Golden Sun belongs to Nintendo and Camelot, not me. Support them if you like the story! I just write fanstuff. And if you feel like borrowing any of my original ideas, please, go right ahead.

Just a little story I threw together in an evening based on something that's been bugging me since Golden Sun 1. It's become more, shall we say, relevant due to the implications of Dark Dawn.

But that doesn't mean we can't have fun with it.

(This story is separate from any other GS fics I may write, by the way. No connection.)

Matthew stopped in the middle of unfolding his side of the first tent and looked out to the horizon. The group was parked just outside Tonfon, preparing to venture into the darkness of the Eclipse; they were on the final stretch, on their way to the Apollo Lens to end the greatest tragedy the world had seen in 30 years. As a result, they were as close as they could get to the shadow without actually being in danger from the monsters within.

There was a curtain of darkness hanging over that entire half of the horizon. As he watched, it seemed to dance and twist within itself. It was almost beautiful, in a way that was completely contrary to the fear and horror he knew they would find once they were inside. It was like being in the eye of a hurricane – you could see the rain, almost feel the destruction itself, but you were safe enough to just watch.

He jumped just a fraction as he felt something brush his hand.

"Oh!" Sveta cried. "I am sorry, I just... I was not..."

He looked at her face, a tinge of red showing on her cheeks as she trailed off. He was frozen in place, his mind on his hand, still feeling the residual tingling after the momentary contact. She opened her eyes wider, her mouth opening slightly...

Matthew shook his head to clear it. He kept getting distracted; he must have been tired. He heard Sveta clear her throat next to him as he moved on to the rest of the tent.

Somewhere along the way, the two of them had become unofficially paired on tent duty. To help facilitate camp set-up, they had automatically split themselves into work groups – Karis with Tyrell, Rief with Amiti, Eoleo with Himi - and they took turns doing the different jobs that had to be done. The work groups weren't sleeping groups, naturally, but for now, Matthew was working with Sveta... who was abnormally quiet that night.

The silence was like a black hole, a vacuum. It was just begging for something to fill it. It wasn't even an awkward silence, really – it was weird for Matthew of all people to think so, but something really had to be said. He could tell Sveta felt the same way, the way she kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. He scrambled for something to say that was unrelated to their current predicament, to the many, many people of Sveta's kingdom that were undoubtedly losing their lives even as they set up camp.

"So, uh..." he began. "Something I've always wondered."

Sveta glanced up at him quickly. She blinked several times, her hands frozen in place. There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she watched him expectantly.

"Do... do you think Djinn are awake when they're set? I mean..." He finished tying his last peg into place. "Like, do they watch what we're doing? Each of us has something like 9 djinn. Do we have 9 little pairs of eyes following our every move?"

"Oh," Sveta said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "Well, I never gave it any thought, I suppose. They appear sentient, so I guess... maybe?"

Matthew shrugged. He was hoping the conversation would run on its own a bit further than that.

"You could ask one," Sveta continued. "I am sure they would answer."

Matthew nodded. He hadn't thought of that. As he called out to Flint, he could see Sveta doing something similar; alchemical energy whirled before him before solidifying into the familiar form of a Venus Djinni just moments before Sveta manifested Gust into existence.

He smiled in anticipation. This question had been bugging him for ages. "You hear that, Flint?"

The Venus Djinni nodded... or at least, it made a gesture approximating one. It's hard to nod without a neck.

"Sure thing, Matthew!" the elemental said. "When we pick an Adept to hang around, we're right there with them whenever they need – it helps to pay attention so we know the best way for us to help!"

Matthew grinned. "So you're aware of what happens outside? Geez, Flint, you were travelling with my dad for his entire trip! You must have a lot of stories to tell!"

Gust flapped his wings and took to the air. "We all do!" it said excitedly. "A lot of us have been through both adventures, and some of us have even been able to trade stories with each other! We're like walking, talking encyclopedias of all the excitement in the world over the last 30 years!"

Matthew looked over at Sveta, who was beaming as she watched the wind spirit fluttering around. He should've done this ages ago – Djinn always seemed to be excitable, and their moods tended to be contagious.

Flint hopped up and down a few times. "It's so much fun finally being able to see your adventure, Matthew!" it said. "I was able to watch you grow up until you were finally old enough to match your father's achievements. I'm so proud!"

"Well, I don't know about matching..." Matthew said modestly. But he couldn't deny the swell of pride he felt. They HAD done some pretty amazing stuff.

"It's true! You're doing great stuff!" Flint hopped again for emphasis. "I've been there to watch you for your entire life, even before you were born!"

Matthew's grin faltered. "Huh? What do you mean?" he asked.

"I was there when you were conceived!" Flint shouted. "It was exciting, I gave your dad the little extra bit of endurance he needed to-"

"Ooookay, I think that's enough for now!" Matthew interrupted. "Thanks for answering."

"Jenna didn't need as long as Mia did! She wasn't as loud, though, either."

Matthew paused, dumbfounded. Sveta's face went pale. Gust simply fluttered aimlessly.

The silence stretched on for several more seconds.

Flint hopped once, then twice, in excitement.

Matthew slowly closed his jaw, having just noticed that it happened to drop at some point.

"Yeah," he said, "can we talk about something else, maybe? ANYTHING else?"

