(Yawns)
Whoa! What time is it?
Jenna: Time for you to update!
Really? Well, I'd better get to it then.
(Gets up and starts stumbling around looking for her laptop)
Tiamet: You gave her some of your soup, didn't you?
Jenna: I thought it would help! If people would stop leaving sleeping potions around, my soup would be just fine! It's not even my fault!
Tiamet: We really need to help her. She's trying to type a story out on her cat's back.
Why isn't Microsoft Word working?
(Starts prodding her cat's back repeatedly)
Lily (Her cat): MEEEEEOOOOOW!
Jenna: Can we help her in a moment? I've always wanted to see Oracle get beaten up by her cat.
Tiamet: You're as hopeless as she is.
Nightmare3: Well, Garet is really a sweetie at heart. Piers isn't a moron though, he's just a Mercury Adept who enjoys the rain. As for Mia, she either kicked him or she had slipped her foot so far up Isaac's leg that she could get into his trouser pocket, you pick. I don't usually read Fire Emblem since I'm not very far in the game, but I'll have a look. Thanks again.
raitei: Whoohoo, another review! Hehe, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Don't worry, Mudshipping is one of my favourite pairings too so watch out for more in the upcoming chapters.
Kodoku: I know! But I promise there's more Mudshipping to come! I'm sorry about the long time before updates, but I've been doing my exams lately and it's been difficult finding time to write. Ohh, I'm definitely hooking Felix up with someone and I've finally decided who. All will become clear soon enough. Thanks, I'll update as fast as I can next time.
ryu-kokki-the-tragic: Interesting name. Yay! More kind words and everyone seems to like the pairings too! I'm not saying anything about the possibility of a Felix/Piers pairing. You'll just have to wait like everyone else. Don't worry about the gold. Tiamet isn't allowed to make bets at my expense anymore.
Fullmetalalchemist 1094: Wow! Someone thinks this is the one of the best stories they've ever read. I'm so happy! Thank you so much! Here's a special Djinn shaped cookie for you! (Tosses Fullmetalalchemist 1094 the cookie)
Jupiter Sprite: Ah, the fluff monster has invaded your mind too? He wouldn't leave me alone when I was supposed to be revising for my tests, which is why I'll probably fail. Ah, well. If I do I'll have more time to write. Yummy! Pure fluff cotton candy! Sounds delicious! Again, I'm not saying anything about the Piers/Felix thing, but some readers may be happily surprised.
Myotis: That's weird. No matter how much I try, my stories are never usually funny, yet you thought it was funny? Wonders will never cease! So, a Jupiter Adept fan, huh? You'll like the start of this chapter then. I have to admit, I may have made Piers slightly more OOC than I hoped to. He seems to keep freaking everyone out. Never mind, you guys seem to like him anyway. Thanks a whole bunch!
FireAdept666: Well, I love Mudshipping, but I also like Flameshipping as well, so I won't kill you, yet. A fic can't be really good without a healthy dose of fluff, my dear.
sam: I didn't realise I took so long to update. It's probably because I've been busy for a while with end of year exams, running errands for my mum and cleaning the house since I'm at home all day now, and because I'm about to go on holiday and I've been packing, but worry not! I have not forgotten this story! Yay! Another Mudshipper!
Shineblade: Thank you very much, but seriously, how can fluffiness get to you? It's the best thing ever! No story is complete without a little bit of fluff!
Lighthouse Shipper Zash: Yay! I have fans! I feel so special! Of course I'll make more. In fact, I haven't told anyone this yet, but I'm gonna start another story when I've finished this one and Critical Hit. It's gonna be called The Adept Project and that's all I'm saying for now. You really know how to make a girl feel wanted. Jenna loves ya as well. A Felix lover, eh? Well, he is lovely and fun to write about, but I really can't see him together with Sheba. That's not weird at all. Both games are brilliant whichever way you buy them.
Jenna: Go on, Lily! Bite! Scratch! Claw! Maim!
OWWWWW! My computer is attacking me!
Tiamet: You all need help! Oracle doesn't own Golden Sun or a fully working brain either, apparently. Jenna, if you will.
Jenna: What? Oh, yeah. There some mushy stuff in this chapter. Kissing, hugging, that sort of stuff, but no dirty things so get your minds out of the gutter and start reading.
