It's been close to two months since coming down with a bad case of the sniffles and even after being bedridden the entire day, I was told-nay, forced to stay in bed by Ange until she was positively sure. Who was I to argue with her? I stayed in my room for nearly a week, occasionally sneaking out and being told on that conniving fire cat. The only good that came from being stuck in my room for a week was the fact that I had time to finish my sketches and ultimately picking which one I'd make a reality.

As soon as Ange gave the okay for me to go about my normal business, I immediately locked myself within my workshop and began working. From one room to another and Wisp didn't hesitate to speak about this or remind me at the start of every day. Speaking of Wisp, after having been found out by Ange, Wisp decided to reveal herself to Skyler and Irena as sooner or later they'd stumble upon her like Ange. Of course Skyler was the one that found Wisp to be in her own words, totally badass fire cat.

Irena took a shining to Wisp, giving her a hug when she first met her and the thought of her getting burned by a fire cat didn’t cross her mind. Wisp now spends time in the house now, mostly sleeping on a pillow that Irena pulled out for her, luckily I didn’t have to feed her. What did fire elementals eat anyway? Another question for Wisp I suppose but I couldn't bother stopping my work for something so trivial. Even today I spent most of the morning within the confines of my garage working away at a project entirely different to what I normally do. It consisted of fairly large and smoothed out metal sheet in which I will use to burn an exact copy of my sketch onto it. I've already gone through an unreasonable amount of trial and errors, most of which ended with sheet metal onto the floor before I spent six or so hours carving it out to try again.

After many fails and some more sheet metal I finally got what I wanted so I could move on with the project. I went back inside to make myself some food and a drink before going back into my workplace. With a cup of coffee in one hand and the page with the original sketch on the other hand, I could only stare in awe at what many painstaking hours trying over and over again had gotten me. An actual metal portrait of Ange with her sweet smile. If I didn't know any better, I was an artist in the making. I smiled at this as I finished my coffee and last bit of food before heading back inside to put my plate and mug in the sink for later.

As I did this there was a knock on my door. Curious to know of who this was, I walked over to the front door and opened it.

“Yo.” Rachael greeted me with Dianne behind her with a smile on her face. I arched a brow at the two of them, knowing them to be duo of trouble I began to slowly close the door. My efforts were stopped when Dianne put her hand on the door and opened it some more. With a groan I asked.

“What is it you two want?” I asked them, hoping to get this over with to continue my work.

“We heard that you been cooped up in your house for a long time, so we all decided to do something about it!” Dianne said happily.

“Yeah, so with some convincing the others and I are going to head to the beach!” Rachael added with a smile as well.

“Alright, have fun with that.” I said quickly before trying to close the door once again but like last time, the happy go lucky baker stopped me from doing so. I keep forgetting that for such a random woman as Dianne is, she’s strong.

“Isaac, you’re coming too.” Dianne said with a smile.

“Yeah, again you’ve been in your house for days man, time for you to get some sun.” the Skyborn proclaimed.

“Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the beach.” I said with an uninterested tone. Both Rachael and Dianne looked at one another with arched brows and forming frowns.

“Oh come on Isaac, what’s wrong with going to the beach with your friends?” Dianne asked, forgetting my response of me not being a big fan of the beach.

“Also you look really pale, you need some sun man.” Rachael pointed out to me. I looked down at myself, seeing the paleness of my skin.

“Besides we’re all going, Lydia, Jacqueline, Sophia, the two of us, Angelina, Blake and even Camilla.” Dianne pointed out. This was surprising to me since Blake didn’t like beaches as well, mostly for different reasons.

“Count me out, I'd rather stay here than sweat under the rays of the sun.” I said to the two of them, which earned me a frown from Dianne the most before she grew a smirk and said.

“You sure? We're all going to be there… and Ange will be in a swimsuit~.” Dianne teased. That caused me to momentarily stop and even consider it a little but then the thought of the ocean itself came to mind and I quickly shook my head.

