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[yukinoomoni]

Chapters Ten and Eleven of "There's No Hell Like Home" are up, which means THIS STORY IS OVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!

So this means that for a little while there will be a hiatus from my fanfic writing, unless the muse kicks me at some random point.

Um, that's it. Go away now.



Chapter Ten

In the middle of the night, Lina woke up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she yawned, rubbing at her sore eyelids gingerly. She knew it was still night (or early morning?), but she also knew that, like before, she wouldn't be able to get to sleep. She slid out of Gourry's grasp and left the room, seeking comfort in cold water.

When she had her glass and went to sit down and maybe play some solitaire, she found the couch already occupied. Zelgadis, clad in pajamas far too big for his slight frame, looked up. Lina sighed, walked over, and sat down beside him. There was a short silence between them, before Zelgadis surprised her and leaned over, resting his head carefully on her shoulder.

Lina looked down at him in shock, but bit back what she was going to say when she saw the look on his face: his eyes were shut, and his mouth was a grim line, his teeth gritted. Lina shifted closer, put her arms around him, and hugged him. He trembled, but didn't make a sound.

It's a night of tears, she thought sadly, resting her cheek carefully on Zelgadis's wiry hair. I've been stupid. He knows he's messed up. Punishing him is just cruel.

They sat together for a while, taking comfort, until finally Zelgadis cleared his throat and pulled away, rubbing his eyes a little roughly. Lina looked at him, and he looked back. She offered a small smile.

"I don't want to travel anymore," she admitted suddenly. Zelgadis's hands dropped from his face in his surprise. "I want to stop. I want to set down roots, with Gourry."

"But... you're always travelling," Zelgadis said, his voice hoarse. "You're a nomad."

Lina nodded, her smile sad. "I know. But I think I'm bored with that, now. It just feels like there's more to life than that, you know? Gourry... he's taking over... and that's why I was so mad at you, Zel." She looked up at him. "Because... I'm scared."

"You? Scared?" he wondered. He wasn't teasing.

She nodded, her eyes wide. Zelgadis leaned back. "I guess your anger makes sense," he admitted. "But why are you scared?"

"Because!" she suddenly snapped, her hands clenched into fists. "Because love is fleeting! Because it fades! Because... because... we could mess up, lose everything! Because... because he could die before me!"

Zelgadis blinked. "Die before you?" he repeated.

"Yes!" she cried. "I don't think I could watch him die! I'm scared... of that."

"It's a long way off, Lina," Zelgadis said plainly.

"I know," Lina smiled weakly. "I'm worrying after shadows, but I can't help it. So when you told me what happened with you and Amelia... it terrified me."

"I'm sorry," Zelgadis said honestly.

"Me, too," she agreed.

Zelgadis sighed, literally sagging. "What should I do?" he wondered, sounding helpless.

Lina gave him a stern look. "Go back to her," she answered simply.

Zelgadis nodded slowly. He leaned over, gave her a kiss on the cheek, then got to his feet. "I think I'm going to try to sleep," he said softly. Lina nodded, touching his hand lightly as he walked by.

"Hey, Zel?" she called after him.

"Mm?" he stopped, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Was it everything you hoped for, everything that you thought it would be?" she wondered seriously, her face sombre, her voice soft.

Zelgadis smiled a little, his eyes wavering. He looked down. "And more," he murmured. "G'night."

"Night."

When he was gone, and she heard the sound of the spare room door click shut, she sighed. She gulped down the rest of the water in a rush, got to her feet, and went back to her bedroom.

Gourry was sitting up, his eyes wide in the dim light. "I was worried," he admitted as a greeting, "but I figured you would be okay."

Lina walked over, knelt in front of him, and said, very calmly, "Gourry, I'm tired."

Gourry smiled, placing a hand on her cheek. "I know. Let's get back to sleep."

"No," she snapped, pushing his hand away. "I'm tired of moving around. I'm tired of travelling."

Gourry stared at her, his mouth open a little. He blinked, his eyes huge. "You are?"

"I am," she nodded.

