Again, a THANK YOU to all of you who reviewed!
This chapter finishes the story, and is mostly seen from Isaac's point of view (in third person, of course), although Mia will be focused on; Mia & Isaac all the way!!
REMEMBER TO REVIEW AFTER YOU READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Talking out loud"
'Thinking'
*~*~*~*~*Flashback*~*~*~*~*
~~~~~~Scene change~~~~~~
(Author's Notes)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters, places, and etc. belong to Golden Sun & whoever owns/made Golden Sun. So there. Now you can't sue me. ^-^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dream Come True
By smileypal4eva
Chapter 3: Caught Unawares
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
we're still in Imil, everyone...
Isaac lifted his arm in front of his face, to block the onslaught of snow flurries from his eyes. "Why can't the weather have stayed nice?!" Isaac yelled to Garet. The weather had been pretty respectable... cloudy and cold, and it had only been snowing a little. Isaac had hoped that it would stay that way while they went to the weapons & armor shop. No such luck.
"It's freezing out here! So much colder than usual!" Mia said, teeth chattering uncontrollably. It was so cold, her insides were all tense, and she felt like she was about to snap. In an effort to keep warm, she had her arms crossed across her chest, but it wasn't doing much good. Also, her left leg, which she had broken in the Suhalla Desert while trying to fight and heal her friends at the same time, was throbbing with pain.
Suddenly she felt warmth at her shoulders, waist, and hips. And her arms, especially. She looked up, shivering. Right into Isaac's blue-violet gaze. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to fall apart from the cold or something." Isaac hugged her close, making her slightly warmer. Just standing on her leg made it ache; the cold and snow made it so much more worse.
She turned around so she was facing the person who had helped her so many times. The one person who knew how hard it was to heal during the long weeks traveling across the unknown lands, and the pressures you were faced when attempting to help someone else. "It's not so much the cold as it is my leg," Mia choke, and then gasped in pain when the wind whirled wildly around them. Isaac watched as her self-control evaporated. She huddled at his chest, shivering.
"My leg is hurting so much, I can hardly walk," she gasped again, gritting her teeth together, trying to block the pain out.
Isaac picked her up. Mia grabbed onto his neck instinctively and let out a small cry of surprise. She looked at Isaac, whose face was a mere few inches across from hers. The snow made it hard to see, though.
"I'll carry you to the shop! Then I'll try to take away some of the pain, alright?" Isaac yelled over the roar of wind, as he began trudging after Jenna, Garet, and Ivan, who had walked ahead of them. Isaac felt Mia rest her head on his shoulder, and blushed. It was strange having the one you loved in your arms in a blizzard!
"Alright. Thank you so much, Isaac," Mia breathed in his ear. Just the sound of her melodic voice sent shivers down his spine. Isaac tried to keep his composure and dignity, at least.
"Don't worry. I'm always here for you, Mia."
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Mia snuggled in the crook of Isaac's neck, warm and comfortable, despite the pain in her leg that flared whenever Isaac took a misstep in the snow.
She inhaled, and smelled a mint-like scent in his hair. 'Most likely he minted the water, trying to get it neat,' Mia though wryly to herself. She knew now; she loved Isaac so much it hurt, whenever she saw him talking to girls, even if he wasn't interested in them. She would feel a stab of jealousy; then she'd push those feelings back, and convince herself that he wasn't hers to love.
Mia felt Isaac stop. "Why are we stopping?" She asked. But a harsh blow of wind whirled around them at the same moment, making her wince and tense up in pain. Isaac shifted her carefully.
"Are you okay, Mia?" Isaac shouted. The wind carried his voice away, and Mia wasn't even sure if she heard him. 'Gods, this is the wildest blizzard we've ever gone through yet!' Mia thought, shutting her eyes against the white blankness. "I'm okay! Do you think we're there yet?!" Mia yelled right back.
