Hope

Chapter 6: Blossoming

"Hey, I've got something to tell you," I murmured sweetly.

"Um… Jenna?" The boy's voice cracked slightly, and I was surprised. I had never heard his steady voice give out. My heart was pounding, and I knew that his must be, too.

"Piers…" I purred. "I love ya! Wanna go out on a date?"

"Wh-wh-what?" The blue-haired boy's voice took a most unnatural tone. "Jenna, I do not think…"

"Huh?" My heart began to break. No one had ever rejected me before! "You… you don't… want to? Don't you love me?"

"I… Jenna, from where I come from, marriages are arranged. And from your people's standards, isn't a 'date' when people consider getting married, and go to different places to see if they enjoy the other's company?" The river near my house continued to run, and I wanted nothing more than to be like it. "And… aren't you… um, we… too young to date?" Piers struggled for words.

"Oh," my heart quickly began to rise, when I realized he was thinking of something else. "I didn't mean a serious date."

"Oh!" Piers's voice took back his natural tone. "I see, you were joking!" He began to laugh, probably letting out the pent-up nervousness.

"Huh?" Now, I was just confused. "I wasn't joking!" I demanded angrily.

Piers's laughter immediately died. He stared at me, as if fearing my wrath.

"I just meant, like, you know! A regular date. Not a serious, 'I want to be your wife' date. Just a boyfriend/girlfriend thing!" I explained.

"B-boyfriend?" Piers stammered. "Jenna, aren't I a bit too… er… old for you?"

"Huh? I'm twelve years old! And you're… what was it, again?"

"Er… fourteen?" It sounded more like a question than a fact.

"Yea, I mean, that shouldn't make a difference, right?"

"Uh… uhm…" Piers didn't sound convinced. I thought how strange it was. All the other boys always accepted my invitation as a boyfriend. Sometimes they even came around and asked me to be their girlfriend, like the blacksmith's son. "I… I'm sorry, Jenna. I like you as a friend, and I'd really prefer nothing more than that."

I wanted the earth to swallow me up. If there was something to be said, I went right out and said it. Things usually didn't turn out bad. Certainly, not like this. I felt tears beginning to come to my eyes, and I began to sniffle.

"Jenna…" Piers whispered, with fear still laced in his voice.

"Ignore her," the two of us turned as the door of my house opened, revealing Felix in the frame. "I heard everything. Piers, you did nothing wrong. I don't want Jenna to 'date' right now, either. You're right. She's too young. Heck, we're still too young. Jenna, seriously, all you're doing is getting rid of the friends you had that were boys, when you try to make him your 'boyfriend', break up, and never talk to each other again."

"Felix!" I howled, my tears coming out full force this time. "That's mean! That's really mean! Who asked for your opinion?"

"I don't want Piers and you avoiding each other," Felix snapped. It just barely registered in my mind that Felix wanted the two of us to remain friends. "So don't go around asking about stupid things, ok?"

"You're so insensitive!" I shouted. I turned, and fled. "I hate you! I hope you drown in a river and a boulder falls on top of you and kills you!" I cried out in the distance. After racing through the forest as fast as I could, I reached my secret spot. I collapsed and just sobbed. It was only later that I realized that if Felix drowned, a boulder could not possibly kill him.

The next day I apologized to Felix, and told him I didn't mean what I said about him dying. I also apologized to Piers, and told him I really didn't want him to be my boyfriend. The day after that day, I felt perfectly fine, and my life continued to go as it had been before. When I was younger, I really had an awful lot of tantrums…

I awoke from my dream –or rather, flashback- to find that I was back in Menardi's bedroom. She had left the day she had come back. I wasn't sure why, and I decided not to push my luck and ask about it.

Day three. The thought struck me hard. It was the third day I had come into Saturos's place. That meant that I would leave this day. I moaned and rolled my face into my pillow. Being sold like some slave was not my idea of a good time. Even though Menardi and Saturos were scary, and Isaac was weird, I didn't want to change locations. Here was better than anywhere else, right? Isaac had said Hammet was a good man… er, Slate, but I wasn't very sure of that.

