Day 1
To say that Link would overwork himself in training would be an understatement. He was possibly the most obsessed with winning out of all of the Smashers. However, his rigorous training wasn't useless, as he was also the only Smasher in the history of the tournament who had never lost a match in his life. Whenever he wasn't eating at a meal-time or sleeping, chances are you could find him in the training hall, practising fights. Sometimes he spent afternoons talking to some of his friends, and he was frequently approached by other Smashers asking for advice in fights, but no matter what other people tried, they could never beat him. However, Link was not a boastful or gloating person, and he always had a habit of shaking hands with his opponent, be them swordsman, princess or, due to some of the newcomers, hedgehog.
Samus, on the other hand, never trained. When she was asked why not, she always replied, "I train enough when I'm bounty hunting." She was also a formidable opponent in battle, due to her large arsenal of missiles and beams, but she had also lost a few times. However, like Link, she wasn't boastful or gloating either, so when someone beat her, she would still shake hands and congratulate them. Samus spent most of her time talking to the other Smashers, or trading bounty information with Captain Falcon.
All of the Smashers were going to relax today though, because for the next week, they were taking holidays back in their respective worlds. Kirby, King Dedede and Meta Knight were going back to Dream Land, and Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser were going back to Mushroom Kingdom. Link was feeling lonely for once, because he would be making a lone trip back to Hyrule. Young Link was going to spend a week with the Ice Climbers, and Toon Link had befriended Ness and Lucas. Zelda was going back to Altea with her new boyfriend Marth, so Link was leaving alone.
Unfortunately for Link, he had unintentionally crossed the path of one of the newcomers; Sonic. Sonic, unlike Link and Samus, tended to be boastful, and took offense after a bad incident yesterday at his most recent fight.
"Well if this guy's unbeaten, I guess that'll just make it even more impressive when I kick his ass!"
Sonic walked into the teleporter, to be transported to the arena. His opponent, Link, stood opposite him on the Final Destination stage.
'He doesn't look so tough,' thought Sonic.
5 seconds later…
Sonic appeared back at Smash Mansion, and felt absolutely humiliated. This had been his first fight in the competition, and he had been knocked out before landing a single attack. To make matters worse, his opponent wanted to talk to him. Fearing a tirade of boasting, Sonic stepped forwards, but Link only held out his hand and said "Don't worry, it was only your first fight. You'll get used to it here soon."
Sonic walked away in a huff without shaking hands. He felt like Link was taking pity on him, and treating him like a weakling. He hated it when people treated him like he was weak. Holding his hands tightly as fists, he vowed to get Link back…
"Hey Link, you don't want to step in the wrong portal do you?"
Link looked over his shoulder to see who was talking, but and saw Sonic pointing to the sign above Link's head. The sign read 'Samus' starship: Destination, Planet SR274'
"Oops," uttered Link, before turning left and stepping towards the portal marked 'Hyrule', leaning back and saying "Thanks Sonic," before walking into it.
"No problem," giggled Sonic after Link stepped in. "Have a great week with Samus, fairy boy…"
Link stepped out of the portal, and instantly knew he wasn't in Hyrule. He turned around to walk back into the portal, but it disappeared. Wherever he was, he was stuck here. Observing the metal corridors, he cautiously made his way forwards, before nervously calling, "Hello?"
With no reply but an echo, he continued forwards, until he came to the main room. It was like a hall, only with a giant control pad at one end underneath a huge window. Link ran to the window to see if he could figure out where he was, but saw only blackness. He turned away disappointedly, but turned back when he noticed something in the distance. It was only when he looked closely and saw that it was a planet passing by when he found out he was on a travelling spaceship. He backed away and screamed, but much to his surprise, soon heard a voice behind him.
"Link? What the hell are you doing here?"
Link turned around, and although he felt nervous that he was in space travelling who knows where, he felt a lot better when he saw a familiar person, although only her face was visible, and the rest of her body was covered by a power suit.
"Sorry Samus, I think I took the wrong portal out of Smash Mansion and ended up here," he said, fidgeting nervously, "Do you know how I can get back?"
Samus looked horrified and immediately held her head in her hands. Link didn't take this as a good sign.
