Lina sighed, face half concealed by her knees as she looked out across
the ocean near Seyruun.  Had the light been better, one could see tear
tracks running down her cheeks, but the crescent moon made it hard to
see anything, and the only observer was behind her.

Amelia groaned in annoyance.  "You're in her spot."

"Go away, Amelia.  I want to be alone."

"Tough.  I've got some brooding to do too, and it has to be here."  The
princess did not wait for a reply that did not come, and sat down beside
her colleague.

Lina's nose twitched at the scent of a familiar type of bait, but
quickly brushed it off as her own imagination.  She also insisted to
herself that the warmth on her face was a hallucination, as was the
hollow void inside that hurt so much: she knew what hunger felt like,
and this was not it.

*skip-skip-PLOP*

Now, Lina thought, she was hearing things.  The familiar rythym and
arc of jellyfish bait thrown just so, and the seeming bubble of its
target bobbing at the surface, coming quickly to the food.

*skip-skip-PLOP*

And again.  She frowned in concentration: this was no hallucination.
Amelia was doing this deliberately.

Lina seized Amelia's arm before it could throw a third piece, though she
deigned not to look at the princess.  "You are going to tell me exactly
how you know about this."

Amelia struggled for a second, until the flat tone of Lina's voice
sounded primal alarms at the bottom of her consciousness, warning of
danger almost beyond her conscious understanding.  "About what?"

"You throw that bait exactly like Nahga did."

"..."  Amelia blinked, then felt the same coldness that, unknown to her,
was swarming through Lina's mind.  Unlike Lina, though, her anger
expressed itself in an icy voice, one not trying to contain the emotions
it sat atop of.  "Where did you hear that name?"

"Nahga...used to be my partner.  We split up before I met any of you.
She had a bond with jellyfish, and whenever she felt she needed to renew
that bond, she would come to wherever they were and feed them."

"..."

"What about you?"

"My sister called herself 'Nahga' as a stage name, and she would come
here to feed the jellyfish sometimes, but..."  Amelia turned wide eyes
towards Lina, only to see Lina looking back.  "She dressed in leather -
as little as possible - and today was her birthday."

Lina nodded.

Amelia slipped her arm from Lina's grasp, only to place it around Lina's
shoulder.  "I haven't seen her for years.  Were you good friends?"

Lina buried her face in her knees again.  "She got on my nerves, had the
most annoying laugh, butted in to all my personal moments..."

"I...see."  Amelia judged Lina's posture and tone of voice again, this
time coming to a more conscious conclusion.  She gently rubbed Lina's
upper back, trying to coax out what she now knew was bottled up inside
Lina.  "Were...you in love?"

Lina looked at Amelia with incredulity, expecting ridicule or mockery or
something else she could use to deflect the lance aimed straight at her
heart...but saw only complete honesty.  She managed to curl into a
tighter ball just before her sorrow overwhelmed her, coming out in
body-shaking sobs and bawls.

Amelia silently held Lina while her upset played out, letting a smile 
play upon her own lips.

Many minutes later, Lina finally calmed down, relaxing into Amelia's
gentle rocking.  "We didn't always get along.  We fought, but she always
sought me out later.  Until one time, when she didn't.  I...I wish I
could see her again, apologize for what I said...but I don't think I'll
ever find her again."

"She's probably thinking the same thing about you."

"I doubt it."

******

"HEALING!"

Nothing.

"RECOVERY!"

Nothing.

"RESSURECTION!"

Nothing, almost.  Lina's eye watched Nahga's hand rise for a moment,
but her mood dropped as Nahga's hand did when the magic faded.

"Lina?"

"It's no good."  Lina turned around and collapsed into the ample
bosom of her partner and let her tears flow freely.

Nahga bit her lip as she embraced Lina, and looked at her progenitor.
The Shadow Reflector had cloned her from the original Nahga, inverting
her personality as it had with the duplicate Lina in her arms, but one
thing had remained constant: their love for each other.  The duplicates
freely admitted their love, but knew from memories of their alternates
of their bond as well.

So, when the original Nahga sought them out and requested their help
finding Lina, they could not help but agree...but on their own terms.
Nahga continued to insist that she just wanted in on whatever deals her
business partner was striking; the clones made no secret of knowing her
true desires.  As it turned out, Nahga was already on the edge after
more than a year away from Lina; her mask broke after a single week of
this treatment, and she cried herself to sleep each night for the next
week.  Until, one morning, she simply did not wake up...and none of the
white magic either duplicate knew could restart her heart.

The clones would spend a day and a night in mourning, then continue on
their quest to find the real Lina Inverse, and tell her that Nahga
confessed her feelings before she died.

******

"Naga's probably forgotten all about me by now."

Amelia smirked.  "You're unforgettable, Lina.  She'll probably remember
you for the rest of her life."

"..."  Lina looked up, just in time to see the jellyfish in front of
them dive back down again.  "Maybe you're right."


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