A timid knock sounded from outside the door. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore it. Maybe the person… Slate… thing… would go away if I ignored it. The knock sounded again; this time louder.

"Unnng," I growled. "Who is it?" I forced myself awake and halfway sat up on the bed.

"Jenna?" Isaac's voice called out from the other side. "Can I come in?"

"Heck no," I extracted myself from the bed. "I just woke up. You don't want to come in. What did you want?" I made my way to where the vanity was, and began to preen slightly. I wiped the sleepers from my eyes, and brushed my hair while sitting on a chair.

"Today's the day you're leaving…" Isaac began.

"I know," I replied, still brushing my hair.

"…and there's still a few things that need to be done before you go to Hammet's."

"Such as?" I questioned.

"Such as… well, if I can come in, I'll show you one of them."

"Alright," I sighed, and put the brush down. "Then hurry up and come in already."

The door creaked open, and I turned to watch it. Isaac stood in the doorframe, with a white dress draped over his shoulder. I arched my eyebrow at him.

"What's that for?" I pointed at the dress.

"This? I-it's for you," Isaac stammered slightly. He took the dress to the bed, and laid it down.

"I didn't think it was for you," I snorted. "I meant, why are you giving me a dress?"

"It's a… ceremonial dress, so to speak." Isaac walked back to the doorframe, but did not exit out of it.

"Ceremonial? Ooh… that makes things so much clearer," I said sarcastically.

Isaac turned to look at me. His eyes held mild confusion. "What I mean is…" He struggled for words. "Hammet has a better chance of taking you if you look good."

"Oh, I see," I nodded my head. "So basically it's like the wrapping paper that covers the gift, is that it?" My voice was low. I was pretty upset about having to leave, and sarcasm was my defense mechanism.

"Yea," Isaac forced himself to smile. "It's like the… wait, what?" He caught himself, but his smile vanished. "No, no; Jenna, I didn't mean it like that…"

"Oh, ok," I nodded my head again. "So you meant that I don't look good, but this dress will make up for it, right?"

"What…? No… Jenna, I didn't mean that at all…" Isaac trailed off. "What's with you?" He finally asked after a moment of silence. "I mean, yesterday you were so… different…"

I turned away from Isaac and bowed my head. I glared at the wood on the vanity. What would become of me…? Would I truly work until death? Worse yet… would I be brainwashed, like Isaac? The Slates… they were evil. If only Felix hadn't lost! What was he thinking? How could he do this? We were so close to victory… and this would be nothing but a bad dream. What about Piers? He could have stopped the Slates! Or… maybe he had planned this all along…

Isaac's sigh interrupted my thoughts. He left through the door, and I turned my head to watch him leave.

"Isaac…" I whispered, but he did not hear me. "Isaac," I called out again; louder this time. I heard the footsteps returning, and Isaac was back. I gulped, and suddenly felt foolish for calling him back. I didn't want to go away… if only he could come with me.

"Will we ever see each other again?" I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

Isaac smiled genuinely this time, and leaned against the doorframe. "Is that what's been bothering you?"

I couldn't respond. I was unable to return Isaac's gaze.

"Tell you what…" Isaac continued. "Let's make a promise, ok?"

I nodded my head once, still feeling mute.

"If you do get into Hammet's home, we'll still come see each other. At the far eastern side of the palace, there is a balcony that overlooks the garden. I know a way to sneak into the garden. While the sun sets, whenever I can, I'll go into the garden. Then, we can meet and talk to each other there. How's that?" Isaac finished.

"That… that'd be wonderful," I finally found my voice, and felt a little bit relieved. However… "But when I come to the palace, I will know nobody. Do you have any… human… friends there? I would… like to speak to someone," I admitted. "I think I'd be unable to talk normally to a Slate."

"Well…" Isaac mused. "My best friend works at Hammet's palace. His name is Garet. He's a guard, usually stationed at the southern palace entrance. I bet he'd talk to you."

"A… guard?" I repeated, frowning slightly. Why on Weyard… oh… whoops… Why would Slates allow a human to guard the palace?

"Haha," Isaac laughed, as if to answer my unsaid question. "It's a long story. Why don't you ask him about it sometime? Oh, yea… he probably won't talk to you unless you tell him that you know me."