Gourry blinked, then smiled. It was a bright, relieved smile. "Good," he said, relaxing.

Lina was the one to stare this time. "Good?"

He nodded. "Yup. I mean, before we came here, we talked about it, and that made me happy, but now that we're on the same page, yeah, it's good!"

"Same page?" Lina echoed, feeling stupid. She had been expecting a fight, or, at the least, that he would try to talk her out of it.

Gourry nodded, leaning back with a wide smile. "Ah, think of it," he said softly, his eyes fixed on some point above them. "If we master this apprenticeship, we could open up our own little shop somewhere out in nowhere..." His eyes glittered a little at the very idea of it.

Lina stared at him. Then, with a blank expression on her face, she reached forward and grabbed onto the side of his cheek, pulling as hard as she could. Gourry yelped, but managed to keep his voice low.

"I hate you," she declared, her eyes flashing. "You NEED to start speaking up, you know that?"

Gourry tried to talk around her hand, but failed miserably at it. With a grunt, she let go, and he tried again. "But, Lina, it's always better when you take the lead," he admitted. "Because that way, we're still together."

Lina frowned, her hands in her lap. "But-" Gourry placed a finger to her lips. "We need to sleep. Talk more tomorrow?" he offered. He pulled his finger away, lying down on the floor again. Lina blinked, then shortly followed, cuddling up next to him.

When she listened to his breathing turn to snores, she smiled, a wide, unrestrained grin. A flutter of joy erupted in her tummy, and she curled up closer, chasing him into sleep.

X X X

The next morning, very early in the day, Zelgadis left for Seyruun. When Lina questioned him about what he would do, he hadn't replied, but he looked ashamed and sad, still. She wondered if there really was anything that he could do or say that would make a difference.

Still, while Zelgadis had been a welcome distraction, he had still been a distraction, and now that he had left, it was time to get back into the nitty-gritty of things.

Both Lina and Gourry had been working for almost a week now, and both were getting tired and frustrated. The dagger from the previous day had been the only ray of sunshine amidst alot of dark annoyance. If anything, instead of making Lina take advantage of their success, it made her want to work harder and harder, until Gourry finally had a sword.

For the next couple of days that passed, Lina was like a demon bent on chaos. She was bossy, furious, and occasionally would take the hammer from Gourry and do the adjustments herself.

Luka and Delmas, while not exactly happy with this, did nothing to interfere with it. Gourry eventually had to ask why. Luka shrugged. "You're both finding your way, you know," she replied over the sound of Lina's hammering and cursing. "You should feel grateful; she wants to help you. She wants you to be happy."

Gourry shot a look at the woman in question, and realised that it looked more like she wanted to kill things. He blanched, but Luka smiled.

"Listen to her," Delmas grunted. "Lina-chan is practically her clone."

That wasn't a comforting thought.

Lina's reasoning on her sudden flurry was simple: the visit with Zelgadis had spooked her to the core, and she wanted to succeed, and to know that she COULD succeed, so that she and Gourry could build their lives together. The sadness in Zelgadis's eyes, and most damning, the envy that was also there, disturbed her, and kept her working.

They worked, sunrise to sunset, for a full three days, with little rest and alot of shouting and frustration. Luka and Delmas only stepped in when it looked like a real fight would break out between them, brought on by exhaustion and irritation.

By the end of the second week, they had a sword. It was a huge achievement, the last of a string of broken ones, and it was completed weeks earlier than Luka and Delmas had anticipated (both had to pay Luna a consideration sum as a result).

The sword was, Lina realised, beautiful. It was the end of the last day, and Gourry was slowly pulling the blade from the bucket and drying it gently with a soft towel. The hilt was a finely designed work, enchanted with a few spells for amplification. The design was a simple one: a rectangle with two spirals on either end, the sword placed between, and it was in silver instead of gold (which Lina had argued about with Luka, who insisted that silver was better for Air magic and had eventually won).

