xxxxxxxxxx
Early in the morning, as the darkness deepened before the dawn Lina Inverse started to dream. In her dream she saw herself by a sink, chained to it, with a seemingly endless line of waitresses, all of whom looked amazingly like her sister, right down to, and including the big STICK they all held! As fast as she washed Lina just couldn't keep up. The waitresses were annoyed with her and threatened her with their sticks as she washed faster and faster. Then she noticed that as each plate became clean she could see... Gourry's face! No doubt about it, it was like each piece of china in her sister's restaurant was decorated with the smiling blonde visage of Gourry Gabriev... Now the waitresses began to laugh at her with a mocking laugh. Lina washed as hard as she could, but still couldn't keep up. Suddenly she found herself almost buried in the dishes, and was about to suffocate..., when she woke up, gasping for breath! So, it had all been a dream after all! Phew, thank goodness. As her breath returned to normal and her heart slowed down she began to wonder what that was all about. Then her stomach rumbled, and she let out a little laugh and said, "Hunger".
She got up and went over to the night stand to get a drink of water. As she slowly sipped the drink she sat at the table and looked into the mirror at her sleep tousled form. "So, girl, what WAS that about?" she asked the moonlit, frumpy reflection. "Let's see, you were washing dishes for your sister, and she was bossing you around in the form of an endless stream of waitresses, and Gourry... wasn't there, and, and..., you missed him, didn't you?" She had to glance down for a minute, and then slowly she raised her sight back to the mirror in order to look herself in the eye. Slowly she smiled at her self and asked "Lina, it's time, no more fears, what do you really feel for Gourry?"
Mirror Lina looked away for a minute and a tender look came on her face. She returned her gaze to Lina and smiled a big warm smile. "I thought so..." said Lina. "And how long have you loved him?" Mirror Lina looked thoughtful and got a far away gaze on her face as she thought back over all the adventures they had had together. Finally she arrived at the time she first met him. She had just knocked off a bandit gang and was being attacked by the remnants, bent on revenge. She had been about to remind the crooks why she, Lina Inverse, was the world's most extraordinary sorceress, and how she had earned, at fifteen and a half, the fearsome title of Bandit Slayer, when who should step in to save what he thought was a damsel in distress, but the wandering mercenary Gourry! For a moment she had been ticked that he had stolen her spotlight, but then something caused her to change her mind and accept that he was helping her. She really had no idea what it was at the time, or why she had been willing to have him at her side from then on, in spite of reality's best efforts to insert numerous checks, not to mention wake up calls, oh, and the endless stream of coffee pots begging to be smelled, along the way. As she stared in the mirror on this night however, she finally was capable of being honest with herself. It had been love at first sight.
"Oh Lina, for all your brains, at heart you're such a romantic fool!" she smiled at herself with a sigh. "But, why have you been so afraid to love?" she asked herself in the mirror. Now she thought back over her life, the growing up in poverty, the way she always felt that she was second best compared to her sister... a tear rolled down from her eye. "Second best..." she whispered. After all she had been through... All she had done... She looked at herself in the mirror again and, with tears in her eyes she asked "Lina, tell the truth, do you love yourself?"
Mirror Lina seemed uncertain. It is sometimes a terrible thing to face the truth about yourself alone in the dark of night. Sometimes it is needful to do so. She thought back over her life, the good times and the bad, the angry times and the fearful times, the times she was alone, and the times she had people around her. As she did a smile slowly came across her face, and she realised the truth. Yes! She did love herself, for Lina Inverse was worth loving! But, it was tough to do, even for Lina Inverse. How much more wonderful it was, then, that Gourry was willing and able to do that too. "You can be a real fool sometimes Lina" she said to herself. "You will go and tell him the answer is "YES"! He has his faults, so do you, but it is obvious you love him despite, or even because, of them, and he feels the same way about you. That kind of love is just too valuable to go through life without. Go get it girl!"
Then she yawned, and yawned, and yawned. "I'm still so tired" she thought. "Well, back to bed girl. You can give Gourry the good news in the morning! It won't hurt him to wait just a bit longer!" With that she beamed a big, happy smile to herself and went back to bed. Let the dream come back, she knew how it would go this time. No matter how many dishes were brought she would be washing them with Gourry! And they would keep up! And the waitresses might be disappointed, but too bad, with Gourry beside her they'd never dare raise the stick to her, and she would be so happy..."
Lina awoke the next morning in a better frame of mind. She stretched, yawned, and bounced out of bed, hungry, but rested and ready for the day. Washing quickly, and brushing out her hair she changed into her day clothes and packed. They were leaving today, and she was going home to her village of Zefielia. What's more, for better or worse, Gourry would be going with her! That thought actually made her happy! She admitted to herself that at 21 she was finally getting ready to give up the "innocent little me" act and think about things like a husband, kids, and the rest of that. And as men went, well, what did other men have that Gourry didn't? Brains? Well, yeah, but heck she had enough for both of them as far as that went. "The thing about Gourry that's really important" she though to herself as she continued brushing her hair, "is that his heart is so big, it filled him up and didn't leave room for his poor brain to grow out normally, he, he, he..."
