Chapter Twenty Seven
The group hurried out of the depths of the earth back to Doomgrinder. As Laguna moved through the doorway back into the dead machine, the door disappeared behind him.
From deep within the earth a muffled explosion was felt. The shock wave was violent enough to send them all sprawling-and to wake Jea up. Groaning, she sat up, rubbing her forehead. "Sorry 'bout that, folks. What happened?"
Ambermist gave a quick recount while they worked their way out of Doomgrinder.
What a sight they all made, exiting the gaping maw of a doorway. Covered in grime and gore, looking exhausted and half dead, they staggered with the rescued prisoners into the late afternoon sunshine. Jea was supported by Laguna and Ambermist was favoring her right ankle. Dumbugg was-guess what?- looking for food, drool dribbling down his chin.
They were immediately accosted by Natasha and her companions. Jea and the party gave a brief, concise report, ending with Jea's statement: "We'll talk later. Right now, I'm exhausted. We're going to bed."
Gathering up Wolf, Thistlechaser, and Shikatsu, they returned to Shik's house to collapse in their rooms in exhausted slumber.
* * * * * *
Jea woke first, early the next morning, after her customary six hours sleep. She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Laguna.
Wolf lifted his head and looked at her. *Heyo, Boss! What's up?*
Jea shook her head. "Just trying to remember what happened yesterday when I was out of it," she murmured softly. "It's all still a blur. What did happen when I spazzed?"
Wolf chuckled. *Well, its too bad you don't remember. Your Paladin said some mighty interestin' things.*
"Like what?"
*Well, for starters.*
* * * * * *
Laguna was roused by the hushed murmur next to him. Opening his eyes, he saw Jea sitting on the edge of the bed, talking with Wolf. Smiling, he perked his ears up to listen to them.
*.and then for the real whammy, he said he loved you.*
Jea snorted in disbelief. "Bull," she hissed. "Tell me another one, fleabag."
Wolf shook his head. *Honestly, he did. He said it twice-and I think he meant it.*
Jea wasn't convinced. "I don't believe you, Wolf. You like to pull my leg too much."
Laguna looked directly at Wolf and winked, sure the canine would catch the gesture. He did. *Well, then maybe you should ask him. He's awake.*
Jea turned around. "Good morning, Laguna."
"Morning, Jea."
Wolf rose. *I'll leave you two to discuss. Good luck, paladin. You'll need it.* He headed wisely for the door.
Laguna chuckled. "Thanks, Wolf-but I think I'll manage."
Jea stared at him in shock. "You.can hear Wolf?"
The knight nodded his head. "Yeah. It started yesterday, when you were.well when we entered the cavern with the temple entrance." He paused, then looked her in the eyes. "Oh, and I meant what I said. Wolf was telling the truth," he said as he leaned down close to her ear. "I do love you."
Shocked, she could do nothing for a long moment but stare at him. Then, grinning, she kissed him before flopping backwards on the bed.
Laguna propped himself up on one elbow and placed a hand on her almost unnoticeably thickening middle, his smile gentle. "So, um.What are we gonna do with the kid?" he asked, stroking her stomach lightly.
Jea shrugged noncommittally. "What do you think we should do? I have a few ideas, but I want your opinion.
Laguna thought for a long moment. "I honestly don't know. I think that's why I asked you."
Snuggling up to him, she said, "Well, we could leave the kid with your parents or my da-although I'm not too keen on relying on Da. He has some.problems.
"Perhaps we could use the Dimension Egg to grow the kid up so we're not stuck with a baby in a fight."
"Dimension Egg?" he asked curiously.
"That gemstone egg that I have? It's a pocket dimension with accelerated time. One minute out here equals four hours there. Within a couple of weeks we'd have an 'instant' teenager."
Laguna nodded. "That might be the best idea. Let's use it. I don't know if it would be good to drop the kid with my folks either."
Jea nodded, then grimaced as her stomach growled. "I suppose I'd best find something to eat. C'mon, Laguna, let's get dressed."
Ten minutes later, they had deduced that all the food in the house had been consumed. They decided to go out to eat.
Jea, upon recalling her previous appetites, wisely suggested an All-You-Can- Eat breakfast place. (There were a few.Not many, but a few in existence.) After watching Jea clean the place out, Laguna realized that that had bee a very good suggestion.
