Meadow Flower

Written by Kiriona

Chapter 1/Prologue

It was around midnight when Marth was rudely awakened from frantic pounding on his bedroom door and loud shouting. Irritated, he sat up in bed and pulled his earplugs from his ears to see what the fuss was. It better have been a life or death situation, otherwise it soon would be to wake him at this hour of the night.

"Marth! Come on! Wake up! Now!" It sounded like Link. Marth sneered at the door.

"What do you want?!" he demanded, slowly getting out of bed. "This better be good!"

"Just open the door!"

"Fine, fine! Keep your hat on." Marth grudgingly walked to the door, unlocked it and opened it. "What is it, fairy boy? Speak!"

"It's Clover! I think… I think she's…"

"Think she's what? Spit it out!"

"For God sake, I think she's dying!" Link exclaimed desperately, lunging forward and gripping Marth's shoulders. Of course, Marth was very responsive to this.

"Dying?" he repeated, as though unsure of what he'd heard. "What in the world are you talking about? She's asleep in her room. I told her to stay there until morning! What is the meaning of this?"

"Marth, I'm not joking! Just come look!" Even though he was skeptic, Marth couldn't deny the panic in his fellow Smasher's voice, or the fear in his eyes. The only time he'd ever seen Link show fear was when something was seriously wrong and there was very little to be done. After some consideration, Marth just sighed.

"Fine, fine. Show me."

"Come on! Hurry!" Without wasting a second, Link grabbed onto Marth's arm and dragged him down the hall. Marth was of half a mind to pull away, call his joke and return to his room, but he quickly changed his mind one they reached the stairs. The first thing he saw was Peach and Zelda standing back, their hands clamped over their mouths, practically shaking. Then he saw several more of the other Smashers standing aside in much the same fashion. The he saw the wreckage. He quickly recognized the gold and crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling in this hall, only now it was on the floor, smashed to pieces. Several of the stronger ones, Falcon, Ganondorf, Roy and Bowser were all pushing and shoving against it, trying to move it. All of them look panicked.

Then he saw the blood. A rather large pool of it was beneath the fallen chandelier, and right in the center of it…

"No…" was all Marth was say when he spotted her. He was trapped beneath the huge ornament, impaled in several vital places, and by the looks of it, unconscious. Or at least, he hoped it was only that. "No…! Clover!" The unusual feeling of panic gripped the Prince and he immediately darted down the stairs, shoved several others out of his way and dropped down beside the wounded girl, quickly grasping her hand. She was still warm, but growing horribly pale. "Would you idiots hurry and move this thing?!" Marth bellowed at the men attempting the move the chandelier.

"We're trying!" Roy shouted in response. Link quickly came over and joined them in the shoving. Doctor Mario was on Clover's other side, keeping tabs on her pulse, but it was no comfort that he also looked quick afraid. No wonder, either. She was losing too much blood, far to quickly.

"Come on! Shove!" Marth shouted again. This time their was no response.

"Alright! All together! Everything you've got!" Roy yelled to the others. "One…Two…THREE!" With one mighty heave, the Strongest of the Smashers put every bit of power they could behind moving the ridiculously heavy overhang, and it slowly moved, inch by inch, until they at last gained enough leverage to push it over onto its side, freeing the mortally wounded girl from it's deadly grasp.

Marth wasted no time dragging her backwards, out of the blood, and onto his knees. He held her tightly in one arm and placed his other delicately on her cheek. Doctor Mario wasted no time, either and quickly started looking her over.

"Well, can you do anything or not?" Marth demanded of the little round man.

"…No. She needs a genuine hospital."

"Well, then don't just stand there like an idiot! Go call for an ambulance!"

"We already did!" Zelda replied, "But it's a pretty long way from town… It might take them a while to get here!" Marth ground his teeth together. Time. They needed time, but that was the one thing they didn't have. That useless doctor couldn't do anything… neither could anyone else. And there she was, dying in his arms.

"…M-Marth?" It was so faint that he almost didn't hear it. But he would know her voice anywhere. He looked down to the girl in his arms. Her eyes were half open, focused on him. Marth's heart leapt.

"Clover!" A wave of relief washed over him. She was alive. Alive and conscious. Surely this was a sign that she would pull through again!

"Marth… I don't… feel so great…"

"Don't worry about a thing… we've got an ambulance on the way," he told her, trying to keep his voice calm. "You'll be just fine."

"I… Marth… There's something…" she coughed. It wasn't pretty, either. Marth's clothes were now pretty much covered in her blood, but for the first time in a long time, he didn't care that his clothes were ruined.

"Don't speak, Clover. Just conserve your energy," he told her, holding her tighter as he breathing grew more ragged.

"No, listen… I…"

"What did I just say?" Marth interrupted rather firmly. But she persisted.

"I…" she coughed again, this one worse than the first. "…I love you… and…"

"Whatever it is, it can wait until you've been treated." This time, she gave up and seemed to slump further into his arms and closed her eyes.

"…I love you…" Marth wanted to say something to her. Something reassuring. Something that she would have enough faith in to stay alive. But no matter how many time he reworded what he wanted to tell her, nothing sounded right. His normally cleaver use of vocabulary was gone out the window and his genius in the art of language had all but left him. He had nothing to tell her. Nothing to say that would have any positive effect on her. Marth was completely at a loss for words, and utterly confused. And yet all he wanted to say…

"Clover…" He struggled with himself for a moment, trying his best to find a way to put his feelings into a sentence and cleverly disguise it so that it wouldn't be saying it flat out, but it would still let her know. But alas, he came up with nothing. "Clover…I…" He only had one option. There was only one way to say it. One way to let her know. The one thing he had loathed to say to her all this time because he feared the very power they seemed to have…

Well then… so be it.

"I love you, too…" he whispered to her. …But he was too late. She had slipped back into unconsciousness. Distraught, Marth buried his ace in her neck, grinding his teeth together to prevent himself from breaking down completely. "…I love you, too."

Kiri: And there you have it, folks! The first chapter of the rewritten Meadow Flower! woot! Everybody dance now!

Clover: what the crap! You killed me off!

Kiri: Nu uh. (mumbles) not yet, anyway...

Clover: What was that?!

Kiri: Oh, um, nothing!

Clover: (leer)

Marth: And what the heck! I went from popmous Prince to a crying mess on the floor!

Kiri: Oh come now... You are in loooove!

Marth: Love stinks!

Clover: Yeah! If this is going to turn into one of those ridiculously sappy romances, Then I quit!

Marth: Me too!

Kiri: TOO BAD! I WILL HAVE MY SAPPY ROMANCE STORY WHETHER YOU TWO LIKE IT OR NOT! But anyways, what did you all think of it? Good? Bad? Angsty? Leave a nice reveiw, okies? So until next time... (singing) So long! Farewell! Untill we meet again...!