Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter of this fic. You are all wonderful people.

Also I am still in need of the actual words for the spell that cursed Lina. Someone be a darling and help me out, please. Email me at skyeroseprincess@aol.com

This fic is dedicated to two very important people in my life. To: S.C. for friendship beyond boundaries. And to C.M. for love after friendship and boundaries displaced by love everlasting.

May the light ever guide you on your way.

Samanda

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers or any of its characters.

Sapphires And Sakura Blossoms

Chapter Two: Help Appears

Sapphire eyes watched the despairing Lina Inverse with apparent worry in their depths. With a soundless sigh he moved the blankets off his body and stood. He walked quietly over and stood behind the sorceress.

"Lina, what's wrong?" Zel asked softly.

She tilted her head back to stare into his face. Her crimson eyes were large and shiny with unshed tears before she looked away. Zel was a little shocked. He sat beside her and waited.

She turned to face him but kept her face averted. Zel touched her shoulder lightly. Finally she looked at him again and a tear snaked down her cheek. She leaned her shoulder against his chest and hung her head as the tears started in earnest.

Now seriously alarmed, Zel hesitated before putting his arms around her and rocking her like a child. He didn't demean her by whispering comforting nothings into her ear. No, he stayed silent and rested his cheek on her hair as she cried.

Zel promised himself that no matter what, Lina would get her cure.

Flashback:

They had been through twelve towns so far. A few helpful people had told the group that the sorcerer, Botan who had put the spell on Lina, was the only one who could cure her. They knew this since Botan had run amok with the spell on every pretty girl for miles around.

Lina was starting to lose hope. Her eyes had lost their gleam and the group was worried.

End Flashback.

Lina had fallen asleep after she wore herself out. Zel kept her cradled in his arms both for her comfort of knowing someone was there and his desire to protect. He was too deep in thought to register the sudden absence of all noise but that of the nature all around them.

His thoughts wandered to the last six months.

Lina without her powers had worried Zelgaddis. He was the only one who really had thought through what could happen in many different scenarios. Unfortunately most of them had come to pass.

Her old enemies kept popping up in the strangest places. They were always trying to defeat her or kill her. This meant Lina had to stay with the group all the time and it pissed her off.

On top of that were the people trying to kidnap her to ransom her to her enemies for a large profit or to people who wanted to be known as Lina Inverse's captor.

It was harder on the rest of the group to fight off their enemies. Zel bore the brunt of being the only offensive magic user in the group and Gourry saved them time after time with his sword skills.

Lina was the one who was determined to do something so she wouldn't feel useless anymore. She decided that she needed more practice in swordfighting.

Flashback:

Lina picked up her sword and pointed at Zel. He nodded at her and they both assumed a standard pose with feet apart and swords gripped firmly in tight fists. Amelia lowered her arm and said. "Go." They circled each other before Zel lunged at her. She parried his attack then went on the offensive herself.

In four minutes Zel had Lina disarmed with a sword at her throat. He was breathing a little quicker. "Good. Much better this time, Lina."

Lina nodded at him. She had decided that she needed to become better with a sword just until she got her magic back. Gourry had helped out a lot since he had a lot of patience and he had taught her enough dirty tricks that a successful mercenary knew but now she was ready for a different type of training.

Will you teach me proper techniques? She had written.

He stared at her. Lina had acquired a new habit of isolating herself from the others. In fact she seemed to have fallen into Zel's old habits of wanting to be apart from the group while Zel became de facto leader as Lina withdrew inside herself.

He nodded at her tensely and was rewarded with a radiant Inverse smile. He sucked in a breath as he kept his face impassive as Lina wrote on.

Now?

"It's close to twilight, Lina and it will take me a whole day to teach you like a beginner. Is tomorrow fine?"

Lina nodded and moved off towards the campsite. Zel watched her go with a troubled expression. Lately it had been harder for him to stay emotionally distant from her. The others couldn't penetrate the emotional barriers that kept him from becoming attached to any of them.

But Lina was different. He sympathized with her too much since she was in a similar situation to his own. Both curses apparently unsolvable as well as incurable.

End Flashback

Zel looked down at Lina as she slept. It was really no surprise that he had fallen in love with the Chaos Child considering how much her plight had resembled his own. A deep friendship that had transformed into love was not so unusual, at least according to books that he had read.

Lina is the only one in the group I can truly call friend. Zel mused. She treats me as though I am still human. I choose to help her because I treasure her friendship.

Zel hadn't told her how he felt. He had no wish to be hit with whatever weapons were available at the time. At least he was over trying to pretend that friendship was all he felt for Lina Inverse.

Zel had resolved never to tell her how he felt. He felt it wasn't fair to burden her with feelings he was certain that she could never return.

Sometimes she is so damned hard to read. Zel was exasperated as he looked at her with a mixture of love and longing. Oh if only she felt like I do!

Lina murmured and cuddled closer to the warmth of his stone skin as Zel gave into impulse. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Another pair of eyes that had recently awakened from sleep watched as Zel watched over the sleeping Lina. They narrowed at Zel's last look then widened at his small expression of affection.

The princess turned over to soak her pillow with tears. She stuffed her fist into her mouth to muffle the sound of her sobs as she cried over the sight of the only man that she had ever loved cradling another woman in his arms.

The glaring brightness of the sun woke Lina and she stretched. She did whatever she normally did early in the morning before sitting down to breakfast.

She looked at the group around her. Everyone but Amelia and Zel looked normal. Gourry was consuming enough food for the foreign legion with Sylphiel cooking more in an effort to please him.

Lina looked away from Zel. She didn't want to look into his eyes and see something like disgust staring back at her. But he caught her eyes anyway and to her surprise he gave her a small grin quite unlike his normal cool guy smile.

Lina switched her attention to the small princess. Amelia was withdrawn this morning and only spoke when spoken to. She was pale and looked unwell as she picked at her breakfast.

Lina put down her cup of tea and the slice of toast she had been nibbling. Much to everyone else's surprise Lina's table manners had improved as her appetite had decreased. When asked if she was sick Lina had written a long and technical explanation of why that unfortunately had confused almost everyone.

Lina finally was exasperated. When I don't use magic I don't have to eat as much. Black magic uses both energy from the person that casts the spell as well as energy from where the spell originates.

"Oooh." Gourry nodded his head sagely. "I get it now."

Lina fell backwards in shock.

"Don't strain yourself, Lina-chan." A voice admonished her from the heavens.

Lina got up and joined the group in looking upwards. A Mazoku floated down to where Lina had previously sat and sipped her tea.

"Hmm…too much sugar," He sounded thoughtful.

"What do you want, fruitcake?" Zel growled.

Xellos kept smiling. "Why I just wanted to see my favorite group of adventurers is all."

Lina signed to Zel. This is too much of a coincidence.

"I know." Zel sighed.

Xellos turned in Lina's direction then paused. His eyes opened in surprise. "Well, how naughty of Botan. You really are cursed, my dear Lina-chan."

Zel looked at him. "Do you know the cure?"

"No but I know someone who does." Xellos assured him.

Zel was suspicious. "And why should we trust you?"

"Out of the goodness of my heart?" Xellos replied.

Lina snorted. What heart?

"I will help you, Lina-chan, without anything in return." Xellos managed a look of virtue. "My master has told me to assist you in your cure."

"Great," Zel sighed again.

"How do you know the name of the person that cursed Miss Lina?" Syphiel asked.

If anything Xellos seemed to smile bigger. "Who do you think taught him that spell?"