As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

13- Cut and Run

"There you are, Lady Lina! Did you find the book?"

Philionel was the first to greet Lina when she arrived in the room. Amelia was sitting next to him with her head bowed so that her face wasn't visible, and Zelgadis was across the table from them with a particularly stern expression. It seemed that the conversation had not gone well.

"Yes. Lizzie had it. You don't have to worry about some mysterious stranger sneaking into the area; it was just Zel and me." She unwrapped the book and placed it on the table with a sigh of resignation. "So… what's our fate now?"

Philionel took the book and flipped through a few pages just to make sure there wasn't any damage. "As you heard, there was no sign of your break-in. We have no evidence that you or Zelgadis were in the room. Unless you confessed, any charges against you might not stand up in-"

"Wait a sec! You're not letting us off the hook, are you?"

"I don't like the idea of excusing such things. However, I also don't like being lied to, especially by the people I trust most. You and Zelgadis had no malicious intent. All you wanted was the truth." Phil sighed sadly. The lines in his face seemed to indicate grief more than anything else. "It was not just my father; many people were involved in this cover-up, from those who studied the incident to those who wrote the report. A large number of people were involved in keeping important information from the country's proxy ruler, and while I won't fault them on following official orders from the king, I still feel betrayed."

Lina sat down, still hesitant to jump to any conclusions. "Does that mean we're… absolved of guilt?"

"Once information about who really stole the book goes public, you and Sir Gourry will likely be issued a fine for the negligence to allow your daughter to play unsupervised in dangerous and restricted areas. That is the extent of it. Do you have any objections?"

"No, sir."

"Good." Philionel gave a curt nod before motioning Lina out of the room. "That's all we require of you right now. Go get some sleep, and I'll meet with you again this afternoon."

"That's it?" Lina glanced around. She'd just sat down, after all, and felt like she was being rushed out. While she didn't want to intrude upon a family issue, she thought there was at least something they wanted from her, and besides that, there was something important she wanted to ask.

"Yes, that's it. You're free to go."

"W-well, I… uh…" Lina stood up, but kept her hands on the table. "...when you referred to Lizzie as my and Gourry's daughter, does that mean that the Kingdom of Seyruun recognizes our relationship as such, or…?"

Amelia answered, her voice not far above a mumble. "Until she's officially adopted, you and Mister Gourry are recognized as her temporary legal guardians."

"Can we… can we make that permanent, or…?"

"I'll take care of it." Amelia answered before Lina could finish. "But let me wait until tomorrow. Today's my birthday."

"Okay. Yes. Thank you." Lina shuffled back toward the door. In all the commotion, she'd forgotten about the date. "Uh, happy birthday, Amelia."

"Thank you, Miss Lina."

Gourry was sleeping peacefully- quietly for once- when Lina made it back to their bedroom. She wanted to laugh; he'd missed everything. The man was certainly good at sleeping, she'd give him that. It was almost enviable.

She really did love him. It was amazing that he hadn't caught on after all this time. As embarrassing as it might be to express her feelings very bluntly, but she felt like she needed to set the record straight. For her own sake, at least, and for his sake and… and Lizzie's sake as well. Lizzie wanted so badly for the three of them to be a family. Wouldn't that be nice?

Lina sat down on the bed next to him and leaned against his back. Her face rested against his hair and she could feel him breathing under her weight. It was only a brief moment before he became aware of her presence and opened his eyes just enough to check his surroundings.

"Lina? What's going on?"

The best thing to do in this situation would be explaining things honestly, so that's what she did. "The good news is, Zelgadis and I aren't getting charged with treason."

"...what?"

"Okay, so while you were asleep, he and I snuck into the restricted Class A files so that we could figure out what was going on with the classification on Archer's file. We did and got the information we needed, but unfortunately we didn't realize that Lizzie had tagged along with us until it was too late-"

"She what?!"

"-and so we didn't notice that she took an important book, so a few hours later, when it was discovered that the book was missing, all hell broke loose in the palace. But, like I said, Zelgadis and I are off the hook, because we didn't physically steal anything, so there's no way to trace us back to the crime."

Gourry was silent, considering the information he'd been given. Finally, he turned his head back and tugged the blankets over his face. "It's too early for this."

"I think so too, don't worry." Lina couldn't help but laugh at his nonchalant response. She rested against his back again, and would've been content to fall asleep that way, but she wanted to speak with him honestly first.

"Gourry, can I talk to you about something?"

"...what is it?"

"It's about what Lizzie said to me. I want to apologize for getting angry at you. I didn't mean any offense, I just don't like being kept secrets from."

