Chapter 7: Reunion

"Did you hear that?" Lina looked up, startled by Gourry's question.

"Hear what?"

"That boom noise." Lina shook her head, and no one made a sound as they listened for a moment. Then a faint rumbling noise was heard.

"Sounds like an avalanche," the innkeeper said mildly.

"What?!" Lina and Gourry both looked alarmed.

"Don't worry," she assured them. "The sound is faint, so it's probably far away." Lina gave her a skeptical, I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it look and marched over to the window. As the innkeeper had predicted, the avalanche was several miles away in the mountains. It subsided as quickly as it began. Several things suddenly occurred to Lina:

1. The "boom noise" Gourry had mentioned was probably an explosion.

2. The explosion was probably what caused the avalanche.

3. Explosions were not naturally occurring phenomena, meaning someone must have caused it.

4. That must person was now probably buried in the snow somewhere, possibly still alive.

5. That person was probably Amelia.

"Come on Gourry," Lina said tersely, "We're going up there to investigate."

Crunch. Crunch. "This sucks," Lina grumbled to herself. Walking in the snow was a lot harder than she'd thought. It came up above her knees, making it extremely difficult and slow to walk. Her steps were big, long and exaggerated. "Scratch that. This really sucks."

"It could be worse Lina," Gourry said cheerfully. "There could be a blizzard. Or a Makuzo attacking us."

Lina glared at him, not bothering to correct his mistake. Her blonde companion wasn't having nearly as much trouble as she was, being taller and having longer legs.

She wished she could Ray Wing to the avalanche site, but it was too far away. That, and she'd have to deal with Gourry's whining the whole way there. She couldn't use Fireball or Flare Arrow to clear a path through the snow either; that could cause another avalanche.

So she was stuck trudging through the snow. And she was quickly growing to hate it. "And to think, when I was a kid, I looked forward to snow," Lina muttered. "I must've been really naïve or something."

Crunchcrunchcrunchcrunchcrunch. Lina looked up. "Someone's coming," Gourry said, stating the obvious. Sure enough, a dark figure was fast approaching them. Lina squinted, trying to discern who it was…

"Zelgadis?" She and Gourry both said, surprised. Their chimera friend made his way towards them. As he drew closer, Lina noticed he was caring something large in his arms. It was a person, wrapped in a cloak. Lina caught a glimpse of the person's face.

"Amelia? Zel, what the hell happened?" Lina demanded, bewildered. Zelgadis didn't answer, instead running past them towards the village.

Gourry looked at Lina, who shrugged. They turned around to follow him.

Lina watched her friends from the doorframe. They were back in the inn common room, and it was just after sunset. Amelia was lying on a cot in front of the fireplace, still asleep. Zelgadis sat on a chair next to her, brooding (what else is new?)

"So, Zel what's eating you?" He didn't respond. Generally that would be interpreted as 'I don't want to talk about it,' but Lina wasn't good at taking hints.

"C'mon Zelly-boy, you can tell me," she said playfully. Still no response. Jeez… She got slightly annoyed. "Listen Zel, if it's Amelia you're worried about, don't be. You heard what the healer said. She'll be fine. Besides, she's lived through a lot worse than this."

"I know," Zelgadis said shortly.

Lina frowned. "What the hell happened to you two up there anyways? You still haven't told me."

"I don't want to talk about it." She scowled, and thought things over for minute.

"Gourry heard an explosion right before the avalanche started, meaning someone must've caused it, intentionally or otherwise." She raised an eyebrow. "Now, should I keep guessing or will you save me the trouble by telling me?"

Zelgadis gave her an irritated look. "You're not going to let this drop are you?"

"No, I'm not." He sighed.

"Fine." He began his story, telling her how he wound up in the Temples, how Amelia saved him, and how they found themselves lost in the tunnels. He told her of his plan to blast a hole out of the tunnels, how that caused the avalanche, their attempts to escape, and finally, him bringing Amelia back to the village.

"I see…" Lina said slowly, taking it in. "You blame yourself for what happened, don't you?" Zelgadis didn't answer, but the look on his face told her she was right. "Look Zel, you and Amelia both got alive. You can't change the past so quit worrying about it."

"I still should have known better," he said, so quietly Lina barely heard it.

"Maybe, but how do you know that the two of you wouldn't have been stuck in that tunnel until you starved to death? You got out alive. That's all that matters."

Zelgadis didn't reply, and neither of them said anything. Finally Lina stood up. "I'm goin' to bed," she yawned. "Night, Zel."

He nodded as she went up to her room. Slowly, one by one, the candles burnt out. Soon, the crackling fire was all that lit the dark empty room. He sat there for a long time, watching the steady rise and fall of Amelia's chest as she slept, before finally nodding off himself.

A/N: Lina is a therapist, lol. Hope that last part of the chapter wasn't too OOC...

Anyhoo, Happy New Years everyone! I am back from vacation, as you all guessed. Twas fun. Not much else to say.

R&R please!