oh boy, thank you so much anon for the review you left ; w ; it certainly did help me. i haven't written ANYTHING in almost two years, and this is my first piece of literature since then so i'm still rather rusty! thank you everyone for enjoying my story, and i hope more of you can read it~ Rosalina and Marth are just the cutest!

"All-a done, Ms. Rosalina!" Dr. Mario chided with glee, stepping back to look at his handiwork. Rosalina reached up to touch her bandaged nose. It wasn't broken, but the bruising was slightly unsettling so the doctor thought it'd be best to cover it up for everyone's sake.

She was still, without a doubt, embarrassed about how this whole thing concurred. To think, a princess eavesdropping on a couple of swordsmen. Is this what she had become? Apparently so. Rosalina sighed and looked down at her luma, greedily eating the lollipop Dr. Mario gave him when they first walked in. He was surely a sweet man, just like his counterpart.

There was no use sitting around here anymore, the work was finished and she still needed to go shower. Rosalina was certain that she smelled worse than Captain Falcon's armpit. Cringing at the thought, she stood up, only on her feet briefly before activating her levitation. "Thank you, Dr. Mario. I'm sorry to have troubled you for such a minor thing," she lowered her head in a bow.

"Its-a not a problem. Keeps-a me on-a my toes!" Dr. Mario said with cheer in his voice. Rosalina smiled and politely exited the doctor's office. Now back out into the mansion, the princess had no idea where exactly she was. Her head was a bit light when Ike escorted her, so her memory was pretty fuzzy. All she knew was that she was in the east wing of the mansion, and she needed to go west to get to stairs to her room.

Luma hid behind Rosalina, and the pair set off, absentmindedly rubbing her nose. The pain was still there, but it was rather dull now. She could still feel the wet handkerchief in the pocket of her dress. It needed to be cleaned soon, or the blood was going to stain it. Rosalina brushed her hair over her shoulder and shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Rosalina!" someone shrieked from behind. The stranger didn't give her a chance to turn around, for they had already caught up to her. It was Robin. What was he doing down here? "Oh, Robin. Hello," she tried to smile, but it was cut short by a wave of pain flooding through her face.

His happy eyes slowly grew into ones of surprise. "Dear Naga, what happened to your nose?" Robin attempted to reach up and touch it, but Rosalina pulled back. "I-it's nothing, I tripped earlier and fell pretty hard," she replied. It wasn't exactly a lie, she did trip and fall. The reason for it was better hidden in her opinion.

Robin quirked an eyebrow but said nothing more. She obviously had nothing else to say, so provoking it anymore might be a mistake on his part. Maybe she could slip away now. Rosalina was dying for that shower, and she even took a few steps back from Robin in case he could smell the sweat emitting off of her. "I was actually hoping I'd run into you. Would you like to practice with me tomorrow, after breakfast?"

That caught the princess by surprise. He did mention something about it earlier, but it still alarmed her. Was he looking for her this whole time? Rosalina blinked a few times. "Ah, uhm...I'd have to see if I'm free...," a surge of uneasiness ran through her. That was odd, she usually wasn't like that. Maybe from how sudden the request was. Yeah, that had to be it.

Seeming to be okay with her answer, Robin smiled. "Great, just let me know tomorrow, or later today if I'm able to see you," the white haired tactican nodded his head and moved to walk around Rosalina. She reached up to pat her chest, calming her racing heartbeat. What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling like this? Humans were strange creatures, and they were taking their tole on the space princess.

Rosalina had to get to her room quick, before someone else caught her attention. She practically raced down the hallway and flew up the stairs, carefully dodging anyone that came between her. The grime and sweat was beginning to make her itch, and it was not a good feeling. Not at all.

Finally, she arrived at her door. Rosalina smiled with sweet relief. A nice, hot shower was only a few feet away from her. She tried to open the door. Locked. Oh, right. She pulled out her key and twisted it in the lock, and tried the knob once more. Locked still.

"What?" she whispered to herself, repeatingly trying to open the door. Why wasn't the key working? Perhaps it had bent during her match. This day couldn't get any worse, could it?

The door suddenly jittered and Rosalina hopped back a bit. Good, maybe Peach was inside and came to open the door. The door pulled open and the person on the other side wasn't Peach. It wasn't even a female.

It was Marth. Somehow, in her blind run, she had stumbled into the men's side of the mansion. They look exactly the same, just on different sides. Rosalina felt every last bit of color drain from her face.

She wasn't the only one with a look of shock. Marth turned a terrible shade of white. He just couldn't get away from this woman. Why was she here? Marth gripped the doorknob and swallowed hard. "Y-yes?" he spoke meekly, and mentally kicked himself. He couldn't even speak properly to people, a little bit of his dignity escaped him every time he opened his mouth to speak.

Rosalina's head lowered. "I-I'm so sorry, Marth. I didn't mean to bother you," she was surprised that she was able to get any words out. Her mind was going a million miles an hour. She was just jumping into awkward situations left and right, and it was hurting her head. Rosalina peeked up to see if Marth was still there, since he didn't respond back.

He was as tense as a post, and his complexion kept getting paler and paler with each passing second. It would probably be best for her to leave. Her legs weren't cooperating at all, and they turned into jell-o.

"Did you...need anything?" Marth thanked the Gods that his normal voice returned. She shook her head.

"I kind of got lost looking for my room and went down the wrong hallway. I didn't think I'd see you again after that freak out earlier," Rosalina said with a short laugh. That probably wasn't the best thing to say, because now he looked completely mortified. She bit on her tongue. Idiot! What are you doing?! Just leave! But, she couldn't.

Now it was Marth's turn to lower his head, his tiara drooping slightly. "I sincerely apologize for that. Conversing with people isn't really my strong suit," he murmured, which Rosalina was surprised to be able to hear.

Her head cocked to the side. Peach had told her something about that once she had moved in. Marth was someone who kept to himself and rarely made any type of contact with other Smashers. He did talk to some people, like Ike and Peach, but they were persistent and declared him a friend before he could object.

"From what I've heard around," she started, waiting until his head was up before continuing, "you seem like a pleasant man. I want to help you overcome this problem," Rosalina smiled, and kept it there despite the pain. She was determined to be friends with Marth, and wanted to help him overcome whatever obstacles he might have.

If only she knew, Marth thought with a sigh. Friendships here were a waste of time. Once the tournament was over, you all went your seperate ways, never to see each other again. How could anyone stand that type of pain? Especially when you've grown so close to someone. Marth had felt that pain before, and he couldn't bear it again. His heart was beyond repair.

"I believe you and I will become really good friends, Marth," yanked from his thoughts, he was faced again with the princess. As much as he wanted to decline this, his mouth couldn't form the words. There was a certain charm about her that kept him from turning away from her.

Marth nodded. "If you say so," it was time to part ways, and the two gave their goodbyes. The door shut, and Rosalina was free to lean against the corresponding wall. That turned out better than she expected. She was sure things were going to get even more awkward for them, but somehow her mind knew what to say.

Now heading towards the right hallway, Rosalina ran though a few ideas on what she could do to become better friends with Marth. Practicing sounded like a good start. It would be a tad difficult since they were different fighters all together. As Rosalina got lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice someone watching her from afar. Someone with an unhealthy amount of jealousy.