A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! I realize I've written some pretty serious things in the past month or two, so I think it's time for some funnies! This is a direct sequel to The Bonds we Forge, which was my entry for Smash King24's Christmas Contest 2014, so there will be quite a few references to it which may be confusing if you haven't read it. Just note that Lucina and Shulk went on a Christmas quest a few months ago in this fic and she will retain her newfound friends.
This will likely be a short three chapter fic like TBWF and will extend past Valentine's Day.
x - x - x
In the cafeteria of the Smash Mansion, Lucina's mind wandered. Her azure eyes were captivated by a boy with eyes similar to her own and a mess of straw-colored hair. The din of the lunch room seemed to vanish as she gazed upon him fondly and tittered at his antics. Shulk was currently in a food-eating contest with Kirby, the pink puffball. Both scarfed down their food heatedly—or rather, Kirby was inhaling his food with an elated expression. Poor Shulk didn't stand a chance.
"Lucina, you've been staring in that direction for an awfully long time."
The voice of her friend cut through her reverie. Sheepishly, Lucina tore her gaze away to regard the calculating eyes of Robin. She took a moment to gather her bearings and glanced around, her odd behavior having caught the attention of her newfound friends. She burned with embarrassment.
"Have I? My apologies..."
"It's nothing to be sorry about," Robin concluded, and she couldn't help but steal another glance at the charming Monado boy. Robin took note of this and his dark eyes twinkled. "If you like him, you should just tell him."
Falcon, Rosalina and Yoshi ceased their debate over whether F-Zero or Mario Kart was the better racing game to chime in. A sneaky grin grew on Falcon's lips as he patted Lucina reassuringly on the shoulder.
"He totally likes you. I witnessed it firsthand at the superstore."
"Yosh, yosh!"
"Mmhmmm."
They all gazed at her expectantly, amusement twinkling in their faces, and Lucina's blush deepened. "I will do no such thing!"
"Oh, come on!" Falcon chided. "The two of you saved Christmas together, whatever that means."
Rosalina tapped him on the head with her wand in an equally chiding manner, earning a 'Hey!' from the racer. Yoshi gave a sagely nod and waved his arms around in agreement. Robin's eyes shifted to the right as he cast his gaze upon the F-Zero racer in suspicion. Just about everyone knew about the heated rivalry between the brainiac and the brawny man.
"Falcon is right," he conceded at last. "Surely this is no big task in comparison?"
Memories of her time with him on their journey to save Christmas flitted through her mind. The meeting in the hallway, their valuable teamwork, and his obvious zest for life in creating a brighter future. Even though he was losing horribly to Kirby, he merely paused to think of a way to beat Kirby's insatiable inhaling abilities.
"Monado, Speed!" Shulk declared and began stuffing his face with Mario's famous pasta at a god-like speed. Kirby tilted his head cutely to regard the blue flare emitting from Shulk with curiosity, before turning around and inhaling the Monado boy himself. He popped him back out shortly after, gaining his own version of the red blade, earning a good-natured laugh from the boy as they resumed their competition.
"W-well, I..." Lucina stammered, returning her attention to the question at hand. "I don't know."
Her friends seemed to sympathize with her plight as she fiddled nervously with her hands, unused to seeing this shy side to Lucina after witnessing her valiant nature.
"I'm inexperienced when it comes to such endeavors. Besides, my priority is to become stronger, not to engage in romantic dalliances."
"Valentine's Day is coming up, is it not?" Rosalina chimed in elegantly, her eyes sparkling with the kaleidoscopic colors of the cosmos. Lucina glanced up at her in question.
"Pray tell, what is this day you speak of?"
Falcon placed his muscular elbow on the table and gesticulated wildly with his other hand. "You know, no one really knew about Christmas, but one of the girls came up with Valentine's Day and it spread like wildfire. It's an excuse to bang—"
Yoshi slapped his paw over the racer's mouth and he quickly shut up. Lucina tilted her head cutely and Robin cast an oblique glance at the helmeted man in disapproval.
"What he means is—"
Robin was cut off by a vibrant "I'M REALLY FEELING IT!" from Shulk across the room as he stuffed a whole meat pie in his face with gusto. Lucina's friends chuckled at her fine taste in men as she buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.
How could I allow myself to fall for such a buffoon? No...
She dared to lift her eyes and glance at him from afar once more. Shulk and Kirby had moved on from Mario's pasta to Luigi's meat pies. The Monado-wielder was currently cheering on the pink puffball as he relented and chose to consume the food with his stubby little arms instead, despite being on opposing sides.
Shulk is no buffoon. He is so kind and humorous in his own special way...
Lucina watched him intently as he paused to think up another strategy and placed his hand on his chin in his typical pose. She liked watching Shulk think. She could always trust him to think things through properly instead of being pulled by his emotions like her. If Lucina was a dark storm cloud, so strict with herself and always fretting over others, then Shulk was like a ray of sunlight. He was the sugar cookie to her dark chocolate.
He glanced up and noticed her staring in his direction and smiled, offering an oblivious wave. Lucina's eyes widened as her heart was sent into a fit and offered a tentative wave back.
Oh gods. I have to get away...
"...basically, Valentine's Day is an excuse for lovers to go on fanciful endeavors to express their affection for one another. Or in your case, confess one's feelings to a crush or some such... Lucina, are you listening to me?!"
Robin's exclamation released her from her stupor and Lucina stood up abruptly. "Please excuse me for a moment. I need to step out for a bit..."
She ambled out of the cafeteria and into the hallway in a frazzled state. She rested her forehead against the wall as she drew comfort from the dark corridors.
Oh, Naga! Why is this happening to me? I cannot allow myself to be this way! The Ylissean Princess berated herself for quite some time, pacing restlessly around the hallway, wanting to go back into the lunch room but not wanting to see those kind blue eyes.
Eventually, Lucina re-composed herself and shielded her eyes in hopes of returning to the lunch room in peace.
"Yoshi, yosh!"
She spied her familiar green friend at the entrance of the lunch room, waving his arms around. He trotted over to her and offered another "yosh" of consolation.
"Huh? You understand how I feel?" Lucina asked quizzically, gazing down at her small but wise friend.
"Yoshi," he affirmed. What followed was a series of 'yoshis', 'yoshes' and 'YOSHIII' to convey his romantic tale of how the green dinosaur found his own soulmate, a pink critter by the name of Birdo, with the help of a fellow smasher.
"What a wonderful tale!" Lucina relented, her brow softening as a smile graced her lips. "So you're telling me this esteemed smasher might assist me with my own romantic troubles?"
"Yosh," he said with a nod. The dino placed his paw comfortingly on Lucina's arm as he bestowed some more 'yoshis' of wisdom upon her.
"I see..." Lucina's brow crinkled in earnestness as her wave of doubt began to dissipate. "'It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.'"
Yoshi nodded.
"You are a wise one, Yoshi." She picked him up and squeezed him into a hug. "I will consider your words with due respect. Surely, the one known as Jigglypuff must know many things about love affairs!"
Somewhere in the background, Robin face-palmed.
x - x - x
A/N: I've always had a soft spot for Yoshi since he's my favorite character to play in the Mario Party series. Let's see what kind of knowledge Jiggs has to impart on our dear protagonist.
Anyways, this will extend past Valentine's Day due to my bad planning skills, but if anyone would like to see this continued I can try to finish it in due time. Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful day of chocolate!
- mystic moogle