I wish people would write more GS fics about the original eight. It's not that I dislike the newer characters, but I just can't seem to enjoy stories about them as much as the originals. Not to sound like a pessimist (or like a genwunner for people who know pokemon terms :P), but Isaac is better than Matthew, Garet is better than Tyrell, Ivan = Karis (lol), Mia is way way way way way way way way way better than Rief, and you kind of get the idea. The only one I can say the opposite for is Sveta vs. Sheba, but that's only because Sveta is a freaking beast, literally. Her icon is also kinda cute (no bestiality), so yeah…

That seems like an ample amount of complaining for one introduction, so on with the story!

Thanks to CruelRuin and AnriMia24 for reviewing!

Disclaimer: If I were Alex, this would go something like "I have limitless power!" before the Wise One tells me "No, even your power is limited. You do not harness the power of the Golden Sun"

Loneliness

Dear Isaac,

I promised I would write to you as soon as I got to Imil, and so I sent this as soon as I could as the proof. Don't you worry; I'm completely safe and unharmed. I must admit that the thought of trying to get into Imil was frightening, but it was actually quite straightforward. It seems that the monsters prefer to fight at night, so I was luckily able to get in without a hitch. As for the battle, I won't lie, it doesn't seem to be going so well for either side. I hope that with me here to act as a healer in Justin's stead that he'll be able to dedicate all his time to strategizing the troops. I wish you could see him, Isaac, you'd be so proud. I have yet to see the lizard warriors come up on shore, but for now it looks like we may be able to drive off the trolls and maulers; though from what I've heard, the most aggressive attacks come from the lizards. I know you want to help, Isaac, but I still need you to stay there for me. I would be devastated if Mt. Aleph erupted again but you weren't there to warn everyone. You must understand, Isaac, I love you too much to let your soul shatter again. I'll be alright, I promise. If anything happens, we've already created an escape plan for the citizens, so we'll all be safe. You aren't here, but you give us hope; hope to see a future, and hope that I'll see you again.

I'll be home before you know it.
Love Mia

Isaac softly placed Mia's ring atop the letter on his desk. His eyes glistened with both joy and loneliness when he received her letter, only to realize that it indicated that she had only been gone for two months. In that entire time, he'd never gotten a letter from anyone, so when a tapping at his bedroom window woke him, he knew that the letter and pigeon had to be from his beloved. He wasted no time in letting the bird in and immediately reading through the letter.

It was strange to see Mia speak in such a way about anything. To put it bluntly, he found her message to be rather uninformative. She didn't give much detail about the conditions of the town or the people. Perhaps she was saving him the pain of knowing that they weren't doing so well, or maybe it really wasn't so bad. Either way, he knew her well enough to know that she'd purposely left out many details so that he wouldn't come rushing off to help. It hurt him to know that she didn't want him there, but there was no way he could go against her wish.

Sighing, Isaac threw on some clothes and slowly headed downstairs. When he reached the bottom floor, he could already smell food being prepared in the kitchen. Walking in, Isaac spotted Garet flipping some meat onto a plate.

"You're up earlier than usual," Isaac teased.

"What can I say? When my stomach's growling, it's time to get up," replied the Mars adept without looking up from his food.

For the past week or so, Garet had been living up at Isaac's cabin while things with Jenna were calming down. Lately, the two Mars adepts had been experiencing quite a bit of friction in their relationship, eventually leading to Garet getting kicked out of his own house. Isaac could agree with his best friend that proposing right now may not be the best idea, as Sam had suggested. Instead, Garet had logically come to the conclusion that they needed a bit of space until they were ready to face each other again. Not wanting to live at either his parents or Kay's house, Garet had decided that the best place to go would be Isaac's cabin. It may have been hell for him to get to work all the way down in Kalay, but he'd assured Isaac that it wasn't a problem he should concern himself with.

"Oh, by the way, Isaac, Ivan's coming up here later," said Garet.

"Really? He's usually so busy with his inventions, not to mention all the wedding planning. Did he say what for?"

"I think it had something to do with his soarwing-whatchamacallit. He said if all goes smoothly, he'll leave it here for me to use to get to and from Kalay quickly."

