Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Dramata Kurage! ❯ Chapter 27 ( Chapter 27 )

Disclaimer: Slayers and their characters are not owned by me. They belong to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi and any other companies which own them. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit and I promise to give them back all in perfect working order.

27.0

Now this was a really strange position for me to be in. All of the decisions that had to be made were normally left to Lina and I just trusted her and followed with whatever she said. Normally because I didn't really understand the situation all that well and so I just kept quiet. But now all of a sudden a decision was left to me and I didn't really know what to do. Of course I would love to go see Lina's hometown but I didn't want to force her into doing so even though she gave me the decision.

Atlas City was great and all, but we'd been there plenty of times before, but I never really got round to seeing Lina's home. I might have been there before in my mercenary days but I don't really remember where I went too well around that time. I was moving back and forth so quickly and never really got a chance to take a look around. I just went to a place, did a job and moved on.

It's just Lina made it sound like she would rather go to Atlas City rather than going home. I just wondered what it was that made Lina so afraid to go home. I wasn't going to push for an answer though. The thing was at least I would be with her, so I would be able to protect her and be there for her whatever it was that bothered her

I shrugged a little and looked to Lina.

“Well we've been to Atlas City lots of times before. It would be nice to go somewhere a little different. Maybe not for you but it would be for me. I mean, if it's alright with you.”

Lina paused a little like she was thinking about what I said, she then nodded a little.

“Going home it is then.”

I looked at her closely, as if doing so I would be able to find out what she was thinking about but it wasn't really working. The only thing I got was strange stares from her. I blinked a little and smiled, rubbing the back of my head a little sheepishly.

“I think we should probably get some rest then.”

We then both got into bed and I held her close in my arms as I drifted off to sleep pretty quickly.

The next day I woke up pretty early, before Lina had a woken up so I took my chance to get ready pretty quickly. After get changed I sat down at the table and took out the map, taking a look at where we had to go and the changes I had to make. I was keeping as quiet as possible so not to wake Lina but I didn't do such a great job with ruffling around with the map. I heard her yawn and a few moments later felt one of her famous slippers whack me across the head.

“Ahh!!” I yelped mostly in surprise, a little in pain. “I wasn't doing anything!”

“Why are you looking at the map? Do you think I don't know my way home?”

“I didn't say that and I didn't think it either. I just like working out a route so we always have some city or village to go to when night comes.”

“What's wrong with sleeping outside a few nights?”

“Nothing. The problem is when you wake up after a night outside. You're cranky as hell…”

That comment meant I received the second slipper across my skull. I grumbled and rubbed my head, whilst bending down to pick up the slippers. I then walked over to the bed and dropped then down by her.

“You see? If we were outside, they would have been rocks instead of slippers.”

“Do you want me to go outside and come back in with rocks to throw at you?”

I sweatdropped at that. “Ehehe…no thanks Lina. Slippers are fine.”

“Well stop complaining then. I know my way home and if we end up sleeping outside, we'll sleep outside. It's nice sleeping outside sometimes, just as long as it's not raining.”

“Cause its wet?”

“No! Slugs tend to come out more in the rain!” Lina then shivered a little at the thought as I packed away the map and then leaned back into the chair.

“So are you gonna get changed or not?” I asked. Lina then started reaching for the slippers.

“Don't start rushing me, you woke me with that damn ruffling?”

“Gah, not again Lina! I'm just saying cause they're serving breakfast soon.”

Lina dropped the slippers and disappeared into the bathroom as though there was a steak about to be served in there. Yawning, I rubbed my eyes and stood up from the chair, and went to the window. I opened it to let a little fresh air in and noticed the townspeople beginning their early morning chores.

Kurage

 

27.1

You can imagine how I was feeling.

Obviously, I was taking my anxiety out on him.

It wasn't fair, and as I scrubbed my skin practically raw I knew it wasn't fair, but I also knew that it was impossible to take it all back.

Besides, knowing him, he probably already forgot.

In any case, while I dressed, I thought of the many routes I knew by heart that led to my place of birth. I figured that if we hotfooted it and didn't stop at any towns, we could probably make it in one day, maybe two, tops. I knew Gourry was counting on me to lead the way, and I didn't mind too much, but I feared the inevitable onslaught of nostalgia that was likely to occur once I got there.

Once I was squeaky-clean and more awake, I dressed and headed out to greet him. He was waiting for me, which was nice. It's the small things that matter, you know? I doubt I would have waited for him, seeing as how at that moment I was hungry enough to eat a hole in the floor.

From here on, I'll be brief. I'm sure you're waiting for us to get to the point, which was me going home. I'm sure I've put it off for long enough, so I no longer will bore you.

Like I had originally assessed, the entire trip took a little over a day and a half. During the time taken, we were attacked, twice, by your usual bandits, and this proved fortuitous, as we were running low on food and the bandits had plenty (of course we checked the food first. What are we, idiots? Well, okay, what am I, an idiot?).

By the time we approached the border, it was darkening into night, and the both of us were tired and hungry again. Gourry seemed to be handling it okay, but I was barely trudging along.

“Ugh,” I mumbled. “Home is where the food is, right?” I glared up at him, hoping he would give me the answer I wanted.

Gourry smiled lightly. “If not, we could always eat the grass,” he replied.

I glowered at him. “That's hardly funny.”

I turned my gaze from his annoyingly happy face and looked forward. Ahead of us, just a few metres away, was the front entrance to Zephilia. When I looked closer, I noticed that the activity seemed to be much muter than I was used to at this time of night. Even thinking of that made me feel like a kid again.

Gourry must have noticed my hesitation, because although he didn't say a word, he did walk over to me and place his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, and he gave me a small smile.

“I know it's not going to be as a bad as I think,” I mumbled, leaning into him just a little. “I doubt she'll hardly even care of have gotten wind of what I've been doing over the past few years…” I sighed, looking back at the border again. “I just don't want to come back and realize that she still thinks of me as a kid.”

“But you're her little sister,” Gourry blinked. “Won't she always think of you that way?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but the words dried up in my throat. How unfortunate that it was probably true! The curse of being a younger sister is that, no matter what, your older sisters will always henpeck you, no matter how good you are.

