Author's Notes: Hey, look who's back? Yep, it's me, readers. I once again apologize for the huge delay in this story. At least this time I've only been gone for about six months and not an entire year. For those of you who care to know why, here's a update: I managed to get myself a new job since I last left you guys a note (a nice one at GameStop), but I also suffered a pretty bad break-up with my boyfriend, so I'm rather upset about that right now. Aside from that, I'm still in school and working on this fic in the meantime.
10,000 hits! Oh mai gawd, you guys are amazing! I cannot believe I finally hit the 10,000 mark for this fic. It's been so long since I started this project, and it's come so far. I truly have to thank you guys for this. Don't worry, though, this chapter is not the final chapter. There's still a bit more to go after this. I've been listening to whatever suggestions you've been giving me for the end of the story, and I'm still working out how I want to go about that, but for now you can simply enjoy this chapter. So, I'll let you get to it.
Mr. Game and Watch: -BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP- (Captain Black Knight does not own Super Smash Bros. or any of us characters, but she does own those 10,000 hits! Hooray!) *rings little bell*
Chapter 35: A Quiet, Relaxing Night
"Alright, listen up, people," Fox spoke up to anyone who would listen. "The party's over, so everyone should contribute to cleaning up this place. After that, though, I'm not sure what we should do. From what I've heard it seems that we have to take care of some business, but that's entirely your call." The others began to indistinctly chat amongst themselves, but Meta Knight decided to speak up.
"Sir Fox is referring to Lady Brooke and her friends, of course," he clarified. "There is something they must do regarding their next destinations. However, the hour is late, and there is still abundant time to finalize any sort of plan. Therefore, I believe it would be best for all of us to retire for the night and continue our endeavors in the morning." The others chatted amongst themselves again, until Marth raised a hand and spoke in Japanese.
"Marth wants to know where we can all sleep, since the Halberd exploded and all that jazz," Snake roughly translated for the prince, who bowed his head in thanks for the interpretation. Meta Knight's eyes briefly glowed blue before they turned yellow again, indicating that Marth's (or rather Snake's words) were a bit hurtful. Fox, on the other hand, scratched his head.
"I don't know," he answered. "I guess you guys can find somewhere to sleep within these ships. I don't really care where you end up, as long as it's not a safety hazard. Oh, and don't take Falco's room, or he'll get pissed." Some of the Smashers snickered while Falco grumbled. "Anyway, let's get to work."
Those who cared to lend a hand did so and helped clean up the majority of the Great Fox. Trash was discarded, dishes were cleaned, and tables were put back in their original arrangements. Afterwards some people decided to retire with full bellies and tired minds. They either laid claim to some of the bunks in the ship, or they left the ship altogether to find a place to sleep in a different ship. Olimar, Captain Falcon, and Samus bid the others a good night before they retired to their ships. The youngest of Smashers also went to bed early, dispersing themselves between the Falcon Flyer and the Hocotate Ship. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong joined Captain Falcon in his ship, while Zelda and Peach followed Samus, inviting Renee and Kitty to join them despite the cramped space of the Hunter-class ship.
The rest of the group decided to stay here and at least have some engaging conversations. Although after a few minutes Ganondorf and Bowser became irritated and chose to retire, making their way to some undisclosed location in another part of the ship. Wolf and Wario also became too cranky for their own good, so Wolf left the ship to go sleep in his Wolfen, and Wario left to sleep on his bike (which happened to be parked in the hangar of the Falcon Flyer). Why they chose to sleep in their vehicles I will never know.
R.O.B. and Mr. Game and Watch had already made their way into the cockpit, where they would do some ship work before eventually surrendering to fatigue – if that was even possible for a robot. Fox and Falco returned to their rooms, the former being nice enough to invite Kirby to share a bunk with him and the latter refusing to share with anyone.
After another hour or two more of the group gave up staying awake any longer and departed to their chosen sleeping areas. The Pokémon managed to get an entire room to themselves along with Red. He, of course, offered the remaining bunk to Lex, who gladly accepted the chance to sleep on a mattress for the first time since the adventure began (on a side note I had to laugh to myself for being able to sleep in the comfortable quarters of the Halberd for a night). Mario and Luigi took up another room and shared with Yoshi and Will.
