The floor creaked under Lina's feet as she walked around - creak, creak, creak, Lina was too busy to hear the sound. She was trying to think - but she was still too angry for that. Sure, walls weren't able to think - but if they were, they would be shivering with fear of getting fireballed, like the table, that had already been kicked down, or the water jar, that used to be a beautiful work of glass-craftsmanship. 'Till Lina broke it.

After maybe half an hour of pacing, Lina sunk down on the bed, taking deep breaths and looking at the floor.

She could not understand why was she so angry. It was not as if the Jellyfish had asked her to… do something… not appropriate!!

"AAAARGH!!!" She yelled, shaking her head at those thoughts. "Why did his intellect had to awake just today?¡"

But, she knew, it had only been a matter of time. Gourry, she had seen after the years, was not exactly stupid. Just.. naïve. Very naïve. Maybe a little like Amelia - they chose to see the world in a certain light, in a different way most people saw the world.

She already understood why had Amelia decided to do so - only by making the world a pretty happy place she had been able to get over her mother's murder, and her run-away sister. But Gourry was pretty much a mystery for her…

She grinned bitterly at that. How long had they been traveling? Seven years, maybe? And how much did she knew about him?

Not a lot, indeed. He was member of a wealthy family somewhere in Elmekia, the heir to the Swordsman of Light, and he definitely lived up to the name - his skill with the sword surpassed anything she had ever seen before.

Why, then, was he so stupid? Or at least, why did he acted that way?

"Idiot." She murmured, calming down again. Her eyes were set on the wooden floor, but the old and cracked wood was not exactly interesting for her - here eyes were instead looking, at least in her mind, at the small ring she had held just less than an hour ago.

She had loved it.

The craftsmanship; the gems; the metal, even for her, that knew quite some about jewelry, had been good. But besides that, she had been happy to receive something from him - specially such an expensive something - from Gourry, with no motive at all. She had liked to receive a present from him.

And then he had to g o and ruin it by asking her to marry him.

There was something else, besides Gourry's ability to spoil a perfect dinner and a perfect ring, that she wasn't able to understand: Herself.

Why was she so mad at him? And at herself, too?

"OK, settling the matters…" She said to herself, sitting upright. "I'm mad at him because he asked me to marry. That's obvious. I can picture it already!! Me - a housewife!! Raising children, making meals, sweeping floors!! He should've married Shylphiel!!! And he deprived me of dessert!!!" She was almost yelling by the end of the sentence, before freezing.

She wouldn't like, she realized, to see Gourry married with Shylphiel. She remembered the priestess very well - most probably, she was what every man was looking for in a wife. Quiet, docile, tender, caring, loving, a good cook. Oh, and a little bit clingy, she thought.

"Then why didn't the jellyfish asked her to marry him?¡ She wouldn't have had her day ruined because of that!!" She fumed, crossing her arms. "Why me?" She commented out loud, feeling as the victim of the whole affair.

Even worse, Gourry himself had said so - she had to answer either 'Aye' or 'Nay', and soon. There was no way she could avoid the matter just like that, and just keep on traveling as if nothing had ever happened. She knew that, if she said 'No', he would leave. Maybe not on his own, but then she would be the one to leave: She wouldn't be able to even look at him knowing he had wanted to marry her.

So she would leave and travel alone again, and would end up running into Nahga, and he would go off and run into Shylphiel, and marry her.

Everything would be like it was in the old times, before she had met anyone else. The difference was, of course, that she was no longer fifteen, and that she would miss the Jellyfish's company.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" She sighed in what could be interpreted as defeat. When she was younger, and before taking those photographs that would doom her to a life on the run, she would've gone to her sister for advice. But… even if she had the courage to go and ask her, Luna was now miles and miles away, and she couldn't travel all the way to Zephillia just to hear what she had to say. Besides, she would rather marry and have eight children before seeing Luna again.

Even more - she felt that she already knew what Luna would say. She could imagine her sister - a sinister grin on her face, her hands on her hips, looking down at her.

"Why, Lina, I'm truly glad you've found someone to settle down!!" She would say, emphasizing the words 'settle down'. And then she would have no choice and she would have to settle down in Zephilia, with or without Gourry, because Luna would never allow her to leave again.

