A Quiet Night
by Cyberchao X

A/N: Title didn't come until after I'd started writing the story the first chapter; namely at the time I decided to flip it into first-person at the time I decided to make it a multi.

Disclaimer: Golden Sun: Dark Dawn and all characters within are property of Camelot. I own nothing.

I sighed. We had just set out on our journey, and already Matthew and Karis were arguing—of course. Typical of Matthew, who often had trouble communicating his feelings, and Karis, who was headstrong and at times a bit sensitive—a bit less like her father and more like a certain other Jupiter Adept that had journeyed with our parents, despite the fact that even thirty years after said journey she still could pass for her mid-20s. Did all Jupiter Adepts look so young? I often wondered about who Karis's mother was. Surely she couldn't be a Jupiter Adept like her husband; Karis would look like she was 12, maybe 13 at most, instead of the gorgeous 16-year-old that stood before us. Yeah, I'll admit it; I think Karis is hot. But she's also my friend, and Matthew's my best friend, and I'm not going to be petty enough to get in between them. Unless they were referring to having a thr—WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING? If Karis wasn't worth breaking up a friendship over, it's definitely not worth consenting to a m-m-f love triangle for.

Once I'd calmed down my mind (to protect it from being read), I observed the argument. Matthew had started to suggest that Karis stay in the back of the party and leave the melee fighting to me and him. Karis, naturally, interrupted and said, "You don't need to protect me, Matthew; I can fight, too!"

"If you ever listened until the end of sentences, you'd know that I was merely saying you should stay out of hand-to-hand combat, as it's not your strength. Psyenergy? That's your strength. Your Plasma magic is as nasty as anything we can produce, and your wide array of support and healing spells gives me far more confidence heading into a battle with you right behind me than I have when I'm alone or only with Tyrell. He has no healing magic at all, and I only have the weakest set, the "Cure" series. Without you, our trip would be long and torturous, scrounging up money just to get to the inns each chapter, never being able to afford the best weapons and armor because we're blowing it all on curative items."

Though I clearly believed him to be exaggerating for effect, I added, "and without your buffs, even a single tough enemy could take out all our resources." Matthew didn't bother to remind me that most such enemies use "Break" anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, I see why you need me, but…I'm not just about buffing and healing!"

"No, you're not. I never said that that was the only reason I feel more confident with you as my backup was for your support mage abilities. You are all over the most skilled among us in Psyenergy, and that type of damage will definitely help in battles. …Perhaps it would've behooved me to refer to the position as "Rear Guard", watching out for and getting in battle with anything that tries to sneak up on us."

"Yes, I suppose that would've been a more tactful way of putting it, but the idea is still the same," Karis said. And then she asked the big question, just one little word that changed everything: why? Why did Matthew feel this way, did he protest so hard to keep Karis out of danger? Of course, it was quite obvious, to me, to our parents, and probably even Karis herself, mind reader that she is. Had she really never read Matthew's mind? Or did she merely not reciprocate and is trying to avoid the awkwardness that comes with trying to break up with a guy you haven't physically spoken to on the subject?

" 'Why?' I should be asking you, 'why not?' It's only natural to want the most physically resilient members of the group to take the big blows while the others use magic to support the team. And more importantly, why would I want to make sure you are as safe as can be?" Oh my God, was Matthew finally about to truly confess? Is this what everyone's been waiting for?

"Oh?" Karis asked, intrigued.

"It's because I…I, I, I…"

"You…what?" Karis prompted, as Matthew became dizzy from the heat—his face had turned bright red from blushing. "Oh, dear, you don't look too good. Are you coming down with something?" She measured Matthew's forehead against her own, which only made things worse.

"N…No, I'm fine. Besides, cooling a fever and getting rid of infection seem more like a job for a Mercury Adept. N-no offense."

Suddenly a gentle wind crossed his face, seeming to hang around far too long and having too little an effect on his surroundings. "None taken. It's called Fresh Breeze for a reason," she said with a chuckle.

"Ah, Karis…"

"Yes…?"

"…"

Karis sighed and began to Mind Read. That was really nice. I should really say thank you to her…oh,why can't I just say it?

"Care to tell me what's on your mind?" she asked.

"Haven't you read it already?" he replied snidely.

"Yes, and you're welcome. I mean the other thing that's on your mind."

Matthew naturally went into denial mode. "You really shouldn't tease him like that, Karis," I said, picking my time to finally join in.

"Oh, but it's so much fun teasing Matthew!" she protested.

"I figured you had probably figured it out awhile ago, being that you could always just read his mind, but this is just cruel."

"Yeah, well…" she trailed off in a pout. Looks like it was going to be a quiet night.

CCX: And there you have it, the start of another dreaded CCX multi. Romantic tension not resolved right away? Is this going to be an actual ongoing tale? One can only hope so. November 29th is the big day! (Or October 28th in Japan, and December 10th in Europe). I can hardly wait.