"Alright," I nodded my head, and relief flooded my soul. "Thank you so much, Isaac. I'll ask him about it sometime. Now," I pointed to the door. "Get out of this room. I'll put the dress on."

Isaac was already standing in the doorframe, so he just grabbed the door and closed it. Once I heard his footsteps receding, I walked to my bed where the white dress lay. I changed out of my clothes and into the dress.

Glancing in the vanity mirror, I was pleased to find that the dress complemented my mahogany hair. A wild thought suddenly struck my head, and I imagined that Isaac had quite a different idea when he had said, 'ceremonial dress.' Perhaps the Slates intended to use me for some strange, foreign ritual… like the ones where a maiden dresses in white before sacrificing herself to some strange, exotic creature.

I shook my head, as if to rid the thought. Of course the Slates wouldn't do something like that. If Isaac thought they were going to sacrifice me, he'd come and rescue me. Probably. Well, I hoped so. He seemed awfully cowardly at times.

I returned my attention back to the mirror. Even if I didn't like the idea of being sold, the event was inevitable. If I refused to get ready, Isaac or Saturos would probably come in and dress me up by themselves… I paled at that thought. That, above all else, must be prevented.

Next was my hair. I brushed my hair back, so that my part became invisible. Using a nearby white scrunchie, I put my hair in a ponytail. My bangs were too short to pull back, but I decided that they looked fine outside of the ponytail, anyway.

Last would have been make up… but… I did not have any with me. There could have been some in the bathroom, but I decided that Menardi would not enjoy me digging through and using her stuff.

I rubbed my chin, feeling for the bump. The bruise was gone and it no longer swelled. If I looked very hard, I could still see a red mark, however. The more I looked at it, the more it became visible. Sighing in frustration, I finally decided that it wasn't all that obvious, and the only reason I could see it was because I knew it was there.

Raising myself from the chair, I exited Menardi's room. I traveled in the hallway until I reached the staircase. Peering over the edge, I half expected to see Isaac at the bottom. He always seemed to be freakishly near me. I never could tell if it was because he was stalking me, or if it was just part of his job. However, he was not at the bottom, and I faltered. What to do? Isaac was always giving me commands. Without him… I felt… lost.

My temper flared, and I berated myself for such feelings. For crying out loud, I didn't need anyone to tell me what and what not to do. I had only been here for three days, and yet I was already being brainwashed and following commands without questioning?

Faking confidence, I stepped down the stairs until I reached an open room. I passed underneath the stair's arch, and found myself in some sort of dining room and kitchen combined. What I saw next was somewhat shocking for me. Saturos was washing dishes!

He was humming some song that I didn't recognize. There was a dish in one hand, and a cloth in another. Enthusiastically rubbing the dish, Saturos didn't even notice that there were soapsuds behind his ears. Saturos's back was turned towards me, so he did not know I was there.

I awkwardly stood in the room, unsure of what I should do. Never before had I seen Slates do such menial tasks. Perhaps I had always pictured them forcing us to do all the work. Although if Slates truly are so similar to humans, then I suppose I shouldn't have been all that surprised.

Saturos set the dish down on the counter, before removing the bubbles from his ears. Halfway turning, Saturos finally saw me. "Oh, you're ready?" He smiled. I'm sure his smile was meant to show that he wished no ill of me, but it actually intimidated me more. His teeth were sharp and long; those of a carnivore's.

I meekly nodded my head in response, although I wasn't exactly sure what I was ready for. Perhaps he was talking about Hammet's palace. If that was the case, I wanted to get the event done as quickly as possible.

"Oh, really?" Saturos continued. "Isaac wanted to show you around town before we let go of you, though. After all, you haven't been able to see very much of anything outside of this house. It might be good for you! Fresh air is healthy."

Around town? Was Isaac allowed to do that? Saturos seemed perfectly fine with it. "Um…" I hesitated, before continuing. "Where exactly is Isaac?"

