I'm working on it! I'm working on it! Ya see, I'm already on the fifth chapter!

CHAPTER 5: Getting to Know You

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ZEPHILIA

The blonde swordsman continued to trail behind the eldest Inverse sister while carrying the younger one protectively in his arms.

The ruckus through-out town this morning had quickly died down and he was now finally taking in the scenery that surrounded him. Which he had to admit was probably the most beautiful country he's ever seen….or remembered for the most part. All the trees were in full bloom, with flowers and fruits of all kinds growing and dangling from the branches. They all looked delectable to eat right of the branches and yet in an odd way sacred in some way.

"The grape orchids are our most prized possessions." came Luna. "We use them during our wedding and seasonal festivals."

"Do you use it just for those to occasions? I mean….don't you eat them?" he asked.

She laughed softly, "Hahaha…no mainly those two. We eat the grapes as well but only during our festivals and weddings. In a marriage they represent the sweet love a couple has for one another, while the vines represent the strong bond they'll always have. The festivals as a special purpose for grapes as well."

She continued to educate him in their culture in the meaning to the things they represent. It wasn't until then that Gourry fully took in the features of the woman walking in front of him.

Sure enough she was Lina's sister alright! He could ask one question to Lina that involves a simple answer, but instead she'll go as far to give you the answer and the meaning and/or reason to the answer. He loved that about her, because her eyes always lit up with such passion on whatever she was talking about. He would always look at her and admire the soft motherly side of her instead of paying attention, which evidently leads to headache down the road.

But watching Luna talk didn't exactly cause him to drift into La-La Land. Sure she spoke with the same knowledge as Lina did, but she didn't quite speak with the passion that Lina did. So miraculously for the first time he actually listened……and was understanding!

He paid attention to what Luna was saying and the sites she pointed out along the way. She may have spoken a lot like Lina, but her body was completely opposite. While Lina was short, her sister was tall and just about Zelgadis height.

Her chest was larger and she had dark velvet hair that was only shoulders length.

"Sorry if I'm boring you." She apologized. "You have to understand that the only things I mainly say through-out the day is, "Order for table 2!" or "Hello, my name's Luna, what could I get for you today?" Everyday, same thing! In and out, so I guess I could get carried away at times."

"It's okay." He said understandingly. "Lina goes off into her own world when she's talking about something she loves as well. Sometimes I don't pay attention; I just go off into my own little world." He said with a grin, glancing down at the red sorceress in his arms.

"I sometimes think she should be a teacher." He confessed still staring at Lina.

Luna said nothing to his comment and he soon forgot they were having a conversation a moment later. They continued to walk the rest of the way in silence, Gourry every once in while switching his attention from the scenery to the young woman in his arms. It was funny that no matter how much she ate she still could be as light a feather. Most of the times he looked down at her were to make sure she was still there because at times it'd feel like she floated out of his arms.

"Okay, we're here!" she soon spoke, outstretching her arms to present their home.

"Wooowwww…." He admired. "So this is where Lina grew up?" he asked amazed by the structure. It looked like a couple's dream home….the soft white color that covered the home, the old grass vines that grew along the side of the house entwining with he white wooden fence that lad against it. A small garden that appeared to be taken care of daily laid on the far side of the yard yet still covered some area in front of the porch. Everything seemed perfect from the front of the house but getting to know Lina over the years caused him to prepare for the worse. But that quickly disappeared when he began to smell fresh baked cookies.

COOKIES!

"Yep, come on inside my parents will want to me-et……you." She dragged the last part realizing she was pretty much talking to herself because the blonde man was already walking inside the house. Realizing it was a hopeless cause; she just gave up and followed Gourry into her home.

Once inside Gourry couldn't help follow the warm, delicious aroma of fresh baked cookies. He could tell there were obviously a variety of them where ever they were, from the spicy, sweet, and chocolaty scent that filled the air. He kept walking until he was a few feet in front of the kitchen entrance but stopped abruptly when a middle aged woman walked out of it. She was a short woman of about Lina's height, maybe a bit taller, with long velvet colored hair. Her bust size was that in-between Lina and Luna's and from the young beauty of her face one would almost think there was another Inverse sister! But her eyes told it all, of her age, wisdom, and many trials.

