Zel blinked.

No, it couldn't be. He was exhausted--his mind was playing tricks on him--he was caught in one of his recurring nightmares, and he was going to wake up any moment...

But he pinched himself twice, and Lina didn't stop kissing Gourry.

No. No. He'd never let himself believe it--they were so ill-matched, and, and... well... well, dammit, she'd given him so many little hints! She treated him like a human, she was kind, she made an effort where no one else seemed willing...

And she probably didn't see him as anything more than a friend who needed constant cheering-up.

He fell to his knees, and the fall took a small, silent eternity; for once he felt light and insubstantial. The ground barely seemed solid beneath him; the air in his lungs had suddenly turned to tar.

No. It isn't fair. I love her. She can't do this to me... L-Sama can't do this to me... this can't happen, not now, not ever, this just can't happen!

Zel's chest tightened, and then something inside splintered. He felt a shattering, a long chasm, opening up along the length of his soul; then, with an ear-splitting crack, his heart broke.

The stone and wire softened, became human skin and hair again. The long elven ears shortened, took the gentle shell shape of human ears. Salt tears streamed from his eyes--no longer crystalline--and his throat constricted beyond endurance, then opened again in a long sob of sheer agony. He curled around the ruin of his spirit, rocking like a child, wordlessly damning the gods and humans and ridiculous, careless love with every strangled cry.

A small distance away, a long kiss finally ended, and puzzled red eyes looked up into a warm green gaze.

"Gourry?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you hear something?"



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