Hi again! (grin) Here's the epilogue! (hands out Lina's headband to reviewers) Okay, on with the fic!

Epilogue, two months on

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, only this fic, and Zeilia.

Zelgadis leaned against the wall of his room, feeling bored. It wasn't often that he felt this these days, not anymore. Lina was enough to see to that. She, having been a slave most of her life, was finding new things to say and do around every corner. And then, there was Naga's attempts to get a rise out of her. These, fortunately, had failed fantastically each time they were tried. Smiling, the Chimera jogged briskly off to the kitchens, where he knew Xellos would be making some delicious Mazoku delicacy for breakfast. Lightly tugging his light blue habit cord and straightening his azure tunic as he went, Zelgadis vaguely wondered what Amelia was doing. She and Naga had gone home for a few weeks to oversee the construction of a new bell tower. I'll bet it'll look beautiful when it's finished. he thought as he walked down the concrete steps to where the kitchens were located.

Meanwhile, in the kitchens…

"Easy, miss Lina, eeeeasy!" Xellos yelled as a pancake the size of his head collided with the ceiling. "Oops. Why didn't you TELL ME not to through 'em that high!" the sorceress in question screamed. The Mazoku grinned and dusted off his flour-covered hands on his plum-colored tunic. His bare feet instinctively moved closer to a nearby oven. "Sore wa…Himitsu De—" Xellos began, but was clobbered by Lina's spatula in mere seconds. "WILL YOU QUIT SAYING THAT! You…you…PLUM-BRAIN!" she roared. The Mazoku's eyebrow twitched. "My name is Xellos, or Xell. NOT 'Plum-Brain'." he muttered darkly. The sorceress smiled and relaxed. "Okay…Xelly!" she giggled, and began working once more on breakfast. Xellos felt his face grow hot. He shrugged it off, grinned and whispered "Okay…Li-chan." Lina blushed even brighter than Xellos had. "Don't you DARE call me that in front of anyone!" she hissed, still blushing. The Mazoku smiled brightly, patted the sorceress lightly on the head twice, and turned back to his cooking. Soon, the two were giving each other tips on how to make their food of choice—pancakes—taste better than normal.

"Here, Li-chan, put some cherries and banana's in with those blueberries."

"Thanks Xel. Put some candied apple slices in with those chocolate chips. It'll taste great!"

"Thank you. Have this bag of sugar. It'll go wonderfully on top of the pancake, and when you cook it, the stuff'll sink into the dough!"

After several more minutes of this, the kitchen returned to silence. Lina began tugging on her hair net, and Xellos' chef hat kept flopping over his eyes. "Uh, Li-chan, did you turn off the lights?" the Mazoku asked as he kept bumping into things. The sorceress chuckled. "No, dummy, you've got your hat over your eyes. Here, lemme do it." she laughed, and calmly yanked the hat off Xellos' head. Lina came face to face with the Mazoku's piercing, lulling eyes. "Oh…" she gasped in fascination. He had never opened his eyes in front of her before, except for when she had been fully captured by the "Marionette Crown" which still lay on her forehead. She had tried to cover it with a black headband, but it always fell off. Eventually, she decided to just keep it where it was. Xellos' eyes twinkled merrily as Lina bent even closer to him. In a matter of seconds, they were touching noses. "You look…cool." the sorceress whispered in awe. Then, standing up, she marched back to her place at the long cooking table, and shouted "Well, we can't just sit staring at each other all day. What about your pancakes?"

Zelgadis entered the kitchen just in time to see Lina and Xellos fill up their food trolleys. There were fruit and candy pancakes, poached eggs, toast with all kinds of toppings on them, fruit salads as big around as Naga's ego, and other delights. "I take it your second day as cook turned out well for you both?" he asked Xellos. The Mazoku grinned. "Yep. Right, Li-chan?" he chuckled, and nudged Lina lightly in the ribs. She blushed. "Uh, yeah, right. Xel." The sorceress abruptly pushed her trolley out a door that had been cunningly built into the wall some years ago. "What did you do, Xel?" the Chimera hissed at his friend. Xellos blinked. "Well…nothing. At least, I think I did nothing. I'm not used to girls like Li-chan, Zel. I'm used to Amelia and Naga types." he muttered. Zelgadis placed a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, 'O Best Friend of All', lets see how breakfast is coming. I'll race you!"

THE END

(grin) In case you didn't notice, I'm planning on making a series! YAY! ) I'm going to be calling it "The Himitsu War", and this fic is it's beginning! My next fic in this series will be…interesting. To make a long story short, Rezo decides on taking hair from Xellos and Lina, and make a new type of Mazoku…only problem is, he didn't read the fine print… R&R! See you next time!