Hello! This is my very first fanfiction so, please, no flames. If there's something you hate, please tell me about it.

Small bits of mudshipping, windshipping, and the rare ketchupshipping (Picard/Jenna)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has do with Golden Sun or Tales of Symphonia (just to be safe)

On with the story!

A lone ship with a unique structure sailed through the oceans east of Hesperia. Judging from the waves trailing behind it, the vessel had just come from the northern territories of Prox. The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was transforming from a clear blue to a majestic red. The vehicle was traveling at a slow, leisurely pace as it made its way through the calm sea. It was this exquisite ship, in fact, that was carrying the recent saviors of Weyard.

Jenna leaned back against the railing and closed her eyes as the wind played with her hair. For a few moments, she didn't move, enjoying the gentle breeze. Opening her eyes, she then surveyed her surroundings.

She was standing at the starboard of the Lemurian ship that Picard owned. To her left, Isaac, Mia, and Isaac's father, Kyle, were sitting on a few crates, talking. No doubt, Isaac was introducing Mia to his father. Kyle seemed amused that his son had somehow managed to find a girlfriend in the midst of saving the world from a potentially apocalyptic threat. Kraden was also nearby and he, along with the adepts, seemed to be explaining to Kyle what exactly happened on their journey.

Ivan and Sheba both claimed the crow's nest above her. With their dynamic Jupiter-aligned powers, they were more suited to be a lookout for the adventurers rather than Venus, Mercury or Mars. Jenna also suspected that the position gave the two younger adepts some private time to themselves. She'd spotted them at the inn in Prox talking to each other and had guessed that they had kind of a thing for each other.

Directly in front of her, her fiancée, Picard, was steering the ship and her childhood friend, Garet, was watching over his shoulder, trying to master the art of driving. Jenna giggled a bit when she recalled the day when the Lemurian native had, reluctantly, let the fiery Mar adept take over as pilot to attempt to land the ship at the frozen river near Prox. It turned out to be one of Picard's greatest regrets of his life when the ship abruptly crashed into the ice simply because Garet had forgotten how to use the brakes. Fortunately, Prox had the supplies available to repair the ship as well as enough workmen to accomplish the job but, consequently, it had cost the adepts a pretty penny as well. Afterwards, Picard wisely decided never to let Garet pilot the craft so, instead, the stubborn Mars adept tried to learn how to operate the ship by watching Picard drive.

Jenna stopped suddenly and looked around. Someone was missing. She gazed upon the open deck, searching wildly while her brain tried to figure out who exactly was missing. It couldn't be her parents because they were preparing dinner. Then it hit her like a lightning bolt. She scowled when she realized that the missing person, who should be out on the deck, enjoying the peaceful, calm weather, was her brother, Felix.

It figures he should be cooped up somewhere in the ship, she thought, given the way he's been acting these past few days…

A couple of days ago, when the Lemurian vessel began its one-week voyage to Vale, Felix had been acting quite anti-social, despite the fact that Jenna had seen him laughing with joy when he realized that his parents were going to survive the wounds that had been inflicted upon them. He had shut himself in his room, only coming out for meals. Even then, he often sat away from the group, regardless of the fact that they had tried to persuade him to join with them. Isaac, Garet, Jenna, and his parents all tried to get him to come out of his room but Felix wouldn't answer at all.

That changes now, thought Jenna as violent, angry thoughts swirled around in her mind while she strolled away from the deck and towards the door that lead to the interior of the ship. As she opened the door, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Jenna!" Picard called out, a bit surprised by her abrupt departure, "Where're you going?"

"To knock some sense into my idiot brother!" was her reply as she fiercely wrenched the door open and stormed inside. As she stepped in, she heard a couple of chuckles before she slammed the door closed.

It didn't take long for Jenna to arrive in front of Felix's room. By then, her initial fury had subsided and started to contemplate a reasonable way to get her brother to open his door. After a couple of moments of thinking, she decided to knock a couple of times and see her brother's reaction.

Jenna rapped on the door three times, then stepped back and waited. Nothing happened.

"Felix!" She yelled, "I know you're in there! Open up!"

There was still no response. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought the room would be empty.

Her anger had risen up tenfold and she bellowed, "FELIX! OPEN UP THIS DOOR BEFORE I BURN IT DOWN!"

Jenna glared at the door as if willing it to open. There was still no indication of her brother. Not even any shuffling or footsteps.

"Fine. Have it your way." She declared in a low voice. In her right hand, fire suddenly blazed into existence. She cocked up her hand up, as if to pitch the flames at the door, when suddenly the door swung open and revealed the tall figure of her brother, Felix.

