A/N: Finally, an update! I actually have a bit more written, but I just need to transfer it to my computer. I hope to post more chapters in the upcoming weeks. If you're so inclined, leave a review! We're getting close to the end...

Lecia watched as her brother opened his eyes, his hand coming up to brush away the coppery curls from his face. "Ugh," he muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head. "What happened?"

Lecia smiled at the soaring relief in her heart. She hadn't left his side since they arrived, not even when Alfred and Val tried to get her to steal away with them for a few moments, respectively. She liked them both a lot, but they just didn't seem to understand that her brother always came first. "Hey," she replied, tousling his hair. "You did some crazy magic back at Grandma's."

Gorran's eyes opened wide as he looked around. "Where are we?"

"Seyruun."

"Mom? Dad?"

"Down the hall."

Gorran's large eyes focused on her, gaze moist. "Is he okay? Is Mom okay?"

She reached out and pulled him into her lap. He struggled a bit, but then gave up. Hugging him hard, she rested her cheek on his silky curls. "I think so. After we bathe and eat we can go see them."

Gorran slid from her embrace and stood in front of her defiantly. "No, I want to see them now."

Lecia sighed. "Me too, but we can't. I don't know where they are."

"Then let's find them."

"No," she replied.

"You don't care about them! You only care about yourself and those stupid boys!" Gorran shouted, stamping his foot. His lower lip was quivering, and his hands were curled into fists.

His words went straight to Lecia's heart. "Hey, that's not true," she said. "I care about them and I care about you, too."

"Prove it!"

Lecia's patience was wearing thin. "I AM proving it, butthead," she growled. "You're the one that's being selfish right now. Mom hasn't seen Daddy for almost two years, and he's not conscious. She's cleaning him up and feeding herself right now." That was mostly the truth. She actually knew that her mother had finished cleaning up and eating a couple of hours ago, but there was no reason Gorran needed to know that.

"So?" Gorran snapped back. "So why should I care?"

"Because you really haven't seen them in almost two years, either. Don't you want them to see how much you've grown?"

Gorran's posture became less belligerent and he started to fiddle with his fingers. "Yeah, okay," he grumbled.

"Then you need to clean yourself up and get some food in you. Can you imagine what would happen if you gave Mom a big hug and your belly rumbled?"

Gorran smiled. "She'd probably realize she was hungry and order more food."

Lecia grinned back. "That's right, and then we'd all have to sit and wait until she was done."

"Luckily, she eats quickly," Gorran snickered.

"But then we'd have to clean up after her."

"Ugh!" Gorran giggled. "No way!"

Lecia nodded. "So are we agreed?" she asked.

Gorran scratched his cheek. "Yeah, okay," he said. "You gonna clean up, too?"

"Yeah. I'll be back with food in a few minutes, okay? Be sure to wash behind your ears."

"Sure, sure. I'm not a kid anymore, you know," he grumbled, but went off towards his bathing chamber. Lecia left the room and walked down the hall. She wished he was right, but the only thing she was certain of was that he was still a kid. They all were. Their time on Wolfpack Island had proven that.

As she promised, they ate together and were then shown to their parents' suite. She opened the door a crack, saw her mother sitting upright on the bed, holding her father's hand, and decided it was okay to enter. Putting a hand on Gorran's back, she shoved him into the room. "Hi," she said, closing the door behind her.

"Come here," Lina replied, dropping Xellos' hand and holding her arms wide. Gorran and Lecia ran over, throwing their arms around her. Lecia closed her eyes and breathed in her mother's smell, the slight spice of her hair. Her mother had always smelled that way and the sent had always comforted her. "I missed you two so much."

"We missed you, too," Lecia croaked, tears welling up in her eyes in spite of herself. Gorran was clinging to Lina and sobbing. "You should have taken us with you."

Her mother looked at her levelly, her ruby eyes distant. "It was better I didn't, and you know it. The life of the road is a hard one. I would never do that to the ones I love."

Gorran's sobbing was starting to ebb as Lina stroked his hair. "Everyone was really great to us," Lecia offered. "Miss Amelia and Mister Zelgadis did their best."

Lina's face tightened. "And Gourry?"

Lecia didn't miss the razors in her mother's tone. "He was very kind to Gorran and Kerra. Tried to give him the best of everything. I visited often."

"How about you, guy?" Lina asked her son. "Did you have fun there?"

"Yeah," Gorran sniffled. "I had lots of fun. They taught me a lot of stuff. Kerra, too. Lecia beat up Mister Gourry a bit before we left, though."

"Did she?" Lina chuckled. "Well, it doesn't matter now. We're together again."

"How is Dad?" Gorran asked, moving away from Lina and looking down at Xellos' still features.

"Unconscious. Not alive, but not dead. Seems to be some sort of stasis."

"And Grandma said he did it to himself," Lecia added. "What sort of magic could Daddy do that not even Grandma could break?"

Their heads turned as the door swung open and Zelgadis entered. "Hope I'm not interrupting," he said.

"No, we're just discussing our next plan of action," Lina replied.

Lecia had often been at war with Zelgadis during her stay, but she also respected his knowledge and power. "What spells do you know of that not even a demon could break?" she asked him.

