(Warnings and Disclaimers same as previous chapter)

To Love a Monster (part 10)

~Surprised Tastes Like Caramel~

by: AniDragon and TheLostZelda

It was evening by the time Amelia retired to her room, alone. It felt strange to be by herself, now.

As she changed for the night, her thoughts wouldn't settle on one thing. Her heart was torn, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

She loved Zelgadis. She had since the first time he'd ever protected her, and still did. So why did she feel so much doubt, now? Was it just Xellos's words? His questions shouldn't make her so confused if her feelings for Zelgadis were genuine. When had her feelings become so complicated?

And as for Xellos… Hadn't she herself told him that she knew better than to trust a Mazoku? And yet now she confided in him, listened to his advice, and even let him kiss her and hug her and… And she even accepted his proposal! What in the world was wrong with her?

Xellos was a Mazoku. It was his nature to be chaotic and to have secrets. But he'd been completely straightforward with her about his goals. She knew he was only with her because she was a good meal, and to get Zelgadis out of his way… So why did she find herself having these feelings for him?

It wasn't love she felt for Xellos. At least… she was pretty sure it wasn't. She liked him. She was attracted to him, and she'd have been a fool to deny it.

She sighed as she stepped out from the dressing screen, then jumped when she looked up and spotted Xellos leaning against the wall next to her bed, smiling.

"And who might you be thinking about?" He asked slyly.

"Xellos-san!" She exclaimed.

"Really? How sweet," He chuckled.

Amelia rolled her eyes when she realized what she'd said, "Really, now, Xellos-san, you should stop doing that."

He frowned half-heartedly, "Aw, but I love the way you taste when you're surprised. It's like caramel."

She shuddered, "It creeps me out to know what my emotions taste like."

There was a slight pause, and then, "Creeped out tastes like grapes."

She slapped her forehead with her hand, "Too much information, Xellos-san."

He chuckled, then opened his eyes slightly, "Speaking of information, it seems that my superiors are pressuring me to know the date of the wedding. They have no problem with it, but they need to know when I won't be available."

She blinked, "They don't have a problem with it?"

He shrugged, "Humans live, on average, less than a hundred years. Even magic users don't live much longer than that. As far as they're concerned, this is temporary. Now, as for the date?"

"Ah, right," She shuffled her feet, "I haven't really thought much on it, I'll admit… I have to find out how long everything's going to take to prepare… I suppose I'll get back to you once I find that out."

He nodded, "That's fine. Just be sure you let me know as soon as you decide."

"Of course…"

She trailed off as she sat on her bed. Less than a hundred years, he'd said. Probably longer, since she used magic. That might have been a short time for a Mazoku, but for her… a hundred years was a very, very long time. She liked Xellos, but to spend the next hundred years, no, to spend the rest of her life with him? Could she really do that?

I can stop this at any time, She told herself, I don't need to go through with it… And wasn't this just to pressure Zelgadis into showing his emotions, anyway? I… I should stop it now. Before things get out of hand.

"Are you thinking of cancelling the wedding?" Xellos's smooth voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up at him, then winced, "I… I'm sorry."

"If you're cancelling it for him, you're wasting your time. You know he's just going to leave if you do."

She crossed her arms stubbornly, "You don't know that for sure."

"It's in his nature," Xellos explained, waving his hand, "If you aren't being pursued, Amelia-san, then he sees no reason to protect the mouse from the cat."

She shook her head, "You're wrong… I think… Now that he's seen that I'm willing to move on if he's not here, then…"

"Are you willing to move on?"

"I…" She frowned, "I don't know. Before he came back, I would have said yes, but… But he did come back. I have to trust that he'll stay."

"Hm," Xellos moved from the wall, and looked off out the window, "I suppose, that's your call… But I just don't think he plans on staying. After all, he hasn't even unpacked his bags, yet."

Amelia's eyes widened, "What? How would you know?"

He smirked, "Well, regardless of the fact that Zelgadis-san is extremely predictable, I have visited him since he's gotten here. He keeps his travelling bag at the foot of his bed, and it's still full. I imagine his drawers are probably empty. You can check yourself, if you don't believe me."

"I couldn't! That would be unjust, and an invasion of privacy!"

"If you'd like, I could drag him aside after breakfast tomorrow… It'll give you plenty of time to check, without getting caught…"

"Didn't you hear me say it was unjust?" She protested.

"I never said you had to snoop," He reassured her, "Just take a quick look. I'll keep him busy, regardless. It's up to you whether or not you want to take the opportunity."

Nothing about this seemed right. But… Xellos seemed so sure about this. And he never lied…

I should just take his word for it… But… I have to know for sure…

"I'll let you think on it," He said, then leaned over to brush a kiss onto her forehead, "I'll see you at breakfast."

~*~

Amelia couldn't keep herself from being nervous at breakfast. She knew that Xellos could tell, but that mattered little to her. After all, he was the one who planned this. Amelia looked across to Zelgadis to see if he had noticed, but when he blushed and looked away, she could tell that the events in the library had not yet faded from his thoughts.

"Zelgadis-san, may I have a word with you?" Xellos asked as they were finishing up.

Amelia took this as her queue, and quietly excused herself while the two were busy.

