Chapter 17: Ever Onwards

Nights out on the deck of the ship were often a relaxing affair when sailing on calm seas. The gentle light of the moon reflecting upon the deck exuded a serene presence, while the twinkling stars in the heavens captivated the senses and provided a sense of wonder.

Mia considered it to be an ideal environment to sit and reflect on her thoughts over the last few months, often finding herself taking advantage of the time to be alone whenever she couldn't sleep.

Tonight was one of those nights for the Mercury adept. Mia hadn't yet found the right time or place to approach Isaac and attempt to clear up the misunderstanding between them, so she was feeling melancholy as a result. Things were still awkward between the pair, with Isaac trying to give Mia some space and Mia's hesitation holding back any progress to be made on that front. The conversation with Ivan from the other day had helped a bit with Mia's understanding that it was on her to mend this rift, but she still had lingering doubts that held her back.

Quietly moving past the other cabins so as not to wake her other companions, Mia silently made her way up the stairwell leading to the deck. It looked to be another picturesque night as she took the final step before heading outside, but to her surprise there was already someone there.

Mia stopped walking as she recognized Isaac's sandy blonde hair. The Venus adept was sitting on the ledge of the mast and looking off into the distance, not having noticed Mia's appearance. Mia stood in the doorway and just watched him for a bit, not making any attempt to approach Isaac. He looked lost in thought as he leaned back and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath.

Mia wasn't sure if she should bother him or instead try to quietly make her way back down the stairs to her room, but was unable to make up her mind and continued to stand with her hand against the doorframe. She was saved from the need to make a decision though when Isaac finally noticed Mia's presence across the deck. He jumped slightly in surprise, but then gave her a smile and a small wave.

It's not like Mia could turn around now. She knew if she ran away again it would only exacerbate the lingering issue between them. She sighed quietly to herself before beginning to walk over to where Isaac was sitting. It wasn't like she didn't want to spend time with the blonde boy, but Mia did feel unprepared for the conversation that was likely to take place now that it was being sprung on her so suddenly.

"Can't sleep either?" Isaac asked as Mia got close enough for him to talk to in a normal voice.

Mia gave him a smile back and shook her head. "Guess not," she answered as she stopped in front of where Isaac was sitting. "You mind if I…?" Mia trailed off, indicating part of the ledge next to Isaac.

"Not at all," he replied, scooting over a bit to give Mia more room to sit down.

"Thanks," the cerulean haired girl said as she did so, conscious to make sure there was a little bit of space between herself and Isaac.

Isaac looked away from Mia and up towards the stars, wanting to give her a moment to be more comfortable in his presence. "It's a beautiful night tonight huh?" Isaac said when he decided to speak up.

Mia nodded, but then realized Isaac wasn't looking her way and replied normally. "It is. Many of the calm nights are like this," she explained.

Isaac glanced back over to see Mia also looking up at the stars. "You come out here more often than I thought, don't you?" he asked.

Mia shrugged, not wanting to sound as restless as she really was. "From time to time it's a nice way to relax and unwind," she answered. Mia paused for a moment. "What about you though?" she asked. "You're not normally out here that much," she commented.

"Ah…well…" Isaac started to say, caught off guard a bit about the question being turned back on him. "It's not a bad place to do some thinking," he said with a smile.

"Fair enough," Mia followed up, knowing all too well how Isaac felt because she often did the same thing.

Silence descended and in the absence of conversation, Mia found herself observing Isaac while the blonde boy stared off into the night. The pale moonlight reflected off his skin with an almost ethereal glow, and yet the Venus adept was tense - His posture betraying his inner thoughts, even if his smile would not show it.

Neither of them seemed to want to to be the first to speak again, and so the silence continued until it began to get awkward. Mia fidgeted uncomfortably and Isaac raised his hand to scratch his cheek as a distraction.

Both adepts spoke up at the same time.

