And here it is the fourth chapter to "Crimson drowned in Blue."

Chapter 4: You came back

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SEYRUUN

He felt tired and weak as if his whole body was made of lead. And when most people feel that way, they usually become frantic and begin to wonder whether they are alive or dead.

But he didn't feel frantic at all; he felt more at peace than anything. Almost as if he was home. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that he could be dead from the back of this head. The last thing he remembered was heading toward Seyruun and collapsed out of exhaustion. But now he felt as if he was in the comfort of cloud instead of the hard barren dirt of the road.

"Nurse, is he going to be alright?" a timid female voice asked.

That voice….

"Yes, princess he'll be perfectly fine with rest. He just passed out from lack of nutrition and rest, a little bit of both and he'll be perfectly fine." The nurse replied.

"Thank You." Amelia said hesitantly.

I know that voice…from somewhere… in the back of my head I-

"Princess, you should rest now, you've been here none stop for the past few hours. Please rest a bit; you'll need your strength for the questioning."

Questioning?...

"Yes, but…have you ever gotten the feeling that you've known somebody for a long time even though it's the first time you've ever met?" the princess questioned.

"Oh dear! Don't tell me that you're falling for this prisoner?" the nurse exclaimed in wonder.

PRISONER?

"Of course not!" Amelia shot back. "It's just the simple feeling…that….I know him from somewhere." She finished timidly.

The room soon became still and not a single sound danced the waves of the room. Amelia continued to stand at the foot of the stranger's bed pondering on her mind's memory.

"I know I've met him before, I just know it!" she thought. "It's funny…in a way he almost reminds me of Mr. Z-"

"Princess Amelia are you okay?" the nurse asked with concern.

She hadn't noticed it but she was crying. Streams of tears were flowing from her eyes non stop and she didn't even know why it'd happened. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and turned towards the nurse with a smile.

"I'm very fine, thank you." She said sincerely. "I've just been going through a lot lately…I guess the pressure's finally getting to me."

"Oh princess you shouldn't allow it! You'll have wrinkles by the time your twenty!" the nurse joked.

The both shared a laugh and the nurse excused herself from the room. Amelia then took the chance to further examine the prisoner from a closer angle.

She had to admit he was very handsome. And in a weird sort of way he almost looked exactly like Rezo the Red Priest, only his hair was a lighter shade purple, pretty much lavender. He had a kind, gentle face that looked like it never had a single thought of hatred or anger expressed on it.

She sat in the chair next to his bed, and continued to examine him further. She couldn't tell much because of the blanket that lay across him, but his arm was out on the side she was sitting on from the nurses taking pulse rates. But then out of sudden reflex she reached out and gently grabbed his hand.

"I don't know why I'm doing this..." she thought to herself. "This man could be an enemy to my country and my family, but still….."

She looked at his face once more.

"I still can't shake the feeling that I know him from somewhere before." She unconsciously began to tighten her grip on his hand while more tears fell from her eyes.

"Oh Mr. Zelgadis…." She sobbed. "Where are you?"

She continued to cry next to stranger her country held prisoner as if she'd known him her whole life and was his best friend.

"Amelia!"

He searched around for the princess that filled his heart but could only see darkness.

"Amelia…I hear you but…I can't see you or anything around me!"

She began to cry deeply and the very sound of it pierced his heart like a chisel. He couldn't stand to hear her cry, but hearing her cry meant that she was close by to him. So he started running….he didn't know what was in front of him and didn't really care. All that mattered was that he ran as fast as he could to get to his princess.

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ZEPHILIA
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"L-L-LUNA!" Lina shrieked while quickly hiding for cover behind Gourry. "What a surprise to see you so soon." She said nervously peeking from behind Gourry in an angle.

"Don't be so smart!" her sister snapped, causing her jump and hold on tightly to visible cloth on Gourry's armor.

"You did something wrong again didn't you?" Luna continued. "Always making a crowd and causing trouble."

During the mist of all the yelling Gourry glanced down to look at the young sorceress. She looked like a little child hiding away from the neighborhood bully. It's not the first time he saw Lina coward in fear as a result of her sister. But it is the first time he has actually met her and judging from the aura she emitted while yelling at her sister, it's a go-figure that Lina would be so afraid of her. But even so he couldn't stand the fact that Lina felt so bad. It was ripping his heart out every time she clutched his shirt even tighter.

He glanced around listening to the locals talk about the scene. Some of them were murmurs, but he could tell what the majority of them were saying.

"'el would ya look at that! The young Inverse is back!" commented one woman.

"Yeah, who would've thought we'd see her again?" said a young woman from behind.

"Isn't she the one who ran away?" another questioned.

"No, that's the one who could barely grow past my knee!" a man joked.

Soon the mass of people began to laugh at the man's humor and joke more. While each second that passed by Lina clutched onto him tighter and tighter and one split second or two he could've sworn he heard her whimper.

"I can't believe mother and father would allow you travel with such a reputation following up on our name!" Luna continued to complain. "You should be glad they did not allow me to come and-"

"Excuse me if I may intrude." Gourry began politely.

