"To see Grandma, I think," Lina whispered, suddenly very, very afraid. Xellos usually didn't react very strongly to anything, and so the fact that he had been so obviously angered and hellbent on action frightened her.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know," she replied, and realized it was the truth. Looking down at her daughter, she understood that it was something about Lecia that had upset Xellos so. There were no clues in the child's bottomless amethyst eyes, however, and Lina's dread grew.

"Will Daddy be okay?" Lecia asked, gripping Lina's clothes more tightly. "Will he come back soon?"

"No," Lina answered, suddenly horribly certain. Xellos had been spoiling for a battle, of that she was sure. He was going to fight Xellas, although she had no idea why. "Stay here," she ordered, peeling the child off of her and rushing to the door.

"No! Wait!" Lecia cried, running after her as fast as her little legs could carry her. "I want to go! I want to see Daddy!"

"I said you can't!" Lina shouted, scowling. She didn't have time to mess with the child, clenching her teeth as the little girl latched to her again.

"I don't want to stay! I want to go with!"

Lina shook her head, seeing that the child couldn't be reasoned with. She picked up Lecia firmly and marched her to the sofa, touching her on the back of the neck. "Sleep," she said, and felt Lecia's body go limp in her arms. Lina laid her down gently on the sofa, then dashed out of the house, quickly casting a warding spell as she left. Hopefully it would hold long enough for her to return.

She ran as quickly as she could down to the harbor, flying when she felt she could spare the energy. It was fortunate that Wolfpack Island wasn't too terribly far from the mainland at this particular point of the continent, and she quickly began to cast around for a boat. She needed something light, quick, and not too big. "You!" she said, pointing to a man who was obviously a recrational sailor. The man looked at her, face blank. "Yeah, I'm talking to you!"

"What?" he stammered, obviously surprised. "Who are you?"

"How much for your boat?"

"It's not for sale," he replied, eyebrows knitted. "I'll give you two hundred gold pieces for it," she said, dashing over to him. "I need your boat right now."

"I said it's not for sale," he protested, and something inside her snapped.

"I don't have time for this," she spat, and pushed him into the water. Reaching inside the pouches hidden in the lining of her cloak, she pulled out a couple bags of coins and threw them on the deck. "I'm buying your damn boat."

"W-wait!" the man howled, bobbing up and down in the water, but she was already shoving off, navigating between the larger boats in the harbor. She glanced behind her and saw people descending on the bags of gold. "Hey!" the waterlogged fellow shouted. "That's mine!"

Lina shook her head and cast her strongest wind spell, boosting the boat forward. She knew she was traveling over seventy miles an hour, and it was all she could do to hold on to the boat. The craft was barely even touching the water, and she couldn't sustain the spell for long. Even though she was moving so quickly it still took almost fifteen minutes to reach the island. She beached the craft, breaking the keel, and took off running across the sand. Her lungs heaved as she fought off her exhaustion, feeling the ring around her neck flare to life. Xellos was in awful pain, and she had to do something about it. A million fears raced through her mind and she decided that she didn't want to be afraid anymore. She would fix this situation once and for all, even if it meant defeating another Dark Lord.

Lina was met with resistance as she entered the cave, but a Dragon Slave cleared the path of underlings immediately. She could hear more rustling at the edges of her vision, but they were either too afraid or too mindless to organize an attack and descend upon her. It seemed like she had run for miles when she finally entered a large throne room, and to her horror she found it filled with Xellos' screaming. The ring around her neck actually rose off of her chest with the force of his pain, and she quickly removed the ring and stuffed it in her pocket, unable to bear his suffering. In the middle of the room stood one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. The woman was tall, as tall as Xellos, and had long, wavy, golden hair hanging down to her waist. Her clothes were filmy and white, and an assortment of rich golden jewelry hung around her wrists, ankles, and throat. The woman turned a tanned face towards her, a wolf's golden eyes slowly taking her in. Delicate tattoos graced the woman's forehead and cheekbones, and then Lina saw that the woman had a pair of wolf's ears peeking out from her cascade of golden-silver hair. Lina was seeing the Greater Beast Xellas Metallium for the very first time.

It was Xellas who was hurting Xellos, and the sight made Lina's insides twist. How dare Xellas hurt what was hers! Xellos was obviously in bad shape, his cries of pain deafening as they filled the room and echoed off of the stone walls. Xellas was strong, stronger than she could have imagined, and she madly fought off her fear. The only thing that was important was that she free Xellos. She didn't want to lose him, and she didn't want Lecia to grow up without her father. Dynast and Dolphin might eventually hunt Xellos down and kill him, but they wouldn't even get the chance to run if she didn't save him. "Stop it!" she cried, and felt the golden eyes fasten on her.

Lina didn't wait for her words to register in the wolf's ears, instead rushing in and letting loose a Dragon Slave. A hand still wrapped around Xellos' throat, Xellas held up an arm and deflected the spell, giving Lina the time she needed to summon the Ragna Blade. With a cry she brought the blade down on Xellas' shoulder, but the Greater Beast resisted with a smile. "You must be Lina," Xellas whispered, and Lina could feel her spell being pushed back. She released the Blade and landed lightly a few paces away, chest heaving. It was then that she realized that Xellos was being tortured from the astral plane. There was only one choice, then. The spell wasn't complete, and she could very well end up killing Xellos, but that was no worse a fate than he face anyway. Steeling herself, she wove her hands through the air, chanting.

Xellas stiffened as the first part of the spell took effect, obviously too shocked to react as her astral form was frozen along with Xellos'. Lina began to sweat, doing her best to ignore the stinging moisture in her eyes, and nearly lost control of the spell when her exhaustion overtook her. Xellos' screaming wasn't helping her concentration either, and she desperately poured her energy into the spell. Pain shot up her side and she knew she was close to the limit. Hoping she could hold out just a little bit longer, she chanted the second spell, closing her eyes and visualizing the cone-like form Xellos had shown you. The astral plane nudged the edges of her perception, and she realized that her strength was too drained to allow her to distinguish between astral forms. It was now or never. Sending out a prayer to whatever gods might be listening, she loosed the spell haphazardly, crying out as it struck something. There was a flash of light and a blast of heat, almost knocking her to the ground. Xellos cried out and went limp in Xellas' grip, and then the Greater Beast went flying, hitting the floor with a thud. Both Monsters writhed, eyes rolled up in the backs of their heads, and Xellas slowly disappeared from the physical plane.

Lina groaned and forced herself to stand upright, knowing that almost every single ounce of her energy had gone into the casting. Dragging herself over to Xellos, she blinked down at his face. He was pale and drawn, his body still twitching where it lay on the cold stone floor. Oh how she wanted to just curl up against his body and sleep, but she moved forward and picked up his fallen staff. She would never know where she found the strength to haul his arm over his shoulder and drag him out of the cave, but that's precisely what she did, dropping him into the bottom of the boat and tossing his staff in after him. Shoving the boat into the water with a curse, she nearly missed jumping back in next to him. When she finally did manage to get back into the boat she pulled his head and shoulders into her lap. She closed her eyes and sighed, desperately fighting off the exhaustion she felt, then started as she felt something warm and sticky on her clothing. Looking down, she realized that Xellos was bleeding. It wasn't the dark, oily blood of Monsters, either, but the red fluid of a mortal.

"Xellos?" she called, gently slapping his pale face, but there was no response. It was then she saw that he was covered in thousands of small cuts, all of which were either soaking into her clothing or sending blood into the bottom of the boat. "Xellos?" she tried again, afraid. As she looked at him she realized that there were fine threads of silver mixed in with the dark silk of his hair. Whatever she had done, it had turned strands of his hair gray. "Damn it," she groaned, debating. She had enough strength for one last spell, which meant either a wind spell to propel them to shore or a healing spell to stop his bleeing. Opting for stopping his bleeding, she straddled him in the boat and placed her hands over his chest. Again she prayed to whoever was paying attention, hoping that her power would be enough to keep him from dying. "Recovery," she sighed, and collapsed forward onto Xellos, the two of them drifting, aimless and unconscious, out to sea.

Lina slowly began to surface in the waking world, aware that her bed was rocking. She sighed and burrowed against her companion, listening to the steady heartbeat. Her eyes shot open at the realization and she held perfectly still, listening. Yes, there it was, the unmistakable sound of a beating, living heart, and ribcage beneath her even moved up and down with breath. It was a wonderful noise and her heart pounded madly in answer as she sat up in the tiny boat. "Xellos?" she asked, eyes roving over his face. He was still very, very pale, and if he hadn't been breathing she wouldn't have thought he was alive. No response came from his motionless form, and so she tried smacking him gently on the face, splashing seawater on him when that didn't help. Squinting, she realized that it was just shortly before dawn, since the horizon was rosy. It could have been a sunset, since there was no land in sight, but the colors were wrong. "Lecia," she gasped. The little girl was in that huge house all alone, and the heavens only knew if she was still safe or not. Abandoning her attempts to revive Xellos, she sat in the stern and cast the strongest wind spells she knew.

Within an hour they pulled into port, and Lina was grateful that the rosiness she had seen in the sky really had been a sunrise. She steered the boat into the docks and jumped up on the wooden planking, quickly securing the vessel. Using all her strength, she gathered Xellos up so that his arm was draped across her shoulders and levitated onto deck, his staff looped through his belt. "Hey, lady," a passing sailor said. "You need help with that?"

Lina blushed and shook her head. "No, thanks. He just had a bit too much to drink."

The sailor shrugged. "Happens to us all," he muttered, and went back to his work.

Lina gritted her teeth and began to stagger through town, Xellos being heavier than she remembered. He still wasn't as heavy as Gourry, but he weighed enough to give her problems. Thank goodness for her magic, she thought as she trudged along.

Soon they arrived at the house, the magical barrier just beginning to fade. Lina dismissed it with a thought, nearly stumbling as she made her way onto the flagstone walkway. By some miracle she managed to get the door to the house open and was dragging him through the parlor when Lecia stirred, still in the same place Lina had left her. Lina froze, hoping the child would go back to sleep, but instead Lecia sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Mommy?" she mumbled, blinking, then perking up as she came fully awake. "Mommy!" Sliding off the sofa, she made a dash for her parents.

"I'm home," Lina said with a weak smile. "Why don't you go back to bed?"

Lecia grinned, then appeared to see her father. "Daddy!" she cried, running over to him and tugging on his cape. "Daddy, are you okay?"

"He can't hear you," Lina mumbled.

"Why? What's wrong?" Lecia said, chin beginning to tremble as her eyes filled with tears.

"He got hurt fighting with Grandma," Lina explained. "Now go play."

"I wanna help!"

Lina cocked her head, considering. She didn't really have the time to take care of Lecia herself or try to get her to obey. "Fine," she grumbled. "Hold this."

"Okay," Lecia said, accepting the staff her mother handed her.

Adjusting Xellos' weight on her shoulders she levitated up the stairs, Lecia running to keep up. She managed to get him down the hall to their room, dumping him on the bed rather roughly. Out of breath, she leaned against the mattress, eyes closed. She was wondering what the hell she was going to do next when Lecia trotted in with the staff. "Did you have a good night?" Lina asked, holding out her arms. The girl dropped the staff on the floor and clambered up into Lina's lap, kissing her mother on the cheek. Lina grimaced but didn't say or do anything, simply letting the child do as she would.

"Yeah," the girl replied, curling into a little ball. "Will Daddy be okay?"

Lina sighed, resting her chin on top of Lecia's head. "I don't know. We were in a little boat all night, and even though I healed him he's still hurt."

"Can you fix it?"

Lina turned her head, thinking that she really ought to move Xellos to a more comfortable position. "I hope so," she muttered. "Get down. I need to help Dad."

Lecia slid off of her lap and Lina stood, rolling Xellos onto his back and taking off his clothes. "Go get dressed," she ordered her child before removing Xellos' trousers, then finished disrobing him after the child had left. He didn't have a single mark to mar the perfection of his skin, and she felt an odd thrill of desire as she remembered that he seemed to be mortal again. Of course, she had no real way of knowing exactly what he was until he awoke again, but whatever race he belonged to, it was a lot closer to human than he had been. The ring resting on his bare chest reminded her of her own and she removed it from her pocket, moving aside her sea-stiffened hair and fastening it around her neck. "Xellos?" she inquired, reaching out to him through the ring.

A moan and sob were her only answers, his body twitching slightly. Through the ring came only darkness, and it was only a moment or two before she felt like sobbing herself. It wasn't fair that her heart was yanked around all the time. First she had loved Gourry, then left him and found happiness with human Xellos only to have that taken away from her, then had loved Gourry again before being separated from him for good. She hadn't wanted to be with Monster Xellos, but she had been stuck with him, and in the end it had been tolerable. She had missed human Xellos, though, much like she missed Gourry, and not knowing whether or not she had human Xellos back was killing her.

"Is he awake?" Lecia asked, little body pressed against the doorframe.

"Not yet," Lina sighed. "I have some things to do. Can you play in your room?"

"I want to stay with Daddy."

Lina considered, weighing her options. On the one hand she didn't want Xellos to be disturbed. She had cast a healing spell, and his unconscious state could just be caused by exhaustion. However, perhaps having Lecia near would revive him more quickly. He had certainly been kind to the child before. Lecia also worshipped Xellos, and being near him might make her feel better. The child could also act as a monitor, for she was certain that Lecia would fetch her if Xellos' condition worsens. "Okay," she said. "You can stay, but you have to be very, very quiet. He needs his rest."

"Okay," the girl replied, carefully climbing up onto the four-poster bed and curling up next to her father.

"I'm going to take a bath. Come get me if anything changes," Lina cautioned, waiting until Lecia nodded before she left the room.

Several days later Xellos still had not returned to consciousness, and if anything he seemed worse than ever. His heartbeat had gone from regular and strong to thready, and she wasn't sure what was causing it. The temperature of his body had also risen and Lina was simply at the end of her rope. She needed something to strengthen him and bring down the fever, and she needed it fast. Her body was gripped by worry and she looked long and hard at his prone form, sweat beaded all over his pale face. His eyes were shut tightly and every so often he would twitch as a small moan left him. Leaning onto the mattress, she cleared some of the stray hairs out of his face, tracing the dark, straight lines of his eyebrows. "Hang on," she whispered into his ear, running the backs of her fingers against his smooth cheek. Lecia, who lay with her head on Xellos' bare chest, stared at her mother, her small face a mask of worry and sadness. "Come on," Lina ordered the little girl. "We're going to find Daddy some medicine."

Lecia seemed to perk up a little and slid off the bed, running around to her mother. "Let's go," she urged, grabbing Lina by the hand. "Let's get help."

"Okay," Lina said with a scowl, confused, but let Lecia drag her along.

Lina allowed Lecia to lead her out of the house and into the city, winding through crowds of people doing their daily shopping. As Lecia towed her through the streets Lina let her mind wander, turning over the possible causes of Xellos' illness. There wasn't a mark on him, and no sign at all of infection, and his lungs sounded free of mucous, so that ruled out a cold or the flu. She also wondered why the Monsters hadn't come for him yet. It still shocked her that Xellos had killed his companions to protect her when she thought about it, and she knew that it was considered a very heinous crime. Surely they would go after him, and when they did she wasn't certain she could stop them.

Lina was snapped out of her reverie as Lecia pushed open the door to a dusty, cluttered shop and pulled her inside, making her almost trip over the wooden step. She took a deep breath once she was inside the store, amazed by the sheer variety of herbs all around the store. Some of the items seemed very rare and old, and suddenly she itched to get her hands on some of the things she saw. "Lecia, right?" she heard a gravelly voice say, and she turned around to see Lecia bound up to the counter.

"Daddy's sick," Lecia said to the old, hunched woman behind counter.

The woman turned her beady eyes to Lina, making the sorceress' cheeks redden under the scrutiny. "Who're you?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes even further.

Lina felt indignation rise within her, scowling at the old woman as hard as she could. Who was this old crone to speak to her so? "I'm Lina Inverse, sorceress extraordinaire," she stated haughtily, hands on her narrow hips. "Who the hell are you."

"None of your damn business," the old woman said coldly. "Now, if you want to purchase something you had better start treating your elders with respect, or I'll have to ask you to leave."

Lina felt her anger multiply and was suddenly having fantasies about slapping the old woman silly. "I'll do what I please, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"We'll see," the old woman said, shaking her head.

"This is my mommy," Lecia interrupted, standing on tiptoe and still unable to see over the counter. "We came to get help for Daddy?"

The old woman studied the child carefully, then glanced back at Lina. "So this is your mom," she said slowly, still glowering at Lina. "This is the one that caused your daddy so much trouble."

"He's caused me plenty of trouble, too," Lina snapped. "Come on, Lecia, this woman can't help us."

Lecia looked over at her mother with wide, sad eyes, then bowed her head and trudged to her side. "Lecia, come back here," the old woman ordered, and Lecia glanced up, obviously torn.

Something odd occurred to Lina. "How do you know her name?"

"She's been in here every once in a while with her father. He used to come in and pick up herbs for her when she was ill, or when his woman was out of sorts. I can only assume he meant you."

"Xellos came in here?"

The old woman tapped her chin, her bushy eyebrows waggling slightly. "He never told me his name," she said slowly, "But he always brought the little one in here with him. You've got a fine-looking, responsible man, you know."

Lina felt her nostrils flared, thinking that she really didn't care for the old woman's attitude. So the crone knew Xellos and Lecia, did she? On the one hand, Lina wanted to slap her silly for her tone of voice, but on the other she thought that maybe the old woman really could help Xellos. "Listen, if you'll help him I'll pay you whatever you ask for."

"It's interesting to finally get to meet you," the old woman replied, ignoring Lina's words. "I've heard quite a bit about you, and I'm surprised that you're actually as pretty as he said you would be. Of course, you also have the same temper."

"Are you going to help us or not?"

The old woman settled onto a stool, her thin body seeming brittle as she moved. "That depends. What's he sick with?"

"I don't know," Lina replied, worry for Xellos momentarily overriding her aggravation with the old woman. "He's pale, unconscious, and has a fever. He's been like that for days."

"How'd he get sick?" The old woman asked, and when Lina hesitated she shook her head. "Don't even think about lying to me. I have to know the truth of the matter if I'm going to help him."

Lina considered, then decided the old woman had a point. "Fine, but this is all you'll get out of me: he fought with a Monster and lost. I freed him from the Monster's grip and got him the hell out of there. We spent the night at sea and he's been unconscious ever since, although he's been slowly getting worse."

The old woman's unruly eyebrows shot up, stretching the skin of her eyelids. "He was fighting a Monster?" she gasped, then shook her head. "And here all these years I halfway suspected he was one, although I always wondered how he pulled off having a child, especially one that was the spitting image of him."

Lina felt her heart leap in her chest and she swallowed hard. "Trust me, he was no Monster when that child was conceived." Excitement battled its way through the nervousness in her chest, and she felt a flash of desire. If Xellos really was human again then maybe things could go back to the way they were.

"Well," the old woman sighed. "What do you think, little one?"

Lecia, who had appeared to have been following the conversation, shrugged. "I don't want Daddy to die. Will you help?"

The old woman leaned back, pursing her wrinkled lips and shaking her head. After a few moments she heaved another sigh and stiffly got off the stool. "Fine, fine," she grumbled. "But I'll have to see him to know what to do. I was a healer for years and years before inheriting the shop. Just give me a minute to gather my things."

Lina bit her tongue as the brittle old woman moved off into the back, trying her best to keep her impatience at bay. She couldn't help feeling that they had to hurry, but there was no way she was going to ask that old crone anything. "Don't worry, Mommy," Lecia said gently, taking her hand, and Lina couldn't help but smile at the child's earnestness. "Daddy will be okay."

"Thanks, kiddo," Lina mumbled, giving Lecia's hand a squeeze. "Ready?" she said to the old woman when she reappeared.

"I suppose," the woman grumbled, toting a large, woven bag.

"Gimme that," Lina growled, taking the bag and settling it about her own shoulders. "We can't have all that weight slowing you down even further."

The old woman shot Lina a crooked smile. "Sure, sure," she replied, then began to hobble out the door. "Come on," she ordered them, and soon they were on their way.

"Nice house," the old woman said as they arrived home almost forty-five minutes later. Lina had wanted to scream the entire way, infuriated by the old woman's pace. They were supposed to hurry, dammit, and the old lady had slowed them down considerably.

"Whatever," Lina growled. "He's upstairs."

Lecia helped the old woman up the stairs and to Xellos' room, Lina having gone on ahead to straighten up a little. Xellos didn't look any worse than when they had left, but he didn't look any better, either. A few moments later the old apothecary shuffled into the room, leaning heavily on Lecia's arm. "He's a lot more muscular than I would have thought," the old woman said. "Nice pick."

"I like him," Lina replied sharply. "Now what do you think is wrong?"

Lecia scrambled to the other side of the bed and crawled up next to Xellos, gently clearing his heavy bangs out of his face. "We're going to fix you, Daddy," she whispered, putting a tender little hand on his forehead.

The woman quickly ran her hands over Xellos, lingering on his joints and large centers of tendons and circulation. She lifted his eyelids, looked in his ears, and even opened his mouth to peer down his throat. Her fingers deftly checked the tone of his muscles and the elasticity of his skin, and after several moments she sighed. "He's not sick," she said, shaking her head. "And he's a lot weaker than he ought to be. It doesn't look like he sustained any sort of head injury, so he shouldn't be unconscious."

Panic seized Lina and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stay calm. "Then what's wrong?"

"Seems almost like a curse," the woman replied, opening her bag and rummaging through it. "If nothing's wrong with his physical body and he's still this sick then something must be amiss with his astral form."

Lina felt the blood drain from her face. There was nothing they could do for an astral wound, and the cause of his wounds must have been her spells. Would she be responsible for Xellos' death? "No," she whispered.

"If it is an astral problem then there's nothing I can do," the old woman said, shaking her head. "If you say he's gotten worse, though, then he'll probably die from it."

Lecia blinked at the old woman, her eyes wide, and then started to cry. Lina went over and took the child into her arms, sitting on the mattress next to Xellos. She pressed the girl's head into her shoulder and stroked her silky hair as Lecia cried, and Lina had to fight back her own despair. "So we can't do anything to help him?" she said softly.

"I can give you some things to make his physical body stronger, but that'll only serve to keep him alive until whatever's happening to him runs its course."

Lina felt her insides go cold and she unconsciously gripped her child more tightly. "I understand," she whispered, lips feeling numb.

The old woman took a mortar and pestle from her bag and took several minutes putting together concoctions, then putting them in waxed paper envelopes and labeling them. "Here," she said, putting the envelopes on the nightstand.

Lina, still holding on to Lecia with one hand, reached into her pockets and pulled out some coins, placing them in the woman's papery palm. "If you want more just say so."

The woman tucked the coins away and shook her head. "No, that's fine. I'm sorry, miss. I wish I could have done more. Your man's always been a good customer, and a courteous one at that. Besides, your little girl's precious. I apologize to all of you."

"Let's get you a carriage," Lina murmured, and led the old woman out of the house.

That evening Lina sat for long hours by Xellos' bedside, Lecia having long ago fallen asleep at the foot of his bed. The candle flickered every so often and was close to being burned too low to do any good, but Lina barely noticed. She just sat next to him, staring down at his still face and wondering what she could do. Every part of her body felt dead and numb, and she realized she had never known that sort of pain before. She didn't want to lose Xellos, and yet she was utterly hopeless. It hurt to know that she was the reason for his death, and she didn't like not knowing what was going to happen. There was something to be said for spontaneity, but the horror of the situation meant that nothing good could come of it.

Slowly she rolled over her options in her head. Xellos had set aside some money for them, he had said, so she wouldn't have to go marauding for a while. She could go back to Seyruun, for she was certain Amelia and Zel would take her in, but she didn't want to have to receive their charity. She didn't want their pity, either. Then there was Gourry, and as soon as she had the thought she dismissed it. She couldn't go back to him. A part of her still loved him, but through the years she had come to love her daughter, too, and she didn't think that she could look at Lecia without being reminded of Xellos. The child looked just like him, after all. The thing was, she had become fond of Xellos, Monster though he was, and she didn't want to have to force Gourry to compete with that. She still cared for Gourry, but she couldn't see their life together as filled with anything but hollow tenderness and secret pain. Slowly, in spite of herself, Lina reached out and took Xellos' hand, caressing his long, strong fingers and perfect, squarish fingernails. "Don't leave me," she whispered into the night. "I've become used to you."

He stirred slightly and her heart leapt in her chest, hoping that he had heard her and responded, but he only moaned again, the expression of pain still on his face. As he moved the ring around his neck shifted and fell to the side, gleaming dully in the candlelight. With a deep breath Lina reached up and took her own, crushing it in her grip and calling for him. She reached as deeply as she could, but all she encountered was cold and emptiness. He didn't feel any different than he had when he was a Monster. Frustration ripped through her and she dropped the ring, feeling angry tears come to her eyes. "You promised me you'd always come," she whispered hoarsely, the tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. "You liar." With that she began to weep freely, covering her face with her hands and curling up upon herself in her chair until she was too exhausted to cry any more.

She had put Lecia to bed and was in the bed in the guestroom, staring up at the darkened ceiling, when she heard the door swing slowly open. Light footsteps padded across the rug and she felt a tugging on the bedspread. "Mommy?" Lecia whispered, face pale in the moonlight.

Lina sat up, straightening her pajamas, and looked down at her daughter. "Yeah?"

Lecia looked at the floor, squeezing the ratty wolf toy she seemed to adore. "Can I sleep with you?"

Lina sighed and scooted over, watching as Lecia clumsily climbed onto the large bed. "What's the matter?" she asked, realizing the child's face was wet with tears.

Lecia curled into Lina as the two of them lay down, her lower lip trembling. "I don't want Daddy to die. I want us all to live together forever."

"I know, I don't want Daddy to leave us either," Lina replied, holding the child close. She liked Lecia a lot better as she grew up, not being particularly fond of babies. It would be awful if Xellos left them, but she found that she was more afraid to be left alone than to never see him again. The realization startled her, and she immediately felt guilty. Lecia definitely deserved to have a father, though, and no one seemed to understand the little girl like Xellos did. As she thought about it, though, she realized that it wasn't Monster Xellos she missed, it was human Xellos, and he had been out of her life for so long it was like he had died already. The chance to have him back had made her hopeful, but now she could see her wishes had been made in vain. Xellos was never going to come back to her, and even if he lived through whatever was hurting him, he would still just be hunted down and killed.

Taking a deep breath, she rested her chin against her child's head. "You know, though, that even if Daddy gets better he might have to leave us."

Lecia started in her arms and looked up at her, eyes moist. "Why?" she moaned, jaw quivering.

"Daddy killed some very important people before he came home," Lina explained, "And the people's masters want him dead. If he gets better he'll have to run away, and if we want to be safe we'll have to stay behind."

"We should protect him," Lecia replied, voice full of steel.

"We really can't," Lina sighed. "The people who want him are very, very strong."

"But you're the strongest sorceress in the world! Daddy says so!"

