"I've warned you for years," Lina said as her father shifted through the rubble of his store, "She was bound to come unhinged one day! She just seems calm and angelic. She's hiding some serious rage behind the surface."
"Hm." Han said.
Lina smiled a little, "I mean I know I have the reputation of being a bull in a china shop, but I always said Sis was worse, she was just better at covering her tracks. And now here's the evidence, there for you to see!"
"Lina, darling," Han said, "If I didn't know you better, I would say you are enjoying this a bit too much."
"It's not everyday I look like the calm, rational one!" Lina said.
"But I'd hate to think that you are smiling on our misfortune."
"I'm not!" Lina said sweetly as Gourry walked up with a wagon. "But I have been waiting for you to admit for years that I am your favorite!"
Han ruffled her hair a bit, "Parents don't have favorites."
"I never destroyed your shop!" Lina said.
"I'll give you that," he said as he started loading some of the items he had salvaged from the detritus to the wagon, "But I have a list of other things you did destroy."
"Hush." Lina said as something caught her eye. She picked it up, "Wow, you didn't get rid of my dolls?"
"Lina played with dolls?" Gourry asked.
"Shocking, I know," Han said.
"What's shocking is that you were sentimental and kept them!" Lina said.
"That was your mother's doing." Han said as he looked down the street as Leia returned from visiting Luna. Lina and Han had thought she was being enabling by seeking her out, but Leia felt compelled to speak to her, "Speaking of…Did you see Luna?"
She shook her head, "She refused to talk to me. Harold was apologetic. I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong."
"She didn't get her way and she's used to getting her way." Han snapped as he started to sort through the wreckage again.
"By whatever painful means necessary." Lina added.
"Well, she probably didn't know what would happen when she channeled her will into the Blast Sword. How could she?" Leia asked. "But still…"
"She's not pregnant, is she?" Gourry asked, "I mean I hear women get weird when that happens."
"She's not. I'd know." Leia said confidently.
"She would." Han said, "I swear Leia knew Luna was pregnant before she did. She was commenting to me about it for weeks. Leia has a sixth sense there."
"Well, she's probably a bit embarrassed now. I'm sure she'll get over it." Lina said, as she wrapped an arm around her mother, "Meanwhile, you will come to live with us and you will never have to do laundry ever again!"
Leia brightened a little as Han shook his head, "Actually, I am liking the sound of that."
The following two weeks moved quickly, and Lina had to think that for someone supposedly on vacation before she started the next chapter in her life, she sure was busy with preparations for it! Craftspeople came by to go over plans to improve the mansion and to start to work on it. Extra staff seemed to appear to help Alona with the reorganization as the ground floor of the house transformed into a school with a classroom, two dorms for the students (one for the boys and one for the girls) and the ballroom was turned into a gym designed for sparring (and reinforced to withstand strong magical attacks).
Meanwhile her parents settled in upstairs, along with Zel and Amelia. Lina enjoyed going through the libraries with her mother and Zelgadis, while Gourry and Han worked on creating a training program for teaching swordplay. Amelia spent her days at court and came home each night with fresh gossip, and Lina soon found that hearing about Guloisa's antics was much more fun when she was not at the center of them!
Through those weeks, Luna stayed distant. Amelia reported seeing her at court but couldn't get a read on her. Lina had wondered if she would back out of being a bridesmaid, but if she was planning any further bits of drama she stayed silent. Lina merely decided to enjoy the freedom that came with not being under her heel.
When Gourry rolled over and started to spoon with her on the morning they would leave for Zefiel City to have the wedding rehearsal, Lina couldn't quite believe that the day before the wedding was already upon them. "You ready?" he asked.
Lina smiled a little as she squeezed his arm, "Yes, actually. Though, I had a strange dream."
"Oh?" he asked.
"It's silly. But I dreamt that when they got to the part about if anyone has any objections to this union, Sylphiel sprang up in the audience and announced that you were already married to her!"
"Sylphiel?" Gourry asked with a laugh. "Well, I don't remember ever marrying her, but I do tend to forget the stupid things I do when I'm drunk!"
"Only you would be stupid enough to forget that you got married." Lina teased before she turned in his arms to face him, "So, marrying her would have been stupid?"
"Well, yeah." He said.
"How so? I mean, sure she's a bit of a daydreamer, but if I were a man I would have loved her. And she was crazy for you!"
"She just wasn't my type." he said.
"But you're a man!" Lina said, "It's a low bar, isn't it? If she's pretty and willing, then I thought all men were good to go!"
Gourry cocked an eyebrow at her, "For someone who's never been with anyone else, you sure have a low view of men sometimes."