"Samus?"
Straightening up, Samus cast a glare at Link before shouting across the hall at him,
"You idiot! No, I don't know how you can get back, and now the portal here is closed! Great job, hero, this is meant to be my vacation! How did you get into the wrong portal? Can't you read?"
Link was taken aback by Samus' yells, and tried to stutter a response.
"I… sorry… I don't… Sonic…"
"Sonic?" Samus' voice was confused as well as angry.
"I think Sonic tricked me into getting into the wrong portal. And I'm sorry, but I really didn't mean for this to happen…"
Samus calmed down as she realised her outburst had probably startled the young Hylian.
"No, I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have yelled. I just don't get a lot of time to do my job any more, what with all these tournaments, and I still enjoy hunting down new bounties… I'll try not to yell at you if you stay out of my way when I'm at work, ok?"
Link nodded and smiled at how they'd managed to reach an agreement, but his smile soon turned into another question.
"Er… I don't mean to be rude, but… where can I sleep?"
Samus thought briefly, then went into the room behind her for a few seconds, which Link figured was her bedroom. Emerging a few seconds later, she threw him a pillow and a small blanket.
"Try to make yourself comfortable on the floor, and please, please, don't make any noise. I've got a lot of work tomorrow, and there's still a few hours until my ship lands, so I want to get some sleep. You should too, you look like you could use a break from all your training."
Before Link could even answer, Samus walked back into her room, yawning, and flipped the light switch, leaving him in darkness and muttering, "Night." Link quietly placed his pillow on the floor and tried to get comfortable unsuccessfully. The last thought he had as he drifted into sleep was wondering how he would last an entire week without Samus killing him.
Day 2
Link woke up early on the next day, partially because the sun through the giant window of the ship was blindingly light, and partially because Samus had woken up forgetting he was there, and tripped over him on the way to the ship's control panel.
"What did I tell you about staying out of my way?" Samus muttered at Link, who was still groggily trying to stand up, and he would have been fearful of her comment if she wasn't smirking at the time. Getting to his feet, he heard Samus saying to him,
"Good news, Link. First of all, our location is the prime target for space thieves and criminals, so I'll be keeping busy, and secondly, my sources show that the gaseous composition of this planet's atmosphere is safe to breathe, so it's safe enough for you to go outside and train more if you don't want to get too bored."
Link was perfectly happy to keep training, so he grabbed his sword, shield, and other weapons and followed Samus to the door, where she pressed a button to open it. Link seemed amazed by the planet's rugged landscape and beautiful horizon, but it was just a normal day for Samus, who seemed completely underwhelmed. Link stepped nervously on the planet's ground, while Samus took off at a pace, running out to seek new bounty. Link barely had time to wish her good luck until she had already disappeared from his sight.
'Well," he thought, pulling bombs, his boomerang, and his bow and quiver from his back, 'Better get practising…'
It was at least 10 hours before Samus returned, and although she didn't have any criminals captured yet, she was feeling confident. She'd found some tracks that she knew would lead to a thief, and a decent reward. She was getting closer back to her ship until she heard some noises. Standing still and listening carefully, she heard a series of small explosions that had her worried for a few seconds, until she came back to the ship and found out what was happening.
She looked at Link, still training, and her eyes widened when she saw what he was doing. He would pluck some bombs out of his bag and throw them into the air, three at a time. He would then throw his boomerang up to catch them in midair and fly a long distance away from him, scattering the bombs hundreds of metres away. However, before they hit the ground, Link would pull out his bow, quickly pull back an arrow, and shoot at the bombs before they hit the ground, forcing them to explode beautifully in midair. Samus couldn't help but be impressed by the talent Link possessed.
Walking back towards him and the ship, Samus waved at Link, who noticed her and stopped training. As she got nearer, he tried to make conversation by asking,
"So, did you catch anyone?"
"No, but I found some tracks. I'm pretty sure I'll catch someone tomorrow, but I have to be careful."
"Why? I thought you were the best at bounty-hunting."
Samus was flattered. "Well, I'm pretty good, but Captain Falcon warned me about this guy. Falcon's been chasing this guy for years and never caught him."
