Filia looked out the window and sighed. She may have decided on her future plans but… It was going to take a lot to pull them off. First she was going to have to find the money to buy or rent a shop. Then she needed to get all the materials and so on all the while looking after Val-egg and feeding herself somehow.

And she had to do it all on her own- all her friends, her teachers, her acquaintances everyone she grew up with -anyone she could have gone to for help- had been wiped out… She sighed and rested her head in her hands.

"Cheer up!"

Filia showed no sign of movement so Gourry slid into the seat next to her.

"C'mon cheer up! It can't be that bad- we beat Dimstart didn't we?"

"Darkstar" the dragon corrected automatically, still not raising her head. "Yes, we did."

"Then shouldn't you be happy?"

"Well yes… I mean I am happy about that I just don't know how I'm going to survive from here on…"

Gourry blinked and thought about that for a while. Before his train of thought could get too far though it was diverted by a group of kids running around –children of some of the inn's other clients. They were playing hide and seek under the tables and chairs, behind the curtains and so on. He smiled as he watched them carry on obliviously to anyone else around them.

"They have it right." He said causing Filia to look up to see what he was referring to "They don't worry about tomorrow; they just try to make the most of today and focus only on the good things."

"We can't all be so naïve though" Filia argued.

"Maybe" said Gourry not entirely sure what 'naïve' meant "but worrying about it won't change anything."

Filia paused to consider this. The swordsman was right, worrying wouldn't change a thing. She was acting like the priestess she had been again –needing everything to be set in stone; the mazoku were purely bad, dragons were purely good, the supreme elder was always right, if you thought things out ahead of time they would get done sooner. All of these beliefs had been smashed to bits over their adventure. Like when she had planned to acquire Lina's services. She would test their strength bring them to the temple and save the world –she hadn't been anticipating the chaos that had followed or how their plans changed so quickly depending on the situation. She had to loosen up more and… 'Go with the flow' as the humans put it.

"You're right Gourry-san, thank you."

"No problem" he grinned and made to stand up only fall to the ground at a sudden pressure on his head and a startled cry from Filia.

Looking to see the source of the problem they discovered that while they had been talking one of the children had tied the ends of their hair together in a knot. Filia felt her anger rising and reached for her mace to teach a lesson to the kid responsible when she was stopped by the sound of Gourry laughing. She looked at him sitting on the ground and laughing his head off, blinked a few times and began to see the funny side of it herself. She giggled than chuckled then began outright laughing.

After all, there was no point worrying over it.

A/N: My muse seemes to have died recently, or rather Gourry's chapters are very hard to write which is why this took so long. Sorry!

Ichiban Victory; I've made a friend! hehe, thank you so much. I'm really glad you like the idea although personaly i don't think the writing is that good ( i lack self-confidence) As for where the story is going, lets just say it gets fluffier from here on out. Particuarly towards the end. LiltingTune (Uta-chan); Don't worry LZ, FL and FX are all coming up. But it wouldn't be just for me to leave out LGso they'll be getting one too (as will AX) I hope you like the coming chapters just as much and i promise i'll update as soon as i can. Hitteh Pitteh; Of the chapters i've written so far i agree that the AG one is the best (hence why i put it first) Although the AZ chapter is shaping up to be muuuuuuuch better -wink-