Author Notes: Ah, faithful readers. :) This is my gift to you – finally a continuation for Paint the Sky with Stars. I'm a bit out of touch with the whole storyline, so please forgive anything that may strike a note of discord within you. In non-highfalutin verbiage, this means ignore the mistakes. And if this chapter smacks of "Save the Last Dance", even a little bit, I'm very sorry. I needed to tie dancing into the story somehow, considering that's how I started this whole thing. And the bridge mentioned later is a bridge only for foot traffic. Like those really cool ones that look like they could support cars but are much better for random Gothic mystery scenes.
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Chapter 7 – Tangled Webs We Weave
Days passed. Lina's bruises and cuts healed themselves, leaving perfectly pale peachy skin in their wake. Zelgadis continued to visit Lina at work, usually resulting in excursions to the zoo, museum, park, et cetera after Lina's shifts. Their friendship grew in leaps and bounds. Pretty soon, spending time with Zelgadis was the only thing Lina every looked forward to. Well… that, and getting her paycheck, but that was clearly a different sort of anticipation.
Lina rarely let her heart speak. It was annoying and obtrusive and generally useless, and she could function just fine with only her brain. But for whatever reason, it seemed as though her heart had been having its say more often than she cared to admit. Any speculation on her relationship with Zelgadis, however, was immediately annihilated. He was her best and only friend. She would never go so far as to say she loved him as anything more…
Right?
***
"You're really going to do it? I mean, this isn't just talk, but you're really going to apply to the Luiren?" Zelgadis exclaimed as he and Lina strolled along the boardwalk next to the river. They turned to walk across the bridge, passing all sorts of people. The air was dry, warmth seemed to radiate from everything in existence, and a very slight breeze wound its way along the water. Children roamed the sidewalks, their families meandering along behind them. Couples occupied benches, snuggled together in spite of the summer heat. It was the perfect night.
"I thought I might as well. I mean, I can't go under the current financial circumstances, but if I win a full-ride scholarship, I will crawl on hot coals to go." Lina veered off to the side and stopped to lean against the bridge's railing. She stared off into the gorgeous sunset.
"Lina… that's great," Zelgadis said, taking his place next to her. "I really hope you win. As a matter of fact, I'm almost sure you will."
"Thanks… but… I'm not that confident in my skills. I may be good to someone like you." Here Lina chuckled at the affronted look on Zelgadis's face. "No offense, but compared to the profs at Jullien, you know Jack schist."
"You could've at least found a nicer way to put it," Zelgadis grumbled, mock resentment contorting his features. Lina laughed out loud, ignoring the strange looks from passersby as she snorted unflatteringly.
"How did a rich snob like you get to be so cool?" Lina finally managed to ask between gasps of breath.
"Well, it's simple, really. I just stole what little cool was left in all the other rich snobs until I had enough to make myself sufficient."
"You're weird."
"I know."
"In a good way."
"I know."
Comfortable silence fell between the two. The rest of the world seemed so far away. Suddenly, the string of Japanese lanterns strung across the bridge flooded with light, spilling specks across the bystanders below. Children giggled and continued to romp around on the cobblestones.
Zelgadis turned his head slightly so he could get a better look at Lina as she continued to gaze at the sunset. He couldn't bring himself to out-right stare at her; to him, that seemed a little bit like invading her privacy. But he couldn't help but gaze at her from the corner of his eye.
Lina was one of those people who are beautiful in an unconventional sort of way. By normal standards, she was a pretty young lady but she still had her flaws. Take, for instance, the small bump where her nose had been broken many years ago and never recovered fully, or the scar tissue dotting a diagonal line on her forehead. Zelgadis, of course, took these all in stride. Lina reminded him of her to the point of insanity. The resemblance was uncanny. True, she was much more fair and gentle, tall and willowy compared to Lina's diminutive stature and decidedly aggressive nature, but they both carried themselves in much the same way…
But that is neither here nor there, Zelgadis thought, quickly rescuing his brain from those traitorous, hijacking thoughts.
