Chapter Nine

It did.

Luka decided that the little detour of attention would be considered their break for the day, and thus the rest of the afternoon was spent working harder than they ever had before. By the time the sun went down, Lina was practically in tears, but it wasn't in vain: before them, cooling off in the bucket, was a very short, but very serviceable dagger.

Now Lina WAS in tears. "Oh, I can't believe it," she moaned, her hands clasped together under her chin. "If it shatters I'm going to kill myself. Honestly."

Gourry made a face. "Don't be dramatic," he said tiredly.

Both Luka and Delmas were standing in the background. Though neither would say it until later, both were actually just as excited. Both Lina and Gourry had taken their previous criticisms to heart and were progressing far faster than either parent had ever dreamed, let alone thought.

When Gourry could tell it was ready, carefully, he reached into the bucket and touched the hilt of the dagger gently. When he did, a tingling went right up his arm, and he shivered. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling; rather, it was akin to the best kind of adrenaline.

Lina bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "Come on, kurage, show, show."

Gourry swallowed, then gripped onto the hilt tightly. He pulled it out slowly, and once the blade was free of the water, it glittered a faint yellow colour before fading into regular shine. It needed polishing, and sharpening, but it was in one piece, and that was what counted.

Lina grinned, the tears running down her face. "Yes!" she breathed. "Now try it!"

Gourry stood up, edged a bit away, and, with a shout, swung his arm down as hard as he could. The short blade burst into life, flashing yellow, before it faded once more.

Lina held out her hands, a spark of fire coming to life between them. "Hold it up!" she cried. Gourry did so, and Lina fired the magic straight at the blade. Instead of breaking, or exploding, the flames enveloped it and ran up and down the blade. It shone with a bright and breathtaking orange-yellow colour.

"YES!" Lina crowed, jumping up and flinging her arms around Gourry. Holding his arm away from her, he gave her a tight one-armed hug, laughing at the giggling and happy sounds she was making.

Luka nodded, shooting a smirk at Delmas. Delmas closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, then sighed, reached into his pocket, and held out a coin. Luka took it and pocketed it with a grin.

Lina pulled away and stared at the glowing dagger, her eyes bright. "We did it. Now all we need to do is make a sword like this!"

Gourry nodded. He could feel the sword's power all throughout his body, especially in his arm. It was a familiar and welcome feeling. He hadn't felt this connected to a sword since the Sword of Light. It took his breath and words away.

Slowly, the light vanished, and Lina reached forward and touched the blade gingerly. Her eyes were glowing with amazement. "It's sharper," she whispered.

"That's crazy," Gourry admitted.

Luka clapped her hands once. "It's not crazy," she snapped, breaking the two out of their reverie. "It's success." She smiled. "You can put that down and come inside for food."

Gourry's mouth watered, and Lina shrieked, "FOOD!" before running out of the forge in a flash. Gourry wrapped the blade in an oiled rag and gently placed it on the bench before he moved to follow.

Deep down inside, he was just as happy as Lina was, but there was something else, something deeper. There was a sadness there, realising that he finally had a replacement for a sword that he had trouble admitting he would never get back. Alot of his skill and confidence had been because of the Sword of Light, and without it, he felt strangely weak and useless.

But now that he and Lina had managed to combine their skills and make a dagger, it not only made him feel useful, but it also made him realise that it wasn't the sword; it was him.

Delmas slapped a hand down on Gourry's shoulder, startling him out of his reverie. "You know something?" he said seriously. "That sword you had, the one you loathed at first; you thought it made you who you were, huh?"

Gourry gaped at him. "What... how did you know I hated it at first?"

Delmas shifted from foot to foot. "Blame my old age, but it took me a while to place where I've seen you before. You're not a stranger, Gourry-kun. I met you many years ago. Don't you remember?"

Gourry shook his head, blushing. "I really, really don't."

Delmas laughed and ruffled the younger man's hair, messing up its sleek appearance. "That's alright. The point is, I know how you feel. It's hard to get over the loss of your first sword, but once you do, it's like you realise who you are deep down."

Gourry nodded, amazed. "That's exactly right," he agreed.

Luka cut in. "Can't we discuss this over food?" she demanded. "I'm starving, and if we don't get back, Lina will eat the whole house."

The men nodded. Delmas gave Gourry's shoulder a squeeze, and to his shock, Gourry felt, for the first time in his life, what it was like to actually have a father-figure, one that cared about you.

He smiled, and followed, feeling light, despite his exhaustion.

X X X

"GET OUT," Lina shouted, her hands out, twin orbs of fire bursting to life.

"Make me, little brat!" Dilgear snapped back, his sword out and ready.

Zelgadis, from his place on the couch, sighed and tried to blend into the fabric.

"What is that you're wearing?" Dilgear demanded. "Is that the latest fashion for underdeveloped little kids who have no sex appeal?"

Lina scowled. "What are YOU wearing?" she snapped back. "Cast-aways from the preschool? Can you ever find anything that fits your hugely misshapen body?!"

Dilgear's eyes blazed. Lina's face was set in a dark expression.

