Though Sairaag had been blown up and ripped apart on more then one occasion that didn’t stop hopeful people of trying to rebuild the ruined town. People who were looking for a place to call home and were willing to work to make it. Though Sairaag harbored many bad memories for Sylphiel, it was still her home and she wasn’t willing to stand by at her uncle’s home and not help out. The people were going to need someone experienced with white magic. So Sylphiel went with the many hopefuls to offer any help that she could. She had sent a letter to Lina telling her about her move back to Sairaag. Sylphiel had also included in the letter an invitation to for her and everyone else to stop by whenever they are in the area. Lina and Gourry hadn’t visited her yet.

Gourry was happy because he hadn’t seen Sylphiel in a long time and because he knew that she would be more then happy to see him. ‘I miss Sylphiel’s cooking!’ Gourry’s mouth was already starting to water at the thought of the food yet to come.

It was only a few more minutes and Gourry would be reaching Sairaag. He knew this because there was a big lake very close to the town and he could see it coming up. ‘Hmmm… I’m thirsty.’ Gourry checked his canteen but it was empty. ‘Oh well at least there’s the lake I can get myself some water.’ He half walked half ran over to the lake and he was about a few feet away from the lake when he stopped dead in his tracks.

A branch snapped alerting Gourry’s keen senses. He hid himself among some trees and carefully examining the area. The would be attackers ended up being a couple on a walk. Gourry sighed in relief and was about to continue back to the lake when he saw just whom the couple was.

The man was a person he didn’t recognize, but the woman he knew. Sylphiel walked next to a man about her age that was tall with dark hair and bright blue eyes. He bore a very warm smile, which only complemented his good looks and neatly combed appearance.

Gourry couldn’t hear what they were saying but he could see that Sylphiel was laughing and enjoying the conversation she was having. For no reason at all Gourry found himself clenching his teeth. But he didn’t care; he was very suspicious of this strange guy. He got up and marched over to Sylphiel.

“Oh my Wallace you certainly tell entertaining stories!” Sylphiel giggled.

“Well Sylphiel-darling, I’m actually very boring. But whenever I’m with you I suddenly become more interesting. I think it has to do with that saying that you’re only as good as the company you keep.” Wallace flashed Sylphiel a wide grin taking her hand. He would have pulled her closer if it not had been for a very angry faced blond swordsman that emerged from the woods. And the said swordsman was glaring daggers at Wallace. “Can I help you?”

“Who are you?” Gourry’s eyes narrowed at Wallace.

“Gourry?” Sylphiel’s eyes went wide. Her heart skipped a beat. She felt her cheeks start to go flush. But then she mentally scolded herself. ‘No Sylphiel he doesn’t care about you. He loves Miss Lina. I decided that it was time to get over him and I’m not about to wimp out on that promise I made to myself.’ Sylphiel forced a smile on her lips. “What a pleasant surprise! I wasn’t expecting you to visit me so soon. Is Miss Lina already in town?”

“Umm… well I got separated from her a while back. So I came here on my own.” Gourry said sheepishly while smiling.

“So this is the infamous swordsman of light, Gourry Gaberieve. I was actually expecting you to be much taller and more built. And certainly dressed differently.” Wallace looked Gourry over with a stern look.

“Oh that’s right! Who are you?” Gourry went back to glaring at Wallace was returning the stare.

“How rude of me, I should have introduced you two from the start!” Sylphiel sweatdropped. “Wallace this is Gourry, Gourry this is Wallace the IV.”

“Her boyfriend.” Wallace grinned like a cat.

“A few dates hardly qualifies you as my boyfriend Wallace.” Sylphiel giggled.

“A man can hope can’t he? Any man that lets you get away is a damned fool.” Wallace flashed her another dazzling grin taking her hand in his.

Gourry’s glare intensified. He didn’t like Wallace, not one bit.

“Wallace and his father came from Midtledin to help with the costs of rebuilding Sairaag. Isn’t that nice?” Sylphiel grinned. “If it wasn’t for them I doubt we would have gotten as far as we have in rebuilding up the town.”

