Hello! Here I am a week later. I seem to be able to write these chapters faster than I originally expected. The 5th one isn't done yet (it's only half way finished), but I figure I'll be able to finish it before next Saturday. And I also figure that releasing a new chapter every Saturday until it's done keeps you guys happy. So, everybody wins!

Minor Minor Update 5/18/09: There are a few small things that needed editing and I just had to correct them. The next chapter may or may not be out next Saturday, so keep your fingers crossed!

Golden Days of Love

Chapter 4

It was near noon when Feizhi began walking up the path toward the picnic table by the maple on the hill. Isaac was apparently having lunch there with his friends. Her father and her had arrived in Vault and greeted the townspeople early that morning. It was not until recently that she finally ascertained as to where she could find Isaac and plucked herself from her father's side.

She heard her name called and she looked up. There he was, her beloved Isaac. She immediately felt a chill of panic and she questioned her sanity for actually doing this. Isaac got up from his seat at the picnic table and swiftly walked to her meeting her half way on the path. Astonishment was written in his expression. The colour drained from Feizhi's face and she knew she must have looked white as a ghost, which only made her more nervous. She felt her stomach start to involuntarily tremble from the nerve-wracking tension. Even with all her years of meditation and Martial Arts training to condition the mind and body to never stray and come under stress, Feizhi still felt as though she were going to faint if her current stress levels went any higher.

"Feizhi…! Wow!" Isaac exclaimed with surprise. "I… can't believe you're actually here! What brings you all the way from Xian?"

"Um, well… you," she murmured shakily. Her cheeks blushed showing all the more clearer because of her pale face. Feizhi felt as if her heart was about to burst through her chest it was thumping so fast. Isaac looked stunned for a second but then beamed brightly. Ooohh, that smile! Feizhi could melt; it was that radiant smile she had longed to see. Isaac's grin put her anxiety at ease but she remained shaking with excitement. She felt her whole body quivering like a flower surrounded by fire and hoped to Sol that Isaac didn't notice.

"Well it's good to see you. Come come, meet my friends!" Isaac led her back to the picnic table and Feizhi followed, her apprehension greatly renewed at the prospect of meeting Isaac's friends. She laid eyes on them: seven people who, by Feizhi's assumption, were all in a tight-knit circle of trust.

They had been on many adventures and saved the world together. They had been through more than the average person and would not have been able to do what they had done if not for each other. So of course Feizhi felt extremely uneasy about trying to ease herself into and even become a part of such a circle: a circle of supernormal heroes and friends.

And with Isaac, for Isaac, that might just be possible. Even though Feizhi wasn't apart of the Quest over all, she had a tiny part to play, more specifically in Isaac's part of the Quest.

It wasn't that Feizhi really cared about being accepted into this circle for her own intentions. No. She figured that it would be much easier to woo Isaac if she was accepted; if she had his friends blessing in a sense. Therefore, first impressions meant everything at the moment. But, although Feizhi was fully aware of this, she still couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. In fact, it was because she knew this that she was doubly nervous than she should have been.

"Ivan, Garet, and Mia you already know…" Isaac began. Feizhi smiled somewhat twitchily- her nervous level peaking. Feizhi gave a quick bow to them (as was custom for her to do when meeting someone) and they returned the greeting with a simple smile and acknowledging wave.

"…and this is Felix, Sheba, Piers & Jenna," Isaac continued. "You remember, I told you about Felix and Jenna." It was a statement more than a question. "Piers and Sheba are some other companions they met on their journey."

"Yo, wattup," Sheba greeted.

"It is a pleasure to see you again," Piers said with a friendly smile; Isaac frowned at him puzzled. Again? Felix made a plain gesture with his hand that vaguely resembled a wave. Feizhi was still shaking when she glanced at Jenna expecting a greeting, but instead got what seemed like a sharp scolding, which did not help her in this stressful moment.

"Whoa! She doesn't look very friendly. Why is she looking at me like that?" Jenna nodded awkwardly as her greeting to Feizhi. To cover up her spiking anxiety -which she surmised must have been labeled across her face- Feizhi bowed a second time, which had the added bonus of breaking eye contact with Jenna's eyes. Those fiery, ruby-red eyes had made Feizhi feel like she was being drawn into a raging inferno, one that she surely would not have survived unscathed.

"It is nice to see you all again," Feizhi said as best and politely as she could without cracking her voice, and being sure to avoid Jenna's stare as she rose from her bow. As long as she could avoid Jenna's eyes, this could all go over smoothly. Still, Feizhi wondered why Jenna was giving her such nasty looks.

"Have you seen Kraden?" Sheba chided with a mischievous smile. Feizhi automatically recalled what happened when last she met Felix's group and that clever old man… Once again, her stomach was shaking with uneasiness, but she flexed it and forced herself to chuckle to hopefully salvage her failing demeanor and first impression.

"Wait," Isaac interrupted. "You guys already know each other?"

"Yeah, we met when we were in Champa," Sheba answered him.

