Short little thing, hope you like it!

He thought after all he had been through, fighting for the Roc Feather, dealing with the struggles of the Grave Eclipse, battling the Dark Adepts at Apollo Sanctum, being burned inside and out and having his soul separated from him, that he would be ready for this.

No.

Somehow this was the most nerve wracking and difficult thing for him; he could feel the sweat on his forehead and kept quietly fidgeting as he quickly moved through the busy streets of Kalay next to a cloaked figure.

He had sent the letter and got the confirmation from his father. Gods knew it was hard enough to get Isaac away from Mt. Aleph for any length of time, even harder to get him to go far beyond Patcher's Place unless it was something particularly important.

Getting Isaac to Kalay was certainly a win in Matthew's book, maybe the Grave Eclipse had made Isaac worry enough to concede to this request, or maybe he just wanted to know what happened. Either way, Matthew was happy that Isaac had conceded.

The cloaked figure walking through the crowds of Kalay next to Matthew lay a gentle hand upon his shoulder, the slight peek of claws appearing through the heavy brown sleeves, and squeezed him.

He turned and smiled to the bright green eyes shining at him from under the darkness of the hooded cloak, pushing through the crowd to find his way to his mother's house.

It had been so long since he had been in Kalay, so long since he had seen his parents, let alone how long it had been since he had seen them together.

He breathed a sigh, maybe that was adding to his nerves. He wasn't sure how his parents would be together in a room, he wasn't even sure he last remembered when he saw them together for an extended time without any of their companions from thirty years prior.

He shook his head and pushed onwards, nearing the district where Jenna's house was. As he neared he could pick out details from his childhood, the crack in a nearby wall from when he was first discovering Psynergy, the tangled vines growing along the cobblestone path, the scorch marks that Tyrell left around. He found it strange that no one in Tolbi had ever cleaned these up, but he supposed it wasn't high on the list with the world changing so quickly.

Eventually he and his companion were standing at the door to his home, it seemed ominous, even more of a challenge than scaling Apollo Sanctum.

A laugh.

Two.

People were laughing behind the door and immediately his entire demeanour relaxed and he walked in, he knew he had no need to knock, it was his home.

The laughter was clearer now.

"And then Garet literally fires a full on Inferno into the fireplace minutes after lecturing Tyrell about controlling his Psynergy!"

And the laughter fills the rooms and halls as Mathew ushers in his companion and calls out to the occupants.

"Mom! Dad! I'm here!"

He hears the scraping of wood on wood as chairs are pulled back, and giggles and chuckles draw closer to him before his parents greet him at the door. Jenna has some slight tears in her eyes, but they are bright and shining and full and her smile assures Matthew she is anything but sad.

His father is smiling, a smile so wide and happy he almost doubted it was truly Isaac, standing before him with his arm around Jenna.

Jenna moved from Isaac's embrace and wrapped Matthew up in her arms, easily lifting her son off the ground with the force and love in her hug.

"It's so wonderful to see you, Matthew." She beams and sets him down, "Good to see you've grown too, had to actually put some muscle into that one."

Matthew can't help the blush on his face, his mother was one to tease, and it didn't help when he was very aware of his friend's eyes on him.

"Hey, mom, glad to see you." Matthew smiled, pecking Jenna's cheek before nodding to his father, "Dad."

Isaac ruffled his hair and chuckled, "No need to be so formal, son, I'm glad to see you safe and sound. Judging from recent events in Weyard I imagine you have had quite the journey."

"You don't know the half of it."

"I'm hoping you called me here to change that." Isaac countered as he turned his gaze to the figure accompanying Matthew, "And does your friend have a name?"

"Uhh…" Matthew took a moment to glance in their direction before suggesting they all convene in the living room for a slightly more comfortable setting, "Well they were a big part of everything that happened, and why I asked you to come here."

The parents exchanged worrying glances before moving to the living room and taking seats beside each other on the couch while Matthew and his companion stood in front of them. Matthew was back to nervously fidgeting, keenly aware that all eyes in the room were on him.

"Okay uhh…" He was looking everywhere except for at the other three in the room, "Mom, Dad… this is my uhh…"

"I'm Matthew's girlfriend." And in a quick flourish the hood of the cloak was pulled down. Lavender braids spilled out of the hood and hung down alongside the cloak, bright green eyes trained on the shocked Adepts on the couch, fur still waving slightly from the motions. "Sveta, Queen of Morgal, it is an honour and a pleasure to meet you, Sir Isaac, Lady Jenna."

Within seconds Isaac was off the couch and down on one knee, bowing his head respectfully. Jenna for all her wit was simply stunned, still staring at the woman in front of her.

"Your Highness, I apologise, had I known I would have prepared."

Sveta let out a little chuckle, the lightest tinge of red showing through the fur on her cheeks, "P-please, there's no need."