I shrugged his hand off casually. “I guess there's no point in holding off the inevitable. Besides, I'm starving. Let's go see if Melvin's is still up and running.”

Melvin's was one of my favourite places to torture as a child. Once I started my dabbling in black magic and shamanism, my appetite skyrocketed, and Melvin's joint was the only place that seemed to please my pallet. The poor guy must have sold his day's worth of food feeding me that first day. Of course, after that, and after he realized that I was hooked on his food, he stocked up. Up until the time I left, it was a daily occurrence to visit Melvin and his food.

Now, it was sort of scary. In the eyes of a child, everyone over 10 looks old. Even when I was 12, he looked old. Now, I wondered if Melvin's was even open, or worse, if Melvin himself was even ALIVE.

But I'm pretty practical, so I figured the only way to know was to actually head in and find out. I started ahead, and Gourry followed me.

As I walked, I looked around, checking for differences in the terrain and the city. Obviously, things seemed smaller. The houses, the roads, everything. The only thing that actually seemed bigger was the trees. I took a familiar route into the city, and I looked around with new eyes. Some things were gone, things I couldn't quite place, and some things were new, the only evidence of that being that it looked out of place. It was too dark and I was too worn out to really be able to figure out what was amiss, anyways, so I decided to take the familiar path to Melvin's, just to see if it was even up and running.

My journey proved to be worth it. Melvin's was still there, ratty old sign and all. The only thing that seemed out of place was the other buildings beside it. I had no memory of Melvin's being sandwiched by other businesses.

Gourry seemed less impressed. “This place looks old,” he said smartly.

I grabbed him by the ear and dragged him inside. His whiny protests followed as we walked into the threshold.

I was greeted by the all-too-familiar scent of Melvin's signature sausages. Only one man on the planet knew the recipe, and that meant that Melvin was still alive.

I let go of Gourry and darted forward, ignoring the sudden silence around me from the many numerous tables that were two-thirds full of people. My eyes focused on one thing, and that was that the old, fat, and bald Melvin was indeed still alive, and that indeed he was staring at me from over his counter, his face shocked.

I felt like I was a kid again when I jumped forward and slammed my palms on the counter in front of him. “Melvin-san!” I declared, “I want as many helpings of your sausages as you can make! And put it all on the Inverse tab! I've finally come home!”

Dramata

27.2
You know, I would really like to see what you guys would do when you get dragged by your ear only. It hurts like nothing else ever. Well…except being kicked in the you know where. But other than that, being dragged by just your ear really hurts a lot. So that's why I was protesting and whining, mostly with “Please stop!” or “This really hurts!”

Once inside the restaurant, Lina let go and ran full tilt towards the counter and began talking to some strange, old, bald fat guy who seemed very surprised to see Lina. I was just left to stand there scratching the back of my head, wondering what the hell just happened. Meanwhile some of the other people in the restaurant were looking to Lina and whispering, then drew their attention to me and whispered even more. Suddenly I didn't feel so comfortable standing there, and the aroma from the kitchen had my stomach growling and I wasn't going to start resisting it now.

I quickly made my way over to Lina as the guy returned with a large order of sausages and quickly placed them infront of Lina who started devouring them like nothing I had ever seen before in my life. I'd seen Lina eat when she was starving and it was nothing compared to the way she was eating now. I blinked in astonishment and just sat there watching and not really noticing the old guy until he started talking.

“So who is this friend of yours Lina?”

“Mmmnnggghhh! Mmmphhh nnggg!”

No I had no idea what she said either but she looked annoyed about being bothered in the middle of her meal so I figured I should just introduce myself.

“Hi, I'm Gourry. I've been travelling with Lina for a few years now.”

The man took my hand and shook it firmly and I returned the gesture.

“Nice to meet you Gourry. I'm Melvin, the owner of this establishment. As you can see Lina has really taken a liking to this place. She would be in here every day after her training. Can't tell you how quiet it has been ever since she left. The profits in this place disappeared along with her!” He then laughed quite loudly, but not loud enough to cover the sound of my stomach growling.

I patted my stomach and felt a little embarrassed. Melvin just chuckled. “Looks like I'm going to have to make up another order!”

Not long later he returned with the same sausages he served to Lina and I started tucking in, only to find out why Lina enjoyed them so much. Soon I was eating away just as desperately as she was.

“I didn't think it was possible but it looks like there is someone else with as big an appetite as Lina. Are you two planning on hanging around long? You'd definitely boost the sales around here!” He laughed again but the only response he got was both Lina and me eating away noisily.

Soon we finished and I relaxed back into my chair, patting my well fed stomach. “I wish we came here earlier! Why didn't you tell me this place served such good food!? Why would you even want to leave this place where there is such good food?”

Lina looked down at that moment and her bangs covered her eyes. I knew I hit a sensitive subject and I felt bad about it straight away. I knew she had found it tough to come back so something must have really got into her for her to want to leave.

Kurage

27.3
When you go for several years, lacking the one thing you remember as a child, it's certainly a shocker to suddenly get it back in one heaping plateful. Each bite I took not only tasted sublime, but it also reminded me of what it was like to be a little brat again. It wasn't a bad feeling, surely, but it was a little weird, all the same.

Once we were done, I noticed that Melvin was still hovering over me, eager for my approval. It wasn't as if he really needed it. His recipe hadn't changed over the years, and I still loved it as much, if not more, as I did back then.

However, once I opened my mouth to comment, Gourry bombarded me with his question, and I was momentarily caught in such embarrassment and shame that I HAD to hide my eyes from the both of them.

Jeez, did he ever think about what he said before he opened his big mouth? Did it ever occur to him that now was probably not a good idea to bring that up, especially in such a busy place and in front of Melvin, old miser that he was?

However, because I have had practice, I managed to swallow my outrage and save it for once we were outside. Casually, I raised my head again and said, “You never know what you miss until you actually come back.”

Melvin grinned and nodded. “True, true,” he agreed happily. “So, then, Lina-chan, I take it the meal was to your liking?”

I grinned wider, this time for real. “Are you kidding? You know I'm a sucker for your meals!”

