I've had the idea for this short one shot for absolutely ages. I only just got round to doing it when my cousins came over to stay and my oldest cousin forced me to write since she's decided to make me her idol. Ah, the young. They're so impressionable…
Jenna: And stupid. Who'd make you an idol?
Tiamet! She's picking on me again!
Tiamet: (sighs, then sits on Jenna)
Thank you! I don't own Golden Sun and I don't think I own anything else that may be copyright in this story except the story itself, but you never know!
A Party to Remember
"It's kinda cold, isn't it?" said Sheba, shivered by the small bridge.
The river flowed past peacefully as the night continued. Stars hung over head, surrounding a beautiful full moon. A shadowy figure approached the girl with something in his arms. Sheba turned around to face the person and giggled when he draped his cloak over her shoulders.
"Better?" Ivan asked with a big smile.
"Thank you, but won't you be cold?"
"I don't mind. I can always cuddle up with you for warmth."
Returning the smile, Sheba turned to face the river again and leaned against the wooden bridge. Her memories of the night were a little hazy because of the alcohol, despite it being a small amount, that she'd consumed, but the thought still brought a grin to her face and laughter to her eyes.
XxXxXxXxX Earlier That Night XxXxXxXxX
Ivan walked slowly up to Garet's house, his hands in his pockets and his eye's half closed. It had been a hard day for him and he would be glad to get some sleep. He'd been helping out with the rebuilding of Vale's lower half with the other men and boys in town while the women and girls brought them supplies and continued to tend to the animals and crops that had survived the destruction of Mount Aleph and the original Vale. It had taken everything out of him.
He quickly turned the door handle and opened the door, confused by the fact that there were no light on at all in the house. His hand automatically moved to his side where his Kikuichimonji sword hung as the lights suddenly went on, but his fear turned from surprise to happiness when he saw all his friends in front of him.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY IVAN!" they all cried, rushing forward to grab the Jupiter Adept and pull him into the room.
Streamers hung from the roof next to a sign that said in bold gold lettering, 'Happy 16th Birthday,' with a rather badly drawn picture of Ivan holding a present. The floor was covered with multi-coloured balloons that floated up gently as people walked about.
Everyone was smiling at the birthday boy who no longer looked tired. More like deliriously happy. Before him stood Isaac, Garet, Felix, Piers, Mia, Jenna, Sheba, Hama, Feizhi, Hsu, Garet's sister, Kay, Kushinada and Suza. They were all here to celebrate his birthday when he'd thought they'd all forgotten.
"What's going on? Why is everyone here?" Ivan asked, giving Hama a quick hug.
"Isn't it obvious?" answered Sheba as she took Ivan's hand and led him to the middle of the room with everyone else surrounding him. "We're having a party in your honour. It is your birthday after all. So, let's party!"
As soon as Sheba had stopped talking, the lights dimmed and a disco ball descended from the ceiling with half a dozen coloured lights. Some people moved out of the way to reveal a band in the corner made up of two Tolbi guards, a female singer from Madra and a young (or seemingly young) Lemurian. With a quick intro on the drums from the Lemurian, they jumped straight into a fast paced song which everyone quickly began to dance to.
Ivan grabbed Sheba and started dancing with her next to Suza and Kushinada, and Piers and Hama who'd become quite a couple ever since she'd come to Vale to help out and had ended up going on a date with him. Everyone appeared to be having a wonderful time. But as he continued to dance, Ivan noticed that Mia and Jenna were sitting alone in the corner with Feizhi and Hsu. Isaac and Garet were no where to be seen.
Leaning over to Felix as he passed him with Sheba, Ivan said loudly so that he could be heard over the music, "Where are Isaac and Garet? I can't see them."
Felix, who's been dancing with Kay so that she didn't feel left out, shrugged.
"I think they said something about getting a surprise."
A present from the combined forces of Isaac and Garet was never a good thing. Before the young adept could even look around once more for the pair, the troublesome duo had burst through the door giggling and holding several dozen bottle of amber liquid.
"Hey! Look everyone!" Garet shouted into the room, his voice slightly slurred. "We found my dad's secret stash in the basement. Drinks all around!"
There were cheers throughout the room and a mad scramble towards the two boys and the drinks. Isaac pushed past everyone, moving towards Mia and the other in the corner. With a smile still fixed permanently on his face, he held out his hand to Mia. She giggled and placed hers in his, allowing him to guide her to the dance floor.
Jenna grinned at Mia as she left, then stood up and walked over to Garet. Said red-head was still handing out bottles and was stumbling from couple to couple, thanking them for coming and basically making a fool of himself. He stopped though when he saw Jenna. Unable to think of anything remotely romantic, he looked straight into his girlfriend's eyes, a small smile twitching on his lips and handed her a bottle of alcohol. Jenna simply handed the bottle to Ivan who just happened to be spinning Sheba around next to them and then pulled Garet into a hug, planting a quick kiss on his lips.