Gust flew right up to him. "What about you, Matthew? It won't be long before you're old enough for a family, too, and you can continue the family tradition of handing Flint on to the next in line-"

"It's definitely way too early to be thinking about that-"

"No it isn't!" Flint continued. "Your dad didn't have any kids for a while, but he certainly tried, and he started when he was about your age!"

Gust bobbed up and down. "A lot! And with lots of different women!"

Matthew planted his face directly into his palm.

"You know what? I appreciate the thought. I think." He rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. "But honestly? I really don't want to hear about my dad getting busy in any sense, and frankly, the way you're so excited about uh, ME, is kind of scaring me. I mean, I haven't even met anybody-"

"Sure you have!" Flint interrupted. "Sveta's right here!"

She squeaked and covered her mouth as her entire face went beet-red underneath her light coating of fur. Matthew's eyes widened in horror.

"Flint. What the hell-"

The earth spirit hopped excitedly. "Oh, pipe down, it was bound to happen eventually!" Flint leaned forward. "I just gave it a little push! That's what we do, after all-"

"Gods, just..." Matthew closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and counted to ten. "This really wasn't going in the direction I was hoping. I think we should-"

"I never got why humans are so fussy about this sort of thing!" Gust spun in a swift circle. "She likes you too, and you're both pretty obvious about it! You should just hurry up with it!"

Sveta whimpered behind her hands.

Now it was Matthew's turn to blush.

Flint quickly manoeuvred behind him and gave him a quick push. "You two are perfect for each other! You can't tell me you never noticed, either! You spend so much time glancing awkwardly, sometimes just making a bit of contact, but your heart races and you know you want to make a move, but you never do!"

"I know, right?" Gust called from just a short distance into the air. "Sveta does the same thing!"

Matthew coughed to hide his grin. He looked back at the tent and tried his best to keep his hands busy. He hazarded a quick glance at Sveta to see that she was doing the same thing. The tent was all but finished anyway, but it wouldn't do to force the issue right at this moment.

"I, uh..." Matthew sputtered. He suppressed a giggle. "We'll see, right? We can talk about this after."

Sveta ran her fingers through her hair and nodded, making no eye contact whatsoever. The upturned edges of her mouth, however, hinted at her mood very nicely.

"The very first time he saw her," Flint said, "Matthew's heart jumped like crazy! I knew, right then. I would've bet money on it!"

Gust flapped happily. "When you guys first passed me over to Sveta, I thought I was just having trouble getting used to how beastmen work, but it turned out that she WAS actually following in the path his scent left more often than not! Funny how that works!"

Matthew finally stopped, having run out of work to pretend to focus on. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and pretended to survey the surrounding area so Sveta wouldn't be able to see his elated expression.

"Well, I'm done here. As great as this conversation's been, I think we should-"

"You should see how he reacts when Sveta goes into her wolf form!" Flint danced as he spoke.

Gust flapped up a small tornado. "Did you know that beastmen go into heat? I didn't!"

"That is quite enough!" Sveta protested as she stood up sharply on her side of the tent. She folded her arms and glared meaningfully at Gust. Her knuckles began to whiten-

"This one time," Flint said, "Sveta got knocked out in combat, and Matthew rushed over to revive her, but then he gave a quick look to make sure nobody else was watching, and copped a quick feel before he actually cast the spell!"

"You shut the f-"

"Oh, that's nothing! This one time, when Matthew was asleep," Gust began triumphantly, "Sveta sneaked over to his backpack, took a whole bunch of his underwear, and stuffed-"

Gust never got to finish his sentence. He had just discovered that if they are hit hard enough, even djinn can be knocked unconscious.

"I believe it is time we took a short break from our djinn, do you agree?" she said. "All of you, get out! Find someplace else! Come back later, maybe, but for now, take your prying eyes and point them at somebody with a little less to hide!"

"Couldn't agree more, princess!" Matthew shooed Flint away with his hands. "All hands off deck! Move it!"

A small exodus of Jupiter and Venus djinn followed. They scattered aimlessly, most gravitating toward other members of the group, some simply congregating elsewhere. After a few minutes, though, Matthew and Sveta were, blessedly, alone once again.

That vacuum-silence had returned. Matthew scratched his head absently as Sveta played with the hem of her dress.

Matthew ground his teeth together. "I, uh... sorry about all that. I didn't mean... yeah."

"I will admit," Sveta replied, "that that was not a conversation I had expected to take place any time soon."

Matthew looked at the tent they had put up. He checked around camp – everyone else was still busy, and they'd be staying that way for a while. His mind worked furiously on a way to escape from this awkward silence.

...But he still found himself wondering, idly, what Gust had been about to say. She stuffed his underpants where? Or... or had she stuffed something in them...? Was it safe to ask?

He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. He groaned in frustration.

The silence continued for another half-minute.

Sveta sighed loudly. She put her hands on her hips, and gave Matthew a sidelong look heavy with an air of inevitability.

"Want to have a go at it?" she asked.

Matthew shrugged.

"Yeah, sure," he said.

He took her hand and led her into the now-finished tent, happy to know for sure that no one would be watching him for at least a little while.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I sacrificed consistency of character for humor. So sue me, it was funnier this way.