"Captain Falcon?"
"Yeah, he's a bounty hunter too, we trade criminal information all the time."
Link couldn't think of how to respond, so he just said, "Well, good luck. Tell me if you need any help."
Samus looked doubtful, and replied, "I doubt I'll need help… but if I do, I'll ask you. I saw your skills with those bombs just before I came back, you're good."
Link was relieved that Samus wasn't looking at him, because he found himself blushing in light of this compliment. He stammered and turned around to say thanks, but Samus had already gone inside. Still, Link wondered why he'd start blushing, when he'd talked to Samus before and nothing had happened. He frowned and tried to focus on the training again, forcing his mind not to wander.
Later that evening, Link went inside the ship for a small rest, but found Samus angry. Luckily, it wasn't at him.
"Samus? What's wrong?"
Samus groaned and grumbled, "My ship just found an obstruction in one of the engines, so now I have to turn off the ship and look for this stupid blockage, probably just some rocks or something. It's so annoying, these things cost so much to repair…"
"Need any help?"
Samus was still angry, but when she turned to Link, she saw nothing but his genuine offer of help, so she lightened up a little.
"No, no thanks. I've got this under control, you can just rest here."
Samus impatiently left the ship, and Link stretched out on the floor and lay down. He felt he'd worked hard today, and deserved a little rest before sleeping. Unfortunately, he had barely gotten comfortable before he heard Samus angrily screaming,
"LINK! GET OUT HERE NOW!"
Practically tripping over his legs in fear, Link hurried out of the ship, and soon found Samus, glaring at him, but remaining eerily quiet until she spoke.
"Link, when you were training today, did you lose anything?"
Link was more nervous than he'd ever been, but tried to remain calm.
"No, I don't think so…" he said quietly, reaching into his bag to check. With a look of horror on his face, he realised he was missing something.
"My boomerang," he started to exclaim, but Samus cut him off by holding up Link's charred boomerang that had been stuck in one of the engines. Still speaking scarily quiet, Samus leant close to Link and whispered,
"Do you have ANY idea how much it costs to repair one of my engines?"
Samus let Link's nervous whimpers answer her question.
"No? The answer is, A LOT!" Samus screamed, losing her temper.
Although Link had never noticed before that Samus was taller than him, it seemed to become obvious now as she towered over his cowering form.
"Thanks to you, I'll be catching A LOT more criminals than I was planning on, just to repair my ship, just because you are such a clumsy, distracted, stupid…"
Samus started breathing heavily, but Link was too nervous to ask if she was ok, so he waited until she seemed to calm down again. However, once she had, she turned on her heels and stormed back into her ship. Link tried to follow her, but she shut the door before he could get in. Link finally found his voice, a little too late.
"Samus? Samus! Please let me in! I'll pay for the engine… I'll give you all the rupees I have! Please let me in! Where else am I supposed to sleep?"
Samus opened the door a little, and for a second, Link thought she might let him in, but instead he found himself being struck by the pillow Samus had thrown at him before slamming the door shut again.
Turning around, Link realised how much scarier the planet seemed at night, as he reluctantly made his way away from the ship to find somewhere to sleep.
Meanwhile, inside the ship, Samus, who still hadn't calmed down, was also trying to sleep. Her mood kept changing from murderously angry to guilty, as she began to regret sending Link out into the cold with nowhere to go, but before she could act, she realised how tired she was and soon fell asleep.
Day 3
"You cold-hearted freak, how could you do this?!"
Samus was looking at her feet to avoid looking Zelda in the eyes.
"What do you mean 'Lost'? How can you lose someone? He stayed with you for 2 days, and you already ruined his life! What is wrong with you?! WHY WON'T YOU EVEN LOOK AT ME?!"
Samus finally looked up at Zelda, but couldn't see her face, as it was buried in Marth's chest and she hugged him, crying heavily and cursing Samus.
Samus looked around, but all the Smashers gave her expressions of loathing and hatred.
"I hope you're happy," said Young Link through tears, "Now that Link's probably dead, all because of you and your stupid engines!" Young Link collapsed into the shoulders of Popo and Nana, who were comforting him after the loss of who he called his 'Big brother'.
