ME: (Looking smug and thinking evil thoughts inside her heavily fortified
castle.) Hah, they can't get me if I'm in here!
Outside, there is an angry rabble of reviewers, all carrying pitchforks and other implements of pain. Chibi Garet is locked in a cage nearby, and is forced to play Monopoly with Storm Demon 'till the mere mention of cute little Scottie dogs and rich men with top hats and silver, old-fashioned cars is enough to send him into hysterics.
CHIBI JENNA: (Looking out of the window.) Oh, my poor Garet!
ME: Pipe down, I'm busy being evil over here! (Continues to think evil thoughts.)
CHIBI JENNA: (Cries loudly and annoyingly.) Help him!
ME: Hmm...nah. (Whistles cheerfully whilst thinking evil thoughts.)
DISCLAIMER: NO, I DON'T OWN GOLDEN SUN. I DO HOWEVER OWN THIS LOVELY LAPTOP I'M TYPING ON...NO, ACTUALLY I DON'T EVEN OWN THIS, IT BELONGS TO MY COUSIN. I'M A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE LIAR.
ME: Now, the final chapter at last!
CHIBI JENNA: Maybe then that nasty Storm Demon person will give me my Chibi Garet back!
ME: Technically he belongs to me, y'know. You do too, and so does Chibi Chao.
CHIBI JENNA: (Starts crying again.)
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When Isaac eventually emerged from under his bed, eyes red and tired looking, it was well into the afternoon, and Jenna, Ivan, Garet (Nursing a huge hangover.) and Sheba were all sat in his kitchen playing poker.
"Well, if it isn't mister chicken." Garet muttered, an ice pack firmly held on forehead, as he watched Isaac trudge down the stairs like a man going to the gallows. "Mars, my head hurts..."
"And it serves you right, too." Jenna snapped, shuffling the cards. "Drinking at that time of day, you should be ashamed!"
"No Jenna, I'll just go ahead and let you be ashamed for the both of us, my head hurts far too much for that." He groaned.
Isaac looked at his best friend curiously. "What happened to you?"
"Felix challenged me to a drinking competition."
"I take it you lost?"
"Hell no, I beat Felix into the ground! You should see the state of him."
"He bad?"
"Oh-ho, very bad! Actually now that I think about it, you don't want to see the condition he's in!"
Isaac grinned, quite liking the idea of Felix in pain, but then it disappeared quickly, to be replaced once again by the condemned-man look that was so in style with him now. "But anyway, where's Mia? I've finally decided to just go for it, and tell her everything."
"Well, that's just super, Isaac. But I'm afraid you're too late."
"W-What?!"
Sheba nodded apologetically. "I'm sorry, Isaac, but Mia left for Imil about three hours ago."
Isaac went all pale and funny-coloured again, and crumpled to the floor in a ball, another new habit of his. "I'm too late...again...my life is over ...again...damn..."
"Isaac, get the Hell off of that floor right now!" Garet stood up quickly, the ice pack falling off his spiky bonce, and hitting the floor with a wet 'thump'. "I've had just about enough of all your pathetic whining. Now, either you go after Mia right now, catch up with her and tell her everything, and I mean absolutely everything, or I am going to take this deck of cards and shove them so far up you that your tongue will have a permanent imprint of the ace of Spades on the underside!" He took the deck of cards off of Jenna and held up the aforementioned ace, just to emphasise his point.
Isaac was on his feet quickly. Afterall, a hung over Garet was definitely not a man to mess around with. "I'm up, but it's still too late. I've messed up big time."
Garet's hangover-hardened expression softened. "Listen Isaac, I read a book once about a guy who thought it was too late. But he never gave up, and he travelled across the entire country just to find that one girl of his dreams. He found her too, and they both lived happily ever after."
"Wow, what book was that?"
The Mars adept coughed awkwardly. "Cinderella."
Isaac collapsed to the floor again, but this time with laughter. "Wahahahahahahaha! You read Cinderella?!"
"I found it to be both thought-provoking and inspiring, thank you very much!"
"Wahahahahaha, w-what age were you, five?!"
"Six actually." Garet scowled. "But that's not important! What's important is you getting off your arse and going after Mia!"
Isaac got to his feet, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes. "You're right, Garet. I've got to go now, before it really is too late." He smiled, and then did something no one expected him to do. He gave Garet a hug. "Thanks for the advice, man."
Garet pried him off lightly, looking extremely embarrassed. "Yeah, yeah, well...you'd better get going, before you ruin my reputation completely."
"Yeah." The Venus adept picked up his sword and scabbard from where they were lying by the kitchen door. "I'll see you guys later."
"Good luck, Isaac. I mean let's face it, you're gonna need it!" Garet watched his best friend leave, and then turned his attention back to the long-forgotten poker game. "Right, where were we?" He looked around the table at the other's stunned faces. "What?"
"Cinderella?" Ivan bit his fist to stop himself from laughing. "And I didn't even know you could read!"
"Tell me, do you turn into a pumpkin after midnight?" Sheba asked, grinning.
Jenna just couldn't help herself. "Or maybe you'd rather be the fairy Godmother!" The little table erupted in gales of laughter.
"Oh, bugger off the lot of you!"
Meanwhile, back to our favourite cowardly Venus adept:
Isaac ran like a monkey being chased by a lawnmower. Erm, that is to say, he ran fast. Very, very fast. So fast that he was now out of Vale and heading down the dirt road that led to Vault.
And just to add to his luck, it started to rain heavily.
'Great, just great!' He thought furiously, realising that he'd conveniently left his waterproof tunic at home, and was now only wearing a thin, cotton shirt and heavy leather trousers. Which were not very good items of clothing for going running in the rain.
*SPLASH!*
Suddenly, he found himself waist-deep in a huge, brown puddle.
"Ah, for the love of...!" He yelled, looking up at the grey, gloomy sky. "You're really testing my patience today, Venus!"