They left, both sated and chuckling over the fact that the restaurant they'd just exited would no longer be "All-You-Can-Eat."
Laguna kept glancing at his companion nervously and Jea quirked one querulous eyebrow. "What's the matter wi' you, Laguna? Ya look like you got the Seven Year Itch.on your balls. Relax."
He mumbled something and kept walking. Confused, Jea shrugged and moved to keep up. Something was definitely wrong. He didn't make a snide comeback.
They had almost gotten back to Shikatsu's house when Laguna halted in his tracks. Jea turned towards him, really weirded out-until he dropped to one knee and took her hand.
"Jea, you have been the greatest source of friendship and camaraderie I have ever known. Since I met you, I have known more joy, more laughter, more feeling than ever before. You taught me how to survive the life of an adventurer, how to deal with real life-heck, you even showed me that some of the most important things are those you least expect." He laughed nervously. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I love you, more than I ever thought it was possible to love. It was something I never could have foreseen, an event as unpredictable and impossible as any written of in stories.Now, I just have one thing I wanted to ask you.Would you do me the immense honor and great pleasure of accepting to be my wife?"
Staring at him in shock for a long moment, she paused to process the new information. While he watched her anxiously, the 27 year old collected her thoughts. Finally, she took a deep breath. "Of course I will, Laguna.but get up. You look silly on the ground."
Pulling him to his feet, she took his hand. He insisted on taking her to a jeweler to buy a ring. She laughed as he pulled her along, extremely eager. "Easy, Lover!"
He bought an extremely expensive ring, the most costly one in the highest quality jeweler in town. He then had it enchanted with several very nice spells before sliding it ceremoniously onto Jea's left ring finger. Eyeing the ring appreciatively, the ranger threw her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you, my friend," she whispered gratefully into his ear. "I will remember this, every day of my life."
The paladin grinned, his humor returned. "Well, I certainly hope so. I mean, you did just agree to marry me."
Punching him playfully in the arm, she said, "Let's go back to Shik's, Lover.By the way.Isn't it customary to propose to the girl before you get her pregnant?"
Wincing in mock injury and defending himself arrogantly, he followed her back.
The group hurried out of the depths of the earth back to Doomgrinder. As Laguna moved through the doorway back into the dead machine, the door disappeared behind him.
From deep within the earth a muffled explosion was felt. The shock wave was violent enough to send them all sprawling-and to wake Jea up. Groaning, she sat up, rubbing her forehead. "Sorry 'bout that, folks. What happened?"
Ambermist gave a quick recount while they worked their way out of Doomgrinder.
What a sight they all made, exiting the gaping maw of a doorway. Covered in grime and gore, looking exhausted and half dead, they staggered with the rescued prisoners into the late afternoon sunshine. Jea was supported by Laguna and Ambermist was favoring her right ankle. Dumbugg was-guess what?- looking for food, drool dribbling down his chin.
They were immediately accosted by Natasha and her companions. Jea and the party gave a brief, concise report, ending with Jea's statement: "We'll talk later. Right now, I'm exhausted. We're going to bed."
Gathering up Wolf, Thistlechaser, and Shikatsu, they returned to Shik's house to collapse in their rooms in exhausted slumber.
* * * * * *
Jea woke first, early the next morning, after her customary six hours sleep. She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Laguna.
Wolf lifted his head and looked at her. *Heyo, Boss! What's up?*
Jea shook her head. "Just trying to remember what happened yesterday when I was out of it," she murmured softly. "It's all still a blur. What did happen when I spazzed?"
Wolf chuckled. *Well, its too bad you don't remember. Your Paladin said some mighty interestin' things.*
"Like what?"
*Well, for starters.*
* * * * * *
Laguna was roused by the hushed murmur next to him. Opening his eyes, he saw Jea sitting on the edge of the bed, talking with Wolf. Smiling, he perked his ears up to listen to them.
*.and then for the real whammy, he said he loved you.*
Jea snorted in disbelief. "Bull," she hissed. "Tell me another one, fleabag."
Wolf shook his head. *Honestly, he did. He said it twice-and I think he meant it.*
Jea wasn't convinced. "I don't believe you, Wolf. You like to pull my leg too much."