The blade itself was broad, but not too wide, narrowed only at the tip for sharp thrusts. While unpolished, it gleamed in the flickering light of the forge, and occasionally a glitter of faint butter-yellow light would dance up and down the blade.

Gourry's mouth was dry. When he held the sword, he felt like he was holding the last piece of a puzzle. Lina's eyes shone with admiration and happiness, her hands clasped before her.

The forge was silent, spellbound in their shared awe and relief.

"You gonna name it?" Delmas wondered suddenly, forcing everyone to jump a few feet in the air.

Lina made a face. "Daddy, not everyone is weird and names everything."

Luka nodded. "That's true. I still won't forgive you for naming the teapot Joseph."

Gourry seemed to take the question seriously, however. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not too good with names."

"Name it Butter Blade," Lina quipped, sticking out her tongue at Delmas.

"Lina-chan, take this seriously!" Delmas snapped. "Once you name a blade, it comes to life! It because your own, a blade of power! Only you can be the one to wield it, only you can be the one to truly understand it and respect-"

Luka calmly smacked him upside the head, halting his speech in mid-flight. He jolted, rubbed his head, and shot a poisonous glare at her, but she just avoided his gaze and started whistling.

Gourry chewed on his lip. His eyes met Lina's. "Wanna test it out?" he wondered.

Her eyes lit up. "Yes," she breathed out.

"HOLD IT," Delmas snapped, just as they were about to dash out into the back. "Hello? Have you learned nothing? Sparring with an unfinished sword is homicide to the sword!"

"It's magical," Luka said. "Lina-chan wants to sharpen it with magic."

"PARK YER ASS," Delmas snapped, pointing at Gourry. Shocked, his legs just gave out, and he barely managed to park said rear on the bench. "POLISH THAT SWORD, NOW!"

Needless to say, Gourry and Lina both obeyed, which resulted in a sword far more brilliant than either had anticipated. Daddy had been right, Lina realised. Something like this really does need a name.

Gourry, however, had lost his desire to spar with Lina, let alone name anything, so they put it on hold for the night. Once they were fed, cleaned up, and in bed, Lina had figured that Gourry would be out like a light in no time. But to her surprise, once she was settled, he leaned over and gave her a kiss on her ear, sending tingles up and down her spine.

"Gourry," she murmured, tired herself. "Get lost. Sleepy."

Gourry chuckled, brushing her hair away from her neck and kissing her there. She sighed, closing her eyes. "Gourry..." she murmured again, this time not out of annoyance.

He smiled, looking up at her. His eyes shone. "I love hearing my name sound like that," he admitted.

Lina smiled and played with his bangs. "Keep doing stuff like that and it's all you'll hear," she replied.

"Lina," he said, the smile fading. "We never really had a chance to talk about this, but, when the sword is finished, what do we do?"

Lina blinked. It was a good question. "Well, we start looking for a place to set up shop," she said.

"Here?" Gourry wondered, twirling her hair around his fingers idly.

Lina shook her head, looking ill at the very thought. "I don't think I could stomach seeing Luna-san and Dilgear on a regular basis," she admitted. "I was thinking of a place that's somewhat obscure, some place that's not in one town, but near a few, some place easy to find?"

Gourry nodded, his eyes shining. "That sounds perfect. Should we go to the New World?"

Lina chewed on her lip. "Maybe a little bit outside of the border. Now that magic is going to spread, it'll probably be good to get a head-start on it, you know? Establish a name?"

He nodded, feeling a bubble of excitement deep in his gut. He edged closer to her. "Yes, exactly," he agreed, his voice soft, his arms lazily going around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

Lina laughed. "You're acting like I'm talking dirty to you," she teased.

Gourry shook his head. "The idea of this is exciting," he admitted. "I can't help but feel energized by it."

Lina turned to him, looping her arms around his neck. "Kiss me," she demanded, smiling widely.

He did kiss her, and more. It seemed to seal the deal.



Chapter Eleven

As if it were a reward all in itself, Luna had decided to ambush Lina once again for another pre-dawn knife-fight. She slowly edged the door open and peered in through the crack.

