Interview With A Knight

Disclaimer: *points to other stories*

A/N: This is just a simple little one shot story. It's also gijinka verse; ironic how I said that I would write only a few stories of that kind. This is just a little tidbit of something that takes place during "Kirby of the Stars: Heroes of Destiny". I had this in my head for only a little while, and I think this might be good, don't you? Reads and reviews are appreciated.

BTW, this isn't MK X Tiff. I don't ship them. This is more of a... how you say... a hurt/comfort fic.

Tiff never really understood Sir Meta Knight. The man was always so... stoic and mysterious. Always so reserved. He wasn't bitter, but could definitely be cold hearted at times if you bring up the right subject. She often wondered why he wore the mask. It covered up half of his face; the top half, mostly over his nose and a little bit above his cheekbones. She thought that the man didn't have to wear the mask; she thought Meta Knight was quite handsome for an older man.

Then again, he was a Similo. His race aged better than most normal humans.

Why did he always wear that mask? It's like he's hiding something. She thought to herself. She always thought Meta Knight hid his real emotions behind that mask. Sometimes whenever she saw him, he always looked forlorn and saddened. She remembered one time where she actually saw his eyes were cloudy and gray. One side of his face was wet even; he was crying.

She couldn't blame the elder knight for being so closed with his emotions. It wasn't like she knew what he's went through his entire life; or anyone else who knew for that matter.

It wasn't like she could ask any family members about those emotions; Tiff didn't believe Meta Knight had any family left. It wasn't like anyone else in the castle knew about his secrets, his emotions, and how the man thinks. She sighed. This was going to have to go to the source.

She has to ask Meta Knight himself those questions. It wasn't going to be easy. But she has to try to do so, at least. Maybe this could help him.

It has to.

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Tiff left her room, the questions and thoughts still in her mind. Kirby, Tuff, and Victoria were playing a board game, since it looked like it was going to rain today. The thoughts plaguing her mind made her frown deeply. Then she realized: she couldn't possibly tell them her plan, they would think was crazy! Yes, they would be right about that, but their meddling would only make things worse.

"Tiff?"

Tiff yelped in surprise and turned around. It was just Kirby that said her name.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "I'm fine Kirby, I'm just thinking." She replied, leaving the room. The kids looked at each other for a moment.

"It's probably the weather making Tiff go cuckoo. Now can we finish the game?" Tuff asked. The other two kids sighed and continued playing.

Meanwhile, Tiff was looking for Meta Knight out in the halls. He would usually be on patrol with Sword and Blade after they train. She saw two familiar armored knights walking towards her. What luck! If they are on patrol, maybe Meta Knight is too. I have to ask them. She thought to herself.

"Hey, Sword? Blade? I need to talk to you." She said.

"What about, Tiff?" Sword asked. Tiff rubbed the back of her head, trying to form the words out right. "Um, do any of you know where Meta Knight is right now?" Blade pointed down the hall. "He's going to be on one of the balconies. We didn't ask; his eyes were gray when we saw him." He explained. Tiff nodded then went down towards where Blade pointed, saying, "Thank you!" And she ran off. The two knights looked at each other.

"I guess everyone's been knowing he's been in a bad mood. Knowing Tiff, she won't leave him well enough alone until she plays psychiatrist." Blade said. "Well, I wish her luck. It's for his own good."

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Tiff came out towards the first castle balcony she encountered. She gasped inwardly when she saw Meta Knight, sitting in a chair that was already at the balcony. Why a person would want to be outside with the risk of rain pouring down, she had no idea. It was remotely quiet where they were, so that meant there wasn't anyone to listen on the conversation. Sighing, Tiff went out towards the blue haired knight.

She stood next to where he was, catching a glimpse of his eyes. They glowed a dim gray. Tiff wanted to say something, but with the state the man was in, she didn't know what to say. She looked back at Meta Knight. She was going to shoot the gun.

"Meta Knight? I need to talk to you." The Similo man looked up, his eyes changing to a neutral yellow. "What is it, Tiff?" He asked with a level voice. She sighed, trying to fish for the right words to say to the man. "Um... I want to ask... why do you wear that mask? It's like you hide everything about yourself behind it." Meta Knight frowned at the girl.

"Tiff, it's best that you don't ask that." Meta Knight said sadly. Tiff wasn't going to have it. "You always say that... you always say that! Something's obviously bothering you, and I just want to help you." She said. Well, that really made him mad.

"Whatever "help" you want to provide me won't do any good. I cannot be helped! The war has done things to me that can NEVER be reversed. Or treated!" Tears started forming in the knight's eyes. He growled, eyes glowering red now. Yet Tiff still stood firm. Her green eyes glimmered with a brave flame which he hadn't seen from anyone so young.

