AN: Based on a comic by AnxiousSailorSolider, who kindly granted me permission to write this. Please visit the AO2 posting of this fic for the relevant links.
Gourry stiffened in surprise as a small body collided with his. "Sorry mister!" the little boy said to Gourry even as he continued to run through the lobby of the inn.
Gourry wanted to tell him that he hadn't minded. But before he could the boy had already run over to his mother who was seated by the door with her sewing. Gently she admonished, "Careful Jerramal! What have I told you about running in the inn?"
"I forgot!" Jerramal said as he bounced up and down in excitement, "Guess what!"
"What?" she asked as Gourry worked to remember who she was. They'd been staying in town for a few days while Lina tracked down the lead on some sort of treasure map that she was after.
"Daddy said that he's taking us to the cove to swim!"
"Did he now?" she said as she stood up to reveal her swollen belly, and Gourry remembered that she was the innkeeper's daughter, Miriam.
"I did!" her husband, a jovial middle aged man named Joey, said as he walked up to her as he held the hands of his two small daughters. He let them go to put a hand on Miriam's stomach as Gourry felt a sense of jealousy wash over him that he hated himself for feeling.
Gourry tried to be happy for what he had. Given all that he had lost he knew better than to take things for granted. And for the most part he was content with his life. But if he were honest with himself there was a part of him that desperately wanted a family with children running around.
That is a man who has everything, Gourry thought wistfully as he heard Lina's footsteps down the hallway and turned to look at her. But then didn't getting everything start with growing something between two people? Weren't Joey and Miriam once just two people who had fallen in love?
But does Lina love me?
"I do believe I found it!" Lina announced as she entered the lobby.
"Huh?" Gourry said as Lina looked up from the parchment she was holding to the family gathered in the lobby and back to her parchment and Gourry felt a sinking feeling in his stomach that he hated. Lina would never want to settle down. And for the most part he was content to be by her side. But still that yearning for a family never fully abated.
"I'll explain on the way there. It'll likely take us most of the day to get there so we'll have plenty of time. You're just going to forget anyways," Lina said with a grin as she moved closer to slap him companionably on the shoulder, "You all checked out?"
"Just waiting for you." He said with a smile before he glanced at the family again. In more ways than one.
"Awesome, let's go!" And was it his imagination, or did her eyes go back to Miriam and linger there a bit with a hint of curiosity?
"Safe travels." Miriam said as she put her hands on her belly.
"Thanks!" Lina said as she waved, "And good luck with number four!"
Joey and the kids followed them out as Lina went back to scrutinizing the parchment, leaving Gourry with some quiet time to listen to them talk about all of the fun they would have at the cove. Gourry had never really gone on fun adventures like that with his father and he remembered how he would watch as his friends went on fun adventures with their own fathers and how he decided from a young age that if he ever got to be a dad he would be the type that took his children on them.
Behind them one of the girls started screaming, and for a moment Gourry wondered if someone had attacked without him hearing them, but when he turned around he saw that the youngest girl had taken a tumble and was a little banged up but otherwise okay. Joey knelt down to comfort her as her older sister said to Jerramal, "Great, now we're going to have to turn around to get Simonia patched up."
Lina stepped forward, "I can give her a healing spell if you'd like."
Joey looked up at Lina in relief, "Thanks Miss Lina." Lina knelt down as Simonia continued to scream at the top of her lungs as Lina started chanting. Joey's attempts to comfort her were going nowhere but with a patience that one would not expect of Lina if they didn't know her well she continued to chant undaunted.
"Recovery!" Lina said as she placed her hand over Simonia's skinned knee. Simonia gasped at the feel of the healing spell and looked down with a look of wonder on her face, her pain and anger forgotten. "There now. Nothing a quick healing spell won't fix. All better now."
"'dank you!" Simonia said in a teeny toddler voice as she smiled, and Lina ran a hand through her blond curls as she reached into her pocket and grabbed a handkerchief as she wiped her tears away.
Lina placed the handkerchief over Simonia's nose, "Blow."
Simonia did, and Lina pulled the handkerchief away and pocketed it, "Watch out for the ground now. You wouldn't want to fall and hurt it."
Simonia laughed as Lina stood up and Joey offered his thanks again, and then they waved as the group parted, and Gourry couldn't help but put his hand on Lina's head as he smiled. She gave him the side eye as she asked, "What?"
"Nothing," he said even if the hope within him was being stoked, "So where are we going?"
"To the Cave of Xylanos." Lina said.
"What's that?"
"Legend says that there's a lake in that cave that grants wishes." Lina explained.
