It was a quiet night in Tolbi the day before Colosso. Despite all the bustle in town during the day, with people coming and going in anticipation and excitement over tomorrow's event, the town looked downright peaceful as a certain blonde Adept looked out the window from his room in Babi's palace.

Isaac looked back at the room he had been given. It looked quite spacious despite its furnishings, with a canopy bed that was large enough to fit two people, a couple of expensive-looking vases in two corners of the room, a closet for storing his clothes and equipment, a desk and a chair with a small lantern…

He sighed as he moved away from the window and towards the desk chair. He had kept the lantern on for a while now after sleep refused to come to him. He found that he was simply too focused thinking about a bunch of things to fall asleep.

Not the least of which was his agreement to participate in Colosso tomorrow at Babi's request. Isaac and his companions had saved him from a predicament earlier that day, and upon confirming that the four of them were Adepts, had insisted that Isaac participate in the event. Alone, of course, as the Colosso event saw people dueling each other, one on one. Though he reasoned that, unlike the other participants, he had an edge over them in psynergy, this didn't stop Isaac from worrying now, regardless.

He also thought a lot about their mission: stopping Saturos and Menardi from lighting the elemental lighthouses. Alchemy being released would have terrible consequences for the world, as the Wise One had told him and Garet at the start of their journey. Isaac would be lying if having the fate of the world resting squarely on their shoulders didn't cause him to lose sleep from time to time, but he found that the journey itself alleviated this somewhat. Due to, in no small part, the other part that occupied his thoughts tonight. His three companions and friends.

Garet, the boisterous Mars Adept, was often the group's loudest voice, but also the one they could count on to lighten up their journey, as he was an expert at cracking up a good joke. Isaac hadn't been the most talkative since their journey started, especially at times when many people were talking, so he was grateful that his childhood friend often caught up to what he was thinking and spoke up for him when the situation got too chaotic for him to handle on his own. His swordsmanship and fire psynergy were also a great asset to the group, easily forming the frontline alongside Isaac himself.

Ivan, a Jupiter Adept the two had met in Vault, had easily integrated into the group soon after they helped him out with a problem of his own. He was younger than the other three, and had a prankster side to him that often paired up well with Garet, much to the dismay of Isaac, but he nevertheless could be more than serious enough when the situation called for it. His spectacular wind psynergy was also great to have on their side, capable of dispatching groups of monsters with relative ease.

Mia was a relatively new addition, but in truth, it had been several months since the Mercury Adept had joined. The shy, caring girl from Imil had joined the group in their quest to stop Saturos and Menardi after they lit up Mercury Lighthouse, which Mia had been protecting until then. While she had been rather timid in her interactions with the other three for the first few days, she soon joined in their conversations more often, offering her own thoughts, discussing serious matters, or laughing with the others when Garet added one of his trademark jokes. Isaac felt a smile creep up his face as he thought of her. Her amazing healing psynergy was also great to have in such a perilous journey when his own healing often fell short, but Isaac knew he liked having her around for more than just that.

Somewhere along the way, he found himself talking to Mia rather often, despite his usual quiet. They had shared more personal worries with each other that they didn't bring up with Garet or Ivan. He felt like she was a little less reserved when it was just the two of them, and smiled more often when they were together. A smile that was, he thought with a blush, really quite pretty.

Although he wasn't sure when it started, Isaac couldn't deny that he'd taken quite a liking to Mia in the past few months. She was always there for him, whether it was healing any battle injuries, conversing about their worries, or more recently, practicing psynergy together… oftentimes, simply knowing she was there next to him was enough to put him at ease. The more he thought of Mia, her kind and caring voice, her pretty smile and beautiful azure eyes… His blush deepened as he realized he'd fallen in love with her.

