Chapter 18 xxxxxxxxxx

Her eyes opened slowly on a bright day. She felt refreshed and comfortable, it was amazing what some sleep can do for you. She looked around at the gold posts of the queen's bed and thought with bemusement how there was more money than her home town was worth in the chambers she was being allowed to use for her visit here. If only she could take it, wouldn't Luna be surprised to find that she and the rest of the city had been bought out by Lina and Gourry. Gourry... Suddenly her memory woke up in full and she popped awake! She was really in the Queen's bed! How did she get here? Who moved her from Gourry's side? How dare they! With a loud shout she lept from the bed.

The serving girl Trina ran in from the other room a look of fear on her face. "Lady Lina?" she said, not knowing what to make of it. "Why!" shouted Lina "Why am I here? I should be at his side!" The poor servant girl looked even more afraid. "Please, please forgive us Lady!" she said. "The Queen had left strict orders that if and when you fell asleep you were to be brought back here so you could sleep well, and then, when you awoke, food, a bath, and clean clothing were to be made available to you, with strict orders that you were to use them all and refresh yourself before you went back..., back to him, so you'd be able to care for him better, having cared for yourself first..." Lina stopped in mid rant and let out a sigh. There was a point to it, she could see. "Okay, but be quick..." she said.

Trina led her into the next room. Food was set out and Lina ate. She found she was as hungry as if she had just cast a baker's dozen Dragon Slaves. She piled the food in, and drank well, and yawned all the way through the meal, but on Trina's timid sugestion she needed more sleep she gave such a frown the poor girl trembled in fear. This got Lina's attention, Trina was usually too happy for that to happen. She looked closer at the poor girl. "Trina," she asked in a quieter, concerned voice "Why are your eyes red? Have you been..., oh what am I asking! Of course you have been. Was it your father?" The girl hung her head, the tears starting to flow again, and shook her head "No". Lina clued in. "Oh no, not your love?"

The girl began to weep openly, for that's just who it was and sank into Lina's embrace. Both girls cried, one for her loss, the other for the fear of soon being in the same state. After a bit, Lina looked the younger girl in the eyes and said "I'm sorry I was snappish Trina, I get like that at the drop of a hat, and with no sleep, and a major worry that I will soon share your fate I really am not myself. Please forgive me." Trina sniffed and replied "Lady, it's okay, and I am sorry too, I was having a weep when you woke up, I probably disturbed you." "Why didn't they let you take time off?" asked Lina. "I need to work, if I keep busy the pain is less, they would have given me all the time I wanted if I were to ask." the girl answered. "Okay, I understand that." said Lina. "Okay then, let's get you busy, help me wash and dress, I need to get back to Gourry." Trina sniffed and smiled and went to work.

Lina's old clothes were soon off and set aside to be washed. Lina was at first going to wear another set, but Trina held up a pretty dress and shyly said to Lina "If he wakes up, he'll think he's in heaven and you are an angel." Lina laughed and thanked Trina as she slipped it on. As usual the young girl had great taste when it came to dressing Lina and Lina joked "If I ever become a rich lady you are going to be my personal maid, and even more, my friend, if you want that job, Trina. Though, don't get your hopes up, I have no doubt Gourry and I will end up as lower middle class or something. Ah, I don't know how many times I've had riches in my hands worth millions, but circumstances wouldn't let me keep them. And now, if I could have it all back, I'd give it away in an instant if my true wealth would only open his eyes once more." Trina nodded. "If you get rich, I'll be glad to take up your offer, My Lady" she said softly.

Lina hugged her once more, gave a final check in the mirror, brushed at a fly away spot of hair and went out of the room. She used the back ways to avoid meeting anyone in the great hall where it sounded like some sort of merry making was going on. She made her way quickly to the infirmary and into Gourry's room. "Gourry! I'm back!" she sang out as she entered into the room..., and came face to face with a startled housekeeper cleaning the room. "What?" she gasped. "Where, where's the man who was in the bed last night?" The house keeper looked confused and said "He's gone." "When?" asked Lina, the colour draining from her face as the room began to spin. "Sometime this morning, my Lady." was the reply. "And nobody woke me...," Lina's voice was quivering now as she staggered out of the room. "I, I'm sorry..." was the reply. Lina fled. The pain was building up rapidly inside, yet she couldn't let it out, the lump in her throat was too big. She ran out into the courtyard not knowing where to go or what to do. The world itself pressed in on her. Oh! How prophetic had been her words with Trina. The whole keep was suddenly too small. Acting on instinct, she activated the spell Ray-Wing and flew off into the air, away, away, she didn't care where, as long as it was away. Finally she found a secluded spot far away from everything and everybody, and landed. Falling to the ground she gave herself over to the blackness of her grief.

