Golden Sun belongs to Nintendo and Camelot, not me. Support them if you like the series! I just write fanstuff. And if you feel like borrowing any of my original ideas, please, go right ahead.
Sveta woke with a start. She gasped as she sat straight up in bed. The gasp set off another chain of coughs, which left her throat burning and her lungs heaving. Her eyes watered from the pain. She willed herself to calm down, to breathe slowly and carefully, and to realize that it had all just been a dream.
She laid back down and let the nightmare erase itself from her mind. Only then did she notice Matthew sleeping on top of the covers nearby. She frowned, vaguely remembering the night before, and how she had made an idiot of herself – AGAIN – in her delirium. She wished that she and Matthew could have gotten together on their own terms, rather than having to deal with her stupid fever. Being that sick made it difficult to suppress her own instincts, and she was quite sure that if she had her mind to herself, they wouldn't be sharing a room already.
Not that she didn't enjoy seeing him lying shirtless next to her, but it felt like their relationship was moving a little too quickly.
She put the back of her hand on her forehead. It was still burning hot. Her mind was still foggy. She still felt weak in her limbs. But at least she wouldn't have to struggle against the more feral side of herself anymore.
Making sure that Matthew was still asleep, she carefully slipped out of bed to get dressed. Once that was finished, she opened the blinds. It was early morning and the sun was peeking over the horizon. The hustle and bustle of the city was just beginning to get going, and Sveta could smell breakfast being cooked in several places nearby. Her stomach growled. It had been quite some time since she last ate.
Matthew stirred as the sunlight hit him. "Oh, good morning," he said when he saw her standing by the window. "Feeling better?"
Sveta nodded. "Much better, yes. I am very, very sorry, by the way, about all of the fever-dream incidents." She went back to her side of the bed and sat down. "You have been very patient. I appreciate it."
Matthew simply nodded. "It's no big deal," he said.
She shook her head. "It is. It absolutely is. Had you not been there for me, I would be dead. And I cannot imagine that Karis has been taking it well. How did it go last night?"
Matthew's expression fell. He said nothing.
"I was worried about that," Sveta said. "I am sorry. It was entirely my fault. Do you think that your friendship can be recovered?"
Matthew shrugged. "I think that I may have made it worse last night, if anything. Karis is a good girl, and I trust her, but she was really down and... well, I screwed up. She knows I just want to be friends, but she still seemed pretty crushed."
Sveta frowned. "I did not mean to force a wedge between you two."
"Don't worry, I'm sure it isn't permanent. We have more pressing matters to worry about anyway, don't we? Have you made a decision regarding Belinsk?"
She took several steps back to her own side of the bed and sat down. She pondered silently for a moment. "I feel that while we are here, we should aim for a diplomatic solution, and that means going directly to the palace. If that falls through, we can catch up to the Bilibin army along the way and see what havoc we can wreak."
Matthew smiled. "Straight and to the point. I like it. How do you plan to reach the palace undetected, though?"
A vicious grin came to Sveta's face. "I do not."
She stood and walked over to her traveling bag. Inside were her royal gown and whatever other supplies she had managed to pack while at Rief's house. "I will not be very effective if hostilities arise, but what better way to seize the element of surprise than for the Queen herself to appear at McCoy's doorstep in broad daylight?"
Matthew smiled broadly. "Sounds good. We still need to deal with Kraden, though. It would be terrible of us to just leave him behind. I think we should send Tyrell and Karis to find him; I'd rather have a proficient healer around if we encounter the worst-case scenario."
Nodding in agreement, Sveta unfolded her gown from her traveling gear. It was wrinkled, but it would have to do. The insulated Mercury outfit was beginning to overstay its welcome anyway.
Matthew put his shirt back on and hopped out of bed. "I'm going to grab some breakfast. I'll bring some back for you, too. I'll fill in the others if I see them along the way."
"That sounds magnificent, thank you. We should leave as soon as possible. I would appreciate if we could wait until Rief has given me assistance with my pneumonia, but I feel that we must leave soon after."
Matthew winked. "I'll be back soon, then." He started toward the door.
Sveta smiled softly. "I will see you then... umm, sunshine."
Matthew did a double-take. "Uh... 'sunshine'?"
"I was just trying it out," Sveta admitted with a blush. "Is it too weird? Should I not bother?"
"Oh, it'll take some getting used to, but I have no objection to pet names!" Matthew said with a laugh. "See you later, kittydog."
"K-kittydog? Wait, Matthew...!" Sveta shouted in futility as the door closed behind him. She sighed. He was teasing her, obviously. But she would have to wait until his return to properly reprimand him.
She locked the door and began to change.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
It is a sad, sad irony that I apparently received more traffic on my crappy MPreg joke chapter than I have anywhere else in the story. If you read that one first, I am so, so sorry.
Honestly though, what surprises me more is how many people read through Karis raping Matthew with her mind, Rief being a girl (who ALSO raped Matthew at some point), Matthew himself being pregnant, and Sveta running off to live in the woods, and then STILL needed the disclaimer in the a/n to realize that it was a joke chapter. I obviously don't write convincingly enough for people to find error in that. *hangs head in shame*