"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold."
"Ano..."
"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold."
"I think..."
"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold."
"Could you just..."
"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, it's so COLD!"
"You already knew that didn't you? Lina."
"Shut up, Gourry!" Lina snapped before returning to her shivering and grumbling. "It's cold, it's cold, it's cold, it's cold."
"But Lina-san, isn't this great? Protecting this old family home from vagrants that would break into it and use it for their own gain."
Lina looked sourly at the cheerful princess.
"You don't have anyone to blame but yourself. You tuned out everything after the mention of our pay."
She didn't even look at the chimera much less give him a scathing retort. Was everyone going to be so heartless in the face of her plight? Fine. See if she gave a damn about them when they complained.
"Ah! There it is, Lina-san!"
At the end of the snow powdered trail was the snug two-story wooden lodge that Lina and company were hired to housesit for several weeks. It was a nice cushy job for the dull days of winter and better than spending some of her own hard earned cash staying at an inn.
"Well, let's hurry up and get settled in!" Lina dashed toward the cabin.
"Translation. We'd better hurry and warm the place up before Lina torches it."
Gourry and Amelia, dragging most of the food supply for the next month behind them, sighed and nodded in agreement with Zel's assessment.
It didn't take too long for the four to make themselves at home. The first floor had the kitchen, a large food larder, and a front room with a large fireplace and comfortable sofas. Upstairs there was a small library and four bedrooms. The baths, including a hot spring, were connected to the cabin by walled and roofed path.
"Ah, this is the life," Lina purred, stretching like a cat on the thick rug before the blazing fire.
She received several exasperated looks.
"Lina-san, can't you help?"
"I'm still warming up."
"What is there to warm up?" Gourry muttered.
Zelgadiss conveniently bent over to pick up another box of food and was therefore not in the direct line of the slipper that went flying into Gourry's head.
"Most of this food is for you three. You could at least help put it away."
"A delicate thing like me?"
"Are we talking about Lina-san?"
"I'm not sure."
"You two..." Lina growled.
"But if we're going to be here for awhile, we'd better decide who does what or figure out a rotation."
"Can't you just relax, Zel?"
"Relaxing is inviting trouble."
"You're too gloomy."
"I prefer to think cynical at best."
"Like I said."
"Can we eat yet?" Gourry asked.
"Who's cooking?"
Silence.
More silence.
A pop from the logs in the fireplace.
"I guess we can draw straws..." Amelia suggested.
"And what if Gourry gets it?" Lina snorted. "We'd probably be eating spatulas and frying pans."
"And if Lina-san got it, then the food will probably never reach the table."
"Hey! You eat as much as I do! At least I know how to cook. What about you?"
Amelia sweatdropped. "Um...not really..."
"Then we settle this the practical way. Who here knows how to cook?" Zel looked around. Amelia shook her head. Gourry wasn't paying attention and would probably burn up the kitchen. Lina barely raised her hand. "Alright, so for now, it looks like either Lina or I will be cooking."
"Zelgadiss-san, you know how to cook?"
"Basics. But I'll assume Lina knows more since she's the one that chose most of the food to bring up."
Lina silently groaned.
"Well then, we'll be waiting for dinner, Lina-san!"
"Amelia..."
"I hope it doesn't kill us."
"Blockhead! Just for that, I'll burn your portion!"
"No fair!"
"This isn't going to work," Zel sighed.
"Hey, Zel! You should really try the bathhouse after this."
Zelgadiss looked up from the book he was studying before the fire. Gourry and Amelia had made a run for the baths after deciding that dinner was going to be handled by Zel and Lina. So they weren't around to see Lina kick him, or rather push him, out of the kitchen.
"Yes, Zelgadiss-san, you must. There's even two hot springs in there!"
"You two..."
"So where's dinner?"
Zelgadiss looked toward the closed kitchen door. "Still cooking I guess."
"Why aren't you helping Lina-san?"
"Apparently, she didn't want my help."
"Will it really be alright?"
"Lina cooking? Didn't think she knew something so girlish."
A sharp knife flew from the quickly opened kitchen door past Gourry's head.
"She has good ears too," Zel smirked.
"It's bad enough I have to cook but you don't need to talk behind my back about it!"
"Wah, Lina-san kawaii!" Amelia squealed.
She had removed her cape and gloves, replacing them with a pink apron patterned with rosebuds. Her long hair that normally hung loose was tied back in a ponytail with the ribbon she used as a headband. Lina's face began to match the apron because of all of the attention between Amelia's squeals and Gourry's and Zel's shocked faces.