IMPORTANT AN: I've already had one review requesting that I don't forget about this fic and I don't plan to, but many people may believe that I've forgotten about my other fic, Critical Hit. I assure you all, I haven't. As I've already stated, I've been busy lately and haven't had time to update. I would like to say now that I may not update again on that fic until I've finished this one to prevent me from getting too confused with the two different story lines.
We're All Going on a Summer Holiday
Chapter Five: Laying Around
Blinking back the heavy blanket of sleep covering his eyes, Ivan slowly woke up. He was suddenly finding it very difficult to bring himself out of the dream world this morning, but the longer he kept his eyes open, the more awake he became.
'What's wrong with me?' he thought as he stifled a yawn. 'Why am I so exhausted? It's not as if I did anything tiring yesterday. Come on, Ivan. Wake up!'
He looked around wearily, trying to find something to concentrate on to take his mind off snuggling back into his blanket and surrendering to the sleep. His eyes instantly fell on the still sleeping form of Sheba next to him.
She looked so peaceful, pressed up against his chest with a smile gracing her beautiful face.
Ivan carefully swept a stray strand of blonde hair off her cheek that had dared to disturb her delicate features with its presence. He chuckled slightly when Sheba frowned at his touch and shook her head gently, making the lock of hair to fall back into place across her face.
'At least I have something pleasant to look at,' he reminded himself before he snuggled closer to Sheba's warm body and rested his head on his pillow, allowing himself to silently watch her without disturbing her any further.
As the sun finally rose high enough to send light through their bedroom window, Sheba finally stirred and opened her emerald green eyes.
"Urmm…Ivan? What time is it?" she asked, yawning repeatedly.
"I'm not sure, but I don't think anyone else is awake yet."
"Oh, ok. That's good."
She wrapped her arms around Ivan and laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes once more.
Ivan smiled happily, content to just stay in bed and listen to her heart beat softly under her lilac night dress. He too closed his eyes and began to gently stroke Sheba soft blonde hair with the back of his hand.
A sigh escaped Sheba's lips and she pulled herself closer to him.
Suddenly, without warning, an idea flitted into her mind and her eyes snapped open. She lifted herself up into a sitting position, startling Ivan.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up too.
"Nothing. I just thought of something," was the cheery answer before Sheba jumped out of bed, pulling Ivan with her.
They both stumbled across the room; their bodies still forcing the last of Jenna's soup out of their systems, but they quickly regained their balance and Ivan let Sheba guide him out of the bedroom, into the living room and through the large glass doors onto the wooden decking.
Soon, they were racing each other across the beach, heading in the direction of their ship.
Just before they reached the ramp that led up onto the deck, Ivan finally caught up with Sheba and dived forwards to grab her, accidentally sending them both rolling across the sand.
"Sorry," said Ivan, moving over Sheba so that she was laying underneath him and he was looking down at her.
Without accepting the apology, Sheba grabbed Ivan around the neck and twisted him round in such a way that resulted in him being under her instead. With a cheeky smile, Sheba leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before she gently punched his arm.
"Just don't do it again. Now, come on," she answered, pulling herself up and dusting the sand off of her night dress before she helped Ivan up.
She couldn't help notice that his pale purple shirt had become unbuttoned at the top, revealing a small amount of his chest. With a small smile, she assisted him in undoing the rest of his buttons, allowing her to see the rest of his torso.
Ivan shivered slightly, especially when Sheba trailed a finger along his skin from his neck to his navel, but was soon warmed up by the sun that covered the beach and the sea in a layer of bright white light.
"Come on," Sheba whispered softly into his ear. "We're nearly there."
She took Ivan's hand and ran with him up the ramp of the boat, across the decking to the stern, which overlooked a sparkling ocean.
"Oh, wow," Ivan breathed, not wanted to disturb the perfect view in front of them.
The sun was already above the horizon and made the sky glow in different shades of yellow, orange and gold with blue specks only just shinning through. It was truly spectacular.
The beauty of the scene increased when a light breeze began to whip around them, filled with tiny sand particles that reflected the glorious light and made the air itself glisten.
"I know. I used to come up here on mornings when I was travelling with Felix, Jenna and Piers. The sunrises out on the sea are even more spectacular. Maybe I could show you one some day," Sheba suggested, resting against Ivan's bare chest and letting him hug her close to him.
