Author Note: Shortest gaiden so far, but I think it tells it all, so I had no urge to make it larger. One more side stories to tell after this one and we'll be back to the main events of the third arc! Now, I have a real hard time thinking which character needs to narrate the last side story... I know it won't be Wolf, I want to leave his past as a mystery that will be slowly be uncovered piece by piece in the story. Right now I decided to make a side story for Melanie, because: 1_She is going to be a major character on the third arc and upcoming arcs too. 2_Her past will explain most of the supernatural facts on the story that I haven't explained so far. 3_I didn't give her a chapter on her point of view, because the one I had planned with her didn't work and I gave it to Gabriel... so I think she pretty much deserves it. 4_This girl has quite a story to tell is one of the characters I pity the most when the creation of it came to my head. So, there are my reasons, why do I bother telling you readers? Because I like having a good self insertion on this story, I like the space to talk about what's writing it like =D, and also I always praise good relationships among readers and writers. So now, enjoy! That's the whole point of the fic, for us to enjoy it xD. Also review!

Gaiden: Melanie's chronicle

I was raised to not fear,

I was raised to hear,

I was raised to see,

I was never allowed to flee,

I was raised to fight,

But I never got to fly,

I was raised to love,

Despite I'm a caged dove.

I'm not a normal girl. My mind recalls most of the events that my life had. I had a really good memory, I was able to remember facts since I was one year and a half old. I also learnt really fast for the little girl I was. I always knew my mother was proud of me, she was always staying with me, and she always hugged me and gave me her warm love. There was nothing I liked more than that love, but there was something I always sought; my father's attention. He was most of his time looking for Matthew, and only few times he would kiss me in my forehead and leave. I was jealous of Matthew, always having our father for him, but I knew he was jealous too, for me to have mom all the time around me.

When I was three years old, our father died. It was terrible for me, but it was worse for Matthew, he was ten times closer to him than I. Despite I did cried, devastated by the thought of a frustrated dream of receiving my father's love, Matthew was torn apart. His whole life changed and the day I entered in his room was the first time I saw how a flow of flames were spinning around his body. I screamed and mom came in a matter of seconds. Matthew stared at me, stopping his tears. He thought that I was sad because of our father's departure to the next life and he came near to me to hug me. It was one of the few times he did when I was below three years old, and it felt so warm. But mom knew why I had screamed, she already knew what I saw, so after Matthew broke the hug and lied down on his bed again, mom took me to her room. There she told me that what I saw weren't really flames, but Matthew's essence.

That statement was the end for my childhood and the beginning of a hard and intense life of training. I had no time to cry, neither to complain, and nor to stop. Mom taught me a lot about us. Her bloodline was connected with supernatural abilities like being able to see the future, seeing people's soul, among many others. People usually ignored the thing they call supernatural, as they don't have the ability to sense it nor to see it, but the fact is that it is there and I was to learn all about that world. My mother didn't hide anything from me, she told me many things she faced on this brand new world I was entering and she would teach me how to fight it. I knew I wouldn't be the same girl again.

During my first years at the training I was taught many things about the world, I saw how the flows of spirits were heading to what we call heaven, I was taught about the blood ties that rule the spiritual life on the Earth, and I was even taught how to read some events of the future. I was scared, but every time I showed that fear mom would get angry at me and shout me to be calm. Then, she realized of how hard she was being with me and I noticed how tears felt of her beautiful broken face. For that reason I learned how to stop feeling fear, I also learned how to contain every single scream of agony and I started working on this training harder than I could resist. I was no longer a child, but an adult, I could only fake smiles and act like a child when I was away from mom's sight, but as soon as she saw me it was moment to learn something new and become an adult. She was scared that she would lose us as she lost dad, so she encouraged Matthew to keep on the Judo dojo, while I learned everything about the supernatural world around us. No matter how scary it could be, it was forbidden for me to feel fear.

When I was about seven years old, I was aware of many events that would surround us. I wasn't as good at seeing the future as mom did, but I got to know why dad was so set on Matthew. He would keep his legacy, and I would keep our mom's legacy. I learned about how the world that the Japanese's created would crash with ours and then Matthew would be one of the few how could make something about this world. When two souls meet in one body, the body is strengthen, the body meet a whole new level which makes it powerful, that's why dad and mom knew that Matthew would be pressured to become part of the conflict, even if he didn't want to, he would be drove to it one way or another, he could choose the side, but there was no way he could escape the conflict. His decisions could make a lot of possibilities, so I wasn't able to read them all. I wanted to be in his place, I would like to fight alongside with him, but the only thing I could do was foresee a future and guide him with knowledge.

