Okay, so, it seems that Sheba was right... I actually typed this up before getting any reviews.

Sheba: I am a Jupiter Adept. I know my stuff.

Anyway, I did it so I could begin working on a flameshipping one and not have to worry about this one. :D

Ivan: Somehow, that seems like anti-procrastination. But, just as bad.

I was going to be bashed, no matter what I said, SO WHATEVER.

Sheba: And, still, no stories featuring me.

The flameshipping one should feature you.

Sheba: I like this.

That makes me want to check FaceBook. D:

Ivan: Internet junkie.

D: Anyway, reviewer response time. :'D [heart]


Iwanishi Nana : Haha, that's an excellent idea! It was so excellent, that I edited this chapter to make it have a scene with those two, xD Thanks for the review! :)

The Fanfic Reader : Haha, I was so pleased with this review that I had to post the second chapter as soon as making the changes (above) xD And, actually, I was thinking of doing a fic just like that, so stick around. I'll need your support to keep it going :D


Ah, I do love receiving praise.

Ivan: And when you get flamed, you'll be crying...

Sheba: For weeks on end!

All lies! I can take it D: ANYWAY...

...CONTINUING WITH THE STORY NOW.


Disclaimer: I do not own, nor claim ownership of Golden Sun or Golden Sun: TLA.


two-shot.
IsaacxMia
The Question of a First Time

Chapter Two.


"Those two..."

Isaac sighed dispassionately as he clambered into his assigned room and dropped his belongings carelessly in the nearest corner. There it was, in all of its glory: the amateurishly decorated Inn room that he would be sharing with one very specific Imilian girl who was all too sweet and all too caring and all too beautiful; too much for his mortally designed brain to handle. He looked over at the two beds, which stood unknowing to the young boy's recent infatuation, and cursed their distance. Of course, it was a bit much to think of sharing a lone bed in such a short amount of time...

"Maybe I shouldn't have decided to invade your thoughts just then."

"IVAN." Isaac leaped a foot backwards, his somewhat girlish scream startling the sneaky Jupiter Adept in turn. "Wh-what are you doing here? I thought your room was across the hall..."

"It is..." Ivan stared at Isaac carefully with unmoving violet eyes. "But you just seemed so edgy. I couldn't resist."

"Ivan!" Isaac brought his palm forcefully to his forehead. "I thought it was an unofficial agreement that Garet is the one you provoke. Not me."

"Consider it a one time thing, then." Ivan smiled at the Venus Adept brightly, and then cheerily proceeded to exit the room. "Oh, Mia's just down the hall, coming this way right now. Just thought I'd let you know." With his reflexes being what they were, Ivan managed to evade the hurtling Venus Djinni that was chucked in his general direction by soundly shutting the door. The poor Djinni bounced right off of the wood, having been trained to not damage any sort of property, and landed safely on the carpet with a mild bump.

"I'm sorry, Flint. But... you were the closest thing around with potentially dangerous powers."

"I'm quite alright, Master. I think it's your arm strength that needs checking out," the Djinni replied cheekily. "Nice of you to refer to me as a thing."

Isaac stared at the creature, hesitant. "Having said that, I guess I can't be mad at you for being sarcastic with me." He sighed and tugged on his scarf. "Come on back." Flint nodded and dutifully retreated into the fold he had made his home in.

"Talking to yourself?" Mia poked her head into the room with a shy smile. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, no, I was just talking to Flint," Isaac hurriedly explained, "And, yeah, of course! It's your room, too." Maybe the wild gestures to walk in were a bit much, but he was too nervous to have a decent control over his overly drastic actions. Mia giggled and walked right in.

"Djinn... they are interesting creatures, aren't they?" She smiled slowly, and Isaac blinked twice to remind himself to answer.

"They are. Flint had to badger me on our first meeting for me to trust him," Isaac laughed, recalling the memory. "I was so confused, 'cause I'd never seen anything like him. But he said he would have tagged along anyway even if I had rejected his help." He patted the folded loops in his scarf fondly. "They all have their own personalities. It's highly amusing."

