Author's Note: Hello, everyone! It's been a long, long time since I last posted here. Two years, actually. I used to be known as FIREmblemFAN, but times have changed and I have vastly improved the quality of my writing, so here I am, under a new pen name. With introductions out the way, please enjoy Lace! Comments are much appreciated, and I will gladly reply to them. All characters and places belong exclusively to Nintendo; all situations belong to Popo-Licious.
Lace
To Her Majesty, Queen Zelda Harkinian of Hyrule
On behalf of the Super Smash League, the honor of your presence is requested at the First Annual Champion's Reunion, celebrating five years since the disbandment of the participants of the original Super Smash Brothers Melee Tournament. Starting upon the Sixteenth of May at precisely nine o'clock in the morning, former champions are encouraged to reunite at the Super Smash League campus for food, drink, merriment, battle, and nostalgia. Overnight lodging will be provided, as will transportation for those who may need it. The celebration will end upon the Nineteenth of May at eight o'clock in the evening.
We hope you will join us in the festivities!
Sincerely,
The Super Smash League
Folding the invitation delicately, Zelda Harkinian, utmost ruler of Hyrule, dropped her hands to her lap and smiled at Impa, her beloved friend and nursemaid. "What do you think?" she asked eagerly. "May I attend?"
"Of course you may, Your Majesty."
The young girl blushed bashfully and made a face at the women across from her. "Please... You must call me Zelda, or even dear princess, just like you used to when I was a child."
"You will always be a child to me, Princess." Impa smiled, rising from her seat by the door and making her way to a window overlooking the courtyard bellow. Spring was all around; flowers bloomed, birds sung, and the sun found its way further and further to the eastern horizon, stretching the days continually longer. "Link will accompany you, I take it?"
"Oh, yes—of course! I wouldn't dream of attending the reunion without him. We had such fun participating in the Smash League," she reminisced. "I should very much like to catch up with everyone after being separated for so long."
"You have grown much in these five years," the Sheikah commented, silhouette black against the blinding azure sky. The castle was unexplainably dark during the daytime hours, despite the sunlight streaming in through the open windows.
"What do you mean?"
"You have ascended to the throne in your father's footsteps with all the grace and poise of a true noblewoman. They will notice, your friends. They will see that you have changed vastly since they last saw you."
"Oh, Impa..." Zelda rose and stood beside her caretaker. "I may be queen, but I am still the same girl I've always been. Silly, stubborn, irksome, and best of all," the young ruler reasoned, "childish to a fault. You know as well as anyone else that I only act my proper age when necessary." She grinned, biting her bottom lip, thinking about all the mischief she could incur that morning.
"You are all of those things, yes, yet you forget that you are also responsible when need be, benevolent, giving, and level-headed." Impa touched a finger to her surrogate daughter's chin and pointed to the sun with another. "Sol is but a candle to your brilliance, Princess."
Zelda was without words upon hearing the candid and heartening nature of her nanny's speech. It was all she could do to smile and ask politely, "Won't you leave me for a moment? I must get dressed at once and contact Link. Surely he has received a letter by now as well."
"Yes, Your Highness." Impa gave a short, quick bow and winked at her noble protégée, softly shutting the door behind her as she left Zelda to tend to her wardrobe.
"Perhaps I have changed," she mused aloud, seating herself in a downy corner armchair and folding her silken robs snuggly around her form. She read the invitation one last time and smiled.