Things were not going any better for Zelgadis in the last days. Amelia was as usually clinging to his arm. And Zel knew that Lina was angry about something although she doubted anyone else had noticed. Sylpheel and Gourry seemed to have been making some progress in their relationship. And Xellos... well, Xellos was the base of his problem. Xellos flirted with him continuously, maybe that's what Lina was angry about, she didn't know Xellos was a woman. And Xellos had told him and Sylpheel not to tell the others because she wanted to do it herself, but to Zelgadis misfortune she hadn't done it yet. He sighted.
The direct problem to Zelgadis was, that Xellos made him blush every time. She was not annoying like Amelia, but it made him uncomfortable that all the people around him beside Sylpheel, and probably Gourry too, thought he was gay. And what made him even more uncomfortable was the fact that he didn't mind her affection, her attention, and although he would never admit it to himself, much less to others, he even liked it.
He had even stopped torching her every time she gave some weird comment. He told himself that it was some of Gourry's cavalierly instincts that had been passed to him.
"Zelgadis?" said a voice behind him.
He would have to developed a spell to keep her out of his sleeping quarters. He turned around and saw Xellos floating in the middle of the air. "Xell, you know I don't like it when y - " she put a hand to his lips.
"Sshhh.. let me finish, five days have passed since I told you I was, well..." she smiled, "...female." Zelgadis thought back to that night and blushed.
"Don't blush, I haven't done anything yet. I have given you time to get used to the idea of me being my true self..." Xellos stood on the floor, "What I wanted to tell you is..."
Xellos grabbed Zelgadis' shoulder so he wouldn't walk away and kissed him right on the lips. After a few moments she let go of him and took a step back. Her eyes were open and Zelgadis marveled the pretty amethyst color. He was blushing and he felt very uncomfortable.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Xellos played with her fingers nervously. "I... I wanted to know if maybe, someday you could feel about me the same way I feel about you." Xellos looked down, whatever the answer was, she would take it.
Zelgadis was at a loss, and he knew she needed an answer. She had said she loved him, but Mazoku couldn't love... Zelgadis remembered the hopeful look on her eyes as she had exposed her feelings. Xellos had shown him weakness. What if this is all just a trick?... But was is there to win? And besides Zelgadis liked her, her happy nature in contrast to his grim one, and she was not so flighty as Amelia or so careless as Lina. That is why he always argued with her, even when he didn't know she was a woman. He wanted to convince himself that he hated her, dispised her because she was a Mazoku.
But as she had, he would have to face his feelings sometime.
Xellos was loosing hope, but didn't dare to look up, for the first time in her life she was afraid, afraid that he would hate her, or worse, loved someone else.
She was considering the possibility to just disappear and to stop this humiliation when she felt his hand lift her chin. He looked into her amethyst eyes and for a moment her own emotions overwhelmed her.
Zelgadis slowly put his lips to hers, first it was a tender kiss as if he didn't feel very sure about what he was doing but then he became more secure and the kiss became....interesting. She put her hands behind his neck as he put his on her back.
After they parted they stayed embraced and Zelgadis murmured in her ear, "You know, I think I could love you two."
Xellos put her head on his shoulder and for the first time in many years, she felt completely happy.