"Ask Gorran," he replied. "Alfred told me everything."

Gorran's cheeks turned red. "I didn't do anything special."

"Lina, you know that Xellos' chambers on Wolfpack were in a pocket dimension. You spent time there. Only a more powerful Monster could have broken them out of there, or a different brand of magic altogether."

Lina narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying?"

Zelgadis took a deep breath. "Runic magic."

Lecia gasped. She had never heard of such a thing. Obviously Zelgadis thought that her little brother knew how to use it, though. Was that what Gorran had been so busily studying when they were in captivity?

Lina's lips were pursed together. "I only vaguely remember Xellos mentioning such a thing," she muttered.

"Wait a minute," Lecia said. "Is that what was wrong with our house when we moved in?"

Lina nodded, and suddenly all the pieces fell into place. The strange symbols she discovered on the wall playing in the garden as a child, the writing in the books in Xellos' magic. "Xellos was the last person alive that knew how to use it."

"Except for Gorran," Lecia blurted. "How come he didn't teach me to use it?"

"He didn't teach anyone runic magic," Lina said quietly. "He didn't teach me, either."

Zelgadis caught her gaze and held it. "You see, runic magic is extremely dangerous. One wrong stroke and you not only die, you are completely obliterated. You no longer exist in any way, shape, or form, and from what he told me, it's extremely painful and can have lasting effects on the environment. It takes great patience and skill to learn runic magic, not to mention a steady hand."

Lecia paled. Maybe she didn't want to learn that kind of spellcasting after all. "So how do you know it?" she asked Gorran.

"I found some books," he replied. "They were under the statue in the yard. I blew it over once practicing my spells, and when I tried to put it upright, something tingled my senses. I dug it up, and it was full of books. I took them and put everything the way it had been."

"Gorran, that's a dangerous game," Lina said softly. "You should have told one of us."

"I didn't want to get in trouble," he protested. "And the books were really interesting."

Zelgadis sighed. "No point in arguing now. Gorran knows a little about runic magic, which is obviously what Xellos used to protect himself from the Monsters. He apparently thought he'd never be rescued, otherwise he wouldn't have used that particular spell. Death didn't appeal to him either, though, otherwise he could have just killed himself and taken them with him."

Lina's eyes darkened with emotion. "He found hope as a human, Zel. That's a precious gift he couldn't ignore and couldn't discard, even if it meant eternity in stasis."

"He's always been a tricky one," Zelgadis muttered.

Lecia rubbed her chin and toyed with her dark, glossy hair, fiddling with the ends that reached all the way down to her hips. "So you think he told you about runic magic years ago, in case something like this happened? And he kept those books so that we would know how to help him?"

"Wouldn't put it past him," Zelgadis replied.

"Hope, like I said," Lina sighed. "He always put way too much faith in me."

Zelgadis laughed, the sound startling Lecia a little. She rarely heard the chimera laugh. "I don't think so. If anyone can get something done, it's you, Lina," he chuckled. "Xellos isn't stupid. He knows your limits."

Lecia looked at her mother in awe, realizing for the first time how important her mother was to everyone and how they all looked up to her. Would she ever command such respect? Would she ever have such strength? Her mother, for all her ego, had never really asked for fame, and had never received recognition for saving the world so many times. She suddenly felt like she had discovered a window into her mother's life, seeing her as a person and a woman instead of a mother.

"So you think I can help?" Gorran piped, interrupting her train of thought.

"I don't think so," Lina said roughly. "I am not going to risk you. What if something happened?"

"But Mom-"

"I said no," Lina snapped. "Zel and I will take care of this."

Lecia watched the three argue, then looked at her father's still face. "I think you should let him do it," she said softly, and all of them turned to look at her. "Mom, we had to live without you for a very long time. Sure, it wasn't a lifetime, but it felt like one. Now all we want is to be a family."

"And we can't very well do that if Gorran blows himself into nothingness, can we?" Lina growled.

Lecia stood up, drawing Lina up with her so that they stood face to face. Lecia was a bit taller than Lina now, having to angle her chin down a bit to look her mother in the eyes. She loved her mother, but she was only a person, and Lecia was only a person as well. Perhaps it was time they began dealing with one another as such. "Gorran wants a chance to prove himself. He wants to be able to help in a way that no one else can. You've felt that way, haven't you? I know I want to. When I feel that way someday, I'll finally feel like my own person. You've had that for a long time. He just wants the chance to feel it, too."

"Lecia," Gorran breathed.

"Honey, I understand, but it's a risk I'm not willing to take."

"But he's capable of it. He already broke us out of a subdimension and broke through Daddy's barrier. It's not a question of ability."

"If he makes a mistake, though-"

"He won't make a mistake. He's your son. He's Daddy's son. Do you really think he'll make a mistake when his family's happiness is on the line?"

Lina's eyes locked with hers, ruby searching amethyst. "Do you have faith in him, Lecia?" she asked, and Lecia knew that she was asking her opinion as a person, not as a family member.

Lecia looked over at her little brother. "Yes, I do. I know Gorran can do this."