When he did eventually manage to pull himself out of the muddy puddle (The sides were slippery and he kept falling back in.), Isaac was absolutely soaking. His trousers were stuck fast to his skin, but he supposed that was the price to pay for wearing leather on a day like this, and that thin, cotton shirt was now so wet that it had become see-through and was now about as waterproof as a tissue.
But still, what was he gonna do about it now? And so, after attempting to wipe the water from his face, he started to run again.
Straight through Vault, and earning more than a few strange and fearful looks from the villagers there, he continued his journey though the bucketing rain. Yes, it was still bloody raining, and now Isaac could barely even see the road in front of his face.
"Need a little help, Isaac?" A squeaky little voice to his right asked, just about making him jump out of his skin.
"G-Granite?" He wheezed, slowing down and clutching his sides in pain. "What in the name of Venus do you want now?"
"Hmph, some welcome that." The little Djinn was still wearing her little angel getup. "And to think I came here to do you a service!"
"Well, in case you didn't notice Granite, I'm kinda in a hurry here."
"Shut up and listen, Isaac! I'm not here to give you a lecture about what you did to Ivan, even though I really should..."
"Get to the point!"
"Oh right, well erm...oh, dammit." Granite frowned. "See what you did now? I've forgotten my good advice that I was going to give to you!"
Isaac just about fell over. "You...forgot it? I've been standing here in the pouring rain talking to you for about five minutes and you've forgotten what you were going to say?! Argh, I can't believe it, Flint was right! You really are a complete and utter airhead!"
"Flint said what?!" The little white tunic, harp and halo disappeared with a 'pop', only to be replaced by horns and a pitchfork. "Oh, I'm gonna kill him!" And then the little Venus Djinn disappeared too, leaving an utterly confused Isaac standing alone in the rain.
"Alright, now I know I've lost my marbles." He muttered, once again trying to wipe the water off of his face, then realising that his hand was just as wet and it did absolutely no good whatsoever. "Oh, you're pushing it now!" He glared up at the murky sky again.
Then thunder rumbled somewhere nearby, and there was a flash of lighting over his head.
"Uh oh."
Maybe threatening the Gods wasn't such a smart idea on his part.
And so, once again, Isaac began to run.
The thin, cotton shirt was now so wet that it the material seemed to be disintegrating, so (With much difficulty.) he peeled it off and threw it away, an action that his mother would surely would have killed him for. But not because now he was surely going to "catch his death", as she would put it, but because it was a terrible waste of a perfectly good shirt.
Sometimes Isaac felt his mother needed to get her priorities straight.
Back in Vale:
"So, where do you think Isaac is right now?" Sheba asked, as she sat down on the comfy chair situated in Isaac's living room.
Jenna shrugged. "No idea."
"I think he's approaching Bilibin right now."
"Bilibin?! Garet, you're crazy, there's no way he's gotten that far in this weather!" Ivan gestured to the window, were the hammering rain and howling winds were rattling the windowpanes violently. "He's probably stuck in Vault."
"Nah, don't underestimate the sheer determination of a man in love. He won't give up 'till Mia's back in Vale." Garet leaned back on the settee, and Jenna put her head on his lap and put her legs out so that the pair of them took up the whole chair, leaving Ivan to sit on the floor.
"What is with you today?" The Jupiter adept grumbled, as he sat on the hard, wooden floor. "You've gone all sappy, Garet. It must be the end of the world or something!"
"Hey, I can be sensitive too, y'know."
"Yeah, sure."
"I can!"
"He can." Jenna agreed. "Like this once time, when we were all in Kalay..."
"Uhh, Jenna." Garet said quickly, cutting her off. "From what I remember, that story isn't suitable for children."
"Okay, now we just don't want to know." Sheba said, shaking her head. "And anyway, what do you mean by not suitable for children? I'm almost seventeen!"
Jenna smirked. "Yeah, but me and Garet are almost twenty, and he still can't say weevil without giggling like a little girl. Even when he's sober!"
"Hee hee hee, weevil." Garet did indeed giggle like a little girl. "It's just a really funny word!"
"Yes Garet, of course it is."
Meanwhile, back to Isaac, wherever he is:
Isaac lay face down by the roadside. The rain was still absolutely chucking down, and he had eventually succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed, hence his current situation.
To say it wasn't fun was the understatement of the year.
He was absolutely covered in mud, from his usually blonde hair (Which was now a dirty brown.), to his boots, which were now so wet he didn't think he'd ever be able to wear them again for fear of sinking. Oh, and he was still bare-chested.
Boy, his mother would have a fit if she saw the state of those trousers. But then we get back to her needing to prioritise. After all, what's more important, your only son's health, or the state of his clothes?
Hmm, you'd think that'd be an easy question for any mother to answer, wouldn't you?
Turning his head slightly, Isaac could just make out the sound of footsteps nearby. It was probably muggers or something, knowing his current luck. Well, wouldn't that just make his day complete?
"Isaac?"
He looked up, and just before he passed out, could have sworn he saw an angel standing in the rain.
Later:
When Isaac came to, the first thing he noticed was his blinding headache. Then, he noticed that he was no longer lying drenched in a puddle by some road leading to Venus-knows-where.
And lastly, and no one's saying Isaac isn't quick, he realised that he wasn't even outside at all. Oh no, far from it. In fact, it looked like he was back in his bed in Vale...
"Isaac, you're awake!" The door swung open, and in walked the other adepts, looking worried. Well, except for Garet.
"It's about time you regained consciousness, Isaac! Anyone could be forgiven for thinking you've gotten weak in your old age."
"Garet!" Jenna smacked her fiancé upside the head. "Don't be so harsh, Isaac's still sick!"
"It's alright, Jenna. I don't mind." Isaac assured his friend with a smile. "And anyway, I feel just fine. But what happened?"
