Even in Death

by Kaimei

{ AU-ish, but not really. LG. AZ. } The gang meet up with an old Ryuuzoku who's been hiding in a cave. A cheerleader spies, and just what is with the deformed squirrel!

6. Chapter Six

~ A/N: I didn't get many reviews for chapter five, so I'm HOPING I'll get more for six… So, here it is! The date of Zelgadis and Amelia! ~

Chapter Six: The Date From Hell.

It had been six days since the boy's abduction, and both were rather conked out for two days. They're better now, though. It was Thursday, a nice, easy afternoon. Amelia's father had to go back to Seyruun to do mayor work for a short time; he'd be back that Tuesday. Now, being alone, and unsure if she should call Lina or not, Amelia had been looking out the window when a group of cheerleaders passed by. "Did you hear about my date? I can't wait to go!" One squealed.

Amelia sighed, she felt rather lonely, and since now one was around to see it she allowed herself to be a little mope, rather than wearing her usual smile when she was sad. She blinked a few times upon hearing the cheerleader's comment. Those girls certainly seemed to be very fickle! It seemed as if they had a date every week! Speaking of dates, her and Zelgadis hadn't gone on a 'date' since they were at the fair. And she wasn't even sure Zel had considered it a date...

Thinking back to the past, she recalled that her and Zelgadis had gone on a few dates before. For a brief moment she thought that maybe he only went out with her because she was the only one that -would- go out with him. She shook her head quickly. What was wrong with her? She couldn't allow herself to think so negatively! She stood up and began marching towards the phone.

Amelia reached the phone, picked it up, and called the Graywords shrine. Picking up was the priest. "Graywords residence, Rezo speaking."

Amelia twisted the phone cord out of slight nervousness. "This is Amelia is..." She hesitated a moment before decided to leave out the -san.  After all this maybe she should begin calling him Zelgadis? "Zelgadis there?"

Rezo chuckled. "Yes, yes he is. One moment, miss." He cleared his throat and hollered; "ZELGADIS! A woman claiming you're the father of her child is on the phone!"

"W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!  D-don't joke like that, Rezo!"

Amelia blushed a tad due to Rezo's comment.  The Rezo from this time was certainly different from the Rezo from the past. She merely sat and waited for Zel to answer the phone.

Rezo laughed. "It's Amelia. Come get it before a woman really does -claim- that you're the father of her children."

Zelgadis growled as he came out of the room, snatching the phone from Rezo.  "Hello, Amelia?"

Amelia stopped fiddling with the phone cord. "Hi, Zelgadis-sa-!" She almost forgot to leave the -san off, she reminded herself. "Daddy is out for a few days, so would you like to go out somewhere?"

"Ah...Go out somewhere?  Where-...What kind of place did you have in mind?"

Amelia hadn't really considered -where- they would go. "Well... We could get something to eat. Or see a movie. Or we can just decide later. " She took in a breath, now was time to make her meaning clear! "...Like a date?"

Zelgadis made a soft noise at that, taking a moment before he answered.  "Well, if you... really want to, we could. I don't really have anything to do."

Amelia beamed; of course Zel wouldn't be able to tell over the phone. This wasn't as hard as she thought it would be! "Okay! How about tonight, and I'll pick you up at four?"

"Alright, sure."

Amelia was almost hopping up and down from excitement at this point. "Alright, the limo will pick you up! Bye, Zelgadis!" She remembered to leave the -san off this time.

"Erhm, I'll see you later then?  Bye."

Amelia hung up the phone, and quickly began planning things with her maids and driver. Everyone seemed to be happy that the mayor's daughter was getting out. It was now thirty minutes before four, and Amelia was on a stool, standing as one of her maids cut the dress so it'd be above her ankles, and wouldn't drag. "Your mother looked so beautiful in this, Amelia-san..."

Amelia beamed at her reflection in the mirror.  The dress reminded her of when she and the others were reunited for the first time before the battle with Dark Star. It looked similar to the dress she wore that day, except it was white and not so poofy. "Thank you, I love it!"

The woman giggled. "So… is this Zelgadis cute?" The maid teased, pinning the rest of the trimmings of the dress up. The woman stood and brought Amelia down, beginning to apply blush to her cheeks.

