Isaac: Camelot owns Golden Sun! Okay? Good.

Chapter 4: Alex/Jenna

Jenna woke up the morning before Valentine's Day, feeling very grumpy. She had good reason to be grumpy too, tomorrow would be the Valentine's Day Dance and Jenna had nobody to go with. The miserable thing was that the only person who liked her (at least that Jenna was aware of) was the one person she would rather drink swamp water than go with. The irritating blacksmith with the mother in law who liked to spy on girls.

"Ugh! Dang it, dang it!" Jenna yelled, jumping out of bed and running to the bathroom. She proceeded to perform the usual hygenic routines and then stomped back into her bedroom to get dressed in her normal day time clothes, not caring that she had woken up Sheba. "Life is so unfair!" Once Jenna was fully dressed, she stomped out yet again. She considered slamming the door behind her but then decided that might not be such a good idea. What the problem was with slamming doors, Jenna was not quite sure, perhaps it was something to do with the noise.

"You going to have breakfast?" Felix asked as Jenna stormed through the kitchen. She heard a faint "Guess not" as she slammed the door, before remembering she was not supposed to slam the door. Too late now. Jenna inhaled sharply, gulping in the cool, fresh morning air, and walked towards the plaza, feeling completely disspirited. Nobody had asked her to the dance, only the idiot with a creepy mother would want to go with her, she had to be the unluckiest girl on Weyard, she just knew it.

In no time at all, the sulky, unhappy Mars Adept was in the plaza and wondering why she had opted to to go the plaza. Perhaps it was the magic pull that magnetically attracted Valeans there. Jenna blearily walked around the pool, the Psynergy stone glittering brightly in the centre, unaware that she was coming far too close to the smithy. As it was, Jenna got too close, and the next thing she knew, the blacksmith was standing at the door.

"Jenna!" The blacksmith cried out in joy. "I'm so glad to see you! I've got something to give you, could you come in?"

"Fine," Jenna growled as he disappeared inside. She unhappily followed him in, aware that his mother's eyes were fixed fast on her the second she stepped over the threshold. "What is it?"

"Hang on." The blacksmith had his back turned to Jenna and she could not see what he was doing. She could just have run for it, but the bad thing was that his mother was there, watching her every move.

"G-good morning," Jenna stammered out to the blacksmith's mother. "How are you today?"

"I am fine, thank you." She inclined her head, smiling like a crocodile and displaying rows of sharp, jagged teeth. Well, sharp and jagged in Jenna's imagination which tended to twist things sometime. "I hear you're going to the Valentine's Dance tomorrow with my boy."

"Mom!" The blacksmith wailed in anguish, turning around with a crumpled bouquet in his hands. "I haven't even asked Jenna yet!"

'Oh no.' Jenna cringed, her face going pale. 'If he asks me and I refuse... his mother might force me!' She nervously ran her tongue over her lips, looking around frantically to ensure that her escape route was clear, just in case. 'She's really freaky... she was even interested in Mia that time Isaac and company went to Vale... Ivan saw it in her mind... she's... a...' Jenna frowned as she tried to come up with the right word. Lesbian just did not sound right at all. Considering she used to have a husband. The husband got killed in the storm.

"Sorry, dear." The woman flashed another alligator smile, this time at her son. "But I am sure Jenna is willing to go with you. Aren't you, Jenna?" She turned her steely gaze to the petrified girl, who was seriously considering turning and running for it now.

"Um." Jenna immediately had a flash of inspiration and started coughing and hacking fakely. She continued on in this manner, wondering when they would get fed up of the noise and kick her out.

"Do you need a drink of water?" The woman asked, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Come on." The blacksmith took Jenna by the arm and led her outside, closing the door behind him. "Are you okay now?"

"Listen." Jenna freed her arm from his grip and snatched the bouquet from his hands. "I'm afraid that there's no way in hell that I'm going to the Valentine's Dance with you. Especially with a mother like that!" She threw the bouquet on the ground and cast a Flare Storm, reducing the bouquet to cinders. "Got it?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned and ran. She did however hear him shout "It's all right! I understand if you need more time!"

