Amelia dodged to the left, then ducked and rolled backward. Blood trailed from her arm where it had been cut by the first surprise attack, and she couldn't get a spare moment to heal it. The princess was surrounded by dozens of foes, all in ridiculous black ninja outfits, bearing the crest of a single rose on their chests. Though the ninja clothes might have helped them during the night, in the gardens in the middle of the day the "ninja" just stood out more.

Despite the absurdity of it, they had somehow managed to sneak into the royal gardens. And they weren't too good at actually hitting her, but there were so many that she had no time to go on the offensive without risking serious injury. Dodging yet another series of attacks, she spared a brief bit of attention trying to locate any nearby guards. She had screamed to summon them more out of actual fright, but her arm was really hurting. If nothing changed she would be worn down eventually.

Amelia had enough experience in battle that it seemed to be moving in slow-motion, allowing her to easily jump over a pair of sweeping kicks. Unfortunately, it just as easily allowed her to see the incoming sword from another ninja, already in midair. She had just enough time to belatedly realize that her defensive maneuvering had fallen into a pattern, one that this foe had noticed and exploited. As the sword drew ever nearer, she braced for the coming pain.

But it never did.

"DUG HAUT!" Amelia's field of vision filled with jutting spikes of earth, forcing the incoming sword away from her, and severely injuring her assailant in the process. Then the Heir to Seyrune saw something amazing. Spiky, wiry hair, adorned with a silver crown. Blue, pebbled skin moving beneath a simple red tunic. Leaping into action to protect her, came the one called the Mysterious Heartless Swordsman. "You alright?" He didn't even spare the movement to look at her; instead he attacked the ninja with his bare hands. Zelgadis wasn't even bothering to dodge the multitude of attacks, choosing instead to let them glance harmlessly off of the familiar skin he was wearing.

She could barely keep her wits about her, reminding herself that it was time to fight, not ogle. "Give me time to heal!" He seemed to comply, moving to fend the attackers off of her position. The black-clad assassins, for their part, seemed hesitant. None of their intelligence had suggested that the mysterious "blue man" was anywhere near Seyrune, and his presence seemed to make the fight unwinnable. They stepped back, and threw down smoke bombs. When the smoke cleared, all of them were gone.

Visibly relaxing, Zelgadis shifted into his human form. Amelia watched, fascinated by the way his features seemed to melt seamlessly into shapes less familiar to her, but still unmistakably Zelgadis. As she finished healing her arm, the shaman turned to look at her once more. "You alright?" This time the question came quietly, calmly.

"Yeah. But this isn't good at all. Those ninjas bore the crest of Sarn! Um, are you okay Zelgadis?"

"I barely noticed those attacks, Amelia. I'm fine." His eyes weren't looking at her, they were unfocused. Long moments passed in silence. "Phil wants me to go to Sarn."

"What?"

"He wants me to try and find out what's behind all this. Sarn can't possibly beat Seyrune, even if Lina, Gourry, and I do nothing. So why?"

"But how can you - "

"I can shapechange now. I tried it earlier, and I can take on a human form… one that isn't my own."

"Oh."

Zelgadis rose, purpose seeming to fill his stride as he turned toward the castle. "I'm the only one who can do this, Amelia. I have to."

"Wait!" The princess leapt to her feet, and began to chase after him. "I need to talk to you." Zelgadis, for his part, simply turned around and watched her, waiting. Cepheid, I hate when he does this! I never know what he's thinking! "Um, I need to tell you some things…" She grew fidgety, and it became so hard to look into his eyes.

"Does it need to be now?" Amelia felt more hurt by that than she could have imagined; even if she was used to it she still dared hope for more. But, summoning all her courage she looked him in the eye defiantly.

"Yes, it does. Especially if you're about to leave." Zelgadis blinked, once, twice, then sat down on a nearby bench.

"Alright, I'm listening."

"I need to say these things… to get them out in the open. But! I don't want you to feel like you have to respond yet, okay?" As he nodded, she desperately hoped that doing things this way would placate his need for emotional isolation. Please, let him come to me… "First of all, I want you to know that… if you don't want to stay here, then don't stay just because of me."

"What - "

"Please!" She interrupted. "Please let me finish." Zelgadis closed his mouth and nodded. "I don't want you to stay just because you feel obligated or anything like that, even after I tell you the rest. You're always so driven, and I don't want you to deny that part of yourself." She took a deep, shuddering breath. Wow, this really is scary… just like Mr. Gourry said… "I… I love you, Mr. Zelgadis. I know that's probably obvious by now, but I need to say it, and I think you need to hear it. I told you not to answer now, and I mean that, but I need you to know. I love you, and my dearest wish in this world is that you'd love me back."

Zelgadis simply sat, stunned. Amelia moved past him, so she wouldn't have to see his face. "I'll go tell daddy about the attack… and that you're going to Sarn for him." It took all her willpower to not tackle him to the ground and hold him so he could never leave. "Just, please come see me before you go… at least once." And with that she walked away.

Zelgadis sat in the gardens for a long time, alone with his thoughts. He was still in a lot of inner turmoil, but there was also a strange undercurrent of calm in him. It took him a while to realize why, but when he did it was so profound he almost cried. She's letting me decide. That has to be so hard for her, but she left the ball in my court.

Rising, Zelgadis greeted the evening sun with a broader smile than had graced his face for over a decade.

I have to tell her…

As the sun set, he walked back to the castle, to the place he finally dared to hope for… home.

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Count Rugen walked down an isolated and dark corner of Castle Sarn's hallways, waiting to hear back from his ninja. If they succeeded, it would strike a great blow to Seyrune's morale. However, when he turned the corner there was a ghastly sight. There lay the body of his contact with the ninja, dead.

"My, my, someone hasn't been following the plan." Rugen spun around, only to find himself face to face with exactly who he feared he did.

"Xellos," he spat. "I don't think your plan is in our best interests at all. I think you're using us."

The Mazoku, older than most earthly kingdoms combined, simply smiled. "I think you're right."

"To what end?"

"Now that, is a secret! Of course, I can't have you disrupting my plans any further than you already have, worm."

It was then that Count Rugen saw the most terrifying thing he ever had in his life.

Xellos smiled... and opened his eyes.

No one heard Count Rugen's screams, and no one ever found his body.

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Author's Note type-thing, in the form of an Animaniacs Omake! Further Disclaimer: I don't own Animaniacs either.

From offscreen to on they run, three strange little animated children. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner.

Suddenly they stop.

"It's that time again!" Proclaims Yakko.

"To watch AMVs?" Asks Wakko.

"To create scathing social commentary?" Asks Dot.

"No," says the elder Warner. "It's time to learn the day's lesson! And to find out what it is, we turn to the Wheel of Morality!" He guestures to the now-apparent wheel, then gives it a lazy spin. In a bored voice, he intones: "Wheel of Morality, turn, turn, turn. Tell us the lesson that we should learn." The wheel stops on "Moral number 6! And the moral is…" Taking a printout, Yakko reads aloud. "When Real Life delays a fic by four months, the Author is just as dissapointed as anyone. Apoligies all around."

"I don't get it." Comments Dot.

"I'm hungry!" Says Wakko.

Suddenly, from offstage is heard a whistle, causing the Warners to yip and run, eternally chased by the security guard Ralph.