"About what happen-"

"Sorry for-"

They cut each other off and after realizing what happened, the pair shared a laugh together that lessened the awkwardness they were both feeling..

"You first," Isaac said, giving Mia a smile when he saw she was looking his way.

"No, no, please go ahead," Mia insisted, waving her hand to deny her desire to speak.

Isaac didn't argue. He had originally planned to say something else, but changed his mind after the mood shifted in a more positive direction. "You know, it's been a while since we've done this," he stated, indicating both of them sitting and chatting with his hand. "...Maybe since we were on watch back on land?" he questioned, trying to think back to their chats around the fire.

"Yeah, it has been a while…" Mia agreed, conjuring up the warmest smile she could muster. "I really enjoyed those watches together," she admitted, watching the blonde boy's reaction closely.

Her words seemed to have a positive effect on Isaac, easing a bit more of the tension between them. "I did too," he replied softly, leaning his head back against the mast behind him.

Mia smiled while watching Isaac relax and reminisce about older times. Returning to those days felt like a much simpler solution to her rather than trying to sort out the problem at hand. Back then Mia could spend every night together with Isaac. Back then Jenna hadn't confessed to the blonde boy. Back then Mia hadn't left an invisible scar for Isaac to deal with.

She let out a longing sigh and muttered under her breath, "I should ask Ivan to turn back time."

"Hmm?" Isaac inquired, his head still tilted back against the mast, but his eyes wandering down to the Mercury adept next to him.

Mia closed her eyes and shook her head with a smile. "It's nothing," she said more clearly for the blonde boy to hear. Turning back time was no more than a fantasy after all - It wasn't like Ivan actually had the power to do that. Mia almost laughed at her own absurdity. Everything that had happened, happened - and there was no way to undo those facts. Isaac shrugged and let it go, but for Mia her absurd thoughts led to one thing that was perfectly clear.

The past might be set in stone, but that doesn't mean the same is true about the future.

I promised Ivan I would try.

"You know…" Mia spoke up, addressing the boy at her side. "This distance between us lately…I don't really like it."

Though she was not looking at him, Mia could feel Isaac's gaze on her now. The pressure only continued to mount with each passing second after those words left her lips, but there was no way she was going to back down now.

"The other day…I hurt you didn't I?" she came out and asked Isaac directly, looking over at him with a serious expression.

Isaac was about to deny it so as not to upset Mia any more than she already had been, but hesitated as he noticed the intensity behind the cerulean hair's girl's gaze. He let out a breath and looked up to the stars as if for guidance before locking his eyes with Mia.

"Yeah," he answered simply. "I don't think it was your fault though," the Venus adept added.

Finally hearing the answer from Isaac's own mouth was a relief to Mia. Her shoulders relaxed and she let out a pained smile of satisfaction. "Regardless, I'm sorry for that," Mia replied, trying to segway into what she really wanted to say.

Isaac shook his head, his own smile seeming sad and dim. "I have no right to complain. I brought it upon myself," he told Mia.

"That's not true," the Mercury adept answered quickly, not wanting to let Isaac suffer the psychological blow she had dealt any longer than he already had.

"I appreciate your consideration of my feelings Mia," Isaac said, understanding that the girl next to him was doing her best to make him feel better. "However, that's still no excuse for me to lose sight of myself in the moment," he explained. "For me that hug was…" Isaac found that he had lost the words to voice what he was trying to say.

"For me that hug was something I enjoyed," Mia said concretely, finishing Isaac's sentence off with her own ending.

Mia reached out and placed her hand gently over Isaac's own in a reassuring gesture. The blonde boy froze up for a second in surprise, just as Mia had when Isaac hugged her before. Mia wasn't hurt by the reaction in the slightest and wore a smile on her face despite it. She understood. Isaac was being hypersensitive around her and overly conscious of his actions in her presence. To Mia, it just showed that he cared.

"Mia?" Isaac voiced in confusion. Mia only continued to smile though, allowing Isaac a second to recover so he wouldn't be distracted by her next words.