"Huh?"
"Come on, just think of what we can ask for!" Lina said as stars grew in her eyes, "Money, treasure, perhaps even a cure for Zel, just think of it!"
"But if there's a cave that grants wishes like that, wouldn't there be a huge crowd to get there?" Gourry said.
"Its location is a well kept secret." Lina said, "You've probably forgotten all the hard work we put in to get this scrap of parchment."
He hadn't, but given all the times they'd worked hard to find a treasure map and been let down…
Gourry looked at her skeptically, "Why do I have a feeling that this is going to be one huge misadventure?"
"Hey, where's your sense of optimism?" she asked as she slapped him on the back.
"Opti-what?"
The closer they got to the Cave of Xylanos the more Gourry could understand how it was that the people in the town they had just left were clueless about it. The entrance to the cave was a narrow hole in the ground that was well hidden by underbrush and rocks about the surface. You'd have to have a sorcerer with you to go down into it, and magic users were hard to find in the area.
Once they were in the cave it was even harder to find the lake given the labyrinthine maze of narrow, twisting passageways they found themselves navigating. While the directions they had were good, Gourry found he didn't much care for walking in caves. He was too tall for one thing and kept hitting his head on the ceiling and against stalactites. And some places got very narrow and tough for him to make it through and at one point he nearly got stuck! Give him the open road and blue sky any day!
Finally the cave opened up into a vast cavern as Lina stopped and announced, "Here we are!"
Her light spell illuminated the inky black body of water and Gourry scratched his head dubiously. This was supposed to grant wishes? It just looked like a cold black lake!
"Think fast!" Lina said as she pushed him into the lake.
The shock of the cold water forced every thought from his mind as he surfaced, but before he could yell at her she smiled as she called out, "What do you want most in the world?"
A family, was his gut response. It was the wrong thing to wish for, he knew. But the first thing that popped into his mind was the image of Lina looking like Miriam, heavy and round with a child that was theirs.
Oh no, Gourry! Put it from your mind think of something else! Like…
But the image of walking through the woods with Lina and a handful of kids popped into his head as he put his hands on his hair and pulled lightly. Not that! Anything but that! Come on, idiot, think of something Lina would like! Like treasure! Gold coins!
"Oh come on jellyfish brains! Think! A magical sword! A cure for Zel! Money!" Lina hollered.
"Gold coins?" Gourry said uncertainly.
Which would the lake respond to? What he stated out loud or what was in his heart? For a wild moment Gourry wondered if children would just spring from the lake fully formed, but aside from him trading water nothing disturbed the water and not even a single coin appeared.
"If you want something done…" Lina sighed as she took off her boots and amulets, "You must be doing it wrong."
Was he going crazy? Or did a lullaby play as she jumped into the lake? He looked around for the source of the sound that seemed to follow Lina as she swam beneath the water up to him as he watched incredulously. And then just like that the melody ended.
Before he could think too much about it Lina surfaced, "I wish for a spell more powerful than and safer than the Giga Slave!"
Lina looked around as if expecting a Claire Bible manuscript to appear out of the air. But after a few moments of uninspired nothing she sighed, "Well I guess that was a waste of time."
"Does this mean we can get out of this freezing lake?" Gourry asked.
"Yeah," Lina said, the disappointment lacing her voice as she started to head for shore as he followed her.
As they reached the shore for a wild moment Gourry wondered if she would emerge with a distended belly, but she was as flat as ever as she reached solid ground, even if her clothing did stick to her in enticing ways. She quickly moved her arms across her chest as she started shivering, "I set aside some dry clothes for us."
"Thank goodness." Gourry said as she tossed him his clothing, and then they turned around and he moved a bit out of sight so they could change. "I'm decent when you are."
"Decent!" Lina said, and he turned around and blinked. It must have been something about the way her light spell reflected in the cave, but there seemed to be a bit of a glow about her.
Stop this, Gourry told himself as Lina started digging in her pack for some rations.
"We'll have a bite to eat and head back." Lina said, "Though we may have to sleep in the cave tonight."
"Yeah, it'll probably be dark by the time we get to the entrance." Gourry agreed as she handed him some hard biscuits.
Still, when they emerged the following morning into the bright light of day, Gourry could not shake the feeling that there was something different about Lina. Something that somehow managed to fan both the flames of hope and terror.
AN: For vacation this year we went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, the largest cave system in the world. It was frickin' huge and could hold an entire city and then some within its depths. Still, my husband and I came out quite concussed and the only one who didn't suffer head trauma was my short little eight year old. Definitely worth a trip if you're ever in that area though.