"Champa? Where's Champa?"

"It's on the southern coast of Angara, beyond the mountains surrounding the Lamakan Desert." Piers said. Isaac looked like he understood.

"She was hoping on a very off chance that she would run into you there," Sheba said. Feizhi smiled awkwardly and gave Isaac a sideward glance. "She wanted to give you a lucky bracelet to protect you on your… quest. We told her that we knew you and she asked us to give it to you should we run into you on our own travels. Of course, had we run into you during those times, I'm not sure how it would have gone down…"

"Feizhi," Isaac turned to her ignoring Sheba. "You traveled all that way just to give me a bracelet? That's so sweet of you," he smiled appreciatively. Feizhi's cheeks burned a crimson tint on her sun-kissed pale skin and she continued to smile like an idiot. Jenna rolled her eyes, which no one saw. "But you know," Isaac turned to Sheba, his head tilted. "I never did get this bracelet."

"Oh… er… what?" Sheba gave a discomfited frown as everyone looked to her expecting an excuse.

"Well I, um," Feizhi chimed in, but then trailed off as if she were afraid of her own voice. "I gave the bracelet to Felix…" Everyone's eyes had gone from Sheba then to Feizhi and then to Felix.

"Oh, uh, yeah…" Felix started, his eyes darting around. "Isaac, do you remember that bracelet I was wearing?

"Which one? You have, like, six of them."

"What?! No I don't." Felix blurted, his cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment, which the table found amusing.

"Yes you do, I've seen them."

"Sheba makes me wear them…" he mumbled. The table kept on chuckling and even Feizhi began to chuckle; her anxiety dropping slowly. Isaac gave Felix an incredulous frown.

"Well that explains a lot," Ivan sniggered.

"Anyway," Felix tried interrupting the giggle fest. "Remember the one with golden lace on it? That's the one."

"Oh yeah…" Isaac remembered seeing it on various occasions. "Well why didn't you give it to me?"

"Um, well, it was so pretty… I thought I'd just… keep it," Felix mumbled. Isaac kept on staring at him with his eyebrows on different levels and the chuckling rose to laughter, which Feizhi became apart of and felt the apprehension wash away with each wave of laughter. However, Jenna was not laughing, she was staring at Feizhi out of the corner of her eyes. "It also made me feel safer for some reason, I don't know… I just really didn't want to give it up." Sheba slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Well give it to him now, ya big nut!"

"Oh, all right, fine!" Felix rolled up his sleeve exposing Feizhi's bracelet. He slid it off his wrist and reluctantly, hesitantly handed it to Isaac. Felix looked like a baby who just had his favorite toy taken away. Sheba slapped him on the shoulder again.

"Hey! Where's all the bracelets I made for you."

"I, um… back in my room…" Sheba frowned at him. "I'm sorry Sheba. They're just so…" he mumbled something indiscernible. Sheba gaped at him with shocked anger.

"I heard that you big jerk!" She pouted her lips and crossed her arms.

"Sheba..." But she just flicked his hand away with her shoulder and whipped her face away from him defiantly. Everyone continued to laugh at Felix's hardship. Again, he was not amused. -_- He caressed the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Thank you, thank you for this," he said sarcastically to Feizhi.

"I-I'm sorry," she said half worried, half giggling, but Isaac shook his hand.

"Nah, don't be, he's only joking. Anyway, you made this yourself?" he said referring to the bracelet.

"Um, no, a monkey made it." Feizhi said meekly trying to be sarcastic and keep the laughing going. She got a few chuckles from the table, even Isaac, and her self-esteem began to swing back.

"No, that's not what I meant. It just looks so skillfully made and articulate. I had no idea you had such a talent." Feizhi felt a pang of pride wash through her.

"Well thank you," she grinned with a ray of restoring confidence. "I think there is a lot you don't know about me; maybe we can change that…" She batted her eyes at him.

Jenna's brow clenched and her eyes widened. Her jaw had dropped and she gave Feizhi and Isaac an incredulous look. In fact everyone at the table was rather stupefied to hear what Feizhi had just said.

"Indeed… I really like this bracelet, thank you." Isaac said nonchalantly as he slid the bracelet over his hand. Apparently, he and Feizhi had not noticed the appalled looks the Adepts were giving them.

"Your welcome, I'm really glad you like it." Her face grinned with enjoyment; her heart sang at Isaac's enjoyment for her gift. Jenna however, looked as though she were about to hurl from utter disgust.

"We were actually just finishing lunch, but there's still some food left. Would you like to join us?" The Adepts had fixed their faces before Isaac and Feizhi turned to them.

"Why yes I'd love to," Feizhi lied. She wasn't particularly hungry; all her previous anxiety had taken away her appetite.

"Great! Shove over guys," Isaac ordered to Garet and Ivan.

Isaac showed Feizhi to her seat on the end next to Ivan. Feizhi tried to avert eye contact with Jenna as she sat, but could not help glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. Jenna, however, was not looking at Feizhi, but instead seemed to be avoiding the sight of her.

