Okay, last chapter was kinda rough, I know. Zelda did not have the best time last chapter, getting expelled in all. But maybe this next chapter will give hope to our Hylian Princess. Anyway ,thanks for your nice reviews. From the way they sound it seems that you hate Link more than Veronica right now, and heh, that is totally undertstandable. Maybe he'll redeem himself. Here's the next chapter!

Chapter 16

Guiltiness Runs Over

Master Hand looked over his papers in his desk. He was using his powers to file through every smasher. The screen dropped on the last smasher's name… Princess Zelda. He just stared at the name. This was too hard for him. He didn't like the fact that he was going to lose one of his fighters, one of his partners in SSBM, a family member. Everyone was like part of Master Hand's family. Or something like that. Master Hand did realize what she did was wrong but the idea of sending her away and banning her was a little overkill. He checked all her records. There was nothing in her file but pure goodness. She was always prompt, completed all her matches, got her training in, and no one once had a problem with Zelda. She was a good kid. At least that was what Master Hand thought at first until now.

Well, like they say: it's always the quiet and innocent ones. There was a soft knock on the door. Master Hand looked at the door. "Come in."

The door opened and Peach walked in. She shut the door slowly behind her. Peach smiled. "Hello. And hello, Mr. Walden."

Master Hand suddenly remembered Mr. Walden was still in the room with him waiting for him to erase all of Zelda's things. Master Hand looked away from the computer and turned his attention on her. "Is there anything I can do for you, Peach?"

"Not for me, but for Zelda. You see…"

Mr. Walden heavily sighed. "Miss Toadstool, there is nothing you can do to convince this expulsion to end. What she did was unforgivable. "

"Yes, I realize that. But that's not what I'm asking. It's just that tomorrow is Zelda's birthday and we have been planning this party for a long time. It's like a big moment in every girl's life when she turns sixteen, and I really want her to be here for the surprise party we're giving her. We have been working on it since we got here," Peach said quietly. She turned to Master Hand. "So, I'm asking can she at least stay to enjoy her party tomorrow?"

"After what happened I'll have to say no," Mr. Walden said.

Peach didn't hold her tongue. "Sorry, but I wasn't asking you. It's not your say in the matter."

"Excuse me?" Mr. Walden said.

Peach didn't respond to his warning voice. She turned to Master Hand. "Master Hand, you know we have been working on this for a long time now, and you allowed us to do it and you cannot go back on your word."

Master Hand well remembered his promise to Peach and just about everyone else. But was he still going to keep his word? "Peach… listen now."

"Wait a second. Are you going to go back on your word? You promised."

"I know, but what Zelda did is very serious. She could repeat the same attack and we cannot risk that."

"You know Zelda better than that. She never does anything without a reason, and I think she will be fine now. Just let her stay for one more day. Please?" Peach pleaded.

As much as Master Hand did not want to agree, she was right. He may not have known the real reason Zelda bugged out like that, but Zelda never did anything without purpose. And he still didn't want to let her go just yet either. But Mr. Walden still did not agree with this decision. He was hurt and angry about what she did to his daughter. And MH would be mad too if that was his daughter. But this was Zelda's birthday tomorrow. Maybe it could be like a going away party.

"Fine, Peach. She can stay. But for one day. Do not ask to add on anymore. Got it?"

Peach nodded. "Thank-you."

Mr. Walden just watched Peach leave with his mouth hanging open. As soon as she was out the door, he turned to Master Hand. "You do realize what you just did do you?"

"I did promise them, and besides she may need a day to say good-bye to her friends."

"Fine. But I want her out of here immediately after this little party tomorrow." Mr. Walden got out of his seat and went out the door.

Master Hand sighed. "Yes. Sure."

Outside the Resort

"We made it."

Samus peered from behind Garrett's back. The resort was right in front of her. She had to walk back in there and face the people who betrayed her. She knew it would have to happen eventually, but she didn't know it would be so soon. Samus removed her arms from his muscular body. She had enjoyed the ride and the small talk on the way. Garrett was quite the cool guy.