"Zel?"
"Hmm?"
"Umm… never mind." Zelgadis looked at Lina quizzically.
"Did you have something to say?" he asked. Lina turned her face away, blushing.
"Ah, nothing important."
"O…kay…" Zelgadis replied, turning his attention to the river slowly bumbling along below them. Several minutes passed in silence.
"Ah… Zel?"
"What?"
"… Sorry, never mind."
"Stop doing that!" Zelgadis, exasperated, turned so Lina had his full and undivided attention. "Just tell me whatever's on your mind."
"Well, I was just thinking about how nice this is. And how I wish I could do this all the time. With you. You know, going for walks. With you. In the park and stuff. With you." Lina felt like kicking herself, but she substituted a savage chewing of her bottom lip. Way to go, Lina, she though. You sound like an incoherent idiot.
"We have been going on walks…" Zelgadis interjected, confused about where this was going. "All the time."
"Oh. Yeah. Well. I know that. I'm just saying," Lina replied. Make that blithering idiot. "I mean, I never do anything with my sister. She hates me. And I rarely see Mom. And I don't have any other friends. So I'm really glad that you're always around. You're like family to me. More than my real blood relations." Oh, I so hope he doesn't think I mean like a big brother!!
"I wish your home life was better than that," Zelgadis said, seemingly unaware of the unintentional hidden message in Lina's statement. "Although I can't really say mine is much better. So I guess we just have each other, then. I read somewhere that there are two kinds of families: the kind you are born into and will never been rid of, and the kind that you build yourself."
"Smart words."
"Yeah."
Kiss her. Zelgadis nearly choked on the air he was breathing as the soft words whispered through his mind. He looked around wildly, thinking maybe someone else, someone near him, had uttered the words. Only Lina stood by him, and she was off in some dream world with a wistful expression on her face.
Kiss her. Zelgadis dropped his head to rest against the bridge railing. The voice, his own voice, built like a tsunami in his mind, crashing over and over onto his other thoughts. Soon, it was all he could think of.
Kiss her!
"Say… Lina…" Zelgadis managed to wheeze out through his constricted lungs. Lina turned to him, expectant.
"Yeah? What?"
"If I… uh… that is, would you…" Zelgadis mentally threw himself into a dungeon to rot for all eternity. No way should Lina be subject to his random acts of stupidity. Zelgadis lapsed into silence.
Lina, not knowing what to make of the situation, stepped closer to him.
"Don't be afraid to tell me anything," she said. "You know I won't laugh-"
Before he could change his mind, Zelgadis bent down and kissed Lina lightly on the lips.
****
Well.
That was certainly… different.
He… I… kiss… AHH! Lina's brain went AWOL as Zelgadis hastily stepped back, blushing fiercely and mumbling apologies.
"… urk…" Usually the articulate one, Lina's scintillating wit was reduced to this odd gurgle.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Lina, I don't know why I did that-" Zelgadis began rambling, half with self-loathing and half with embarrassment.
"No, Zel…"
"…it was really stupid of me…"
"Stop it…"
"…didn't really mean to take us to the next level…"
"Shut up, Zel!"
"… I can't believe-"
Lina silenced Zelgadis the only way she knew how.
She kissed him.
***
Amelia loved this city. She hadn't been here long, but already she was enraptured by the buildings, enchanted by the people, and captivated by the atmosphere. She especially loved the park. It was amazing, this little oasis in the midst of gargantuan pillars of glass and metal.
Her father went into conniptions when she declared she was going out for a walk by herself this evening. They had called the Graywords, thinking they would snag Zelgadis to be her guardian, but he was nowhere to be found. Amelia finally convinced her father that she was fully capable of taking care of herself, she would be in a public place with lots of people, she had her cell phone, et cetera.
