Disclaimer: All things Slayers don't belong to me…unfortunately.
Finally…Nineteen-year-old Amelia wil Tesla Seyruun sat cross-legged on the floor of her nursery besieged by her childhood toys and books. Her father, Prince Philionel of Seyruun, was really dead this time; she saw his body. It had only been five years since he had faked his death to uncover the assassination plot surrounding him, which had been developed by her cousin, Alfred. Tears slid down her cheeks. "Daddy…" she sniffled.
Amelia had dark shoulder-length hair and bright cobalt eyes with long lashes. Philionel el de Seyruun, Crown Prince on the kingdom of Seyruun, was her father; she was a "Daddy's little girl." Like her father, Amelia was a self-proclaimed Champion of Justice and a complete klutz. However, her view on what was and what was not just was somewhat skewed. Amelia was a hero worshipper and immediately proclaimed Lina Inverse as her hero when she took out a bandit gang with a single blast of her Dragon Slave. Amelia was also a sorceress; her specialty was White magic, but she had already reached the highest level of Shamanism.
Messengers had already been sent to inform everyone: Martina, Amelia's even clumsier counterpart and now queen of Zoana; Lina, Amelia's best friend and gluttonous sorceress; Gourry, dim-witted swordsman and her elder brother figure; Zelgadis, a part demon, part human, part golem chimera who is skilled in Shamanism and other various forms of magic; and many more individuals. Luckily, all were able to come to the wake and the funeral. All, but one, of the messengers had returned.
^-^
Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev sat in a restaurant. Lina sighed. Destroying bandit gangs was hard work after all.
"Three orders of everything from here down," she told the waiter, motioning to the top of the menu. "Hey, Gourry! Want anything?"
"I'll have what she's having." He stretched his arms above his head. "Oh yeah. Some guy asked me to give this to you." He pulled an envelope out of nowhere.
Lina snatched the note from his hands. "I don't want any love letters." She motioned to toss it over her shoulder, but stopped and said, "But I'll read it anyway."
"It has the crest of the Seyruun royal family on it," Gourry pointed out as Lina tore off the envelope.
"WHAT!" Lina cried, spitting out her mouth full of food in the process. "Phil's DEAD?"
Gourry looked up from his plates. "Huh? Phil's dead?"
"Phil can't be DEAD!"
"Poor Amelia…"
"Phil CANNOT BE DEAD!" Lina yelled and grabbed a hold of Gourry's shirt. "We're going to Seyruun."
"But…my dinner…"
"You're right for once, Gourry. Hey, waiter! Can we get this to go?"
^-^
"Miss Lina!" Amelia squealed, jumping into her friend's open arms. "Mr. Gourry!" She hugged him tightly. She broke the embrace and said, "I'm so glad you came. What have you been doing?"
"Oh, you know," Lina said with a shrug.
"Yeah," Gourry agreed. "You know Lina." Lina elbowed him in the stomach. "Hey…"
"Anyway," Lina said with a worried smile, "how are you?"
"I'm okay…I guess. I wish more people would come." She whispered to herself, "Especially…"
"Zel?" Lina asked, raising an eyebrow.
Amelia flushed crimson. "The messenger I sent for him hasn't come back yet, and I gave a description and everything—"
Gourry cut her off. "Oh, that's why! Zel's—"
Lina clapped her hand over his mouth. "Pudding brains! Zel came with us. We met him along the way; he was on his way to Seyruun anyway."
Amelia blushed again. "He was on his way here?" she repeated softly. "Really?" she asked, still pink.
"Yeah," Gourry said. "Zel said he wanted to talk to you alone. He's in the hallway. He lo—"
Lina slapped her hand back over Gourry's mouth. "Shut. Up. Gourry." Her voice clipped each word. "Go ahead and talk, Amelia." She winked.
"Uh, okay," Amelia replied. She poked her head out the door.
"Mr. Zelgadis retired to his room an—" said the guard next to the door.
"Oh, I'll leave him alone then." Disappointed, she withdrew her head.
