Finally, the last story of the four planned ones! I got the idea for this since today, July 22nd marks the ninth year I'm living since I lost my dad... Let's just cut to the story, kay?

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun and its characters!

Golden Sun – Anniversary

A month had passed since Matthew and his friends put an end to the Grave Eclipse. Many lives were lost during the eclipse, but the people of Weyard managed to move on and continue with their regular lives. Matthew's comrades had returned to their regular lives at their respective places as well and moved on.

Rief and Kraden were still travelling around Weyard as Rief studied more about Alchemy while travelling. Amiti was chosen to be the next Ayuthay king, taking his uncle Paithos' throne after Amiti along with Matthew and the others had stopped the eclipse. Sveta became the Queen of Morgal, replacing her late brother who sacrificed himself to save his sister and his people. Eoleo sailed across the seas as a pirate along with his crew, trying to save what was left of Champa. Himi returned to her family in Yamata City as well, living her regular life.

It had already past midday and the Lookout Cabin was quiet. Isaac and Garet had gone off to check Mount Aleph's condition after the soarwing had been fixed, leaving Matthew and Tyrell to take care of the cabin by themselves for the past few hours.

Matthew was lying on top of the cabin's roof, his and his father's favorite spot during the afternoons. Like his father, he would sometimes fall asleep on the roof when there weren't any training to be done. His eyes were slowly closing as he was about to drift off to sleep, but jumped in surprise after he heard a door slam. He got up from the roof and looked down to see his red-haired best friend by the door.

"Hey, Matt! I'm going for a walk, you wanna come?" Tyrell looked up with his usual cheerful grin on his face.

Matthew shook his head, "No thanks, I feel a little sleepy. Where are you going anyway?"

Tyrell just shrugged, "Dunno, maybe I'll just hang out around the plateau. I don't think I'll ever go near Patcher's Place AGAIN!" Tyrell let out a sigh before he walked away with a wave, "Alright, I'm going now! Have a nice little nap up there!"

"Uh… thanks, I guess?" Matthew lied back down on the roof and let out a long relaxed sigh.

Matthew looked up at the sky before closing his eyes, trying to get a little nap accompanied by a little breeze to cool the air. His mind slowly drifted off, until a certain green-haired Jupiter suddenly came into his mind. Matthew opened his eyes again and looked at the sky once more, finding that his sleepiness was gone completely.

'I wonder why… Ever since that night, I often dream about Karis… or sometimes her face suddenly came into my mind…' Matthew sat up, 'She's a nice girl and she's my childhood friend, but I feel… there's more than that…' Matthew stood up and walked to the edge of the roof, looking at the cabin's surroundings, 'She's not here today… She always comes around this hour or on mornings except when…' Matthew suddenly remembered something, "Oh yeah! It's today! Maybe I should visit her…"

Matthew went down the ladder from the roof and ran towards the plateau, going south past Patcher's Place. He looked around the path in front of him and saw a forest surrounding a hill. He ran over to it and went through the forest to reach the hill. After passing the last tree in the small forest, Matthew found the person he was looking for.

Karis was kneeling in front of a small cave, her eyes closed. Inside the small cave in front of her was a small gravestone with some fresh flowers placed in front of it. Matthew walked over to her quietly, not wanting to disturb her prayer. He stopped beside her and closed his eyes, praying as well. Unknown to him, Karis had finished praying and got up, surprised to see that her childhood friend was standing beside her.

Karis smiled and waited until Matthew finished praying and opened his eyes, "Thanks Matthew, for praying for my mom…"

"It's the least I can do. I might have saved Weyard before, but I can't do anything with people who had died," Matthew turned to her with a smile, erasing some of the sadness within her.

"Thanks…" Karis gave out a smile, but soon turned into a frown as she turned back to the gravestone in the small cave, "My mom… she had a weak heart since her birth… and she… she died nine years ago because of that…" Karis sobbed and wiped some tears which had started forming in her eyes, "You're lucky, Matthew… You still have both of your parents… and your sister too… I'm an only child living only with my dad for nine years…"

As more tears began to fall from her eyes, Matthew began to panic, 'What should I do now!? Should I talk to her…? But what would be the best words to comfort her!?'

Matthew stayed quiet as he didn't know what to say and just looked at her sobbing quietly while covering her face with her hands. The whole place was quiet, only Karis' sobbing was heard until she wiped her tears and took a deep breath to calm herself. As controlled as she usually was, she couldn't control her sadness especially about her late mother, and would cry afterwards.

Matthew was still staring at her in confusing as he was completely clueless about what to do, but quickly snapped when Karis suddenly grabbed his hand, "Follow me."

Matthew followed Karis as she led him to the small hill and climbed it. The hill wasn't steep and was easy to climb to reach the top. The Jupiter Adept made it to the top first, followed by the Venus Adept. Matthew walked beside Karis and looked around on top of the hill, looking around the sea of trees from the forest surrounding the hill.

"My mom likes to go mountain climbing and exploring unknown caves, despite her health," Matthew turned to Karis as she spoke, but she wasn't looking at him, "She hates the rain, though… Those were the reasons why my dad decided to bury her here…"

"I… see…" Matthew replied shortly and was about to turn his gaze back to the sea of trees, but suddenly noticed that more tears were visible in her eyes. Without thinking like before, he grabbed Karis' shoulders and looked at her straight into her eyes, "B-But look on the right side! Today is also the ninth year we've known each other, right?"

"The ninth… year…?" Karis replied quietly as she tried to recall her past memories.