He seemed speechless at that, which was a little unusual. Growing up, Melvin and I had always been able to exult at eachother. It almost seemed as if he was flustered at what I was saying. Without a word, he grabbed up the two plates Gourry and I had left in our wake and walked off, a little bounce in his step.

I tilted my head, confused.

It was then that I noticed the gawkers.

It was like having a thousand bright annoying eyes on you, watching your every move. I stiffened, noticing that every person in the restaurant, whether they were eating or talking, had their eyes on me. I narrowed my eyes, meeting every single gaze of each person, and when I did, they looked as if I had throw a knife at them, and stared back down at their plates.

“Ugh,” I muttered. “I'm not sure whether to be flattered or worried. Why are they all staring at me? Do they think they recognize me?”

Gourry looked relieved, as if he thought I had forgotten his mistake. “Maybe they're scared of how you eat,” he replied helpfully.

I threw my fork at him, satisfied when it hit him on the nose. He grabbed at his nose and protested, but I ignored him, putting my fingers into my bangs.

“It's like they're afraid of me or something,” I mumbled. “I don't think I've changed too much over the years. I doubt they wouldn't recognize me...”

Gourry seemed to have recovered. “Especially since you still have the body of a twelve-year-old.”

“You really are asking for it!” I snapped, standing up and holding my fist over his head. “First you don't know how to use tact, and now you're just trying to piss me off!”

I sat back down again, calmly, as Gourry cowered a little away from me. “I'm just trying to figure out why people seem so intent on looking at me.”

“You're building it up too much,” Gourry answered sulkily. “You're home. They know you're home. They know it's you. That's all.”

I sighed, stood up, and walked over to Melvin behind the counter. He looked happy to see me. “What else can I get for you, Lina-chan?”

I leaned over and whispered, “Does everyone recognize me?”

Melvin nodded, still smiling. “Mmhm,”

I slammed my hands on the counter. “Why would they just stare at me?!” I snapped. “Don't they know how to talk?!”

Melvin scratched the back of his head bashfully. “Lina-chan, it's been years since we saw you! Although you're hardly one to blend in the crowd, no one is quite sure what to say to you, anyways! And the fact that you come in with a man...” he let THAT trail off, with a creepy smile on his face.

I felt my cheeks burn, but I decided to ignore the innuendo. “Why doesn't anyone know what to say to me?”

Melvin now looked bemused. “Why, do you really think that during all of this time, Zephilia has been ignorant of your going-ons?”

I blinked. “Really? I always thought that as a whole we never cared about rumour.”

A shadow darkened over Melvin's usually jolly features. “Ah, well, times have changed. Unfortunate circumstances have forced us to focus on the outside world more often than not, now.”

“What do you mean?” I wondered, my eyes narrowing. I was getting a bad feeling about this.

Melvin shook his head somberly. “It would be best if you talked to your family about this, rather than me.”

I nodded. “They didn't move after all?”

Melvin grinned again suddenly. “Hah, like they ever could! No matter how often your mother threatens us all that she'll move, you know that she's more a part of this town that any of us!”

I smiled warmly, thinking that that was precisely how my mother was before I left, too. “And my father and sister?”

Melvin leaned in on the counter, getting comfortable now. “Ah, well, your daddy's getting older now, see, like the rest of us.” He pointed to his balding head with a grin. “He can only keep the shop open half the time now; arthritis, you know.”

I frowned. “That doesn't sound like Daddy at all,” I admitted. “Why would he risk losing profit over a small ailment?”

Melvin laughed. “I figured you would say something like that!” he admitted. “Well, of course your mother has a hand in the shop-keep as well, but it's your sister that really holds the place up.”

“My sister quit her job as a waitress?” I wondered.

Melvin snorted. “Hardly. She still works part-time, and still keeps to her duties as that something-or-other,” he winked here, letting me know he knew exactly what the something-or-other was. “But she spends the rest of her time helping your dad out with the shop. And she's got a knack for it, too, I tell ya. She haggles like the best of them.”

“My sister, helping out with the store?” I still couldn't quite grasp it. My sister wasn't much of a merchant, and to hear that she had a knack for haggling? Something was amiss. “You're not telling me the whole story, are you?”

Now Melvin looked ashamed. “Ah, well, it wouldn't be prudent of me to tell you,” he admitted. “But I will tell you that your family is in good health, so you needn't worry too much about that.”

"I'll be the judge of that,” I replied. I stood up to my full height and waved to Gourry. “See you in the morning?” I asked as I turned to leave.

“Wouldn't miss it for the world!” he called after me.

Gourry followed me out the door. We stood there, Gourry looking confused, and I pondering over the information I was just dealt.

“What's going on?” Gourry asked quietly. “Why do you look so upset?”

I paused, looking up at him. I felt like I hadn't a grasp of anything anymore, but I certainly wasn't going to tell him that. “I dunno,” I said instead. “Let's just find a place to stay for the night.”

I walked past him. “Sure,” I heard him say, and he started after me.

Dramata

27.4
There wasn't really all much I could do the point Lina went behind the counter to speak with Melvin. Well I could have followed her but really it seemed like she was talking about personal matters and if Lina wanted me to be there with her, then I'm sure she would have dragged me along. But as it stood, she hadn't dragged me along, or waved me over so I had to sit there and occupy myself.

It's just as I sat there, I could see Lina talking and from her face it looked like it was some personal stuff. I guess I felt like I was a little out of the loop as she was talking with someone I didn't really know but she had for some time. It's like when you were younger and you could see the other kids crowding around and talking, but in no way would include you. I was left out.

I propped an elbow up on the table and then rested my chin on my hand as she continued to talk with Melvin. I guess I thought with everything that had happened recently, that maybe she would involve me in things a little more and let me hear about her personal life more. Although if I was there, I probably wouldn't understand and would just end up saying something stupid and piss her off. I was doing a good enough job of that already.

After what felt like forever and a half, Lina waved to me as she said goodbye to Melvin, so I stood up and waited for her. However she just walked by so I took that as my cue to follow, but I could tell that something was up with her with the way she had been talking to Melvin. I continued following her until we were outside where we then stopped.

