I do not own Golden Sun. It belongs to Camelot, Nintendo, and its other respective owners. This story focuses on a gay pairing and includes minor straight pairings, so don't read if you don't want to. It's also rated M because of some later chapters I have in mind, so don't read if you're not supposed to.

~o~o~o~

The Convergence

The roar of the waterfall all but drowned out the sound of the trees in the wind.

Isaac and Garet were literally stumped in their journey. After finally finding the waterfall marking the entrance to the cave leading through the Goma Range, it was easy to scale the cliff. But they were kept from even getting close to the cave's entrance by the ivy-covered remnants of a careless lumberjack. Isaac pushed with his Psynergy as hard as he could, but the vines held, and he released the Psynergy to avoid exhausting himself.

"It's no use. Our Psynergy isn't strong enough to free that stump," Garet said, somewhat defeated.

Isaac nodded, wondering what they could do.

"You want to move the stump, right?" a familiar voice asked from behind him.

Isaac turned to see Ivan standing behind him, studying the stump. Speechless, Isaac moved out of the way to let Ivan get a closer look.

"It looks like it's trapped in the ivy," Ivan thought aloud, his face pensive. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Isaac and Garet were silent, Isaac for much less innocent reasons than Garet.

Then Ivan's face lit up. "I know! I have a great idea. Leave it to me!"

The other two adepts nodded, Garet because he trusted Ivan to take care of the problem and Isaac because he was too preoccupied to form a coherent sentence.

Isaac watched as Ivan turned back to the stump, all but drooling at the view. He looks so wonderful when he casts Psynergy, he thought, noticing how the wind seemed to pick up around the Jupiter adept, giving his clothes a life of their own while his entrancing violet eyes steeled over in a determination that was absent at other times.

He continued staring at Ivan in a daze as the Wind Seer explained what had happened.

Isaac got nothing more than a vague idea that Ivan had come to join them, and his heart beat nearly tripled in speed with excitement.

"Then let's go!" Ivan encouraged, bringing Isaac back to his senses. Isaac looked into Ivan's eyes, happier than he had been since before the eruption.

After moving the stump and clearing another cluster of ivy, the three adepts moved into the darkness of the Goma Cave.

~o~

Isaac had fought together with Garet since they had first been taught to do so. They knew each others' styles almost as well as they knew their own, and had learned to meld their styles together well enough to make them a far better fighting force than they would have been fighting separately.

On the other hand, Isaac had only fought with Ivan once before, yet after only a few more battles, he felt he knew Ivan's style almost as well as Garet's. He also felt more comfortable when working in concert with Ivan. He and Garet often had to spread out in order to avoid getting in each others' way, but Isaac felt extremely comfortable dealing with the monsters hand-to-hand with his sword while Ivan swept them off their feet with wind gusts. The leftover wind following the Jupiter adept's attacks left him feeling refreshed, banishing his exhaustion. Ivan seemed to revel in being able to cast spells without having to worry about his own safety, as Isaac always made sure to stand between the wind adept and their adversaries. Together they made a powerful team.

Garet noticed this almost immediately. "Man, you two barely speak to each other in combat, yet you work together so smoothly. It's like you can read each others' minds."

Garet scratched his head in wonder. "…But I'm sure I'd notice if you were using Psynergy to do so."

Isaac quickly suppressed a blush. "Well, I guess it's just the fact that our styles work well together," he said, forcing a shrug. "Beyond that, I really don't know."

Ivan said nothing, giving Isaac a questioning look that seemed to penetrate the earth adept as readily as the blond's Mind Read.

"Well, come on. I'd like to get out of this cave as soon as we can," Isaac said, quickly putting his back to the other two, somewhat disconcerted with Ivan's gaze.

Ivan continued looking at Isaac. Could he… the wind adept thought, heart leaping. Then he shook his head. No… It's just a false hope…just a silly fantasy... I think…

~o~

Ivan was still pondering this when the three adepts reached the other end of the cave.

"Finally, a breath of fresh air!" cried Garet as the group walked out of the cave and into the night air. He breathed deeply, and smiled, looking at the bright stars.

"It looks like the sun just went down," Isaac said, checking the moon's position.

Ivan said nothing, still deep in thought, running through every moment he had spent with Isaac, trying to figure out if his hopes had any merit.

"Man, you barely seemed to have noticed that we're out of that stale old cave, Ivan. Is something up?" Garet asked.

There are really only two ways I can figure out if my suspicions are correct, Ivan thought, ignoring Garet.

"Of course he noticed," Isaac replied. "Just because he's a little calmer than you doesn't mean that he's any less appreciative."

Ivan nodded, but was still consumed by his thoughts.

"Fine; whatever. But this sure is a beautiful night!" Garet said, stretching. Suddenly he yawned. "Man, I'm tired, though. We've been walking through that cave all day."

I can always talk to him, Ivan thought, still barely paying attention to Garet. But the alternative is much safer…If I can figure out a way to… Wait, I know…

"I'll take first watch!" Ivan volunteered. Both of the other two blinked, surprised at the suddenness of Ivan's suggestion.

"Then I'll go second," Isaac added, dropping his pack and laying out his bedroll.

"Fine by me," Garet agreed, laying down his pack and grabbing some nearby sticks for the fire.

Ivan set up his spot somewhat near Isaac as the other two got ready for bed, Garet lighting the fire and Isaac eating a quick snack as he straightened his pack.

Ten minutes later, the two were asleep. Ivan waited a few more minutes, just to be entirely sure. He then closed his eyes, focused his mind on Isaac, and cast Mind Read.

In his dreams, Isaac cleaved through a pair of Zombies that had been closing in on Ivan. He then speared another pair on two stalagmites he summoned from the earth, but a final monster slipped through his defenses and closed in on Ivan. But the wind adept wasn't helpless. He pointed his staff at the Ghost and sent an impressive Ray attack at it. Seconds later, a fried husk dissipated into vapor. He then turned to Isaac and gave him a huge grin.

Isaac straightened from his combat stance and grinned back, then saw a Skeleton jump from a nearby tree. It struck Ivan across the back, and Ivan fell down onto the ground, rolling away from the danger.

Isaac roared and jumped into the air. His sword glowed bright as he brought it down, utterly destroying the Skeleton that had dared to strike at his ally.

"Ivan!" Isaac yelled as he rushed to the fallen adept.

"Don't worry. It's just a scratch," Ivan whispered faintly, as Isaac quickly knelt down over him.

"It's more than just a scratch!" Isaac corrected angrily. Then, with a soft voice and care filling his eyes, he said, "But I can heal it."

Isaac laid his hand on the wound in Ivan's shoulder and a soft, golden glow emanated from his palm. The tear sealed, leaving the skin unmarked. Isaac then looked deeply into Ivan's eyes and found the wind adept's enrapturing gaze meeting his own. Ivan reached his hands up, took Isaac's head in his hands, brought the other adept's lips down towards his, and…

Ivan smiled as he released the Psynergy, barely suppressing his excitement. Looking across the clearing, the wind adept saw Isaac smile and knew that very happy images were dancing across the Venus Adept's dreams.

~o~o~o~

For those of you keeping up with me as I write this, I meant it when I said that I'd update more quickly to make up for the short chapter. ;) I hope you enjoyed reading and thanks for the reviews.

Also, thanks go to Ark Navy for betaing this chapter after the initial publication in order to update it.