Five years ago, Isaac had been so much busier than he was now.

Saving the world had been such a big job. After himself and Garet set out on that adventure to reclaim the Elemental Stars, he had always had plenty to do, and a sense of urgency to do it. The both of them had hurried as fast as they could before ending up in Vault. And even though Isaac had been a little unsure at first about the purple eyed boy who read his mind - thinking Isaac wouldn't notice - the moment the boy had held Isaac's hand and looked to Garet, and Isaac saw first-hand what this boy could do... well, that was an experience he would never forget.

It didn't take a genius to figure out how useful that would be on their adventure, so after agreeing to help little Ivan find what he had lost, and successfully finding the stolen rod - both of them had been just as surprised by the strength of Ivan's psynergy as they had by the fact that reading minds was possible - Isaac and Garet had found a new ally.

Sometimes, Isaac would ask Ivan to read someone's mind to him, just to feel the younger boy's hand in his own. He had such small hands, and Isaac's hands being covered by gloves didn't make it any less obvious. And though he also rarely had said gloves off, he could tell the skin of Ivan's hand was soft and smooth. So were Isaac's, being in those gloves all the time, but his hands weren't so delicate and graceful looking.

But what really triggered Isaac's interest in the younger boy was when, after a very close battle with an angry Tret, Ivan had passed out. It seemed that Tret wouldn't fall victim to Ivan's Sleep psynergy after the first couple of times, and he had acted in his best interest. Neither Isaac nor Garet had anything with them to revive Ivan with, so Isaac took it upon himself to carry Ivan all the way back to the last inn. It was, after all, his decision to have Ivan try and put Tret to sleep.

On that long walk back, Isaac had gotten plenty of time to see little Ivan up close. The feeling of guilt that he'd let this happen in the first place had somewhat impaired his admiration of Ivan's adorable features at first, but after they finally reached the inn and the boy was safely nestled under a few blankets, Isaac sat in the chair next to the bed for a long time. Garet had fallen asleep fast, as usual, and Isaac was tired as well, but he couldn't bring himself to go to sleep right away.

During those moments, he watched the slight rise and fall of the blankets covering Ivan's chest, and he took note of everything about Ivan's face. So delicate and fragile... There was no way Isaac could let anything harm this boy again. He attributed the fluttery feeling in his own chest as anxiety, and a need to protect this innocent little boy from any future harm. Isaac would later realize that was not the case. But at that moment, he thought he was feeling like an older brother, and never thought anything more of it.

That need to protect Ivan was why a few days later, on Mercury Lighthouse, he had made very certain to keep an eye on the younger as the three of them, with Mia of Imil, fought Saturos. It was why he had seen Ivan fall after the Volcano hit them, and it was why he was quickly there to block the scythe from its target when Saturos dashed forward.

"Isaac!" Ivan had almost shouted, clearly surprised that at the last second he had been saved. But to Isaac, it was never a big deal, because he was just doing what he felt he needed to do at that time.

Even through all the times the four of them were in a sticky situation, Isaac had never forgotten his 'duty'. There had been a few other times he'd saved Ivan from something or other, but the longer they all journeyed together, the less often Ivan needed protecting at all. He was getting stronger, just like all of them were.

However, Isaac never felt as if he could relax, no matter how much stronger Ivan was getting.

On top of Jupiter Lighthouse, five years ago, when Karst and Agatio had cornered himself and Ivan, Isaac had done his best to protect the younger, but he had failed. Even though Felix and his group took care of that problem, it didn't change the horrible feeling of failure. What if Felix hadn't been there? Not only would Garet have eventually fallen, but he and Ivan might not have survived, either. And even though Ivan never did blame him for any of that, and continually told him it wasn't his fault, Isaac did not forgive himself for letting that happen.

A few nights later, after the four of them had found out the truth and joined forces with Felix and his team, he found Ivan staring at the sky while the ship sailed off toward Prox. And he told Ivan why he hadn't been too talkative lately, that he'd felt he'd failed him, for not being strong enough to stop Karst and Agatio.

But Ivan shook his head. "It really isn't your fault," he had said, and that even if it had been, that he'd forgive Isaac in a heartbeat. The smile he had after saying that was like a reminder that they both were still alive, and that Isaac had the chance to work harder to prevent anything like that from ever happening again.

That was a long time ago. These days, Isaac didn't have to protect anyone too much. He spent his time helping the villagers with rebuilding things and the like, on a plateau not too far from where Vale used to be. It had been long enough so that most of them had homes and the shopkeepers had shops to sell their goods. But after such an extensive adventure, Isaac never quite got over his restlessness.

At one point in time, he had dated Jenna for a while, but it was while they were together that he realized who he really liked. Of course, Jenna had figured it out long before Isaac did.

"Isaac... you miss Ivan more than you say, don't you?" she had asked, seemingly out of the blue. Even now, he'd never figured out how Jenna managed to see it before he did. A long talk later, Isaac had become fairly certain that she was right, and that feeling he had back then was more than just a pseudo-brotherly protectiveness.