"Smoothly?" Isaac was questionable of Ivan's intentions. What could he possibly be planning that would require things go smoothly? Ivan, regardless of his shyness around Sam, was still the mischievous prankster they knew from their teenage years.

"Beats me, he said the thing wasn't quite ready yet. Something about missing one key component."

Before Isaac could respond, a frantic rapping at his door interrupted his thought. Curious as to who would be visiting at such an early hour, Isaac glanced out the peephole before opening the door.

"Hey, Isaac!" greeted Ivan. An odd-looking machine of some sort was strapped to his back. It looked like Ivan had some folded up machine-like wings.

"Hey, Ivan. Garet said you wouldn't be here 'til later."

"Heh, I was planning on heading up once Sam left for the university, but she forced me to get out of the house right away. She thinks I don't get out enough; I can't really argue with that."

"Ha, whipped!" Garet laughed from the kitchen.

Ignoring the Mars adept, Isaac let Ivan in and continued the conversation. "Well, what's the big news? It's not often you come all the way up here to tell me something."

Ivan shifted his stance a bit and averted his gaze. "Well, I actually needed to ask you a favour…"

Isaac chuckled, "Oh, so you came all this way to get us to do something for you. Classic compromising technique, but I'll bite. What do you need?"

"Uh, well, it's a lot to ask… You can decline if you want… I just thought since Mia's gonna be gone for a while… and with Garet and Jenna trying to give each other some space…"

"Spit it out, man!" Garet shouted impatiently as he walked into the living room.

"I need you two to travel to Talon Peak in Morgal to retrieve a feather from the Mountain Roc."

The room was silent for a moment, Isaac and Garet a bit too stunned to respond. The two residents stared blankly at the Jupiter adept standing in the doorway. Ivan, on the other hand, seemed to find a sudden interest in his hands, feet, and anywhere that wasn't near the faces of his two friends. It wasn't until he cleared his throat that Garet finally said something.

"Where the hell is Morgal? And what's a Mountain Roc? Why would a rock have feathers?"

Ivan shook his head at his companion's lack of knowledge. "Morgal is a new region far to the east. If I'm not mistaken, it's on the other side of Angara, and is inhabited by people known as beastmen. The Mountain Roc is a giant bird that is sacred to the beast tribe. To obtain a feather from such an important part of their culture would require that you speak to the king in person."

Another silence ensued; however, Isaac was able to think of something to say before Ivan had to snap them out of their daze again.

"So, you want us to travel across the continent to retrieve some feather from the wings of some giant, sacred bird… and we have to meet some beast king to do so?"

"Correct."

"Can I be so bold as to ask why?"

"It's actually for your benefit, Isaac. You've dedicated the rest of your life to keeping tabs on Mt. Aleph, but it's unapproachable on foot. Watching it from a distance isn't much of a way to study what's going on around it. The soarwing will allow you to fly around the area much closer to Mt. Aleph so that you can survey the area. However, the amount of psynergy it requires to fly it is tremendous, so you'd probably only get about an hour's worth of flight in its current state. The Mountain Roc's feather's should provide an extensive amount of lift to the machine, allowing you to fly for a very long time with minimal loss of psynergy."

"This all sounds good," started Garet, "but why do you need us to get it? You have legs."

Ivan blushed and looked down at his feet. "I, uh, I'm a bit busy planning my wedding. I don't have much time to travel across Angara, and I figured since you guys aren't spending time with Mia or Jenna right now that you could maybe do this for me…"

Isaac gave a light smile to the bashful Jupiter adept. Garet, however, was not quite so quick to agree.

"As much as I want to help, I've got work, Ivan. I can't just go off on some adventure that could take us months, or even a year, to complete."

"Oh, but that's the thing," said Ivan, returning his gaze to Garet, "I've already talked to some people about helping you out. Piers said he'd be willing to sail you to the Morgal capital, Belinsk, and Roxy said she'd cover your job until you return."

Garet muttered something and blushed at the mention of Roxy's name. She was, after all, the reason he and Jenna were having issues. Isaac could see that this may do more harm than good for the Mars adepts' relationship. The way he saw it for himself, however, was much different. With Mia gone and nothing to do but watch the active volcano from afar, Isaac was actually eager to take up Ivan's offer. Thoughts of Mia still plagued his mind, and he wanted to busy himself as much as possible until her return.

