Chapter 14: Petty Quarrels 

Amelia and Zel left the small town a couple of hours before noon. She had decided to keep the blue dress, because they both felt that they had to save as much money as they could, since Zel was running out of money from staying at the tavern for too many days. They were silent while they walked, neither whispering one word, not even to themselves. They even avoided looking at each other, keeping their gaze either ahead or staring at the ground.

They both began to notice the smallest things that normally they wouldn't have even looked at before. They noticed how the sun could sometimes make shadows dance, how the wind was always changing, how many small creatures and critters roamed around during the heat of the day. But after a while, they stopped noticing, because their thoughts caused them to stare blankly ahead, making their way slowly to the city of Saillune, drowning in their many thoughts.

As night fell, they stopped in an open glade. They were four days away from Saillune, almost five at the pace they were going. They quickly set up camp, neither one saying a word to the other. Zelgadis felt like shit again. She must still be mad at me. She hasn't even said one word, though I can't blame her. Damnit, why do these things always happen to me? He'd fallen back into a state of depression. He felt like the biggest jackass in the world. Just being around her made him feel bad…she'd run away because of him, and being around her reminded him that it was his fault. All my Goddamn fault.

Amelia was beginning to get a bit annoyed with his silence as she smoothed the wrinkles out of her blue dress. Why won't he say anything? He won't even look at me! But then again, I'm not saying anything either. He's probably just thinking about how he can be spending this valuable time searching for his cure! She didn't know why she was getting so upset; she just was.

They set up a camp and both ate in silence, the wind, owls, crickets and the fire the only things making any noise. They sat quietly on a log in front of the fire they had made, the awkward silence filling every whole and void. Amelia looked at Zelgadis, and was almost shocked. Zelgadis looked…depressed…more depressed than he had ever been before, and Amelia couldn't help but worry about him. He's probably blaming himself for everything that's happened. He always blames himself. Maybe I should say something to him…

"Mr. Zelgadis?" she asked tentatively. Will he even answer me?

Zelgadis looked up at Amelia, almost not believing his ears. Did she just say something? They'd both been silent for so long, that he thought he had just imagined hearing her voice. Why in L-sama's name would she want to talk to me?

"Ummm…well, you shouldn't blame yourself. It's not your fault, really." She didn't know what to say.

"What are you talking about, Amelia?" Could she really tell by looking at him?

"You shouldn't put yourself down, Mr. Zelgadis. You shouldn't blame yourself."

He sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to lie to her. "But it is my fault, Amelia. It's always my fault."

"No, it never is! Stop blaming yourself for everything!! It's my fault I ran away, not yours! Why do you always have to be so depressed?"

"Why do you even care? And of course its my fault! If it wasn't for me, you would've never ran away. And don't lie Amelia, because that wouldn't be very 'just', now would it?"

She couldn't believe him! How could he even say that to her? "I'm worried about you, Mr. Zelgadis! Because it isn't your fault! Why must you always see the bad side of everything? And why are you getting mad at me? I'm only trying to help you!" The anger she had from before was starting to return, her hands almost shaking in rage. Stupid and stubborn and hardheaded, that's what he is! He gets worked up for nothing!

"Help me?" Zelgadis sounded incredulous. "How? We both know it's my fault, so what can you say to possibly help me? That it wasn't my fault? Where's the justice in lying, Amelia?" He asked her, questioning her about what she believed. His voice, which had been loud, now seemed to quiet a bit. "And why would you even care about a monster like me? I'm no friend…just look at what I've done to you!"

Tears filled Amelia's eyes. But she refused to cry because of him. "You're not a monster, Zelgadis!" She had yelled, dropping the formality of calling him 'Mr.' "You're a human being, just like the rest of us! Why do you always have to put yourself down so much? Why do you have to hurt everyone including yourself whenever we try to help you?! Why?! Why do you act like this?" She yelled, standing up and looking down at him.

Zel looked at her, anger running through his veins, as he looked up at the Princess standing in front of him, the fire raging on behind her. He kept his voice low as he spoke to her. "No matter what I do, I always hurt those near me. Like I am now. See? I am a monster. And what would you know anyways?" He added as Amelia opened her mouth to protest. "You live in a grand castle, with a father who loves you, and a whole city who respects and likes you. You don't live in a body you hate…but I do. You don't know what it feels like when you walk into a city and people run away from you. You wouldn't believe how much you don't know about me, Princess." He emphasized the word 'princess', using her title instead of her name.

Amelia felt as if the tears welled up in her eyes were going fall down her cheeks, but she fought against the tide and won. Not one tear rolled down her olive skin. She stared hard at the chimera before her, shocked at what he had said. "You're right…I don't know who you are. I thought I did, but you're not the Zelgadis I knew before. But you don't know what it's like being a Princess. You don't know what I go through. You think that everyone is supposed to pity the chimera, that the Princess has it all. You don't even know why I ran. You don't know what happened to me." The tears threatened to spill over again, but still she held them back. She was strong; far stronger than she ever was. And for some reason she couldn't fathom, she wanted to prove it to him.

He stared at her, his anger almost wavering for a moment. But, thinking back, he didn't know why he was so mad at her. If anything, he'd been mad at himself. Amelia looked determined and set, if not also angry, standing there in front of him.

