Love Bites

"He's late... he's late..." Jenna muttered almost psychotically, marching up and down the length of the plaza, her eyes glowing red. "Garet's late, Garet's late... I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him painfully for being late... he probably used this as an excuse to prevent me from killing him..."

"Isn't talking to yourself supposed to be a sign of insanity or something?" Picard whispered to Felix, looking somewhat worried as he watched Jenna marching about and talking to herself incessantly, unaware she was being watched.

"She's going to crack..." Felix whimpered quietly, a look of paranoia in his eyes. "She's going to crack and we'll all be doomed... maybe we should start running for our lives about now before the entire plaza goes up in flames. Look at her eyes, they're glowing!"

"I'm sure that's just your imagination," Picard assured him, although he had a doubtful look on his face. "There's no way Jenna's about to crack and burn down the entire plaza. She looks a bit cross, sure, but it's only impatience. Jenna won't burn even a leaf..."

Suddenly, a nearby bush burst into flames courtesy of Jenna's Serpent Fume attack. Picard almost screamed in pure fear, but Felix quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and gave him a warning stare. Felix was pretty sure Jenna would burn them too once she realised they were spying on... no, just watching her... or waiting for Garet to get there and learn if Jenn would accept the proposal. If Garet ever did get there and live long enough to propose.

"G... g..." Jenna took a deep breath and let out a heartrending screech. "GARET! Where are you, you good-for-nothing, lazy, lying, wimpy oaf! When I find you, I'm going to beat you black and blue and make you cry! I'm sick and tired of waiting for you! Ugh... it's a good thing there's hardly anybody in the plaza, I wouldn't want to be punished for waking half the village or something..."

"Shut up!" A voice cut through the darkness and everybody looked up towards the inn, to see a woman leaning out of a window with a cross look on her face. She was evidently a guest, since Valeans didn't really stay at the inn. Isaac and Garet were just exceptions. "We didn't ask for a nighttime show or anything, so take your stupid noise elsewhere!"

"Oh, go stick your head in an oven!" Jenna yelled, tempted to unleash a fireball and throw it at the woman. She might have done, had she not remembered several things. Psynergy should not be used on humans, especially non-Adepts, and it was not to be exposed to... well, most non-Adepts- certain Adepts had already broken this rule several times- and psynergy was not meant to be used for wrong deeds. Burning someone who made you mad probably was wrong.

"I'm impressed," Picard's jaw hung open in amazement. "Despite her intense rage at Garet's tardiness, she can still restrain herself."

The woman opened and shut her mouth, looking like a goldfish, then she crossly drew back and slammed the window shut. Jenna scoffed and smirked, believing that she had indeed had the upper hand. And she probably had, considering the woman had been so wimpy, she couldn't even bother with a comeback. Well, it served her right for daring to tell her, Jenna, to shut up anyway.

"I would have told the woman to go shove something up her..." Felix began, before catching sight of something that made him stop, his eyes widening in sheer astonishment. "He's finally here?"

"He didn't take that long," Picard protested as he watched Garet coming down the steps towards possible certain doom at the hands of the impatient Jenna. Picard sent a quick mental prayer towards the male Mars Adept, hoping that Fate wouldn't be too cruel to him, he really didn't want to have had wasted his time sitting out here in the dark with a paranoid Venus Adept when he could have been snug and warm in bed instead.

"Hey, Ivan's arrived!" Isaac hissed to his girlfriend, who had been absorbed in taking apart a leaf. She immediately dropped the shredded renmants of the leaf and they eagerly turned their full attention to the Jupiter Adepts standing on the bridge. Of course, Isaac and Mia didn't forget to hold each other's hands tightly as they absolutely had to be within physical contact every second since they fell in love.

"Hey, Ivan," Sheba greeted him, sitting on the rope that held the bridge firm and swinging her legs back and forth. "So, what did you want to see me about?"

"Huh?" Ivan squinted suspiciously at Sheba, his purple eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about? You're the one who gave me that note... shouldn't I be asking you?"

"Well, I got a note too," Sheba protested. "I thought you wanted to see me."

"Hmm..." Ivan started to slowly realise they had been duped. He let out a half-hearted sigh and shrugged sheepishly. "Guess we were duped but we're here now, so... maybe we'll talk for a bit or something. Hmm... it's very dark..." He glanced up into the sky and nodded. "As it should be."

"That's not the way to make conversation," Sheba shook her head and brushed back a lock of her blonde hair, looking up into the sky as well. "I can see stars. Did you know that making a wish upon the brightest star could make your wish come true? It usually works for me."

"Yeah, I've heard that too," Ivan smiled. "Lets make wishes together and see if they come true. I think that star's the brightest," He pointed in a random direction. "Ready?"

"Sure," Sheba nodded. "Ready as ever."

The Jupiter Adepts looked towards the brightest star and wished as hard as they could in silence yet making the wish together in unison, neither of them knowing the other had made the exact same wish.

' I wish I knew what he/she really thinks about me...'

A chill wind blew and the Wind Adepts shivered, glancing around as if trying to seek out the nature of that breeze. Evidently, it was just nature playing with them so they just chuckled and brushed it off. Silence reigned over the next few seconds as either Adept tried to think of what to say next, glancing around uncomfortably.