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun tried to resist blushing, since it might affect the amount of make up the maid put on. "That's an opinion I suppose... But he's certainly very handsome to me!"

The maid then applied lipstick, and made sure Amelia's earrings were in correctly, not too tight, and not too loose. "You'll have to get me a picture of him." She finished, and ran a brush through Amelia's hair, adding in an exceedingly large ivory ribbon on the back of Amelia's head. "You look absolutely ravishing, Amelia-san!"

Amelia beamed for the millionth time this evening. She thought the make up might have been a tad too much, but that didn't matter. "Thank you!"

The maid nodded, and left. The driver took Amelia out fifteen minutes later, and started to drive to the shrine. By the time they arrived, as the driver went slowly, Amelia was a bit late when she made it up the steps. Upon reaching, exiting the house was Zel in a dark blue tuxedo, being pushed by Rezo. "Now, don't fuss, it fits you, that's all that matters."

Zelgadis was growling now and then as he was being pushed.  "Don't -fuss-!?  It's uncomfortable and it's way too formal!"

Amelia blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. "Zelgadis, you look so nice!" She glanced at her own outfit and realized that they were both dressed very formally, and that they still hadn't decided where they were going. "Oh! I heard about a restaurant that opened recently, I think its formal... It might be a little crowded if we don't have a reservation but it should still be nice!"

Rezo shoved Zel over to Amelia, but stepped in front of him to take her hand and kiss it gently. "My, my, Amelia, you look gorgeous. Are you -sure- you're going out with Zelgadis?"

Zelgadis hadn't seen Amelia before and was now peering around Rezo, wide-eyed as he stared at her, his mouth opened slightly.  "Dyya... Ahm... A restaurant?  Alright." 

Amelia giggled, both at Rezo's actions and at Zel's response, "Of course!" She waved to Rezo as she walked back to the limo, "Bye, Rezo-san!"

Rezo sighed, and patted Zel on the head. "You've got yourself quite a girl. Now hurry before you have to run after the limo."

Zelgadis didn't register the pat for a second, jerking his head away after a moment and using his hand to try and brush back his hair.  Unfortunately for him his hair still stuck up in it's normal way.  "Tch, I'll be blaming you if I have to do -any- 'chasing after the limo'." He then walked after Amelia to the limo.

Amelia stepped into the limo and scooted over to make room for Zel. She immediately began striking up a conversation. "I wonder what kind of food they'll have?"

When they arrive at the place, it was, indeed, packed with people. The waiter came by, and eyed them. "Do you have a reservation?"

Zelgadis shifted a bit as he fiddled with the sleeve of his tux, his face paling a shade when he saw all the people.  "Uhm... No?"

Amelia glanced at Zel, noticing his nervousness. She patted him on the arm once. Then, she leaned a little to see behind the waiter at the table. "No, but..." She sighed, not only would she have to lie but also she would have to flaunt power! She never had to do this so much in the past. "My daddy, Mayor Philionel, was thinking of eating here sometime and asked me to try it out for him while I was here, and tell him about it!"

The waiter seemed unnerved, and led them to an empty table, handing them some menus. "Here you are, miss, sir."

Zelgadis sat down slowly and took the menu, flipping through it silently.

Amelia sighed loudly as she sat down. "I hate having to lie like that! Well... I guess if I -do- tell daddy about the restaurant it won't be as bad..." She picked up her own menu and began skimming through it, "Hmm. Oh! No wait, maybe... no."

Zelgadis looked up from his menu, frowning slightly. "I'm sure it'll be ok, it isn't like you -aren't- the mayor's daughter, so you aren't lying on that.  You can't get in trouble by them." He looked back to his menu, hming lightly. 

Amelia put her menu down. "Right! And if I really -do- tell my daddy about the food here then it wouldn't be lying at all!" She picked up her menu and began flipping through it again. ~Oh, look how many types of chicken they have! No, I'm dressed too formal for that.~ "Hmm... I'll have a steak, a salad, and mashed potatoes. I hope they have rolls! And then desert!" Seems that she still had her appetite from her past life.

Zelgadis nodded lightly, then suddenly smirked as he looked up from his menu.  "You're going to have all that and nothing to drink?  As for me, I think I'll have some iced tea, a starting salad, and then... the snow crab legs."  He leaned back in the chair slightly as he folded the menu up and put it back on the table.  "And try not to eat to fast, this is a formal place."

