Hey everybody! Sorry it's been a longer time than usual, but what can I say: school sucks. You know what sucks even worse? Course selection. You know what sucks even worse than that? Full classes. But enough about my unfortunate first year undergrad life, I'm sure that the worst is yet to come.
And to my two reviewers, thank you for your support!
jaime: As for right now, I don't have any plans for Ivan, but there is a bit of romance that Garet will be involved in. For the most part the story will revolve around Isaac since it's technically supposed to be him recounting his story to the kids.
AnriMia24: Haha I'm glad to see such an avid mudshipper appreciating my story. Though it was strange for me writing Isaac/Jenna mush, I think it was necessary; after all, they are the ones in the relationship. However, you'll be happy to know that that was probably the fluffiest chapter for the two of them. It was all for the sake of story progression
Now for more blatant Xenoblade advertising… watch?v=9iPQP7aDe_Y. Listen and be amazed. The raw emotion for this song was a perfect way to end the game. It doesn't contain any spoilers so if you're planning on playing it, don't worry about that.
Anyways, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun!
Departure
"None of us were looking forward to it, but the day had finally come when our friends would have to leave. The entire village was there, but they dispersed a bit for us to make our way towards Ivan, Sheba, Piers, and Mia. Everyone was sad to say their-"
"Wait Uncle Isaac!" said Karis, interrupting his story.
"Hmm Karis? Were you confused about something?"
"No, but I have a question. Is Miss Mia the girl in the picture with you?"
Isaac stopped briefly. He had not been telling the story in explicit detail because he knew that it may have gotten confusing for their young minds to comprehend. Karis was a very smart girl. Perhaps it was her Jupiter intuition, for they knew that she didn't have the power to actually read minds. Carefully deciding upon a response to Karis, Isaac answered her.
"Well Karis, maybe she is, maybe she isn't. You'll just have to keep paying attention to the story to see if you're correct." He smiled as she huffed and slumped back onto a still unhappy-looking Tyrell.
"Keep going, Dada! I wanna hear about your friends!" shouted Matthew. He was excited to hear about all the adults he knew now as they were in their younger years.
Clearing his throat again, Isaac continued, "Where was I? Ah yes, the parting. Everyone was sad to say their goodbyes on that dreadful day…"
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"Do you really have to go so soon?" sounded Jenna's voice, on the brink of tears. "It's only been a week since we finished New Vale."
"I'm sorry, Jenna," said Ivan, a solemn but comforting tone in his voice. "We all agreed that it would be best not to linger any longer than we should. We feared that all of you may grow too attached and never let us leave."
"Man, this sucks," muttered Garet, kicking a pebble into the nearby stream.
"I feel very fortunate to have met you all," said Piers, trying to stay positive. "It's been a pleasure watching you mature over our short time together." Sometimes they forgot that Piers was probably old enough to be an elder to Kraden.
"I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends to have met on our journey," Mia added, her soothing voice washing over them all. "We'll be sure to visit when we can. Think of this not as goodbye, but a temporary parting."
Isaac was downtrodden. Knowing that many of his closest friends were about to leave their village, for at least a number of years, was very saddening. He knew this day would come, but was still pained to hear them say goodbye.
"Felix, are you coming?" asked Sheba. Jenna, Garet, and Isaac looked up in surprise at the twenty-year old brother of Jenna. Felix gave them a sheepish look of guilt, realizing that he had forgotten to tell them.
"I…uh…guess I never told you guys…" he began, scratching at the stubble on his chin, "I'm taking Sheba back to Lalivero myself. I thought it would make sense since she's got the longest journey ahead of her. I should probably make amends with Faran…you know…with the whole kidnapping and all…"
"Y-you're really leaving us too?" squeaked Jenna, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. Isaac moved to comfort her, but Felix was one step ahead of him.
"It's all right, Jenna," he said barely above a whisper while rubbing her back gently. "Don't cry for me. I'll be back in a few months. I just have to make sure that she gets there safely; there's no telling what kind of dangers are out there now with the release of Alchemy."
"Dammit, I was hoping that we might have a little more time together," grumbled Garet. Having no other way of expressing his sorrow, he simply kept his head down and stared at his feet.
There was a brief silence as all the adepts faced each other; Felix now standing beside Sheba at the entrance gate. No one said a word, and they hardly realized the rest of the town standing around them. The sound of children and a few other townspeople crying was all that could be heard. Kyle, Dora, Garet's parents, and Jenna's parents quietly stepped out to their respective children.
"Well, I suppose now would be the time to say your goodbyes," said Kyle, realizing that they needed a little push to continue.
"Yes," added Dora, placing her hand on Isaac's shoulder, "the longer you let this go on, the harder it will be to say what you need to." Garet and Jenna's parents nodded in agreement, murmuring similar things to their own children.