"Oh no, this doesn't look good..." Isaac murmured, looking anxious.

"Be patient, Isaac," Mia murmured into his ear. "This is just the beginning."

"Hello, Garet," Jenna smiled sinisterly, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head, her long wine coloured hair spilling over her shoulder. "I was starting to get rather tired of waiting for you to arrive. In fact, I was getting worried that you might not even turn up and I'd have to visit you."

"Hey, Jenna," Garet was uncowed by Jenna's sinister look, quite used to her evil moods by now. "Of course I came, I told you I would."

"Tell me. Now!" Jenna demanded, folding her arms across her chest. "If you don't tell me, then I'll-"

"Burn him?" Felix muttered under his breath. "Despite the fact he's also a Mars Adept? It never works. I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing either."

"Jenna, Jenna," Garet smiled disarmingly, trying to soothe her raging temper. "Um, come with me, I want to show you something. I promise this is what you want to know, really and honestly!"

"Show me then," Jenna demanded. Garet nodded and took her by the hand, leading her over to the pond near the Psynergy stone. The sparkling purple light fell upon the two of them and he was satisfied with the setting, her demands had hardly helped him to provide a romantic situation for the two of them. This was about as romantic as it was going to get but he couldn't really help it. It wasn't his fault his girlfriend was so homicidal.

"Here we go," Picard murmured, looking far more interested than he had in ages. "It's crunch time. Will a cranky, homicidal Jenna accept Garet's proposal or club him over the head and throw him into the pond?"

"I think I'm going to hurl," Felix whispered. "I can't take the tension..."

"The excitement..." Picard added. "A truly monumental moment in the lives of two crazy Mars Adepts with furious tempers. Who do you think has the worst temper, Garet or Jenna?"

"Probably Jenna..." Felix swallowed nervously. "She looks like she's about to bite Garet's head off."

"Um..." Ivan hesitantly broke the silence, sitting next to Sheba on the rope and glancing at her. "I want to say something but..."

"But what?" Sheba asked softly, turning her head to look at him.

"I'm just not sure how to say it..." Ivan trailed off, biting his lip. "It's kind of hard... things like this... you don't know what to say, and the time matters too... timing's everything... and you don't know how the other will react..."

"Ivan..." Sheba placed her hand on top of his. "I think it's best to just... go with your instincts... say what you feel..."

"What about you?" Ivan met her emerald gaze. "Is there anything you want to say, that you feel that you can't quite say?"

"Well..." Sheba cleared her throat and nodded slightly. "Yes... but I've also heard that actions speak much louder than words. Maybe we should try that instead if we have such difficulty with words at the moment."

"Okay," Ivan brightened up a little. "We'll try that then."

Silence returned as Ivan and Sheba stared at each other, waiting for the other to make their move. Mia almost started squealing, but Isaac managed to stop her by kissing her, and they returned to watching, quietly gasping as the Jupiter Adepts leaned towards each other, their lips meeting. Sheba's hand tightened on top of Ivan's and Ivan lifted his thumb, stroking her hand with his, as they enjoyed this quiet, peaceful, supposedly unwatched moment where their feelings finally came to rise and their wishes came true.

"Jenna," Garet took a deep breath and took Jenna's hands in his, clasping them together and looking straight into her eyes, trying to concentrate on what he had to say and not think too much about how beautiful her eyes were. "To me, you are the most beautiful woman in the village, the prettiest, loveliest..."

"Alright, don't pile it on," Jenna said grumpily, although she did not move from where she was, keeping level with Garet's stare. "Are you about to apologise for something?"

"Please, hear me out," Garet insisted. Jenna grudgingly quietened down, pursing her lips together. "I love you with all my heart, I am glad to have you by my side and I look forwards to us having many more years being happy together. Tonight, I am going to ask you a very big question..."

'It better not be "Can you forget about why Kay was blackmailing me?" because he's going to get badly hurt..." Jenna thought, waiting patiently for Garet's question. To her surprise, Garet let go of her hands and dropped to one knee, drawing out a little black box from the pocket of his trousers.

"Here we go..." Felix spoke, watching eagerly.

"About time," Picard smiled. "I think the ants are attacking me."

"Jenna of Vale," Garet snapped open the box and displayed a slender, golden ring with a small jewel fixed into its surface. "I, Garet, would like to ask you the honour of becoming my beloved, wedded wife. Will you?"

"I..." Jenna gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as she looked down at the ring. 'Oh wow! Garet's just asked me to marry him? It was unexpected... but... oh wow! Wow times a hundred... I never guessed...' "I... wow... Garet... uh... wow..."

"Yes or no," Felix struggled not to yawn. "Wow isn't an answer."

"I..." Jenna bit her lip, a veil of tears filming her eyes as she continued to look at the ring. "I don't think..." Garet's jaw dropped open as he heard her first words of what could be a coherent sentence.

"What?" Felix sat forwards, his eyes widening in horror. "What's she doing?"

"If she's refusing, we've wasted our time sitting here," Picard looked dismayed. "But I can't think why..."

