Disclaimer: Jesus, shouldn't you KNOW this?! Don't you KNOW I don't own Slayers? Don't you KNOW I only write fan fictions to mess with the characters lives and character development?! DON'T YOU?!?!?! Ha, I THOUGHT so...heh.

Chapter Four

Say what!? Gourry's in love with WHO?!

Gourry sighed, slumping over against his arm, leaning on his sword hilt. Why do I always have to be night watchman? He grumbled mentally, furrowing his blond brows.

Blinking, Gourry turned his attention to the other day, just before they came across Nahga. "I remember I was feeling like this then, too!" He mused aloud intensely. "I felt like something bad was going to happen…I guess that explains why Nahga showed up. Miss Perfect-Timing." Gourry shrugged his massive shoulders, which rubbed over his sword hilt. "Then I also was a little bit sad," He mumbled, putting his chin into his hands with his thumb patted his chin thoughtfully. "because I missed Sylphiel. That's right…I do actually miss her a lot. I at first thought it was because of the excellent food she made, but now it's more than that, and I don't know WHAT exactly. It's annoying and confusing," He whimpered, rubbing his temples. "and giving me a headache!"

Gourry yawned, nearly dozing off after quite some time. Amelia came to his side, gently nudging him awake. It was her time to watch. Gourry figured Lina was last, knowing her. Shrugging his heavy shoulders, Gourry pulled himself up, yawning.

Gourry glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the young queen sit on the log, going after her night duty. Finally…I can get some sleep, Gourry thought to himself, fumbling into his tent. And maybe I can get my mind off this. It's crazy.

But Gourry indeed did not get the issue off his immensely small mind. All he could think about was Sylphiel. He was concerned about how she was doing on her own or if she was on her own at all altogether… UGH! "Enough already!" Gourry whimpered into his pillow. It was a totally new feeling… "I'm not used to this!" Suddenly, Gourry fell over with a thud. "OW!" "Stop talking to yourself already, you mindless lug!" He heard Lina bark from somewhere in the surrounding shadows. Apparently, Gourry had forgotten he was sharing a tent with someone… "Stop talking to yourself and go to sleep!"

Gourry sniveled and did so. He was tired and wanted to go to bed, dammit! But his thoughts of Sylphiel didn't allow that. Why the hell was he suddenly so hung over her? All poor Gourry could do was toss and turn, suffering. He didn't know what to do. If he where to tell someone…well, Amelia. She would go overboard. I mean, come on! This is AMELIA! He was scared to talk to Lina about it. And Zelgadis and Xellos would have no clue over what he'd be talking about. I mean, this dealt with emotion.

Sighing, Gourry turned over into his pillow and closed his eyes, hoping for sleep to come to him, holding no avail.

The next morning, Gourry was woken up by an arrow being shot next to his sleeping roll. Blinking stupidly, Gourry took the arrow and slid off the paper that was perforated by it. Was someone trying to send them a threat letter? Gourry carefully unraveled the punctured scroll, soon facefaulting and sweatdropping as soon as he did. It…it was a scribble of a little chibi clown girl with large turquoise pigtails. "Ohh…what the hell is this?" Gourry mumbled, turning the picture upside-down and then back up, blinking when it was suddenly snatched out of his hands. "Gourry, what's this?" Gourry blinked a few times. "I don't know." Lina blinked at the paper. "…What an odd picture…looks like someone Xellos might know." "Well, I just plucked it off that arrow over there. It was shot right beside me."

Lina gaped. "No kidding?! We'd better hang onto this." She smiled and winked at Gourry, pocketing the paper and then jogging out. "I'm going to try and look for those two, alright?!" Before Gourry could answer, Lina was gone. "Eh…okay."

--Four Hours Later--

"ARGH!!! Where ARE those two?!" "Miss Lina! Miss Lina! Please, calm yourself!" "Shut up, Amelia!" "Don't talk to my sister that way!" "Like you care about her!" "Yeah! Like YOU care!"

Gourry sighed, seating himself on a tree stump. Those three have been bickering for hours! He whined to himself, rubbing his sore feet. They must be upset over something…I bet Lina's angry because Amelia's angry about Zelgadis leaving…and Nahga just likes to complain. He frowned, boredly running his fingers through his blonde hair. I wonder how Sylphiel's doing… Gourry blinked. There hasn't been a second too long without thinking about her, huh? Ugh! You would think I had a crush on her or something… Gourry shook his head to clear his thoughts and confusion, which came easily in just about any situation.