Wallace squeezed Sylphiel’s hand. “And to think I was so mad that my father was forcing me to come with him to here. I thought it was a waste of time and money but boy was I wrong. I couldn’t be happier that I came here. There are so many beautiful sights in this county.” He said looking directly at Sylphiel.

Gourry was close to punching the guy. Wallace was so ‘smooth’ that he was giving Gourry the creeps.

Sylphiel blushed uncomfortably. “Anyway Gourry if I know you you must be hungry. Why don’t you come with me back to my house and we can do some catching up over lunch?”

Gourry perked up at the mention of food. “You’re going to make lunch?”

“Sure I’ll make lots of food. I know how big your appetite is. I’ll see you later Wallace?”

“That you will milady.” Wallace bowed slightly planting a light kiss on Sylphiel’s hand. “Till later then.”

“Bye Wallace.” Sylphiel waved as he walked into town. “He’s a bit of a flirt isn’t he?” Sylphiel commented giggling.

Gourry didn’t comment. He just glared at Wallace’s fading figure.

Sylphiel frowned staring at Gourry. She had never seen him act like that towards a person before. But rather then question it, Sylphiel just started walking back towards town with Gourry walking with her.

New Sairaag was very much different from Old Sairaag. The buildings were different as well as the arrangement of the town itself. But not that Gourry had expected them to rebuild it to look exactly the same but he had been expecting it to look somewhat similar. The fact that it was different wasn’t a bad thing though. A lot had been accomplished in such a short amount of time. It didn’t look like a town that had been just established. Sure they were still building new buildings, but the town itself looked like it had been around for years.

Sylphiel herself couldn’t help but grin. She was very proud of the progress of New Sairaag. All the people that had come had put such a hard effort and it really paid off. The town looked great and the people were really happy.

“Which one is your place Sylphiel?” Gourry asked looking at the many buildings around them.

Sylphiel pointed to a quaint little house near the edge of the town. “It’s right over there. It’s not much but I like it.”

“Do you live alone?”

Sylphiel sighed. “At the moment I do. I’ve been trying to convince my aunt and uncle to come move in with me but they are afraid that some catastrophe will befall this Sairaag like all the others. But that’s fine, it’s not like I’m alone in this town. There are so many nice friendly people here that I never really feel lonely.” Sylphiel managed a weak smile.

That was only a half lie. She was sometimes lonely. It was usually late at night when she couldn’t sleep that she felt alone. She missed her parents terribly, though she wasn’t going to admit that to anyone. Pity was something that Sylphiel didn’t like to receive. She had gotten enough of that already.

Sylphiel fished through her cloak and pulled out a key to unlock her door. The lock made a small clicking sound before unlocking. She turned the knob and opened the door.

The first thing Gourry noticed when he walked into Sylphiel’s home was the smell. He could the strong sweet aroma of chocolate. His mouth started to water.

Sylphiel giggled. “I had made chocolate chip cookies this morning, would you care for some?”

Gourry didn’t say anything he just raced into the kitchen searching for the wonderful chocolate treasures. Once the cookie jar was found he picked the whole thing up and sat down with it at a nearby table as Sylphiel began preparing lunch for the two of them.

“Gourry you shouldn’t eat too much of those. You may spoil your appetite for lunch.” Sylphiel chided with a laugh.

“But they are so good!” Gourry said through a mouth full of cookies. “Don’t worry I’ll eat all of my lunch! I’d never let one of your meals go to waste!” Gourry flashed her a bright happy grin.

Sylphiel had to turn her face away from Gourry. It was honest smiles like that that would make her go weak in the legs. But she was determined not to be weak. “Gourry how are things with you and Miss Lina going? Had any interesting adventures lately?”

Gourry crinkled his nose. “Nothing big. Just blowing up bandit groups. And she’s been trying to get some rich princes to marry her. I keep telling her that her chest is too flat, and that she has no chance, but she keeps on trying. And she keeps on hitting me.” Gourry gingerly rubbed the sore spot on his head, the result of Lina’s most recent beating.

Sylphiel raised an eyebrow. “She’s trying to marry a prince? Why?”

“Because she wants to be rich and powerful I guess. She’s greedy.”