She got off the motorcycle and removed the bike helmet. She handed it to Garrett. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Garrett's looked at Samus for a second. But a second was too long for Samus. "What is it?"

Garrett shook his head. "Just thinking about this whole evil sister thing. I'm hoping you can help your friend at all costs."

Samus didn't respond. Those words stabbed at her heart. Help her friend Zelda? She just looked down at the ground. Garrett could tell something was wrong with what he said. "I know you two are mad at each other right now, but she needs you now more than ever.

Samus closed her eyes and shook her head. "You weren't there. You didn't hear what they said to me, what she said to me. I just don't think I can help her at all.

"Yes, you can. You have to." Garrett got off his bike and walked up to Samus. "Veronica could do something horrible to her, but you can stop her."

"Garrett, you could have asked anyone else except me. Why did you choose me to do this? I can't…"

Garrett sighed and held her hands in his. "I know you can, Samus. There's no one else I can trust in that building except you to do this."

Samus felt the warmth of his hands. They were very firm but in a soft squeeze. But she still could not get involved with this anymore. Though… it was getting really serious now with the whole Veronica thing. Then the words would keep coming back to her. Why help a friend who treats you like a piece of trash?

Samus dropped her hands from his. She sighed and turned to walk away. "I'll see what I can do," she muttered.

Garrett sat down on his bike. "You know, Samus. From what you told me, the whole fight is ridiculous. You and Zelda are good friends and this little thing shouldn't be holding you back from being friends. There are much worse people out there who are worthy of being angry at each other. And as for you and Marth… you two should make up because it seems you both made a mistake even though his was more severe. Anyway, I really am hoping you make up with your friends because it's sad to see a beautiful, young woman looking miserable."

Samus started to blush, but he didn't see it since she was facing the other way. When she was back to normal color she turned back around. "Garrett, I…" Right in front of Samus's face was a long-stemmed, beautiful white rose. Garrett was holding it tightly in his hand. "Here. They say white roses are signs of courage. You should take it so, you know… you can have some courage to talk to them or something. Besides the beauty of the flower goes well with yours."

Samus took the rose and stared at its beauty. She smelled it. "It's beautiful. Thank you Garrett but I still can't…"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Hold out your hand."

"Um… okay." Samus held out her hand.

Garrett got something out of his pocket and placed it in her hand. When Samus looked at it she was slightly confused. It was a tiny device that Samus was quite familiar with. "What… why are you giving me this?"

"You know why. I don't have to explain. Be careful with it." Garrett got onto his bike and revved up the engine. "Maybe if Veronica is stopped, we'll see each other again."

"Maybe…" She said quietly. He waved to her and then took off down the street. She didn't get to tell him thank you. When he was out of sight, Samus looked at the rose again. It was freshly plucked. Samus had no idea he had the flower. She was amazed by its beauty. Garrett… how different you are from other guys. You're more of a gentleman then anyone I met. Something slid down her wrist towards her elbow. She looked at her arm and saw it was her gold bracelet that Marth gave her. She had put it on earlier. While she was with Garrett she had forgotten she even had a boyfriend. But she didn't, right? Or maybe she did. She wasn't so sure anymore but… she hadn't thought about him since Garrett showed up. A thought struck her. Am I starting to like Garrett? That can't be true.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to the resort opened. A Nintendo character unknown to Samus came out of the resort. She then remembered she still had to go into the building. She sighed. This was going to be tough.

Roy and Marth's Room

Roy looked around the room. On the left side of the room Marth was staring out the window. He had not looked at Roy or anyone else in the room for some time now. The other person in the room? That would be Link. Link was on the far right side of the room. He was leaning against the wall facing Roy but staring at the ground. Roy felt a small smile form on his face. He was glad that he succeeded in getting Link to come to the room and that Marth had not decided to leave yet. It was time that these three friends met again to do some serious talking.