"GOURRY! What are you doing?! You should help us look for Xellos and Zel, jellyfish for brains!" Gourry looked up at her, blinking. "Um…well…you guys look like your yelling more than searching, so I just thought I'd sit down and let my feet stop being sore." He said stupidly, grinning at Lina, who twitched annoyingly. "WE'RE SEARCHING!!" She turned over to the two sisters, glaring at them. "RIGHT?!" "R-right!" The two stammered in unison.

"See? We're looking." "No you aren't." Gourry said, blinking yet again.

"You're confusing me."

"Of coarse I am. Get up."

Gourry sighed. Complying, he pulled himself to his feet. "Well…alright then. And anyways, what's the hope in finding those two? Xellos probably took Zelgadis far away, like wolf pack island or something!" Lina blinked a few times. "Why would he do that?" Gourry sweatdropped, feeling like their levels of intelligence had been swapped. "This is Xellos, right? Anyways, it's true." Lina rubbed her forehead, blushing in embarrassment. He was right. Ugh! She hated it when he was right.

"Y-you gotta point there, Gourry…"

"So I'm right?"

"…Okay!! New plan!"

"HEY!!! Don't change the subject…"

Lina grumbled, rubbing her temples again. "Well, I have some parts of an idea we can use to get those two back…er…we need someone Xellos HAS to be around…" "Zellas?" "Gourry, you idiot, how would we get her here?" Lina growled, ramming her elbow into his face. Gourry yelped and fell over, clutching his face. "Anyways…maybe we can go pick up Filia…" Gourry got up, rubbing his sore cheek. "I thought Xellos hated Filia." "Well, she's a good tease for him, you have to admit." She countered smoothly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Gourry shrugged and got up. "Do we even know where Filia lives, Lina?" "Aaahh….no…but…um…"

Amelia snorted. "They don't even know what they're doing." Nahga nodded in agreement. "Like they'll ever know." "That's true…" Amelia blinked. Now that she thought about, Lina and Gourry never knew what they where really doing, unless there was a battle going on… Nahga giggled. "Gourry's cute when he's stupid, though." Amelia sweatdropped. Just like her to say that!
"You know, Zelgadis-san, it's a shame that you didn't let me get your back. It's not as clean as the rest." Zelgadis growled, hurling a rock at Xellos. "Well, I wouldn't trust someone-something- like you." Xellos dodged the rock with ease, pouting. "Aw, Zelgadis-san! That hurt!" He whined. "What do you know about hurt," Zelgadis sighed, slipping his shirt back on. "you're a heartless monster with no remorse to even utter of." "GOSH!! You're so MEAN! Are you sure I'm the monster here?" Zelgadis snarled and turned on his heel to face Xellos, eye-level to him. "Don't you EVER, EVER say that, mazoku! Or I swear; I'll ra-tilt your ass to the next War Of The Monsters Fall!" He narrowed his eyes and then broke his gaze, fastening his cloak over his shoulders. Xellos twitched slightly, then knitted his brow. "Right then…"

--- Hours later, the evening arrives!! BUAHAHHAH!! Oh, the darkness that is the night. **eats a walrus.** --- Let us take a moment of silence for the poor walrus that fell victim to the author, the insane, insane author. *bows head.* *gets up again.* wait, I am the author… Anyways, on with it.

Can't sleep…can't sleep…can't sleep… Gourry tossed and turned. "Can't sleep…" (Gee, maybe if he'd NOT say 'can't sleep', he'd get some sleep. :\ ) "UGH!! I need to talk to someone about this…Lina understands me! I can ask HER!" Gourry tried to get out of the tangle of covers, but merely tripped over himself and face planted on the floor. "Ow."

Anyways, Gourry got up finally and slid on some slippers then went out the door. "I hope I can get this out right…" he mumbled tiredly, tripping on himself several times on the way to Lina's tent.