Perhaps this realization was why he couldn't sleep. The girl he'd fallen for was not sleeping in the same room as him tonight. Whereas the group often split into two pairs for tent sharing and booking rooms at an inn, and usually it was Mia that was paired up with him, he was given a room all to himself in Babi's palace. The Colosso traditions dictated that the participants spend the night before the event alone in their rooms, and part of him wished Mia was there with him, but... would he be able to confess his feelings to her if she was? Would she reciprocate? He thought… hoped she might, but couldn't know for sure. Mia would go to him when something troubled her, always seemed eager to help him out when they practiced together, and… maybe he was imagining things, but the way she smiled at him felt, perhaps, different than the way she smiled at Garet or Ivan. It was likely that she…

A soft knock on Isaac's door got his attention, and as he glanced over at the door, he heard a familiar voice calling out uncertainly. "Isaac…?" He felt his heart skip a beat as he recognized it was Mia's voice. Hoping she wouldn't notice his blush, but also wondering what had her up this late at night, he stood up and walked over to open the door, seeing the Mercury Adept in her sky blue nightgown waiting at his doorstep.

The first thing he thought was how beautiful Mia looked with her cerulean hair down as his blue eyes met hers. There was a tinge of uncertainty in them, as if she wasn't sure she should be there, but she nevertheless gave him a warm smile that melted his heart, and he felt a faint blush appearing on his cheeks again as he smiled back at her. "Mia…" Was all he could say.

"Hello, Isaac…" Mia whispered in response. "I… sorry if I woke you up, but…" She trailed off as she saw the lit up lantern on his desk, looking back at him curiously.

"No, it's fine, I…" Isaac scratched his cheek as he glanced back at the desk as well, then back at her. "I couldn't quite sleep. Would you like to…?" He motioned for her to come in.

"Yes… sorry for intruding," she nodded with an apologetic smile as she slowly made her way into Isaac's room as he closed the door behind her. He followed her as she sat down on the side of his bed and followed suit, sitting next to her.

"It's no trouble at all, Mia," Isaac smiled at her, then tilted his head. "So… is something the matter?" He asked her.

Mia looked down at her lap as she fiddled with her fingers for a bit, seemingly trying to put her thoughts into words. "I was… well…" She slowly looked up at him. "I couldn't sleep, either. I guess I was a little worried about… tomorrow."

"Right… Colosso," Isaac nodded slowly, prompting her to continue.

"Have you… have you seen the other participants?" Mia asked with some concern.

Isaac nodded once more. "They all seem pretty strong. They're probably stronger than me…" He could see the concern in Mia's eyes growing, so he gave her a reassuring smile. "But that's not accounting for psynergy, of course."

Mia smiled at him faintly, then looked down. It was reassuring to know Isaac had psynergy on his side, but her concern wasn't entirely cleared. "Do you think it will be enough?"

Isaac placed a tentative hand onto hers, causing Mia to look back up at him again with a faint blush. "Non-Adepts can't see psynergy, so they certainly won't be expecting it. Besides…" He flashed her a tiny grin. "I recall a certain someone helping me with honing my own healing psynergy, so I'll definitely be fine on my own out there, right?"

"Right, of course," Mia smiled a little wider as she remembered the past few training sessions. At some point before the group reached Kalay, on the other side of the Karagol Sea from Tolbi, Isaac had asked her for help in training his psynergy to be able to heal wounds more efficiently, and so they had started to practice on concentrating their psynergy each night before sleeping.

Unlike with general psynergy, practical training wasn't something they could easily do with healing, unless someone ended up wounded, so they would instead work on concentrating their psynergy, to practice simply preparing and releasing the spell at a moment's notice.

Isaac had shown a lot of improvement the more they practiced, to the point that healing the party's wounds became less of a burden for her, but a burden shared between the two of them, and she felt no small amount of pride in how far he had come… And yet, privately, she really liked having those moments alone with Isaac, Mia thought as her blush deepened slightly, especially because she often got to hold Isaac's hand while he concentrated… Mia had slowly developed a crush on the boy during their travels, and while part of her felt guilty for enjoying their training sessions like that, her happiness at being so close to him outweighed her rationale. And while it was true that she was still a little worried about Colosso, the main reason she couldn't sleep were those feelings she held for Isaac. She was unsure of whether or not he reciprocated, so she thought of coming over to talk with him, maybe she could garner some kind of sign… but now that their training had come up, she had a small, if daring, idea.

