Zelgadis Inverse Another Drabble

[eastofthemoon]

Here's another drabble to my Zelgadis Inverse AU series. I'm slowly working on the next bit, the hard part is deciding what happens after the group meets Gourry.

Title: Kids Grow Up Fast
Series: Slayers
Rating: G
Summary: Part of the Zelgadis Inverse AU, Zel is getting ready to travel with Lina, but can't resist one last sparring session with his father.
Author's Note: The creation of Raulf belongs to savvyliterate who is awesome for letting me use him.



Zelgadis inspected his newly sharpened sword and grinned in satisfaction. "Perfect," he muttered under his breath.

"Son, where are you?!" Raulf called.

Zelgadis re-sheathed his sword and tucked the wet stone back onto it's home on the shelf. "I'm in the shed, Dad!"

The shed door opened and Raulf leaned against the door frame. "What are you doing in here?"

"I'm getting my sword ready for the trip," Zelgadis replied with a smirk. "You always say a dull sword is a useless one."

Raulf chuckled. "I recall that, yes." He sighed as he moved to let Zelgadis out. "Your Mom says dinner will be ready in another hour."

Zelgadis turned and folded his arms. "Why is Mom so late with dinner tonight?"

Raulf raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think? It's your and Lina's last dinner before you go start adventuring. She's making all your favourites."

Zelgadis blushed. "She doesn't have to do that."

Raulf patted his shoulder. "Just let her, besides you won't be getting too many home cooked meals once you and Lina are on the road." He frowned and folded his arms. "You sure you want to go? I know Lina's been eager to travel since she could talk, but there's nothing wrong with you studying at the academy too."

Zelgadis shook his head. He knew what his father was saying. Zelgadis could easily spend his days at the sorcerer's academy. Some of his professors were disappointed when he told them he would no longer be attending.

"If I don't go with Lina now, I probably never will. I need to see the world at some point." He smirked. "Besides, if I don't go, who will watch Lina?"

Raulf laughed. "Your sister is quite capable of taking care of herself, she gets it from your mother."

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. "Dad, I wasn't talking about protecting Lina, I was talking about protecting the world from Lina."

Raulf blinked and grasped his chin. "Ah, good point. She does have your mother's temper." He began to go up to paved path that lead to the house. "Come on, let's go make sure your sister isn't getting carried away with her packing."

Zelgadis grabbed Raulf's shoulder, forcing him to pause in midstep. He tilted his head. "Actually Dad, if you don't mind I wanted to have one last sparring session with you."

Raulf removed the blade of grass he'd been chewing. "Oh, really? You're dying for one more defeat at the hands of your old man."

"Hardly," Zelgadis replied as he moved to the center of the yard. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeves this time."

Raulf kept his grin as he reached for his sword. Once Zelgadis unsheathed his, both men stood motionless. They stared hard at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Raulf decided to attack first.

Their swords clashed. Raulf attempted to push Zelgadis back and repeatedly slammed his blade. Zelgadis grunted, but managed to keep his feet planted in the ground. It was an old trick of his father's, since he'd always been bigger in size than Zelgadis.

"Not this time," Zelgadis muttered. He ducked and rolled away from Raulf. He then rose, spun around and with a loud cry attacked the larger man.

Raulf was startled, but managed to block in time and held his ground. Zelgadis desperately tried to push him back, but his father smirked and held his own.

"Sorry, Son," he replied. "You're still too young to take me on."

Zelgadis grinned back and suddenly stepped back. Raulf raised an eyebrow. Was Zelgadis surrendering? That wasn't like him.

He then heard Zelgadis mutter an incantation under his breath and shouted "Astral Vine!" Suddenly, Zelgadis's sword glowed brightly.

Raulf stared wide eyed and gave an opening for Zegadis to strike. He charged forward and raised his sword.

The glowing blade cut right through Raulf's blade. He stumbled backwards and tumbled to the grass and stared up at Zelgadis in shock. Zelgadis panted heavily as the glow on his blade died down. He then joined his father and laid next to him on the grass.

Raulf scowled. "Mind telling me where you learned that little trick, Son?"

Zelgadis panted, savoring in the victory. "I got the idea from your trick with your fishing pole." He held his sword up. "I had to do a bit of research at the library to do my own version, but I would say it was worth the effort."

"Maybe," Raulf grumbled. "But you still owe me a new sword, kiddo" Raulf sighed and stared at the remains of the broken blade. He shook his head. "So, my son is now old enough to beat me?" He rose and leaned against his knees. He stared at Zelgadis with a smile and his eyes shone brightly.

Zelgadis blushed, feeling a little awkward. "What? Are you that mad?"

"Not in the least," Raulf admitted. "I'm just feeling like it was only yesterday, I was changing your diapers and giving Lina her bottle."

"Dad!" Zelgadis protested leaping to his feet, his face as red as a tomato. "Why would you bring something like that up?"

Raulf laughed and ruffled Zelgadis's hair. "I'm an old man, I'm allowed to feel nostalgic." He gave a warm smile. "You two just make sure to care of yourselves."

"Yeah, I know." Zelgadis brushed his hair back into place, still blushing slightly. How was it that parents could always manage to make you feel like a little kid?

"Hey!" Luna called with her head out of the window. "Mom says she wants you two to give her a hand in the kitchen."

"Duty calls," Raulf replied as he wrapped his arm around Zelgadis's shoulders and led him back to the house. "Come on, I'm dying to eat as soon as possible."

Zelgadis nodded and let his thoughts drift to the road and the new adventure that awaited for both him and Lina. It should be fun, as long as she doesn't get me killed in the process he thought.