Lina smiled at Xellos' description of her. He was right, of course, and she supposed that if she hadn't been so strong she wouldn't have held his attention for all those years. Still, during Xellos' second round as a Monster he hadn't really wanted her at all, only caring for her out of a sense of responsibility than love or desire. "That's true, but I'm still not strong enough, not unless we want to destroy the whole world."

"We should destroy the world, if we keep them from hurting Daddy," Lecia growled, and for the first time Lina recognized a bit of herself in the little girl.

"We'll see," Lina replied with a smile, and whispered to the girl softly until she fell asleep.

The next week was much like the first had been, with Xellos remaining catatonic. The herbs the old woman had supplied them with seemed to be making his physical body stronger, but every day he seemed to slip further from them. It was the end of the day, Lecia already asleep next to Xellos, and Lina, head on the mattress next to him, was also starting to nod off when she heard the jangling of jewelry. Her eyes popped open and she froze, feeling someone behind her but not daring to move. "You managed to deal me a very hard blow, Lina Inverse," a low, sultry voice said from behind her. "It took me quite a while to recover my full power, and just look what you did to my poor pup."

Lecia appeared from the other side of Xellos, little face sleepy as she blinked in the darkness. She rubbed an eye with a small fist, then came fully alert as a grin broke over her face. "Grandma!" she squealed, jumping over Xellos and dropping to the floor, running past Lina.

Lina turned just in time to see the Greater Beast pat Lecia gently on the head, her golden eyes shining in the gloom of the room. "Xellas," Lina breathed, eyes wide. "What do you want?"

Lina felt utterly helpless as Xellas came over to the bed and bent over Xellos, running a long fingernail over his cheekbone. "You nearly killed him, you know," Xellas murmured.

"It's a shame I didn't kill you instead," Lina growled, anger mingling with fear.

"So feisty," Xellas chuckled. "You truly let nothing stop you, do you? I can see why my pup was so intrigued by you. You were trouble from the very start."

"Don't expect me to apologize."

"I require no such thing," Xellas continued, voice soft and dangerous. "I wish, however, that you had not entertained him quite so much. He has forgotten his duty far too many times because of you."

"It was you who turned him human, not me," Lina snapped. "That's why he was never pure Monster again."

"He was still far from having the humanity you desired," Xellas retorted. "Why don't you give him up?"

Lina scowled, reaching over to Lecia and pulling the child to her side. "Because he's mine," she growled.

Xellas raised an eyebrow, but the golden eyes stayed dangerously cool. "Interesting," she murmured, looking down at Xellos. "Still, it is such a pity."

Lina had no idea why the Greater Beast had appeared in their home, but she didn't much want her to stay. "What's going on?" she demanded. "What do you want?"

Xellas cast a predatory look at Lecia and Lina tightened her arms about the child. "When you did whatever it was that you did, you not only sliced me but Xellos as well. However, since my astral form is much larger and stronger, I was quickly able to stop my energy from leaking away, although it took me some time to gather it all back. Unfortunately you sliced more from Xellos than you did from me, and he has been leaking astral energy ever since. He does not have much left."

"Why should you care? You've done enough to hurt him."

Xellas studied Lina nonchalantly. "He has something I want, and while I know he'll never willing give it to me, if he's alive my chances of fulfilling my plans increases. You've taken far too much of his astral form for him to be an effective Monster again, and your spell also had some interesting side effects. I fear that our dear Xellos will never again be a Monster."

Lina's heart jumped in her chest but her excitement was quickly quelled by caution. "I assume by now you know what he did."

Xellas sighed and nodded. "You must mean everything to him, despite his lack of emotion. He would never have done such a thing before. You should be flattered that he made such a choice with his rational mind rather than an unthinking, impetuous human heart. A conscious, weighted decision means ever so much more than mere impulse, don't you think?"

"If you're not here to help then leave us alone," Lina spat, holding her daughter so tightly the child began to squirm.

Xellas smiled, revealing white teeth just a fraction sharper than a normal human's, and her wolf's ears twitched slightly. "Oh, I can help you," she murmured. "I'm the only one who can. It is time for you to make a decision, Miss Inverse."

"I'll not sign up for your filthy race," Lina hissed. "If that's your game you can just leave right now."

Xellas actually laughed, shaking her golden-silver mane of hair as she did so. "I knew a long time ago such action would be futile. Please give me more credit."

"Then what do you want?"

"All I ask is that you not get in my way when I come for what Xellos has that I want. I vow I will not hurt you or yours to get it. If you swear to me not to interfere I will heal his astral wounds."

"What is it you want that's his?" Lina demanded, her unease growing with each moment that passed.

Xellas smiled, the expression truly wolfish. "That's a secret," she murmured.

Lina paled and turned it over in her mind, unable to come up with any answers. "What about Dynast and Dolphin? What's to keep them from barging in here and killing him as soon as you're gone?"

Xellas shrugged, sitting down demurely next to Xellos on the bed. "Nothing, I suppose, other than the fact that they've been weakened significantly. They have almost no minions left, and whatever underlings they get, they'll have to get from me. I have lots of power left, you see, since I only made a few high-level underlings, but I might be persuaded not to lend them such power. Besides, as a human, Xellos is out of the Monster's jurisdiction."

Lina set her jaw and glared at Xellas, at a loss. If she didn't agree to her terms, Xellos would die right when they were given another chance to be truly happy. What she had longed for had finally come to pass, but she had to make a bargain to get it. "So in return for promising to stay out of your way when it comes time to collect, you'll not only heal him but also keep Dolphin and Dynast away?"

"For as long as I can, yes. Eventually they will regain their own power."

"And you promise that when you come to collect you won't hurt any of us?"

"You have my word as a Dark Lord. By the power of my immortal soul, I swear I will not harm you or yours."

Lina turned it over in her mind, not liking it but not seeing any other alternative. Xellos had always been a slippery character, and she had a feeling that his mistress was even worse. What would Xellos want her to do, she wondered, and realized she hadn't the faintest idea. "Daddy," Lecia moaned, and the pain in her daughter's voice made her decision for her.

"Fine," she agreed, reaching out to Xellas and forcibly taking the Monster's hand. Xellas seemed surprised at first, then shook her hand with a cold smile twisting her perfect lips. After a moment the Greater Beast released her fingers and spread her hands over Xellos, her physical body fading a bit as she concentrated. A few tense minutes passed, and then it was finished.

"I have closed up his wounds," Xellas announced. "Now, we must find a way to seal the deal."

"You never said anything about that," Lina protested.

"I fulfilled my end of the bargain, and now we must do something to ensure that you hold up your end as well."

"Like what?"

"I will make a pledge stone," Xellas announced, and a small gem appeared in her hand. Reaching up, she took off one of her necklaces and popped out the green jewel, placing it on the pillow next to Xellos' head. "If you break your promise, I get Xellos' soul."

Lina's face screwed up in anger. "Take mine instead, but be warned, I'll be dead when you do."

"I don't want your soul," Xellas replied coldly. "Xellos' is far more powerful. You see, Miss Inverse, even with the portion you cut off, Xellos is just barely human. His astral form is still bigger than most Monsters', and the only reason he's human at all is because of the side effects of your strange spell." With that she reached down and placed Xellos' hand over the gem in her palm. "Now pledge him to me," Xellas ordered.

Lina was silent for several more moments, then took a deep breath and placed her hand over Xellos'. "I pledge him to you," she breathed, squeezing her eyes shut.

Xellas took her hand away and Xellos' fell to the bed, Lina pulling hers back close to her body. The Dark Lord fixed the gem in her necklace where the emerald used to be, then smiled. "Thank you," she said smoothly, and disappeared.

"Grandma!" Lecia cried, reaching out a hand, but it was too late.

"I don't think you'll ever see her again," Lina murmured, and gathered the quaking child into her lap.

Unlike most children, Lina mused, Lecia was very, very good at being quiet when the situation demanded it. She would leave the room to carouse and play, and whenever she returned she was well behaved and quiet, letting Xellos rest. Both were anxious for Xellos to open his eyes, and yet he didn't wake up as another month passed. "When will Daddy be back?" Lecia whispered, tiptoeing over to Lina.

Lina thought it was odd that Lecia seemed to think that Xellos had gone away, as if on vacation, even though his body still lay in the bed before them. "I don't know," Lina admitted, starting to suspect that Xellas had lied to them.

"I hope it's soon," Lecia said, settling down in Lina's lap.

Lecia had also taken to sleeping in Lina's bed every night, and it was on one such night when they were awakened by a bloodcurdling scream. Lecia sat bolt upright with a scream of her own, clinging to Lina as tightly as she could as she began to cry. Lina held her close, eyes scanning the darkness as her heart pounded within her chest. The scream still echoed in the hallways of the house and Lina slowly stood, grabbing her dagger off the nightstand and noticing the emerald that Xellas had left had been put next to her dagger by Lecia. Taking the child by the hand she crept down the hallway towards Xellos' room, back against the wall. Lecia was crying softly, more dragged by Lina than moving under her own power. "Shhh," Lina hissed, slowly opening the door to Xellos' room. The soft sounds of sobbing came from inside, and she quickly rounded the corner, rushing into the room with her dagger drawn. The only person inside the room was Xellos, sitting up in bed with his hands over his face. He was finally awake, and he was crying.

It hurt, it hurt so badly, and finally he couldn't stand it any longer, the scream ripping itself from his lungs. The force of his cry was so great that his body actually rose several inches off of the bed, his muscles sore and protesting. Panting, he lay on the bed with wide eyes, staring at the dark ceiling. What had happened? Where was he? Slowly he sat up, his muscles weak from disuse, and suddenly the pain was back, flooding his body and mind. Hell, he had been in hell, he thought as he tried to concentrate past the pain. For the longest time he had felt himself slowly bleed away, watching his astral form disintegrate and powerless to do anything about it. Then Xellas had appeared in his astral delirium and made the bleeding stop, leaving with a smile and without saying a single word. He had been adrift on the astral plane ever since, his strength slowly returning, and when he had finally become whole his awareness had been ripped from that plane and returned to the physical with such force and agony that he had thought he would die from the shock.

His body hurt still, all the pain from the astral plane pounding into his physical body with the force of a dozen sledgehammers, and ever since cell of his body ached and rebelled. Then, horribly, time slowly took his body in its agonizing hands and repossessed him. He moaned and covered his face with his hands as the lingering death that was mortality gripped him once again. The sensation of dying little by little terrified him once again, every single heartbeat racing through his veins like liquid metal. He could feel his cells live once more, then die as they no longer became useful. Darkness loomed and he almost reached for it, almost gave himself up to the tide of hurt and be taken away. The death of his whole body was the only way to escape the agonizing small deaths he could feel going on inside of him at that very moment, and he thought he would have to give up and die or go mad from the pain.

Curling up on himself, he kept his face covered with his hands and began to weep, weep for his pain, weep for the horror of being mortal once more. The world was reeling around him and he had no control over it, no control over himself, and then he heard the noise. An ache spread through his chest and almost made him lose his breath as his heart rate rose in a panic response, and that was when he spotted two figures framed in the doorway. "Daddy?" he heard a voice say, and he flinched at its volume. All his senses seemed to have gone haywire, one moment so sensitive that to feel at all was torture, then the next so dull he wondered if he hadn't died already.

Unable to answer and his strength leaving him quickly, he collapsed back onto the bed with a whimper, eyes burning with tears as they rolled down his face and began to soak his pillow. He stared at the ceiling with blank eyes, unable to focus or hear any more past the mad beating of his own heart. His skin began to throb and he moaned with the pain of hi, dimly aware of motion at the bedside. Blinking, he tried to focus, but the action only hurt him worse and he had to look away. The faint sound of a gasp and some scrambling footsteps made him think he was still alive, and even then he did not want to hear it. He just wanted to be left alone to float in darkness, to succumb to the sweet numbness that was promised him in death.

"Fight," he heard someone growl, the voice so soft it was barely a whisper.

"Why?" he mouthed, lips cracked and dry, and a cough rattled his fragile mortal body.

"Because I'm here with you," the voice intoned, fading away, and he began to convulse. Another shout of pain left him, and soon his entire body felt like it was on fire, flailing about out of his control. Strong hands pinned down his shoulders and he fought against it, fought against the burning touch and the hurtful pressure on his tender skin. Even the sheets over his body pained him with their chafing.

"No, no, no," he muttered over and over, throat so parched and scratched he couldn't properly form his words.

He heard a throaty growl, the sound spreading over the inside of his skull like hot oil, then words formed themselves in his brain. "Sleep," the voice hissed, and he knew no more.

Lecia had immediately gone up to Xellos when his eyes snapped open, fixing on the child but remaining sightless. Lecia, however, had taken one look at him and beat a hasty retreat, hiding behind her mother. "What's wrong with Daddy?" she asked, voice trembling. "What happened to his eyes?"

Lina scowled and looked down at the girl, wondering what she meant. She also was curious just how Lecia could manage to see Xellos' eyes in the dark. Then it hit her: Lecia had never seen Xellos with round pupils, and that's what was upsetting her. "It's still Daddy," Lina said, reaching down and stroking the child's head. "He's just gone through a few changes."

Xellos moaned and began to writhe, reminding her of the first time he had become human. It was an agonizing experience for him then, and that was when Xellas had intentionally and carefully turned him human. Lina had just hacked and slashed, and the amount of damage he must have sustained was most likely incredible. Suddenly his struggles grew weaker and Lina felt panic grip her heart, her stomach feeling like it was full of lead. More awful noises issued forth from him, and Lecia began to cry, clinging to her mother. "I want Daddy!" Lecia screamed, tears pouring down her face. "I'm scared!"

"Go sit by the wall," Lina said as gently as she could, keeping her attention on Xellos. She slowly approached him as Lecia beat a hasty retreat, running her fingertips over his sweaty forehead and trying to think of a way to soothe him. His movements diminished even further, and she remembered the other time well enough to know what was next. "Don't give up," she whispered sternly. "Fight."

"Why?" she heard him rasp, his voice barely audible.

Why, indeed? "Because I'm here," she said, hoping it would be enough. She had made the mistake of leaving him before when he was human, and she was determined not to make that mistake again.

He started to mouth something, his head turning to the side, but she couldn't hear what it was and it was too dark for her to read his lips. His pain seemed to increase as his body twitched and spasmed, and she realized there was nothing she could do for him. He had been through incredible trauma, and no healing spell would fix him. All that she could do was wait for his astral and physical forms to come together completely and pick up the pieces. Well, she could give him some rest, and that's precisely what she did. "Sleep," she murmured, and was satisfied as he went still.

Sighing, she turned and spotted where Lecia was huddled against the wall. Going over to the child, she knelt and pulled Lecia into her embrace, kissing the crown of her head. After the horror of witnessing Xellos' pain it felt nice to hold another warm, living being and take comfort from the closeness. "Shhh," she said gently. "It's okay."

"What's wrong with Daddy?" Lecia sobbed, burying her face in Lina's nightshirt.

"He got hurt really bad and it will take him some time to get better. You just have to be patient."

"But he's different! I want my real daddy back!"

Lina sighed and sat down, still holding the child in her lap. "Well, that's what Daddy looked like when I got together with him," she explained. "So, this is your real daddy."

"He doesn't feel the same," Lecia lamented, trembling and shivering until finally she fell asleep. Lina carried her to her room and gently laid her down in the bed, pulling the covers up around the child's shoulders. She sat there for a few minutes, hand on Lecia's hip as the girl slumbered, then realized there would be no sleep for her tonight. It seemed as if she had a choice of which sleeper to watch over. Gazing at her daughter, Lina understood that Lecia would not need any more assistance that evening. If there was one thing the child had inherited from her mother it was Lina's ability to sleep. Besides, even if the child did come awake, she would know exactly where to locate her parents and Lina could take care of her then. Xellos, on the other hand, was most likely too weak to move, and if he should need something there was no way she would know.

Her decision made, Lina tiptoed back into the room she had once shared with Xellos, when they were actually home at the same time. Quietly she moved the chair closer to the bed and put a knee on the seat, bending over Xellos' prone form and putting a hand on his forehead. His skin was cool and clammy, and although the medicines the abrupt old woman had given her helped, he was still in bad shape. An odd feeling of softness came over her and she slowly reached out, taking his hand from where it lay, limp, on the coverlet. Her fingers gently traced the curve of his palm, her touch examining every line of his knuckles and long, graceful fingers all the way to his slightly square fingernails. Xellos had an artist's hands, shapely and beautiful, although they were a bit broader and masculine that Lina had thought upon first meeting him. Xellos had almost always kept them covered with gloves, and that hadn't changed until after he was human and working in the fields with other men.

The thought of her past with him made something in her abdomen leap and she clenched her jaw, fighting back worry and sadness as she looked at him. Despite her love for Gourry, that short time in the cabin had been very, very special to her. No one would understand her heart and truest wishes like Gourry, but no one had ever understood her needs, ambitions, and mind like Xellos. If only she could combine the two men into one, she decided. Then she would have the perfect man for her; one who not only understood her fully and loved her unconditionally but also was a partner in every way. As much as she adored Gourry and always would, it was very difficult for her to always have to explain things. He had stimulated her intellectually about as much as a clod of dirt could, but that didn't stop her from loving him.

Her grip tightened on the unconscious man in the bed before her and she realized that she was shaking. Xellos' fingers trembled where they were laced with hers, carried along with the motion of her body. She tentatively reached up and pressed his hand to her cheek, the skin of the back of his palm smooth against her. Everything about Xellos was like silk; his hair, skin, voice, and even gaze seemed to slide luxuriously against her. Xellos was like fine silk in every way that Gourry was like sunshine. In that moment she realized she never really understood sunshine, or why it made her happy, and she would never understand Gourry fully, either. Her adoration for him didn't include comprehension of why he didn't constantly have to examine and understand everything like she did, or how he could stand to have his life so directionless. His simple wants and needs sometimes infuriated her, and she knew she didn't dance to the same drum that he had.

As she looked again at Xellos' still form in the darkness she decided that it was wrong to think so much about a man she could never have when the one that was in her care was in such horrible shape. Funny, but she did understand Xellos. It had taken her quite some time, but even as a Monster she understood what drove him. She also saw the wisdom of Gourry's actions so many years ago. Life without Lecia would have seemed odd, and she didn't doubt that she would have met her daughter someday anyway. Even though she hadn't wanted the girl, she was glad the child was in her life. Lecia truly did need her, and so did Xellos, after a fashion. Gourry had been able to see that, and was also able to see into the future and know that Lina would always regret not raising her own child. If only she was capable of being so selfless, but she knew that was not in her nature. That was what Gourry had been for.

It occurred to her then that she was no longer stuck with Xellos. She was finally free to go, if she so chose. Her worries that Monsters would raise her child were put to rest, since Xellos was a human and Xellas would no longer be babysitting. Lecia could lead a normal life with her father, who was now more than emotionally capable of taking care of her, and Lina would be free to roam. Of course Lecia would miss her for a while, but she could always come visit her and Gourry, or even stay with them for a bit if she so chose. Who knew- maybe Xellos would actually be free to fall in love with someone if she was out of the picture. She doubted he had ever been in love with her, and it was such a wonderful feeling that she thought he deserved to have it.

Lina gently set Xellos' hand back down on the bed and sat heavily in the chair, watching the outline of the steady rise and fall of his chest in the darkness. She had a decision to make, a big decision. Should she stay with Xellos or go running back to Gourry? As she thought about it a cold lump formed in her chest, and suddenly she couldn't take her eyes off of the man in front of her. Dammit, she couldn't walk out on him. Her time with human Xellos had been like a dream, and that dream was being dangled in front of her once again. Gourry, on the other hand, was wonderful. She sighed and hung her head. However, Gourry wanted different things than she did, and he deserved someone who understood him. He warranted a woman who would love and cherish him without selfish thought or reserve, and that woman wasn't Lina. Still, she loved him...

But she was also drawn to the man in front of her. If he hadn't ever been human the situation would be different. Gourry was meant for her, but fate hadn't worked out that way. A smile, albeit a slightly bitter one, formed on her lips and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Gourry," she murmured into the darkness, feeling moisture gather at the corners of her eyes. "I love you, and I always will, but my life is with Xellos now, and I choose him."

As soon as she said the words her heart broke and she began to cry silently, her tears falling unheeded on the coverlet. It had been years, and time had helped some, but she would always care for Gourry. The thing was, she could finally admit that she cared for Xellos some, too. Taking Xellos' hand once more, she brought the skin to her lips and inhaled deeply, hoping he would pull through. "Stay with me," she murmured against his flesh, and stayed with him, finally falling asleep just before dawn.

Xellos stirred, pain lurking in every single one of his muscles, and blinked into the dim light filtering between the curtains. It was early morning and would most likely grow into a beautiful day, but he could take no pleasure in it. The heavy sensation of the ponderous death of his body dragged him down like an anchor, reminding him of the misery of mortality. Slowly his awareness pushed past his agony and he noticed Lina's fiery head resting on the covers by his shoulder. Soft snores issued forth from her sculpted little mouth, her hand curled in his. Sudden tenderness and sadness tore through his chest and he realized he could feel again. If the creeping death of his body wasn't enough proof of his reclaimed humanity, the emotions stirring in his chest were.

He was mortal, just like Lina and his daughter, and recent events came back to him in a flood of images and sensations. He could remember how it felt to have his mistress' fingers wrapped around his throat, squeezing the life out of him, and then being torn to shreds by an unknown power. If he closed his eyes he could remember the searing agony well, the pain too much for even his vast consciousness. It occurred to him then to wonder how he had ended up in Lina's house, with her slumbering by his side. What had happened to Xellas? Lecia? What would happen next? The fear that his once-mistress would come for him again tore through him, reawakening his aches and pain, and suddenly he knew true terror. As a human he lacked the power he had as Xellas' general-priest; would he be able to defend his family? After all, he was wanted badly by Dolphin and Dynast. Would they come for him and kill the people he cared about?

He understood then that he did indeed care about them. The emotions that had been fluttering for years just beyond his reach had finally lodged in his consciousness, and the ferocity of his feelings frightened him. He adored his little girl, and Lina was just as precious to him. If Dolphin and Dynast came for him he would die defending his family. Still, as he had the thought, hopelessness came over him, lodging in his chest. They might not attack today, or tomorrow, but someday they would come. There was no escape and no one to help.

Blinking up at the ceiling, he felt tears form in his eyes and roll down his face silently. He couldn't defend them, not really. There was nothing he could do, and the shadowed threat would hang over him the rest of his life. Did he even have anything to look forward to? Why even bother, when it would end in painful death anyway? In fact, the only recourse he could think of to keep his family safe was to leave them. It just wasn't fair, having to leave Lina and his darling Lecia so soon after finally being capable of connecting with them on a human level. The thought just made the tears come faster.

A tightening on his hand jerked him out of his dark thoughts and he mustered the energy to turn his head. Lina yawned and sat up, squeezing his hand as she did so. "Uh?" she murmured, blinking myopically. "Xellos?"

He turned his head away, biting his lip. There was no way he could tell her yet, and he dreaded doing so anyway. After so long he could finally treat her like she deserved and now he had to throw it all away. "Lina," he murmured, his voice cracking and betraying him.

Her face brightened, visible out of the corner of his eye. "You're awake!" she gasped happily, gripping his hand more tightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," he replied tersely, not wanting to even look at her. It was just too painful. He finally had what he wanted, and yet he had to find the strength to walk away.

There was silence for a moment, then she carefully laid his hand back down on the covers. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," he whispered. "Everything will be just fine."

"Do you need anything?"

"No. Please just leave me alone."

"But Lecia will want-"

"I said leave me alone," he said, suddenly too tired to deal with any of this. His body still ached and he could hardly think straight through the pain. The last thing he wanted to do was try to explain himself to the females.

He could feel her anger flare for a moment, evident in the tense posture of her body, and then she relaxed. "Fine," she said coldly. "I'll leave you alone."

"Thank you," he muttered, closing his eyes and feeling the tears squeeze between his lashes, then heard her close the door behind her. Every bone in his body screamed out for her, desperately wanting to call her back, but he knew he couldn't. It was better this way; all that mattered was that she was safe. If hating him would make it easier for her, then so be it.

Several hours later he was still fading in and out of consciousness when Lina appeared bearing a tray. "I almost didn't come up, but you'll die if you don't eat something. You're human now and perfectly capable of starving."

"Then just let me," he muttered, keeping his eyes closed.

Once again there was a tense silence, and even through his eyelids he could tell she was studying him. "You want to die?" she whispered.

"I already am."

There was a clang as she set down the tray and the mattress moved, letting him know she had crawled up next to him. He clenched his jaw in preparation for a blow, remembering Lina's volatile temper, but the blow never came. Instead he felt her slide close to him and put a hand on his bare chest, her fingers cool against his skin. "Xellos, don't," she murmured. "We want to keep you with us."

Her words brought the floodgates inside of him crashing down and his whole body began to shake as the tears came. All the frustration, pain, and sadness of the last few years, the emotions that had been so forcefully bottled away by the Monster part of his soul, came pouring out in the form of tears. His sobbing wracked his entire body and he felt Lina slowly raise his shoulders and clutched him to her. He buried his head in the curve where her neck met her shoulder and gripped at her back, her hair heavy over his knuckles. She held him tightly as he wept, her hands smoothing his hair and caressing his shoulders. "I'm sorry," he whimpered, voice muffled. "I'm so sorry I couldn't give you what you've needed these past several years."

"Hush," she cooed. "You can now."

"It's too late."

"Idiot," she chided. 'It's not even close to too late. Lecia loves you with all her heart, and it would be awful to disappoint her by giving up so easily. You fought your way through this before and you can do so again."

"Lecia loves me?"

"Of course."

Xellos paused, feeling his sobs calm a little and his breathing slow a bit. "And you?"

Lina was silent for some time, her body stiffening slightly against his. "I... I...well, I... I don't want to lose you, either. You're all I have right now."

"I apologize. You never wanted this."

Lina sighed. "No, I didn't, but I got it anyway, and over the years I've learned to accept it. No, I've even learned to enjoy it. This is my life now, and you're a part of it. I want to keep you with us."

"I'm just so tired..."

Lina smiled and gently laid him back down on the pillows, clearing the hair out of his face. Leaning down she kissed him on the forehead, running her thumb over the plane of his cheek. "I know. Eat a little something and then I'll let you rest again. Just promise me you'll try."

He looked at her, wondering as he did so if she was focused on his pupils, which he knew must be round. Changing races was not only painful, but also very difficult on the psyche. Still, he was human enough to want to live, even if he knew he was better off dead. "I promise, Miss Lina," he murmured, and did his best to eat.

They repeated the process for a couple of weeks. Lina coming in and bringing him some food (which she must have purchased somewhere- the only thing that Lina could cook well, in Xellos' opinion, was fish), several short, tense words passing between them, and then him requesting to be left alone. Xellos was doing his best not to get attached to his family, knowing he would have to leave them as soon as his full strength returned.