"Surprised?" Mia replied with her own question. "Did you notice just now that you did it too?" she asked.

Indeed he had, and Isaac was starting to understand what Mia was getting at. "Wait…you don't mean to say that…" he started to speak.

Mia nodded, assuming that Isaac was on the right track after her example. "It wasn't rejection or something that made me uncomfortable," she clarified. "I was surprised…and it was unexpected. That's why I reacted the way I did," Mia explained clearly so there was no way to misunderstand.

Isaac put his head into his free hand and let out a heavy sigh. "That's what it was the whole time?" He shook his head gently with a laugh. "Here I was thinking I had done something to hurt you and then…Surprise…you were actually just surprised," he said to himself. "That's just so…"

"Stupid?" Mia answered with a grin, squeezing Isaac's hand gently with her own.

"How could I have not seen that?" Isaac asked himself out loud now that he had experienced a similar moment for himself.

"Ah…well…that's what I'm apologizing for," Mia replied. "I knew my reaction hurt you, but I chose to run instead of facing that fact head on…" she said. "I made you suffer for nothing, and for that I am truly sorry," Mia said, bowing her head slightly and closing her eyes.

Isaac pulled his hand away from Mia's and brought it up to her bowed head, resting it gently on top of her hair. "Don't be," he answered simply, getting Mia to open her eyes again with a pat on the head.

Mia appreciated the gesture and flashed a smile at the blonde boy. "Even still, I want to make up for it anyway," she claimed.

Isaac shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, after hearing that it's over and done with now…though I know better than to try to change your mind when you have it made up," he replied with a sigh. "You said you want to make it up to me though right?" Isaac went to confirm, leaning forward slightly and looking into Mia's eyes.

"Y-Yes," Mia answered, stuttering over the word as she was taken aback by the directness of the blonde boy's response.

"In that case I can think of nothing better than a hug. A proper one this time," Isaac requested of her with a smile on his face.

"I can do that," Mia laughed, and didn't hesitate at all before scooting up to the blonde boy and wrapping him in a hug to make up for the fiasco the other day. This time she could feel Isaac's arms reciprocating the embrace. If you asked her how long they hugged for, Mia wouldn't be able to say. Time seemed to melt away as she allowed herself to think of nothing but enjoying the happiness and serenity of the moment.

There was no way it could last forever though and eventually Mia could feel her normal senses returning - The beating of her heart, the warmth of Isaac's body in the cool breeze of the night, the whisper of Isaac's breath as the blonde boy held her close.

There was also something else within her. A burning fire in her chest that had subsisted as no more than a flickering candle buried deep inside ever since the Venus Lighthouse. The now raging inferno was nothing more than a desire to ask but one single question.

The answer to that one question held every possibility within it: Hope, Anguish, Happiness, Despair. The possibility of what the answer could be scared Mia, and so she had convinced herself to not hear it - to run away and pretend the question didn't exist. But now Mia found she didn't want to run away anymore. She wanted the answer to that one question. She needed the answer to that one question.

Despite that burning desire, Mia still couldn't bring herself to ask it outright.

One step at a time.

Once again, the words of another came to mind, but this time it was encouraging and that encouragement pushed her forward.

"Truth be told…" Mia started to say, still locked in an embrace with Isaac so she didn't have to see his immediate reaction. "The other reason I hesitated before…"

Isaac looked down at the Mercury adept in his arms, but her long cerulean hair blocked the view of her face and the blush that was slowly creeping into it as Mia was speaking.

"I uh…didn't want to feel like I was in between you and Jenna," Mia admitted, getting as close to the topic on her mind without directly asking Isaac about it. "It felt weird for us to act like that knowing the way she feels about you.."

The surprise on Isaac's face was evident, but Mia couldn't see it, hiding as she was from Isaac's gaze. When he recovered though, he gave Mia a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

"Ah…that," Isaac sheepishly scratched his check and looked away awkwardly as he remembered Jenna's words back at the lighthouse. "Is that what's really been worrying you?" he asked.