Whatever that meant, Jenna had no idea, but for some reason she felt creeped out by it all. He didn't mind her burning his bouquet to nothing, didn't mind her insult against his mother, that was scary. She couldn't understand why his mother was always watching girls... why she seemed so interested in her and Mia. Sure, she wanted her son to get married, but the problem was that Jenna did not want to marry the blacksmith.

Fury rose inside Jenna, and we don't mean the Djinni, and her eyes seemed to almost glow red. She was mad as heck, because the only person who liked her enough to invite her was a wimpy blacksmith with a scary mother... how could he have the cheek to ask her anyway? Jenna was getting fed up with him fawning over her all the time, it was like having a stalker. To Jenna of course.

As Jenna reached her house, she did not notice a certain blond standing at the door, about to close it. As it was, Jenna smacked right into Isaac and sent him flying to the floor. She didn't realise what was happening until she stepped on his face and he shouted out in pain. Jenna quickly moved but did not apologise, she was just too angry, so she threw herself in the nearest chair and started complaining to her mother who was currently cleaning the kitchen.

"I hate Valentines Day," Jenna lamented, clenching her fists. "I haven't got anybody to go with but everybody else does! That stupid blacksmith keeps asking me to the dance, but I don't want to go with him. His mother's so creepy, always leching over girls-" Yes, that was the word she wanted. Leching. It fit her so perfectly. She was a lech, a definite lech, staring at every girl who happened to be around her son's age.

"Jenna!" Her mother exclaimed, eyes widening. Jenna winced, disappointed to see that her mother did not seem to understand what she was talking about. But then again, her mother hadn't experienced what Jenna and Mia had, had she? Being watched by a creepy, lechy older woman. "You shouldn't say those sort of things! Now, she's a perfectly decent woman, she just wants her son to find a girl to settle down with and marry, and if he wants you, you should feel happy, it means that somebody out there likes you, so perhaps next time he asks you, you should seriously think about it."

"Yeah right!" Jenna said derisively, not hearing Isaac mutter as he left the kitchen. "That blacksmith just whines and fawns over me... he's too clingy, it's sickening! I'd rather have nobody at all than have him! A decent woman doesn't stare at young girls like that! Honest, she's always hinting that I should marry him or something, it's as if she expects me to, and I know she was interested in Mia! Ivan, he's a Wind Adept, he read her mind and found out!"

"Jenna." Her mother sighed and wrung a dishcloth in her hands. "When you are older and have children, you will know exactly what she's feeling. Any mother would want their son to settle down and get a girl. It's just natural maternal instinct."

"Except you and Isaac and Garet's moms don't do it," Jenna pointed out cleverly. "Maternal instinct? That's rubbish!"

"Well... I do want you and Felix to settle down, don't I? I'm sure Felix is going to settle with Sheba, but you... I'm sure you'll find somebody if not the blacksmith. Keep him as an option," She advised. "Then if you give up, you've got him."

"But I don't even LOVE him!" Jenna yelled in frustration. "This is stupid! I just want somebody to go with me to the dance!" She ran out of the kitchen, stormed through the hallway- almost trampling Isaac in the process- and stormed all the way to her bedroom where she sat herself down on the bed and sulked some more. Nobody was helping. Then Felix had to come along and ask her to help him find a gift for Sheba for Valentine's Day. Yeah, that really made her feel better, but what could she do but just help him? So back to the plaza she went, keeping a lookout for the blacksmith.

Alex was not really sure why he was currently hiding in the plaza, but he felt like he should. Now the Water Adept was hiding behind a house and looking at the crowds, looking out for anybody he might recognise. He did know some people from Vale after all... namely Felix and Jenna.

'Speak of the devils.' Alex leaned further out from behind the house as he noticed the two siblings walking through the plaza having a discussion. 'Wonder what they are talking about?' Alex had a problem at the moment, it was called being nosy, but if nobody was telling him off for it, then it was okay wasn't it? So Alex decided to be nosy and listen.

"Everytime that stupid blacksmith gives me flowers, I burn them. In front of him too. But he never gets the message."

Alex smiled. It seemed that Jenna still had that attitude he loved so much. Hang on, loved? Alex blinked and wondered where that had come from, then thought nothing more of it as he continued to be nosy.

"Which is?"

