Chapter 40
In which everything comes together.

A large, five pointed star laid out in magical light had been set on the floor, ancient writing swirling in a circle around the edge. One could almost hear a whisper at the edges of the senses, repeating words in a powerful language. The air was heavy with magic, saturated almost to the point of being hard to breathe in. At the center stood two small, dainty, straight-backed chairs.

Just past the star stood Lina, Zelgadis and Zelgadis's parents. Wyna and Tannec watched from further away, munching on snacks and chatting animatedly with each other.

What are we, a sideshow?

Thankfully, it was a nice day. Since they had to perform the ceremony outside, away from interruptions and walls that may interfere with the flow of magic, Lina was at least happy that they wouldn't have to worry about being rained on in the middle of it. The magic barrier had been set in a clear patch of ground, which had been roughly cleared of larger stones or twigs that may interfere with the layout of the magical barrier.

Lina raised her eyebrows skeptically. "So. we're supposed to sit there?"

The Queen winked at Lina. "Don't worry. It's just to make you more comfortable, since the procedure for retrieving your memories will take a few hours."

"A.a few hours?!" Lina gaped, taking a step back.

".And you expect us to be comfortable on those?" Zelgadis asked dryly, pointing at the chairs.

The King frowned at them. "Having second thoughts?"

"If you don't want the spell performed now, we can always do it a bit later," the Queen said gently.

Lina huffed up and walked to the edge of the circle. She looked back at Zelgadis. "Let's just get this over with."

Zelgadis sighed, joining Lina at the edge.

The Queen's face turned solemn. "Walk into the center of the star and sit on the chairs You cannot leave until the spell is complete. Try to move as little as possible."

Taking deep breaths, the pair waded into the magic-tainted air, careful not to disturb any of the lines, and sat gingerly on the chairs. Lina winced; they were even more uncomfortable than they looked, if that was possible.

The King and Queen walked to opposite sides of the star and slowly raised their hands into the air. The air crackled and lit up, and they began to chant in clear, steady voices.

It was the last thing Lina or Zelgadis saw before slumping unconscious, and falling into the memories they had lost..

"So. Zelgadis. What're you doing on your own, anyway?" Lina asked curiously, walking next to him.

They hadn't been traveling together for long. It had only been a few hours since Lina helped him escape from the bully, Aristos. Zelgadis scraped a dirty hand across his stomach, still sore from the kicks the other boy had delivered. ".I ran away from home," he mumbled.

She eyed him for a moment, then reached across the space and whacked him across the back of the head.

"Ow! Hey!" he yelled, clutching his head and glaring at the offender.

She crossed her arms. "So, what's your excuse?"

He stopped walking and looked unseeing at the ground. "I. I was never able to do anything that I wanted."

"So?"

He threw her a frustrated glance, then began ticking off on his fingers all his complaints. "So. I can't learn magic, I can't leave our home except on special occasions, I have to wear formal clothes to all my meals, I have to sit up straight, I can't contradict the teacher even though he's full of himself, I can't ride a horse until I'm fifteen, I can't learn how to use weapons until I'm sixteen, I can't go in the forest because it's dangerous, I can't do anything for myself, I can't."

Lina waved her hands. "Okay, okay!"

They were silent for several minutes, walking in companionable silence down the road.

".I didn't run away from home, but I made my sister mad and uh. it seemed like a good time to take a trip to another town looking for someone to help fix the house."

Zelgadis thought it sounded a lot like running away, but didn't comment. "What needs fixing?"

Lina scratched the back of her head. "There's a tiny hole in the roof, and a few walls needs to be repainted."

".."

She glared at him. "It wasn't my fault!"

".."

"Really, it wasn't!"

".."

".Okay, maybe I had a little to do with it. But just a little!"

Zelgadis broke out laughing. Lina looked at him, startled, then began to laugh as well. For several minutes, all that could be heard was the clear sound of children's laughter.

Sweat trickled down Zelgadis's skin, and judging from the reddish tinge covering his skin, he was also horribly sunburned. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to take his shirt off. Sighing, he nailed another board into place on the dark, hot roof of Lina's home.

"Hey, Zel! Take a break!" Lina called from the bottom, waving her arms madly.