"Oh! What happened?" she asked frantically.

"Huh?" Gourry questioned aloud dumbly.

"My daughter! What happened to my daughter?" she demanded getting somewhat frustrated.

"Oh she…"

"Don't even worry about her mother." Lina interrupted. "She just passed out of exhaustion while coming through town; she'll be okay with rest."

"Whew..." the woman made a sigh of relief, and soon fell back to her natural mood. "I'm very sorry to have snapped at you like that young man. It's just; I haven't seen my daughter in nearly ten years. I guess I still see her as my little girl even though...she's grown so much." She choked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"What are talking about? The only thing that's grown big on her was her mouth." Luna commented.

"Luna that's enough! Don't talk bad about your sister while she's unable to do anything about it!" her mother snapped.

This caused Gourry to chuckle a bit and reminisce on the times he and Lina shared fighting over food.

"And what about you young man?" Mrs. Inverse brought up.

"Me?" he wondered.

"Yes, I have to know who the tall and handsome young is carrying my daughter home now don't I?" He blushed. "I've never seen you around town before…aha! You must be the young man who was traveling with Lina? Am I right?"

"Yes ma'am you are." He replied nicely.

"Well I imagine your arms must be exhausted from carrying Lina around everywhere. Come with me….I'll take you to her room so she can lay down." She instructed.

Gourry obediently obeyed and followed Mrs. Inverse through the halls and up the stairs of the house. All the while she was asking him question after question. What was his full name, who is his family, where'd he come from, what was his childhood like, did he have any brothers or sisters, what were his hobbies like, how'd he meet Lina, etc, etc. She kept asking questions until they came to a room at the far end of a hall in the corner.

"Well, here we are! My little Lina's room, it's still the way she left it when went out on her journey."

He stepped into the room expecting a calm or boyish type décor for a room, but found the complete opposite! Lina's room was….was…was….girly! It still had its Lina touches here there, but practically everything in the room was either a pale soft colored pink or midnight blue and yellow. Her bed sheets were even pink which made her large bed appear to be a large bundle of pink cotton candy.

Gourry slowly made his way to her bed pulled a sheet back to place her under. Once we were sure she was safely secure in bed he pulled the chair from the desk beside her bed and faced it toward her and took a seat.

"What are you doing?" Mrs. Inverse asked curiously.

"Huh? Me? Uhhh…." He stared at the carpet with a slight blush on his face. "..no I'm okay, I just wanna make sure Lina will be alright." He said with a grin.

"Okay, But if you need anything just come and get it, Lunch will be ready in a few hours, I'll bring a snack up before then." She spoke in an agenda fashion.

"Okay, I'll be sure to remember that Mrs. Inverse." He responded politely.

"Oh dear don't be so formal! You're practically like family amongst the rest of us. You could call me mom." She said cheerfully.

"Umm…okay…..mom…" he said unsurely.

"There you see! No harm done! I'm just trying to get to know you better is all, and I'd rather do that when you're comfortable around me." She confessed.

"Yes ma'am...I mean…mom." He corrected.

She gave him a nod of understanding and began to exit the room. "This young man is so kind and thoughtful." She thought. "I have to get him and Lina together during the festival! I just know he'll make Lina happy and he'll be a much better groom than that other man her father lined for her. I'm sure that once everything begins to unravel they'll see things my way.

The door closed with a soft click and Gourry was alone in the room with his sleeping sorceress. He took this time to gaze around the room and site out every detail that filled it.

On the right side of the room upon entering through the doorway was of course her bed. Covered in its pale pink bed sheets with a soft pink canopy tied along the sides on the bed post. And with the big fluffy pillows on its full size bed it definitely looked inviting!

He continued looking on to the left side of the room. There was a huge bookshelf built into the wall with tons of books on it. Not a single space of air could be seen in-between those books.

"All books of magic no doubt." He concluded aloud while further investigating the room.

