Soobin: Thank you so very much for your delightful reviews. I appologise for the short chapter (and this one will be too I'm afraid), but to be honest, when I reached the part where it blacked out, I wasn't sure if I should just continue from there, or do a time lapse… or what! I was stumped for a while, but I hope you enjoy this.

Kristall: giggles I hope you didn't hurt yourself falling from that chair; even the anime chibis can end up with some pretty wicked lumps! Many thanks for the review and hopefully this gives the story some closure. If not, don't hesitate to let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I'm able.

Kitsuneonna: too dark? Never! I love dark, and to be honest, this turned out more romancy than I'd originally intended. Oh well. I'm pleased that you like the L-sama/Xel bit, and am extremely happy that you understood what I was intending; rereading it, I'm not sure if I understand what I was intending, hehehehe. And no, I'm not going to kill you, I shall make you suffer through one more short chapter instead! Mwahahahaa… ahem…

yes… well…

On to the conclusion, shall we?

"Hey, sleepyhead, open your eyes already!"

Amelia groaned softly in protest against the words from her mental companion and screwed her eyes closed tighter. Her head pounded and her body ached as if she'd slept on a hard floor all night, making her stiff and her muscles burn. No, she certainly did not want to get up! She suddenly recalled what had happened before everything flashed to darkness and she bolted upright, clutching her head against the pain the movement and sudden opening of her eyes had caused.

"Stupid."

"Oh do shut up a moment," Amelia hissed under her breath. Once she was sure the chiding voice would be silent in her thoughts for the time being, she cracked open her eyes, slowly this time, to see her room. It was just as she'd left it that morning. Akkari lay next to her still asleep. "Wha—what happened?"

"Are you going to tell me to shut up again?" the voice wondered, no small amount of annoyance lacing the tone.

"No," the young woman sighed. "So what happened?" she asked again as she quietly, but swiftly slid out of bed and tugged on her robe.

"Changes wrought unendingly provide opportunities for a new future."

"What do you mean, 'a new future'?"

The soft voice chuckled, but refused to answer further. Amelia, growing frustrated, hurried down the hall to where Lina'd been put to deliver her baby the day before, at least what Amelia thought was the day before. "Lina-san?"

"Shhh," the sorceress hushed softly, pressing a finger to her lips as soon as she saw her friend.

Amelia blanched. Lina was sitting in the window of the room, on leg on either side of the wall. The soft morning breeze that blew in teased the sorceress' fiery tresses into caressing her face. The older woman's complexion seemed healthy, as healthy as when they'd all traveled together years ago, and her eyes, though they held a trace of sadness, were not clouded with pain, exhaustion or the despair that Amelia so clearly recalled seeing before L-sama appeared.

"Sh—She gave you back again?"

Lina nodded and offered a small smile before her friend ran over to embrace her tightly. "I'm so glad you're here!" the queen sobbed, squeezing Lina tighter.

"Hey now, enough of that!" the sorceress scolded though her tone was fond. "There've been enough tears for a while. And keep it down!"

"Why?"

The redhead merely pointed over to the bed, chuckling at Amelia's gasp.

Xelloss lay curled up on the bed, sound asleep. His breathing was deep and his expression was peaceful. With a soft murmur, the violet-haired priest rolled over and snuggled deeper with his blanket, absently reaching over as if grasping for something. His hand finding nothing, he stretched further, the slender brows drawing together as his eyes squeezed tighter. Finally, he opened his eyes, an expression of mild surprise appearing on his face when he didn't find what he was looking for.

"Lina?"

"Here," the sorceress called from her window perch. "Go back to sleep."

Xelloss frowned slightly while he sat up, propping himself up against his pillow and the headboard. "Good morning, Your Highness," he greeted brightly, with a familiar smile.

There was something… off about the Mazoku, but Amelia couldn't place it. Rather than stress her tired mind out further, she opted to return his cheery greeting. "Good morning, Xelloss-san." Her gaze shifted back to her mentor, to see her grinning. "Um… can either of you tell me what happened?"

