I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever.
--Amy Tan
…
..
.
Constellation
samusxzelda
.
..
…
Samus knows a lot about stars.
She knows that, instead of the romantic, fabricated things that Peach mistakes them for, stars are balls of fused elements (heavier than hydrogen and helium, of course) balled together by the fist of gravity. They are not special, Samus has decided, they are not worth the glitz and the glamor awarded to them.
Zelda knows very little about stars.
She does not know that the light shimmering in the blanket of the night sky is perhaps the final moments of a star long dead. She does not know the science of life and the lack of spiritual beings gifted with powers beyond logical explanation. She does not know that in the center of, what Zelda calls, Din's Pearl lies the remains of K-2L. And she does not (can not) know the bruised and ruined light in Samus' eyes.
Samus knows very little about love.
She does not know the warmth of a mother's hug (she suppresses the memory of her mother and her death, leaving that old wound to fester and infect and rot her from within). She does not know the caress of a man, she does not know the shy looks of a schoolgirl's crush. She does not know the sheer importance of a first kiss (never mind that she has never received it). She does not even fully know the meaning in a deceased ally's winks and swaying hips and lilting voice (she suppresses the memory of her allies as well, because rather than watching them die, she had pulled the trigger, she had killed them.)
Zelda knows a lot about love.
She knows that a mother's arms is the safest place. She knows that a crush, like a seed, only needs to be nurtured correctly and given proper care before blossoming into deeper meaning. She knows the importance, the greatness, of a first kiss (and as such, she has not given it away). She knows the meaning a suitor's eyes and lips, when to smile and when to call the guards (although it has only happened once and only once, thank Nayru).
Samus knows very little about life.
She does not know the joys of the flesh (she never has felt the need to indulge. Grandfather has taught her that greater pleasures were found in the mind, not in the body). She does not know the sound of a baby's laugh (children frighten her, because of their frailty and innocence and she cannot stand be around something that pure). She does not know (she does not remember) the games that children play, nor does she know why they play them.
Zelda knows very little about life.
She has watched life through the stained glass windows of the castle. She has never played with other children, as little girls should. She does not regret her birth, she does not regret being born a princess. She does not regret missing her childhood, and she does not regret the choices she has made. Perhaps, when she is a little older, when she is a little wiser, she will regret—but the future is something that Zelda knows very little about.
Samus knows a lot about death.
She knows the feel of blood caked under her fingernails (some her own, most another's). She knows the sound of bone crunching as she stomps on a Space Pirate's skull. She knows the smell, the feel, the art of death. She knows that she has come close to it several hundreds, thousands of times—and yet there is always someone who dies in her place. (Her mother, her father, Grandfather, Grey Voice, Gandrayda, Adam, the infant Metroid are all dead because she knew them.)
Zelda knows a lot about death.
Although you wouldn't expect it.
Although Sheik is a separate entity (a parasite, more like) Zelda has experienced what Shiek has experienced. She has seen the plummet and downfall of Hyrule—she has seen people slaughtered and murdered and fed to the fiends. She has seen children loaded onto a cart and into the pits of hell; just because Ganon had been bored.
They know many things. And they do not know many things.
Samus teaches Zelda about stars (and Zelda teaches Samus about them in return). Zelda speaks of death and of life, and Samus remains silent and offers a shoulder to cry on when the memories are too fierce and too brutal for Zelda.
Samus speaks nothing of life and death—until one night Zelda decides to open the wounds and the scars (burning flesh and spilled blood) and instead of breaking like Samus thought she would, the decay recedes. It's Zelda's shoulder she cries upon one night. It's Zelda's voice she hears, coaxing the pain and the sorrow out. It's Zelda who shoulders on the memories with her, and finally finally helps the wounds to heal.
It is one night, so similar and so different all at once, that they learn of real love.
Samus looks up at the center of Din's Pearl and says goodbye to K-2L. She says goodbye to her mother, her father. She says goodbye to Grandfather and Grey Voice, to the infant Metroid and Gandrayda and Adam, and to the memories that she has desperately clung to. Zelda holds her hand, entwines their fingers, and remains silent and let's Samus do the talking.
And then.
"Do you know the importance of a first kiss?"
Samus looks down and catches Zelda's eyes. "What's so important about a kiss?"
Zelda smiles. "It's something sacred to a girl. They say that your first kiss is the first time you trust someone other than your family with your body, utterly and completely."