"Go to hell. Flowers are so cliché anyway. So that rules out jewellery and flowers. Maybe you should get her chocolates or perfume or something."

"Maybe..."

Alex realised somebody else had seen him and he jerked back, just as Felix's stare swung around towards him. He sighed in relief as it seemed that Felix had not seen him after all, he just looked confused. Alex inhaled sharply, still peeking around the corner of the building at them, yet not as obvious as he had been a minute before.

"Chocolates or perfume then?"

'I wonder what Jenna prefers.' Alex mused, toying with a strand of his blue hair. 'Valentine's Day tomorrow... I bet Jenna has someone to give her something tomorrow... she's pretty...' He blushed bright red and tried to push away any further thoughts of Jenna from his mind.

"Huh? What?"

'Trust Felix to be so inattentive sometimes.' Alex smirked. 'They must be talking about what he should get for Sheba... it's so obvious Felix and Sheba should be a couple. He jumped off a lighthouse for her. That's a bit beyond me... who am I kidding? I can warp and levitate anyway.'

"For Sheba! Have you been listening to me or not?"

"Of course I have! I was just distracted. Um... I think I'll get her chocolates then."

"About time you made your mind drat, here he comes."

Alex craned his neck to see what Jenna was talking about. She was already hurrying away, disappearing into the crowds that polluted Vale. Alex saw a young man about his age and judging on what he had just heard, Alex guessed it was the blacksmith.

"Wasn't your sister here a minute ago? I wanted to ask her if she had changed her mind about the Valentine's Dance yet."

'Valentine's Dance?' Alex momentarily wondered, chuckling derisively as Felix knocked the blacksmith out with a well-aimed blow. He crept further back along the building, out of sight, to ponder on Jenna and the Valentine's Dance. Whatever this dance was, perhaps Jenna had no date, which seemed a little strange, but perhaps... he would just have to think about it for a while. And hope Felix didn't punch him if he did it.

Alex awoke the next morning, wondering where he was. He had woken up in so many strange places before, it was not really a new feeling, but he just wanted to know where he was. Then comprehension dawned on him that it was Valentine's Day... he was at the inn in Vale... and he wanted to see Jenna about this Valentine's Dance thing. Yes, Alex had finally decided, he wanted to go to it with Jenna, if she was available. If she wasn't, he would cry. So Alex hurriedly got changed and rushed out of the inn, not even bothering to eat breakfast. It may have been that in those days people had not yet heard of the philosophy 'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day' and preferred to do without if if they were not hungry.

Now he just needed to find Felix's house. Alex decided to perform the art of looking through people's windows and he did so. In the first house, a woman screamed and dropped a vase, yelling several obscenities at him. In the next house, a man, a woman and two little children were singing and dancing around a table. Why they were singing and dancing around a table, Alex just did not want to know. In the third house, he saw an old man and an old woman sucking each other's faces off. Alex could have done without that, it was deeply disturbing.

About a hundred houses later and Alex was beginning to get tired. He blearily struggled up to a new window and peeked through. A familiar head of brown hair swung around towards the window, Alex yelped and dived out of the way before Felix's stare could lock on him. Twice now Felix had almost seen him. It was not that Alex was scared of Felix- okay, maybe he was a little now considering that Felix had overprotective tendencies and he was going to ask Jenna to the dance- he just wished to avoid confrontations for the time being. Honest.

He crouched outside the house, wondering what to do next. What if Jenna did not come out? The very thought of it made him feel miserable. If she never came out, the whole thing would be ruined. Alex was too scared- careful- to go barging inside and looking for Jenna. Then as if in answer to his prayers, the door swung open. Alex automatically backed away, but he stopped as he saw Jenna standing outside, looking very grumpy and slamming the door behind her.

"Jenna!" Alex hissed, motioning. "Over here!"

"Alex?" Jenna hurried over, kneeling next to him. "Where have you been? What are you doing here? What took you so long? What happened on Mt. Aleph? What were you doing on there? Did the Wise One hurt you? Are you all right?"

"Around, seeing you, travelling, nothing much, trying to take Alchemy, yes and yes," Alex answered tiredly. "Before you ask why I wanted to take Alchemy, could I please get a question in first?"