"Your highness!" She looked over her shoulder at the guard. "He said he wanted to talk to you as soon as you could."
Amelia reddened. "Which room is he staying in?"
"The Gold Room, as you requested."
"Thank you." The guard bowed and returned to his post.
^-^
Amelia sighed before knocking on the door to the Gold Room. She had no idea what to expect. Lina had successfully prevented Gourry from telling her anything about Zelgadis, though not well enough to make Amelia unsuspecting.
"Come in," said Zelgadis' voice from inside.
Amelia took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy gilded door. Zelgadis sat, back facing her, on a couch at the opposite side of the room. There was something strange about him. His lavender hair looked oddly…brown. It must just be the gold sheen, she told herself. "I'm so happy you came, Mr. Zelgadis. I was worried when the messenger I sent for you didn't come back."
"You can drop the 'mister.' We've known each other for six years. There's no need to be formal." He turned to face her.
Amelia nearly fell forward in shock. Zelgadis looked nothing like how she knew him. The patches of stone had vanished from his body as well as his bluish skin. His hair was brown and it looked soft, unlike his wiry lavender hair from before. His eyes were also brown and had an added sparkle to them. The only things that had not changed were his hairstyle and his clothes. "Mr. Zelgadis?" She blinked. "You're human again." Zelgadis smiled softly as he gave her a nod. "You're so different."
"As are you."
Amelia had matured from her fifteen-year-old self. She had grown a little taller and a little more mature looking, but other than that nothing had really changed. "But you changed a lot more. How? Did you find the right Claire Bible manuscript?"
"Actually, it's a long story."
"Tell me, please." Amelia moved towards the couch, but tripped on her long dress and fell on her face.
"You haven't changed," Zelgadis chuckled. "Are you all right?"
She jumped to her feet. "Don't worry! I'm a Champion of Justice!"
"You are exactly the same."
^-^
"Your highness!" commanded a baritone from the other side of the door. "King Zangulas and Queen Martina of Zoana have arrived."
"Martina and Zangulas!" Amelia exclaimed. "Excuse me, Zelgadis, but I have to greet them." She stood.
"Wait, Amelia," Zelgadis said, grasping her wrist. "Do you want to travel with me after everything is in order?"
"I can't. I am the only heir to the Seyruun throne now. Uncle Randy and Alfred and my older sister are dead, now Daddy; Uncle Christopher renounced his claim to the throne. I'm the only one left."
"Do you remember when we fought Dark Star and I told you I might stay with you in Seyruun?"
"Yes, but you went to find a Claire Bible manuscript so you could change back into a human."
"Is the offer still open?" Zelgadis blushed.
"Of course it is! You can have this room, if you want. Or you can have any of the other rooms. It doesn't matter."
^-^
Zelgadis gently laid Amelia on her bed and drew the covers over her sleeping form.
"Poor Amelia has had such a hard day with the ceremonies and the funeral," Lina said, quietly as Gourry tucked the covers around Amelia.
"I'll stay with her a while to make sure she's okay," Gourry offered.
"No, Gourry," Lina said, tugging at his shirt. "Zel will do it. Won't you, Zel?"
"What? Why me?" A tinge of red began to show on his cheeks.
"Because, Zel, you would do anything for the woman you loved, right?" Zelgadis' face turned Maraschino Cherry red. "Come on, Gourry." She succeeded in dragging Gourry out of the room while managing to keep Zelgadis inside.
Zelgadis sat on the couch in a huff. "Was my destiny to be a convenient lackey for Lina?" he muttered to himself. "No! I'm a heartless, mystical swordsman."
He heard a slight sniffling noise from the bed and walked over to investigate. Amelia's cheeks were damp with salty tears. "Daddy…" she whispered.
"Oh, Amelia. The grief is even plaguing your dreams." Zelgadis looked around for a handkerchief to wipe away the droplets. Unable to find something, he gently wiped her cheeks with his index finger.
After Amelia stopped crying some minutes later, Zelgadis stood. He walked from his place by the bed and headed towards the door.
"Zelgadis…"
He stopped and turned to Amelia. She was still asleep.