“No… No tempting me with imagery, I'm not going.” I said firmly stating that I didn't want to go and that nothing would change my mind. Dianne pouted a bit.

“Come on Isaac, it'll be fun!” Dianne whined before adding. “Ange would be really sad that you're not there!!” I frowned at Dianne, hating the fact that she's using every tactic she has in store to get me to come along. If it meant Ange would be happy…

“Fine…” I said with a sigh of defeat. Dianne beamed at me for this.

“Alright! Get your swimsuit!” She said happily. Rachael looked at her for a moment.

“Yeah… it'll be fun.” She said with a smile. I simply shrugged and went to get my swimsuit that's buried in my closet. As I did this I soon realised someone was behind me. I turned to see Irena standing there. She tilted her head at me, which meant she was wondering what I was doing.

“Oh hey, I'm just looking for a pair of swim trunks. I was invited to the beach with the others and Ange.” I said to Irena before continuing to rummage around my closet for my trunks, seeing no sign of it yet. “I know it's around here somewhere.” I said mostly to myself. Irena stood there as I pulled everything out of my closet until I finally found them. They looked brand new as I held them up. I pushed everything back into my closet, organized be damned, and turned back to Irena who was still there. “Is something wrong?” I asked her.

She looked around at the place before looking back at me with an arched brow as if she was saying ‘You're leaving me here by myself so you could swim?’. Spending enough time with her I pretty much knew what she is thinking. I had taken out a backpack and stuffed it with some of the necessities like sunscreen and a towel, now a pair of swimming trunks.

“You want to come with?” I asked her, not really liking the idea of leaving her here. Her eyes widened at this before she nodded happily. I chuckled a little before realizing that Irena has no swimsuit. I hummed at this and decided to stop at Sophia's place to pick one up for her. Sophia was quick to make one for Irena and generous enough to not charge for it. When everything was settled, I could only dread the moment we arrive at the beach.

And here I was… standing in front of endless water as far as my eyes could see. The sun was bearing down on me as I had a loose t-shirt on and my trunks. I chose a spot as far away from the water as possible, not wanting it anywhere near me at anytime and it had garnered some attention.

Even now I still sat on the blanket that I set up after arriving, simply thinking of future projects before finally laying down. Irena was quick to go into the water, giggling happily as she was joined by Dianne. I was slowly beginning to relax until I heard someone walk up to me.

“Hey Isaac.” The sound of Camilla’s voice greeted my ears. I turned around to see her in a red and orange bikini top and bottom with a half open skirt/ robe around her waist and some sunglasses on her forehead.

“Hey, didn't expect to see you here.” I said to her, glancing up at her as I did. She smiled at this before speaking.

“Yeah… Blake didn't trust me running her shop by myself.” The Fire Magi said with a nervous laugh. From what I heard Blake had Camilla work in her store as she lived in her spare room.

“Hehe, I don't think she trusts anyone but herself to run her shop.” I said with a chuckle before laying my head back down on the blanket covered ground. “So how's your house coming along?” I asked her. Her smile turned into a frown.

“It's slow… when I think it's getting headway, something comes up and delays it.” She said with a sigh. “Something about a mask vigilante or something.” This clued me in at the event Lydia and the others taught Rachael a lesson with her oversized ego. Camilla shook her head at this. “Just getting it repaired is becoming a headache.”

“I know the pain, my house wasn't always fireproof.” I said Camilla simply, letting her know that before fireproofing the house. I remember that I had my own hotline towards the town's fire department. This got a snort from the Fire Magi.

“Tell me about it…” She said before sighing. “I might have to take up Blake’s offer if this happens any longer.” I arched a brow at this before asking.

“What offer?” I asked her, now curious to know.

“Well, since I’m staying in her home and made myself at home, she offered that if my other home is, and this is her words, ‘being a bitch to get’ I could move in with her and simply pay rent.” Camilla explained what Blake had offered her. It was pretty good offer really, convenient too as Camilla had basically already settled into Blake's guest room.

