Forever

by Umi

December 2000

Disclaimer: Lina, Gourry, and all Slayers characters belong to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, TV Tokyo, and SOFTX, not me! I'm not makin' any money outta this! 


"There it is everyone." Lina stated. "The Maiden's Cavern."

"Yes, the place with the rumored great treasure." Amelia added.

"All I can say is I hope that the Clair Bible is in there." Zel muttered.

Gourry asked, "So, where's the maiden?"

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Look, Gourry, there is no maiden! That's just the name of the cave!!" Lina yelled.

"Oh, right."

"Anywayz, I've heard a lot about this place. It's rumored to be a Mazoku stronghold..." Lina mused.

"Mazoku? Creepy!" Amelia said.

"Because of this, only Zel and I will go in and get the treasure." Lina explained.

"What? Lina? What about me? I want to help..." Gourry said.

"Gourry..." Lina began. "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous... I'll need Zel's strong magic to back me up, but you two would only get yourselves in trouble..."

"What!?" Amelia and Gourry exclaimed.

"I don't mean that you guys don't help in battle! It's just that you guys are too important to die from something like this..."

"Whoa Lina! Dying! This is why you have to let me come to protect you!" Gourry yelled.

"Yeah Miss Lina! We know about all the danger! We've done this before!" Amelia cried.

"Yeah, but those missions were to save the world! This is purely selfish, nothing that you two should risk yourselves over!!"

"Lina..." Gourry said.

"Amelia, what if something happened to you? What about your father, your kingdom?! You're the future queen of Seiryuun! You're too important to mess with this!!"

"Miss Lina..." 

"And you, Gourry. You're the descendent of the warriors of light! You have to live on the keep the sword of light in your family! Do you know how important that is?! How important you are?!" Yeah, Lina thought, especially to me...

"Lina... But..."

"What about you and Mr. Zelgadis? You guys are important too!"

"Not as much. Besides, Zel is willing to risk everything in order to find his cure. And I..."

"Lina..." Gourry said.

"I'm the great Lina Inverse! What could happen to me?"

"..." 

"Then it's settled! Gourry, Amelia, wait for us at the last town we were in. Stay at an inn and rest. We shouldn't take too long..."

"We'd better get going Lina. We want to make it before morning." Zel added.

"Right Zel! Bye Amelia, Gourry!"

Lina and Zel entered the Maiden's Cavern. Right before she entered, Lina turned around and winked her signature wink at the others. "Don't worry you guys!" She called out. "We'll be all right!!"

Why? Gourry thought. Why does she always ignore my feelings like that...
****

I can't believe that Lina left me behind, Gourry thought. Does she think I'm useless? That I'm not good enough to help her? That I'm not good enough for her...

Maybe she does. Maybe she thinks of me as a burden... As an extra fighter to bring with her in case she needs some more help. Not like she'd ever let me help her.

Oh, but she's letting Zel help her now, isn't she? Why would she let him help her, but not me?! Gourry punched the pillow in his room at the inn. Why?! He pounded it again. Why can't she understand that I want to help her?! That I want to protect her?! Tears welled up in his eyes. Why can't she understand that I want to be with her always?! Doesn't she know that if something happened to her, I'd... I'd...

Gourry closed his eyes, letting his tears fall.

I'd die.

It's as simple as that.

I almost lost her once. I'll never forget that moment when Copy Rezo hit her. I still can feel the pain, the loneliness, the emptiness... Even the darkness... I swore then that I would never let anything or anyone harm the ones I care about, the ones I love.

I won't let anything happen to Lina.

I want to protect her for the rest of my life.

But she'd never let me...

She doesn't even notice that I want to protect her...

That I have feelings...

That I love her...
****

Gourry watched the sun slowly rise in the sky. He saw the bright crimson rays of light that pierced through the clouds, marking the beginning of day. Wow, the sun looks so red, like a ruby... he thought. It's so beautiful. Just like Lina's eyes...

Someone knocked on the door. "Mr. Gourry! Mr. Gourry!"

"Yes? Lina??" Gourry asked hopefully as he opened the door.

"Mr. Gourry! It's... it's..." Amelia's eyes were brimming with tears.

"What? Amelia! What happened!?" Gourry yelled, fearful of what she was going to say...

"It's Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadis!! They're... they're..."

Don't say dead. Don't say dead. Please don't say dead... "What?! Amelia, they're WHAT!?" Gourry screamed.

"They're really hurt!! I tried to cast a healing spell on them, but..."

Gourry's eyes widened in horror. He grabbed Amelia by the arm. "Take me to them!!" 

Amelia nodded. 

As they were running, Gourry bent his head down, letting his blond bangs cover his eyes. Lina... Why... If something happened to you... I would never forgive myself for not being there to help protect you...

Never.
****

"Gourry... Amelia... you're... here..." Zel slowly choked out the words, breathing heavily from running. He was sprawled on the forest ground, clothes shredded and stained with blood.

