(I have like three unfinished fic ideas and I post this? o_o Lolz. I wrote and proofread this in one day, but hey, you might like it. :3
To people with MF-phobia... I would like to direct you to the genre. This is not romantic. So there. ;P
Two reasons why I wrote this... one, I am a big fan of Meta/Fumu. But I think their "relationship" is different than most. I saw a Japanese fanart pic of a little three-year-old Fumu riding Meta Knight like a horse and it was half hilarious, but half sweet. :3 It made me wonder how he treated her when she was little. Perhaps the weirdest part about writing this fanfic is that I hate kids. :P
Second reason is simply because I saw him sleeping with a cute pink blanket in an episode of Kirby. Pink just seems... un-Meta-like. xP
So in hopes that there is no evidence to contradict my story, enjoy~
... ah. I did find one contradiction, but I'll save that until the end. Maybe I can hide it until you're done reading. xD
The timing is slightly funky, but I think I've heard multiple people say that Fumu is about 12 in the anime timeline, so we'll go with that.
Speaking of things everyone's assumed, I assume you know Fumu is Tiff's Japanese name. Getit?gotit?good. Making sure. ^^
Also, random thanks to for fixing the first-sentence glitch. Cause it was annoying, but its fixed so yaaay~)
Eight years ago...
Meta Knight had never felt like there was much to do at night. Or in the day, for that matter. His days as a warrior were gone (for now), and his role of a guardian was... boring. He stayed on duty with Sword and Blade until the sunset, when he allowed them to retire. Hours later, he would call it a day.
Alone, he wandered the empty hallway with his mind in a fog. He had little to pay attention to and sort of dozed off as he walked.
Then there was a faint noise.
He unwrapped himself from his cape and listened closely to his surroundings. He assumed it as a small whine or a sob. Thinking for a moment, he realized only one person (or creature) who wandered the castle could've made that sound. He easily guessed who it was, and proceeded down a corridor to help her.
As expected, he found the little blonde girl pacing in confusion, as she clutched her favorite pink blanket. She looked around with small tears in her eyes, until she saw her hero before her.
"M-Meta Knight!" she yelped as she ran up to him.
"What were you doing?" he asked.
"I wanted some water, s-so I got some without waking anyone up. But now I'm lost. Can you take me back?" she pleaded with hopeful eyes.
Meta Knight sighed quietly. "Follow me." She smiled and skipped happily to his side.
The jade-colored halls were dim at night, only lit by the small lights on the walls. For Meta Knight, it was no issue, because knew them perfectly well, and walked at a steady pace to Parm and Memu's room.
But Fumu didn't like the dark or the silence of the castle much. She still feared that she'd lose sight of her guardian, or that something was waiting in the seemingly empty halls. Fumu shifted her blanket into her left arm, and frantically reached for Meta Knight's hand on her right. He lightly held it back, though somewhat confused. Part of him couldn't help but feel happy about helping this small child, and about being such a dependable figure to her.
After they found her door, Fumu opened it slowly. She gasped with joy to know she made it back safely.
"Thank you, Meta Knight," she told him with a grateful nod.
He only nodded back. "Good night, Fumu." He wrapped himself in his cape and turned away, but the girl stopped him.
"Wait!" she said, trying not to shout. He glanced back about halfway. "You can't go back all by yourself."
He could and he could easily, but he wanted a nice way to say it. "I'll be all right," he assured. "My room isn't far. You don't need to worry about me."
She frowned for a moment, then thought of an idea. She held her soft blanket up to him. "You should take this."
He looked at her questioningly. "What is..." that going to do to help me?
"It's my lucky blanket," she told him. "It keeps bad stuff from happening. I know it works,
'cause when I had it, you found me before I got in trouble."
He blinked. He couldn't take something that seemed important to her, could he? "Then... wouldn't you want to keep it?" he asked.
She shook her head with a confident smile. "I wanna give it to you for helping me. Here." She held it closer to his face. Reluctantly, he took it from her small hands.
He studied it for a second. Though he couldn't feel it much through his gloved hands, it was still somewhat warm. "Thank you," he told her sincerely. "Be more careful from now on."
"I will, I will," she said. She stepped into her family's room and closed the door. She kept it open briefly to wave bye, then silently shut it.
He neatly folded the pink cloth and carried it under his arm. His first instinct was to get rid of it, but he knew that was heartless. He still found it hard to believe she would part with it so easily. Perhaps he'd offer it back tomorrow...
Eight years later...
"How come you never gave it back?" asked Sword.
"I asked her the following day," Meta Knight replied, "but she insisted that I keep it. I offered for a few months, until I gave up. I told her to feel free to ask for it back, but I'm sure Fumu has forgotten about it by now. She has matured since then... it may be humiliating to bring it up."
"I see," Sword mumbled in agreement.
"Thanks for the answer, though," Blade mentioned, afraid he had offended his mentor earlier with the question.
Meta Knight chuckled. "It's fine."
He actually hadn't answered the question fully. Blade's words were specifically "Why do you sleep with a pink blanket?"
Truthfully, it was because it was one of the few gifts he had ever received... one that reminded him that he had a heart after all, and that Fumu was sometimes the only person tried to find it.
(MetaFumu 4 evarz. :P If you want to assume the last part is romantic, go right a-freaking-head. I think everyone else sees Meta Knight as a hero or a warrior, but Fumu's the only one that either scolds him for being "coldhearted" or sees him as someone she can count on. She's also the most interested in him and his past, sometimes.
There are many ways to argue that, but eh. That's just want I think/hope. :P
Now, after uploading this fic, I rewatched the episode and it turns out... Sword and Blade have the same pink blankets. Which... sort of implies that everyone just has them and Blade would have no reason to question it. Bleck.
Maybe Meta Knight sleeps with a second one. Use your imagination. Just cause I wrote a fanfic doesn't mean I have to come up with all the excuses. xD)