Samus tried to reply, blinking back tears, "Please everyone, stop screaming! I'm sure Link is alright, I just… I didn't mean to actually hurt him!"
"Oh really?" screamed Zelda in Samus' face. "Then what were you trying to do? What reason could you possibly have for sending a young man out on a planet he knew nothing about where you knew there were dangerous criminals? You're sick, Samus! I wish Link was still here, cheering us all up, and I wish it was you out there, probably either being tortured, or dead!"
Zelda spat the last words at Samus' face, and although the bounty hunter was upset, she knew she deserved it. She had abandoned Link, and now he was never coming back. She only wished he was still alive…
Samus sat bolt upright in her bed, covered in cold sweat and breathing heavily. Looking at her alarm clock, she saw that it was 2AM, but she didn't care. Putting on her Zero suit as quickly as possible, she ignored the dangers of not wearing he Power suit as well and hurried out of the starship to find Link as quickly as possible.
Link, unaware of the attention he was receiving, was still uncomfortably trying to sleep, but failing. Rolling onto his side, he realised how cold his head felt. Reaching up, he realised that his hat had been blown away by the chilling winds on this planet. Letting out a small groan, he stood up and, gripping his pillow tightly, searched for a warmer place to spend the night. Feeling a pain on his head, he realised he'd bumped it somewhere. Checking the wound, he was relieved to feel that it wasn't serious, but he still had to wipe a small amount of blood from his head before walking on, unaware that his head had been wounded before his hat had been blown away…
Samus was getting more and more desperate in her search. She had already been looking for Link for a few hours, but she had still seen no sign of him. Despite only being armed with a flashlight, she had covered a lot of ground, but found nothing. Swallowing her pride, she called out in the night, "Link? Link, are you there?"
Suddenly, her flashlight caught sight of a green colour, and her heart rate finally began to slow down. As she walked towards to green flash on the ground, she muttered, "Link, is that you? Link, you don't need to sleep out here any more. You can…"
Samus' mouth fell open, yet she was silent as she picked up the source of colour. All that she'd found of Link was his hat, which she'd never seen him take off, and if that wasn't enough, there was a large bloodstain on it. Feeling herself about to faint, she forgot anything about the damage to the engines, or the criminals on the planet as she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"LINK!!"
Link heard the scream, and immediately recognised it as the voice of Samus. Hurrying towards the source of the noise, within a minute he came across Samus, curled up in a heap on the ground, clutching his hat. She was still screaming, "Link!" but her voice was racked with violent sobs. Link had never seen Samus like this, and didn't know what to do, but he approached her slowly and whispered bemusedly,
"Samus?"
Samus immediately stopped screaming and looked up, before turning towards Link and gasping. Within a second, she forgot about how she had ever been mad at him, and she flung herself into his arms and sobbed into his shoulders. Link was confused, but hugged her back and tried to comfort her.
"Samus, don't cry… I'm here, what's wrong?"
Samus looked up, and noticed his blue eyes. For a second, she was mesmerized, but soon regained composure and choked out, "I was worried… you could have been hurt… are you ok?"
Link smiled at her, and realised she didn't seem so tall any more.
"I'm fine Samus, come on, let's get you inside."
Although she had found Link, and her panicking was settling down, Samus didn't know why, but she didn't want to let go of him just then, so she nervously held his hand as he walked them both back to the ship. She didn't know how, but she had run miles while she was looking for him, and it took them almost an hour to get back to the starship, and by the time they had arrived, it was already morning. Samus didn't let go of Link's hand for one second on the journey.
As Link walked Samus and himself back into the ship, he broke the uncomfortable silence by making a smart suggestion.
"Samus, you probably don't feel like talking right now, and I don't think either one of us got a lot of sleep last night, so I think we should just eat something, and then go to bed. You can tell me all about what happened tomorrow morning, ok?"
Samus smiled and nodded, finally letting go of Link's hand and walking to the ship's refrigerated unit. Pulling out a few things, she handed a small package to Link, followed by a glass of water.
"It's just space food, but it's still edible, and if we're all done here, I think I'll go to bed."