Lecia, however, was even harder to deal with than Lina. He adored his little girl, finally able to feel wonder that she was actually part of him. His body had helped make her life, and the idea astounded him. She was such a little wonder, already so much a person at just four years old. Xellos couldn't bring himself to talk to her, though, knowing if he did he would break down and cry at the thought of leaving her. Lecia had already been upset enough at his transformation, and he saw no reason to alarm her further. So, every time she came in to visit him, he pretended he was sleeping. Ignoring her tender little touch and the wet child-kisses she planted on his cheeks tore him apart, but it was something he had to do.

After a couple of months he was strong enough to move around, slowly working his muscles back to strength when he was certain Lina or Lecia wouldn't stop by to see him. The rest of the time he spent in bed, feeling his depression fit him like a lead shirt as he wondered what was next. Once he was contemplating his demise at the Dark Lords' hands, lying facedown on the mattress, one arm dangling over the side. He was so deep in thought that he was surprised when he felt a little hand slip into his. Glancing over, he saw it was Lecia. Oh heavens, had she grown in the past few months? She was getting so tall, and her face was shaped just like Lina's. Her hair was thick and glossy, and he saw his own gaze mirrored in her amethyst eyes. "Daddy?" she asked, looking very hopeful with her large eyes and pink cheeks aglow. "Are you okay?

He wanted so badly to answer her, to tell her everything was all right and erase all the worry from her little, tender heart. She was his precious little girl, a priceless gift, and yet he must refuse her. He had to teach her how to be strong, to prepare her for his leaving, and so he said nothing. As a Monster, he had learned the power of anger and of hate, and he hoped to use that knowledge to his advantage in order to make his departure as smooth as possible. He hated to cause his baby more trauma than he had already, but he really didn't see how he had a choice. Hopefully his enemies would be so busy trying to catch him that they would forget about his family.

"Daddy, get up," Lecia urged, tugging gently on his hand.

Xellos schooled his eyes on the floor and pursed his lips, refusing to answer her. She gripped his hand even more tightly, her skin slightly sticky in the manner of children, and her lower lip began to quiver. He forced himself not to look into her eyes, or place a hand on top of her head and reassure her it would be all right, and a moment later she released his hand.

"Daddy!" she shouted, her face red. "Get up!" Her body stiffened as he slowly closed his eyes and looked away from her, his heart aching in his chest. Lecia broke out into tears and ran from the room, bumping into things as she moved down the hallway. A short sob left his chest and he slowly rolled onto his back. Heaven help him, he loved his little girl and he hated to be the cause of her hurt.

He was still listening to his heart break when Lina entered the room a few minutes later. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" she snapped, eyes flashing as she put her hands on her hips.

"Please don't," he murmured, turning his head away from her. She was obviously furious, but even her ire she was full of vitality and beauty.

"How dare you do that to our child?" she bellowed, nearly stamping her foot. "Lecia adores you and you have no right to treat her like that! Do you know that she's in her room, sobbing her eyes out?"

"I know," he whispered, fighting back his own tears.

"Then why are you doing this?" There was a desperate, exasperated undertone in her voice and he felt regret rip through his veins.

"I deeply apologize for doing this to you and Lecia," he said with a sigh, sitting up in his bed. "But I can't tell you anything. It's a secret."

His words seemed to make Lina go berserk. "What?" she roared, jumping on to the bed and raising her fist as if she would strike him. Her fist trembled in the air for a moment, then slowly lowered. "I'd beat the living hell out of you if you weren't sick already."

"I know, I'm sorry."

Her eyes were angry as she looked at him, but he could see pain in there as well. "Listen to me, Xellos," she growled, "And listen good. Five years ago you were human, and we became lovers. I cared for you and wanted you, and I know you felt the same about me. Because of that and my carelessness, I became pregnant with and gave birth to your child. Later I was forced to rejoin you, and because of you and that little girl I had to give up the man I loved. I've accepted this life, and I've even learned to enjoy it. I gave up everything for that little girl, and goddamn it, I will not have you hurt her!" She paused, her eyes becoming slightly moist, although she tried to hide it in true Lina Inverse style. "And I like being with you, Xellos. I liked being with you when we were living in that cabin, and now we can have that again. Please, don't you think that we've been through enough together? I've been with you as long as I was with Gourry. Don't you think that you can trust me with your secrets?"

He looked at her flatly, hating himself for what he was about to say. "No, Miss Lina, I don't. Not this one."

"How can you say that?" she whispered as her eyebrows furrowed.

"You would have done better to let me die back there. I don't know what you did, and can only assume that you used your new spells on me. Well, I'm just barely human. I have such an incredible amount of astral body left that the only reason I'm not still a Monster, as far as I can figure out, is because your spell had some sort of bizarre side effect that tampered with my soul and let the human part become the dominant part, even though it is far outmatched by my Monster soul. If you had just left me alone back there, or let me die once you brought me back, everything would have been better."

"How can you say that?" she repeated, her voice cracking as pain and rage battled in her gaze. "After everything, how can you sit there and tell me that? We can finally be together like we always wanted to, Xellos!"

"That's not what's important right now," he replied firmly.

"Liar!"

He felt sudden anger rip through him and he scowled, turning the full force of his dark gaze on her. Her eyes widened slightly, and he remembered that he had never once scowled at her before in his entire life. "I do NOT lie, Miss Lina," he said tersely, voice low and dangerous. "I have twisted the truth, but I do not lie."

Lina's body began to shake and the color slowly drained from her face. "You bastard," she growled, sliding from the bed and away from him. "You'll regret this, I know it."

With that she stormed from the room, his eyes following her every step of the way. "I know I will," he whispered, and then lay back down to rest.

The next day Lina came tromping into his room and came over to him, suddenly grabbing his wrists and pulling him out of bed before he had time to react. He tumbled on to the floor and righted himself, standing up and brushing himself off. "What was that for?" he asked testily.

Her eyes flashed as she looked up at him. "I knew it," she growled. "You fully recovered a while ago, didn't you?"

"Perhaps," he said defensively. "Didn't it occur to you that perhaps causing me bodily harm wasn't the best way to test that theory?"

"Doesn't matter, since I'm always right," she snapped back, hands planted on her hips. "Now you tell me what's going on this instant."

"No," he replied, walking over to a chair and pulling a shirt over his head. "I don't have to."

"Pull your head out of your ass, Xellos!" Lina shouted. "We've been through this before! Being human isn't bad at all. I thought it was what you wanted! I know it's what I wanted."

"That's not the problem. I'd hold you until the day I die, if I could."

His words stopped her in his tracks and she stared at him. "If you feel that way then why are you doing this?" she said softly, mood changing as if someone had flipped a switch, something else that was typically Lina. "Why are you torturing yourself?"

Her tone almost made him lose his resolve. He wanted so badly to just fall into her arms and reveal everything, but his discipline wouldn't allow it. "I would do anything for you and Lecia," he replied. "And that's why I'm doing this, because I have to."

"Why? What's going on?"

Xellos turned and looked at her, startled to recognize her "you had best tell me or I will make you beg me to spare you pain" look on her face. "I'm just trying to prepare you for when I'm gone," he replied simply. There, he had told her the truth.

"Why would you leave?"

"I would do anything to keep you two safe, and if that means leaving, then I will."

Her scowl deepened. "And why would you need to leave to keep us safe?"

He was not going to have this conversation with her, he decided. "I'm not going to tell you," he said. "I have free will now and don't have to answer anything you ask."

"That's right, you damn bastard, but I suggest you rethink this. You're tearing this family apart!" Lina shouted, reaching over and picking up the nearest object. It turned out to be a vase and she hurled it at his head. Only his natural reflexes let him get out of the way in time, the vase smashing against the wall beside him, shards everywhere. She glared at him for several moments, then stomped to the door. "Clean it yourself," she snarled, slamming the door behind her. Xellos sighed and slumped against the wall, pushing away all his feelings and trying to focus on the task at hand.

The following evening Xellos stood at the window, still in his pajama bottoms, looking out at the cloudy night sky. The world was unbelievably dark, and he tried not to let his thoughts stray too much. He had made up his mind to leave the following day and was slowly turning his plans over in his mind. Lina had visited him several times to bring him food, but each meeting had been silent and tense. She wasn't allowing Lecia to visit him at all.

He was thinking that it was for the best when he heard the door slowly open. The sound sort of surprised him, since it was late and he would have thought the womenfolk would be in bed. "Xellos," he heard Lina say behind him, closing the door after her.

"What?" he murmured.

"I'm still angry at you."

"I know."

She walked over to him, standing just a few feet behind him, but he didn't turn around. He remained standing, shirtless, one arm raised and pressed against the window as he forehead rested against his arm. "But I think I've figured out why you're acting like this."

"Oh?"

She came closer still. "You don't know everything that happened," she explained softly. "You don't have to leave us or protect us."

He raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious, but did not turn around. "Enlighten me."

"After I cut you free from Xellas, I brought you back here. A healer looked at you and helped us keep your body alive, but she said you were bleeding to death on the astral plane. We agonized for a few days, and then Xellas showed up."

Cold fear raced down his spine and he almost turned around. The mention of his former mistress frightened him immensely, and he was suddenly certain that things were far, far worse than they seemed. "Xellas?"

"Yes," Lina replied. "She healed you."

"What did she want? I know she would never do something like that without asking something in return."

"All she asked was that I stay out of her way. That's it."

"No catch?"

"Well, not really."

"What's the catch?"

"She needed an guarantee. We made a pact on a stone that if I ever got in her way she would take your soul."

He closed his eyes. "So you sold my soul without my consent?"

"You were going to die!" Lina protested. "I offered her mine, but she wouldn't take it. She said... She said yours was stronger, and that's why she wanted it."

A long breath left him, his heart beating quickly in his chest. Lina had offered her soul up for his? She really cared about him so much? "And?"

She cleared her throat and he could hear her shifting nervously. "Well, I figured it was okay to promise your soul, since if she didn't heal you and you died it would be hers anyway."

"Flawless logic, but that's what I've come to expect from you," he murmured, pressing his forehead into his arm harder. The glass of the window was nice and cool beneath his skin, and he wished his whole body was as calm and devoid of heat.

"I'm always right, you know that," she said softly. "At any rate, during our discussion, Dynast and Dolphin came up."

His body tensed and he felt sweat bead at his hairline. What would Lina do next? Would she rail and scream at him for putting them in danger?

"Xellas told me that they didn't have the strength left to come after you for quite some time, and that she would do her best to keep them away from us."

"What?"

"Your mistress is going to try and protect her best minion," Lina repeated. "That means you don't have to leave to protect us from them. That's what you were thinking, right?"

A bitter smile crossed his face and he sighed. "Yes, it was," he agreed. "But Xellas' promises frighten me just as much."

"I know, me, too," Lina murmured. Suddenly she was right behind him, her arms slowly wrapping around him as she pressed her face against his back. "The thing is, if you're here, we can fight together. We can be together, and enjoy ourselves until it's time. It could be twenty, fifty, a hundred years before we need to worry about it."

"Or it could be tomorrow," Xellos replied bitterly.

"Then we'll fight together."

"You put too much faith in me," he said softly.

Suddenly the ring on his chest began to shine and he realized she was calling to him. He wrapped the fingers of his free hand around the ring and squeezed it tight, listening. There they were, all her emotions. She was tired and angry, but there was also hope. "I have faith in us," she answered, and he could feel it through the rings. She honestly believed that they, as a pair, could overcome any obstacle.

The walls he had constructed upon becoming human crumbled in the face of her feelings, and he turned in her embrace. "Lina," he choked, tears running down his face, and crushed her to him. Burying his nose in her hair, he let all the frustration and sadness leak out of him, realizing they no longer did him any good. He should have trusted Lina to find a way for them; she always had before. Underestimating Lina's wit and will had always been a mistake.

"Will you stay?" she asked, lips moving against his chest. "Will you continue to be part of this family?"

He held her out at arm's length, gazing down into her lovely face. Running the backs of his fingers over her soft cheek, he smiled for the first time since becoming human. The smile was a genuine one, fueled by the leaping hope in his soul, and he realized he believed in her with all his heart. "Yes," he replied. "It's what I always wanted."

Lina sighed and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him hard, then took a step back. She smiled at him, making his own grin widen. The first threads of happiness wound their way through his soul, and then she was moving closer. She had an odd look on her face, her cheeks flushed. Slowly she reached out and traced the lines of his tight abdominal muscles with a finger. He stiffened and his heart began to race, his stomach feeling as if a hundred butterflies had migrated there. Reaching up, she took the ring from around his neck and slid it off the chain, placing it on his finger. It was then that he saw she wore hers as well, the amurium glinting dully on the ring finger of her right hand. A shudder wracked his body as he felt her desire for him. It was a hot, sweet feeling, and he was powerless to do anything but answer her. His body began to tremble with the need of her, the need to feel her closed around him as they became one body. He could never be lonely if she was with him, and although he had taken her many times before, he was still nervous. Tentatively he reached out and took her face between his hands, heart pounding in his chest, and gently placed his lips on hers.

His lips as they brushed against hers were like a whisper of silk against her skin. Her ring began to glow softly and she leaned into his kiss, surprised at the depth of his feelings for her. He was lonely, she could feel that, and oddly enough, she was too. She had lived too long without someone to share her heart with, and now the man she had longed for had returned. "Xellos," she murmured as he broke the kiss, wanting to taste more of him. Putting her hand on the back of his head, she pulled him down and kissed him more passionately, sliding her tongue into his mouth and entwining it with his. Xellos moaned a little and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her nearer, and they kissed, framed in the window, for quite some time.

"I missed you so much," he murmured against her ear, making her shudder as he took its lobe between his teeth.

"I missed you, too. I was wondering if you were ever going to come back to me," she replied, then lost the power of speech as he ran his tongue over the curves of her ear. His hands slid down to her rear and squeezed her, bringing her even closer to him, and she could feel his desire pressing against her stomach. He wanted her, truly wanted her, for the first time in years. His need of her was not only apparent through his body but through the ring as well, the piece of jewelry fairly radiating with it. Xellos' whole heart was committed to being with her, and she found she couldn't imagine not feeling the same way.

His strong hands moved up to her shoulders and he claimed her mouth again, lips hot and slippery against hers as he took the strap of her nightgown and slid it down her arm. "Ask me for anything and it's yours," he whispered. "Ask me for the sun, the stars, the sky; it's all yours."

"Never leave me, never," she gasped as his mouth left a burning trail down the side of her throat.

"Never," he agreed, and she clutched at his muscular back as he ran his tongue down the curve of her neck and kissed her collarbones.

"Admit you were stupid to even think about leaving me," she said softly, hardly even able to speak as he caressed her with his sculpted mouth.

"I was the world's greatest fool," he murmured against the skin of her shoulder. One hand still cupping her rear, he moved the other up to her breast as he tenderly kissed her neck again. His touched moved across the swell of her breasts, her nipples hardening in response. She shuddered again and clutched him more tightly, feeling her desire rise and burn in the pit of her abdomen. With a gentle movement he slid her nightgown off of her shoulders entirely and bared her to the navel, his fingertips moving across her flesh like silk, tracing every curve of muscle and bone. She felt suddenly like a goddess being worshipped, an unearthly beauty, and she smiled as his hands moved up to her shoulderblades and he supported her, bending her backwards.

A gasp left her as he took a nipple into his mouth, tongue slowly teasing its surface, and she buried her hands in his thick hair, pressing him to her. The strands of silver that now shot through the dark glossiness of his tresses shone faintly in the darkness, and she marveled at the change. Xellos began to suckle her more vigorously and all thought was driven from her mind, the burning of her body increasing. She managed to breathe his name, and then with a single, effortless motion he scooped her off of her feet and placed her on the bed. He took his hands and lifted her head slightly, reaching beneath her and spreading her hair out on the pillows. Pausing a moment, he took a coppery lock into his hands an inhaled, his eyes closed as he did so. "Lovely," he murmured, opening his eyes again and looking down at her. His face was so full of happiness and desire that she couldn't help but smile back. This was the way she had always wanted it to be with him, both of them content and wanting one another.

The smile was still on her face as he lowered his head to her throat once again, his mouth finding all her favorite spots as he reached down and slowly drew his fingers up her leg. The fabric of her nightgown rustled as it was gathered in front of his fingertips, retreating all the way up to her hip as he ran a finger along the hem of her panties. Her smile changed from one of happiness to one of pleasure as his hand moved up further, dancing lightly across the flat plane of her stomach. Her other leg was entwined with both of his, and she could feel his hardness against her hip.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him up to her, kissing him on the mouth. The ring on her finger glowed softly as she poured all her feelings into the magic, hoping he could feel them. He must have been able to, for he began to kiss her with renewed frenzy, sucking on her lower lip as he gathered the nightgown around her waist and removed it from her with one fluid motion. His fingertips explored her body from her hairline down to her toes, where he lifted her ankle and sat up, tenderly kissing the thin bones there. The fingers of his right hand came to rest in the arch of her foot and he continued to caress her ankle, moving up her calf to her thighs. He kissed the inside of her hip, his cheek brushing against the bone, and dipped his tongue inside of her navel. She arched her back and gasped, her hands grasping at his strong shoulders, and he slid his fingers into her panties and removed those as well.

Another sharp gasp left her as his hand traveled to the soft flesh of her thighs, his mouth keeping her busy as his fingers drove her crazy. The wetness between her legs embarrassed her a bit, but then he slid his own trousers off and the entirety of his sleek, toned body was pressed against hers. His skin was so smooth and warm that she rolled against him, desperate to be closer to him, and he clutched her to him, his tongue mapping the inside of her mouth. She moaned and pressed herself against him, stealthily draping a leg over his narrow hip as her hands moved up and down the cleft of his spine. Her desire was making her head swim, and she wanted to be with him so badly that she almost couldn't stand it any more.

Xellos gently rolled her onto her back and spread her thighs, nestling himself between them. His mouth and his manhood claimed her at the same time, making her cry out against his kiss and arch her body. Slowly he began to move within her, sensation assaulting her senses and making her tremble slightly. Oh, how she had wanted this! He was an incredible lover and always had been, but the way he seemed to elevate her above all things when he made love to her was what really blew her mind. She felt like a precious treasure when he held her, like she was something to be worshipped. His lovemaking made her feel strong and powerful, as if she was a part of something greater. No one else had ever made her feel that way.

"Lina," he moaned against the side of her neck, his thrusts deep and regular. She found she couldn't form a reply as pleasure flooded her body, her muscles clenching around him. His name echoed over and over again in her brain, but her voice was frozen with the ecstasy he was giving her. Through the rings she knew he was experiencing the same thing, his awareness full of her being as he joined with her. Because of the magic not only their bodies were joined, but their hearts and souls as well, and Lina knew that it would never be the same again. Xellos was a human once more, and as such was capable of desiring her, caring for her, and maybe even loving her. She could finally share her life with him, and she found in that moment, in the intensity of physical oneness, that she wouldn't have traded him for the world.

A great cry loosed itself from her chest as he began to move more rapidly against her, every once in a while changing his angle and making bolts of renewed pleasure travel the length of her body. She dug her fingers into his back, panting and clutching at him for all we was worth, and he moved his hands underneath her hips to stabilize her. Every once in a while his silky hair would brush against her face and he would kiss her, but they were both breathing too hard to kiss for long. Small noises began to come from him and he pressed himself against her, eyes closed and face beautiful in his rapture. She wrapped her legs around him as tightly as she could, feeling their pleasures mingle in the magic of the rings, and suddenly it was as if someone had set off an explosion in her brain. A sound that bordered on a scream released itself as she climaxed, her voice mingling with his as he arched against her, pressed into her as far as he could go. He pushed himself upright, elbows locked, and pushed into her as he came, the clean, taut lines of his body shining faintly with sweat. Lina felt the spasms wrack her body several more times and she thought for a moment she was going to faint. Xellos, completely spent, collapsed on top of her and wrapped his arms around her, gripping her tightly. He didn't lie still but began to tenderly kiss her face, his eyes shut. She kissed him back, feeling closer to him than she ever had before, and realized her face hurt from smiling. "Dear Lina," he muttered, and she felt a strange wetness on her face. Startled, she put her hands on his chest and pushed him off of her a little, staring up at him.

"What's the matter?" she asked, alarmed as she realized he was crying.

"Nothing," he replied, voice thick. "It's perfect, just perfect. You don't know how I've longed to feel this way about you. I always did, but it has been so many years since I was capable of actually experiencing it..."

"I understand perfectly," she murmured, realizing his tears were borne from joy. "But now things are different. Now we can be together."

"Thank you," he whispered, burying his face in her neck once again before kissing her tenderly.

"Trust me, my pleasure," she replied with a grin, and was gratified when he chuckled. They lay entwined, whispering things to one another in the darkness for quite some time until they were interrupted by another round of lovemaking, the process repeating itself all night until they finally collapsed, exhausted, into each other's arms and slept.

Xellos woke a few hours after dawn. He had always needed less sleep than Lina, even when human, but kept his eyes closed for a few moments more, reveling in the smell of Lina's hair and skin. She lay curled up against him, her back pressed the length of his body. It felt wonderful to be able to truly feel her again, to have a beating heart that could care for her. He wasn't sure how, but the night before had relieved most of his fears, and he wondered how their fight had been over so quickly. The rings, it had to be the rings. She had used her convictions and transferred them to him, which was the only explanation he could come up with. His Lina certainly was crafty, he thought, and as he did so a warm, sweet feeling came over him. He hugged her close, sure that the motion wouldn't rouse her, then slid out of bed and dressed. His muscles were still loose and tired from the night before but he paid them no heed, knowing that there were other things to attend to.

Being able to truly make love to Lina again was wonderful, but something he looked forward to even more was wanting to cuddle and coddle his darling daughter. The thought of actually loving her thrilled him, and he wanted to start as soon as possible. Still, he had most likely really upset the child during his illness, and he knew that he had to make things right before they could live together as a normal family. Making his way down the hall, he pushed the door open to her room and slipped inside, leaning against the wall and taking in the sight of his daughter. She was lying on her side, curled into a little ball as she clutched her toy wolf. Her face was peaceful in her slumber and Xellos decided that he had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. Wonder filled him once again as he realized that the child was a part of him, proof of what he and Lina had once shared and would hopefully share again.

Taking a deep breath, he moved to the bed and sat down, gently stroking the child's hair until her eyes fluttered open. "Good morning, little one," he murmured.

Lecia's eyes went wide and she sat up, squeezing her toy so tightly that he thought its head would pop off. "Daddy?" she gasped, drawing away from his touch.

He was saddened by her reaction, lowering his hand into her lap. "Yes," he replied. "Lecia, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for being so strange lately. I don't expect you to understand, but I've been going through a very difficult time. Please forgive me for hurting your feelings."

Lecia studied him for a little bit, then nodded. "I forgive you," she said, coming closer and discarding the wolf. It seemed difficult for her to scramble nearer to him in her nightdress, the fabric constantly tangling up her knees, but she eventually came close enough to touch him. She crawled up into his lap and put a hand on either side of his face, so near that he could see the striations in the irises of her eyes. A frown wrinkled her forehead and she stared straight into his eyes. "Are you my same daddy?" she asked.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "Of course I am," he said. "I'm just going to be able to love you lots now."

She struggled out of his embrace and stared at him again. "Then how come you're different? Why did your eyes change? And you smell different, too. You don't smell cold anymore."

Her words caught him by surprise. Lecia was far more observant than he gave her credit for. Of course, considering that he and Lina were her parents, he shouldn't have been taken off-guard. "Well, before I was a Monster, like Grandma," he explained slowly. "But Grandma hurt me and Mommy helped me out. Now I'm human, just like you."

"Then how come you're still my same daddy?"

He paused, trying to think of a good way to explain it to her. "Well, before you were born, I used to be human. That's how your mommy and I got together. We lived together for a while, but then Grandma turned me back into a Monster. So, actually, I'm the same Daddy now that I was when your mom and I were first together."

"So Grandma was why you were different?"

Xellos nodded, gathering her up again and kissing her on the top of the head. "Yes. Your mommy and I had a talk last night, and we decided that things are going to be a million times better than before."

"Will you have to leave again?" she asked in a small voice. "Will Mommy leave?"

Her words cut straight to his heart. He had never wanted to leave her, not even as a Monster, and it bothered him that his absences had affected his daughter. "No, we'll never have to leave again," he replied softly, resting his chin on the crown of her head.

Lecia giggled, the sound spiraling upward and taking his heart with it. Oddly enough, now that he was just barely human he was aware of all mortal emotions, not just the negative ones. His head was fairly spinning with the new sensations. "We're going to have lots of fun!" she squealed. "Now we can play every day!"

"That's right," he laughed, tickling her ribs. She giggled and tried to attack him back, and soon she was swatting him with pillows as he fell back on her bed and chortling.

Suddenly her attack ceased and he felt her spring off the bed, her small footsteps pattering across the floor. "Mama!" she cried, and Xellos sat up in time to see her jump into Lina's arms. Lina gathered the child up and smiled at him, rocking slowly from side to side as Lecia perched on her hip.

"I thought you might be in here," she said. "I'm glad."

"Daddy says he's never going to leave again and now we can play every day!" Lecia proclaimed, taking some strands of Lina's hair and twisting them in between her fingers.

"Oh, really?" Lina asked. "That sounds like fun."

"It will be," Lecia declared with a nod.

Xellos smiled and rose, going over to them and taking Lecia into his arms. "You're almost too big for Mommy to hold," he said.

"I'm getting tall," Lecia murmured, picking at some stray threads on his shirt.

Xellos and Lina grinned at one another. "No regrets?" he asked her softly.

"Not anymore," Lina replied. "Maybe once..."

"Good enough for me," Xellos said, making a face at his daughter. "Now is all that matters, right?"

"Right!" Lecia said. "Now means that it's time for breakfast!" Struggling once more, Xellos set her down and watched as she dashed down the hallway, pounding down the stairs and off toward the kitchen.

"Her mother's daughter," Xellos chuckled.

Lina came over to him, her expression tender, and stood on tiptoe, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pecked him on the cheek and he blushed, looking into her eyes with wonder. "Her father's daughter too, now," she murmured.

"Can't let my girls starve," he replied with a wink, and tentatively took her hand in his. Her fingers curled around his palm and she gave him a squeeze as they began to move down the hall. Their paces fell into step with one another and it was as if they had been walking together their whole lives.

"No more secrets?" she asked, the skin around her eyes slightly tense.

He turned from where he stood on the stairs and raised her hand to his lips. "No more secrets," he agreed, then lead her downstairs.

After breakfast he drew a bath for Lina, who was starting to move her things back into their bedroom, and took Lecia outside. The morning was slightly chilly and he pulled his cloak around him as he stepped into the grass, wondering if he should make Lecia put on another shirt as she ran around in the garden. Tired of his boots getting wet, Xellos levitated into the air, sitting cross-legged and watching his daughter romp. After a few minutes of whooping and running between the bushes she came over to him, passing her hand underneath him as if looking for invisible supports. Cocking her head, she blinked up at him for a minute, then jumped in the air. Unlike him, she didn't hover, crashing down onto the earth with a thud. A scowl crossed over her face and she stood, trying a few more times. Finally she stamped her face and glared at him, and he was unable to keep his trademark smile from his face. "Daddy!" she growled, her lower lip sticking out a little.

