smirk.

He got up and circled around the table, and then extended a hand to Amelia, "Are you ready to go?"

She smiled and took his hand, "Of course! Just let me go change cloths, alright?"

Zelgadis nodded, embarrassed a bit that he forgot that she'd need to do that, "Yeah, sure."

She giggled and led him back to her room.

~*~

Zelgadis waited out in the hallway as Amelia changed, going over his plans for the day in his head. Everything should go well, unless they were sabotaged or something. Which, granted, was possible considering that his rival was Xellos. Still, Zelgadis figured that any sabotage that the Mazoku could come up with would only sabotage himself.

Amelia finally emerged from her room wearing her usual travel cloths, "Alright, let's go!"

He nodded and offered her his arm, which she happily took.

They made small talk as he led her out of the castle and into the city. When they began to head for the city gates, Amelia asked him what he had planned.

"I thought we'd take a walk in the woods," He said casually.

"A… walk?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah," He answered, "I figured, since you probably don't get out of the castle much… It might be nice. And, you know. Nostalgic."

Crap. This plan sounded a lot better in my head.

"That's a great idea!" Amelia exclaimed, "Xellos-san has taken me out of Seyruun a couple of times, but he just teleports everywhere. I miss walking."

Zelgadis decided to take that as a small win. Yeah, Xellos had probably taken her more places. But Amelia enjoyed the trip more than the destination.

"I wonder if we'll run into any bandits to bring to justice…"

"Amelia," He had to chuckle, "You sound like Lina. Besides, do you think any bandits are crazy enough to stick around Seyruun? Especially with you and your father around?"

"Haha, I guess you're right," She admitted, "It's too bad we don't have time for a longer trip… Well, maybe some other time."

"I'll keep that in mind," He said, meaning it.

As they left the city limits and made their way to the forest, Amelia noticed a large bag attached to Zelgadis's belt, almost hidden by his cloak, "Hey, what's that?"

"That's a se…" He stopped himself mid-sentence. What had he been about to say? "A surprise, for later."

"Oh…" she mused. She luckily didn't seem to notice the slip-up. Or if she did, she kept quiet about it.

After a few moments, Zelgadis decided to try and start a new conversation, "I wonder what Lina and Gourry are doing?"

"Probably making wine with the grapes they collected the other day," Amelia answered without thinking.

"Huh?" Zelgadis looked at her, stunned.

"Oh yeah, Xe… Er… I saw them last week… In Zephilia…" She stammered.

His head dropped, "Ah. Um… So, are they doing well?"

Amelia nodded, glad to fill the awkward silence, "They seem to be. Lina-san is still terrified of her sister of course, though now that I've met her I can kinda see why…"

"She's really that scary?"

Amelia shuddered, "Yeah. Even Xellos-san was scared."

She clamped a hand over her mouth, too late.

Why do I keep bringing him up? She scolded herself.

"Xellos… Is afraid of a human?" He asked, a smirk barely gracing his face.

"Apparently so…"

Zelgadis let out a laugh, "Oh, man, that's priceless! I'll never let him live that one down…"

"Zelgadis-san!" She gave him a mock-glare, "She really is that scary!"

"I'll take your word for it," He replied, though he was still smiling.

He's been smiling a lot lately, Amelia thought to herself, It's nice.

"So, what have you been up to, Zelgadis-san?" She asked.

"Well, as I'm sure you're aware, I'm still looking for my cure… Although… I'm starting to think that it's not out there."

She gave his arm a squeeze, "Well, maybe you're just looking too hard. You know, whenever I loose something, it's usually right under my nose, and I just don't see it."

"Maybe," He shrugged, "So maybe I just need to stand still for a while, and let it find me."

She glanced up at him, shocked. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? His cheeks were a bit red… Yes, he was definitely saying that he was planning on staying here.

And I want to marry someone else? She thought to herself, Was I crazy when I accepted?

Unless…

Unless he was only saying this because she was getting married. She looked back down at her feet, frowning. What if he just felt threatened by Xellos, and was only planning on staying until the wedding was off?

"Are you alright?" Zelgadis asked, concerned.

"I… I'm fine."

Don't be ridiculous! This is Zelgadis-san we're talking about! He'd never do something like that… Would he?

He wouldn't consciously make that decision to hurt her, but… He might get restless…

It's not like she didn't understand. She got restless staying in one place, too. But she had a duty to her people, and that's what kept her here. Zelgadis didn't have that obligation.

"Zelgadis-san," She hated to have to bring this up, but she needed to know, "Before you got Xellos-san's note… Where were you planning on going next?"

Zelgadis shuffled to a stop, "How… Did you know about the note?"

"He told me about it," She admitted, "He was trying to get you off of the trail to the Claire Bible, so he could have a break."

"I'm that persistent?" He asked, surprised.

"Apparently so," She laughed a bit, "But stop changing the subject!"