“Moving in with your crush? Heh.” I said jokingly to her and her reaction to this was a very noticeable blush. She frowned at me as she crossed her arms before looking off. I chuckled a bit before she asked me something.

“Why does Blake hate the beach?” Camilla asked. I looked at her before looking over at Blake who was sitting on her own blanket and under an umbrella.

“It's not really the beach she hates, it more of a hate towards the sand as it tends to get everywhere.” I said Camilla, surprising her with my answer. She must've not have expected me to know the answer. “What?” I asked her, noticing her staring at me.

“Nothing… just surprised.” Camilla said before adding. “I’m going to see if I could talk to her.” With that she walked off towards Blake. I chuckled a little as I was left alone. I saw Rachael and Jacqueline were in the water racing as Sophia was sunbathing. Dianne and Irena were building a sandcastle and… where’s Ange? I looked around down the beach before I heard someone behind me.

“H-hey Isaac.” Ange greeted me. I turned and my jaw dropped at what I saw; Ange was in a bikini of her own, a light blue one that she was blushing like a tomato. This image was something my head couldn’t imagine if I could.

“Hey Ange…” I said almost breathlessly before I shook my head. I know for a fact that I'll be keeping that as a close memory of mine, like the image of Nurse Angelina… heh. She shifted a bit as I stared.

“Is this… good? Sophia said that you would like this… though I don’t know why.” Ange stated, adjusting her top a bit and blushing more.

“You look great, Ange.” I said to her, smiling as I did before I sat up finally. “Though are you sure you're okay with wearing a bikini?” I asked her, knowing of how self conscious she is when wearing something so… well risque is the better term.

“I… well… you’ve seen me trying to get out of my shell of being a bit of a… well, a loner from what Rachael said.” Ange said before blushing a little more. “Though, this is a little bit of a big step for me… b-but I’m fine! Really.” She chuckled a bit at the last bit.

“Well if or when you want to cover yourself up, I've got an extra shirt you could use.” I said to her, offering the extra shirt I had brought along in case the one I wore got dirty or wet… preferably the former than the latter. Ange gave me a look that said ‘Thank you’ as she got close and give me a kiss. It was warm and loving like always with her as I wrapped my arms around her. When we parted, she looked at me with a smile and spoke.

“I'm uhh, going to go for a swim… want to come join?” Ange asked me with a warm smile. My eyes widen at this and I quickly shook my head and answered though my voice couldn't keep it's cool.

“N-no, I'm fine… where it's dry… And safe.” I said with a voice crack at the end. Ange looked at me oddly after I said that.

“Isaac… is there something wrong?” Ange asked me. I blinked at this, not sure what to answer or how to pretend to be fine when I could see the blue devil behind Ange.

“Nope nope, fine everything's just fine.” I said before suddenly laying back with a pose and saying. “How are you?” I asked. Ange stared at me for a few moments before frowning.

“I’m… fine, I think?” She said. I smiled at her before she went off towards the ocean. I let out a sigh at this as I rolled onto my back with a sigh. I hated not telling her the truth but... I let out another sigh and cursed my fear of the water. If it wasn't because of nearly drowning as a kid I wouldn't be in this mess.

“Great.” I said to myself, mentally berating myself for having lied to Ange. I looked down at the water just as Ange dove into it. There was some sort of grace to that as I lost sight of her into the water. Countless people have told me how I am missing out on the beach, ignoring the water and sticking to staying out in the sand, sure it's annoying but that doesn't mean I didn't agree with them. Hell I have tried conquering my fear but I forgot one tiny little important thing… I can't swim.

The fear of water scared me to try and learn it and the lack of knowledge of swimming made it hard to get over my fear, or in short I’m screwed. I sat on the beach for some time, watching the others have fun in the sand or water, other than Blake who hated the sand,until I saw someone waving at me. As I looked I saw it was Ange and as she waved she pointed towards someplace. I looked and saw what looked like a small cove where I saw Ange started to swim too. Did Ange want me to go there? Curious as I am, I stood up and walked over towards the cove which wasn't a long walk thankfully enough.