I wonder where Zelgadis is? Amelia thought as she walked beside the river, reveling in the barely-there breeze and the fading glow of the sun. As much as I wanted to do this alone and prove myself, it would have been nice to be here with him… Huh?
Amelia stopped and swiveled her head. She squinted her eyes. Was that…? It was! In the quickly disappearing light of day, Amelia could just make out the figure of Zelgadis leaning casually on the bridge railing. Thrilled yet nervous, Amelia changed directions and picked up her pace, running towards the handsome young man.
As her point of view changed, however, she caught sight of the petite woman beside him. They were standing nearly shoulder to shoulder, both peering down into the river below. Amelia stopped, her momentum causing her to stumble a few footsteps.
Amelia, being the naïve, unassuming sort of person, didn't think much of the twilight tête-à-tête. Curious, and slightly disturbed, she wandered away from Zelgadis and back along her original path. Surely he wouldn't want someone to interrupt his… his… what? Date? Meeting? Maybe it meant nothing. Amelia glanced over her shoulder, but her footsteps had already carried her beyond sight of the bridge. But who…
Who is that girl he's with?
***
"Zelgadis, we need to talk."
Zelgadis paused in his humming, the silly smile slipping from his face. The stern expression on his mother's face was enough to stop most small mammals dead in their tracks. Looking at his father, Zelgadis grimaced. Twice the trouble, it seemed.
"Um… sure…" Zelgadis replied warily. He followed them into the family room and took a seat on the couch. Generally speaking, "we need to talk" meant "You've done something we disapprove of and we're going to lecture you to death for it." Zelgadis couldn't, for the life of him, think of anything he'd done wrong. At least not recently.
"Amelia has informed us of… something that happened a few days ago."
What? Zelgadis hadn't even seen Amelia for a week. What on earth were his parents talking about?
"I must say, we're rather upset by this. It explains your erratic behavior we've noticed for the last couple of weeks, but, nevertheless, it is unacceptable." Elena Graywords looked at her husband, urging him to continue.
"What are you guys talking about? I haven't done anything!" Zelgadis exclaimed. Sweat beaded on his brow, although he had nothing to be nervous about… right?
"Son, who is this… girl you've been seeing? And why haven't you told us about her?" Maxwell Graywords asked.
Zelgadis froze. Lina? This is about Lina? Why do they care…?
"I met her a few weeks ago, her name is Lina…"
"You know full well that you are not allowed to see girls we haven't approved of!" Elena exploded. Zelgadis, incredulous, stared at his mother.
"What the hell…?" he began, but his father waved him off with quick motion of his hand.
"Watch your language, Zelgadis," he commanded, ignoring the growing look of rage on his son's face. "What's the matter with Amelia? She is a fine girl, and she will make a fine wife. There's no need for you to tramp off with some girl you picked up on the street-"
"Dad, it's not like she's some homeless waif, although that shouldn't matter even if she was! I don't know where you get off telling me whom I can and can't see, and it's absolute bullsh-" Zelgadis checked himself, but just barely. "-crap you setting up an arranged marriage like we're in the 1800s!"
"Don't you use that tone of voice with me!"
"I'm just saying-"
"We've given you everything, Zelgadis! Why do you insist on making everything so difficult?" Elena looked exasperated. Zelgadis couldn't believe his ears. Wasn't it his parents who were making things difficult? Wasn't it them who were ruining his life? Why were they being so damn unreasonable?!
"I'm not being-"
"You are forbidden to see this Lina person again. If you go anywhere, it's with Amelia. You're breaking her heart. How can you be so cold? You never call her, you barely talk to her when she's over here… I can't believe I've raised such an ungrateful son…"
"Mother!"
"Zelgadis, you obey your mother!"
"But-"
"This discussion is over!"
Some discussion. It was, as all "We need to talk" talks eventually are, a yelling session in which Zelgadis has all of 6.75 lines, his parents make it clear how disappointed they are of him, and an ultimatum is thrown out.
Never see Lina?
Like hell.