Amelia giggled a little, "I know that! Just because I got a lot doesn't mean I'm going to eat it like Lina-san!" She glanced at her menu once more then put it down. "And for a drink I'll have lemonade!"

Luckily, a waiter had been close by to both of them, and wrote down those quickly. "Right away, sir, ma'am." He quickly left, and about three minutes later, returned with the lemonade and iced tea.

Zelgadis took the tea and sipped it lightly before he started to mix some sugar into it.  "Just make sure she never comes here, in most formal places you can get kicked out if you are too rude or bother the customers." 

Amelia took a sip of her lemonade before setting the glass down. "Yea, Lina-san seems to have kept her appetite hasn't she? Gourry-san too, I guess that's one thing that -hasn't- changed." She gazed off to the sigh with a slightly somber expression from her last comment.

Zelgadis frowned as he stirred his tea, his voice lowering so that no one around them would be able to hear.  "Yes, a lot of things have changed haven't they?  Loads of new technology, the concept of magic is pretty much forgotten, not to mention most people don't simply travel around for any apparent reason anymore.  They would rather stay in their homes and get fat." He looked into his tea as he stopped stirring it, sighing slightly. 

Amelia sighed loudly, lowering her voice as well. "I don't even know if I can tell my daddy about it. He probably won't believe me and have me sent to a psychiatrist to 'help me. And if he did believe me I still wouldn't be able to cast magic freely in the house, with all the maids and butlers around…"

Zelgadis watched her for a moment before he leaned closer to her, taking her hand in his and looking up to her face with a sincere look.

Amelia was still looking off to the side, but turned to look at Zel when he took her hand. Her cheeks gained a pink tint. Even if she missed the past, at least the date was going well! "Zelgadis..."

And, suddenly... a waiter with a tray and a big bucket of ice tripped over his own feet, and stumbled. He managed to keep himself up, before running into their table, and the bucket of ice flew... and landed on Amelia's head, the ice spilling all over her and into her dress. "Ah!"

Zelgadis yelped and let go of her hand, jerking away wide eyed, looking from the waiter, to Amelia, then back again quickly. 

Amelia made a sound that seemed to be a cross between a squeak and a scream when the ice hit her. The bucket had ended up like an over sized had, going down just over her eyes. She quickly removed it, but that only caused the ice cubes that were inside it to spill on her head and inside the top of her dress. "I-I have to go to the bathroom!" And with that she scurried off.

The waiter apologized repeatedly, picking up the stray cubes. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Zelgadis blinked a few more times before he stood up quickly, glaring at the waiter. "Watch where you're GOING!  What if you hurt her?! " 

The waiter wailed and fell to his knees. "I'M SORRY!"

Zelgadis crossed his arms and growled low, still glaring at the waiter.

The waiter scrambled forward, and clung to Zel's feet, sobbing and wailing. "I'm sorryyyyy!"

Zelgadis calmed down and watched the waiter for a moment before he tched lightly.  "Get off the ground, I'm not going to hurt you."

Amelia stepped out of the bathroom. She calmed down now that she had removed the ice cubes from her hair and her dress. When she arrived at their table she sweat dropped at the sight of the waiter.

He wailed more, and scrambled to cling to Amelia's leg, and, for once, this man wasn't a pervert. "I'm so sorry!"

Zelgadis sighed heavily and started to clean up the melting ice cubes on the table, putting them back in the bucket.

Amelia's sweat drop remained. "That's okay, just see how our food is coming?"

He jumped up, grabbed the remaining ice cubes and bucket, and quickly ran off. Another waiter arrived and set their food in front of them.

Zelgadis sat back down in his seat, running his hand through his hair for a moment before he began to eat his salad quietly. 

Amelia sat down and straightened out her dress before she began digging in. She remembered what Zel said and tried to control how fast she ate, but when she ordered large amounts of food like this she just couldn't help eating a little fast.

Zelgadis sweat dropped slightly at her, glancing around for a moment to see if anyone was staring at her.  He calmed down after a while and finished up his salad in time.

Amelia paused her eating to swallow and daintily wipe her face with her napkin. Afterwards, in contrast to the polite gesture she just did she returned to digging in.