As soon as she had mentioned Lizzie and secrets, Gourry sat up so that he could speak with Lina directly. "A-about that! I wanted to talk to you too. I didn't want you to think that… that I wasn't satisfied with our friendship. Our friendship is… it's so important to me. And I don't want to make you uncomfortable or upset by insinuating that my priority is romance rather than-"

"Gourry. Hey. Calm down, will you? I'm not angry about that."

"You're not?"

"No. I don't know why you'd think-" She stopped and caught herself, accidentally drifting back into her self-centered view of things. "I'm sorry, I do understand why you'd think I didn't like you. But, Gourry, you mean the world to me. I struggle to show or respond to affection sometimes, and it can make me seem cold-hearted. But it doesn't mean I don't love you. You've just gotta… be patient with me." Lina's laugh had turned into something a little more nervous. "I do love you. Is that blunt enough for you?"

"...yes…" Gourry was still looking around a little in confusion. "W-wait a minute! What?!"

"I asked if that was blunt enough for you." Lina giggled more sincerely this time. "Obviously not."

"N-no, I mean- that's not…" Gourry stammered helplessly. "Y-you… I mean… I didn't think that… I was sure that you…"

"Calm down, Gourry. Too much thinking can be bad for you, y'know." She poked his forehead playfully. "I hope it doesn't take such a great leap of faith for you to understand my feelings. They're the same as yours."

Gourry stared at her for another moment before he finally let himself relax into a relieved smile. "Lina!"

It was a little bit awkward with the blankets and pillows, but Gourry moved to hug her and she happily responded. All her earlier nervousness had disappeared as she remembered just how incredibly comfortable she was with him. No matter how complicated or confusing or dangerous things got, their relationship was always a constant that she could count on.

As though he were reading her mind, he pulled away so that he could address her a little more formally. "So… uh… where does this put us?"

"The same place we've always been," Lina answered matter-of-factly. She wasn't sure it was what he wanted to hear, but it was the explanation she felt most comfortable with. "We're just a little more honest with each other now."

"Honest. I like that." He seemed satisfied, offering her both a smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. It was a reassuring response for Lina, and she relaxed against his chest, letting her exhaustion finally sink in. She was amazed at how easy it was to fall asleep in such a quiet comfortable environment...

"Come to think of it…" Gourry began quietly, pulling Lina out of the daze she'd fallen into "...where is Lizzie?"

Lina sat up abruptly. "Lizzie! Oh no… she's probably hiding after all that I said to her."

"What did you do?"

"I yelled at her…" Lina pulled the blanket over her knees and rested her head in her hands. "I didn't mean to yell, I was just upset that she'd put herself and us in danger. She didn't deserve it. She wants what anyone wants- to feel like she belongs somewhere. She wants a family, and Amelia and I finally found her one. We need to find her and tell her that everything is going to be alright."

Gourry was nodding along for most of the statement, but toward the end he stopped and began to stammer a protest.

"W-wait, you and Amelia did what? When was this? Why didn't you tell me? See, I was thinking about something, but I didn't want to tell you until-"

"Let me explain first," Lina interrupted. "I know I should've asked you about this first, but things moved too fast."

"B-but I just want to-"

Lina didn't give him any room to speak. "Lizzie made it very clear to me this morning exactly what she wants in the way of a family, and I can't possibly deny her that. Today is Amelia's birthday, and she's going through a lot. I'm not going to make her do any work. But she promised me that tomorrow she'd take care of having you and me recognized as Lizzie's permanent legal guardians. Well, me, and you if you want to. You can say no, of course, since I know it's a lot of responsibility to force onto you, but you should know that Lizzie is really attached to you and I don't envy the struggles of being a single mother-"

It was his turn to cut her off, not with any spoken words, but with a tight hug- tighter than before, if that could be believed. She could barely breathe enough to laugh.

"I take it that's an enthusiastic yes?"

He didn't even speak. He simply nodded his head, knowing fully well that he'd gotten his message across.

"Are you going to let go of me so we can go find her? We have all the time in the world for this sort of thing, you know."

"I know."

"Why do we have to be awake so early? What's the point?" Klaus was dragging his feet as he followed along the road at the outskirts of Seyruun City. Naga was leading the way with more energy than Klaus thought any one person should have when it was still dark out, but… in a way, she reminded him of his sister. Eliza had always been a morning person, waking him up at odd hours throughout their childhoods.

"I don't like mornings either, but today is Amelia's birthday, and we have to get into the city as soon as possible." Naga replied with her usual haughty demeanor, but it was tinted with a hint of frustration. She really wasn't like Eliza after all.

"Why couldn't we have spent the night in the city? That way we would've already been there for-"

"Are you crazy? That would've been an invitation for Mazoku to attack us then and there. I wouldn't want to risk that kind of collateral damage."

