I'm back from the grave! It's been forever since I last wrote, but I'm back again to try something new (for me, at least)—Shonen ai (or however you spell it) A/N I might use the names piers and picard- I need to regulate my writing better

If you're offended by the idea of two men loving each other then please leave. And please, don't flame me simply because of the subject matter. Please give constructive criticism as to why you don't like the story- a "this sucks" doesn't help me at all, and it's my job to improve my writing.

This is somewhat based upon the song "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. You may want to listen to the song before you read my story.

So, without further ado, I present to you my disclaimer:

(dial tone- phone rings four times)

BEEP- hello, you've reached -. I don't own Golden Sun, or any of the characters in it, or the song or music video "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls (A/N: the GGD are awesome-listen to them if you haven't yet!) So please leave a review and I'll get back to you as soon as-HEY! Felix! Piers! Stop that!

p.s. if possible, watch the music video for "Iris" before you read this. It isn't imperative, but it may clarify the story a bit.

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I don't think that they'd understand

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A deluge of rain fell outside Felix's window in his small cottage in Vale. Even two years after Alchemy had been unleashed upon Weyard, the scars from those last battles were like open wounds.

I nearly killed my own parents……

The agony of almost watching his parents die had long-lasting effects on Felix. He knew they were alive and well-they visited him nearly every day. And they were concerned….always concerned.

Everyone worries about me….why don't they just leave me the hell alone!

"I just want to be left alone. I like being by myself." That was the well-woven lie Felix used every single time his parents expressed their worry over him. The truth couldn't be farther from that lie. Felix detested being alone. He loathed the long hours he spent in the cold, empty cottage, staring out the window, watching other people go on with their happy lives.

All their lives are so happy, so what's wrong with me?

Felix wasn't truly alone. He had his friends, the seven other Adepts whom he traveled with for three years on their quest to release Alchemy upon the world. They were true and dear friends-even his kid sister Jenna, who had a kind and loving side underneath the fiery cries for vengeance. (Nearly everything was a killing offense for Jenna). And he loved his friends-he truly did. He visited with them often, and laughed along with them in their times of joy. These visits were remedy for his pain-pain of loneliness, but more importantly, his pain of fear. Fear that people would learn the truth about him.

Casting one final glance to the rain outside, Felix rose from his position in the chair by the window and climbed upstairs to his favorite part of the cottage

His observatory.

It wasn't an observatory in the academic sense. It was a tiny tower room perched upon the roof of his cottage in which he had placed a few telescopes. However, he lived rather close to the ruins of Mt. Aleph, and thus was at a higher altitude than most of the village. He could have nearly every house in Vale under his surveillance if he so desired.

But he wasn't interested on spying on his neighbors. As usual, he was searching for his companions. Despite the rain outside, he knew either Mia or Ivan would be out at some point today-both of them loved the rain.

He swirled the telescope around near Isaac's house. Seeing no one, he scanned his aided eye further south…towards the river.

Help me….please….I can't hold on much longer. The water is crushing my lungs. Please, help me! I don't want to die!

Struggling for breath, Felix once again fought off the old memory of near death seven years ago. He sometimes had the courage to venture forth into the river, but he always maintained strong caution when he was near.

Sure enough, someone was outside in the downpour. He saw the vague movements of a human a short distance from the river. From the looks of it, there were Djinn with them-meaning it was one of his beloved friends. He focused in on the figure and saw a flash of blue. His throat tightened and his heart raced. Could it be?

Are you here once again? You've been gone for so long, what seems like forever. I've so much to tell you…so much you have to know.

It was only Mia, taking her Djinn out to play. Nevertheless, Felix felt a smile around his lips. Mia's nurturing side always shone through. Watching the way she kept a watchful eye on nine mischievous water Djinn, he knew that one day, she'd be an excellent mother.

Sighing, his eye left the magnifying power of the telescope. It was too much to hope for. Every day, he'd looked out that window, looking for his one true friend who was not living in Vale. Who, despite his many protests, had decided that Vale was not the right place to live.

Tears flooded Felix's eyes as he thought of his best friend. It had been over a year since they'd last seen each other. Was it possible that despite the long and harrowing journey to salvage the world from utter catastrophe, Piers, his best friend, had forgotten him? As he'd said, "Time passes slowly in Lemuria. What is years to outsiders is mere minutes to us." To Piers, he had last seen Felix but a minute ago. Hardly enough time to miss him. But for Felix, and all those outside of Lemuria, it had been more than a year. And to his pained, breaking heart, it seemed like a century. An hour for Piers.

Felix couldn't take it any longer. The loneliness was slowly wearing away his sanity and will to live. Even though he saw his friends often, it wasn't enough to live by. Besides, they were all happily falling in love, preparing to start new chapters in their lives. Felix wanted to fall in love as well-he felt like he already had. But it was forbidden by the laws of Vale. The age-old code which heralded the sanctity of a love between a man and a woman. This law frustrated Felix-did they think there was no other kind of love? That a mother couldn't love her daughter, and could only love her son because he was a male? And a father was forbidden to love his son? He knew that was not the way the law was to be interpreted, but Felix believed that love had no such bounds. He knew it didn't. He only wished the elders of Vale would see things his way.

The punishment for homosexual love in Vale was banishment from the village. They could not return, not even for visits to family members and friends. They were permitted to send letters to their loved ones, and their relatives and friends could leave to visit them. But the outcast was exiled, never to return.

Felix didn't want exile from Vale. True, he hated the ancient law, and was pretty much tired of the village that haunted him with chilling memories, but he couldn't leave his friends. So he knew what he had to do: leave the village unnoticed and return without anyone knowing his absence. It would be easy enough, seeing as he only saw his parents, Jenna, Isaac, Mia, Garet, Ivan, and Sheba regularly, and he knew he could trust them.

He wrote a quick note to Jenna.

Jenna,

I'm leaving the village for a while. I don't want you to come after me. Trust me-I'm fine. I promise I'll come back. I'll be fine on my journey, so you can tell Mom and Dad not to worry. I'm tired of people worrying about me so much. Please take care and I'll see you when I return.

Felix.

While Felix threw some belongings into a traveler's pack, he thought of his companions. What would they think about him leaving? Would they fret over his absence? He already knew that answer was yes. However, he had a feeling that Jenna would understand his need to leave, and wouldn't try to follow him. She could read him better than she could a book.

Soon, darkness fell over the tiny village. The lights were extinguished in the small houses. The rain finally subsided, and a bit of the weight on Felix's shoulders was lifted as he shut the door of his cottage with an air of finality and crept into the ink darkness.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder….

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Bleh. Sorry, guys, but I can't write today for some reason. Probably because I'm looking more forward to the next part of the story…hehehe…..Anyway, please read, review, enjoy a few cheesy snacks, etc. I have to go pry apart my muses.

Felix and Piers: NOOOOO!