At that point the Great Fox was filling up to capacity – not counting the cots in the infirmary, where Jim decided to retire – so Marth and Ike decided to move to the Falcon Flyer and take up the remaining space there. Kayla and Jess followed them (no surprise there). But what of King Dedede and Snake? Well, the royal penguin fell asleep with his hammer in the far corner of the rec room, while the mercenary curled up inside his cardboard box in another far corner of the room.
The only ones who were still awake were Candace, Pit, Link, Meta Knight, and myself. We were all sitting on the surprisingly comfortable sofas in the rec room except for Meta Knight, who stared blankly out one of the windows of the ship. I assumed that he was either in deep thought or simply zoned out at the moment, but either way he refused to let fatigue get the best of him.
Off to the side of the room sat Pit and Candace on a couch that was separate from the couch upon which Link and I sat together. To my displeasure I saw Candace acting all lovey-dovey around Pit, something that she normally does around any of her boyfriends or love interests. Whether Pit reciprocated that or not, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but they were still violating my personal rule of no PDA – public displays of affection.
I always hated seeing couples act affectionate in my presence, and thus I always strived to maintain proper etiquette around other people – even if I'm terminally single. Of course, at this moment I'd be doing a better job at that if Link weren't touching my hand like that!
I wasn't sure if Candace had noticed me watching her or if she was simply tired, but she suddenly got up and strode out of the room, asking Pit to go with her. The angel followed her, gingerly taking each step in order to not wake anyone. Perhaps they were going to spend some quality time alone or just go to bed. Ironically Meta Knight went after them, either out of coincidence or out of a need to keep an eye on those two lovebirds. Nah, maybe he was just retiring for the night (finally).
"Looks like it's just us now," Link quietly spoke up after a few moments of awkward silence. His breaking the silence allowed me to relax a bit.
"Yeah, you're right," I replied. "I think those two wanted to get away from us, just like Kayla and Marth, Jess and Ike, Lex and Red…wow, they all fail." Just then I heard a strange sound, and I realized that Link choked back the urge to snicker. My brows scrunched a bit. "What?"
"You don't have much room to talk," he answered jokingly. I knew what he was implying, so I turned away, trying to hide my beet red cheeks and the quiet 'damnit' that I muttered. He chuckled at my reaction. Oh well, at least he wasn't being blunt about it.
I turned to face Link again, eager to exact 'revenge' on him. I furtively reached over and pulled his hat right off his head. His eyes went wide, but then he tried to reach for his hat, blurting things like 'Hey, that's mine!' and 'Give that back!' all while the two of us giggled and playfully wrestled each other for possession of the trademark cap. We even fell off the sofa. Surprisingly our rather loud antics didn't wake anyone. Not even the slightest stir came from Snake or King Dedede – well, except for maybe a twitch of the box.
At that point we ceased fooling around and quieted ourselves. Matter of fact we didn't even move when we realized the position in which we were lying/kneeling, which was a bit awkward, considering that I was lying on my back and that he was on his knees hovering over me.
Our marine eyes locked onto each other as we both blushed. But just then the corner of his mouth curled up ever so slightly, and he quickly snatched his hat out of my hand. I snapped out of that brief trance and grumbled. He just laughed, declaring victory.
"That was quite the dirty trick, you sly son of a gun," I remarked. Link laughed again, not denying a single word of my comment. I then looked up at him and examined his appearance. "You know, you look rather handsome without your hat." Link was about to put his hat back on until I said that. He stopped, stared at his hat, stared at me, then back at his hat, and finally decided to throw it aside onto the nearby coffee table. He smirked, and so did I.
Link stood up and lent me a hand to get up – before we fell back onto the sofa. We spent the next hour having a long conversation about various things – our personal lives, our opinions, the day's events; life in general, basically – while Link simultaneously took off his equipment: boots, gauntlets, scabbard/shoulder belt, and pouches (the sword and shield were already set aside yet ready to pick up at a moment's notice). I just took off my shoes and one of my shirts.
There was one thing that seemed wrong, though. As we talked, I could tell that Link was making every attempt to not remind me of what was to come the next day. Once or twice the thought slipped from his tongue, and he even made a small apology after the third time.
"It's okay, Link, you don't have to hide it anymore," I said to him in reaction. "Look, if it's bothering you, then we might as well address it. Say what you have to say." Link said nothing at first, but his expression turned rather serious.
