Authors note: The full origin story is still being written! .. So please be aware this portion is a temporary filler to understand the basic idea of how Kirby came into his life. All the other one-shots following this one are about Dedede and Kirby after he has been adopted.

Note: I do not own Kirby in any way!

"An' a grand celebration! To conclude this important day!"

"Sire…"

" I assure you it will be bigger than last year!"

"But sir…"

"What is it Bandanna?!" The king exclaimed impatiently, looking over his shoulder. His servant reeled back in surprise.

"It's just.. don't you think all these fireworks will wake the Cappies.. I mean it is almost 10 pm-" f The penguin threw an angry glare at the waddle dee. To which he begrudgingly sighed in defeat. "..as you wish"

"Good. Now leave my sight"

He demanded, turning his attention back to the empty sky that would soon be the stage on which his magnificent light show would take place. Plus, soon to accompany the fireworks in the sky would be the flickering lights in the distance, of Cappies abruptly waking up and turning on their lamps and porch lights. He let out a hearty chuckle at the idea of people waking up from their slumbers just to witness the final reminder of what today was.

He already knew the Cappies didn't make the choice to celebrate his birthday, so being his obnoxiously self, he made them. The Cappies birthday gifts to him were in the form of sleep deprived yelling, protesting, and threats to overthrow him. He could do whatever he pleased and they could only complain...and he loved that….or at least that is what he told himself.

'It's good to be me' He tried to smile wide, but it didn't reach his cheeks. He shook his head, and stopped trying to force it, quickly turning his attention to the rockets that were being launched upwards, disappearing momentarily amongst the blackened sky, only to reappear when least expected with a violent 'crack!' and a burst of glittering colors. The light would then drip down like melting honey, precipitating off into smaller and smaller droplets until it was mere flickering.

Right on schedule, the town's people's lights started to turn on. Dedede kept his amused gaze on the show, eventually leaning forward over the balcony to yell.

"Haha! That's right Dreamland! I rule another year!" He tried to mock into the night. Not expecting a response, or for anybody to really hear him, due to the fireworks loud ambiance.

Nevertheless, the silence reminded him of just how alone he was. Perhaps he kept acting like this to ease his own pain or maybe it was that the gap between him and his people had grown too far apart to be repaired. His grip on the marble rail slightly loosened and his grin faltered.

'Dedede?! What are you doing! It's your celebration you idiot! The big finale! Stop moping!' The voice in his head demanded, forcing the king to focus back on the explosions. They were meant to be the extravagant grand finale to an important day.. and yet…

His eyes lazily watched each of the sparks fall to the ground and then simmer away, then moving back upwards to follow another. 'Heh...this always seems more fun than it is..'

But, when he caught sight of one spark in particular, his shoulders stopped slumping and he became alert. This one was not from any of the other fireworks, as it was far in the distance hurtling towards the ground in a blur of light. The light quickly disappeared behind the silhouetted forest, and the faint sounds of trees splitting apart and crashing to the ground could be heard as it continued its messy descent deeper into the woods.

"What the heck?!-"

Dedede flinched suddenly as loud crashing noise erupted in the forest. Terrified birds scattered from the scene and it looked like chunks of the ground had been thrown into the sky. The initial deafening collision subsided into a low rumble, followed by a few sputtering noises until all went quiet, excluding the continuing racket from the fireworks. Dedede's heart was pounding as he quickly pushed away from the balustrade and rushed inside.

"Did any of you see that?!" The king bellowed, his servants looking amongst each other in question.

"The fireworks? Well, of course sire we-"

"No, not those! That thing that just fell from the stars!" He demanded, pinching his break in his frustration.

The group moved to stand on the balcony, searching for what the king was yelling about.

"Over there!" Dedede frantically pointed towards the peaceful woods.

Following their higher ups' hand, they finally caught sight of the trail of smoke traveling up into the air above the woods, acting as a pointer to where the mystery disturbance was.

"I'm not sure what it could be your highness. Maybe it was just some fireworks that went bad?"