"You fainted on the road somewhere just past Vault. Mia found you and brought you back to Vale." Ivan said.
"What? Mia's here?!"
"Yeah, she's downstairs with your mother. I tell you, you've gotten her into a right state." The male Jupiter adept shook his head. "She was really worried that you'd die of pneumonia or something, you know she can't heal things like that."
Isaac immediately felt incredibly guilty. "Do you think I should go talk to her?"
"No actually, I think you should just continue to be stupid and let her leave again, still worried for your safety." Jenna rolled her eyes. "Honestly, men are so stupid sometimes!"
"Even me?"
"Especially you, Garet."
"Y'know, you women aren't perfect either!" The big adept snapped, crossing his arms over his chest in what he hoped was a defiant manner. "If I tried to count all the faults of the female species I'd..." He trailed off, when he saw the looks Jenna and Sheba were giving him. "Actually, now I feel it best that I retract my previous statement."
"Just as well, or when we get married you'll be sleeping on the floor!"
"Not if it's my bed, 'cos I refuse to move in with you and your brother!"
"Hey, we can just kick Felix out."
"That's actually not such a bad idea..."
"Hey, can we focus on my problems here, please?!" Isaac snapped, from where he lying in his bed. "Seriously guys, what am I going to do?"
"Well, I think carting your lazy arse out of that bed would be a start." Ivan said.
"Yep, then going downstairs and having a talk with Mia." Sheba agreed.
"In which you completely spill your guts." Jenna added.
"And convince her that she should stay in Vale with you." Garet finished. "Hey, that was pretty cool. Let's all talk like that again."
"Shut up, Garet."
Isaac groaned and looked up at the ceiling. "You're just taking the piss now, Venus." He shrugged the covers off and got up.
"Whoa, get some trousers on, Isaac. I do not recommend having a serious talk with Mia in your underwear."
The Venus adept looked down and blushed. "Erm, maybe I should get dressed." He went into his wardrobe and pulled on a pair of his traditional brown trousers and blue tunic. "That's more like it."
"Yeah well, get going, man." Garet pushed him out of the door, everyone else followed. "We'll just be eavesdropping in your living room...I mean, waiting patiently for you up here." He coughed nervously. "What?"
"Don't you dare, Garet." Isaac warned. "I want this to be totally private and uninterrupted. If you screw this up for me I'll kill you!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you're perfectly capable of screwing things up all by yourself."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"What are friends for, eh?"
Isaac grinned. "What indeed?" He took to the stairs, casting one last look at his friends as he went.
"Good luck, Isaac." Jenna said, smiling.
"Yeah, go get 'em, buddy!"
"I've got a box of tissues right here just in case you get rejected."
"Ivan!" Three voices yelled in unison, and Ivan found himself being dragged away by his fellow adepts.
"I was only joking!"
Isaac chuckled a little at the young Jupiter adept's attempts to fight off the others, and then started his long walk down the stairs. Each step he took felt like an eternity. And the weird feeling he got in his stomach whenever he was with Mia or even just thinking about Mia seemed to be even more turbulent than usual.
He also got that funny feeling whenever he ate sushi, but for completely different reasons.
"Mia?"
The kitchen was quiet, too quiet for his liking. Usually his mother would be bustling around making porridge or sushi or something Isaac found equally disgusting.
But then, he'd probably never been in his kitchen this late before.
"Mia?" He called again. No reply. In fact, it didn't look like anyone was in here at all.
Sniffle.
Uhh, hold on a minute...that wasn't the sort of noise you'd expect to find in your kitchen late at night.
"Hello? Mia, are you in here?"
"Isaac?" Came a small voice from...oh no, not that...anything but that. Mia was supposed to be the sane one! And Garet's insanity couldn't possibly be contagious, could it?
Aqua-blue eyes stared up at him from underneath the offending piece of furniture, sparkling with tears.
Yup, you've guessed it, she was under the table.
There was the guilt again. And the weird love/sushi feeling.
"Are you alright?" He got down onto his knees (No hentai thoughts here, please.) so that they were eye-to-eye.
"Yeah, just peachy." She muttered dryly, avoiding his gaze. "But you're supposed to be in bed, Isaac. I don't want you up and about before you're ready."
"I'm fine." He was suddenly overcome by a huge coughing fit. "R-Really, there's nothing to worry about here. But what about you?"
"I told you, just peachy. Well, apart from the fact that one of my best friends was running about in the rain like a moron and almost died from the cold, that is."
Ooh, that was a sore one. Isaac winced, and then decided that apologising seemed to be the best way to go right now. "If it helps, I'm sorry you couldn't go back to Imil today." He hoped he sounded sincere.
"Oh Isaac, I don't care about that!" She threw herself onto his shoulder and started sobbing again. "You could have died!" She continued to cry, soaking his shirt for the second time that day. On the other hand, her body seemed to fit in quite nicely beside his...
Isaac wondered briefly if his face looked as hot as it felt.
"Ssh, don't cry. I'm fine, see?" He flashed her his best 'Hey, cheer up! At least you're not dead.' smile. "In fact, I think my own Mother was more worried about my clothes."
"Well, she was pretty upset when she saw the state of those trousers." Mia sniffled, and then giggled slightly. "But if you ask me, wet leather looks pretty good on you."
Isaac felt a nosebleed coming on. "Well..." He spluttered. "I didn't mean for them to get quite that wet. I just...I just...erm, why are you looking at me like that?"
She was staring at him, an odd expression on her face. Now they were so close that all it would take was for either one of them to move forward slightly and...
Mia closed the gap between their mouths and kissed him.
Hello!
The sensation of her lips against his was incredible. Isaac felt all his troubles melt away as he was absorbed in the kiss. It was just...indescribable. No words in his mind could document what was possibly the greatest moment of his life.
Eventually though, for fear of his lungs collapsing, he pulled away and stared at her, eyes wide. She just stared back, smiling slightly, her face flushed.
