Sorry it took so long, but here it is. Hope you enjoy. Thank you very much Kaeru Shisho, Soobin, and kistuneonna for your kind reviews.

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Gourry stood at the foot of the bed, his handsome face the very picture of misery as he watched his wife, Queen Amelia, and the dragon priestess pour healing magic into Lina's body. A little colour had come back into the sorceress' pale cheeks, but even he could tell that it wasn't going to be enough. His heart ached as he watched the petite redhead draw ragged breaths, her eyes closed against the bright glow of the healing magics. If Sylphiel and Filia couldn't heal her, just what could he do?

"Lina, you can't die," he found himself pleading. He had accepted his marriage to the shrine maiden to his right, and he loved her dearly, but Lina still held a special place in his heart that no other, even Sylphiel, could touch. Helplessness welled up within him, as he watched the women try and heal their friend, but to no avail. "Why isn't it working?"

It was Zelgadis who answered. "I don't know, Gourry. It's almost as if whatever spell was in place to protect the baby, the one that blocked Amelia from healing her sooner, is still in place, though it was supposed to be nullified with the birth."

The blonde glanced at Zelgadis, not fully comprehending, but saw the pain and confusion in the smaller man's eyes and said nothing. He doesn't know either… Maybe Lina knows? "Lina," he called gently. "Lina, why isn't the magic working?"

"Gourry, she has to rest!" Filia snapped, never taking her eyes off her charge. She was worried as to why Lina wasn't recovering as well, but she knew that if Lina expended what little energy she did had, they may lose her all together, despite their efforts.

"We need to know what will work!"

Akkari stepped up and placed a hand on the tall blonde's shoulder, offering what sympathy he could. "Sometimes… L-sama just has Her own way of doing things."

"L-sama gave her back to me once before! Why would She take her away now? Like this?" Gourry cried, fighting tears.

"Come," the midwife called, beckoning the three men. "Let us get some water for the girls," she suggested, hoping to give them some time to compose themselves, away from the obviously strained women.

Sylphiel sighed softly as Gourry was led through the door and out of sight. She couldn't bear to see the strained look on his face anymore; it only served to remind her of the event with L-sama a few nights previous. Lina was her friend, of that there was no doubt, but to know that her husband, her heart, was still in love with Lina in a way that he would never love her, hurt. It made her wonder what would happen if Lina should die. Would she have her dear Gourry to herself completely, or would his spirit die with her and she'd lose him forever? The knowledge that Gourry was still Lina's guardian, by L-sama's decree, gave the troubled shrine maiden no solace. To what extent does Gourry have to protect her? What can he do in this situation?

Fighting down the pain seeming to squeeze her heart and the shred of jealousy towards the petite woman beneath her hands, Sylphiel redoubled her efforts. Lina would live! Suddenly something the golden deity had told her came to mind, unbidden. "Cherish the time you have and always remember those closest to your heart," She'd told me. "Should you forget them after they're gone, they cease to be. Humans live on in the memories and hearts of others. That is their immortality."

Amelia gasped as Sylpiel's magic ceased and the shrine maiden's hands fell to her sides. "Sylphiel-san, what are you doing! "

Sylphiel couldn't look her friends in the eyes, so turned her gaze to the redhead before her. "Lina, I'm sorry, but you'll always be in my thoughts. That is all I can offer," she whispered before she fled from the room.

-

Filia wiped her brow with her sleeve, never allowing the magic she channeled through her palms to lessen, though she was tiring. Amelia stood across from her, more exhausted, but trying equally as hard to keep life in the frail form of their friend. Around them Zelgadis, Gourry and Akkari stood, helpless to do anything, but wanting to be near. Lina lay beneath her outstretched palms, her breathing slightly easier than before, but she was little improved. She would die within a very short time should she or Amelia stop their ministrations. The dragon priestess still could not understand why Sylphiel had given up and fled a few minutes before, and what the woman had said nagged at her, "You'll always be in my thoughts. That is all I can offer." Just what had Sylphiel meant by that!

"Xelloss?"

The wheezed name from Lina, caused the occupants of the room to jump slightly as all attention turned to the materializing form at the far end of the room. Golden light filled the chamber as the figure of the priest coalesced before them, but he seemed to radiate with the same golden hue as what was bathing the room, causing all to gape in awe. "L-sama," Amelia and Zelgadis whispered.

Lina was awed at the sight of the apparition, though her heart broke in the same instant. Xelloss was dead. I told him She could hurt him, she thought sadly. "Perhaps not" he'd told me. She may not have physically hurt him, but what about me? "Xelloss?" she called softly, already knowing the answer. Exhaustion welled within her, and this time, she did not have the will to fight it. Her child was dead, and now Xelloss… She closed her eyes and turned her head away; she would not watch this being in the figure of her lover. She would remember Xelloss, the real Xelloss, as he had been, not subsumed by the creator of this world, golden and flawless as She made him appear.