"Zel, are you alright?!" Gourry asked. He pulled Zel up to a sitting position. 

"Yeah... I'll... be... fine... but... Lina..." Zel panted.

Gourry turned, spotting Lina lying on the ground, her face ghastly pale. 

"LINA!" Gourry grabbed her by the shoulders and began shaking her. "LINA!! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!" With each second he shook her harder, more desperately, than before.

"Lina!" Amelia, tears in her wide eyes, attempted to cast another healing spell on her fallen comrade.

"LINA! WHY?!" Gourry cried. Tears fell from his eyes like rain. "WHY?! WHY DIDN'T YOU LET ME COME WITH YOU?! WHY DIDN'T YOU LET ME PROTECT YOU?! I... I... I WON'T LET YOU DIE!!"

Gourry turned to Amelia, who sadly shook her head. He glanced at Zel, who was staring at the ground, fighting with his despair.

"Lina..." Gourry held her in his arms. He brushed back a fiery red strand of hair from her forehead. He shut his eyes. No, not again... Please, just kill me now...

Suddenly he heard a soft cough. Gourry opened his eyes and saw Lina smile slightly...

"Lina?!" He cried. 

She coughed again. "Geez, you are SO noisy, you know that Gourry?? Can't you just let a girl get some beauty sleep??" Lina smiled.

"Lina!!" All three of her friends began hugging her.

"Whoa, whoa!! Thanks guys, but I think you all are starting to break my bones!! I can't breathe in here!!! Hey, get off me!!!" Lina grinned even wider.

The three retreated and smiled back. 

"Miss Lina... I'm so glad... that you're ok..." Amelia smiled through her tears.

"Lina... Welcome back." Zel gave her a soft smile.

Gourry smiled. "Lina... I... love..." 

"Hmm? What Gourry?" 

"... Um... nothing... I'm just really happy that you're back."

"Ah, thanks you guys! Now, since you all are so happy that I'm ok and all, why don't you guys treat me to a big meal??" Lina's eyes sparkled with hope.

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Huh? What? What did I say?"
****

After the great buffet that Lina forced everyone else to pay for, Lina and Gourry were leaning on a tree, spending much precious time together, doing the one thing that they've wanted to do ever since she got back...

Eat some more.

"Man, this roast beef is really good!" 

"You... bet!" Lina said between munches.

"Um, Lina..." 

"Hmm?"

"Can I... uh... ask you something?"

"Sure." Lina smiled. "Just wait after I'm done eating." 

"Uh, ok..."

Several minutes later, Gourry finally got the chance to talk to her.

"Lina... Why were you so determined to get that treasure? Is it because of Zel..."

"No, it wasn't for Zel. I mean, it's not that I don't want to help him find his cure, but I kinda figured that this treasure wouldn't be the answer. Really, how many times has he thought he found it, but it ended up being a mistake?"

"Yeah. So Lina... Why were you then?"

"I dunno." Lina looked up at the stars in the night sky. "Maybe I was just hoping that it'd be this incredible spell book, or some priceless jewels..."

"You never stop trying to get those great treasures, now do you?"

"Yeah, I guess not."

"Lina... You know, you're always shooting for the stars."

"Hmm?"

"You dream big and try to get it... I admire that about you... You hold on to such high dreams, never giving up hope..."

"Gourry..."

"But Lina, sometimes you're too stuck in the clouds that you don't notice anything but your dreams. Sometimes you spend too much time thinking about what you want to have that you don't notice what you do have. Sometimes you're too busy looking up to notice what's right in front of your eyes..."

Lina froze. She continued to gaze at the stars, wondering what could be so wrong with looking up at the beautiful sky... "What's right... in front of my eyes?" Lina looked down from the stars. The first thing she saw were Gourry's bright blue eyes...

"Gourry..." Lina blushed, and smiled softly at him. "You're right. I do spend too much time staring at the stars. There's a lot that I'm missing down here..."

Gourry smiled back at her, his face turning slightly red.

"You know Gourry, sometimes you can be really smart."

"Really?" Gourry asked hopefully.

"Yeah... Really smart... for a jellyfish-for-brains!!" She grinned.

"Lina!! After all this, you're insulting me!!"

"Of course! It's what I do best!" Lina winked at him.

"You're so mean Lina!" 

"Yeah, yeah, I know! Thanks for the compliment!"

Gourry smiled, and then rummaged around in the now-nearly-empty-picnic basket. "Ah! Here it is!" He took out two glasses and filled them with a crimson colored drink. He gave one to Lina.

"How about a toast to you and Zel making it out of that Maiden's house in one piece?"

"Sure!"

The two clunked glasses.

"Now Gourry, how about another toast?" 

"No thanks, I don't like having breakfast at night."

Lina bonked Gourry on the head. "No, you idiot! Like what we just did with our drinks!!"

"Oh, yeah. Ok, to what?"

"To us!" 

"Ok, to us!" 

"To us, partners forever!!"

Lina and Gourry smiled. 

-OWARI-