Like Family

Lina looked over the small items she had placed on the table.  "Let's see, Mama should like the fishbone comb I found her and Papa should like the dagger, but I still have no idea what to send to Luna."  Lina sighed as she ran her hand through her hair.

Luna was always hard to find a present for.  It wasn't that she was picky, on the contary she was quite content with what she had, and that was the problem.  It was hard to find something she actually needed or wanted.  "Why couldn't I have been an only child?" Lina grumbled.  "At least the winter festival isn't for another week back home."

Gourry frowned as he drank a swig of his ale.  "The winter festival, I thought that was at the end of the month?"

Lina shook her head.  "Most countries it is, but we celebrate it in the middle of the month in Zefielia."

"Why?"

Lina closed her eyes in thought and snagged another bite of Gourry's bread before she tackled her seafood pasta.  "No one really knows, it's been like that for a century."  She paused in thought.  "Although, my dad always thought it was because it took our people that long to recover from the celebration...and some don't even remember what happened to them."  

She waved her fork around promptly went to whack Gourry's hand from stealing her garlic bread, but she missed.  "Hey!  Eat your own meal!"  

Gourry swallowed the bread in two gulps.  "Double standard since you ate mine," he shrugged and stared at the comb and dagger.  "Why not get your sister a hat."

"No way," Lina replied.  "I need to find a small gift, it's bad enough on what I have to pay for to send these things."  She drunk a mouthful of ale.  "Besides, Luna hates hats."  She then tilted her head at Gourry.  "While we're on the subject, what are you going to get your parents?"

Gourry seemed taken aback by the question which surprised Lina until he returned to attacking his steak.  "Actually, my parents are dead, so I don't have to worry about it."

Lina nearly choked and the ale burned as it went up her nose.  

"Lina, are you okay?" Gourry asked, reaching forward.

Lina held her hand up as she finished coughing.  "I'm fine," she said staring at him in shock.  "But seriously, you're parents-"

Gourry just nodded, he trying to give a smile, but it didn't show in his eyes.  "They both died a long time ago."

Lina opened her mouth demanding to ask why he never told her this before.  However, she felt like a jerk for thinking of asking that, and closed her mouth.  Of course, how would you bring up a topic like that?  You can't just say "By the way, my parents are dead, pass the sugar would ya?"

Still, she'd known Gourry for almost a year now.  How could she not know this?  Feeling the taste of heel in her mouth, she slowly asked "Do you have any siblings?"

Gourry's eyes strangely darkened, which shook Lina.  "I did have an older brother, but he's dead too."  He lifted his ale and brought it to his mouth.  "And he wasn't the type to buy presents for."

"So, you don't have any family?" Lina asked to confirm, although she wondered if she should be pushing for this kind of information this was.  She kind of felt she was peeping into something she wasn't suppose to see.

He shrugged.  "A couple of uncles, and a cousin or two, but no one that I was ever close with."

Lina bite her bottom lip.  Geez, now she felt like a real jerk.  Gourry placed a hand on her shoulder and broke her from her brooding.

He gave the same goofy smile he always gave.  "Hey, worry about it.  It happened a long time ago, and you didn't know."

Lina scratched her cheek.  That may be true, she thought.  But still.  She blushed and mumbled.  "Do you want to exchange presents?"

Gourry blinked.  "You mean, between the two of us?"

Lina coughed.  "Sure, I mean we hang out all the time anyway, but this will be our first winter festival together, so it only makes sense."

Gourry raised an eyebrow.  "First, as in we're going to celebrate more together?"

Lina's blushed deepened.  "A-anyway, don't think you can get me something cheap!  I deserve a high class present, got it?"

Gourry chuckled.  Little did Lina know that Gourry had already got Lina's present the day before.  After all, he considered Lina to be his family now, but he'd keep that fact to himself until at least the next year.