Laguna looked directly at Wolf and winked, sure the canine would catch the gesture. He did. *Well, then maybe you should ask him. He's awake.*
Jea turned around. "Good morning, Laguna."
"Morning, Jea."
Wolf rose. *I'll leave you two to discuss. Good luck, paladin. You'll need it.* He headed wisely for the door.
Laguna chuckled. "Thanks, Wolf-but I think I'll manage."
Jea stared at him in shock. "You.can hear Wolf?"
The knight nodded his head. "Yeah. It started yesterday, when you were.well when we entered the cavern with the temple entrance." He paused, then looked her in the eyes. "Oh, and I meant what I said. Wolf was telling the truth," he said as he leaned down close to her ear. "I do love you."
Shocked, she could do nothing for a long moment but stare at him. Then, grinning, she kissed him before flopping backwards on the bed.
Laguna propped himself up on one elbow and placed a hand on her almost unnoticeably thickening middle, his smile gentle. "So, um.What are we gonna do with the kid?" he asked, stroking her stomach lightly.
Jea shrugged noncommittally. "What do you think we should do? I have a few ideas, but I want your opinion.
Laguna thought for a long moment. "I honestly don't know. I think that's why I asked you."
Snuggling up to him, she said, "Well, we could leave the kid with your parents or my da-although I'm not too keen on relying on Da. He has some.problems.
"Perhaps we could use the Dimension Egg to grow the kid up so we're not stuck with a baby in a fight."
"Dimension Egg?" he asked curiously.
"That gemstone egg that I have? It's a pocket dimension with accelerated time. One minute out here equals four hours there. Within a couple of weeks we'd have an 'instant' teenager."
Laguna nodded. "That might be the best idea. Let's use it. I don't know if it would be good to drop the kid with my folks either."
Jea nodded, then grimaced as her stomach growled. "I suppose I'd best find something to eat. C'mon, Laguna, let's get dressed."
Ten minutes later, they had deduced that all the food in the house had been consumed. They decided to go out to eat.
Jea, upon recalling her previous appetites, wisely suggested an All-You-Can- Eat breakfast place. (There were a few.Not many, but a few in existence.) After watching Jea clean the place out, Laguna realized that that had bee a very good suggestion.
They left, both sated and chuckling over the fact that the restaurant they'd just exited would no longer be "All-You-Can-Eat."
Laguna kept glancing at his companion nervously and Jea quirked one querulous eyebrow. "What's the matter wi' you, Laguna? Ya look like you got the Seven Year Itch.on your balls. Relax."
He mumbled something and kept walking. Confused, Jea shrugged and moved to keep up. Something was definitely wrong. He didn't make a snide comeback.
They had almost gotten back to Shikatsu's house when Laguna halted in his tracks. Jea turned towards him, really weirded out-until he dropped to one knee and took her hand.
"Jea, you have been the greatest source of friendship and camaraderie I have ever known. Since I met you, I have known more joy, more laughter, more feeling than ever before. You taught me how to survive the life of an adventurer, how to deal with real life-heck, you even showed me that some of the most important things are those you least expect." He laughed nervously. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I love you, more than I ever thought it was possible to love. It was something I never could have foreseen, an event as unpredictable and impossible as any written of in stories.Now, I just have one thing I wanted to ask you.Would you do me the immense honor and great pleasure of accepting to be my wife?"
Staring at him in shock for a long moment, she paused to process the new information. While he watched her anxiously, the 27 year old collected her thoughts. Finally, she took a deep breath. "Of course I will, Laguna.but get up. You look silly on the ground."
Pulling him to his feet, she took his hand. He insisted on taking her to a jeweler to buy a ring. She laughed as he pulled her along, extremely eager. "Easy, Lover!"
He bought an extremely expensive ring, the most costly one in the highest quality jeweler in town. He then had it enchanted with several very nice spells before sliding it ceremoniously onto Jea's left ring finger. Eyeing the ring appreciatively, the ranger threw her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you, my friend," she whispered gratefully into his ear. "I will remember this, every day of my life."
The paladin grinned, his humor returned. "Well, I certainly hope so. I mean, you did just agree to marry me."
Punching him playfully in the arm, she said, "Let's go back to Shik's, Lover.By the way.Isn't it customary to propose to the girl before you get her pregnant?"
Wincing in mock injury and defending himself arrogantly, he followed her back.