Lina glanced at Gorran, then at Xellos. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and held it. When she exhaled, her eyes opened and she nodded. "All right, then. Do what you have to do, Gorran, and be careful. If you can't figure it out, though, just leave it and we'll think of something else."

"I will," he replied, young voice solemn.

Lina smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Go examine him, then, and see if you can figure out what he used. Maybe Filia can give you a ride home to get those books."

"That's a long way," Gorran murmured.

"Dragons can teleport, if they're strong enough and they know where they're going," Lina said with a grin. "Go get her."

"Okay!" Gorran said, rushing to the door, then stopped. "Uh, where is she?" he asked.

"I'll take you," Zelgadis offered, and the two males left the room.

Lecia watched them go, then started as she felt a hand on her own shoulder. "Hey, kiddo, I'm proud of you," Lina said to her. "Not just anyone can convince me to do something I don't want to, especially without pissing me off. You did well, and I think you're right."

Lecia wanted to cry and burst into laughter at the same time. The strange anger she had been dealing with for the past few years seemed to melt away from her, the frustration leaving her as if a wind had blown it away. She no longer felt like her mother felt she was a child; she no longer felt as if she would never be as grand as her mother. Lina valued her as a person, which was all she had ever wanted. She knew Lina hadn't wanted to give birth to her, and so for her mother to actually be glad of her and for them to work together was the greatest pleasure she had ever known. "I love you, Mom," she said.

Lina smiled. "I love you, too."

They sat side by side on a couch near the bed, gazing at their reflections in a mirror. Lecia basked in her mother's fiery presence, squeezing her mother's hand and remembering the warm times they had shared together when she was little. Her eyes roved over the reflections, and she realized how beautiful her mother was. Lina's bone structure was petite without being waifish, her limbs long despite her short stature. She didn't have a single gray hair and didn't seem to show any signs of aging. Lecia wondered what she would look like when she was her mother's age.

"You know, I'm starting to get wrinkles," Lina mused, looking at their reflections. "I guess it's about time. I'm over forty, you know."

"You don't look it," Lecia replied truthfully.

"Don't care if I do," Lina said, and Lecia knew that her mother was being totally honest. Lina never worried about how she looked. Lecia let her eyes wander over her own figure once more. She had the slenderness of both her parents and was already taller than her mother. Her face was very much like Lina's, but also held aspects of her father's. She had a bit more muscle mass than Lina, and her bosom was quite generous already. Her hips had more of a swell to them, too. She knew that because the boys were always looking at her chest and hips. Stupid boys. Her thoughts turned that topic over for a while, and then she decided that she might as well take advantage of her new-found closeness with Lina.

"Hey Mom," she asked.

"Yeah?"

"How do you know when you like a boy?"

Lina smiled, turning away from the mirror. "You mean how do you choose between two boys?"

Lecia blushed. "Well, sort of."

"I know about you, Alfred, and Val. You know they both like you."

"Er, yeah."

"And you want to know what to do."

"Yes."

Lina's smile broadened. "Take 'em both for all they're worth, until you find someone you like better than both of them!"

"Mom!"

Laughter floated throughout the room. "I'm just kidding. Seriously, who do you like more?"

Lecia folded her hands in her lap and bowed her head. "I don't know. How do I find out?"

"You're young yet. Why do you need to pick? I didn't settle down until I was in my late twenties."

"I don't want to waste my time. It's just something I feel inside."

Lina studied her for a moment, mirth fading. "You know. When that somebody touches you, you'll know. Fire will race through your veins and you won't want to breathe air from anywhere but they space they occupy."

"Was that how Gourry and Daddy made you feel?"

Lina's expression grew wistful. "Yeah, it was."

"So what made you pick Daddy?"

There was a long silence as Lina thought, emotions and thoughts speeding behind her eyes so quickly that Lecia couldn't interpret any of them. "When I was with your dad as a human, I felt completely understood. He made me feel like I was a part of something bigger. I felt like he could see straight into my soul. Even though I love him with everything I am, I don't feel like I got to pick my life with him. I made choices without knowing I was making them, and I paid for my actions. I'm just lucky that I'm really happy with the way things turned out."

Lecia examined her mother's words. "You don't want that to happen to me," she murmured.

"Nope. I don't want that to happen to either of you. Gorran's lucky, I think. He's more like your dad. He knows what he wants with his heart, and he'll go out and get it. I know what I want for myself and my life, but I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself I was above having a heart. I can see that in you, too."

Lecia thought about that for a moment, then decided she was right, to a certain extent. "So what do I do?"

"Pick Alfred," Lina said with a wink. "He's cute, sweet, smart, and has oodles of money."

"But what about love? What about passion?"

"Aw, that's just drama. Val's a really great kid, but he's a punk. Besides, who'd you rather have for in-laws, Filia or Amelia and Zel?"

Lecia shuddered, which made Lina break out into laughter. "Uh, I'll take the mystery man number three," she said.

Lina clapped her on the shoulder. "Good choice," she chuckled. "Okay, I can hear them coming back. We should prepare ourselves for what's next."

"Yeah," Lecia agreed, and went to open the door.