It was a cold, winter night. Every now and then another frigid gust of wind would blow through the air; rustling the trees and breaking the silence of the twilight hours. The pale reflection of the moon shone on the ocean in the distance.
Zelgadis Greywers tossed and turned on one of the lumpy inn beds; in a fitful sleep. Suddenly, he woke up with a startled gasp as he sat up drenched in a cold sweat. Zelgadis collected himself, and his rigid breathing slowly returned to normal. He sighed and lay back down. The room was almost pitch dark, with only a sliver of moonlight shining through the small window.
"It was that dream again....about her"
Her. The one bright spot in his otherwise rueful life. When he'd first met her, he only saw a unrefined, immature brat. But now....now....whenever he was near her, his usually cool head turned to mush. One of her smiles could melt all of the despair in Zelgadis' soul. He remembered that she never, ever thought of him as a monster.
Lina. One of his few friends....and.....the one he had given his heart to.
There was no use getting his hopes up, Zelgadis thought as he gazed out the window into the night sky. Lina would never go for someone like him. He felt a tear trail down his face, followed by others. But he couldn't cry. Wasn't he always the one who stayed calm? The one who was level-headed....emotionless......a monster. It became too much for Zelgadis as he crawled into a fetal position and began to sob softly, crying tears for lost and unrequited love; and loneliness.
Gourry began to stir in his sleep on the other side of the room. Zelgadis froze , but Gourry turned over and started snoring. Gradually his sobs subsided, as he fell into a dreamless slumber. The last thought in his mind before he went to sleep was:
"Someday I'll tell her how I feel.....
"Someday......"
In the next room, Lina Inverse drifted off to sleep, thinking
"Someday I'll tell him....
"Someday..."