Suddenly warmth enveloped her body, and bright lights. She heard some gasps, and some frightened babbling. That was all she made out before unbearable pain in her formerly broken leg made her cry out and faint. Right before that, she heard a name that almost broke her heart.
"Isaac!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(same from where I left off, from Garet's focusing and thoughts)
"Isaac!" Garet leapt to catch Isaac before he fell onto the ground. Isaac cringed, shivering with cold. "Stupid idiot! You're almost frozen!" Garet scolded, not really meaning a word he said. Isaac, however, despite his own discomfort, stood up on his own, brushing off snow and ice at the same time. Jenna closed the door, and the wind now howled outside the weapons shop.
"Is Mia okay?" Isaac gasped as soon as he was able to speak. "Mia? I think so. She fainted when you put her on the bed. Why? Is something wrong?" Garet asked, immediately concerned for the Mercury Adept. "Her broken leg started hurting from the cold, so I had to carry her half the way to the shop. She could hardly walk!" Isaac said defensively when Garet raised a brow at him.
"That could be half the reason, my friend."
Isaac flushed, but walked over to Mia, who was on the bed. The potion dealer was tending to Mia. "She'll be alright. Just fainted," she said kindly. Isaac looked gratefully at her. "Thank you. I'll help ease the pain," Isaac said quietly, his gaze returning to Mia. The potion dealer smiled knowingly. "We'll all be downstairs when you're ready," and she left.
Isaac raised his hands, still shaking, over her leg. A golden light enveloped him, and Ivan popped up beside him to watch, his book forgotten. Isaac usually reserved his Psynergy for fighting, so they didn't watch him cure a whole lot. Besides, the last time they had used it, was before the met Mia, in Imil. After that, Mia had taken charge of all the healing.
As the glow disappeared, Isaac lifted his arms away. "She'll wake up soon. Now I need to get all this snow off!" He pulled a chair next to the fireplace, and began shaking his things. By the end of the ordeal, he was warm, and his clothes were mostly dry, for he had used his cloak for protection from the snow. Jenna also pulled up a chair, and sat down next to him, and they began talking quietly.
Garet, on the other hand, watched Mia and Ivan. Ivan was, once again, perched on a chair, reading a book. This time, it was on the Elemental Stars.
"Isaac...?" Mia stirred and blinked her blue-green eyes sleepily. They were glazed over. "No, it's Garet. But Isaac is here. Wait a moment. Isaac! Jenna! Ivan! Mia's awake!"
Ivan immediately dropped the book and turned around to face Mia. "Are you okay?" He asked earnestly, face etched with worry. Isaac and Jenna were right behind him. Mia smiled, and coughed. "I'm fine, really. Why don't we go downstairs now, and have some fun?" Mia asked, sitting up. Then she coughed again, and turned pink. "Isaac, you think you can heal me? I think I have a cold or something," Mia said shortly, giggling.
Isaac put one hand behind her neck, and glowed for a moment. Then, he let go. "Your cold's probably gone now. Shall we?" Isaac held out an arm gallantly, and his Djinni Flint hopped onto his hand, and cocked its head at Mia, who laughed. Ivan led the way, and Garet and Jenna after, followed by Isaac and Mia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(near the end of the gathering... more Mia now)
"And I propose another toast, to the young four who rescued Master Kraden and Jenna have ultimately brought peace to this world!" The mayor raised his wine cup, and other people shouted "Here here!" and drank to it. Jenna, Mia, and Ivan didn't drink anything. Isaac took a tiny sip; Garet just drank the whole cup. "I think we'll have to expect a hangover tomorrow," Mia whispered to Jenna, who immediately began laughing, and they traded jokes and things about Garet.
Everyone began pairing off and dancing. Several handsome young knights visiting Imil about a problem of hungry grizzly bears asked Mia to dance, who accepted, seemingly very reluctant to do so. She cast one last glance at Isaac, who was talking to Garet, and then turned back to the knight.