Then it suddenly seemed appropriate for him to say something. But it had to be cool, it had to be smooth, it had to make her want to...
"I love you." He blurted out.
Oh, very smooth indeed, Mister Isaac. I'm sure St Valentine just rolled over in his grave...
"I love you too." She said it so quiet he barely heard it, but there it was none the less. She said she loved him!
It took him a while to process this information. Then he said, "You do? Really?"
"Yes."
A slow grin spread across his face, and he resisted the urge to run outside and shout "Up yours, Venus!" at the top of his lungs, and instead settled for, "Well then...would you mind awfully if I kissed you again?"
"Not at all." So he leaned in again, and...
"Well, what do we have here?" Dora's amused voice cut through the romantic tension in the room like a knife.
Instantly, Isaac and Mia were on their feet, both looking horribly embarrassed. Standing in the doorway to the kitchen was his mother, and the rest of the adepts.
Isaac noticed the particular gleam of evil in Garet's eyes and instantly knew he was never going to hear the end of this.
"It's not what it looks like, I swear!"
"Well I don't know what it was then." The Mars adept tried to sound innocent and unassuming. "Because from where I was standing it looked like you guys were getting pretty h..."
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence, Garet! It wasn't like that and you know it!"
"Oh, of course it wasn't. You guys were just brushing up on your mouth-to- mouth resuscitation, right?"
"Shut up before I hurt you, Garet!" Isaac tried to go over there and do some damage to his best friend's thick skull, but his mother stepped in the way.
"Now, come on Isaac. I don't mind you and 'girlfriend'," She pronounced the word carefully, shooting Mia an amused glance. "sharing the occasional moment together. But just try to keep it out from under my table, will you?"
Well, if Isaac wasn't embarrassed before, he was mortified now. "Yes, Mum."
"There's a good boy." Dora turned and made to leave the kitchen. But just before she did, stopped and said, "And be careful to always use protection, I'm still way too young to be a grandmother y'know."
All the adepts, minus Isaac and Mia obviously, burst into howls of laughter at this last comment.
"Aw, come on guys, it wasn't that funny!" Mia said, scowling.
"Yeah, knock it off!"
"Oh alright, alright." Garet straightened himself up, and then promptly started laughing again. "I-I'm sorry, Isaac, but it really is that funny!"
"Your mother's a real comedian!" Ivan said. Or spluttered, as he seemed to be choking on his own amusement.
Garet thumped him hard on the back several times. "Better?"
"I think you broke my spine..."
"Drama queen."
"Oaf."
"Wuss."
"Moron."
"Whiney little virg..."
"Alright guys, you can all go away now!" Isaac said, cutting in quickly. "Show's over and all that."
"Spoil sport." Garet grumbled, as he and the others all filed out of the kitchen. Ivan and Sheba went upstairs to their respective guest bedrooms, and Garet and Jenna went out the front door.
"See you tomorrow, lover boy!"
"Shut it, Garet!" Isaac slammed the door. Mia came up behind him and put her arms around his waist.
"Well, now that they're gone, you can help me with my bags."
"Your bags?" An edge of worry crept into Isaac's voice.
She grinned. "Yeah. After all, it'll take me ages to unpack all my stuff by myself."
"Unpack...so you're staying then?!"
"Of course."
The love/sushi feeling was back with a vengeance, but this time it was felt better, seeing as it wasn't accompanied by guilt, or a nasty virus caused by eating seafood.
Isaac smiled widely and kissed her once more quickly. "Excuse me one moment." He said, moving out of her grasp and opening the front door.
"Isaac, what are you...?"
But he was already outside. And standing at the top of his garden, in the middle of the night, in the midst of the pouring rain, he looked up at the black, night sky, took a deep breath, and yelled at the top of his lungs...
...wait for it...
"Up yours, Venus!"
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ME: (Laughs.) I just couldn't resist it!
CHIBI CHAO: (Shaking his head.) When it comes to endings, Dragon Empress, yours are the worst!
ME: I know. (Coughs.) But anyway, that's it! It's over! I'm finally free! (Dances.) I'm finally free!
CHIBI CHAO: Until you write the sequel.
ME: If there's even going to be a sequel. I might just leave it here.
CHIBI JENNA: But what about big Jenna and big Garet's wedding? And all the unresolved issues between Ivan and Sheba?
ME: Alright, how's this? I'll do a sequel if at least three people ask me for one. Sound fair?
CHIBI JENNA: Yeah, I'll agree to that.
CHIBI CHAO: Me too.
ME: Now, onto more important matters. (Clears throat.) Cyber cookies go to the following people:
Gohan777, Evil Yuki!, Mai (Even though her review was technically a flame.), Storm Demon, Lumino, Akachi, VampireLord (His wasn't exactly supportive either.), Incrediblecuznz, Jupiter girl, Lord Cynic, Triad Orion, Midnight C, Anime angel515, Kalico, JP, Mikaa, Eggwhisk (My insane cousin.), Nuva, Kendoworrior, Ice Angel, Isaac says Booga, Saiyagal, GS masta, Claramars, Zidanet, Mare Serenitatis, Dragon Scales, Red Rum, two anonymous and an anon.
ME: Thank you all for taking the time to review this crime against writing I call a fanfic. Oh, and Triad Orion, you got two cookies, but one is laced with cyanide. (Grins evilly.) You'll never guess which...
CHIBI JENNA: And I want my Garet back now, Storm Demon, or else!
ME: (Nods.) Better do as she says, she's an absolute nutter when it comes to people pinching 'her' Chibi Garet
CHIBI JENNA: (With fire in her hands.) Damn right I am!
ME: Told you. (Takes a step away.) I'm considering doing a sequel to this about Garet and Jenna's wedding. If you guys want a sequel, say so in your reviews.
