Someday I'm going to run out of winter-related idioms… but not today. As always, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

18- Cold Light of Day

Gourry and his friends didn't have to run far down the path before they were met by three very frightened-looking men running the other direction.

"G-Gene!" One of them yelled, rushing up to the older man. "Y-you've gotta save us, man! There's some crazy girl out to get us!"

Another joined him, frantically trying to catch his breath. "We were just trying to help her, y'know? She was all alone and just sitting around, so we just thought…"

"But then she started throwing spells at us like crazy- we didn't know what to do! We started running this way, hoping that we could find you…"

"What?" Gene blinked. "Who gave you permission to harass some girl you didn't even know?"

"We weren't harassing her! We were only offering to help her…"

"Sounds like you got her pretty upset, though." Jason interrupted. "Maybe she didn't exactly want the help you were offering."

"We just offered to help her to some shelter! The weather's bad, y'know, and so…"

"And what did she say?" Gene demanded.

"She said that she was waiting for her husband."

"And you didn't leave her alone after that?"

"Well… I mean… she… we weren't sure if she was serious or not. She looked so alone… W-wait, who's this?"

It was the first time one of the three had called attention to Gourry, and he took a step back in surprise. Gene quickly put one hand on his shoulder and explained the situation.

"This is Gourry Gabriev- remember when I used to train soldiers in the militia? He was one of my best pupils. I haven't seen him in years, and just so happened to bump into him on the road here. Be nice to him, alright?"

"I, uh, should probably apologize for that girl from earlier." Gourry spoke sheepishly. "Y'see, the truth is-"

"HEY! YOU! Where do you guys think you're going?!"

"Aaaaah! She caught up to us!" "C'mon, Gene- let's get out of here!" "Hurry, hurry; before she tries to blow us up with some even bigger spell-"

"Mister Gabriev! What are you doing?" Jason yelled out.

Gourry paid no mind to the commotion behind him, being too busy staring down Lina. His accusatory gaze locked with her defiant one for a long moment and neither of them moved or spoke.

"Don't get too close to her!" one of the men yelled. "She might claw your eyes out!"

Ignoring the warnings, Gourry walked up to Lina and extended one hand expectantly.

"Hand it over."

"Hand what over?" She put on an innocent smile.

"You know what I mean. Give it to me. Now."

"Now I really don't know what you're talking about." Lina cooed sweetly.

"You said you'd only use it for emergencies."

"This was an emergency. They were terrorizing me, Gourry."

"Looks to me like you were terrorizing them."

"Oh, come on! They're just a bunch of babies! I only threw three spells at them!"

"Were they high-level spells?"

"They may or may not have been high-level spells."

"Lina!"

"Oh, come on, Gourry! With only Black Magic to choose from, my arsenal is limited! I'd love to throw a simple Fireball in their direction and call it quits, but this magical vessel doesn't work that way!"

"That doesn't matter." Gourry stated. "Hand it over."

"You can't make me."

"I will."

"Why do you have to be such a killjoy, Gourry?!"

"Give it."

Lina frowned and clenched her fist in frustration. Finally, she grabbed the necklace and pulled it off, depositing the large stone in Gourry's outstretched hand.

"I hate you."

"I can accept that." Gourry replied firmly, wrapping the vessel in the white handkerchief that Pestis had given him for safekeeping and placed it in the bag that he was carrying over one shoulder. Lina crossed her arms and pouted angrily, and he tried to place a comforting hand on her head, but she slapped it away.

"Wh-what just happened?" One of the men stammered. "What did you do?"

"I'm sorry, guys." Gourry turned around to apologize. "This is my wife, Lina. I'm sure she didn't mean it; she just likes picking on unsuspecting passersby."

"They were not unsuspecting! They were insulting me! Insinuating that I couldn't take care of myself… why I ought to have-"

"Y'know, I distinctly remember a very familiar situation… I believe that's how you and I met, isn't it? You were all alone and I tried to help you?"

"It's not the same thing." Lina scoffed. "Anyway, you should at least make them apologize too."

"For what?" Gourry demanded.

"For making me upset! You know what that does to my health! Aren't you concerned at all? You've been overprotective all this time, and suddenly now you decide to side against me?"

"I'm siding against you because I'm concerned about you!" Gourry spat in response. "I'm trying to make you see that this is not worth getting worked-up over."

"Well, maybe I wouldn't be getting so worked up if you weren't making such a big deal over it!" Lina tried to balance on the tips of her toes to make herself seem taller, but she was too off-balance and toppled over. Gourry caught her and very gently helped her back onto her feet, but as soon as she was stable again, she turned away with a huff- not even bothering to say 'thank you.'

"Guys…" Gourry began with a sigh, turning back to the others. "Would it be alight if she and I camped with you for one night? It's too late for us to try to get back to Seyruun, but we don't have any real supplies… I didn't realize it'd be this remote."