Just as Dilgear was about to lunge forward, a blast of white light burst between them, knocking them away from eachother. Luna stood in the front door, her hand out, her face impassive.

Lina turned on her sister in an instant. "Why are you blasting me?!" she demanded. "I'm not the idiot ugly puke-coloured werewolf!"

Dilgear growled. "WHAT?!" he snapped.

Luna shot him a look, and he cowered, backing away. Lina stared, then pointed and laughed. "You have him trained like a little puppy!" she cackled.

Zelgadis didn't have alot to go from when it came to Luna and Lina's relationship, but from what Lina had said in the past, their relationship wasn't one of jovial playing. So he wasn't entirely surprised when he heard, from his place on the couch, a blast of magic and Lina's screams of terror coming from the main hallway.

When he ventured to peer over the back of the couch, he saw Lina cowering in the corner, muttering under her breath, hiding her head in her arms and hugging her knees. Dilgear submitted to a whack upside the head, but that was all, and Luna strode into the kitchen and started to cook.

During the time that Lina and Gourry had been gone, Zelgadis and Dilgear, following Dilgear's shift, had gone through their own display of animosity and tense anger, but in the end, had patched it up, when Dilgear admitted that he had no idea that Rezo had planned to destroy the world (more or less). While they hadn't become friends, they had been able to spend an hour waiting for Luna without incident, playing cards.

It was only when Lina came bursting into the house demanding food that Dilgear's old self returned to the surface. And, well, you know the rest.

When Gourry, Delmas, and Luka came in, Gourry instantly glared at Dilgear, who, from the kitchen, glared back and made a face. At the sight of the werewolf pulling a face, Gourry couldn't help but chuckle at the stupidity of it, and that instantly broke the tension for the rest of the evening.

Once dinner was eaten and cleaned up, and Gourry and Lina had had time to freshen up, they both sat down with Zelgadis, who finally felt comfortable to remove the cowl and hood during dinner (with little to no reaction, he was surprised to discover).

"What's up, Zel?" Lina wondered, blinking at him.

Zelgadis shifted uncomfortably. He knew that the rest of the Inverse family (as well as Dilgear) were just in the kitchen, and he wasn't sure how much he wanted them to hear of this... delicate situation.

"I, um, may have ruined everything," he blurted out, his face going red.

Lina blinked, and Gourry tilted his head to one side. "Everything of what?" Lina wondered. She was still pretty tired, and thus was easy to confuse.

Zelgadis sighed, burying his face into his hands and leaning forward. "It's very complicated," he murmured. "I really had no idea what to do, and I remember you mentioning that you were coming back here, so..."

Lina reached forward and touched his shoulder. "Zel, you know you're one of my closest friends," she said honestly. "You can talk to me about anything."

"Especially kidnapping!" Dilgear suddenly shouted from the kitchen.

Lina glared at him. "What did you say?" she snarled.

Gourry jumped in hurriedly. "Exactly, Zel," he said. "Lina's right. You can count on us for anything."

Zelgadis slowly pulled his hands away, and to the shock of both sitting in front of him, his eyes were wet. In all of the years of knowing him, it was very, very rare for Zelgadis to show his sadness as anything other than rage. The sight of such open, raw emotion rendered both Lina and Gourry speechless.

"What happened, Zel?" Lina finally said softly, rubbing his shoulder.

Zelgadis sighed, smiling bitterly. "It's about me, and Amelia," he said.

Lina leaned back, dropping her hand. Gourry tilted his head to the other side.

"You know how I followed her home," Zelgadis said quietly, his eyes lowered and fixed on his hands. "We had a long talk, and we both decided, you know, to give it a try... to give us a try..." he smiled weakly. "It was really good, you know, at first. I was able to get over things, able to see past them. But then..."

Lina held her breath. Zelgadis's confidence was such a brittle thing, she knew. It didn't take much to shatter it.

"I heard muttering while I was there, when I wasn't with Amelia," his face darkened. "Things about Amelia bringing home a 'monster who's not even human' and so on. And alot of incredulous 'what is she thinking's. And..." Zelgadis lowered his head. "It's hard to ignore that."

Lina grabbed one of his hands tight. "You left again in anger and hurt, didn't you?" she wondered softly.

Zelgadis nodded. "Only we had gotten... really close."

Gourry went pink, and suddenly it was apparent how silent the entire house was. Apparently Zelgadis's words apparently were entrancing enough for those who didn't know him as well.

Lina swallowed. "Really close?" she repeated.

Zelgadis nodded. "Really, really close..." he muttered.

Lina bit her lip. "Ah, Zel... how could you have left her like that? Especially someone like Amelia, who's so emotional!" She resisted the urge to smack him, but only just.

Zelgadis shook his head. "I know that! But it wasn't just because of what they said about me..." He looked up, his eyes still full, but they were set. "Lina, Gourry, you have to understand me, here: I don't want her to sully herself because of what I am."

Lina blinked hard, and Gourry rubbed the back of his head. "You really think that Seyruun's people are that close-minded?" he wondered.