"I guess," Isaac started, a lump in his throat forming, "this is farewell." He approached Ivan, extending his hand: the two shared a brotherly embrace. Out of the corner of his eye, Isaac could see Garet and Jenna doing the same with their other companions, while Felix and his parents quietly discussed his journey to and from Lalivero.
"Don't fret, Isaac," Ivan spoke strongly. "Kalay is only a four day journey by caravan. I'm sure I'll be seeing you plenty with all the trading we'll be doing."
Isaac looked at him, surprised. "You aren't going back to Contigo with Hama?" he asked. "I thought you wanted to return home to learn more of your background as a descendent of Anemos."
Ivan smiled to him, "I'll be going back there someday. I don't quite think I'm ready to settle there yet. Maybe once things from the Golden Sun event have calmed down I'll head back there."
Nodding to show that they understood each other, Isaac shook his hand once more and stepped towards Sheba. When he hugged her he had to bend down a bit so she wouldn't have to stand on her toes to get to his height. He smirked as he imagined how she was going to manage an embrace from the much taller Mars adept.
"Good luck with your future, Isaac," Sheba said as they hugged. "I know you'll be successful."
They pulled away from each other and continued moving down the line. Facing Felix, Isaac couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable looking into the stern eyes of his once, former enemy. Shaking his hand, they gave each other a look of understanding. "Take care of my sister," said Felix. Though he probably hadn't meant it, Isaac thought he caught a small threat in that statement. Only saying to Felix that he would, and to be safe on his own journey, Isaac continued over to Piers.
Rather than embracing him, Piers and Isaac placed their right hands on each other's left shoulder and grasped the other's left elbow. This had been something that Piers had told them was a customary sign of friendship among Lemurians.
"Where will you go now, Piers?" asked Isaac, still firmly locked in their stance. "You can't return to Lemuria until your banishment is lifted."
"Well Isaac," said Piers, hesitating a bit before replying, "I am old compared to you, but as Lemurians go I am relatively the same age as Felix. My thirst for adventure will never be quenched until I have seen every inch of Weyard. I suppose you could say that I, like the others, am also going home. Home to the sea, for the sea is my calling: my one true home."
Isaac smiled, happy to see his newest friend chasing his dream of becoming a worldwide adventurer. Nodding to show that they understood each other, they dropped their hands, and Isaac moved to the last person in the line: Mia. How he had dreaded saying goodbye to the one whom he considered his closest friend on this journey. Isaac could feel his eyes water a bit as he stood in front of the girl he had become so close with. It was strange. He had shared a bond with her that rivaled his bond with even Garet and Jenna. Unexpectedly, she took his hands in hers and a faint blue glow illuminated from her palms. She looked him in the eye and smiled sweetly. She had cast ply, Isaac figured; though he wasn't hurt, the cooling Mercury psynergy had a soothing effect that traveled up through his arms to the rest of his body, relaxing him as it went. He returned her smile, and she let go of his hands so they could hug each other. A single tear escaped his eye as he held her close to him, noting the sweet scent of her hair: fresh rain on a grassy plain. They stood like that for a long time, frozen like statues in an inseparable embrace.
"I can't believe you're leaving," he whispered, "I wish you didn't have to go. You're my best friend, Mia."
Mia sniffled. Was she crying? He didn't want to check if it meant letting go of her. "Oh, Isaac, don't be so upset. We can always stay in touch. I'll write to you as soon as I get home, I promise." She loosened her grip around him so they could look into each others' eyes. Her blue irises watered, giving them the appearance of rippling ponds. Another tear slowly rolled down his cheek, but Mia quickly brought up her hand to brush it off for him. "Jenna will think you've gone soft if you keep acting like this," she added, chuckling, a few tears rolling down her own cheeks. He hadn't meant to ruin her beauty with tears, but was secretly glad that she was crying. It showed him that she cared for him a great deal, as he did for her.
"Mia," he started, blinking to stop his eyes from watering anymore.
"Yes, Isaac?"
"Can you promise me something?"
"Anything. What is it?"
He stopped for a second. The words were getting caught in his throat. It was a foolish request, but he felt it was necessary for her to hear the words. "Promise me you won't…won't forget about me…or any of us," he quickly added to avoid any awkwardness.
She smiled sadly, eyes twinkling as she answered him, "Of course. I couldn't forget you if I tried."
He returned her smile and squeezed her tightly before forcing himself to pull away. Unbeknownst to him, a cross-armed Jenna was looking over at them, as everyone else had finished their goodbyes already.
"Goodbye Mia."
"Until we meet again Isaac."
