A/N: Standard disclaimer, no rights of ownership, etc. etc. If you like this story, make sure to check out its sequels. There are a whole crazy mess of them now. Also view the accompanying fanart at my website, www.vejiitasei.com.

You can view this story in its un-chaptered form at my website, also. I went back and broke it up into chapters because I was getting complaints that it was too long. Sorry if the chapter divisions seem awkward in places, or if some chapters seem too short or too long. That's what happens when you write a story without chapter divisions, and then later chop it up.

Reviews are welcome!!

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As soon as Amelia and Zelgadis were out of sight, Gourry reached over to Lina and crushed her against his chest. I thought I was going to lose you, he whispered into her hair.


She closed her eyes and leaned into him, inhaling his familiar scent. I know, she murmured. I tricked Xellos, though. I think he's in big trouble.


That doesn't have anything to do with us, he said softly. It's just you and me again.


she replied, practically able to feel the love he had for her seeping from his every pore. She wondered why that thought didn't thrill her as it used to. When they had first started being lovers she had been so infatuated with him. He had been her sun and moon. Now, however, she wasn't sure that there wasn't something more to life. Was Gourry really all that there would ever be? She shook her head to clear it of such thoughts, wondering why she was even having them. Standing on tiptoe, she grabbed him behind the neck and pulled him downward, kissing him as passionately as she could muster.


he breathed, staring down at her with adoration.


She smiled up at him, but in the back of her mind she was replaying the horror she had felt from Xellos as he realized she had snatched his spell from him. She wasn't even sure how she had managed it, only that she had done it. It had worked like a charm, and it was a pity that she couldn't do such a casting again without his initial assistance. Now, however, she wasn't sure she would ever see him again, and wondered why that thought saddened her. She supposed Xellos always offered other. . .opportunities. . .and had depths to him that Gourry didn't have. Of course, the Monster didn't have Gourry's wonderful heart and loving soul, and wouldn't follow her to the ends of eternity, but was what Gourry offered her what she really wanted? She had thought so in the past, but her certainty had wavered of late, and when she broke into Xellos' concentration she realized that there were other paths to be taken. She had seen a strange side of the Monster when she had stolen his casting, seen him for what he was for the first time. That didn't mean that she understood it, but it meant that she had to try. Let's go see where Amelia and Zelgadis have gone off to, she said, squeezing Gourry's hand gently before releasing it.