"I can't think of anything I'd enjoy more," he answered before he kissed her gently.
It really was the start of a perfect morning.
Once again, Felix woke up and found himself laying face to face with his Lemurian room mate. Luckily, he'd gotten used to the surprise and only jumped slightly when he saw Piers closer to him than he was comfortable with. He slowly edged away from his friend until he was a good distance away and could lay on his back, staring at the ceiling in peace.
In the other rooms, Felix could only just hear the sounds of the others waking up and going for breakfast. He was about to get up too when he felt an arm suddenly drape over his chest and something burying into his side. Knowing what he would find, he turned anyway back to his room mate anyway and tried to push Piers away from him, which only resulted in him holding Felix tighter, as if he was a teddy bear.
"Piers get off me," Felix growled even though he knew that Piers couldn't hear him in his unconscious state.
Piers didn't answer and instead made a small whimpering noise, clinging tighter to Felix.
"Piers?"
Felix gently shook the Mercury Adept to wake him, but Piers grabbed his hands instead, holding them firmly as he continued to moan in his sleep.
"Piers, what's wrong? Please, wake up."
With a loud gasp, Piers almost sat up, but then flopped back down onto Felix's chest and continued to sleep.
"You are such a pain!" cried Felix, loud enough to express his annoyance, though not enough to really wake Piers up.
He shoved the Lemurian off of him, perhaps a bit too harshly, and stalked around the bedroom. When he was dressed in a light tan-brown, buttoned shirt and a pair of black knee-length trousers, he left the room with one last lingering look at Piers.
As soon as the door closed, Piers sat up with an almost evil grin on his face, fully awake.
"Well, that certainly was fun," he said to himself, chuckling softly.
"Felix!" Jenna cried in a sing-song voice as she skipped out of the house, still in her night dress and waving a plate of toast around.
The Earth Adept glanced over his shoulder as he pulled his shirt closer around himself to combat the cool morning breeze, glared at his sister, then turned back to his ever present book. All he wanted was some peace and quiet out on the veranda, but it was obvious he wasn't going to get that with everyone else around.
"I've brought you some breakfast," she continued happily.
She sat down on one of the chairs next to Felix at the table and placed the plate in front of him. It didn't take her long before she took one of the slices of toast and began to munch her way through it.
"So, did you sleep well?"
"As well as I could with Piers attached to my side," Felix answered, moodily biting into his own slice of toast.
Jenna snorted in laughter, but stopped when she received a scowl from her brother.
"Oh, come on! It's funny! I really couldn't imagine you two snuggling together in bed, but it would be cute."
"We weren't snuggling! He just started hugging me in his sleep!"
"Uh-huh," said Jenna, not particularly listening to Felix's rambling excuses.
They sat in silence for a while as Felix continued to read and eat his breakfast, and Jenna stared off into the distance with a thoughtful look on his face.
"By the way, where's Garet? I thought you two enjoyed spending time in each others company at this time in the morning."
"We do, but he's still in bed. I think he's tired from yesterday's 'peculiar' events."
"You mean the Attack of Jenna's Killer Soup?"
"Shut up, Felix," Jenna said, punching him gently in the arm. "You know, as weird as this conversation is, I'm actually enjoying it. We never really get to talk anymore."
"I believe a certain Mars Adept named Garet is responsible for that problem."
"Are you two talking about me?" a sleepy voice asked from near the cabin's open door.
"No," was the siblings' joint answer as Garet came over to the table and sat down next to Jenna.
He too was still in his night clothes, which consisted only of a pair of baggy red shorts. Yawning, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and blinked at Jenna and Felix.
"Why are you two up so early?" he asked.
"It's not early. It's late morning," replied Felix in the bored tone he usually used when speaking to Garet. "The only reason no one else is awake is because they're probably still under the effects of Jenna's delightful soup."
"Can we please not talk about that?" asked Jenna. "I would really prefer it if the others didn't find out about what happened."
Felix and Garet glanced at each other, and then nodded.
"Ok, but only if you leave the cooking to someone else for the rest of the holiday," replied Felix.
"Deal."
"What are the plans for today?" Garet asked, crossing his arms on top of the table and resting his head on them.