Mia danced for awhile, listening politely to the "heroic" tales the knights had to give her. Frankly, she thought they sounded overly exaggerated. 'I mean, how often is it you meet not one, two, or three, but SIX rabid bears bearing down on your trail? This so-might-be-called knight SAYS he defeated them with one swipe of his sword, but I seriously doubt it. I mean, Isaac was good, but even he needed a few stabs of his sword.
Mia finally got away, and stayed chatting with her friends in Imil, whom she hadn't seen for quite a while. Although quite tame, the conversation did reach its peak once:
"You are so lucky, Mia!" Sherill, one of the older girls.
"Why am I lucky? I've had go through months, fighting monsters and intelligent rats, through the desert and through blizzards, and you call me LUCKY? Not to mention that we often have nothing to sleep on except the ground." Mia said incredulously.
"I know why she thinks you're lucky," Teresa said in a sing-song voice. Teresa was Sherill's younger sister by a year.
"Can you please tell me what prompted you to say I am lucky, when I obviously was not?" Mia asked suspiciously. And curiously.
"It's a'cause you got to travel with two cute GUYS, who are so handsome, they'd break a pretty maiden's heart!" Briala sighed. She was one of the prettiest and youngest, at sixteen; who could, after all, resist her? She had ebony black hair, thick long lashes, and a petite mouth, not to mention those unusual hazel-flecked emerald eyes.
"And don't the little sweetie, Ivan. He's so sweet and so mature!"
"I've danced with Garet. Let me tell you, he's strong AND gentle. Pretty rare in a guy, you know!" Samantha said pointedly. The girls giggled, and Mia took that time to answer.
"Handsome? I don't know about you, but when you're traveling with them night and day, the handsome part starts fading!" Mia protested, blushing furiously. She tried to calm down, so the other girls wouldn't notice that she had something for Isaac, Garet, or Ivan. No such luck.
"Oooh! You LIKE one of them!" Lara squealed quietly, clapping her hands together. She was just as old as Sherill, but always acted so much younger.
"I - I do NOT!" Mia denied, turning away.
"You do! Oh look at her blush!" Sherill giggled, and smoothed out her dress.
"I - I don't like any of them!" Mia protested weakly. The other girls quickly shushed her. "If you like one of them, it's our duty as your friends to get you together! Which one is it? The brown-haired guard - Garet, I think - or Isaac - he's the one with the golden-yellow hair - or Ivan, the gentleman - right girls?" Sherill wondered.
"I think I know who she likes!" Garet sat down next to Mia, and all the girls blushed and giggled shyly. "Garet, these are my friends. We're girls. Maybe you should leave," Mia said flatly.
"OH, that's alright. I'll spare some of my time to help two of my dear friends get together." Jenna grinned, and walked up behind him, hitting his head. "Hey! Jenna!" Garet complained. "Girl talk, Garet. Please leave," Jenna said coolly, pushing him out of his chair and sitting in it. Garet rolled his eyes, but he left.
"Mia likes Isaac," Jenna said bluntly. Several gasps of delight went around the circle, and Mia blushed again. "Jenna!" She hissed. Jenna winked. "Hey, a girl like you DESERVES Isaac. He needs someone to cheer him up. Too serious for his own good. Besides, I have Garet now." Jenna said flippantly.
"Mia, would you like to dance?"
All the girls turned their heads. Isaac was standing, slightly behind Jenna, to the left of Mia, whose cheeks flushed. "Of course she would! Come on, Mia! Isaac never dances, so you take this opportunity to get to know him better!" Jenna literally pushed Mia out of her chair into Isaac's arms. Isaac managed to keep from stumbling and led Mia to dance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(back to Isaac...)
Isaac looked at Mia as they began dancing. "What were you talking about? Jenna seemed awful glad to get rid of you," Isaac asked. Mia, who had just become a little calm again, flushed. "Just some girl things," she finally settled with, and they whirled around silently.
