Sweet, merciful crap.....I am sorry guys. I am way behind on this story. You didn't think I was going to update again, did ya? I made a promise and I intend to keep it. Thank God somebody reviewed this story again and reminded me. Yeah...college is great, but it keeps you busy. Thanks to Alea Seikou for your review. You are absolutely right about the reuinion. It was rushed a bit, and therefore not as good as it could have been. I apologize and will try to do better. Oh, by the way, Hoseki, sorry but I will NEVER use -san or -chan or -kun or anything like that. Ok, I MIGHT sometime, but not now. I'm from America, and I'm writing this story in English. Now then, let's get going. (quickly skims over chapter 3 to remember what the heck just happened) OK!
Chapter 4
Difficult Situations
Amelia let herself get carried away as she pulled Zelgadis along by the arm. Having him as her new body guard is probably that best thing that could have happened to her. However, the sudden stop she had before she reached the front door was not the best thing. Amelia's legs flew forward and she would have fallen on her rump if Zelgadis had not caught her arms.
"Mr. Zelgadis? Why did you stop like that?" she asked confused.
"Just call me Zelgadis, Amelia."
"Oh yeah, sorry." She smiled.
"Anyway, I really don't think you should go outside, Amelia."
"Oh come on. I'll be fine now that you're here."
"Let's hope so, but this assassin probably knows what he's doing, so he will probably be waiting for you to get in a vulnerable position, and outside is probably the worst place."
Amelia stood up and put her hands on her hips. "But how long do I have to wait in here? If this guy knows what he's doing, then he could wait forever. If he comes out, we can get him! I'm sure we can beat him together!"
Zel stroked his forhead a little. "I'm sure we could, but it's not a matter of how strong he is. It's his tactics that we have to worry about. He knows where we are, but we have know idea where he is. All it takes is one wrong move. Afterall, you're still only human, Amelia." Zelgadis knew the seriousness of the situation. Amelia isn't even close to being defenseless, so he had to take every precaution if he was going to keep her safe.
Amelia closed her eyes and let out a resigned sigh. "Well, what should we do then?"
"Don't ask me. I'm supposed to follow YOU around."
"Well...I guess we could move into the game room."
"Game room?"
"Oh, it's nothing spectacular. It's really just a place to play a quiet game of chess."
"Sounds fine to me."
And so the game room became the destination. The room was large enough to allow players to make small chatter without bothering anyone else. The floor was marble tile, and there were two rows of three tables going down the room. Each table had fine crystal chess pieces all set up and ready for battle. They took a seat at one of the first tables.
"Do you play well?" asked Amelia.
"I haven't played for a long time, but I learned from....one of the best..." Zelgadis's countenance dimmed as his thoughts turned to his past. Amelia had to change the subject quickly.
"Well, you better hope that you remember how to play, because I'll kick your butt!"
Zelgadis smirked slightly, "We'll see about that."
And so began the battle of the century, the clash of the titans, the duel of the dynamics, the conflict of the champions, the chess game. Amelia wasn't kidding, she was an accomplished chess player. Half-way through the game, Zelgadis found that he was the one with fewer pieces on the board, but he hadn't lost yet. Zel stared while he contemplated his next move. Amelia became less interested in the game(especially because she was winning) and took this time to think of other things. "Afterall, you're still only human, Amelia." For some reason, when Zelgadis said that, it gave her a strange feeling.
"Hey, Zelgadis?"
"Don't worry, I've almost got my next move."
"No no, I just wanted to ask you something."
"Oh, ok."
"When you were talking about how I could die from one wrong move...well...what about you?"
Zel looked up at her, "What do you mean?"
"Well...what if you get hurt, or...killed?"
"It'll be a little harder to kill me, besides, it's my job now. We can't worry about that."
"You said it yourself, 'Afterall, you're still only...'"
"No I'm not." Zelgadis cut her off.
"Yes you are! You're just...different."
Zel looked up at her and raised one eyebrow, "Different? People have broken swords on me and you say that's just different? Amelia, I'm not human anymore, can't you just leave it at that!?" He didn't yell, but his voice was more forceful. Amelia recoiled at his words. Needless to say, she was hurt, but she felt an even deeper pain because she thought that she hurt Zelgadis as well.