"Right… Where was I planning on going next. Well…"

If he says he was planning on coming back… He might be lying. He knows it's what I want to hear.

"That was my last lead, actually," He told her, then seemed to hesitate on his next words, "So after that… Well, I had a few options, I guess. But finding the note sort of made my decision for me."

She bit her lip, "So… You were considering coming back anyway? And you just hadn't made up your mind?"

"I guess you could say that," He blushed a bit, and she noticed his hand stray to his pocket, "I was strongly considering coming back, though. I know you might not believe me, but… I did want to come see you."

Amelia debated for a moment on whether to believe him or not. She wanted to. And she was sure that the thought of coming back had indeed crossed his mind. But she wasn't sure if she could believe that he would have come even without the note.

His hand was still by his pocket. She wondered if that had anything to do with the topic at hand.

"What's in your pocket?" She asked curiously.

He blushed and pulled his hand away, "Nothing."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "What kind of nothing?"

He laughed nervously, "The 'princesses-shouldn't-pry' type of nothing!"

"Zelgadis-san!" She exclaimed, "You wouldn't have… that sort of thing in your pocket!"

Now he just looked confused, "Um… What are you talking about?"

"Well... If you say I shouldn't pry…. Is it something illegal?"

He nearly fell over, "Why the heck would I bring something illegal with me? Do I seem like the type to smuggle drugs or something into Seyruun?"

"Well, I suppose that does sound pretty ridiculous…" She admitted, "But… What is in your pocket then?"

"Amelia!"

"Right, right, I'm sorry," She laughed, "I'll drop it."

But that doesn't mean I won't stop thinking about it, She thought slyly.

Meanwhile, Zelgadis was thinking that maybe his pocket wasn't the best place to keep the ring.

The next couple of hours went by a bit more smoothly as they walked through the woods. The vibrant colours of the fall leaves made the forest look like it was on fire, and the leaves that had already fallen made crunching noises beneath their feet. It was a bit chilly, but walking kept them warm. There weren't any more awkward topics brought up, so it wasn't long before the two were as comfortable as they'd been during their travels.

"Well, it looks like we're almost there."

Amelia looked around. As far as she could tell, they were still in the middle of the forest. Though she'd grown up in the area, it was impossible to know the entire forest by heart, so she wasn't sure what was in this particular area.

"Almost where?" She asked.

He stayed silent and led her through a part in the trees. When she caught the sight, she gasped.

"Wow! You can see almost all of Seyruun from here!"

They were standing on the edge of a solid-looking cliff, from which most of the city could be seen. There was plenty of room for them to stand after the tree line ended, and while Amelia was taking in the view, Zelgadis took out a blanket from the bag on his belt and spread it out.

She turned around when she heard the shuffling of cloth, and smiled excitedly, "We're having a picnic?"

"Just like old times," Zelgadis replied, then put the bag on the ground and opened it to reveal a picnic basket, "I'm afraid I only got some very basic food. I had to make sure it wouldn't spoil during our walk."

"That's alright," She sat down next to him, "This was still very thoughtful of you."

As he set up the food, Amelia couldn't help but notice a nearby blackened rock. A couple of the trees looked singed, too. She glanced back at Seyruun, and then realized that this was the view she used to get from one of Alfred's houses.

"Zelgadis-san… Is this the edge of the crater from Lina-san's Dragon Slave?"

He laughed nervously, "You caught me. I have a good view of it from my bedroom window, and it looked like it had potential… I checked it out this morning to be sure."

He finished laying out the food and looked over at the city, "Seyruun sure recovered well from it, though. You can barely tell that there was a Dragon Slave cast here."

She nodded, "The people here are very resilient. We're a fortunate kingdom because of that."

"I'd say the people are fortunate for having a resilient royal family," Zelgadis countered with a smile.

Amelia blushed a bit, "Well, anyone with a love of justice in their heart would do just as good."

"I don't think so," He glanced over to her, "It's more than just justice that makes you and Phil strong rulers. It's the love and respect you have for your people. Without that, you'd never be able to recover from a disaster such as a visit from Lina."

She looked up at him in shock, "Zelgadis-san, did you just make a love and justice speech?"

He paused in the middle of reaching for a sandwich, "Um… Yeah, I guess I did. You must be rubbing off on me."

She smiled, and then, once he'd settled back into his spot, food in hand, she leaned her head on his shoulder, "I guess I am."

He tensed up a bit at her action, being caught off guard. But after a moment, he relaxed and enjoyed the closeness.

This was a good day, He thought to himself.

~End of part 7~

(A/N: Sorry for uploading this so late in the day. We were both hit by thunderstorms, so couldn't exactly coordinate everything. Then when we both managed to get online, we noticed lots of changes that needed to be done... So, yeah. But we still managed to get it here before the end of the day. Woot!)