There's actually a little story about this fanfic. If you'd care to hear…

Once upon a time, there were two authors that once told me they longed to read a decent Valeship these days. Now, I respect both of these authors greatly, and commend them for their work. So, this fanfic is a tribute to them and their work. Kyaorain and Empress Dotdotdot, I look forward to more awesome stories from the both of you. Keep it up…

That said and done, here is the story. Oh, and I know you're all speechless that I, Tetra, wrote a Valeshipping. Hee.

Disclaimer: ::insert witty, comical, and overused disclaimer here::

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Jenna stared at the ceiling with little interest. Even with the two groups united, there was still absolutely nothing to do when the sun had set over the horizon. The auburn haired girl sighed and sat up in the bed, her long, high ponytail in disarray due to lying on it for a good hour or two.

She was incredibly nervous. Chills kept going down her spine, and she had butterflies in her stomach. Ever since she saw him on the Lighthouse…

Isaac.

Her face slightly blushed at the mention of his name. She couldn't deny her feelings for him, to do so would be like denying the fact that Felix was her brother. Luckily, she had been able to keep her feelings under wraps for several years, the first slip-up ever occurring at Madra, when Sheba asked that horrid, horrid question:

"But, Jenna, aren't you and Isaac an item? Can't you, y'know, change his mind or something?"

Jenna rolled her eyes at the memory. Stupid Sheba and her stupid, stupid questions. No wonder she was attracted to people like Felix… stupid, stupid Sheba.

That conversation had brought her feelings for Isaac back to the surface that day, though. She hadn't seen, heard, or even thought about him in so long that it was almost as if her feelings for him had been erased from her mind. She had forgotten how deeply she cared for the quiet blonde…

And ever since she saw him, on the Lighthouse, fighting off Karst and Agatio… seeing him downed in battle… it was too much for her. For a split-second, she thought that a piece of her soul had withered up and died. Thoughts about why didn't she confess earlier and other such things suddenly filled her mind. Thankfully, Isaac had turned out alright in the end, much to her relief.

And for that, she was eternally grateful.

But upon reaching that house in Contigo… she could hardly contain her feelings. She thought she would've burst then and there, but once again, she remained cool and collected, something odd for a Fire Adept. She wanted to confess, she really, truly did. And when the boy, Ivan, told Felix that…

"Isaac's been really worried about Jenna the whole time."

For a second there, she felt as if her heart had gone into a frenzy and started pounding like crazy. However, Isaac said nothing, and didn't even divert his eyes, or even blush. That made her heart sink.

Jenna sighed again and plopped back down on the bed. She wanted to tell him – she really did. She just… didn't have the heart to. Like any good friendship, if taken up to the next level, things would never be the same between her, Garet, Felix, and Isaac. Or, Isaac could… reject her feelings, and crush her heart into dust.

And she really didn't want the latter part to happen, let alone let her feelings be unrequited.

She smiled in spite of herself. She felt like she was Sheba's age again, or something. Thinking she was in love… it was just a stupid childhood crush, anyway. Nothing more, nothing less.

Jenna plopped back down onto the bed, staring at the inn's room ceiling. From the corners of her mind, a memory began to play in her mind's eye…

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The tears fell freely from her sun-kissed face. Today, there was no shame for her to be crying. Today, on the anniversary of Felix's death, as well as the death of her parents, there was no shame or self-loathing in it. Yes, today, Jenna – Vale's local tomboy – was allowed to cry.

Thunder cracked in the distance. She didn't care; she was going to mourn if needed be, and by the gods, she would mourn. The other Valeans understood her need for it - only four innocent souls had been claimed that night. Yes, they too mourned, but not as much as the two who had lost their loved ones.

A single tear fell from her cheeks and onto the stone marker. Why did they have to die? What had her parents ever done? What had Felix ever done? It just wasn't fair…

More tears. Two more plopped down onto Felix's tombstone. They never found his body, but a grave marker was set up none-the-less for him, his parents, and Kyle.

Kyle… Isaac's father… Jenna turned her head to see Isaac only a few feet away, kneeling before Kyle's gravestone. A bouquet of daisies had been left before it. Isaac's head remained bowed, and his hands cupped. Was he… praying?

Jenna stifled a sob, but the tears continued to fall. It wasn't fair… Kyle was a good man; one of the best she had ever known. He didn't deserve to die.

The tears were streaming harder now.

It had begun to drizzle. The falling tears patted gently against Jenna's nose, comforting her in a strange, yet almost natural way. She sniffed, and turned her head back towards Felix's grave. Jenna knew that, in a situation like this, crying was a natural thing. So, why did she feel so weak? Why did she feel so helpless? Wasn't she, the Vale tomboy, stronger than this?