"Don't leave…"
He stood by the bed and examined her more closely. Is she really asleep?
"I love you…Zel…"
He took a step back. He had never been loved before. But, she doesn't love me. She is just asleep; she's just babbling. 'I love you…Zel…' she had said. 'I love you…' Maybe what Lina told me is true. Maybe Amelia does love me. Maybe… Maybe I love her, too.
"Don't leave me…"
At this, he sat in the chair next to the bed. "Don't worry, Amelia. You'll be all right. I won't leave you." He bent over and lightly brushed his lips against her salty cheek. Sitting upright again, he reached for her hand and held it in both of his. "I'll never leave you, Amelia, because," he leaned to her ear, "I love you."
^-^ Five Years Later… ^-^
The palace burst forth in vibrant colors. It seemed that all of Seyruun had been packed into the palace to celebrate the Crown Princess' marriage. The ceremony was to be held in the palace courtyard. Arrangements of white lily-like flowers lined the aisle. Nothing could go wrong that day. The sky was clear and blue, and there was absolutely no sign of bad weather. The oracle even predicted perfection.
But one thing did go wrong: the groom disappeared. Amelia paced her room and her palms began to sweat.
"Don't worry, Amelia," reassured Lina, her maid of honor. "Gourry and I will find him."
Amelia looked up with teary eyes. "Maybe he left because he doesn't love "
"Of course he loves you," Lina said, hugging her. "I'll go right now and find him, 'Kay?" Amelia nodded in response and sank into a plush chair as Lina exited.
Lina and Gourry, well maybe just Lina, knew exactly where Zelgadis would be. They sprinted up the stairs to the Gold Room. Since Lina's long dress got in the way, Gourry, much to Lina's constant protests, carried her. When they finally reached the Gold Room, Lina kicked open the door.
"Zelgadis Greywords!" she called. "Where are you!"
"I'm right here," a soft baritone answered from the couch. "You don't have to bellow."
"A delicate girl like me does not bellow."
"Delicate?" Gourry asked.
Lina, deciding there were more important things to deal with at the moment, did not lash out at Gourry. "Zel, why aren't you downstairs?"
"What if Amelia discovers that she doesn't love me?" Zel asked, sitting up and playing with his fingers.
"Maybe she doesn't," Gourry said, shrugging.
"You stupid oaf!" Lina said, pouncing on him. "Zel does NOT need that right now!" She turned back to Zelgadis and slapped him. "Look, Zel. Amelia is downstairs sobbing because she thinks you left her. She thinks you don't love her."
^-^
At the alter, Zelgadis stood like a properly nervous groom. His palms sweated and he kept glancing at his best man, Gourry, for reassurance.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Seyruun wedding march played, and Zelgadis stared down the aisle. Amelia appeared dressed in a flowing white gown. The bodice was beaded and the skirt trailed behind her. A light veil was drawn over her face; it wasn't enough to disguise her pink face and happy smile. She held a bouquet of the same flowers that lined the aisle.
Xellos, a priest for the monster Zelas-Metallium, led the ceremony. They got through the vows and the exchange of rings and the crowning, but when it came to the kissing part the bride and groom looked at each other. Both were embarrassed; they had never kissed before, much less in public. They approached each other cautiously. Lina noticed this caution and pushed Amelia forward.
The couple's lips met for the first time. For a moment, they stared at each other wide-eyed. The next moment, it didn't matter that thousands of people watched them; all that mattered was each other.
Loud applause broke the moment. Amelia and Zelgadis stepped apart; neither blushed or showed the tiniest tinge of pinkness. No longer were they embarrassed of their love or of romance. They loved each other and that was what mattered.
"I now present to you: King and Queen of the kingdom of Seyruun, Zelgadis and Amelia!" Trumpets blared and the on-lookers applauded louder than before. Several people hollered their congratulations.
The couple bowed, Zelgadis very conscious of the heavy crown on his head. Amelia leaned in his ear and whispered something, which made Zelgadis smile.
"I love you, too, Amelia," he whispered back.