As Samus pressed a button to block out the sun in the window, and flipped the switch to turn off the hall light, she whispered to Link,
"Thank you."
Day 4
Neither Link nor Samus awoke until very early next morning. Samus woke up first, and when she remembered what had happened the day before, she cringed at herself. She had constantly maintained a strong, independent image, and now, thanks to one dream, Link had seen her at her weakest. With a shudder, she realised how embarrassing life would be at Smash Mansion if anyone found out about what had happened. Vowing to talk to Link and force him to promise he wouldn't say a word to a soul, she got changed into her power suit, leaving the helmet off so she wouldn't get too hot, and stepped out into the hall.
Link woke up when he heard Samus enter the room, and he also immediately remembered what had happened yesterday. Before he could figure out anything to say to her, she asked him
"I'm going out bounty hunting again today. Do you want to come and help, or stay here and train?"
"…I think I'll come with you," answered Link, who was hoping that this time together would give Samus a chance to explain what had happened yesterday.
As they awkwardly stepped out of Samus' starship, neither one of them wanted to be the first to talk, so for a while, they just walked onwards, looking for any other signs of life. Eventually, Link worked up the nerve to say,
"So, do you want to talk about last night?"
Samus let out a small sigh and tried to explain to Link why it was perfectly rational that he found her, screaming his name and crying, clutching onto his hat.
"I had a bad dream that you got hurt out here because I wouldn't let you in, so I came out looking for you. I'd looked for a few hours, but I hadn't found anything, and then I saw your bloodstained hat… I freaked out…"
"Oh… sorry Samus, I should've been more careful with it. And the boomerang, that was my fault, I,"
Samus interrupted him, "Link, I don't care about that any more, I just… will you promise me you won't tell anyone about what happened last night?"
"Why would I tell anyone?"
"Well, that was a rare moment for me… a weak moment… if this got out back in Smash Mansion, I'd-"
It was Link's turn to interrupt. "Don't worry, I understand. I promise I won't tell anyone."
Samus sighed in relief and replied, "Thanks, it's good to know that- There he is!!"
Link turned around and saw a strange lizard creature, who was also alarmed by Samus' scream. He took one look at Samus and Link and turned and fled. Samus was quick to give chase, and Link followed behind her as fast as he could. Samus was a lot faster than Link, but the lizard-man was faster than both of them. Running as fast as he could, Link and Samus were no match for him. Although they kept up well, and it took almost an hour for him to gain distance, he eventually began to lose them, but just as he was getting out of sight, he felt a sharp pain as he was struck in the back by an arrow fired by Link. Falling to the ground, he rolled several times before coming to a stop, but as soon as he sat up, he was barged back down by Samus, who wasted no time in spinning him around and putting handcuffs on him as soon as she could.
With the most satisfied feeling Samus had experienced all week, she turned to congratulate Link, but was surprised to see he wasn't there. Walking back a few paces, she soon found Link, although he was red in the face and sprawled upon the ground, struggling to breathe. Samus' first reaction was that he was having a heart attack, so she quickly knelt down and asked,
"Link, are you ok?"
Link responded by giving her a quick thumbs-up, before saying in between panting, "I'm fine… I just… don't run… for that long… that often…"
Samus raised her eyebrow at Link. He looked absolutely exhausted, but as his breathing became more normal, he stood back up and said, "I'm fine, really. I just need some more exercise."
Samus rolled her eyes and went back to the criminal. Dragging him towards Link, she explained, "Now that we've caught someone, we take them back to the ship and send him to the jail. I can set up a special portal that only goes there. Are you ready for the walk back?"
Link nodded, and they dragged the criminal back to the ship, silent except for Link's occasional heavy breathing. After eventually reaching the ship and sent the criminal to the jail, the sun was slowly beginning to go down. Link guessed it was late afternoon, but Samus said, "We probably have time for one more hunt, are you coming again or do you want to train some more?"
Link didn't fancy the idea of going on another hunt, but couldn't stop himself from saying that he would join her again. He didn't know why, but he knew that if they went together, he might be able to impress her by catching someone, and he didn't know why, but it felt good to him.
