"Well, I was already planning on stopping by your mother's store to buy something," Gourry said as he scratched the back of his head as he favored Luna with a carefree smile, "So this rather works out, doesn't it?"

Lina looked at her sister anxiously. Gourry was good at de-escalating but she wasn't sure if Luna would allow it. And as Luna remained alert, Lina felt her ire rise as she realized that she had no intention of backing down. "I want to see if there's more to you than a pretty face."

"I'll save you the time. I'm just a bit about average really," Gourry said nonchalantly, and the mix of emotions that Lina felt when he did that returned with a vengeance. Because while she didn't want them to fight, she also wanted Luna to know what an amazing swordsman he was.

"Sis, it's been a long journey." Lina said, "Can't this wait until we've settled in and had a decent meal?"

"He's selling himself short," Luna replied, "I want to know what sort of man is sitting at our table first."

Lina shot Gourry an apologetic look, "Gourry's sword is special. We don't want many people to know, but it's the Blast Sword."

"Sounds like a fun challenge." Luna said as she maintained her stance.

Lina felt Gourry stare at her in surprise before he looked at Luna, "It wouldn't be safe to use against a human."

"I see you haven't told him much about me." Luna said.

Lina pulled at her hair in annoyance as she sighed, "She'll be fine Gourry. Don't hold back."

At that Gourry did what he always did: exactly what Lina said. He drew his sword and settled into a fighting stance. Luna charged first and Gourry deflected her easily and then moved to the offensive. Luna brought her sword up to block him and any surprise Gourry felt that his sword didn't cut through hers like butter came off as relief. What happened next was a series of moves that happened so fast that, even with the training that Gourry had been giving her, Lina couldn't keep up with until Luna got some distance between her and Gourry and held her sword up.

"Brace…" Lina started, but before she could finish her warning an electric shock emanated from the sword, hitting both her and Gourry. Thankfully it was one of Luna's milder ones.

Luna closed the distance between them as Gourry lowered his stance in surprise, but he managed to bring his sword up to block her as she got there. She smiled as she stood down, "Impressive."

Gourry looked at her warily, "Who are you?"

"Luna Inverse." She said as she sheathed her sword, "The Ceifeed Knight."

Gourry continued to look at her blankly and Lina hated the smirk that turned up Luna's lips. "She was born with a shard of Ceifeed in her soul." Lina explained quickly, "And she's pretty damn powerful as a result."

"During the demon uprisings I raised my sword high and slew twenty-eight at once with that little trick I did with you and Lina just now. Of course I had to use a more powerful voltage then."

"Thanks for that." Lina said caustically, "Can we go home now?"

Lina instantly kicked herself for falling back in the habit of asking, as if she needed Luna's permission to do a damn thing.

"Of course," Luna said as she started to walk into town and they followed her, "Gourry, someone as powerful as you must have been a tremendous help to my sister."

Lina gritted her teeth as she wondered why she had even wanted to come home in the first place as Gourry said, "I only helped her a little really. You should be proud of Lina."

"Such modesty does not become a man," Luna replied, "You must really have him whipped, Lina. I'm not sure how you managed to do it, though. Tell me…"

"How are Mama and Papa?" Lina asked quickly.

"Hm," Luna said as she lowered her head, "It's been rough since you left if I'm honest. I don't know how to break it to you. Mama has taken it all rather hard."

"Taken what pretty hard?" Lina asked sharply.

Luna grabbed her elbow as she glanced around, her face tight with anxiety, "Let's get you home so you don't make a scene."

"Sis, you can't drop a bomb like that and leave me hanging! What happened?" Lina asked, but Luna remained silent as they walked through the town and Lina felt a sense of dread sink into her bones that got worse as the familiar site of her parents' store came into view. She studied it intently, as if she could figure out what was wrong just by looking at it. But aside from seeing that it needed a fresh coat of paint Lina could find nothing amiss.

Luna opened the front door to the shop, "Guess who came home with some handsome booty in tow."

"Lina!" Arline exclaimed as she grabbed her tightly and wrapped her into a fierce hug, "What took you so long!? I'd just about given up on you! I thought you'd never come home!"

"I got into some big adventures," Lina said as the unease continued as she wondered where her father was and why Luna hadn't mentioned him. While it wasn't unusual for Walt to be gone while Arline held down the fort, something about the place seemed abnormally empty. "Mama, Sis is scaring me. Where's Papa?"

Arline pulled away and it was then that Lina realized how she had aged since she left, "Luna, close up the shop please. Lina, come into the kitchen and have some tea. Your handsome young gentleman friend is welcome of course."