"Come on, Jenna," Felix whispered. "Don't break his heart."

"Ouch..." Picard looked anxious. "Surely she isn't refusing... surely not..."

"I don't think..."

'What's she saying?' Garet began to look positively dismayed. 'She doesn't think she can marry me? I knew that this wasn't romantic enough! I've ruined it, she's gonna dump me, she's going to kill me and throw me in the pond or something and even if she didn't, Felix would kill me for thinking I was worthy of marrying her, but wait, he didn't kill me before.. just what is Jenna trying to say? Doesn't she want to..."

"I don't think that I can refuse such a wonderful offer as that!" Jenna squealed in delight, jumping up and down on the spot. "YES! Yes, Garet, yes! YES!" Her screams of delight echoed throughout the plaza, sounding through most of Vale and rousing several people from their beds.

"What was that?" Mia wondered, frowning as she heard the screams.

"It's coming from the plaza!" Isaac leaped from the bush and started running. "Maybe somebody's being murdered!"

"Who shouts 'YES!' as they are being murdered?" Mia demanded, running after her boyfriend.

Ivan and Sheba broke off the kiss and watched Isaac and Mia running towards the plaza, both of them realising just who had written the notes. They immediately ran after Isaac and Mia to the plaza, both to confront the two of them, and maybe thank them, and find out the reason for all the screaming.

"Really?" Garet leaped to his feet, looking positively joyful. "Really and truly?"

"YES! Of course I'll marry you!" Jenna squealed, flinging her arms around his neck and almost choking him to death. Tears of joy were running down her cheeks as she sobbed her utmost joy into his shoulder. "I thought you'd never ask! I'm so glad!"

"What's happening?" Isaac demanded as he watched the two Mars Adept. Mia leaned on him, trying to catch her breath.

"Proposal," Felix walked out of his hiding place, along with Picard. "Went pretty well too."

"I think I've had a few hundred years of my life taken off," Picard wiped his brow. "Jenna really is a cruel trickster sometimes."

"Why's that?" Ivan asked.

"Well, a pause after 'I don't think' and before 'I can refuse' is pretty bad for the nerves," Felix explained.

"Ooh," Sheba chuckled. "I wish I could have seen the look on Garet's face when she did that."

Everybody looked over at Garet and Jenna who were still embracing happily. At long last, before everybody was about to fall asleep on their feet, the two finally let go and Garet proceeded to put the ring on Jenna's finger. Thankfully, it fit perfectly. They turned and were somewhat surprised to see everybody else standing there, watching intently.

"What are you lot doing there?" Garet looked confused. "I didn't know we were being watched..."

"Same goes for us," Ivan said meaningfully, shooting a stare at Isaac and Mia who blushed and stared sheepishly at the ground. "Good results though."

"We're getting married!" Jenna squealed, jumping up and down again. "I'm going to be Garet's wife!" She screamed ecstatically, unable to contain her excitement at the prospect of finally marrying her boyfriend... no, fiance now. Suddenly, everybody found themselves in a huge group hug and they all had their own little mini-party right in the plaza before several people started screaming abuse from the windows of the inn and the Adepts set off back to their houses, all of them deliriously happy or something similar.

"Felix, are you teary?" Picard squinted suspiciously at the Venus Adept as they walked to Felix's house, Jenna and Sheba walking ahead and talking excitedly to each other about the night's events.

"No!" Felix protested. "I'm just sad about having a doofus as a brother in law."

"Sure, Felix, whatever you say," Picard patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you're happy for them too, you just don't want to admit it."

"Shut up," Felix quickened his pace. "I'm tired."

"That went pretty well, didn't it?" Isaac smiled as he and Mia walked hand in hand to his house. "I really wasn't expecting it to go that well."

"Neither was I," Mia snuggled up to him. "I expected it to take longer than that. Ivan and Sheba just needed a nudge in the right direction... I'm glad it went so well... it could have backfired pretty badly upon us..."

"At least it didn't," Isaac pushed open his front door and closed it behind them. "Now we'd better get some rest before the party tomorrow. I'm sure it's going to be a party to remember."

"Yeah..." Mia kissed him on the lips. "Goodnight, Isaac."

"'Night, Mia," Isaac kissed her back as they walked up the stairs. "Sweet dreams."

"You sure look happier than I've seen you in a long time," Ivan commented as he and Garet walked to Garet's house. "Hardly surprising, when Jenna accepted your proposal, I suppose. And all that fuss about it too!"

"I honestly hadn't planned to propose so soon," Garet chuckled dryly. "It was a bit forced, but I'm glad she accepted. For a moment I thought she wouldn't..."

"I kissed Sheba tonight too," Ivan beamed. "She was right, actions really do speak louder than words. We finally got it out in the open... Isaac and Mia fixed us up, I'm glad they did. They were watching us from the bush."

"I think Felix and Picard must have watched me and Jenna," Garet guessed. "Not that I would have known... I was too busy stopping Jenna from killing me... oh wow... she's going to be my wife, we're gonna marry..."

"Yes, I know," Ivan walked into his house and walked faster, getting away before Garet exploded from sheer joy. "Goodnight and stuff... I'm exhausted!"