Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Broken ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: Slayers and their characters are not owned by me. They belong to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi and any other companies which own them. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit and I promise to give them back all in perfect working order.

 

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“LINA!” I yelled and shot out of my seat.

 

I clamped my arms around her and held her close. I couldn't really describe to you how happy I was to see her, but I didn't really give myself time to work out why she was there. I didn't really care, I was just so glad to see her.

 

“Get off me, jellyfish! You're hurting me!” She winced.

“Oh…sorry.” I let go of her, feeling a little embarrassed.

“Oh, wow. You're really Lina Inverse? Why are you wearing a waitress's outfit?” Edward asked, still sat in his seat and a little confused with what just happened.

“Yeah, that's me. And you must be Edward right? As for the outfit? Well yeah, if you couldn't tell, I'm working as a waitress.”

“You know my name!? Lina Inverse knows my name! Wait, how do you know me?”

“Hehe…um. It's a long story. Why don't I get someone to get you some food while I take a break? Hey Pops! I'm taking a break; we need two lots of the menu on table 14 now!”

“Lina, you just had a break ten minutes ago.” The owner replied.

“Well I'm having another one now. OK!?” Lina growled while glaring.

“Oh…o…ok…”

 

 

“So what's with the waitress job?” I asked as I grabbed myself a plentiful portion of mashed potatoes.

“Well, when you yelled at me to leave, I figured you hadn't thought about having to pay the bill for the healer. So I knew there was a nearby town and got this job, then sent payments to the healer for your bill. You didn't think you were getting to stay there for free were you?” She replied before taking a mouthful of bacon from my plate.

“I hadn't actually thought about it at all. But the healer never brought it up. I'm sure if he did then I would have sorted something out.”

“But how do you know me?” Edward joined in. I think he was surprised by someone of Lina's size eating so much food. He didn't think anyone could eat as much as I did, especially as I was eating more and more once I got more movement.

“Well I've been checking in on you guys every now and again. I noticed you making friends with Gourry. Oh, and those kids that picked on you. You notice they stopped bothering you now?”

“Yeah?” He replied, suddenly interested.

“Well, I dealt with them, so you don't have to worry about them anymore.” She smiled.

“What did you do Lina?” I asked sternly, looking at her through narrow eyes.

“Oh, nothing much! I didn't hurt them if that's what you were thinking. Oh ok, maybe just a little bit, but those kids deserved it. Especially after what they said about me…”

 

I noticed Lina suddenly looking annoyed. Something told me that Lina probably only did something to them because of what they said about her, rather than helping out Edward. I didn't mind though and the kids deserved it I guess.

 

“So why did you start working here?” Edward asked.

“Well, my sister was a waitress and I figured if she could do it, then I would be more than capable. I think I do a better job than her actually!”

 

The story didn't stick with me though. I knew Lina, and I knew she would not be happy being stuck around in one place for too long. Something wasn't right about this and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

 

“Hey Edward. Just stay here for a bit ok? I need to speak with Lina alone.” I then stood up and grabbed Lina by her arm and pulled her from the table slightly roughly.

“Oi!!! I've not finished eating my chicken!” She complained, while finishing off a chicken leg.

 

I continued to drag her behind me as her legs struggled to catch up. Meanwhile, I was trying to find a room where we could speak alone. I found an empty room which must have been where the staff waitresses got changed. I let go of her and turned towards her.

 

“Why didn't you do what I told you? I wanted you to carry on witho…”

 

SMACK!

 

Lina slapped me hard across the cheek, and I was left in a state of shock.

 

“You must be stupider than I thought Gourry Gabriev! That's for shouting at me like that! No one gets to shout at me like a kid who just got into trouble.”

 

She then slapped me again across the other cheek.

 

“And that's for just dragging me away in the middle of the restaurant! I can't believe after all the years we've been together you end up treating me like a little kid! Dammit Gourry. I'm not just going to leave you behind because something bad happened. I'm not going to pretend that you were never my travelling partner. You're really stupid to think that Gourry. I know you don't know a lot of things and you can be forgetful. But if you think friends can just leave like that, then I've got you totally wrong…”

 

She turned away from me at that point, and for the first time in a long while, Lina looked vulnerable to me. I stepped towards her quietly and wrapped my arms around her gently. I leaned my head down into her brown locks.

 

“I'm sorry Lina. I'm sorry for treating you like that. Can you forgive me?” I spoke softly.

 

Lina sighed and placed her hands on my arms wrapped around her.

 

“I guess I could. You owe me though.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

“I just didn't want to tie you down to one place.”

“And why would you be worrying about me? You were badly injured! You should have been thinking about yourself.”

“I guess I worry about you more than myself. That's why I'm your protector, right?”

“Well you didn't have to worry about that. There were a few bandit camps around, so I took them out whenever I had time off from work. Got me some extra money and the town had rewards for taking out the bandit camps as well.”

“I knew you couldn't have just stayed here working as a waitress this whole time!”

“Well, I'm not going to let my awesome sorcery go to waste, am I?” She grinned and wriggled away from my embrace. “Now let's finish eating. I'm not letting that food go to waste!”

