Author notes: This story was originally written in March 2009, and it's set between episodes 10 and 11 of Evolution-R. I was reminded by a reader that I never posted it anywhere but LiveJournal, so here you go!

"A Time for Comfort"

This was not the first time that Lina Inverse witnessed a row of dominoes toppling over.

She could see it in her mind, all the events that let up to this desperate chase they were on at the moment. The mage tanks. Duclis. Gioconda and the Zanaffar armor. The rush to save Saillune. The Hellmaster's jar. Nama (whose identity she was quite sure she had figured out, but didn't dare want to meditate on that possibility at the moment), Radok and Abel. Everything added up, yet so many questions were left unanswered - no thanks to the contradictions coming from the soul inside Rezo's jar. The sinking sensation in her heart mirrored the time when they initially fought Shabranigdu ... and when they had fought Phibrizzo.

She cast a glance over her shoulder at the still-shocked Zelgadiss and worried Amelia. Ozel trailed behind them slightly and Gourry ... Gourry ...

Oh, crap.

Lina skidded to a halt and Amelia nearly collided with her. "What's wrong, Lina-san?"

Lina pressed her fingers into her now-aching head. "We forgot Gourry."

Amelia quickly scanned the area. They were passing over a large lake not far from the one where Zelgadiss had nearly chucked the jar into. "Oh no!"

"We can't go back now," Zelgadiss said tersely. "We've got to track down Pokota with the jar."

"We're not going back," Lina agreed with him. "I am." She turned back toward the opposite shore. "I've gotten so used to Pokota helping us carry Gourry when we've needed to fly that it just escaped my mind this time. You three go on after Pokota. If we've got anything going for us, is that he's going to wear himself out. He's got to get some rest at some point. We'll catch up."

Amelia and Zelgadiss both nodded and flew off. Lina grabbed Ozel's arm. "You knew all along that we didn't have Gourry with us, didn't you?"

"Yes," Ozel replied simply.

Lina's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"My primary role is to guard Rezo-sama's jar and its owner. It did not include keeping track of the whereabouts of the owner's companions," Ozel said in a crisp manner before breaking free and following Amelia and Zelgadiss.

Lina rolled her eyes and flew off to retrieve Gourry.

When Zelgadiss touched down on the opposite shore and disappeared into the woods, Amelia didn't follow him. He needed a few minutes to himself, and she was willing to give them to him. She headed into the woods herself in the opposite direction. After seeing to her personal needs, she wandered back down to the lake shore and refilled her canteen. She wasn't quite sure when they would stop again, and she wanted to be prepared. She capped her canteen, slipped it back in her cape and washed her dusty face before sitting back on her haunches. It'd been a good 15 minutes since Zelgadiss had disappeared and she was starting to get even more worried.

"Have you seen Zelgadiss-san at all?" Amelia asked Ozel, approaching the puppet as she glanced around the area.

"I have not seen him," Ozel said. She fell into silence for a moment, then tilted her head slightly. "I heard some trees falling a couple minutes ago in that direction."

Amelia bit her lip for a moment, hesitated, then strode into the forest. It didn't take her long to find Zelgadiss. A clearing of about ten tree stumps appeared, the large oaks now blocking her path. With a chanted Levitation, she floated over the logs to see Zelgadiss sitting on one of the stumps, his shoulders hunched forward.

She froze, instinct fighting with not wanting to set him off. Her heart ached so much for him. She softly crept around until she stood in front of him. His sword lay a few feet away from where he'd thrown it in frustration. His head was lowered, his arms resting on his thighs. He looked up when she approached and she froze. Several moments passed as they stared at each other before Amelia went with instinct.

She flew forward, dropping to her knees as she reached him so she could hug him fiercely. Her arms tightened around him and she squeezed him as hard as she could, willing her strength into him so he could handle the brutal news.

Zelgadiss's hand lifted, wavered, then finally rested in her hair. "Amelia," he murmured, then wrapped his other around around her body and returned the hug.

Lina found Gourry sitting on the opposite shore, looking forlorn as he poked a stick at the sand. He had followed them until he literally couldn't any longer, the wide body of water separating him from his friends. Guilt tugged at her heart as she approached, then landed on the shore a few feet away. His head automatically snapped up, and the dejection was quickly replaced with a look of vast relief. "Lina!"

"I'm sorry." The words sprang out of her mouth before she even had a chance to realize that she was saying them. "I'm sorry, I didn't think."