Snores filled the air, as well as some incoherently muttering on behalf of her younger sister. When she nudged the door open wider, she winced, her face burning. Although most of the two were covered in blankets, there was ample evidence to suggest that both Lina and Gourry were wearing less than usual. Both were tangled together, looking oddly content at such a contorted achievement. Gourry's cheek was resting on Lina's collarbone, drooling to affect on her chest, while Lina's arms and legs were entwined with Gourry, her hands tangled in his hair.

However, despite it being embarrassing, Luna had to admit that they both looked so...peaceful. So content, so open and innocent in their slumber. If she looked at Lina closer, she could see that, even in her sleep, the younger girl was smiling faintly.

Luna slowly backed out of the doorway, sheathing her butcher knife at her side. She shut the door, took a breath, then shrugged, smiling a little, before walking back down the hallway and into the kitchen to get ready for a new day.

X X X

Lina uttered a shout and flung a blast of fire at Gourry. With a cry of his own, he dove towards it, both hands holding the hilt of his new sword tightly. He swung his arms down, slicing the fireball in half, forcing it to vanish. When the blade touched the magic, it glittered.

Lina wiped her brow. It was afternoon, and she and Gourry had only been up about an hour. Her parents had let them sleep in as a reward, and after a late breakfast, were now in the backyard testing out their new creation.

The sun was hot, however, and Lina was getting overheated pretty fast. "That was a good hit, Gourry," she said, smiling a little.

Gourry touched the blade gingerly. "It's sharper," he said with a tinge of awe.

Lina smiled. "It should be!" she replied. "Did you focus like I suggested?"

Before they had begun, Lina had run a few pointers by Gourry, mostly about how to focus his energy into the blade in order to make it more powerful. It hadn't been easy, he realised, especially not as easy as Lina made it look when she did it herself. But then, Lina had years of practise, and Gourry was just starting out. For the short time, both felt that he had made considerable progress.

In response to her question, he nodded slowly. "Yeah, but I think it gave me a headache," he admitted sheepishly.

Lina, however, nodded sympathetically. "Get used to it," she replied. "As you practise, it's going to get worse until you find a way to ease out of it and get more control."

Gourry frowned. "That sucks," he said bluntly.

A sudden blast of lightning startled them out of their discussion. Both turned towards the sound. Apparently Luka had busted another potential shoplifter.

Lina, despite herself, had to smile. "It's nice to be home, and I do love my family, but to be honest, I'm looking forward to getting on the road again, and to find a place of our own."

Gourry nodded, sheathing the sword carefully at his hip. The scabbard was a plain leather one, for now; Lina had decided in the forge that she would make a better one once they found a place to live. "This place is so busy!" he exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever been in a place with this many people for so long."

Lina tilted her head at him. "Your hometown isn't this populated?" she wondered carefully.

Gourry's face darkened, and he looked away, saying nothing. When Lina opened her mouth to apoligise, he said, "More like, it's not a friendly place, and people don't want to spend time together just for fun."

Lina's eyes focused. "You're from Elmekia," she realised. Gourry started, his face going pale, and she nodded. "I had suspected it, but never made the connection." She looked closer at him. "You seem the complete opposite of the average Elmekian, Gourry."

Gourry laughed shortly. "That's the greatest compliment you could ever give me," he snapped out.

Lina closed the distance and touched his cheek lightly. "I'm sorry," she said.

Gourry closed his eyes and sighed. "No, I knew you would find out eventually," he admitted. "I just hoped you wouldn't think badly of me when you did."

Lina slapped his cheek lightly. "Nothing changes, kurage," she chided with a smile. Gourry made a whining noise, as if she had slapped him hard, and she laughed.

There was a companionable silence, between them, both going quiet to enjoy the beautiful day and listen to the shrieks and hollers of Luka's indignation.

"Did you want to stay for the wine festival?" Lina wondered absently, toying with Gourry's braid.

Gourry looked over at her. "What did you want to do?"

Lina sighed, giving the braid a hard tug. "I'm asking you, you moron," she snapped.