Zelgadis nodded. "The person is smart; people are close-minded, judgmental, and hate all change. And it's not just that. Amelia is a princess," he gritted his teeth. "And right now, the crown princess. If I were to marry her, we would need to provide an heir.... and... I can't."

Lina jolted. "You can't... you know?"

Gourry was confused. "But you just said..."

Zelgadis went bright red again. "Augh, no, I can, but I can't..." he dropped Lina's hand and tugged at his hair. "I can't father any children. I'm sterile. Is that blunt enough?"

Lina nodded slowly, her hand going to her chin in thought. Her mind was drawn to someone else, someone that she wish she could get a hold of, one that she hadn't bothered to try to find for many years but now wished she had tried harder. It would solve all of this with one swing.

Gourry, however, still didn't get it. "So you can, but you can't, but... which one can you, and which one can't you?"

Lina slapped the back of his head. "Just shut up!" she snapped. She turned back to Zelgadis. "Did you TELL her that?"

Zelgadis hesitated, then shook his head. Lina groaned. "You just LEFT?!" she demanded. When he nodded, Lina stood up and smashed her fist onto the top of his head, as hard as she could. It hurt, and the impact reverberated up and down her arm, but dammit, he had EARNED it. "You MORON!!"

Zelgadis cowered, holding his hands to his head. "I know that," he said pathetically. "I came here for support, not abuse."

"Support denied!" Lina snapped. "You can't treat Amelia like that! She's always accepted you for who you are, and you go and pull a stunt like this?! Shame on you!"

Zelgadis seemed to deflate further, hiding his head in his arms.

"However," Gourry cut in. "He does have a point. If he can't have kids, he can't give Amelia an heir. Without an heir, Seyruun's future is cloudy."

Lina glowered at him. "No!" she snapped. "I don't care! He left without even TELLING her WHY! That's just... arrrgh!" Lina gave Zelgadis another smack on the head, then turned and stormed out of the room, muttering as she did so. Soon, the door to her room slammed shut.

Zelgadis looked up. "I guess I deserved that," he admitted.

Gourry sighed. "Yeah, you did. You should have told her. She would have understood."

Zelgadis made a face. "That's the problem. I don't want her to understand. I want her to hate me."

Gourry blinked in surprise. "You want her to what?"

"Hate me," Zelgadis repeated. "That way, she can move on with her life, find a real husband, and have an heir."

Gourry stared. The silence in the room was deafening. Then, in a move that surprised everyone, Gourry slammed a fist down onto the top of Zelgadis's head, hard. The chimera yelped, but didn't protest.

"Idiot," Gourry said. "You know she won't. You're pretty stupid, you know that?"

Zelgadis sighed in reply.

Luka's voice suddenly broke in. "Gentlemen, while this is great and cheap entertainment, it is getting late."

Gourry nodded, rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, no kidding." Luka walked over to where the two men sat. "Zelgadis-kun, would you like to stay here for the night?" she wondered.

Zelgadis looked up and nodded. "I'm a little broke right now, and would appreciated it," he admitted.

Luka nodded. "Get to the spare room. Pajamas are in the chesterfield. YOU," she pointed at Gourry. "BED! You have an early morning again!"

Gourry nodded and obeyed, listening to the sounds of Luka directing Luna, Dilgear, and Delmas to various places (Dilgear was kicked out for the evening). When he reached Lina's room, he knocked softly, then listened. Nothing. Carefully, he opened the door and walked in.

Lina was curled up on the floor in a ball, buried under piles of blankets. Her back was to him, and if he strained his hearing, he could hear her sniffling. He walked over, knelt down, and touched her shoulder lightly.

She didn't move, but she snapped out, "How can Zelgadis be such an asshole?" Her voice was trembling. "If a pair like them can't even work it out, what makes us think WE can?"

Gourry stood up, jumped over her, and knelt down again so that he was facing her. Her eyes glared up from the blankets, shining with her anger and tears. "If someone like Zelgadis can hurt someone like Amelia, what makes me think that you won't do the same to me?"

Gourry crossed his arms over his chest. "First of all, I'm attached to you, whether you like it or not. I've put up with alot from you; what makes you think I wouldn't put up with more?"

Lina's eyes narrowed. "That's not what I'm saying--"

"You're suggesting that I would abandon you," he interrupted. "Or that I would break your heart. I though you had realised that by now I'm not going anywhere." He reached down and wiped her tears away gently. "Don't be scared," he went on, his voice gentler. "They'll work it out."

Lina closed her eyes, flung the blankets away, and jumped on him, flinging her arms around him and forcing him down to the floor. Gourry blinked, hugging her close, and he could feel her trembling.

"I'm tired," she croaked out, her voice thick with tears. "I'm crying because I'm tired."

"Of course," Gourry smiled, closing his eyes and stroking her hair.

"I'm so tired..." she murmured, and this time her voice was different. He listened, and realised that this time, she wasn't using her words to cover up her feelings; she was being serious.

He wanted to ask her what she was tired of, but it could wait. Instead, he held her, listening to her, being there for her, which was all he could do.

In the morning, he thought, we'll get to the bottom of this.