"W-wait- you want us to camp with her?!" One of the men began, but Gene stepped in his way and silenced him.

"You're always welcome, Gourry. Don't worry so much about it- we're happy to have the company. My son can stay with me so that you can borrow his tent for the night- it's not very roomy, I'm afraid, but it'll keep the snow off of you."

"O-oh! Y-you don't have to-"

"I do though, Mister Gabriev." Gene interrupted him quickly. "You helped me out when I was in a spot of trouble- I only want to return the favour."

Gourry stopped suddenly, seeming to know exactly what the man was talking about, and just nodded in reply. Lina looked around in confusion, as did the others, but the whole issue seemed to have been settled before anyone could field any questions.

The tents were set up in a nice little clearing that was surrounded by trees. The thick branches had caught most of the snow that had been falling, and so the ground was clear enough for them to make camp.

The group had eaten dinner- well, for the most part, anyway. Lina was still angry, and made a show of picking at her food, claiming that she was "only eating enough for the baby." Gourry joked that she'd still eaten enough for two people, and while he expected her to get mad at him for the comment, she seemed more embarrassed than anything. It puzzled him a little bit as to why she'd turned away and refused to make eye contact with him, but he just shrugged it off. There was no explaining her behaviour now anyway.

"So, dad…" Jason began, beginning to clean up the campsite- he was the youngest, and therefore the one designated with that job. "Can I ask a question?"

"Go ahead. Nothing's ever stopped you before." Gene laughed good-naturedly.

"What did Mister Gabriev do for you that was so important?"

The older man paused for a second and thought. "…If he doesn't mind, I can tell you."

"I actually don't remember." Gourry gave his usual incomprehensive smile. "I'd like to hear it too, if you please."

Gene laughed. "Well, alright! You always did need a little extra reminder every now and again, didn't you?"

"What is this about, anyway?" One of the other men questioned. "Like, did he save your life in battle or something? That's incredible, because-"

"No, no." Gene shook his head. "While he was an expert fighter and a powerful asset to our forces, that wasn't exactly what happened. It was… well, it was a year or two after he'd joined, and we had all gotten to know him a little better." The man looked over at Gourry with a smile. "We were all worried about you, you know. You were always depressed- never smiled and never laughed. No joke anyone told, no praise anyone gave you… nothing seemed to be able to cheer you up."

"Gourry was like that?"

Lina had been sitting away from the group with her back turned to them, but it was clear that she was actually listening in to the conversation when she finally spoke up. It was Gourry's turn to look embarrassed and turn away.

"That was a long time ago. I barely remember it." he replied quickly.

"Don't be embarrassed, kid. Everybody goes through times like that." Gene began again. "In fact, I was going through a tough time myself. My father was very sick at the time, and… I couldn't keep myself together. I was angry and worried, and just didn't know what to do to convince myself to keep on with my life the way it was."

"And it was Gourry who helped you?" Lina asked.

"Surprisingly, yes." Gene sighed. "There was a rumour… going around camp…" He stopped and cleared his throat, eyeing Gourry. "I don't know if you knew this- I never did tell you- but there was a rumour going around that you… somehow were planning… to get yourself killed..."

"What?" Lina's voice cracked as she spoke.

"Th-the rumour wasn't true!" Gourry interjected before she could say anything else. "I-It wasn't, I promise you. I can't… I could never… I mean… not that I… but…"

"Not that the thought hadn't crossed your mind, you mean." Gene finished the sentence for him.

Gourry looked down at his feet. "…can we not talk about this? Can you just continue the story?"

"Right." Gene closed his eyes. "It was just that I was so floored by the advice that you gave me. I was concerned about you, so I went to talk to you; to confront you, really. I wanted to be the one to do it, because I really felt the same way…"

"What did I say to you?" Gourry asked.

"You really don't remember?" Gene was at least able to smile a little. "When I mentioned something about death, you told me that you had a list- a list of things you wanted to do before you died."

"Everyone has that, right?" Another one of the men asked. "Like, a bucket list?"

"Not really. His list was more… well… how should I put it? Short-term? It was… well, I don't remember it all, but I know one of the things was that… he wanted to eat the cook's spaghetti dish again. That was one thing he especially wanted to do before he died."

"Spaghetti?" A man asked. "Out of all the things you could have done with your life, you just wanted to eat some noodles?"

"I did." Gourry nodded. "Maybe it seemed trivial to others… but, if it kept me alive for at least one more day, I think it must have been pretty important."