 

 

I leaned back into my chair and patted my belly in satisfaction after feeling well fed. Lina did the same as me and let out a nice loud sigh, stating she was pretty happy now.

 

“Does this mean you're going now Gourry?” Edward spoke quietly, and when I looked at him, he was looking down at his hands in his lap. I glanced to Lina and she returned the look with a soft smile.

“Well, you knew I would be going someday. I wasn't going to stay forever. But I'm not leaving you or Marina anytime soon. I'm not just ready yet. I still need a few more weeks.”

“I guess so, but now with you meeting Lina again. It all suddenly seems so real.”

“Hey, it's ok. Gourry won't forget about you guys. I'll make sure of that! Also, I'm sure we'll visit sometime.” Lina added.

“Really? You'll come back.”

“Sure!” I replied, and then I noticed the time. “You should get to bed now, I'm sure you're pretty tired.”

“Ok then, goodnight Gourry. And nice meeting you Lina!”

“Night kid!” Lina replied casually.

 

Edward then ran off up the stairs towards where the rooms where, and left Lina and me alone.

 

“So how was that letter from Amelia? That must have had you laughing!” Lina giggled to herself.

“A letter from Amelia? I didn't get any letters.”

“You what!? I sent you a letter from Amelia. I told her about what happened and she was going to visit but I told her it probably wasn't the best thing to do, so she sent me a letter to give to you.”

“Did you send any?” I asked.

“Uhh…um. One or two.” Lina replied shyly. Her cheeks suddenly turned rosy red.

“I'll have to talk to Marina about it. Maybe she knows what happened.”

“Yeah…I think I'll come with you when you go back. I'd like to speak with her.”

“I think she'd like that. I've told her so much about you.”

“Yeah…I bet.” Lina returned a little coldly.

 

I was wondering what was wrong with Lina. She certainly didn't seem to like Marina, but I couldn't work out why. She hadn't spoken to her for all I know, so I thought it was a little unfair to feel like that about someone without really knowing them. Marina was a really kind and caring person and I knew if Lina tried, she would like her as well.

 

“So what did you see when you spied on me?” I grinned slightly.

“It wasn't spying!” She defended.

“Well you were pretty secretive about it.”

“Well you yelled at me to leave, so I didn't want you thinking I was back.”

“I guess I deserved it.”

“You're damn right about that!”

“You still didn't answer me.”

“I saw you slowly getting better. I know you were working pretty hard as well. I was amazed at how quickly you got better. I also saw you training Edward. What's his story anyway?”

“He was really sick when he was younger. Apparently lots of kids die from that illness and so his parents were prepared for the worst. Somehow he fought through it and got better but it left him weak and his growth was stunted. His parents were pretty protective over him and he rarely went to school. He was unwell a lot of the time and it meant he got bullied a bit. Somehow he found out about what we got up to and it inspired him. He started getting stronger, and he wasn't as unwell as much.”

“Tough kid, he's been through a lot huh?”

“Yeah…it kinda helped me, knowing what he went through.”

“Is that why you taught him to fight with a sword?”

“You saw that?” Lina nodded and I carried on. “Yeah, I just wanted to help him out a little.”

“Well he's looking really good now. You did a good job.”

“Thanks.”

 

We then sat in silence for a bit, not really sure what to talk about, until Lina broke it.

 

“You seemed to get on with Marina well.”

“Yeah, she's a nice person. I guess if it wasn't for her, I would probably be stuck in that bed unable to move right now. She's a really good cook too! You can try out some of her cooking tomorrow. But wait, don't you have to work tomorrow.”

“Nah, I can quit whenever I want.”

“How did you manage that?”

“I got it into the terms when he hired me.”

“I'm not gonna ask how you made him agree to that.”

 

Lina just smirked and stretched her arms behind her back.

 

“He's probably happy to see me leave. He'll probably get some of his customers back once they find out I'm gone.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing! I mean, those guys deserved it, the damn perverts. Thinking they can slap my ass like that. They should be glad they can still procreate.”

“Pro…”

“Don't ask…”

“Well, I think it's time we go to bed. We got some things to pick up before we go back tomorrow.”

“Ok then. I could do with the beauty sleep! See you bright and early.”

 

Lina headed up to her room and I went to mine which was next door to Edward's. As I got into the bed and looked up at the ceiling, I noticed that it was the first time for a long while that I was looking up at a strange ceiling. It was strange but again comforting. Strange because I was so used to looking at once ceiling, but it was comforting because I knew it meant I was starting to get back to the way I was before the accident.

 

Meeting Lina was such a good thing for me. It eased all my fears and worries. I was wondering how long it would take me to find Lina, and the scariest thought was that I would never find her again. Although maybe that would have been better for me. I think trying to search for Lina and never finding her would be better than finding out Lina was dead, and that I would have nothing left to do.

 

I didn't have to worry about that anymore though, because I had found Lina and it didn't take long. I think she knew I had to get myself better alone since she didn't come to see me, or at least let me know she was there. The only problem now was dealing with leaving Marina and Edward after they took care of me for so long.