It unstrung her to say the least as to why Jenna was being so cold to her, but Feizhi chose to ignore it for now and question it later. She finally felt comfortable enough among Isaac and his friends; Feizhi didn't want anything to ruin that now. She took her seat by Ivan on the end.

"So, yeah, just help yourself," Isaac told her as he sat next to Jenna. Feizhi had to look passed Ivan, Garet, and Jenna to see Isaac; Jenna was still not looking at her.

I wonder why- no, don't worry about that now. At least she's not looking at me…she's scary. Feizhi actually felt rather out of place to be eating when everyone else had already eaten, so she just took a carrot to nimble on.

"Feizhi," Mia said. "Would you like some stew?"

"Oh yes, try the stew," Garet suggested. "It's really good and Mia made it herself." Mia smiled lightly at that.

"Alright, if you say so," Feizhi said not really wanting to eat much, but also not wanting to offend Mia or feel awkward for not accepting a direct request to try food. Mia poured Feizhi some stew and Isaac handed down a clean spoon to her. Feizhi hesitantly took a spoonful and raised it her lips. She felt like they were holding their breath waiting for her to try the stew. She deposited the spoonful in her mouth tasting the soft, lukewarm semi-liquid. Feizhi liked it.

"This is really good, Mia. What kind of stew is it?"

"Coney stew," Mia said.

"Do you make this often? It tastes more like a delicacy than a casual lunch meal."

"I do actually, but I do my best." Mia smiled, delighted that Feizhi enjoyed her cooking. "Well, anyway, we were just talking about what we wanted to do with our day off. Is their anything you feel like doing, Feizhi? Maybe a tour of New Vale, perhaps? That way we could all talk and catch up and you could see New Vale for the first time."

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Isaac agreed exuberantly. "You'll actually be the first "traveler" to see it mostly complete." Feizhi liked this idea.

"Mm, no," Felix interjected. "A tour sounds good, but it will have to be without me and Isaac. We're going to go spar." Feizhi did not like the sound of that.

Who needs to train, now? The world is saved. Couldn't he take someone else to train with? She heard a quiet snicker come from Ivan, which confused her. What does he find so funny? He snickered again. Sheba caught on to Ivan's snickering.

"Ivan! Quit reading her mind! That is really rude." She threw a piece of bread at him, which got him to stop.

Reading my mind? Oh! I forgot; he's just like Master Hama!

"Yeah, and throwing food at me is so polite!" Ivan retorted, but no one bothered to listen.

"Felix, why do you always want to spar?" Isaac asked. "And on our day off no less."

"You got a point there, but I really just want to fight you."

"But where's the fun in that?! You always beat me." Isaac exclaimed. Felix smirked.

"That's why it's fun. Also, we can fight for that bracelet of yours. I want it back." Everyone frowned at him puzzled. Why in the world did Felix have such an obsession with this bracelet?

"It was never yours to have."

"Yes and I'll fight you for it."

"…No!"

"I will get that bracelet." Felix quickly rose from the table and ran down the path and up the street.

"Where do you suppose he's off to?" Piers questioned.

"Probably to get his sword," Sheba replied. "You better run Isaac. He seems really determined to get that bracelet."

"He seems really bored. I think he misses being on an adventure with something to fight for. It's rather sad really." They all stared at where Felix had run down the street. "Ah, well. Guess I'll get my sword too." Isaac stood up from the table. "I'm sorry Feizhi. It looks like catching up will have to wait till later. You guys will come to the sparring ring right?"

"Might as well," Garet said. Isaac gave a small grin and then ran into the town.

Feizhi stared after him as he ran off, rather perplexed at how random this all was. She felt Jenna's eyes on her again. When Feizhi shifted her vision to meet her glare however, she quickly looked away. Barely a moment later, Jenna got up silently and walked down the hill onto the fields that led to the sparring ring.

Strange… Feizhi was watching her but heard Ivan's giggling again and gave him a slight frown.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," he said in excuse. However, Sheba flicked a small spark from her fingers which shocked Ivan off his seat.

"That'll teach ya, you nosy, little worm," Sheba said with satisfaction. Ivan was smiling dumbfounded with drool dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. His fingers were gnarled and he lay on the ground mostly motionless -an eye and a foot twitched sporadically. Garet shook his head at him.

"Just shameful, man."

Feizhi stared at Ivan, now even more perplexed. She looked to Sheba as if to find an answer.

"This kinda' stuff happens all the time around here," Sheba shrugged. "I hope you're ready…" she said smiling like a feline.

So, the 4th chapter...it could get messy... And Felix's obsession with bracelets may go over board in the next chapter, I'm not entirely sure because I haven't written that part yet.

I'll get with the writing. You get with the reading and reviewing! Like now. Critiques and Critisicms are just as useful, if not more useful, than Compliments, but I always enjoy a nice Compliment. But be sure to state why you didn't like something. That way I can improve my writing and blah blah blah I'm sure you readers have heard this from other writers.

Now review!

-TLotW