Ok, so here is the next chapter! I am excited to get the plot moving along. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to leave a review for me! Constructive criticism is welcome!
An hour later, all was packed up and everyone was fed. Silvanus was quite surprised seeing the two of them eat together. Not that he expected much of a change in Gourry's eating habits in the past six years; he still ate like an elephant. No, he was much more surprised that Gourry had managed to find a woman who ate just as much, maybe more.
They set off toward Gourry's hometown of Elmekia on foot, with the intention of hiring a carriage the rest of the journey once arriving at Falmouth Junction, the closest large city to their current location. The first half of the walk went by quickly. Silvanus didn't say much, just whistled and walked. Gourry went along looking deep in thought and concentration. Lina considered him closely, trying to figure out how she could console him. She knew by her lack of information about Gourry's background that this sudden visit home was going to be hard on him. They were treading on thin ice. Lina knew next to nothing about his family. In fact, she had absolutely no idea what to expect once they arrived. Did he have a big family or a small one? He hadn't been home in six years and never once had she seen him write, so they must have problems. He was probably expecting this visit to be very unpleasant.
She looked up at Gourry and saw that he had pulled ahead of her and Silvanus. With a quick sprint she arrived back at his side and touched his arm. He flinched and looked down at her, not knowing she was there, nor expecting the contact.
"Oh, hey Lina!" he said with a wide smile.
"Hey." She replied.
There was a small pause between them as they walked down the road.
"Umm… hey, I was thinking… I mean, you've never told me anything about your family. I can tell you don't like talking about it, but seeing as how we are heading there, I think I deserve to know a little."
There was an even longer pause as Gourry's smile fell from his face.
After a couple of minutes of silent walking he finally looked over at her.
"You haven't told me very much about your family either."
Lina opened her mouth to protest but he continued, looking back at the road, "You're right, since we are on our way there your deserve to know more, that way you can be better…" he paused to give he a sideways glance, "prepared."
The way he did that made her gulp.
"But you have to promise me something first." Gourry continued with a renewed spark in his voice.
"Uh, ok." Lina replied.
" After we leave my hometown, I want to go to Zephilia and visit yours."
Upon hearing this Lina felt her heart skip a beat and her head swirl.
He wants to do what? She thought, crimson color flowing to her cheeks.
"G-Gourry I—"
"Just say yes Lina." Gourry interrupted, stopping short and turning to look at her.
She stopped too and looked him in the eye—for about two seconds, until her embarrassment got the best of her and she looked down at his feet.
"Ok." She said simply and when she looked up again he was already walking ahead.
She allowed a quick glance at Silvanus, who had been walking the road behind them. He had a strange look on his face but she shook that out of her mind and ran to catch up with Gourry, who was walking quite fast. She forced her heart rate to go down and decided to act normal.
'Besides, there's no way he understands the implication of what he just asked of me…does he?'
"Ok so now you need to tell me what I'm about to get myself into!" She yelled as she reached him.
"Alright." He answered.
Where to start? He thought.
"Well, I have a sister named Jocelyn, who's getting married." He started.
Lina rolled her eyes, "I know that Gourry! Tell me something I don't know! Your mother, your father, any other siblings?"
Gourry nodded and continued, "Well I have a mom and a dad, umm…I always just called them mother and father. Ariella and Sachiel are their names."
"Ok, and?" Lina prodded.
"And a younger brother and sister, Dallin and Fae. They are twins."
Lina nodded thoughtfully.
"Ok, so two younger sisters and a younger brother. I'm assuming you're the first-born. Any other siblings?" she asked looking up at him.
He was quiet for a moment and his face grew dark as if he was reliving a painful memory.
"No." he replied in a way that made her shiver.
She knew the conversation was over.
They continued the rest of the journey in silence as they were; walking side by side with Silvanus left to observe them from behind.
They reached Falmouth Junction the next day.
It was a medium sized city, and Lina decided to drag Gourry to the nearest tavern while Silvanus ran some errands on his own. Among them was sending an express letter via carrier pigeon to the Master of the Gabriev clan, Gourry's father, notifying him that he was on the way home with his eldest son.
"Hey Gourry…" Lina started with a pout
"Yeah?" He replied, glancing at her.
He couldn't help but notice how cute she looked.
"Well…um…" she hesitated, slowly leaning toward him.
Color slowly crept to Gourry's cheeks, and he could feel his heart racing.
"Could you… give me your chicken?!"
Gourry's eyes widened as he quickly snatched his plate as far from Lina as possible.
"But Lina, you have your own chicken!" He shouted.
Lina stuck her tongue out at him and replied, "Doesn't mean I can't have any of yours…"
Gourry shook his head and flagged down their waitress.
