There had been rumors. Zelgadis had been hearing of them in dark corners for weeks. Xellos had finally, himself, become curious enough to investigate. Of course, the mazoku had cleared this little excursion with his master first. The two had set of early one spring morning, leaving a short note of explanation behind:

Gone chimera hunting. Expect us when you see us.

Zel & Xel

"Well that’s a fine note you left them. I would’nt be surprised if Lina came tearing after us." Zelgadis muttered to his Mazoku companion a few hours into their journey. The day had dawned crisp and the sky remained clear. Fine traveling weather if the chimera had any preference.

"Yare, yare." the mazoku sighed. "It can’t be helped now, can it? At least I was considerate enough to think of telling them we were taking off. Leaving them behind. Abandoning them to. . ."

"That’s quite enough Xellos. I get the point. And besides . . ." the chimera fixed a steady gaze at the grinning mazoku, "I already told them, many times over, that I did not wish to go to Seirune."

Xellos opened his eyes and smiled a rare, genuine smile, for his chimera. His chimera. Xellos was still getting used to the idea himself. And to think that it had been Zelgadis that had made the first move. Shaking his head gently, purple hair playing mischievously with the morning breeze, Xellos returned the steady gaze of his lover. His lover. . . "Amelia will be most upset at your rejection of her invitation." he paused, looking at his lovers beautiful face. "Again."

Zelgadis rolled his eyes, but Xellos could sense the momentary pain that her name had caused the chimera. Zelgadis still felt guilty about Amelia, about his lack of emotions for the girl. He cared for her, yes, but she was more like family, a little sister. Someone to protect and watch over. Zelgadis had never seen the girl as a creature to be desired in any way. Amelia, however, had continued to hold on to hope after hope of winning the chimera over. In the end, the Seirune princess had suffered a bitter defeat. To a mazoku nonetheless. Justice had failed her. She had been bitterly humiliated. This invitation to Seirune for the Springtime Celebrations, was an attempt, Zelgadis believed, to give her one last chance to talk some sense into his thick head. He had rejected the idea from the beginning. Only Lina and Gourry showing up noisily at their doorstep had been able to pry the chimera from his studies.

Shaking his head vigorously, Zelgadis stepped forward with a little more push in his step than he had before. Speaking out loud to the road in front of him, Zelgadis set his lover’s fears at ease. "Maybe this way, she’ll get the point. No matter how sharp it may be. I tried to protect her from her own feelings for me, but I seem to have failed. I tried to dull the pain of my rejection of her offer of love. Maybe, " he said, contemplating the clear azure sky, "I should never have bothered. Still . . ." And here the chimera lapsed into silence. Xellos walked quietly by his side. After a silence of maybe three hundred feet, Xellos pressed the issue.

"Still?" Xellos asked. Zelgadis fixed his gaze to the dust on his black boots. When he turned his head to look at Xellos, the chimera was wearing a mask of pity.

"Still," the chimera retrieved the conversation, "She was my friend. Of sorts. I think. I cared for her. I never knew what she saw in me that attracted her to me. She was my friend. After a while with her, I almost managed to forget that I looked different."

"Almost?"

"Almost. But never quite able. And it was always her that brought it back up. I doubt she even realized what she was doing." Zelgadis turned his head to the east, gaze drifting like mist over the mountains in the far distance. Xellos was curious now. The pain had ceased radiating from the chimera. He was speaking open and honestly about his feelings. That was an incredibly rare thing to share. Even though the two had been together for months now, they still kept pieces of themselves separate, inviolate. Though they loved and trusted as much as they could, there were parts of themselves they were unwilling, or unable, to share. Xellos was still priest and General to the Beastmaster. Zelgadis would always carry scars from the betrayal of his grandfather Rezzo. Each worked with what they had to give. The two were disgustingly adapted, and attached, to each other.

"What was Amelia doing to remind you of your nature?" Xellos, ever the mazoku, asked whatever he felt like asking. Snorting quickly, Zelgadis churned a wry smirk onto his delicate features.

"She was ‘helping’ me. Saying things like," altering his voice to a nearly perfect imitation of the justice crazy princess, "Oh Mr. Zelgadis, won’t it be so wonderful when you find your cure." And "Oh Mr. Zelgadis, I think there may be a copy of the Claire Bible on an island off the coast of Mallett Island" Zelgadis frowned, his face darkening in contrast to the bright and sunny day. "Like I said. Trying to give me a reason to feel better. Trying to help. It didn’t." Zelgadis kicked a pebble that lay in his path. Xellos calculated that the poor, unfortunate stone landed about four miles away. In half-an-hour or so, they would see it again. Xellos decided that he would try to aggravate the chimera by making him apologize to the rock. "No one ever made me forget. No one. Until. . ."

Xellos started at the sudden exclamation made by the chimera, and was puzzled by the quick silence that fell again. The two were still working on their communication methods. "Until?" he pressed. Blue eyes fixed to violet.

"Until you."

Xellos was more than happy with that.

A flock of ravens flew overhead, disappearing into a forest of sakura trees.