"Do you know how many men like Lantz I met before I met you! Hell, that was one good reason for traveling with you. It kept the creeps away."
He smiled a little, "Oh, so the guardian thing wasn't just redundant on my part!"
Lina shook her head, "It still stuns me when you use a big word. But back to what we were talking about, there has to be a reason you didn't stay around Sairaag."
"I was a lot younger then. Wasn't ready to settle down for one thing."
"But that wouldn't have stopped you if you loved her."
He leaned forward to touch his forehead to hers, "It was a difficult time for me. I'd left home. You know why I had to do it, and it was the right decision, but I wasn't feeling good about myself and what I had to do. I was still in that place where I was questioning everything I did, wondering if I could have changed anything that would have made a difference. I was angry at the world and trying to find a connection to it. I decided to see Sairaag because of the history of the Sword of Light, and I thought perhaps I'd feel closer to an ancestor I could be proud of."
"And?" Lina asked.
"And I got caught up in a situation there. I met Sylphiel's father, Uruk. I respected him a lot. He was a good man. And then I realized he had high hopes for me and Sylphiel and that he saw me as son-in-law material and that Sylphiel was growing very fond of me. He was the type of father who wants to see his daughter happy. I hated having to let them down, but they thought the world of me, that I was so heroic and noble and…"
"What's wrong with that?"
"I didn't feel heroic and noble! It felt like I was deceiving them. I was guilt ridden for stealing the Sword of Light, and guilt ridden over what my family had done to each other. I thought if they knew the truth about how I got the sword or what had happened back home they wouldn't be so quick to sing my praises, but I also couldn't tell them that, not without consequences I didn't want to accept. So it didn't feel honest listening to them go on about how noble and good I was when I knew the truth. I felt like I was deceiving Sylphiel by sticking around. So I got out of there quickly."
"Oh." Lina said, feeling surprised at how he had opened up to her and unsure about how to react. "That's sad."
"It has a happy ending." He said. "Because I met you. And I felt you saw me for who I am. And you still followed me around, even when I did lose the Sword of Light."
"Hey! I was doing the decent thing, finding you a replacement!"
"You still followed me around even when we found a replacement." He sang as he pulled her to him.
She pushed him onto his back and then rolled on him so she was straddling him as she put her hands on his chest. His eyes flashed as she said, "Keep that up and I'm going to have to knock you down a peg!"
He smiled at her, "Is that a threat or a promise?"
She returned the grin as she leaned down to kiss him, "Why don't you let me know when I'm done?"
"It just seems so silly to have a rehearsal." Lina whined as she sat with Amelia on the steps of the chapel. "We're only going to do the same thing tomorrow, but with fancier clothes!"
"Well, how often do you get married?" Amelia asked, "You'd be surprised at the stupid mistakes people make. And you don't want anything to go wrong on the big day!"
"I still say it's silly…" Lina said, and her voice trailed off as Luna came up to them.
"Hey, you." Luna said.
"Hey." Lina said as she grasped the edges of the steps. "What have you been busy with?"
"Nothing that concerns you." Luna said. "Listen, at the risk of beating a dead horse…"
"You can't really…" Lina started.
"It's very important that you do the longer ceremony." Luna said. "This one you have planned won't even take ten minutes!"
"But why does it matter so much?" Lina asked.
"You just have to trust me. I know things that you don't. And I can't tell you some of those things."
Lina bit her lip, "You ask me to trust you after you attacked me, Gourry, Mom and Dad and destroyed the store?"
"I am closer to Ceiphied than you are and I have my reasons. The ends justify the means."
Lina shook her head, "I've been on my own for the past five years, fighting Shabranigdu and making the hard calls and choices, but because you're closer to Ceiphied than me you can't tell me the reasons you have for how I conduct my life? Wow. That really takes the cake."
Luna twitched, and for a moment Lina feared she would pull her knife out again. But surely she wouldn't risk destroying the chapel! "I see you've grown a spine since you were gone. That's unfortunate. Fine then, but don't blame me for the consequences."
"Consequences?" Lina repeated as Luna walked up the steps into the chapel.
"Wow." Amelia said. "You don't think she's serious?"
"I don't know." Lina said, "It just makes no sense! Why would it matter?"
"Why would what matter?" Kate asked as she walked up to them.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Lina said as she jumped up to hug her. "Amelia, this is my friend, Kate. Kate, this is Amelia."
"Hey," Amelia said.
"It's good to meet you." Kate said. "What's bothering you?"
"Sis is being a bitch." Lina said.
