~**~ Pink

Zelgadis had been in the kingdom of Seyruun for only a week. Amelia, happy as ever to finally have him here permanently quickly set to work on things the two could do together, things that apparently she had been planning for a long time. Zelgadis didn't care; he owed her so much more than just lost time that he simply could not protest when she had wanted to go on a picnic.

The princess chose a large tree that offered just the right amount of shade and sun to spread the pink blanket under. They had sat and had a pleasant lunch of sandwiches and tea and afterwards they had stretched out together on the blanket to gaze into the sky.

Amelia was smiling happily, today had been perfect, and her picnic so far had turned out just the way she had hoped. She scooted a little closer to Zelgadis and gently, some-what hesitantly reached for his hand. When he didn't protest or make any gesture to pull away Amelia grasped it lightly between them.

Zelgadis blushed, returning the notion. Why did her hand fit so perfectly with his own?

"You know…sometimes I'd come out here and lay underneath this tree and hope that one day I'd be out here with you. Now you are it almost doesn't seem real."

"I won't disappear on you in the middle of the night." He reassured her.

"I know that but…are you sure you don't want to search for those ingredients? I know you said that your cure could wait….but…can you?"

Amelia hadn't turned to look at him, afraid of the answer she would receive. This past week having him here was more then she could ever hope for. The first two days she awoke afraid that she had been dreaming again and that by the time she made it to his room he would no longer be there. However, each time he opened the door with a slightly sleepy look and she would apologize and stammer out an excuse for her intrusion so early in the morning. He always just smiled at her and said he would see her at breakfast. Now she was no longer afraid he would be gone. She frowned, but how could she keep him here when he belonged out there.

"…I don't know. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but I can't lie to you. Years of searching run down ruins, and any whisper of a cure…and finally, finally I found something that may actually be the real thing, only to be met with another obstacle, items that are so old I don't even think people would know what they were anymore. It would mean more years of searching at least, possibly even decades…if I had come across this spell before I met you-but now…I just don't know."

Zelgadis sighed heavily, continuing to gaze into the sky. He really wished he could tell Amelia that he could wait, but he was so close now, it felt like if he stopped, his life would have been a complete waste. All that work for nothing, friend's deaths all for nothing. But he had found something else while in search of his cure, something he wasn't even looking for, a raven-haired princess with a penchant for justice that refused to back down. Someone that made him feel normal. Wasn't that better then a cure that may or may not even exist?

"I don't want to be the one thing that's keeping you here…I want you to be happy Zelgadis-san."

He turned on his side to see her. She was closing her eyes, fighting to keep the tears back.

"I am happy. Amelia, you should be proud to be the one thing that is keeping me here. Honestly, do you think I'd hang out with just anybody?" He gave her a smirk and was rewarded with a happy laugh.

"I guess you're right, you're always so grumpy." She teased, sticking her tongue at him, as she turned to look him in the eyes

"Hmm…I thought it was because I was scary looking."

"Zelgadis-san, I think you'd be surprised at how many people look at you and just see you."

"Oh? What does the Princess of Seyruun see when she looks at me?"

"I see a man that's lost a lot, a man that is lonely and tired; a man that has so many worries that he fears they may swallow him whole. A caring man that is loyal, brave, and intelligent, despite his best efforts to prove otherwise. Your heart is beautiful like you. I wish you saw that."

Zelgadis' breath hitched in his chest. A small blush creeping across his face at her words, how had he managed to get so lucky to have her in his life? Her blue eyes were drowning him, he felt he could probably look into them forever, had it not been for her lips, her lips that his own had been craving since that first night at Prince Phil's celebration. They had not shared a kiss since that night, an unspoken understanding they seemed to share. They didn't want to rush this, whatever this was now. It certainly wasn't just as simple as friends, or a bodyguard and his princess, this was something new, and scary, and somewhat daunting, something extremely delicate. Ah but those lips.

Zelgadis was not aware he was kissing Amelia until he felt her lips eagerly responding. His hands snaked underneath her pulling her closer; he wanted to feel her, to make sure that she was actually real and not a trick his mind was playing. He couldn't quite get her close enough for his liking so he rolled himself to his back pulling her along with him. Satisfied with the position the rest of the world was simply forgot about for the time being. The blanket caught on a gust of wind flew around them, enveloping them in pink.