It was evening when she finally came back. She was angry now. No, she was in rage! How dare they let her sleep and then let her go to the infirmary to learn the horrible truth for herself. They should have awakened her and told her right away. Even if they got there too late..., by the nine hells, they should have not moved her in the first place. Fancy dresses nothing! Breakfast and a bath nothing! Gourry was all that mattered and they took him away from her! No, not they, the Queen... So thought Lina in unreason as she shoved the doors open to the great hall and decended on the Royal group at the table. It was just an intimate gathering, the King, his Queen, the Seirune trio. Baby Arthur seemed not to be in attendance. It looked as if another two places had been set, doubtless for Lina and Prince Erik. Well, she was here now.

"Naga!" she shouted getting their attention. "They tell me it was YOUR order that took me away from Gourry's side. I should have been there Naga!" "I beg your pardon?" came the shocked and confused reply. "The least you could have done was to have someone come and fetch me." Lina went on, growling in her anger now. "You know what he ment to me! I thought we were friends Naga! You said you loved me back in Seirune! Did you lie!" Naga was dumbfounded to say the least, and the rest of the table was shocked into silence too. Naga found her voice, "I-I don't understand Lina! I thought you'd want a good rest and a chance to get ready before you saw him again..." Lina screamed and shouted "Fine, a noble act, but you could have at least come and gotten me when he died!" The table was silent in shock. Lina went on. "But NO! YOU LET ME SLEEP IN! I had to find out for myself when I walked into his room and some poor cleaner who was there washing the bed told me he was gone just this morning!" Naga's mouth flapped silently several time then she finally said "Lina, you don't think I..." Lina cut her off. "I don't think? I don't think? NAGA! For as long as I've known you it's YOU who don't think. Or rather you think your own elevated thoughts and ignore or just plain miss the obvious." By now Lina was worked up into a state of unreason. "I have forgiven you so many times Naga because I truely do love you! BUT THIS IS TOO MUCH!" she shrieked. She had a very dangerous light in her eyes. Suddenly she yelled "OH, TO HELL WITH YOU!"

With that she totally lost it and cocked her arm back. A ball of flame sprang up in her hand and with a yell of "FIREBALL!" she hurtled the deadly sphere at the Queen. Several things happened at once. Naga hit the deck, her old reflexes still as sharp as ever. The fire ball went high, as if Lina, even in her anger had not wanted to hurt the Queen, and perhaps she didn't. It did make an impressive explosion at the back of the hall and several servants came out of no where to beat out the flames. Amilia launched herself on top of Gracia and threw a protective ward around her. A pair of strong hands, like bands of iron gripped Lina's arms from behind, holding her fast against any future attemps. Zelgadiss and Prince Phil yelled in surprise at Lina's crazy action. And then King Alfred slammed his hand down on the table and said in a voice so commanding that even Lina, despite her state, was unable to resist, "SILENCE!" The hall became absolutely silent.

Lina suddenly found her emotional energy had drained with the fireball and she slumped in the arms of the guard that held her. She hung her head in shame and waited for the King to pronounce her fate. She had no doubt what it would be, ah well, perhaps it was just as well this way... King Alfred looked straight at her, his anger evident. Finally, he spoke. "You Dare?" Lina started to cry. "He's gone and I lost it, Your Majesty..." "That's an excuse?" he demanded. "I have none Your Majesty." was her reply. She went on. "He is dead and gone now, please, send me to him. Make it as horrible as you want in revenge for this, but please send me to him..." The King was silent for a long minute. The rest of the hall seemed to hold it's breath, and although Lina didn't see it, Naga silently put her hands together as if in prayer, pleading for mercy for Lina. The King seemed not to see her. Finally he spoke, in a lower, but perhaps more dangerous voice.