"What?" he replied, settling his hands in his lap as he floated before her.

"How do you do that?"

"It's magic."

Lecia considered this for a moment, then scowled. "I want to do it, too."

"Well, Grandma taught you a few spells, and don't you remember the light spell we talked about?"

"I know all those!" she pouted. "I want to learn how to float."

He pulled himself up to standing but remained in the air. "It takes a great deal of concentration and patience," he replied. "Perhaps when you're older."

"No!" Lecia shouted, stamping her foot again. "I want to learn now!"

Xellos sighed. The girl was a lot like her mother in some ways. "Stamping your foot and yelling isn't going to get you anywhere," he said firmly, raising a finger. "If you want something you need to learn to ask for it nicely."

"Mommy doesn't ask nicely and people always do what she tells them to," Lecia pointed out.

"That's because everybody who knows her is scared of her," Xellos replied. "Do you really want everyone to be afraid of you, or do you want them to do things because they like you?"

Lecia's brow furrowed and she planted a finger alongside her cheek, her eyes rolling up towards the corners as she thought. "I want both," she finally replied. "I want people to want to do it because they like me, then if they try not to do things I would make them because they would be scared of me."

"Uh, okay," Xellos said, raising an eyebrow and wondering if the child had inherited any of her parents' logic. "That's very...interesting..."

Lecia ran up to him and pulled at his pant leg. "But Daddy, you do things for Mommy, and she never asks nice. How come?"

Xellos chuckled and sat in the air once more, reaching down and pulling her into his lap. "Well, sometimes people do things for other people simply because they care about them or want to make them happy."

"And you care about Mommy?"

"I care about both of you."

Lecia sighed and leaned into his chest, her little fingers toying with the fabric of his cloak as she thought. "Well, why doesn't Mommy do nice things for you? Doesn't she care?"

Xellos raised both his eyebrows at that comment. "Oh, of course she does," he replied. "She just shows it differently than most people. You know, she has saved my life several times. If that doesn't mean she cares about me, I don't know what does."

Lecia nodded, apparently satisfied. "Now will you please teach me to float?" she asked sweetly.

He looked down into her large, amethyst eyes and chuckled. As if he could refuse her anything. "Well, we'll give it a shot," he said. "It's very, very complicated, though. You see, you have to call upon energy and absorb it while pushing it out of you at the same time. Then you have to control your body so that it goes where you want it to."

"I can do it," she insisted. "I can float."

He laughed again. "Okay, then," he chortled. "It's actually called levitation, though, not floating. You actually have to think the spell and say 'Levitation' at the end."

Lecia's face screwed up in concentration as he said the words to her, trying to instruct her how to levitate. She seemed very attentive, and he wondered for a moment if she would actually be able to do it. For him it was second nature, especially since he had retained so much of his astral form and power, but he could remember how much strain it caused the human body. When he was finished lecturing, Lecia perched on the edge of his knee, looking down at the three feet or so that separated her from the ground. "Levitation!" she said, pushing off of him, and he sighed as she plunged. He quickly cast his own spell and stopped her descent, then raised her up and gathered her back into his lap. "Did I do it?" she asked, eyes hopeful.

"No, little one, I'm afraid I had to help," he replied as gently as he could.

"I gotta practice," she growled, pushing off again. She fell once more, and the process kept repeating itself for another hour and a half. Lecia actually almost started to do it, hanging in the air a split second before falling, and Xellos broke out in a grin.

"Good job!" he exclaimed. "You really levitated for a second!"

"It was too short," the child grumbled. "How am I supposed to be a sorcery genius if I can't do it right?"

A laugh escaped him and he realized Lecia must have listened to Lina introduce herself. "Well, practice makes perfect," he murmured, watching her drop through the air again.

"Close," he heard another voice say, and he turned his head to see Lina step out of the house and onto the terrace. Her hair was done up on top of her head, rogue curls cascading down here and there. The clothes she wore fit her slim frame well, and Xellos felt his mouth go dry as he looked at her.

"'I'm trying, Mommy," Lecia said, throwing herself off of his knees again, and he was so distracted by Lina that he almost didn't catch the girl in time.

"That's enough for now," he muttered, setting her gently on the ground. "Besides, if you flew everywhere your muscles would just get too weak to walk. Now go play."

"Okay!" she squealed, tearing off through the bushes again.

Lina smiled and looked up at the sky with a sigh. "You know, you're lucky we live on this continent. There aren't any magic users to stop and stare at the sheer number of barriers you've put up. If this were any other place we'd be assaulted by sorcerers."

"I'm not taking any chances," he replied, walking over to her and clearing a few stray strands of hair from her face. "I will keep you and our daughter safe."

She smiled and shook her head. "I can protect us too, you know," she said roughly.

"I know, but I don't want it to even be an issue," he replied, leaning forward and planting a tender kiss on the crown of her head.

Lina sighed and blushed, then surprised him by reaching out her hand and hooking his pinky finger with hers. She moved up to stand beside him and leaned into him, her body conforming to his contours. "This is the way it should be," she murmured, her eyes following Lecia.

"Yes," he replied with a smile, and they watched Lecia play for a while longer.

The rest of the day, while uneventful, was wonderful for Xellos. Lecia was stuck to his side like glue, always touching him or wanting to be held. His heart soared with emotion for the little girl and it was as if he had been reborn. In a way, he supposed, he had been. He hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, and yet every single task had been wondrous. So many feelings had passed through his mind and heart that he was almost reeling from it. Still, he knew which ones he liked best.

He put Lecia to bed, reading her story after story after story, always letting her climb in his lap or cuddling down beside her so that she could just drop off to sleep. She was so excited by his presence that it took quite a while, but she did finally fall asleep and he sat there for some time, just looking at her. He couldn't believe that this beautiful, intelligent, energetic child was his, and he thanked every power and being he could think of for her.

After she had fallen asleep and he had his fill of gazing at her Xellos crept down the stairs and into the study, standing in the shadows and taking in the room. Lina sat curled up in an overstuffed leather chair, her hair still more or less pinned up and clad in soft, clingy cotton clothing. She was reading some ancient tome or another, the study being piled with the books he had brought her over the years. The passage she was currently perusing must not have been sitting well with her, for a little frown furrowed her flawless brow, her delicate eyebrows plunging slightly. She must have felt his presence, for she scanned the room, but he had hundreds of years' experience hiding in shadows and so remained unlocated. Licking a finger, she turned the page of the book, and he found himself enchanted by the sight of her full, red mouth and dainty tongue. Everything about her was beautiful in his eyes, and he smiled to himself. These feelings were the ones he missed; the wanting of her body and the desire to be close to her, the ability to care for her and believe that she was the most beautiful, brilliant being in the entire universe. His body began to respond to his desire before he had even considered acting upon it, and he decided there was no time like the present. He swept down upon her from the shadows, scooping her up into his arms as he put her book aside, quieting all her protests with kisses. Extinguishing the candles in the room with a thought, he carried her up the stairs to the room they shared, setting her down on the massive bed and removing his shoes and shirt.

"Xellos!" she gasped, her cheeks flushed and pulse beating away rapidly in her thin neck. Her eyes were very wide and he thought for a moment that she would protest and he would have to stop, but then she pulled her own shirt off over her head and began to wrestle with her trousers. He laughed with pleasure as she gave up trying to untie the drawstring knot and just ripped the waistband to get out of her pants, letting his own slip to the floor. Lina smiled at him, sitting on the bed naked, then reached out her arms and latched her hands onto his waist. He chortled as she used her considerable strength to pull him down on top of her, kissing his throat and shoulders. His hands danced down the flawless, soft skin of her body, feeling her fingers explore his every muscle, and finally couldn't stand it any longer. He put his arms beneath her knees and lifted her legs up in the air and entered her, closing his eyes as they became a part of one another. She moaned and arched against him propping herself up on her elbows and throwing her head back. Very carefully he leaned over her body and kissed her, slowly moving at the same time, and her smile as she looked back at him was worth all the pain and suffering in the world. He made love to her with the desperation of a drowning man and they soon collapsed in a sweaty heap, limbs hopelessly tangled. Lina made a soft noise, almost like a purr, and nuzzled his neck, pressing herself against him.

"I warned you," Xellos murmured, wrapping her up in his strong arms. "As a human man, I want you all the time. You have no idea how difficult it is to keep my hands off you with Lecia around."

"I have the same problem," she giggled, touching the tip of his nose with her forefinger.

He smiled and kissed her, gratified when he felt her arms tighten around him. "Oh well, I suppose the days of being able to stay in bed together all day have long since passed us by."

"Guess so," Lina replied, reaching up and fingering strands of his hair. "You know, I'm actually glad you have these," she murmured, picking out some of the silver hairs that littered the dark gloss that covered the rest of his head.

"Oh? I think I'm lucky I don't have more of them, or that my hair didn't turn silver altogether."

"Well, with these you actually look older than me."

"I am older than you. By a little over a thousand years, I believe," he mused, kissing her again.

"Yeah, well, over these past several years you haven't aged at all, and I was beginning to feel like your old lady," she murmured.

Xellos laughed. "Hardly," he replied. "You don't look any different than you did at twenty. After all, your magic keeps you youthful a lot longer than normal mortals." He studied her for a minute, then broke out in a devilish grin. "I take it back," he said slyly. "You don't look exactly the same as you did when we first got together. Your breasts got bigger after you had Lecia."

Lina's mouth and eyes opened wide and smacked him on the shoulder with an open hand. "Hey!" she growled, trying to kick him, but they were too entangled for her to do so.

Still smiling like crazy, he freed a hand and gave one of her breasts a squeeze. "Yes, they've definitely grown," he declared, and plunged his head in between them.

"Hey!" she squealed, laughing. "Stop it!"

He switched strategies, starting to kiss her pale skin instead of tickling it. Her struggles ceased and she emitted a long, deep sigh as he took a nipple into his mouth. He felt her bury her hands in his hair and grip him tightly as he let his mouth roam all over her body, and after twenty minutes of it he was as aroused as she was. Lina reached down and grabbed his rear, pulling him upwards until his erection rested against the tendon between her pelvis and thigh. "Don't keep me waiting," she murmured, voice husky, and he was more than happy to oblige. This time he wasn't rushed or frantic, taking as long as he needed and seeing what techniques elicited the loudest and longest sounds from her. She came first, thanks to his previous ministrations, but he wasn't too terribly far behind her. He remained on top of her, locking his elbows and looking down at her. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, and he wish he knew what she was willing to hear and what she wasn't. He didn't want to make her feel frightened or trapped, but the honest truth was that the intensity of his feelings for her frightened himself. As he looked at her, her cheeks flushed and her chest and neck mottled red in the manner of fair-skinned people who have exerted themselves, he realized that everything had been a smile price to pay. If he knew that he would someday be able to feel for her again he would repeat the pain of being a Monster. She was everything to him, and he wished she would allow him to tell her that.

"You're the most breathtaking woman I have ever seen," he murmured instead.

She looked up at him, her ruby eyes shining. "I had better be," she said with a smile. "Otherwise we're just wasting our time."

He laughed and rolled to the side, pressing himself as close to her as he could. "I wouldn't call any of this a waste of time," he answered softly, and held her until they were both asleep.

Xellos awoke with a gasp and sat up, eyes wide in the morning light. Breaking through the dream was as difficult as clawing his way out of a sand pit. Panting, he blinked at the brightness that was the window, the last vestiges of the dream fading away. He knew he had been dreaming of Xellas slowly dismantling him, blackness overwhelming his consciousness as pain took over his life. The terror of the dream was receding, though, and he closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, calming himself.

When he opened them again he took in a sight that pulled at the deepest reaches of his abdomen, and his body relaxed as he smiled. Lina stood leaning against the wall next to the window, dressed in his customary yellow shirt. The garment was far too large for her, the sleeves hanging down past the knuckles of her hands, and it was long enough on her that it hid her upper thighs. Her hair was piled on top of her head, little unruly strands curling at the base of her skull and brushing against the top of the shirt's collar, the yellow fabric obscuring her slim figure completely. She was looking out the window, her gaze far away as she focused on something, and she seemed so pensive and heartbreakingly beautiful that he had to restrain himself from dashing over to her and wrapping himself about her.

His motion must have alerted her, for she slowly turned her head and met his eyes. She looked at him levelly and the corners of her full mouth turned up slightly. "Morning," she murmured, arms crossed beneath her breasts. Turning her head back to the side, she continued to gaze out the window.

Xellos scooted up in bed a little farther and let his gaze wander down to her feet, taking in her dainty pink toes and slender ankles, his eyes eating up every smooth inch of her legs until they disappeared beneath his shirt. "Good morning," he breathed, fantasies running through his mind. He had never seen her dressed in his clothes before, and the sight was arousing him.

"You sure did a number out there," she said, not turning to look at him. "I can't even tell what half of them are for."

Xellos frowned, not following her. Sliding out of bed, he trotted over to her and stood behind her, completely nude, and looked out the window over her shoulder. "What?" he said. "What did I do?"

"Xellos!" she exclaimed, turning around with a frown. "What do you think you're doing?"

He cocked his head and looked down at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Her face reddened and she cast a glance downward at him, then looked away and almost managed to completely hide a smile. "You're naked!"

Xellos scrunched his face up and looked at the ceiling, scratching the underside of his chin. He sighed, looked down at himself, and nodded. "Yes, yes I am," he confirmed. "But I usually am, in the mornings."

"You can't do that!"

He let a slow smile wind over his face and narrowed his eyes impishly. "Why not?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips and stepping around her, leaning forward as he looked out the window. The glass panes were nearly as tall as he was. After all, he had always been fond of windows, and one of the reasons he was pleased Lina had selected that particular house was for the size and number of windows it possessed.

"Xellos!" she cried again, quickly stepping in front of him, her back to the window. "Someone will see you!"

His smile broadened and he shrugged. "So? Why does that matter? Do you think they haven't seen a naked man before? Or are you perhaps ashamed of me?"

Lina's face was so flushed it was nearly purple. "No, I am not ashamed of you!" she growled, putting her hands flat against his chest. "It's just not appropriate!"

Xellos put a finger to the side of his chin and pretended to consider. "But you're not wearing pants. You're not even wearing your own clothes, in fact. Is that considered appropriate?"

Lina screwed her mouth up and glared at him. "It was the first thing I grabbed this morning," she said defensively. "I'll never wear your clothes again, if it bothers you so much."

He let his smile turn lascivious. "Oh no, it doesn't bother me in the least," he said in a rough voice, reaching out and putting his hands on her slim waist. "I think you look positively alluring. In fact, if you would like my honest opinion, I think the only time I've seen you look better is out of your clothes."

Lina gasped and smacked him on the shoulder, looking offended. He knew she wasn't really, but her mock outrage was almost as good as her real outrage. "Do you only ever think of one thing?" she growled.

He pretended to consider again, letting his words sit on the tip of his tongue and waiting until the time was right. After all, timing was everything. "No, of course not," he replied glibly. "However, dearest Lina, you should know me well enough by now to know that my existence centers around fun. You just happen to have the misfortune to not only be the most alluring, erotic, exquisite thing I've ever laid eyes on, but also the greatest pleasure-giver, and therefore the most fun, of anything I've ever experienced. Since that's the most fun I've ever had, and since you're the only person I want to have that sort of fun with, it tends to occupy most of my attention when you're in the room."

She blinked up at him as he pulled her closer, her face the color of a beet. "You're an awfully dirty man," she said lamely.

"Not just that, but I'm kinky, too," he replied with a smile, leaning down to kiss her. "Wanna see?"

His lips met with the palm of her hand and she pushed his head back, a scowl on her face. "Not right now," she said tersely. "I want to talk."

He sighed, feigning disappointment. Actually, he enjoyed talking to Lina as well. She was so intelligent and volatile that she was always lots of fun. "Fine, fine," he muttered, looking out the window for real. It wasn't raining, but the skies were gray with clouds, casting a strange half-light over the countryside. "I suppose that'll have to do for now."

Lina shook her head. 'You're incorrigible," she growled.

"That's why you keep me around. Can you imagine how things dull would be if I weren't here to spice them up?" he grinned, wrapping his arms around her and bending to rest his chin on her shoulder as she turned to face the window.

She put her arms over his and stroked his forearms, running her fingers over the silky hairs there. "I might actually get some peace and quiet then," she replied, but she smiled and he knew she wasn't really grumpy. In fact, from the way she was touching him, he was willing to wager she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

"Utterly boring," he murmured, kissing the side of her neck.

"Anyway," she said sharply, taking a deep breath, "I think it's amazing that anything at all can get past those barriers you set. There are so many of them that I wouldn't think any of us could get in or out, and yet I see birds, butterflies, and all manner of things passing right through them."

Xellos smiled against the skin of her neck and gave her a gentle squeeze. "I only wanted to keep certain things out. I think Lecia would be sad if no more animals wandered through the gardens."

"But what are they?" Lina pressed. "I can't even tell how you set some of them."

He sighed, realizing Lina really was going to be strictly business. "Well," he said slowly, "several of them are the ones you know, just regular old barriers that alert me whenever something gets near. The rest you wouldn't know, much less be able to cast, unless you were a Monster."

Her body stiffened against his and she tried to pull away. Somewhat alarmed, he just pulled her to him more closely, determined not to release her. "What is that supposed to mean?" she whispered, her fingers digging into his arms. "I thought you were human."

His tone was serious when he answered her, all traces of joviality gone. "I am human, dearest Lina," he replied. "But I am just barely so. Only the smallest portion of my astral form was removed, leaving me with most of my powers. I can still channel great amounts of demonic energy, although my body is now limited, and I decided that, in the interests of protecting my family, I had best not let those talents go to waste."

"What do they do?"

"Ever curious," he murmured, closing his eyes for a moment and just reveling in her closeness. "The strongest ones surround this house in a spherical fashion. They are meant to detect any astral form bigger than Lecia's and alert me. There are smaller ones set around the perimeter of that, which will prevent any sort of sub-dimensional rift from opening."

"And if you should feel something?" she asked, voice quiet.

"Then the traps will be activated," he replied coldly. "Trust me, nothing will get past me."

"What will happen if the traps spring?"

"Do you want to see?" he asked, gently seeking out the lines of power.

"Yes," she whispered.

Concentrating, he triggered one of the traps. He knew that she wouldn't be able to see it with her human eyes, but her magical senses were so developed that he didn't think she would have a difficult time feeling the effects. The spell completed itself with numbing force, a part of the sky warping and darkening for a split second. The magic reverberated through the room with awesome force, and she gasped. Had anything actually been caught in the trap it would not only have been immobilized, but ripped to shreds and scattered across several dimensions. "Satisfied?" he said calmly.

"I've never seen anything like it," she murmured, her body tense, and he knew she was impressed. Pride filled him; Lina was very difficult to astonish.

"I should hope not," he replied.

"But how does it keep from trapping you? If you're as you say you are, shouldn't your astral from trigger the traps?"

"You'll notice I haven't left the barriers since setting them," he replied, nuzzling her neck again. Satisfaction flooded him as Lina reached back an arm and began to toy with his hair in response.

"Can you?" she murmured, sighing against him and stretching.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sliding of her muscles beneath her skin, feeling the strength flow through her slender limbs. "Of course. It would just take me a moment to disarm and reset them. Trust me, nothing is going to get to us without me knowing."

Lina was silent for some time, leaning against him and clasping her hands behind his neck. "You're really worried, aren't you?"

A sudden solemnity took him over and he nodded. "Yes," he replied. "I don't trust any of the Dark Lords. They might come for me at any time, and I would rather die than let any harm come to you or our daughter."

"Do you mean that?"

"Dearest Lina," he said, voice thick. "I mean it with all my heart."

"Good," she murmured. They stood for a while longer, staring out the window together, when Lina chuckled. "It's awfully difficult for me to concentrate on your barrier spells when you're pressing that thing into my back," she said.

"Well, it's your own fault for being so alluring," he replied simply. "I don't see any reason to be ashamed of what being near you does to me."

"Mmm," she sighed as he kissed her neck. "Damn you and your one-track mind."

"I have to make up for all the times during the day I want to do things to you but can't, with the little one around," he breathed, sliding a hand underneath the baggy shirt.

Lina exhaled and he felt her body go slightly limp. "She'll be up soon," she muttered.

"I know."

She turned around in his embrace and ran her hands down to his rear, gripping him firmly. "Make it quick," she growled.

"As you wish," he mumbled, already kissing her, and took her back to the bed.

They were curled up together, having just cuddled and talked for a good hour, when Lecia simply burst into the room and bounded onto the bed. "Get up!" she squealed, landing soundly on Xellos' gut. He exhaled sharply and grabbed her around the ribcage, holding her off of him so as not to ruin any more internal organs.

"That's enough," he grunted. "We're not your trampolines."

"Lecia, behave," Lina snapped simultaneously, pulling the sheets up over her chest.

"Sorry, Mommy," Lecia mumbled. "But it's breakfast time!"

Xellos glanced over at the clock on the dresser, noting with interest that it was, in fact, time to eat. Lina's stomach growled noisily and she smiled, putting a hand behind her head. "I guess you're right, little one," he said. "Wait outside, won't you? Your mom and I need to get dressed."

"No," Lecia whined, sliding to the ground and stamping her foot. "I'm hungry now!"

Xellos tilted his head and smiled. "So you want Mommy and me to just come down to the kitchen bare naked?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lecia giggled. "No, Daddy! That's gross!"

"Then you had better wait in the hall until we put on our clothes," he said gently, turning her around and patting her on the back while still sitting in bed.

"Hurry up," Lecia said, trotting towards the door.

"Uh-uh," Xellos replied sternly, stopping her in her tracks. "What do you say?"

"Hurry up please," Lecia repeated, rolling her eyes.

A sigh escaped him. "Good enough," he said. "I'll be out in a minute."

As Lecia shut the door Lina rolled towards him, propping her head up with a hand. "It's a lot of work," she said softly.

"What?" he asked, sliding out of bed and going to the bureau.

"Being a parent."

He pulled on a clean pair of trousers and turned, gazing at her. Even with her hair a mess and surrounded by rumpled sheets she looked like a goddess, and he couldn't help but smile. "You know, I suppose it is," he reflected. "But I've never thought of it as anything but fun."

Lina's mouth curled in a half-smile and she shook her head. "Go make us breakfast, you domestic fool," she growled affectionately.

He tugged a shirt over his head and pulled his silver-shot hair into a ponytail. "Your wish is my command," he said with a bow, and slipped out of the door.

It turned out that they were too low on groceries for him to make a proper breakfast, and so he made sure everyone was bathed and they set off for town.

"Daddy, Daddy, I want that!" Lecia cried, tugging madly at his hand as they wandered between the stalls.

"Oh, Xellos, look at that!" Lina exclaimed, pointing in the other direction. "Would that look great on the wall of my study?"

Xellos sighed and closed his eyes, ignoring Lecia as she jumped up and down, his arm completely controlled by her. "What is it, dear?" he asked, opening his eyes and looking straight ahead.

"A painted scroll!" Lina said brightly, pointing at a stall as Lecia screamed "Candy!" simultaneously.

The two females paused and looked at one another, blinking. "Lovely," Xellos said, smiling at them both as benignly as he could.

"I want that scroll," Lina said, sticking her nose up in the air.

"I want that candy," Lecia said, licking her lips and jumping up and down more vigorously.

Xellos took his free hand and rubbed his brow. "Okay, okay," he muttered, releasing Lecia and reaching into his satchel. He rummaged around for a while until he found his purse, then took a few coins from it. Looking from the purse to Lina, he pocketed the coins and handed the whole thing over to her.

"Thank you!" she said brightly, pivoting on her toe and rushing over to the stall she had spotted the painting in. The shopkeeper was just taking it down, getting ready to hand it to a man standing nearby.

"Here you are, sir," the shopkeeper said.

"No!" Lina shouted. "No no no!"

The two men turned and stared at her while Xellos suppressed a groan. "I'm sorry, lady, I paid for this," the customer said. "Better luck next time."

"Oh no you don't!" Lina cried. "That's supposed to be mine!"

"Lina, dearest," Xellos said, reaching up a hand.

"Shut up!" she snapped at him. "That scroll is mine, so you'd better hand it over."

"But, miss, he already paid for it," the shopkeeper said.

"I don't care," she growled. She scowled at the customer and pressed some coins into his hand. "Here, now I've paid you for it. Now give it to me."

The man, Xellos noticed, made no move to give her the scroll but pocketed the coins. "No, I paid for it," he said. "You'll have to beat me to death to get it."

Lina cackled, rolling up her sleeves and flexing her fists. "I can deal with that," she chuckled.

"I really wouldn't provoke her," Xellos said, leaning against the pole of the stall.

"A little thing like her couldn't hurt me. Why, she looks more like a little boy than a woman!" the customer sneered.

Xellos sighed and shook his head. "You're done for," he muttered, and Lina attacked, punching the man square in the nose.

"Take that, you asshole!" she bellowed, and the two collapsed onto the cobblestones, Lina dodging the man's blows as she pummeled him.

Xellos turned to the shopkeeper and shrugged. "She wanted it originally because it was painted by a master whose name is little-known. She delights in the rare and valuable, you see. However, this fellow refusing to give it up just made her want it all the more. I can't imagine what she'd do to him if she knew that this particular master hid arcane spells in the brushstrokes of his paintings."

The shopkeeper blinked. "That so?"

Xellos nodded, arms crossed over his chest. "She's an accomplished sorceress," he began, his words drowned out by Lina's shouting.

"Fireball!" she called out, her words immediately followed by a yelp and the smell of burning hair.

"See?" Xellos said, turning to the shopkeeper. "Oh dear, she narrowly missed the scroll."

"Giveittomegiveittomegiveittome," Lina snarled, pouncing on the scroll.

The shopkeeper turned wide, frightened eyes on Xellos and blinked, his mouth hanging open. Xellos reached into his bag again and pulled out a few stones. "Here," he said, dropping the gems into the shopkeeper's hand. "Go to any jeweler and he'll give you a good price for these. They should cover the cost of the damages and the scroll."

"Th-thank you, sir," the shopkeeper stammered, staring at him.

Lecia appeared suddenly at his side, licking a lollipop, her hair sticking to her sugary cheeks. "Mommy blew the man up," she said, looking at the twitching, crispy fellow writhing on the cobblestones.

"Yes, she did," Xellos agreed sweetly, patting the child's hair. "Now where did you get that?"

"I don't know," she said innocently, and Xellos raised his eyebrows. It appeared his daughter's fingers were as sticky as her lollipop.

"Ya-haaa!" Lina cried triumphantly, holding the scroll up in the air. "I got it!"

"Yaaay, Mommy!" Lecia answered, thrusting her lollipop upwards in an imitation of her mother.

Xellos exhaled again as he looked down and saw that the lollipop was now stuck to his cloak. "Congratulations," he muttered, gently uncurling Lecia's fingers from the lollipop stick and trying to get it off of his cloak.

