A Slayers inheritance side story -- just in case you were wondering what 
was going back with the older characters...

***

ANYA'S LETTER HOME
A Slayers Inheritance side story
by Michael Hopcroft

It was a pleasant summer day at the Mace and Teapot, and two expectant 
mothers with a
great deal in common were relaxing in the sun outside.

"It is a lovely day," said Filia ul Copt, "but I'll be grateful when 
Valgaav gets back."

Lina Inverse basked in the sun with even more relish than the dragoness, 
but her face
showed concern as well. "I just hope Anya's OK. She did go out on a very 
dangerous
mission, and Xellos had her in his clutches for a while."

"The way I see it, it must have worked out." Filia smiled.

"How can you possibly know that?"

"We're still here, aren't we? If Anya and Valgaav had failed there 
wouldn't be a world
anymore, would there?"

"I suppose that's true, but I still want to hear from her. Isn't it time 
you checked on your
egg?"

"It'll be fine for another four hours. Ah, here comes Daddy now!"

A large Golden Dragon swooped in front of the two, and quickly reformed 
into the
handsome form of Milgasia. He immediately ran up to Filia. "I"ve got 
great news! Val's
all right!"

Filia's eyes filled with tears of joy. "Really? That's wonderful! When 
did you find this
out>"

"I didn't actually see him, but I stopped by the court of Seyruun a day 
ago and Prince
Zelgadis filled me in on everything. He also gave me this --" and he 
held out an envelope
with the seal of the Royal Family - "to give to Lina."

"Is it from the Queen?" Lina asked. "Maybe that court sorcerer position 
is open!"

"That's just the seal. It's actually from Anya."

"You'd better get Gourry. He should be here when we read this! I'm so 
glad she's OK!"

Gourry was quickly summoned from his sword practice and Lina started to 
read the letter.

***

Mother,

It's hard to say how much time has passed, so I don't know if the twins 
have been born
yet. I'd hate to miss the birth, but I look forward to meeting them.

The crisis with Titania has come to a successful conclusion. It was a 
near-run thing, but
in the end everything came out all right. Titania is now a princess - 
she's married into the
Seyruun Royal Family! Could you believe the luck of that girl? And 
there's not a trace of
Mazoku left in her, so nothing's going to keep her from living a 
healthy, happy life. I was
her maid of honor at the wedding, and would you believe she threw the 
bouquet in such a
qay that only I could catch it? Of all the nerve.

Val-chan and I are on our way home. We're going to be walking so it may 
take a while.
We ended up spending about three weeks in Seyruun celebrating. I hope 
Valgaav is old
enough to drink, because people kept pressing wine on him and he really 
could keep it
down! But he's more of a flirt when he's sober than when he's drunk, so 
he was able to
stay away from the wine most of the time. As for me, I stayed away from 
it. I've never
seen a city with so many places to buy coffee! Everyone always said "we 
have to be
ready in case the Consort shows up", as Zelgadis has a habit of 
wandering around town
and taking in the sights. Whoever said princes belong in palaces has 
never met the
Seyruun royal family!

Anyway, I'm hoping nothing happens to waylay us before we reach you.  
It's going to at
least a month's journey, just me and Valgaav. We have a tidy sum of 
money, so we won't
have to worry about inns and meals. I like having Val-chan around, but I 
think his
feelings are more advanced than mine, Was Daddy this much trouble for you?

Anyway, I;ve got to be off. I have to find a way to make sure this 
lketter reaches you
before we do. Don't oworry about us, Mom., We're OK. And although this 
was a touch
one, I can see why you love adventuring so much. There's a lot of 
adventure left in me.

Your loving daughter,

Anya

***

Gourry beamed with pride. "That's our girl!"

Lina looked at the letter again. "Wait a minute? 'Val-chan?' 'advanced 
feelings'? what
the hell are they doing over there?"

"Let me see that!" said Filia, and re-read the letter. "My son is more 
of a firlt when he's
sober than when he's drunk? Why is he ANY kind of a flirt? And who the 
hell is he
flirting with?"

Filia and Lina looked at each other. Lina was the first to speak. "Your 
son is going to be
one deep-friend dragon if he lasy a hand on my daughter!" she said.

"You think I'M happy about this?" said Filia. "I was going to go find 
some nice dragon
girl for Valgaav. Your daughter just doesn't cut it when it comes to 
prospects!"

"At least your son can't get pregnant! I'm too young to be a grandmother!"

Gourry stepped between them,. "Lina dear, easy. It's OK. Anya would have 
told us if
they'd gone that far."

"How do you know she wouldn't try to keep it from me if she and that 
dragon were -
were -"

"We raised our daughter to trust us. If she's in trouble, she knows she 
can come to us.
We've done more for her than our families ever did for us."

Lina stared open-mouthed at Gourry. "She wouldn't come to me with 
something like that.
I'm too fearsome."

"That's what jellyf0sh0-brained fathers are for. Besides, think about it 
for a second - is
being in love so bad for a young girl? Would it really be so terrible if 
she were falling for
Valgaav?"

Lina began to retreat nervously. "Well, I suppose she could do a lot 
worse than Valgaav.
I'm not ready, that's all. Here I am about to have a couple of babies 
and my first baby is -
growing up - and dammit I'm not ready!"

Gourry opened his arms, and Lina walked into the embrace. As he closed 
his arms around
her, Lina started crying on his chest. Filia was wondering if she should 
be watching this,
and then she felt Milgasia's gentle hands on her shoulders.

Filia asked her lover "Would it really be all right with you, darling, 
if Valgaav came back
with that girl and decided he wanted to stay with her?"

"Val's old enough to make his own decisions on matters of the heart. I 
know why you're
concerned, but this is what being a parent of a teenager is like."

They looked at Lina as she continued to cry into Gourry's chest, tears 
he bore with
infinite patience.

"I guess things will be all right after all," Filia said."After all, she 
has parents who love
her. When you worry that much, it means you really care."

Milgasia smiled down at Filia. "I think I'll go into the village and get 
some ice cream.
Lina looks like she needs it."

"I need some too, I think."

"Dragons don't get pregnancy cravings."

"NO, but they do need cheering up every now and then...."




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