I didn't know what was wrong but I just knew there was something wrong, just a feeling. The look in her face helped as well. So I asked her what it was that might be bothering her, but Lina being Lina didn't want to talk about it. Instead, she just avoided the subject and suggested we found some where to stay. I sighed whilst rubbing the back of my head. I don't think she heard that, cause I'm sure she would have snapped at me otherwise.

I just wondered why we weren't heading to her family but with everything that was going on, I figured just keeping my mouth shut and letting her deal with things was the best situation. I would only cause more trouble, but it was really hard because I just didn't feel involved. I followed Lina till we came to an inn and we booked a room for the night. Having been pretty well fed, we didn't need anything to eat so we just headed up to the room.

I unlocked the door and at that moment, Lina just brushed past and headed straight into the bathroom. I looked at the door as it locked and wondered what I was supposed to do to help. I put all of our belongings down on the ground by the table and took the maintaining my sword. It was due for some work and with the way things were at the moment, there wasn't a better time. After taking the nicks out and polishing it up, Lina came out of the bathroom and just headed straight over to the bed. So I took the chance to clean myself after working on my sword.

After cleaning up, I left the bathroom to be greeted by Lina in bed and fast asleep. I pulled up a chair and sat down so I was next to Lina and placed both hands under my chin. I wanted to do something but I didn't know what. I just felt like I was in the dark over everything. I wondered if I could maybe go and see Melvin. He seemed to be the only person I had come across so far to know about Lina before I had. However the more I thought about it, the more I felt like I was going behind Lina's back.

Thinking about that, I would rather be left in the dark about Lina's past as opposed to getting whatever information I could off someone who I had met for about an hour. If Lina found out, she would never forgive me. In the end, it just felt like the wrong thing to do. I realised that despite not liking the situation, I was just going to have to put up with it, and be there for Lina when she was ready to open up to me.

Now that I felt like I had things sorted out in my mind, I quickly got changed into some pyjamas and carefully joined Lina in the bed. I wrapped my arms around her and placed a soft kiss on the side of the neck. Then blowing the light out, I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take me away.

Kurage

I wasn't asleep.

At least, not quite.

Over the years I have become an expert at fooling Gourry when it comes to faking sleep. The key to doing it is to remain half-asleep. That way, it's still fooling him, but you can still stay awake at the same time.

In any case, I was still sort of awake, and I was stewing away about the talk I had with Melvin. It seems like in my absence things had changed, and that was strange, because change rarely happened to a city like Zephilia. We're a lively bunch, it's true, but abrupt changes don't just `happen' overnight.

And, from the sounds of it, there was a lot that Melvin wasn't telling me. He even admitted it himself that it would be better to hear it from family. What the hell does that mean? Did he even get that now I wouldn't sleep because I would be too busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on?

Gourry's arms were like a baby blanket. They were warm and protective, and not for the first time I felt like he was a talisman I could use against bad things. I wasn't quite sure how I would have handled it alone. Maybe Gourry's mellow attitude had rubbed off on me, because surely the old me would have demanded more answers.

Ultimately, however, I wasn't 13 anymore. I had changed, and so had home.

At some point in the night I fell asleep, and when I woke up, it was later than I had wanted. The sunlight was blinding, and I groaned in protest. Nonetheless, I was up.

I looked around and noticed that Gourry was missing from the room. I shrugged and dragged out my clothes and tugged them on. I was just putting on my boots when Gourry came back in, all smiles.

“Hello there,” I smiled back without control. I then noticed the plates he held in his hands, and I had to laugh. “You went to Melvin's, I see.”

He grinned and walked to the middle of the floor, sitting down and putting the plates in front of him. I slid off the bed and joined him on the floor. From there, the inevitable happened, and for several minutes, I might add.

Once the dust cleared and we both nursed our respected wounds, Gourry chewed on a toothpick and looked at me. “So what are we doing today?”

I sighed, wanting to avoid this topic but finding the whole point of that a little too cowardly for digestion. “I guess,” I said uneasily, “we could meet my family. I want to see how my father is, and my mother, and I might as well face the music with my sister…” I gulped, two feelings battling inside of me. One was fear of my sister, and the other was fear of Gourry, and what he might say to my parents, or worse, to Luna.

Gourry tilted his head to the side. “That sounds fine to me,” he agreed.

I sighed again, tugging at my bangs. I wasn't sure why it bothered me so much. Was I worried about Gourry saying something off-colour? Definitely, but I was starting to think that maybe it was more than that.

“You know what?” I snapped, getting to my feet in a sudden rush. “Forget about the doubts. Let's just get going!”

I grabbed Gourry's hand and dragged him out of the room in a hurry. I don't even think, to this day, that he had any idea what the hell was going on.

I dragged him out of the door and past all of the familiar sights and smells. I ignored everyone that we passed, although I felt their eyes on us as we did so. In my head was the usual epithet of “Screw it,” and I was putting it to good use.

It was actually kind of strange, seeing the place that way, as a blur from the corner of my eyes. I was able to notice that, indeed, some of the places around me had changed. It was almost melancholy, admitting that to myself, that life did in fact go on without me. Kinda humbling, I suppose.

As we got closer, I felt my heart start to not only speed up, but start skipping as well. Now I was finally starting to feel the real excitement. I had missed them, I realized. Even my horrible sister. I started smiling before I could control it, and I even felt my eyes sting a little. I'm hardly the sentimental type (well, okay, sometimes, but not always…), but I'm not heartless either.

I rounded the final bend, let go of Gourry's hand, and my eyes locked right onto the one figure I had hoped to see. I cried out, a happy girly-sound that would have humiliated me if it had been any other moment. I sped up, flung my arms out, and slung them around my mother, hugging on tightly and grinning from ear to ear.

“Ah, Lina-chan, welcome home!” she said softly, sounding the exact way that I remembered. She pulled me away as I hastily wiped my eyes on my glove. “Well, let's take a look at you!” She smiled. I looked up at her, and noticed that she had gotten older, too. Her auburn hair was streaked with grey and white, and she had lines around her eyes and mouth. Worry lines, I noticed, my eyes narrowed.

