Disclaimer: If I owned Slayers I would not be begging and groveling for an allowance every week.

"Val-chan! Val! Get back here this instant!" a blonde haired woman shouted from the top of the stairs. "Xellos, catch him!"

A purple-haired man looked away from the mirror where he was adjusting his tie in time to see an aqua-haired child streak by. "Not today, little man." Xellos caught Val in his arms. "Now why were you running away from mama for?"

"She's making me wear a tie! It's all tight and makes me feel stuffy! I don't wanna wear a tie!" The eight year old huffed and crossed his arms petulantly.

"A tie?Oh, the horror!" Xellos gasped melodramatically; Filia just rolled her eyes. "And, Val, you left out the part where they're hard to put on!" The boy nodded emphatically. If anyone could talk mama out of making him wear a tie, it was Xellos-papa. "Now tell me, Val. Did the tie look like a smaller version of ... this?" Xellos plucked the length of silk around his neck. Val's eyes widened.

"Yeah!... She got you too!"

"She most certainly did," he eyed the woman on the second floor sourly. Luckily his son missed the laughter in his father's eyes. Xellos put Val down and leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially in his ear. "I propose that we wear the ties and make mama happy, then hold out for a present of our choice on market day." Val thought about it.

"Okay!" His countenance brightened as he turned and ran toward his other parent. Filia raised an eyebrow at her husband in a 'what-did-you-promise-him-now?' look. Xellos just closed one eye, smiled secretively, and waggled a finger at her.

"Hmph. Namagomi," she muttered as she picked up Val and headed for his room. She didn't even need to turn around to know his eyebrow was twitching and his smile was strained.

* * * * * *

Juu-ou-sama had let him have the day off to attend a wedding, not to wait in the kitchen for his family while they ran around like headless chickens. The mazoku priest sighed quietly. At least Val had joined him, now they waited for Filia. Earlier they caught glimpses of her as she rushed around from room to room, but now they didn't even hear a peep.

"Maybe you should check on her?" Val asked rather than stated.

"She'll exile me to the couch if I go near our room."

"Oh. Why?"

"Sore wa himitsu desu."

"That's okay. I don't know either," the young ancient said, oblivious to the sweat dropping man seated next to him.

* * * * * *

Meanwhile in the master bedroom, the ex-priestess was short of pulling her hair out. "Where could I have put them?! I can't believe I lost the wedding invitations an hour before the wedding itself!" Filia yanked the door open. "XELLOS!!!" she bellowed.

"Yes, Fi-chan?"Xellos smirked inwardly as she spun around in surprise and indignation at the name calling. Score one for me.

"Be useful and find our wedding invitations. I know they're somewhere in here!" She shoved him into the wrecked room. "I'll go make sure Val doesn't get into the present." With that she disappeared out the door.

Xellos surveyed their living quarters. "Organized chaos is obviously too much to ask for..."

* * * * * *

"Aha!" It had taken him the better part of twenty minutes to find it, but the fruits of his labor were now at hand. Xellos reached into Filia's nightstand drawer to get the invitation cards. Silly dragon. Leaving them in the most obvious place. His hand brushed something cold and hard near the back of the drawer. "Huh?" One eye cracked open in surprise. "What's this?" He slipped the cards into his pocket, then reached for the mysterious object and brought it out into light. "A memory crystal? Why would she have one of these?" he murmured to himself. It started to glow brightly, emitting white light everywhere. "No! I don't have time for this!" was Xellos's last thought before he was sucked into the past.

* * * * * *

Filia crept around the corner. "Darn that cat! Why'd it have to run off just when Saichuro-sama was starting his speech?" Filia grumbled misgivings for not listening to her friends about bringing in a stray. She caught sight of an orange streak in the library. "Oh no! If that cat ruins any of the books I'll be in so much trouble!" She dashed madly after the cat. As she entered the room the first thing she noticed was the curtain to the balcony blowing in the wind. The next thing she noticed was the cat sitting on the railing of the balcony contentedly licking its paw. The third thing she noticed was that there was a table of refreshments near the cat. "If it gets into the food..." Filia left the thought unfinished. "I have to catch it before it gets me in any trouble! I don't want to ruin my perfect record!" She slinked closer to the tabby, stealthily reached out, and hit the punch bowl instead. Startled by the loud sound, the cat jumped off the railing, knocking the bowl with its tail. "Why you...!" Filia growled and whipped around to follow it. A loud cry from below stopped her.

"ARGH!Who did this? They will be severely punished!"

Filia stopped breathing. "Oh no...that is NOT who I think it is!" She peered over the balcony and saw Saichuro-sama drenched in red fruit punch. She started to feel woozy.

"FILIA!Come down here right now! Explain yourself!" the Dragon Elder shouted in fury. Already petrified from fear and woozy from lack of air, she did the only thing she could at the moment. She fainted.

* * * * * *

Filia felt a cool cloth being placed on her forehead and opened her eyes. "Mmph."

"Stay still, Fi. You hit your head hard when you collapsed."

"Adrina?"Filia gazed long and hard at her friend. "What happened?"

"That's what Saichuro-sama would like to know. Why did you splash punch on him, anyway?"

Filia gasped. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." She felt a gentle hand rest on her shoulder.

"When you feel better, come down to the audience chamber. The elders would like you to explain your actions. You know, you could get off easy if you play up to the fainting attack." Adrina winked.