"I'll do it," came Isaac's response.

"R-really? You're serious, Isaac?" Ivan asked incredulously. Garet's expression also matched Ivan's.

"Yeah, I haven't got much else to do around here, and if this can help me understand Mt. Aleph better, then I'll do whatever it takes."

"You sure about this, Isaac?" asked a skeptical Garet. "I know you want to keep your mind off of Mia, but don't you think this is a bit drastic?"

Isaac shrugged, "I have no idea how long Mia's gonna be gone. I figure if I'm going to do something, it may as well benefit me in the long run. Besides, no one said you have to come, Garet. If you want to stay here, I won't be offended."

"Pah, like hell I'll let you go alone! Last time you went off on your own you disappeared for ten years! If you're going, then I am too. Brothers stick together, Isaac."

Isaac grinned and gave his best friend a fist bump before turning back to Ivan. The Jupiter adept was beaming, obviously ecstatic that his friends were so willing to take on a potentially dangerous mission for him.

"So when do we leave?"

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"I swear to Sol, if Ivan ever asks us to go on another mission for him, I'll smack him upside the head!" groaned an exhausted Garet.

The two, now twenty-nine-year-old adepts had just returned to Kalay from their ten-month long journey. Neither them nor Piers had expected it to take so long, but with the ever-changing currents and land, the straightforward course had taken more than a few detours.

"I'm just glad we're finally back," Isaac said blankly. "It would've been easier if we didn't have to pass by Imil…"

As much as he'd wanted to stop in at the snowy village, Isaac knew that it would have betrayed Mia's trust. They'd constantly written to each other, so she knew that he was out on the ocean, but she never suggested that he go to her, despite knowing that they would have to pass by on the way to and from Morgal.

"Hey, cheer up, Isaac. You know she's just looking out for you. If you stopped in Imil to see her, it would've only made it harder for you to leave for the lookout cabin. Trust me, I know being away from her for a year feels like a long time, but it's like that old saying: absence makes the heart grow fonder. Besides, she said that the monsters were starting to lay off a bit. You'll be back together in no time. You just have to hang in there until that happens."

Isaac sighed, but gave his friend a smile, albeit a weak one. "Thanks, Garet. It means a lot when you get all serious with me. And hey, maybe you and Jenna will be able to patch things up now. I think being away from her for almost a year is more than enough time apart."

Garet suddenly looked guilty and cast his gaze downwards. "Gee, I feel kinda bad now. I didn't even keep in contact with her while we were away. She's probably been worried sick about me, though she'll probably just scream her head off when I show up at home."

"Well, then you don't give her a chance to yell. As soon as you see her, wrap her in your tightest squeeze and kiss her. Don't even hesitate for a second. After that, you can figure out what to do."

The guilty look on Garet's face faded into an amused smile. He turned his head towards Isaac and let out a breathy chuckle. "Man, you are the cheesiest person alive, you know that? Still, I won't not take your advice into consideration. After all, you're the one who's engaged."

The two of them laughed until they found themselves at Ivan and Sam's large estate. Being that Ivan was the adopted son of the rulers of Kalay, it only seemed natural that he should live in a large house. Isaac knocked on the door, only for it to be instantaneously swung open by an enthusiastic Sam.

"Hey, you guys are back!" she said wrapping them in a hug. She let them into the house and quickly went off to get Ivan from the basement where he liked to do his inventing.

"Even after all these years, I still don't understand how Ivan managed to snag himself a beauty like Sam!" Garet mused, making sure she was out of earshot.

Isaac chuckled in agreement, "She is quite the catch, especially for our timid little Ivan. He'll always be just a kid in my eyes."

Some footsteps from the hallway caught their attention as Sam returned with a tired-looking Ivan coming into view along with her. His hair was messy and his eyes were drooping. Either he'd been busy going over blueprints for his inventions the whole time they were gone or he'd been planning the wedding. Either way, they could all agree that he needed some sleep.

"Ah, how'd the trip go?" he asked them, yawning afterwards.

