Zelda sat alone at the breakfast table in the dark.

Really, it was more of a desk than a table, only big enough to really fit for a small lamp, but her, Link, and Ganondorf had made do with it for so long, so it wasn't much of a problem. What was a problem, was that as the clock on the wall above struck nine in the morning, Zelda had been sitting here for over an hour, and no one had shown up. The pancakes on the pair of plates she had set out were beginning to get cold.

A shame, too, she thought, after Yoshi agreed to share the recipe with me and everything.

She scanned the sea of mattresses laid out around her, adorned with pillows and fluffy blankets, lit a faded yellow by the light coming in through the huge glass display windows at the front of the room, and hoped that she could catch a glimpse of movement. Nothing stirred, except for the door at the back.

Three doors. Three residents. One was hers. One was Link's. The one that opened was Ganondorf, and as she saw him exit, she sighed.

Ganondorf didn't miss it, from the way he sneered. "Sorry to disappoint, princess."

She should have expected him, anyway. Ganondorf always woke up at nine.

"You haven't seen Link anywhere, have you?" she asked, putting on a polite smile. "It's been an hour, and he hasn't shown up for breakfast."

"Link?" Ganondorf's grin took on a hint that was just a bit too mocking for her taste. "Ah, I'm sorry, Princess. You just missed him." Ganondorf tapped the side of his head. "Funny how that works out."

"I missed him?" A flicker of disappointment flickered in her eyes. Zelda knew there was no use hiding it; Ganondorf was perceptive like that, and from the way his eyes lit up she knew that he'd already caught the hint like a wolf on the hunt.

"Yes, you did," he said. "He just went to bed at six-thirty. Exactly thirty minutes before you got up, if I remember correctly. Unfortunate. I feel bad, really I do."

Sighing, Zelda said, "I'm sure you do."

"What kind of a partner does that? Unforgivable, if you ask me. Truly, he must have done something awful to you if he feels the need to avoid you so."

"Yes. I get it."

"What did he do? Did he break your heart? Slaughter your people? Oh, or maybe he–hey, are those pancakes?"

"They are, and they are not for you," Zelda said. When Ganondorf reached down to take one, however, she picked up both plates and pulled them out of reach.

"You're a spoilsport, you know that, Princess?" Ganondorf said. "Maybe Link has a good reason to avoid you. Do you ever think about that?"

Calmly, Zelda said, "If he is not coming out to eat, I have no reason for keeping these here."

"And what are you going to do? Throw them away? You realize that's bad for the environment."

Zelda ignored him. Her business was done here. She had stayed for Link, and if he wasn't going to make an appearance, then she had no reason to stay.

"Ignoring me like you ignore your problems? Triforce of Wisdom indeed," Ganondorf called out to her retreating form. "I just hope you washed your hands before you touched that. No one likes eating dirty food, after all."

The Hyrule Mattress shop was quiet, even on the Smash Mall's busiest days. It was why she used to stay there alone so often; it was the perfect place to find peace and quiet, especially when she needed a moment to meditate away her troubles. Silence was golden.

Until it wasn't.

Zelda sighed as she stepped through the ornate glass doors and into the Smash Mall. "I suppose I should find somewhere to put these down," she said, hoisting the two plates in her hands. "It's a good thing, then, that I have just the place in mind..."


To say the Smash Mall was a strange place would have undersold how odd it truly was. In what could only have been described as a fever dream by a pair of mysterious benefactors known only as "Master Hand" and "Crazy Hand", the Smash Mall was a vast indoor shopping plaza where people of countless different worlds were drawn together to sell the best their universes had to offer, be it wares or entertainment. Shoppers from every thread of the multiverse were welcome to shop here and wander around the strange and intricately designed corridors based on places from their worlds. Sometimes, the shopkeepers were called to do battle on those sets, and when that happened, and destruction rained down on a crowd of awed onlookers, it was easy to forget that this place was a mall at all.

It was with this sentiment that Roy found himself strolling through the Smash Mall's vast corridors, passing by a crowd as they watched Pikachu and Byleth battle over a display in the middle of the hall that resembled a dusty arena. "Arena Ferox, from Fire Emblem: Awakening", a nearby stand proclaimed, not that anyone noticed as Pikachu lunged out and knocked over one of the looming statues, causing sand to blow out over the crowd as the chunks of stone tumbled to the ground. They were so caught up in the spectacle, and Roy thought it was a crying shame because the mall around them had much to offer as well.

Bright, colorful lights adorned large marble pillars stretching up to the second floor, casting an ever-changing glow of red, blue, and yellow over the colorful shops to the side. Above, the moon cast silver rays through a giant glass roof, catching on the reflective red and white surface of the tinsel draped down from the second floor like castle drapes. The shops, too had many colorful items on display, from soft, luxurious mattresses to steaming hot pastries that tempted Roy to shove his way through the crowd just to get a taste. The fact that both the Hyrule Mattress store and the Pokemon Poffin store were completely empty went far to show what people really came to the Smash mall for.

