By - Kali
"You're..... You're pregnant?!" A stunned Amelia gasped.
Zelgadis and Filia just gaped at Lina and Gourry in shocked disbelief.
"How?" Gourry asked innocently.
Amelia, Zelgadis, Filia, and Lina just stared aghast at the somewhat intellectually challenged Gourry.
"I guess, I shouldn't be too surprised. He couldn't even grasp the "It's that time of the month" concept. How can I expect him to understand this?" Lina sighed. She pulled Gourry off into the corner of the eatery and whispered into his ear.
"Now, do you understand?" Satisfied with his beet red complexion, Lina returned to the table, prepared to engage in her usual gorge fest.
"Zel, I just realized something. Miss Lina will be eating for two now."
"A truly horrifying thought." Zel nodded in agreement. "Something must be done to prepare for that."
Zel and Amelia immediately started to panhandle for spare change.
"Uh... .guys, this is really sweet of you to do. But, we'll manage just fine. Bandits are in abundance in this area," Lina assured. "And if we had to, we could always....."
"This isn't for you, this fund is for the poor, unfortunate buffet owners forced to put up with feeding you," Zel said matter of factly.
"Zel, I don't think you should......... ah too late. Duck!" Amelia shouted.
"Fireball!
"Too late," Amelia commented softly. "Miss Lina, you really shouldn't overact like that!"
"Fireball!"
"Uh guys, I'd just zip it if I were you. Geez, and they call me dumb!"
"Zel, don't!"
"I'm not going to hurt him,..... badly that is."
"I was just worried that you would hurt Miss Lina. And in her delicate condition......."
"Lina delicate?!" Gourry asked stunned. "That's not even remotely possible! She's the hardest woman I know."
"*Gourry!*" Lina exclaimed icily.
"Mister Gourry........," Amelia sighed. "Why do I even bother?"
"Amelia, do you think so little of me, that you think I would be capable of hurting a pregnant woman?!?" Zelgadis huffed out in a tone more angry than he meant too.
"Naw, Zel. She thinks of you all the time. I am correct, am I not, Amelia?"
Amelia blushed scarlet at Xellos's comment.
"Xellos, what are you doing here?" Lina asked filled with trepidation. Part of her liked Xellos, another part of her wanted to strangle him to kingdom come for all the trouble he had caused her and her friends. Reconciling those conflicting emotions proved to be rather difficult, so she decided to return her focus to the more important matter at hand, basically, eating.
"I'm here to take what you promised me. Unless..... unless you manage to call out my real name, your unborn baby shall be mine!" Xellos cackled evilly.
"Huh?!?" Zel, Filia, and Amelia stared at him in disbelief. Lina nearly choked on the chicken leg she had been munching on. Enraged she spat it out, and started muttering the words to the Dragon Slave spell.
"Hmmmmm....... is it Shinji?" Gourry asked naively.
"Baka!" Lina cried out mortified giving Gourry a good slap to the cheek.
"What did I do?" Gourry asked wounded.
"It's what you didn't do. Think!" Lina sighed.
"Ooops, sorry! Wrong script." an amused Xellos smiled wickedly. "I really did not mean to cause you any distress."
Their sarcastic retort of "Sure, right!" could be heard by several different people in the dining establishment.
"What do you want, Xellos?" an exasperated Zelgadis asked.
"I'm here to claim my prize for the Gourry and Lina 'kill each other' or 'procreate first' bet. Filia?"
"No, absolutely not!" Filia protested.
"You'd better do as he says, Filia." Zelgadis said. He looked sympathetically at Filia. For the life of him, he couldn't understand the two's love/hate relationship. But then, he couldn't understand why Amelia kept on looking at him with those doe filled eyes either. Of course, he himself, was oblivious to his own looks of longing towards Amelia.
"You're not the one who has to kiss that..... that....."
"Monster?" Xellos chimed in.
"Ugh."
"A deal is a deal. And you wouldn't want to break your word now would you? I mean if one can't trust a golden dragon, then whom can one trust?" Xellos asked with a Cheshire grin.
"Oh, just shut up and kiss me!" Filia said. She braced herself for the repulsion, but not for the feelings it ended up stirring within her. ".mmmmmm.........."
"Sniff. That's beautiful. Maybe you four could have a double ceremony," Amelia said, as she wiped a single tear from her cheek.
"We are not a couple!" Filia yelled, finally breaking the kiss between her and Xellos.
"You could have fooled us!" Zelgadis, Amelia, Gourry, and Lina all commented in unison.
"But you will be asking Miss Lina to marry you, won't you Mister Gourry?"
Lina and Gourry both blushed at her question. Truthfully, neither had thought much about it. At least not that day anyhow.
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"Gourry? C'mon Gourry, we have to talk about this sometime. It's not just gonna go away," Lina said as she pounded on the door to Gourry's room. "Gourry, if you don't open this door immediately, I'll *make* it open!"
"You can come in now, Lina."
"Gourry, what have you been doing in here for the past two days! I was getting worried!" The sight in front of her halted her mid speech. For not five feet in front of her was an intricately carved oak crib. She ran her right hand softly over the surface. Awed by his carpentry skill. The amount of work he had put into it. All because....
"So, do you like it, Lina?"
"......."
"Lina?"
"........"
"Lina, why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it's beautiful. It's..... It's perfect. No one's ever done anything like this before, for me."
"Well you've never been in this position before. Right?"
"Gourry," Lina shook her head in exasperation. "It's just, who would've ever thought we would've ended up here, like this? It's seems like just yesterday you were calling me a flat-chested little kid. And now....."
"We're having a little kid."
"Yeah."
"Lina?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you marry me?"
"Yes, oh Gourry, yes!" Lina proclaimed fiercely throwing her arms around him.
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"Thursday, at 4 p.m. I do believe I win again," Xellos grinned.
"You cheat!"
"C'mon pay up. You know you want to." Xellos moved in to kiss her.
"He cheated! I refuse to touch that despicable creature again!"
"Then why did you agree to make that part of the bet, Filia? Seems to me, you actually like being around Xellos," Zelgadis replied. "Despite all your protests to the contrary."
"Hmmmph! That'll be the day!" A furious Filia exclaimed brandishing her favorite weapon against the poor, unsuspecting Zelgadis. It sent him flying over to the next province.
Amelia had been completely focused on the scene unfolding between Lina and Gourry. "This is soooooooo romantic. Don't you think, Zel? Zel?" Not getting an answer, she went back to observing the newly engaged couple. "I wonder if they'll name me Godmother?"
Disclaimer: All Slayers characters are owned by their respective creator. This fan fiction is meant as pure, harmless fun and as such, no profit is being made from it.