Isaac and Garet glanced at each other before silently agreeing that now wouldn't be the best time to tell them it was exhausting.

"Meh, it was alright," Garet shrugged.

"Pretty straightforward. The king was unexpectedly helpful, though. We basically just asked if we could get a feather and he climbed the mountain with us to get it," added Isaac.

Ivan's eyes lit up at the news, "Excellent! If you'd be so kind, I'll take that off your hands." Isaac reached into his pack and handed Ivan the arm-length feather. "Ah, I can already feel the weightlessness of it in my hands. This'll be perfect! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some much needed sleep to catch up on."

Isaac, Garet, and Sam all watched as he trudged upstairs and into the bedroom. Turning back to face each other, Sam gave them a warm smile before gesturing them to follow her. She led them into the dining area where a few elaborately placed dishes were already prepared and waiting for them.

"All right, food!" shouted Garet, lunging towards the table.

Isaac simply shook his head at the starving Mars adept's mannerisms. Sam didn't seem to mind; if anything, she seemed flattered.

"You really didn't have to go through all this trouble, Sam," said Isaac. He was grateful for her effort, but he'd have been just as content if she hadn't.

"It's nothing, Isaac, just my way of saying thanks for helping out Ivan. He's been working himself to death with all his inventing and wedding planning. I feel a little bad that he's working his ass off for us while I'm testing out rocks in a lab."

"I'm sure he doesn't mind, Sam. Your wedding's coming up in just a few months, so it only makes sense that he's trying to make sure everything goes according to plan. I'd be doing the same thing."

She grinned and chuckled as they watched Garet wolf down the food in front of him. "It's a shame that Mia can't be here," she said, "I would've asked her to be the maid of honour. You're already Ivan's best man; it would've been cute."

Isaac frowned slightly, but made sure that Sam didn't notice, "I guess it can't really be helped. I wish she could be here too, but I don't want you two to postpone your wedding for our sake. We should be the last of your worries. Your wedding is about you and no one else."

"Ain't that the truth!" Garet yelled through a full mouth.

The three of them continued talking and laughing for many hours into the day. Ivan eventually joined them after his lengthy nap, and the four of them spoke of things ranging from the upcoming wedding to what Garet's kids might look like.

"No, no, no, Garet Junior is gonna look exactly like me!" shouted Garet.

"I hope he gets his mother's brains then," laughed Ivan. All of them, including Garet, laughed together, sharing one of the few moments when the four of them could just be themselves.

When the laughs began to calm down, Isaac was able to wipe away a tear and speak up, "Hey, it was great catching up with you guys, but it's getting a bit late for me. If I wanna get back home before dark, I'll have to leave now."

Isaac stood, but was surprised to see Garet stand with him. "I should probably head out too. After all, Jenna's probably been waiting for me to come back."

Ivan and Sam walked their two friends to the door before saying goodbye and thanking them for their efforts. Isaac decided that he'd walk with Garet until they reached his house.

"You nervous?" he asked his Mars companion.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little. I'm more anxious just to see her. I've been separated from her for almost as long as you and Mia have been, so I just want to see her again. I really want to make things work. Being away from her has really opened my eyes. Seeing how happy Ivan and Sam are, and seeing how eagerly you're waiting for Mia to get back has made me realize how much I want to share my life with Jen. I won't make any promises that my proposal will be soon, but I won't back down this time. If I find a good opportunity, I'm gonna go for it; this I promise."

Isaac couldn't help his lips from curling upwards. Garet wasn't big on speeches, but he was surprisingly good at making them. It warmed his heart to see just how much his friend had grown up since youth. He was finally embracing his manhood. A few minutes after Garet's speech, the two of them reached the front of his house. Despite the powerful speech, Isaac noticed his friend hesitate slightly.

"You're sure you're ready?" he asked him.

"To be perfectly honest, no. But if I keep putting this confrontation off, then things will only get worse. It's time for me to grow a pair and just get 'er done."

The Venus adept watched as Garet took a deep breath and unlocked the door to his house. Flashing him a quick thumbs-up, he closed the door behind him and left Isaac to stand outside. After a few minutes without any audible sounds of anger, Isaac determined that his friends had successfully made up, so he headed off in the direction of his home, glad that Garet and Jenna were finally back together.

