Amilia said, in a quavery voice "Wh-what do you mean?"
The woman came forward. "I mean that planning revenge at the top of your voice is not considered a good idea, especially as you never know who can hear!" The woman flipped her hood back and was revealed as a young woman, though closer to Naga in age than Lina or Amilia were. She had long purple hair, with thick bangs hiding her eyes in front. She set her basket down and put her hands on her hips.
"Look, I really am sorry about the cut, I did apologise once, but you had fainted so maybe you didn't hear me, so I offer it again. I am sorry I cut your cheek, it was an accident, please forgive me. But if you hadn't been laughing so much I never would have had to silence you in the first place. So, will you accept my apology? Or do we carry this thing out to some silly and needlessly violent conclusion?"
Naga seemed undecided but perhaps inclined to try her luck. Lina ended it by interviening. "If you fight anyone, Luna, fight me." she said softly, turning around to face the newcomer.
Luna gasped. "Lina? I-I didn't recognise your voice!" She hesitated a few seconds, her breath rapid. Lina stood up and looked at Luna and said "Please don't beat the one woman I love as much as you..."
Luna didn't seem to hear, she just closed the distance and grabbed her little sister into a strong hug, lifting Lina from the ground as she swung her around and buried her face in Lina's shoulder. The two sisters cried from the emotions of the meeting.
Naga gave a startled look to Amilia. "They're sisters?" she queried.
Amilia just nodded, looking at the two Inverse sisters.
Lina gave a muffled "Please Luna, don't be mad. Please forgive me. I never wanted to make you mad all those years ago, I was just a little kid."
Luna sobbed out "I- I'm the one who should be sorry Lina, I didn't treat you well did I? I think I've learned better now. Oh Lina, I've been so lonely."
Lina looked at her sister, her tears still streaming down her face. "I just heard about dad. I didn't know, Luna, I didn't know. I thought you guys were all well, I'd have come home sooner. You should have sent Filia or Milgassa or someone. How's mom holding up?"
If anything, the question made Luna cry harder again. In a minute the awful truth came out. "M-Mom, was never the same after dad died Lina. She used to smile all the time, but after he died she never smiled again. Then last summer the plague swept through this part of Zefielia and we all got sick. I was close to death at one point, and she nursed me back to health, but after I was on the mend she was sick, and, and, well, I don't think she wanted to get well all that much. I was still in my sick bed when they said she, she, slipped away quietly in the night, whispering dad's name..."
Lina had been grieving before, but the double news was almost too much. She gave a shriek that seemed to rend the very air and collapsed into Luna's arms wailing "NO,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no! It was a long time before she said anything else.
The others grieved too, Luna with her memories, and the sisters Seirune in genuine sympathy for their friend's double loss. Of course there were hugs all around, even Naga and Luna no longer seemed to care about the recent past.
Finally the tears dried enough to allow speech again. "I feel so bad." said Lina finally. "I should have been here. I am sorry for everything Luna, even for the fact that I love women as much as men. If only I hadn't been so different from you, maybe I'd have been home where I belong..."
Luna gave Lina a look of pain and whispered "Not different, Lina, the same..." then she started to weep, more quietly than she had for her parents, but somehow, much more deeply.
Lina looked startled. "Wh-what do you mean Luna? What do you mean? Luna?" she said, her voice shaking with uncertainty.
Naga got it. "She's a lesbian, Lina..." she said quietly.
Luna nodded through her emotions.
Lina was stunned. She grabed her sister and shook her shoulders. "Why Luna? Why were you so against me being one when I was little?" she insisted.
Amilia took Lina into a hug, while Naga did the same for Luna. "Give her a minute, Lina, love, I'm sure she'll explain." she said.
And finally Luna did. "T-Tami, her n-name was Tami." She paused for a minute. "When I reached puberty my being a Knight of Ceiphied was revealed. And there was much rejoicing. I was put in the best swordfighting school in Zephielia, and I, and our family, was heaped with honours, even from the Eternal Queen. But what I could never tell was that I also grew up very fast under Ceiphieds influence, and knew, even at twelve years of age, where my heart lay. I love women."
"Tami was fifteen, and a student for several years at the academy, where she was the top pupil. She was appointed to be my mentor, an honour I suppose. We did everything together, even spending time alone together. I wanted her, and somehow, I could tell she was like me, so, it took a bit, but finally, I won through, and we became lovers. It was beautiful, so beautiful. Until we got careless and were caught."
"You know it is not accepted in Zefielia to be in love with a memeber of your own sex. If we had been ordinary maybe we could have run away together, but I was cursed with being special." She screamed suddenly "I don't want to be special!" then cried some more.
Finally she went on. "Someone must have seen us and raised the town, for we were alone one day, then, then, it was all so fast, there was this mob... Tami must have known what was happening. She didn't try to run. The first thing she did was tell me that, no matter what happened, I wan't to use the power of Ceiphied in this, it wasn't what it was for. She made me promise, knowing I couldn't ever break such a promise to her. Then she told me to be silent. Finally, she confronted the mob and confessed, wrongly, that it was her fault the innocent child, me, had been lead astray. They thought I had been abused, and spared me, even pitying me. But Tami got the brunt of their anger."