"You're right, fine," he responded with a sigh, as if gathering his thoughts. "I just want to know what you've decided to do. I mean…do you plan on returning to your world with your friends?" Silence loomed in the air for a while. I hadn't really come to a decision about that, and I wasn't sure what the right decision was. However, the ill gut feeling I had told me that I had to choose the difficult option.
"I thought about this all day, Link, and I debated to myself about what I can do," I finally answered him, taking a breath. "What my friends will do is up to them, but I've determined that I – actually, I'm still not sure." The second those words came out of my mouth, Link appeared confused and disheartened. He looked down and away from me, muttering only a barely audible 'I see'. I continued, believing that he made an assumption about my decision. "What I do know is that vortex in the sky is likely our only path home, and it could close at any moment – maybe permanently. Then I'd be stuck here forever. My other friends and family would miss me terribly, and I don't even know if I could survive long-term in this place. If the circumstances were any different, then I would easily just stay here with you." Oops…that last part slipped.
Link's ears perked up, and he lifted his head to look at me. His face still had a baffled yet solemn aura about it, but it also showed a hint of curiosity and hope. I think he heard the last part of my statement.
"I understand what you're saying," he said, looking directly into my cerulean eyes. "You have an obligation to return home, despite your inner desire to remain here. It's your choice to leave if that's your final plan, and I'd say that it's the right thing to do if you think so. I'll accept your decision as well; I'd have no right to call myself your friend if I made you do something – anything – against your will." And if I truly love her, then I have to let her go.
"Thanks, I appreciate your support," I replied with a smile, despite my personal guilt.
"I have one question, though," he quickly spoke up. "You said that you would otherwise stay here…with me, am I right?" Yeah, he definitely heard that. I nodded, confirming his curiosity. "I thought so; it reminds me of those journal entries we wrote a while back." An epiphany struck me at that moment. I had almost forgotten about those journal entries. But now that he mentioned them, I remembered writing one and then reading his entry, just as he read mine.
"Of course," I agreed. "I remember those journal entries, too." Again I knew what Link was implying at that point. At that moment he took my hands in both of his hands and squeezed them gently. I quickly felt a warm sensation flow through my naturally icy hands, and it seemed to course through my arms into the rest of my body. Something about having his strong yet gentle hands holding mine made me feel more relaxed, secure, and appreciated.
"We might as well enjoy the time we have together while you're still here," Link said after another moment of silence. I looked up into his azure eyes, seeing a great amount of affection radiating from them.
"Yeah, you're right," was all I replied. Wow, this moment feels so cheesy. It felt like a direct scene from some weird romance movie. Nonetheless I took advantage of it. I leaned on Link and rested my head against him, while he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and continued to hold one of my hands in one of his own. I took my other hand and held that same hand.
Link took a moment to softly kiss my forehead before he muttered something I didn't quite hear clearly – something about 'stop time' and 'this moment, forever'. Whatever he said, it was probably very sweet.
Time seemed to move very slowly, likely because we were still awake and enjoying each other's company, yet also because silence had filled the air. Neither of us said anything for a while. Of course, this didn't help the fact that I was beginning to feel tired.
Just at that moment, two things occurred: something lightly fell onto my hand, and barely audible words reached my ears. I looked directly at Link's face and noticed something interesting. He had his head angled down and his eyes closed, meaning he had fallen asleep at that point.
Something else caught my eye: a single, silver tear flowed from his right eye and down his cheek, where it dripped onto my hand again. He must've cried himself to sleep – or rather – he had been crying in his sleep. It was a rather sad sight, yet it was so adorable at the same time.
"…love…you…" were the only words that escaped his lips at that moment, likely the same words I heard before. He had been talking in his sleep. Those words were barely audible, but their meaning was undeniable. I knew what he was thinking.
A combination of all that tugged at my heartstrings. I had to hold back my own tears, resorting only to softly kissing his cheek. No one would have been able to understand the kind of bliss I was feeling right now. I was with Link, at his side and in his arms. Nothing else mattered.
Well, except for maybe the fact that I was still tired. I gave up trying to stay awake much longer, so instead I wrapped my left arm around Link's back, still holding his left hand in my right hand, and rested my head in the crook of his neck. Coincidentally he rested his head on mine. It looks like I'm not getting a real bed tonight, but I don't care, I thought. Things were perfect here, just like this.
"…love you, too…" I said sleepily before I closed my eyes and drifted off to peaceful slumber.