The only thing that was getting him down was his own relationship. As he walked up the mountain path towards his home, Isaac's mind was once again plagued with thoughts of the azure-haired beauty. While he was glad that his friends were finding such success in their relationships, he couldn't help but feel pain in his heart at the thought of Mia being away for so long. He'd been surrounded by so much love, that he began to feel almost jealous.

He was lonesome.

There was nothing to be jealous of; after all, he was the first one of the group of them to become engaged. Yet the pain of not seeing or speaking to his love in person was driving him insane. He wanted to re-experience the soft touch of her skin, the sweet smell of her hair, and the loving sparkle in her eyes.

As the sun began to set over the mountaintops, Isaac's memory was triggered. The soft orange glow of Sol setting over the horizon had always accented Mia's radiant features. The way it bounced off her creamy skin always made his heart melt, and the experiences he'd had with Mia at sunset were permanently kept in his heart: the day of the ceremony, the bench overlooking Bilibin, and the time he'd asked her to be his girlfriend were just a few that came to mind. He smiled at the memories, but at the same time he could feel his eyes begin to shimmer. Blinking away the lonely tears, Isaac realized that he'd come to the area near Patcher's. Seeking some sort of companionship, Isaac entered the inn to have a few drinks with the owner.

"Hey, look who it is! Haven't seen you in some time, buddy!" Patcher called to him from the bar. Isaac gave him a small smile, but his depressed mood was easily recognizable.

"Looks like you could use a drink, pal. What's eating you?"

Isaac sighed as he sat down at the bar. Patcher was the typical bartending psychiatrist; he knew exactly what kind of drink to get for a sour mood.

"I just miss Mia… you know the drill," he replied solemnly. Patcher simply nodded and slid him a drink.

After Isaac glugged it down, Patcher spoke to him the way he always did when the Venus adept was feeling down. "Well, you know I always say that it's just a matter of time before she comes running back into your arms. Wars are complicated, Isaac. They can take a long time to settle, and I'm sure she doesn't want you to get hurt. Keeping you from danger is the only solution she could think of, so that's what she's going to do until the war is over. Anyway, I can see that that's not the only thing getting to you. There's more to it, isn't there?"

Ever the observant one, eh, Patcher? "Yeah, I guess you could say that. It's just… seeing Ivan and Sam getting closer and closer to their wedding day… I guess I'm a little envious. I wish I could start planning mine, but I have no idea when Mia will be coming home. I can't start doing anything until I know she'll be here. Besides, I can't plan anything without her, it'd be unfair."

"I see. Anything else you wanna get off your chest now?"

"…I suppose there's also Garet and Jenna. The two of them hadn't been on speaking terms for almost as long as Mia's been gone. Just today I made sure that they made up, and now I just feel like I'm alone. My closest friends have each other, but I have no one for me."

"Isaac, you're beating yourself up over nothing. Yeah, it's natural that you'd feel a bit jealous since they can spend all their time together, but you've gotta keep your chin up. Life seems hard right now because you spent every day for ten years with a girl who's been forcefully taken away from you for a year now. You're lonesome not because you can see that everyone else is together, but because you're dealing with a completely new way of living. Just suck it up for a little while longer, and pretty soon you'll have that bride-to-be back in your arms. Doesn't seem like such a bad deal, does it?"

"I wish it seemed better. Everyone keeps telling me she'll be back in no time, but I don't think anyone has had to spend such a long time away from their fiancée. She's everything to me. It nearly destroyed me when I almost lost my parents, but losing her is, dare I say it, so much worse. I wish that I could just see her right now. Even if I could only see her for an hour or two right now, it would help me to get through another long wait."

Patcher refilled Isaac's mug and scratched at his beard in thought. He'd dealt with Isaac's depressing spells a few times before he left for Ivan's mission, but the innkeeper was running out of things to tell him. Being faced with such a specific problem left most of his broad advice out of the question.

"I'm sorry, Isaac, but you've finally managed to stump me. I can't give you any personal advice because, well, I've never been in a situation like yours. I may have an idea though. Don't get the wrong idea, this is purely a bro-talk, but maybe you should explain to me what you're feeling right now. It may seem girly and awkward, but I think I may be able to help you more if you broadened your situation."