Surprised by what had happened, Ivan suddenly stopped, ending up with Sheba in his arms. Somehow Sheba had ended up with a bottle of Garet's alcohol as well and joined Ivan when he opened his.
"Bottoms up," he said, taking a swig at the same time as Sheba.
Both of them shivered slightly when the cool liquid travelled down their throats, but both continued to drink it. Although they could hardly call themselves drunk, they started giggling as if they were.
"Oh, no! The minors have got their hands on the alcohol!" Piers cried out, sending a roar of excited cheers around the room.
Soon, the whole room was filled with happy chatter and hot bodies dancing. The music had risen to such a level that it pressed against the adept's ear drums and would probably cause some damage later on in their lives.
"Great party!" Mia yelled above the drums beats, noise of the other instruments and the beautiful singing of the woman. "I think everyone is really enjoying themselves."
"Of course. This is one of my famous parties after all," Isaac boosted, swaying quite a lot as he danced in a small group with Mia, Jenna, Garet and Felix.
Kay had already gone upstairs after receiving a long speech about her needing to sleep from Garet who had, ironically, nearly fallen asleep as he was doing so.
"Alright everyone!" Piers called out as he stood in front of the band with an arm around Hama. "It's about time that we gave Ivan his presents!"
There was a pause, and then everyone looked towards the door to the kitchen which was where the presents were being kept and laughter filled the room as Felix, Hsu and Suza stumbled out, each of them carrying a huge stack of presents.
Ivan's smile almost doubled when he caught sight of the gifts and he instantly charged at the three boys to get at the presents, knocking the trio over in the process.
After receiving a new pair of boots from Hsu, a set of healing crystals from Hama, a cape from Piers, a book about Anemos from Isaac and Mia, a staff cleaning kit from Jenna and Garet, a rock from Felix since he wasn't very good at buying gifts and the Dancing Idol Felix had given up when he had saved Suza with Jenna, Sheba and Piers' help. He hesitated when his hand reached out for the last gift, Sheba's gift.
"Go on, open it," said Garet with a grin.
Sheba smiled too, but more nervously. She'd never bought a present like this for anyone before and she really hoped that Ivan liked it.
Ivan slowly pulled off the wrapping to reveal a small box. He opened it and frowned when a long object rolled out.
"What is it?" he asked, holding it up to see it better.
"It's a telescope," said Sheba. "Kraden gave it to me a while ago. Come on. I want to show you something."
Not waiting for him to respond, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the backdoor into Garet's garden.
XxXxXxXxX Present Time XxXxXxXxX
"So, what did you want to show me?" Ivan asked, wrapping his arms around Sheba's shoulders.
"You'll see."
They stood in the cold air for a while longer until Ivan began to shiver slightly. He was about to suggest that they go back inside since whatever Sheba was waiting for obviously wasn't coming when she suddenly pointed up at the sky and gave a cry of delight.
"There!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and down. "Look up there!"
Ivan looked up, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"I don't see anything…"
"Well, that's what the telescope's for," said Sheba as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She took it from Ivan and opened it, then pointed it up towards the sky.
"Look through it at that small cluster of stars."
Doing as he was told, Ivan looked and saw hundreds of tiny streaks falling through the almost black sky.
"What are they?"
"It's a meteor shower. They only fall every thousand years or so. It's been told that the brightest meteor right at the front was once a young goddess who was thrown out of heaven for loving a human. She had to choose whether to live with him on the earth and give up being a goddess or stay a goddess and loose him forever."
"What did she choose?" Ivan asked, unconsciously moving closer to Sheba.
"She chose him, and I've heard if you make a wish on the falling meteors, it will come true instantly."
They smiled at each other, closed their eyes and silently make their wishes.
Sheba started when she felt a pair of lips meet her and she didn't need to know who's they were. She relaxed and let Ivan push himself up against her chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.
'I guess wishes really do come true,' she thought as she continued to kiss Ivan passionately.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Awww! It's so sweet!
Jenna: Hey! Sheba totally stole that from me! I told Garet the exact same thing before we got together!
Tiamet: Small minds think alike.
Jenna: Yeah…hey!
Hehe. Well, you know the drill. Review if you liked the story. Flame if you didn't. Both if you're undecided and certain death if Jenna catches you reading this without at least giving an opinion.
Jenna: Lookie! Karst let me borrow her scythe! I feel like the grim reaper! GIVE ME YOUR SOUL!
Tia, I'm scared.
Tiamet: Me too, Oracle. Me too.