"Some wanted to invoke the old law and burn her, but others argued that would need a trial, and they were too mad to wait. Finally they settled on hanging her, and not the quick way either, it was a strangulation hanging! They-they made me watch, thinking I'd be relieved to see my abuser punished, but every night, since then, I see her face in my dreams, her beautiful face when she said she loved me, and her face in agony as she struggled to breath. I finally learned not to scream in my sleep, but, my dreams are still haunted. You might not remember Lina, you were very young and they hushed up afterwords, lest the palace get wind there was mob violence and send soldiers to investigate."
Luna took a deep breath. "Th-then came the shadow projection thing. I was terrified the old hatred would flare up again, so I reacted badly and I beat you. After that, when I saw you liked girls, oh gods... my dreams changed Lina! It wasn't Tami they were hanging anymore. Lina! It was you! I wanted to save you, so I reacted, badly I now know, by trying to beat it out of you! No, they couldn't! Not my baby sister! They weren't going to kill her!" Luna was panting now, distraught and clinging to Naga for dear life. To her credit, the White Serpent upheld Lina's sister and soothed her as she spoke of her private horrors.
For her part Lina trembled with fear as Amilia held her. "I get it all now Luna!" she said, her voice trembling. "I get it! Oh gods, all this time, I've been afraid of you, I should have been afraid for you! I should have come back sooner! I'm sorry..."
She reached for Luna and in a second the two sisters were hugging again. Luna said "Don't fear for me, my little Lina. After you left my dreams went back to Tami, and I knew you'd be safe. I had to stay for mommy and daddy, but they are gone now. I am alone, but as long as you are safe it is good."
"No it isn't!" said Lina vehemently. "No, you have bad memories of this place, and you have no need to stay. Come away Luna, come with me. Please!"
" I wish I could, but I, I can't." said Luna. "I know nothing of the world, and to tell the truth, I am afraid, Lina, I am afraid. Ironic huh? Your big sister, afraid of the world you wander in freely..."
Lina replied "No, you don't need to be afraid, I'll be with you."
Naga looked thoughtful for a minute then asked Lina "What about that man you love?"
Lina looked a bit sad. "He'll have to understand, my sister needs me."
Luna said "No, Lina, you can't do that, not if you are in love. I won't let you."
"You have no choice." said Lina back to Luna.
Naga butted in, quietly. "Yes, there is one, Lina. Listen, I too know the pain of a loved one's death. My mother was murdered in front of me, and I had to kill the assasin in self defence. I understand your sister's loss, maybe in someways a bit better than you do. And I am as she is, and, perhaps more than you with your two minds, I can understand what it is to love a woman. May I make the following suggestion? Take what time you need here of course, to renew your relationship with your sister. Then, well, then, let her come with me. I have decided to go home. Yes Amilia, I am going to return. But first, I want one last, long, glorious walk through this world I know. I want to go out to the far coast again, then down to Mispross Island, then up through Elemikia, and finally, take the long road from the east home to Seirune. I should get there by fall, and I will be as ready as I ever can be then to return home. Let Luna come with me. Meet us in Seirune in the fall, and by then we will all have time to have made our minds up. What do you say?"
Amilia spoke first. "You'll come home? Oh Gracia!" She hugged her sister. "Alright. I'm going to have it out with Zelgadiss, and tell him to his face that I love him. Then, depending on his reaction, I'll have to tell him that I like making love to girls too, but that if he will help, I'll give it up for him, and we shall see where we stand. You'll get there in time for a wedding or to cheer me up after a major breakup, either way I will want you."
Lina also replied. "Yeah, if that's what Luna wants, so she can get her head on straight, I'll agree to it. I need to tell Gourry the same things, that I love him, and want to marry him, but that I have this thing about girls too, and, well, maybe it'll be a double wedding? Hah, hah, well, we will see. But I want to see more of my sister after this walk about. What do you say Luna?"
Luna looked scared, and yet there was a hint of desire. "I, I don't know, I've never been away from home before..."
Lina hugged her sister. "You were an excellent daughter, Luna, and better than me. You did what you had to and looked after mommy and daddy. But they are gone now Luna, you are free. You don't owe Zefielia anything, especially not after Tami, and they need your abilities as a Knight of Ceiphied in the whole world, not just here. You can go anywhere you want. In time, you can come back here to live if you wish, but for your own sake, see the world at least once in your life, my sister. I will go with you if you want me to, you did so much for me, now it is my turn to give back to you. Or if you want, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's true..., Naga is a worthy choice too, once you get used to her. You told me once that my destiny lay in the world, and you were right. Now something tells me that you too have a destiny in the world, it's your turn to spready your wings and soar into life. Don't be afraid Luna, be excited. Go, go..."
Luna was in deep thought for a minute, then finaly said "Yes, yes, YES! It is my turn! I will go. But I will take up Naga's kind offer, you still have your own affairs to settle. Don't worry sister, I will be better than I have been for a long time, and I will see you this fall in Seirune, count on it. Oh, I will be better then, I can feel it. Then we can begin again, to be the family we should have been all along!" She smiled at Lina, and Lina beamed back at her.
Naga gave Luna hug, and the slightly smokey look wasn't lost on Lina or Amilia who cocked an eyebrow at each other. If the two older sisters could get along...
"Well, I take it you two will be off when the money arrives." Amilia said. Naga nodded, still hugging Luna, who seemed happy to be where she was. Amilia turned to Lina and said "I think our adventure is over Lina, where do we go now?"
A voice replied "Home?"