On the far side of the room were two windows, on each side of the wall and a balcony door in the center. There were no posters of famous celebrities or cute guys on her walls; just a bunch of scrolls of love poems and famous quotes from people he'd never heard of before. There was even a pile of cute stuff animals and dolls in the far right corner of her room.

He smiled a grin of amusement and glanced back at the sleeping sorceress. She had already begun to get comfortable and was already lying on her side facing him.

He could get lost just staring at her; it always made him content just knowing that she was near. But he was in by her side for a different reason this time. This time he stayed by her side because we was genuinely worried about her. She'd been quiet all the way to Ze…Ze….wherever they were, and that one cloudy night. She cried. He's never seen Lina cry…never. So, seeing that alone…..must be the end; but the end of what?

He contemplated on this question for what seemed like hours, but was only two minutes because he fell asleep at the mere thought of thinking.

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SEYRUNN

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"Zelgadis!"

Amelia woke with a shock, covered in cold sweat. She lied in her own bed panting for air as the evening's dusk began to cover the land.

"Was it all….just a dream?" she asked herself aloud. "I remember going into the nursing corridor to check up on the prisoner...and then…."

An image of the human Zelgadis flashed before her eyes and was gone in an instant.

"Zelgadis!" she yelled in realization.

Just then her door opened and a handsome lavender haired man was standing in her doorway.

"Geez, even when you aren't in danger you're still shouting for somebody." said the man from the doorway.

"Who are you? And what do you….." she began to yell angrily, but stopped abruptly when she saw the man and the image of the man from early came to her mind once more.

"Zel-…Mr. Zelgadis?" she murmured.

"In the flesh; and this time literally." He spoke.

She stared at him with tears on the brims of her eyes taking in his demeanor. He was still the same height, only with a skin color that could match that of Mr. Gourry's. He wore khaki traveling pants that were covered at the bottom with short length black boots with a red sleeveless training shirt.

"Oh Mr. Zelgadis!" she shrilled tangling herself in her bed sheets falling chin first to the floor.

"(Sweatdrop) Typical Amelia." He responded to the incident.

"Mr. Zelgadis!" she continued to cheer. She lifted her self off the ground and in a matter of seconds was in his arms. "Oh Mr. Zelgadis, I missed you so much!" she admitted nuzzling her head in his chest.

He's so soft…..

"Amelia we've already been through this earlier today."

"And he smells soooo good!" she cooed in her mind.

"Amelia?"

"I can stay like this forever…." She sighed

"Amelia?" he repeated.

"If only I could stay like this….."

"Amelia….." he repeated again making a face.

"…..forever."

"Amelia it's great to see you and all but….the palace guards don't seem so happy about the princess getting mushy with your supposed prisoner." Zelgadis stated.

"Oh right!" she said quickly releasing him and regaining her royal posture. "But as I was saying Mr. Zelgadis, welcome back."

"Thank you, Amelia….it's nice to be back." He answered sincerely.

"Come on, I'll give you a tour of the kingdom." She volunteered, grabbing him by the arm and out of her chambers. "I'm sure you'll want to know what Seyruun has to offer around here since you didn't really venture out as much as Ms. Lina and Gourry.

"That's for sure. All I ever hear those two talk about is the ice cream they serve here." He commented.

"Oh yes! Seyruun is one of the best places to get ice cream from, however we don't know much our new competition since the barrier to the outside world has been down." She spoke.

"I see…"

"But I'm sure you'll wanna try some! You hardly ever ate when you were in your other form, all you did was drink water or tea." She pointed out

"That's because that was enough for me." He retorted

"In your chimera form yes, but now your human so you deserve to have some human delicacies." She chimed.

"Human delicacies…" he thought. "Sure…why not? After all I haven't had ice cream since I was kid."

He made a small smile as the princess continued to pull him down the hall by his arm and out of the castle gates. It wasn't before long that they were already within the hustling and bustling of the city that was Seyruun, the white magic capital of the world.

Before too long though curiosity got the best of Rezo's descendent and he began to walk without the escorting of Amelia. He began to take in the scenery that he had neglected for so long because of his previous form.

