KT – DA: Hello once again! Another day, another chapter… sort of.

Link: Yeah, sort of.

Karanos: Back to work, callow crew! No swag for slackers/cracks whip/

Roy: I hate that whip…

KT – DA: She's right though. We need to get to work. Link, do the stuff.

Link/sighs/ Kuroi Tenshi – Dark Angel does not own SSBM or any of its characters. She owns Sarah Holly and Jasmine Miles, but that's it.

KT – DA: Liiiink…. /taps foot expectantly/

Link: Oh… right… and Marth…

Marth/blushes/ ah… KT…

Karanos: Alright! You all need man lessons!

Roy: What? All of us?

Karanos: You most of all!

KT – DA: Well, do you think you can wait until he's answered reviewers? It's his turn.

Karanos: Oh. Okay.

Roy: Whew…

MoonCat07 – Thanks for the review. I wonder what will happen to me as well… KT has this nasty habit of not telling us where her plotline is going.

Max Fuchs – Um… well, I'm not operating on little sleep… so I think I'm good for answering reviews. In any case, don't take it personally. Captain Karanos is just that way. We think it has something to do with her childhood. (Karanos: You leave my childhood out of this, Roy! No swag for you!)

Tymaporer – Yes, we knew what you meant. Link appreciates the compliment, even though he won't admit it. I tell ya, if anyone needs man lessons here, it's him. Anyway, we like short waits too!

Windkiller – Yeah, if you can call it fun. I call it cruel and unusual punishment. But hey, who am I to talk? I'm the star of the show! Long live the Great Roy! Thanks for reading, and we hope you continue!

LVMJ – Whoa, you too? No way! Did you have some traumatic childhood experience with water? Fall off a dock or anything? Ooh, I just hate water… You know, they should have a help clinic for this sort of thing. I /gets whacked by Karanos/ owww… sorry. Anyway, we forgive you for not reviewing for a bit, I thank you for cheering for me, and we'll see you later!

Karanos – Oh dear… Listen… I really don't think this 'man lesson' thing is really necessary. I mean, Link and Marth and I are men. Well, okay, I admit Marth is kind of a pansy… but Link and I are okay. You love me, remember? You wouldn't want to put me through something like that… would you?

Hylian Dragoness – What do you mean, 'chinks in my armor?' I don't have any chinks! My armor is perfect! Oh yeah, woot is good.

Rain4life – Yes, my life at Smash Mansion and here in KT's basement is tragic and traumatic. Nobody likes me, except Karanos sometimes. Everyone makes fun of me. But thank you for your review just the same!

Marth: Is that all of them, My Lady?

KT – DA: Yep, that's it. Time to put the chapter up!

Karanos: Hmph. Finally.

In Midwinter's Stillness – The Whole Mansion's Frosted

Roy awoke to gnawing pain in his stomach. He opened his eyes slowly, staring blearily across the room to where Link slept in his own bed. A hand dangling down from the bunk above Roy's bed told him that Marth was asleep as well.

Roy pushed himself up on his elbow and ran his fingers through his messy hair. His stomach was growling loudly now. He dressed quickly and quietly, not wanting to wake the two boys, and went downstairs.

The mansion had been transformed into a Christmassy winter wonderland over night. Roy admired the decorations as he passed them, staring at the giant Christmas tree in the common room for a full two minutes before shaking himself and moving on to the dining hall.

It was just as decorated there as it was in the halls. Wreaths hung on the walls above every window. There was even mistletoe hanging in the doorway to the kitchen, something he was sure Jazz had done. The girl seemed to enjoy teasing Sarah and Marth almost as much as she did him, and the kitchen was a rather convenient place to do so. Roy laughed lightly, in spite of himself.

"Roy! Where were you last night?" Sarah's voice floated over to him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Looking to their table, he saw the girl manager and her assistant eating their breakfasts. "Ah, I was really tired last night. Decided to get some sleep," he said as he strode over to join them.

Jasmine gave him some look as he sat down, but he couldn't tell what it was supposed to mean.

Sarah frowned at him. "Roy, Jazz told me about the pool."

Roy felt his stomach squeeze. "Er…"

"God, Roy, I'm so sorry. If I'd known you were afraid of water, I never would have assigned you…"

"Shut up already!" Roy hissed. There was nobody else in the dining hall, but he still didn't like talking about it. "I don't want anyone else to know."

Sarah still looked guilty. "I know you don't. I just… well, you should have come down to dinner, at least."

Roy felt himself blush as his stomach gave another loud protest at the long wait for food. "I guess so," he murmured as he stood and went to get breakfast. The girls laughed.

The meal passed fairly quietly. Some of the other Smashers started trickling in as the morning grew lighter. Finished with his breakfast, Roy pushed away from the table.

"I'll see you later, I guess," he said.

Sarah smiled. "Alright. I'm sorry again."

Jazz simply nodded at him and gave him that look again. The redhead felt tingles run down his spine.

Roy took his tray back to the kitchen and left the dining hall. He thought of going up to his room to fetch his book. He would settle down in the common room, pull one of the big armchairs as close to the fire as he dared. He didn't really feel like reading, but there wasn't anything else –

"Link, have you apologized yet?"

Roy stopped at the foot of the dorm stairs, curious.

"Well, no. He was asleep when I came up last night, and he was already gone when I woke –"

"Link!" Zelda screeched. Roy thought of covering his ears, not even realizing that he was wincing.

Link's voice came again, wavering. "But Zelda, I haven't had a chance… and besides, what will the others think if I actually admit I was wrong?"

Roy could practically hear Zelda scowl at the Hero. "This has absolutely nothing to do with wounding your so-called man-pride. What it has to do with is making Roy feel better. He was clearly hurt by what you said to him yesterday."