Mia nodded against his chest. "I know you care about her…so…" she trailed off.

Isaac sighed. "It's true…" he confirmed. "Jenna…well…she's important to me. I do care about her," Isaac explained. "But…I care about you too. I care about Garet…I care about Ivan…"

Mia finally gained the courage to pull her face away from where she was resting it against Isaac and actually get a look at him.

Isaac smiled. "How could I not care about Jenna?" he asked. "After all, she basically grew up with me after the storm that took her family and my father."

This was all something Mia already knew. She was so close, and yet what she truly wanted to know was still not answered. Mia was already considering the possibility she would have to get more straightforward to hear what she wanted to hear, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

"As for what she said at the lighthouse…" Isaac trailed off. Mia's ears perked up and she did her best to hide any visible signs of increased interest in the blonde boy's words. "Does she truly mean it like that?" he asked, staring out across the deck of the ship.

It was a surprising follow up that Mia found to be unexpected, catching her off guard a bit as Isaac waited a moment before he continued.

"At this point, she's practically my sister as much as she is Felix's," Isaac shugged. "For her, my mom and I are basically family," he added. "I never really brought it up because I didn't want to make it into a big deal…" the Venus adept explained.

Mia let those words sink in for a moment as Isaac stopped talking. It wasn't really a direct answer, but it was good enough for Mia. The word "sister" resounded in the cerulean hair girl's head as she leaned back to look at the heavens above.

"I…never considered it that way before," Mia admitted slowly, seeing that Isaac was finished saying his piece on the matter.

The blonde boy smiled at her. "That's why you don't have to feel bad or guilty or anything if I spend time with you just because you're a woman too," Isaac added for good measure.

Mia nodded, and she couldn't stop the smile that came forth to grace her face. The candle that had been slowly burning away inside her ever since the Venus Lighthouse was finally no more. All that remained was wisps of smoke, scattered to the wind by Isaac's words.

It was a liberating feeling to no longer be worried about Isaac and Jenna. Mia was no longer in the dark, and regardless of the way Jenna actually felt when saying those words, Isaac's response was clear in Mia's mind.

"I'm glad you were out here tonight," Mia told the blonde boy to break the silence after taking a few moments to process everything that had been said.

"Me too," Isaac laughed. "I'm glad we could clear up both of those misunderstandings…" he shot back.

Mia smiled in response but with everything she had been worrying about out of the way, the world around her seemed to go back to normal. It had gotten cold while the pair was outside, and Mia felt a shiver run through her body as she began to perceive the environment properly again.

Isaac saw this as well and for the first time noticed Mia wasn't wearing her typical Imilan robe despite it being more appropriate for the nighttime weather. Instead she had on some form of nightgown that was much thinner and clearly not as warm.

"No wonder you're cold wearing that," Isaac commented, feeling a slight tinge of pink in his cheeks after noticing her attire.

Mia laughed despite herself. "Truth be told, I wasn't expecting to stay out here this long," she answered honestly.

Isaac shook his head. "Nor I, but I lost track of the time too," he added. "I think that's enough midnight brooding for now then," Isaac continued. "If we had that entire conversation just for you to freeze to death, I don't think I could forgive myself," he joked with a smile.

Mia just shook her head. In reality she didn't mind the idea of sticking it out longer to spend more time with the boy she loved, but couldn't deny the sincerity behind Isaac's words. "Very well. Back inside it is then," Mia agreed relatively quickly, reluctantly getting up from the mast's ledge and clasping her hands behind her back as she waited for Isaac to follow suit.

The blonde boy did so and the pair walked back to the interior and down the stairs towards the cabins, once again being careful not to make a disturbance that would wake Garet or Ivan. Once past the rooms of the other two boys, the hall split in two directions with Mia's room on one side and Isaac's on the other. At the split, Isaac turned to face Mia and whispered, "Good night?" as more of a question than an actual statement.