Lina looked around the shop, desperate for some sign of her father as she tried to fight off the thought that it must be really bad if no one wanted to say anything. She saw a shopper looking at her pityingly as she followed Arline into the kitchen with Gourry and began to steel herself for the worst as she sat down at the table. Her mother went to grab the kettle as she said, "Damn, Lina, this is no kind of homecoming. A few years ago your father fell ill. He fought like hell, but even then, last year I'm afraid he succumbed to it. He's been dead for a little over a year now."

Lina shook her head as a protest welled within her as she opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a watery gasp.

"I wish it were different," Arline said, devoid of her usual energy as she poured them a cup of tea.

Lina buried her face in her hands as she fought the urge to cry and scream. A familiar tightness wrapped itself around her, a tightness she had never realized had existed until she'd met Gourry. A tightness like an invisible straightjacket as Arline patted her shoulder and wrapped her arms around her. For a moment Lina wondered if it would be okay to cry, if this would be a good enough reason to cry. But then the door separating the shop from the kitchen opened and shut as Luna announced, "The store is closed."

Lina felt herself shut down as her muscles tensed as Arline drew away from her as Luna sat down at the table and stared at them piercingly.

"Forgive my manners." Arline said through the haze that had settled into Lina's mind as she addressed Gourry. "I'm Arline Inverse, Lina's mother."

"Gourry Gabriev. Lina's guardian. Self appointed." Gourry replied as he put a hand on Lina's knee as she felt the heat of Luna's gaze upon her, "I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Lina always spoke highly of him and I was looking forward to meeting him."

This can't be real, Lina thought as she slowly put her hands down, This is some sick prank.

Arline set a plate of cookies in front of them as she sat down at the table looking exhausted. "He was a good man," she said, "Life has been a lot harder without him. He so wanted to see you again before he went Lina, but it's just a relief knowing that you're home safe."

"Yeah," Lina said as she struggled to hold her tears back. She could practically hear Luna sharpening her claws as she waited for the first sign of moisture in her eyes.

"Damn, Lina, I know this is a shock for you. But get it together. Life goes on, even when it's hard," Arline said as she sipped her tea, "It's been a year without him now and it hasn't been easy but crying won't help. Getting home sooner would have. What in Ceifeed's name kept you away for so long?"

"She was saving the world." Gourry said as he stared at Arline evenly as his hand remained on Lina's knee.

Arline looked at him incredulously as Luna snorted, "Lina always did have a big head. I guess she ran into someone idiotic enough to…"

"I was doing important work taking down some really big bads." Lina managed to say, her throat tight and her voice strange. But despite her words for the life of her she could not remember who she was fighting a year ago and whether or not they were really that important. Was this before or after Hellmaster had kidnapped Gourry? Or when they were embroiled with Sherra and Dynast? Defeating Luke Shabranigdu was too recent. She glanced at Arline and Luna, both of whom were looking at her intensely. "Shortly after I met Gourry the Dark Lord Shabranigdu was reborn and we destroyed him. Gourry had the Sword of Light then and I cast the Giga Slave into it and it was enough to destroy him."

Arline set her cup down as her jaw dropped as Luna's face tightened while Lina continued, "But that got me into a heap of trouble with Hellmaster Fibrizo because he wanted me to cast the Giga Slave in the hopes that the world would be destroyed. Well, the short story is we survived obviously, the world is here, and because of me Hellmaster was destroyed by the Giga Slave he thought he would use to destroy the world. Gaav was also destroyed, as were his priest and general. It wasn't too long after that mess that we found that Dynast was involved in some shady dealings in Dils, turning people into demons basically. While taking care of that I took down his general and bloodied Dynast's nose pretty badly. He's still alive but we won't have to worry about him for awhile. But then you remember all of those demon uprisings that had been occurring? It was because Shabranigdu had been revived again and it was up to us to defeat him. And we did."

Lina's voice wavered awkwardly as she thought of Luke as her head started to ache as Arline shook her head in disbelief, "Lina, that…that's hard to believe."

"It's true." Gourry said, "I was there, and there were witnesses to other things she's done. You raised an incredible daughter."

"You mean to tell me that my Lina…" Arline started, but before she could finish Luna interrupted loudly.

"You really did your best, didn't you, Lina?" she said with a shallow smile that landed like a punch in the gut.

Of course it hadn't mattered. Nothing Lina accomplished ever mattered. With every achievement Lina gained, Luna had always been there to remind her that Lina's light was a mere match flame compared to her forest fire. Even as a kid, working so hard to master sorcery, Luna had held her nose at all the practice Lina had to put in to master spells less powerful than the energy that came to Luna naturally so that no one cared about Lina's accomplishments.

