It's been sooo long since the first Golden Sun came out. Hurry up, Nintendo! We all want those "Golden Sun: The Lost Age"s!!!
Midnight C: Whoops, thanks for pointing that out! I just fixed it, and I replaced it with... um... Felix instead. You know, with the brotherly overprotective ways and stuff. @_@
Triad Orion: Thanx you for t'e compliments!! And I second everything you said after that!! *hehe*
Snoopy6458: Well when you think about it, it's probably likely that him and Jenna would have similar personalities, you know? If only because they are Adepts of the same power.
Kraken173: Like the other people have explained, the Lost Age is out only in Japanese, not in America. -__-
akira-yuki0726: Yup... originally unintended as a humor fic because I can't do humor that great (read Triad Orion's... I recommend Golden Sun: The Trials of Christmas).
ChibiSkunkSaria: Exactly... nosy, nosy, Fire Adepts.
5 - Heavy Burdens
The two were seated in a tree that was quite far away from Vale. It was a tall tree, and pretty lonely, standing by itself. Since it was winter, snowy drifts were piled on the branches, and those that were too heavy fell with a resounding pfft into the rest of the stuff on the ground. And to think I'd get any more peace out here than in the village. It's the same! There, I'm hassled by Garet and Jenna, and out here, by him...
"Mia, please, just give me one more chance..."
"You used it up a long time ago. I may have forgiven you, but that doesn't mean our feelings for each other are the same. You're out of my life. You have been for a long time. Alex, why can't you just accept it and go back home?"
"I love you, Mia. That-"
"That doesn't matter, because the feeling certainly isn't mutual." Mia made off as if to march away, but Alex grabbed her elbow. She spun around furiously, the sparkle in her eyes changing into angry glints.
"Let go of me."
"If you would just listen-" Alex said stiffly, unwilling to let her go back to her precious Isaac. He couldn't stand the thought of the two of them together.
"I listened to you the first night you all but leapt into my room. I forgive you. But I don't love you, Alex. Why can't you just listen to me?" She cried, outraged.
He snorted, once more pulling his calm, cool mask over himself. "Look at us. Almost like a lovers' quarrel." He smirked. Infuriated, the blue-haired healer wrenched her elbow away.
"We're not lovers. That was in the past. Now if you will excuse me, I am walking away from you. That means you are not supposed to follow!" Mia stomped away, anger in every fiber of her being. For every step she took, she tried to let some of her fury trickle out of herself. Don't want to make Dora or Isaac worried.
::Why are you angry?:: Fizz bounced up to her, and when Mia gazed further, she could see Isaac, Ivan, and Garet's Djinn all playing in the drifts, jumping up only to sink down deeper than where they had started. Little white flecks could be seen flying everywhere in the midst, and Mia could just make out her five friends sitting on a makeshift bench that was really a wooden log, talking and laughing with cheer.
::It's just Alex.::
::Do you want us to go beat him up?:: Hail, always yearning for brawls and the more aggressive of games, asked eagerly.
::That's just plain rude. Not to mention mean, my friend,:: Mia murmured in her mind ever so gently. She smiled down at the tiny blue creature, rubbing its claw-like tail.
::Do you want to be happy again?:: Spritz asked hopefully. She, on the other hand, was different from Hail in that way. Peaceful, like the Adept whom she followed faithfully.
::Just how are you going to make me happy?:: Mia asked suspiciously. They'd gotten her into hopeless scrambles before, and she didn't really want water dribbling down her hair or back, or everything she touched to have a layer of ice over it.
They didn't answer, but she could feel the mischief emanating across their bond as the Djinn bounced away. She gave chase, but nothing happened as she ran across the snow to where Isaac, Ivan, and Garet were seated. Maybe they decided not to... she thought, but shrugged it away.
"Hi."
"Hi yourself." Isaac kissed her gently, then pulled away, indicating that the other three were watching with interest.
"What were you guys talking about before I walked through the flying snow bits?"
"The dance, of course! I heard from Garet's parents, that this year, we're going to have the most beautiful decorations, and everyone in Vault has agreed to come, except for the occasional odd guard who's going to watch the town for the night." Jenna rattled on for a moment longer about who was supposed to be coming along with the people in Vault.
"I remember three years ago-"
Everyone groaned except for Mia and Garet, who had been speaking.
"Garet, please! You've been reminiscing all afternoon!" Ivan fell backwards, landing himself in the snow.
"But Mia hasn't heard anything yet. Right Mia?" Garet turned to Mia, who was seated on his right side.
"I'm sorry to say this, but I think everyone has heard every tale you've ever told at least once. I'm a little tired besides."
"Jenna?"
"Same as Mia."
"Felix, how about you?" Garet asked hopefully.
"Nah. I am afraid I'll have to decline."
"Isaac, my friend, I'm sure you'd like to-"
Just before Garet could finish, a snowball flew right onto his open mouth. White pieces that were rapidly melting were caked onto his nose, a lot on his cheeks, and almost the rest of the snowball in his mouth. Once he'd managed to spit it out, he glared at Isaac.
"What was that for?!" The blond Adept blinked innocently.
"I didn't do that."