On my years learning the supernatural, I only had one comfort around me. Matthew was always there to be with me; he used to hug me a lot, he always arrived from school and spent a lot of time with me. He gave me most of the childhood I never had. I was so happy when he always spent time with me. It was the only way to bear the whole suffering caused by this emotional training.

"Why are you always so serious when mom is with you?" Matthew asked me once.

I didn't know what to answer. I promised mom that I would never tell anything Matthew until he figured out himself, if we were to tell him before handed his future could lead him to a tragedy. So I just thought of a flow of words that could convince him and that could make him believe me.

"Mom is always caring for me... so she is sometimes a little bit hard with me. She wants me to grow fast, so she is most of the time... teaching me things, explaining things and..."

"That's not reason to be so hard!" he protested "I'll talk to her!"

"No, Matthew, please don't!"

"Melanie, I'm tired of her" his statement made me froze "She's not a good mother"

"Please, don't say that!"

"She kicked out dad and that killed him!" my eyes opened wide "That killed him!"

Matthew stopped talking and he felt on the count of his accusation. It was awful, it was terrible, but he held a great grudge on our mother, he felt it was her fault that dad died, when our dad chose death on his own. I started shedding tears, as I tried to deny the fact that my brother hated our mother. It was so terrible, despite she was hard with me, I always knew it was for the sake of both of us, and Matthew hated her? I couldn't blame Matthew, he was clueless, but it was so hard... I wanted to tell him the truth, I wanted to tell him that his beloved father chose death on his own; I felt how he hugged me.

"I'm sorry Melanie" he told me as I felt his tears falling on my shoulder "I said a terrible thing. I know mom never meant to kill him, but I can't stand her anymore. She's always treating you so bad, and she hardly ever spends time with me. I'm now 14, I've been thinking on making a legal claim"

"Were would we go?"

"I don't know, maybe we have distant relatives. Have you never wonder why don't we know our grandparents? Our maybe an uncle or an aunt, it's so odd. Our family seems to be little, but I think we haven't been permitted to meet them. And if we really don't have more family, then I could take care of you"

"You're a kid!" I shouted now in filled of anger "None of us can take care of ourselves on our own! And mom doesn't treat me badly, that's what you think, but you don't know a thing!"

"Then tell me Melanie" he knelt before me and he stared at me eyes with great resolve "I don't want to be clueless anymore, what is the thing both you and mom are hiding? You can tell me, you can tell me everything, because no matter what happens, you'll always be my sister"

"It's not that easy... it's complicated Matthew"

"Then make it simple"

"I can't" I said as my voice finally broke "If I tell you, then I would destroy you"

I ran away from him, as he stared with confusion how I left the living room to lock myself on my room. I cried a good while, I wanted everything to be over, but it would be soon. Three years weren't that long, but the suffering made them long enough. Matthew grew up distant from our mother; he learned how to take care of himself on the house, while I kept my training. I had to be ready for everything that future could hold for us. I didn't want Matthew to hate our mother, because despite how hard she could be at me some times, I also was able to see her smile and we sometimes had a normal life, but I could not deny I held a great grudge at our mother.

The three years passed and something happened on March, something that wasn't mean to happen. I turned on the wii and played brawl while Matthew was out and waited for something to happen. And it did. Zelda was looking for a host and she found me. She had been looking for one who could hold her whole magical skills. My supernatural skills had an affinity with hers and that's how I became Zelda. I wanted to fulfill the task gave to Matthew so our dad could see that I could do it as good as Matthew. Mom got really mad at me, she cried, she didn't want me to have involved in the war, she wanted me to be prepared, but not for me to be a fighter. So I respected that and I didn't fight, I dedicated to learn how to use my powers first, as I also spoke to Zelda. She had been one of the first attempts on creating human with smashers' powers, but she managed to flee as a flow of energy and now she resided with me.

April came and Matthew became Mario. He swore mom and I didn't know, but we could both tell that Mario's soul was there. Then at middle of April, he came back home with Link and I felt how Zelda happiness engulfed me for Link to be ok. The same night he arrived I showed him that I was Zelda and I allowed her to talk with him. Zelda made him promise he would help us; Zelda wanted to protect me, she became very attached to me and me to her, we were very close. Link bowed before Zelda and he promised that he would protect us and that he would also protect Matthew.

The rest of the story is to be told, and it's not for me to narrate. Still I appreciate having the space of telling how my childhood was. Now, I could only hope for our future to be brighter.