Isaac sighed and took another swig of his drink. He supposed that it couldn't hurt to talk about his feelings, but it felt strange to speak about them with someone other than Mia or Garet.

"If it'll help you to help me… I suppose I could… My heart feels heavy, I guess. She's become so insistent on keeping me away that I'm almost suspicious that there's something more to it than just my safety. I trust Mia fully, so I have complete faith that she's not cheating on me; I just wish I knew what she was doing. Perhaps I'm being paranoid, but anyone would be after such a length of time."

"The length of time," he continued, "is also starting to get to me. I feel like we've been apart for what feels like a lifetime, only to realize it's been just one year. One year is still a long time to spend away from someone, but it hurts all the more when you're in love. I've never felt so strongly for anyone in my entire life, and all I wanted to do was spend my days living a normal life with her. I'm torn by my emotions. One part of me wants to run to her as fast as I can, but that would break her trust. The other is telling me to stay here, wallowing in grief and loneliness. I feel like my heart will split in two."

Isaac hung his head; verbalizing his feelings increased the associated emotions tenfold. His knuckles whitened as he clenched the mug handle tighter and tighter. He felt like he would cry, yet no tears came. He shook with emotional pain, but no indication of turmoil was evident on his face. It had taken some time, but he was breaking down, much like he had once before, when he exiled himself.

He felt a palm rest firmly on his shaky shoulder. "Isaac, you're stronger than this. Sol, you saved Weyard from an inevitable destruction and you still burden yourself with false beliefs. You've invested so much of your time into helping and being there for others that now you're torn because you don't know what it's like to do something for yourself. Mia loves you, Isaac, and it's for that reason that she doesn't want anything to happen to you. She's seen you at your worst, and I'm sure that she never wants to see you like that – like this – ever again. You just have to look to the future. It may be hard to do so in the meantime, but you can think of all the things you'll do together when she comes home. I'm sure it'll be far from the 'normal' life you were hoping for, but there's no doubt in my mind that having each other will be enough for the two of you."

Isaac chuckled lightly, feeling his tense body begin to relax slowly. After composing himself and purchasing a few more drinks, the Venus adept thanked the innkeeper and left for his own home.

Isaac held the ring up to the moonlight, silently speaking to it. It had become sort of a ritual; a comforting way in which he could feel that Mia's presence had never left him. Placing it down on the windowsill, he slowly slipped under the blankets of his bed. Before he could fall asleep, however, a light tapping at his window caught his attention. Almost leaping towards the source of the sound, Isaac hastily opened the window to let in Mia's pigeon. Frantically untying it from the bird's leg, he eagerly unfolded it to see the news from his lover.

Dear Isaac,

It's wonderful to hear that you're close to home now. I'm sure by the time this reaches you that you'll already be there. It's strange to think it's been only one year that we've been apart. I feel as though an eternity has passed since I was last in your arms. I miss you dearly, love. Every night I speak to the Gift of Venus as if it's you. You must think I'm silly for doing something like that, but it comforts me in this time of need. I wish I could tell you I'll be home soon, but I can't make any promises. Sometimes the enemy numbers look as though they're diminishing substantially, but more always appear. Know that I would be with you instantly if this war looked as though it would end. Please stay strong for me, Isaac. I know it must be difficult for you, because it's just as painful for me. I can't wait for the day I can come back to you.

I love you.
Mia

A mixture of relief and sadness washed over Isaac. It was refreshing, to an extent, to know that he was not the only one having a hard time being alone, yet the fact that he was still bothered him. He would wait until the ends of Weyard to see Mia again, but he wasn't sure if his heart could take another unspecified amount of time for her. It hurt so much to be forcibly separated, but there was nothing he could do besides continuing what he already was doing.

Feeling too weary to write a response at this late hour, Isaac gently laid the letter on his desk with the others and returned to his bed. She somehow felt closer to him than ever on this night. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he wasn't alone in his feelings of separation, but whatever the reasoning, Isaac felt his lips curl into a very slight smile as he hugged Mia's pillow. He would wait as long as it took to see his beautiful fiancée again.