She now regretted her snapping at his proposal last night, but, ah well, she'd make it up to him this morning! Yup, a quick peck on the cheek, that ought to alert him that something unusual was about to happen, then a casual "Oh by the way, Gourry, the answer to your question of last night is YES!" And then? She giggled, anticipating the stunned look he'd have on his face, then, when it sunk in what she'd said, well, she was sure he'd have every emotion going fighting for control on his face until Joy finally won out! After all, it wasn't just any one who was worthy of the great and beautiful, world famous sorceress Lina Inverse! Hmmmm, soon to be Lina Gabriev? Hmmmm, better think about keeping her own name professionally. Oh well, she was ready, time to go!
She trotted out happily to the hall and knocked on Gourry's room. "Hey sleepyhead!" she sang out happily, "time to get up and buy me breakfast!" She tried not to giggle too loudly. She waited a minute. Funny, Gourry usually didn't take that long to answer... She gave the doorknob a twist and looked in. "Well, that figures..." she said, seeing the empty room. "Leave it to jellyfish to get up before me, hey, I don't care if the answer is "yes", he better have left me some breakfast!" She trounced down the stairs still smiling, looking around for Gourry. After a few perplexing minutes she realised he wasn't in the restaurant either. "Where the hell...?" she muttered to herself. She went over to the counter and asked the clerk where Gourry might be. After searching the records the man announced "Oh yes... He checked out last night." "WHAT?" shrieked Lina, incredulously. "Please Miss!" said the owner, cringing slightly, "here's the record, see, he paid in full for both your rooms, and the meal tab, so the debt is cleared, and then he left, around about midnight. Say, is your name Lina?" the man went on. "WHAT?" shrieked Lina again, then she realised the man had asked her a question. "Huh? Oh, yes, I'm Lina." "Here" said the man, handing her a letter. "He left a note for you..."
Lina took the note and reeled to the nearest table and sat down. What on earth was Gourry doing? He knew he couldn't make it without her. Where had he gone? The thoughts kept swirling around in her mind as she stared at the unopened note. Finally her thoughts were interrupted by a sprite young voice. It was the waitress asking if she could get something for Lina. Shaking herself out of the mood she smiled weakly at the young girl and said "Uh, just a cup of tea, please." The girl smiled prettily and bounced off to fulfill her request. Lina took a deep breath and opened the note. At first she couldn't believe what she was reading. Nor at the second or third reading. In fact, it took five or six readings until she accepted that Gourry meant what he wrote. "MEN!" she shouted, slamming her fist on the table, startling the poor waitress returning with her tea. "Oh, ha, ha, ha... I'm sorry! she said, putting her hand behind her head and giggling nervously. "Word of advice, never trust a man to get something you haven't spelled out for him." "Uh, yes, Miss, what e-ever you say..." stuttered the surprised girl as she dropped a curtsy and beat a hurried retreat. Lina sighed and said "Get a grip, girl" to herself as she sipped her tea. She put the cup down and read Gourry's note one more time.
"Lina:
I thought about what you said last night, and you are right, I can't offer you a future, just failure. I promised once that I'd protect you always, now I see you need protection from me, so, I'm going. Please don't miss me. It will make it easier for me to remember you the way you are, smiling, happy, full of confidence in yourself. I'm sorry Lina, I looked into your beautiful eyes and saw the sun shining out of them, and dreamed I could soar into the light, but it's something I did to myself, so I will live with it. I wish you every success with your sister, and beyond.
I love you, Lina:
Gourry"
There was even what looked like a tear stain on the letter.
Lina slowly folded the letter and put it away. She automatically sipped her tea without really tasting it. Finally she got up and paid for her tea, then, getting her bundle of clothes, she left, still in a daze. Standing in the street she looked north, then south, trying to decide which way a TWIT! of a jellyfish like Gourry would have gone. Well let's see, north was the way they were going, to Zefielia, to the south lay the highway to Seirune. Now let's see, Gourry would expect her to go north, so, he must have gone south. Who knows, maybe he'd ask Amelia for some sort of work. What to do? Should she just go home and write to her friend? Or should she chase after him and try to catch him? Suddenly she remembered what the man in the bar said and smacked herself upside the head. "He paid the tab!" she said to herself. "He has absolutely no money left!" That decided it, south it was. Feeling a strange sense of relief at not having to face her sister, just yet, she turned and started the long journey.
It was a league to the highway and it seemed to take forever, even though it was really about an hour's walk. As she trudged along Lina kept going over the events of her life with Gourry and the words in his letter. Something seemed to be building up in her, but she didn't know what it was, until she got to the cross roads where her path joined with the highway. There she found herself, to her own surprise, sitting with her back against a tree, head buried in her arms, which were resting on her drawn up knees, a short distance from the road, unable to go on. Mostly because the damned tears wouldn't stop. Finally, she cried herself out and got shakily to her feet. "Damn you Gourry!" she yelled between her sniffles. "How dare you make Lina Inverse cry! You're going to get such a fireballing after I find..." She stopped and took a deep, sniffley breath, then said "Hold it girl, just for once in your otherwise perfect life. This one you brought on yourself, he really thinks he's doing what you want, and this time you didn't give him a reason to think otherwise... No Gourry, you won't get a fireball, for once you'll get something I hope you'll find much more wonderful, me!" With that she took one more deep breath and started forward again, feeling strangely tired and full of energy at the same time. She didn't even seem to notice she hadn't eaten yet. Feet to the highway she marched along to Seirune.