Both Jenna and Felix shrugged.
"Hang around on the beach again. I doubt the others will be up for much today," answered Jenna. "So, we might as well relax."
"Oh, ok."
Unfortunately, none of them were prepared for a couple of obviously awake Jupiter Adepts who suddenly ran up the stairs, through the doors of their cabin and into their bedroom in a matter of seconds.
Their three friends could only watch and stare.
"Did either of you know those two were awake?" asked Felix and, as he expected, Jenna and Garet shook their heads.
"Wow!" gasped Garet. "I wonder where those two are going in such a hurry."
He blinked when the two siblings stared at him with knowing looks on their faces.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"Mia…Mia, wake up…Come on, Mia…please wake up…"
Finally, the sleeping healer slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at a pair of blue eyes, which were only inches away from her face. She cried out in shock and jumped up, accidentally bumped heads with whoever was hovering over her.
"Owww! Isaac! What were you doing? You scared me!" Mia yelled, rubbing her sore forehead.
"I'm sorry," replied Isaac, casting cure over the small bruise that was forming on Mia's pale skin before healing his own darkening bruise just above his left eye. "I was just trying to wake you up. We may have a small problem."
"What?"
Isaac slid off the side of the bed and walked over to the door out of their room. He grabbed the door handle and twisted it, which would normally result in opening the door, but it stayed firmly in place.
"I don't know why, but we may or may not be locked in our room."
"Huh?"
Still half asleep, Mia got out of bed and stumbled across the floor towards Isaac, tripping at the last moment and falling into his open arms. She looked up and smiled at the Earth Adept.
"Sorry. I guess I'm not quite awake yet."
"I know how you feel. I can't seem to wake up either," Isaac replied, trying to prevent himself from yawning again. "I think something strange happened yesterday that we're not aware of."
He tried to open the door again and after still finding it locked, he began to bang on the door.
He paused in his attempt to open the door and sent a small earthquake through the floor into the door frame, which would loosen the door frame and allow them to remove the door itself.
Unfortunately, the door stayed firmly in place.
"Hello? Anyone there? Can someone open the door?" Mia called out, pressing herself up against the wooden door to try to hear any noises coming from the cabin's main room.
When no one answered, they both sat back down on the bed, Mia still held tightly in Isaac's arms.
"Something tells me we're going to be seeing a lot of this room today," Isaac sighed, but perked up when Mia pulled the bed covers over their heads and started giggling.
As soon as he heard the giggling coming from inside Isaac and Mia's room, Piers backed away from the door, a large smile on his face. He turned and jumped back with a small yelp when he found Felix standing behind him.
"What are you doing?" asked the Venus Adept, peering around Piers to look at the ice that was covering the outside of the bedroom door.
With a finger pressed to his lips, Piers pulled Felix away from the door, to prevent the couple on the other side from hearing them, and dragged him over to the sofas.
"I am preventing the love struck couples from spending another day being 'lovey-dovey' as Kraden so often calls it. If they are all in their rooms, then we can go to the beach alone and relax without having to put up with them and their kissing."
Felix blinked, then smirked at his friend and said, "I think the sea water is making you even madder than usual, but it's a good plan. Can I be of any assistance?"
"But of course," was the reply as Piers smiled happily and looked out of the windows at Jenna and Garet who were still sitting at the table on the veranda. "Just lure those two into their bedroom while I freeze Ivan and Sheba's door closed."
Although it was something Felix didn't want to do with a great passion, he nodded reluctantly and headed over to where his sister and Garet were sitting while Piers quickly ran to the room next to his and began to freeze it closed as he listened to the two Jupiter Adepts.
Ivan slowly ran his free hand through Sheba's short blonde hair while his other hand cupped her face gently as he kissed her.
Neither of the mind readers said anything as they curled into each other and continued to kiss each other softly on the lips.
'Maybe this is a bad idea,' Piers thought when the noises from within the room reached his ears, making him blush slightly at the idea of the two young teenagers being left alone together for the whole day.
The warm wind coming from over the sea washed over the beach, causing sand to drift up into the air and catch the light of the sun. Soon, the sky was full of the glittering grains of sand, which swirled and twirled around in an elegant dance.