After a while, Mia came up with a question. "Why do you dance so well? Usually, my toes get stepped on a lot," Mia marveled at the way Isaac was able to lead beautifully. He was as graceful as he was handsome, Mia realized with a pang.
Isaac laughed merrily, his whole face lighting up. "Squires and pages have to learn how to dance properly. It's required. Garet, especially, enjoyed those lessons in dancing. He wanted to show off to Jenna how graceful he was," Isaac managed to choke out when he stopped laughing somewhat. Mia began giggling too, at the thought of Garet practicing and practicing at something like dancing.
"Well, not matter, you dance more beautifully than anyone I've ever done it with," Mia admitted when the humor was gone.
"Actually, it's really because my partner is someone I'm so close with," Isaac whispered in her ear. Mia automatically tensed as shivers raced through her body at the thought of Isaac so close to her.
"Are you alright? You tensed there for a moment." Isaac asked, worried again. "No, it's nothing, just a little tired." Mia answered, sighing. 'Gosh, why'd I do that?' she scolded herself.
"We can rest on that seat over there," Isaac said, and led her to a small and relatively soft couch. In fact, it was so close, that Isaac and Mia had to literally sit right next to each other.
Isaac almost shivered when he watched Mia tuck her hair behind her ear. 'She's perfect. She's kind, and she's brave, and loves helping whatever needs helping,' he thought in a daze. "Mia..." Isaac began.
"Yes?" Mia looked up at him, her eyes wavering. In that moment, Isaac saw unmistakable desire for him, in those beautiful blue-green eyes. Then it was gone. 'Did I see that?' Isaac decided he did and gathered his courage. And he kissed her, softly at first, then more confidently when Mia didn't pull away.
When Isaac lifted his head, Mia reached for him. "No, wait. I'm not giving you up. Do you know how hard it is, watching you every day, and holding myself back?" she whispered. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down. When their lips touched, Mia moaned quietly, letting passion and love overtake her.
Isaac reached up a gentle hand and cupped her soft cheek gently, stroking it with a feather-light touch. Mia, caught unawares except for the intense feelings she shared with Isaac, shivered, and gasped, breaking the kiss. She smiled serenely, almost seductively, at Isaac. "I love you," she breathed, panting from lack of air.
Isaac could only whisper those same words back as he lowered his lips to hers again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of course, the two lovebirds were oblivious to their watchers. Consisting of Garet, Jenna, and Ivan on a wider couch not farther away. And Mia's friends, of course.
"You know, I thought they'd never get together," Garet sighed. "What you said before we left really did the trick," Ivan observed. He had received the story from Garet when they had arrived at the weapons & armor shop. "Of course it did. I'm the gallant and intelligent knight, after all. Surely getting two of my closest friends together would be easy," he boasted.
"Oh, I don't CARE how gallant you are. Just kiss me," Jenna snapped, not rudely, but impatiently. "All right," Garet said, taking one last glance at his two friends while Ivan escaped. Jenna giggled. "Hey, why can't you pay attention to me for once?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
later that night... in their room...
Mia ran her fingers lightly over Isaac's bare back. He wore nothing from the waist up, due to the warmth from the nearby fireplace. His tunic and chest armor was tossed precariously in a corner. Isaac returned the caress, and kissed her neck, gently and softly. Her dress was half-unlaced, and she shivered involuntarily as heat rushed over her body.
"Isaac," Mia admonished, tilting her head forward so he'd have best access. "Or would you rather I kissed here instead?" Isaac answered, taking the words from her mouth and tapping her lips. Mia tilted her head in response to meet Isaac's lips. The only other thing she was aware of was the fire dancing happily, the flames throwing light all about the room. And after that, she was only aware of Isaac.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
yay! Isaac & Mia are together!
