"I feel bad bothering them this late." Gourry said as he cradled Aurelia while they walked down the hallway.

"It's not that late." Lina shot back as she held Midas, "Besides, I know they'd want to be woken for something like this. No, I'm worried that they're fooling around in the basement again. Newlyweds."

"You don't really think they would when the students are here!?" Gourry cried.

"Newlyweds, Gourry!" Lina hissed as they approached Sylphiel and Rick's apartments. She shook her head as she knocked.

It didn't take Sylphiel too long to answer it, but it was obvious she was getting ready for bed as she was wearing a purple dressing gown and her hair was freshly brushed. "Miss Lina, , are the twins alright?"

"They're perfect," Lina said as she glanced at Midas and smiled, "but something else came up. Can we come in?"

"Yes," Sylphiel said as she moved aside, "How are you feeling?"

"It still feels as though I've been attacked by a troll." Lina admitted as she and Gourry walked over to the couch and sat down as Sylphiel sank into the chair across from them, "But I'm not worried about me. We may have a mission for you."

"A mission?" Rick repeated as he came in from the bathroom.

"Hi Rick." Lina said as he pulled up a chair beside Sylphiel, who pursed her lips.

"Sorry for interrupting you so late." Gourry said, "But this couldn't wait."

"Sounds important. What's going on?" Rick said.

"We were talking to my sister, the Empress of the Elmekian Empire. And awhile back ago she got this fur coat that was made from a…um, Lina, what was it from again?" Gourry started.

Lina wasted little time in picking up for him, "She's been wearing this fur coat that was made from a creature that was roaming around in the Desert of Destruction and had absorbed a ton of its miasma. And now it seems as though she's merged with it. She still seems to have all her marbles but…"

"With the miasma in a place like that, it's only a matter of time before she loses her mind." Sylphiel finished as her face set.

"So basically," Lina said, "Given your White Magic purification spells and the fact that you grew up in Sairaag, this seems right up your alley. So we were thinking of sending you and Rick to the Elmekian Empire to find some way to get her out of that coat, preferably."

"I'd much rather not lose anymore family." Gourry said, "But then I understand it might not be possible."

It took Lina a moment to reconcile the fact that, rather than agreeing eagerly, Sylphiel's mouth drew into a thin line as Rick looked at her in panic. Sylphiel turned to look at him and said, "I've been feeling good."

"You can't be serious, Syl."

"Huh?" Lina said as she looked Sylphiel over to see if she was sick. And then the fact that her dressing gown was unbelted, like Lina had left hers when she was trying to conceal her pregnancy, became glaringly obvious. Lina stared for a moment, she wasn't completely sure, but she was sure enough to ask, "Oh. How far along are you?"

"Three months." Sylphiel replied as she cradled her stomach, "I'm sorry. We didn't want to take attention away from you. We were going to announce it after the twin's ceremony."

Gourry recovered first, "We're happy for you."

"Yes," Lina said, "And don't even worry about it. There's plenty of people here to fall back on."

"I'd like to help in whatever way I can. And if she's still in the early stages of merging with it then it likely wouldn't be dangerous to remove the coat." Sylphiel said, "We can be there and back before I get too far along."

"You don't know Elmekia. The moment you cross the border you paint a target on your back." Gourry explained, "And to be honest, I doubt that Trudy will believe you if you explain that wearing the coat is dangerous. She'd think that you're wanting to steal it for yourself. If you go there, you can expect trouble."

Sylphiel looked down as Rick grabbed her hand, "I'm sorry, we could have timed this better. Just, we were in a bit of a hurry to start a new generation and repopulate Sairaag somehow."

"No one can blame you for that." Lina said as Midas started fussing as he grabbed at her shirt, and Lina started wondering if there was a way she could get him to latch on unobtrusively as she started to bounce him a bit to see if he would quiet down as, with her mind in two places, she started to ramble, "And hey, Owen and Nerys did so well the first time..."

"I've been working with Nerys on purification spells." Sylphiel said as Midas started to fuss and cry, and she touched Rick's arm, "Honey, there's a book I left in my office on my desk on the subject. Could you please grab it?"

"Sure," he said as he got up and walked out, and Lina sent Sylphiel a silent thank you as she got Midas latched on and quiet.

"I guess we'll let them know first thing tomorrow then." Lina said as she stroked Midas's head.

"Please let me know when you see them. There's some things I want to go over with Nerys first." Sylphiel replied.

"Will do." Lina said as her stomach started to growl. While she was sure she could request that food be sent up and that Sylphiel would let her eat without complaint, she would rather go to the kitchen. She wondered if she was good enough at nursing now to do it while standing up and walking around, "Well, unless there's anything else we should be going. Congrats, we are happy for you!"

"Thank you." Sylphiel said as she smiled, and Lina stood up and exhaled and silently marveled at her ability to do it while keeping Midas latched on.

"Well, they wasted little time." Lina said as she slowly walked with Gourry to the nursery as she continued to feed Midas. She wasn't too worried about someone seeing them. Once they were latched on she was sure that no one could see her breasts or even necessarily realize that she was feeding them. And it was convenient to be able to move around and get things done while nursing.