"...They're just lips," Samus replies, sincerely confused. "And how is trusting someone with lips important?"
Zelda shifts and holds Samus's hand tighter, cupping a cheek in the palm of her free hand. Samus, at first, flinches away from the contact, but then settles (a bit warily) into it.
And then they kiss.
Samus's lips are unresponsive and slack at first; Zelda's insides bunch and squeeze beneath her heart and she fears that she may have just made a very grave error—and then Samus's flutter and move with careful, timid strokes. Zelda pulls back and she is breathless.
They are silent.
Samus looks up at the stars.
Sliding into place, aligning perfectly, Samus sees, for the first time since she was a mere child, a constellation. Grandfather had described the meeting of stars and the Chozo symbol of hope.
And then she looks back down at Zelda and kisses her again, firmer. Zelda jumps a bit, but melts.
It is the first time Samus has said goodbye to her past, and hello to the future.
(--when they pull back, they share a look, share a laugh, and stand. Their hands are clasped together again, breathless and unsure and afraid--)
It is the first time they have kissed another being, and the first time they have trusted without doubt, without reservation.
(--they have no home to return to, really. They slip into the safety and the comforting presence of nature and She embraces them--)
It is the first time Zelda has heard Sheik's pleased hum in her head, a mumbling voice against the cluttered thoughts that bang pots and pans against her head. Zelda can feel Sheik looking onward (the oddest sensation of having another set of eyes settling at the backs of her own) gazing at Samus, gazing at woodland, gazing at the stars. Sheik's words repeat themselves.
"With you, it may not be so bad."
And it is the first time that there is an inner peace between them, it is the first time that Sheik has acknowledged the place in Zelda's soul and welcomed it. If only to stay near...
(--their kisses are delightfully chaste, like tiny sips of wine, like unhurried steps unto a shaking foundation. Like the pit pat, pit pat of a summer rain or the beating of an infant's heart--)
It is the first time Samus has dropped a final, cold barrier between herself and the world.
(--there is a symphony around them, noises rising and falling, the Wind as the conductor, blades of grass, His baton.--)
It is the first time that Zelda has felt someone else's hand gently pull away the strings of her dress.
(– "I should be ashamed..." –)
It is the first time Samus has let someone else touch her heart.
(– "But when I'm with you..." –)
It is the first time Zelda has seen Samus with her hair down; a waterfall of light blonde waves, dyed a supernatural white from the moonlight.
(– "It feels like I'm drowning." –)
It is the first time Samus has seen Zelda with her hair down; waves of bronze and copper flowing outward, soft strands curling around her fingertips as she runs her hands through it.
(– "Don't...say things like that." –)
It is the first time Zelda has touched the scars on Samus's back. She fondly traces over each and every memory, and closing her eyes when the tears burn at them.
(– "...It makes me feel like I might lose you..." –)
It is the first time Samus has let herself be touched in such a way. Zelda's fingers soothe away the pain, however temporary the relief may be.
(– "And I..." –)
It is the first time Zelda feels bare skin against bare skin as they pull close for another kiss.
(– "I don't want to lose someone I..." –)
It is the first time Samus looks into someone's eyes and sees only acceptance.
(– "Don't worry." –)
It is the first time that they do not require words.
(– "I'm not leaving." –)
It is the first time they move in a dance, so different from the dance of death they have known for so long.
(--there is an embrace. The Wind summons a crescendo, Nature coaxing the stars to shine brighter and brighter until there are a million and one lights sparkling around them--)
It is the first time Zelda throws her head back in wild abandon, gasping for breath.
(--a thousand words--)
(– a thousand confessions--)
It is the first time Samus closes her eyes and begs and prays for something she cannot describe.
(--a thousand memories--)
(– a thousand nightmares –)
It is the first time....
(--a thousand possibilities--)
(– a thousand beginnings –)
It is the first time....
(--a thousand uncertainties--)
(– a thousand endings –)
It is the first time they cease to be.
(--The Wind strikes a final chord.--)
(--The symphony is over.--)
They know a lot about things. And they know very little about many things.
Perhaps, they know a lot about nothing.
But that is enough.
end
..
Disclaimer: I do not own Smash Bros. I don't make money off of the franchise.
a/n: holyshit was this sappy or what. But 1000 Words/Memories from that damn FFX-2 album pops up. And this happens.