Please tell me what you think! Flames are acceptable (not my favorite, but they're okay, as long as its not too mean). Review, review, review!!
smileypal4eva
^-^
This chapter finishes the story, and is mostly seen from Isaac's point of view (in third person, of course), although Mia will be focused on; Mia & Isaac all the way!!
REMEMBER TO REVIEW AFTER YOU READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Talking out loud"
'Thinking'
*~*~*~*~*Flashback*~*~*~*~*
~~~~~~Scene change~~~~~~
(Author's Notes)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters, places, and etc. belong to Golden Sun & whoever owns/made Golden Sun. So there. Now you can't sue me. ^-^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dream Come True
By smileypal4eva
Chapter 3: Caught Unawares
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
we're still in Imil, everyone...
Isaac lifted his arm in front of his face, to block the onslaught of snow flurries from his eyes. "Why can't the weather have stayed nice?!" Isaac yelled to Garet. The weather had been pretty respectable... cloudy and cold, and it had only been snowing a little. Isaac had hoped that it would stay that way while they went to the weapons & armor shop. No such luck.
"It's freezing out here! So much colder than usual!" Mia said, teeth chattering uncontrollably. It was so cold, her insides were all tense, and she felt like she was about to snap. In an effort to keep warm, she had her arms crossed across her chest, but it wasn't doing much good. Also, her left leg, which she had broken in the Suhalla Desert while trying to fight and heal her friends at the same time, was throbbing with pain.
Suddenly she felt warmth at her shoulders, waist, and hips. And her arms, especially. She looked up, shivering. Right into Isaac's blue-violet gaze. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to fall apart from the cold or something." Isaac hugged her close, making her slightly warmer. Just standing on her leg made it ache; the cold and snow made it so much more worse.
She turned around so she was facing the person who had helped her so many times. The one person who knew how hard it was to heal during the long weeks traveling across the unknown lands, and the pressures you were faced when attempting to help someone else. "It's not so much the cold as it is my leg," Mia choke, and then gasped in pain when the wind whirled wildly around them. Isaac watched as her self-control evaporated. She huddled at his chest, shivering.
"My leg is hurting so much, I can hardly walk," she gasped again, gritting her teeth together, trying to block the pain out.
Isaac picked her up. Mia grabbed onto his neck instinctively and let out a small cry of surprise. She looked at Isaac, whose face was a mere few inches across from hers. The snow made it hard to see, though.
"I'll carry you to the shop! Then I'll try to take away some of the pain, alright?" Isaac yelled over the roar of wind, as he began trudging after Jenna, Garet, and Ivan, who had walked ahead of them. Isaac felt Mia rest her head on his shoulder, and blushed. It was strange having the one you loved in your arms in a blizzard!
"Alright. Thank you so much, Isaac," Mia breathed in his ear. Just the sound of her melodic voice sent shivers down his spine. Isaac tried to keep his composure and dignity, at least.
"Don't worry. I'm always here for you, Mia."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mia snuggled in the crook of Isaac's neck, warm and comfortable, despite the pain in her leg that flared whenever Isaac took a misstep in the snow.
She inhaled, and smelled a mint-like scent in his hair. 'Most likely he minted the water, trying to get it neat,' Mia though wryly to herself. She knew now; she loved Isaac so much it hurt, whenever she saw him talking to girls, even if he wasn't interested in them. She would feel a stab of jealousy; then she'd push those feelings back, and convince herself that he wasn't hers to love.
Mia felt Isaac stop. "Why are we stopping?" She asked. But a harsh blow of wind whirled around them at the same moment, making her wince and tense up in pain. Isaac shifted her carefully.
"Are you okay, Mia?" Isaac shouted. The wind carried his voice away, and Mia wasn't even sure if she heard him. 'Gods, this is the wildest blizzard we've ever gone through yet!' Mia thought, shutting her eyes against the white blankness. "I'm okay! Do you think we're there yet?!" Mia yelled right back.
