The Cast
Minta - Age: 10
Race: Keke
Gender: Girl
Appearance: A young lass with brown skin, big light blue eyes, rosy cheeks, white hair made into a ponytail using a purple ribbon and black cat-like ears on top of her head. She wears a pair of round, black, thin glasses, a red and pink horizontal striped short-sleeve shirt, purple pants and blue shoes.
Celine – Age: 9
Race: Ebbrian
Gender: Girl
Appearance: A young lass with light orange skin, big blue eyes and long chestnut hair reaching halfway down her back. She wears a teal shirt with a big white 'V' on the center and a white line across the waist, light green pants and brown shoes.
Note: Celine is not an Ultra Star original character. This character belongs to LordAsylus91 aka xXKaijuKing91Xx.
Tiff - Age: 11
Race: Ebbrian
Gender: Girl
Appearance: A young lass with yellow skin, big green eyes, blonde hair made into a long ponytail that reaches down to her waist. She wears a short-sleeved outfit that is pink on the top and green on the bottom with a line in a zig-zag pattern going across the center. She also wears orange shoes.
Shell of Hearts: Requested by LordAsylus91 aka xXKaijuKing91Xx
This story begins in the river near Whispy Woods. Here Tiff and Celine along with their new friend, Minta, were all in the river looking for shells. They were all barefoot putting their shoes and socks aside so they could walk in the cool water and grab shells. During this, Tiff and Celine were explaining their many adventures to the Keke girl as she listened extremely fascinated and amazed.
"And then Dedede spun his Dedede Hammer so fast he was like a spinning top!" Celine exclaimed.
"But Kirby just flew over him. He made it look effortless," Tiff added.
"Wow, I bet Dedede was really mad then," Minta said picking up a yellow and white striped shell from the river and dropping it in a bucket she was carrying.
"Yeah, but he was too dizzy to do anything about it."
Celine said, "Then Kirby brought his hammer back, lit it on fire and swung it so hard Dedede went soaring and he crashed through the roof!" The Ebbrian copied the swing resulting in her spinning out of control and falling on her bottom with a big splash. This splash also got water on Minta and Tiff who shrieked. The girls all looked at each other and began laughing.
"That sounds so intense! I wish I could seen it for myself," Minta said.
"Don't worry," Tiff said, "I'm sure you'll see something like that soon enough. Dedede will never quit trying to beat Kirby no matter how many times he gets his butt handed to him."
Celine picked herself up and said, "Yeah, that one we can always count on. Even if he has no Demon Beasts, Dedede will find a way to try and ruin our day."
"Yeah, but Kirby will always come and save the day like he always does," Tiff said.
"Hey, he's not the only one who can save the day!" Minta claimed making a muscle, "I'm strong too! Too bad there aren't anymore Demon Beasts around so I could prove it!" Tiff sighed wishing Minta was right, but she knew even though Nightmare Enterprises was destroyed at least one Demon Beast was still alive and he was the deadliest of them all. She quickly shook her head to rid herself of those dark thoughts.
"(No, not now!)" She thought, "(I'm not going to worry about stupid Asylus! All I want to do is have fun with Celine and Minta and that dumb dragon isn't going to stop me!)" She looked around and saw Minta and Celine had left to different spots on the river to look for more shells. Tiff decided she would do the same. The girls all silently searched for shells for almost five minutes; the only sounds that could be heard were the running water, wet footsteps and the splashing of hands diving in and out of the river. Minta's pail had much more shells than Celine and Tiff's, but that was because this was Minta's first time shell collecting so she was picking up all sorts of shells while Celine and Tiff were only picking up shells that weren't already in their collection.
"Wow! Girls! Come look at this!" Celine shouted breaking the silence. Tiff and Minta came over to see was Celine wanted to show them. She smiled and presented a red heart-shaped shell that seemed to sparkle in the sun's light.
"Hopping Honeycombs!" Minta said in shock. Tiff and Celine looked at her with confusion, "It's something I always say when I'm surprised by something." She explained.
"It's a Heart Shell," Tiff said taking it and gazing at it.
"I know isn't it beautiful?" Celine asked.
"Aren't those things really hard to find?" Minta asked.
"Uh-huh!" Celine said, "This the second one I have."
"You found two of those?"
"No, Tiff found the first one and she gave it to me." Celine explained making Tiff smile.
"That's really generous of you," Minta complimented.
"Oh it's nothing," Tiff said.
"It is to me," Celine explained.
Tiff chuckled and said, "Well, now you finally have one that you found on your own," She gave the shell back to Celine.
"I'm gonna go take a little break," Celine said stretching her arms out, "You two coming?"
"Yeah, I need a little rest too," Tiff said, "How about you Minta?"
"I'll be there in a minute," Minta said walking away, "I want to see if I can find a Heart Shell!"
"Good luck," The girls said in unison as they walked out the river to the nearest tree. They sat down and placed their buckets next to each other.
"So, how many shells did you find?" Celine asked.