"Can you blame them really?" Gourry said, "I mean they lost their entire city and their families. If that wouldn't make someone want to put down roots as soon as possible I don't know what would."

"Yeah, it would." Lina said as her stomach rumbled, "Oh, I am so hungry! Want to raid the kitchen after we drop off Rails?"

"You don't want to drop off Midas too and catch a break?" Gourry asked.

Lina shrugged, "Not particularly. They aren't going to be this little forever, and once I go back to work then I will accept more help. But we're never going to get these moments back, are we?"

"No," Gourry said as his eyes softened as he gazed at Aurelia, who was sleeping contently in his arms, her pudgy fist nestled against her face.

"So for now, I can eat and he can eat."

Gourry smiled as he ran a hand through her hair, "Alright."

They both looked ahead as they could discern the sounds of Justina wailing from the nursery. "I wonder what all that's about." Lina mused.

"Babies cry." Gourry said as he opened the door.

"Do you think we should get Sylphiel?" Zelgadis asked, his voice high and unsteady as he ran a hand through his hair, "Three hours! She won't stop crying no matter what we do."

"I'm a healer too!" Amelia snapped as she cuddled Justina closer, "She's fine, she just won't stop crying! And Penelope fed her right before we took her."

"You two look exhausted," Moe said as he reached his arms out, "Let me try."

"I hate to have to leave her with you when she's so upset," Amelia said as she handed Justina to him, "But we're so tired…"

Amelia's voice trailed off as Justina stopped crying the instant Moe held her and then balanced her on his forearm. "How did you do that!?" Zelgadis asked incredulously.

But as soon as Justina's tears had stopped, Amelia's started, "I'm no good at this! She hates me!"

Lina felt herself tense as Moe rushed to assure her, "That's not true, I just know more tricks than you. Come, hold her, you'll see!"

Amelia shook her head as she backed away, tears rolling down her face, "I can't do anything right! There's nothing I can give her or do for her! I just make everything worse! Even Lina breastfeeds her babies, and she's the most unmotherly type I've ever met!"

Um, watch who you're calling unmotherly! Lina thought as she did her best to swallow her words as Gourry put a hand on her arm. Zelgadis buried his face in his hands as Penelope came up to hug Amelia.

"Hey, you delivered her practically on her own, and she's thriving! You're doing plenty right."

"Because you all are here! She would have died by now if it was just me! It wasn't supposed to be this hard!"

"It's hard for everyone," Penelope said as Zelgadis walked up to Lina and Gourry.

"I don't know what to do anymore." He whispered to them as Penelope tried to comfort Amelia. "She's convinced she's messing everything up and that she isn't fit to be Jus's mother."

Lina nodded as she watched and felt entirely out of her depth, "Well, my mom said that the transition is harder for some women then others."

"And she did have a hard time of delivering her." Gourry added quietly, "Especially since she wanted to be surrounded by her family when the time came."

"It was supposed to be a pleasant evening, just the three of us, but then this happened." Zelgadis explained. "How are you two putting in so much time with both of them and not a wreck!?"

Lina twitched awkwardly as Gourry said, "Well, maybe Jus just had a bad day? Or since they are from a blessed pregnancy they are easier babies then Jus?"

Moe came up and asked, "Do you think we should get Miss Sylphiel?"

Lina watched as Penelope's efforts to soothe Amelia just resulted in more tears. "I sort of hate to disturb her now, but I sort of think we have to."

"What's all this fuss, Amelia?" Naga asked as she appeared from wherever it was she had been hiding and walked up to Amelia.

"Go get Sylphiel." Lina whispered to Moe, and then she turned her attention to the Saillune sisters.

"Sis," Amelia said as she hiccupped and looked at her warily as Naga sat down in a chair and studied her nails.

"Really, you're doing more for Jus than Mommy did for us at that age. She just left us with Nanny and saw us for an hour or two with Nanny always present. And we still adored her! We're royalty, we're not supposed to change diaper and endure endless squalling. We're not cut out for it. So stop comparing yourself to Lina, who was bred to do this type of work."

"But…" Amelia said.

Naga shook her head, "No buts! Sit down! Let me tell you all about what happened when you were born."

Lina felt her face heat as the chemical tidal wave rose within her as Karina came up and said, "Do you want to give them to me? I'm sure you have other things to do."

Gourry lifted Aurelia up to kiss her forehead, and then handed her to Karina as Lina said, "We're going to keep this little man with us tonight."

"Right." Karina said, "We'll be here if you change your mind."

Lina's stomach grumbled again, and she felt torn between staying until Amelia had calmed down versus really wanting to eat. "Come on," Gourry said, "There's not much we can do here. Zel, we're getting a bite to eat. Why don't you come with us? You look like you need a break."

Zelgadis's face contorted in guilt for a moment, but then he nodded, and the three of them walked out and to the staircase. "I hate leaving her like that, but everything I tell her just makes her more upset and I don't know what to do anymore. Perhaps Naga will help. They haven't spoken since Phil left and Amelia was upset about it."

