Surprisingly, Amelia was the first to leave the next morning. Lina had expected her to stay with everyone as long as possible, but the princess had discovered a ship was arriving from the barrier kingdom in a nearby port. Normally this wouldn't cause her to rush but unfortunately 'nearby' was a weeks walking away and the ship was arriving in two days, meaning she was leaving early and flying most of the way there.

And so after a goodbye hug and kiss for everyone (except Xellos who looked slightly green at the concept) she was off.

Zelgadiss didn't stay much longer after that, which didn't surprise Lina. He was anxious to go after his cure –She also liked to think that maybe he felt Amelia's absence more than he let on (Although the fact that she and Xellos had been teasing him over getting two goodbye kisses from the princess was probably the main reason for his early departure.)

The trickster himself stayed for breakfast and even offered to pay, not aware he was using the same excuse Lina had to pay for dinner the night before. Only in his case it was probably the truth (for once). Eventually duty called him away and he promised Lina and Gourry he would visit them soon (although threatened may have been a better term than promised) and bowed elegantly to Filia before phasing out.

It wasn't until he'd gone that they realised he hadn't actually paid the bill.

An hour later one irate sorceress and one out-of-pocket swordsman took their leave of Filia, who would be staying in town to set up shop. They began walking as they always did, with no real direction.

"Together again, huh Gourry?"

"What do you mean 'again'?" he asked "were we apart?"

"No, I mean without the others, just you and me" Lina answered distractedly as she considered his questions; were they apart? Ever? It was true Gourry had one time said he was going to protect her forever, or at least, the rest of his life. And that time she had asked him-

-She never got an answer for that question though, did she?

"Hey, Gourry?"

"Yeah?"

"You said you were going to 'protect' me the rest of your life, right?" he nodded "But isn't there someone waiting for you to return home? Like your family? Or maybe a, um… a girlfriend?"

Gourry looked thoughtful for a moment and Lina began to regret asking as it was proving hard to keep her face neutral instead of showing the extent of her curiosity.

"Waiting for me at home?" he thought aloud "Amelia (at least I think it was her) said 'home is where the heart is' is that true?"

Lina blinked. It sounded like something Amelia would say, but it was a bit profound a question for Gourry to be asking.

"Well… a house is just a house unless there are people in it you care about and who care about you as well I guess… So yeah, I'd say home is where the heart is."

Gourry smiled, the thoughtful look being cleared away by his usual sunny expression.

"Then there's no-one waiting for me."

"Hm? How'd you figure that?"

"Because… as long as I'm with you then I'm already home." He said calmly, taking his eyes from the road to look at her.

Lina was far from calm though, her heart beat rapidly and she blushed wildly 'did he just say…? No, this is a dream, this has to be a dream.'

Gourry sighed, a strange expression on his face as his eyes drifted from hers towards her chest.

"Although, I wouldn't mind a slightly bigger home."

Nope, definitely not a dream

"FIREBALL!"

For one heart stopping moment Gourry just lay on the ground she had blasted him to, but then he coughed and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, his face was almost completely blackened from her fireball.

"I guess I deserved that one."

"Damn right you did."

The swordsman stood and dusted himself off then turned to continue travelling as they always did after such an incident when he said something stupid and Lina… um... reprimanded him for it. This time however, Lina stopped him.

"Gourry wait! You… you're" she paused for a second and took a breath "You're my home too."

Gourry stopped dead in his tracks and processed this. Lina blushed and refused to meet his eyes, playing with her fingers until he put an arm around her shoulders and smiled at her. She smiled back and they continued walking on like that, together always.

The direction didn't really matter. After all, they were already where they wanted to be.

Home

It's been said enough to drive you round the bend,

But it's true; the story doesn't end

One day you'll see, time will tell;

It's never goodbye, only a fond farewell.

A/N:I like this chapter. Not so much as some others perhaps but i think all considering it's still fairly good. Even if it is slightly sad to see this story.. well, not end, because i'll fovever be imaginaing what happened next, when/if Xellos visited Lina and Gourry,whether Filia managed to stay civil, did Amelia catch the ship, did Val hatch in time for her to meet him, will Zel return to Saillune or find his cure and all those things -so no, the story dosn't end, its just left to be told by ones own imagination.

I have to stop being so philisophical and just say the story ended really don't i? hehehe

In regards to the AZ chapter isn't it absolutley wonderful when you write somthing that you personally are proud of and have it met by some of the most brilliant reviews ever? Thank you to everyone who reviewed that chapter, but you can't have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. When i typed that last phrase, 'and smiled', I punched the air and screamed "YES!" so loud they probably heard me next door (thank goodness my parents weren't home, heaven knows what they might of thought i was doing)

and in response to those reviews;

Hitteh pitteh: Oh please, you don't seriously think i could possibly not write an AZ centered fic? Actually my halloween fic is AZ centered so you won't have to wait long for that at least, provided i get it finished in time that is.Anything else though will take a while so i can make it perfect Elling: Wondrous? Dear Elling, if that is so then only because i have such wondrous reviewers whom inspire me enough themselves. More AZ? Just try and stop me Ichiban Victory; a kiss would have been too much(but i couldn't resist in this chapter), as i said at the start, you can read as much or as little as you want into each chapter, how long do you think 'a little longer' was? LZ fans may have had it as no more that thirty seconds, while AZ fans (who have also seen the Princess bride) may have taken 'As you wish' to mean that little bit more. I actually did things like that the whole was through this, you'll notice in this chapter there's no actual mention of love per say. (although i admit it's hard to read a little into this chapter) There's no need to be sad though; as written above, it's only a farewell Steven P.P: Oh my, the dialouge was my least favourite part of that chapter I much prefered the descriptions like Ame's smile being enough to kill a dark lord. Still, thank you muchly. Stara Maijka: Shattering fanfic stereotypes (or at trying to write without them) was one of my reasons for doing this. I'm glad i seem to have accomplished this! And i absolutley agree with you about that chapter being the best, although I may be more than slightly biased, thank you so much for your praise.

All thats left now i suppose is my thank yous! so, thanks to;

Mischifjen

Newtype Omega

Katze3

Lilting tune

Steven P.P

Stara Maijka

Encyser

The lord of Nightmares

Yexis

And everyone who read.

Special thanks to;

Gerao-A -Who really didn't have to go back and review every chapter, but thanks for doing so anyway!

Hitteh Pitteh - for the (eventual) fave and for being such an attentive audience

Elling - For wondeful reviews that made me feel all fuzzy and appriciated.

Ichiban Victory - who's name means great (victory)and damn does she live up to it. Probably my best and most constructive reviewer... as always :)

And so my friends, until the next time, farewell.