"Hmm… Oh, I know," Mia smiled as her other hand took in Isaac's as it rested on hers and gently turned it around, with his palm facing upwards. "We could do some last minute practice before tomorrow. How does that sound?" She offered, her eyes gazing up at him, hoping he wouldn't notice the pink in her cheeks.

"Sounds like a good idea," Isaac nodded, and Mia smiled a little wider as she looked down at his hand, intent on observing his concentration practice. Isaac's heart skipped a beat as he saw her gently scooting closer to him, their shoulders gently touching. As he stared at his open palm, he began to concentrate on his healing psynergy, partly to distract himself from his racing mind, and wisps of golden psynergy began swirling around his hand.

Mia nodded as more psynergy concentrated on his palm until reaching a stable flow that coated his hand in a soft, golden light, then gently squeezed it as she gauged in her mind the potency of the spell he had prepared. "Mmm… Cure Well," she successfully identified the prepared psynergy, then nodded, satisfied. "You got it ready very quickly, nice job."

Isaac smiled softly, though he kept his gaze on his hand. "I owe it to having a very good teacher."

Mia simply giggled, happy with the compliment. Content with his work, Mia absentmindedly rested her head on his shoulder, observing as he maintained concentration on his psynergy.

Strands of cerulean hair tickled his neck as Isaac glanced down at her nervously. She seemed happy now, unlike the concern she showed moments ago…

Mia felt a little embarrassed, in retrospect, about how close she'd gotten to Isaac. It was, of course, part of her idea, and it didn't look like Isaac was uncomfortable about the extra contact... maybe just a little surprised? She wondered whether it would be alright to go a little further.

A small part of her also wished she could just sleep in his room, maybe sneak out early tomorrow before Colosso started… but she felt Isaac would probably think it a strange request. And besides, there was only one bed… Mia felt rather embarrassed at the thought of sharing a bed with Isaac. To her, it was something a couple would do. And yet, it also felt like something she wanted to do. If only Isaac felt the same way, then…

Mia's thoughts were interrupted by Isaac's other hand gingerly moving a cerulean strand of hair from her face. As her gaze met his, she felt her blush deepening as she felt his hand brush against her face. He looked nervous, but… despite that, Isaac's expression also contained fondness. Mia couldn't help but wonder…

"You look comfortable," Isaac remarked in a slightly teasing tone as he smiled at her. Mia responded by slowly moving her arm to softly wrap around Isaac's, her cheek softly brushing his shoulder as she got a little more comfortable against him. Perhaps it was the teasing tone he used, Isaac thought, as his concentration practice was slowly forgotten, but he didn't feel like this new situation was a bad thing at all…

"Maybe I am," Mia replied in a similar tone, looking up at him with a smile. Isaac didn't seem uncomfortable by her small gesture, she thought, as that small part of her grew a little more confident. "You would probably make a good pillow," she added, stifling a yawn.

Isaac gently moved his free hand to slowly pat Mia as she yawned. "You really couldn't sleep, huh?" He remarked with a smile. Shortly after, he found himself letting out a yawn of his own.

"Mhmm…" Mia closed her eyes as she enjoyed the feeling of Isaac's hand stroking her hair, giggling as she heard Isaac's yawn. "You're not doing much better, though."

"I'm hanging in there," Isaac replied with a small chuckle, blushing as he realized he was now stroking her cerulean hair. She didn't seem to mind, though, so… "I do feel like lying down, but…" He trailed off. He didn't want to make it sound like he was pushing her away…

Mia nodded in agreement, but made no effort to move from his side. "…Me too," she whispered, slowly opening her eyes and looking into his. The uncertainty in their eyes had begun to fade away.