"Is she like that often?" Lina asked, scared for a moment that it could happen to her. While she hadn't broken down into a bucket of tears, there were moments when she felt perilously close to it.

"She's been having a hard time of it since Jus was born. She was getting a bit better, but then this happened." Zelgadis explained as he ran a hand through his hair, "And it's hard, because on the one hand this is the happiest I've ever been! But she's so miserable! She misses her father, scared that her family will never get along, disappointed by how she gave birth, and I'm trying not to be miserable with her but…"

"Misery is contagious." Lina said as Midas finished nursing as they got to the staircase and went down. Lina managed to unobtrusively close her shirt and put Midas on her shoulder to burp him as they were silent until they got to the kitchen and grabbed the sandwiches and drinks that had been left out.

"How has it been for you two, though? I mean, compared to us you seem to be doing so well." Zelgadis said.

"Well, I'm terrified to let them out of my sight half the time." Lina said as she decided to be more honest than she usually would be. It was one of those cases where it felt like an imperative! "I mean, even having Rails upstairs, I can't fully relax. Part of me is always alert and worried, you know? But when I was taking care of both of them round the clock, well, I was quickly going the way Amelia was. So I have to learn to let go."

"But Amelia hasn't had any trouble letting Jus stay in the nursery." Zelgadis said.

Lina looked at Gourry, who shrugged. "True," he said, "But Leia was around to talk some sense into Lina when no one else could. And Amelia's mother died a long time ago."

Lina stuck her tongue out at Gourry as they sat down around the dining room table, but then she admitted, "It would be harder without your mother. I mean, my family is all here and that does help a lot."

Lina then looked out the window as she thought about moving to the Elmekian Empire. Would her parents be interested in coming along? Lina would have never ask it of them, and while she was sure they could just as easily hire help in the Elmekian Empire as they did here, it wouldn't be the same as having her parents around. But then she felt the yoke that Luna had thrown around her so tightly! And a strong desire to show her that she was not going to rule her life! And at the moment, moving to Elmekia as the only way Lina could think of to do that.

"Can I hold him?" Gourry asked as Lina struggled to lift her sandwich to her mouth while holding Midas.

"Your long arms would be an advantage," Lina said as she handed him over, and then relaxed to have her body to herself, if only for a moment. "Man, who'd have thought, after the three of us took down Shabrangidu, that in a few years we'd be eating sandwiches and swapping stories about how hard being a parent is?"

Zelgadis broke into a smile that grew into a laugh, "Actually, yeah."

"And we thought beating Shabranigdu was hard!" Gourry said, "That was nothing compared to having a baby!"

"Look at the three of us! Slaying Dark Lords? No problem! Raising babies, and suddenly we're out of our depth." Lina added.

Soon the three of them were laughing as they finished their snacks and when they decided to head back upstairs all of them were feeling better. As soon as they reached the top of the stairs they saw Naga and Sylphiel walking with Amelia, who at least appeared calmer.

"Hey," Zelgadis said as he walked up and hugged Amelia, "How are you feeling?"

"A bit better." She said as she smiled tiredly.

"I'm going to give her a draught, help her get some deep sleep that should be very healing." Sylphiel explained.

"Good," Zelgadis said, "It will all be better in the morning. Justice always triumphs, doesn't it?"

Naga snorted as Amelia sighed, "Didn't you know? That's just the line I sell as a royal because my subjects expect it and it keeps them behind us."

"Huh!?" Lina and Gourry both exclaimed as Zelgadis froze.

"Come on, I'm tired." Amelia said, "Night."

Zelgadis turned and gave Lina and Gourry a farewell nod, and then followed the three women to their apartments.

"Wow," Gourry said, "Do you think she was actually being honest?"

"Hard to say." Lina replied, "But then since learning what happened to her mother I'd wondered how she could still believe in a just world."

"Come on, let's get some rest." Gourry said as he grabbed her hand and they headed to their room.

When they got there Gourry said, "I'll put him to sleep, you can take a bath."

"Thanks." Lina said as Gourry sat on the bed and started rocking slowly back and forth as he sang to Midas, and she stopped for a moment to watch them and felt herself grow lighter as she did. Something about watching him with their children had the effect of causing her to fall in love with him all over again. But then something that Amelia said rose up, "Gourry."

"Hm?"

"Am I really the least motherly person ever?"

Gourry was silent for a moment, and then he said quietly, "Not even close. I was raised by the least mother person ever, remember?"

"Oh," Lina said, as she thought of Guloisa and how the thought of harming Midas and Aurelia was unthinkable. Especially now, knowing what it was to have a child. "Right."

"And if I saw a hint of her within you, I wouldn't have gotten with you." He continued.

Lina turned and walked back over to him and then leaned forward to give him a quick kiss. "I'm just glad she didn't poison your soul. You're one of the most nurturing people I've ever met."

They smiled at each other, and then Gourry asked, "Hey, does that mean that we made good choices with each other?"

Lina sat beside him so they could wrap each other up in a side hug as she replied, "Damn straight!"