"What am I supposed to do?" She repeated again. "Am I afraid of something? It's not like me to hide and mourn…" But there she was: Hiding in her room. Turning around to lay on her bed, her gaze directed to the window. Nothing would be as easy as to open the window and raywing out of the inn, out of the town, out of Gourry's reach.

But, she forced herself to admit, she didn't want to leave him either. She was… too used to having someone around. Not that she couldn't take the loneliness - she had been alone many times before. But this was different - she had gotten fond of him. She enjoyed his company, as stupid as he could be. She liked to have someone to boss around, and to teach, and to hit a few times when she felt he deserved it.

She wanted to keep on traveling with Gourry. She wasn't sure of how long, but for at least some years… and years. She liked to travel with him, she had spent the best years of her life with him already.

"Then, why don't marry him?" She asked herself, laying now on her stomach.

Because, a small voice told her inside her mind, because what if the marriage changes everything? What if he wants to stop traveling, what if he wants to have children, what if he gets really macho?

"As if." She rolled her eyes. If he ever got too macho, a fireball or two would be enough to put him in his place. But that knowledge didn't stop her from fearing the change that might come upon her if she did marry.

"I'm getting nowhere." She muttered, getting annoyed. "Maybe I should just flip a coin…" Ping - an idea flashed through her mind. She could remember something her mother had once said, being the shrewd business woman she was:

"Leaving things, specially business, to fate and randomness, Lina, is certainly the most stupid and idiotic thing you can do." She had said when she was just eight, and was helping her at the family store. "Whenever you are not sure of what to do with a business, and you feel really torn between the two options, there are only two things left to do: Either you flip a coin, or you list the pros and the cons. And since flipping a coin is stupid, then you have to list the ups and downsides of the matter."

In no time, the small table that she had kicked before was again on foot, and she was getting some ink and a pen from her pockets.

"This ain't no business, mom." She muttered, still rummaging through her bags. "But there's no other thing to do." Sitting in from of the table, and laying a piece of paper and the pen and ink on it, she took a deep breath.

"Ok, Lina. Whatever has the most points, you go with. No regrets." And she started writing.

Gourry couldn't really understand what had gone wrong. He had said what the woman at the store had told him to say - well, sort of. But he was sure he hadn't said anything wrong.

On his mind, he had tried to remember everything that annoyed Lina:

Breast size - Nope, not a word had been said about that.

Giving away her plans - Did they had any plan going?

Not remembering important stuff - She hadn't asked anything…

Falling asleep while she was talking - He was too tired for having fallen asleep.

Stealing her food - She has stolen his as well!! And that was before the ring thing!!

So he could only think about the 'ring thing'. Everything had been going well before that - she had eaten as always, they had fought over the food as always, and while she looked a little bored, he didn't think that boredom could make someone change her mood so much.

Frowning, he leant on the table, frankly bored, confused and tired. She had been gone for easily an hour, and there he was still, fingering the box she had given him. He had hoped she would like it, and that she would accept it - he had indeed believed she would simply accept it as the stupid gift it was, instead of getting all freaked out.

Because really - after all those years of traveling with him, what did a ring matter? She should've known by now that he would never leave her, and would always be with her, unless she didn't want him too.

So, what did the ring… matter?

Right. The lady at the store had said that when the girl didn't want to be with the boy, she rejected the ring. So then, that must mean Lina didn't wanted to be with him….

And maybe he had already ruined all his chances to be with her, by giving her the ring?

Sitting upright, he slammed his fists on the table. There was no way he was going to loose Lina that way - not because of his own stupidity!! She had survived all kind of battles, she had been sucked into that weird-looking place with lots of rocks and light, and he had always followed her, and he had always been with her. There was no way he would loose her because such a stupid mistake!!

He got up, burying the ring in his pocket. Maybe it wasn't too late yet - maybe he could still dismiss everything as a mistake, or as a joke. 'Ring? What ring?', he could pretend he had forgotten about it, or that he had lost it.

Surely Lina would kick him, and punch him and slam him to the floor, but he'd rather be punched or kicked or slammed by her than having her out of his reach forever.

Author Notes: Well, only the epilogue to go. Should be done soon, though.

I lost the old version, and had to write this from scratch again, heh ˆˆ; Oh, and I'm yet again listening to Waru…

Thanks to all who reviewed!!

WDR