You've heard all the stories, haven't you? He saved the princess, they got married and lived happily ever after. And the story ends.
But what happens after Happily Ever After? Surely that's not an end.
Life goes on. They have their problems, solutions, and betrayals. But no one's ever seen fit to tell about them. Well, that's what this story is about.
No, it's not a sequel. No, it's not a continuation. This is happily ever after.
Where to begin? How about at the ending...
Lina sat in her chair by the fire and sighed. She was sick of this. She was tired of this. She could not do this anymore.
Lina was not cut out to be a housewife.
Oh, she'd enjoyed it for the first two years. She'd lived with it the next five. She'd endured it the three afterwards. Of course she did. She had been in love.
She sighed. Her husband, Gourry, looked over at her. "Lina? Are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Oh." He went back to deciphering his ‘I can read' books.
Lina sighed again. Yeah, she'd been in love. She'd been stupid. They'd last saved the world as a team over ten years ago. That was when she was really alive, when she was out doing something. But she had fallen in love.
I was an idiot.
Gourry had asked her to marry him. She'd blushed and agreed.
Damn in-laws. His mother had insisted that they settle down. And have kids.
I don't want kids. Lina wasn't exactly a great person with kids. Luckily, or unluckily, as the case may be, she had proved infertile.
That put a wrench in mother-in-laws' plans...Gourry's mother had not been thrilled. But Lina and Gourry loved each other, So they were willing to live with it.
But they couldn't really talk to one another. Gourry couldn't talk about the great meaning of spot's being able to run, and Lina couldn't discus her findings with him. Oh, they tried to humor each other, and Gourry pretended to listen, but it just infuriated Lina and depressed Gourry.
Nothing was working. And it hadn't been for ten years. And Lina was tired of it. Very, very tired.
"Your highness!" Zelgadis groaned. Just what he needed. He turned in his high-backed velvet chair (He hated the color, it stood out too much. Give him beige or grey any day) to face the middle aged man looking at him pleadingly.
"Yes?" He managed without groaning. These people were remarkably unable to cope with the smallest problems.
"There is a dispute on how to divide a pasture!" He wrung his hands. Before this, Zelgadis had never before realized that people actually wrung their hands. But, in Seyruun, they apparently did.
"So split it in half?"
"Good idea sire!!" The man ran off.
Zelgadis suppressed a groan and returned to the paperwork. He liked paperwork. When you did paperwork, you didn't have to deal with people.
Zelgadis had found a cure a while ago, but he still hated crowds. Really, really hated being the center of attention. But he and Amelia had been in love, and he had thought he could overcome it.
Which was making him crankier, more withdrawn, and more temperamental by the day. He knew what was happening, but he couldn't do anything about it.
Poor Amelia. She was feeling more and more ignored and hurt by the day. And she was still on the justice kick. I thought I could help her get over that. He sighed. I should have listened to all those sayings. Never enter a relationship thinking you can change someone. She's wanted to change him, too. But he just did not like people. He never would.
Zelgadis was sick of it. He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want to end u going crazy and killing his wife or something.
Gourry looked at Lina, who was sitting in the rocker staring out the window again. She just wasn't happy.
But to tell the truth, neither was he. He and Lina were complete opposites. That kind of thing never worked for long.
Gourry thought long and hard. Which was a few weeks for him. And he came up with a solution.
"Hey Lina! I have an idea! Let's get a divorce!"
Amelia didn't know what to do. Zelgadis was getting colder and colder, withdrawn and icy. She couldn't even talk to him anymore. She's always thought that love conquered all, but it wasn't working. She was hurt, he was hurt, and life was just miserable for both of them.
Maybe a divorce....