“Twirl around!” She suddenly demanded, startling me back into reality. I grinned, held my arms up, and turned in a full circle. She chuckled in appreciation. “You've gotten taller, but you're still scrawny as hell!”

“Pah!” I threw my arms down, putting my hands on my hips. “Like you're one to talk!” I pointed right at her slim figure, and she waved a hand at me.

“It's different for women of my age, dear,” she replied, in that tone of voice that meant that she was talking pure and total crap. “In fact…” she froze, and blinked several times quickly. Her eyes were fixed on something behind me. “Lina-chan!” She grabbed me and flung me behind her, holding her hands to her side, her eyes narrowed. Small sparks of orange began to come to life. “There's a strange, huge man behind you!”

I tilted my head, confused. “Strange man?” I turned to look at who she was looking at, and saw that she was about to sizzle Gourry. He blinked, his hands up, backing away slowly. I noticed his face was bright red.

I had to fight the urge to smack my forehead. “Mom, that's just GOURRY,” I snapped, pushing her hands down. I walked past her and grabbed one of his hands, dragging him over. He dug his heels in, muttering the words, “Now I see where you get it from!” under his breath.

The smartass.

“Ma,” I said, holding my hands out over Gourry, like he was some sort of prized horse. “This is Gourry Gabriev.”

Dramata

27.6
I was pretty surprised to see Lina react like that. I don't think I remembered another time where she acted like that at all. I just tried to stay back out of the way as Lina enjoyed her little reunion with who I figured was her mother. Maybe I should have expected it, since she was Lina's mother after all, but I didn't when she quickly became protective of Lina and turned on me. The eyes she gave me looked much like the eyes Lina would give me when I had annoyed her over something I said.

Fearing a sudden fireball I quickly began to back away with my hands raised in the air, hoping that somehow she would get the message that I wasn't some threat. Luckily for me, before any damage was made, Lina came to the rescue and the situation swiftly turned from dangerous to a warm welcome. Lina introduced me to her mother and I took the chance to try and smooth things over. I say chance. I was pretty much forced into the situation since I didn't want to move any closer, but Lina pretty much dragged me over.

“Umm…hi there Mrs Inverse.” I said a little shakily, the images of her about to attack still fresh in my mind.
“Hello there Gourry. And can I ask why a man such as you has been travelling with my young daughter?” She replied sternly, her eyes still slightly narrow.

So maybe now wasn't a good time to tell her we were pretty closely involved. It wasn't really the best subject to raise after just meeting someone. I mean who would want to hear that some stranger was sleeping with their daughter.

“Well I rescued her a few years ago from a group of bandits. I didn't realise she was a sorceress at the time who was able to sort them out herself. I thought she was someone who needed protecting and I guess I haven't stopped since.” I smiled, moving a hand to the back of my head as I would do often.

After taking those few moments to carefully look me over, I guess she started to get a little used to who I was. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

“I see. Hey, nice catch Lina.” She winked towards her daughter with a slight grin.
“MA!” Lina replied, her face turning bright red.

Ok. Maybe I was thinking about those things a little too early and it would take a bit more time for her to know me a little better. I just tried to smile politely in response and quickly put my hands down at my sides. I guess without thinking about it, I was trying to make a really good impression. It seemed to be enough at that point as the pair started to talk again. I couldn't really follow what they were talking about and so I didn't really pay attention to what they said.

Instead my eyes started to move around to look at the surroundings which seemed more interesting. Their house looked like any other particular house you would expect. It was a little bigger than the average house so that made me think that whoever owned it had a little bit of money. I think I remember Lina saying her parents were merchants, so that would make sense.

We were stood in a well groomed garden with cleanly cut grass and lots of colourful flowers. They were really nice to look at and I'm sure I could have spent hours looking at them all until Lina shoved me hard in the arm, knocking me out of my thoughts.

“Sheesh. He is quite a bit of a jellyfish, isn't it?” Lina's mother stated rather bluntly with crossed arms, looking at the daughter.
“That's what I always say!” Lina replied with a smile on her face.

I groaned a little inwardly as I realised there were more and more things that Lina had in common with her mother. I had to admit that it was nice to see that she had a very loving family. I wasn't so sure that I would get the same welcoming if I ever happen to return home.

“Anyway! I was just telling Ma that we've nearly travelled all over the world.” Lina continued.
“Yeah. I'm not sure there are many places we've left untouched, or at least not had a chance to visit their restaurants.” I replied.
“So you have the stomach to match Lina's?” Her mother asked.
“Easily.” I grinned in reply towards Lina.
“As if!” Lina laughed.

The two quickly got talking again and as before, I started to look at the more interesting surroundings, slowly turning around. The other houses nearby were well spaced in between, and were of similar size to the Inverse house. I guessed this part of the city was one of the wealthier parts.

Suddenly I felt my hair being yanked hard and I yelped a little in pain as I nearly stumbled backwards. I quickly turned around to find Lina was the culprit with a fistful of my blonde hair.

“Ow…Lina. What did I do now?” I whined as Lina let go of my hair.
“You're not paying attention! My mother has just invited you to come inside and you didn't even reply.” Lina growled.
“You have him on a pretty short leash.” Mrs Inverse replied with a little smirk on her face.
“Well I learn from the best.” Lina grinned, giving her mother a knowing look.
“It's the only way your father learns!” She responded with a little annoyed look. “Anyway, let's go inside. It's better than standing out here all day.”

I followed the two chatty Inverses inside their house where they both started to head for the kitchen.

“Gourry? Feel free to sit down in the communal room.” The elder Inverse stated.
“The where in the what now?” I replied a little dumbly.

Lina groaned with frustration and headed out of the kitchen, grabbed my wrist and yanked me into a room filled with chairs which surrounded a fire. I guess it was somewhere the family could gather to all talk to each other or where guests would be welcomed to.

After I was sat down, Lina headed back to the other room grumbling.

“Hey Ma? Where's Papa?” Lina spoke louder as she continued to the kitchen, but also for anyone else in the house to maybe hear.
“Oh he's gone out on a few errands. He should be back in a couple of hours.” Her mother replied.