Saturos's smile faded. "I thought he was supposed to be upstairs, with you…"

As if to prove Saturos's words, Isaac came down the stairs and entered the kitchen. He looked at me first, and his eyes lingered for a split second more than what they were supposed to. Then he turned to Saturos, and Isaac nodded his head.

"Ok," Isaac began. "Looks like everything is ready."

"Yea," Saturos agreed. "I'll meet you at the entrance of Mia's bakery at noon."

Isaac turned to me and smiled. "Jenna, we're going to see the town for a little bit. Stay close to me, ok? It's easy to get lost."

I nodded my head.

Struggling through the crowds, I bitterly berated myself for getting distracted. Although I had only turned my eyes away from Isaac for a second, we had gotten separated. Well, ok, maybe it was more than a second, but the point is that I was lost. The crowds were mainly filled with humanized Slates, which frightened me. Who knew what could happen? There didn't seem to be any normal humans. True that Isaac was human, but I don't think he could have been classified as normal. Either way, I couldn't find him, and I was too timid to ask a monster for directions.

The town was the equivalence of Weyard's cities. Or at least, before Weyard was decimated by war. The town –Yalak, I think Isaac once called it- was full of Slates. The Slates seemed to be either shopping, doing an errand, or just partying. I felt very small and foreign; I knew that this was a place I didn't belong to.

It was, however, rather fascinating to watch the different Slates. Some of them had purple hair, others had blue hair, and still others had pale blond hair. Their eyes were azure, purple, or red. Their skin -or scales- were either vibrant or pale and pasty.

As I watched the Slates go about their normal day activities, one particular Slate caught my eye. His back was turned to me, but he had blue hair. He also wore clothes very similar to someone I knew very well…

"Piers!" I shouted, my heart filling with an overwhelming sense of joy and relief. I struggled through the crowd of Slates and managed to come behind him. "Piers!" I said again, my smile so wide that it nearly did not fit across my face. I reached out my hand to tap my old friend on the shoulder. As I made contact with the blue-haired man, he turned around. I nearly had a heart attack as I stared into cool, blue eyes.

This… this was not Piers! My smile vanished and my face was filled with horror. I recoiled from the Slate, and uttered a hasty apology. I was about to turn and leave, but the Slate placed his hand on me and held me fast.

"Hm…" He mused, his voice as sweet and sickly as poisoned honey. "A human girl, are you?" His voice made me involuntarily shudder. As I tried to back away, his hand only grasped me tighter.

"I-I…" I stuttered. My hand reached out to try and pry off his own hand. His skin was cool to the touch, and was as cold as his eyes. "Please forgive me!" I apologized again. "I thought you were someone else."

"No need to apologize," the man whispered, and pulled me a little closer. "After all, I should really thank you… To whom do you belong to?"

"B-Belong to?" I gasped. "I belong to no one!" I glared fiercely at him. Who did he think he was?

"I see," the blue-haired one nodded his head. "Then I don't suppose anyone would… mind…"

"Mind?" I felt my temper rising. "Mind what?"

A swirl of water enveloped us, and I began to panic. "What are you doing?" I shrieked. "Let me go!"

The water had created a shield around us. Everything seemed to go white for a second, before the world returned. However, we were not in the same place we had been in before. We were still in the city, or so I assumed, but now we were in an alley. This did not bode well.

"Help!" I screamed, although the chances that anyone would help me were slim. My mouth was quickly covered with a hand, stifling any other cries I might have made. The other Slate's eyes glowed strangely, as though he was demonic. "Mmph," I whimpered as my heart raced.

"Sh…" The Slate murmured, his voice completely calm. "I'm not here to hurt you," he said quietly. Although his voice sounded sincere, I wasn't sure how much I could trust his words. "Let us get acquainted," he smiled. "I am Alex. What shall I call you?" He moved his hand off my mouth slowly.

"Jenna," I whispered back, debating about whether or not I should scream again.

"An Adept, are you?" Alex's voice was completely natural, but my mind froze at his question.

"Uh… um…" I tried to stall for time. This was definitely not my idea of having a good time. Alex's body was pressed up against mine. I was already pressed up against the wall as far as I could go, but I still felt Alex inching ever closer to mine.