Roy crossed his arms and took a deep breath. He opened his mouth.

"Roy. We know why you brought us here together," Link said quietly.

"And there is nothing you can say or do to make us talk about what's happening," Marth added.

"I know that. But I really don't care either. You two are not going to talk about what happened. But you are going to listen to what I have to say. First off, Marth, allow me to say that you are acting childish. Samus made a little mistake and apparently Link did too.

"Hey! For the last time, she was the one who came on to me and kissed me. I had nothing to do with it," Link said.

Marth narrowed his eyes at Link. "If you don't mind, I would like it if you did not bring that up again. I'm trying to get over it and get on with my life."

"Without Samus?" Roy asked.

"Possibly."

"Do you plan to break up with her? Man, I hope not. Samus is very attractive…"Roy watched Marth raise an eyebrow. "Hey I'm not going to lie. Your girlfriend is hot, but she's too hardcore for me. If you two don't make up, someone can just snatch her up just like that."

Link gaped at Roy. "Roy, why would you say something like that? That will never…"

"Listen, Link. You and I are different in giving advice. You try to be as nice as you can, but I tell the straight-up truth that you always try to hide. Link, you know it's true, don't you?" Roy challenged him.

Marth looked up in interest. "Is that true?"

"Well… sometimes I do, but sometimes I don't. But what does that have to do with anything? We were on a different subject," Link said.

"You were the one who asked me why I was being realistic. But without getting into that, let's get back on topic." Roy looked at Marth seriously. "To tell you the truth, Marth, I'm quite envious of you. You know how long I've wanted a relationship with someone I really like and I can't seem to make it happen?"

"Someone? Who would that…"

"That's not of importance. What I'm trying to say is you have a great thing going with you and Samus, and if I were in your place, I think it would be a shame to lose her," Roy said quietly.

"Hmm…" Marth had no words.

While Marth was pondering his words, Roy turned to Link. "Your turn, Elf boy. What were you thinking?"

"What?" Link questioned, very confused.

"You know what. Why did you go and help Veronica? She caused the whole fight!"

"No, she didn't. Zelda was the one who threw the first punch. You saw it."

"Yes, I did. Zelda may have hit her first, but Veronica taunted her into doing it. In fact, Veronica taunts her into doing a lot of things. Don't you realize it?"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't believe it. She's just so…"

"She manipulates you and hypnotizes you with her cat eyes and fake smies." Roy didn't know Link was this oblivious. "What about Zelda, Link?"

"What about her?" Link said.

Marth joined in the conversation. "What about what Zelda says? You've known her longer than you've known Veronica. You and her are childhood friends and you've gone through a lot together. And I'm sure you trusted her with secrets and she always trusted you with the truth. But since Veronica showed up, you haven't been listening to a word Zelda has said."

"That's not true. I do all the time…"

"Can you really tell a bold-faced lie right here in our faces, Link?" Roy said while crossing his arms.

"Listen, Roy. I know what I'm talking about. Zelda is my friend, and I will always care about her." Marth and Roy looked completely unconvinced by his words. "Look, if it makes you two satisfied, I'll have a nice, long talk with Zelda tomorrow."

"You better make it sooner than that. You heard what happened, didn't you?" Roy asked.

Link shook his head. "No."

"Zelda got expelled from SSBM," Roy replied.

Link froze in place. His eyes were as large as the moon. "No…she didn't. Not for that squabble."

Roy lowered his head. "I'm serious, she did. Peach told me that Walden character and Master Hand made the decision after Zelda told them the truth about Veronica. They didn't believe her because Veronica was two steps ahead of her, and she wrapped them up tightly with her lies. Zelda told them everything Veronica did. She has done many things to Zel and you don't even realize it, Link."

Link sat down on Roy's bed, "Zelda would always say that, but she would never tell me what things. I would have...listened." Or, at least thought he would have.

