AN: Um…I'd like to take a moment to thank Rui Araizumi for providing the inspiration I needed to get this written. If you've been on Tumblr, you know what I'm talking about. And are probably squealing.
The halls of Maninstit came to life with the sounds of children once more, and Lina quickly missed the energy boost that a blessed pregnancy provided as she delved headfirst into teaching, being headmistress and raising a pair of precocious infants. When she was pregnant she felt as though there was too much time, but the feeling quickly evaporated and she suddenly felt as though there wasn't enough time as the twins grew bigger as she learned to grade papers with one hand while she nursed them.
The week passed by in a blur, and Lina was grateful when the weekend arrived so she could catch up. And when she woke that morning, she had the best of intentions. She was going to catch up on grading papers and go through and respond to the inquiries regarding the teaching positions open at Maninstit. And she would do it as soon as they saw Gertrude, Luna, Harold, Bertie and Freddie off to the Elmekian Empire!
But as soon as they stepped outside after they had breakfast, Lina felt the beckoning call of the first beautiful day since school had started. And she wasn't the only one! Both twins smiled as they stepped outside, and Lina was sure she had a pair of adventurers on her hand. After a week of rain the sun had finally decided to make an appearance, and the students were enjoying their day off as they engaged in various outdoor activities on the grounds. Lina took a deep breath of fresh air and told herself that as soon as she finished grading papers she would take a walk. As she made plans while her parents said good bye to Bertie and Freddie, Gertrude came up and hugged Gourry and then her, "Thank you so much! My head is just brimming with ideas on how to run our own school in the Elmekian Empire."
"I'm glad." Gourry said.
"It probably won't be till after summer that we gather and send the students to you."
"That will give us time to prepare for them." Lina said. "And to hire more teachers. We finally received some inquiries, but who knows if any of them have any talent.
"Someone will show up." Luna said as she walked up and caressed Aurelia's head, "You draw talent almost as well as you draw Mazoku."
Lina's jaw dropped as Gourry laughed, and she had to join in. When Luna opened her arms she found herself pulling her in for a close hug, "You have to leave right as you get to be fun again." Lina said.
"Then let's pick up here when I return." Luna said, and then she walked over to say goodbye to Han and Leia as Lina and Gourry stared at Gertrude.
"Be safe on your journey back." Gourry said.
"We will have to get together for talks with the vision spell. I want to see these two cuties grow." Gertrude said as she tickled Midas's chin.
"We can arrange that easily enough." Lina said.
"And remember, if you ever change your mind, there's a place for you in the Elmekian Empire." Gertrude added with a wink, "I'm glad we're getting your sister, but I'd much rather have the one and only Lina Inverse."
Lina grinned and then she jumped up and hugged Trudy, "Sis can hold her own. You take care."
Han and Leia walked up to them as Luna got her boys into the wagon. Leia dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and Lina tried to remember if Leia had cried when she'd gone off on her journey. But try as she might she couldn't remember. Suddenly the ego boost that Gertrude had given her started to deflate as she watched as their family filed in one by one as Gourry commented, "Wow, that's going to be a long trip for those boys."
"And in that tiny wagon." Lina said, suddenly not envying Luna.
"Any bets on how long it will take for Luna to kick them out and make them walk?" he asked.
Lina chuckled as Leia blew her nose as she broke down into tears. Han suddenly looked over at them, "Hey, why don't you give us the twins for a bit. Your mother needs a distraction."
Lina looked at her mother and nodded, and then handed Aurelia to him, "Here. I fed her before we came out so she's topped off but Midas may need a trip to the nursery soon."
"Right." Han said as Leia managed to smile at Midas as they turned to walk into the manor.
Gourry wrapped his arm around her and said, "So, what should we do?"
From the grounds the kids started shouting farewells to Luna as they saw her carriage pass, and Lina looked out to watch them and felt that old familiar wanderlust. Suddenly she wished she were traveling to the Elmekian Empire! Or simply traveling somewhere. Sure, her present life was plush and comfortable, but who wanted to be stuck indoors grading papers when there were trails to run and forests to explore? Besides, there were two days in the weekend and she was on day one. She had plenty of time to work!
Lina grabbed his hand and set off towards the forest, "Onward, my dear. Treasure awaits!"
"Treasure? I'm not so sure. Mud awaits." Gourry said, but he followed her nonetheless and quickly caught up.
"Hey, anyone who has ever found treasure knows you've got to shift through a lot of mud to find it! All this rain just makes digging in the dirt easier." Lina said as she waved to Indy and Jean-Luc as they headed back to Maninstit.