"It's… not quite like how we usually rest, but…" Isaac glanced at the bed, then back at Mia. "We could… lay down for a bit?" He hesitantly offered.

Mia nodded as her blush grew. "I'd like that…" She stifled another yawn. Perhaps it was the drowsiness getting to her, as her worries appeared to matter less and less with each passing moment, but the situation felt somehow normal as they slowly laid down on the bed, gently wrapping their arms around each other in a comfortable embrace.

Isaac felt the tiredness hit him all at once as they both rested in each other's arms. As his chin softly rested atop Mia's head, he thought that having her close was exactly what he'd been missing tonight. As his eyelids started to close, he blushed as he felt lips brush his neck, then a soft giggle coming from Mia. "You do make a good pillow," she whispered as she snuggled up to him.

As he softly kissed her forehead in return, Isaac felt her embracing him a little closer. "So do you," he whispered back, embracing her closer as they both enjoyed the other's company.

A part of Mia's mind was elated at how… right it felt to be cuddled up together like this. Another was very sleepy, and wanted nothing more than to sleep this very moment, together with Isaac. Yet another, though, wanted this special moment to last a little longer, and as she wondered about how to accomplish that, she thought back to their previous conversation. "Your concentration has really improved a lot," she finally muttered.

Isaac's eyes opened slowly, managing to fight off his drowsiness a little longer as the girl in his arms spoke up. "You think so?" He slowly pulled up one of his hands above the bed so they could both see it. As he concentrated once more, golden wisps began forming around his hand again, softly illuminating their faces.

"Mhmm," Mia nodded, observing his hand for a moment before tentatively moving her own hand up to meet his. "I believe you will do just fine tomorrow." Her fingers interlocked with his own as she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Thank you, Mia," Isaac smiled fondly as he gently squeezed her hand in turn.

A slow drop in the room's light prompted the two to shift a little, glancing over at the lantern. It was now off, but the glow in Isaac and Mia's joined hands was enough to reveal two small, familiar figures next to it, the likely culprits. When the two djinn realized they'd been noticed, they simply waved their tails at the cuddled pair, before each glowing in a soft light, golden and azure, respectively, and vanishing from sight.

Mia couldn't help but giggle at the little scene they witnessed. "It looks like Fizz and Flint decided it's time for bed," she murmured, letting out a contented sigh as she hugged Isaac closer.

Isaac nodded, slowly stroking her soft, cerulean hair as they rested together. "I'd have to agree with them. It's been a long day…" He trailed off for a moment. At this point, he was all but convinced, so he felt confident enough to continue. "...But I feel like this makes up for it," he slowly kissed her forehead again.

Mia blushed, but slowly looked up to him and returned the kiss on his cheek, her red face and shy smile afterwards dimly illuminated by the glow in their hands. "...I'm glad you think so, too," she replied fondly.

At some point, the two had moved the bed's blankets over their resting forms, both happy to spend what was left of their waking moments with the other, comfort and happiness plain on their faces, despite their drowsiness.

They were only vaguely aware of whispering stuff to each other as sleep slowly overtook them, but they were fairly certain there was one thing they did say to each other at one point.

"Good night. I love you."

"...I love you too."

A/N: Thank you for reading this little oneshot! With the recent release of Golden Sun on NSO, replaying it again got me wanting to make a fic of my own for the pairing I fell in love with since the original release, despite canon saying otherwise when Dark Dawn launched. But all the love for the canon pairing, regardless. That is that, and this is this.

It was my first time trying my hand at romance, too, but I hope you enjoyed it despite that! I have a somewhat silly idea for a sort of continuation oneshot for this from Garet's perspective that I'd like to make eventually, and that hopefully will see the light of day sooner than it took to finish this. But until then, have a pleasant day! And happy Golden Sunday!