A guard offered, trying to make sense of it himself.

"That wasn't no firework…" He mumbled, watching the continuous stream of smoke. 'It would take something far more powerful than a firework to shake the ground the way it did.' Dedede turned back to his Waddle Dees. "Well, what are you waiting around for?! Something crashes through the atmosphere and you just gape? Move it!"" he barked, snapping his fingers towards the door.

The group jumped up and saluted him, running off to assemble a proper investigation team. The king followed them out, but stopped sending one last glance at the wide expanse of land behind him.

It was strange...he hoped to find a monster at the scene of the crash to take his anger out on or maybe a treasure chest of spoils to comfort him. But, there was also something inside of him that just called for him to go…

It seemed like fate that he had been on that balcony tonight, and had managed to see that tiny spark amongst the bright fireworks. It felt like it was meant for him in some way.

But that was crazy...right?

Weaving through the thickened timbers, Dedede and his team followed the residual smoke trail deeper and deeper into the forest. Torches illuminated the muddy path in front of them, along with the occasional flash of fireworks that were still going on. The king pushed away large branches and Interferences in the path. Determination set onto his features as he looked all around for any signs of a crash site.

Dedede suddenly stumbled forward as the ground dipped in sharply. He gasped, realizing that the ground in front of them was uprooted into a long muddy grove. And from what he could tell it kept going, disappearing into the darkness ahead.

'I'm sure that whatever we're looking for is at the end of this….' He put his hand out, motioning for Bandana to hand him his torch.

He quickened his pace, the light from his torch slowly chipping away at the darkness that cloaked the mysterious fallen thing. This mission was exhilarating in that Dedede's curiosity and brute desire for action pulled him deeper into the unknown, banishing all concerns for safety or logic. Furthermore, this hunt was serving as a desperately needed distraction from the King's brooding. Which if left uninterrupted would have festered into deeper self resentment...that would have unfortunately been taken out on the Cappies…

'that's the only reason I'm out here, ain't it?..to distract myself..' The man reflected with humiliation..

A gust of smoke suddenly rushed towards the group, confirming that the team was getting close. Dedede quickly pulled his sleeve to his beak to stop himself from breathing in the gas. With every step he took through the smoke his adrenaline intensified. And when the gray cloud engulfed them completely, the king thrusted his torch forward in desperation trying to break through the cloud.

Unexpectedly, revealing the very thing they were searching for..

The fiery light reflected brightly off a shimmering gold surface ahead of them. Dedede's breath hitched in surprise, swiftly pulling his arm back.

However, as he had come all the way out here, he wasn't giving up until he knew exactly what it was. Realizing that the smoke was being directed towards him by the wind he immediately veered off to the side, breaking away from the gray stream, coughing lightly. But, his lack of composer was suddenly intensified as his eyes widened in shock at the scene before him.

A golden star shaped ship was lodged into the earth, mud splattered all over it from the impact, with smoke pouring out of the side, but otherwise seemingly intact.

"Sire! What is that thing?!" Bandana yelped, as he and the rest of the team emerged from the smoke.

"Uh...i'm-i'm not sure." He sputtered out, his grip loosening dangerously on the torch from shock.

After a moment, The group noticed he wasn't making any motion to investigate and so they nudged their second in command, who realized he had been volunteered. Bandana took a breath and moved to the other side of the ship, observing it closer. It was a strange thing…'a ship should be piloted by someone right?' He thought, climbing hesitantly on the wing. He noticed the elevated top and reached his hand over to wipe away some of the grim that covered it. He gasped.

"Y-YOUR HIGHNESS! THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE!"

Dedede suddenly became alert, and running over to where his second was, He looked inside the smoky glass dome and felt himself freeze.

"...I-its a kid…." He whispered, instinctively touching the glass with his gloved hand.

"He's younger than that!" Bandanna gawked, turning his head towards the mesmerized king.

'What the heck is a baby doing in a Starship all alone?!' Dedede mulled over in bafflement.

'Why tonight? Why'd he crash?'' However, the king's thoughts were quickly interrupted by his frantic second.

