This is a cheerful little sonfic I wrote based on the song "We Are" as sung by Midorikawa Haruka (Zelgadis' japanese seyuu).
Always so far away...
I'm hurrying along the way to become a fighter
No way will it stretch to my hand so easily
I remember the people through these same pupils
Zelgadis looked at his hand. His own hand, light blue and dotted with darker pebbles. Stone. He reached up and felt his face. Stone. His hands brushed against his spiked lavender hair. Stone. His entire body was a testament to the curse. The curse, forced upon him, punishment for his reckless desire for strength. The cure... the cure... now a new desire gripped him, holding him in its clutches. Always just beyond his reach... it was as if he was at the bottom of a cliff, stretching his hand to the edge... and always it was just beyond his fingertips. Physical strength had done nothing for him. He was a skilled Shaminist mage. The thirst for strength had been quenched, and yet another desire now rose in him. The desire to be weak, to be human.
People he had thought were kind had backed away in horror when they saw his transfigured body, not daring to come near him.
Speaking to myself, now, so I keep walking on
Talk to my dreams, and keep walking on...
Everyone he had known and loved had abandoned him, their false kindness a bitter disguise they felt when he was near. He was completely alone in the world, with no one to talk to but himself and his dreams; the passion that gripped him was his only companion.
Where, where now should I keep living?
I don't want to live like a runner forever
Filthy, filthy paths, I don't want to be alone...
What's the use of living? Zelgadis asked himself bitterly for the thousanth time. So many times it seemed like a lost cause, and yet so many times it seemed just beyond his fingertips. The loneliness tore him apart, an unstoppable raging animal that ate at him until his soul was hollow. But who could reciprocate his love when he looked like a freak? So many loves... all in vain. Even she couldn't possibly have loved him.
Tonight, the stars break my sleep...
While I count them, I breathe a sigh...
The faraway path is only a detour
How many tears must the underdog shed?
Zelgadis lay on his back, gazing at the stars, bright pinpoints of light in the black velvet sky. As he sighed, his thoughts returned to the one person he had deeply loved, with his whole being. She was so far away now; their paths seldom crossed. A tear, alien to his rough skin, trickled along his temple. How many nights had he lain here like this, wishing for that which would not come?
Where, where now should I keep living?
This straight path is so boring...
Dusty, dusty paths, I'll cut my own
Inside my thoughts, wounds become strength
I walk on, tomorrow...
Zelgadis raised the knife above his chest, placing it directly over his heart. His breath flowed evenly in and out. He was a being of utter calm. The knife began to glow blue as Zelgadis infused it with his will, making it sharper, more keen. He raised his arms above his head...
"Hey Zel!!" a happy voice chirped, interrupting the ceremony. "Long time no see."
It was her! There she was, a vision of beauty, standing in the moonlight in a long flowing robe. She had blossemed since they last parted, he thought, noticing her tall slender frame, her full breasts, her long hair.
"Zelgadis?" She asked tentavely, seeing the knife raised for the killing stroke above his breast. He wavered in is concentration. It would be so easy to drop the knife, and go to her, to live happily ever after with the beloved... His resolve hardened. Even now, nothing could change the past. Fixing his eyes on the knife he once again raised it above his chest.
"I'm sorry Lina..."
As he spoke, he plunged the knife through his stone skin, felt it break through into his heart.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lina's scream of sorrow and agony broke through the haze of pain. He opened his eyes and saw him leaning over him, her ruby eyes filled with tears of greif.
"Zelgadis, why?" she sobbed as she struggled to pull the knife out of his chest. Her gentle fingers ran over the wound, glowing with a healing spell.
"It's too late," he gargled, blood welling up in his mouth. Lina's tears dropped on his neck, and he felt a touch like a thousand needles on his body.
"Zelgadis... your skin...!" Lina gasped. Weakly Zelgadis raised his hand. Flesh had replaced the stone. His cure had been in the body of his beloved, where he never believed one could be. Zelgadis felt his life slipping away, and raised a hand to Lina's head. He gently pulled her face down to his, and kissed her. Then he settled into an eternal sleep.