Yeah, you all still have to review this chapter! (Whips out a shotgun.) Or else!
^_^
Outside, there is an angry rabble of reviewers, all carrying pitchforks and other implements of pain. Chibi Garet is locked in a cage nearby, and is forced to play Monopoly with Storm Demon 'till the mere mention of cute little Scottie dogs and rich men with top hats and silver, old-fashioned cars is enough to send him into hysterics.
CHIBI JENNA: (Looking out of the window.) Oh, my poor Garet!
ME: Pipe down, I'm busy being evil over here! (Continues to think evil thoughts.)
CHIBI JENNA: (Cries loudly and annoyingly.) Help him!
ME: Hmm...nah. (Whistles cheerfully whilst thinking evil thoughts.)
DISCLAIMER: NO, I DON'T OWN GOLDEN SUN. I DO HOWEVER OWN THIS LOVELY LAPTOP I'M TYPING ON...NO, ACTUALLY I DON'T EVEN OWN THIS, IT BELONGS TO MY COUSIN. I'M A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE LIAR.
ME: Now, the final chapter at last!
CHIBI JENNA: Maybe then that nasty Storm Demon person will give me my Chibi Garet back!
ME: Technically he belongs to me, y'know. You do too, and so does Chibi Chao.
CHIBI JENNA: (Starts crying again.)
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When Isaac eventually emerged from under his bed, eyes red and tired looking, it was well into the afternoon, and Jenna, Ivan, Garet (Nursing a huge hangover.) and Sheba were all sat in his kitchen playing poker.
"Well, if it isn't mister chicken." Garet muttered, an ice pack firmly held on forehead, as he watched Isaac trudge down the stairs like a man going to the gallows. "Mars, my head hurts..."
"And it serves you right, too." Jenna snapped, shuffling the cards. "Drinking at that time of day, you should be ashamed!"
"No Jenna, I'll just go ahead and let you be ashamed for the both of us, my head hurts far too much for that." He groaned.
Isaac looked at his best friend curiously. "What happened to you?"
"Felix challenged me to a drinking competition."
"I take it you lost?"
"Hell no, I beat Felix into the ground! You should see the state of him."
"He bad?"
"Oh-ho, very bad! Actually now that I think about it, you don't want to see the condition he's in!"
Isaac grinned, quite liking the idea of Felix in pain, but then it disappeared quickly, to be replaced once again by the condemned-man look that was so in style with him now. "But anyway, where's Mia? I've finally decided to just go for it, and tell her everything."
"Well, that's just super, Isaac. But I'm afraid you're too late."
"W-What?!"
Sheba nodded apologetically. "I'm sorry, Isaac, but Mia left for Imil about three hours ago."
Isaac went all pale and funny-coloured again, and crumpled to the floor in a ball, another new habit of his. "I'm too late...again...my life is over ...again...damn..."
"Isaac, get the Hell off of that floor right now!" Garet stood up quickly, the ice pack falling off his spiky bonce, and hitting the floor with a wet 'thump'. "I've had just about enough of all your pathetic whining. Now, either you go after Mia right now, catch up with her and tell her everything, and I mean absolutely everything, or I am going to take this deck of cards and shove them so far up you that your tongue will have a permanent imprint of the ace of Spades on the underside!" He took the deck of cards off of Jenna and held up the aforementioned ace, just to emphasise his point.
Isaac was on his feet quickly. Afterall, a hung over Garet was definitely not a man to mess around with. "I'm up, but it's still too late. I've messed up big time."
Garet's hangover-hardened expression softened. "Listen Isaac, I read a book once about a guy who thought it was too late. But he never gave up, and he travelled across the entire country just to find that one girl of his dreams. He found her too, and they both lived happily ever after."
"Wow, what book was that?"
The Mars adept coughed awkwardly. "Cinderella."
Isaac collapsed to the floor again, but this time with laughter. "Wahahahahahahaha! You read Cinderella?!"
"I found it to be both thought-provoking and inspiring, thank you very much!"
"Wahahahahaha, w-what age were you, five?!"
"Six actually." Garet scowled. "But that's not important! What's important is you getting off your arse and going after Mia!"
Isaac got to his feet, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes. "You're right, Garet. I've got to go now, before it really is too late." He smiled, and then did something no one expected him to do. He gave Garet a hug. "Thanks for the advice, man."
Garet pried him off lightly, looking extremely embarrassed. "Yeah, yeah, well...you'd better get going, before you ruin my reputation completely."
"Yeah." The Venus adept picked up his sword and scabbard from where they were lying by the kitchen door. "I'll see you guys later."
"Good luck, Isaac. I mean let's face it, you're gonna need it!" Garet watched his best friend leave, and then turned his attention back to the long-forgotten poker game. "Right, where were we?" He looked around the table at the other's stunned faces. "What?"
"Cinderella?" Ivan bit his fist to stop himself from laughing. "And I didn't even know you could read!"
"Tell me, do you turn into a pumpkin after midnight?" Sheba asked, grinning.
Jenna just couldn't help herself. "Or maybe you'd rather be the fairy Godmother!" The little table erupted in gales of laughter.
"Oh, bugger off the lot of you!"
Meanwhile, back to our favourite cowardly Venus adept:
Isaac ran like a monkey being chased by a lawnmower. Erm, that is to say, he ran fast. Very, very fast. So fast that he was now out of Vale and heading down the dirt road that led to Vault.
And just to add to his luck, it started to rain heavily.
'Great, just great!' He thought furiously, realising that he'd conveniently left his waterproof tunic at home, and was now only wearing a thin, cotton shirt and heavy leather trousers. Which were not very good items of clothing for going running in the rain.
*SPLASH!*
Suddenly, he found himself waist-deep in a huge, brown puddle.
"Ah, for the love of...!" He yelled, looking up at the grey, gloomy sky. "You're really testing my patience today, Venus!"