Lina pranced over to him waved the scroll about. "Lina Inverse always gets what she wants," she purred. "And you know far more than you let on."

Xellos smiled in his customary fashion and nodded. "Of course. That hasn't changed."

She tapped the end of the scroll on his chest and looked at him from underneath half-lowered eyelids. "You'll tell me, of course, everything you know about this once we get home."

"Of course," he muttered, distracted as something tugged at the edge of his senses. He had set the barriers over their house behind him as they left, and it was his connection with his spells that was bothering him. Placing a hand on Lina's shoulder, he gripped her hard enough that she stopped talking and looked at him.

"What?" she asked, her voice tight.

Xellos narrowed his eyes and looked around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. People filled the street as usual, the smell of food and animals heavy in the air. Colored signs and banners swayed slightly in the breeze, and the organization of the stalls was the same as always. "Shh," he whispered, turning slowly. Then it hit him like a cinderblock across the face. "Lina," he hissed, scowling as he whipped about. "Where's Lecia?"

Lina's face drained of color and she too began to search. "I don't know," she breathed. "She was just standing right next to you."

"Damn it," Xellos growled. "Lecia!" he bellowed, making several passerbies give him a wide berth.

Lina blinked at him, anxiety beginning to wind across her face. He knew she had never heard him raise his voice before, and the fact that he had meant the situation was most likely very, very serious. "Lecia!" Lina called, grabbing the nearest person. "Have you seen my daughter? She's about four, with dark hair and amethyst eyes," she said.

"No, lady," the fellow said, gently moving out of her grasp.

Xellos, for his part, was going berserk. "Lecia!" Xellos shouted, eyes scanning the crowd.

"Xellos," Lina said, brow furrowed with worry.

"I know," he answered. "I think she's been taken."

"What? She was just standing right there!"

"She has a habit of wandering off," he said, voice low. Cold fury was filling him, almost overwhelming his fear. Was his little girl okay? Was she frightened? Was she being hurt. "They will pay," he growled, and a glance at Lina's set jaw told him she agreed.

"I'll go this way," Lina said, moving off through the crowd. He nodded and went the opposite direction, eyes searching every face. There was no sign of his daughter, and then he felt a wobbly spell being cast. Whipping around, he began shoving people out of his way, running toward the source of the magic.

"Lecia?" he called, knocking several shoppers onto the cobblestones.

Rounding the corner, he saw Lecia leaning against a wall, panting with a tear-streaked face. "Daddy?" she cried, running to him and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Shh, shh," he cooed, crushing her to him for a moment, then holding her out at arm's length and carefully looking her over. His fingers traced the lines of her face and limbs, feeling for any swelling or other injury. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I-I'm okay," Lecia sniffled, burying her face in his shoulder. "I was scared."

"Thank goodness you knew a few spells," he breathed, closing his eyes and burying his nose in her hair.

"Xellos?" he heard someone call, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Lina.

"She's safe," he replied, easily scooping the child up into his arms. "She torched her assailant, I believe."

"That's my girl," Lina said with a smile, reaching out and stroking the girl's hair. "Good job."

"Mommy, it was scary," Lecia whimpered, looking at her mother with wide, teary eyes.

"I know," Lina said gently, face softening.

Xellos felt the cold rage overtake him as his fear dissipated. "Take her, please," he said to Lina, and she took the girl into her arms without a word. "Start toward home. I'll be along in a minute."

Lina narrowed her eyes. "Where are you going?"

Xellos looked at his daughter for a moment, emotions roiling. It would take quite a bit of power, but he could do it, he could locate the assailant on the astral plane. He was human, but he was just barely so, and as such still had some of his Monsterly abilities, although he wasn't as strong as he had been before. "Feel free to order groceries and have them delivered," he said to her gently. "I'll be right behind you."

"Xellos," Lina said, scowling.

"I've made up my mind," he said sternly, and moved off through the crowd before she could follow.

He waded through the throngs of shoppers until something began to tickle his senses again. "Two?" he murmured to himself, turning down a side street. Yes, there was the smell of burning fabric and hair. It had to be the person who had tried to take Lecia. His booted footsteps echoed off the cobblestones as he plunged down an alleyway, feeling his prey not too far before him. He put on a burst of speed, giving his muscles extra power with a spell, and saw a man running a few yards ahead. Xellos caught up with him, putting a hand on his shoulder, and yanked him backward onto the stones. The man's hair was patchy where parts of it had been burned away, and his skin was blistered in spots. "You reprehensible piece of filth," Xellos hissed. "What were you doing with my daughter?"

The man picked himself up off of the stones and pressed against the wall, eyes wide. "How did you catch me? How did you know?"

"I'm a devil," he hissed, placing a forearm over the man's throat and shoving him against the wall. The man smelled like stale sweat and refuse, his skin dirty and remaining hair tangled.

"I wasn't going to hurt her, I was just supposed to get her," the man gurgled, eyes bulging out of his pasty face.

Xellos pressed his forearm harder against the man's throat. "Who told you to kidnap her?"

"Some fella dressed in a heavy cloak and a hood. I couldn't see his face, but he gave me five hundred gold coins to do it."

"You took coin to abduct a child?" Xellos growled. "Is that the kind of beast you are?"

"I'm sorry!" the man wailed. "Here, take the money, just let me go!"

Xellos was so angry his entire body was shaking. It was taking every ounce of energy he had not to tear the entire city to pieces. "Where is your employer now?"

"If I tell you will you let me go?"

"Where is the person who paid you?" Xellos shouted right into the man's face. "You tell me or so help me, I'll tear you apart so slowly you'll beg me to kill you."

The man paled even further and Xellos could smell the sharp tang of urine being released. "He went to the edge of town, in the direction of the mountains," he sobbed. "I told you what you wanted to know, so please let me go."

Xellos merely snarled and thrust his free hand into the man's abdomen, his magically-charged appendage smacking against the brick wall on the other side of his captive. Warm blood spurted over his hand, wrist, and forearm, splattering his yellow shirt. "No one touches my family," he spat, twisting his fist as the man's eyes began to turn glassy. The kidnapper heaved a final sigh and slid down to the ground as Xellos pulled his gory hand free. He rolled the body aside with the toe of his boot, senses alert. Someone had paid the man to seize his child, and that was not a good sign.

Making haste, he took to the air and located Lina on the edge of town. She stopped in her tracks and stared at him, her posture awkward as she carried the child. After all, Lina was not a large woman, and Lecia had been growing like a weed. "What did you do?" she whispered, eyes wide.

Xellos looked down and realized that his clothes were spattered with blood. "The same thing you would have done, only with less explosions," he replied flatly. "Don't let her see me."

Lina nodded and kept Lecia's face pressed into her shoulder. She was still very pale and obviously disturbed by what he had done. "I can't say I approve, but I won't say it's not what I think he deserved," she said carefully. "I didn't bother with the groceries. I thought we should just go home."

"There's something else," he muttered, glancing around. "He was paid."

Lina's eyebrows shot up. "What? Who would want to pay a stranger to kidnap Lecia?"

Xellos kept his answers to himself. "I'm not sure," he said, not exactly lying out right. He couldn't prove anything, after all, only suspect. "Something's afoot, however."

Lina's face collapsed into a feral snarl. "Whatever it is, we'll make them sorry they ever messed with this family."

Xellos couldn't repress his grim smile. Lina's ferocity and tendency for violence had always thrilled him, and he was happy to see she had stayed that way. "Of course," he murmured. "I think we should get her home."

"Fine," she said somewhat sharply, pulling Lecia out of his grasp as he reached for her. "But you're not going to touch her until you've bathed."

Xellos retracted his hand, staring at the bloodstained cloth of his glove and sleeve. "Of course," he murmured, looking about. There it was again; a slight tugging at the magical lines he maintained with the barriers around his house. "Let's be careful."

They arrived home shortly, Xellos carefully recasting the barriers around their home. Everything seemed to be in place, but he felt uneasy nonetheless. His senses were being set off like crazy, and yet there was nothing to provoke such a reaction. None of it prevented him from fearing for his family, however.

"Go get cleaned up," Lina snapped, cradling the still-sobbing Lecia. "I don't want her to know what you did."

A dark expression crossed Xellos' face. "I should have done worse to him."

Lina looked at him coldly.

"You would have done the same," he said flatly, and she glanced away. "I've known you too long to think otherwise, Lina."

"Whatever," she said. "I'm going to bathe her and check her over. Tidy yourself and make something to eat. She might feel better with a little food in her."

Xellos nodded, his emotions threatening to overwhelm him, and watched as Lina trudged up the stairs with their daughter. He had never felt such sick fear as he had in the moment when he realized Lecia was gone. The anger he had experienced had been suffocating as well. The feelings still fluttered through him, and he realized that if he ever found out who was behind the whole incident he would make sure they suffered greatly. No one would be allowed to tamper with his family, let alone his precious daughter. In his eons of destruction Lecia was the only thing he had ever created, and he was not about to let that go. Going to the kitchen, he removed his cloak, shirt, and gloves, washing the blood from his face and arms in the sink. He discarded shirt and gloves in the rubbish bin, balling up the cloak to wash later. Lunch was a simple matter to take care of and soon Lina appeared, a damp, stricken Lecia riding on her back. "Daddy," Lecia sobbed, throwing her arms around his neck as he pulled her from Lina's back.

"It's all right," he murmured, holding her close. "Are you hungry?"

Lina looked at him with haunted eyes as she sat down on the other side of the table, watching as he sat down, Lecia in his lap. "No," Lecia mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her fist.

"Are you okay?" he said, pulling a plate over to him and idly toying with the food, a hand rubbing the child's back.

"Yeah," Lecia murmured, watching his fork.

"You know I'm proud of you, don't you?" he murmured, feeling agony as he looked at her. Lecia's pain was his pain, he discovered, and it just killed him to not be able to help her. He wanted to smooth all her fears and hurt away, and yet that desire was impossible to fulfill, instilling him with an awful sense of helplessness.

"Ah?" Lecia mumbled, burrowing into his bare chest.

"Yes. You did a very good job of defending yourself. That was the right thing to do."

"She still shouldn't have wandered away," Lina growled.

"Mama said she was proud of me, too," Lecia said softly, and Xellos raised his eyes to see Lina blush.

"Did she, now," he murmured.

"So?" Lina snapped, the bridge of her nose stained pink.

"Well, she should be," Xellos said, gently feeding Lecia.

The meal progressed in silence, even Lina showing unusual restraint. Lecia ate from her father's hands until she decided she was finished, then clung to him as he began to clear away the dishes. "I'll get it," Lina said to him, blocking his movements with her hip.

Xellos stared at her for a moment, uncertain he had heard correctly. "Are you certain?" he asked. Lina had never once volunteered to actually clean before.

"I'm sure. Go put on a shirt, and take Lecia with you," she replied somewhat shortly. "I'll join you two in the garden later."

"Thank you," he murmured, leaning in and kissing her on the temple.

Lina blushed again, but this time he saw a smile curve her lips. "Get outta here," she grumbled, and he left to do her bidding.

Lina walked out onto the back terrace, wiping her hands on her shirt. She absolutely hated cleaning up, but it would have been painful to watch Xellos try and do it all with the girl clinging to him. Besides, she could clean up just as well as anyone, not to mention that sometimes she felt a little tyrannical, making Xellos wait on her hand and foot. It didn't matter that he seemed to enjoy serving her, but still...

Looking out into the garden she saw Xellos sitting in the grass, Lecia curled in his lap. He was speaking softly to her and waving his hands in the air, showing her pretty little light spells. The sparkles danced on the breeze and Lecia smiled wanly, fists wrapped in her shirt. Lina couldn't imagine how traumatic it must have been for the little girl to be snatched away like that. After all, Lecia hadn't been around many people in her life, always ending up isolated with either her parents or her "grandmother", and so being ripped away from the only people she knew by a total stranger must have been horrifying. If it were anyone else's daughter she would have worried about Lecia's mental health, but since Lecia was an Inverse, she knew the little girl would be fine. It might take her a few days, but she would be fine.

Lina also knew that there was more to the kidnapping than was readily apparent. She wasn't aware of the details, and she was willing to wager that Xellos was far more certain of what exactly had transpired. Getting anything out of him, however, would be quite the task. Not that she didn't know which buttons to push, or how to motivate him, but he was never an easy conquest. Perhaps that was one of the things she liked about him.

Seeing Xellos in a rage had frightened her, she realized. She had become increasingly aware of the extent of his powers, and just the feel of the barriers he had cast around their home let her know that he was only marginally weaker than he had been as a full-blown Monster. A grudging respect had lodged in her chest, and she realized again how much she could learn from him if she could only convince him to give up his knowledge. Then again, that was half the fun. Xellos enjoyed a good time, and sometimes getting information out of him was almost as gratifying as the information itself.

She watched Xellos and Lecia silently for some time, Xellos' dark, silky head bent over his child, speaking gently to her. The girl seemed so confident in his love and strength, trusting him to make everything bad in her life go away. Xellos, for his part, was being exceedingly gentle and tender, his graceful hands always placed somewhere comforting on Lecia's small body. There was something magical and touching about the scene, and Lina thought her heart would fill to bursting as a wave of emotion passed over her. She loved watching them, she realized, and was glad to be a part of that tenderness. Her family made her happy. It took her quite a while to understand it, but the truth rang through her like the purest tones of a bell.

Musing, she caught herself smiling softly as she happened to catch Xellos' eyes. It was still strange seeing round pupils in the amethyst depths of his eyes, but she enjoyed them. Warmth flooded her body as he smiled at her, his sculpted lips curling up at the corners. The gaze he sent her was full of unspoken emotion, and the intensity of it made her shiver with delight. Odd, how she had come to think of one of the most evil beings on the planet as one of the most precious.

"Hello," Xellos said, his eyes beckoning to her, and without thinking she stepped on to the grass and moved over to him. "Mommy's come to join us, little one."

Lecia fixed her large eyes on Lina and blinked. "Hi, Mommy," she murmured, reaching out a hand.

Lina took her daughter's fingers and leaned forward impulsively, pressing them against her cheek. "I was so frightened," she said, voice raw. The emotion in her tones surprised herself, and she realized that she truly had been frightened. The thought that something might have happened to her daughter chilled her to the very core and made her bones feel weak. Lecia was very, very precious to her, as precious as her own life.

"I'm sorry," Lecia replied, bottom lip quivering.

"No, no, it's not your fault," Lina reassured her, kneeling in the grass and keeping hold of Lecia's hand. "I should have been paying closer attention to you."

"Don't worry," Xellos added, stroking the child's hair. "We won't let it happen again. You're safe now. Your Mommy and I would do anything to keep you from harm."

"I love you," Lecia blurted, locking Lina's eyes with hers, and Lina felt her own eyes sting with unshed tears. "I love you with all my heart, Mommy."

Lina was absolutely speechless. Lecia meant her words, meant them with all her soul, Lina knew it. "I-I love you, too," Lina said softly. She had only told a few people in her life that she had loved them, and the only person she had uttered those words to outside her immediate family had been Gourry. Her words were true, however; she really did love the child. "Even if I sometimes yell, or am angry, or fight with your dad, I always love you."

She looked up and happened to catch Xellos' eyes, his expression oddly soft. His lips parted in another gentle smile and she saw for the first time that he was truly happy. She wondered how long he had wanted to hear her say those words to her daughter.

Lecia turned to her father and rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes. Lina knew she was listening to his heartbeat; she herself had been doing that quite often of late. Xellos, since becoming human again, had a marvelously steady and slow heartbeat, and just listening to it calmed Lina's nerves immensely. "I love you too, Daddy," Lecia murmured.

A small chuckle left Xellos' throat, his pronounced Adams apple bobbing slightly. "And I love you, little one. As long as I have breath in my body, nothing bad will ever happen to you again."

Lina watched Xellos' smile turn into a grin, and she knew it was the first time he had told anyone he loved them. She could see in his eyes that it was true, and happiness settled in her chest, drowning out the anger and fear at the morning's incident. Xellos, who had wanted to love their daughter for so long, could truly feel for her at last. If there was hope for someone like him, perhaps there was hope for all of them. Feeling content, she sat with her little family all afternoon, taking pleasure from the simple fact of their nearness.

The remainder of the day was quiet, all three of them subdued by the events of the morning. Lecia clung to one of her parents constantly, and Lina found that she didn't really mind. Feeling the child's hands upon her reassured her that the child was safe and healthy, something she would never take for granted again. Occasionally she would glance at Xellos and find him staring at nothing in particular, his sharp, handsome features dark. Whenever she caught his eye, though, he would smile and his customary benign expression would settle on his face as if nothing was wrong. Damn, that man could be so frustrating at times.

Lina was in the bathroom with Xellos, brushing her teeth as he washed his face, when Lecia stumbled in, clutching her toy wolf. "Daddy," she murmured, coming over and burying her face in Xellos' trousers.

Xellos wiped his face and bare chest with a towel, leaning down and tilting his head. "Yes, little one?" he replied gently.

Lecia blinked at him, then shot Lina a look. "Can I sleep with you and Mommy tonight?"

Xellos stood and sighed, putting his hands on his hips. He gazed at Lina for a while, then shrugged. "You'll have to ask her," he said.

Lina expectorated into the sink and rinsed her mouth out, then looked down at the little girl. "Okay," she said. "Xellos, you'll have to actually wear clothes to bed."

Xellos smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Yes, I suppose so. This sort of puts a bump in our nightly routine, doesn't it?"

"Definitely," Lina said, immediately banishing all thoughts of his hands running up and down her naked body. "But you know what? It's worth it."

"I agree," he replied. "Do you have everything you need?" he asked the girl.

"Yeah," she murmured, squeezing her toy wolf so hard Lina thought its head would come off.

"Then let's go to bed," Xellos said, scooping up the child and putting a warm hand on Lina's back.

Soon they were all three snuggled in the humongous bed, Lecia tucked between her parents. Lina lay on her side, head propped up with a hand as she gazed at the others.

"Story," Lecia said, scooting further underneath the covers.

"Yeah, Xellos," Lina seconded. "Tell us a story."

Xellos sighed and scratched his cheek. "A story, eh?"

"Come on. You must know a million of them. After all, you've been around long enough."

"Good point, Lina dearest, but when you're as old as I am all the tales begin to blend together."

"Story!" Lecia interrupted, her lower lip poking out slightly.

"Hmmm," Xellos muttered. "I suppose you want a happy story."

"After today, it had better be very happy," Lina growled.

"Daddy, hurry up!" Lecia said.

"Very well," he replied with a smile. "I guess I'll just make one up."

"Okay," Lecia sighed, burrowing into the pillows and holding her wolf tight. "Don't forget to do the voices."

Lina chuckled and gazed at Xellos tenderly as he took a deep breath and began to tell a story. He had only been speaking for about ten minutes when they saw that Lecia had fallen asleep. "She looks like an angel when she sleeps," Lina murmured.

"So does her mother."

Lina blushed slightly and looked away, oddly touched by the fact that he watched her as he slept. "Whatever," she mumbled. "Today... What happened today really scared me, Xellos. More than I expected it to."

Xellos' face became somber and he nodded, reaching across Lecia's slumbering body and taking her slender hand in his. The skin was just slightly rough on his fingertips and palms, and she found his touch reassuring. "I understand," he replied. "I learned today not to take anything in this family for granted."

Lina studied him for a few moments, then gave his hand a squeeze. "You think there's more, don't you."

He sighed and pursed his lips for a moment. "I think there will be, yes. Whoever it was tried to hurt me by taking Lecia."

"Why you? You don't think they were targeting me?"

"No, I don't think the Dark Lords would."

"I've killed more important Monsters than you have," she said sharply, keeping her voice down so as not to wake the child.

"True, and that's why they know better than to attack you," Xellos replied. "Besides, it wasn't you who turned on your own race."

"Xellas would probably want me out of the way."

"But she wouldn't scare Lecia like that. Lecia trusts her, and probably would have gone right to her. If Xellas wanted to hurt us she would have done it already."

"Then who? I thought Dolphin and Dynast would be out of commission for a little while."

"They probably are. I would guess that this incident today was conducted by one of their minions, though, most likely acting of its own accord."

Lina turned the facts over in her head for several moments. "They hated you before, didn't they," she said, voice trailing off.

"They envied my power," he replied nonchalantly. "Most beings hate those more powerful than they."

"You don't hate me," she said with an impish smile.

Xellos' eyes widened fractionally, then he answered her smile with one of his own. "You're right, I merely tolerate you because I pity you for not being as powerful as I am," he grinned.

"You stinker," she growled jovially. "You're being brave because you know I can't attack you while Lecia's asleep."

He held up his index finger and winked at her. "Precisely," he murmured. "You always were a sharp one."

"The sharpest," she smirked.

Xellos' face sobered and he looked at her, his dark eyes locked with hers. "I don't regret it at all," he announced. "Being with you and our daughter means the world to me. I'll defend this family to the death, if necessary."

His words rippled through her body and she shivered with their intensity. She could tell that he meant them with every ounce of his being. "I know," she murmured, and held his hand until she followed her daughter into dreamland.

As the next couple of weeks passed Lecia showed much improvement. The horror and fear of being kidnapped seemed to fade from the youngster's memory, and before long she was her normal self. That night she elected to sleep in her room, having snapped at her father several times earlier in the day for hovering too close. Lecia was a very independent child, and even her father's rather unobtrusive coddling would sometimes chafe her. Xellos stood at her door after tucking her in, feeling rather lost. He had grown used to the child's constant presence, and it was almost strange to have her acting normally again. Resigned, he shuffled back down the hall to the room he shared with Lina and pushed open the door.

He froze immediately upon entering the room, jaw dropping. Lina stood at the foot of the bed, wrapped in a robe that was so gauzy it left little to the imagination. Her ruby-colored eyes gleamed in the candlelight, her fiery hair brushed to an incredible shine as it spilled over her slender shoulders. "It's our first night alone together in quite a while," she murmured.

Xellos swallowed hard and nodded, unable to take his eyes away from the soft curves of her woman's body. How wonderful it was to actually feel desire for Lina! "Yes," he replied, throat feeling dry.

"I missed feeling you," she breathed, and with a single, fluid motion let the sheer robe rustle to the floor. Her pale, smooth skin looked like flawless porcelain in the dim light, the shadowed triangle of hair between her legs mysterious and alluring.

He felt his breathing come faster and his stomach flutter as she took a few dainty steps nearer to him. Her strong, thin arms wrapped around his neck and her hot little tongue ran along the curve of his earlobe, making his whole body shudder. He closed his eyes and moaned as her teeth closed on his ear, her naked flesh pressed against him as she stood on tiptoe and leaned against him for balance. "Ever the temptress," he whispered hoarsely, tilting his head back as she ran her mouth down his throat.

"Give in, Xellos," she murmured, pulling his shirt from the waistband of his pants and fingering the deep cleft between the shelves of muscle along his spine.

He quivered beneath her touch, desire overtaking his entire body. "I've never wanted to surrender so much in all my existence," he replied, aching for her. He slid his hands down the graceful curve of her back and let them come to rest on her rear, pulling her upwards and toward him. Bending, he kissed her passionately on the mouth, reveling in her touch as she buried her hands in his thick hair.

He didn't give her any time to respond, instead gently pushing her up against the wall and fingering her taut, rosy nipples as she wound her leg around his. She breathed his name and pulled the drawstring of his pants, letting them rumple around his ankles. Pulling his shirt up as far as she could, she began to kiss his chest as he fondled her breasts. "It's been too long," she mumbled, pressing her pelvis against him.

Xellos decided not to wait, pressing her back against the wall and lifting her a few inches into the air as he entered her. He spread his legs to get more depth and improve his balance, groaning as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He kissed the tender spot where her neck joined her shoulder and felt a shudder run the length of him as she moaned, wrapping her fists in his hair and pulling his head to her throat. The rings on their chests flared as their emotions and passions united with each other, heightening the experience. It seemed that they had only just begun when Lina gasped and bucked against him, clinging to him as if she were drowning. He went for a few minutes more, then felt his knees nearly give out as he finished. "Too quick," he muttered, relaxing and letting her put her feet on the ground again.

Lina leaned against the wall with her eyes closed, her chest heaving and her body gleaming with their mingled sweat. "I think it was just fine," she gasped.

"Let me try again," he said wickedly, stepping out of his trousers and scooping her up into his arms. He stretched her out on the bed and kissed her entire body, attending to every single nook and cranny. Being with her was like a drink of cool water in the desert, and they made love many, many times that night before they felt that all had returned to normal and was good in their world.

The next morning they slept in much later than usual, lying abed until midmorning. Xellos was dimly aware of Lina bolting out of bed, throwing on her robe, and scurrying down the hall, having fallen asleep again as soon as the mattress stopped quivering from her abrupt departure. He was slumbering gently when he heard the door thrown open wide, the metal of the knob ricocheting off of the wall violently. "Xellos!" he heard Lina grate, and he rose up on his elbows, blinking in the bright morning light, hair askew.

"Wha?" he mumbled, squinting and looking around.

He came fully awake a split second later, eyes opening wide as he watched Lina bound across the room with homicidal intent written all over her features. With a leap she landed on the bed and scrambled over to him, her small but mighty hands latching on to his throat and shaking him. "How DARE you do this to me again?" she snarled, face alight with rage.

"What?" Xellos said, or rather, gurgled. Her grip on his neck was far too tight to actually allow him to speak.

"I will KILL you!" she shouted, obviously becoming aware that strangling wouldn't work as she reached over and grabbed a pillow.

Xellos managed to sit up and cover his head with his arms before she began swatting him with all the pillows she could reach. It was impossible to avoid her with her straddling him so, and yet he knew that if he escaped he'd just be in more trouble. "What did I do?" he asked, trying to dodge her attacks.

Lina saw an opening and smacked him soundly upside the head, the force of her swing almost knocking him over. The pillows wouldn't hurt him too badly, but Lina was strong enough that they stung a little as she whapped him with them. "I HATE you!" she screamed, suddenly socking him in the other direction.

Xellos grunted and closed his eyes, knocked to the mattress, and twisted, grabbing her wrists and controlling her movements as tightly as he could manage. "What's the matter? What did I do?" he asked, alarmed. Lina seemed genuinely upset, after all.

"Watch!" she commanded, jumping up and standing on the foot of the bed. "Fireball!" she screamed.

"Not in the house!" Xellos squeaked, closing his eyes and throwing up a barrier. It was only seconds later when he realized nothing at all had happened. There had been no flames, no explosion, no noise... In short, there had been no fireball. "What?" he mused aloud. "Is it your time of the month again?"

"I was supposed to have had my time of the month before that awful day in town," Lina snapped. "I thought I was late because of all the stress over Lecia, but now it's been long enough that there's really no doubt. My breasts are swollen and tender, and I've been feeling nauseated in the midmorning, although I haven't reached the puking stage yet."

Xellos just blinked up at her, uncomprehending. "And? Are you ill?" he asked, truly clueless. All he knew was that Lina was very, very put out by whatever she was going through.