"What are you all staring at?" she demanded. "Dinner's already done. Someone help me bring it out."
"I'll do it." Zel marked his place in the book. "You two go get dressed."
Gourry and Amelia were still in their yukatas. Lina quickly stomped back into the kitchen with Zel following. He blinked at the number of plates of food.
"What? You have a problem with my cooking?" Lina glared at him.
"N-No. I'm just surprised you were able to make so much."
"The way Amelia, Gourry, and I eat? There'd better be a lot. And you, mister, had better eat some too. I didn't slave away over the stove so you can just sit and sip from your cup."
Zel could only nod.
"Damn, this soup needs more flavoring. Zel, take those plates by the oven. They're done," Lina ordered, concentrating on her soup.
Without argument, Zel began setting the table with the finished dishes. Lina fussed over the remaining dishes and the dessert of which she refused to say anything about. That was such an odd thing to see, her fussing over how the food was prepared like a wife or something.
"Oi, Lina. Gourry and Amelia are going to start drooling if you don't let them eat soon."
"Okay, okay. Let me just get this off," Lina muttered, trying to undo the apron's ties. Instead, her fumbling was making it into a big knot. "Damn it."
"Let me do that."
Zel's fingers, still nimble despite the amount of years since his last light finger job, quickly unraveled the mess of the apron ties. He lifted it over her head and looked around for where to hang it.
"Where does this go? And why is your face all red?"
"Nothing!" Lina said quickly, snatching the apron and putting it on a hook in one of the kitchen's floor to ceiling cabinets. "Let's just eat!"
"I can't eat another bite," Gourry sighed with content.
"Me neither," Amelia agreed, patting her stomach.
"I'm impressed."
"Don't be silly. It wasn't that good," Lina mumbled.
"Yes, it was, Lina-san! That was as good as the cook back home," Amelia protested. By cook, she meant the royal cook of the castle.
"Now I know you can't be serious."
"You're going to make someone a great wife."
Lina blushed. "Go-Gourry what are you - "
"If you grew up a bit."
"I am going to kill you!"
"Lina, put the chair down," Zel recommended. "We're supposed to be taking care of the place. Not destroying it."
Lina growled something which everyone took to be a word even drunken pirates wouldn't say.
"Fine. Then Gourry does the dishes."
"What?"
"Is that a really good idea?"
"What do you mean, Zel?"
"One, he might forget to wash them. Two, he might forget to put them away. Three, he might put them away in the wrong places. Four, he could break them when he forgets what he's doing. Five - "
"I get the picture! Alright, then Amelia - "
Amelia's seat was conspicuously empty.
"Am I supposed to do all of the work around here?!"
"At least the kitchen work it appears. I guess I'll help."
"Someone better," Lina muttered darkly. "I'm beginning to know how those tavernkeepers feel when we leave. There's a large tub in the lean-to that you can feel with snow."
Zel filled the washtub with snow and placed it near the still burning stove in the kitchen to melt the frozen water. Meanwhile Lina had cleared the table and thrown away the scraps. When she put the apron, she silently challenged Zel to comment about it. But he kept quiet.
Now they just had to wait for the snow to melt.
"Where did you learn to cook so well?"
"I had to cook at home a lot. ...was it really that good?"
Zel looked at her in surprise. "Of course."
Lina didn't looked convinced.
"Can't you tell?"
She muttered something under her breath but Zel's sensitive hearing still caught it.
"Nee-chan never thought so."
"You have an older sister?"
"What? How did you? You were eavesdropping on me?!"
"I can't help it if I hear better than others," Zel said bitterly.
"That doesn't give you the right to listen in on private thoughts!"
"If they were so private, then why did you say them out loud?"
"I didn't!"
"Yes you did."
"Didn't!"
"Did."
"Did not!"
"The ice has melted."
Lina set her lips into a thin line and began to wash the stacks of plates and bowls, not to mention the pots and pans she used for cooking. Zel dried and put away the kitchenware as she finished them.
"You said you have an older sister."
"So?"
"Anyone else?"
"My father and my mother. Sometimes my grandmother comes by. Though I don't see why you want to know," Lina answered grudgingly.
"They are...alive?"
"Of course."
"You don't miss them?"
"Why are you asking all of these questions?"
"Just curious."
"All of sudden you want to know all about me?" Lina asked sarcastically.
Zel paused. "Yes...I wonder why."
"If you don't know, how would I know?!"
"I guess...I was just surprised."
"Surprised? About what?"
"You're so young but you know more than most mages four times your age."
"You're no slouch yourself."
"You didn't seem like the type to care about feminine things either."