"So, you would force Our hand in this and get Us to do what you couldn't do yourself." He was silent a bit longer then went on "I'm not buying into it Lina Inverse. Here is your punishment. You will LIVE!" Lina drooped in defeat. The King went on "I now make you the slave of the man who holds your arms, a brave and true knight of the realm who sprang forward to protect his Queen. I wash my hands of you, he has your fate in his keeping. If you want to die, get him to kill you! But I don't think you'll find him that easy to convince!" With that he sat down and the tension seemed to lessen, just a bit.

Lina sobbed a few times, her tears falling to the floor like rain. "Good Sir Knight. I will do anything you want, no matter what, if you will only grant me the privelage of an early death. Please, don't any of you get it? I want to be with my Gourry. I want to be dead!" Finally, the Knight spoke. "Gee Lina, how are you going to be in two places at once, especially if one of them is dead?" Lina didn't seem to respond for a good two or three seconds, but her tears had stopped instantly. She slowly lifted her head. No one could miss the total devastation on her face, and the wierd light of hope in her eyes. That..., voice..? She turned around, painfully slowly, yet she couldn't move faster, the Knight letting go of her arms to let her move. She looked up into his face, his eyes, then fainted into his arms, whispering his name as she did so...

"Gourry..."

She was still looking into his face when she opened her eyes again. For a long time all she did was stare. He looked back, getting more unsure by the minute. Finally, he spoke. "Er, Hi...". "You..., Live...?" she whispered. "Err, yup! Why, did you think I was dead or something?" he asked in innocent sincerity. Lina lept up..., and landed a perfectly aimed punch dead in the middle of his forehead! He crashed to the ground with Lina leaping on top of him like a wild cat. She grabbed his collar and started shaking him as she screamed "YOUMORONICYOGHURTBRAINEDJELLYFISH! DO YOU HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH?" She then gave a loud scream and fell into his arms laughing and crying all at the same time.

Gourry managed to wiggle up into a sitting position, Lina in his lap. When she slowed down for air he said "Well, I've been told something of what's been going on, but I guess I don't know it all..." She looked into his face with her tear filled eyes and laughed and hicoughed as she said "Oh Gourry, yes, I really did think you were dead, and you live, and now for the first time in a long time, so do I..." She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself a bit. Then, looking into his eyes she said "Gourry, why did you leave me there at the inn? I'm sorry I laughed, I didn't mean it the way it came across. I just meant I wasn't ready to answer your question that night... Do you remember what you asked me?"

Gourry looked confused then thought a bit. "Erm, well, it wasn't pass the food, we had none left, so let's see, maybe it was, no, hmmm, it had to be something important for you to remember it... hmmm. Oh I don't know, was it "Who's paying?" Lina screamed in frustration, holding her head with both her hands. Then she realised that Gourry was laughing and looked up to see the smirky smile on his face. "You do remember don't you? Please, please tell me you remember!" Gourry smiled at her with a broad open grin. "You don't forget asking the woman you love to marry you, Lina, even if you are a moronic yoghurt brained jellyfish" he said quietly. Lina reached over and hugged him and said "I deserved that..."

"Listen Gourry, you didn't understand. That night, I wasn't laughing at you, I was just too tired and hungry and depressed to think clearly. You should have waited till morning. I would have answered you then Gourry. And I would have said "YES!" Gourry, I was going to say yes..." Gourry looked sad. "I'm sorry Lina, I am sorry I blew it then, I love you more than life itself and I want nothing else than to be your husband and love you and cherish you forever." His eyes drooped to the ground in sadness. Lina lifted his chin so that he looked into her eyes and said "Gourry! You are doing it again! Listen you beautiful twit, the answer is still YES. It has been YES since that morning! I want you Gourry, I need you, strange as that may seem, I want to be your wife, to laugh with you, fight with you, run with you, sleep with you, wake up with you, even have your babies, and go through all of this adventure called life with you beside me! Gourry Gabriev! I Love You!" She went to kiss him..., and was stopped just short as a voice in the room said "Sounds like an exchange of vows to me."