"Nothing new there." Kate said, "Aside from you stating as much louder than a whisper."
Lina smiled a little, "I guess I thought it would be different when I got home, that she'd see I was mature and all that and back off a little. Given how I've done perfectly well without her on my back for five years you'd think she'd know to trust me. But I guess I needed to show her how I changed."
"Well, you keep doing the good there, I'll stay out of her way as much as possible. How long until the rehearsal starts?" Kate asked.
"We still have some twenty minutes." Lina said as she glanced at the clock tower.
"And what are we doing after the rehearsal?" Kate asked, "I've not had a night out since the baby was born! I'm torn between sending Alex constant messages asking how she's doing and wanting to put down the burdens of motherhood and fully embrace my night of freedom!"
"Is it that burdensome?" Lina asked.
"It won't be for me, or for you Miss Lina." Amelia said, "The Eternal Queen did say she'd get you a nanny."
"That would be a luxury." Kate said. "Lucky you, but you did earn it."
"There's some things I wouldn't avoid. Does labor really hurt as much as everyone says it does?" Lina asked.
"I remember that every time I thought it couldn't possible get worse, it did." Kate said. "But now that it's over I don't remember the pain at all."
"In Saillune there's a potion they give laboring women that takes the pain away." Amelia said. "I'm sure we could arrange for some of that to be shipped to Zefiel City."
"Really?" Kate said, "How come it hasn't spread over here? I imagine demand would be high!"
"The ingredients are rare and it's very expensive." Amelia explained.
"The next time you're pregnant I'll give you some as a present." Lina said as she clasped Kate on the shoulder.
"Thanks!" Kate said as she lite up, "It's good to have connections!"
"So do the royals of Saillune also have a potion to ease the discomforts of pregnancy?" Lina asked.
"Well, we have the usual remedies for morning sickness and the like." Amelia explained, "And luckily that stuff doesn't run in my family. My mother said pregnancy was a breeze. No, when the time is right it should all be a piece of cake!"
"Are you married?" Kate asked.
"Newly." Amelia said.
Kate's jaw dropped, "You're the Saillune princess who eloped! Goodness! How do I address you? Do I call you 'your highness?' Do I courtesy?"
Amelia waved her away, "Let's just keep things simple. I'm at my friend's wedding, I don't want to worry about the formalities."
"Right," Kate said. "Good attitude. Not that your attitude needs my approval!"
Lina laughed a bit, "Relax. Amelia hasn't ordered my head removed, and I've done far worse!"
"That's reassuring actually." Kate said.
"Hey!"
"Anyway, so are you fixing to get in the family way soon?" Kate asked.
Lina shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, the idea of creating something, of building something, lately I've been wondering if that's something I can do. I mean, I can destroy things, it's ridiculously easy to do that. Nothing still grows at the lake I tested my first Giga Slave at. And now, here I am, building a school, and I'm intrigued by that."
She exhaled a little, "And then I've killed. Mazoku and bad people." And Luke.
But she couldn't explain about Luke. "So I guess, after taking life, I'm wondering what it would be like to create it. But then it's not as though I can create it and put it on a shelf when I get bored with it or if I don't like what results. It's a lifelong commitment. Even with a nanny."
Kate smiled a little, "Trust me, when you see a little bundle that's half you and half the man you love, you won't want to put it on a shelf and forget it. You'll be so besotted that even when it's driving you crazy when you finally get a break it will take all of your will power to keep from running to your nanny to make sure everything is fine."
Lina smiled, and then noted that her parents were approaching the chapel. She waved, "You ready?" Han asked as he reached the steps.
"Yes!" Lina said, "Let's go inside and get this ridiculous rehearsal over with!"
Lina ran her hands over the deep purple satin and sighed. It felt heavenly beneath her fingers, even if she wasn't quite sure how to walk with a hoop skirt. "What if I fall on my face while walking down the aisle?" Lina asked.
"Dad will keep a good hold on you. You'll be fine." Luna said as she adjusted the breastplate. It was made entirely of silver, with engravings of the sun and moon on it, and Lina couldn't begin to fathom how much it had cost. While it certainly wasn't functional as armor, it did make Lina look as though she was an archetypal warrior figure cut from the stories her mother used to tell her.
"Here," Kate said as she held up some white gloves, and Lina reached her hands out to put them on while Amelia brought over a purple velvet cape and wrapped it around her. Lina did up the clasp and drew the hood up.
"Where's my sword?"
"You're wearing it today?" Luna asked.
"I'm a fighter." Lina stated.
Luna handed it to her, and Lina buckled it to her waist, and then she stared at herself in the mirror. "Wow."