"You don't care about anything anymore. All you think about is that stupid cure of yours, and you just wallow in self-pity. Open your eyes for once, Zelgadis! There's a whole world out there! But you fail to see the beauty any human would be able to see!"

Before Amelia could continue, anger blazed in his eyes, even though a moment ago he was trying to figure out why he had gotten mad in the first place, and he said, "Because I'm not a human. I'm a monster."

Amelia felt as if she'd been slapped. She hadn't meant it that way, and realized how much that comment must have hurt him. But anger was seething through her, and seemed to beat out all other emotions. "That's not what I meant, Mr. Zelgadis…" she said quietly, before her anger got the better of her. "What I meant is that you don't allow yourself to act like a human, because you don't think of yourself as one! But you are! You were born a human, and you're still a human. I'm trying to show you what's real, Zelgadis, but you refuse to see it. You just stare aimlessly at the illusion you've created! People don't run away when they see you. They might be a bit shocked and intimidated at first, but that's as far as it goes."

"No, Amelia," he said, stressing her name. "You're the one feeding me this illusion. That nobody cares about the way I look. Well, in case you haven't noticed, Princess, the world isn't all sunshine and daisies. I care about the way I look."

"You're so selfish and self-centred!" She yelled, glaring down at him, her hands curled up tightly into fists at her side. I'm trying to help him here, and he takes everything the wrong way! Why do I even bother?! "I don't even know why I even try! What makes you think you can talk to me like that? You're the one who never talked to me for almost three years! You've been too busy with that stupid cure of yours to even notice that I considered you a friend, and that I wanted you to visit!"

Zelgadis just glared up at the young woman in front of him. It crossed his mind how he'd never thought he'd see Amelia act like that. There's no doubt about it…she's changed. "You don't have any idea what a cure means to me. It's the only glimmer of hope I have in my life, and you're stepped all over it, trying to destroy it."

"Why do I even bother talking to you!?!" She shrieked. She moved past him as if to leave, when he turned to yell at her.

"Running away again?" He called out to her, his voice mocking. Amelia turned to glare at the blue man in front of her, and she would've slapped him if he hadn't been made of stone. I hate him, she thought, glaring malevolently at him. I absolutely despise him!

"I wouldn't give you the pleasure of my leaving," she said with a too-sweet voice.

Zelgadis looked at her, at the way she looked at him, and almost shuddered. She's changed a little too much. He couldn't tell which emotion she held in her eyes, but he knew he didn't want to know. They'd just had a pointless argument that started for the stupidest reason. Zelgadis mentally slapped himself, knowing it had all started because of him. "We'd best get to Saillune as soon as possible," he said when he turned around. "Get some sleep; we'll leave early in the morning."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Zelgadis," she said, stressing the 'Mr.' part as she bowed behind his back in a mocking way. She turned to her blanket and argued with her mind for the better part of the night. Why am I even staying with him? I hate him…but its not like he'll stay with me in Saillune. The faster we get there, the better, so that I never have to see him again.

Both Amelia and Zelgadis slept restlessly when they did manage to fall asleep, and when they awoke, they quickly ate and packed, not even looking at each other as they set off on the road to Saillune again.

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*A/N: Whoa! Weird chapter, no? Sorry it took so long! I've had another douse of writers block, and I've found out that a few of my marks in school aren't very good, so the chapters might take even longer. I'm sorry about this chapter being short!

So, what do you people think of this chapter. I'm not sure if you guys liked it…but I hope you did. And I'm very sorry if they're both OOC, especially Ame. But hey, Amelia's grown and matured, so of course she's changed and she's different. And Zel…well, he's gotten…umm…older, so he's changed a bit too. Everyone changes as they grow, so I don't see why Ame and Zel can't change. I've always thought that its ok to have a bit of OOCness in a fic, so long as they don't have completely different personalities. But boy, did Amelia throw a fit or what?! Did anyone see this coming?

Thanks to Digi-rivin, Lauren-sama, Winged Dancer, Minimerc, and MoroTheWolfGod for reviewing the last chapter. I'm not going to answer any of your questions, because I want to keep you in suspense! MUAHAHA! Ahem…well, you'll just have to wait and see, but I'd still like it if you ask me questions…you never know…one of these days I just might answer them! Anyways, I love putting Ame and Zel through awkward silences, and I love it when they misunderstand each other! Torturing them is fun, but don't worry, I'm not THAT evil. They'll get together…eventually…

And I've got 2 more people reading my fic! *jumps up and down* YAY! To Cookie Phantasm, thanks SO much for taking some time to write me a review! *smiles* I'd say you're a pro at writing reviews, and I really appreciated the one you wrote me! ^^

And to destructive sorceress, thanks SO much for your review! *grins* I'm really glad you liked the last chapter! ^^ I've read a bit of one of your fics, but I never had the time to finish reading all the chapters because I was kicked off the computer *sweatdrops* So, as soon as I have the time, I'm going to finish reading it and then I'll write a review!

So, once again thanks to every who reviews! In fact, thanks to anyone who reads, in case there are people who read this fic but don't review! Thanks so much! I'm writing this fic for you guys! If you people didn't read my fic, I wouldn't be writing it ^^ Thanks so much! Luv, Vivi J