"Lina? Lina?" "WHAT?!" Lina sprung from her sleeping sack, a few stray hair-curlers randomly littering around her. "I need to talk to you," Gourry whined exhaustedly. "It's really serious, Lina! I mean it…I'm confused…" "Aren't you always?" Lina fell back against her pillow, rolling on her side. "Um…not always…anyways, I REALLY need your help!" Lina smirked, still in her roll. "Oh…why?" Oh, great. Gourry knew what was coming…he had to flatter her into getting help…what a cheapskate. Gourry whimpered… "Well…umm…because…only someone as intelligent as you or someone who can think some things out as well as you can help me…and…and…" "…And?" "…er…even though it has nothing to do with advice…you'rethemostbeautifulgirlonecouldeverlayeyesonandthemostpowerfulandintelligentsorceressinthehistoryofforever!" He hurriedly finished, not meaning most of it. Lina tiredly got up. "Okay, I'll help out."

Not long after that, Lina climbed into Gourry's tent, along with the said man. "Alright, Gourry! What's up?" Lina asked, plopping down onto his bed. "I…am…having some troubles…I need your help…" Lina sweatdropped. "Well, gee…I figured," "Okay, okay…I've been thinking about Sylphiel." "Eh…so?"

After Gourry had gone into about a half hour of explanation, Lina was dumbstruck. Frozen. "Y-you…Gourry, I think you're in love Sylphiel…what made you start thinking about her so much?" "Well…I just had a dream…and about the love thing, I thought so too, but I wasn't sure," "Wh-what was it?" "Well…"

--Gourry's Dream--

* * * *** * * * * * * * *

"Hey, why are you crying?" The small girl turned to the boy towering over a smaller girl, who had long, violet hair with betty bangs. "Oh…I found this baby raccoon…" She bit her lip, choking on sobs, tears running down her rounded cheeks. "Its pretty hurt…I saw the wolf that got it…the mother is already dead." She stroked the bloodied fur of the small creature, sobbing. "Oh, don't worry…I'll help it." The boy smiled, helping her up. "Give me the raccoon, and follow me, okay?" He smiled brightly. The girl blushed slightly as he took her hand and pulled her up.

"Wh-who are you…?" The girl shyly asked, looking into the boys bright blue eyes. "Oh…my name's Gourry Gabriev!" The boy smiled childishly. "Who are you?" "I'm…Sylphiel Nells Rahda…" "Pretty name. I guess it works though." He said, bouncing the raccoon gently, starting to walk. "Why do you say that?" Sylphiel asked, following him, staring at his boyish appearance. "Well, it goes with your face. You need a pretty name to go with a pretty face," He cheerily remarked, smiling at her. Sylphiel instantly went red. "A-ah…th-thank you!" She beamed happily. "No problem…anyways, I know a place where they train for…white…magic. It heals and stuff or something, so if you went there, you could know how to heal an animal if it gets hurt again. So…I'm taking the raccoon there for healing…" Sylphiel gasped. "Do you think I'd be able to handle it?!" "I'm sure you could." She smiled and looked down at her feet as she walked, blushing still. "Then I will…."

* * * *** * * * * * * * *

--End of Gourry's dream-- (DAMN that was shorter than I thought it would be.)

Lina blinked again. "Oh…um…weird?" "It was how Sylphiel and I met…after that, she began training as a priestess for the good of other creatures and people…and…well…it just made me think, y'know?" She nodded slowly, staring at her lap. "Yeah," she said softly. "I guess so." "Lina? Are you alright." Lina twitched. "Yes." "Are you sure?" Lina stood up suddenly. "LOOK, GOURRY, YOU GOT ME UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT JUST SO I CAN TALK TO YOU ABOUT YOUR STUPID PROBLEMS THAT YOU'RE TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND YOURSELF!!! SO I'M A BIT TIRED AND CRANKY, OKAY?!" With that, Lina turned on her bare heel and stormed out the tent, leaving a shocked Gourry behind. "What…just happened?"

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Jaz: Now this one was fun. Turned out short though…like…realleh short. It was sort of hard to get Nahga's character right. I mean, it's not like we see her much! So I watched Slayers; the motion picture! …I've seen it before, and I said it then, and I'll say it now. SCAAAARRRRIIIEEE!!! …o.o So then I got Nahga in character…I mean, before, I thought her name was spelt 'Naga', but shows how much I know. Ooo! OOOO! Also, the Doujinshi called Hamlet: The Manga has Nahga pretty in character. Actually, perfectly in character. Anyways, I think I'll end this little shi-bang. Tootles!