After another 2 hour chase that almost made Link faint, Samus and him had caught another petty intergalactic thief, but Samus was annoyed that she hadn't caught any of the major criminals she was after. As they entered the ship, Link collapsed onto his pillow, which was still located on the floor of the hall, and Samus let out a small laugh at this while she brought in the thief and sent him to the jail.
By this time, it was dark, and Samus decided she should fall asleep too, but as she walked through the hall, she paused before switching off the light, and just felt comfortable watching Link sleeping for a few seconds, before snapping out of it and going to bed.
Day 5
Link thought he had woken up before Samus for a change, but when he saw the glass of water and food beside him, he realised she had already set up his breakfast. Sitting up, he looked around, but didn't see Samus anywhere. Instead, next to him was a strange grey device with two buttons and a keypad on it. The two buttons were labelled 'Call' and 'Hang up' so Link guessed it was a contacting device. Scribbled quickly on a piece of paper next to the device was a long number, so Link assumed he had to call it. Typing in the numbers slowly and carefully, he pressed the 'Call' button, and at first only heard a series of beeps, before Samus' friendly voice came over the device, saying "Hi Link, I take it you're up."
"Uh, yeah. So, where are you?"
"I left my radar up on the screen. You're waking up late today, it's almost midday!"
Link looked at the strange map he saw being projected on the starship's window, and responded, "I can see the radar, but where are you?"
"I'm the blue dot. The ship is the big orange one, and anything in red is a criminal I can capture. After you came in yesterday and collapsed, you didn't seem too enthusiastic about accompanying me, so you can just help me out this way today, ok?"
Link agreed, yawning, and proceeded to point out anything red he saw, it's direction from Samus, and how far away it was, until he had a question.
"Samus, what's the green thing on the map?"
"You see it?"
"Yeah, it's slowly moving towards you from the north, what is it?"
"That's the specially tagged guy who Captain Falcon told me about. There's a pretty big bounty on his head because he's the leader of all those lizard thieves. He's like one of them, only a lot bigger and he carries weapons, so I'll try and take him out with my-"
Link paused, as there was the sound of a gunshot, then static over the radio. Dropping the radio, Link dashed towards the map, and saw the blue dot and the green dot moving towards each other quickly. Link knew that Samus would have the situation covered, and he knew he shouldn't interfere, but he couldn't stop thinking that she might need help, so he grabbed the Master sword and ran out of the ship in the direction of Samus as fast as he could.
Luckily for him, the battle was a very even fight, and Samus kept her nemesis at a stalemate for at least half an hour. Tiring slightly, she let her guard down for a second, and the chance her enemy had been waiting for appeared. Charging at her, he forced her to jump aside before swiping at her legs and making her collapse on the ground. Samus grimaced and pulled out her stunner, but before she could use it, Link entered the fray and charged into his giant foe.
Both Samus and her enemy were surprised, and Samus was distracted enough to scream, "Link, what are you doing here?!"
Unfortunately, this distracted Link too, who was quickly picked up by his enemy and thrown hard into a large rock. As Samus heard something crack, she screamed "Link!" and rushed to his side. Link was unconscious, but when Samus turned around to take her anger out on her opponent, he had fled. Samus growled and angrily picked up Link's body, carrying it back to the ship with her.
Link awoke a few hours later to find Samus angrily glaring at him. Before he could say anything, she said, obviously resisting the temptation to scream at him,
"Why did you interrupt my battle when I told you not to get in my way?"
Link shivered nervously, trying to think of an answer, but Samus beat him to it.
"Is it because you wanted to annoy me, or because you wanted to take the 50,000 space credits he was worth? Or maybe because you thought weak little me couldn't handle it? Come on Link, why did you do it!?"
"I've seen too much, ok?" Link surprised Samus and himself by finding his voice.
"What are you talking about?"
Link sighed and took in a deep breath, before trying his best to explain.
