Vale, three years ago. The night of the Mt.Aleph incident.
Rain, rain, and more rain. Add in the occasional rumbles of thunder and lightning, and you have one hell of a storm.
But it fit well in this particular night, a night where one entire city was threatened by the rumblings of what they believed to be Mother Nature. There was no major damage, miraculously, and there was no one hurt or killed.
All with the exception of one family who lived quietly by the side of the river.
Jenna cried, not for the first time ever since she had witnessed that boulder carry off every close member of her family. Mom. Dad. Even his older brother Felix, of whom she had just had a fight with the day before.
Felix, the protective brother who had punched out two bullies that harassed her one day.
Felix, the annoying brother who always kept her awake half the night with his snoring, even though their rooms were far apart, and who always kept a perpetual eye on her.
Felix, the helpless brother who couldn't weather one little storm to look after his little sister any longer.
"Why…?"
The auburn-haired girl was still standing on the front porch, her eyes still rooted to the spot where the incident had occurred. Many times a passer-by would ask if she was ok, and many times she had said nothing in return. The rain continued to pour all over her night clothes (she had been asleep when she was forced awake to leave), yet Jenna couldn't bring herself to leave. If anyone had been watching, they would probably have never been able to discern the rain from her tear drops.
Not that it mattered.
Not that anything mattered.
Slowly, she began to walk toward the damaged fishing dock. How would it feel like to drown? I wonder how long it would be before I'd get to join them. The wood creaked and groaned even under her light steps. She was one foot away from the edge… then just one more step. One more step, and she would know where her family went.
"No, Jenna."
She suddenly blinked and whirled her head around, wondering who would dare try to stop her. Whoever it was had caught her wrist before she took that last step. Her unlatched fist clenched and prepared to punch the unaware person, but pulled it at the last minute upon the first glance of spiky yellow hair.
"Please don't go," Isaac said more softly. His hair, upon taking a better glance, looked even more disheveled than usual, and she thought she saw a few burn marks on his cheek. His clothes looked ragged and torn, as if he had gone through a terrible fight. The training sword that hung at his hip had snapped in half.
Jenna was hardly in the mood to care for his condition, however. She tried to pull her arm away. "Let go of me," she said amidst her tears, "I need to go find my family!"
"That's not going to solve anything!" he tried to reason with her.
"I am not going to sit here while the only people who loved me go away forever!" With that, the auburn-haired teenager wrestled away from Isaac's grasp and started for the river, but was halted with one last plead from her friend.
"Would you honestly like it if your family found you dead?"
That stopped Jenna in her tracks. For a moment, she just stood there, and only the low rumbles of thunder echoed in the empty night. Neither had said a word for a moment that stretched on forever.
Slowly, she turned to face her golden-haired friend. Isaac felt his insides nearly wrench with pain. So many tears. I've never known you to cry like this. Why now…?
"Isaac…" Jenna held back a sniffle, brushing away a strand of hair that stuck to her cheek. "There's nothing left for me here. No one loves me except for my family. And now they're gone. All gone! Washed away!" She gripped her head in frustration. "What can I—"
A pair of arms that wrapped around her stopped the helpless girl in mid-sentence. Jenna slowly opened her eyes, not bothering to hide the shock on her face.
Isaac was hugging her. His voice was shaky, yet certain, as he whispered softly in her ear. "I know what it's like to lose your family, too. My dad... my dad was also washed away trying to save your brother." While still holding her, he stepped back slowly toward the porch, away from the raging waters and back under the cover of her house's awning. "I-I miss Dad… just like you miss your family… but we'll pull through this!" Jenna felt his grip tighten, yet a small part of her didn't want him to let go anyway. She heard him whisper even more faintly. "We… we have to, as long as we're together."
"Isaac…"
Holding back no longer, she broke down and cried on his shoulder. Reluctantly lowering themselves into a sitting position, they leaned on the broken house; Isaac with his childhood friend in his arms.
We'll get through this. We have to. I'm your friend… and I know what it's like to lose family.
Author's Comments: This is just a one-shot, really. I'm not really all that good with sap anymore. And as for pairings, I still think Isaac/Jenna is more feasible, seeing as they've known each other almost all their lives. Even so, I'm sure that Jenna wouldn't give up her feelings without a fight. It's just the way her temperment works, after all. Garet, to me, is more like the "big-brother" figurehead that she expected from Felix... more air-headed than the Venus Adept, yes, but he has his moments.