"I...I'm sorry," she squeaked out.
".......me too. I shouldn't have snapped at you."
"I can understand why you did."
"Can we please just change the subject?"
"Sure. Why don't we talk about how I have you in checkmate?" Zel's eyes darted to the board. He checked over it several times, and then sank in defeat.
"Ok, rematch. I had to get warmed up."
"That's fine, because I was getting warmed up too," she winked at him.
They played more until Amelia made them stop because she was tired of beating Zel. He tried bargaining with her for another game, but she'd had enough for now. They spent the rest of the day finding whatever activity there was around the castle. Zel told Amelia various accounts of his travels and she hung on every word. They had expensive teas and wines while talking, and later they met with Phil to have dinner. However, after that was when things got a little more difficult.
"Well, it's getting late. I think I'm going to bed," said Amelia.
"ok." Zel looked up suddenly, "Wait a minute..."
"What is it?"
"How exactly...is that going to work?"
"Is what going to work?"
"Well...you were first attacked while you were asleep, so I shouldn't just leave you in your room by yourself."
"Oh...umm..."
"I guess it wouldn't be too big of a deal if I just stayed in a chair in your room."
"What?! No, you shouldn't have to sleep in a chair!"
"Amelia, I've been sleeping on the ground for a large portion of my travels, I think I can survive sleeping in a chair."
"Alright...maybe I can get some of the guards to move another bed into my room."
"I don't think so, the council and your father would probably have a problem with me staying in your room at all."
"Well, if you say so...I'm sorry you have to do this...WAIT!!" Amelia shrieked.
"What is it?!"
"We have an even worse problem!"
"What?!"
"I have to take a bath!"
Zel fell over. He picked himself back up and let out a sigh, "Don't scare me like that."
"What do you mean? It's a big deal!"
"Is there more than one entrance to the bath?"
"No."
"Then I can just stand outside and guard the entrance."
"But...the assassin can teleport..."
"Oh brother..." Zel put a hand on his forehead and tried to think. Amelia had a solution to the problem, but she was hesitant about it. She didn't really mind too much, afterall, Zel wouldn't look. Would he? No, not Zelgadis.
"Well...um..you could...come in and stay behind the dressing screen while I'm in the bath," she blushed a little and couldn't manage to face him as she said it. Zel whipped around towards her.
"Are you kidding?! That's crazy!"
"You won't look, will you?"
"Well, no...but..."
"Then it should be fine."
"Are you absolutely sure about this?"
She looked him in the eye, "As long as you're absolutely sure that you won't look."
"Alright, let's get this over with."
They moved casually through the castle, and then made a mad dash when they got near the bath. They had to get in before anyone saw Zelgadis go in with Amelia. After making it inside, they both leaned over and wiped a nervous drop of sweat from their forheads.
"Alright, behind the screen," said Amelia as she pointed to a screen covered corner. Zel moved into the corner without hesitation. He didn't like this more than anyone else did. He wasn't some pervert. He at least had that much dignity. He stood behind the screen and faced the corner.
"Amelia, be sure to make some kind of noise if you see or hear anything strange," said Zelgadis.
"What if I can't scream?"
"Well...I'll probably be able to hear a lot of splashing if there's a struggle going on."
"Ok." Amelia undid her cape and laid it over a chair. She reached at the bottom of her shirt and then glanced over at the screen. "You're not looking, are you?"
"No, Amelia. Even if I were facing the screen, I couldn't see through it," Zel said dryly. He had to admit, as much as he was trying to respect Amelia's privacy, he wanted to look at her. But he didn't even take a peek. She was more than a peice of meat to him. "Why am I thinking like this?" Zel thought to himself. "It's not like any of it matters. I'll kill the assassin, make sure that she's not in danger anymore, then I'll have to leave. I can't be here like this....I can't...be with her...like this. Dammit! Why am I even thinking about that?! I'm so stupid sometimes!"
By this time, Amelia was already in her bath. She relaxed and let the warm water sooth her nerves. She tried to not think about the assassin or the fact that Zelgadis was in the room. Still, she worried about him. Why did he have to get so upset earlier? Why can't he just admit that he's still a person? She knew she was making a mistake, but she had to talk to him about it.