"It's the first beautiful day we've had this week, and you two are going to explore that dark old basement?" Nerys asked them incredulously, still holding a ball from the game that they were playing.
"Yeah. So? What's it to you?" Indy shot back.
"If you find treasure, remember, it's mine!" Lina yelled as she continued to walk with Gourry to the woods.
"We wouldn't dare forget it, Dame Lina!" Jean-Luc said.
Lina smiled, and Gourry ran his hand through her hair as they continued forward. "You never settle, do you? How much treasure do you need?"
"You can never have enough treasure! Fortunes rise and fall like the tide. And should we lose the Eternal Queen's backing or, Ceiphied forbid, she dies and the new monarch doesn't like this project, who knows what we'll need to pawn to feed our kids."
"That's a good point, actually." Gourry said as they reached the tree line and settled on a trail that would take them to the lake. "I guess I forgot how easy it is to think it will always be this way when you have it made."
Lina laughed as she grabbed his arm, "Well, it's not like you're known for remembering."
Gourry scratched the back of his head as he smiled, "Yeah, I guess I am the forgetful type."
"How do you say that and sound so proud?" Lina asked as they came upon a muddy patch in the trail. She started scanning the path for a way around it but the trees on each side were dense and thick. She edged as close to the edge of the trail as possible while Gourry took the other side.
"Well, I may not remember everything," Gourry said as she slid a little as she walked through the slick mud, grateful she had a relatively new pair of boots with thick treads that helped her stay upright. "But I have many other talents!"
"Oh, like what?" Lina said as she had to slow down a bit as they got to a particularly perilous point. And to her aggravation Gourry kept on walking as though he were on solid ground!
"Well, I'm sure footed and nimble…" Gourry started to say as his feet slid out from under him. He tried to grab a tree branch for balance but ending up rending it from the tree as he fell on his back and looked up looking stunned.
Lina roared with laughter as she waved her arms to keep her balance. Gourry was still for a moment as he took a few deeps breaths as Lina tried to find a way to speak through her peals of laughter, "Oh…oh Gourry…that image…will be burned forever in my mind!"
"You could at least ask if I'm okay!" Gourry admonished as he sat up.
She waved her hand dismissively as she continued to laugh, "Oh, it would take a lot more than that to hurt you!"
A gleam formed in his eyes, but before she could react he pounced, grabbing her and pulling her into the mud with him. She squealed with laughter, but tried to pull herself together to sound stern as she said, "Hey!"
He brought a finger to her nose and left a dab of mud on it, and soon the two of them were laughing together as they moved to kiss each other tenderly. She grinned as they pulled away and he ran a hand through her hair, trailing mud in it when he did. Her eyes narrowed as she poked his chest and said, "Oh, you are asking for it!"
She pushed him back into the mud and ground herself against him for a moment before she lowered herself down to kiss him more deeply, the mud squelching beneath them. He grasped her hips, and she moaned into his mouth as they broke apart for a moment and he asked, "I forget…have we done it on a trail before?"
"Not yet." She said as she started to kiss him again. It was strange, since so much of their life together had been on the road that they had never found themselves in this position before. And she was having so much fun she started to wonder why they hadn't!
Suddenly he pushed her away abruptly as he swore, "Shit."
"What?" Lina asked, but then she heard the sounds of Adam, Danielle and Cuchulain coming the opposite way on the trail. Both of them sprung to their feet as the students came into view, fishing poles on their shoulders and a bucket filled with the day's catch. Lina started desperately trying to brush the mud from her clothes as Gourry backed up closer to the trees, and then they smiled broadly as the students stopped in their tracks.
"Dame Lina, Sir Gourry!" they said, and then Danielle added, "Are you okay?
"We just slipped." Lina said quickly, "And then we were…um, wrestling. You know. Getting in practice in case bandits or Mazoku attack…or something."
"Because they can attack when we're in the mud." Gourry added as he grinned dopily, and he sounded so lame that it was all Lina could do not to face palm. Especially as Cuchulain blushed.
Adam cleared his throat, "Right then. Have fun!"
"You too!" Lina said, "And be careful of that muddy spot."
"Right." Danielle said, "Levitation!"
Lina reddened as Danielle and Adam held hands with Cuchulain and flew over the muddy spot. Once they were on the other side they turned and waved and continued on the trail.
"Now why didn't you think of that?" Gourry said as they continued to the lake.
"Hey! It was a lot more fun this way!" Lina said. "Besides, you don't want to waste magic energy and supplies, especially when you're not in a secure location. I just never got in the habit of it."
Gourry wrapped an arm around her, "Well, I can't argue with it being fun. Even if I am a mess."
"Oh, it'll wash off and you'll be fine." Lina said.
