Foof.

Zel opened his eyes, startled. Had he been dreaming again? He knew he hadn't imagined the tree, or the tickle fight, but only a few moments after he'd acknowledged her victory she had flung both arms around his neck and breathlessly informed him that he deserved much better than Amelia.

If it had been a dream, it had been a remarkably clear one: he could still remember everything that had happened up to that moment.

"What do you mean?" he'd asked, curious.

"Come on. You know she has a crush on you. But if you're gonna go out with someone, you should go out with somebody who's less... well, less, um..."

He'd felt his heart speed up and his throat constrict. If there was any perfect moment to figure out how she felt, this was it.

"How about you, then?"

"Me?" Oh, the look of sweet surprise on her face had been priceless--and then she'd blushed, and said he should shut up and get the relationship off to a good start... those slim hands had been drawing his face down to hers, and then...

Well, then there was foof, and now he was completely alone.

This time there was no irrational burst of rage--just something like a bubble popping. He should have known that she would never do anything like that. Of course she wouldn't want to go out with a freak like him.

He buried his face in both hands and sat down heavily. He, of all people, should have known better.



The afternoon lengthened, and quietly faded into evening. Lina finally noticed it was getting dark; exhausted by her own anger, she trudged up to camp.

C'mon, girl, a part of her said. Go eat something, you'll feel better in no time.

But, unusually, the idea of food left her cold.

What's wrong with you, Lina Inverse? She couldn't kid herself for that long. She knew exactly what was wrong. She was still hungry for the kiss Zel hadn't given her. Jeez, what a melodramatic way of thinking--but it was damn close to the mark.

As she made her way towards the campfire, lost in her thoughts, she was greeted by a very cheerful Sylfiel--and, somewhat to Lina's chagrin, the shrine maiden was dragging Zelgadis along.

"Oh, Miss Lina--you're back to normal! I'm so glad!" she exclaimed.

"Back to--wait, what?"

Sylfiel frowned. "The dress, Miss Lina. Didn't you notice?"

Lina looked down at herself. She was in the same red-and-yellow, mud-streaked ensemble as before--the purple dress had vanished completely.

"Whoa... what the hell was up with that?" She blinked, confused. "Where'd it come from? Did you accidentally conjure it or something?"

"Not exactly, no..." Sylfiel's green eyes sparked a little with something like mischief. "I ought to go make some dinner, but Mr. Zelgadis knows what happened. He'll fill you in."

Lina fought off a blush as Sylfiel started towards her own tent. Oh, just great.

"So, um. What did happen?" she asked, trying her best to keep her tone light and casual.

"It was--it made everybody's wishes come true," Zel blurted, turning bright red. "Or at least, make things look like they'd come true. Something went wrong with the spell you cast on the compass--instead of projecting the right direction, the spell made us see what we wanted to see."

Lina's hair was now pale in comparison to her face. "Oh."

There was a long and awkward pause before she finally managed to ask, "What did you see?"

"Uhhhh..." The chimera looked as if he wanted to turn into a beetle and crawl under a rock. "It's, uh, not important now."

"Zel, please?"

The embarrassed look intensified a little, and he started picking at imaginary pieces of lint on his sleeve.

"I--I met you on the way down to the river. And, uh, you were... acting like... like you had a crush on me." He took a deep breath and turned away before adding, "Which was nice, but didn't really seem realistic."

Lina's pulse roared in her ears. They'd had the same wish. He really liked her. But--oh, damn, he didn't know! Sylfiel had broken the spell before he could catch sight of the double.

"Zel," she said, embarrassed at how weak her voice sounded.

"Hm."

"Zel, the same thing happened to me. In fact--" Come on, Lina, this is no time to be shy!-- "in fact, you almost, uh..."

He looked up at her, startled. "Almost what?"

"Kissed me," she mumbled in a rush, averting her eyes.

Silence. This time it lasted for what seemed like hours before she realised Zel was standing closer to her, looking down into her face.

"Did you like it?" he asked, very quietly.

She looked up. Those blue-green eyes were beginning to take on an intense look, as if he were suddenly bent on memorising every slight detail of her face. Something that wasn't a chill or a flush rolled over her, and she closed her eyes to enjoy it; before she could open them again, there was a gloved hand stroking her hair.

Her knees wobbled and practically turned to jelly, but she was starting to be really grateful for the whole spell business.

"Yeah," she replied. "Yeah, it was really nice."

"Then--do you think you--"

"Zel?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Wha--"

She cut him off mid-protest.

It was like kissing a piece of marble--his lips were smooth and didn't give under pressure, but they were as warm and soft as polished stone, with the slightest hint of a metallic chill beneath, just enough to start a shiver somewhere behind her ears.

The shiver grew and spread through her neck and shoulders as Zel kissed back, gingerly linking his arms around her. There was a shiver of a very different sort making its way down his spine--a current of heat, from her warm lips, her hands, the gentle weight of her shoulders as she leaned against him. No illusion could have felt this good. Or kissed this well.

Time slowed, and then stopped, and pretty soon the world had become a very neat and very small package--just a single, but fairly passionate, kiss.



When they finally separated, he looked a little startled, but very happy.

"That was nice," he managed.

"That was great," Lina replied.

"I hadn't hoped--"

"Neither had I."

"Then you--?"

"Yeah. For a long time, although I didn't really know it."

"Lina..." He ran a long-fingered hand through her hair. "Lina, this isn't going to be easy. I can't give up searching for a way to get rid of this curse."

"I know. I'll still help."

"The others are going to get weird about this."

"Since when are they not weird about anything?"

Zel studied the determined look on Lina's face before speaking again.

"I want to hear you say it," he decided.

"Say what?"

"That you... that you're really serious. That you don't care I'm a freak. That you're not just doing this because you're curious, or something."

"Curious? Hey, if I was curious, I'd kiss a rock."

"Lina."

"Okay. Seriously? I really like you, Zel. Enough to be proud that I have bragging rights on going out with you." She reached up and began to play idly with a spiny lock of his hair. "Now can we get back to kissing?"

He smiled.

"If you insist," he said, and pulled her in.



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