"We need to get him out of there now!"

Dedede nodded, looking around for a way to open the hatch.

"Hurry sire! What if he can't breathe in there?!" He exclaimed, panicked at the idea.

"Stop yelling at me!" He barked back, feeling Bandana's panic projecting back on him.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

Dedede feeling desperate, did the only thing he could think of.

"Alright-I got it!" He announced in a hurry, reeling back his fist, ready to break the thin barrier.

His servants and guards were protesting madly, afraid for the child's wellbeing.

But, the penguin didn't hesitate and swung forward, punching in the glass towards where the baby's body was covered by a blanket, to stop any shards from landing on him.

"SIRE!" Bandana screamed in horror.

Ignoring the traumatized look on the Waddle Dees face, Dedede reached inside the dome, wrapping his hands around the little body, which flinched in surprise at the contact, and carefully pulled the baby out. As soon as the cold night air hit the child's face, he hiccupped and began to cry loudly. The king looked down at the bundle he held. Without the smoky glass covering his appearance, he could make out what the child really looked like.

The most prominent thing about the boy was his pink coloration, and his rosy cheeks. The tear filled eyes opened up slightly to look at the penguin, making his small paws visible after trying to free himself from the blanket.

The king stepped off the star ship, being immediately greeted by a swarm of Waddle Dees.

"Heh..look at that.., He's pretty cute!"

"I hope he's okay...do you think it hurt?"

'Where'd he come from?"

Dedede silently stared down at the trashing baby. This was the only thing he could not have anticipated finding. It wasn't an enemy to face off with, nor riches..It was a scared child. Without thinking he used his thumb to gently touch one of the pink paws. Immediately feeling that one stop beating at the air and try to grip the fabric. Dedede frowned and pulled away from the pitiful grasp.

'What a waste of time this has been…'

He sighed In disappointment, regretting not staying on his balcony. Straightening up, he pushed the child into the unexpecting hands of Bandana. Who gently took the boy into his paws.

Without warning, the king began to walk back towards the direction they came.

"Wait! Sire! What about the boy?"

Bandana called out, earning nods from the other waddle dees who were equally concerned.

"..just leave him for some other Cappie...he's not our problem." The King yelled from over his shoulder.

"You're the one who decided to come here..you found him. So he is your problem!" The second demanded, finding his confidence to speak up against his king.

Dedede stopped.

'Guilt?! Really, now I'm feeling that? I'm the only one that matters here…'

He clenched his fists together, looking down at the divided muddy ground that the Star Ship had caused.

"So what do you expect me to do?"

He implored, throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Well... I think the townsfolk are finally asleep now that the fireworks have ended." He said with frustration. "So we can't give him to them.."

"Great! We'll leave him at their doorstep! They'll find him eventually!" The older man suggested, trying to resume his walking.

"It's freezing out! We should-"

"We should not!" The penguin finished, spinning around to stop the Waddle Dees next words.

"Sire! We are going to have to take him to your castle." The waddle dee blatantly stated. Gripping the now quiet bundle closer, awaiting the lash back and order to just abandon the child.

Instead Dedede just ran a hand down his face in irritation. His guilt was twisting his stomach up in knots. These sympathetic emotions were making him weak and he wasn't too fond of it. Finally, he let out an exasperated sighed knowing the only way to ease his moral dilemma..

"You know what? Fine! But, I want him gone by tomorrow!"

Bandana was taken aback by his king's compliance, he wasn't actually expecting him to say yes. In all honesty, he was planning on sneaking the child into the guards quarters anyways.

"Of course!" He said with a little too much enthusiasm, earning a grumble from the king.

"Yeah...yeah..whatever"

The king stuffed his hands into his pockets dejectedly and resumed his walking.

...But unbeknownst to the king, the child behind him sniffled softly seeing the penguin escaping his gaze.

The boy's view was instead filled with Waddle Dees occasionally looking back or lightly poking his little cheeks. All giving the child the attention he wanted, but not from the right person.