Gourry staggered. "I, uh, don't have an opinion?" he smiled lamely, and she glared at him. "Okay, okay; I want to head out as soon as we can. I'm pretty tired, and would like to relax, with you...alone, you know?"

Lina put her hands on her hips. "Was that so damned hard?" she demanded.

Gourry rubbed his head. "Yes," he said sulkily.

Lina punched his shoulder. Gourry responded by shoving her away. She stumbled, reeled back and kicked his shins. He yelped and hopped around, then darted forward and tripped her.

And thus a whole new kind of sparring began.

X X X

It took a few more days to finally establish where Lina and Gourry would settle. Lina and Luka were the main researchers, both women using their sharp merchant minds and cutthroat strategies to the test in order to find a perfect, and most profitable, location. Delmas and Gourry, who were only mildly interested, discussed the possibility of different names for the new sword, coming up with sometimes foolish ideas instead of real ones (especially when alcohol was involved).

In the end, Luka and Lina both agreed on a place in the south, only a few towns into the New World. It was located in a sparsely populated area, but it also straddled two borders, which means that at least two towns had to know about them in order for them to build there.

Since both Luka and Gourry knew of Lina's less-than-ascetic taste when it came to architecture, it was decided that once they had found the perfect spot on that land, Lina would send to Zephilia for some contractors to build there. It was a huge help, but Luka shot that away, declaring, "No one will touch anything of yours unless I approve of them, Lina-chan." Her gaze instantly was on Gourry, and he jolted, swallowing hard. "You know that."

Lina waved a hand at her, still poring over several maps. "Yes yes yes," she said boredly, completely oblivious to Luka's double-meaning. "Whatever."

After that, the rest was pretty straight-forward. Once they found the perfect spot (a nice, shaded area surrounded by trees, but also nearby a small town, situated on a main pathway), they summoned the contractors and got to work. Lina tried, several times, to dictate the way it was being built, but Gourry managed to override her each time, to the relief of everyone but her.

It was quite the building. Similar to her own childhood home, it was two stories as well. However, the bottom level was the widest and split into two parts: the front end was the main store front, while the back was the main home. The upper level had three spare bedrooms and a water closet, used mostly for storage or guests, while the bottom level, complete with kitchen, dining room, master bedroom, and water closet, was used as the living area.

The storefront was modest, and Lina knew it would be a crowded place once it was full of wares, but it was charming. It was rectangular, complete with a counter and pegged-wall, and a small storage room in the back. It had huge windows in the front, ready for any kind of display that they could think of.

In the back, Lina commissioned for a small forge a few metres away from the house. It was small, intimate, but certainly effective, and both Gourry and Lina were satisfied with it.

Once the entire house was full of furniture, supplies, and a few items they had already made, they moved from the closest inn into their new home.

The first thing Lina did was walk in and leave her belongings lying around on the floor. Gourry scowled, but Lina was innocent about it. "It's how I make a space mine," she admitted.

That night, their first night together in their new home, they lay tucked in together, smushed together like two dumplings. Both were elated by how things turned out, and despite Lina's grumbling about how her hard-earned nest-egg was now vanished, they still had some money left over to survive a few skint months if need be. But best of all, in as little as a few months, they had done it; they had started their shared life together.

"Gourry," Lina whispered suddenly, feeling him drift off in her arms. "Are you happy?"

Gourry stirred, made a face, and muttered, "No, I'm miserable."

Lina smacked him, and he snorted and laughed, before diving in close to her and kissing her. She kissed him back, but smacked him again for good measure.

It was the first night of the rest of their lives. And everyone knows that, of course, there's no place like home. Especially if you made that home yourself, with your own blood, sweat and tears. Which, you know as well as I do, that they both had.

So for a while, there was quiet. For a while, there was routine. And eventually, there was some other interesting events that added to the spice of their lives. It would be a decade and a half before there was any real conflict, but they had no way of knowing that. They just lived their lives together, as best they could.

Which, of course, is all anyone can do, don't you think?