Lina did a double take and realised for the first time that the room wasn't empty. King Alfred and Queen Gracia were there, as were Amilia, Zelgadiss, and Prince Phillionel. They were staring at them. Amilia was beaming a big smile, Zelgadiss had one of his rare bemused smirks on his face, Prince Phil seemed happy for them. Naga was giving her a strange bemused look, one eyebrow arched regally, and King Alfred seemed to be in thought. Suddenly the King strode forward to the couple seated on the floor. He stared down intently for a minute without saying anything. Lina gulped as the sweat drops started to pour down her forehead. Oh no! What if slaves weren't allowed to marry their masters? After a minute that only seemed like an eternity the King spoke. He got straight to the point. He looked at Lina and said "Do you want to marry him?" Lina gulped and said in a quavery voice "Yes..." The King instantly switched his gaze to Gourry and in the same commanding tone asked "Do you want to marry her?" Gourry also started to sweat as he smiled and put his hand behind his neck "Yes." he said. The King gave a dramatic little pause, looking stern, but with a bemused light in his eyes. "Your married!" he pronounced and walked back to the group.

Lina and Gourry were stunned. Zel and Phil laughed outright as Amilia tried to chide them for being unkind. It would have worked better if she hadn't been giggling too. Naga looked a the King with a puzzled expression and said "That's it?" "Yup" said the King. She continued to look at him, so eventually he went on "Well, why not? In this kingdom everyone who is licenced to perform marriages is granted their authority in my name, so if they have authority in my name, I, being me, have certainly got the authority as well. Also, as Lord Zel pointed out, they had already exchanged vows, so there really wasn't much left to do except make sure, and then pronounce. Finally, ever since she'd gotten here Lady Lina, or I suppose we should say Lady Gabriev now, has been moaning and bemoaning how she never got to say "yes" to her love when he asked her to marry him. She got so upset, in fact, that when she mistook the innocent remark of "he's gone..." to mean "he's dead", rather than the intended "he got up and left..." she then went on to mistake your kindness for interference, and ended up in such a state that she altogether lost it and tried to fireball you, my beloved Queen. Well, what else could I do? Here was the perfect opportunity and I grabbed it with both hands, now her problem is solved, and more importantly, my wife is protected, yes?" "Yes..." said the Queen, a little dizzy from following the convoluted speech. "So what's the problem?" asked the King.

"Oh, none I guess," replied the Queen. "I just imagined Lina would get married with more pomp, more, um, ceremony, somehow..." "So? She can have a public ceremony later. This is a private one for now to let her get on with her life, and us with ours. Still intact." Naga was silent for a minute, but obviously thinking. She looked over to Lina and a wicked, amuzed "Naga the White Serpent in full force" look came over her face and an ominous light was in her eyes. "Lady Lina Gabriev, nee Inverse!" she announced. "I know how I'm going to get even for that fireball! I'm going to..., PLAN YOUR WEDDING!" Lina, who had been sitting in stunned silence all this time, howled and hugged Gourry tight. "Please no! Have mercy..." she pled, and she ment it too... Naga gave a loud, triumphant laugh, oh yes, it was that laugh...

The King suddenly cut in and said "Hey! You're supposed to be saving that for ME!" Naga turned and looked at him, as the rest of the room stared in a puzzled fashion. The Queen threw her arms around the King and gave him a long, and frankly erotic kiss, careing not the least who was watching. She gave him a smokey look, one that he matched, and she said "Your wish is my command, my King. How glad I am that it is my wish too..." the King swooped his Queen into his arms like he was carrying her across a threshold. He turned and looked smuggly at the room and said "Goodnight all, see you in the morning..., maybe..." Naga gave a little laugh and kissed him hard as they dissapeared out the doorway.

Amila stared and said "Ahhh..." Zelgadiss likewise stared and said "Ohhh..." Even Phil joined in with an "Errr..." Then Amilia gave a giggle and tripped lightly over to Gourry and Lina. She gave them both a kiss and said "Congratulations you two! I just know you will be very happy!" Zel came over and shook Gourry's hand. "Well done Gourry!" he said. He went to shake Lina's hand but Amilia suddenly headlocked him and bent him down saying "Give her a kiss, Mr. Zelgadiss! It's the proper thing to do!" Not having much choice Zel did so then looked a bit stunned as he straightened up. "Wow" he said. "Sweeter than wine..." "Whatdoyoumeanbythat?" said a suddenly perturbed Amilia. "Alright Mister! You and I are going out for a walk, now! A long romantic one, got it?" "Yes dear" said Zelgadiss in his best henpecked voice. Amilia grabbed his hand and dragged him out. As he went he turned to Lina and gave her a wink and a smile. Prince Phil stepped up and said in a rumbly, happy way "Well, Congratulations you two! You will be very happy I know. Why I remember when I had my wedding night, it was a..." "DADDY! YOU TOO!" shouted Amilia, sticking her head in the door. "Oh, right, sorry..." said Phil a bit sheepishly as he scurried to the door. "Must leave them alone now, 'tis the only just thing to do..." With that he was out the door. A guard, looking a bit green around the gills from all the sweetness in the room, walked in and grabbed the door handle. He bowed and swung it shut, leaving a wide eyed Gourry sitting on the floor near the bed, with a wide eyed Lina in his lap, wondering just what was that light that had roared up from the end of the tunnel straight into them. They stared at the door for a long time, then at each other for a long time, then finally Gourry asked "Lina, what the hell just happened?" "Damned if I know..." was the response.