"What are you implying?" Lina growled a la demon head style.
"That you're full of surprises."
"But that's what makes me cute," Lina smiled cutely just to scare him. It always scared Gourry stone stiff. And it almost worked with Zel too who quicky turned away. Well, he was already stone.
"Just finish with those dishes," he muttered.
After they figured out what everyone's duties were, things began to go pretty smoothly for the foursome. Though none of them would admit it, this was a welcome change from the troubles of the past year with Rezo and his copy. Here they didn't have to worry about Demon Kings being reborn or hordes of would-be heroes trying to collect a bounty. Here, they could forget the outside world and just be normal.
Gourry had the manual work, being surprisingly good at carpentry he took care of any broken furniture, and kept the log piles well-stocked. Amelia got a kick out of cleaning, something about a holy crusade against dust and dirt. Everyday she would scold Gourry about leaving puddles of water on the floor. She also kept the bathhouse clean and steamy. Zel was in charge of supplies and budgeting. Well, he was the only one who really cared about budgeting anyway. Lina was queen of the kitchen though sometimes either Amelia or Zel would help her try out a new recipe from the books in the library.
During their free time, Gourry and Amelia would go outside and enjoy the snow. There was a good selection of snow equipment and Amelia and Gourry took to skiing immediately. If they weren't skiing or searching for new slopes, they'd be making snow sculptures in the cleared grounds around the cabin. They tried to coax either Zel or Lina to join them but both refused. Those two instead immersed themselves in the cabin's library.
On those cold nights, the four would sit in the main room downstairs before the fire, drinking apple cider or hot cocoa and eating buttered popcorn. Sometimes they'd play games, other times they would tell stories, or like now, they would just lounge in idle conversations.
"Did you know this lodge is called Rosewood Lodge? Isn't that romantic?" Amelia sighed, curled up with an old book in the corner of a sofa.
"It's the name on the plaque next to the door," Lina pointed out from her rug before the fire. Resting on a large pillow, she kept an eye on the popcorn over the fire. "The building and all of the furniture are made of rosewood."
"Honestly, Lina-san, you can't think it's just that. The rose motif is everywhere."
"So the builder was obsessed was roses. Big deal."
Amelia pounced on this opening. "It wasn't the builder but the lady he loved!"
"Is the popcorn done yet?" Gourry asked plaintively.
"Your fault for eating up the first batch so quickly," Lina retorted. "I didn't even have the chance to butter it."
"Zelgadiss-san, you find it romantic don't you?" Amelia turned to the chimera as Lina and Gourry began arguing about food again.
"No."
"What's wrong with everyone? After you hear the story, I'm sure you'll agree with me!"
"What story?"
"It's all in here!" Amelia held up the old book in her hands. "A faithful and true account of this lodge's history!"
"Was it written by the builder?"
"Well, no."
"So how can you believe it's true?" Lina asked, winning the argument with Gourry after whacking several pillows at him. "Heck, even if it was the builder who wrote it, you can't be sure he's telling the truth."
"Just listen to it!"
Seeing as Amelia wasn't going to let this go, Lina just shrugged her acceptance. Zelgadiss buried himself even deeper into his own book, not needing to listen to a romantic story. Gourry was whittling a piece of wood and making a general mess that Amelia would later get on his case about.
"Their names have been forgotten but who they were will never be as long as this lodge stands. There was a young girl of the village who loved roses. Being a commoner though, she couldn't grow any in the village grounds as those flowers were only allowed in the lands of nobility or royalty. Many young men pined for her and tried to court her but she could only smile gently and say her heart belonged to the roses. One of these young men never had the courage to approach her, being a plain ordinary person. His trade lay in woodcraft. It was in his work that he first learned of the rosewood, a reddish wood that smelled faintly of the fabled rose. This wood was not common in the local area but possible to be obtained from outside. Slowly, he collected the wood, quietly setting about his work in the forest. As the months passed, the young girl grew older, more young men were turned away, and the carpenter's gift in the forest neared completion. One day, a herald came to town, calling all able men to arms in the service of the king. Even the carpenter was not excepted from the calls. Before he left, still not having enough courage, he left the key and a map to his gift on the step of her house. She found the two the next day and followed the map into the forest. There she came upon the Rosewood Lodge. She fell in love with the house immediately and tried to find who built it. But he was already gone. Touched by the gift, she left the home of her parents and lived by herself in the Rosewood Lodge. The longer she stayed, the more in love she fell with the house, and by extension, its builder. In the custom of the country, she lighted a candle in the window every night as a guide for her loved one to return."