"Dad…" Matthew half whined, "You're embarrassing her."

"Respect is to be given, Matthew." Isaac responded before rising to his feet and bowing once more to Sveta, "I apologise again, Your Highness, if th…"

And suddenly her words must have hit him, he was stopped half stride, arm in the beginnings of reaching out perhaps in an offer of a hand shake or to kiss her hand.

"Girlfriend?" The words were a whisper, escaping on what Matthew could only assume was the last air left in his father's lungs.

Sveta's blush only deepened as she nodded the affirmative to the warrior she had heard so many tales of. Matthew in an effort to support her and show the truth of the statement shifted closer and took her hand in his.

"Matthew… you're…" Isaac seemed to be struggling, he had never known his father to have such difficulty with words, "you're dating Morgal royalty?"

"Well… I didn't know she was a princess at first, and she wasn't queen when we started but… yeah?" Matthew was sure even the Sol Blade wouldn't be able to cut the tension or awkwardness in the room.

Suddenly Jenna was up and off the couch and advancing on them and for a split second the blonde youth believed this as the end. Then, just like he had been when he first entered, Sveta was lifted off the ground in a patented Jenna style hug.

"It is absolutely wonderful to meet you, Sveta. I'm just going to ask you everything because I'm sure you know how difficult it is to get details out of Matthew." Jenna laughed, then put the side of her hand to her mouth, palm facing an incredulous Isaac, "He gets it from his father, trust me."

Laughter filled the room while the two blonde men simply stared stunned at the scene unfolding before them, Jenna was ushering Sveta to the couch, questions and giggles ringing out faster than either man could currently process.

Sveta was smiling, Jenna having taken her cloak and hung it up before quickly retrieving a small tea set for them all to share. Matthew wasn't sure how she had done all that in the space of three seconds, and then it occurred to him that neither he nor his father had moved an inch since Jenna had first stood up several minutes ago.

"Jenna." Isaac's voice was shock, Matthew recognised the attempt at sounding as though he was giving out but it all failed from the astonishment in his voice, "Lady Sveta is a Queen we can't jus-"

Jenna rolled her eyes and waved off her husband's attempt at chastising her, he never succeeded anyway, "Oh, please, Sveta is our son's girlfriend. She's just like any other girl, I'm sure, and I for one want to get to know her as a person rather than a political figure."

"She's got you there, Dad." Matthew wasn't sure why the words came out of his mouth, maybe some small part of his mother in him as she was snickering at the words, and Isaac's glare could have shot an Odyssey through him alone.

"Um, Sir Isaac, if I may?"

Isaac blinked and turned to Sveta, words failing him as he simply nodded to her.

"I don't wish for any special treatment or any titles or any undue respect related to my position." Matthew was fully aware of how little love Sveta had for the power her title as Queen gave over people, "So, please may I ask that you merely treat me like you would any other guest in your home?"

Isaac paused, everyone could hear the slight whistle as he inhaled through his nostrils, before he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

Sveta's ears drooped and Jenna and Matthew were both ready to chime in loudly before he raised his hand.

"You are not any other guest in our home, Sveta." At that the beastgirl perked up, ears twitching in response to the lack of a title, "You are our son's girlfriend, it would be wrong to treat you as anyone else. However, I will refrain from titles and respect due to your rank, in the hopes that you do the same for me."

Matthew breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the smiles on the other three truly warmed his heart and he took a seat next to Sveta as Isaac situated himself in the armchair by the couch, questions and laughter flying back and forth between the four of them.

Of course Isaac brought up the serious topics, what had happened on the quest, did they find the Mountain Roc, why was the world eclipsed for months, what happened. Matthew and Sveta responded to these as quickly and as readily as they could, even providing the said feather to Isaac and mixing in the details of how they met and helped each other through the quest.

Jenna was much more relaxed and easy going, telling jokes, comparing Isaac to Matthew at that age and asking if there were any similarities. She could only laugh when Sveta confirmed numerous similar accounts and events that Jenna proposed, much to the embarrassment of the two Venus Adepts.

Matthew felt happy and safe for the first time in many months, he was there with the girl he loved and his family was together for the first time in a long time smiling and laughing.

He knew of course that soon after everything would be serious again, Isaac and Jenna would gather the Warriors of Vale to help deal with the threat of Alex and the Tuaparang, Sveta would have to help Morgal and Belinsk through reconstruction and the forging of deals and trades between countries, Matthew would be travelling between the two doing all he could to keep everyone safe.

But for now, the four of them were happy and at ease, safe in the knowledge that when all the hardships were over they would still have their family and friends to return to and be with, to share in the laughter and happiness of one another.

Hey, you reached the end! Thanks!
Hope it was a good read for you!

Your friend and writer,
Droory