Jenna watched the beautiful sight in wonder as the wind swept her loose hair away from her face and behind her, giving her long locks the appearance of an auburn wave.
A smile graced her face as Garet popped up behind her and planted a small kiss on her cheek.
Neither of them said anything as they basked in each other's company and gazed at the wondrous view in front of them, that is until Felix bounded out of the cabin towards them, wearing a peculiar expression that contained both guilt at what he was about to do and excitement.
"Jenna? Garet? Don't you think you two should be getting ready to go down to the beach?" he asked, desperately trying to avoid their gazes out of his nervousness.
"Why all the rush? I quite like it right here at the moment," answered Garet as he nuzzled Jenna's neck.
Ignoring the impulse to slam his fist into Garet's face, Felix looked away and said, "Yes, but…urm…Isaac, he challenged you to a …urm…swimming race and he called you a …a…chicken if you back down."
He grimaced at his really bad attempt to come up with an excuse, but he was surprised when Garet shot off into the cabin with Jenna's hand held tightly in his, shouting, "You're on, Isaac! And don't think you have to go easy on me because I'm a Mars Adept! I'll kick your butt anyway!"
The last thing that the startled brunette heard as he stood frozen on the veranda was the slam of Garet and Jenna's bedroom door.
"Was that Garet?" asked Isaac as he sat up in his bed.
"Who cares?" Mia replied, wrapping her arms around Isaac's chest and pulling him back under the covers.
Wasting no time at all, Piers soon had the last door frozen closed and headed back to his own bedroom where Felix was waiting.
"What do we say when they ask us why we did this?" Felix asked as he searched through his bag for his swimming shorts.
"We say that it is pay back for the pranks they continuously play on us, which is partially true. The whole truth portrays us as being more than a bit selfish since this is supposed to be a joint holiday, but we do deserve our own private time."
Felix murmured an agreement, then discarded his shirt and shorts and pulled on a pair golden brown swimming shorts, which he'd found underneath a pile of dirty clothes. He turned to see Piers was also changed and now wore a similar pair of shorts only his were a light turquoise.
"Shall we go?" asked the Lemurian as he swung a clean towel over his shoulder.
"Sure."
The two boys headed out into the main room, making sure to be very quiet in case the others heard them.
Luckily, their friends were all a bit too busy to notice at the moment.
Felix grabbed the small picnic that had been prepared earlier while Piers checked all the doors, and then they both made their way outside, down the wooden steps and onto the beach.
They chose a nice shaded spot on the sand and began laying out their towels.
It wasn't long before they were both happily sunbathing and relaxing without any unnecessary noise to disturb them.
"How dare they!" cried Ivan as he looked out of his bedroom window later that day. "I can't believe them!"
Sheba nodded in agreement and joined Ivan by the window. They could just see two figures running around in the sea, splashing and laughing.
"I mean, look at them! They're out there having a good time while we're in here without food or anything!"
"Ivan…"
"I know we were slightly mean to Felix while we were on the boat, but if this really fair?"
"Ivan…"
"As soon as I get out of here, they'll be sorry…"
The angry Jupiter Adept stopped ranting suddenly when a pair of lips pressed against his.
"Would it kill you to be quiet even for a little while?" Sheba asked as she pulled away slightly.
"I guess not," was the hurried answer before both Wind Adepts were kissing again.
As a small sea bird flew over head, Felix lay back on one of the towels with his arms beneath his head and stared up at the sky. His chest shone with droplets of water from the sea and his soaked hair was spread out around his head in order to dry it.
Piers was in a similar position on the towel next to the brunette, but he was sitting up with his legs crossed, gazing at the sea in front of them.
"Are you enjoying yourself?"
Looking down at his friend, Piers nodded.
"Yeah. I'm glad we came. Especially you. You've needed a break from everything for a while," the Lemurian answered, flipping his blue hair over his shoulder.
"I guess I have been over doing it a bit."
"Over doing it a bit?" Piers cried suddenly. "Now, that's an understatement. I'm surprised you didn't keel over from all that work you were doing back in Vale. It wasn't necessary."
Felix shook his head slowly.
"No, it was necessary. I caused what happened. I'm only doing what I need to do to ease my conscious."
The Venus Adept closed his eyes to shut out the piercing eyes of Piers, but the uncomfortable feeling of being watched stayed with him. He opened his eyes very slightly to see Piers still looking at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Your hair," was the reply.