A shame, too. Roy would have tried to buy something if he wasn't a little short on funds given how poorly the Fire Emblem Chess Shop was doing.

As Pikachu knocked over another pillar, pushing Byleth further back, his stomach grumbled. Roy glanced down, and he briefly recalled that he had yet to have breakfast yet. Chrom had called that chess tournament first thing in the morning, and his pie analogy hadn't helped things at all.

Luckily, Master Hand had made it a rule that all Smash Mall employees could eat for free at the food court, and as his stomach growled again, his feet began to steer him away from the fight and down the hall.

I wonder if any of the others have the same idea as me, Roy thought, walking past a store labeled, "The Kingdom Hearts Bookstore". He gave Sora a quick wave before he continued on. I hope I don't run into them. I think I'd like to be on my own for a bit. Maybe then I could figure out what it is I'll do while I'm staying in this shopping mall.

And that was when he saw her. Just a few stores down from where he knew the food court to be, he saw a blonde woman in a white dress, crouched low as she handed a pair of children a plate of pancakes. More children gathered around her, attracted by their joyful cheers.

Most people would have been annoyed. Roy probably would have been intimidated. This woman, however, just smiled, reached into her bag, and pulled out a handful of candy. Her shining blue eyes radiated such warmth and kindness, and Roy could do nothing but sit back and watch as she smiled and delivered the candy into the waiting hands of the children.

The children loved her, cheering and smiling back at her, and she seemed to love them too. Roy could remember seeing a similar face on his own mother, and seeing this woman brought back such warm memories that, for a moment, he forgot about his hunger.

His mother smiled just like that. Gods, he missed her so much.

"Hey! Give me that! I want it."

"Nuh-uh. You already got one."

"But I don't like this one. I want what you've got."

Roy was snapped out momentarily when he heard a pair of voices rise above the rest. He glanced down. A pair of children sat at the edge of the group, fighting over a piece of candy. And after the woman had been so kind to give them some, they still needed to fight over it? Frowning, Roy stepped forward to intervene.

It turned out, he needn't have bothered. The woman reached them first, gliding over the floor and parting through the crowd of children like an angel.

"Villager. Inkling. What seems to be the problem, you two?" she asked.

The first child turned to her and cried, "I don't want this candy, but he won't give me his."

"But you already have a candy. If I give you mine, I'll starve!" the second one replied, and she crossed her arms.

"Then I'll give you mine."

"But I don't want it either." Then the second child turned to the woman. "Miss Zelda, do you have any more?"

The woman, Zelda, shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't. But please don't fight–" she said as the children opened their mouths to reply, "–be patient, won't you?" She craned her head over her shoulder. "Lucas?"

A blond-haired child, one that he recognized from the "Earthbound Toy Shop", stepped out of the crowd, his gaze tilted to the ground. "Yes, Miss Zelda?"

"Do you want another candy?" she asked.

Lucas shook his head, "N–no, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Lucas," Zelda said, and she put her hands on her hips. "Are you sure?"

Lucas paused, then nodded.

"You didn't seem too happy when I gave you yours. Were you?"

Lucas looked up. "How did you know?"

"I simply did." When Lucas didn't say anything, she knelt down next to him and said, softly, "Do you want to trade candies with Villager here?"

"Can I?"

"I'm sure he'd love to. Isn't that right, Villager?" Zelda smiled again, and Roy felt a smile creep up on his own face.

"I'd love to!" the first child, Villager replied, and he jumped up. "This is the candy I wanted."

"What about you, Lucas. Are you fine with getting Villager's candy? I know it's your favorite."

"Uh-huh."

"Then why don't we trade. That way, we can all be happy, can't we?"

Roy watched as Zelda officiated the exchange, and while it was just candy, she did so with the seriousness of a priest officiating a wedding. Her face radiated such kindness that the only other face he could think of was his mother.

He wanted to be her. He wanted to be like her. He needed her to teach him her ways.

It was there that he realized, this was just what he wanted to do.


I don't think there are many fics where the Smashers hang out at a shopping mall instead of at the usual Smash Mansion. I can't quite remember my reasoning for why I set the Smash Mall as a setting in the first place, only that it was kind of silly, because I'd always intended this fic to be a little silly. Maybe it was the title. Maybe I thought it would be funny to have the central moments of the story be at McDonalds. I'm not quite sure.

Visualizing the Smash Mall was also sort of a challenge, too. There is this mall that is close to where I live, and that mall has given me a very specific idea of what a mall is supposed to look like. If this were a comic or something more visual, I could probably literally paint you a picture, but right now, words are all I've got. Describing a setting in one fell swoop is not my strongest suit, so maybe I'll have the opportunity to come back and revisualize it in the story later down the line.

And yes, I know this is technically a day late, but I stayed up late writing this, so cut me a little slack. I had a long day, and it was sort of fun getting to sit down and write it. Not that I'll probably be thanking myself for this tomorrow, given that I'm not sure what our vacation plans are other than "watch a lightshow." Here's to hoping it's not super early in the morn.

Until then, remember that you are special and that you are loved. Take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!