"You really should give it up you know." Luna said as she sat on the porch eating an apple as Lina tried again to cast a spell.

"Levitation!" Lina called.

Of all the spells it was the one she was drawn to most. That it was an easy, basic beginners spell made it better. Even without that, though, it would be such fun to fly through the air! Only, she wasn't flying. Her feet were just as attached to the ground as they always were.

"You're a fool to think you can do this. You just don't have the talent." Luna said.

Parts of Lina protested, but she kept her protests silent. It was best not to give Luna fuel as her response to Lina's rather sharp tongue tended to be physically painful. Still, it was only her first day. All she was expected to do was practice a light spell. She'd gotten the hang of that easily at least. But the levitation spell was a bit more challenging. Still, she was damned if she was going back to the guild without having another spell under her belt. One way or another she would impress her class and her teacher by doing more than she was expected to!

And to do that she would have to shut Luna up somehow, prove to her that she was wrong! But the more Luna ribbed her the harder it was to focus on the spell and she was getting desperate. Lina looked around and her eyes fell on the well. She walked to it as a crazy idea formed in her mind. What if the reason she wasn't succeeding with the levitation spell was because she was too scared to leave the ground? But if she tossed herself in the well, her fear of falling to the bottom would be greater and she would have a big incentive to fly. If she wanted to show the world that she could do something there was only one choice!

Lina took a deep breath and hopped on the ledge, careful not to hit her head on the roof. "Gee, Lina, you don't have to kill yourself over your lack of talent!" Luna said as she stood up as she started down the porch steps.

But Lina ignored her. She had the chant down cold, it was a mere matter of focus and visualization. Granted, she wasn't completely confident in her ability to focus on the chant while falling, but if this didn't spur her to visualize wanting to fly what would? Lina took a deep breath and jumped. From above her she heard Luna screaming, but she ignored her as she focused on her chant as the walls of the well rushed past her as the wish to soar through the air reasserted itself hard, "Levitation!"

And then to her shock her downward momentum stopped. She hung suspended in the air for a moment, the water of the well a good few feet below her as it sank in that she had done it! "All right!" she yelled as she looked up and saw Luna peering down at her from above. Now was the time to really impress her!

Lina pictured herself going up and her stomach went light as she did. So this is what it was like to soar through the air! It was liberating and exhilarating and she couldn't wait to see what all she could do with this spell. Plus she couldn't wait to see the look on everyone's face when they saw her flying while they were stuck on the ground. For once people would admire her the way that they did Luna! Lina reached the top but was careful not to hit the roof of the well. She navigated herself to the ledge without hitting her head and pushed herself back onto solid ground. She had done it!

Lina looked at Luna in excitement, "Sis! I did it…"

Luna's punch to her face sent her falling to the ground, "You scared me half to death! Don't you dare pull a stunt like that again!"

Lina curled up into herself, anticipating the next blow but unable to do anything to stop it. Yet, she thought to herself as she took it. One day I will fight back.

"Such a show off," Aaron said just loudly enough for Lina to hear as he walked off with several other students after class had ended.

Lina felt herself grow rigid as Nellie said, "With a head as big as hers it's no wonder no one likes her."

Lina hung back in the classroom as she started to become interested in her book as she wondered what she'd done wrong. No one ever called Luna and her friends show offs. And she'd worked so hard to master the spell, shouldn't she have a right to show it off?

"Lina," Bower the Green said as he approached her as Lina looked up at him wondering if it would be another reproach, "You did some good work, and I can see that you are a highly motivated pupil. I'm afraid a lot of people aren't prepared to put in the work it takes to master sorcery. And I'm afraid other kids get jealous of the ones who put in the work rather than take the time to learn from them. Pay them no mind, keep focusing on your studies, and you'll go farther than they will."

"Thank you, sir." Lina said, "I really want to learn."

"Then I look forward to teaching you." He said with a wink as he set a book on the desk, "If you want to get ahead, here is a book I would recommend studying well. Now see that you take good care of it because I want it back."

"I will, thank you!" Lina said as she grabbed it as a rush of exhilaration ran through her. Well, she may not have impressed the other kids but she has impressed someone who counted!

Bower the Green left the classroom as Lina gathered her stuff. But just as she was about to run to the door she realized that she was not the only one still in the room. "Lina!" Mindy said as she ran up to her, "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to study together? I have a bit of time before dinner."

"Yeah!" Lina said as she felt even happier. She'd never had a friend to hang out with before! "Is it okay if we go to your place?"

"Yeah."

"I just need to stop by my parents' store and let them know."

"Alright," Mindy said. "So why do you want to go into sorcery?"

