Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers Inheritance Side Stories ❯ Anya's Letter Home ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

ANYA�S LETTER HOME

A Slayers Inheritance side story

by Michael Hopcroft

It was a pleasant summer day at the Mace and Teapot, and two expectant
mothers with a great deal in common were relaxing in the sun outside.

�It is a lovely day,� said Filia ul Copt, �but I�ll be grateful when
Valgaav gets back.�

Lina Inverse basked in the sun with even more relish than the dragoness,
but her face showed concern as well. �I just hope Anya�s OK. She did go
out on a very dangerous mission, and Xellos had her in his clutches for
a while.�

�The way I see it, it must have worked out.� Filia smiled.

�How can you possibly know that?�

�We�re still here, aren�t we? If Anya and Valgaav had failed there
wouldn�t be a world anymore, would there?�

�I suppose that�s true, but I still want to hear from her. Isn�t it time
you checked on your egg?�

�It�ll be fine for another four hours. Ah, here comes Daddy now!�

A large Golden Dragon swooped in front of the two, and quickly reformed
into the handsome form of Milgasia. He immediately ran up to Filia.
�I�ve got great news! Val�s all right!�

Filia�s eyes filled with tears of joy. �Really? That�s wonderful! When
did you find this out �

�I didn�t actually see him, but I stopped by the court of Seyruun a day
ago and Prince Zelgadis filled me in on everything. He also gave me this
--� and he held out an envelope with the seal of the Royal Family � �to
give to Lina.�

�Is it from the Queen?� Lina asked. �Maybe that court sorcerer position
is open!�

�That�s just the seal. It�s actually from Anya.�

�You�d better get Gourry. He should be here when we read this! I�m so
glad she�s OK!�

Gourry was quickly summoned from his sword practice and Lina started to
read the letter.

Mother,

It�s hard to say how much time has passed, so I don�t know if the twins
have been born yet. I�d hate to miss the birth, but I look forward to
meeting them.

The crisis with Titania has come to a successful conclusion. It was a
near-run thing, but in the end everything came out all right. Titania is
now a princess � she�s married into the Seyruun Royal Family! Could you
believe the luck of that girl? And there�s not a trace of Mazoku left in
her, so nothing�s going to keep her from living a healthy, happy life. I
was her maid of honor at the wedding, and would you believe she threw
the bouquet in such a qay that only I could catch it? Of all the nerve.

Val-chan and I are on our way home. We�re going to be walking so it may
take a while. We ended up spending about three weeks in Seyruun
celebrating. I hope Valgaav is old enough to drink, because people kept
pressing wine on him and he really could keep it down! But he�s more of
a flirt when he�s sober than when he�s drunk, so he was able to stay
away from the wine most of the time. As for me, I stayed away from it.
I�ve never seen a city with so many places to buy coffee! Everyone
always said �we have to be ready in case the Consort shows up�, as
Zelgadis has a habit of wandering around town and taking in the sights.
Whoever said princes belong in palaces has never met the Seyruun royal
family!

Anyway, I�m hoping nothing happens to waylay us before we reach you.
It�s going to at least a month�s journey, just me and Valgaav. We have a
tidy sum of money, so we won�t have to worry about inns and meals. I
like having Val-chan around, but I think his feelings are more advanced
than mine, Was Daddy this much trouble for you?

Anyway, I;ve got to be off. I have to find a way to make sure this
lketter reaches you before we do. Don�t oworry about us, Mom., We�re OK.
And although this was a touch one, I can see why you love adventuring so
much. There�s a lot of adventure left in me.

Your loving daughter,

Anya

Gourry beamed with pride. �That�s our girl!�

Lina looked at the letter again. �Wait a minute? �Val-chan?� �advanced
feelings�? what the hell are they doing over there?�

�Let me see that!� said Filia, and re-read the letter. �My son is more
of a flirt when he�s sober than when he�s drunk? Why is he ANY kind of a
flirt? And who the hell is he flirting with?�

Filia and Lina looked at each other. Lina was the first to speak. �Your
son is going to be one deep-friend dragon if he lasy a hand on my
daughter!� she said.

�You think I�M happy about this?� said Filia. �I was going to go find
some nice dragon girl for Valgaav. Your daughter just doesn�t cut it
when it comes to prospects!�

�At least your son can�t get pregnant! I�m too young to be a grandmother!�

Gourry stepped between them,. �Lina dear, easy. It�s OK. Anya would have
told us if they�d gone that far.�

�How do you know she wouldn�t try to keep it from me if she and that
dragon were � were ��

�We raised our daughter to trust us. If she�s in trouble, she knows she
can come to us. We�ve done more for her than our families ever did for us.�

Lina stared open-mouthed at Gourry. �She wouldn�t come to me with
something like that. I�m too fearsome.�

�That�s what jellyf0sh0-brained fathers are for. Besides, think about it
for a second � is being in love so bad for a young girl? Would it really
be so terrible if she were falling for Valgaav?�

Lina began to retreat nervously. �Well, I suppose she could do a lot
worse than Valgaav. I�m not ready, that�s all. Here I am about to have a
couple of babies and my first baby is � growing up � and dammit I�m not
ready!�

Gourry opened his arms, and Lina walked into the embrace. As he closed
his arms around her, Lina started crying on his chest. Filia was
wondering if she should be watching this, and then she felt Milgasia�s
gentle hands on her shoulders.

Filia asked her lover �Would it really be all right with you, darling,
if Valgaav came back with that girl and decided he wanted to stay with her?�

�Val�s old enough to make his own decisions on matters of the heart. I
know why you�re concerned, but this is what being a parent of a teenager
is like.�

They looked at Lina as she continued to cry into Gourry�s chest, tears
he bore with infinite patience.

�I guess things will be all right after all,� Filia said.�After all, she
has parents who love her. When you worry that much, it means you really
care.�

Milgasia smiled down at Filia. �I think I�ll go into the village and get
some ice cream. Lina looks like she needs it.�

�I need some too, I think.�

�Dragons don�t get pregnancy cravings.�

�NO, but they do need cheering up every now and then�.