Because he'd never felt quite that way before, for anyone else, Isaac had been completely oblivious as to what the feeling truly was.

At some point she and Garet had conspired together, because not long after they broke up, she and Garet started bugging Isaac to go see Ivan again. Then when Mia visited, she joined in as well. "You shouldn't avoid what you feel," she told Isaac once. Jenna had nodded, Garet had nodded too, and Isaac was left with quite the guilty feeling when he said he felt he needed to stay in the village until everything was rebuilt. And even though no one was happy with that excuse, they all agreed that there was still some work left to be done. And Isaac stayed.

The day that the last home was finished was the day Garet casually commented to Isaac that he should go visit Ivan. With his excuse invalid, Isaac said nothing. Then Jenna showed up, and she agreed, as she had for a long time.

This time, however, Isaac gave very next day, he set off on the journey from Angara to Atteka.

Said journey was a bit more difficult than he'd guessed it to be. But that was probably because he'd been rebuilding houses and not fighting monsters for the past few years. It was a nice distraction, though, from his mind's constant drifting to who he was going to visit, and all the questions he had. How did Ivan look now? He'd be... twenty or so, and certainly wouldn't be a kid anymore. But would his soft features still remain? Isaac somewhat hoped so, he missed that adorable face. Even if not, he doubted he'd be unhappy about it.

And after many long walks and some ridiculously slow boat rides, he was in Contigo. This is where Ivan said he'd be going, right? It was entirely possible he lived somewhere else now, but Isaac wouldn't know unless he asked around about it. Fortunately, the first villager he asked had his answer, and pointed him in the right direction to go see Hama, because apparently Ivan usually wasn't around during the day. Good thing it was getting close to dark, then.

Hama didn't seem surprised, but she was the one who saw the future. So Isaac had to wonder, if she knew he was going to be here, did she tell Ivan? And then there was Sheba, too, who although Isaac hadn't been particularly close to like he had been with Ivan, still had plenty to say. And ask. Things like, how were Felix and Jenna doing, if he had any idea where Piers went, and so on.

"Where's Ivan?" he asked at one point after answering another of Sheba's inquiries. That girl was excellent at thinking of trivial things to ask about.

"He'll be back soon," Hama replied. "He's training."

"Training?" Isaac asked, though he had no need for a reply. So that's what Ivan was gone all day for. His psynergy must be so much stronger than Isaac's Odyssey had ever been, by now, if training was involved.

"Oh Ivan, what a hermit," Sheba piped in. And she continued with her barrage of questions after that comment, with an occasional Mind Read when she wasn't satisfied with an answer. Even though she was getting tired, as the yawning made obvious, she did not stop the questions.

It was a blessing when the door opened, and Isaac looked to it to see a certain blonde-haired Jupiter Adept walk in. But Ivan stopped when he saw Isaac sitting there. It must have been quite a surprise, if Hama hadn't told him anything. Isaac used the time Ivan stood there, seemingly in shock, to see how much the young boy he remembered had grown up in the past years. He didn't look twenty, that was for sure, but Isaac was glad to see his sweet face had still retained the same level of cuteness. Just, a little different kind of cuteness this time.

"Hey, close the door or bugs will get in," Sheba said tiredly.

Ivan apologized, too quietly in Isaac's opinion. And then he wasn't looking at Isaac, just the floor. That was a little worrisome, had he become less than fond of Isaac for some reason? Or... ? He looked up when Hama asked him how training had been, and his reply was still short and quiet.

Sheba called him a hermit again, and he disagreed weakly, but obeyed her oddly worded command to come sit down. He still didn't look at Isaac despite being right next to him. So Isaac decided to ask him something.

"How have you been doing?"

His worries resurfaced when Ivan still didn't look up, still didn't say anything. Thankfully Sheba cleared her throat, and then Ivan answered the question.

"I'm all right," he replied softly. From this distance Isaac could hear Ivan's voice better, even though it was still soft - it still held the same sweet sounding quality his face had. And then he stared again. He must still be in disbelief Isaac had come here in the first place. Isaac looked away after a moment, though he wouldn't at all have minded staring into Ivan's beautiful purple eyes more.

Ivan seemed to regain a little enthusiasm when he heard Isaac's excuse as to why he came all the way to Contigo. He seemed to believe it, though. No one could reach Venus Lighthouse anymore, Imil already had Mercury Lighthouse covered, as did Prox with Mars Lighthouse, and none of them were further away from Isaac's village than Contigo and Jupiter Lighthouse. So it was sort of a valid reason, but that wasn't really the main one.

Once that was covered, Ivan asked about Garet and Mia, and he seemed to be less shy now. Isaac was relieved. The conversation continued, and Sheba made sure Ivan heard about her friends, too. Isaac left out that he'd dated Jenna for a little while to all of them, and must have managed to hide the fact that he was hiding a fact well enough so that Sheba didn't notice there was a hidden fact at all. And he knew he could trust Ivan not to read his mind without permission.