When he did eventually manage to pull himself out of the muddy puddle (The sides were slippery and he kept falling back in.), Isaac was absolutely soaking. His trousers were stuck fast to his skin, but he supposed that was the price to pay for wearing leather on a day like this, and that thin, cotton shirt was now so wet that it had become see-through and was now about as waterproof as a tissue.
But still, what was he gonna do about it now? And so, after attempting to wipe the water from his face, he started to run again.
Straight through Vault, and earning more than a few strange and fearful looks from the villagers there, he continued his journey though the bucketing rain. Yes, it was still bloody raining, and now Isaac could barely even see the road in front of his face.
"Need a little help, Isaac?" A squeaky little voice to his right asked, just about making him jump out of his skin.
"G-Granite?" He wheezed, slowing down and clutching his sides in pain. "What in the name of Venus do you want now?"
"Hmph, some welcome that." The little Djinn was still wearing her little angel getup. "And to think I came here to do you a service!"
"Well, in case you didn't notice Granite, I'm kinda in a hurry here."
"Shut up and listen, Isaac! I'm not here to give you a lecture about what you did to Ivan, even though I really should..."
"Get to the point!"
"Oh right, well erm...oh, dammit." Granite frowned. "See what you did now? I've forgotten my good advice that I was going to give to you!"
Isaac just about fell over. "You...forgot it? I've been standing here in the pouring rain talking to you for about five minutes and you've forgotten what you were going to say?! Argh, I can't believe it, Flint was right! You really are a complete and utter airhead!"
"Flint said what?!" The little white tunic, harp and halo disappeared with a 'pop', only to be replaced by horns and a pitchfork. "Oh, I'm gonna kill him!" And then the little Venus Djinn disappeared too, leaving an utterly confused Isaac standing alone in the rain.
"Alright, now I know I've lost my marbles." He muttered, once again trying to wipe the water off of his face, then realising that his hand was just as wet and it did absolutely no good whatsoever. "Oh, you're pushing it now!" He glared up at the murky sky again.
Then thunder rumbled somewhere nearby, and there was a flash of lighting over his head.
"Uh oh."
Maybe threatening the Gods wasn't such a smart idea on his part.
And so, once again, Isaac began to run.
The thin, cotton shirt was now so wet that it the material seemed to be disintegrating, so (With much difficulty.) he peeled it off and threw it away, an action that his mother would surely would have killed him for. But not because now he was surely going to "catch his death", as she would put it, but because it was a terrible waste of a perfectly good shirt.
Sometimes Isaac felt his mother needed to get her priorities straight.
Back in Vale:
"So, where do you think Isaac is right now?" Sheba asked, as she sat down on the comfy chair situated in Isaac's living room.
Jenna shrugged. "No idea."
"I think he's approaching Bilibin right now."
"Bilibin?! Garet, you're crazy, there's no way he's gotten that far in this weather!" Ivan gestured to the window, were the hammering rain and howling winds were rattling the windowpanes violently. "He's probably stuck in Vault."
"Nah, don't underestimate the sheer determination of a man in love. He won't give up 'till Mia's back in Vale." Garet leaned back on the settee, and Jenna put her head on his lap and put her legs out so that the pair of them took up the whole chair, leaving Ivan to sit on the floor.
"What is with you today?" The Jupiter adept grumbled, as he sat on the hard, wooden floor. "You've gone all sappy, Garet. It must be the end of the world or something!"
"Hey, I can be sensitive too, y'know."
"Yeah, sure."
"I can!"
"He can." Jenna agreed. "Like this once time, when we were all in Kalay..."
"Uhh, Jenna." Garet said quickly, cutting her off. "From what I remember, that story isn't suitable for children."
"Okay, now we just don't want to know." Sheba said, shaking her head. "And anyway, what do you mean by not suitable for children? I'm almost seventeen!"
Jenna smirked. "Yeah, but me and Garet are almost twenty, and he still can't say weevil without giggling like a little girl. Even when he's sober!"
"Hee hee hee, weevil." Garet did indeed giggle like a little girl. "It's just a really funny word!"
"Yes Garet, of course it is."
Meanwhile, back to Isaac, wherever he is:
Isaac lay face down by the roadside. The rain was still absolutely chucking down, and he had eventually succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed, hence his current situation.
To say it wasn't fun was the understatement of the year.
He was absolutely covered in mud, from his usually blonde hair (Which was now a dirty brown.), to his boots, which were now so wet he didn't think he'd ever be able to wear them again for fear of sinking. Oh, and he was still bare-chested.
Boy, his mother would have a fit if she saw the state of those trousers. But then we get back to her needing to prioritise. After all, what's more important, your only son's health, or the state of his clothes?
Hmm, you'd think that'd be an easy question for any mother to answer, wouldn't you?
Turning his head slightly, Isaac could just make out the sound of footsteps nearby. It was probably muggers or something, knowing his current luck. Well, wouldn't that just make his day complete?
"Isaac?"
He looked up, and just before he passed out, could have sworn he saw an angel standing in the rain.
Later:
When Isaac came to, the first thing he noticed was his blinding headache. Then, he noticed that he was no longer lying drenched in a puddle by some road leading to Venus-knows-where.
And lastly, and no one's saying Isaac isn't quick, he realised that he wasn't even outside at all. Oh no, far from it. In fact, it looked like he was back in his bed in Vale...
"Isaac, you're awake!" The door swung open, and in walked the other adepts, looking worried. Well, except for Garet.
"It's about time you regained consciousness, Isaac! Anyone could be forgiven for thinking you've gotten weak in your old age."
"Garet!" Jenna smacked her fiancé upside the head. "Don't be so harsh, Isaac's still sick!"
"It's alright, Jenna. I don't mind." Isaac assured his friend with a smile. "And anyway, I feel just fine. But what happened?"
"You fainted on the road somewhere just past Vault. Mia found you and brought you back to Vale." Ivan said.