"It is." While listening to Isaac's short recollection, Mia had put her stuff aside in the opposite corner of the room. "That makes them all the better, though." She paused, stopping her habitual shifting from foot to foot. "Um, I'm going to go on ahead and change into my pajamas... In the bathroom. You know, since it is kinda late and we have to depart early..." She shrugged with a half smile and retreated into the bathroom. Isaac stared at the closed door, dumbfounded.

She was going to change... and then he would change... and that would be the end of that? They'd both sleep in their beds, and then wake up early and leave the night behind? Isaac shook his head. Somehow, that all seemed logical enough. Why had he imagined it any other way?

"Who am I kidding?" The Venus Adept reclined slowly into his bed, suddenly tired. "It hasn't been that long..."

But why was time really relevant? He knew how he felt, now, and he knew that it was highly improbable that it would change. So, wasn't it fairly innocent for him to let his imagination run farther ahead than what was likely? He turned over on his stomach, facing away from the door and burying his face into the Inn-scented pillow. Maybe it would be a bit much to make a move that night. But it wouldn't be too bad to strengthen the relationship, would it?

But if they were going to sleep, with no in-between talking- that wouldn't happen anyway, right?

"So complicated..."

"What is?" Mia's voice was slightly muffled by the pillow's cushioning, but Isaac had detected the volume loud enough for her to be out in the room again. He sat up straight, turning mutely to lock onto the blue-haired Imilian beauty.

And, there she was, standing at the foot of the bed, casually clad in her nightwear; a light blue nightgown that reached just below her knees. It wasn't see-through, thank goodness, but it still allowed Isaac to see more of Mia than he was used to- after all, she was usually dressed in her typical clothes from Imil, which easily blocked the view of her bare arms, looking pale and silky to the texture, and her legs...

"Um, Isaac?" Isaac quickly looked up to see Mia looking away from him, her face slightly red. "You don't have to stare so much..."

"W-was I?" The nervous boy widened his eyes in alarm and hastily turned aside, focusing on his forgotten rucksack. "So-sorry. I'm just. I'd never seen... well, I mean, no one has. But, what I mean is, I'm not used to you outside of your clothes." He stopped and nearly drilled his palm into his forehead. "That is, I mean, no one is, but I was referring to your usual clothes..."

"I wouldn't have taken you to be one who stammers much," Mia laughed, pulling Isaac away from his sudden distress. "But I guess there's a lot to be learned about you." She took a seat at the edge of his bed, causing Isaac to nearly fall over from a just barely evaded heart attack.

"Yeah, it's a weird habit," he relented slowly. He stayed where he was on the bed, his legs just a few inches from where Mia was sitting. "But... I must have picked it up from my dad." Ooh, sore spot. How in the hell did he let that slip?

"He must be a funny guy." Was. But, Isaac didn't feel like disturbing whatever mood they had going, so he let the mistake remain.

"Yeah..."

"What were you saying about complications?" Mia asked, lying back on the comforter suddenly. Isaac's heart beat quickened as the measurements of distance were considerably cut down. Her head was right next to his right leg, her face within reaching distance of his palm. She was looking up at him with her hair brilliantly splayed beneath her, her bangs tortuously falling away from her eyes.

"Um, complications. I was just lost on some thoughts is all." It wasn't a lie. And it was slightly mysterious. Didn't girls like that kind of thing? Isaac cursed himself for not properly listening to Jenna's rants about Prince Charming. What was it she had said once? Something about being confident?

"You seem to think a lot."

"You're too observant," Isaac laughed, earning an alarmed look from Mia. "I mean, our conversations tend to reflect on who I am, right?" He smiled down at her, bumping the top of her head lightly with his hand. "I want to know more about you."

"Oh..." Mia looked away, her complexion heating up. "What do you want to know? I have no secrets."