"Humans live on in the memories and hearts of others. That is your immortality," L-sama told them through Xelloss' body. "Without being remembered, you cease to be after you die. The same applies, though on a smaller scale, to my other races. That is how it is meant to be. Why then, do you fear death so?"

"It's not death we fear so much," Lina heard Zelgadis reply in a reverent tone, "but it is the pain of loss when someone close to us passes on."

"You cannot escape it."

"No, we cannot," Filia agreed in a soft voice, "but we try to prolong its coming for as long as possible."

"But you are a dragon. You will not die of old age as these others will… Why do you attempt to prolong the inevitable?"

"These are my friends. It hurts me to know that I will lose them all someday, but I would like to try my best to keep them happy and well for as long as I am able."

Lina snapped her gaze back to the rest of the room when she heard the distinct shing of a sword being unsheathed and Gourry growl. "Xelloss or L-sama, I don't care which you are, but no one's gonna hurt Lina anymore!"

"Gourry…" Lina began, but was interrupted by the golden figure.

"My dear boy, you are her Guardian, but what do you honestly think you can do against me?" the figure laughed. "What do you propose I do?"

"Die," the blonde snarled as he lunged forward, sinking his sword deep into the chest of the golden Lord. "If you die, she can't be hurt by you anymore!"

"Gourry!" those in the room yelled, though all fell silent when L-sama laughed again. The look on that golden face was sinister despite the smile.

"You would kill to save yourself from painful emotions? Perhaps your heart is not as pure as I had thought?"

Gourry's eyes opened wide as he stared at the glowing figure, his sword still buried to the hilt within the chest of Xelloss' body. "I would kill to save Lina… I would die for her, if it meant bringing her back. I've brought her back before."

"Gourry, enough," Lina called as she struggled to sit up. Filia and Amelia were there immediately aiding her, their magic stopped for the moment, though both wanted to tell her to lay back down, she knew. I'm not going to lay here while Gourry gets himself killed on my account. I've already lost Xelloss, I'm not going to lose him too! Pushing the blanket weakly away from her feet, she allowed her friends to help her stand and move closer to the golden figure. "Pull out your sword, you idiot."

Gourry did as she bid, a protest to her actions dying on his lips as the Xelloss-looking figure brushed past him.

"You're not Xelloss," the sorceress whispered as she looked up into the familiar face. No eyes could be seen in the depths of shadows behind golden bangs, but she knew they wouldn't be the amethyst shards of her lover. Shrugging off the supporting hands of the women, she straightened herself to the best of her ability despite the exhaustion and pain that ravaged her slender body. "What do you hope to accomplish by tormenting my friends?"

Golden features suddenly seemed to brighten as a smile spread over thin lips. "That is a secret!" the deity giggled in a very Xelloss-like way.

"Stop that! You're not Xelloss!"

"Ahh, but I am, and you're right, I'm not," L-sama chortled. "I am all of you, but I am none of you."

Lina sighed tiredly. She didn't have the energy to play word games, no matter if it was her creator or not. She was on the brink of collapse and had little enough time. "What brought you here?"

"You did, but I'm sure you're meaning a little more specifically," the Lord of Nightmares giggled. "Xelloss."

"How?"

"Does it really matter? I am here as he hoped, does there really need to be an explanation as to how I came to be here?"

"No," Lina stated softly, more to move on to her other questions than she actually agreed with the Lord, but she was weakening quickly. "For what purpose are you here?"

"To save you, again," L-sama told her softly, a slender golden hand coming up to brush Lina's damp bangs from her eyes. "He has done what you once did for your guardian."

Lina closed her eyes against the gentle touch, trying to block out the image of Xelloss. "Stupid Mazoku," she whispered. She didn't remember exactly what happened when she'd cast the Giga Slave a few years before, but she knew it was important and explained the special love she'd felt for Gourry. She still loved him, but not in that way. Her heart belonged to the man who's body the Creator of All had taken over. "You tried to take me once," she began, pausing to catch the breath that was becoming increasingly harder to draw, "so take me now. I have lost what I cared for. You granted Phibrizo the destruction he craved, now I ask the same release."

"You would rather die than live with those here?" The Lord of Nightmares studied the weary face of Her Chosen for a long moment before She reached up to cup Lina's face in her hands, leaning down to kiss the young woman tenderly on the forehead. "Time stops for no one, but I am the bringer of life … and death."

As the soft words finished, a blinding light began to emanate from the golden deity, building in intensity until everyone had to close their eyes. Then everything plunged into darkness.