"We could have more fun washing it off together." He suggested.
"And let another group of students catch us?" Lina said with a tsk, even if she had to admit to being tempted. "Damn, I hope they don't tell the whole school! Really though, back when we were traveling and could go for hours without seeing a single soul and we squandered it."
"Well, they'll go on break in a few months." Gourry pointed out. "And having a nice bed in the evenings more than makes up for it."
"Point." Lina said as she started to feel the pull of the conflicting emotions that Luna traveling had stirred up, "A nice, big comfy bed. Private bath with piped water. Good food. Not feeling guilt over Mom worrying herself sick…"
Her voice trailed off as her throat became tight, and Gourry looked at her, "What is it?"
"Nothing." She said quickly.
"I know you well enough to know it's not nothing." Gourry said.
"It's stupid. Really."
"What can you say that would be stupider than anything I would say?" he asked.
Lina chuckled, "Well, if you put it like that. It's just that Mom was so upset about Sis leaving. But she didn't bat an eye when I thought about doing it."
"Oh." Gourry said as they reached the lake. He was silent for a moment as they took off their boots and socks. Gourry waded in and started to rinse off.
Lina stuck her toe in and shrieked, "Cold! Cold! Damn, how do you do that?"
"Just jump in and get it over with." He said nonchalantly.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me! No, I'll just stay muddy until we get home. I, um, wait…wait…Gourry…Gourry! Oh no you don't! Put me down!"
But before she could get away he had grabbed her and started to carry her out into the lake and tossed her in. Lina's shriek was swallowed by the lake as she was completely submerged for a moment, but as soon as she broke through the surface she swam to a large boulder and climbed upon it and started shivering. "Well, I may be clean now, but I'm cold!"
"You'll get used to it." Gourry said as he smiled and grabbed his hair to squeeze the water from it. Then he swam to the boulder and climbed up onto it as she glared at him.
"I am going to kill you."
He kissed her on the cheek, "You keep saying that. But somehow you never manage it."
She pushed him back into the lake and ordered, "Get me my boots. We're ray winging back to Maninstit. And a warm bath!"
Gourry traded water as he asked, "Do I get to watch?"
"Only if you scrub my back." She said.
"I can do that!" he said happily, and then he swam back to shore and grabbed their boots and socks and returned to the rock.
As they put their shoes and socks back on, Gourry said, "I'm not sure if I should say anything, but one night when I was returning Midas to the nursing after you'd nursed him I overheard your mom talking to Marlena."
"What?" Lina said.
"And she was saying that when we took that vacation that she was furious with Luna. She couldn't blame you for wanting to leave, so she blamed Luna and took it out on her. I guess it got a bit nasty? Zel later said that there was some bad blood between them and it was a bit uncomfortable. And now she's scared that she's driven Luna away."
"Oh." Lina said as they finished putting their footwear on. "Ray wing."
A bubble of air formed around them, and Lina guided it up and towards Maninstit as Gourry reached for her and clung to her like he always did when she used that spell. For a moment they were silent as they breezed past the forest. But then Gourry said, "She cares for you, she just knew you were already feeling manipulated and resentful. She didn't want to make it worse by pressuring you one way or another. So that's why she didn't cry when you were thinking about leaving."
Lina chuckled a bit as Maninstit came into view, and she guided them to the balcony and canceled the spell. She took her key out of her pocket and unlocked the doors. Once she had closed them behind her Gourry took off his shirt as they walked to the bathroom, and she similarly started to disrobe. Lina walked to the bath and turned on the faucets, and then she turned to face Gourry, who was smiling at her gently. He moved closer to her to caress her cheek before he kissed her there as he looked deeply into her eyes. And as she studied their blue depths, for a moment, she could feel just how deeply she was loved.
The intensity of her emotions swelled, propelling her to share them without words as she lifted herself on her toes to kiss him. As she lowered herself back to the floor again she licked her lips as he stared at her lustily. Becoming intimate after having the twins had been a scary experience at times, but in that moment the only thing Lina felt was want, as well as a desire to damn all caution. And they drew to each other once more to kiss, stopping only when the tub was filled so they could enjoy its pleasures.
AN: Yeah, so, those last few paragraphs were blatantly inspired by the Araizumi doujin. Which was the spark I needed to get something done with the chapter. I know what I want to get done for the next chapter but I didn't know what to do for this one, so thank Araizumi. Anyway, as I mentioned on Tumblr, updates are going to be slower. I've been writing Slayers fanfics for about ten years now and inspiration is starting to slow down and I've got other projects in the work. This will not be abandoned though, it's just taking longer to get it together! I hope all ya'll are safe and healthy!