The Slayers & the characters from it were created by & are copyright Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. (Lovely...a standard disclaimer...)

Zelgadiss Greywords watched the pair animatedly talking on the garden bench and sighed. It didn't hurt as much as it could, to see Amelia being so friendly to another man... In fact, he found it didn't hurt at all, not now...

He waited until Amelia was alone, though, to sit down beside her on the bench. He had been moving as silently as he could, but she noticed his approach before he was even a yard away. Yet another sign...

"Zelgadiss-san!" She stood up, recognizing him even though he wasn't a chimera anymore, and hugged him happily. He winced, and smiled slightly. This wouldn't be so much trouble if she didn't notice.

"Hello, Amelia... I'm returning your bracelet." He had the bracelet ready, had all his lines ready...

But he wasn't prepared for Amelia's happy reaction: a tight hug.

"Amelia..." he gasped, "not so tight!" She loosend her arms, and Zelgadiss continued. "I have to leave, Amelia, and... I'll not be coming back."

Amelia looked up at him, eyes watering. Damn, Zelgadiss thought. Why does this have to be so hard?

"Zelgadiss-san... Could you at least stay here for a while...?"

He sighed, knowing that he couldn't resist...and that he really shouldn't... "Alright, Amelia."

Amelia looked sideways at Zelgadiss. She was glad she had managed to convince him to stay the night. Maybe she'd be able to convince him to change his mind about seeing her again, or perhaps even get him to stay with her...

On the other hand, Zelgadiss was mentally cursing himself as a coward, and wouldn't have noticed if Amelia had been staring at him, no less openly 'sneaking' glances at him. He knew that he should have told her why he wasn't going to return, why he was giving her the bracelet back...and that he shouldn't have agreed to stay the night. It wasn't right to get her hopes up that way...

It wasn't like he could find a cure for this - if there even was one - in time.

At least, he thought, I've still got a few days left... He wasn't sure why, but he knew that he didn't want Amelia to feel hurt about his death. Even though he felt that all of this would be a whole lot easier if...

If he knew what he wanted anyway.

The dinner quietly crept on, which is perhaps the only reason Zelgadiss even heard the person coming in through the roof.

Zelgadiss drowsily opened his eyes to see a ceiling. This surprised him slightly. He had expected to be dead after taking that blow.

He wondered, in a vague way which was perhaps caused in part by the pain he was starting to become awake enough to feel, if he was dying any faster then he had been before. Then, a voice came clearly through the mental fog.

"I am sorry, Princess, but there is no reason to use any healing spells on him." A priest, probably the one with the strongest healing magic - and greatest skill - in Saillune. Probably Prince Philionel's work, though most definitely done for Amelia...

Amelia's voice came next. "Why?" Zelgadiss would have laughed, tried to laugh, but the attempt brought on a fresh wave of pain. He didn't miss the priest's answer to Amelia - probably because the priest had paused to carefully consider how to answer that question...

"He was already dying from an infection, Princess."

There was a long, painful silence. Nobody felt the need to say what that meant: that any healing spell would only speed up the infection's already fatal end result. That there was no need, no good reason, to try to heal whatever wounds Zelgadiss had gotten saving the princess. That...that it might be for the best to just let him die now.

Zelgadiss opened his eyes slightly, and noticed that the only light in the room came from a small glowing ball, hovering nearby. It didn't cast much light; he could only see Amelia clearly by its light, the priest a vauge form at its borders. To Zelgadiss, this was a reminder of his illness; his night vision had been the first thing to go, the first sign that he had done something...human.

There were wet streaks on Amelia's face.

She's been crying...

"Amelia..." he said, as loudly as he could. That wasn't particularly loudly; he realized that some of the generalized throbbing was coming from his rib cage, and that he wasn't breathing as deeply as normal. "Please...don't cry..."

He woke up again, not sure how long had passed since he had fallen asleep, not even remembering having fallen asleep. As his mind cleared as much as it could, he realized what was really meant by the phrase 'the chill of death,' and he could feel it close upon him.

The curtains were open, and through them he could see the sun setting, or perhaps rising. Sitting by the side of his bed was Amelia and Prince Mikel. He smiled slightly even though he felt like somebody had reached into his chest and given his heart a squeeze, seeing how the two of them were sitting together.

He then coughed, hard and painfully, feeling his broken ribs shift and his torn flesh protest. The pair suddenly became aware of his being awake, and shifted away from each other, Amelia blushing and looking shy.

"Zelgadiss-san...it isn't what it looked like, really..." They both knew she was lying.

"Amelia...I understand." Zelgadiss had to close his eyes and look away from Amelia before he could say what he had to. "You'll be happy..."

"Because you're dead, Zelgadiss-san?"

Zelgadiss laughed as best as he could manage. "No, Amelia. You'll have somebody else, who can stay with you, who can be what I couldn't..." With a small smile, a slightly sickly giggle, and the sense of humor of those who are on their deathbeds and know it, he added, "I'd make a poor husband, you know."

"That isn't funny, Zelgadiss-san!"

"It's true."

There was a long empty silence, as Amelia knew she couldn't really dispute that. Finally, Zelgadiss turned to look at the pair again and broke the silence.

"Prince Mikel...will you take good care of Amelia?"

The prince looked solemly into the chimera's eyes and nodded.

Zelgadiss coughed again, this time much more violently, making Amelia wince. "I thought you would..."

"Zelgadiss-san, please, don't strain yourself..."