Mia responded by gently grabbing the sleeve of Isaac's arm to prevent him from walking away, not that he was really inclined to do so in the first place. "Do we need to say that already?" she whispered, keeping her voice as low as she could while still allowing Isaac to hear her.

Isaac could see the pink in Mia's cheeks as she said those words, and gave her a quick smile. "Not at all," he whispered back. "I wouldn't mind spending some more time together myself," Isaac admitted, hoping it was dark enough to hide the tinge of color making an appearance in his cheeks.

Mia felt Isaac's hand reach out and grab her wrist after his reply, and though a bit surprised at his decisiveness, she let the blonde boy pull her along towards his room. He let go at the doorway and quietly opened the door to let them both inside before closing it again and lighting a lamp to allow them to see.

It was still somewhat dimly lit, but Mia had no problem making out everything inside. Isaac clearly made an effort to keep the place tidy. His traveling gear was off in the corner while his sword sat leaning up against a desk nearby. The blankets on the bed were neatly folded and arranged as well.

Isaac walked over to the side of his bed and sat down before letting his body fall backwards into it with a content sigh. Mia smiled as she went over to join him, sitting next to where the blonde boy was lying down. She looked over at Isaac, who had his eyes closed in relaxation, and was content to wait and watch his peaceful face for a bit.

Isaac lazily opened an eye to see Mia looking down at him. "Feeling warmer?" he asked.

"Much better," Mia replied with a laugh now that there wasn't a cold breeze chilling the air.

"Feel free to use the blankets if you aren't warm enough," Isaac commented, shifting himself over to the side to make more room for Mia to lay down if she wished.

"Thanks," Mia answered simply, deciding to take him up on the offer and stretch herself out a bit as she laid down too.

Silence descended between the pair as they lay there together, neither quite sure what to say in the moment. It wasn't really uncomfortable for either adept though. After all, they had spent many nights together camped out in tents under the stars just like this. Sure, they weren't sharing a bed or anything back then, but in reality there wasn't much of a difference between the two situations.

What had changed since then was that it had been a while since either Isaac or Mia found themselves in a similar situation. The loss of familiarity that came with the change to having their own rooms made the moment feel less casual than it otherwise would have been.

Mia became the first to speak up. "This is nostalgic isn't it?" she asked, assuming correctly that Isaac was thinking along the same lines she was.

"Yeah," Isaac agreed, placing his hands behind his head as a sort of makeshift pillow. "Until right now I don't think I realized just how much I missed this," he added after a short pause.

"Same here," Mia admitted.

"I swear one of your powers is like a calming aura or something," Isaac said, prompting a laugh out of the Mercury adept. "No, seriously," Isaac tried to say. "I don't know what it is, but I really think I do feel less stressed when I'm with you," he explained.

Mia turned her head to glance over at the blonde boy briefly to see if she was being teased before looking back up at the ceiling. "Well…you're welcome then I guess," she answered, after determining Isaac was indeed serious about his statement. "For what it's worth, I appreciate how being around you seems to make my troubles go away," Mia added, wanting Isaac to understand the similar effect his presence had on her.

"Mmm…" Isaac hummed under his breath. "Sounds like a good thing," he commented, smiling at the idea of making Mia feel better. "So…I help you feel aloof and absentminded huh?" Isaac added after a brief pause.

Mia knew for sure she was being teased now and could picture the shit eating grin on Isaac's face. "Don't go twisting my words," she said with a smile, reaching out to poke Isaac in the arm to emphasize the point.

"Hey! What was that for?" Isaac exclaimed in mock indignation, shifting to his side to get a better look at the Mercury adept next to him.

"You know exactly what it was for," Mia teased back, closing her eyes as she relaxed once again after exacting her revenge.

Isaac found himself watching over the peaceful expression on her face and couldn't stop himself from smiling again as well. As much as he wanted to get her back for the jab, Isaac found that he didn't want to disturb her either. As a result, he allowed Mia to lay there uninterrupted.

