Gadget examined a blossom that struck an interesting resemblance to a pansy, only this one had an actual face. "Really should ask if I can bring one of these home for Penny…"

His seatmate on the park bench examined her gently kicking feet, which turned out to be not quite as interesting. Idiot! Idiot! Just had to lose your temper, didn't you? "I'm sure the groundskeeper wouldn't mind…"

Her offering drew his attention away from a rather flirtatious bud, and he turned to regard her. "Lina? What happened in there?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Gadget sighed deeply. "Normally, I wouldn't mind. But I'm lost, and you're the only one I can really trust right now. But with what I've seen so far, I can't help but wonder…" Running out of thought, he stopped.

Lina understood what he was getting at, though. From what he had seen of her so far, there was no reason for him to believe that she was the heroine that she claimed to be. So why should he trust her? "You can trust me, Gadget." She matched his sigh from earlier. "I guess I am what you would consider a thief." She paused as another thought took hold. "It hardly seems like it's been only a year…"

Her seatmate's expression changed to one of thought. "A year since what?"

"Since Darkstar. Actually, I guess I've had to grow up pretty quickly since facing Phibrizzo." Her brow wrinkled. "Actually, since fighting the piece of Shabranigdo." She paled a little. "Actually, Since meeting…" She couldn't finish the thought.

Gadget experienced a rare flash of intuition. "Since meeting Gourry?"

Lina nodded.

The inspector decided to press the issue. But only a little. "He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"

"Criminy, even you can tell. Is it that obvious?"

"I think I can tell."

The young sorceress didn't hear his response, lost in her train of thought. "The jellyfish was never s'posed to marry." Her voice took on a wishful tone. "He and I were s'posed to travel, discover new places, beat up new bad guys... I dunno, maybe he and I would marry someday, but I never had any reason to think about it."

"And then Sylphiel came along and messed everything up?" he offered.

Lina snorted. "Something like that. Amazing. I didn't know she had it in her. I guess I should've seen it when she got in my face after Phibrizzo kidnapped him. Kidnapped Gourry, that is."

"I see."

"Then, when she stayed here instead of coming to the New World with us, I guess I forgot about her." She snorted again. "But she sure didn't forget about Gourry. My bad, I guess."

Gadget nodded wordlessly. "This reminds me of the time with Penny and a boy from school…wait a minute…did she have the crush on him?…"

Lina slowly raised her eyes to the inspector's face.

"…Ronnie?…no, Tommy…you know what, I think he had the crush on her."

Lina's face threatened to bloom a disbelieving smile.

"Yes, I distinctly remember having to console him and his…parents."

The sorceress could take no more. Lina exploded into laughter, the sadness and tension abated for the moment, and she threw her arms around the inspector. "Thanks, I really needed that."

"You're welcome," he replied, thoroughly confused. "But I don't see how I helped."

Lina jumped up from the bench and tugged at the inspector's arm. "C'mon. I have some apologizing to do."

Lina Inverse set her jaw. She had faced many tough opponents several of them capable of killing her and her then-traveling companions several times over. But all of those monsters paled in comparison to her current foe.

Her ego.

"Sylphiel, I'm sorry for trying to hit you. Gourry, I'm sorry for actually hitting you. There. How'd I do?" She looked up at the owner of the encouraging hand resting on her shoulder. Inspector Gadget returned a reassuring smile accompanied by an approving nod.

In the chairs across from her, the Gabrievs sat in near-shock. At least Sylphiel did. Lina never apologized to anyone. At least not as sincerely as she was at that moment. After one moment of staring at the redhead in disbelief, at each other for one more, back at Lina for a third, Sylphiel shocked herself back to reality. "F-forgiven and forgotten, Lina-san."

Lina sighed in relief at the 'friendly' use of her name. She looked to Gourry. "Forgotten already, Gourry?"

"I guess. Is it my turn to say 'I'm sorry'?"

"Lina hit you in the stomach when you came in the room, Gourry-sama," Sylphiel reminded him gently.

Gourry nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah. Already forgotten, I guess. I wondered why my stomach hurt…"

Lina had to hold back a snicker when she heard the inspector's voice say quietly, "And I thought I had amnesia…"

The second meeting went more smoothly, as the men had decided to attend, mainly to keep tempers from flaring.

Not that either of them would have understood the concepts Sylphiel was outlining, anyway.

"I actually noticed it first several years ago, while caring for Gourry after the bandit attack, but it became more pronounced right after the wedding. A dark aspect hung over Gourry-sama."

Lina managed to ignore the shrine mother's use of Gourry's name. "Aspect?"

"I am sorry, it is the best name I can think of to describe it. Because shrine maidens are bathed in the light of Ceiphied, we are able to detect evil entities and their emanations, or auras."

Lina nodded. "I'm with you so far."

Sylphiel returned her nod before continuing. "As I was saying, right after the wedding I noticed an evil, but weak, aura emanating from Gourry-sama." She paused for a moment.

Lina leaned forward, suddenly more interested. "Go on."

"After the necessary preparations I examined his consciousness, as you will see me do for the inspector later, and I found something."

