Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Calibur, and this scene is KINDA fluffy... you HAVE been warned! However, I do own Gawen. This mischevious butler is all mine! hugs Gawen plushie

Chapter 4: The Dream

Forgetting all about the book, Siegfried left the library, and walked upstairs, towards the double oak doors to Ivy's bedroom. He stopped directly in front of them, and shook his head slightly to clear himself of the memory he had not but five minutes ago. If he was going to help Ivy out in any way possible, he had to act as though nothing had ever happened. Just like he had been doing before… He raised his hand, and knocked on the door three times, before a faint voice requested him to proceed inside.

Siegfried opened the door to Ivy's chambers, stepped inside, and then closed it halfway, before turning to the bed-ridden Ivy. She gave him a half smile, to which Siegfried smiled back in return, as he walked over to her bedside, and sat on the corner of her bed.

"Feeling any better?" he questioned warmly, placing a hand to her forehead, but moving it away when he found her temperature to be normal.

"A bit, thank you." Ivy replied with a good-natured chuckle.

"So that's what's been going on with you, hmm? Headaches? That is serious. But Ivy, I doubt drinking something that's liable to give you a headache in the end, is the right thing for you." Siegfried joked lightly.

"I trust the family physician. He knows what he's doing, Siegfried." Ivy protested, frowning. She hated to be seen bedridden like this. To her, it was a show of weakness; that she could no longer go on…

"My apologies, Ivy. It's your call, not mine." Siegfried replied, with a disarming smile.

Something in the almost-too cheerful demeanor of her blonde acquaintance seemed troubling to the British noble. She had traveled with Siegfried long enough to know when something was wrong with him, and she was sure it was vice-versa for him, though she tried not to give her emotions away. There was something in that all too familiar smile of his that made her suspicious. And Ivy was most definitely not one to keep her thoughts to herself.

"All right, what's on your mind?" she asked, sitting upright, and crossing her arms over her chest.

Siegfried was totally taken aback by this, and it showed on his face instantly, as he looked up at the white-haired woman, with a look of confusion upon his striking features.

"I beg your pardon?" he questioned.

"Siegfried, I've been around you long enough to know when something is troubling you. I can tell…something is the matter. Now what is it?" Ivy questioned. Her turquoise eyes met Siegfried's troubled green ones for a mere second, before he turned his face away, towards the window.

"Ivy…I don't really think…"

"Oh come on! You're worried about me, aren't you? Listen Siegfried, I said that I'll be perfectly fine, and that's the end of it!" Ivy exclaimed, sighed in exasperation.

Well that was that, she figured. That must have been all that he was worried about, unless…Gawen…no that was impossible. Gawen had taken a solemn oath to the Countess that he would never reveal any of her doings to anyone…not even Siegfried. So yes, her "chronic headaches" must have been the reason the blonde knight was worried.

"Well Ivy…I have to admit, you do know me rather well…" Siegfried admitted; his back still to the blue-eyed woman, making Ivy sigh once more, this time in relief.

"…Because that's what would have been troubling me if more pressing issues weren't in my mind."

His words made Ivy freeze in place. More troubling issues? What did he mean? Ivy had sworn that she had her companion pegged instantly. Now he was telling her that she had been completely off?

"What do you mean?" she asked in an unsteady voice.

"Ivy, I wanted to admit something to you…something that happened while we were traveling…" Siegfried said, before turning to face the white-haired woman, who was paling rather rapidly with every word he said.

"I had a dream, Ivy…" he stated firmly, as they locked gazes.

"I had a dream that you and I, for the lack of a better phrase, shared one single night of passion. That we poured our feelings for one another out in that single moment, and then blamed it on our inability to hold our liquor. That this was the reason we split our ways…that this was an unresolved issue that was never supposed to have happened. Ivy, I want to know…did you have that dream also?"

True, his words might have been cryptic to anyone listening in, but Ivy knew exactly what he meant. This was never to have been brought up again, yet Siegfried had found a way to word just exactly what he was feeling and what he wanted to know, in such a manner to where it sounded as though nothing had happened between the two of them at all.

What do I say? If I tell him yes, then he might start talking about it again…that's the last thing I ever want to speak about…we had agreed that we would never speak about it. But…if I tell him no…

Ivy paused, and shook her head slightly. She didn't understand why she even cared whether the blonde knight had his feelings crushed again or not. After all, she had rid herself of such caring emotions a long time ago. Still…Gawen's words came back to haunt her mind. Perhaps there was no ignoring it. Perhaps she really was falling for the charming blonde knight again.

"No." she replied, before she could even stop herself from saying it. There was a sudden rustling of bed sheets, and the creaking of the springs, as Siegfried stood up, inhaling sharply and turning away from the blue-eyed woman.

"Then I'm sorry to have bothered you, Countess. If you will excuse me…Perhaps it is best that I leave the mansion."

Siegfried took several steps towards the door, but stopped in his tracks, when he felt a pair of slender arms wrap around his waist. Swallowing hard, he turned, looking directly into the crystal clear turquoise eyes of Ivy Valentine. It was an awkward silence and an awkward pause for the both of them. Yet since a years time, those emotions that had once helped to kindle the flames of a false passion, had not ever left either of them. It was clear in the fire in Ivy's eyes, and the returned flame in Siegfried's.

"When I said no…I meant that I never had that dream…because it wasn't a dream. It was real…so very real…and I was a fool for telling you to forget all about it. I know I most certainly couldn't…" Ivy replied, looking away shamefully. Siegfried was shocked for the moment. Ivy was apologizing, in her own little way to him…and after a whole year's worth of waiting and wondering, Siegfried finally had the chance to accept her apology.

"Ivy..." He cupped her face with his slightly callused hands, his thumbs brushing across her blushing cheeks, as he turned her to face him once more.

"Siegfried, I…"

Ivy trailed off as the German knight captured her lips in a soft, chaste kiss.

They stood there, not even noticing the soft, joyous laughter of a spying Gawen, who ran down the stairs, beaming at a job well done.

There's the end of Chapter 4! And trust me, this fic is FAR from over! R&R please!