"It's okay." Quick to forgive as always, Gourry started to get up. She waved him off with one hand and sank to the ground next to him. She closed her eyes and sighed, taking the time to simply process everything before returning to the chase.

A moment later, she felt a comforting weight on her head as Gourry ruffled her hair slightly. He scooted closer and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him. "You look like you need a hug," he observed.

Because they were alone, because she did need a hug in the absolute worse way, Lina leaned into him and accepted the comfort. "Rezo told Zel that there's no cure."

Gourry didn't say anything, and for that Lina was immensely grateful. "Pokota stole the jar. You heard that much. He's going to sacrifice himself to save Taforashia."

Gourry was silent another moment. "But isn't that Shabra-thingy fused in with Rezo's soul?" He scratched at his cheek absently with his free hand. "It's like if you broke a chocolate chip cookie and put the broken part in the jar, wouldn't it still have chocolate chips in it too?"

Lina nodded, relieved she didn't have to explain it. "That's what I'm thinking. Rezo keeps contradicting himself. He wants to be resurrected, yet he doesn't want to be resurrected at the same time. Shabranigdu was fused with his soul, so there's every reason to believe that if Pokota breaks the seal on the jar that the piece of that soul would be released into the world again."

"But, you defeated it before," Gourry pointed out.

"With a spell that I can't cast again," Lina reminded him. "I could try with the Ragna Blade, but ... don't you see? If Shabranigdu is released again, he'll go into the body that's prepared for it - Pokota's. I'd have to kill Pokota's body ... and even then I'm not sure if the people in Taforashia will really be revived or not. Rezo never actually said that opening the jar would save all those people. They could all be destroyed in the process anyhow."

"Well, that's not going to happen."

Lina narrowed her eyes at him skeptically. "How are you so sure about that?"

Gourry smiled at her, his eyes filled with hope. "Because I believe in you."

Lina felt her cheeks grow red, but she didn't break her gaze with him. Instead, she found his free hand, laced her fingers with his, and squeezed tightly.

"What will you do now?" Amelia asked quietly as she and Zelgadiss picked back through the debris to wait for Lina and Gourry.

"I don't know." Zelgadiss ran one hand through his hair. The other hand was wrapped around Amelia's. When they'd broken the hug, Amelia had taken his hand and had silently led him away from the forest where he'd vented his feelings, stopping long enough to pick up his discarded sword. "We need to keep Pokota from opening that jar. There's every reason to believe that part of the Shabranigdu fragment is still in the jar with Rezo's soul. Rezo is a born manipulator. We could all be playing right into his trap."

"Do you think he was telling the truth about the cure?"

"I don't know," Zelgadiss admitted. He stopped and Amelia paused with him. He glanced down at her. "I really don't know. Rezo had nothing to lose at that point ... but I wouldn't put it past him to still be lying."

Amelia's eyes filled with determination. "Well, you're alive, aren't you? As long as you're alive, there's always hope. Just because Rezo says there's no cure doesn't mean that there really isn't."

"Rezo's forgotten more knowledge than most mages will ever learn in a lifetime," Zelgadiss muttered a bit bitterly.

"Well, maybe Rezo doesn't know a cure because he never sought the knowledge for a cure." Amelia curled her free hand into a fist and pumped it. "As long as you have blood flowing through your veins, there's always the chance that a cure will be out there!"

Zelgadiss stared at Amelia a bit incredulously. "You're not going to give up on a cure for me?"

Amelia gave him a slightly indignant look. "Why should I? Maybe there's not a cure right now because you haven't invented it yet." Her voice gentled. "If you really want to surpass Rezo, Zelgadiss-san, why not do what he didn't bother caring to do? Instead of finding a cure that exists, let's do the research to create one on our own. I'm sure that Daddy will help fund it, and there's other kingdoms that would be willing to back research on returning chimeras to normal."

For the first time since the entire debacle again, Zelgadiss found himself smiling. He squeezed Amelia's hand. "Thank you," he said from the bottom of his heart. Amelia returned the smile.

"Hey! You two!"

They stared at the shoreline together as Lina flew toward them bearing Gourry on her back. Lina landed, and Gourry slipped off. Her eyebrow winged up when she saw Amelia and Zelgadiss's hands clasped, but didn't say anything. "Sorry we took so long! Let's get moving! Ozel!" Lina turned back toward the shore. "You'll help us with Gourry now, yes?"

Ozel inclined her head. "As you wish, Lina-san."

"All right!" Lina charged forth, taking to the air once more with her team behind her. "Let's go get that jar!"