Zelgadis noticed her leave, but knew that Xellos would still continue to bother him if he tried to follow her. Better to get things over with.

"What is it?" He demanded. He was still pretty bitter about the events of yesterday, not to mention the fact that he hadn't found ANY laws or loopholes he could use against the wedding.

"What's wrong?" Xellos teased, "Can't we have a friendly chat without you being hostile?"

"A friendly chat requires friendship," Zelgadis answered evenly, "Now, what do you want?"

"So cold…" Xellos shook his head exasperatedly, "I thought you'd have warmed up while you were in the desert…"

Zelgadis crossed his arms, "Yeah, thanks for destroying those documents, by the way."

"Just doing my job," The Mazoku grinned, opening one eye, "Though I saw the most curious thing while I was trailing you… More specifically, I saw what you did, there."

Zelgadis's blood ran cold, "What?"

"That was quite the lovely ring you picked out for Amelia…"

He knew about the ring. Well, it should have been obvious that he knew about the ring, since Xellos had been watching his every move. But why bring it up to him now? Zelgadis thought that he'd just been trying to distract him so that he couldn't escort Amelia today…

He glanced at the door, horrified. Amelia had tried to leave discreetly. Xellos was distracting him. Had he…?

He bolted from the room without a word, as Xellos tried hard not to laugh.

~*~

Amelia sat there, staring into the empty bottom drawer of Zelgadis's dresser. Aside from a few dusty spots in the corners, the drawer was completely bare. Ok, that's just one drawer, she thought, One doesn't mean all. She shut the drawer and hurriedly opened the middle drawer.

Now she was getting anxious, and needed to calm herself. Amelia shut the empty drawer and looked at the bag at the foot of the bed. It was full, or at least appeared to be, just as Xellos had mentioned. Her attention returned to the dresser and its large drawers. Perhaps he didn't have enough belongings to fill them, so he didn't bother. Or maybe he felt more comfortable living out of a bag.

It had been habit, after all, while traveling with Lina. She herself had once brought a suitcase to a neighbouring kingdom, only to have it almost destroyed when Lina showed up. This lesson had taught Amelia the importance of having everything on one's person at all times, as the only thing one thinks of when running from a Dragon Slave is one's self. This thought didn't help, as the purpose of the habit was to leave as quickly as possible without leaving anything behind. Something that she knew Zelgadis was a master of.

Amelia rose to her feet and opened the final drawer.

With it empty, Zelgadis was ready to leave. Leave without notice, without the worry of anything being left behind, without saying goodbye.

She heaved a sigh and bit her lip to fight back the tears that were starting to form. Her hands were gripping the sides of the drawer so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She'd expected this, so why did it hurt so much to know that Xellos was right?

Amelia felt cornered. On one side, she could cancel the wedding and be free to be with Zelgadis, but if the wedding was cancelled he might leave again and she'd be right back at the beginning. On the other hand, if she didn't cancel the wedding, she'd be married to Xellos for the rest of her life and Zelgadis would still leave her, but not until after the wedding.

Why did she ever agree to this? She missed Zelgadis, and she knew that it was selfish of her. He was searching for his cure, and her desire to see him had interrupted him. Now her stupid emotions had made a mess of everything. Why couldn't she have just waited?

The door burst open, "Amelia!"

She spun and backed into the dresser, shutting the drawer when she saw Zelgadis staring at her in shock. She had been caught.

"Amelia, what are you doing here?" Zelgadis couldn't move. He just stood frozen in place, staring at Amelia, who had obviously been looking in the drawer she had just shut. Did she really know? Was she looking for it?

"I'm sorry. Xellos-san told me something…" Amelia tried to explain, "I didn't believe him, so I had to see for myself."

"See what?" He asked, a little worried. Amelia glanced over at the bag.

He followed her gaze. It looked like it hadn't been tampered with, but… He couldn't be sure. Damn it. Just when he'd stopped carrying the ring with him, Xellos had to pull this…

He couldn't believe that bastard had convinced her to search for it. Amelia had never been the type to look through someone else's belongings. She would consider it unjust, wouldn't she? Then again… it wouldn't be the first time that she'd twisted the definition of 'just'. Plus, with Xellos influencing her… Mazoku had a VERY different definition of the word. Had he changed her that much? And besides…

"It was none of your business," He muttered to himself, realizing too late that she would hear him.

Her eyes widened, and he thought he saw tears welling in her eyes, "Zelgadis-san…"

Okay, that had been rude. But it was true. Until he actually made the decision to give her the ring, it wasn't any of her concern.

"You really never change!" She exclaimed, then pushed past him out of the room.

He stood there, dazed. Why did he have to say that? Even if it was true… It was just another way for him to stall. He shut the door with a frustrated sigh. He needed to fix this, somehow. He couldn't just give her the ring. At this point, it would be too little, too late. Plus, she might get the wrong impression. She was clearly marriage-minded right now, and he didn't think he was ready to commit at that level.

Well, he thought to himself, It's only morning. I can figure this out.

~End of part 10~

(A/N: Before anyone asks, we DO actually have a list of tastes associated with emotions. We'll post a compilation of them at the end of the fic, along with a couple of other extras we have planned. ^_^.)