“Ange?” I called out for her. I looked around and soon saw her behind a large rock.

“Over… here…” She said, still blushing like mad, why I don’t know. I walked over to her as she stood behind the rock. “Thank Celestia you came over… can I… have that extra t-shirt you have? Please.”

“Why? Is everything okay?” I asked her, now a little worried about her. I didn't think she would want the shirt this soon.

“Please… Isaac…” She said, on the border of tears. I tilted my head, still confused on why but I did notice something… there was no straps around her- oh. With no other words, I sprinted back towards my spot and took out the extra shirt before hauling ass back. I returned out of breath but with the shirt in hand.

“Here you go, one extra shirt as promised.” I said slightly out of breath as I handed her the shirt. Ange took it and quickly put it on. I looked away just to be modest before she stepped out. Due to the water on her, the shirt clung to her but at least she was decent.

“Isaac… thank you.” She said, still tears in her eyes. I cupped her cheek and wiped the tears away, not wanting to see her cry.

“Don't cry, you know I hate to see you cry.” I said to her, my voice taking a loving tone, one she had grown very used to with how long we've been together. She sniffled a little before putting her head on my chest, her cold wet body on my warm dry body. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. Nothing was said while we were like this, simply enjoying the closeness of one another… well, she was no doubt enjoying the warmth I was providing. It was enough to bring comfort to her and for her not to get cold from having just gotten out of the water. She sniffled a little before looking up at me. We stared at each other before she leaned up and kissed me. When we parted from the sweet kiss, we sat on a large rock inside the cove but it was only me on the rock as Ange didn't want to let go of the warmth so she sat on my lap but I didn't really mind all too much. The sounds of the waves crashing into the shore was soothing to the both of us. She laid on me, smiling as she looked up at me.

“Thank you… again Isaac, I owe you for this.” She said with a smile.

“It's alright, your smile is a good enough reward for me.” I said to her, not wanting to let her think she owes me by any means. She smiled at me before she shifted around so she was facing me and hooked her arms around my neck.

“Isaac… why have you been acting so weird?” Ange asked me. I blinked at her as she continued. “When I asked you to come with me to the water, you lied to me and acted… odd.” I gave her saddened look before taking a deep breath and saying.

“It's because… I'm afraid of the water…” I said in admittance though with a little shame in my voice as well. She stared at me for a moment.

“Oh… oh I’m sorry…” Ange said sadly. “If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked.”

“No no, you didn't really do anything wrong it's just… I've been so embarrassed about it for a very long time.” I said to her with a sad tone as I spoke and added. “I tried getting over my fear, I really did but because of my fear I never learnt how to swim so I couldn't get over my fear.” I said to her. She simply stared at me before pulling herself closer. "Which ended up in this odd hate loop of can't do."

“Maybe… I could help?” Ange asked softly, leaning her head on my shoulder. “Maybe once a week we go to the local pond and try to teach you to swim?” She offered.

“I don't know…” I said hesitantly, the offer wasn't bad by any means. Learning how to swim so I could conquer my fear sounded great but… once again my fear was getting the best of me. I was soon brought out of my thoughts when Ange kissed me.

“Don’t worry, I'll be there with you.” She said softly before giving me another kiss on the lips. To be honest, now I couldn't refuse. I took a deep breath and thought about it a little bit more before finally nodding slowly and saying.

“O-okay… I guess it's worth a try.” I said to her with a little stutter at the start. Ange smiled at this before leaning in and kissing me for the third time, this one slowly turned into a makeout session. Unlike a lot of the times this has happened to us, it didn't escalate further than just a makeout session, not wanting to be caught in a compromising position. When our kisses stopped, we simply hummed at one another. Ange was very appreciative of the warmth as it helped her dry faster without being cold from the wind. “You know, it's times like this I really enjoy.” I said a soft tone. Ange hummed again, resting her head on my chest.

“I do too, I love them.” Ange said softly. The two of us stayed there for a few more minutes before heading back, hand in hand.