Ater a pause Gourry asked "Lina, did we just get married? I mean, you know, like, for real?" Lina paused a moment and then said "Yes, we did." Gourry looked at her with wonder and said "I thought there had to be a white gown and some old guy asking questions and stuff..." Lina smiled at him and said "Normally yes, but it isn't absolutely neccessary." She then lost her smile and went on "Actually, I think that stuff is coming later in our case, hand delivered by Naga the White Serpent..., not that I don't deserve that too..." She shuddered. "Gourry, you're going to have to help me out here. Acting emotionally, without thinking about what I was up to has been something I have done a lot as a teenager, but now I'm twenty one, and these past few weeks, and especially these past few hours, have really opened my eyes to the fact that that way of acting isn't going to get me much farther. I guess it's time Lina grew up a bit more, but it isn't going to be easy. Listen Gourry, you want to be my guardian right?" "Yep!" was the enthusiastic reply. "Then you have to be willing to guard me from all my enemies Gourry." "I will Lina." said Gourry simply. "Listen Gourry, this is important. I now know who my biggest enemy is." Gourry grew concerned and said "Who is it Lina? Tell me so I can protect you!" Lina was silent for a minute then said "It's me Gourry, I am my own worst enemy!" Gourry was perplexed. Finally he spoke. "Oi, Lina! Now that's going to take some doing! I'm not sure where to start even..." Lina smiled and said "Actually, you're doing fine so far. Love me, Gourry, and let me have my lead, but don't be afraid to reign me in when I need it okay? Even if I get mad?" Gourry thought a moment and said "Okay, Lina, I guess my forehead can take it." he said simply.

They looked at each other for a minute, then Gourry said "By the way Lina, where did you get that dress? It makes you look like the angel that woke me up." Lina smiled for a minute, remembering Trina's words, then she clued in to what Gourry had actually said, and was puzzled. "What do you mean Gourry?" "Well," he explained, "I was injured by some sort of weapon that attacked my soul, which was already hurt by thinking I had lost you." "Yes, a young man called Latimer told me your tale." Lina explained. "oh HO! You met Latimer did you? You know he's very modest, but he was totally willing to get into the thick of things. There were many times I would have lost but for the fact he stood beside me through thick and thin, but I'll bet he never told you that." Lina replied "No, he didn't, but he seemed to know a lot about how you fought, so I guessed that he might have been close to you. He brought me your sword, but alas, now I don't know where it went." "Hey, good old Latimer! Actually, the Blast Blade was under my hospital bed when I woke up. I've got it now, so don't worry!" Gourry smiled.