"Yes you did! Who else could have? You cut me off, like the time you did yesterday while we were going down the stairs."
All of a sudden, small flurries of snowballs were flying in their direction and meeting their targets soundly. When she jumped up, Mia got hit on the side of her cheek with one of the white bullets, and another almost collided with Garet's spiky hair.
All six of them jumped up and began running, trying to fend off the offending snowballs. Ivan was the first to figure out who was hitting them.
"It's the Djinn!" After that announcement, Felix, Isaac, Ivan, Garet, Mia, and Jenna began hurling their own snowballs at the creatures. It all made for a fun-filled afternoon, ending with them tramping up the inn stairs caked and layered in snow, laughing and pushing aside any troubles they had for the moment.
"That was refreshing," Mia said out loud in her room that night.
"It was fun, wasn't it?" a voice greeted her from the door. Looking up, Mia waved in Garet.
"Come on in. How long've you been standing there, waiting for me to come out?"
"Doesn't matter, my friend. So? Are you and Isaac getting along? Or is something else the matter?"
Startled, Mia removed her gaze from the window. "What? Oh, everything's fine, Garet. What would make you think something like that?"
"You didn't seem as untroubled as you usually are. Like something was bothering you. Mia, are you sure nothing is wrong?" Garet's worried eyes peered at hers, hidden beneath bangs as she looked down at the ground. One hand reached to pat her tightly folded pair.
"So you do have a sensitive side, you big oaf," her voice managed to crack out, filled with emotion.
"Look- well, hey there, Mia," Garet said helplessly, finally sitting next to her on the bed. "Now for sure there's something wrong. What's bothering you? If it's Isaac, he truly does love you. He likes having you around."
"It's not Isaac," Mia sniffled, trying to wipe away tears before Garet could see them. "Really nothing's the matter. I can handle it on my own."
"So something is wrong. You can't handle a nonexistent problem." Garet concluded this with alarm when he saw that she was trying not to cry. Pulling a handkerchief from his tunic, he handed it to her. Mia nodded her thanks and pressed it to her eyes to sop up the tears instead of blowing her nose.
"Mia? Tell me what's wrong."
His worried voice prompted a bigger spate of tears to spill from her eyes. "Oh, how can I tell you, with all the knowing of losing you as my friend? I can't, I can't tell you what's bothering me. I'll lose all your trust, all of Felix's, and Jenna's, Ivan's, and then Isaac's, and then I'd definitely have more than a problem!" Mia fretted. So as not to worry Ivan, next door, she muffled her sobs by placing both hands over her mouth.
"Mia, Ivan and Isaac and I have traveled with you for two years, following in Alex, Saturos, Menardi, and Felix's tracks. We've trusted you with sentry duty and curing us of illnesses and who knows whatever else. In battles, you fight with every intention of protecting your friends. How could we not trust you? You've more than earned our trust, and now that you're with Isaac, he's most likely more than a friend to you." Garet shrugged after his outburst, and hugged the miserable healer shyly. "Won't you confide in your good friend Garet just for the sake of old times?"
"It's too much to place on your shoulders, broad as they are."
"Look, Mia-" Garet sat on the chair opposite her again, and took hold of the water seer's shoulders. "Anybody without eyes could see you are in distress. What would that say about everyone with eyes?"
Still, Mia shook her head. "Please- Garet, just leave me with my thoughts now, alright?" When she raised her watery blue eyes up to his crimson eyes, she tried for a smile. "If I feel too burdened, I'll let you know. But for now, I just want to think."
Eventually, with much persuading on her part, Garet left, still as worried and confused as ever. On the brink of telling him Alex, Mia had pulled back because she didn't want to push her problems onto someone else. I'm the only one involved, and I'm going to be the one to solve it. No matter how much it hurts, Mia thought grimly. Changing into her blue silk shift, one she'd bought as soon as she knew that their adventure was over, Mia slid into the warm bed, sighing as her head hit the pillow. Drawing the covers up close, she closed her eyes.
But instead of falling asleep, her thoughts tumbled up and around Alex and Isaac. Then it drifted, to the adventure she had taken with her friends. Lemuria. Bilibin. Kolima. Xian. The mysterious Mogall woods, where they wandered about and about for over a week trying to find the correct exit. And then the sea that wasn't really a sea, where monsters infested in the humongous lake crawled aboard to harass the sailors and people who rowed the boat. Her thoughts slowed, then stopped at thinking about the Suhalla Desert. When she remembered what Garet had told her Isaac had done, her face flushed hotly.
I'd never really have the nerve to ask Isaac what he did after I fainted. It's so embarrassing just to think about; how am I going to react if he's telling me, face to face? I'd just die. Maybe look like Garet's hair for the rest of time. Unable to forget about the incident, she thought about it until her thoughts drifted off again into nothingness.
She fell asleep finally, a blush tinting her cheeks and a smile on her face. And she dreamed.
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I hate to ask you guys of this... I really give my readers too many questions to answer. But since my stupid brother has borrowed away our Golden Sun game, I have to ask you: what are the names of everyone's last two Djinn? And what sort of creatures are in the Suhalla Desert? X_x I'm really going to have to make a log out of all these things.