Suddenly warmth enveloped her body, and bright lights. She heard some gasps, and some frightened babbling. That was all she made out before unbearable pain in her formerly broken leg made her cry out and faint. Right before that, she heard a name that almost broke her heart.
"Isaac!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(same from where I left off, from Garet's focusing and thoughts)
"Isaac!" Garet leapt to catch Isaac before he fell onto the ground. Isaac cringed, shivering with cold. "Stupid idiot! You're almost frozen!" Garet scolded, not really meaning a word he said. Isaac, however, despite his own discomfort, stood up on his own, brushing off snow and ice at the same time. Jenna closed the door, and the wind now howled outside the weapons shop.
"Is Mia okay?" Isaac gasped as soon as he was able to speak. "Mia? I think so. She fainted when you put her on the bed. Why? Is something wrong?" Garet asked, immediately concerned for the Mercury Adept. "Her broken leg started hurting from the cold, so I had to carry her half the way to the shop. She could hardly walk!" Isaac said defensively when Garet raised a brow at him.
"That could be half the reason, my friend."
Isaac flushed, but walked over to Mia, who was on the bed. The potion dealer was tending to Mia. "She'll be alright. Just fainted," she said kindly. Isaac looked gratefully at her. "Thank you. I'll help ease the pain," Isaac said quietly, his gaze returning to Mia. The potion dealer smiled knowingly. "We'll all be downstairs when you're ready," and she left.
Isaac raised his hands, still shaking, over her leg. A golden light enveloped him, and Ivan popped up beside him to watch, his book forgotten. Isaac usually reserved his Psynergy for fighting, so they didn't watch him cure a whole lot. Besides, the last time they had used it, was before the met Mia, in Imil. After that, Mia had taken charge of all the healing.
As the glow disappeared, Isaac lifted his arms away. "She'll wake up soon. Now I need to get all this snow off!" He pulled a chair next to the fireplace, and began shaking his things. By the end of the ordeal, he was warm, and his clothes were mostly dry, for he had used his cloak for protection from the snow. Jenna also pulled up a chair, and sat down next to him, and they began talking quietly.
Garet, on the other hand, watched Mia and Ivan. Ivan was, once again, perched on a chair, reading a book. This time, it was on the Elemental Stars.
"Isaac...?" Mia stirred and blinked her blue-green eyes sleepily. They were glazed over. "No, it's Garet. But Isaac is here. Wait a moment. Isaac! Jenna! Ivan! Mia's awake!"
Ivan immediately dropped the book and turned around to face Mia. "Are you okay?" He asked earnestly, face etched with worry. Isaac and Jenna were right behind him. Mia smiled, and coughed. "I'm fine, really. Why don't we go downstairs now, and have some fun?" Mia asked, sitting up. Then she coughed again, and turned pink. "Isaac, you think you can heal me? I think I have a cold or something," Mia said shortly, giggling.
Isaac put one hand behind her neck, and glowed for a moment. Then, he let go. "Your cold's probably gone now. Shall we?" Isaac held out an arm gallantly, and his Djinni Flint hopped onto his hand, and cocked its head at Mia, who laughed. Ivan led the way, and Garet and Jenna after, followed by Isaac and Mia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(near the end of the gathering... more Mia now)
"And I propose another toast, to the young four who rescued Master Kraden and Jenna have ultimately brought peace to this world!" The mayor raised his wine cup, and other people shouted "Here here!" and drank to it. Jenna, Mia, and Ivan didn't drink anything. Isaac took a tiny sip; Garet just drank the whole cup. "I think we'll have to expect a hangover tomorrow," Mia whispered to Jenna, who immediately began laughing, and they traded jokes and things about Garet.
Everyone began pairing off and dancing. Several handsome young knights visiting Imil about a problem of hungry grizzly bears asked Mia to dance, who accepted, seemingly very reluctant to do so. She cast one last glance at Isaac, who was talking to Garet, and then turned back to the knight.
