Following the battle with Sephiroth and the return to earth, the Slayers and Warriors who had been involved in the epic struggle to save the world decided to take some much needed crash time. The moment they returned home Lina decided she needed some time alone in a hot bath. As she sat in the tub with the water steaming up around her she became lost in thought.
     ‘What is materia all about?’ she pondered, ‘What are the espers? Are they friends or foes? Alex can summon Ridley, a mighty mutated dragon type bird creature whose breath is worse than a nuclear blast furnace. Amelia can summon Leviathan, the mighty king of all monsters, aka the sea dragon, whose Tidal Wave attack can wash away all opposition. Then there’s Sylphiel’s esper, Angemon, an angel of light, which is perfect for her because she’s so pure and innocent. Zelgadis can summon Madeen, and that cat creature really knows how to wail with its Terra Seeking technique. Even Aeris can summon something, and hers is truely amazing. The all mighty Phoenix, the firebird that can rise from the ashes of death to give rebirth to the fallen, and burn evil to a crisp. But my summons.... my summons nearly killed all of us. Why would I wind up with a summons I can’t even control? Crusader. It sounds like it should be able to vanquish any and all evil. Instead it fought evil, then turned on us and nearly wiped us off of the face of the map. How in the world could something like this happen to me? Why is my esper defective? Maybe I shouldn’t even try to summon it again. I mean, what if we’re embroiled in a battle and we’re more or less down to our final resorts. Even then use of Crusader could spell our downfall and the triumph of the dark force we’re battling. No, I will never use Crusader again, and that’s final.’
     Lina dipped her head under the water, soaking her hair until it was well saturated. When she pulled her head up from beneath the surface she gently squeezed the water from her hair before reaching for a bottle of herbal shampoo.
     ‘Now to just concentrate on washing away the dirt from the battle and getting my life back to somewhat normal,’ she thought as she scrubbed the shampoo into her hair. She winced when she found the bumps upon her head from when she collided with a wall in the battle. “Damn!” she exclaimed, “That guy really needed to learn to take it easy on little girls.”
     “Lina, are you O.K. in there?” Gourry asked as he knocked on the door, “I heard you shout and wondered if you were hurt or if you needed help.”
     “I’m fine, yogurt brain,” Lina replied playfully, “I just found one of the aches and pains that I had forgotten about from the battle.”
     “Oh, all right. As long as you don’t need anything.”
     “Well, if you’re going to be going to the kitchen any time soon, could you perhaps make me a sandwich and bring a glass of grape juice with a seltzer twist?”
     Gourry chuckled for a moment before replying, “Sure thing Lina. Anything you want.”
     “Thanks Gourry,” Lina replied, “just make sure you knock before bringing it in, since I am, well, you know...”
     “Yeah, I know. Your order will be with you in a moment.”
     Lina heard Gourry walk off before she began to soap up the rest of her body. “This is just what I needed,” she said to nobody in particular, “a nice relaxing hot bath, a snack made by a wonderful cook, and some real down time. I just hope that...”
     Her thoughts were interrupted by Amelia poking her head into the bathroom. “Miss Lina, we have trouble. Another Black X creation is on the loose and our help is needed.”
     “Ooooh! Why now?! Just get out of the bathroom and give me a moment to get dressed,” Lina grumbled as she grabbed her towel off of a nearby rack. “Tell Gourry to make my snack to go.”
     “Right on Miss Lina,” Amelia said as she closed the door behind her. Lina muttered a few curses before rapidly drying herself, rinsing the shampoo from her hair, and throwing on her sorceress outfit before dashing out of the bathroom to catch up to the others.
     ‘Guess my relaxing bath will have to wait,’ she thought as they dashed out the door, which closed and locked behind them. ‘Oh well, such is the life of this sorceress supreme.’