She hated feeling like this. But did that make her seem like she didn't care about the deaths?

In every fiber of her being, she didn't know.

Another tear trickled down her cheek as she heard Isaac sigh and his hands returned to his sides. "It hurts…" she heard him say, in his usual light, quiet tone. It was… comforting, to say the least. "This feeling… it hurts." He said.

Jenna sniffed and nodded. She glanced over at the boy beside her to see his face turned ever so slightly towards her own. The blonde stared at her for a moment, his sapphire eyes boring into her own chocolate brown, perhaps even into her soul. "I envy you." He said finally.

Jenna blinked, causing the tears to stop falling, if only for a moment. "What…?" The drizzle began to pick up, and the rain fell harder now.

Isaac's head turned completely towards her, a sad smile on the corners of his lips. "I envy you." He gestured towards her crying face with a tilt of his head. "You're crying. That means you care. You've found your tears…" His hand slowly went to gently carress the skin under his eyes. "I can't." His hand returned to his side, and his head once more stared at Kyle's grave.

 "I've… been trying so hard… but, these tears… they just won't come to me." He smiled sadly again. "Have I lost this ability – this ability to cry? Or, am I just unable to? Does that make me insensitive…? Does that make me… a bad son?"

Jenna frowned, and shook her head slowly. Isaac's smile remained sad and rueful as he stared at the tombstone. "But, you… you can still cry. That's a wonderful gift, Jenna… I envy you."
"Isaac…" she murmured. Her friend shook his head.

"It's alright… I'm used to it by now. The tears… they stopped coming awhile ago." He turned his head back towards Jenna, his sapphire eyes making contact with her chocolate brown. He smiled slightly at her, and stood up from his position. He cast one last glance at the tombstone, nodded a good-bye, and turned towards Jenna. "Come on, Jenna... it's going to start raining harder."

Jenna released another tear. "I – I… I don't know what to do, Isaac. …I miss them so much."

She inhaled suddenly with surprise when she felt the touch of his gloved hand on her shoulder. Jenna turned her head to see Isaac kneeling beside her, an arm placed upon her shoulder and back. "I know that it hurts, Jenna…" he began, "but… we have to deal with these things. We… we need to move on. Dwelling in the past… it… it only makes things more painful at times like these." His eyes made contact with hers. "…but, the past can be a good thing. We need to remember the joy we had with them before we lost them… never lose those memories, Jenna. If you can do that, they will always be with you."

Isaac's words, his voice, his touch… it mesmerized her. Soothed her. Dulled the pain. Jenna found it ironic that as her tears dried up, the rain began to fall harder. Soon, she stood up, bowed her head at the tombstones, and folded her hands behind her back. Isaac stood up and dusted his tunic off.

Jenna smiled warmly at him. "Thank you, Isaac…" She walked closer towards him.

In that moment, two kindred spirits shared their pain and their sorrow with each other, and soothed the turmoil within each other's heart as Jenna placed a kiss on Isaac's cheek. As she pulled back, Jenna saw that Isaac's mouth was slightly apart from surprise, perhaps shock. Finally, he smiled.

It was raining pretty hard then.

They never spoke again of that moment. Whether or not Jenna's kiss had been one of friendship or thanks was never revealed, but Jenna always kept Isaac's words with her at heart for the next two years, and even beyond. Perhaps, she forever would.

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Jenna sighed, fond memories lifting her mood. That was perhaps one of her most treasured memories – it was later that day when Jenna developed a schoolgirl's crush on the blonde Venus Adept. Who knows? Maybe it was even the kiss that sparked her feelings.

The problem was that Isaac hadn't returned them - not yet, anyway.

Jenna sighed again, her body rising upwards from the bed. She looked out the room window, and gazed upon the silver moon that hung in the dark sky. She smiled slightly, and hopped off the bed. Grabbing her staff, she opened the door and walked down the stairs to the inn lobby.

With the two parties united, it was only natural that the two groups would begin interacting and befriending with one another. Ivan and Piers were playing a heated game of chess, with Kraden watching the game intently. On the other side of the lobby, Garet was seen chatting it up with Mia and Sheba, obviously telling jokes. They seemed to be working, since Mia and Sheba were both giggling. Felix sat at the bar, drinking some ale, and keeping his distance from the others. Jenna rolled her eyes and muttered, "Typical."

All that left was Isaac. But he was nowhere to be found…

Confused, she walked across the lobby and over towards the bar. She tapped Felix's shoulder, and the mane of brown hair turned around to show Felix's face. "Yes?" he asked.

Jenna looked around the room. "Have you seen Isaac?"

Felix smirked and crossed his arms. "Yeah. Went outside 'bout ten minutes ago. Any reason why?"