"Sure, what?" Jenna asked eagerly. She was quite happy to see Alex actually. After the Wise One had gone to sort him out and nobody had seen him since, Jenna had been quite worried. She just hadn't mentioned it to anybody, especially that mean Mia who had always had the conviction that Alex was evil, for reasons she just did not understand.

"Jenna." Alex breathed heavily, trying to summon up the courage. Now that it had come to the special moment, he was actually feeling quite nervous as it was. "You have this Valentine's Dance thing right?"

"Yeah, tonight, but I have nobody to go with." Jenna sighed, staring mournfully at the ground. "Only guy wants me to go with him is an idiot..." She looked up at him and her mouth spread into a smile. "Would you go with me?"

"Funny, I was just going to ask you if we could go together." Alex smiled as well. "I'll take it as a yes then."

"Yes!" Jenna jumped up, looking positively gleeful. "I'd love to go with you, Alex! Oh! I haven't got a dress... I'll have to go and buy one! See you later then!" She turned around and rushed back into the house, the door banging behind her. Alex grinned in bemusement at the energy Jenna had, she was like a real livewire when she was excited. Now he would just have to go back to the plaza and find something for Jenna.

Night fell over Vale and the Valentine's Day Dance began as couples streamed into the barn. Jenna stood outside, waiting for her date, and she grinned as he came walking up to her. Alex was of course sporting a tuxedo, and he was a little embarassed since he had never really worn a 'penguin suit' before and he felt like a laughing stock in it. Jenna, on the other hand, took his breath away. She was wearing a long purple dress that went all the way down to her ankles and she had her hair pinned up. It was a far cry from the casual clothes she wore coupled with the simple ponytail.

"You look... different." Alex cringed, mentally hitting himself for saying something so cheesy. "I mean... you are clearly... uh... the most beautiful girl... on Weyard's surface. Really."

"I'm not used to this," Jenna complained. "I feel like I've got paint on my face... why can't we just look natural? It's so stupid. This dress is too long, I'm worrying that I'll trip over it..."

"Ssh." Alex placed a finger on her lips and Jenna fell silent. "You don't need to complain anymore. You've got me." And then he leaned forwards and kissed Jenna softly on the lips, drawing her towards him. She threw her arms around him and pressed back passionately. The two of them locked in a happy embrace outside the barn, experiencing a wonderful euphoria that came from falling in love.

After what seemed like hours, Alex and Jenna finally parted for air.

"Oh, I got something for you as well." Alex started, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of earrings, hoops of gold with inset rubies that gleamed red in the moonlight. He handed them over to Jenna who gasped. "I hope you like them."

"Wow." Jenna beamed happily. "Alex, these are beautiful! Thank you... you really didn't have to..."

"The pleasure was all mine," Alex assured her as she proceeded to fix them to her earlobes. "Now shall we go and join everybody else?"

"Okay." Jenna looped her arm in his and they walked into the barn, arm in arm. Some certain people stared at Jenna and Alex a lot, but they simply did not care because they were together, dancing among the midst of happy couples in each other's embrace, and that was all that mattered,

"Alex, will you tell me why you wanted Alchemy?" Jenna asked softly, stepping in tune with Alex as they performed a slow dance. "I would like to know."

"Because I had a very special reason," Alex murmured back. "I wanted it because I wanted to impress people. Maybe I wanted to get a girl, but now I have a beautiful woman here in my arms so I suppose it was for nothing."

"It wasn't for nothing," Jenna protested. "You met me, didn't you? We got to know each other, we travelled together... but you don't need Alchemy to impress me, I love you all the same with or without it."

"You're right, Jenna." Alex kissed her and held her close, gazing dreamily at her face. "You're all I need... and I'm very glad to have met you, because you're the only girl I'll ever want. And I'm better than a blacksmith aren't I?"

"Don't remind me," Jenna groaned. "But I suppose he'll leave me alone now... because he could never compare to you."

They danced and talked all night, and as the night turned to morning, they were outside and behind the barn, kissing and talking some more as they fended off sleep. Now that the dance was over, it was time for more questions. Jenna only wanted to ask one question though.

"Alex." Jenna clutched his hand tightly. "Will you stay with me forever?"

"For eternity," Alex promised. "Both of us."

Garet: Please review!