His words, however, only earned him another swat upside the head with a pillow. "No, you idiot!" she spat, collapsing onto her knees at the end of the bed and placing a hand over her stomach. "I'm not sick, I'm pregnant!"

It took a few seconds for her words to sink in, and then his face nearly split as he grinned. "You're going to have another baby?" he asked, his insides suddenly feeling as if they were filled with butterflies. "We're having a second child?"

"I can't believe you did this to me AGAIN," she wailed, putting her hands over her face. "I HATE this!"

Xellos felt bad that Lina was so upset, but even his feelings for her couldn't dull the joy that was shooting like electricity through his system. "I can't believe it, either!" he crowed. "I'm going to be a father, again!"

"Shut up!" Lina cried. "This is awful!"

Xellos frowned a little bit. "I'm afraid I don't understand," he said. "Children are wonderful, little blessings! How can you not be absolutely thrilled?"

Lina dropped the pillow and socked him with her bare hand, leaving his face stinging. "You don't have to lug the damn thing around for nine months!" she growled. "And you definitely don't have to force it through a little tiny opening to bring it into the world."

"But this is our BABY, Lina!" he protested, heart soaring. He couldn't believe it! He was going to have another child! "This is wonderful!"

"Being pregnant is the pits, Xellos," she snapped. "I can look forward to puking, being sore, and perfect misery until the damn thing's born. Then we get to deal with all the screaming, spitting up, and pooping. I can't wait to weather more sleepless nights."

"But Lecia wasn't that bad," he said, eyebrows knitted.

"That's because you weren't there for the first several months of her life. By the time you got there she was pretty much past the worst part," Lina spat. "You have no idea how awful it was, to be all alone with my belly all swollen, having to deal with stares from everyone and not having even a little bit of my magical powers."

Xellos felt a lump rise in his throat as he realized she was on the verge of tears. He had no idea that it had been so awful for her. Bitter regret ripped through him as he realized he should have been there. He had wanted to be there, that was for certain. "I'm sorry I wasn't with you for Lecia's birth," he said, crawling over to her and taking her into his arms. "I would have given my very soul to have been with you through those trying times. I promise that this go around I'll be there every step of the way."

"Then you carry the damn child to term," Lina grumbled, but she relaxed against him nonetheless.

"I would if I could. You have no idea how bitter it is for me that I missed out on Lecia's birth."

"It was awful," she muttered, leaning her head back against his shoulder.

Xellos bent his body around hers and reached around her, gently putting his hands on her stomach. His long fingers fanned out over the fabric of her robe, his touch protective and respectful. "I, for one, am excited, my dearest. Anything we share is precious to me, and I look forward to being a truly human father to this new life we have made inside of you."

"Whatever," she growled, but she was sounding a little less angry.

"You and I share a beautiful thing," he explained into her ear. "This child is our new chance, an opportunity to do things the way we would have liked to do them with Lecia. This time I won't have to leave you. I'll be with you every step of the way, protecting you, caring for you..."

Lina grunted and looked away, but her hands slowly slid over his and rested there.

"I'm overjoyed," Xellos whispered to her. "You have made me the happiest man on the planet today. I can't tell you how elated it makes me to think of our blood mingling forever in a new life."

"I swore I'd never let this happen again," Lina replied, voice low. "I thought I was being careful."

"Well, it has, and I, for one, would prefer not to change it. It is your body, however, and if you really don't want to carry the child to term..."

"Xellos..."

"I just want you to know that every single one of our children will be precious to me, but I would never ask you to do something you so truly hated to do. I will admit that it would be a shame not to see what we could produce a second time. After all, a sorcery genius deserves to pass on all of her tricks, and I have a feeling Lecia will never have her mother's flair for wielding a sword."

Lina sighed and looked down at her flat stomach. "You promise you won't go anywhere this time?"

"I promise with all my heart and soul. If my life had been my own the first time you were with child I wouldn't have left you then, either."

Lina sat silently for some time, gently stroking his fingers. "Fine," she said. "We'll have the baby."

"You've made me so happy," he whispered, kissing her on the temple. She exhaled deeply and turned in his arms, taking his lips with her own. He had her on her back and things were just about to get interesting when Lecia burst into the room, making her parents nearly jump out of their skins as they pushed away from one another and pulled the covers up to their chins.

"I heard Mommy yelling," Lecia said, wide-eyed. "What's wrong?"

Xellos smiled and beckoned to his daughter, pulling her up onto the bed next to him. "Your Mommy told me some very good news just now," he said, beaming. He couldn't believe that he had to wait a whole nine months for the baby to be born. It was just too exciting.

"What?" Lecia asked, eyeing her mother dubiously.

"We're going to have a baby," he explained.

Lecia pursed her lips, lost in thought for several moments. "Will you still keep me?" she finally asked, scowling.

Xellos laughed. "Of course! You're our only Lecia, and you'll always be our first baby. We love you with all our hearts, and a new baby won't change that."

Lecia appeared to think the whole thing over again. "Why are you having a baby?"

Lina's face became red and she began to splutter. "Because we wanted you to have a playmate all of your very own," Xellos said smoothly. "It's not fair that you only have your mommy and me to play with."

"The baby will be my playmate?" the child asked.

Lina glanced at Xellos, then nodded. "Yeah. It'll be just yours to play with."

Lecia smiled. "I want a brother," she blurted.

Xellos raised his eyebrows. "What if it's not a boy? What if you get a sister?"

Lecia raised her chin imperiously. "I want a brother. Be sure it's a boy."

Lina and Xellos looked at one another, then broke out laughing. "We'll do our best," Xellos said, putting his hands on Lecia's waist and setting her down next to the bed. "Now go get ready for breakfast. I'll be up in a minute."

"Kay," Lecia shouted, running from the room.

Xellos turned and smiled at Lina, gently pushing her onto her back and pulling the covers down to reveal her abdomen. Leaning down, he kissed the silky skin of her belly, closing his eyes as he did so. "Grow well, my little treasure," he murmured into her navel, then gazed adoringly at Lina. "You are absolutely amazing," he told her.

Lina smiled down at him smugly. "I know," she replied. "Now go make breakfast."

There had been some embarrassing "how are babies made" questions posed by Lecia at breakfast, but Xellos had parried them neatly and promised he would explain everything later. He stood at the sink, cleaning up the dishes, and every once in a while glanced into the garden to make sure Lecia was still happily chasing her ball. Actually, the little girl would kick the ball ferociously around the terrace, then sit with it in front of her, concentrating. He was proud to note that the ball would rise off the ground a few inches before she lost control of the spell and the ball fell, bouncing away. Fetching a glass, he poured Lina some juice and set it down in front of her.

"Thanks," she said, sighing and looking out into the garden at Lecia.

"Is it really so awful, dearest Lina?" he asked softly. "Do you really regret Lecia so much that the thought of having another turns your stomach so?"

Lina took a drink of her juice and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "Not any more, I guess, but I really never wanted to have kids at all. Now I'm going to be saddled with two of them."

Xellos moved around the table and knelt by her, reaching up and grabbing the ring that hung around his neck. He channeled all his regret and sadness at not being there for her first pregnancy and the beginning of Lecia's life into the ring, hoping she would feel it and understand. "I'm so sorry," he murmured, putting his head into her lap, and her face softened.

"I know," she sighed, fingers toying with his heavy, glossy locks. "But Lecia's fun, now that she's older. I think soon I'll be able to start teaching her about magic in earnest."

"I promise I'll be there every step of the way this time," Xellos murmured. "You won't have to travel alone, powerless, with my child, and I'll be with you when it's born."

"Yeah, you had better take good care of me when I start puking every morning," she growled. "And you had better let me pound you thoroughly after the labor. It was so scary, Xellos, and it hurt so much. I don't know what I would have done if Filia hadn't been there. She's pretty uptight, but she took really great care of me."

Xellos sat up and rocked back on his heels, not bothering to suppress the look of distaste on his face. "Oh, yes, I had forgotten Filia was involved," he said coldly. "What an annoying, insufferable woman. I suppose she did serve a purpose, though."

"I see there's still a bit of Monster left in you," Lina said wryly.

Xellos raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps. Or it could just be that she's a tiring person to be around."

Uneasiness settled around him as a strange glint appeared in Lina's eyes. Her full lips curled in a wicked smile and a chilly laugh came from her mouth. "I know exactly how to repay you for getting me pregnant again," she cackled.

Xellos was actually sort of afraid. Lina was positively evil sometimes, and she really had no reserves about making life miserable for someone else. "As I recall, you were also heavily involved in the conception of our children," he replied archly. "Do you remember the old adage, 'fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me'?"

"I'll admit that I should have been more careful, but it's too late for that now. Besides, you don't know what to expect from my pregnancy, and you wouldn't have the faintest idea what to do if I suddenly went into labor. I don't have any magical powers, and you certainly don't know any healing spells. What if something bad happened?"

"I'd call a midwife, of course."

"But how fast could you get her here? It only takes a second for something to go horribly wrong."

Xellos stared at Lina flatly, emotions battling within him. She was frightening him, damn it, and he was also sort of put off by her manipulations as well. Still, he really didn't want anything to happen to her. She was his heart and soul and he couldn't fathom living without her. "All right," he said slowly. "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"I'd like to be with someone who can heal me if something happens, someone who knows what to expect from my labor and is kind and compassionate," she replied, her wolfish smile growing.

Xellos swallowed hard. Sometimes Lina could be just as frightening and demanding as his ex-mistress Xellas. "And?"

"We don't have any friends in this town, and nothing is holding us here. Why don't we take a trip to visit our dear friend Filia?"

Xellos felt himself pale. "Filia?" he said stiffly. "Are you sure that's what you want to do? That's a very long sea voyage, not to mention the trip over land once we get there. Do you really think a woman in your condition should undertake such a journey?"

Lina stood, taking his hand and pulling him up alongside her. Her face took on a bizarre, sultry expression and she sort of leaned in to him, eyelids half lowered as she smiled. "I don't have anything to worry about with my big, strong man there to take care of little ol' me," she purred, drawing circles on his chest with her index finger.

"Oh, really," he groaned, rolling his eyes. "Please at least leave me with my dignity, since you're going to subject me to that dragon woman."

"It's settled then," Lina said, dropping her act immediately. "You get me pregnant, you have to live with having Filia around. Sound fair?"

"Absolutely not, but it seems I have to choice if I want to be absolutely certain of your health," he mumbled.

"I thought you'd see it my way," she smiled, then her expression became anxious and she threw her arms around him impulsively, holding him close.

His brows knitted in consternation and he folded himself around her in a tight embrace. "Are you all right?" he murmured, kissing her on the forehead.

"Yeah," she muttered into his shirt. "But being pregnant sort of scares me. I can't use my powers for a whole nine months, and I hate relying on other people, I just hate it. I don't have a choice, though. I also worry because what if something like what happened a couple of weeks ago happens again? I wouldn't be able to protect her, or help you if you needed it."

He stroked her silky hair, pressing his lips to the crown of her head, and sighed. "Just one more reason to go visit Filia, I suppose," he conceded. "Adding her magic and Val's to mine would make us invincible against whatever threat the Monsters could cook up, or she could look after you and Lecia and protect you in case I needed to do battle."

"Do you really hate Filia so much?" Lina asked, looking up into his eyes.

He found that he could hate precious little as long as he had her slender, lithe body in his arms and she looked at him with those beautiful, intelligent eyes. "No," he admitted. "I just find her incredibly tedious. She's really far too uptight, and the only time she is ever fun is when she loses her temper."

"I don't want any trouble there, Xellos," Lina said with a scowl.

He smiled archly and chuckled. "You know me, dearest," he replied. "I can't make any promises like that whatsoever."

"You're impossible," she sighed, releasing him and shaking her head.

"That's why you keep me around," he chuckled. "No one else could keep you on your toes like I can." He smiled at her as she continued to mumble to herself and shake her head. Going to the door, he watched Lecia play for a while more. "We have news for you, little one," he called to her, and the little girl came running over.

"Look, Daddy!" Lecia said, holding out her hand. The ball wobbled through the air and up to her palm, where her little fingers gripped it.

Xellos crouched and clapped his hands. "Great job!" he exclaimed, gathering her into his arms and giving her a big, wet kiss on the side of her face as she giggled. "You're going to be the best sorceress in the world!"

"I know," she replied, throwing her little arms around his neck. "What's going on?"

"We're moving," he said gently, not wanting to upset her. "We're going to go visit some old friends. Is that okay with you?"

Lecia let him go and took a few steps back, looking at the gardens and house. "Where?"

"Quite a ways, I'm afraid. It will probably take us a few months to get there. There's a nice lady where we're going, and she has a little boy for you to be friends with."

"We have to leave our house?"

"Yes, we'll need to sell it to make sure we have more than enough money to move. But you can take all your toys and such with you."

Lecia frowned, studying her father. "I guess we can go, then. I don't have friends here. How are you gonna carry our stuff?"

Xellos smiled and closed his eyes, raising his index finger. "It's a secret," he murmured.

Lecia's eyes went wide and she took a deep breath. "Moooooommmmyyyy!!" she cried, running toward the house. "Daddy's keeping secrets again!"

"Xellos!" he heard Lina roar from inside, and he stood, chuckling. They might be an odd little family, but he wouldn't have traded it for the world.

It took them a few weeks to sell their massive house. They had to leave the furniture behind, since as a human Xellos couldn't pack it in one of the magical bags he had made as a Monster. All their books, clothes, and valuables went into the enchanted sacks, however, and in the end everything seemed to fit in Xellos' satchel quite nicely. "What IS that thing?" Lina mumbled as she watched him stuff the last of the large sacks into the nondescript leather bag at his side.

Xellos gripped his staff and smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder blade as he escorted his family out the door. "It's actually a gateway into a pocket dimension. I could even put you and Lecia in there, except that I don't know if there are any odd creatures roaming around. I've never been there myself, you see."

"Uh, that's okay," Lina replied. "I really don't fancy the thought of you putting me into your satchel."

"Me, neither," Xellos admitted. "I like having you where I can gaze upon your loveliness."

The bridge of Lina's nose turned pink and she looked away, grumbling.

"Say goodbye to the house, Daddy!" Lecia commanded, holding on to Lina's hand.

Xellos smiled at his daughter. "Goodbye, house," he said solemnly, bowing. "You've been good to us."

"Bye, house!" Lecia echoed, waving. "Let's go! I wanna see the world!"

Lina laughed, patting her daughter on the head. "That's my girl," she murmured, and they set off.

The sea voyage was very difficult for Lina, and Xellos worried about her almost constantly. She had entered the stage where she was sick in the mornings, and the rocking of the vessel was torture for her already-roiling stomach. "I'm sorry," Xellos said to her over and over again as he wiped the sweat from her brow with a cool, damp cloth. "If I was still a Monster I could have just teleported us all there."

"If you were still a Monster I never would have gotten pregnant," she growled through clenched teeth. "But if you were still a Monster, I wouldn't have been nearly as happy. I'm glad you're a human, Xellos. Even this is worth it."

"Are you okay, Mommy?" Lecia asked repeatedly, hovering.

"I'm fine, it's just part of having babies," Lina replied weakly. "It wouldn't be nearly so bad if we weren't on a boat. I don't usually get seasick, but I think this is an unusual circumstance."

Xellos looked on in agony, frustrated that he could do nothing to help Lina. "Hang on," he said gently.

"Oh, shut up," Lina grumbled. "I'm the strongest person you'll ever meet. I'll be fine."

He smiled. "I know, I know, but I can still worry, can't I?"

"Only because you're an idiot," she said, and that was the end of the conversation.

Xellos was overjoyed when they hit dry land again, actually picking Lina up and carrying her ashore despite her protests. Lecia pranced around his legs as he walked, talking about the things she had seen in the ocean, and Xellos immediately checked them into an inn. They fell into bed, exhausted, early that evening, and set out over land the next day. Xellos tried to hire horses, but Lina insisted that walking helped ease her discomfort, and so they continued their long journey in that manner.

"Are we there yet?" Lecia whined after a few weeks on the road. "I'm tired."

"We're about forty miles outside of Cleffary," Xellos told her. "We'll have to camp out again."

Lina turned to him and frowned. "You have to let me take a watch tonight, Xellos," she said sharply. "You're going to collapse if you keep staying up the whole night."

"I've never needed much sleep, even as a human," he replied stiffly. "Besides, it's your health that is important."

"Yeah, but what am I supposed to do if you collapse on me? What then?"

Xellos sighed. "You have a point," he admitted. "Fine, I'll let you take a watch tonight, but you have to promise that you'll wake me if anything happens."

Nothing did happen, and they agreed to the same arrangement the following night. Nightfall was only an hour away as they veered off the road, setting up camp. Lina was just beginning to show, her belly slightly more rounded than flat, and she was becoming increasingly cranky. Xellos was about to begin preparing supper when Lina went perfectly still, a tight expression on her face. "Something's coming," she murmured.

Xellos extinguished the fire and stood, concentrating. She was right, something was headed right for them. It wasn't incredibly powerful, but he found that he didn't want to fight in such tight quarters with Lina and their daughter around. One of them could get hurt. "Gather your things and be ready to flee," he said sharply, and not even Lina bothered to argue with him.

As it came closer he could clearly tell that it was a Monster, and as such would be twice as difficult to deal with. He was more than strong enough to defeat it, but there was no time to get Lina and Lecia to safety. "What is it, Daddy?" Lecia asked, voice scared.

"An enemy," he murmured.

"Is it strong?" Lina whispered.

"Not particularly, but it'll be faster than we are, and I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'm scared," Lecia squeaked.

"Don't worry, little one," Xellos replied. "I'll protect you. Just stay as close to me as you possibly can when it arrives."

It turned out that the Monster arrived just a few seconds later, charging into the tight clearing and right into Xellos' trap spell. He scowled at the ease with which he trapped beast, and their battle was brief. Xellos plunged his staff through the Monster's back and cast a spell, ripping it to pieces, and the thing died with a single moan. Suddenly the Monster's body began to break down and give off an awful, smelly gas. Xellos recognized the smell immediately and began to cough. The substance was highly poisonous and could kill a normal human with one whiff. Damn them, they had wanted him to kill the beast easily! "Don't breathe!" he shouted, whirling on his family. "Lecia, cover your mouth and nose right now!"

The two females did as he asked and he ran toward them, coughing. "It's a poisonous gas," he wheezed. "We've been tricked."

"We can't outrun it, Xellos," Lina said, eyes wide. "It's moving too quickly in this wind. We'll die!"

Lecia clung to her mother and began to cry. "Cover your mouths!" Xellos snapped. "We have one chance. Hold to me as tightly as you can," he commanded, gathering Lina and Lecia to him as close as he could. It would take every ounce of his strength and might just kill him, but he had to try it. Even if he died, it would be worth it if his family was safe. Concentrating, he grabbed hold of his females and pulled them onto the astral plane.

Lina gasped as they reappeared, looking up into Xellos' eyes and seeing incredible relief there. He smiled down at her and mouthed something, but she was too focused on the intense emotions in his gaze to understand what he was trying to say. Then his facial muscles relaxed strangely, and before she knew what was happening he crumpled to the ground and lay still. "Daddy!" she heard Lecia scream, and she looked around. They weren't in the forest, and grass was not beneath their feet. They stood in the common room of an inn, the occupants staring at them wide-eyed.

"Xellos!" she gasped, kneeling. He wasn't breathing, nor was his heart beating. "Xellos!" she cried, shaking him. No, no, he couldn't be dead, he couldn't have given his life to save him. He was smarter than that, he was stronger than that. "Don't leave me," she croaked, tears forming in her eyes. She didn't want him to die, he was too important to her. He had always taken such good care of her, regardless of what he was feeling. He might be manipulative, sneaky, and irritating at times, but she knew she could depend on him and she didn't want to let him go. Sitting up, she looked around at the startled faces of the people around her. "Don't just stand there, help us!" she shouted, and a couple of men moved to her side.

"What can we do?" one of the men asked.

"Put your hands on the center of his chest and press down firmly. Don't do it too hard, and make sure you're going straight up and down, otherwise you'll break his ribs, puncture a lung, and then there's no way we'll save him," Lina ordered. "I'm going to breathe into him while you try to get his heart started."

The man nodded and got into position, the other one gently stroking Lecia's hair as she cried. "Go!" Lina ordered, tipping Xellos' head back and pinching his nose shut. She sealed her mouth against his and gave him her breath, praying that it would be enough.

Ten minutes later they were about to give up, Xellos' face ashen, and tears rolled down Lina's face as the men traded off. "Please," she begged. "Please don't go. We finally had a life together, one that could make us happy. Don't you do this to me after all we've been through."

"Daddy," Lecia sobbed, breaking free of the man and running over to Xellos, grabbing his hand and pressing it to her small face.

The man pressing on Xellos' chest did not stop, however, and with the next breaths Lina gave him, Xellos gasped and twitched. Lina motioned for the man to hold still and put two trembling fingers to Xellos' neck, searching for a pulse. It was thready and weak, but at least it was there. He moaned and took a deep breath, then held still. "Do you have any rooms?" she asked the innkeeper, who stood behind the counter, dumbstruck.

"S-sure," he stammered, fumbling with some keys.

"Help me get him upstairs," Lina ordered the two men, taking control of her daughter as the fellows hoisted Xellos into the air and followed the innkeeper to a room. They got Xellos settled on the bed, Lina pressing coins into the hands of the men and the innkeeper and put in an order for food. They left her then and she turned to Lecia, who was rubbing her teary eyes. "Go fetch a cool, damp cloth," she commanded, and the child rushed from the room. Sighing, she realized what a good girl Lecia was. She would be five years old by the time the baby was born.

Scooting over next to Xellos, she put a hand on his chest and one on his pulse. He was still unconscious, but his heartbeat seemed a bit stronger. "I knew you wouldn't let me down," she murmured. "You want me as much as I want you."

Lecia returned a moment later with the cloth and the announcement that food would be up shortly. Lina thanked the child and dabbed at Xellos' forehead. "Mommy, what happened?" Lecia asked, crawling up on the bed next to her father and taking his large hand in her small one.

"He used up too much power," she replied. "He'll be okay, though. At least until he wakes up, when I just might pound him."

"Daddy saved us," Lecia murmured.

"I knew he would," she replied.

The next morning Xellos woke up and Lina gave him a big, angry piece of her mind. She yelled at him for a good fifteen minutes, then threw herself on him and squeezed him as hard as she could. "Don't you ever scare me like that again," she hissed.

Xellos laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "I don't intend to, dearest," he murmured. "I'm sorry to have frightened you, but it was the only way to get you out of there."

"Speaking of which," Lina said, pushing herself off his chest. "How did you manage to do that?"

"My astral form is still quite substantial, and I retained quite a bit of power despite losing some of my Monster characteristics. I still have the ability to pull your physical body onto a different plane and move with you, but unlike before, I must also now pull my own physical body along instead of recreating it. Because of that, the entire process causes me great physical strain, and I wasn't certain I could accomplish it without dying. Now we know, apparently."

Lina felt her heart grow heavy in her chest and she gripped him tightly, her knuckles white. "We almost lost you," she growled. "Don't ever do it again, not even to save me."

"Lina, darling," he murmured, his eyes catching hers, and suddenly she didn't know if she could bear the emotion she saw in his gaze. His voice wrapped around her like cool silk and she wanted nothing more than to give in to it, to lay her head on his chest and let him carry her off. "I told you before that I would give up my very soul for you, and I meant it. You and Lecia are the only things I have held precious in my entire existence, and I will not let you be harmed."

Warmth spread through her body and she knew she was blushing. She had always been awful at these tender, mushy situations; her pride just wouldn't allow her to express herself, not to mention she had an image to uphold. The desire to tell him that she felt the same way about him was great, but their relationship was also too bizarre to speak about so casually. The words stuck in her throat and she swallowed them back, grunting in response instead. Besides, it frightened her how much Xellos had come to mean to her. It was expected with Gourry. He had been her companion for years and her first love, and he was human and loving, to boot. How to explain the feelings that had begun for the odd, intermittently human man that was now in her life? "Whatever," was all she managed to reply, setting her head back down on his chest and enjoying the way his strong, graceful fingers felt as they ran through her hair. Xellos' weight shifted and Lina looked across Xellos' chest to see Lecia lying in the curve of her father's shoulder, smiling with her eyes closed.

"Lina," Xellos began, voice thick with emotion, and she felt her heart leap into her throat, her stomach going all a-flutter.

She sat up, prepared to hear whatever it was he had to say, when suddenly a bout of nausea snatched her up. Rolling away from the bed, she tottered down the hall to the bathroom, where she began to throw up in earnest. Her forehead rested against the cool porcelain of the basin and she sighed, feeling sweat bead at her hairline. She might care for Xellos, but she sure hated being pregnant, his child or no.

"Mommy?" she heard, and she weakly turned her head to look at Lecia.

"Yeah?"

"Daddy said for me to ask if you're okay," the little girl said, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"I'm fine, although he should feel bad about what he did to me," Lina replied gruffly.

"What did he do to you?"

"He's the reason I'm pregnant," Lina explained. "Your daddy's the one that put the baby inside of me."

Lecia's eyes widened. "Daddy has lots of powers, doesn't he?"

Lina couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's comment. "Yes, he does. His powers are great enough that I, who never wanted to get pregnant, will end up with two kids."

"Lina?" Xellos' voice came from outside. "Are you okay? Is anyone else in there?"

"We're alone, Daddy," Lecia answered, and a split-second later Xellos burst into the room and rushed to her.

"See what you did to me?" Lina grumbled with a curl of her lip.

"I'm sorry you're so miserable," Xellos said gently, rubbing his hands along her spine. "I wish it wasn't like this, but I can't tell you how excited I am about the baby."

"Screw you," she growled, closing her eyes as another wave of nausea broke over her.

She could tell Xellos was smiling without even turning around. "Isn't that what got us into trouble in the first place?" he murmured, then gathered her hair behind her head as she started to vomit again. His touch was cool and gentle against her skin, and although the indignity of it rankled, she was glad he was there. The first time had been awful, dealing with the sickness and heaviness all by herself.

When she was finished he pulled her into his lap, heedless of her smelly breath and sweaty skin. He smoothed the bangs away from her forehead and kissed her, cradling her body gently. "This is awful," she muttered, resting her head on his chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, kissing her on the forehead again. She sighed and relaxed, and for a moment she felt like she was melting into him, their bodies becoming one. It was so nice to have him hold her and take care of her, to dote on her and pay attention to her every whim without having to be brought to task. Xellos never needed to be told what to do, he always just knew. Perhaps eons of observing others in order to manipulate them prepared him for reading her so well. Whatever the reason, as awful as she felt at the moment, she really appreciated his ability.

"Daddy, there's a woman coming to use the bathroom," Lecia said in hushed tones, looking very conspiratorial as she moved out into the hallway.

"We'd best be on our way, then," Xellos replied with a smile, and Lina made a sharp noise as he stood, sweeping her off the floor in one smooth, breathtaking motion and taking her back to their room.