Lina smiled then said "What did you mean about an angel waking you up Gourry?" "Oh right!" said the blond swordsman. "Um well, when that weapon hit me it took the life right out of me and I almost gave up, but then I thought about how that evil maniac might attack you and the strength came from somewhere. I called your name and took out the rocks to make the avalanche. Somehow I got away, but with the arrow in my shoulder. After that, though I kept fighting, it was like I was sinking into some sort of emotional mud or something inside. I tried to fight it as long as I could, but eventually it overwhelmed me and, well, it's hard to describe. I felt like I was lying face down in a puddle of lukewarm mud. I had no will to get up, no will to move, no will to breath. Time had no meaning, it is as if I was just lying there in limbo, waiting to fade away. I was aware of nothing, just the black, lightless, warm mud. I had no pain, no pleasure, no desire, no meaning, I just was. I don't know how long I was that way either, but one day, gee, I guess it was just last night, a voice came to me, a voice that sounded like yours, only it was beautiful, like an angel's. Errr, not that your voice is , erm, I mean..., uh...," Lina gave him a hard stare then said, "Oh just get on with it..." "Well, uh, this voice penetrated the gloom, and I suddenly had something to focus on. It was a beautiful voice, and it sang about a love that was somewhere in the world for the singer and how she wanted to find it. I looked up, and there was a ray of light piercing the blackness, and you were there, dancing on the light, Lina. Only you had angels wings. You came down and held out your hand. It took an effort but I raised my hand and you took it, and suddenly I had the strength to stand, and then we were dancing in the light, and it was beautiful Lina. Then suddenly you let go and went up the ray of light again till it was a point at the top of a long tunnel, no more mud, and I heard you call as if in pain "Come back to me Gourry, I need you..." I didn't think twice. I ran up the tunnel. It took forever but eventually the light got bigger and I realised it was the opening. Finally, about, oh, ten in the morning or so I reached the top and woke up suddenly with a shout, jumping right up onto my feet."

"Boy, there were people everywhere, and did I ever have a time getting my bearings. Finally some highranking guy came in, I later learned he was the King's brother, and that he had been the one to take the arrow out of me. He said I was better, and had the staff get me washed and clothed and took me straight away to the main hall here, where he plunked me down at the head table with orders to eat. Well, I tell you, I just got started when a crowd came in. I nearly fell flat on my face when our dear Amilia jumped on me with a scream of happiness and hugged me like she'd just invented it or something. Zel and Phil were right behind trying to shake my hand off, and a few minutes later a tall lady walked in and Amilia ran and hugged her too, dancing up and down that I was awake. It took me a minute to realise it was Queen Gracia, and I didn't realise she was Amilia's sister either. Did you know that?" Lina nodded and said, "I'll tell you about it later."

Gourry went on. "Well, then the King came in and we had a big lunch, and we talked about everything that happened, and they kept saying stuff about someone who would be happy to see me when she woke up, but they didn't tell me it was you, so I didn't know who they ment. So we kept waiting and I kept eating and they kept asking me questions and stuff, then in the evening the doctor, what's his name, Erik? Prince Erik, yeah that's it, comes and asks me to come say "Hi" to a friend who's too sick to come to the table, and he takes me off and who's there but Sylphiel! I don't get it, something's wrong with her spirit, Lina, but anyway, she says "Hi" and we make some small talk and she says she's happy I'm better. But you know, it seemed to cause her pain to say that? I don't know... Anyway, the Prince stays with her, and I walk back to the hall and just as I get there I can hear you yelling at someone, and then you get real mad, like I've never seen before and then you toss that fireball and I'm not fast enough to stop you and then the King gets mad and makes you my slave, as if I'm going to ever be your master, or any man for that matter, and then you faint and now you've woken up and called me a jellyfish, and bopped me on the head, and now we are married and here we are and I don't know what else to say?" Lina did the only thing she could. She leaned forward and, finally, kissed him. Long and passionatly.

"Gourry..." she asked when they finally stopped, "did that song go like this?" She gave him a short kiss and sang the opening lines to her song. "That's it Lina!" said Gourry excitedly. "I did sing that to you Gourry, just last night, before I fell asleep. And I begged you to come back, and you did. Gourry, I Love You!" She kissed him agan."How could I not?" "I Love You too Lina." he replied, returning her kisses. Suddenly he caught her up in his arms and with a stagger rose to his feet. Lina yowped instinctively then calmed down as Gourry gently settled her onto the bed."Watch your shoulder!" she cationed. Gourry smiled and said "Actually, that did twinge. He looked down on her with the most beautiful smile she had ever seen on his face. "So Lina, what happens next?" he asked, kneeling beside her.

Lina was startled, and her faced flushed. "Gourry, don't you know? I mean, about, about th-the "facts of life"?" she asked with a bit of a tremour in her voice. Gourry looked at her with a perplexed expression. "Huh?" he said. Lina looked desperate. "You know, how a man and a woman, uh..." "Make love?" asked Gourry. He then started to laugh. "Oi Lina! That's funny! Good joke! Ha, ha, oh I get it! I ment that as a general question, not, not, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha..." Lina at first breathed a sigh of relief and then got a bit perturbed as she waited for him to stop laughing. "It wasn't that funny..." she said. Gourry stopped and said with a smile "Well, maybe not, but yes Lina I'm afraid I do know about that..."