I looked around at the room I was sat in, and noticed shelves filled with cups and vases. I guessed that Filia would be very interested in them but they were a little boring and pointless to me. Instead my eyes were drawn to a few portraits which were placed above the fireplace. They seemed to be of the Inverse family. The mother I recognised in a couple of the portraits with one on her own and the other in the group. In the group was a picture of a young cute Lina who seemed as mischievous as ever. Lina was also in another portrait with who I guess was her sister. She seemed a little scary with purple hair which covered her eyes. She seemed much calmer than Lina. The other person was the father who seemed familiar but I didn't have time to work out where from since I was distracted.

“MA!? Stranger in the house! Want me to deal with `im.” An unfamiliar voice stated.

I turned to look at the origin of the voice and noticed a rather grown up version of who looked like Lina's sister in the portraits. One of the biggest differences I was shocked by was the difference of bust size between the sisters. However something a little more shocking was the sharp and deadly looking kitchen knife that was held in her hand which was glowing with some strange aura.

“Hi.” I said a little nervously. “My name's Gourry Gabriev.”

I guess that was my lame attempt at trying to stop being a stranger to her but I don't think it helped as the Inverse sister suddenly darted towards me with the knife ready to strike. I pushed my feet hard into the ground to help myself move to the side quickly as the chair fell to the ground. I got out of the way just in time for the side of my shirt to be ripped slightly by the blade. I noticed a slight look of surprise in her eyes when her bangs waved away from her face during her movement.

“Luna! No!” Lina shrieked as she raced back from the kitchen.

With her eyes covered by her bangs once more, her lips curled into a slight smirk.

“Sis…”

Kurage

27.7
After the scary inevitable breezed in and ended up being mild turbulence (especially with that crap about 'rescuing' me...), my mother and I started to catch up.

“Ah, Lina-chan, you sure have grown up,” she began, smiling at me.

I felt, to be honest, a little shy at that. I wasn't sure what she meant, if she meant physically or because of the fact that I brought Gourry home with me. I mean, it's not like he admitted to anything (Thank GOODNESS), so it wasn't COMPLETELY confirmed, but still. It made me shy.

So as a reply, I waved my hand at her and said, “Well, a little…”

My mother smiled in a way that she knew something more than she let on. I hated that look, so I changed the subject, filling her in on what Gourry and I had been up to.

It felt nice, to be home again, to be able to speak frankly about things and have someone know exactly what I was talking about. It was nice to share roots with someone again, and most of all, it was just nice to be home.

I don't admit it easily, but I really did miss home. I missed the smell, the feel, the look. Some things had changed and some thins had faded, but it was still home, and it felt really…GOOD…to be home again.

That was, until…well…the one person I was afraid of walked in.

Have you ever wanted to just open up the floor around you and fall in, and then close it up behind you?

I mean, okay, some magic can open up the floor for you, but not seal it up again. Damn, I really should find that spell…

Especially when you find your sister trying to slice open the man you love, in the LIVING ROOM.

Thankfully, there was no time to be formal about this reunion. I jumped right between Luna and Gourry and waved my arms in, sadly, sheer panic. The panic was made up of two parts: One part fear of Gourry being gutted, and one part complete and total fear of my sister.

You see, before I left, I had played a little…trick…on my sister. One that was totally immature but completely harmless and very very funny. Somehow the whole harmless thing really seemed to piss her off. Ironically, it was around the same time I decided to head out to explore.

Okay, fine, I ran away, because she threatened that if she ever got her hands on me she would make me suffer. I really, really didn't want to find out what exactly she meant by that.

“Don't cut up Gourry because even though he's an idiot he's not a stranger!” I babbled, still waving my hands. “I know I left things off badly but you don't need to cut him up just because people saw you naked! He's a good guy! He's a really good guy!”

Luna, during my spiel, stood here, one hand on her hip, the other at her side, still holding the glinting knife. I let my arms fall, spent. “Are you done?” She said calmly.

I thought about this for a moment, before I nodded.

She grinned, and I knew it was too good to be true. I started backing up, my hands up in front of me. I saw out of the corner of my eye Gourry scooting away, and I didn't blame him.

“Hey, come on, Big Sis…” I started pleading, feeling the edge of panic rise up in me. It had been YEARS since that whole thing…was she still really angry about it? “You know I was just a kid!”

Luna shrugged, smiled, and jumped forward right towards me, her knife held out before her. I didn't think about the consequences, or how mad she would perhaps be, but I reached behind me, grabbed my dagger, and managed to parry it just as she reached me. The force of the blow forced sparks from her blade, and sent me back a foot.

I heard footsteps walk by the doorway, and I heard my mother's voice say, very calmly, “Ladies, no swordplay in the house. How many times do I have to say it? Take it outside.”

Luna and I stayed in our little stalemate for about a second more, before Luna moved away quickly, in one fluid mood. She sheathed the knife at her side, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and smiled at me.

“That was quite possibly the best punishment I could ever think of,” she declared. “The expression on your face was excellent, Lina-chan, but I also think the fact that I scared you enough into getting strong enough to parry my attacks is what is satisfying enough for me.” She waved her hand at me and walked out of the room.

I slumped to the floor and started to shake, dropping my dagger to my side. THAT was all she wanted to DO? Was to scare the complete DAYLIGHTS out of me?

Oh, well, it WORKED!!

“Mama,” I heard Luna call into the other room, “I have a shift now. I'll come back in three hours.”

“Good, bring back some rolls. Your father should be home by then.”

“No prob.”

The sound of a door closing broke me out of my reverie. I turned, and noticed that it had done the same for Gourry. I had actually forgotten that Gourry was there, to be honest.

“Lina,” he said, crawling over me, “are you alright?”

“Ugh,” was my reply. “That scared me a lot.”

“She scared me too!” Gourry shuddered, fingering at his poor ripped shirt. He looked so helpless that I couldn't help but reach over and ruffle his hair. He made a face, and I giggled.

My mother came back into the room, looking in on us. She tilted her head. “How did you both get on the floor? Some sort of hanky-pank game?”

My face burned, and I scrambled up to my feet. “You did not just say that! You saw what Luna did!”

Mom rolled her eyes at me. “Yes, and it just reminds me how sane things are when only half the nest is here.”