Isaac, Garet, and Jenna all backed away towards their parents. This must have been how Mom and Garet's family felt the day we left for our adventure. Waving their arms, the three friends watched as their travelling companions marched out the gate and down the path leading out of New Vale. The crowd began to disperse until only the three of them remained desolately staring out the archway.
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"Just leave me alone, Isaac!" Jenna shouted from behind her front door. He was having a hard time understanding what had happened. One minute the three of them had been staring out the arch, the next Jenna was running home crying. When he asked Garet what was wrong, he got a shrug and an equally confused look for his answer. He knew she had been upset to see them leave, but Jenna wasn't one to get so emotional about something like a farewell. Not wanting to waste another moment thinking about it, he took off after her. However, when he reached her house, she had refused to let him in, literally keeping him locked out from her.
Isaac, naturally confused and upset from both the departure and Jenna's sudden outburst, walked around to the stairs leading away from her house and sighed as he sat on the bottom step. A few minutes later, Garet came slowly bumbling up towards him.
"Yo, Isaac," he said in a mildly concerned tone, "did you find out why Jenna was so upset?"
Isaac looked up at him for a moment, but immediately focused his gaze back in front of him; resting his chin between his palms. "Does it look like I did?"
"I dunno, man. She was pretty upset, so even if you did find out you'd probably still look just as sad as you do right now," he stated quite matter-of-factly.
Sighing again, Isaac let one hand drop. "I guess that makes sense. Well no, I didn't find out why she was upset. When I knocked on her door to ask, she yelled at me to leave her alone and locked the door."
Garet pondered for a moment, scratching his head and rubbing his chin while looking to the sky as if for an answer. "Hmm, just throwing it out there as an idea, but what if...nah that doesn't sound like Jenna."
Isaac was genuinely confused now. "Wait, tell me anyways. It may sound dumb, but maybe she is mad for whatever reason you're thinking."
Garet turned back to the Venus adept, "Well, it may not be the best answer, but maybe she's upset over the extra long farewell hug that you had with Mia. I didn't think Jenna was the jealous type, but maybe..."
Isaac gave him a dumbfounded look that quickly changed into a one-eyebrow-raised smirk. "Heh, you think she's upset over that?! Mia and I are just close friends is all! I was upset to see her leave since we'd been with her for so long."
Garet shook his head in disagreement. "Look Isaac, that's how I saw it, and probably how just about everyone else saw it, too. But Jenna's your girlfriend, and knowing how unpredictable she can be sometimes, I can see why she'd be feeling a little jealous. After all," he added, "it wasn't like you hugged Ivan for a long time, and women just have this weird way of thinking that we, as logically-thinking men, will never understand."
Isaac, despite his grief, snickered at the last comment. "I'm surprised you managed to come to such a straightforward conclusion like that, Garet. And here I thought you were the exception to all logically-thinking men."
Garet grinned back at him, "Watch it, lover-boy. Next time I might not have your back in one of these situations."
Isaac laughed, "Alright, I guess for now I'll give her a bit of space, but I'll try talking to her later when she's feeling a little less…temperamental." With that he got up and started to ascend the staircase. "Garet," he added, stopping on the step he was on.
"Yeah, Isaac?"
"Would you…uh…would you mind talking to Jenna for me? Just for now until she's ready to open up to me. I think it would be better if she had someone to speak to before I try to confront her about it."
"Sure thing, buddy," said Garet, flashing him a thumbs-up. "I'm not the best at talking about emotions and feelings and all that sentimental crap, but I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks," said Isaac, continuing up the stairs. He was glad to have such a good friend like Garet around to pull him out of tight situations. It didn't matter if he was facing a horde of monsters or a temperamental girlfriend; Garet was always there to have his back. Instead of heading back to his house, Isaac passed it by and headed up towards the bridge on the pond. This was his new thinking place, and he decided he would go there as often as he could to let his mind flow freely. It was a relief that he would no longer have to worry about the Jupiter adepts possibly catching a few of his thoughts while he let his mind drift. Leaning on the bridge's railing, Isaac gazed into the water, allowing his mind to wander to his newly separated friends, Garet, and Jenna. He only hoped that everything would turn out okay.
This one is relatively short compared to the other two (1000 less words than the last chapter! Holy…), but I think that this is an appropriate spot to end this chapter. So, Isaac has left it up to Garet to speak to his distraught girlfriend Jenna, about Isaac's "just friends" relationship with Mia. Quite the kafuffle he's gotten himself into, wouldn't you say? I guess you'll have to stick around if you wanna find out how this all plays out. I'll promise you this; it'll probably start getting more depressing over the next few chapters, so be warned.
As always, please R&R! It makes me happy when I know that people are actually reading my stories, and constructive criticism and feedback are always appreciated.
Until next time,
-GengaJupite