Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Tiger-Striped Cat ❯ Chapter 1

Disclaimer: If I owned them, then I'd be rich enough not to care if you sued, but since I don't, and I'm not, please refrain from taking legal action. I got the tiger-striped cat story off of a Cowboy Bebop backgroud I found at animewallpapers.com so it's not mine either. I don't know who's it is, but don't sue me for using it, please. (All you'll get are cat grooming supplies and a litter box. Maybe some school books too.)

Warnings: Shounen Ai, sadness, SAP SAP SAP! and minimal angst. Oh, and it sucks, but read it anyway, it'll give you an excuse to flame someone and release stress. You know you want to.

Tiger-Striped Cat

"Zelgadis-san, do you have any stories?" Ameria asked, hopefully. Everyone else had told a story, even Xellos. Zelgadis was the only one who had neglected to share something from his life.

Zelgadis smiled. He had one story he could tell these people. One story he carried with him from his childhood. Of course they probably wouldn't understand it, but he would tell it anyway. It was a story that had taken him years to understand, and only one who had felt an intense love would understand the beauty. He would tell it anyway, just to see. "Do you know a story that goes like this?…" He said quietly, his soft voice catching everyone's attention. No one had expected him to share. "There once was a tiger-striped cat. This cat died a million deaths, and was reborn a million times." He paused briefly, allowing the first line of his short tale to sink in. "It was owned by various people who he didn't care for. The cat wasn't afraid to die." His voice was barely above a whisper, and everyone was leaning close to hear him. Ameria was kneeling on the floor in front of him, practically in his lap, Lina, Filia, and Gourry had scooted around the table and were now sitting on the same side as him. The only one who hadn't moved was Xellos. He was merely sitting frozen in his spot, his face a solemnly beautiful mask, his eyes wide open and pinned directly on Zelgadis' face. For a moment Zel was too stunned by those violet orbs to speak, but then he continued, never pulling his eyes from Xellos'.

"One day the cat was a free cat, a stray cat. He met a beautiful white cat, and the two spent their days happily together. Years passed by, and the white cat died of old age." A small gasp escaped Ameria's lips and Filia let out a cry, but all Zelgadis noticed was the widening of Xellos' eyes. Memories were flooding Zel's mind as he once again almost drowned in those amethyst jewels. He felt a single tear sliding down his stone cheek as he saw the same kind of beauty in the face he was staring at now as he had seen in her face as she'd told him the story with her final breaths.

"What happened to the tiger-striped cat?" Xellos prompted gently, as if he already knew.

"The tiger-striped cat cried a million times, and then died." Zel choked on his words, another tear sliding silently down his cheek. "It never came back to life." The others would not have heard the end had Xellos not been whispering it as well.

"Jeeze Zel-san, that's depressing!" Ameria said loudly, not noticing the chimera's tears and earning nods of agreement from the others.

"Gomen." He said quietly. "I think I'll go for a walk." Without waiting for a reply, Zel got up and left the inn, walking into the darkness of the deserted streets. Xellos watched him leave and then without a word, fazed out.

"Zelgadis?" A soft voice called out to the chimera in the darkness. He turned to find himself looking at Xellos who was standing in the middle of the street, the moonlight pouring over him, giving him ethereal glow. He was beautiful.

"Yes?" He replied quietly.

"How many times have you cried?"

"Too many." Zelgadis answered without thinking.

"Tell me this, Zelgadis," Xellos almost sung, taking a step closer to the now trembling chimera. "What would have happened to the tiger-striped cat if he had been reborn?"

Zel frowned, wondering what Xellos' point was, trapped in those eyes once again. Suddenly he was on his knees sobbing and saying desperately, "I don't know."

Xellos walked slowly forward, kneeling directly in front of Zelgadis and tilting his chin upward so they were looking into each other's eyes once again. "Maybe, if the tiger-striped cat had been reborn, he would have met the white cat again. Maybe, however, he wouldn't have. Maybe the white cat wouldn't be reborn. But what if he met another cat. What if he met a black cat that loved him even more than the white cat did. What if the black cat never left him? What if they lived forever, and never died? What if they were happy? Tell me, Zelgadis, What if some one else loved you? If you mourn forever, you'll die, and you might miss your chance with the black cat." With this, Xellos smiled gently, brushing the tears from Zel's cheeks and whispering, "Will you ever let anyone love you again? Will you ever love again?"

Zelgadis smiled brilliantly. Xellos understood the beauty. Xellos saw how the story worked. "I already do." He whispered.

"And tell me this, Zel, who is you're black cat?" Xellos spoke softly, lost in Zelgadis' sapphire eyes. He wanted desperately to be the black cat. He wanted the chance to love.

"You are." The chimera whispered quietly, leaning forward and brushing his lips gently across the mazoku's. "I love you."