The gang continued to travel, but it never seemed to lighten Zelgadiss' mood. She continued to withdraw into her depressions, even more than usual. Xelloss was getting worried. He continued to watch her, making sure no harm came to her. He continued to hover over her bed, watching her sleep. Every night she tossed and turned, crying even in her sleep.
He'd waited for so long for love, and now it was causing almost more pain than he could bear. He found the emotions very exhausting. He hovered above her bed, tired from the emotional strain, and closed his eyes for just a second. However, he opened them to find a set of angry blue eyes staring at him.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?"
"I was watching you, to make sure you were safe, my love" Xelloss replied, slowly lowering himself to the floor.
"WATCHING ME!!!! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT I DON'T NEED YOUR PROTECTION, JUST BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN!!! Besides, I don't believe you. Why would you watch me? What do you have to gain? I don't know a lot about you, Xelloss, but I know you never do anything for a selfless reason. You always have some selfish, ulterior motive. So, WHAT IS IT?"
Xelloss stood there, shocked by the sudden outburst. He didn't know what to do, but to tell the truth, not the twisted truth, the whole truth.
"Your right, I did do it for selfish reasons. I did it, because I NEEDED to know you were safe. I NEEDED to know that no harm had come to you. I know logically that you don't need my protection, but my heart doesn't think too logically. All it knows is that it loves you and couldn't stand to be without you."
He watched as Gadiss looked down at the floor and chuckled darkly. When, she looked up, he could see the tears streaming down her face.
"How dare you?! How dare you continue to tease me like that?! JUST BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN, YOU THINK YOU CAN START TEASING ME ABOUT IT. AND, NOT ONLY THAT, YOU KNOW THERE IS NO CURE. THAT I WILL ALWAYS BE A FREAK. NO ONE COULD LOVE ME!! YOU MUST THINK SAYING YOU LOVE ME IS A GOOD JOKE.......YOU, BASTARD!!!
Zelgadiss couldn't stand it anymore. She launched herself at the Mozuku, trying to hit him with a stone fist, which Xelloss deftly caught. In her unthinking rage, she swung another fist, just to have it caught as well. Xelloss calmly pulled her hands together and pulled them to his chest.
"It's not a joke. I DO love you. I NEED you to believe me. Please, just look into my eyes and you'll know I mean it."
"NO!!!" Zelgadiss struggled to free her hands, her head turned away from Xelloss.
"Ooooh, I see, your a coward!"
"WHAT!!!" Zelgadiss whipped her head around, but still didn't look up at him.
"If you looked, and found out that I loved you. You'd have to admit you were wrong. That all this time, you believed you couldn't be loved, because you were a "freak". That all that searching for a cure was really not necessary and a waste of time. That you could be accepted and loved, just as you are." Xelloss chuckled sadly. "It's a strange human habit to go through a lot of pain, even denying oneself happiness, so they won't have to admit there wrong. Pride is quite a useful emotion for us Mozuku."
Zelgadiss stopped her struggling and slowly looked up at Xelloss. She felt her breathe catch, as she saw the tears rolling down his cheeks. She found herself searching his eyes trying to find any deceit, but there wasn't any.
It was true!!! He did love her!!!
She suddenly found herself crying, as Xelloss pulled her tightly into his arms. She felt him put a hand under her chin, lifting her face up to look back up at him. He gently wiped the tears away with a gloved hand.
He then kissed her. At that moment, Zelgadiss felt she was going to melt in his arms. She felt so good with him. She felt safe.
Xelloss kissed her deeply. But, after what only seemed like only a second, he had to pull away to let Gadiss-chan get a breathe.
"Gadiss, I need to ask you. I need to know. If, you will be mine. If, you will stay with me forever."
He watched Gadiss fight with indecision. "I'm sorry, I need to think this through. I've jumped into too many things in my life and I lived only to regret it. You need to give me time to think. Yes! I need to be left alone. I promise I'll give you an answer, but, please leave me alone."
Xelloss pulled away slowly, feeling the growing ache. "I.....understand." He turned away to phase out of her room, then realizing. "For weeks now, I've watched over you at night. Could I, at least....."
"No, please leave.", she said, turning her head away from him.
Xelloss fought back the tears as he phased out of the room, leaving his Gadiss-chan with her thoughts.