The shouting of salesman, the screaming and laughter of children, the awesome aroma food that filled the air; It all seemed like a whole new world to him. He's been neglecting it for so long, that now he just felt like a new born child.

Amelia on the other hand was feeling glad that he was finally getting out more and seeing the world. But she didn't like all of the woman of the world seeing him. They were all staring idly at him and making small comments about him here and there. The only reason they kept his distance was because he was with her, which made her feel a bit in power yet somehow insulted. Because if she wasn't their princess, would they run over her to be with Zelgadis?

"He is just so cute!" one whispered harshly.

"Cute? Sweetie, that man is scrumptious." Another said seductively.

"Umm Amelia….were are we going?" he asked nervously, finally noticing the stares of multiple woman surrounding him.

"For ice cream." She said angrily.

"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"What makes you think that?" she asked sarcastically.

"Nothing…." He said in defeat. She acts more and more like Lina as the years go by. (Sigh) Guess I better try to make things straight.

"Hey, Amelia…" he started.

"Hmm?"

"I wished you'd tell me what's wrong, I don't like to see you in this way." He confessed.

"In what way is that!" she asked stubbornly, whipping her head in the direction of Zelgadis.

"Like this! I came out here with you because I thought it'd make you happy to spend some one-on-one time together." He stated.

"I do! Honestly I do!" she apologized. "It's just….It's just I easily get jealous at times."

She blushed lightly at her confession and soon began to act like a shy child. Zelgadis looked down at the woman walking beside him, as her last few words finally hit him.

"Jealous?...Of what?" she asked incoherently.

"Well…." Her eyes quickly darted left and right in the crowd to give him a clue at what she meant.

He glanced around in the directions her eyes darted and saw dozens of women, young old, maiden, the like, all staring at him girlishly giggling even more when he would glance in that direction.

"Oh so that's what you meant." He said knowingly. "Well in any case, let's go back to the castle."

"What!" she asked shockingly. "No…no, Mr. Zelgadis we can't go back just because I got a little worked up! This is your first time enjoying the city!" she argued.

"And I don't want to be in the mist of it if the both of us are uncomfortable." He stated, turning around and walking back toward the castle.

Amelia stood there in the swaying crowd trying to grasp the meaning to the words he spoke. "We're both uncomfortable?" she thought

"Mr. Zelgadis, wait!" she shouted, jogging a bit to catch up with him. "Mr. Zelgadis!"

She finally caught up to him to cling onto his arm to make him stop in place, but only yanked him back till he nearly fell over.

"Amelia what are you-"

"What do mean "if the both of us are uncomfortable" huh?" he demanded

"Exactly what I said." He stated giving her one of his knowingly looks. "You're uncomfortable with other women staring at me and I'm uncomfortable with people staring at me at all. Let's not forget that it's because people kept staring at me that I sought out looking for a cure and never made much of an appearance in public."

"Oh…" she answered slowly, finally realizing his point. "I'm sorry…I didn't bother to think if you were ready to head out in public yet, but I dragged you out here anyway."

Tears began to glisten on the grim of her closed eyes, and she soon felt a soft but strong hand wipe them away. She felt a strong surge of safety running through her and opened her eyes to see handsome comrade staring down at her with a smile that could melt the ice caps.

"Mr. Zelgadis…."

"Stop worrying about others so much and focus more on yourself for once." He recommended. "Besides I didn't put up much of a fight coming out here, so I wanted to come out just as much as you did." He reassured.

She felt a surge of comfort run through her, and very at ease as she leaned into his arm.

"I always feel so wonderful when I'm with him." She thought

"We should get back to the castle now, "he said switching back to his more serious tone. "You're still exhausted from earlier."

"I'm fine, we'll just walk back and…catch up." She suggested.

"Catch up?" he questioned.

"Yeah, catch up on all things to of us missed out on since we've been away from each other." She replied.

"Catching up huh?" he said to no one in particular. "Fine then, it should be interesting getting to you." He stated, as the two friends walked to the castle linked arm in arm all the way there.

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TBC

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Whatcha think? Is starting to get interesting for you? Let me know what you think!

-Ura Out