Several hours later, Lina was still sitting by the pool staring absently at nothing in particular. For the first couple of hours, Zelgadis had tried to talk to her, but she had snapped that she "needed to think" so he let her be. The silence was starting to get uncomfortable, though, and if the silence was uncomfortable for Zel...!
"Lina." Zel braced himself to shield if she should decide to throw a fireball at him, "Lina, we need to talk about this."
Lina just looked at him sadly. "What's there to talk about? I screwed up. Now I'm a chimera. End of story." She looked away again.
Damn! Zel thought to himself, I should have known she wouldn't take this as well as she seemed to be. He scooted over a little closer to her.
"No." he said firmly, "That's not the end of the story. Life doesn't' just stop when something goes wrong, Lina, the path we take just changes." She spun around to glare at him.
"Well! Look who's suddenly Mr. Optimistic!" she said acidly, "Zel, not only have I heard it all before, I've said most of it - to you, if I recall correctly - and I know you don't believe it when I tell you, so what right do you have to tell such things to me?!"
"That's not true. I listen, I believe, it's just hard for me to make the outward changes. It's been a number of years that I've been living like this, and more before I met you than after. Ingrained patterns are hard to change. I used to try to tell myself some of the things you're always telling me; that my stone skin didn't matter, that it was who I was inside that counted; but sometimes things like that are easier to believe coming from someone else."
During this whole time, Zel had been moving closer and closer to Lina carefully, as if she were an animal which might bolt. Now he lifted her chin so she had to look him in the eyes.
"Lina, your life is going to change, I can't deny that, but Life is going to go on. You have good friends, and I can guarantee you that they won't care in the least what you look like, and anyone else who comments..."
"Will get their ass Fireballed out of existence." Lina said with a ghost of her old grin.
"Now THAT'S more like the Lina Inverse we all know and love." Zel said with a grin. He patted her on the shoulder and impulsively she hugged him.
"Thanks Zel," she said, "you were right, I really did need to hear that from a friend." From someone I love. she added mentally.
"Lina, considering all you've done for me," and how much I love you, "it was the least I could do." Zelgadis replied.
It's all true too. he thought, She is still the same person, and still gorgeous. He had a sudden burst of inspiration. Maybe I should show her a little of what it's like to be a chimera.
With a wicked little grin, Zel reached over as if to pat her on the back, but instead twisted her wire hair up into a circle.
"ZEL! OOooohh.... I'm gonna GET you for that!" Lina stormed.
"You have to catch me first, Lina!" Zel laughed and ran out of the cave as fast as the wind.
"Zelgadis Greywords, you are going to PAY!" she yelled as she took off after him.