"It doesn't have to be a secret." Isaac corrected, tapping her head softly again. All nervousness aside, this seemed like the better route to take. "It could be anything. You were the lone healer of your hometown, so you're obviously very good at handling responsibility, and it seemed that way when you were chastising Ivan and Garet earlier. Good with even small things like that." He paused, reflective. "And, anything and everything we heard about you in Imil was in amazing praise... We were expecting to see someone especially grand when we finally saw you... and we weren't let down. Maybe surprised, but you exceeded our expectations by far."

The sentence sounded conceited, so Isaac tried to rephrase it, "Ah, but, I meant that we were probably somewhat doubtful of the villagers, but you were- are- amazing enough that it seemed like what the villagers did say wasn't enough..."

"Um."

"What's wrong?" Isaac looked down at Mia suddenly, losing the far-away glint in his eyes. Mia's face was particularly rosy, too much so for it to be from the story.

She didn't make eye contact. "Your hand..."

Somewhere in his monologue, Isaac had began to run his fingers through Mia's hair in a consistent motion, a kind of massage. The boy instantly reddened and hastily retracted his hand. Just as quickly, Mia looked up him, fully alert.

"I'm so sorry-...!"

"No, I didn't mind!" She blinked, alarmed by her somewhat passionate response. Embarrassed, she looked away. "It felt nice..."

"..." Quietly, Isaac brought his hand back down on the girl's head and resumed the motion. Slowly, the tension that had been risen in her shoulders vanished, and a look of complete relaxation dominated her demeanor.

"Hm," Mia murmured, her eyes closing. "I feel safe."

Isaac smiled softly, the warm feeling swelling in his chest, and watched her reactions more consciously now. Her eyelashes fluttered against the adorable red tint splashed on her cheeks, but her eyes remained closed.

"It's been a while since I have felt this safe... I think, since..." She trailed off, her voice just above a whisper.

"You don't have to say," Isaac replied in a similarly quiet tone, careful not to break the peace. "I'm glad, just knowing that, somehow."

"Isaac..."

He watched her, waiting for her eyes to open again, or for her to say something else, but there was nothing.

"Mia?" He continued to play with her hair and massage, but there was no response. He stopped, smiling, and leaned over her dormant face. Her breathing was deeper now, he noticed, a sure sign of her falling asleep. The last bit of her bangs was still slowly inching away from her eyes, so he took it upon himself to brush the soft strands out of her face. With no reaction even then, he leaned down further and lightly pressed his lips against her cheek. She stirred suddenly, so he quickly sat up straight, blood pounding hot against his ears.

Her breath came out in a carefree giggle, so Isaac turned away and silently awaited for some sort of remark. However, she only shifted slightly and continued to take deep breaths. Isaac swallowed hard, tremendously relieved, and sighed. She was dreaming already, laughing in her sleep.

The night had far from turned out how Isaac had imagined it, in both the best case scenario and the worst, but he was far from disappointed with the progress. Never unsmiling, he managed to pull apart the bed's covers and have her comfortably set up before he changed into his own pajamas and got into the opposite bed. That night, sleep came to him easily.


Meanwhile, In the forgotten location of Ivan's and Garet's assigned room, the two bantering teens had resigned to simply trying to get some shut-eye. However, their conflicting personalities was a considerable barrier that kept the long-awaited sleep at bay.

"What do you think they're doing?" Although the lights were off, and each was in his own bed, Garet could not help but voice his thoughts and hope for a good input on the blonde's part. "We should've stayed by the door..."

"You're so obnoxious. They're probably sleeping." Ivan was also awake, but more so from the routine of knowing Garet would not rest. Too bad he was sleepy and cranky that night.

"Sleeping. Together?"

"Only in your dreams, Garet."

"HEY, I SAID I'D KILL YOU IF YOU INVADED ME WHILE I WAS SLEEPING." Infuriated, the Mars Adept sat up abruptly in bed, but Ivan just groaned in exasperation and turned over.

"I hadn't...YET. But thanks for selling out your perverted thoughts without me having to look!"