"Two more servings of your chicken special." He said
"Oh! And two more servings of the apple pie too!" Lina chimed in.
The waitress looked at them flabbergasted, eyeing the stacks of food already on the table. After a moment she just nodded and headed off to the kitchen to put in their new orders.
Lina and Gourry continued their crazed mealtime. Except…Lina noticed she was doing most of the devouring. The majority of the food was ending up in her mouth with little to no fight from Gourry. Finishing her current bite, she set down her chopsticks and looked up at him with a serious expression.
"Ok Gourry, what's the deal?" she questioned, folding her arms over her chest.
He looked up from his bowl of soup to her, with a perplexed expression.
"The deal with what?" He asked back.
"Dinner for us is always a fight, and you've put up little to no resistance to me eating everything. Aside from the chicken, which you scarfed down to smite me…" she added narrowing her eyes.
He stared at her hard for a few seconds like he was struggling with something and then replied," Aww, I don't know Lina. I guess it's just all this mess with having to go home so suddenly. Makes my stomach turn."
Lina blinked a couple of times before her expression turned soft.
"If it bothers you so much we can just turn around and start heading back to Saillune like we had planned."
Gourry shook his head.
"No, we can't do that. Even though its unexpected I know I should go. She's my little sister, and that wedding is going to be a big deal. She's the first in my immediate family to get married…" He trailed off.
"My mother is going to give me a really hard time about that." He continued with a chuckle.
Lina raised an eyebrow.
"That's right Mr. First-born. The eldest is supposed to marry first." She said with a little chuckle.
Gourry simply rolled his eyes.
"Not worried about it." He simply replied, looking back at his soup.
Lina continued to stare at him. Just as she opened her mouth to make another quip, the waitress appeared again with the extra chicken and pie they had ordered. Lina shrugged and turned to the food.
'Can't let it go to waste if he's not going to eat it…'
From Falmouth Junction, Silvanus hired a carriage to hurry them the rest of the way to Gourry's town in Elmekia. Lina and Gourry sat silently next to each other at the front of the carriage while Silvanus sat and whistled across from them. Lina fidgeted in her seat, being more accustomed to walking or using the Ray Wing spell rather than being carted to and fro. She sighed and looked over at Gourry who was staring out of the window with a far away look. She had never seen him so disturbed. This sudden visit home was wearing him down, which in turn wore Lina down.
'What am I supposed to expect when we get there, one big happy family welcoming their eldest son home with open arms? Or will there be a big fight between them? Maybe they will insist he stay home from now on and settle down…'
The thought of this made Lina stop and her breath hitch. She violently shook the thought out of her head and resolved on a new train of thought.
Silvanus looked across at the young woman with mild amusement.
"Are you ok there, young lady?" He said with a chuckle.
At this Lina snapped her head back up at him, confusion in her eyes. Then a slight blush crept across her cheeks, as she realized he had been watching her move about in deep reverie.
"Y-yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Just daydreaming I guess…"
Three days passed uneventfully. It drove Lina crazy! They sat and they sat and they sat.
I want to stretch out my legs! How much money does Gourry's family have anyways? Paying for a six day carriage ride…
She sat and grumbled to herself bitterly at her cooped up position.
'Sheesh, if he's had money all this time why am I the one always picking up the tab?'
"Are you feeling a little stir crazy Lina?" Silvanus asked her kindly.
Lina gazed over at him and sighed.
"Yeah, a little bit. I'm not accustomed to riding in carriages. " She replied, letting out a small laugh.
"Well the coachmen has to make a stop at the next town to exchange horses so we will have a couple hours to stretch our legs." Silvanus said with a smile.
"Whoo!" Lina exclaimed with her fist in the air.
A few hours later they were in the city of Romulus. To no ones surprise, the second the carriage stopped Lina zoomed out, running around in gleeful circles.
"Yes yes yes!" She shouted, jumping up and down.
They were in a huge city center, and Lina could spot a huge fountain ahead. It was so big and magnificent that she couldn't help but run up to it.
"That's quite a lot of energy that girl has." Silvanus noted, looking at Gourry.
Gourry smiled and replied, "Yeah I don't think she's ever been cooped up for that long. At least not as long as I've known her."
"Well, you two must be hungry. How about some lunch? We have at least half the day for the coachmen to get settled."
"That sounds great." Gourry nodded, turning in the direction of the fountain and, more importantly, Lina.
"Lina!" He yelled, waving a hand in the air to catch her attention.
She turned slightly and smiled at him while waving back. Gourry's breath hitched and his body froze mid wave as he took in the sight of her standing in front of the fountain, the sun's delicate rays glinting on her skin. Gourry stared, transfixed, as she stared back with a quizzical look on her face. After a brief moment Silvanus elbowed Gourry in the side. Gourry put his hand down and stared ahead, completely at a loss.