“Oh, that's not fair! Luna and Papa are like crazy people, too!”

She paused, tilted her head to the other side, and laughed. “You're right, I live with lunatics.” She shrugged her shoulders and walked away again, and soon I heard happy whistling.

I looked down at Gourry on the floor. He looked as confused as ever. I suddenly grinned. “Wait till you meet my father,” I declared, putting my hands on my hips.

Dramata

27.8
In those few brief moments with Luna Inverse, I could see why Lina was so afraid of her. I was nearly gutted by her just for being a stranger in the house. I didn't want to think about what might have happened if I really was doing something wrong. Giving it a little more thought, I realised that I probably wouldn't get that treatment from my own family despite what I had done. I still didn't want to think about all of that stuff, but I guess it put my experience into a different view.

The following moments were all a bit of a blur for me as I was still a little shaken from what just happened. Still I managed to find my feet again and after placing the chair back the right way up, I sat down. I glanced at the slightly torn shirt and figured I would have to either change or just leave it and fix it up later that night.

Lina disappeared into one of the other rooms it what I guessed was a better mood than usual. I supposed that whatever had happened between her and her sister seemed to have sorted the problem out. Her mother then came into the room and sat down next to me with a drink and handed it to me.

“Thanks Mrs Inverse.” I said a little quietly as I took the mug and began to drink it slowly.
“Please. Call me Lyra. You shouldn't let Luna scare you like that. She's a very nice girl at heart, and I guess you just have to get used to her to see that. Otherwise she can seem a little cold and vicious.” Lyra replied.
“Well when I came to visit, I didn't really expect to be almost gutted with a kitchen knife.” I smiled.
“I'm surprised she didn't actually catch you. Maybe Lina wasn't exaggerating about what you guys have been up to.” She blinked, as she looked like she was wondering why I wasn't half dead on the floor at that point.

I wasn't sure whether I should be glad to be alive or scared to go to bed at night in case Luna came to finish the job she started after finding out how far my relationship had gone with her younger sister.

As Lyra continued to think about things I noticed she had very similar expressions to Lina and it made me wonder how much people could take after their parents. Although it just made me more confused as to how I could be like my parents but so unlike my siblings. After all, from the little time I had with her, Luna definitely seemed different to Lina yet I could see some of Luna in Lyra. I also began to wonder if Lina's father might be called Larry.

“Sorry about that Gourry, I often start thinking about things and forgetting that I'm keeping someone company.” Lyra blinked back into life.
“Huh?” I grunted.
“I see I'm not the only one who does that then.” She giggled a little.
“So it must have been tough bringing those two up” I stated, taking another sip from the mug.
“Oh definitely. But it was a lot of fun too. So much life was around the house. Lina always looked up to Luna and always strived to be as strong as she was. It wasn't fair that Luna had the head start but it never stopped Lina. That's the difference between those two. Lina always tried her hardest to become better where as Luna was happy enough as she was.” Lina's mother smiled softly as she stared into the distance.

I blinked slowly as I took in that information and began to wonder what she meant by Luna having a head start. I wanted to speak to her about it, but the look she had made me decide not to ask just yet. I just sat quietly and enjoyed my drink slowly, looking around the room once more and smiling at the family pictures.

“What are you two up to?” I heard Lina's voice from the doorway.

I turned my head sharply and saw her leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. She then pushed away from the door and joined us, sitting down in a chair in front of Lyra and myself.

“Not much.” Her mother replied. “We were just talking about the time you went to the potty for the first time and you ran around proclaiming your greatness at using it.”

Lina turned bright red and suddenly stood up from her chair. She had that familiar fiery aura around her and her hands clenched tightly into fists.

“I thought we agreed you would never bring that up ever again!” Lina shrieked with embarrassment.
“True, but the proper agreement was unless you had a boyfriend.” Lyra replied simply.
“B…Boyfriend?” I stuttered.
“What? Wait! No! Dammit!” Lina yelled and stormed away in a huff.

Lyra starting laughing loudly, holding onto her stomach. I just sat there wondering what the hell just happened, but I had to admit it was funny to imagine. Also knowing her personality I realised it probably did happen. In a few moments, she calmed herself down and wiped away the tears from her eyes.

“There you go Gourry. That gives you some ammunition against her if she ever gets too big for her boots from time to time.” She chuckled a little still, and tried to catch her breath from all the laughing.
“I'll try to remember that one.” I grinned.
“Hmm…do you mind doing me a favour?” She asked.
“No I don't mind at all.” I replied.
“Good. I need a few things picking up from the local store. I'll give you a list. Don't worry about Lina. She'll be up in her room for a good couple of hours moping before she'll be back.” She grinned a little, glancing upwards.
“Ok then. You'll just have to set me off in the general direction!” I laughed.

I took the list from Lyra and headed off looking for the store. As I walked I noticed a few people staring at me, and started to wonder if I had something on my face. That was until some teenager walked in front of me with a look of interest in his face.

“Hey Mister! Are you the one who came here with Lina Inverse?” He asked me.
“Yeah I am. Why do you ask?” I replied while feeling a little confused about the situation.
“So that really was Lina?” He added, seeming a little more excited
“Yeah. Well, I know her as Lina.”

The small group that had gathered gasped a little in surprise.

“Wow, she's really grown up!” I heard a voice from behind me.
“And with a guy! Who would have thought that, huh!?” Another voice added.

I blinked in surprise and decided to carry on walking as the small group all started talking between themselves. Then after turning the corner I noticed the store I was supposed to go to and was just glad to have made it without getting lost.

I went in and quickly browsed around, but quickly found there was so much stuff and after reading the list, I didn't really know what I was supposed to get. I moved towards the counter and was greeted by a black haired man.

“Hi. I have this list here and I was wondering if you could help me.” I asked, handing over the list Lyra and given me.
“Sure thing, son. Let me have a look here.” He took the list, and as he read it, he started to smile a little. “Ok then. I'll get the things on this list for you, under one condition. You help me out until I finish.”
“Oh, I think I might have to take those things back right away.”
“Don't worry about that. I'm sure it'll be fine.”
“Well, if it's ok, then sure. I'll help out.”
“Great!”