"Zelgadis?"
"Yes?"
"Do you...do you hate yourself?"
Zel was a bit confused, and frustrated at the same time. "What kind of a question is that?"
"An honest one."
"It doesn't matter. Stop worrying about me."
"I want to know."
"Why?" his tone getting slightly hotile.
"Because it's important to me! Just tell me!"
"Yes, I do." he said with no emotion.
Amelia sank back into the water. She knew he was going to say that, but she was still hopeful that he would say otherwise.
"Why,"
"Let's not talk about it anymore," he cut her off.
She stopped...for now. She finished her bath in as much silence as possible. Why did this have to be so hard? She wished she could heal his body for him. Could the greatest white mage in the world do that? She stepped out of the water and grabbed a towel. She dried herself and her hair hung low along her cheeks. She dressed herself and slowly turned towards the screen. She moved towards it, and then around it.
"I'm dressed, you can turn around."
He slowly stood up and turned towards her. "Ok, let's go." He started to walk past her, but she grabbed his arm. She turned him towards her and looked him dead in the eyes.
"I know you don't want to talk about how you feel about yourself, and you probably don't want me to twll you anything different from your opinion. But I'm going to tell you this, so you better listen. I see you as a normal person, no, I see you as more than that. You're one of my best friends, and even if your skin was the same as anyone else's, that wouldn't make you any more special to me. Don't get me wrong, I want you to find your cure since it's so important to YOU, but I like you for who you are. And I don't like to hear ANYONE say that they hate you." Her voice and position were stern. Her gaze didn't move from his eyes. Zel seemed a little shocked by this, but he tried not to think about it too much.
"...we should go," he said, and they did.
Later, Amelia had just crawled into her bed. Zel sat in a chair on the other side of the room with his head hanging towards his chest. Amelia was still thinking about what she said before. Was that another mistake? No. It didn't feel like it this time. Maybe she was a bit too firm, but he needed that wake-up call. And as she continued to reassure herself, she drifted into the best sleep she'd had since this whole mess began.
__________________________________________________________________
Huzzah! I finished another chapter! Once again, I'm sorry for taking so long. I've been working on a lot of stuff, and I'm going to try and finish(or at least make a lot of progress on) all of them this week. If my readers don't read this chapter, I'll understand. You've probably forgotten all about this stuff. Oh well. That's what I get. Peace out.
Chapter 4
Difficult Situations
Amelia let herself get carried away as she pulled Zelgadis along by the arm. Having him as her new body guard is probably that best thing that could have happened to her. However, the sudden stop she had before she reached the front door was not the best thing. Amelia's legs flew forward and she would have fallen on her rump if Zelgadis had not caught her arms.
"Mr. Zelgadis? Why did you stop like that?" she asked confused.
"Just call me Zelgadis, Amelia."
"Oh yeah, sorry." She smiled.
"Anyway, I really don't think you should go outside, Amelia."
"Oh come on. I'll be fine now that you're here."
"Let's hope so, but this assassin probably knows what he's doing, so he will probably be waiting for you to get in a vulnerable position, and outside is probably the worst place."
Amelia stood up and put her hands on her hips. "But how long do I have to wait in here? If this guy knows what he's doing, then he could wait forever. If he comes out, we can get him! I'm sure we can beat him together!"
Zel stroked his forhead a little. "I'm sure we could, but it's not a matter of how strong he is. It's his tactics that we have to worry about. He knows where we are, but we have know idea where he is. All it takes is one wrong move. Afterall, you're still only human, Amelia." Zelgadis knew the seriousness of the situation. Amelia isn't even close to being defenseless, so he had to take every precaution if he was going to keep her safe.
Amelia closed her eyes and let out a resigned sigh. "Well, what should we do then?"
"Don't ask me. I'm supposed to follow YOU around."
"Well...I guess we could move into the game room."
"Game room?"
"Oh, it's nothing spectacular. It's really just a place to play a quiet game of chess."
"Sounds fine to me."
And so the game room became the destination. The room was large enough to allow players to make small chatter without bothering anyone else. The floor was marble tile, and there were two rows of three tables going down the room. Each table had fine crystal chess pieces all set up and ready for battle. They took a seat at one of the first tables.