"What? Mia's here?!"
"Yeah, she's downstairs with your mother. I tell you, you've gotten her into a right state." The male Jupiter adept shook his head. "She was really worried that you'd die of pneumonia or something, you know she can't heal things like that."
Isaac immediately felt incredibly guilty. "Do you think I should go talk to her?"
"No actually, I think you should just continue to be stupid and let her leave again, still worried for your safety." Jenna rolled her eyes. "Honestly, men are so stupid sometimes!"
"Even me?"
"Especially you, Garet."
"Y'know, you women aren't perfect either!" The big adept snapped, crossing his arms over his chest in what he hoped was a defiant manner. "If I tried to count all the faults of the female species I'd..." He trailed off, when he saw the looks Jenna and Sheba were giving him. "Actually, now I feel it best that I retract my previous statement."
"Just as well, or when we get married you'll be sleeping on the floor!"
"Not if it's my bed, 'cos I refuse to move in with you and your brother!"
"Hey, we can just kick Felix out."
"That's actually not such a bad idea..."
"Hey, can we focus on my problems here, please?!" Isaac snapped, from where he lying in his bed. "Seriously guys, what am I going to do?"
"Well, I think carting your lazy arse out of that bed would be a start." Ivan said.
"Yep, then going downstairs and having a talk with Mia." Sheba agreed.
"In which you completely spill your guts." Jenna added.
"And convince her that she should stay in Vale with you." Garet finished. "Hey, that was pretty cool. Let's all talk like that again."
"Shut up, Garet."
Isaac groaned and looked up at the ceiling. "You're just taking the piss now, Venus." He shrugged the covers off and got up.
"Whoa, get some trousers on, Isaac. I do not recommend having a serious talk with Mia in your underwear."
The Venus adept looked down and blushed. "Erm, maybe I should get dressed." He went into his wardrobe and pulled on a pair of his traditional brown trousers and blue tunic. "That's more like it."
"Yeah well, get going, man." Garet pushed him out of the door, everyone else followed. "We'll just be eavesdropping in your living room...I mean, waiting patiently for you up here." He coughed nervously. "What?"
"Don't you dare, Garet." Isaac warned. "I want this to be totally private and uninterrupted. If you screw this up for me I'll kill you!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you're perfectly capable of screwing things up all by yourself."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"What are friends for, eh?"
Isaac grinned. "What indeed?" He took to the stairs, casting one last look at his friends as he went.
"Good luck, Isaac." Jenna said, smiling.
"Yeah, go get 'em, buddy!"
"I've got a box of tissues right here just in case you get rejected."
"Ivan!" Three voices yelled in unison, and Ivan found himself being dragged away by his fellow adepts.
"I was only joking!"
Isaac chuckled a little at the young Jupiter adept's attempts to fight off the others, and then started his long walk down the stairs. Each step he took felt like an eternity. And the weird feeling he got in his stomach whenever he was with Mia or even just thinking about Mia seemed to be even more turbulent than usual.
He also got that funny feeling whenever he ate sushi, but for completely different reasons.
"Mia?"
The kitchen was quiet, too quiet for his liking. Usually his mother would be bustling around making porridge or sushi or something Isaac found equally disgusting.
But then, he'd probably never been in his kitchen this late before.
"Mia?" He called again. No reply. In fact, it didn't look like anyone was in here at all.
Sniffle.
Uhh, hold on a minute...that wasn't the sort of noise you'd expect to find in your kitchen late at night.
"Hello? Mia, are you in here?"
"Isaac?" Came a small voice from...oh no, not that...anything but that. Mia was supposed to be the sane one! And Garet's insanity couldn't possibly be contagious, could it?
Aqua-blue eyes stared up at him from underneath the offending piece of furniture, sparkling with tears.
Yup, you've guessed it, she was under the table.
There was the guilt again. And the weird love/sushi feeling.
"Are you alright?" He got down onto his knees (No hentai thoughts here, please.) so that they were eye-to-eye.
"Yeah, just peachy." She muttered dryly, avoiding his gaze. "But you're supposed to be in bed, Isaac. I don't want you up and about before you're ready."
"I'm fine." He was suddenly overcome by a huge coughing fit. "R-Really, there's nothing to worry about here. But what about you?"
"I told you, just peachy. Well, apart from the fact that one of my best friends was running about in the rain like a moron and almost died from the cold, that is."
Ooh, that was a sore one. Isaac winced, and then decided that apologising seemed to be the best way to go right now. "If it helps, I'm sorry you couldn't go back to Imil today." He hoped he sounded sincere.
"Oh Isaac, I don't care about that!" She threw herself onto his shoulder and started sobbing again. "You could have died!" She continued to cry, soaking his shirt for the second time that day. On the other hand, her body seemed to fit in quite nicely beside his...
Isaac wondered briefly if his face looked as hot as it felt.
"Ssh, don't cry. I'm fine, see?" He flashed her his best 'Hey, cheer up! At least you're not dead.' smile. "In fact, I think my own Mother was more worried about my clothes."
"Well, she was pretty upset when she saw the state of those trousers." Mia sniffled, and then giggled slightly. "But if you ask me, wet leather looks pretty good on you."
Isaac felt a nosebleed coming on. "Well..." He spluttered. "I didn't mean for them to get quite that wet. I just...I just...erm, why are you looking at me like that?"
She was staring at him, an odd expression on her face. Now they were so close that all it would take was for either one of them to move forward slightly and...
Mia closed the gap between their mouths and kissed him.
Hello!
The sensation of her lips against his was incredible. Isaac felt all his troubles melt away as he was absorbed in the kiss. It was just...indescribable. No words in his mind could document what was possibly the greatest moment of his life.
Eventually though, for fear of his lungs collapsing, he pulled away and stared at her, eyes wide. She just stared back, smiling slightly, her face flushed.