"Jenna!" He whispered harshly. "Put that out!"

Jenna complied and the flames suddenly vanished from her hand. At the same time, she leapt in the room and slammed the door shut in one smooth motion. Then she turned, placed her hands on her hips and glared at the impassive Venus adept, who crossed his arms and stared back at her.

"What's with you, Felix!" she immediately burst out, "You've been sitting cooped up in your room all this time, being so damned anti-social, not even answering your door! We've been trying to find out what's wrong with you these past few days! If you've been having troubles, we could've helped you-"

"And I suppose bursting into my room, threatening to burn down the door, would've made me feel better." Felix replied in that cool tone he'd developed during the past three years with Saturos and Menardi.

Jenna's glare grew sharper and she was about to violently snap back at her brother when some inner, nagging voice advised her to calm down. Listening to that voice made her realize that if she kept this argument up, nothing would be accomplished. So she bit back her retort and instead sat on the un-made bed behind her. At the same time, Felix shut the door, strolled directly across the confined room, sat on a lone chair and started staring at the wall.

"…Felix, please," Jenna started in a calm voice. "I really want to know if anything's bothering you."

Felix continued staring at the wall for a few moments until the Venus adept finally turned to face her. There was some sort of expression on his face that Jenna couldn't decipher. Was it regret? Or sorrow? Her brother then started speaking slowly, as if choosing his words carefully, in a neutral tone.

"Since that fateful night three years ago when the Mt. Aleph boulder crashed down on Vale and my parents, Isaac's dad, and myself were caught in it, everyone thought I was dead," Felix continued to stare at her while the mystery expression slowly began to reveal itself. "Then, all of a sudden, I reappeared alive and well in Sol Sanctum. But I had changed drastically. Along with Saturos, Menardi, and Alex, I was stealing the Elemental Stars—a forbidden action. And then, all this happened. I ended up lighting all the lighthouses. I even convinced Isaac, who was sent to stop me from doing that." Here, he paused and took a deep breath and opened his mouth to continue but Jenna held up a hand to signal him to stop.

"Felix, I don't understand," she said. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Let me ask you a question: how did you feel back at Sol Sanctum when you found out I was alive?"

Jenna was taken aback at the question. Why? Why is he asking me all this? And why can't he just tell me his problem instead of taking his time? Her brother was still waiting for a response so she started to reply.

"At first, I felt disbelief but then it transformed into anger. All this time I thought you were dead. You could've come back to me and I didn't understand why you stayed away all those years. When I realized you were stealing the elemental stars, my anger increased tenfold. Of course, I didn't realized you were doing it for a just cause," it was the complete, honest truth. Thinking back, she suddenly realized how naïve she was back then.

Felix slowly nodded, "I see. And if that's the way you felt then there's no reason why the other villagers at Vale shouldn't act like you did."

Jenna stared at her brother, trying to make some sense out of that last statement. What did he mean? The other villagers have no reason to act…like…I…did, finally, it all clicked in place. Understanding flashed across her face when she stood up.

"Are you…afraid to go back to Vale?" she asked. It was apparent, however, that both siblings already knew the answer.

Felix slowly nodded as the mystery expression finally revealed itself: dread. "Yeah…"

Jenna was quiet for a few moments. Suddenly, a thought entered her mind and she walked up to her brother with a strange glint in her eye. Opening her mouth, she asked, "What are you planning to do when we get there?"

Felix stood up and started to pace around while pondering for an answer, "I was planning to maybe stay with Picard and keep him company. I know he was banished from Lemuria so I thought I'd try and find both of us a home. After all, it's better than staying in a town that probably wants to kill me," he snorted.

So, that's his plan, Jenna thought as anger suddenly boiled within her. Whirling around, she suddenly yelled out, "WHAT? You're just gonna run away from your problems just like that?"

Felix jumped, quite startled. Turning to face her, he replied, "Well, what would you do in a situation like?"

Jenna ignored him and started marching toward him. Unconsciously, her brother started backing away. She yelled at him again, "Look, if you haven't noticed, you selfish idiot, all of us could help you out! Isaac and Garet are both looking forward to having you as a friend rather than a comrade! Our parents want to be a normal family again! The others may not be from Vale but they'd be willing to support you! Who cares if our neighbors hate you! We all want you to stay! I want you to stay!" Felix had suddenly stopped moving and it was then that Jenna realized that he had backed up against the wall with a shocked expression on his face.

"Jenna…" he whispered, utterly startled at his sister's sudden outburst.