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The toddlers all sat with different expressions on their faces. Tyrell looked only mildly interested by the descriptions of monsters in Imil, Karis had her mouth agape as if she wanted to ask yet another question, and Matthew had had a confused look across his face ever since Isaac had spoken of proposing to Mia. Isaac felt almost guilty for causing his son such mental distress, as it must not have made much sense that the mother of his son was not the woman he was going to marry. In fact, it must have confused him more that Garet was planning to marry his mother.

"Uncle Isaac," Karis finally managed to form her question, breaking Isaac's train of thought, "how long did it take for Miss Mia to come back here?"

"You'll find out soon enough, Karis," said Isaac. "It's all part of the story."

Only partially satisfied with Isaac's answer, Karis slumped back onto the couch, puffing her cheeks in impatience.

Tyrell blinked, realizing something that hadn't really been much of an issue this whole time. "Papa, what did you and Uncle Ivan and Auntie Samantha look like before? We already saw the little picture of Uncle Isaac and Miss Mia, but we never got to see you."

Garet scratched the top of his head before telling the children to wait a moment. He quickly got up and walked into his small office before returning with a photo in his hands.

"This is a group shot of Isaac, Jenna, Ivan, Sam, and I from your Uncle and Aunt's wedding. Here take a look."

Karis and Tyrell giggled a bit as they looked over the old photo of their parents and their friends. Matthew gave the photo a passing glance, but was still lost in his confusion.

"Haha, Tyrell, you and your daddy look exactly the same!" giggled Karis.

"Yeah, well, you and your mom look the same, Karis!" Tyrell responded just as giggly.

It was oddly true how each of the children was a spitting image of one of their parents. Tyrell resembled his father, but received his mother's eyes. Karis resembled her mother with her father's eyes. Matthew seemed simply to resemble Isaac identically, with almost no features received from Jenna.

"It must be a gender genetics thing," said Isaac. "Matthew looks just like me because he's a boy, but m-… er, that is, in general, daughters, like Karis, seem to take after their mothers."

Though the toddlers seemed not to notice Isaac's potentially fatal slip-up, Garet had most certainly caught the strange hitch in Isaac's point. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, showing Isaac that he'd noticed something odd. Isaac looked to the Mars adept, but simply held up his hand, indicating that the explanation would come in due time.

"When are you gonna get to that part, Isaac. I know that had something to do with it," Garet said gruffly.

"Soon. It'll be explained very soon, I promise. Let me just keep going with the story. I guess since you guys are looking at that picture I'll start from there. Ivan and Sam's wedding was the only thing I was looking forward to…"

Whew, present-day Isaac and co. haven't made an appearance since chapter 14! I thought it was appropriate to get a bit of banter from them in here again. It seemed like Isaac's secret needed to be brought back up in case any of you forgot about it.

Damn, this was kind of a long chapter, which is weird because I had about three writer's blocks while I was writing it, and that was pretty annoying. On a different note, I'm sure you all know that this story is nearing its final stages. I'm not sure of an exact number for chapters, but it will definitely not be much more. Basically after Matthew is born (remember Isaac is gonna be 31 and he's currently 29) Isaac's story is over, and then there'll probably only be one or two chapters after that. I'm still contemplating if I want to write appendices for this or not, but it's starting to lean more towards no because I'd much rather get started on my next project. In fact, I'm hoping to have either a mudshipping oneshot or the first chapter of my next project up by the time the next chapter for this is posted.

I actually have two projects in mind, so I might work on them simultaneously once this story is completely finished. One is going to be the first in a series of GS crossovers, so I'm not expecting that to be much of a hit since crossovers get way less attention than single games. The other project is a KH story for Roxas and Naminé (I wanted to do a SoKai story but the idea I planned out worked much better for RokuNami). So please, if you're a KH fan, I ask that you check out that story once I start it up! I haven't got a name for it yet, but it'll be on my profile page, and I'll probably mention it in the last chapter for this story.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's still sticking around! I'm not sure if this story will take off even more once it's complete, but who knows. I'm just looking to the future and I love hearing critique on my work, so review, review, review!

Also check out my soundcloud!

-GengaJupite