“But what about you?” Sylphiel asked frowning.

“I don’t care. Lina can do whatever she wants. She’d just hurt me if I tried to stop her from doing something.”

“So you don’t care if she runs off marrying any old prince?”

“Well I don’t think I would like it if the prince was old, but if he was her age and really rich I could come over and eat all the time! Amelia and her dad always had the biggest feasts.” Gourry grinned stuffing another cookie in his mouth.

Sylphiel sweatdropped. That was Gourry all right always thinking of his stomach. “But I thought you said you were always going to protect her.”

“If she’s married to some prince she won’t need me.” Gourry thought hard for a moment. “You know she really only needs me when it’s that time of the month. Any even then she can cause a lot of damage. Lina’s really scary sometimes.”

Sylphiel frowned again. She had been so sure that Gourry had feelings for Lina and that Lina returned those feelings. But now she wasn’t so sure. It was possible that Gourry could be just hiding his true feelings. Or perhaps he was only protective over Lina in a brotherly manor. Either way Sylphiel wasn’t going to take any chances. She had given up on Gourry and she wasn’t going to back down from her promise.

“What have you been up to?” Gourry asked breaking Sylphiel from her thoughts.

“Well I’ve been helping out with rebuilding Sairaag. I’ve been also acting as the town’s main healer. There are others here that know white magic but I have the most experience. So I’ve been healing wounds and helping other mages work on their skills. But I’ve also been reading up on medicine and healing herbs. I now know quite a bit about healing without magic which is certainly nice to know at the times where I can’t use my magic to help someone.” Sylphiel beamed while pouring Gourry something to drink. She was really proud of herself.

“So you’re like the town doctor! That’s great!”

Sylphiel blushed. “Well I wouldn’t call myself a doctor, there are still many more things I have to learn. But I’ve learned a lot already and I really enjoy helping people.”

“I know you’re such a good person Sylphiel. And a really good cook too! Those cookies were great!” Yes Gourry had finished off all the remaining cookies. The cookie jar was now just an empty vessel harboring only crumbs, the only proof that there had been cookies.

Sylphiel smiled turning away to continue cooking. “Well I’m glad you liked them. I made them for the children of the town but I’m afraid I made far too many. So it’s a good thing you came over today, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to finish them all by myself. Hey Gourry.”

“Yes?”

“Why were you acting so strange towards Wallace?”

Gourry frowned. “I don’t like that guy.”

“Why?”

“Because… I um… I just don’t! He talks funny and dresses weird.” Gourry pouted. Did he really know why he seemed to dislike Wallace so much? Not really.

“He’s from a wealthy family so that’s why he’s well dressed and talks like he does.”

“Well I don’t like how he was hanging all over you.”

“He was just holding my hand.”

“Still he called you his girlfriend! I don’t trust him. I would be careful around him.” Gourry pouted again.

“He’s a nice guy who happens to like me. That doesn’t mean he’s dangerous or anything.” Sylphiel shook her head. If she didn’t know better she would have figured he was jealous or something.

“Do you like him?” Gourry asked in a serous voice.

Sylphiel cut her finger. “OW!” She went to clean the wound.

“Are you okay?” Gourry came up behind her.

“It’s just a small cut. It will be fine.” Sylphiel went to grab a cloth but Gourry got it first.

He took the cloth and wrapped Sylphiel’s finger in it.

“Thanks.” Sylphiel blushed pulling her hand away from him.

“Gee you should be careful. Knives are sharp, you could hurt yourself.”

“Sorry I just got distracted.” Sylphiel went to go back preparing lunch. She hoped that with his bad memory that Gourry had forgotten his question. But luck wasn’t with her.

“So do you?”

“Do I what?” Sylphiel played dumb.

“Do you like that Wilber guy?” Gourry asked still standing behind her.

“It’s Wallace, and he’s nice.”

“Do you like him?”

“I don’t know… a little I guess.”

If Sylphiel had been looking behind her she would have seen the frown on Gourry’s face.

“Oh,” was all that Gourry could say. He was strangely unhappy with Sylphiel’s answer.