"FOOD!"

It was food, all right. An enormous pile of it, sitting right on top of the ashes from last night's campfire. It all looked, and smelled, fresh and warm. And very, very tempting.

Amelia dropped all her firewood in shock, then went at the steaming hill like a tiny lightning bolt. "Foodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfood!!!"

"Where... where did that come from?" her companion asked, stunned.

"It must be a Gift from Heaven, to Reward the Allies of Justice for their Successes in eliminating Evil!"

Sylfiel wondered briefly where Amelia got that kind of confidence. If it was in fact confidence and not just flat-out stupidity.

"Come on, Sylfiel! Assist me to Partake of this Heavenly Meal!"

"Well, I don't know..."

"Besides, if Miss Lina sees the leftovers, I'll get pummeled!"

"Good point."



Gourry was halfway through his morning exercises when Lina stomped by, muttering something between her teeth.

"Hey, Lina, didja get the compass fixed?" he called, cheerfully.

"Leave me alone, Gourry."

"Well, did you?"

"Look, I'm having a really bad morning, so will you just shut up and go away?"

He dodged a fireball, and beat a hasty retreat towards the campfire. "Gee, I don't get her at all! I wish I understood girls."

Oh, well. That was about a million years from happening. He'd better get back to camp and ask Sylfiel if she could decipher it. She was good with people that way.



Zel pivoted on one heel, swung out, and put his fist through a tree.

Where did she get that colossal nerve, calling him--of all things--pouty? And why the hell did he have to rise to the bait? He hated it when she got at him like that. Particularly because nobody else could make him this angry.

And he hated that he couldn't make up his mind about how to feel when he was around her. He was acutely aware that he was a freak, but she hardly ever seemed to notice. That, or she ignored it. Even when they fought she treated him like somebody normal, and they didn't often fight. Which made things worse, if only because he wasn't sure whether she was being polite or whether she really liked him. She was such a confrontational person, and yet she had rarely ever picked a fight with him... one of the many things that made her special.

He slumped against the tree, uncomfortably. It was useless denying it--he was falling for Lina Inverse. Lina, who was annoying, and self-centered, and insensitive, and so lovable that he could hardly bear it.

"This is too frustrating," he muttered, and started trying to pull his hand out of the trunk. "I wish I had some way of knowing how she feels about me."

And if wishes were horses, beggars would ride, he reminded himself. Better get my hand out of this damn tree first. It would do more good anyways.


"Nothing Like The Real Thing", part 4