Marth rested his hand on his sheath. "That's because she was afraid of losing her friendship with you. But now it's too late for that. She told Samus everything that has been going on with her. She told her that Veronica threatened her to stay away from you. It didn't stop there. She stayed true to her word. She was the one who ruined her green dress right before the team battles, she purposely spilled food on Zelda, she's the one who caused Samus to slip on the floor when she spilled the water bucket all over the stairs, and she caused the fire in the elevator. She was trying to kill Zelda. What else do you need to be convinced, Link?"

Link put his head down.

"I know it's hard, Link… but you know Zelda. She's one of the most honest people I know, and you know this too. Veronica has been lying to you about everything. She's not who you think she is." Roy couldn't think of any other way to break all this news to him. "But you need to talk to Zelda. Tomorrow is her last day here and then she's going back to Hyrule."

"You may never get to talk to her again. Do you want her to leave without anything resolved?" Marth asked.

Link raised his head "I can say the same for you Marth," Link said, making Marth raise an eyebrow. "Before you got here Samus would talk about wanting to leave SSBM because she was tired of being here without any real purpose. I guess she abandoned that idea when she met you. But now that you two are apart, she may feel like nothing is tying her here anymore." Link could see Marth already receiving the impact of the words in his facial expressions. "Samus told me not to mention it but I thought maybe you should know."

Roy looked at his two friends. Marth and Link were in bad shape. One about to lose a girlfriend for a dumb reason and the other was about to lose their good friend forever. Strange how their problems were so similar.

Link got up from the bed and headed to the door. "I better go."

Roy followed him to the door. "Where are you going?"

"Just going for a walk. You know, clear my head and think about all this. And I'm going alone." Link opened the door, went out, and shut the door quietly behind him.

"You think he realizes the truth now?" Marth said after a long silent moment.

Roy stared at the door. "Gods, I hope so." It was strange how this talk worked. They were supposed to handle their own problems, but theyended up helping out each other. Marth helped Link and Link vice versa. Now if only they can settle their own problems.

Zelda and Samus's Room

"Zelda… it's me, Peach."

Zelda dropped what she was doing and walked over to her bedroom door. When she opened the door, she saw a small smile on Peach's face. "Well, I got to talk to Master Hand. He said it was okay if you stayed for just one more day. Sorry, that's the best I could do for you."

"You didn't have to do that. I just want to go home now." Zelda moved out of the way and let Peach in. Peach saw Zelda's bag on her bed filled with her belongings.

"You're already packing? Don't worry about packing. You can do that any day. Well… tomorrow only… but with your birthday tomorrow and everything you should be having some real fun. Let's go out on the town. I'm not even going to suggest shopping; it's totally your choice."

"Thanks, Peach. But I think I'm just going to stay inside today and for my birthday. No one would want to celebrate it with me anyway. Everyone probably hates me for what I did to Veronica."

"That's not true. No one hates you. You just flipped out, and it was totally justified if you ask me. They won't abandon you because of that."

Zelda went back over to her bed and continued to put her clothes in it. "I know. You know, Peach. I just want to thank you for what you've done for me in my short time here. I learned so much about this world, thanks to you."

Peach's lip trembled. This was really killing her. She didn't think she would ever have to lose a friend like this. "Don't say that, Zellie. I don't want to hear your goodbyes. You're going to stay. I'll find a way somehow. I promise you." Her face started to warm up as she tried to hold back her tears.

Zelda saw this and lightly smiled. "Peach, it's okay. You'll be fine. You'll be here for a long time with your friends and you won't even remember me."

"N-No that will never happen. You're my best friend. How could I possibly forget you?" A single tear fell down her face.

Zelda wanted to cry too, but she had already cried enough after hearing that she would have to leave. She just dropped her smile. "Oh Peach. I just can't believe this happened. Link still went to Veronica after what she said to me. Is he really in love with her?"