"Not many," Tiff said digging through her bucket, "How about you?"
"I barely found any new ones! This Heart Shell is the catch of the day for me!"
Tiff giggled and said, "Now you have two rare shells in your collection. You must be happy."
Celine smiled saying, "Yeah, but you know...this shell may be rare but I highly doubt it'll be anywhere as special as the Heart Shell you gave me."
Tiff smiled and asked, "You really mean that?
"Of course, the Heart Shell you gave me is a hundred times more meaningful that this one."
"Why?"
"Because, you found the Heart Shell first knowing that we both needed it for our collection, but you gave it to me instead and you told me to think of you when I look at it. I can't stop thinking of you even when I don't look at the Heart Shell."
Tiff asked, "Really? Why is that?"
Celine's cheeks turned red and she said, "I don't know...I guess...because I like you...a lot."
"That's a really kind thing to say," Tiff said with a grin.
"Yeah, you're the smartest friend I have and you're so brave and you're really nice to me and I don't know...when I around you I feel so...weird. I mean, I feel normal, but it's like I want to...I don't know...this is so hard to explain." Celine said making Tiff blush. The older Ebbrian knew exactly what the younger one was talking about and she actually had similar feelings, but she kept them suppressed until now. Tiff could feel these feelings rush out from deep within herself bouncing around inside her body desperately looking for a way of escape.
"(Could she really be?)" Tiff thought. It's not like it was unheard of. Homosexuality was pretty common in Dream Land and it was welcomed with open arms, but Tiff still felt a bit strange thinking about herself and Celine. After all, she always thought she liked her brother which was the main reason why she suppressed her feelings.
Tiff decided she would approach this step-by-step. First, she scooted a little closer to Celine; the younger Ebbrian blushed, but didn't move from her spot. Seeing the first step was a pass she went to the next step; she placed her hand on top of Celine's hand. Both girls felt the heat of the other and blushed, but neither moved her hand. After that, Tiff moved her right foot so it was rub against Celine's left foot. This wasn't a necessary step, but Tiff wanted their hands and feet to touch. Like before, Celine didn't move away.
"Tiff," Celine began, "I want you to have this." She handed her the Heart Shell she just found.
"Celine, you don't have to give me that," Tiff explained.
"I want to give it to you," Celine insisted, "You don't have one for you collection and there's no pointing having two. Plus this way, you have something you can look at to think of me. Please Tiff, take it." Tiff was a bit hesitant, but she took the shell out of Celine's hands and placed it in her bucket.
"Thank you Celine," Tiff said with a smile.
"You're welcome," Celine said smiling back. The girls were both blushing as they stared into each other's eyes. They wanted to turn away, but it's like the look of the other paralyzed them. Then as if they were being pulled by an invisible force their face leaned closer and closer together as their eyes closed. Suddenly, their lips touched and this brought an extreme rush of heat to their faces. It was a simple kiss, but it was one both girls had longed for so that's what made it extra special. When they eventually broke away they both were smiling and blushing. Without a word, Celine rested her head on Tiff's chest. The older Ebbrian wrapped her arm around the younger and playfully brushed her foot across hers.
"Whoa," they heard a feminine voice said. The two quickly opened their eyes and grew wide eyed when they saw Minta staring back at them. They had completely forgot about the Keke and now Minta's blushing red face was staring right at them.
"Uh Minta," Tiff began.
"No, don't explain yourselves," Minta stated.
"How much did you see?" Celine asked.
"From when Tiff asked 'You really mean that?'" Minta answered, "I now see why you two wanted to take a break."
"This wasn't planned. This was more of a happy accident," Celine explained with a smile.
"Okay," Minta said with a nod, "well, when you're done with your 'accident' come back to the river so we can collect more shells and you can tell me more stories." As the Keke walked back to the river she thought, "(My stars! Those adventure stories are cool, but I'd rather hear stories that are more like that!)"
"Are you ready?" Tiff asked.
"Mmm-hmm," Celine said. The two girls stood up, picked up their buckets and held hands as they walked back to the river. Along the way, Celine gave Tiff a quick kiss on the cheek and giggled when she saw how much it made her blush. She then whispered, "Get used to that Tiff, caused I'm gonna do that a lot!" Tiff's face went redder than before. Celine giggled and walked over to chat with Minta while Tiff took a deep breath to calm herself. She looked over at Celine and Minta and smiled.
"(At least now I have someone who will keep my mind of that dumb dragon for awhile,)" Tiff thought with a smile as she walked over to the two.
"Tiff, let's tell Minta how we fought this massive jewel monster!" Celine said excitedly.
"A jewel monster?" Minta asked.
"It's called Wham Bam Jewel," Tiff explained, "It's a monster with three eyes and giant hands made of sparkling jewels."
"Yeah, that's it!" Celine said. Celine began to tell the story to Minta as Tiff stood by and listened. She didn't get many shells that day, but she got something that's much more meaningful and she's cherished her even more than the Heart Shell she received.