Notes: I wrote this while in Biology Class.

That may or may not be an excuse for why it's short and will probably annoy people. If you actually read it, thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen.

Disclaimer: I own none of the content used within that is copyrighted, owned, or otherwise protected by the law. With any such content and the entirety of this work, I do not intend to gain a profit and I will not.

Meddler

It was the longest walk of her life. She was too lost in thought to try swinging to her destination, and her heart felt like it could burst at any moment. Breathing out a worried sigh, Dixie stopped and stared at what laid ahead.

'I can turn back, right now. I can just forget about it and play Guitar Hero wtih Tiny.' She told herself, believing it for just a second.

"No, I gotta do this." She protested aloud, even as her stomach grew queasy. This simple journey felt like a trial greater than any she had faced before. No memory of fighting K. Rool felt this frightening. Not even in the face of cannonballs, ghosts, and swarming zingers did she experience such dread.

She sighed again as she nearly ran into the ladder she sought.

'Last chance to back out...' She left that thought unfinished as she hauled herself up to the top.

The plain wooden door taunted her, daring her to open it and see what was on the other side.

She knocked just three times.

When it opened, Diddy stood right in front of her.

He didn't seem to pick up on her uneasiness, cheerfully greeting her with a yawn, "Hey, Dixie! What's up?"

She was startled by his enthusiasm and jumped the gun, "Thinkimpregnant!"

Diddy was wide awake now. He heard it all...and he looked so frightened. She expected comfort, but her fearful heart was cracking.

'He doesn't care.' She had hoped he would help her. She had hoped for him to take her into his arms and say everything was all right. She had hoped for him to do what boyfriends were supposed to do.

The pain and fear rooted her to the spot. Her green eyes teared up, pleading for Diddy to help somehow.

He just stood there motionlessly, eyes wide.

When he finally did move, her heart fluttered...until the door shut in her face.

Tiny was seconds away from five starring One on Expert when the door came open and hit the wall with a bang.

Whirling around just in time to see her bawling big sister run to her room, the wannabe rocker paused the game. Another slam told her that Dixie had just locked herself in her room.

With a sigh, she laid down the controller and pulled up the light blue pajama bottoms that had migrated down her hips while she was rocking out. If she hadn't, the plain white t-shirt she wore wouldn't have been enough to keep her covered. She wondered what had made her sister so terribly sad. After a little bit of thought, she realized it didn't matter much. If Dixie was sad, she shouldn't be sad alone. Tightening her pants up a bit, she silently resolved to make this right.

Though she had the body to play the field like a pro, Tiny really didn't bother with such things. She was more interested in having a good time with friends. Maybe she was too young, at age thirteen, or maybe she just hadn't found the guy yet.

Either way, her sister's problems took priority. It could be anything, but something told her that it was boy trouble. Tiny lazily made her way to Dixie's door and called softly, "Hey, sis?"'

There was no answer, save for loud sobbing.

She spoke louder this time, "Sis?"

The sobbing quieted slightly and she heard something mumbled on the other side.

"Sis?" She tried once more.

"Go away!" Came a much louder response. Sobbing could be clearly heard through the door.

"Dixie, what's wrong?" Concern rushed into Tiny's voice. There was nothing they couldn't talk about and this should be no different.

"D-diddy doesn't want me anymooore!" She bawled.

She smiled knowingly; they had had one of their arguments and something had actually hurt the Unshakable Dixie Kong's feelings, for once.

"Sis, it's oka-"

"Nooo!" Dixie objected with a level of certainty that shocked her little sister.

"Dixie? What happened?!?" Tiny queried, trying the door to find it locked.

Dixie did not respond aside from continuing to sob and wail.

The younger girl tried to elicit an explanation or even a coherent response, but she gave up after several minutes of waiting.

She knew one place where she could get the answers she wanted.

Tiny pulled herself through a little hole in the side of Diddy's house. Even shrunk, it was a tight fit. Though she had slipped into jeans and proper shoes, she didn't have anything on her to make the fit a problem. Briefly, the thought of herself getting fat crossed her mind, but she banished it. There was work to do.

The first thing she noticed was Diddy talking on the phone.

"Oh, DK, what am I going to do?"

She was thankful that he was alone, but still spilling his guts over the phone. Hopefully, he'd utter the words he meant to say one more time so she could hear

She moved closer to have a listen, leaning up against the couch as she did so.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It is tough."

A long pause had her edging just a little closer to hear what was being said, even though she could hear him clearly.

He laughed, instantly blowing the serious mood right out of the water, "It's a hard choice, between getting a FunStation 4 and a WinBox 540."

Just a second later, Tiny was full sized and screaming at the top of her lungs. That was all the warning Diddy got before she had thrown herself at him. After a brief struggle, he was laying face down on the floor. The phone had hit the wall with a crash.

"Tiny?" He coughed, "What the-?"

"What did you do to Dixie?!?" She pressed down harder on him, hands on his shoulders and one knee into his back hard.

She couldn't see his face, but his reaction didn't give her much hope, "Get off of me!" His struggling was starting to weaken her a little bit. If he kept it up...

"Tell me what you did to Dixie!" She shook him, hoping to get her answer before he could get loose.

"Get off!"

"Tell me!"

It might have been the way his head hit the floor as she was shaking him, but Diddy told her what had happened, as far as he knew it.

His last confession made her feel a lot better, "I...I didn't mean to hurt her, I...she just scared me, and...I...I just freaked out. I'm sorry."

The blonde monkey didn't let him up just yet, "And, when I let you up, you're going to apologize to her and tell her you love her, right?"

"Of course!"

That's when she got off of him, "Just wait until I'm inside before you come to the door, Dids. Let her think it was your idea to come and apologize." She smirked as she strolled out of the door without another word. It'd be nice to get the credit for a job well done, but the relationship her sister had with this boy meant more than that. For his faults, Diddy did make Dixie happy.

Tiny came back into her home, smiling. As she walked to the living room and took up that plastic guitar again, she looked at the screen and breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been just her luck if someone had come out here and turned off the game while she was gone. The doorbell rang.

Diddy had been honest about wanting to apologize.

'Good.'

Dixie's door came open almost immediately and Tiny did not move. She knew what was coming. All she did was listen and unpause the game to finish what notes were left. Given what was going on behind her, she just let them slip by. She carefully turned the volume all the way down on the TV so she could hear everything.

The door to the outside came open and there was a gasp.

The boy was quick to speak, "Dixie...I'm sorry."

Dixie's response was long in coming, but it came out clearly, "Don't leave me."

"I love you Dix, I'll never leave you."

Tiny was sure of it now: everything would be all right.

And she just got five stars, to boot.