Mia danced for awhile, listening politely to the "heroic" tales the knights had to give her. Frankly, she thought they sounded overly exaggerated. 'I mean, how often is it you meet not one, two, or three, but SIX rabid bears bearing down on your trail? This so-might-be-called knight SAYS he defeated them with one swipe of his sword, but I seriously doubt it. I mean, Isaac was good, but even he needed a few stabs of his sword.
Mia finally got away, and stayed chatting with her friends in Imil, whom she hadn't seen for quite a while. Although quite tame, the conversation did reach its peak once:
"You are so lucky, Mia!" Sherill, one of the older girls.
"Why am I lucky? I've had go through months, fighting monsters and intelligent rats, through the desert and through blizzards, and you call me LUCKY? Not to mention that we often have nothing to sleep on except the ground." Mia said incredulously.
"I know why she thinks you're lucky," Teresa said in a sing-song voice. Teresa was Sherill's younger sister by a year.
"Can you please tell me what prompted you to say I am lucky, when I obviously was not?" Mia asked suspiciously. And curiously.
"It's a'cause you got to travel with two cute GUYS, who are so handsome, they'd break a pretty maiden's heart!" Briala sighed. She was one of the prettiest and youngest, at sixteen; who could, after all, resist her? She had ebony black hair, thick long lashes, and a petite mouth, not to mention those unusual hazel-flecked emerald eyes.
"And don't the little sweetie, Ivan. He's so sweet and so mature!"
"I've danced with Garet. Let me tell you, he's strong AND gentle. Pretty rare in a guy, you know!" Samantha said pointedly. The girls giggled, and Mia took that time to answer.
"Handsome? I don't know about you, but when you're traveling with them night and day, the handsome part starts fading!" Mia protested, blushing furiously. She tried to calm down, so the other girls wouldn't notice that she had something for Isaac, Garet, or Ivan. No such luck.
"Oooh! You LIKE one of them!" Lara squealed quietly, clapping her hands together. She was just as old as Sherill, but always acted so much younger.
"I - I do NOT!" Mia denied, turning away.
"You do! Oh look at her blush!" Sherill giggled, and smoothed out her dress.
"I - I don't like any of them!" Mia protested weakly. The other girls quickly shushed her. "If you like one of them, it's our duty as your friends to get you together! Which one is it? The brown-haired guard - Garet, I think - or Isaac - he's the one with the golden-yellow hair - or Ivan, the gentleman - right girls?" Sherill wondered.
"I think I know who she likes!" Garet sat down next to Mia, and all the girls blushed and giggled shyly. "Garet, these are my friends. We're girls. Maybe you should leave," Mia said flatly.
"OH, that's alright. I'll spare some of my time to help two of my dear friends get together." Jenna grinned, and walked up behind him, hitting his head. "Hey! Jenna!" Garet complained. "Girl talk, Garet. Please leave," Jenna said coolly, pushing him out of his chair and sitting in it. Garet rolled his eyes, but he left.
"Mia likes Isaac," Jenna said bluntly. Several gasps of delight went around the circle, and Mia blushed again. "Jenna!" She hissed. Jenna winked. "Hey, a girl like you DESERVES Isaac. He needs someone to cheer him up. Too serious for his own good. Besides, I have Garet now." Jenna said flippantly.
"Mia, would you like to dance?"
All the girls turned their heads. Isaac was standing, slightly behind Jenna, to the left of Mia, whose cheeks flushed. "Of course she would! Come on, Mia! Isaac never dances, so you take this opportunity to get to know him better!" Jenna literally pushed Mia out of her chair into Isaac's arms. Isaac managed to keep from stumbling and led Mia to dance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(back to Isaac...)
Isaac looked at Mia as they began dancing. "What were you talking about? Jenna seemed awful glad to get rid of you," Isaac asked. Mia, who had just become a little calm again, flushed. "Just some girl things," she finally settled with, and they whirled around silently.