-Flashback-

The day was almost sunset as the color of the sky was turning into reddish orange in color. A seven-year old girl with short green hair was kneeling in front of a small cave with a gravestone in it with some flower petals sitting on the newly dug dirt in front of the gravestone. Beside the girl, a man with short blond hair stood, looking down at the grave with a sad and hurt expression on his face. Behind him were two men, one with blond hair but different hairstyle and one with red hair.

The blond-haired man beside the girl knelt and whispered to her, "Don't cry, Karis… Your mom will be very sad if you keep crying…"

The man stood up as the green-haired girl's sobbing quieted down a little. The blond-haired man behind him put a hand on his right shoulder, "I know you're strong, Ivan… You've lived the first fifteen years of your life without knowing your real family…"

"Tough it out, man! Where's that stern and disciplined Ivan who used to scold me during that adventure years ago?" The man with red hair added a little louder.

The man turned around with a sad smile on his face, "Thanks, Isaac… Garet…" The man turned back to the girl for a moment, "Don't stay out too late, Karis! You might catch a cold!" The man turned back to the two other men, "I'll be staying at the cabin for today, along with Karis. It might be too late for us to go back to Kalay now…"

"It's okay," The other blond-haired man replied with a smile, "Come on, we should head back," The man turned and saw a boy with blond hair and similar hairstyle as his behind him, "Matthew, can you be a gentleman and accompany Karis here? Just make sure that you two don't stay out too late!"

"Alright, Dad!" The boy cheerfully ran over to the girl, "Hi there! Are you okay?" The girl turned to him, but didn't say anything and turned back to the grave.

The boy could only stay and sit beside the girl as she cried, unable to do anything. After she finally stopped sobbing, the boy got up and looked at the darkening sky before turning back to the girl who was still kneeling in front of the grave and was looking at it sadly.

The boy reached for the girl's hand and grabbed it to pull her up, "Come on, my dad said we shouldn't stay out too late! Let's go back to my cabin!" Without hesitating, the girl got up and looked at her hand in his before looking up at the boy, "I'm Matthew, what's your name?"

"I'm… Karis…" The girl replied quietly.

"Alright Karis, let's go back!" The boy took her hand in his as they walked back to the cabin together under the darkening sky.

-End of Flashback-

"Nine years, huh…" Karis whispered as she smiled at the memory, "And that was also the day I met Tyrell back in the cabin too…"

"Yeah…" Matthew nodded in agreement, a smile on his face.

Karis turned to him, a smile still on her face, "You know what? You're a really nice guy, Matthew… Not just back then, but always…"

"T-Thanks…" Matthew turned away, blushing in embarrassment, "Well, I'm trying to be the best friend for everyone and also the best leader during our journey before!"

Karis lowered her head as she hid her blush, 'I should tell him… I should tell him how I truly feel…' Karis stole a glance at Matthew, who was looking out at the distance, 'I like him… no, I love him… I love him not just because he's handsome… but he's a kind person… He would even stick out for me when Tyrell made fun of me after I freaked out because I saw a ghost…'

Matthew turned to look at Karis, who still had her head lowered. The wind blew her ponytail and some strands of her green hair, making them sway back and forth, 'She's… beautiful… Her beautiful face… her green hair… I love all of them… I have to admit to myself, I've fallen for my childhood friend…'

"M-Mathew?" Karis looked up suddenly, surprising the Venus Adept as he was still staring at her, "I think… maybe… you're more than just a friend… and more than some childhood friend…"

"R-Really?" Matthew replied nervously, "S-Same here…" Matthew gulped nervously and quietly, not wanting it to be heard, "A-And I… I also hope that I can be the shoulder to cry on for comfort when you're sad, if you want to…"

"You don't have to tell me that…" Karis slowly closed the distance between them, their faces only a few inches apart, "I already know that you would be one anyway… And this is my thanks to you…"

Karis pressed her lips against his and wrapped her arms around his neck. Matthew was surprised with her sudden action, but was expecting it to happen soon. Matthew wrapped his arms around Karis' waist and pulled her closer to him as he kissed her back. The two enjoyed their moment which seemed to last forever, but they had only kissed for a minute.

The two broke for some air and looked at each other, their arms still locked in their places. They smiled at each other before they pulled in for another kiss, which lasted almost as long as their first one. Unfortunately for them, a perverted whistle from the foot of the hill was heard clearly and they quickly broke. Seeing the red head looking at them while grinning, their faces turned red in embarrassment.

"Hey Matthew! I thought that you were sleeping on the roof back in the cabin! I turned out that you were making out with Karis over there!" Tyrell grinned as he yelled from below, making the Venus and Jupiter Adepts feel more embarrassed, "Hey Karis! I never knew that you can be so lovey dovey with Matthew!"

"TYRELL!" Karis yelled angrily, terrifying the Mars Adept, "I'll get you for this!" Karis angrily ran down the hill, heading straight towards Tyrell.

"Uh-oh… Gotta run!" Tyrell quickly ran away through the forest in fear as Karis was running towards him in anger.

Matthew was left speechless on top of the hill after he saw Karis running down to chase Tyrell. Matthew quickly recovered and smiled, "Oh well… It's nice to see Karis back to normal!"

Now that I'm done uploading these four, I think I'll go 'dormant' from the Golden Sun section for a while. I'm thinking of making a Lighthouseshipping-centric story similar to my Valeshipping-centric one, which takes place around the same time.

For my last note in this story batch, I'd like to ask you to love and appreciate your parents while you still have them before you regret it in your entire life, like me. Sometimes their decisions might be not what we wanted, but they did that because they care for us and want what's the best for us.

Lastly, I want to thank you for all the reviewers from my previous stories. Really, I appreciate it that you'd give some time to review my stories. Please add this (temporary) last story of the Golden Sun section to your favorite list and please leave a review!