A/N: I came up with the idea for this story out of nowhere, really. I've been on a bit of a GS binge lately (starting replaying GS1 a week or two ago, and I've been reading fics) and the need to do this just suddenly came up. I hope you all enjoy!
There was something wrong. Garet wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he had a heart the size of his huge fists, and he could always tell.
Isaac was gazing off at the distance as the ship moved across the smooth waves beneath it. His expression wasn't troubled, but there was something about the way he was just standing there, staring away, not moving, barely breathing. It was a cold night, too, and those who weren't Mars or Mercury Adepts, both of whom were resistant to the cold, would have been wise to be wearing their cloaks.
Isaac wasn't.
Garet was on guard, his normal position on the ship, and was watching Isaac carefully. He worried about his friend sometimes, when things got quiet again. Normally, Isaac put on a good show of being tough and unaffected by what went on, but Garet knew that, on the inside, Isaac was tormented by what had gone on at Venus Lighthouse.
He hadn't wanted to let Saturos and Menardi die.
He hadn't wanted to let Felix leave.
He hadn't wanted to stop searching for Sheba.
There were so many things that Isaac regretted that Garet could barely stand it.
Garet had known Isaac since he was very small. Garet knew Isaac better than he knew his own sword, better than he knew his way around Vale. He knew Isaac was in pain. He could so easily see that Isaac was beating himself up over things he had no control over, and it hurt him to see his best friend feeling so... disturbed. But what could he do? Garet wasn't good with words, and he wasn't into using physical gestures like hugs to comfort men. The man he admired most in the entire world, for a range of reasons, was depressed and unhappy, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Battle just seemed to make Isaac worse, and that was the only thing Garet was really, really good at.
Garet sighed and looked off at the horizon. Maybe... maybe Isaac was really ok, and he was just over-thinking things.
He frowned. Probably not.
---
Mia watched Isaac as he slugged back in from the cold deck of the ship. He looked... miserable, his dark blue eyes shadowed by some unseen pain lurking behind them. He looked tired and unhappy, something that Mia had never seen him appear before. His spiky blond hair even seemed to droop with his brooding depression, giving him a sort of comical look.
But there was nothing comical about the way he felt.
Mia was very worried about him. Though Isaac was always quiet, he was never... withdrawn. Mia frowned as she watched him sit down at a table, sigh, and pull a goblet full of water towards him. She wondered what could have been affecting him in such a way that he began to become a shadow of his former self.
The battle at the Venus Lighthouse, certainly. But it had to be more.
Was it that he had lost Jenna yet again? That he had let one of his best friends slip through his fingers for the second time?
Or maybe it was that he had let Faran down by not finding Sheba?
Undoubtedly, it was both.
Mia cared very much for Isaac, and the fact that he was in so much pain over these things made her sick to her stomach. She wanted to help him, but she could think of no way that could ease his suffering. Ply only went so far.
But she was a human, too. A compassionate, kindly one at that. Maybe she could try to talk to him, maybe cheer him up a little?
But she didn't know how. True, she knew Isaac very well, but she had never seen him like this before and had no experience at cheering him up at all. She knew what made him happy, but what would lift him out of depression...?
The door to the hold opened, and Garet trudged in. "Damned cold." he muttered. "Sorry, Isaac, but I'm not waitin' out there any more for something that's not gonna come."
Isaac nodded tiredly, not saying anything. He took another swig of water.
Garet looked helplessly at Mia, who shrugged. Then, she jerked her head at the other door in the hold. Garet looked at the door, then moved toward it. Mia got up and walked over to it as well, turning to say to Isaac, "We'll be back in a little while, ok, Isaac?"
Isaac gestured vaguely with his hand, showing his understanding.
---
What could he have done better, done differently? He had screwed up badly, and now, everything was wrong.
Two people dead. Five missing (counting Alex, who he didn't care much about). Idejima had disappeared. Babi was on the verge of death. Faran had lost his daughter.
And the Lighthouse had been lit.
What could Isaac have done? He asked himself this over and over, never getting a satisfactory answer. Lives had been ruined because of him. It was all his fault, and he would never forgive himself.
He should have tried to save Saturos and Menardi. The probably had people who cared about them in whatever far-off land they came from... who was Isaac to deprive them of their two beloved friends? How could he have let them fall into the Lighthouse as it cracked?
Felix had gotten away, though he, too, was probably dead. Not even an Adept could survive a fall from hundreds of feet in the air... except a Jupiter Adept. He had let his friend die for nothing.
Why? Why had this happened?
Isaac was tired, and his mind hurt. Though he probably would suffer through another sleepless night, he wanted to close his eyes for a while. He got up and walked to the door that Garet and Mia had gone through a few minutes before.
He opened the door and was surprised at what he saw.
Garet and Mia were sitting on boxes, staring intently at him, something clutched in their hands. They both got up and walked over to him, concerned expressions on their faces. "Are you all right, Isaac?" Mia asked, frowning slightly. "You've been depressed ever since we set sail from Lavilero."
"We're worried about you, man." Garet affirmed.
"I'm all right." Isaac said, looking past them. "Just tired. So let me go, I want to go to bed."
"No, Isaac." Garet said, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder and holding him back. "You're not all right. You're hurting... I might not be as smart as all of you, but I'm not stupid."
"We know how much the failure at the Venus Lighthouse hurt you." Mia continued, nodding solemnly. "But we want you to know that there was nothing you could have done to change things. No one blames you for what happened."
"It doesn't matter." Isaac murmured. "It still happened."
"But it's not your fault." Garet said.
"It doesn't matter." Isaac repeated.
"Please, Isaac..." Mia said, her voice laden with concern. "We don't want you to feel this way anymore, so..." She opened her white-gloved hand and showed it to him. In her palm lay a small, glittering, perfectly round jewel. "This was my mother's... at least, that's what my grandmother told me. I never got to meet my mom... she died when I was very young, of pneumonia. I... I want you to have it." She pressed it into Isaac's hand, smiling at him.
"Here." Garet said, holding out his hand. "I'm not one for all the drama and whatever..." In his hand was a wooden flute, roughly carved but possessing a striking beauty nonetheless. "I whittled this when we were in Kolima. I don't know how to play it, but I was proud of it, so I kept it. I want you to have it."
Isaac reached out and took the flute. "Guys... I... thank you." He smiled gratefully. "This means so much to me..."
"I want you to know..." Mia said, looking at him sadly. "That no matter what happens, and no matter what goes wrong in this journey, Garet and I will be here for you. I..." She paused, then plowed onward. "I love you, Isaac, and I don't want you to feel that you need to hurt yourself over every little thing."
Isaac's eyes widened in surprise. "Mia... you..."
"She's right, Isaac." Garet said, ignoring what Mia had just said and speaking anyway. "We're not gonna give up on you because things happen. We're not that shallow." He nodded. "And I personally am gonna follow you, no matter where you decide to lead us."
Isaac was speechless. Between a confession of love and a promise of undying loyalty, he was reeling in the emotion. "Garet, Mia... I..."
Mia drew him into a hug. "Just don't feel like you did before, all right? Anything to make you feel better..."
Garet patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. "What she said,"
As Isaac basked in Mia's love and warmth and Garet's faith and friendship, he felt the depression lift away. They were right, of course they were right... He was being stupid. He shouldn't feel this way over things beyond his control...
"Thank you..."