Zelgadis was grateful for the reprieve. Quickly, he scrambed down the ladder propped on the side of the house and jumped lightly when he was near the bottom.

Lina beamed at him, holding a tray with two glasses of lemonade.

"Thanks," he said, taking one of the glasses and taking a small sip.

She laughed and hit him hard across the back. Zelgadis dropped the glass and doubled over in pain.

Belatedly, Lina saw how sunburned Zelgadis was. "Er. sorry."

The night air was just a little too cool, which Zelgadis was thankful for. A week of working outside in the sun had turned his skin cherry-red and painful to the touch. The breeze felt wonderful as it brushed past him.

Zelgadis shifted slightly on the grass and stretched his legs out in front of him as he sat back to get a better look at the stars. The trees rustled in the wind, and water lapped at the edges of the lake he sat at the banks of.

It was strange to feel so content. Back home, he felt stifled and unhappy. There were always hundreds of duties for him to complete, and even in his dreams, those duties haunted him. Taking the time to look at the stars was laughable.

But here. with Lina.

"Hey," Lina said casually, plopping down next to him.

He waved absently at her, still staring at the sky.

".Do you think your parents are looking for you?" Lina asked.

Zelgadis nodded. "Yeah."

"What." She paused, then continued. ".What if they. showed up?"

Panic instantly set in. "They're not here, are they?!"

She shook her head hard. "No, no! I'm just. asking."

Zelgadis sighed and shrugged. "Well, I'd refuse to go back with them."

"So you'd stay here?"

He glanced at her. ".If you let me."

Lina nodded emphatically. "Of course!"

"Um, Lina."

Because of the hesitant tone in his voice, Lina turned and looked down at Zelgadis's stretched out form. "Mm?"

"Um. here."

He reached into his pants, removed a round, red jewel, set in a silver base embossed with ancient runes, and handed it to Lina.

She looked at him questioningly. "What's this for?"

He reached into his pants again and took out another jewel, an exact duplicate of the one he had given Lina. "These are something that I inherited from my family. I don't know what they do, but. I'm supposed to give one to the person I want to marry," he finished, with the honesty and confidence only a child can manage.

Lina thought about it for several minutes, mulling it over in her mind. Finally, she nodded. "Okay. But only once we're older."

Zelgadis nodded back. "Okay."

It was a simple declaration, but the weight of it settled over each of them; a binding promise made real by the jewels.

"NO!"

The shout rang across the forest surrounding Lina's parents' house, and far off, several birds took flight at the cry.

Zelgadis was surrounded in a sphere of wind; he'd cast Ray Wing on himself. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and his face ws set in a snarl.

In front of him stood two people, one male and one female, in royal garments, and further behind them stood a large company of guards. The man looked sadly at Zelgadis. "I'm sorry, but you have to come back with us, son."

The woman had a similar expression on her face, mixed with the concern of a parent. "Son. We didn't know what had happened to you. We were afraid that you were hurt, maybe dead."

"Your brother and sister are sick with worry," Zelgadis's father explained gently.

"Please. son." his mother pleaded.

Zelgadis shook his head furiously, eyes squeezed shut. "Liars! I told you that I was unhappy! I told you! But you ignored me!"

"Son." the Queen began, a hitch in the back of her throat.

"No!" the boy snarled, nearly losing the spell. Wind whipped unchecked for a few seconds before he got it under control. "I gave you time to make it better, to listen to me, but you didn't do anything!"

He took a deep breath, and the spell steadied more. "Lina's agreed that I can stay. I'm not going back."

Zelgadis looked behind him at the girl standing in the doorway, watching with the same determination. Lina slowly walked forward, and walked straight into the small bubble of wind that Zelgadis had made. She stood at his side.

"Zelgadis is staying here," she said firmly, arms crossed. "He's happy."

The King's expression was pained. "Prince Zelgadis. you must come home with us."

It seemed that Zelgadis was done arguing. Suddenly, he dropped the spell and began another. At the same time, Lina began chanting under her breath.

"Fireball!" Lina shouted, a sphere of pure fire dancing on her fingertips before she released it.

The King and Queen jumped quickly out of the way of the explosion.

"Freeze Arrow!" Zelgadis said. A large, icy arrow hovered in the air above him before he threw it at his parents.