After a while, Mia came up with a question. "Why do you dance so well? Usually, my toes get stepped on a lot," Mia marveled at the way Isaac was able to lead beautifully. He was as graceful as he was handsome, Mia realized with a pang.
Isaac laughed merrily, his whole face lighting up. "Squires and pages have to learn how to dance properly. It's required. Garet, especially, enjoyed those lessons in dancing. He wanted to show off to Jenna how graceful he was," Isaac managed to choke out when he stopped laughing somewhat. Mia began giggling too, at the thought of Garet practicing and practicing at something like dancing.
"Well, not matter, you dance more beautifully than anyone I've ever done it with," Mia admitted when the humor was gone.
"Actually, it's really because my partner is someone I'm so close with," Isaac whispered in her ear. Mia automatically tensed as shivers raced through her body at the thought of Isaac so close to her.
"Are you alright? You tensed there for a moment." Isaac asked, worried again. "No, it's nothing, just a little tired." Mia answered, sighing. 'Gosh, why'd I do that?' she scolded herself.
"We can rest on that seat over there," Isaac said, and led her to a small and relatively soft couch. In fact, it was so close, that Isaac and Mia had to literally sit right next to each other.
Isaac almost shivered when he watched Mia tuck her hair behind her ear. 'She's perfect. She's kind, and she's brave, and loves helping whatever needs helping,' he thought in a daze. "Mia..." Isaac began.
"Yes?" Mia looked up at him, her eyes wavering. In that moment, Isaac saw unmistakable desire for him, in those beautiful blue-green eyes. Then it was gone. 'Did I see that?' Isaac decided he did and gathered his courage. And he kissed her, softly at first, then more confidently when Mia didn't pull away.
When Isaac lifted his head, Mia reached for him. "No, wait. I'm not giving you up. Do you know how hard it is, watching you every day, and holding myself back?" she whispered. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down. When their lips touched, Mia moaned quietly, letting passion and love overtake her.
Isaac reached up a gentle hand and cupped her soft cheek gently, stroking it with a feather-light touch. Mia, caught unawares except for the intense feelings she shared with Isaac, shivered, and gasped, breaking the kiss. She smiled serenely, almost seductively, at Isaac. "I love you," she breathed, panting from lack of air.
Isaac could only whisper those same words back as he lowered his lips to hers again.
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Of course, the two lovebirds were oblivious to their watchers. Consisting of Garet, Jenna, and Ivan on a wider couch not farther away. And Mia's friends, of course.
"You know, I thought they'd never get together," Garet sighed. "What you said before we left really did the trick," Ivan observed. He had received the story from Garet when they had arrived at the weapons & armor shop. "Of course it did. I'm the gallant and intelligent knight, after all. Surely getting two of my closest friends together would be easy," he boasted.
"Oh, I don't CARE how gallant you are. Just kiss me," Jenna snapped, not rudely, but impatiently. "All right," Garet said, taking one last glance at his two friends while Ivan escaped. Jenna giggled. "Hey, why can't you pay attention to me for once?"
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later that night... in their room...
Mia ran her fingers lightly over Isaac's bare back. He wore nothing from the waist up, due to the warmth from the nearby fireplace. His tunic and chest armor was tossed precariously in a corner. Isaac returned the caress, and kissed her neck, gently and softly. Her dress was half-unlaced, and she shivered involuntarily as heat rushed over her body.
"Isaac," Mia admonished, tilting her head forward so he'd have best access. "Or would you rather I kissed here instead?" Isaac answered, taking the words from her mouth and tapping her lips. Mia tilted her head in response to meet Isaac's lips. The only other thing she was aware of was the fire dancing happily, the flames throwing light all about the room. And after that, she was only aware of Isaac.
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yay! Isaac & Mia are together!
Please tell me what you think! Flames are acceptable (not my favorite, but they're okay, as long as its not too mean). Review, review, review!!
smileypal4eva
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