Zelgadis pulled uncomfortably at his collar, as he stood before the tall full-length mirror before him. He couldn't help but think this was the wrong decision...but the same thought was running through his mind over and over again. "Who else would love a freak like him...This was his only chance at happiness"...His thoughts were interrupted however by a soft knock at the door.
"Mr. Zelgadis are you about ready the ceremony is about to begin" the raspy voice called through the door.
"I'll be down in a moment...could you go send for Gourry please," Zel asked as he opened the door to look at the old servant.
"As you wish sir!" with a click of heels on the well-polished floor the man turned and began walking through the long hallway.
Zelgadis walked over and again stood by the tall full length mirror noting the dead look in his eyes and the way his lips turned down at the corners. When was the last time he had smiled...he remembered all right, his eyes turned bitter as he remembered the fateful day that so long ago...
"No way Zel the Roast beef is better!"
"Lina why must you be so selfish, why cant you just go along with what we say for once!"
"I don't always want things my way...I simply know what I'm talking about!"
"Oh miss Lina why can't you just stop being so selfish!"
Lina glared as her two friends glared defiantly back at her. She wasn't in the wrong she knew that the roast beef tasted better! "Fine then you guys go to your sea food restaurant and me and Gourry will go over here"
Zelgadis merely nodded as he and Amelia walked into the nearby restaurant, she began to eat happily all the while chattering about justice. For some reason or another he had been thinking about the future...he knew he had no chance with his true love...but Amelia loved him. He was so tired of being alone... So maybe just maybe he should give it a chance...
His thoughts were interrupted by the gentle rapping at the door. It was probably Gourry after the group had split up they had all gone their separate ways...He had been hoping that ...but no, no one had seen her in two years. Opening the door he smiled as Gourry stood in the doorway dressed neatly in a black suit. "Hello Gourry it's been a long time"
"Yeah it has..." Gourry's smile was stressed and slightly strained as if it was a great effort he was exerting to keep the façade of happiness up.
Zelgadis's own false smile faltered under Gourry's intense glare. "What..."
"You know what Zel...I can't believe you're going along with this. If she hadn't promised me not to tell..." Gourry abruptly cut himself off as he stepped into the room closing the door behind himself.
Zel turned his ears pricking at the slip in the conversation "What do you mean promised not to tell?" Zel had inkling that something was about to turn his world upside down.
Gourry who had in the past two years lost the boyish arrogance of his youth merely stared at his once friend and traveling companion. "Zel you hurt her...you and I both know it. She loved you, she told me that night by the campfire right before you announced your intentions. She was planning on telling you that night..." Gourry could feel his muscles tense as he stood and turned back to the shocked chimera. "She cried for a while that night in my arms...I've never seen Lina cry like that before...and I promised myself that she would never cry like that again."
"You...you love her don't you" Zelgadis flinched as if he had been slapped at the look of hatred emanating from the tall blond. Gourry was still the same his long blond hair flowing down his back, his once boyish appearance gone only to be replaced by a more older roughish appearance. His body, which was once lithe, was now hard muscle that had been built over the years.
Laughing bitterly Gourry rolled his eyes "And here I thought that I was the dense one...Yes I love her. And I will probably keep on loving her and protecting her...and don't get me wrong Zel the only reason I'm here is to make sure that you go through with this so you don't hurt Lina anymore."
"Do you know where Lina is?" he couldn't believe it he could tell by the way that Gourry was staring at him that he indeed knew, but he also knew that he would get no information from the swordsman about her whereabouts.
"You and I both know that I am not about to tell you...So put on a smile Zelgadis today is your wedding day soon you and your wife will be known as Zelgadis and Amelia Greywards the fighters of love and justice"
Zelgadis flinched at the term Gourry used to describe him...and then he let what the swordsman said sink in. "No..." That one word held so much of the pain and the loss he was feeling as he dropped to his knees onto the ground. The tears coursed down his cheeks in torrents as he let all of his walls crumble, he had made one of the biggest mistakes in his life. He had ruined any chance with a life with the one he loved and one fell swoop...