How can her resolve be so unwavering? She's a ten year old, a child. Most people, be they man or child, would have likely turned back at this point. He thought to himself.

Tiff's gaze was still focused and serious. "Did the war traumatize you that bad? Or was it something worse than that? I know I shouldn't probe, but all of this... all of this is worrying everyone that cares about you. So please, just talk to me, Meta Knight. I just want to try and help-"

She was cut off from saying anything else when Meta Knight raised his hands up. She stared at Meta, who had his eyes clenched shut to keep tears from falling. He sighed, then opened them up once more.

"I will tell you. But we need to go inside. It is about to rain, and my bedroom is the safest place we can discuss this... very personal topic." They went inside the castle to Meta Knight's room.

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Meta Knight and Tiff came into the room. He locked the door so nobody else can walk in while they were talking. "Alright. Do you want to know why I wear this mask, really?" He asked. "I think everyone does," she replied. "But, yes sir, I do."

What Meta did next was something the young girl will never forget as long as she lives: he unclapsed the straps of his mask and let it fall to the ground. The eyes that normally changed colors behind the visor were a wispy silver color that were a dark gray where the pupil was. The man's pale face was scarred with three large scars that went across his face that stopped where his mask hung lowest on the tops of his cheekbones. He struggled to find the mask so that he could set it on the table.

"Where are those scars from?" She asked. "The battle against the Wolfwrath that you encountered when you met Sword and Blade?" Meta Knight shook his head no. "These scars are from a Wolfwrath scratch, but it wasn't the one that attacked Sword and Blade. This was a different Wolfwrath from an entirely different battle. I was much younger during that battle." He explained.

"How old were you?" She asked. "I was 28 years old. I was leading a skirmish on Floralia to stop a demonbeasts raid in a small village. The beast clawed my mask off. Knocked me down in the snow."

"Is that why you wear the mask now? To hide the scars of that battle?" Meta Knight rubbed the back of his head. "Well, yes and no. You saw I couldn't find my mask for a moment." He explained. Tiff raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But it's right in front of you." She said, motioning to the discarded piece of metal. "Is it?" He asked rhetorically. Tiff didn't know what he meant for a moment. Then it came to her.

"You're blind? Is that why your eyes are silver? And is that the reason you wear the mask?" She asked. He laughed, confusing Tiff for a second. "Child, my eyes have been silver since the day I've been born. But I haven't been blind my entire life. The war took my eyesight as one of the casualties. Well, not completely. I'm half blind. I can't see in bright light. And the brighter the lights are, the less I can see."

Tiff took the information in as if she were a sponge in water. But one of her questions wasn't answered. It was the most important question she had: why he held in such negative emotions. She had to ask the final question. This will answer the questions she had about the mysterious knight.

"Why... do you hide your emotions like you do? I understand if you don't want any enemies to know what you're thinking inside, but doesn't the glow of your eyes give it away to them?" She asked. Meta Knight scratched his head and raised an eyebrow in confusion, somewhat off-put by the question. But, the question Tiff asked was the worst on his emotional toll, but he had to stay strong enough to answer it.

"Well... I believe it can take the pain of losing my family away..." He said. "Your family?" She asked. "Yes. Virtually everyone that I care about is either dead or missing. My mother, my father, my sisters... my wife... and my son... all of them are gone."

"You... had sisters? And a wife and son?" She asked, baffled by what the man had said. She never figured he was married or a sibling. Hopefully, the man couldn't see her shocked expression. "Yes, I did," He spoke. "I had an older sister and a twin sister."

"What about your wife? Or your son?"

"My wife was a beautiful woman, with a heart of gold and a soul of silver, with a mind like a steel trap. We met during the war. The last time I saw her was during a battle against an ice witch named Khione. But my son... I haven't seen him since he was a baby. Mira and I had to leave for that very battle, and we had to leave him with Sir Arthur."

"Mira is the name of your wife? She sounds beautiful."

"Yes. We missed our son's christening, so we do not know his name now. One thing I wish though is that maybe... just maybe... I can see my family again," then Meta sighed. "But, unfortunately, look at me now. I'm almost 60 years old, I haven't seen my wife in 22 years, and for all I know, they and my sisters could be dead. We all were in the war against Nightmare. Life won't work for those who keep sitting alone and wishing for a solution, praying for a higher force to intervene. NOVA hasn't done any good for me since the fall of the GSA, and I am just a shell of my former self. All that remains is this broken old man."