"Why are you so concerned about collateral damage? Isn't our safety the most important thing?"

"You'd sacrifice the safety of many other people for your own?"

"That's what any normal human would do! Stop answering my questions with questions!"

"You're the one who needs to stop thinking so selfishly and actually consider-"

Naga cut off her sentence. A noise around them caught her attention- something that sharply contrasted with the rhythm of the insects as they chirped in the early-morning darkness. There was something else in the forest, and the noise was one that no human could possibly ignore.

"Does that… sound like a child to you?"

"Huh?" Klaus was unable to respond with anything coherent before Naga took off down the path. He ran after her, trying hard to listen to what she was hearing. He didn't hear anything… was she simply better trained to listen to her surroundings?

By the time he caught up with her, she had already found the source of the noise and had crouched low to the ground in order to comfort the crying child. Klaus had to stop and take a step back. He recognized the girl only vaguely, as he had no memories of Lizzie beyond when she was about a year old. But this was definitely her. The resemblance to her mother was too much to deny it.

Naga was too busy comforting the child to notice Klaus' reaction. "Don't cry, it's alright. Come on, now, just tell me what happened. Did you come from Seyruun City? Is something bad happening there? It's okay- please just tell Naga why you're upset."

"...I… I did something really bad… and now Mama's in big trouble 'cause of me… she… she said if she goes to jail, she'll never be with Papa or me again, and… and…" Lizzie's composure began to fail, and she sobbed loudly. "...but it's all my fault! If I'm not there, Mama can't get in trouble, right?"

Klaus hovered over the two of them, afraid to get too close. "Lizzie…" he murmured softly, but it was at least loud enough for Naga to hear him.

"Lizzie?" she asked. "Is that your name?"

"H-how'd you know?"

"My sister is a lady named Amelia. Do you know Amelia?"

"Y-yeah. Miss Amelia is Mama and Papa's friend." Lizzie began to wipe tears away from her face.

"Wait a minute. Amelia is your sis-"

Naga gave Klaus no room to talk. "Lizzie, may I see that book you're holding? Whose is it?"

"Mama gave it to me," Lizzie answered, opening the book to show Naga a few pages.

"It says Lina Inverse here on the front cover, and it's enchanted with a spell I can't quite put my finger on."

"Lina Inverse- that's Mama's name. She knows lots of spells and stuff."

"Yes, I know. I'm friends with your mama too." Naga handed the book back to Lizzie and stood up. "I take it your mama doesn't know you're out here? It's dangerous to be on your own like this."

"B-but I'm the reason Mama's in trouble!" Lizzie protested.

"That's all the more reason to stay and face what you've done. It's impossible to run from your problems forever. One way or another, they catch up to you."

Naga regretted being so harsh as she watched the girl dissolve into tears again. She hadn't meant to upset Lizzie, she had just let her own experiences get the better of her. Before she could step in to apologize, however, Klaus knelt down and began speaking to Lizzie.

"Please don't cry. We're going to help you."

Lizzie looked up in confusion. She might have recognized the man's face and voice, but his clean and tidy appearance was so foreign to her, she quickly ruled out any chance of it being who she thought it was. "Who are you?"

"M-me? You don't…" It took Klaus a moment to realize that her unrecognition of him was likely a good thing. "You don't recognize me! Uh, I'm… my name is Klaus-"

Lizzie's eyes immediately widened. She started to pull away, but Klaus was quick to reassure her.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Someone named Klaus hurt you in the past, didn't he? I won't let that guy get anywhere near you. You won't ever have to see him again."

"Really?" Lizzie was still sniffling, but she looked much more comfortable.

"Really." Klaus smiled. "No matter what happens, I'll protect you-"

"WINDY SHIELD!"

Lizzie latched onto Klaus in fear as the area around them was enveloped in sound and wind. She screamed, making it more difficult to hear than it already was. There were blurry figures from outside the shield that Klaus could barely see- were there more Mazoku now than there had been? How had they appeared out of nowhere? It was difficult to see, and Naga had to yell in order to be heard over the clamor.

"I knew it! They were just waiting for Lizzie and me to be in the same place before attacking. Didn't grandfather get my letter?"

"What should we do?" Klaus yelled back.

"We're safe as long as this shield is up but I can't keep it up forever and I can't fire any attacks while I've got it up. When I bring it down in just a moment, I want you to run. The Mazoku want me more than they want Lizzie, I'm sure of that. You take Lizzie and go while I hold off these Mazoku-"

"-w-wait a minute! Go where?!"

"Somewhere that's not here, of course."

"That's not specific enough!"

"What do you expect? How's this for you? If you value your life, run now and think later."