"Oh... Well. This is awkward."

"I can't believe you have enough shame to feel awkward."

"I don't, actually. And, I'll bet you my breakfast that Isaac does not have the juevos to put the moves on Mia."

"...I am not taking you up on any bet relating to this."

"Stick in the mud."

"..."

"It's not fun if you don't argue back."

Ivan sighed. "I knew it wasn't one-sided provoking."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Do you think we could hear them if they got it on?"

"Oh, for the love of-..."


The next morning:

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NOTHING HAPPENED?"

"Garet, please, quiet down!"

"IVAN AND I TOOK IT UPON OURSELVES TO SET UP THIS PERFECT OPPORTUNITY, AND YOU GIVE ME NOTHING?"

"Quiet down, oaf. You're going to wake her up and humiliate Isaac some more."

"MAYBE HE DESERVES THAT. 'CAUSE HE FOR SURE DOES NOT DESERVE HIS BA-...!"

"GARET. Why do you have to go there?"

"BECAUSE, my friend, YOU DISAPPOINT."

"Or you're just a pervert looking for some dirty details."

"I AM GOING TO CRUSH YOU, RUNT."

Awakened by the sound of Garet's unnervingly loud voice, Mia sat up in her bed, her expression switching from sleepy to confused to alarmed. She blinked down at the bed, realizing it had been the one Isaac had chosen. So why was she...? Even more alarmed, she turned to stare at the bed's opposite, which was made and not at all disturbed. There was no way. She'd fallen asleep on Isaac, quite literally, but had they...?

"Oh, you're up!"

Instinctively, Mia drew the covers around herself and flushed a bright red color as she turned to Isaac, whom had just entered the room looking a little red-faced himself. "Um. Hi."

"Hi...?" Isaac blinked, puzzled by her undecipherable tone, and said, "Why are you looking at me like..." He stopped, analyzed the situation. "Oh. OH. No, no, no, no, it's not what it seems like," he started in that nervous kind of rambling voice he sometimes took on. "You see, you fell asleep. So, so I set up the bed for you. But- but I slept in the other one. I just got up a bit earlier, and so, I made it, so it'd be one less thing to do... you know?" Exasperated, he quit flailing his arms around and looked to her for a reaction.

"Oh, so that's how it was." Mia nodded slowly, understanding. "Oh. What a terrible assumption on my part. My mistake." She looked away, her face adorably red once again. "Oh... Well... this was fun." She slowly got out of bed and collected a few changing items as Isaac looked around the room shamefully. She smiled at him slowly before shutting the bathroom door. "Let's do it again sometime." Smile. Click of the door.

She heard footsteps, the main door opening, and a collective sound of three guys grumbling and falling over.

"What the hell. WERE YOU GUYS LISTENING?"

"SHE SAID IT WAS FUN. YOU ARE HOLDING OUT ON US."

"Garet, NOTHING HAPPENED. LEAVE ME ALONE."

"Seriously, Garet. We can get it out of him later. Just let it go."

"YEAH-...IVAN, what do you mean get it out of me later? No using Mind Read! You said it was a one time thing!"

"What was a one time thing?"

"NOTHING."

"SEE, NOW YOU TWO ARE HOLDING OUT ON ME."

Mia laughed quietly to herself, very much amused. Boys. They were such a riot.


All done. :D Somehow, the story didn't turn out how I wanted it to. The characters seemed OOC, and the writing was too hurried, it seemed, and and and, MY NEXT ONE WILL BE BETTER AND MORE SYMBOLIC.

Sheba: This is just like school. You tell yourself you're going to not slack off, but then...

That's personal. D:

Ivan: With us, nothing is personal.

As displayed via Garet. Three cheers if you like Ivan's bashing personality in this fic! :D

Sheba: Probably the only good parts. Feel free to agree with me in your reviews. If you happen to leave one.

Ivan: Who would leave one?

Sheba: I know, right?

Q_Q PLEASE REVIEW.