"Do you play well?" asked Amelia.
"I haven't played for a long time, but I learned from....one of the best..." Zelgadis's countenance dimmed as his thoughts turned to his past. Amelia had to change the subject quickly.
"Well, you better hope that you remember how to play, because I'll kick your butt!"
Zelgadis smirked slightly, "We'll see about that."
And so began the battle of the century, the clash of the titans, the duel of the dynamics, the conflict of the champions, the chess game. Amelia wasn't kidding, she was an accomplished chess player. Half-way through the game, Zelgadis found that he was the one with fewer pieces on the board, but he hadn't lost yet. Zel stared while he contemplated his next move. Amelia became less interested in the game(especially because she was winning) and took this time to think of other things. "Afterall, you're still only human, Amelia." For some reason, when Zelgadis said that, it gave her a strange feeling.
"Hey, Zelgadis?"
"Don't worry, I've almost got my next move."
"No no, I just wanted to ask you something."
"Oh, ok."
"When you were talking about how I could die from one wrong move...well...what about you?"
Zel looked up at her, "What do you mean?"
"Well...what if you get hurt, or...killed?"
"It'll be a little harder to kill me, besides, it's my job now. We can't worry about that."
"You said it yourself, 'Afterall, you're still only...'"
"No I'm not." Zelgadis cut her off.
"Yes you are! You're just...different."
Zel looked up at her and raised one eyebrow, "Different? People have broken swords on me and you say that's just different? Amelia, I'm not human anymore, can't you just leave it at that!?" He didn't yell, but his voice was more forceful. Amelia recoiled at his words. Needless to say, she was hurt, but she felt an even deeper pain because she thought that she hurt Zelgadis as well.
"I...I'm sorry," she squeaked out.
".......me too. I shouldn't have snapped at you."
"I can understand why you did."
"Can we please just change the subject?"
"Sure. Why don't we talk about how I have you in checkmate?" Zel's eyes darted to the board. He checked over it several times, and then sank in defeat.
"Ok, rematch. I had to get warmed up."
"That's fine, because I was getting warmed up too," she winked at him.
They played more until Amelia made them stop because she was tired of beating Zel. He tried bargaining with her for another game, but she'd had enough for now. They spent the rest of the day finding whatever activity there was around the castle. Zel told Amelia various accounts of his travels and she hung on every word. They had expensive teas and wines while talking, and later they met with Phil to have dinner. However, after that was when things got a little more difficult.
"Well, it's getting late. I think I'm going to bed," said Amelia.
"ok." Zel looked up suddenly, "Wait a minute..."
"What is it?"
"How exactly...is that going to work?"
"Is what going to work?"
"Well...you were first attacked while you were asleep, so I shouldn't just leave you in your room by yourself."
"Oh...umm..."
"I guess it wouldn't be too big of a deal if I just stayed in a chair in your room."
"What?! No, you shouldn't have to sleep in a chair!"
"Amelia, I've been sleeping on the ground for a large portion of my travels, I think I can survive sleeping in a chair."
"Alright...maybe I can get some of the guards to move another bed into my room."
"I don't think so, the council and your father would probably have a problem with me staying in your room at all."
"Well, if you say so...I'm sorry you have to do this...WAIT!!" Amelia shrieked.
"What is it?!"
"We have an even worse problem!"
"What?!"
"I have to take a bath!"
Zel fell over. He picked himself back up and let out a sigh, "Don't scare me like that."
"What do you mean? It's a big deal!"
"Is there more than one entrance to the bath?"
"No."
"Then I can just stand outside and guard the entrance."
"But...the assassin can teleport..."
"Oh brother..." Zel put a hand on his forehead and tried to think. Amelia had a solution to the problem, but she was hesitant about it. She didn't really mind too much, afterall, Zel wouldn't look. Would he? No, not Zelgadis.
"Well...um..you could...come in and stay behind the dressing screen while I'm in the bath," she blushed a little and couldn't manage to face him as she said it. Zel whipped around towards her.
"Are you kidding?! That's crazy!"
"You won't look, will you?"