He wasn't sure if it was her smile, the content expression on her face, or something else, but it suddenly struck Isaac again just how pretty Mia could look. The stands of cerulean hair falling across the smooth fabric of her nightgown and scattering against the bed below betrayed a sort of elegance the Venus adept had noticed a few times before in his companion, and threatened to captivate him further.

It wasn't the first time Isaac had seen Mia like this, and yet his eyes were inexorably drawn in her direction. Though loosely fitting, gravity and the thin fabric of Mia's nightgown were doing their work by showing off some more accented curves than were usually visible. The blonde boy didn't notice his heart rate was increasing as his gaze continued to linger upon the Mercury adept next to him.

A bit surprised by the lack of response from Isaac after her admonishment, Mia looked over to see what was going on. She was met by the Venus adept's captivated gaze as his eyes drank in everything from the sight in front of him. The subtle intensity in Isaac's eyes was not lost upon the cerulean haired girl, as she recognized instantly what that look meant. It reminded Mia of the similar glances and thoughts she had about Isaac in the past, and her face turned scarlet.

Mia instinctively turned her entire body away from Isaac, leaving only her back facing the blonde boy as she tried to hide her embarrassment and the rapidly growing blush in her cheeks. Even though he couldn't see most of her body anymore, Mia still found herself crossing her arms in an instinctive attempt to cover up a bit more while the rational side of her head imploded.

The Mercury adept's movement was what finally brought Isaac back to his senses and made him realize what he was just staring at. His face began to burn bright red as the last several seconds clicked into place and his mind began reeling, trying to catch up the best it could while he was lost for words.

Mia relaxed her arms and shoulders a bit as she began to recover from the initial shock and embarrassment little by little. Catching Isaac's gaze in the moment was an extraordinarily embarrassing ordeal for the Mercury adept, but her feelings weren't limited to just embarrassment. Truth be told, she didn't actually mind Isaac looking at her that way. She found there was a little part of her inside that was elated to know that Isaac could see her in that light.

Mia's heart pounded like never before as she recognized the existence of that small piece of herself she had never known before now. It was a compelling feeling for her to be seen in such a manner by Isaac, elevated to an addictive degree in the heat of the moment.

"Mia…" she heard Isaac start to say before the rest of his words were drowned out by the distraction of her still raging heart.

Mia wanted more. Embarrassing though it would be, she found herself wanting to see Isaac's reaction to her in more detail. She struggled to take a few deep breaths and calm herself to the point of being able to speak.

"Do you…remember that night in the desert?" Mia managed to get out, still looking away from Isaac as she tried to subtly goad him on.

"Ah… The desert?" Isaac questioned, making a poor attempt to pretend he didn't know exactly which night she was referencing.

Mia turned around to face Isaac again and didn't even need to speak. The bashful look on her face made Isaac quickly reconsider his answer.

"Oh…that night," the blonde boy pointed out, the color in his face making it clear he was thinking of the same one Mia was.

Mia scooted herself a bit closer and Isaac gulped, doing his best to not let his eyes wander from her face as he recalled the night spent in a cave huddled together under a blanket for warmth.

"I'd like…" Mia attempted to voice what she was trying to make Isaac understand, but didn't find much success. "Can you…?"

Isaac wasn't certain what it was she was trying to say, but her body language and intent came across crystal clear. The Venus adept hesitantly reached an arm out and put it around Mia's back to pull himself together with her.

Mia felt Isaac's arm around her and didn't hesitate to bury her face in his chest to once again hide the embarrassment that had overcome her. As she did, she pressed her body against Isaac's and slid a hand around his back to hold herself in place.

Words were unnecessary as Mia let out a content sigh, feeling the rapid rise and fall of Isaac's chest and hearing the heightened pace of his heartbeat, aware that hers was probably doing something very similar right about now.