Jenna backed off her brother with a similar expression while avoiding his gaze. "Oh god, Felix, I'm sorry about that. I…it was just that…I meant…" she fumbled around for a sufficient response before Felix cut her off.

"No, Jenna, it's okay. You don't have to apologize" her brother said, gently. When she looked up, the Venus adept had a rare smile on his face. "I needed that. Thank you."

Whatever she had been expecting, it certainly hadn't been that. She could only blurt out, "Um…what?"

Felix chuckled before replying, "I meant that ear-splitting rave three seconds ago. What you said—or yelled, rather—made me realize just how much everyone cared about me. Sure, we've been traveling together for an expanded amount of time, but I've never discovered how involved I was in this bond of friendship we all share."

Jenna felt a small, warm smile materialize on her face and she punched her brother lightly on the arm. "You dork. Everyone on this ship regards you as a loyal companion and a treasured friend, even if you do act somewhat single-minded. No one cares about your past. It's your present self that we all cherish."

Felix grinned again and he enveloped his sister in a gentle hug, "Sorry for being such a horrible brother for these past days…no, three years. I'll make it up to you when…when we get to Vale."

Jenna hugged him back and both siblings stayed in each other's arms for a few moments. When they parted, the two were feeling considerably better than they were a few days ago. After a moment, Felix tilted his head towards the door.

"Let's leave this cramped room and go out to the deck. I need some fresh air after having spent a couple of days indoors," he said. Jenna nodded and she let her brother lead her towards the entrance of his quarters. Just as he neared the door, it suddenly flew open and Picard half-stumbled in. Jenna jumped and emitted a small shriek while Felix simply blinked at the abrupt appearance of his Lemurian friend.

Picard's gaze shifted from Venus adept to Mars adept. When he looked up, there was an amused expression on his face. "Ah…am I interrupting something?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

Jenna grinned as she sauntered towards the Mercury adept to give him a hug. When she leaned back, she answered, "Don't worry about it. We were just leaving, anyway."

Picard smiled as he looked over at Felix. "So, you managed to knock some sense into his head, eh?" he said, with a teasing tone.

Felix shook his head while keeping a grin on his face. "What exactly was so important that you had to barge in and interrupt our special brother-sister moment?" he asked in a laid-back tone.

The Lemurian had a relaxed expression on his face. Jenna could tell he was relieved that Felix had finally crawled out of his shell. "Barge? I knocked three times on the door and when you didn't answer, I tried the door, even though I was expecting it to be locked," he answered.

Both siblings suddenly stared at Picard as if he'd suddenly turned into a djinn. "Really?" they asked at the same time. The duo then realized this, looked at each other in surprise, and looked awkwardly around the room. Felix coughed a few times and answered, "Well, I guess we were so caught up in the moment that we never heard you knock," Jenna nodded vigorously.

Picard chuckled at the siblings' uncomfortable situation and decided to change the subject. "Well, in response to your previous question, Felix, I came down here to call you for dinner. I'm sure everyone would be pleased to see back to your normal self," he said.

"Yeah!" Jenna agreed while the trio. "This'll definitely be the most liveliest meal we've ad since we left that frozen wasteland!" She took Picard's hand and half-dragged him down the hall while yelling, "C'mon Felix, everyone's waiting for us!"

Felix watched his sister drag his Lemurian friend down the hall and disappearing around corner. He didn't follow them yet, instead, he marveled at the events that had occurred in the past 5 minutes. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes in thought.

One moment, I'm drowning in my own thoughts and the next my sister's yelling at me for being such a blind idiot. How could I have forgotten that my friends held me in such high regard?

Felix snorted at the thought as his mind came up with an answer. No, I didn't forget. I've just been clinging on to the fact that, because of my past, my friends had probably distrusted me. For me to have been keeping that thought in my head throughout the entire journey…

Abruptly, his thoughts were interrupted by an angry, annoyed yell from somewhere inside the ship. "FELIX! GET OVER HERE BEFORE I PERSONALLY BURN YOU TO A CRISP!"

Felix chuckled a bit at his sister's outburst. She really cared about him, more than he thought. Even at the Mercury lighthouse, when Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia were about to meet their possible deaths, she still cared about him.

I'm really lucky to have a sister like her. I guess this is her paying back for all the times I looked out for her.

The Venus adept, feeling like a changed man, pushed off against the wall and strolled off towards the cafeteria, with a smile that hadn't appeared since that fateful night in Vale three years ago.

THE END

What did you think? If/When you review, please comment not only on the story but as well as the title and summary, e.g. was it fitting? Thanks for reading!

PS: Note that the title of this story is the same as one of Raine's titles from Tales of Symphonia.