I took the apron the black-haired man gave me and put it on. Then I was soon given a brush and was quickly put to work cleaning the floors. The problem was that there was something about the guy I felt I recognised. The only problem was I couldn't work out where from. It kind of felt like there was more than one place I knew him from, but I was sure I would remember him if I had met him more than once.

Kurage

27.9
Of COURSE I wasn't going to take that kind of crap from my mother. As much as I love her, there are some things you just do NOT say!

It was actually habit that brought me back up to my room. I found myself going there on a whim, as if I had never left home at all. It was only when I reached the doorway that I remembered that I had been away for a long, long time.

The things that I had left behind and on the floor in complete disarray at the time of my take-off were actually cleaned up and put back into the right places. Everything seemed quiet and unused, and there was a faint shimmer of dust in the air.

My bed was still in the corner by the window, and the bookshelf at the foot of it was still overflowing with magical, as well as historical and fictional, books. The few candle-holders I had left behind were there, ones that I used when I was either too tired to cast any spells or on my time of the month. My dresser was put back together from when I had ripped it apart packing, and when I ran my finger over the top, it came away with a thick coating of dust.

I sneezed, then sat down on the small bed. The small move brought up MORE dust, and I sneezed again. I looked around again, and I found myself sighing, deeply.

Now that I was home, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Would I tell them EVERYTHING? Yes, I had pretty much told my mother most of all that happened, but of course, I left out the whole Xellos thing. It was too sensitive for me, still, and I didn't want to see the look in my mother's eyes when I told her. I had seen pity in Amelia's eyes, in Zelgadis's eyes, and hell, even in Sylphiel's eyes. Pity, and fear, and shock. I didn't want to see that from someone I loved and respected.

And I didn't want to see what kind of punishment such a thing would give me from Luna.

No, it was better to just keep it to myself for the time being. I stood up, shrugged off all of the unnecessary crap, like my cape and so on, and left them on the bed. I then knelt in front of the bookshelf and examined the titles. Upon seeing them, I had to smile; all of the titles were, although advanced for my age, pretty mild now. They were enough to impress the Magic Guild and give me a colour title, but compared to what I knew now, they were silly and small and almost unimportant.

I wondered about whether or not it was a sign to come home for good. Things sounded a little bad here for some reason, and even if Melvin wouldn't fess up, I knew my mother or father eventually would. Once I learned the truth, would I be able to say, “Oh, okay, well, I'm off again, see you in another decade or so?”

I ran my fingers into my hair and trapped them into the knots, shutting my eyes. Could I actually stay home? It was weird to even THINK about. All I could see ahead of me were travels with Gourry. At least, before I found myself sitting on my old bed, that was all I could see. Something inside me ached a little, as if there was something missing.

The more I thought of it, the more sick I felt, and the more sick I felt, the more I realized the truth. It dawned on me, slowly, like that feeling you get when you're about to puke. My eyes opened, my hands dropped to my sides, and I just sat right down on the floor in shock.

My wanderlust was gone!

What the hell? I pulled my legs to me and hugged them, resting my chin on my knees. I ALWAYS had wanderlust, even when I was little. I always wanted to get lost and find new things and get into trouble. I certainly never lost it when I was at home. Why was it suddenly gone NOW?

I frowned, narrowing my eyes. Was it because of Gourry? Was it because he was around?

Or was it because I had finally done enough in the world, and I had proven my worth, and now I could settle down and be complacent happily?

“Uuugh…” I groaned, flung myself back, and promptly thunked my head on the bed. Cursing, I leaned to the side and lay down THERE, my hands on my head in agony. Once THAT was over and dealt with (and once I sneezed again from more dust up my nose), I stretched out on the floor and stared at the ceiling.

There has to be something more I can do out there, I thought, feeling very, very small all of a sudden. It can't be over now…it's way too soon.

“Lina-chan,” a voice called from downstairs, “come help me for a second, if you're done sulking.”

I grumbled, but got up and trudged down the stairs anyways. Maybe a distraction was what I really needed. I joined my mother in the kitchen, and saw that she was sitting down at the table. I looked over to the counter and saw that everything was ready, but set on low heat to keep it warm.

I tilted my head to the side. “Help with what? Sitting?”

She smiled and shrugged. “Sit down with me for a moment, please.”

I did so, confused.

“Your sister and father will be home soon, so this is pretty much the only open window we have to talk alone,” she explained, leaning back on her chair. “I noticed when you came home that you had something dark around your eyes.”

I tensed, gritting my teeth without control. “What do you mean, Ma? I'm sure I'm just tired,” I choked out, trying to smile.

She raised an eyebrow, knowing that I was a phony. “Please. Something went on, and it's dark, and it's still there. Are you having nightmares, Lina-chan?”

That threw me. How did she know about that?

I must have shown my astonishment, because she nodded slowly. “Thought so,” she replied. “You always were a little sensitive in that area, weren't you?”

I reddened. The last thing I needed reminder of was the fact that sometimes I dreamt about true things. “I don't think my nightmares are like that, Ma.”

She looked at me really closely, and I felt like I was being examined for parole. “Alright,” she finally said, “if you say so.”

“I do,” I said quickly. “Now, what is going on here? Why are things so weird and stuff? Melvin wouldn't tell me!”

Mom scratched her ear, the one thing she does when she's throw off balance and she can't think of anything to saw quick enough to satisfaction. When she hesitated, I started getting impatient. “Stop thinking of things to say to me and give me the truth!”

She gave me a very stern look. “First of all, you shouldn't speak to me like that. Second of all, we should talk about less serious things for now. Wait until your father comes home first before you start peppering us with questions, okay?”

I sighed, shutting my eyes to prevent myself from shouting. She had a point, though. Sometimes when my mother gets overwhelmed, she tends to babble and make no sense when something was upsetting. If she thought that this was one of those instances, it must have been serious enough…

I swallowed both fear and fury and opened my eyes again. “Fine,” I hissed, “what could you possibly want to talk about?”

“Your man,” she grinned, her eyes twinkling.

I slammed my head onto the table. I should have KNOWN.

Dramata