He then looked more serious and went on. "Lina, I hope you don't mind, but I'm not a virgin." "I had that feeling..." she said. "You see," Gourry went on, "When you are a mercenary, you wake up every morning and make a brave joke about how today is a good day to die, because your day is full of trying to bury your sword in someone elses body as he's trying to do the same to you. When you get off and find you are still alive you are in a strange state. You usually only get fed one meal a day, a poor breakfast, so you are hungry, then you fight all day and hope they bring the water, then if you make it off alive they throw a handful of coins at you, and that's it, unless you've been able to loot somewhere. Then you have to go to the crappy bars that follow your camp around, usually run by the same lord who pays you. So he gets his money back, see, and you eat, if they serve food, but you buy it, usually you just drink the watered down, over priced slop they serve for drink, because you are desperate to forget things, like all the brave young men you saw, and heard, and smelled, as they screamed their life out with their insides going where they aren't supposed to be, and all because they were doing what you are doing, fighting for money. And if you have any money left, and are sober enough to avoid the theives, there are women around who will be more than happy to relieve you of the rest in exchange for a shallow imitation of what should be holy." He was silent for a minute then said "I'm not a virgin Lina, but I regret it now." He laid his head on her lap.

She stroked his hair for a few minutes and then said "Gourry, I don't blame you and I'm not sorry. If you hadn't gone through all that you have in your life, both the good and the bad, you probably wouldn't be the man I love today. Let's look at it like this, you may have been with a woman before, but you've never been with one you loved, right?" "Yes, that's true..." said Gourry a bit puzzled, but relieved Lina wasn't going to be upset about his past. "Then this is the first time you've actually "made love", right?" she asked with a smile. He smiled back "Yeah! You're right Lina! Thank you!" They kissed again.

Lina seemed in thought and Gourry didn't know what to make of it so he waited. Finally Lina said "Gourry, these other women, what did they look like?" "Huh?" said Gourry, wondering why she needed to know that. "Well, err, um, not to be disrespectfull, but, uh, the Queen might have found a twin among them..." "I thought so." said Lina. "Did any of them look like me?" "No." he answered. "Gourry" she said softly, "I need you to be honest with me. There is no wrong answer, just tell me the truth, okay?" "Sure I will." he said quietly, worried about what it could be that bothered her. Lina paused a minute then went on, shyly "Gourry, what do you think of these?" she asked, loosening her dress and letting it tumble down so that Gourry could see her naked to the waist for the first time. There was silence, and Gourry got it, all by himself. "Oh," he said with a guilty blush.

"Those bad breast jokes... Listen Lina, at first I thought you were a little girl, and I was insensitive, then I admit it was fun making the occasional remark and getting you mad, you really went through the roof, you know..." "So I've heard..." Lina said quietly. Gourry went on "Then, when I first started realising that I had fallen in love with you I made some as a way to try and deny my feelings, because I didn't think I could ever have those feelings, then I fell for you, or more exactly I stopped kidding myself that I hadn't loved you from the moment I first met you on the road, where I saved you from the bandits, 'cause I think that's when I fell in love with you Lina. I did stop the jokes after I admitted to myself thatI love you." "I noticed Gourry, believe me I noticed. And I thank you for that..." Lina said, softly.

"So um, the answer to your question is this, when there is nothing but hire and purchase between a man and a woman then size matters because that's her main sales point, but when you fall in love with a woman, it isn't the size that matters, it's who they belong to. Without a doubt, they are the smallest breasts I have ever seen, and they are also the most perfect I have ever seen, because they belong to the smallest and most perfect woman I have ever met, Lina Inverse." Lina looked at him and could see in his eyes he was telling the truth. She moved forward and kissed him harder and longer than before. She then lay down and gently pulled Gourry on top of her and said "I'm ready..." "Eh?" asked Gourry. Lina smiled. "To become Lina Gabriev, of course." Gourry scratched his head. "You sure I don't become Gourry Inverse?" he asked, at least seeming to be serious. Lina stared for a minute, then pulled him into a kiss, and said "As long as it works, Gourry, as long as it works..."

Which it did, wonderfully...