"We're going to find a tavern to have some lunch at. Do you wish to join?" Silvanus yelled.
Lina's eyes lit up and she practically skipped over to them.
"Hell yeah I want food." She exclaimed, turning her gaze toward Gourry.
"Geez, cat got your tongue much Gourry?" She said, slapping him in the back.
"Let's go eat" he responded, turning quickly to hide his embarrassment and the slight blush creeping across his face.
Gourry gave a loud burp as a sign of a well-enjoyed meal. Lina picked at her teeth with a toothpick, and Silvanus simply patted his lips with a napkin.
"That was a great meal." Silvanus stated happily, glancing at the piles of plates on the table. Lina and Gourry nodded in agreement. They stood to leave, when a young man came bursting into the tavern.
"Silvanus!" The young man yelled.
The old man spun around quickly in his direction.
"Oh Jirro, what on earth is the hurry?"
"Mander is saying he wants to stay the night here in Romulus, which goes against your contract with him!"
Silvanus' eyes went wide for moment.
"Indeed, that is not what we agreed upon. We agreed that he and you would drive us and get us there within a week. I'll have to have a word with him. If he can't make the journey any longer then he will have to find another who can." He paused and turned toward Lina and Gourry.
"You two just hang tight. I'll come get you when I figure this mess out."
And with that, he stormed out of the tavern with Jirro close behind.
Lina excitedly ran up a tall, grassy hill with Gourry close behind. She had scoped out this hill upon jumping out of the carriage earlier that day, knowing it had to have a great view of the whole city. She reached the top, turned around, and jumped in the air.
"What did I tell you Gourry? The view up here is awesome! You can see the whole city! Since we don't have time to explore, my genius brain came up with this cunning idea." She said with a big smirk.
Gourry just stared at her in wonder. 'Beautiful...'
He was knocked out of his thoughts by a smack to the head courtesy of Lina's slipper.
"You are being such a jellyfish today, Gourry. More than normal!" She stated, squinting her eyes at him.
His startled expression melted into a soft and gentle gaze as he looked back at her.
"Yeah." He said quietly.
Lina's own expression softened as well as a blush crept lightly across her cheeks.
'He's looking at me so...'
She couldn't place the expression on his face. All she knew was it made her chest feel warm and her stomach flutter.
"Lina..." He started softly, taking a step toward her.
"Yeah?" She answered, taking an unsure step toward him as well.
"I...I just want you to know that...I'm never going to leave your side. No matter what, I'll always protect you."
His gaze was intense and she glanced down at her feet.
"Well, I know that. At least...you've told me that before..." She continued to look at her feet and scuff at the grass below.
He rushed forward and grabbed her hands, holding them in front of his chest. Lina's head snapped back up in surprise.
"I really mean it Lina! I'm not just saying it." He replied quickly with a louder tone.
Lina just blinked and stared at their intertwined hands, feeling her face grow hot.
"I...umm...I..."
Suddenly Gourry was very aware of their proximity. Their faces were just inches apart, their hands enclosed one another's, and she just looked so uncomfortable.
"S-sorry!" He stuttered out, quickly letting go of her hands and taking many steps back.
Although the majority of her was relieved Gourry had ceased contact with her (she was so bad with these situations), a part of her felt a pang of disappointment.
From the relieved look on her face, Gourry would have never known.
He inwardly sighed, sat down on the hillside, and pretended to look at the view, wishing he could run away and hide in embarrassment. Lina stared at him for a few seconds more before tentatively sitting down a good five feet away from him. Gourry's heart sank. She never had a problem sitting close to him, but then again it was always on her terms. He knew better than to pursue her; he was never going to get anywhere if he did.
"I might not get anywhere if I don't though, either" he said to himself thoughtfully.
Lina glanced over at him, unable to make out his whispered words.
"What was that?" She asked.
Gourry glanced back mortified, unaware that he has spoken out loud.
"N-nothing! It was nothing. Great view..."
Lina sighed. "What's gotten into you Gourry? You're acting really strange…"
Gourry shook his head. "It's nothing, Lina. This trip is just making me crazy."
She turned her head to him and caught his eye, holding it for a moment. His expression was unreadable.
"If you say so"
They sat quietly for a while until they noticed a figure frantically waving at them from the bottom of the hill.
"Hey I think that's Silvanus." Gourry said, turning to Lina.
"Damn! Back to that stupid carriage." She stood up and stretched.
He stood up too and they both hurried down the hill to make the last leg of their trip.
Yay! Second chapter done! Please leave a review for me! It would make me so happy, and if I get a bunch I'll post the next chapter quicker! (Remember, it's already written I just have to edit) Until next time =)