There was a moment of silence, and a few uncertain glances were sent back and forth between the group. Gourry looked over at Lina, but she was avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Sometimes it's hard to find reasons to keep going. Sometimes having those grandiose dreams helps- wanting to travel to distant places, to change the world, to make a difference somehow… but sometimes those are just too abstract and far off." Gene spoke with a sigh. "I hadn't realized it before, but sometimes it's the little things that we need to keep us going. A book you want to read, a friend you want to visit, a game you want to play- tiny things like that can sometimes give you the push to keep going when everything else fails. 'Cause, when you get right down to it, the things we think are so important don't always matter in the long run."

Another pause sent the group into silence, though the glances were more subdued this time. Lina was the first to clear her throat and speak.

"Gourry is like that. He's wiser than you would think, and always seems to know exactly what to say, no matter the situation." She cast a disheartened glance down at her feet. "Though… he never… told me about this… I never thought about the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about his past before he met me. Now I guess I know why."

"Lina, I-" Gourry protested weakly. "I didn't mean to… I just… I didn't want to… it never…"

"Just forget about it. It's what you do best, isn't it?"

Gourry's mouth hung open for a few moments and he stared wordlessly as Lina got up and began walking away from the campsite. "L-Lina!" he finally spluttered, jumping to his feet. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going for a walk. I need to clear my head." Lina responded curtly. "You guys can go ahead to sleep without me. I'll be back later."

"B-but Lina-" Gourry stammered, unable to find the words to say anything else. As Lina left, she could hear the voices of his old friends trying their best to apologize and console him, not that they were doing a very good job. Lina and Gourry always fought, but they almost always made up right away. One didn't let the other get out of their sights before apologizing and at least some small sign of affection. For Lina to get up and walk away without resolving the issue was… dangerous.

But she couldn't help it. There was too much on her mind now. She was angry- a little angry at Gourry, but mostly angry at herself, and she couldn't work things out with her husband until she'd worked things out with herself.

Lina trudged through the forest with a scowl on her face. The sky was quickly darkening, and the sound of the snowfall hitting the piles on the tops of the trees rang out across the landscape. Some places were piled up higher than others, and it was hard to tell where the ground was- Lina misstepped at one point into a deeper snowbank, sending a chunk of snow into her boot. She cursed loudly as it sent a frigid sensation through her foot and pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head.

All the cold weather was clouding her thoughts. She just couldn't think well while it was freezing like this. Surely, if she retreated into a small tent with Gourry by her side there would be no cold to worry about, but… that would mean reconciling with him, and she had to figure things out for herself first.

"Well~" A voice from several paces behind Lina chimed. "I thought he'd never leave!"

Lina spun around on her heels, staring in horror at the young woman before her. It seemed almost a carbon-copy of herself, of course with different features. The dark blue hair was cut into the same hairstyle, the thin, petite frame seemed much the same as Lina's- well, as it had been a few months before, at least- and the malevolent smile was one that the sorceress might admit to wearing at times when she was terrorizing bandits and villains. However, Lina didn't need to have seen the thin-framed glasses or the pink barrette in the girl's hair to recognize her voice. It was almost instinctive by this point.

"Azarel?!"

"Hello, dearie." The Mazoku smiled and wagged her fingers in Lina's direction.

The sorceress gritted her teeth. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Azarel replied. "Go on, guess!"

"I'd guess that you're here to pick on me." Lina replied. "Maybe wanting to get a meal off of me. Is that it?"

"Well, not particularly, though that would be nice." Azarel murmured. "I actually have been waiting a while to be able to talk to you alone."

"Alone?"

"That's right." Azarel sighed sadly. "That blond man is so annoying, following you everywhere and watching your every move like a hawk."

"He's my bodyguard. He's supposed to do that."

"Well, that's not very nice, is it?" Azarel cooed in response. "You poor thing- you're living your life under someone else's magnifying glass."

"You don't know anything about Gourry and me." Lina huffed. "He's my protector because he cares about me. Maybe he does things I don't like, but they're all in my best interests. And I'm grateful for it all, no matter what, because I love him too. But… I suppose love would be a foreign concept to a Mazoku like you, wouldn't it?"

Azarel just laughed. "Oh, goodness. You're so naïve, Lina. To think that you lack that much understanding of Mazoku… I don't understand why you're so popular."

Lina's gaze narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"Why would someone like you be the object of everyone's adoration?" Azarel walked circles around Lina, eyeing her suspiciously. "You have a pretty face, but you're not particularly beautiful… people tell me you're intelligent, but you're so impetuous that it sort of negates it… y'know? And your power… well, I've never really gotten a taste of it, so I guess I can't say, can I?"

"Why all the insults?" Lina demanded. "What are you really after?"

"I'm just trying to figure it out. Why you? Why is it that some silly little sorceress like you would end up…" Azarel's frown intensified into a scowl. "…with everything that I ever wanted?"

Lina blinked incomprehensively. "Wh-what…?"

(A/N: It's started getting cold where I live as well. Huh. I'm not particularly happy about this development, but oh well… I have plenty of blankets and heaters. Thank goodness for that.)