"But that's lying!"

"No. That's deceiving. Let them draw their own conclusions."

Filia thought about it. "I'm going to regret listening to you..."

* * * * * *

"Filia Ul Copt. What have you to say for yourself?" Saichuro's thunderous voice boomed from the raised platform.

"I'm incredibly sorry, sir. I – I was overcome by a fit of dizziness so suddenly that I never noticed..."

"Very well, very well.Your complexion is paler than usual as it is. I do not want to add to it. But answer me this – why were you not at the lecture?"

Filia blanched at the seemingly innocent question. "I – I..." What was the lecture about, anyway?

The elder saw her desperate looks around the room. "Well, Miss Ul Copt? Are YOU so fond of Xellos Metallium that YOU would miss me speaking out against him?"

Filia sighed in relief. Was it another of those? "I hate Xellos Metallium, Saichuro-sama. He is nothing but namagomi." She saw the old man smile.

"And why do you hate him?" he gently inquired. Filia felt something snap and a flood of words poured from her mouth.

"Because you talk about him so much, I am sick of hearing his name! I wish he were dead so you wouldn't preach about him so much! ...In retrospect, you hate him more than any other golden dragon alive, don't you? You HAVE preached against him for three centuries straight, after all. And you know what they say, 'To hate a person is to love that person.' Wow, you must absolutely worship Xellos Metallium, then. Do you secretly bless the air he breathes?" Filia's mind screeched to a halt. 'What am I saying?!?!?! I can't believe I said that to his face! I'm going to be kicked out of the Sanctuary for sure!' She looked at her superior from between her bangs. Hopefully the bright smile and twinkling blue eyes would soften him. 'Yes, Fi, act the dumb blonde. You're so good at it,' her mind taunted her. Saichuro-sama was staring at her with wide eyes. 'If his eyes widen any further, they'll pop out of their sockets,' she blankly thought. Uh oh. He was turning red. Filia cringed mentally. She was so going to get it.

"Sir, no disrespect intended, but please keep this meeting short. Filia has a huge lump on her head and shouldn't be on her feet for too long," Adrina stated matter-of-factly from the edge of the door. She had a strange look on her face;  as though she was going to die if she didn't laugh soon.

"Go. Just...go!" Saichuro-sama waved his arm at Filia, containing his anger. He would not hold a head injury against her.

Startled, Filia obeyed him and all but ran out the door. Once in her room, she collapsed on the bed.

"Oh Cephied!That was too funny! Did you see the look on his face when you were talking? You practically gave him a heart attack!" Adrina burst out laughing.

"Glad you think so," Filia muttered sourly. "I'm the one going to be punished for it."

"Worry wart. I'll just say that your head injury from when you collapsed earlier caused you to say things you didn't mean and that you didn't know what you were saying. You know what they say, 'When caught by your superiors, deny, deny, and deny.'

"This is the last time I'm listening to you, 'Drina. All you do is land me in trouble!" Filia began to wail.

"There, there, Fi-chan. Don't cry..." Filia stopped crying at this comment.

"Don't. Call. Me. Fi-chan!!! Only you would call me such a degrading name moments after the most excruciatingly painful experience in my life!!!!"

"Degrading? How's it degrading?" Adrina deftly avoided a well-aimed blow.

"It just is!!!" Reality caught up with the young girl in pink. "Oh ...my ...god! Did you see Saichuro-sama's face? You could have cooked an egg on it!" She burst into giggles.

"Yeah, but funny as it was, I wouldn't advise you to do that again. You never know how he'll retaliate against you," Adrina said, serious for once. Filia quieted down and there was a moment of silence. They both looked at each other and burst out laughing again.

* * * * * *

The sound of a bird chirping brought him back to his senses. Xellos shook his head. This couldn't be a memory crystal. Filia would never have been so cheeky to the Supreme Elder! Especially not as a priestess-in-training. But then again... she did have the audacity to call the murderer of her race 'namagomi' so anything was possible... He heard shuffling in the hallway, as though someone was sent to do an undesirable task and was balking. He ignored it.

"Xellos-papa?"Xellos looked up at the young ancient dragon who stuck his head through the doorway. "Mama wants you to hurry up so we won't be late for the wedding."

"Of course, Val. Run back down and tell mama that I'll be right there." He smiled at his adoptive son.

"Hai, tousan!"Xellos could hear little feet patter down the stairs. He looked at the memory crystal in his hand and the smile turned into a smirk. Moments later he appeared by Filia's side.

"Did you find the invitations?" Filia asked impatiently. "Lina won't be happy if we're late for her and Gourry's wedding."

"All the more negative emotions for me to feed on!" He failed to see mace-sama come towards him. "Itai!" He rubbed his head vigorously. His wife had one hell of a follow-through! "Yare, yare, impatient dragon, they're right here!" he waved the cards in her face. She grabbed the present off the table and called Val to her. "Ano, Filia-chan," Xellos began to change the topic, "we should talk about your younger days." He swung an arm across his wife's shoulders and an evil grin found its way to his lips. "How about the time when you were a priestess-in-training..."

Author's Notes: Well? What did you think? Go and review it already! R&R does not stand for Read&Run. Also, I am thinking of making this a series of vignettes that ranges from memories to children of their own. Please bear with me as I am a slow updater.

Xellos-muse: You're only calling it a series of vignettes because if you call it a chaptered fic you're inspiration will take a looooooong break.