A HEAVY HEART TO CARRY
I know the whole 'Amelia being forced to marry' bit has been done to death, but I was thinking about the radio drama (which I've never heard, sadly) where Amelia runs away because her father wants her to learn to be a good wife or something, and she runs into Lina, Gourry and Zelgadis and Lina jokes on Zel that he should just marry Amelia. Anyway, I started thinking about how sometimes things just aren't that simple...but they could be, if we let them.
Also, I haven't felt inspired to write in a long time, so I thought this might warm me back up!
The small, shadowy figure leapt soundlessly from the terrace nearly twenty feet from the ground.
Not so much as a breath could be heard, because she dared not use magic for fear of being caught.
As she hit the ground, she bent at the knees and sunk down to redistribute her weight. Once her balance was established, she took off into the dark garden and through the back gate.
No one would miss her until the next morning.
"Damn that Amelia!" Lina Inverse ranted, throwing her arms into the air with frustration. "We've had to come all the way back to Seyruun just because she decided to be a brat!"
"But Lina," protested Gourry Gabriev, scratching his head in thought, "what if something bad really has happened to her?"
Lina brushed him off with a wave of her hand. "You know damn well she can protect herself. No, this is all because of what Phil told us."
And what Amelia's father had told them is that he had cautiously suggested to his daughter that she begin meeting with Seyruun's best matchmaker, in hopes of perhaps marrying soon and allowing them time to groom her husband for life at Seyruun palace. Amelia, herself, would of course be the one to ascend to the throne someday...but she would still be expected to provide heirs.
Amelia had not reacted kindly to the suggestion.
"She's run away, I'd bet money on it," Lina told Gourry. The swordsman nodded, finally convinced. After all, Lina would never risk money unless it was a sure thing.
"So, you see, with her sister gone it is imperative that Amelia comes back to us," Prince Philionel told Lina and Gourry with a sigh.
"Phil-san," Lina began, carefully. "It's not like Amelia to simply abandon her duties here. And I know she loves you and wouldn't leave unless it was a dire emergency. Is there something you're not telling us?"
"Well," the big man began, twiddling his thumbs nervously, "After I suggested she meet with the matchmaker, I explained that it was because the Council was adamant that she find a husband by her eighteenth birthday."
Lina's jaw dropped. "That's next month! Phil, you didn't!"
The big man hung his head, looking ashamed. "You must understand, I didn't expect her to take it all so seriously! I knew I could keep the Council distracted with other matters for years if necessary! But I suppose part of me just wants what any father wants. I want her to be loved and taken care of, for when I'm gone. So I may have pushed the subject...just slightly."
The man looked so downtrodden that Lina's heart broke a little bit for him.
Gourry placed a hand on the Prince's shoulder and said, "We'll find her, Phil. You can count on it!"
The sorceress and the swordsman searched for weeks. Ironically, it was the week of Amelia's birthday when they finally found their first clue.
"Zel!" Lina cried out when she spotted their friend.
The chimera whirled around, and Lina thought she caught a glimpse of something like panic in his eyes...but it was gone so suddenly that she assumed she must have imagined it.
"Hello Lina, Gourry," Zelgadis Greywords nodded politely. He didn't smile, nor make any move toward them to shake hands or embrace in any way.
Lina halted in her approach of their friend, and Gourry followed her lead.
"What brings you out here, Zel?" Lina asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"The usual. Search for my cure and all that."
Gourry was now paying closer attention to their friend. The way Zelgadis was trying not to dart his eyes around, looking for an escape. The way his hand flexed millimeters closer to his sword.
Now Gourry was on high alert, his brain mapping out a tactical advantage if it came to a fight against their friend. Zelgadis could likely beat him with speed, but Gourry was still physically stronger than the chimera. But Gourry had no magic, and that put him at a disadvantage. He did, however, have Lina. But he'd rather not have her involved unless absolutely necessary.
But, even through all of this, another thought flew to the forefront of Gourry's mind...
"What in the world would make Zel act so suspicious of us?"
Lina continued talking to their friend, but her tone and expression had changed a bit. Now she wore a knowing smirk and had her arms crossed underneath her less than ample bosom.
"I don't suppose you know where we could find Amelia?"
"Don't be stupid," Zelgadis spat. "Why would I know that?"
Lina feigned a cough into the back of one of her hands, then pointed into the distance.
A young woman with short plum-colored hair, wearing a yellow sundress, could be seen picking berries from a large bush. She had the skirts of her dress pulled up slightly and was using it as a net to hold the berries.
Zelgadis placed his face in his hands and sighed melodramatically.
Finally dropping his arms and turning to the princess, he yelled, "Amelia! I told you to stay inside!"
Amelia wil Tesla Seyruun finally looked up and saw Lina and Gourry. Instead of her normal greeting which would generally consist of a "squee" and a big bear hug, she dropped her skirts and all the berries she'd picked fell to the ground with several dull thuds.
"Oh no!" She exclaimed, which was another uncharacteristic reaction from the princess.
"Well," said Zelgadis as Lina and Gourry stared at him. "I guess you two should come inside."
The house was small and quaint. More like a cabin, really. The furniture was mismatched but somehow still cute, and Amelia had a lovely flower garden in the front and vegetable garden in the back.
Lina and Gourry looked around in fascination. There was a bookcase full of tomes regarding transformation spells, alchemy and chimeras...but also stories of heroes and justice and love. Lina absently fingered the bindings while taking in other details.
