* * *

Lina rolled over, and crawled over to Zelgadis's unconcious form lying in the dirt and pine needles of the forest floor. She cast her strongest healing spell on his injury, and it knit together, albeit slowly, and stopped to flow of blood. But, her healing wasn't powerful enough to bring him back to conciousness, and Lina wasn't sure that would be a smart thing to do anyway. She sat up and placed her head in her hands. The blood, Zelgadis's blood, had covered her hands when she healed him, and now it printed her face. Her shoulders were shaking and she cried silently, letting out the grief of what she had to do to Zelgadis, of what he had become, of how she was so helpless against him.

"Mm.." Zelgadis moaned and thrashed about a bit.

"Sshh.." Lina said, placing her hand on his arm. "It's alright..." She closed her eyes and shook her head. Please let it be alright.

Suddenly, his eyes flicked open. "Wha-" He started, eyes taking in the situation. He saw Lina bent over him, face covered in blood. He saw the moon above him, and the cold, ungiving earth beneath him. He felt a searing pain in his side, unlike he had ever felt before.

"Zelgadis!" She cried. His eyes held recognition, wonderment, and all sorts of other emotions that she couldn't sort out. "Your back!"

"Wha... what's going on...?" He asked, trying to sit up. His eyes closed as pain flooded his body. His breath caught in his throat and he sank back down.

"It's alright, Zelgadis, it's alright. You're fine..." Lina was mumbling a bit now, and clutching his fingers tightly, as if he would slip away.

He might slip away...

"I'm so so sorry, Zel.... I'm so sorry..." Lina motioned to his wound, and he looked at it. It was half together, but still shone wet with blood.

For a second, his mind couldn't process it, but then, "What cut me...? My skin...?" His mind raced. Stone skin... what happened here?

"What do you remember, Zelgadis...?" Lina asked. Zel noticed tear streaks down her face. He brought his hand up and stroked her cheek lightly, then coughed as pain flooded him once more, hand falling back.

"I remember... I remember the winter solstice, I remember going to Saiyruun, I thought I could visit Amelia, because I missed everyone, even though it had only been half a year... and there was this... red light... and now this..." Zelgadis tried to remember, but there was a hazy fog floating through his mind, letting him flounder in half asked questions.

"Winter.... half a year...? Zelgadis! It's been _two_ years since we parted. Don't you remember anything...?!" Lina was holding his hand now, holding it up to her face, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Two...!" Zelgadis felt dizzy. It can't be! Two years? But, what had happened? Suddenly, a fragment came back to him. He stood in the moonlight, blood on his hands, threw down his cloak and howled at the moon. Like an animal. He froze, the memory too real, to vivid, but it had to be wrong!

"Lina... what's happening to me?" He tried to sit up, to process his thoughts, but he couldn't. And he stared up at Lina, her hair haloed by the moon, and his eyes unfocused, slowly...

"Zel! Zel, please!" Lina shook his hand desperatly, trying to break the spell.

"Lina.... I'm so sorry... I can't... I can't take it..." He closed his eyes and tried to strengthen himself. Everything was going fuzzy.

"Please...!" Lina was crying and shaking him desperatly, all the sorrow at all the time she had missed him freeing suddenly like a pale flood in the moonlight.

"Lina, I can't live like this... This curse.... it's got me, and it's too strong... please Lina.... I can't live like this..." She cried harder, and shook her head in denial.

"Zel, we can fix it! I'll just go and.... please Zelgadis...!" Her hair fell over her shoulders and stuck to her face, on the tears still streaming, and the drying blood.

"Lina... please... please. I need to go...."

Lina tooka gasping breath, and, still clasping Zelgadis's hand, reached over and pciked up the Sword of Light, still glowing on the blood streaked ground. "Zelgadis... I... I love you Zelgadis..."

"I love you Lina... please..."

Lina nodded. She closed her eyes, and willed herself to continue. She only wanted to sink into his arms... but she couldn't. "I love you." She said, and plunged the sword into his chest.

He gasped, and his fingers tightened around her fingers, his jagged fingernails biting into her flesh. She willed them to dig deeper, willed them to tear her apart, willed them to do anything but die. And the blood flowered around him, making a crimson halo around his body, and Lina cried desperatly, and her soul flew with his. And his fingers loosened, and blood trickled from his mouth, and his eyes held peace.

And the girl cried.





Whatever you say it's alright
Whatever you do it's all good
Whatever you say it's alright
Silence is not the way
We need to talk about it
If heaven is on the way
If heaven is on the way


If heaven is on the way
If heaven is on the way
I'm a stranger in this town
I'm a stranger in this town

* * *

end