You know that bit in the SSE when everyone is kindof all together in front of those freaky rave-steps? Remember that? I don't recall seeing Marth or Ike anywhere in that cutscene until much later into it.

I consider it a lost opportunity.

Ike awoke to a violet haze. Where…was he? How did he get there? He was laying on his back on a floor that didn't seem stable enough but managed to hold him. It was a dark, deep purple. All around him—the walls?—was a great mass of a bright blue-violet. The only interruption in solid color was a flight of what appeared to be stairs—a more vivid turquoise than he'd ever seen. For a while he just laid still, trying to get his bearings. And he saw what looked like a gold coin, laying on its thin side and facing him so it looked like a complete circle. Curiously, he walked over to it to see that it was in fact, not a coin.

It was a trophy base.

In muted color and perfect form, he found his previous traveling companion on the stand—completely unaffected by time. He lightly slapped the monarch's cheek, trying to see if it would wake him up, to no avail. He searched around the trophy for a switch that could bring his friend back to life in confusion.

Suddenly, all around him little flashes of light emerged, and the sound of comrades talking filled the wide room. As relieved as he was, he still stared down at his snared prince as if trying to bring him back by sheer force of will.

He felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and turned to find Link running a hand through his hair—hat off, with Zelda standing beside him.

"Having trouble, Ike?"

"…Yeah. How do I…um…" He gestured bluntly to the statuesque Marth lying on its side. Zelda smiled serenely at him.

"That's simple, Ike, you just—" "Wait!"

Link had interrupted the Hylian princess and he was staring at Ike, a grin on his face.

"You have to…um…you have to kiss him!"

Ike blinked, and Zelda only crossed her arms, sighing at how much Link loved causing trouble.

"…Kiss him? Are you sure?" Ike asked uncertainly—sure he had never done it before, but he was pretty sure No one would kiss Ganondorf no matter what it meant. (The king of evil was already up and about, walking around in the crowd.)

Link nodded his head as he put his hat back on over his blonde tresses.

"Trust me."

Ike fidgeted a little before sinking down to his knees beside the unmoving Marth. He was certain the superior gaze locked on his face was directed at him somehow, and he turned up to face the Hylians.

"…You're completely sure, Link?"

Link sighed. "Of course I'm sure! Quit being a wimp and just do it already!"

Ike let the dig pass, and he reluctantly swung one leg over the slim body of the statue, being very careful not to touch it. His arms were on either side of it, palms to the ground, and he stared straight down. God, this was humiliating. Did no one else find it even the slightest bit awkward?

More tentatively than he'd done anything in quite a while, he lowered his head, turning it at what he assumed was the correct angle. He took one last deep breath before pushing his lips onto the stagnant ones, holding them there for as long as he could.

Behind him, Link snickered, and Zelda gave him a punch to the arm. The blonde immediately crept forward so he was closer to the scene than before, and—the most naivete expression on his face that he could manage—he tapped the base with his palm and scooted backwards towards the princess.

Almost immediately, there was a blinding light, Ike only having time to pull back his face rather than the rest of him. A light thump, and the trophy base was gone, a much more colorful Marth having taken its place.

Especially more colorful around his cheeks. He blinked a few times, registering what he could see of his surroundings. The only thing that came to his mind was Ike…Ike…?

"Ike? Why are you straddling me?" Oops! Shit. Ike had completely forgotten that he decided to sit back once he was finished, and was now a lot more intimate with the living Marth than he had been with the trophy.

Ike stood up awkwardly, one leg still on either side of the prince, and he tried to keep his balance. He very nearly feel when Marth started to get up as well, the two of them ending up in a very dangerous falling mess. They sat there for a while, before Link walked over to the prince, who was laying over Ike's torso…upside-down.

"'Morning, sunshine. Romeo down there decided that the best way to bring you back was to give you a kiss. Moron, right?" There was an unidentifiable grumble coming from Ike's mouth, but it was muffled since that mouth had a wad of Marth's cape fabric in it. Link looked over to him before turning back to Marth. "Can you stand?"

The prince nodded, a little dazed, before standing up and turning to face Ike, who was now laying on his back, staring upwards at his three friends. He arched an eyebrow, and Marth bent down to his knees to help him up. When they were both standing, Ike had gotten a bit too close, and Marth reddened again.

"Ike? Are you alright? I didn't mean to fall on you…"

"And I didn't exactly mean for you to wake up in the middle of that, either. No harm done." He stretched his back mechanically before starting to walk in the direction of the forming crowd.

Marth waved to Ike, a smile on his face before he turned to face the blonde, all emotions but scepticism gone.

"This is your fault, isn't it?"