The Mystery of Kanzaka Manor- Part 4

Gourry limped over to Lina, clutching his side which was still bleeding heavily. He knelt down beside her, and with one arm, turned her over onto her back.

"Lina," he said hoarsely, "Are you alright?" There was no reply. He noticed the shallow but steady rise and fall of her chest and gave a small sigh of relief. She was still alive at least, if unconscious.

Meanwhile, Zel was making similar checks on Amelia. The raven-haired princess stirred and sat-up with a groan.

"Wha-what happened?" she asked groggily. "Mr. Zelgadis? Where's L?!"

"It's fine Amelia. Lina beat her with a Ragna Blade."

Amelia nodded, heaving a sigh of relief. She got unsteadily up to her feet, took a couple steps, before collapsing on the ground.

"Amelia!" Worried, Zelgadis knelt down beside her.

"I-I'm fine Mr. Zelgadis." Looking up at his face, she managed to grin weakly. "Really." He still didn't look convinced.

They were interrupted when they heard Gourry call in a panicky voice, "Zelgadis! Amelia! I can't wake Lina!"

They exchanged a worried glance, and, with Amelia leaning on Zel for support, went to check on their friend.

After a quick appraisal, Amelia began to chant Resurrection. Zel shot her an alarmed look. If Amelia was casting Resurrection, Lina's condition must have been worse than he'd thought.

While she worked, Zelgadis worked on his and Gourry's injuries with a series of Recovery spells. After a few minutes, they were done. Now there was nothing to do but wait for Amelia to finish.

There was one thing Zel still couldn't understand. Lina's injuries didn't seem much worse than his own, so why was Amelia using Resurrection…? He sat there mulling it over for a moment or two before he figured it out.

The Ragna Blade. Zelgadis couldn't cast the spell himself (as far as he knew, Lina was the only one who could), but he knew that spell drained a lot of energy out of the caster. Lina was so exhausted from summoning the Ragna Blade, she had barely any strength left to recover, so instead of using Recovery (which merely sped up the natural healing process and used the patients own energy), Amelia used Resurrection (which drew energy from the area surrounding the patient to heal them). Yes, that must be it.

Gourry didn't know fully what was going on, nor would he have been capable of comprehending if he did. All he did know was that Lina was badly hurt. And that was all he really needed to know. He sat there on the cold stone floor for what seemed like hours, watching Lina as Amelia healed her.

Why? he asked himself silently. Why did you have to get hurt trying to save me? He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt and dread that he may have failed his duty as Lina's protector…

Later that evening found them a good ways away from the mansion. After a while, Amelia, too spent to continue healing Lina, had been forced to stop. Although there had been some definite improvement, it was still uncertain whether she would pull through. All they could do was wait and see what happened. In the mean time, they put as much distance as possible between them and the mansion. Gourry carried a still unconscious Lina, and Zelgadis offered to do the same for Amelia, but she declined.

"I'm alright," she'd said, managing a weak smile. "Really." After an hour or so, she eventually accepted.

By now, night had fallen, they'd set up camp and Amelia and Zelgadis were now sitting side by side next to the fire. Noticing her shivering, Zel hesitantly wrapped an arm around her.

She jumped slightly at his touch, but other than that didn't react. "I'm sure Lina will be fine," he said, not sounding nearly as convincing as he'd wanted to.

Amelia nodded, and there was complete silence except for the crackling of the fire.

On the other side of the campfire, Gourry sat cradling Lina in his arms, holding her close as if afraid she might disappear if he didn't. Some of the color had returned to her cheeks, but there were still tinges of grey from exhaustion.

This wasn't the first time he'd come close to losing Lina, and if she recovered, he doubted it would be the last. But that still made it no less painful.

What Gourry hated most was not being able to do anything, having to watch and wait to see what happened. He couldn't stop her from getting hurt. He couldn't heal her. Nothing. If she died… No, he couldn't think about that. He had to believe things would be alright.

"Please, Lina," he whispered, brushing a lock of red hair off her face, "Don't die."

When Lina came to, the first thing she became aware of was how warm and comfortable her pillow was. Wait a second, pillow? When did I get to an inn? Lina sat up and looked around. Trees, blue sky, and the sound of chirping birds surrounded her. Off to her left she spotted the smoking remnants of a campfire. Ok, I'm not at an inn. Then what…? She twisted around to look behind her, and saw Gourry sitting cross legged with his head hung over, his face obscured by his long blonde hair. The sound of light snoring told her he was asleep.

Oh. That explains it. Lina's face pinkened slightly. On the other side of the clearing she noticed Zel and Amelia lying side by side in each other's arms, also asleep. Lina sniggered. Well, aren't they cute? She debated on whether or not to wake them up, but in the end decided not to. I can tease them about it later.

Lina's stomach growled. Loudly. She was a little surprised that it didn't wake the others. Right, she thought. Time for, uhhh- she glanced at the sun- breakfast. I hope we still have some provisions left. She rummaged through the pockets in her mantle and fished out a few small bundles. Score! She gathered some more wood and got the fire going again.

Gourry awoke to the smell of something good. Something good that was cooking. He opened his eyes and lifted his head.

"Lina!" Relief flooded through him as he saw the redheaded little sorceress sitting by the campfire tending a pot of what he hoped was breakfast.

Hearing her name Lina looked up. "Gourry, you're awa- ack!" She was cut off as Gourry wrapped her into a bear hug that could almost rival one of Prince Philionel's (the almost being because she could still breathe).

"Lina," he sighed, relieved, "You're alright."

"Of course I'm alright. I'm talking to you aren't I?"

"I was really worried about you," he continued. "I should've done something to stop you from getting hurt- Ow!" He massaged his scalp where Lina had hit him.

"That," she said sternly, "Was for blaming yourself for things you couldn't help. I knew what I was doing when I used the Ragna Blade."

"Well Mr. Zelgadis, it looks like Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry have finally admitted their true feelings for each other," Amelia said loudly. Lina and Gourry both blushed furiously as they sprung apart.

"It's about time too," Zel replied, clearly enjoying their embarrassment.

"You're one to talk," Lina retorted. "You guys looked awful sweet sleeping together like that." It gave her an immense feeling of satisfaction to watch them turn bright red and stammer incoherently.

"Say Lina," Gourry cut in. "Do you smell something burning?" A feeling of dread sank into her stomach as she slowly turned her head towards the campfire. Plumes of dark smoke rose from the cooking pot.

"AUGH! MY BREAKFAST!"

A/N: Wow, I finally finished. This is the first serious fic I've ever completed. -Tear- I hope you all liked it. I did my best to keep everyone in character, I hope I succeeded. I'd like to thank for providing me with synonyms to keep my vocabulary varied, and all my reviewers too for their support. Seriously folks, reviewers' compliments make me want to write more.

I do plan on writing more. My next little project will be a funny Slayers/Lost Universe crossover, though I haven't decided which category to put it in yet (You can expect lots of random weirdness though).

Please R&R! Until next time, earthlings.