Zelgadis blushed slightly at Amelia's actions, but resisted a snicker all the same.  He looked to his crab legs and started to open them as quietly as possible, but trying to be quick about it so Amelia wouldn't have to wait for him.

Amelia had almost finished her meal by now. A few bites later and she was done. She sighed loudly, "The food here is really good, even if the service is a little bad. I should tell daddy about it." She sat still a moment to digest then said, "I wonder what the have for dessert!"

Zelgadis was still finishing up the rest of his meal, sighing contently.  "It is good... I don't think I'll have any dessert though, you can have some if you like."

Amelia made an 'hmm' sound as she though about what to have for dessert. "Actually, I don't think I'll have dessert... Like you said, most people don't understand traveling for no reason.  So I might not be able to walk around like I used to burn off the calories!" She giggled a little at that.

Zelgadis blinked in surprise then chuckled quietly.  "I suppose you're right."  He finished up his own meal then leaned against the chair, sipping the remains of his tea as he waited. 

Amelia and Zelgadis both stood up and stretched after a little bit. She took his hand, and led him out, after leaving the tip, and also paying for it. Upon exiting, the limo was clearly nowhere in sight. The two shrug, and just merely walk off.

Amelia continued to hold his hand as she walked along. She looked up at the sky and sighed wistfully.  "Zelgadis-san, do you think that if we find a spot with no one around we'd be able to fly for a little bit?"

Zelgadis forced himself to relax a bit, looking out to where they were walking.  "Doubtful.  I'm sure someone would see us if we flew, there aren't many spots where people -aren't-."

The two continued to walk, and come up to a bridge. The sun began to set, rather beautifully as well.

Amelia sighed wistfully. Her eyes seemed to have gained a slight sparkle. As much as wished she could be allowed to fly in that sunset, but knew she couldn't, she still thought it was a nice sight. She suddenly became aware of the fact that she was cold. Well with the sun setting that would probably explain the lose of heat... Maybe she still had an ice cube in her dress somewhere. She didn't seem to notice that she had shivered. She just kept her gaze on the sunset.

Zelgadis was watching the sunset with a blank expression before Amelia's shiver caught his attention, looking to her.  He hned and removed his hand from hers, taking off the coat part of his tuxedo and placing it around her shoulders hesitantly.  "There..." He slowly went back next to her, moving his arm around her gently. 

Amelia blinked and looked to Zel when she felt the jacket on her shoulders. She sighed contently and leaned into Zel when he moved his arm around her. Besides the whole ice cube incident this date seemed to be going perfectly! She looked back to the sunset but seemed to be looking back at Zel more often than the sunset.

Zelgadis' expression had softened at this point, watching the sunset with a slight smile, which is until he looked to Amelia at one of the times she looked to him.  He blinked a few times at her before his smile returned, gazing at her.

Amelia blushed a little when he caught her looking at him. She put on an innocent smile to hide her blush. She turned to face him completely. Her eyes closed as she stood on her toes, hoping he got the idea.

Zelgadis moved to face her as well, placing his hands on her shoulders lightly as he bent down slightly, his own eyes closing.

And, they got closer, closer, and closer... and oh so close, their lips almost touching... When, as L-sama had it, some random individual came by, and shoved the two on accident, continuing to walk on. The two were close to the side, and were shoved over the railing and into the water. This date really isn't going so well, is it?

Amelia didn't seem to realize what had happened until she hit the water. She went under the water and stayed under for a long moment before her head came back into view, sputtering and coughing some water. She tried desperately to tread water, despite the weight of her dress and Zel's jacket pulling her down, while she looked to see if Zel had surfaced.

Zelgadis had indeed already surfaced, and was shaking his fist after whomever it was that had pushed them off the side.  "WILL YOU BASTARDS WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU'RE GOING ALREADY?!  JEEZE!"  He finally stopped ranting and looked to Amelia, a light pink tinge going over the bridge of his nose.  "Ahm... I mean..." Zel now gained a sweat drop, coughing politely behind his hand. 

Amelia figured that Zel was just blushing because they almost kissed he was always easily embarrassed. She coughed a few more times, then glanced back and forth to make sure no one saw. She hovered just above the water with a levitation spell. She looked back to Zel, about to ask him if he was coming. That is of course until she remembered that her dress was white... and after the large amounts of water she had been dropped into it was very much see through.