Lina walked swiftly with Mindy as they talked, hoping to get home and leave before Luna found out she was even there. And Lina figured her chances were good, especially since Luna had announced that she'd found a part time job as a waitress and hopefully would be out of the house more. Lina had just about reached her house when someone grabbed her and scooped her up. "Hey! Let me go!" Lina said as her books fell to the ground as she started striking blindly at whoever had grabbed her.

"Who do you think you're impressing, leech? Luna is still leagues above you." Melissa said as she tossed her into the well.

By instinct Lina chanted. "Levitation!"

Once again her descent slowed as she went back up. But as soon as she broached the surface she barely had a moment to register Luna standing there before she threw a bucket of water at her. "I don't know why you're wasting Mama and Papa's money just so you can perform stupid parlor tricks!"

There was a round of laughter as Lina fell backward, the water soaking her as she hit the other side of the well. Slowly she got up and looked around to see Luna with a group of her friends laughing as they pointed at her. But it wasn't just Luna's friends who were laughing. Mindy was as well, with Luna's arm wrapped companionably around her.

"Hey Luna, I'm wondering, just how many Dark Lords have you taken down?" Gourry asked.

Luna's face flinched a little as Arline said, "Oh, Luna hasn't left Zephyr City in years. But what you say, Lina, is incredible! Tell me…"

"I'm sure Lina had lots of help and risked a lot of lives to do what she did." Luna charged in as Arline snapped to attention, "And took risks I wouldn't have needed to in her situation."

"Well that goes without saying, Luna." Arline said as she patted her arm, "With the power that you have doing what Lina did would have been so much easier."

Nothing's changed, Lina thought as she wondered how it would have been different if Walt were there. Walt would have been proud of her. He'd always encouraged her in a way that Arline had not. But would it have been enough that he would have told Luna to shut up for once? Or was she just fooling herself for daring to believe that he would.

"But how can you really know what you would have done if you weren't there?" Gourry asked softly.

"What I'm wondering, Gourry," Luna said as she stood up and slapped her fists on the table, "is who are you to my sister and what your intentions are."

"Gourry's my companion." Lina said evenly. After all the disappointments of the day she didn't want to risk anything more than that.

"Well then, Lina your room is where it's always been. But Gourry can't stay here. Without a man in the house it wouldn't be proper." Luna said to Gourry.

"I understand." He said as he glanced at Lina anxiously.

"I'll show you to the inn," Lina said, grateful for the excuse to get out of the house.

"You're not staying?" Arline said as she stood up in alarm.

"I'm just showing Gourry where the inn is and getting him settled." Lina said as she struggled to keep her voice even. She turned around quickly before Arline or Luna could chastise her.

"I closed the store for you!" Arline said.

"I don't know why you're so upset," Luna said, "I see being away from home didn't do much for your mental stability much less your big head."

"We'll be back for dinner." Lina said, even if she was dreading it as she closed the door behind them.

"Lina," Gourry said as he looked at her when they got outside.

"Whatever you have to say, save it for when we get to the inn." She snapped. She was terrified she would break down in the middle of the street and that everyone would see and think about how weak she was.

Fortunately, the inn was not too far from their store. Lina stayed silent as Gourry checked himself in and then walked with him to his room. And for a moment she worried that being with him had made her weak. Growing up she had built so many walls but in the few years that they had known each other he had breached them. And now that she was back home she couldn't rebuild them fast enough…

The door to his room closed behind them and Lina did not look at him as she heard him lock it. She did not dare to glance at him until he said softly, "You know, after my grandmother died, I cried for a good, long time."

Whatever remained of the wall fell down. Perhaps Lina was weak and wasn't strong enough but at that moment she didn't care. She quickly closed the space between them and buried her face in his chest and let the tears fall.

AN: Luna's "you really did your best" quip and the scene with Lina being thrown down a well and Luna throwing water on her when she came up by using a Levitation spell are from a Mega Brand Q&A and a Blaster interview respectively. The well scene may have made it into a Special as HK said he may write about it in one, but I don't know for sure. Either way I greatly expanded on what bits were there.

Back when I was writing Fly Away, I originally planned for Lina's father to have died before she returned home to Zephyr City and the fact that he and Gourry had ever met would be a sad thing they never knew. Obviously that story went through a lot of changes from when I conceived it to writing it and her father was very much alive when she returned home in Fly Away, but when I was thinking of how to handle their reunion in this story in a manner that would be fresh I decided to resurrect the idea of him being dead. I wasn't sure if it would work but the more I worked with this story the more it fit for him to have died, though I'm not one hundred percent confident in that decision.

And if I told you that I would get this wrapped up in 4 chapters, I was foolishly optimistic. Now I'm thinking 6 chapters, lol.