"You look so pretty!" Amelia said.
"Thanks," Lina said as she moved, enjoying the way the skirts swirled around her legs. And then she frowned, "But between these heels and the hoops I still worry that I'm going to fall flat on my face!"
"Just take it one step at a time!" Kate said as she hugged her.
Someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Luna asked.
"It's me." Han said.
"Come in, she's ready."
Am I? Lina wondered as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror. Amelia, meanwhile, handed her a bouquet with white heather. Silently her father came in, and Lina turned around to greet him. She tried to say something but found that the words stuck in her throat.
"You look lovely, sweetheart." He said as he kissed her on the forehead. "You ready?"
Lina nodded, but didn't trust herself to speak. Wedding jitters. How did she, of all people, have wedding jitters? Her father grabbed her gently by the arm and she managed to make it to the carriage without tripping over herself. Outside the townspeople were gathered and cheering, and somehow Lina managed to smile at them. It was still incredible to think that all of this was for her!
Her father got into the carriage and helped her in. Kate, Amelia and Luna climbed into the other side, and they took off towards the chapel. The butterflies flew in her stomach, but she managed to remember to smile and wave as they drove through the town.
They finally reached the chapel, and her father got out first and helped her bridesmaids down. As they climbed up the steps towards the entrance, Han gave Lina his hand, and she took a deep breath. She wasn't used to wearing clothes that made her feel so helpless and unable to navigate. It was a strange contradiction, because she did look like she was ready for battle. But the hoop skirt had already bruised her legs and the armor was tight and form constricting. Just walking down the aisle would be an ordeal, forget fighting!
Still, with her father's help she somehow managed to make it out of the carriage. "You can still change your mind if you want." He whispered.
She frowned, "Do I look like I have second thoughts?"
"No," he stated, "But I just want you to know that you can turn around if you want."
Lina thought for a moment. "I don't."
He squeezed her arm, "I figured you wouldn't. I don't think I ever thought there would have been someone good enough for you, but he's as close as a man can get."
Lina lifted her chin to keep from crying, "Stop talking so sentimentality. I'm starting to wonder if you've been possessed. It doesn't suit you."
But she patted his arm, and slowly they walked up the stairs. "You look lovely, Lina!" someone shouted, and Lina felt her heart beat faster.
Luna was at the door with her boys, who were the ring bearers. She indicated to someone that the bridal party was ready and the boys entered the chapel and out of Lina's sight as the music started from within. Lina felt her mind go blank as Luna entered next, followed by Amelia, and then Kate. She was next!
"Ready?" Han asked.
"Yes," Lina whispered, and she was glad for his steadying arm as they entered the chapel.
At the dais she saw Gourry, dressed in sky blue and wearing a similar silver breastplate. The color brought out his eyes so that even from the distance she could see them dancing merrily as he beamed with happiness at the sight of her. Damn, but he looked handsome and gallant! And a calm settled over her. She was doing the right thing. There was no question about it.
She didn't even stumble on her way to the altar. Confidently she passed the guests, the Ceiphied Knights, seated two rows from the front, and then the Eternal Queen and her mother and Gourry's mother, seated in the front. And then she was there. Han gently placed her hands in Gourry's and then he said, "Take care and protect each other."
"We will. We always have." Gourry said.
Lina smiled as the priest started talking. She squeezed Gourry's hand. They were doing this! It was happening! Her heart was beating fast and she tried to take a deep breath to steady it. She was sure it would drown out what the priest was saying! But with the tightness of the breastplate it was hard to draw a decent breath.
She tried to take another deep breath, but felt as though she could not get in any air. Damn, why did they have to make women's clothes so impractical? She took another breath and, was it her imagination, or was the blasted thing tighter? She felt as though she couldn't get any good air in! Gourry looked at her quizzically, and she worried that she would suddenly faint. What was happening to her?
Suddenly people started screaming, and Lina looked in their direction to see people running for the door. It didn't take long to find the source of the commotion, but what was happening made no sense. Luna was standing before the Eternal Queen with a bloodied knife! Lina tried to draw in another breath as someone yelled, "We're locked in!"
Suddenly fights were bursting out everywhere. But, rather than helping the people, it seemed as though Lina's parents and Zel and Amelia were defending people from the Ceiphied Knights. But then, as the world started to fade, it occurred to Lina that they had gathered every powerful person in Zeferia, and quite possible several kingdoms, into this chapel for this occasion. If ever there was a good time to attack those who fought with Ceiphied, it would be now, when everyone's guard was down. But why would his own knights turn against them?