"You're human!"

Three pairs of eyes stared at Zelgadis' shocked face. The young man had entered the room silently, having found the door open from Amelia's arrival. He'd noticed the difference that his younger friend had, but he recognized it. Xelloss' eyes, normally kept closed as if guarding his secrets, were open, the pupils unslitted – human. "But… you were …"

"Dead?" Xelloss offered with a lopsided grin. Moving slowly, but purposefully, the newly-made human slid out of the bed onto his feet, and moved over to his lover where she still sat in the window. "Essentially, I suppose I was. But L-sama decided I be given back as well."

"A life for a life," Gourry announced cheerfully as he stepped up next to Zelgadis and Amelia. Smiling happily, he ran over to Lina to sweep her into a crushing hug. "I thought we'd lost you again!"

"You will…. if you don't … let go," Lina wheezed.

"Oh, sorry!" the blonde apologized, though not truly as abashed as he appeared; he was too happy to be worried over something as little as a bear hug harming the death-cheating sorceress. Beaming at the amethyst eyed youth at Lina's side, Gourry slapped him good naturedly on the back. "Glad you're okay too!"

Stumbling to catch is balance, something he was still trying to learn in this new body, Xelloss smiled back at the delighted swordsman, "Thanks."

Filia suddenly appeared between Gourry and Xelloss, her hands balled into fists at her sides, and her face an expression of fury. "You idiot! Are you completely gone in the head!" she roared. "If you ever, and I mean EVER do something that completely irresponsibly stupid –"

"Thank you."

Those two words, hardly more than a whisper from Xelloss' lips, silenced the Golden Dragon's tirade faster and more effectively than any spell Lina could have cast on her. Filia's anger evaporated faster than the morning mist in the courtyard, and her large blue eyes softened. "Idiot."

Xelloss smiled at the shrine maiden, then at his other companions gathered around. Thank you all, he thought. He would never say those words to those in present company, it just wasn't his style, but he knew they understood when he met each pair of blue eyes. Because of their efforts, Lina'd lived long enough for him to be able to summon the Lord of Nightmares, and because of their love and determination, he'd been given a second chance.

"Where's Sylphiel?" Lina asked in the silence.

Gourry frowned slightly as he and the others glanced around. "She'd been right behind me…"

"I'm here," the dark-haired shrine maiden said softly, stepping in through the door. She'd been waiting in the adjacent room, hoping for an opportunity to talk to Lina in private, to explain things.

"C'mere," Lina beckoned. When Sylphiel moved to stand demurely in front of her, shame reddening the young woman's pretty face, Lina slapped her lightly across the face before pulling her into a tight embrace the next moment. While she held the shocked woman close, Lina whispered, "I understand. Look after him, would you? I'll have my own hands full."

All was forgiven. Sylphiel smiled her understanding and nodded. "Of course."

"Lina-san," Amelia's voice cut in softly, pulling the two young women apart. "I hate to ask, but… where's the baby?"

"A life for a life," the redhead replied softly. "A balance must be maintained. In return for taking the life of the baby," she steeled her nerve; she would be strong. She had her love back didn't she? They had a lifetime to try again. "In return for the baby's life, she granted Xelloss his."

Zelgadis' eyes widened slightly as he thought about the sorceress words. "You're talking human lives… but what about the balance between Dragon and Mazoku?"

end

I'm done! Hurrah! This is one of the few – and I mean few – fics that I've ever finished. It's not really a cliffhanger, just something that can be left as is, or can be picked up for a sequel later. I know it's a short chapter, but … shrugs to be honest, I think it closes things decently enough. I'm currently working on a prequel to this fic… about what happened in the year and half everyone has forgotten. Would anyone be interested in seeing it posted? Thanks again to all those who reviewed; I can honestly say that you're the reason this fic ever made it past the first few chapters. And I thank those of you who read and didn't review, too. – I really wish hosted a page counter so that we could actually see how many people do read the fic without posting – oh well. Anywho…. Until next time,

Ishy-chan