A purple-lined cape tossed over the back of a chair. A broadsword propped up in a corner. Amelia's teal traveling boots under the coffee table, and Zel's gloves on top of the coffee table.
Finally, Lina asked the only question that seemed to matter. "Do you guys...LIVE here?"
Blushing, Amelia motioned everyone to sit in the living room and set down a few cups of tea and one cup of coffee for Zelgadis.
Settling into a worn lounge chair, the princess told them her story.
"Technically, Zelgadis was living here. Alone. You may have noticed that we're not far from Seyruun. Well...that's because it's a fact that, when looking for something, people rarely look right under their own noses. So when Zelgadis came back to Seyruun a few months ago to speak to me about some private matters, we decided it would be best to set him up with a place outside of town for now."
"Wait," Lina interrupted, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I feel like I'm missing the big picture here. Why did you feel the need to set Zel up with a house outside of Seyruun? I've never known him to stay in one place for too long, and even if he'd wanted to, why not just have him stay at the palace? He's done it before, and it's not like he takes up much space. Phil likes him and they know him there. I just don't get it."
"Phil did like me," Zelgadis piped in, somewhat bitterly. "And I was staying at the palace. If you must know all the details, the reason I'm out here is because Phil caught Amelia and I together."
"Caught you doing what?" Gourry asked, innocently. Lina's face flushed red.
"Um..." Amelia stammered, obviously uncomfortable. "Things not befitting of the princess."
"You guys didn't!" Lina exclaimed, still resembling a tomato.
"No, you misunderstand!" Zelgadis said, throwing up his hands, face reddening. "We weren't doing exactly what you probably think we were doing! We were in the study, and we were kissing, and Phil walked in and saw us and...well...he got angry and started spouting something about me unjustly taking advantage of his little girl's kind heart and then I think he would have given me a Pacifist Crush except Amelia jumped in between and she and her father started arguing. That's when I left."
Amelia picked up the story. "I told Daddy that Zelgadis had come back to take up his role as my knight, but permanently this time. I explained that we'd been in correspondence for a long time, and that we have feelings for each other that go beyond friendship. Zelgadis had gotten tired and frustrated with his search for a cure, and he missed me. I was lonely, too."
"So, wait," Lina said. "If you guys were canoodling in the castle but explained everything to Phil, what's all this nonsense about getting you hitched by your birthday? Which, if I remember correctly, is tomorrow?"
"That's the thing," Amelia went on. "Daddy wants us to get married right away. He was actually pleased! He thinks Zelgadis would make a wonderful prince consort, because he's such a great leader and warrior, and because he's so smart. But...it's not what we want. Not right now."
"So you ran away to be together, because your father wants you to be together?" Gourry chimed in.
"Sort of." Zelgadis said, lamely.
Lina continued, "So all that talk about a matchmaker...?"
"Oh, he did threaten that!" Amelia exclaimed, eyebrows knitting together at the memory. "He said I had a chance to marry for love, but if I was foolish he would send me to the matchmaker. It was so unlike him, I could practically hear him speaking with the Council's voice. That's when I left."
"You have to understand," Zelgadis said, setting down his coffee cup. "It's not that we don't want to get married. Maybe, someday. But to be forced into it when we're still getting used to this relationship would be a disaster. We're both too responsible for that, and we care about each other too much. We still don't even know what it would be like to be together...uh...physically, you know?"
Gourry took a long drag of his tea and then said, very seriously, "My grandma always said a man will never buy a cow when he can get the milk for free!"
Lina faceplanted into the table and then spun on her partner.
"Gourry! You can't just go around saying stuff like that!"
Amelia responded with a bit more grace. "I understand that sentiment, but Zelgadis and I feel that, with his condition, it would be best to...test the waters, as it were. It would be better for both of us, just to make sure it's something we can both live with."
"Wow," Lina said. "You guys have really thought this out."
Zelgadis nodded. "We had to. With her being royalty, me being a chimera, and being far from each other until just recently...it was necessary for us to discuss every little detail."
"And it's completely worth it," Amelia added.
Then Zelgadis smiled at the princess more tenderly than Lina had ever seen him look at anything, and it was then that she realized she was witnessing the real deal.
This was love.
"Sorry, Phil, we couldn't find any sign of her," Lina told the Prince, looking appropriately distraught and concerned.
Phil sighed and then said, "I know you did your best, Lina-dono. Thank you for trying."
"Any time! Come on, Gourry!"
Phil watched as Lina grabbed Gourry by his collar and dragged him out of the palace.
When they were safely out of ear-shot of the prince, Gourry whispered, "Lina, why did we just lie to Phil?"
"Because," Lina explained, "Amelia and Zel are our friends, and they deserve to live their lives the way they want to. Just like we do. They shouldn't be confined just because she's a princess and he's a chimera. They're in love, so that's all that matters."
Gourry smiled down at the red-head, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
"I'm happy to hear you say that, Lina."
Lina blushed a bit, but said nothing else.
That night, as the sun set in the distance, a sweet girl with big blue eyes and a quiet man with a guarded soul were just that. They held no titles, and were not bogged down by any roles. She was not just a princess, and he was not just a chimera. She was not a crazy justice girl, and he was not a mysterious sorcerer-swordsman. They were just Amelia and Zelgadis, and they refused to be condemned by regrets or heavy hearts.