This is about Lina and Gourry and why I think they're good for each other. Why I like them as a couple.

So this requires some history. Ready? Pay attention, there's a quiz later. Okay maybe not, but pay attention anyway, because it's polite...and if you don't, I'll shoot a fireball at you.

Okay then.

Originally, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back, I was a Lina/Zel fan. Because I wanted to be Lina (see Why I Worship Lina for all of that) and I thought Zel was just tooooo yummy (I still do!!). He was smart, cool, and really cute. *happy sighs* Okay...back to Lina.

And Gourry, for all that he was really sweet, was just too DUMB. Intelligence is a big thing with me.

And then I got to episode 24, when Lina is injured fighting Copy Rezo, and Gourry screams her name. I mean SCREAMS. And it was at EXACTLY THAT MOMENT that I became a Lina/Gourry fan. That was when I realized that I had been letting MY desires get in the way of what's best for Lina.

Gourry is a sweet, handsome, chivalrous, strong young man whose relative ignorance only serves to make him appear innocent in certain ways (he doesn't know what "That time of the month" is, and then there's his innocent declaration in NEXT, sitting by the campfire, that he'll most likely protect Lina for the rest of his life). His charm is that although he can pull off feints in battle, he is an honest man in peace, never lying and therefore honestly and deeply caring for people. Especially for Lina.

Lina is so hiddenly insecure that she needs someone like Gourry, who knows and can list every single fault Lina has but is nevertheless devoted to her. Gourry also sees the little parts of Lina that she tries to hide from everyone else. He KNOWS her, and he cares about her.

The End of NEXT is proof enough: Lina sacrificed everything that she was to save Gourry and Gourry risked his existence to get her back. It's said that there is a thin line between bravery and foolishness and Gourry is living proof of that: Would YOU have the courage to grab hold of the Lord of Nightmares his/her/itself?!? I know I wouldn't!!!

And the thing is that Gourry's not THAT stupid. I'm sure that Gourry understood that L-Sama was powerful, even if he didn't fully comprehend just HOW powerful. But he doesn't care. He wants Lina back, and he'll do anything he can, everything he can, to get her back.

Lina, however, is painfully shy and perceives showing obvious care for someone as being weak, which she doesn't want to be. So her sweet little moments with Gourry are few and far between. But they ARE there...when it's just the two of them, with no chance of anyone overseeing it. Notice that no one is conscious when Lina makes her ultimate decision to cast the Giga Slave to save Gourry, and that Zel, Amelia, and the rest are left behind when Gourry pursues the Lord of Nightmares into the Sea of Chaos and declares that he needs Lina.

Of course, the signs ARE there nevertheless. Amelia's picked up on them, Slyphielle's worried over her competition (worried enough to work hard enough to learn the Dragon Slave...), and Martina comments on it directly to Lina (who neither denies nor admits it).

So why didn't they end up as an actual couple in the show??

Well...okay, there's the kiss in the Sea of Chaos. I completely understand, within the story, how that could be forgotten. They were sort of...transported back to their own world, and the Sea of Chaos is sort of...where everything comes from, right?? The worlds supposedly sit upon staffs of the gods that rise up from the Sea of Chaos. So it's natural that their time there they wouldn't necessarily remember.

And from an author standpoint, if Lina and Gourry HAD completely recalled their long, drawn-out kiss and embrace, the group dynamic would change. It would then become Lina&Gourry...and the others. By keeping them the way they are - sort of - the group dynamic is preserved.

Besides, with Lina being the shy little girl she is underneath all the tomboyish violence she displays, committing to a relationship would be awkward for her. Plus, Gourry's already been used against her once; if they were in an established relationship, he becomes even more of a target. This may or may not have occurred to her. More likely, she's still too shy and awkward about the idea to confront it. And the one time she did bring it up, Gourry fell asleep (around the campfire in NEXT).

Boy, this got longer than I thought it would! Keep in mind I do welcome comments, criticisms, discussion: email me with anything you want to say on the subject. I'm not saying you can't play with other couples. I'm just stating my personal preference.