"We're nowhere near Sairaag, why would Sylphiel have been travelling on

her

own?" Zel wondered.

Lina frowned. "I don't know, but it could be either very good or very

bad."

"I guess we'll have to go then, there's no other way we'll find out

what's

going on. We'll go in the morning, how does that sound?" he asked

Lina.

"Sounds good, since for some reason I'm kinda tired."

Zel smiled gently. "I'm not surprised," he said, "you've been through

a lot

today."

Lina laughed. "The master of understatement as usual." she said. She

closed her eyes and fell instantly asleep.

Zel sighed happily. Today had certainly been different, but in all

honesty,

things hadn't turned out as badly as they might have. If Lina had lost

her

powers...or her sense of self… He didn't even want to think about it.

Lovingly he stroked his fingers over her closed eyes. It was a wonder

to

him, the one he loved felt the same, but it was a bittersweet thing to

have

to have learned it this way. He knew the difficulties that being a

Chimera

could bring firsthand, and thus far Lina had only seen the good side.

He was

determined. He couldn't protect her from the rest of the world, he

wouldn't

want to try, but nothing would stop him from supporting her through it

all…and the Gods protect anyone who tried to threaten her. If she

didn't

deal with them, he would.

No one knew where they were except Xellos, and they seemed to be fairly

well

off the beaten track, so he decided he cold safely sleep. Moving

slowly so

as not to wake Lina, he shifted until he was lying beside her and

wrapped

his arms around her lovingly, content knowing it was both allowed and

welcomed.

* * * * * * * * *

The next morning dawned bright and clear, with a feeling of calm which

belied the world the Slayers usually lived within. Lina woke first,

and

when she realized she was safe in the arms of the one she loved, she

decided

to wake him up the way she had always wanted to. With a wicked grin,

she

snuggled over and kissed him right on the lips.

His expression as he woke was simply priceless. He had that same

stunned

expression a dear would get if you shone a light spell in its eyes;

slightly

startled and not quite sure what was going on.

"Good morning Zel." Lina said cheerfully.

Zelgadis grinned as the shock wore off. "Good morning to you too!" he

said,

and kissed her back.

They kissed for a few minutes, then Lina stretched.

"Well, I suppose we should get up if we're going to start on our

journey

today." she said.

Zel nodded and built the fire back up to brew a morning cup of coffee

for

each of them.

When breakfast was done, the two Chimerae set out, turning only once to

bid

a fond farewell to the sanctuary where they had discovered their love.

Not

feeling the need to hurry overmuch, they walked at a normal pace, but

even

so, they had only been near the edge of the forest, so by early evening

they

were out of it and had found a road.

"May as well camp here for the night and start along the road

tomorrow."

Lina suggested. And that's just exactly what they did.

* * * * * * * * *

The next day the weather continued fair, and Lina and Zel walked along

the

road. It was no busy highway; they didn't meet anyone coming in either

direction for hours; so it was almost noon when a wagon came rumbling

along

from behind them. Hearing it long before the driver might see them,

Zelgadis and Lina hid at the side of the road. As it trundled past

they

hopped into the back.

"Much better!" Lina ginned.

Zel laughed at her. "You're just lazy, you know that?"

Lina pretended to be affronted by his comment. "I am not lazy," she

objected, "I'm efficient!"

Zel laughed and tickled her arm to make her laugh too. "Well then,

efficient one, how do you plan to make use of this time?"

"I don't really know." she admitted.

"Well then, why don't we spend it absolutely frivolously?" Zel

suggested.

He pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her, and they

lay

like that for hours, simply reveling in being together.