"I've seen you fight in tournaments, and I've studied your fighting. It's nothing personal, I did it to everyone, but now… I've seen your weaknesses, and I've seen you lose… but this place is different to Smash Mansion. If you make a mistake here, you don't just get defeated. You get killed… I've seen you make mistakes before… I… I'm worried about you Samus…"
Link finished his explanation with a few tears welling in his eyes, so Samus calmed down and replied,
"Did it ever occur to you that I entered those tournaments to relax? I know that if I make mistakes here, I die. That's why I take my job seriously, Link. But those tournaments are just for fun, and a chance to relax. That's… always been something I wondered about you, Link. You train so hard for all these fights, and you never lose. How do you relax?"
Link found himself speechless and without an answer, so Samus sighed and patted him on the shoulder.
"There's nothing wrong with training, Link, you just need to relax sometimes."
"I can't! I've never been able to! All along my journey to save Hyrule, I was never in a single fight that wouldn't kill me if I failed once… I've never been able to relax, Samus."
Samus crossed her arms, but smiled and made a simple suggestion.
"There's another newcomer arriving when we get back. His name's Wolf, and I think he's the nemesis of Fox. His first match is against you, and you are NOT going to watch him train, you are NOT going to ask Fox or Falco what his strategies are, and you are going to go into that fight without caring if you win or lose. You aren't going to battle for pride or dignity. You'll be fighting for fun. And that, Link, is how you'll be able to relax."
Link opened his mouth to protest, but reluctantly accepted Samus' idea.
"Now, you were knocked out for a long time, so I'm going to bed. You can stay up and train for a bit if you like, or you can get some sleep and relax. It's up to you, Link."
Samus, feeling quite proud of herself, stood up and ruffled Link's hair before walking back to her room. Link looked at his sword, boomerang, bombs and arrows, and for one second considered getting in some more practice, but decided to take Samus' advice and sleep instead.
Day 6
Link once again woke up later than Samus did, and found that she had left him a note. It read;
'Hey Link. I didn't put the radar up this time, so you won't get all worked up if you see me fighting anyone. I've gone out to try and catch that big guy again, so don't interrupt me again. I'll be back later. If you really, really want to, you can train outside a bit, but only because there's nothing else for you to do back here.
Your friend, Samus.
Link read the note thoroughly, but found only the last three words sticking in his mind. Despite how he had grown closer to Samus through their week together, he still didn't think she would consider him as a friend. He'd always thought Samus was a more independent person, but then he realised that someone could easily say the same thing about him.
Slowly getting up, Link carried out his boomerang, bow, and bombs again to do some target practise until Samus returned.
8 hours had easily passed, and Link had run out of things to train for. Beginning to panic slowly, he wondered what could be taking Samus so long. Running back into the ship, he found the strange radio device, and entered Samus' number. As it continued to ring, Link's fear's continued to grow, until finally, he heard Samus' voice on the line.
"Hi Link. How's the training going?"
Link let out a small chuckle as he realised how predictable he was to her.
"It's going fine, I was just getting a bit worried about you. You've been gone for ages. The sun's going to start going down soon. Anyway, how's the hunt?"
"Not so good, I haven't seen that guy around any more, or any of his tracks. Hey, I can see the ship now! I'll talk to you when I get back."
Hanging up a few seconds after she did, Link exited the ship, and, just as Samus said, she was getting nearer. Waving to her, Link was relieved to see she was ok, but a second later he let out a startled scream as he pointed behind her. She turned around, and, thanks to Link's warning, was just able to dodge out of the way of one of the giant lizard's attacks. Link automatically drew his sword and started to run to help before stopping suddenly. Taking a deep breath, he stopped approaching and decided that Samus could handle it. Watching her fight, he realised that she really had been holding back her power in the Smash tournaments. He couldn't help but marvel at how she effortlessly ducked and dodged, before delivering powerful blows to her enemy.
His admirations were interrupted when he heard a scream coming from the fight. Samus had been grabbed and slammed against the ground, breaking her power suit around her. In her zero suit, Samus pulled out her laser-whip in one hand and her paralyser in the other, but both of them were dropped when her opponent gave her a sharp kick in the chest. Samus let out another scream, and Link gasped. He breathed in, and slowly told himself, 'Samus can handle this, Samus can handle this…' but when he stopped, he saw her taking another hit, and when he looked into her eyes, even from this distance, he could see that she was beginning to panic.