Zelgadis' previous pink tint turned to deep red, staring at her wide eyed before he quickly turned himself around in the water, almost re-sinking. Amelia blushed, and promptly made a squeak sound as quickly crossed her arms over her chest. She looked back to the water and spotted Zel's now sopping wet Tuxedo coat. She quickly put it on despite the fact that it only made her wet, "L-Lets go!"

Zelgadis wasted no time in complying, getting out of the water and keeping his eyes on the ground, trying not to look at her. 

Amelia got back to the road with the same levitation spell. Normally she would rant about how rude it was for people to just push other people over bridges like that. They could have died! But... she didn't feel like doing elaborate poses at the moment.

Zelgadis simply walked toward the road, biting his lip and keeping his eyes fixated on the ground at all times. As they were walking, Zel walked under a street light, and a bird that was on it, turned, and released what it needed to, crapping on Zel's head.

Amelia glanced at herself to make sure the coat completely covered the most important areas. "I guess we'll just go home... You can walk me to my house. And you can look at me now if you want." She looked up just to see the bird crap on Zel head and she couldn't help but giggle.

Zelgadis twitched slightly, a growl emitting from him as he removed one of those nifty handkerchiefs from his pocket... unfortunately it was soaked, but he used it anyway and cleaned his hair. By now, the sun had completely set, and they continued to walk, they make it about a block before something else bad happens. They take a turn at a cross walk, but one of the sewer holes had been open, and Zel managed to fall into it.

Amelia blinked a few times, in case she wasn't seeing straight, because Zel had apparently just disappeared. She looked back and forth, "Zelgadis-san?" Then she looked down and spotted the hole. She held her nose as she said, "Zelgadis-san, are you down there?"

Zelgadis released a yelp when he fell it, creating quite a splash.  After a silent moment he resurfaced and let out an, erhm, string of words that should not be repeated.  After he was done ranting he levitated out of the sewer hole, growling.  

Amelia continued to hold her nose, "Zelgadis-san you might want to... I mean, you smell kind of..."

Zelgadis Graywords hissed slightly. "What am I supposed to do about it?! I don't have anything even somewhat dry now!" 

Amelia released a mushroom shaped sigh. "That makes two of us..." She fished around in her soggy purse and pulled out a damp napkin from the restaurant. "Oh! It must have fallen in my purse..." She held up the napkin and stood on her toes to reach him. "Here, let me." And she proceeded to wipe the sewer slime off his face.

Zelgadis made a noise but let her, staying very still until he felt something around the back of his shoulder.  He looked over to his shoulder then suddenly let out a yelp, jumping back from Amelia and swatting at his shoulder quickly.  A rat falls off his shoulder...and runs back into the sewer hole. 

"STUPID FREAKIN'..." 

Amelia resists the urge to say, "Eww!" It seemed this date wasn't going out as perfectly as she thought it was... So, the two sadly continue on, and after an hour of walking, finally reach Amelia's house. They stand under a light, and gaze at the house, before each other.

Zelgadis was dry at this time, relaxing slightly as he smiled to her.

Amelia's outfit was dry for the most part by now.  She removed Zel's jacket and held it out to him, smiling as she did. She glanced at the window, but remembered that her daddy still wasn't there... So he wouldn't come bursting out of the house shouting something like, "How dare you take advantage of my darling daughter!" As she remembered that she took a step closer to Zel.

Zelgadis figured nothing seriously bad could happen here, in front of the house... He moved closer to her and gently wrapped his arms around her. 

Amelia closed her eyes and stood on her toes to reach him like before. She initiated the kiss this time, for that something would happen like last time before they could kiss. Now if she just ignored the lingering sewer smell, nothing else could possibly go wrong!

Zelgadis pressed his lips against hers, holding her close.  Finally, nothing was going to go wrong, at all. 

Oh, how wrong they were. When their lips met, it was good for a moment, until the streetlight they were under blew up. Sparks went everywhere, landing on Zel's hair, and Amelia's dress, catching on fire instantly. Poor them... their date turned out to be hell, no. It was, indeed…

The Date From Hell.

~ A/N: Well, this took me a while as I was lazy to finish it, but it's done now! The next chapter will be another short one, the gang all meet a certain ryuuzoku, in a most unique way. ~