Amelia sighed dreamily. "Isn't that so romantic?"
"It's stupid. And she's silly. If she could have any guy she wanted, she should have picked up a rich prince on a white horse. Who cares about roses?" Lina snorted.
"Lina-san! She shouldn't marry someone just because he's a prince!"
Prince Phil unfortunately came forward in everyone's mind.
"Why not marry a prince? Especially if he's rich, young, handsome, single, intelligent, charming..."
"And just where do you find a person like that?" Gourry asked.
"That's the way princes are supposed to be! And why does she fall in love with a guy just because he built a house?"
"But it's such a thoughtful gift!"
"Gift smift. I'd rather take the money he spent to build it."
"Lina-san, how can you be so material?"
"Easy for you to say, you're a princess. You haven't had a single day of want in your life. You'll marry a prince someday and still live in a palace with lots of servants and riches. The rest of us aren't that lucky."
"But don't you have dreams of marrying your one true love?"
"Amelia, this is real life. The true love where both fall in love with each other only happens in stories."
"No, it happens in real life too! Don't you think your parents are truly in love, Lina-san? If they weren't, you wouldn't have been born."
"There are many loveless marriages out there, Amelia."
"So your parents don't love each other?"
"I never said that. Just that I don't hold the idea of true love as gospel."
"So what happened to that girl in the story?" Gourry asked, completely oblivious to the previous discussion of love.
"When the war was over, most of the young men who left came back. But the carpenter wasn't one of them. She never gave up hope though, always lighting a candle faithfully every night to guide him back to her."
"So she died never seeing him again? In this house?" Lina asked.
"Hai."
The topic drifted after that, interrupted only by the popcorn and Lina beating Gourry up with a pillow. Amelia and Gourry stumbled off to bed first, offering sleepy good-nights to Lina and Zel. Zel continued going through the book on the study of earth magic. Lina lay curled up on the rug, hugging her big pillow.
"I wonder what really happened to her..."
"Happened to who?"
"Eh? How could you hear what I was saying? Damn, it was your good hearing again wasn't it?"
"Probably. You were referring to that girl in Amelia's story."
"Yeah. I was wondering if she really died alone, waiting for that guy."
Zel raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're really a romantic deep down inside."
He received a pillow in the face.
"Of course not!" Lina said hotly. "I...I'm just worried about her haunting this place."
"A ghost?" Zel said skeptically, pulling the pillow off some of the wire-like strands of hair.
"Why not?" Lina asked defensively. "Don't you feel it sometimes? Like there is someone watching you. Or when you're alone, you feel like someone else is there. Or when you're looking for something and suddenly it's there near you though you can swear it wasn't there a minute ago."
"You're probably just getting cabin fever."
"Maybe," Lina rolled over and looked at the fire. "You're probably right. It takes a very strong spirit to continue existing after death. I can't believe that anyone can care so much for someone else that they remain tied to this plane after they died. That depth of feeling, of caring...scares me."
"Too bad things aren't usually this easy," Gourry sighed, stretching a bit.
"If they were, we'd soon be out of a job," Zel reminded.
"Zelgadiss-san, you can't hold your own desires over that of the peace of the world," Amelia protested.
"I prefer to debate over the world's future on a full stomach."
"But you barely eat," Gourry pointed out.
"It was a figure of speech."
"Coldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcold," Lina chattered as she shivered. "Can't we just go back inside?"
"Lina-san, we have fulfilled the length of the contract. It wouldn't be right."
"Who care about right? I'm freezing!"
"You're always cold."
"Shut up, Zel."
"Be a man and endure it a bit until we get to town," Gourry suggested. "We have plenty of money for a good inn."
"I don't want to get warm later, I want to get warm NOW! That's it. I'm going back. See you in the spring."
"Lina-san!"
Zel shook his head and sighed.
"Maybe you should go back, Lina. Looks like someone forgot to put out that light."
"..."
"..."
"What light, Zelgadiss-san?"
"I don't see anything."
Zelgadiss looked at Amelia and Gourry strangely. "What are you talking about? It's right there in the front window."
Lina swallowed. "Um, Zel? That light you're seeing...it wouldn't happen to be like that from a candle would it?"
"Well, yes, I suppose..."
Amelia and Gourry exchanged looks.
"Are you two sure you're alright?"
"I changed my mind. We're going to town. Let's go!" Lina grabbed everyone and sprinted through the forest to the village outside.
Behind them, the single candlelight shone clearly through the window of the Rosewood Lodge. Its flame a beacon to guide those of one heart home. No matter how long, no matter how far apart, its light touches them and brings them together.