"I think we should go to sleep," Sheba eventually yawned. She was happy enough with what she knew, and when everyone agreed, Hama had directed Isaac to the fourth spare bed. She must have set that up beforehand. Isaac also appreciated that she had put another bed together rather than letting him stay at the inn. If Ivan left in the morning, Isaac might be able to catch him before he left.

But Ivan never did leave in the morning. He left in the middle of the night. Isaac had woken up somewhat suddenly from a dreamless sleep to see that Ivan's bed had no one in it. He better catch up while he could...

Where would Ivan go, though? The area around Contigo would be impossible to search by just himself, Isaac knew that much. He could only think of one place around the area that would be somewhat plausible for a Jupiter Adept to go on a sleepless night, and that was the obvious one.

It was worth a try.

Although Isaac was not familiar with the area, it wasn't too much different than before. And it took a while to get to the lighthouse, but this was his only idea as to where Ivan could have gone. Even though it was a decent distance from Contigo, he still guessed it was possible that Ivan would go there, since the four of them had gotten quite used to walking long distances.

And he guessed right.

He found Ivan lying calmly at the top of the lighthouse, seemingly asleep. When Isaac kneeled beside him, he didn't show any sign of noticing. Ivan was still so cute, even if he had grown up from the young boy Isaac remembered clearly, and maybe 'cute' wasn't even the right word. Beautiful? Yes, that would work well.

Before Isaac started feeling too creepy - did he even know if Ivan felt at all similar? - he nudged Ivan's shoulder with his hand.

"Ivan... " he murmured, without even thinking.

"... Isaac? What are you doing all the way up here?" Ivan asked tiredly. He must not have expected it, but then again Isaac wouldn't have if he was the one sleeping on top of a lighthouse. At least the way down would be easier with the elevators.

"I could ask you the same thing... But I think I know already. You couldn't sleep, could you?" Isaac chuckled softly. This had always been cute in the past, and that had not changed.

"Pretty much," Ivan replied, bringing another soft laugh from Isaac. He was still so adorable, it was amazing how even five years didn't change that, either.

"I remember... when you couldn't sleep, you would always stare at the sky. I'm not surprised that hasn't changed."

How much had Isaac missed this? He couldn't stargaze with Garet or Jenna, they either would fall asleep or be unable to keep quiet. Felix didn't have much to say, but at least he didn't wake up the neighbors or fall off the roof. Still, none of them were like Ivan. No one could be like Ivan.

"Yeah... "

"I'm glad it hasn't."

The stars were so beautiful from this height... he could wonder if the Proxians ever looked at the sky from Mars Lighthouse now. Or if Mia ever looked at the sky from Mercury Lighthouse at night. If they didn't, they should.

"Me too."

If it wasn't for the fact that Ivan hadn't budged, and neither had Isaac, then he might have interpreted the younger's short replies as he had earlier - as some kind of reluctance, or dislike, or something of the sort.

But because Ivan had shown no sign of caring about how close they were, Isaac decided he was going to be honest.

"You know... there's another reason I came to Contigo," he looked away from the sky and back to Ivan.

"Yeah? Why's that?" Ivan looked at Isaac now too, and if he felt like being more physical about what he would be saying, he certainly could have. That could have ruined the moment if his guess was wrong.

"I missed you."

It was a simple statement, but Ivan understood the point quickly. And if it weren't for the Jupiter Star's light, he might not have seen the sparkle in Ivan's eyes, nor that he smiled before he looked away. Isaac wasn't sure if he had imagined that he'd seen a faint blush to Ivan's cheeks, but if it was there, then his guess might be right.

It wasn't even just instinct that brought him to wrap his arms around Ivan, it was a conscious choice, and Isaac knew it was the right one. Because Ivan reacted by letting his head rest on Isaac's shoulder. Now this was something they had never done, but there had been times he'd wanted to hug the younger boy in the past, for whatever reason. After a peaceful moment they shared, Ivan seemed to have something else to say.

"There's another reason why I'm glad you're here... " he started, and Isaac wondered if this was going to be what he had a suspicion it might just be.

"Why's that?"

"... I think I love you."

Ivan didn't hesitate to lean against Isaac more, as if he needed to get the point across with more than just words could do. And Isaac didn't mind that at all.

"Don't worry... " he started, pausing a moment. As if Ivan was worried in the first place - Isaac could feel him breathing, and it was slow. He must be tired.

"Why not... ?" Ivan's response came before Isaac had finished his sentence.

"Because I love you too."

Isaac could feel Ivan's smile grow wider as the younger snuggled further against him. He didn't say anything in response, but he didn't have to. Isaac already knew what he meant.

And with the knowledge that this love had already withstood the test of time, Isaac had no further worries. Instead, he just pulled Ivan closer, and placed a gentle kiss to his head.

A/N

I'm sure you understood that was Isaac's view of the same events. there may be an actual continuation as well, but it likely won't be posted here (like this part won't be posted there). it'd be posted on LJ's GS kinkmeme instead (because the rating would be too high for FFnet). check there in a while if you still would like to see more~