Lina was practically on the edge of her seat. "What? What did you find?"

Sylphiel suddenly looked very vulnerable. "I found…I found another consciousness within Gourry-sama."

Both Lina and the inspector were stunned. "Another…You mean somebody else is inside Gourry's head?" Lina asked.

Sylphiel nodded while biting at her lower lip. "Something evil is 'living' inside Gourry-sama. I believe that is why he has a hard time remembering things."

The sorceress leaned back in her chair. "Makes sense…" A beat, and then, "I think I know why you want me here. You're going to do one of those exorcism-thingys, and you want me here to kill it when it pops out of his head."

The shrine mother nodded again. "I have never performed an exorcism before, so I do not know where the entity will go when it is removed. Also, I will be severely drained as a result, so I need someone I can trust to protect me. Normally, Gourry-sama would protect me, but…"

"I got it. So when are you gonna do this?"

Sylphiel wrinkled her delicate nose. "I will be performing the inspector's examination tonight, and it takes me a half-day to recover…meditations…" She allowed herself a few more moments before concluding, "The second day from tomorrow? You may stay here for the duration of your visit, and Mr. Zelgadis and Princess Amelia should be here by then."

Lina pondered the Shrine Mother's offer. She wasn't sure that she was ready to talk to Amelia again so soon after her conduct at the wedding, but there were more important issues at stake here…

Finally, she leaned forward and asked the critical question. "Food?"

Sylphiel smiled weakly. "You will be provided for, both of you." She secretly hoped that the recent contributions would be enough.

Inspector Gadget tugged at the collar of his robe. He understood that the robe was part of the ceremony, but he was still uncomfortable nonetheless.

After changing from his uniform to the robe, he had been taken to a large room with nothing but a simple wooden chair facing a white statue of a dragon. "Very suspicious…"

It wasn't until he looked down at his fidgeting hands that he noticed the large circle drawn into the floor, pictures placed at seemingly random locations. He tugged at his collar again as he noticed that the chair happened to be in the very center of the circle.

He was so engrossed in his study of the circle that he didn't hear Sylphiel, Gourry, and Lina enter the room. "Watch this," Lina snickered, as she snuck up behind the unsuspecting inspector. "O-HAY-O!" she shouted, thumping him on the back.

"WOWSERS!" Gadget fell from the chair, quickly becoming a twisted mass of arms, legs, and neck as he hit the floor.

"Lina-san, that was not very nice!" the shrine mother scolded. She walked up to the undulating mass of limbs and knelt. "Are you hurt, Inspector?" She hesitated. "Do…you need me to heal you?"

A hand waved in front of her face and formed the universal sign for 'Okay'. "I'm alright," his muffled voice replied. The mass appeared to struggle a bit. "Just give me a minute here…"

After pulling himself together and giving Lina a dirty look, he settled back down in the chair. "What do I need to do?"

"Nothing special, just relax. Concentrate on you breathing, if that helps." Sylphiel's voice seemed as soft as lamb's wool.

Gadget huffed a couple of times, then looked up at her peaceful face in confusion. "My breathing's fine. Why do I need to concentrate?"

The shrine mother giggled softly, and Lina finally understood what the Jellyfish saw in her. She wasn't weak, Lina knew that as she watched Sylphiel try to explain things to the inspector. She was…feminine. Gourry never noticed Lina partly because…I never seemed to need him. Lina's mouth formed a small 'O'. As in really need him.

Lina shook herself out of her thoughts as she saw Sylphiel nod, then walk behind the inspector and place her hands on either side of his head. She watched her close her eyes and begin chanting softly to herself. Or maybe to Ceiphied. Maybe she could ask him to fix my stomach.

Gadget, for the most part, stared at the dragon statue. He understood that the shrine mother couldn't do her job if he was thinking about things, so he picked one thought and stuck with it. Penny…

Haley!

Gadget's brow furrowed.

My God, Kevin, what did they do to you?

Is that Officer Haley, sir?

Sir, should I call for an ambulance?

He's got a pulse! Call an ambulance!...

Gadget cried out as his eyes snapped open. He whirled in his chair in time to see the shrine mother collapse against her husband.

"Sylphiel!" Gourry caught her before she could collapse to the floor. He picked up the shrine mother and looked directly at Lina. "Lina, would you take care of him? I'm taking Sylphiel to our room."

"I'm all right, Gourry-sama…" Sylphiel weakly protested.

"No you're not, you need…" he trailed off, then flushed.

Sylphiel was already unconscious.

Dammit, she's even cute when she sleeps! Lina glowered at Gourry's reaction to his wife's abrupt unconsciousness. I never stood a chance, did I? She clenched her fists at her sides. Why do I even care? It's not like I see anything in the big oaf! That Jellyfish! She squeezed her eyes shut, too late to stop the slight glisten that broke through. "I never stood a chance, did I?" she croaked softly.

"Lina?" came the inspector's voice.

Did I!?

"Lina?"

"Eh?" She opened her eyes, then blinked reflexively to rid herself of the moisture, which then started to trickle down her face.