Isaac's broad shoulders and lean muscles built up over the course of their travels were firm and unyielding under Mia's touch as she allowed her hand to slowly trace its way along Isaac's back. She knew from all the times she had healed the blonde boy what they were like, but this was the first time Mia found herself truly feeling them, and she liked what she felt.

Isaac's hand had originally been supporting Mia higher up on her back but, perhaps in mirror to Mia's own actions, slowly made its way down her lower back as well. The sensation caused Mia to arch her back instinctively, raising her face closer to that of Isaac's own.

As the Mercury adept's warm breath brushed past Isaac's neck, it spurred him on even more, bringing his hand down past her waist, slowly tracing a line along the outside of Mia's leg. As his hand left the fabric at the bottom of her gown and caressed the bare skin below, Mia suddenly reacted by shifting her leg forward, entangling it between Isaac's own. Her hands also moved up behind Isaac's neck to better hold herself in place closer to the Venus adept.

The strong reaction and fidgeting movement was a valiant attempt by the cerulean haired girl to distract from the muted gasp she was unable to hold back completely when Isaac's hand crossed from her gown to her leg. Mia found that perhaps she had earned more of Isaac's attention than she bargained for after egging him on.

Despite the encouraging reaction Isaac didn't want to push her too far, and removed his hand from Mia's leg as she shifted around, bringing it up behind her head to bury it in her cerulean hair instead. The pair's new posture allowed them to see each other's faces again and provided a bit of breathing room between them after what had just happened.

Isaac smiled at Mia wordlessly, giving no indication he noticed her full reaction. Mia's eyes were locked onto his own as they both slowed their breathing back down towards normal levels. Though Isaac was overcome with an urge to kiss the Mercury adept then and there, he barely resisted, not wanting to overwhelm her with too much too fast.

Neither one of them felt the need to speak, but the content smiles on both of their faces spoke volumes.

Mia felt like her brain was fried as she lay there along with Isaac, trying to process what had just occurred. A lot had happened very quickly, but the one thing she was now absolutely certain of was that the blonde boy definitely saw her as a woman. The happiness Mia felt in that realization was something she hoped Isaac could see, and she hoped the feelings she had been meaning to convey were able to reach him.

"Isaac…hold me tonight…?" Mia asked, being unable to resist the desire that had welled up within her.

It didn't even need to be a question, but Isaac gave her an answer anyway. "Of course," he stated simply, not considering denying that request for even a fraction of a second. The Venus adept was enjoying this moment together. For Isaac this was a side of Mia he had never seen before. It was a side that he liked.

The blonde haired adept pulled her back in close and brushed some hair away from her face, planting a kiss directly in the middle of Mia's forehead. The unexpected gesture surprised Mia, but her surprise quickly became elation as she snuggled up close to the one she loved.

These blissful moments amid all the strife, stress, and uncertainty surrounding her travels was something the Mercury adept wanted to preserve forever. If she could stop and persist in this moment of time, stretch this single instant out into infinity, she would have done so without hesitation.

Unfortunately no clock ever truly stops. Time marches ever onwards and nothing can last forever. After all, even memories fade in time.

To defy that rule is to defy nature itself, but in the present moment, Mia felt she could do just that. Who is to say she couldn't transcend all of it and continuously find joy in life? Creating these happy moments day after day, week after week, year after year…

Is that not the same as stretching your happiness to infinity? Mia found herself wondering as she lay comfortably in Isaac's arms.


A/N: As a reminder, this is in fact a mudshipping story. I've owed you all some actual mudshipping content for a while now and this chapter definitely turned into some serious mudshipping to cover that. Don't claim I never gave you anything!

On a more serious note, thank you to all of you who continue to read and those of you who choose to review as well. I read your reviews and see all the view metrics, and you guys are the ones keeping me motivated to continue writing. These chapters take a lot of time to put together so the fact more people are seeing them makes me happy.

I appreciate the feedback and everyone who chooses to keep reading on!