Tiff didn't know what to say at this point. The young girl hadn't ever thought that Meta Knight suffered that much through the war. Sure, it was naive for her to say that, considering how intelligent she is, but it wasn't like she was alive during the war. She felt sorry for him at this point. Maybe saying something else could help.

"Maybe you'll be able to see them again. Hope is still alive, isn't it?"

However, when she said that, it struck a nerve on the old knight. "Tiff, apparently, you do not understand. This damned war took everything I held dear away from me. EVERYTHING! Do you realize you had it made? Do you realize that you didn't have to scrounge around for food scraps in an abandoned building just to keep yourself and whomever was with you alive?! You and Tuff have had it made compared to what I have went through!"

"But- but I was just trying to-"

"What?! You were trying to help me?! Tiff! I am like a broken mirror. You will just hurt yourself trying to fix me. There have been times where I have heard either you or your brother complaining about your current situations with your life; you complain about doing homework, you complain about doing chores, or go, 'Yuck! Mom made broccoli and brussel sprouts again! Kirby can have my plate!' does that sound familiar?" He asked angrily.

Tiff choked up at that point.

"The next time one of you say those things, think about some of the situations I went through, or maybe Sword and Blade. They were thieves barely having enough to eat before that fateful day with the Wolfwrath. I do not wish for you to tell anyone else about this, but if you or Tuff complains about anything else, think about what we had to go through. Living in a castle is better than sleeping on the cold ground in a destroyed grocer store, without anyone who cares about you."

"I... care." Tiff choked out.

"Well then I care you will take what I said to heart. Because that is what the few survivors of the war went through. My twin and I were orphans at eight years of age. Both of our parents died six years apart from one another. All because of Nightmare. Now, here I am, 48 years later, and the damn monster is making a comeback soon. It's like everything I fought for... everyone who died because of Nightmare... the worlds of whom their blood stains the beast's hands was killed in vain. My family's lives in vain..." He trailed off.

Tears stung both of their eyes. They fell freely from Tiff, who unlocked the door and ran out of the room, slamming the door shut. Meta Knight stood, alone in the room, a broken man with horrible memories that had changed a young girl's perspective permanently. He dimmed the lights in the room so he could see better. A sigh escaped him as he laid down in his bed. The rain was pouting down now.

"I guess I am but a low, broken man, NOVA. Look what I caused Tiff to endure." He said with a wry chuckle. He closed his eyes, drifting to an uneasy sleep.

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Later in the day, a knock was heard at Meta's bedroom door. He opened his tired old silver eyes and grabbed his mask off of the table, strapping it on. He walked to the door and opened it, but nobody was there. He sighed again, but saw a scrap of paper on the floor. He picked it up and then closed the door. He began to read the note to himself.

Meta Knight,

I am sorry about all of the questions. I was just wanting to help you while learning about you in the process. Who wouldn't want to learn some history on the Captain of the Castle Guard's mysterious past? But... I didn't realize all of those subjects were so personal to you. I read in a book that talking to someone you're close to would be able to help give closure to some subjects. I realize that the book must not be that accurate. But then again, I must not be that close to you. Kirby might be the closest one to you, him being a Similo like you, but he is only five years old; it isn't like he could understand something like this.

However, I realize I am no better. I probed you with questions that were stored deep in your subconscious mind that you didn't want to recall again. But unfortunately you had to, to be able to answer my questions. But, there are some things that you say about yourself you are wrong about.

First of all, you are not a broken man. You have been fighting since you were small, and you still fight even now. How old are you- 55, 56? Even so, you still fight. Second of all, your fighting is not in vain. We are still alive and well, we will survive the next onslaught of demonbeasts, and we will survive any other threat that comes our way. We always do.

And finally, you are cared about. By me, Tuff, Kirby, Callie, and Victoria, and about everyone else here too. I couldn't keep some of our talk to myself, but it changed the way they think too, just like it did with me. We would miss you if you leave or die. You are a good man, Meta Knight. We all care about you.

And, again, I'm sorry.

Sincerely, Tiff.

Meta Knight set the letter down and smiled somewhat. A soft, warm chuckle escaped from his lips. "I guess somebody cares about this broken old man after all." He said with another chuckle. He walked towards the windows and pulled back the blinds, revealing that the gray skies had diminished and the sky was blue again. A small smile spread on his face as he left the room to get a better look of the clear skies.

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A/N: So there you have it. That's the end of this little story. Tell me what you think in the form of a review. Also, I'll have a poll on my profile. I'd like to know your opinion if you've read my earlier stories, has my writing improved since then?