"Well, I…I guess I should talk to Felix, then."
Jenna's father smiled. "You don't have to, really."
"It just…it just feels right." Isaac shrugged helplessly.
"He's out by the river," Jenna's mother supplied.
"The river?" Isaac repeated. "You mean…the river?"
She gave him a confused half-smile. "There's only one river that runs through this area, Isaac..."
"Er…right. Right, well, I'll go then." He left the shed that stood for their home, trying to salvage his pride on the way out, and picked his way across the ruins of Vale to the banks of the river. Sure enough, there was Felix, staring off into the distance.
"You okay out here?" he asked, once he got closer.
"Yeah, why?"
"Just..." Isaac sat down next to the older Venus adept, picking nervously at a loose thread on his glove. "I mean, this place doesn't exactly have great memories."
"It's hardly the same place anymore," Felix said, not even bothering to look over at him. "It's hardly the same town anymore. Just look around."
Isaac didn't know what to say.
A full minute later, Felix broke the silence.
"So did you come here to reminisce, or...?"
"Oh!" Isaac felt his face flush a little. "Uh, well, no. I just..."
There was another pause, and this time Felix actually did look at him. Somehow that didn't make Isaac feel any better.
"Life is short," Isaac started, and then faltered again.
"Yes it is," Felix said, trying to be helpful and not sure if it was working. Conversation wasn't exactly his strong point—but then again, it had never been Isaac's, either.
"Well, it's about Jenna," Isaac said, sighing heavily and internally giving up on the lofty speech he'd prepared. Instead he just looked the other Venus adept in the eyes. "I love her."
Felix raised an eyebrow. "Of course you do."
"No, I mean..." Isaac sighed again, and Felix nodded slightly, as if encouraging him to go on. "I mean, I want to marry her."
"Of course you do."
"Because I—wait, what?"
"I know."
"You what?"
The older boy smiled, just a little. "It's easier to tell when you're watching from the outside."
Isaac sat there trying to regain his footing in the conversation. Felix, as always, had pulled the rug out from under him. Eventually, all he managed was, "When? Since when?"
Felix looked away again, staring at nothing in particular across the river. "It was Jupiter. You were…well, you were barely conscious, you probably didn't even realize you were doing it. You kept saying her name."
Jupiter Lighthouse seemed like a distant memory, and the entire fight with Karst and Agatio had been a blur for Isaac. One minute he was panicking for Ivan, the next he was in excruciating pain. The next thing he remembered after that had been his head in Jenna's lap, with her hands on his chest, warm and comforting and familiar, as she cast all the healing Psynergy she could handle.
"Yeah," Isaac said, quietly. "I guess I did."
"And," Felix broke into his memories, "she kept saying yours."
The two of them lapsed into silence again, and Isaac cursed all the Gods he knew that he wasn't better with words.
Felix had simply assumed the conversation was over.
"So," Isaac said, finally, then feeling a pang of disappointment that he couldn't have come up with something better. For all the prowess he had in combat, it seemed none of that skill would transfer into basic conversation.
"What, is she pregnant too?"
"What?! No! No, I just...it's okay?"
"If you marry her? Yeah, of course."
"Really?"
"Yes. Go...word travels fast in this sad excuse for a town, with your luck she'll end up knowing before you get to ask. Oh, and Isaac?" Felix added as they stood up to leave. "For the record, I'm glad it's you."
Isaac smiled, boyish, and happier than Felix had seen him in a long time. "Thanks, Felix. Just...thanks."