"Well, no...but..."
"Then it should be fine."
"Are you absolutely sure about this?"
She looked him in the eye, "As long as you're absolutely sure that you won't look."
"Alright, let's get this over with."
They moved casually through the castle, and then made a mad dash when they got near the bath. They had to get in before anyone saw Zelgadis go in with Amelia. After making it inside, they both leaned over and wiped a nervous drop of sweat from their forheads.
"Alright, behind the screen," said Amelia as she pointed to a screen covered corner. Zel moved into the corner without hesitation. He didn't like this more than anyone else did. He wasn't some pervert. He at least had that much dignity. He stood behind the screen and faced the corner.
"Amelia, be sure to make some kind of noise if you see or hear anything strange," said Zelgadis.
"What if I can't scream?"
"Well...I'll probably be able to hear a lot of splashing if there's a struggle going on."
"Ok." Amelia undid her cape and laid it over a chair. She reached at the bottom of her shirt and then glanced over at the screen. "You're not looking, are you?"
"No, Amelia. Even if I were facing the screen, I couldn't see through it," Zel said dryly. He had to admit, as much as he was trying to respect Amelia's privacy, he wanted to look at her. But he didn't even take a peek. She was more than a peice of meat to him. "Why am I thinking like this?" Zel thought to himself. "It's not like any of it matters. I'll kill the assassin, make sure that she's not in danger anymore, then I'll have to leave. I can't be here like this....I can't...be with her...like this. Dammit! Why am I even thinking about that?! I'm so stupid sometimes!"
By this time, Amelia was already in her bath. She relaxed and let the warm water sooth her nerves. She tried to not think about the assassin or the fact that Zelgadis was in the room. Still, she worried about him. Why did he have to get so upset earlier? Why can't he just admit that he's still a person? She knew she was making a mistake, but she had to talk to him about it.
"Zelgadis?"
"Yes?"
"Do you...do you hate yourself?"
Zel was a bit confused, and frustrated at the same time. "What kind of a question is that?"
"An honest one."
"It doesn't matter. Stop worrying about me."
"I want to know."
"Why?" his tone getting slightly hotile.
"Because it's important to me! Just tell me!"
"Yes, I do." he said with no emotion.
Amelia sank back into the water. She knew he was going to say that, but she was still hopeful that he would say otherwise.
"Why,"
"Let's not talk about it anymore," he cut her off.
She stopped...for now. She finished her bath in as much silence as possible. Why did this have to be so hard? She wished she could heal his body for him. Could the greatest white mage in the world do that? She stepped out of the water and grabbed a towel. She dried herself and her hair hung low along her cheeks. She dressed herself and slowly turned towards the screen. She moved towards it, and then around it.
"I'm dressed, you can turn around."
He slowly stood up and turned towards her. "Ok, let's go." He started to walk past her, but she grabbed his arm. She turned him towards her and looked him dead in the eyes.
"I know you don't want to talk about how you feel about yourself, and you probably don't want me to twll you anything different from your opinion. But I'm going to tell you this, so you better listen. I see you as a normal person, no, I see you as more than that. You're one of my best friends, and even if your skin was the same as anyone else's, that wouldn't make you any more special to me. Don't get me wrong, I want you to find your cure since it's so important to YOU, but I like you for who you are. And I don't like to hear ANYONE say that they hate you." Her voice and position were stern. Her gaze didn't move from his eyes. Zel seemed a little shocked by this, but he tried not to think about it too much.
"...we should go," he said, and they did.
Later, Amelia had just crawled into her bed. Zel sat in a chair on the other side of the room with his head hanging towards his chest. Amelia was still thinking about what she said before. Was that another mistake? No. It didn't feel like it this time. Maybe she was a bit too firm, but he needed that wake-up call. And as she continued to reassure herself, she drifted into the best sleep she'd had since this whole mess began.
__________________________________________________________________
Huzzah! I finished another chapter! Once again, I'm sorry for taking so long. I've been working on a lot of stuff, and I'm going to try and finish(or at least make a lot of progress on) all of them this week. If my readers don't read this chapter, I'll understand. You've probably forgotten all about this stuff. Oh well. That's what I get. Peace out.