When I didn't respond, Alex did something completely unexpected: he closed his eyes and kissed me on the lips. My already wide eyes became even larger. I struggled to extract myself from him, but he was too strong. Psynergy was not an option, because we were so close that I would only burn myself.

"Get… away… from her…" A familiar voice growled.

Alex's eyes flew open, and he released me. I ran away from him and towards the source of the other voice: Isaac. He was just the one I wanted to see. Isaac was here to save me…

Alex glared at my rescuer. "You…" Alex began. His eyes were nothing but slits, but his voice sounded perfectly calm. "You work for Saturos. Stay out of this. It's none of your business."

"I'm afraid it is," Isaac replied levelly. "The girl is with me."

I glanced at Isaac, wondering what he meant by his words. Was he referring to the fact that I was Saturos's property, or did he mean that I was his girlfriend? Either way was incorrect.

Alex looked as though he would attack us. His eyes bored into Isaac, before changing to look at me. Bravely, I continued to hold his gaze, refusing to break. Finally, Alex shifted his eyes. I thought that he would attack us, but instead, he teleported in a flash of water.

I sighed, happy that Isaac had come just in time. I grabbed the cloth on Isaac's chest, and pulled him a little closer. "Thank you very much," I whispered. "I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."

The ice blue eyes… the ones I had always perceived to be cold… Suddenly, Isaac's eyes seemed warm. He grinned at me, and placed both of his hands on my outstretched hand. Carefully, as though I were made of glass, Isaac put my hand down, although he refused to let go of it. His face came closer to mine, and his lips touched mine. My heart began to race again, and my eyes once again became wide.

The questions I had of how he had found me, and where we were headed next, suddenly vanished from my mind. The only thing that I could process was the fact that Isaac was kissing me. My heart leapt in my throat, and wild emotions began to clutter my mind. My surroundings became hazy, and I could only see Isaac.

And as quickly as Isaac's kiss came, it left. His eyes opened and he pulled himself away from me. He stared at me, and I could only do the same to him. I vaguely recalled that I was still wearing my white dress, which was an odd thing to think at such a time.

"I'm sorry," Isaac finally apologized, his voice husky and unusually deep. "I shouldn't have done that." He broke our gaze and turned his back, and from where I stood, I could feel his embarrassment. "Follow me, and don't get lost this time… We should go and meet back with Saturos."

Isaac began to walk away. My mind screamed for him to come back. My mind howled to Isaac about how much I truly appreciated what he had done. What Isaac had done needed no apology. Yet instead, no words came forth. I just stood there… dumbly. Subconsciously, my feet followed his steps, but no more words passed between us.

A/N: Yea, I know it's been a while, people. Sorry! The good news is, however, that finals are over, and so is school! I am… so happy… Expect updates to come faster.

I looked back at chapter 5 and hated it. I will probably rewrite it sometime. Icky. Sorry.

I forgot to mention this the previous chapter. "Yalak" is backwards of "Kalay." Come on, people, didn't you see that? Do you think I make funky names up by myself? Well, maybe I do, but not in this story.

Next chapter: Lucky chapter 7: Shattering. Isaac rescues Jenna from the Slates' planet, and the two go back to Weyard. Miracously Weyard is recovering, and humans and Adepts have rebuilt everything. Ivan gets the power of the Golden Sun and uses it to take over the Slates' world. Then, Ivan uses its power to revive Felix, and Jenna is happy. And the world lived happily ever after.

Felix: Yay! I'm alive!

Ivan: Yes! I rule the world!

What the…! I don't have muses. Who are you? …And besides, I was being sarcastic. That doesn't happen at all. Felix, you're supposed to be dead…

Felix and Ivan: Aw…

((Felix dies again))

Anyway… I took Gam3… the guy with a really long time… I took his suggestion of having Isaac save Jenna. Well, I also took a poll with what makes a good romance story, and 3/3 people agreed that the guy should save the girl sometime, but not like the girl's just sitting there doing nothing and waiting for guy to save her. Whew! That was a long sentence.

Acknowledgments: Camelot and Nintendo own Golden Sun, while Razorsoft and Sega own the Slates. YA! I own the plot. Lucky me.