Luna turned and gave him glare that pretty much spoke for itself in the 'Who are you? And what do you want while I'm scolding my sister' dept.

"Uhhhh…." He started beginning to back down.

"Gourry! You can't just make a stand for someone and then back down because of one look!" Lina yelled.

"But you did the same thing." He stated.

WHACK!

"When I want your opinion on something I'll ask for it!" she stated

"LINA INVERSE!"

She froze.

"Look at you, you haven't changed a bit! You're still loud, violent, low tempered, and I bet your appetite hasn't changed…."

Each remark she made about her made Lina quince in fear more and more, until finally she got ready for the big blow.

"Annndddd…..Welcome home…baby sister." She ended with a smile.

Gourry lifted himself from the ground and dusted himself off. "You see Lina…" he began. "Your sister's not as bad as you make her out to be…….Lina?"

He glanced down to see the small sorceress on ground completely blown away from her sister's last remark.

"I guess she was pretty shocked." He concluded.

"Hey, you!" Luna shouted.

"You mean me?" Gourry asked dumbly while pointing to himself.

"Yes, you; Gourry is your name right?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, but…what's…" He quickly threw away his current slash non existent train of thought to aid his red headed companion. He knelt down and scooped up her small light figure in his arms and held her close. Bending his head down to whisper to her, he failed to realize just how loudly he was talking.

"Don't worry Lina, your safe now." He said before nuzzling his face in her sweet smelling hair.

"Hmm… this young man appears to be quite fond of my sister." Luna thought looking at the two as the crowd began to disperse. "He just may be the one spice things up around here."

"Hey Gourry!" Luna called out to him. "Come with me."

He began to follow after her for and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Do you really have to ask?...We're going home." She said warmly and continued in the direction of the Inverse home.

BACK IN SEYRUUN
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I'm getting closer….I can see the light up ahead!

He kept running through the darkness determined to get to the end.

I'm almost there….almost….just a little bit further….

The nurse hummed softly to herself as she sat in the chair next to her patient's bedside, mending an old scarf from the past winter. She was very content in her state of mind until she heard soft yet strudel grunts nearby by. She glanced up at the patient and saw that he was waking up!

"Princess!" she yelled stumbling out the door. "Princess!"

"What is of the princess concern?" a guard asked at a nearby corner post of the castle.

"Inform the princess that the stranger has awaken!" state the nurse.

"Right away!"

Within moments Amelia was in the nursing corridor in the room of the unknown stranger.

He slowly began to open his eyes, squinting as he became accustomed to the light that filled the room.

"Sir, are you fully conscience now?" asked Amelia in a business like tone.

Amelia?

He slowly began to lift himself up in bed to an upright position. After a few failed attempts from his lack of strength he soon assumed the position he wanted.

"Amelia…" he started weakly.

"Sir, when in her highness presence you address her as Princess Amelia." a man beside her sneered. He appeared to be the family's council man but that didn't matter to him.

"Amelia….its been so long and as embarrassing as it is to say…you've grown into quite the lady." The stranger commented.

She lightly blushed and continued her business like manner.

"I am here to know why you are within Seyruun borders with one of my possessions." She stated. "Are you a spy from the outer world here to corrupt the meaning of justice?" she demanded.

"(Sweatdrop) You just don't change." He said with a smirk.

"I'll ask you once more, "she said with a frustrated-ness in her voice. "Who are you and why-"

She quickly became interrupted when held her bracelet out to her.

"I promised you….I promised you that when I found my cure I'll come back and give this to you….in person." He explained.

"M-Mr. Zel-gadis…." She choked, tears uncontrollably flowing from her eyes.

"H-hey! Don't start crying on me! I just didn't want you to get upset and-"

"Ohhh Mr. Zelgadis!" she wailed throwing herself in his arms. "You came back…I knew you would! I knew it all the time."

He remained still for a few seconds paralyzed by the softness of her skin. But soon the numbness went away and he found himself holding her securely and stroking her hair.

"It's okay Amelia…I'm back now, and this time I can actually stay for a while." He whispered.

She continued to sob and the members of the royal staff took this as their cue to leave.

Soon after Zelgadis felt Amelia's body fall limp in his arms.

"Amelia? Are you-"

"You came back…" she interrupted.

"Well yeah, that's what I been saying for the past 10 minutes." (a/n: We all know how sarcastic he could be at times)

"I knew you would come back to…me…." She drew out before falling silent.

"Amelia?" he questioned worriedly to the princess. He calmed his nerves a bit and realized that she had just fallen asleep.

"I promised you I'd come back…" he said holding her closely. "..and if things go well…I won't ever have to leave you again."

TBC

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Wow, both sides ended with both girls being asleep, how uncanny is that? And you guys sure are demanding! I didn't think anyone would like this story this much, and to be honest I was just going to post one chapter and leave at that. But since so many like it, I think I'll finish it. And who knows, if I get enough people to like it, it just may be a sequel!

-Ura out