Then it suddenly seemed appropriate for him to say something. But it had to be cool, it had to be smooth, it had to make her want to...
"I love you." He blurted out.
Oh, very smooth indeed, Mister Isaac. I'm sure St Valentine just rolled over in his grave...
"I love you too." She said it so quiet he barely heard it, but there it was none the less. She said she loved him!
It took him a while to process this information. Then he said, "You do? Really?"
"Yes."
A slow grin spread across his face, and he resisted the urge to run outside and shout "Up yours, Venus!" at the top of his lungs, and instead settled for, "Well then...would you mind awfully if I kissed you again?"
"Not at all." So he leaned in again, and...
"Well, what do we have here?" Dora's amused voice cut through the romantic tension in the room like a knife.
Instantly, Isaac and Mia were on their feet, both looking horribly embarrassed. Standing in the doorway to the kitchen was his mother, and the rest of the adepts.
Isaac noticed the particular gleam of evil in Garet's eyes and instantly knew he was never going to hear the end of this.
"It's not what it looks like, I swear!"
"Well I don't know what it was then." The Mars adept tried to sound innocent and unassuming. "Because from where I was standing it looked like you guys were getting pretty h..."
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence, Garet! It wasn't like that and you know it!"
"Oh, of course it wasn't. You guys were just brushing up on your mouth-to- mouth resuscitation, right?"
"Shut up before I hurt you, Garet!" Isaac tried to go over there and do some damage to his best friend's thick skull, but his mother stepped in the way.
"Now, come on Isaac. I don't mind you and 'girlfriend'," She pronounced the word carefully, shooting Mia an amused glance. "sharing the occasional moment together. But just try to keep it out from under my table, will you?"
Well, if Isaac wasn't embarrassed before, he was mortified now. "Yes, Mum."
"There's a good boy." Dora turned and made to leave the kitchen. But just before she did, stopped and said, "And be careful to always use protection, I'm still way too young to be a grandmother y'know."
All the adepts, minus Isaac and Mia obviously, burst into howls of laughter at this last comment.
"Aw, come on guys, it wasn't that funny!" Mia said, scowling.
"Yeah, knock it off!"
"Oh alright, alright." Garet straightened himself up, and then promptly started laughing again. "I-I'm sorry, Isaac, but it really is that funny!"
"Your mother's a real comedian!" Ivan said. Or spluttered, as he seemed to be choking on his own amusement.
Garet thumped him hard on the back several times. "Better?"
"I think you broke my spine..."
"Drama queen."
"Oaf."
"Wuss."
"Moron."
"Whiney little virg..."
"Alright guys, you can all go away now!" Isaac said, cutting in quickly. "Show's over and all that."
"Spoil sport." Garet grumbled, as he and the others all filed out of the kitchen. Ivan and Sheba went upstairs to their respective guest bedrooms, and Garet and Jenna went out the front door.
"See you tomorrow, lover boy!"
"Shut it, Garet!" Isaac slammed the door. Mia came up behind him and put her arms around his waist.
"Well, now that they're gone, you can help me with my bags."
"Your bags?" An edge of worry crept into Isaac's voice.
She grinned. "Yeah. After all, it'll take me ages to unpack all my stuff by myself."
"Unpack...so you're staying then?!"
"Of course."
The love/sushi feeling was back with a vengeance, but this time it was felt better, seeing as it wasn't accompanied by guilt, or a nasty virus caused by eating seafood.
Isaac smiled widely and kissed her once more quickly. "Excuse me one moment." He said, moving out of her grasp and opening the front door.
"Isaac, what are you...?"
But he was already outside. And standing at the top of his garden, in the middle of the night, in the midst of the pouring rain, he looked up at the black, night sky, took a deep breath, and yelled at the top of his lungs...
...wait for it...
"Up yours, Venus!"
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
ME: (Laughs.) I just couldn't resist it!
CHIBI CHAO: (Shaking his head.) When it comes to endings, Dragon Empress, yours are the worst!
ME: I know. (Coughs.) But anyway, that's it! It's over! I'm finally free! (Dances.) I'm finally free!
CHIBI CHAO: Until you write the sequel.
ME: If there's even going to be a sequel. I might just leave it here.
CHIBI JENNA: But what about big Jenna and big Garet's wedding? And all the unresolved issues between Ivan and Sheba?
ME: Alright, how's this? I'll do a sequel if at least three people ask me for one. Sound fair?
CHIBI JENNA: Yeah, I'll agree to that.
CHIBI CHAO: Me too.
ME: Now, onto more important matters. (Clears throat.) Cyber cookies go to the following people:
Gohan777, Evil Yuki!, Mai (Even though her review was technically a flame.), Storm Demon, Lumino, Akachi, VampireLord (His wasn't exactly supportive either.), Incrediblecuznz, Jupiter girl, Lord Cynic, Triad Orion, Midnight C, Anime angel515, Kalico, JP, Mikaa, Eggwhisk (My insane cousin.), Nuva, Kendoworrior, Ice Angel, Isaac says Booga, Saiyagal, GS masta, Claramars, Zidanet, Mare Serenitatis, Dragon Scales, Red Rum, two anonymous and an anon.
ME: Thank you all for taking the time to review this crime against writing I call a fanfic. Oh, and Triad Orion, you got two cookies, but one is laced with cyanide. (Grins evilly.) You'll never guess which...
CHIBI JENNA: And I want my Garet back now, Storm Demon, or else!
ME: (Nods.) Better do as she says, she's an absolute nutter when it comes to people pinching 'her' Chibi Garet
CHIBI JENNA: (With fire in her hands.) Damn right I am!
ME: Told you. (Takes a step away.) I'm considering doing a sequel to this about Garet and Jenna's wedding. If you guys want a sequel, say so in your reviews.
Yeah, you all still have to review this chapter! (Whips out a shotgun.) Or else!
^_^