Peach sniffed her tears back. "He isn't. He's just confused. That's why you have to talk to Link again and stop Veronica before you get sent away. You have to tell…"

Zelda shook her head. "No… I'm done, Peach." She saw Peach looking at her in shock, but she didn't respond to her look. "I'm done fighting over him. Why should I? I've tried for so long now and I'm still at square one with him. It's like waves at a beach. I'm with him, I'm against him, I hate him, I love him. Like waves, our relationship with each other changes. I'm tired of it. If Veronica wants him, she can have him. They can get together, get married, and have a bunch of kids for all I care."

"But Zelda…"

There was clicking noise at the door. Both princesses looked up as the door opened. Samus walked into the room. They looked at her and Samus looked at them. Samus shut the door with her foot as she shifted her eyes away from them. She walked silently over to her bed. Zelda looked at her for a second, but then shifted her eyes back to her bag and continued packing. Silence filled the room. Peach watched Zelda continue to pack and Samus was putting a white rose into a water-filled cup on her nightstand.

Peach decided to break the silence. "Samus, you heard about what happened, right?"

Samus didn't look at Peach, but answered her question. "Yeah, I heard. Saw what happened too."

Zelda remained quiet so she could hear what Samus thought about it, but she didn't say another word. Zelda looked through the corner of her eye to see Samus starting to put things into her nightstand drawer.

"Well, that must mean you saw the fight between Veronica and Zelda?" Peach asked.

"Sure did. Wasn't too pretty," she said without a little hint of sympathy in her voice.

"Well, Zelda got expelled for it. She has to leave tomorrow."

Samus eyed Zelda for a minute. She was packing all her stuff away. That was something Samus didn't know. And somewhere in her heart Samus knew she should have felt bad. But, she couldn't quiet her lingering anger. All those memories of what happened earlier that morning came back, haunting her mind. She just could not make up with her. "Well, that's pretty predictable when you do a stupid thing like attacking the company's daughter right in front of her dad, no matter how bad she is. The question there to ask is why would she do an idiotic thing like that, knowing she would get expelled for it?"

Zelda finally met eyes with Samus. "She made Link fall under her will. When Link returned her feelings, I just lost it."

Samus crossed her arms. "Mm-hmm, I see."

"All the evidence: the diary, the secret plans, and other things. She got rid of it all," Peach said hoping something would strike Samus's dark heart. "Her father and MH still believe Veronica is a good person and think Zelda's crazy for accusing Veronica."

Zelda looked at Samus, who said nothing. Why is she being like this? I know she's still mad, but after what happened. Doesn't she care a little?

Samus narrowed her eyes at Zelda. "I know that look, Zelda, and just so you know, I really am not fazed by what you just told me."

Peach dropped her nice act and looked at Samus in disbelief. "Samus, didn't you hear anything we just said?"

"I heard every word and my opinion doesn't change. If you guys are really expecting me to care after what happened earlier, let me tell you ahead of time I'm not going to."

Zelda gave up talking and went back to packing. What was the point? But Peach still tried to reach Samus. "Samus, we can't let this happen. We have to stop Veronica."

"Look, I'm not helping her after what she did. She calls herself a friend. Please… I've met villains who would be better friends than her. I've known her for a long time and she decides to not only not believe me about what happened on Serine Isle, but then talks to Marth about the whole incident. Then, the three of them just ganged up on me. You want me to just forget all that happened?"

"Look, Samus, I know you're hurting, " Peach used her words carefully, "But this is bigger than that. We need to-"

"-don't make this a "we" project. You want Veronica stopped. You do this with Zelda and anyone else who wants to help you, but not me. Zelda brought this on herself when she chose to attack her. She did it all. So, if she got herself into it, she can get herself out! I'm not helping at all!" The flare in Samus's eyes died, and she moved back to the door. She couldn't do this. She was still angry.

Peach had to pull herself together. "So, you don't care if Zelda leaves? Is that what you're trying to say?"