That was all it took for him to act. Shooting a bomb arrow at the giant lizard got it's attention, and this was followed up when Link angrily slashed at the beast with his sword. The lizard's tough skin deflected the blow, but when Link aimed at the creature's feet, he groaned and toppled over. Before he could get back up, Link shot an arrow into his back, sending the creature into an unconscious state. With the battle over, Link turned to Samus, who had managed to get to her feet.
"Samus, I'm sorry for interrupting your battle again, but you…"
"Shut up," interrupted Samus, "You, Link, are an over-trained, interfering idiot," Samus breathed in, "And you just saved my life…"
Finding a new strength, Samus ran towards Link and hugged him tightly, even giving him a kiss on the cheek, making both of them blush. Samus realised she may have just embarrassed Link, so she turned her head to him to apologise, but she didn't know that Link was about to kiss her on the cheek too, so when he tried to, he accidentally planted his lips on hers. Feeling incredibly panicked, Link broke the kiss, and looked at Samus nervously, as if she was about to scream at him. Samus took one look at Link's expression, and put her soft hands around his face. Both smiling, they leant in and kissed again, this time for longer than they could have ever imagined, but neither ever wanted it to stop, and neither cared.
Day 7
"Are you ready?" Link asked, holding Samus' hand and standing in front of the portal back to Smash Mansion. It had only been one week, but it had been enough to turn Link and Samus from friends into lifetime partners. Samus nodded to Link, adding, "I'll miss this…"
Link smiled and kissed Samus quickly on the lips again. "Don't worry, we'll still see a lot of each other at the Mansion, and I can't wait to tell people how amazing my girlfriend is."
"I know," said Samus, smiling, "But… when we next have a week off, will you… come back? I mean, come with me again?"
Link's face fell. "Oh, sorry, I don't think I can."
"Why not?" said Samus, sounding hurt.
"I'll be too busy showing you around Hyrule."
Link grinned cheekily, and Samus let out a small groan and held his hand tighter before they both stepped back to Smash Mansion. Together.
"Seriously guys, this is going to be hilarious." Muttered Sonic, rubbing his hands and cackling gleefully. "There's no way they survived a week with each other."
Ike, Marth and Zelda, who were the only other ones who had arrived back yet, were waiting impatiently by the portals to see what Sonic said would be the greatest moment of their lives, ever.
As the portal between the mansion and Samus' starship began to shine, there was a blinding flash as Samus and Link emerged, still holding hands. Ike, Marth and Zelda immediately noticed them holding hands and gasped. Sonic was a little slower to catch on, as he started laughing and spluttered out,
"Link, I got you good that time! What happened, did she try to kill you?"
"No."
"Attack you?"
"No."
"Try to sell you as a slave to some weird guy with a big moustache?"
"That wouldn't be very nice behaviour for a girlfriend, would it?"
For a second, Sonic tried to come up with a witty answer, but then realised what Link had just said. He gasped in shock and pointed at the happy couple.
"You… with you??"
"Congratulations!" Zelda spoke up excitedly.
"But…" Sonic interrupted, confused.
"Sweetheart?" asked Link, making Ike, Marth and Zelda say 'Awww' and making Sonic pretend to throw up, "Do you want to go and find out the next time we have a week off?"
"Sure," said Samus, smiling. "I can't wait…"
Link went on to beat Wolf, but he lost soon after, breaking his unbeaten record by losing to Ness. Surprisingly for everyone, Link seemed more relieved at losing for the first time than Ness was relieved that he'd won. He didn't spend as much time training nowadays, and instead spent most of his time with Samus.
Samus was paid her 50,000 space credits, but gave them to Captain Falcon when an accident on 'Big Blue' destroyed the Blue Falcon. When asked why she gave away all of her money, Samus replied, "As long as I have Link, I don't need anything else."
Finally, the next time they had a week off, Link took Samus back to Hyrule and showed her around. His friends loved her, and after 1 year of being together, Link and Samus got married at the Temple of Time.
+… The next time there was a week off, they got their revenge on Sonic by tricking him into going through the 'Kanto' portal. Sonic spent the week running around, trying to avoid trainers who thought he was some kind of rare Pokémon.
The end!