"But Zelda,"

"Look, if you care so much about your own image, that's fine, don't apologize to one of your own best friends, but you can also say good bye to protecting me. I'll hobble along on these crutches on my own. And just you watch, I'll probably fall down the stairs and hurt myself again, and then won't you wish you'd had a little more heart?"

Roy decided that he wanted to see Link's reaction to that last statement. He climbed the stairs quickly. At the top, Zelda was standing, leaning on her crutches, arms crossed as best as she could, glaring. Link stood stock still, face white. Roy thought he looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Um… I heard yelling. Is everything okay?" Roy said.

Zelda turned to him, the scowl melting away into a warm smile. "Hello, Roy. Link and I were just discussing some of his life-choices."

Link swallowed convulsively. "Er… Roy? Um… about yes-yesterday…" The Hero flinched a little as his princess started to raise one crutch, as if to hit him with it. "I just wanted to say… I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just… wanted to do it myself…"

Roy would have laughed at Link's situation if he hadn't understood that the Hero, threatened and tricked into making his apology as he had been, truly meant what he was saying. Instead, he smiled.

"It's alright. I should have realized you would want to help Zelda yourself. I was just having a bad day."

Link relaxed visibly. Zelda put her crutch down. "Well, I'll leave you two so I can go get breakfast." She started for the stairs, but Link rushed in front of her.

"Nuh-uh. Not after a threat like you just gave me. I'll walk you to the bottom, then you can go on your own." Holding her elbow, he did just that. Once she was safely down the stairs, he came back up to talk to Roy again.

Roy smiled. "She can be pretty tough sometimes, huh?"

Link rolled his eyes. "You heard everything we said didn't you?"

Roy nodded. "I know you meant it, though."

"Sometimes I think she's the only thing that's keeping my head screwed on straight, you know?" Link said with a sigh.

Roy thought he understood. "I've heard that many guys say that about their girls."

"Yeah," Link said absent-mindedly. "Wait, no, that's not it! Zelda and I aren't… I mean…"

Roy laughed. "Yeah, whatever Link."

Link just scowled.

Roy sighed and changed the subject. "So, I see the mansion's been decorated. Why didn't you come tell me they were doing it? I would have liked to help."

Link scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "You were asleep when I came to get you for dinner, so I just assumed you were still. If you want, we can put some stuff in our own room. Marth won't mind, and if he does, it will be funny to watch him get upset over something stupid again."

Roy laughed, remembering the last time it had happened. Marth was something of a neat-freak. Link had purposely hung his own shirts up in the 'wrong' section of the closet, and Marth had told him quite forcefully that that wasn't the way he wanted it.

"That sounds great. How much is left? I mean, the whole mansion's frosted."

Link shrugged. "I'm not sure. There're some boxes in the common room, and some in one of the hall closets. Why don't you go to the common room? I'll meet you back here."

The swordsmen agreed, and went their separate ways.

Roy was almost to the common room when he heard voices. I seem to be walking in on a lot of private conversations as of late, he thought to himself as he inched along the hallway towards the door. He realized a moment later that he was hearing Captain Falcon and Jazz again. He poked his head around the corner cautiously and saw that they were in a far corner of the room. He could safely watch them from here, and they would never know it.

Captain Falcon was pulling moves on the blond girl again. "I think you should let me take you out for a drink."

Jazz rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I don't drink. Alcohol is very bad for one's judgment. Besides, I've got work to do."

"You mean you've never gotten drunk?" The racer sounded shocked. "I was fifteen the first time I got drunk."

"I believe it," Jazz said with a grin.

Captain Falcon smiled back. Roy didn't think it was an altogether pleasant smile.

"C'mere. I got something to show you."

Jazz lifted her eyebrows, but stepped over to Falcon. The racer pulled something out of his pocket and held it up, balanced on one finger.

Roy turned away and left in disgust, Christmas ornaments forgotten. He really didn't want to see the blond girl's reaction to mistletoe. The racer had probably stolen it from the kitchen. When he was a safe distance away, he started running. He didn't stop until he was up the stairs of the boys' dormitories. He stomped to his room, feeling anger burn through him.

The door was slammed, a pile of papers was knocked off a desk to flutter slowly to the floor, and an innocent pillow was pummeled before Roy had calmed down enough to lie on his bed, breathing hard and staring at the top bunk. The redhead could still feel the flames of anger rushing through him, but it was less frenzied now, less urgent. He made himself take a few deep breaths. Something told him that he was over-reacting.

Roy thought about the sleazy way Captain Falcon was always hitting on Jazz. It was enough to make him want to throw up at his own male-ness. The way the racer was so casual about it, confidence just radiating off of him, was overwhelming. Anyone with half a brain could see that all he wanted from any girl was a quick tumble in the sheets whenever he asked. That wasn't any kind of love. That was practically rape. Jazz didn't deserve something so coarse and rough. She deserved a real relationship with someone who really cared about her. She deserved…

Roy finally realized what his problem was, what was making him so angry.

He was falling in love with Jasmine.

KT – DA: Ta daaa!

Link: bra-VO

Roy/waves a tiny flag/

Marth: It was wonderful, My Lady!

KT – DA: Thanks guys! You're the greatest!

Karanos: Come ON! Time to set sail! Link! To the crow's nest!

Link: Aye aye, Captain!

Karanos: Roy! Secure riggings!

Roy: Aye aye, Captain!

Karanos: Marth! To the galley! Make us some lunch!

Marth: Aye aye, Captain!

Karanos: KT! Get your butt below decks and WRITE!

KT – DA: You bet!

Marth: Please review!