Samus looked at Peach one last time and then at Zelda as she was out the door. "It would seem that way." Having nothing else to say, she went out the door quietly.

As the door closed, Zelda stopped packing and put her head down. Her body shuddered for a moment before she let out an aggravated cry and collapsed onto her bed. Tears poured from her eyes.

"Zelda?" Peach rushed to her side.

"Oh, Peach…Samus is right. There's no way around it. It is my fault. All of it. Everything. I let myself lose control when I saw Link kiss Veronica, and I ruined everything. There's no one to blame for my time here being over except me." She kept sobbing uncontrollably.

Peach rubbed her back. "That's not true."

"Stop trying to be nice. I can take it. I know I'm a loser, and it's my fault. Samus is right: I was wrong to attack her. I should have known!"

"Samus doesn't know what she is talking about. I can see why you're mad at her."

Zelda slowly rose up from her bed. Tears were still falling down her cheeks and her eyes were red rimmed. "I may have been mad, but I could never hate Samus. How could I hate her when we've been through so much together. How could I when she was the first one to be on my side when Veronica showed up? All day, she kept coming back in my mind. I tried to be mad, but I couldn't. Even if she did kiss Link, she's just too nice of a friend to throw away. If there was anything in the world I could wish for it would be that none of this ever happened. I just want to have my friends back and if that means being without Link… then so be it. I just want to have all my friends back."

Peach felt like Zelda's unhappiness was her fault. "Zelda, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's all me. Veronica belongs with Link and I do not. It was destined to be this way for a long time. And now that the time is here," she collapsed back on to her pillow. "I have to let this happen! It's all over!" she continued to cry into her pillow. "I just want to go back to Hyrule and forget about this place!"

Hallway of 7th floor

"That stupid princess!" Veronica growled. She continued to look at her face in her compact mirror. Her nose was bruised and her face was all scratched up. "Ugh! My beautiful face! Doesn't she know that beauty isn't bought at a store! Not that she would know what beauty is."

Veronica had gone to the store and bought a few creams for her face to get rid of all the scratches and bruises. But all the creams would have to take a while to go into effect. She was angry with Zelda about her face. But then again, she wasn't completely mad. The reason why? Link came to her instead of Zelda after the fight, making Zelda bawl like a baby. Plus, she was expelled and would never return. She was glad that she was able to hide all her diary entries from Zelda and get her into more trouble. It was all too perfect.

And now Link is all mine. Ooh… speaking of Link, there's Mr. Handsome himself. Veronica smiled as she saw her love come walking her way. He had not seen her yet.

"Hi Link!" Veronica said with a large grin.

Link looked up and saw Veronica waving at him. He returned her wave with a light smile. "Hey, Veronica. You look better."

"Oh, I'm much better now, especially now that I've seen you. But, are you okay? You look down," Veronica said as she caught up to him.

"I'm fine. Just taking a walk. I need to clear my head since I just found out that Zelda's been expelled."

"Oh," Veronica said quickly. He still cares for her. How could he! "But it's good she's leaving. Now she can't attack anyone anymore, right?"

Link remembered what Marth and Roy had told him earlier. He couldn't trust anyone anymore. "Veronica, I need to finish my walk."

Veronica latched onto his arm. "Here, I'll go with you."

"No, I'll go by myself. I'm sorry, but with the things I heard about Zelda, compared to the things I heard about you, I really can't trust you or her yet. So, if you don't mind." Link pulled his arm away from Veronica. "I'll be finishing this walk alone. Talk to you later."

Link walked right past her with no regret. Veronica just stood there in shock. As he left, her fists started to shake. She growled in anger. "Ooh!" That girl. Even when I get her expelled, she's still winning! Link will never give that girl up. Whatever it takes, that girl is seriously going to pay!

A/N: Sorry it's short and not much happened in this chapter. I think this is one of the worst chapters I ever did, What do you think? The next one will not let you down. Well, I'll work harder on chapter 17! Bye, and please review!