NOTHING APART
6 - Doing what's right
Gourry paced his room with a frown. Something kept telling him that he had to leave Lina. He didn't understand why and perhaps it didn't matter. This warning that kept echoing in his head was too strong to ignore. If he just could explain to her that he was doing it all for her sake. But she would never accept something like that, it wasn't her style. All that thinking made him tired again. Why did it have to be so difficult, he thought to himself, when all he really wanted to do was to grab Lina with both hands and never let her go again. But it couldn't be that way, he knew that. Whether or not he wanted to he had to leave her behind and he had to do it now. It got more and more difficult with each minute that passed by.
"Dammit," he cursed out loud and picked up the armor and the sword Xellos' had given him earlier. It was killing him but he had no choice. Maybe the warning didn't mean that Lina was in any danger just cause he was there. Actually it felt more like he was the one who was in danger. Gourry shook his head and headed for the door. "She'll forget everything about me," he tried to convince himself as he closed the door behind him. "And I'll forget her sooner or later." Inside he knew that that would never happen. Quietly he walked pass Xellos' room and stopped infront of the door leading to Lina's room. Just as he thought the door wasn't locked so he slowly opened it. The room was dark except from a pale ray of light coming from the moon. In the middle of that light he saw Lina. She was sleeping and tossing and turning like she always did. Carefully he approched the bed and looked at her. Red hair covered her pillow like fire and her small hands were gripping the cover tightly. "I'm sorry Lina," Gourry whispered and touched her face. "Good-bye." With tears in his blue eyes he turned around and left her room. No one saw him leave the Inn except a pair of violet eyes that in silence watch the tall blonde man from a window. Covered by the dark Gourry slowly made his way out of the town and into the woods. He walked all night with his hand on his new sword even though his body cried out for a rest.
Xellos' was torn. Should he go and wake Lina up and tell her that Gourry had left or shouldn't he? He knew that she would run after the swordsman the minute she heard that he had left them behind. But something told the Priest that it would be wrong for them to chase after Gourry. Xellos' sighed and sat down on his bed. Being a human seemed to become harder and harder for every damn minute that passed. First there was all these feelings he had for Lina and then there was the concern he felt for the blonde man who now was traveling all by himself. And like that wasn't enough he had to fight with that damned conscience-thing. He sighed again and put his chin in his hands. Hiding the truth made him feel bad. It wasn't his style to tell up front lies, it was more fun to just twist the truth enough to suit his purposes. But now he found that even doing that just made him feel bad.
"This sucks!" the Trickster Priest declared to himself. On one hand he wanted Lina to be happy which meant keeping Gourry close to her. And on the other hand he wanted her to be safe which, his human instinct told him, meant keeping her away from Gourry. As a Mazoku the answer would have been easy, he would have done whatever suited him but as a human he had this silly need to do what was right and he had no idea what that was. Lost in thoughts Xellos' sat on his bed til the sun peeked up behind the mountains.
Lina woke up when the first rays of sunlight hit her face. She sat up and immediatley knew that something was wrong. It annoyed her a little that her first thought went to Gourry. He always seemed to be on her mind these days. For a moment she thought about this blonde man that she'd know for four years. There were so many memories of him in her mind. The way his skin felt under her hands, the way he smelled, how his hair felt. Lina shook her head and got up. Quickly she got dressed and headed for Gourry's room. She knocked several times before she finally opened the door and walked in. He wasn't there. The room was not just empty cause Gourry wasn't there it was empty of all his things too. Lina closed her eyes and felt so very tired.
"He's gone," she moaned to herself. "Damn him!" Now she would have to chase after him again. She just couldn't help herself for some reason. "Why can't the jellyfish for brains see that he belongs here with me," she growled and bit her lip. The answer came too fast for it too feel good. Cause I haven't told him clearly enough, she thought to herself. With close eyes she rubbed her forhead and went to see if she at least could find Xellos'. One look inside his room revealed that the Priest was where he was suppose to be.
"I already know," he said when she entered his room. Lina frowned.
"How did you know that Gourry is gone?" she demanded to know. Xellos' looked at her for a moment before answering.
"I saw Gourry-san leave the Inn last night," he nodded and turned his back to her. Lina felt a rage running through her body.
"And just when were you going to let me know?" she yelled and walked up to him giving him a rough push in the back. Xellos' turned around and looked her in the eyes. It surprised Lina that she in his eyes saw hurt. The Priest looked very troubled and this actually scared her a little. Xellos' had always been the one person, if you could refer to him as a person, who'd always been calm and carefree.
"Lina-san," he sighed, "I have this feeling that you should just let Gourry be." She stared at him with disbelief in her eyes.
"Yeah that would suit you just fine wouldn't it?" Xellos' twiched at the tone in her voice and hung his head. "But unlike a Mazoku we humans actually care about our friends and we don't just abondon them. I know you're heartless and only do things that you can gain something from but I'm not like that!"
"Do you have any idea of how much your words actually hurt?" he asked still staring at the floor. "You forget that I'm as much human as you are, Lina-san. No matter what you think of me I am not doing this for my own joy or to gain anything from it," he said with a low voice and looked at her again. Lina took a step back to avoid the pain in Xellos' eyes.
"I…" There was nothing she could say. "I'm sorry Xellos' I forget that you're like us now," she sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm just worried about Gourry."
"I know you are Lina-san but I still feel it would be best if you didn't follow Gourry-san."
"I have to," she sighed, "I can't help it." Xellos' slowly nodded.
"And I can't stop you. Get your things and let's go than." Lina smiled a little at him and left.
Chapter7