"What about my hair?"
"The sun's turned it golden. With it spread around your face like that, it…it looks like a halo and makes you look like an angel."
This made Felix's eyes widen as he stared at Piers curiously. No one had ever compared him to an angel before. He froze when he felt a hand casually run through his hair, playing with the strands of chocolaty brown locks. He didn't move at all, allowing the hand to continue fiddling with the stray bits of gold that had somehow found their way in amongst the russet. It actually felt quite nice.
Finally gathering the courage, he gulped and asked Piers what he was doing.
"Nothing. Your hair just looks so much smoother than mine, I just wanted to see what it felt like. It's not fair that you get it all to yourself."
Although it sounded like a weird excuse, Felix let Piers play with his hair for a while longer and was relieved when the Lemurian finally let his hand drop back to his side and lay back on his towel to get some rest.
'As if this holiday couldn't get any weirder,' thought Felix before he drifted off into a light sleep with only the soft breathing of Piers next to him to disturb the silence.
That evening, after Felix and Piers had returned from the beach and the others had been released from their rooms, the gangs had gathered on the wooden veranda watching a beautiful sunset.
Although the couples were annoyed by having to stay in their rooms all day, they didn't seem too upset by the company they had so all was forgiven.
Everyone was silent as they enjoyed the calm night in each other's companionship, but all was disturbed when Sheba gasped suddenly and became stiff in Ivan's arms.
All eyes turned to her and Ivan asked in a concerned and fearful voice, "What is it?"
"We have to go back to Vale. I can sense trouble. A storm is approaching the town," she answered, her eyes closed as she let the vision flash through her mind.
Felix sighed sadly.
"I guess our holiday's been cut short then," he said, standing up. "We'd better leave tomorrow if we're going to get back in time to help."
Everyone groaned and followed Felix as he headed back inside.
"What a pain!" Jenna complained angrily, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting cutely.
"It is our duty to protect Vale, Jenna," said Piers as he passed her to get to his room. "Without it, what will be there to protect the Sol Sanctum?"
"A large pile of rocks that's what's left of Mount Aleph, that's what," muttered Garet.
Piers shook his head as he smiled at Garet's words and entered the bedroom with Felix.
They both turned away from each other to get changed, and then got into the bed together.
"Have you enjoyed this holiday?" Piers asked Felix as they listened to the sounds of the others getting into bed as well.
Felix rolled over under the covers to face Piers and smiled before replying, "I guess I have. You know, I first thought this trip was going to be a mini disaster, but it hasn't been that bad. Perhaps we should do it again in the future."
"But maybe next time we could go alone."
"What do you mean?" asked Felix, raising an eyebrow at Piers' remark.
"Well, you said yourself that a bad point of this holiday was having to share a cabin with several love struck couples. Next time, we should go alone so we do not have to put up with them again," answered Piers, a grin lighting up his face.
Felix smiled broadly and nodded.
"Yeah, I think I'd like that."
Whispering a sleepy 'good night', Felix closed his eyes as he started to drift off to sleep. He didn't even mind when he felt Piers' arm slide around him or when the Lemurian shifted towards him so that they were in each other's embrace. He did open his eyes in shock when a pair of lips suddenly pressed up against his. All he could see was a blur of blue hair because his room mate was so close to him.
For a moment, Felix wanted to push Piers away, but he slowly got used to the feeling and began to fall into the kiss. His own arm found its way around Piers' waist and, to his surprise, felt very comfortable there.
'Yes, this has been a good holiday', Felix thought as he deepened the kiss and the two boys melded into each other perfectly.
There! I did it! Let the flaming begin! Felix and Piers are together at last!
Jenna: It's just so weird! My brother! Kissing Piers! Ewwwwww!
Just so everyone knows this is the second to last chapter. The next will be the last.
Jenna: ….
Oh, don't get all upset on me. There'll be more stories to come.
Jenna: It's not that.
Then what?
Jenna: I wanna spend more time on the beach with Garet! (Runs off crying)
Tiamet: Oh, for pity's sake!
I'll sort her out. You do the end bit. (Goes off after Jenna)
Tiamet: Ok then. Read, then review. That's all there is to it. Not too hard, is it?