The King and Queen dodged out of the way of this as well, and then seemed to disappear. Zelgadis and Lina looked around frantically, trying to figure out where they'd been.

They didn't realize until too late that the King and Queen were behind them, when they both heard the spell "Sleep," and fell down unconscious.

Just before his mind completely shut down, Zelgadis heard his mother softly whisper, "I'm sorry."

Zelgadis blinked, staring around himself with blurry, half-focused eyes. He was still sitting in his mother's delicate, stiff-backed chair, judging from the fact he could no longer feel his bottom and his back felt like it was waging war on the rest of his body.

Next to him, Lina's head rest on his shoulder. She groaned as she woke up. "Ow," she mumbled, clearly feeling the same things as him as she lifted her head and arched her back.

The magic barrier was gone, leaving them alone in the middle of the field. Nearby, Zelgadis's family sat on the grass, munching on sandwiches from a large picnic basket. His father and mother looked tired, but much more cheerful. A weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

"So." Lina said, yawning and stretching her arms above her head, eyes closed. ".That stone you gave me engages us, huh?" She ran her fingers over the smooth surface of her red jewel.

Zelgadis nodded, eyeing her warily. Would she be mad, now that she knew?

She winked at him, smirking. "Well, I can think of worse things than marrying you."

".So can I," Zelgadis said quietly.

He leaned across the small space between them and kissed her on the lips, hesitantly at first as he waited to get hit, then more forcefully as she responded and opened her mouth. He groaned and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

From nearby, he heard catcalls from his younger siblings. He broke off, blushing in embarrassment, and Lina stuck her tongue out at them over his shoulder.

They joined Zelgadis's parents on the picnic. Lina grabbed several large portions of sandwiches, salad, and fruit, while Zelgadis took a more modest amount.

".You remember everything now," the Queen said hesitantly.

Zelgadis nodded, taking a bite out of a tuna sandwich. "Yes."

The Queen watched him carefully for a moment, then seemed to release what tension was left in her shoulders and smiled at her son. "I'm glad that everything worked out."

He smiled at his mother. "So am I."

She leaned over and whispered conspiratorially in his ear, "Visit us again, dear, once you two are ready to be married."

"Mother!"

Two weeks later, Zelgadis and Lina waved goodbye to Zelgadis's family, who stood at the edge of Yume, watching them. The Queen was crying softly, giving a mixed impression of being both happy and sad to see her son leave. The King looked as stoic as ever, gently holding his wife in his arms. Wyna was jumping up and down, waving at them and shouting something that looked like "visit again" to them through the barrier. Tannec was trying to look cool, smirking slightly and giving a regal wave.

Lina waved enthusiastically back at them, unable to stop smiling. Next to her, Zelgadis's goodbye was more subdued, but no less happy.

They turned and began walking away, Lina folding her arms above her head. "I never found out what happened to Aristos."

Zelgadis smirked. "He's in prison for harassment for a few months."

"And the guards from Yume he hired?"

"They've been banished again."

"And Schnookums is protecting Wyna."

Zelgadis slanted her an amused look. "He's not 'Schnookums' anymore, remember."

Lina rolled her eyes. "He doesn't look like a slug anymore, but he's about as fast as one. He's still Schnookums."

Zelgadis gave a small, quickly smothered chuckle. "Don't tell my sister that. She's infatuated."

They walked in companionable silence down the road for several minutes before Lina spoke again, her tone thoughtful.

"We still have time before meeting Gourry, and I read about this treasure ruin nearby." Her eyes twinkled as she looked at him. "Want to check it out?"

"Hmm.." Zelgadis said, his tone playful. "I don't know."

Lina sidled up to him and gave him her cutest expression. "Aw, come on Zel!"

He blushed faintly. "That's a dirty tactic," he muttered without any real heat. It occurred to him that now that Lina knew about his feelings, he may end up wrapped around her little finger. It didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.

She whooped and ran several paces down the road. "Hurry up, slowpoke!" she called, cupping her hand around her mouth.

He rolled his eyes, but sped up nevertheless. When he'd reached her side, he felt her hand slide into his own. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and felt his cheeks turn hot. A quick glance confirmed a similar redness on her face.

Zel thought it would be an interesting journey.

THE END