The next few months were very hard. In the interest of making their journey by sea as short as possible, their initial landing on the other continent had been placed hundreds of miles away from the village where Filia lived. Even though they had been walking steadily, they weren't making much headway. Lina couldn't handle more than ten or fifteen miles a day, and so the going was painfully slow. Lina insisted that she could go farther, wanted to go farther, but Xellos knew that she would regret it if she pushed herself. He understood her frustration, but he also realized it was for the best. Her health and the health of their unborn child was worth the agonizing pace. Matters weren't helped by the fact that Lina needed more rest than she was getting, especially since she insisted on helping Xellos with the watches. Even when he did sleep it could not be considered rest. Every night he dreamed about some nameless creature arriving and stealing away his family while he slumbered, and he woke several times, always panting and in a cold sweat.

Xellos knew there was something else on the horizon, and the knowledge ate away at him day by day. Watching Lecia skip down the road in front of him as they walked, he had to clench his jaw against the desire to call her back to his side and make her walk close to him and her mother. Doing such a thing would just suffocate the girl, he realized, and he wanted her to be happy and free. Lecia's childhood should be lived carefree, in his opinion, and so he didn't call her back to him but let her run and play as she would. He just kept a closer eye out, that was all.

Matters weren't helped by the fact that the memory of the strange attack was still fresh in his mind, not to mention the kidnapping. Dynast and Dolphin were almost certainly out of commission, so where were these other Monsters coming from? Although he hadn't said anything to Lina, he was almost completely certain that it had been a Monster that had commissioned Lecia's abduction. Why pay a human to steal a child? Why hadn't the Monster just tried to take her itself? He wished bitterly that he had given chase to the perpetrator, but his concern for his daughter had taken precedence. Something was afoot, and Xellos, so often the master of subterfuge and information, detested being kept ignorant.

"That's it," Lina said sharply, snapping him out of his dark pondering.

Xellos kept walking, then realized Lina had come to a complete stop in the middle of the road. "What's the matter?" he asked, halting.

Lina crouched over a little, hands resting on her knees, and squeezed her eyes shut. She stayed like that for a few moments, then groaned and put her hands on the small of her back, bending backwards. "This is awful," she growled. "I hate this."

Xellos sighed and scratched at his temple. "I know, dearest, but I don't see what choice we have."

"Why do we even have to keep walking?" she complained.

"Because someone wanted to go visit Filia," he replied, unable to keep a snide tone from his voice.

"Shut up," she snapped. "This is all your fault, anyway."

Xellos raised an eyebrow but didn't answer, instead scanning the road for Lecia. She was a couple of hundred meters ahead of them, and he called out to her, telling her to come back for a rest. The little girl waved and turned back, trudging along as she came nearer. When he was satisfied she would, in fact, return he gave his attention to Lina. He knew she was sore and tired, but he was tired as well. "I fail to see how," he said coldly.

"If it wasn't for you I wouldn't feel like a damn house because of your stupid baby," she growled.

All the strain and exhaustion Xellos felt caught up with him at that very moment, nearly bringing him to his knees. "I'm terribly sorry for your distress, but I'm afraid it's not entirely my fault."

"How dare you say that?" Lina snapped, eyes blazing as she put her hands on her hips.

"I dare because you had no problem at all spreading your legs for me at any given moment," he said sharply. "It takes two people to make a child, Lina, and you certainly did your part."

He immediately wished he had swallowed his words and just agreed with her when he saw her face redden. Her ruby-colored eyes flickered like fire as she turned the full force of her furious stare on him, cheeks blazing. "How DARE you talk about me like I was some sort of streetwalker!" she cried, curling her hands into fists and brandishing one at him. "You're lucky I'm even having your brats!"

"Oh, hush," he grumbled. "I didn't force you to have these children, and you could have left me at any time. It's not like I'm your husband."

Her face went from flushed to pale in mere seconds and he knew he was really in trouble. He wished he was able to hold his tongue, but his exhaustion was obviously clouding his better judgment. "Don't even get started!" Lina hissed.

"We're not married, Lina," he continued sharply. "You don't have any obligation to me, nor I to you. If you don't like the way things are, change them, but don't take out your frustration on me. I certainly don't need it. Unlike Gourry, I refuse to be your punching bag."

Lina's lower lip trembled and he cursed himself for actually speaking his mind. "Gourry made sure that I was taken care of, and he wasn't ever mean to me like you are being right now!" she cried. "I wish it was Gourry's children I had and not yours!"

He recoiled like he had been slapped and stared at her coldly, her words cutting right to the bone. "Then find him and have his children," he said softly, eyes glinting. "Just send word when the baby's born and I'll come to fetch it."

Lecia had returned and tugged at Xellos' sleeve, looking up at him with large, worried eyes. "Daddy, what's wrong?" she murmured, glancing at her mother.

"Your mother and I are having a discussion," he said tightly.

Lecia turned to Lina. "Mommy, why are you yelling?"

"Because your father is an awful, heartless man," Lina snapped, eyes moist. "I wish I had never met up with him. I wish he had just stayed away so I could be happy."

"But, Mommy," Lecia murmured, letting go of Xellos' sleeve and taking a few steps toward Lina.

Xellos felt an awful tightness in his chest, the sensation a mixture of anger, hurt, fear, and exhaustion. He was just so tired, and Lina's mood swings weren't helping. She usually changed moods at the drop of a hat, but it seemed that the further along her pregnancy she got, the worse it became. Frankly, he was too tired to deal with it. "Leave her alone, Lecia. She'll lament her life until she's blue in the face and never realize it's her own fault."

"I hate you!" Lina screamed. "I hate you and I wish I had never met you!"

Her proclamation felt like a knife twisting in his gut and he thought for a moment that the very blood in his veins had frozen. "Do you mean that?" he whispered. "Do you really hate me and want me to leave?"

Lina's face crumpled and she stared at him helplessly for a moment, then burst into tears and stumbled from the road, crashing through the brush. "Mommy!" Lecia screamed, then began to cry as well.

Xellos blinked numbly at the place where Lina had disappeared for a few minutes, unable to work past the echo of her words inside his head. It was several more moments before Lecia's crying penetrated his consciousness, and he looked down at her as if he'd never seen her before in his entire life. The little girl's dark hair shone in the sunlight and her face was streaked with dust and tears. She was so pretty and so pitiful at the same time that he wanted to break down and cry himself. "Lecia?" he asked, lips feeling cold.

"Daddy, why?" Lecia sobbed, throwing herself at him. He gathered her up in his arms and pressed her head against his shoulder, stroking her hair.

"We're just tired, little one," he murmured, closing his eyes. "We've all been traveling for a very long time and it's starting to wear us out. Besides, your mommy's body is put under a lot of stress by the baby, and sometimes it's hard for her to deal with that, especially because she's tired."

"Is Mommy going to leave? Are you?"

The child's questions struck him to the core. Were Lina's words the ramblings of an exhausted woman, or did she mean them in earnest? For the first time it occurred to him that Lina might really want to leave, or want him to leave. "I don't know," he said truthfully, burying his nose in the girl's hair.

Lecia hid her face in the fabric of his shirt, clinging to him. "I don't want you or Mommy to leave," she mumbled, her sobs quieting a little.

"I don't want us to split up, either," he replied gently. "I think that everything will be okay, though. I just need to talk to Mommy so we can work this out."

Lecia nodded against his chest and sniffled. "Kay," she murmured.

Xellos stepped off the road and into the woods, following the trail of crushed vegetation Lina had left in her wake. He couldn't hear her just yet, but he was certain that he would as they drew closer. They passed through a small, bright clearing next to a stream and Xellos decided it was as good a place as any for Lecia to play. He set her down in the grass amidst the flowers and walked in a circle around her, keeping his steps to just a foot shy of the undergrowth. Making small scratches in the earth as he went, he completed the circle and went over to his daughter. "I'm going to go find your mom and we're going to have a grown-up talk for a little while, okay?"

"Okay," Lecia said.

"I want you to stay inside the circle I marked. I'm going to cast a barrier once I've left the clearing, so nothing can get in and harm you. Just be very, very careful not to walk into the barrier yourself, or you might get hurt. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she replied, nodding her little head.

"That's my girl," he murmured, rummaging through his bag and finding a few books and toys for her. "I'll be back in a little while."

Lecia suddenly grabbed hold of him and squeezed. "I love you, Daddy," she mumbled, eyes squeezed shut.

Xellos bent and put his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "I love you, too, Lecia," he murmured, then kissed her on the face. He waited a moment to make sure that she would have enough to occupy her time, then left the clearing. The barrier spell was his strongest and left him feeling a bit drained, but it was worth it to have his daughter safe. Now all that was left was to find Lina and clear things up with her.

It wasn't difficult to track her through the woods. Pregnant women weren't able to run very fast or for very long, and it was mere minutes before he came upon her, sitting on a fallen log and crying. "Lina," he said gently, steeling himself for more yelling.

Lina glanced up at him but didn't answer, instead continuing to sob quietly and wipe her eyes on her sleeves.

A cold lump settled in his chest and he took a deep breath, leveling a look at her. "Did you mean what you said?" he blurted. "Do you really hate me?"

Lina just began to cry harder at his words.

Sighing, he went over to her and sat, pulling her into his arms and stroking her hair. "I'm sorry I upset you," he murmured. "I'm tired and impatient, and I know that's no excuse. I shouldn't have said any of those things. I didn't mean them."

"I can't believe what you said about me spreading my legs," she sniffled, letting him hold her.

"That was an awful, awful thing to say, dearest, and I apologize. I'm so very sorry."

"Don't you realize that I want you?" she said, hiccuping. "I want you all the time, and I can't explain it. When we're... When you're inside of me, everything is perfect and wonderful, just like it should be. I feel safe and cared for and like nothing will ever matter so much ever again."

"So you don't hate me?"

"No, you moron!" she blubbered. "I want you around, I like having you around. I like the way you look at me, like there's nothing else in the world. I like the way you touch me, like I'm a bolt of lightning and a beautiful flower all at the same time."

He took a deep breath and pulled her into his lap, cradling her body with his. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"I just don't understand how you could say those things when I feel so awful already."

He realized then just how strongly he felt for her and horror overcame him that such words could leave his mouth and betray his feelings so. "I don't know. I'm just tired, and I know you are as well. It must be very, very difficult to travel so far and for so long while trying to grow another life inside of you."

"It's very draining," she murmured, her tears abating somewhat. "I hate feeling so big, being so tired all the time, and having things swell. My ankles hurt, my back hurts, and my breasts are tender. It doesn't help that I'm hungry all the damn time and I really, really want to make love to you constantly and can't."

Her last words came as quite a shock to him and he went perfectly still. When he had found out she was pregnant he immediately began to read up on it while they were waiting to sell their house. He had read about that side effect of pregnancy, but he hadn't thought that she was exhibiting it. In fact, he had thought quite the opposite, since she had avoided his touches ever since they began their journey. "Why not?" he asked in a small voice, trying not to squirm.

"Because of Lecia!" she cried, smacking him weakly on the chest. "If she wasn't around I'd have you on your back a good ninety percent of the time."

Xellos swallowed hard. "Oh, my," he said, mouth going dry.

"It's just awful," she pouted.

He wrapped his arms around her more tightly, trying to banish the erotic thoughts he was having, when he happened to glance down at her. The first thing his eyes were drawn to was the cleft between her breasts and he felt his body temperature rose. "I agree," he said breathlessly. "It is indeed awful."

They were silent for a few moments more, her body held close to his, and her crying quietly subsided. "I'm sorry I said I hated you," she murmured.

"It's all right," he replied. "I'm glad you didn't mean it."

"Well, I didn't."

"Good. I don't think such harsh words should ever be exchanged by us again. I promise I will try to see to your needs better and take care of you."

"Where's Lecia?" Lina asked, shifting slightly, and he prayed that she wouldn't feel how aroused she had made him.

"She's back in a clearing."

"By herself?"

"I'm afraid so. I didn't know what else to do, so I put up some barriers around her and left her with some toys."

Lina paused for a moment, finger resting on her lower lip. "How long will that barrier last?"

"Five days."

"Oh, that's plenty of time, then."

He frowned slightly and looked down at her. "For what?" he asked, then saw the diabolical look in her eyes.

She sat up in his lap and face him, hands resting against his chest. Her belly stuck out just a little ways in the space between them and she smiled. "My mother always used to say that the best part of fighting was making up. I never understood what she meant until now."

Xellos was about to ask what she meant when she slid off of his lap and dropped her trousers. "Oh," was all he could say as she leaned forward and undid his pants, holding him as she straddled him and sat down on him. She had, apparently, noticed his arousal and was planning to make good use of it. "Lina," he moaned, eyes nearly rolling back in his head.

She gripped his shoulders roughly and took his earlobe between her teeth. "I want you ALL the time," she growled, and thrust her hips forward.

He gasped and put a hand on the log to steady himself, reaching up and putting the other one on her back. A low groan left her chest and she began to move on his length, eyes closed and cheeks flushed. Soft, wet sounds accompanied her movements, and it wasn't long before they were both breathing like musk oxen and clinging to one another for all they were worth. Gentle, rhythmic grunts left him as he used all his force to move against her, sweat running down the sides of his face as his stomach muscles clenched with the effort. He slid a hand up the front of her shirt to her breast, gripping it roughly as she picked up the pace. Her skin whispered softly against his and she leaned forward, taking him in a burning kiss and burying her hands in his hair. A moan left his body with every thrust and she clung to him as if she was drowning, mouth open and gasping.

Then Lina pushed against him too hard and the fabric of his glove slipped across the bark of the log they were sitting on. Xellos lost his balance with a cry and toppled over the log, landing heavily on his back. Attached as they were, Lina followed him and they paused in their motion, looking at one another in shock. Xellos blinked at her, seeing the same expression of surprise written on her face, and then glanced at where their bodies were joined. Lina, to her credit, didn't miss a heartbeat. She locked eyes with him and began to laugh. "When Lina Inverse wants you on your back, you WILL be on your back," she said with a grin, and he joined in her mirth. He laughed with her until she moved on him again and drove all other thoughts from his head. There wasn't much he could do about it, though, since his legs were still draped over the log behind Lina, and she obviously wasn't going to let him go anywhere. She planted her hands on his stomach, thrusting her fingers beneath his shirt, and began to ride him in earnest. Clamping his hands down on her hips, he held her to him until her entire body spasmed and she leaned back against his thighs, panting. Carried along by her passion, he continued for a few moments more and then was finished himself, closing his eyes and lying in the pine needles and grass beneath him.

"As much as I adore her, I find myself sometimes wishing that Lecia wasn't traveling with us," he panted, hardly able to focus past the pounding of his heart.

Lina laughed. "Well, I certainly feel better," she replied.

Xellos continued to lie on the forest floor, letting his body cool as he struggled for breath. "Do you forgive me now?" he said softly.

Lina leaned over him and kissed him on the mouth, her lips sweet and warm against his. "Yes," she whispered. "Do you forgive me?"

"Of course," he murmured, craning his neck upward to catch her lips again.

Lina smiled slowly, appearing as if she would start to purr at any moment. "I wish we could just lie here a while longer," she said with a coy sigh.

"I'm the one lying," Xellos replied. "You're actually still sitting."

Lina laughed, the sound like silvery bells in his hearing. "What a sight we'd make if someone happened upon us like this!"

He chuckled and propped himself up on his elbows. "I'd like to stay here, too, and catch up on our sleep."

She sobered and got off of him, movements reluctant. "We really should be getting back to Lecia, though," she said with a sigh.

"True, true," he murmured, watching her retrieve her trousers and dress. He tucked himself back into his pants and stood, shaking out his cloak of pine needles and other forest litter. "I'm going to have to launder this, now," he muttered.

Lina sat on the log and watched him with quiet eyes, smiling faintly.

He caught her look and put on his cloak. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said with a shrug. "I just like you, that's all."

Xellos snorted a laugh and went over to her, taking her hand and helping her stand. "I'm very happy that you like me. I like you, too." He took a deep breath. Now was as good a time as any. "Lina, I more than like you. I-"

"You don't realize the import of my words," she said, cutting him off quickly. She had a rather frantic look in her eye, and her abruptness ruined the good mood he had experienced just moments before. She must have known what he would say, and obviously didn't feel the same way, otherwise she would have let him finish.

"Oh?" he asked her, defeated.

"Yes," she replied, taking his hand. "You see, there aren't too many people I've found in this life who I actually like to spend time with, even fewer that I like and respect at the same time. It takes a lot for me to actually appreciate someone's company, but I really enjoy having you around."

He gave her hand a squeeze, fighting down the disappointment that rose within him. Of course she couldn't feel for him the way he felt about her. After all, her heart was still most likely taken up by Gourry. She had sworn that she would always love the swordsman, and Lina very rarely broke her word. "I appreciate that," he murmured in reply. "I'm pleased I can help you pass the time enjoyably."

She glanced at him as they walked along, expression a little rumpled. "You're a silly man, you know that?" she said, and when he pressed her to explain she merely pursed her lips and fell silent.

When they reached the clearing the lighthearted, affectionate atmosphere of their hurried lovemaking had completely passed, replaced by an air of faint estrangement. It frustrated Xellos to not understand the situation, but every time he asked questions or reached to her through the ring she thwarted him. Lecia squealed when she saw them approach, and Xellos released the barrier just before she would have barreled into it at a run. "Mommy! Daddy!" she cried, grabbing the corners of their cloaks and pulling them together so she could hug their legs all at once. "Is everything okay now?"

Xellos looked at Lina, knowing he could break into her mind through the magic of the rings if he needed to. He was far more skilled in the use of such magic, and she wouldn't have many defenses against him. However, to do so would violate what trust they shared, and that was not a risk he was willing to take. Well, perhaps it would be best to let things play out, then. He managed to catch Lina's eye and was surprised to see that she seemed nearly as unsettled as he felt.

"Everything's perfectly fine," Lina said. "Your dad and I just had a fight, but we made up and now everything's better."

"We will always take care of you," Xellos added gently, then looked up at the sky. It was already mid-afternoon, and they most likely wouldn't find as nice of a camping spot if they moved on. "Lina, dearest, why don't we stay here for tonight?"

Lina glanced around and shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not. I'm tired anyway."

"It's decided, then," Xellos said, and began to pull supplies out of his pack. Lecia helped him until they had everything arranged, then he began to make an early supper. The little girl played quietly with her toys not too far from where he had built a fire, Lina pulling a book from the pockets of her cloak and reading on the grass. They ate, talked together for a while, and then as darkness fell Lecia perched in his lap, listening to stories until she was fast asleep. Xellos smiled and kissed the crown of her head, carrying her over to her blanket and tucking her in tightly. Lina still read, huddling next to the fire. "Would you like me to take the first watch?" he asked, putting away the pots and pans.

"No, I'll do it," she muttered, and everything about her felt as if she was a million miles away from him. What was happening?

"As you wish," he replied, slipping into his own blankets, and was soon fast asleep.

He groaned as he felt a tugging at his clothes, trying to roll over and sleep. The tugging persisted, however, and a smile crossed his lips as he felt gentle fingertips roving over the skin of his stomach and chest. The fingers danced down to his hips and further, which startled him enough that he started to sit upright, fully awake. "My watch is over," he heard Lina whisper into his ear, and he turned to look at her. She sat, completely naked, on his bedroll, nipples firm in the cool night air and skin glowing softly in the light from the fire. Her stomach was slightly rounded with child and the curves of her breasts were full and gentle.

"What?" he asked, confused.

Her answer was her lips pressed against his, her hands on either side of his face. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, leaning into her kiss. As he held her she removed his shirt and started on his pants, and soon their bodies were entwined. "Lecia?" he murmured as he positioned himself between her legs.

"Asleep," Lina said with a sigh and a smile.

Xellos raised an eyebrow, pausing. "Won't she wake up?"

"Not with the sleep spell jewel around her wrist."

Xellos' eyes snapped wide open and he moved to the side, staring down at Lina. "What? Where did you get that?"

"From your bag," she purred. "You have quite a lot of interesting things in there."

"You went in my bag?"

"I was hungry and you were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you, and then I found your little stash of jewels. That is how you pay for all our supplies, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but I really prefer you didn't root around in there."

"Don't worry, I didn't mess around with the dimensional stuff. I know better than that. Even an accomplished wizard such as yourself needs to keep a few key items on this plane of existence, though, and what's more important than valuables and food?"

Xellos pressed his lips together, aware that he was beaten. "Fine, fine," he muttered.

Lina stretched, her skin flawless and beautiful in the firelight, and he found that his desire for her was returning. "Then I saw the jewel with the sleep spell on it, and I thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up."

"I made that to sell to insomniacs. They'll pay out the nose for sleep, you know."

"I know," she murmured. "But as long as we have it, we might as well use it."

Xellos looked back at his daughter uncertainly. He really didn't want Lecia to wake up and see him and Lina engaged in some sort of intimate act, but he also didn't want to lose the opportunity. Since Lina wouldn't let him tell her how he felt about her, physical love was just about the only way he could express himself. Perhaps if he did it well enough she would understand and accept his true feelings for her. "Fine," he murmured, but Lina had already snaked her legs around his hips.

He rubbed his eyes as he watched the sun come up, casting a glance back at Lina every so often. She hadn't been joking when she said she wanted him all the time. He had only actually kept watch for about an hour of his shift. For being exhausted, Lina sure had incredible stamina. Xellos, however, felt as if he had been run over by an entire army. His eyes burned and his head ached. Not that he really minded making love to Lina all night, but he far preferred doing so when he could sleep all day.

He started breakfast and gently removed the bracelet from Lecia's wrist, pocketing it. He'd have to remember to seal off the dimensional access in his bag, for Lina was devious and there were certain things he'd rather not let her have access to. Lecia began to wake up and he returned to breakfast, greeting her with a smile and salutation as she crawled from between her blankets and ran over to him. She hugged and kissed him for a few moments, then went to wake Lina, who awoke with much grumbling and swearing. He was glad he had more or less convinced Lecia that her mother was some sort of barbarian, otherwise the little girl would have most likely picked up her mother's penchant for cursing.

"Good morning," he said gently, but Lina only grunted and moved past him.

"Shut up, I'm tired," she growled, and went off into the bushes.

Things proceeded along those lines for the next several weeks. Lina's stomach got bigger and bigger, and it wasn't long before she looked like she had swallowed a beach ball. Her mood didn't improve, but it didn't worsen, either. They were camping out between towns again and Lina was none too happy about it. She was tired of traveling, she was tired of feeling so huge, and she was tired of feeling tired. Xellos had also been acting sort of odd, as if he had been wounded and was doing his best to hide it. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what was wrong with him, and honestly she was too grumpy to try and talk to him about it. He was being very helpful and sweet, taking care of her without coddling her or making her feel useless. She really appreciated it, and if she ever got over being crabby she would do her best to remember to tell him so.

Plunking down on a log, she watched him set up camp for the evening, Lecia helping him. The two worked smoothly together, the result of many nights of practice. Sometimes when Xellos started dinner the little girl would come over to her and press her ear to Lina's expanding belly, eyes wide as she listened. "Is my playmate really in there, Mommy?" she asked quietly.

Lina smiled. "Yup. You were in there, too, at one point in time."

"Really?"

"Really."

Lecia smiled and placed her hand flat on Lina's taut skin, gasping as the baby kicked. "Daddy!" the child screamed, racing over to Xellos. "The baby! The baby moved!"

Xellos set down his pots and pans, slowly rising and coming over to Lina. "There's no guarantee it'll do it again right away," she said a little tersely as Xellos removed one of his gloves. He pushed up the fabric of her shirt and placed his palm flat on her rounded stomach, the skin of his hand warm and slightly rough. She sighed and looked into his glittering, amethyst eyes. His sculpted lips parted and he frowned slightly, as if concentrating.

"He'll do it again," Lecia declared. "Come on, do it again!" she said at Lina's stomach.

Lina scowled. "Why do you think it's a boy?"

"Because I asked for one," Lecia replied. "And he'll do what I tell him to. He's MY playmate, after all."

Xellos looked at Lina with a smile. "I think we've spoiled her," he murmured.

Lina couldn't help but smile back at him, feeling oddly tender towards him at the moment. He had the most beautiful eyes, their color and depth endless, and his voice was cool and smooth, cutting through her burdens and aches like a refreshing breeze. "Probably," she replied.

"Come on, brother!" Lecia said, putting her mouth to Lina's stomach and talking loudly. "Kick for Daddy!"

Xellos closed his eyes and pressed his face to Lina's stomach, looking anxious and peaceful all at the same time. Lina raised a hand and ran her fingers through Xellos' thick, glossy hair, plucking gently as the myriad strands of silver she found. She winced as the child kicked again, Xellos' eyes shooting open.

"See, I told you," Lecia said smugly.

Xellos placed both his hands on Lina's abdomen and looked up at her, eyes wide with awe. "You are amazing," he murmured, lips barely moving. "You are truly magical, giver of life."

Lina blushed and glanced away. "Not like I have much choice," Lina muttered.

"I've never felt anything like it," Xellos breathed, regarding her stretched abdomen with wonder. "It truly is a miracle."

Lina's blush deepened. "Most women do it. It's no big deal," she said with a shrug.

"No big deal?" he replied, tones hushed. "This is the most incredible thing I've ever felt in my life. There's a new life in there, dearest Lina, one that we made together and we will shape together."

"Stoppit," Lina grumbled, feeling embarrassed.

"Daddy's getting mushy," Lecia giggled.

Xellos looked at his daughter and smiled, standing and tousling the girl's hair. "Well, someone has to," he replied. "Mommy's no good at mushy." He carefully leaned down and kissed Lina on the lips, lingering for a moment, and she could feel his pride and elation.

"You're a good father," she murmured, looking up into his fathomless amethyst eyes.

"For you I'd be the best of everything," he whispered, and kissed her on the forehead before returning to his cooking.

Xellos had fed her well and she sat on the log, rubbing her stomach with a contented sigh. "That hit the spot," she said.

Lecia stared at her from across the campfire. "Mommy eats enough for five people!" she breathed, eyes wide. "Will the baby eat like that, too?"

Xellos chuckled and Lina shot him her patented "look of death". "I don't know, little one," he replied. "You eat like that sometimes, too."

"Nu-uh," Lecia pouted, but the discussion was effectively ended.

When Xellos had dinner cleaned up he surprised her by coming over and putting his arms around her, kissing her on the temple. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently, and she found herself feeling awkward in the face of his tenderness. She never had been very good at affection, after all, and even though she enjoyed it she really had no idea how to return it.

"Well, my feet hurt, my ankles hurt, my back hurts, and I'm exhausted. How much longer?"

"Just a couple of weeks," he said, giving her a squeeze. "I'm sorry to hear your back hurts. Do we need to find some way of support for your stomach?"

"No, my back hurts from sleeping on the ground every night," she snarled. "The baby's fine, although it feels about five times the size that Lecia was. I feel like a goddamn house."

Xellos smiled and slid off the log, sitting cross-legged in front of her. "Well, you look lovely," he replied, removing her shoes.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked sharply, scowling.