Jenna shook her head. "No. No particular reason. But…" her eyes darted over to the door, "I think I'll go look for him."

Her brother shrugged and turned back to the bar aisle. "Suit yourself."

The auburn haired girl just shook her head slightly at her brother, than cast another glance at the door. She felt a lump rise in her throat, and the butterflies in her stomach decided to dance around.

Jenna took a deep breath and, gathering her courage, walked across the lobby and towards the inn entrance. Her hand twisted the knob open, and was greeted by the cool night breeze. She stepped outside the doorway, and her shoes made contact with the sandy, rugged terrain of Contigo.

The moon shone brightly over her head. Jenna lifted her head to gaze upon the said object, and let out an awed breath. A few seconds later, she heard the sound of someone chuckling. Frowning, she turned to see Isaac leaning against the inn wall, arms crossed, and expression pensive. He smiled slightly. "Hey."

The butterflies in Jenna's stomach decided to dance. Jenna was just barely able to give her own smile, then walked over to the blonde Adept. She chose a spot very close to Isaac, and leaned back against the wall. The Mars Adept placed the staff next to her so that it, too, would lean against the inn wall.

"It's very pretty." She said, gesturing towards the moon. Isaac nodded. Jenna frowned. Why was his movement so… stiff?

Jenna glanced over and smiled. "It's really good to see you again, Isaac," she said honestly and truly.

"Hey, I wasn't the only one." He said, smirking. "Garet was worried about you, too. Hell, even Ivan and Mia were concerned from what we told them about you."

Cue sinking heart. Jenna's head started to downcast, but she caught herself before it drooped too low. But, she was too late – Isaac had seen her from the corner of his eye. His brow furrowed, and he shifted his weight forward. His movement a little stiff, he walked in front of his long-time friend. Jenna blinked and stared into his brilliant blue eyes. "Yes?"

Isaac seemed a loss for words. His mouth kept opening and closing, like he was selecting what words to say. Jenna sighed. "Go on, if you're going to say something, say it!"

"I…" he began, still fumbling with words, "it's just that… I… I really…" Jenna's head tilted up towards his own, his blue eyes coming closer and closer…

"Y-yes?" she asked. She felt so awkward right now; usually, Jenna was the assertive one. So… why did she feel so weak-kneed?

Their faces were only inches apart now, and Jenna could feel Isaac's hot breath against her nose and cheeks. Her lip trembled with anticipation – were her dreams finally about to come true?

"Jenna… I… the thing is that… I just… I really… I would really like to… I just wanna say…" His face inched closer towards hers, and Jenna could hardly see his face now that it had come so close to her own, blurring her vision. Isaac let out a deep breath and lowered his head. He lifted it back up and, staring at the ground the whole way, walked back over to the inn's entrance.

Jenna felt like crying. She blew it – she knew it was her fault! She ruined that near-perfect moment! She wanted to cry, but the tears just wouldn't come…

"I've… been trying so hard… but, these tears… they just won't come to me"

"It's alright… I'm used to it by now. The tears… they stopped coming awhile ago."

Jenna lifted her head, startled. She smiled stupidly at Isaac's words. The memory was a part of her heart, and it probably always would be. She lifted her head back up towards the moon, and she basked in its light.

"Jenna." Jenna turned her head to see Isaac standing in front of the doorway, his hand grasping the knob. He was smiling his small, trademarked smile. Jenna could've sworn that she felt her cheeks go slightly warm from the way he was looking at her. She raised her eyebrows, as if to ask, "What is it?"

Isaac remained silent for a long time. Finally, his smile turned into a warm – and quite possibly, loving – smile. "…I really missed you. I missed you a lot, Jenna…" He nodded a farewell, and opened the inn door, letting himself inside. He shut the door so quickly that he didn't even give Jenna time to respond. Even if she had the time to, it was doubtful that Jenna would even respond due to the suddenness of what just just happened.

Her head slowly turned back towards the moon. If the moon really did have a face like people said, then Jenna was sure that Luna was smiling lovingly at her right now. The Mars Adept smiled a smile similar to Isaac's, and continued to gaze up at the moon. "I think I'm going to enjoy this new adventure after all…" she said.

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That about wraps this up. Feel free to leave your comments and criticism in your review. Or, you can just submit a review and scream at me "WHY DID YOU WRITE A VALESHIPPING?!"

::shrugs:: I wanted to try something new. To be honest, this is my first actual attempt at romance in a serious fanfic ( The Mudshipping in GFX and Proxshipping in AOE doesn't count – those were humor fics. ) So, I would really like to know this: is this realistic? I would simply die if I wrote fluff in anything, so I want to know if I made it as realistic as possible.

Thank you, and g'night.