When we returned no one seemed to have noticed that we were gone, some waves for some of them but mostly they were busy with what they are doing. Though when I looked over at where Irena I was what was the most detailed sandcastle there was, it even had a drawbridge and moat.

“That's… wow.” I didn't really know what to say really, I could just stand there staring awestruckingly at the sandcastle. Irena was still working on it and smiling at herself for what she has done.

Right until a wave came up and washed it all away. Irena blinked at this before doing an expression of ‘Aww man!’. She took her bucket and moved over to start again.

“Awww, poor Irena…” Ange said sadly. I nodded in agreement before thinking of a good idea that actually might be enjoyable. I simply smiled and walked over towards Irena with Angelina following curiously behind.

“Hey, need any help?” I asked Irena once I stopped and stood in front of her new castle under construction. Irena looked up at me, then at the castle then back me as she held out her bucket. I smiled at this as I took the bucket and started to help Irena with building a sandcastle. Ange even jumped in to help out happily and honestly, it was quite fun. From looking at the three of us it looked like we were a family which, to me, was not a bad thought.

Before long we made a new sandcastle, bigger and better than the last one. It also had the added bonus of being far away from the water. Irena smiled at this, feeling proud at the castle the three of us made together. She thanked us the only way she knew how, by giving me and Ange hugs. When she did, I couldn't help but feel an odd sense of pride over her. It's a feeling I'm very well familiar with, having experienced it with Skyler and I knew it wasn't normal pride over them as it felt more… fatherly, I guess with how I've taken care of them I've become somewhat of a father figure to both of them, though I'd doubt I'm a very good one with my recklessness.

Before long it was time to go, much to Blake's enjoyment for leaving, we all packed up and headed back to Everfree. Ange and I stood by one another on the way back, Irena in between of us as we walked and, after a train ride back, we were back home. Irena was still gleaming with pure joy as evident from her skipping and it only brought us a little happiness seeing her like this. While everyone went their separate ways, me, Ange and Irena all headed back to my house. I had told Ange about my recent completion of a project and she is curious to see how it looks, so curious even that on the train she had constantly asked me what it was but was met with the same response of not wanting to ruin the surprise.

When we entered the house Ange was pouring that I didn't say what the surprise is. Irena ran off into the house, leaving me with Ange. After telling that I'll have to cover her eyes first, she agreed quickly and allowed me to both cover her eyes and guide her to the garage. When we were in the comfort of said garage, I flipped the lights on and stood Ange in front of the metal portrait before finally uncovering her eyes.

“Ta-da!” I exclaimed happily to her as her gaze settled onto the portrait. Ange gasped at this.

“Oh my… is that me?” She asked in awe. I nodded as I kicked a few scraps of previous attempts away before saying.

“Yeah…” I said to her with a smile and a blush forming on my cheeks. The portrait is, as I had mentioned before, a copy of the sketch I drew of Ange. Sure it wasn't what I normally do but I've been to do something special for Ange as thanks for having taken care of me. She stared at it before turning back at me, she still wore the shirt and bikini bottom from the beach as she smiled.

“Isaac… I love it! Thank you.” She said happily. Soon after saying this she wrapped her arms around my neck to pull me down into a deep kiss, one I was returning gladly. I held her closer as we kissed before we finally parted.

“I’d hoped you'd love it.” I said to her as I rested my forehead on hears. I gave her a small kiss on the tip of her nose, earning a giggle from her… music to my ears.

“Well your hopes were right.” Ange said with a smile. I chuckled before going on about my many tries in getting it right as she was curious to know how long and how many tries I took. She was left stunned at my answer, not having expected me to dedicate so much time for another gift to her. The shock soon turned into a smile as we kissed again, which made me pull Ange up and set her on my workbench, makes it easier to kiss that way. In the heat of passion, Ange was the one to take initiative as she began to attempt to strip me but with some help she got what she wanted. It's safe to say that she really, oh so truly loved the gift.

End of XIX

Author's Note

Names list will only be added in chapters introducing new characters.