He took her dainty foot between his hands and began to massage, working out all the spots of built-up pressure and stretching the tendons. "Does that feel better?" he asked gently.

Lina sighed and closed her eyes. "Oh, yeah," she mumbled, barely able to form the words.

"I'm glad," he replied, brining her foot up to his lips and kissing the top.

She blushed, secretly happy that he was able to think of nice things to do for her without her asking him to. To tell the truth, she hadn't even considered that there was anything he could do for her. It was the only time she was happy to be proven wrong.

He massaged her feet, ankles, legs, shoulders, and arms, and by the time he was finished she was putty in his hands. She leaned against him drunkenly, feeling loose and wonderful for the first time in a while, nuzzling against his shoulder. "Here," he said. "Sit with me on the ground."

She did as he asked and he sat between her and the log, situating them so that he leaned against the log and she leaned against him. His legs stuck out on either side of her, and she was musing on his body when she felt him lift her shirt. "Hey!" she protested, trying to yank the fabric down.

"I'm not going to take it off," he explained. "Just trust me."

She was dubious, but finally let him raise the fabric of her shirt. He produced a small bottle from somewhere and poured a thin golden liquid into his hands. Gently he began to rub his fingers against her skin and she realized the liquid had been lightly-scented dry oil. Her flesh had been feeling very sore and stretched lately, and she was able to relax into his touch as he reverently massaged her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed, realizing that she hadn't felt this relaxed in ages. "You're working wonders tonight," she murmured.

She felt him smile and she closed her eyes, letting her mind wander. From somewhere she heard a faint melody, the tune slow and gentle, and when she opened her eyes she realized it was coming from Xellos. He was singing, something she hadn't heard him do since Lecia was a baby. The song wasn't the same one he had sung back then, but one that was lighter and less haunting. Lecia, attracted by her father's voice, wandered over and sat cross-legged between Lina's legs. She held out her hands and Xellos poured a small bit of the oil into her hands. "Gently," Xellos said, then returned to his singing. Lecia's small, slightly chubby hands gently touched her mother's belly, rubbing in the oil. Xellos' voice rose in volume and Lina was soon enchanted by his clear tenor. She had forgotten what a lovely voice he had, and how much it enchanted her. Lecia beamed up at her as well, her little fingers carefully circling Lina's protruding navel.

Lina smiled softly and relaxed further against Xellos, reveling in the feeling of two sets of hands tenderly caring for her skin. "Can you hear that?" Lecia whispered into the navel. "Can you hear that, little brother? That's Daddy singing."

"I think he can hear it," Lina said gently, for once not doubting that Lecia knew the child was a boy. "I think he likes it as much as we do."

"I love it when Daddy sings," Lecia murmured. "It makes me feel all cozy inside."

"Cozy comfy," Lina breathed.

Lecia nodded and grinned. "Cozy comfy."

Lina realized she must have fallen asleep while Xellos was singing and rubbing oil onto her stomach, for when she awoke she was lying on both of their bedrolls and his cloak. He moved silently about the fire, tidying up, and she saw that Lecia slumbered at the edge of the light, wrapped tightly in her blanket. Xellos saw that she was awake and came over to her, smoothing the hair from her face and smiling. "Do you feel better?" he whispered.

"Much," she replied, voice low. She felt a bit awkward for a moment, then looked him straight in the eye. "Thank you," she said, putting all the feeling and truth she could into her words.

"It's the least I could do," he murmured, kissing her on the forehead.

She fingered her bulging stomach, surprised to feel that her skin wasn't the least bit oily or greasy feeling. No, her skin was soft, supple, and didn't hurt in the least. "Where did you find that stuff? How did you know that would help?"

He scooted closer to her and put his arm around her, nuzzling her ear with his nose. "I stopped and saw a midwife in the last town. She told me some things she thought would make you more comfortable on our journey."

Lina smiled and nuzzled him back, letting him tuck her head against his neck. She was glad that he was with her for this pregnancy. He was exactly what she needed. Of course, Gourry would have been a wonderful father as well, but he certainly wouldn't have had the presence of mind to figure out how to make things easier for her. Gourry, forgive me, she thought to herself. "Thank you," she said to Xellos again.

"I'll take the first watch tonight," Xellos said. "Are those two blankets going to be enough for you?"

They wouldn't, but she knew he couldn't do any better. "They'll be fine," she said, wishing with all her heart that she could sleep on a mattress every night. Unfortunately she was very certain that there were only the smallest of towns between where they were and where Filia lived. She had traveled that country well on her first trip to see Filia, and she had little hope of a bed.

"All right," he said, kissing her on the temple. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when it's your turn."

"Okay," she murmured, letting him ease her down on the blankets, and was soon fast asleep.

She awoke slowly, feeling better than she had in ages. Stretching, she yawned and blinked into the dawn, rolling over to her opposite side. Something seemed odd, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Xellos?" she asked, finding that she was on the same level as his head. "What?" she exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. With a gasp she looked down and realized that nothing at all was supporting her. She was hovering a few feet off the ground. Frantically she tried to regain her feet and was gently set down.

"Good morning, dearest Lina," Xellos murmured.

Lina blinked at him, brain still fuzzy with sleep as she tried to figure out what was going on. "What?" she asked again.

"Daddy made you float," Lecia said, returning from the woods with a pile of sticks.

"What? Why?"

"You said your back was bothering you from having to sleep on the ground. All I did was make sure you weren't on the ground anymore."

"But I was out all night!".

"How did you sleep?"

"Better than I have in ages," she admitted. "But you must have cast that levitation spell for hours!"

"I really didn't have anything else to do," he replied, smiling from where he was seated on a rock.

"It doesn't matter! You need to sleep too, you know."

"What can it hurt for just one night? Besides, we're getting close now."

"Don't exert yourself," she said angrily. We don't know when we might need you."

True, true," he replied. "Very well, I'll be more thrifty with my power."

"Good," she said with a snort.

They settled down to breakfast, then Xellos announced that it would be another four days before they arrived at the next town and suggested they bathe. He had found a nice spot, he said, just a little ways upriver. Lina protested for a little while, not wanting to brave cold water, when Xellos mentioned what a shame it would be for Lina Inverse, the sorcery genius, to enter a town looking like she had been raised in a pig sty. She quickly agreed after that, and the three of them marched to the nearby river.

The two females stood on the bank while Xellos made certain everything was all right and the water wasn't too deep.

"Well?" he asked, setting down his bag and staff. "Let's get started."

"Lecia, go over there. Dad will come get you when it's your turn."

"I'm afraid not," Xellos interrupted. "We all need to bathe together."

Lina blushed. "What? But, Lecia can't see you naked!"

"Well, I'm certainly not going to bathe you two with my clothes on. I don't feel inclined to sit around all day and wait for them to dry."

"But-"

Xellos sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "It will be just fine, dearest Lina. You have an overdeveloped sense of modesty, I fear. You always have. I'm her father, and it will be just fine if she sees me naked."

"But-"

"If I don't, either one of you could be swept away by that current. Do you really want to run that risk for the sake of modesty, because I know I am not prepared to. I would far rather have a live daughter who thinks I am immodest than a daughter dead by cause of the current. I see no reason to sacrifice caution."

Lina pursed her lips, horribly embarrassed but unable to argue with his logic. "Fine," Lina grumbled, very pointedly not watching him as he undressed. Xellos was thin, but he was all toned, slender muscle. He helped Lecia undress and went into the water, holding his hand out to Lina to steady her as she worked her way over the slippery rocks. She fell once, but his arms shot out and caught her, easing her into the water.

"Now aren't you glad we aren't bathing separately?" he asked.

"I guess," Lina grumbled, and turned away from him.

"Here I come!" Lecia squealed, splashing as she followed her mother.

"Lecia!" Lina shuddered as she was showered with cold water.

Lecia giggled and perched on a rock. "We're all naked," she chortled as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Hush," Lina reprimanded, keeping her back turned to her daughter.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, dearest," Xellos said gently. "Lecia will one day be a woman herself, and so seeing your body will only prepare her. Besides, you have a beautiful body and there is no need to be ashamed of it."

She was unwilling, but she finally began to relax and dunked herself under the water, rubbing at her skin. Xellos scrubbed her back for her and helped her rinse her hair, being exceedingly gentle and respectful the entire time.

"Daddy?" Lecia asked, still perched on her rock.

"Yes, little one?"

"How come your body is different from Mommy's?"

Lina turned thirteen different shades of red and looked away. "I knew it, I knew this would happen," she growled.

"There's no shame in the facts of life, Lina," Xellos said with a smile. "Honestly, I'd rather she learned about this sort of thing from us than a village boy when he has her up in the hayloft."

Lina paled at that and examined her daughter, a million awful scenarios racing through her brain. "Fine," she said. "That kid is too curious for her own good anyway."

Xellos grinned. "Well, Lecia, my body is different from Mommy's because I'm a man."

"I know that," Lecia growled. "Why? How come you don't have breasts like Mommy does?"

"Men don't have breasts, Lecia," Lina snapped.

"I don't have breasts," Lecia answered. "But I don't have a dangly thing like Daddy."

"You'll have breasts when you grow up," Xellos said, braiding Lina's wet hair. "You'll have a body much like Mommy's."

"So why don't you have breasts?" the child asked him.

"Because I can't have babies," Xellos replied. "Women have breasts because they have the babies in their bodies, and once the baby comes out, the women need some way to feed them."

"How do they eat when they're inside?"

"The baby's body is connected to the mommy's body before it's born, and it eats whatever the mommy eats. When the baby's born, though, it has to eat on its own, and the mommy nurses it to feed it. Her body makes sure the baby's body still gets what it needs. You'll see when your brother or sister is born."

"But Mommy said that you put the baby inside her. How does it get there?"

Xellos' cheeks finally reddened a bit and Lina felt extremely gratified. "Not so easy now, is it?" she grinned.

"You know that thing I have that you and Mom don't?"

"Yeah," Lecia replied.

"Well, when a man and a woman decide that they care about one another very, very much and they will take care of each other, the man puts his part inside the woman so their bodies fit together."

Lecia's eyes grew huge. "Gross!!!" she squealed.

Xellos laughed. "Actually, it really is quite gross, when you think about it," he said with a smile.

"But why do men and women do that?"

Lina's smile broadened as Xellos' cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red and he squirmed a little. "It was your idea," she grinned as he turned to her for help. "You're on your own."

"Ah, well," Xellos said, glancing about.

"Why, Daddy?"

"Well, because it feels really, really good," he blurted. "But you have to be careful, because when men and women put their bodies together that way, that's when babies are made. You shouldn't ever do that sort of thing with a man unless you love him very, very much and want to have a baby. You also need to realize whether or not you're ready to have a baby and if you are able to take care of one."

"Nice disclaimer," Lina murmured.

"I'm doing my best," Xellos replied a bit sharply. "You try explaining it, if you think it's so funny."

"Having a baby inside you is really awful," Lina added. "Your body gets really sore and you feel sick a lot. Then, actually giving birth to the baby hurts worse than anything will ever hurt you in your whole life. So, don't fool around with boys unless you're ready to feel awful for the next nine months."

Lecia eyed her parents suspiciously, her eyes roving over their bodies unabashedly. She was quiet for quite some time, then shook her head. "That's all really gross," she said, making a face. "You guys are silly."

Xellos looked at Lina and smiled. "I think I'm the first Monster to ever give a child the how-are-babies made talk," he chuckled.

"Probably," she admitted. "And you're right, Lecia, your daddy and I are very, very silly."

"Mommy?" Lecia asked suddenly. "Do you love Daddy very, very much to have babies with him?"

Lina felt her blood run cold and she stared at the little girl, surprised she didn't see ice forming on the surface of the water around her. She looked at Xellos helplessly, not knowing what to do. She didn't want to shatter her daughter's illusions, but she didn't want to lie, either. She had hoped that Xellos, as a master manipulator, would throw her a line, but as she looked at him she saw a look of raw heartbreak cross his face. Something in the amethyst depths of his eyes seemed to crack, and then his eyes slid shut as his face snapped into his trademark smile. "I...Well, I..."

"Your mommy knows that I care about her very, very much and our bodies fit together just right. She knows that I will always take care of her and our children and love every single baby that comes from her body. That's why your mother and I are together," Xellos said, coming to her rescue just as she had hoped.

Lecia nodded, apparently satisfied, then examined her father. "Then why are you with Mommy?"

Xellos smiled, the expression soft and genuine, and opened his mouth to speak when Lina panicked. "What's with the questions?" she snapped. "I'm going to die of hypothermia here!"

Lecia's face was horror-stricken at the mention of death and she looked at her father. "No!" she cried.

Xellos' brow furrowed and he quickly helped Lina out of the water, wrapping her cloak around her bare shoulders. "Better?" he asked, his dark eyes searching her face.

She nodded and pulled the cloak around her more tightly, unable to meet his gaze. "I'm fine. Tell Lecia I'm sorry I scared her, okay?"

"Okay," he replied, drawing a finger along the curve of her jaw.

Lina walked away towards camp, determined to dry off and dress, but she was still within earshot when Xellos answered their daughter's question.

"I'm with your mother because she is the most intelligent, passionate, beautiful, and complicated person I could ever hope to meet. Sometimes, little one, you just have to recognize when you've met your match."

Xellos felt oddly still inside as he herded his little family down the road. He wasn't cold or upset, just quiet. It was as if he had turned to stone and was just slowly began to realize it. Things had been difficult with Lina, who was alternately hot and cold. She would be sharp with him all day, and then after night fell and Lecia was asleep she clambered all over him. Something bothered him deep in his heart, and he didn't know exactly what it was. Even though he had been human for a while he still realized there was much he had to learn. The most important thing beyond his understanding at the moment was his feelings for Lina. No one had ever meant as much to him as she did, and he knew no one ever would. Sometimes when they were together it felt like she was the other half of his soul. Was that how Lina had felt with Gourry? Would she ever feel that way about him, or was he grasping at clouds? How to even define what he felt for her?

Lina knew something was afoot, too, since she had avoided any sort of substantiative conversation with him. She wouldn't meet his glances and her demeanor was rather standoffish. Was her behavior just a side effect of the pregnancy or was something more going on? None of his questions, of course, were easily answered, and that just made him even more irritable.

He was lost in thought, eyes fixed on the road, when he nearly ran into Lina from behind. Startled at her abrupt halt, he looked about and saw a good thirty men spilling into the road ahead of them. A look behind told him that there were even more filing in to pin them. Xellos put a protective hand on Lina's waist and his other hand on Lecia's shoulder, pulling them both close to him. "Good day," Xellos said politely. "Lovely weather, isn't it?"

One of the men stepped to the front and narrowed his eyes, taking them in. "They're the ones that are supposed to be loaded with riches, boss?" he heard one of the men whisper.

They were obviously bandits, Xellos decided, and thought it odd that so many had showed up just to mug a single man, a pregnant woman, and a child. "Yeah, they match the description," the boss growled, still studying them.

Xellos' brow furrowed. Description? Was that what the man had said? Well, then, the bandits were being put up to it. "Do you have business with us?" he asked the bandits kindly. "I'm afraid you have us greatly outnumbered."

"Not if they knew what they were dealing with," Lina grumbled under his breath.

"You're in our way!" Lecia snapped. "We have to keep going, so please move."

The men stared down at the scowling child for a moment, then broke out into peals of laughter. "The kid wants us to move!" one of the bandits chortled.

"I assume there isn't going to be any rational discussion about this," Xellos said coldly. "Therefore I'm only going to ask you one thing before you hurt us."

"We're not gonna hurt you, we're gonna kill you," one of the bandits howled gleefully.

Xellos shot the man an icy glanced and executed an abbreviated bow. "Of course, my mistake. Do I get a last request?"

"What are you doing?" Lina whispered, and he was pleased to see there was no fear in her eyes. She might not feel about him the way he would like her to, but she trusted him, and that was worth his weight in gold.

"When I tell you to, I want you to start screaming the names of your spells and acting like you're really casting them," he said back, voice low.

The bandit leader scratched his scraggly chin, then nodded. "Seeing as how this isn't going to be an honorable fight, I guess so," the man said.

"Thank you," Xellos replied, standing tall. "I just want to know who told you to kill us and gave you our description."

The leader raised an eyebrow. "That's an odd last request," he grumbled. "Oh well, I'll grant it anyway. It's not going to change the outcome of this."

"I agree," Xellos replied with a predatory smile. He was looking forward to this. Just because he adored Lina and Lecia didn't mean that he actually liked the rest of the human race. These fools deserved to be blasted, and he would enjoy every agonizing minute of it. "So?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't actually know. Some fella just comes out of the woods last night and sneaks past all my guards. Shows up in my room and suddenly chests of gold appear. The guy tells me that a man with dark purple hair will be traveling this road with a redheaded woman and a little girl who looks just like him, and to watch out for the man's staff. He was wearing a hooded cloak, so I never got to see his face, and he kept his hands hidden in his sleeves. Seemed a bit taller than a normal person, but that happens sometimes," the leader said with a shrug. "Gold's gold, right?"

"Absolutely," Xellos said with an incline of his head. "I thank you for the information."

The leader looked a little confused by Xellos' social graces, then threw an arm forward. "You're welcome, mister. May the gods guide you through the afterlife. Attack!"

"Go into your speech, Lina!" Xellos hissed, snatching up Lecia.

Lina, to her credit, didn't even question him. "Don't you know who I am?" she screamed. "I'm Lina Inverse, beautiful sorcery genius extraordinaire, the bandit killer!"

A few of the bandits gave one another nervous looks but kept on attacking. Xellos nodded to himself, figuring they wouldn't have heard of her. They were too far away from her original bandit-killing sprees for the rumors to have spread, but he was willing to wager plenty of rumors would be spread now.

As Xellos anticipated, the brunt of the forces were directed towards him. He stepped away from Lina, leading them away somewhat and keeping Lecia with him at all times. "Okay, little one," he said to her below the screaming of the bandit horde. "I want you to shout as you cast that little protection spell Grandma taught you. Say it as loud as you can and wave your arms a lot, then cast it, okay?"

Lecia looked up at him, wide eyes frightened, but she nodded. "Okay, Daddy," she said, voice quivering, and did as he asked.

Xellos reinforced her spell with his own power, and when the bandits closed in on them they found themselves confounded by an invisible barrier. They howled in frustration and hacked at it with their swords, but nothing worked. Xellos smiled and waved to them, patting Lecia on the head. "Excellent job," he said to his daughter.

Lecia cackled, the sound sinister in one so young. "Thank you," she replied with a smile.

Xellos turned to glance at Lina, watching as the bandits turned their attention to her. "I've had enough of you unwashed morons!" she was screaming, shaking her fist. "Don't you know who I am? Are you too stupid to fear me?" Some of the bandits actually stopped their attack, laughing, and he saw something snap in Lina's eyes. "You are SO dead!" she bellowed. "Fireball!"

Xellos concentrated and cast his spell from a distance, making it seem as if it materialized in Lina's hands, and let it loose. The fireball cut a swath through the bandits, leaving twitching bodies in its wake. A few of the bandits screamed and ran, then the majority of them wheeled upon Lina, giving her their full potential. "She's a witch!" someone yelled, and Xellos watched as the ire in Lina's eyes increased.

"I'm a sorceress!" she howled, and shouted the name of another spell. Xellos quickly cast it for her and released it, mowing down another bunch of bandits.

"Daddy, I'm getting tired," Lecia said, turning to look at him.

"You don't have to do it much longer," he replied gently, running his hand over her hair. "Come, let's move away a bit. Do it slowly and don't lose your concentration."

Lecia nodded and they began to shuffle to the side, working towards the edge. The rest of the bandits abandoned them as they got farther away from Lina, and soon not a single person was guarding them. He smiled and shook his head. Fool bandits, they were supposed to be attacking and killing him. Oh well, no harm done. Lina's fame would spread once again, which was always fun. "You can let down the barrier now," he said gently to his daughter, and she did as he asked. "Here, now climb on my back."

"Okay," she replied, and scrambled up him as he knelt. When he felt her little arms securely around his neck he stood and strode forward, brandishing his staff, then levitated just enough so that Lina could see him over the attack. He motioned to the ring around his neck and grabbed it, indicating that she should to the same. She nodded once in comprehension and grabbed her own ring tightly.

"Blast Bomb," he murmured, driving his staff into the ground, and the world erupted in fire. Through the power of the rings he was able to include Lina in the protective caster-bubble of his spell, but the remaining forces were decimated. A terrible glee spun through his insides as he watched the men die. Oh, it was so good to battle again.

"Is it over, Daddy?" Lecia whispered in his ear.

"Yes, little one," he said tenderly, then set her down. Lecia immediately took off at a run to her mother, arms spread, and Lina, at the other end of the battle site, knelt to embrace her.

"Wrong," he heard a voice hiss, and he was immediately in motion, instinct taking over. He hadn't moved quickly enough, though, and the attack pierced his thigh, narrowly missing the large artery. Xellos grunted and fell, rolling to the side as he did so. When he came up he was face to face with another Monster.

"Who sent you? Who are you?" Xellos snapped, scowling. Damn his human body; if he was still a Monster such a weak attack would have never damaged him.

"So high up in the ranks you don't even know the minions' names, eh?" the Monster said with a wave of a clawed hand. The thing was slightly lizard-like in appearance, with claws and a long tail, but its skin was gnarled and burled like wood.

Xellos gave the Monster his trademark smile and scratched the side of his head. "Yes, I suppose so," he grinned. "I apologize."

"Then you don't need to know who I am, aside from the fact that I'm your death, traitor scum."

Xellos' eyes snapped open and he glared at the Monster. So, the attacks were because he had killed Ority and Naiyad. Fair enough, and not unexpected. Lina shouted and was doing her best to move quickly toward him, which was difficult in her condition. "No!" he bellowed. "Stay back! Lecia, stay out of the way!"

"Xellos!" Lina cried, obviously seeing that he was injured, and her voice cracked on his name. Was she worried, then?

It was too late. Her cries had attracted the attention of the Monster, and it turned on them with a grin on its slavering jaws. "This your little family?" the Monster chortled. "Oh good, then you can suffer as I take them out first."

"No!" Xellos cried, on his feet and limping toward the Monster. "Lecia, spell!"

Lecia's eyes grew wide and she threw up the same barrier spell, Xellos pouring all the energy he could spare into it. The Monster opened its mouth and let loose a beam of energy, and Xellos' heart constricted as he lost sight of his family. He didn't dare breathe as the smoke cleared, and when it did he nearly collapsed in relief. Lecia's spell had held and they were perfectly safe.

He took the opportunity to cast his own spell, an Astral one, and managed to pin part of the Monster. "You'll pay attention to me," he hissed, limping up to his opponent.

"How?" the Monster growled. "You're only a human!"

"But I have almost all my astral form," he replied with a grin. "I still wield more power than most Monsters."

"Impossible!"

"Believe it," Xellos said softly. "Now, I believe you need to be reprimanded for hurting my family."

"You can't kill me," the Monster spat.

"I think you'll find that you are sadly mistaken," Xellos replied nonchalantly. "However, I'll ask you if you're the one that put the bandits up to killing us."

"I'd never stoop to asking humans for help. Master says they're more expendable, though, and doesn't hesitate to use them, since we lack the power right now."

"If you lack the power, why do you keep trying?"

"Because you deserve to die."

Xellos considered this for a moment, then decided the Monster was telling the truth. If they really did have to keep using humans then there was no threat. Xellos' worries had been reasonable but obviously unnecessary. No Monsters of problematic powers would be after his family for quite some time. "You have eased my mind," he said coldly, and tossed a glance at Lina. Lina paled and pulled Lecia close, hiding the child's eyes. She buried her own face in Lecia's shoulder, obviously not prepared to watch, and a twisted smile settled on Xellos' face. "Now I can deal with you however I like," he said smoothly. "I'd tell you this wouldn't hurt a bit, but then I would be lying."

"No!" the Monster screeched as Xellos readied his series of spells, then everything was drowned out with the sound of screaming. Xellos took his time, and when he was finished there was nothing left but bloody scraps of skin and astral vapor.

"I'm finished," he said brightly, limping up to his family. "Did I get anything on me?"

"N-no," Lina said, standing.

He went over to her and embraced her, kissing the crown of her head. "You were splendid, dearest," he murmured into her hair. "You did exactly as I hoped you would."

"Well, it was kind of fun," she admitted, finally relaxing into his embrace.

"I'm glad," he replied gently.

"Daddy!" Lecia cried, eyes wide as she tugged on his cloak. "You're still bleeding!"

Lina scowled and looked down at his wound. "Dammit, Xellos," she growled. "You know I can't cast any spells."

"I'm sorry. It's not a bad wound, though. It will be fine until we get to the next town."

"How far away is that?"

"A few days."

"Dammit!"

"I can walk, it'll just take me a little longer,"Xellos replied.

"Dammit," Lina repeated, and they set off.

Xellos was exhausted by the time they got to town. He had been staying up all night making sure Lina slept above the ground, and the lack of sleep had taken its toll. Lina, of course, was oblivious to his actions, but she said she was feeling much better, and that was worth it to him. They spent the night in the tiny town's inn, then rented a cart the next morning. Lina protested loudly, but Xellos explained it would make the next few days' journey go much more quickly and would give them all a chance to rest. Lecia adored the horse that pulled the carriage and was very excited by the whole thing. Xellos took the first turn driving, then slept in the bottom as Lina took her turn. When he awoke he saw Lina looking at him with a strange, soft expression on her face and his heart leapt in his chest. "You've been staying up all night, haven't you?" she asked gently.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You've been staying up to cast that levitation spell on me so my back doesn't hurt," she elaborated. "Right?"

He grinned at her and winked. "That's a secret," he replied.

Lina rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Thanks, dearest," she said, and Xellos felt his heart soar in his chest.

At long last they pulled into the town where Filia lived. Her house was a short distance away, and so they got rid of the carriage and horse and struck out on foot. "We have to get that leg looked at," Lina growled.

"It's fine," Xellos insisted, but the truth was he was feeling rather ill from it and suspected it was infected. No matter, he would make sure the others were cared for first.

Lina merely grunted and they walked in silence down the road. After a while Xellos tentatively took Lina's hand and a moment later she squeezed it. Lecia skipped and bounded ahead of them, and eventually a house came into view. They had tried to find Filia at her shop in town, but she wasn't there. Xellos was glad for it, since that meant they could expect a much larger reaction by showing up at her house. He was beginning to think that perhaps staying with her wouldn't be so bad. Filia would have a fit when she realized that he was human and Lina was having his child again. A chuckle escaped him and Lina shot him a suspicious glance. "You had better behave yourself," she warned, ruby eyes flashing.

"Of course, dearest," he smiled, then motioned Lecia over and pointed at the house. "Do you see that?"

"Yes, Daddy," she replied solemnly.

"Then say hello to your new home."

Lecia whooped and ran in circles. "We made it, we made it!" she cried, jumping and twirling.

Xellos smiled and squeezed Lina's hand. Their difficult journey had finally come to an end.