It was what one would call a regular mourning in Patchland. As boring as that may sound, Patchland was pretty much the safest dimension anyone could live in and a world that will always feel like a warm embrace and a cozy blanket, even when it's in imminent danger. It was so happy and innocent. More so than dreamland.

This can also be said about its current ruler. Prince, or rather, KING Fluff.

Years later Fluff took his father's place as ruler. And to be honest he's been doing a pretty good job. The fighting skills he had developed on his adventures with Kirby had given him the ability to defend his kingdom with more efficiency.

However remembering this made him remember how much he missed his small pink friend. It had been so long since they saw one another. So he decided to finally visit him. But he had to prepare first.

Angie flew through the castle looking for Fluff. She had gotten rather worried because she hadn't seen him all mourning. Usually he'd get out of the castle and go exploring or do some exercises, so him staying cooped up indoors all day would be very concerning.

Even though she had lived in that castle for years It was still hard to navigate because of course being a king means having an unnecessary amount of rooms to yourself.

She had finally found him in one said rooms. He seemed to be packing for something...

"Oh thank goodness majesty! I've been looking all over for you! What have you been doing?"

She looked down and saw the baggage

"What are you packing for?"

Fluff sighed briefly before replying.

"Please Angie. Just call me Fluff. I'm not really a fan of the whole 'Majesty' or 'highness' or 'sire' thing just yet."

"Well I'm sorry sire but as your subject I'm obligated to call you that. Whether I like it or not."

"Yes... I know that. But you're still my friend. Perhaps you can do it in secret?"

Angie thought for a moment...

"Hmm...

Nope.

Not comfortable with it. But that doesn't matter right now majesty. What matters is where the heck you're going."

"Oh glad you asked! Just heading over to the organic dimension to visit Kirby. I got the special sock and everything. Nothing to worry about." He said casually.

This specific sock was considered 'special' because any who were to go through it would acquire an organic "Dreamlandian" form. An inverse of the yarn form one acquires with the other pair of socks upon entering Patchland. This "special" sock pair gets past down from generation to generation, to be kept, protected and experienced.

Angie looked at Fluff with surprise, fear and a bit of disgust. Handling that sock was a huge responsibility and the fact that he was so calm about it was horrifying.

"THAT is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea!"

Fluff flinched. Hurt by the comment.

"Awe cmon Angie, Kirby's not that bad! Sure he mistakenly tried to eat ya once or twice but, he was a KID! And I'm sure that now-"

"Fluff- I mean, your majesty, it's not Kirby I'm terrified of. Despite his many flaws I find him to be a… Decent friend. It's the... Ugh... Organic dimension I can't stand..."

Fluff scratched his head for a bit.

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's absolutely dreadful! Your body feels like a sack of meat, filled with revolting fluids! And don't even get me started on their life processes!" She shivered at the very thought.

"Well... can you imagine how Kirby felt when he first came to our dimension in a YARN body? Imagine how alien things must have been for him to NOT have those 'revolting' fluids in his body." Fluff countered

"I bet he must have been thrilled! I would have been anyway. Inhaling was something he couldn't do anymore but he got over it pretty quickly."

"And so will I! Just because you and dad didn't like it, doesn't mean I won't!" Fluff countered. Closing the suitcase.

"I sincerely doubt that. Not even someone like you could stand- Hold on how'd you know WE went in? Your father doesn't tell ANYONE about those things! Not even you! Especially not you." She said, absolutely bewildered by this.

"Well it turns out my old man trusts me enough to tell me SOME things. Who do you think gave me the sock in the first?" He held it in front of her triumphantly. "Of course he didn't trust me enough to give me both of them… But um, hey, baby steps!

"Sire please... Think about what you're going to do. Why can't you just... send Kirby a message so HE can come HERE?" She suggested in a futile attempt to talk him out of it.

Fluff threw his arms in the air and groaned loudly.

"NOO! THAT WOULD BE BORING!!! I just want to try something new and fresh for once. Why do you guys worry so much? You never think I can handle anything! I had to fight tooth and nail before finally taking over the throne! And I was delayed 3 years longer than all my past predecessors! Do you guys really fear every single decision I make? I'm not THAT reckless… Am I?"

Angie scrunched up her face and sucked air in through her teeth… "Well…."

"I'll take that as a yes…" The yarn king said. His voice laced with annoyance.

Fluff carried the bags and grabbed the sock, heading somewhere to start the trans-dimensional process.

Angie had definitely pinched a nerve and she realized that.

"Hey majesty, wait! I'm sorry!"

Fluff stopped for a moment and looked back at her cocking an eyebrow.

"Me and your father, I know that we can be a bit much when it comes to your protection. But we do so because we care deeply about you..."

Fluff's annoyed expression softened a little. "Yeah… I know you do."

He then thought for a bit and smiled. It felt as though a brilliant idea had beamed into his mind

"Come with me! You can keep an eye on me and help me out if anything happens!"

Angie's eyes squinted a little as and she rocked from side to side and pondered.

Fluff bit his lip realizing he had ask her for a heavy favor.

Angie's unwillingness to go was strong, but fortunately for Fluff her willingness to protect him was stronger.

"Alright majesty! I can clearly see that I cannot change your mind, which is unfortunate, however if it means I get try to keep you safe on this endeavor, so be it."

Fluff's face lit up with gratitude.

"YES! YES! YEEEEES!" He yelled with excitement like a child whose family agreed to take them to a theme park.

He then stopped upon seeing the unamused face on Angie as she raised a brow at his immature display.

The yarn king cleared his throat. "Ahem, I mean, yeaaah. Cool. cool. We should, uh, start heading out now…"

He smiled sheepishly before running off. Angie sighed heavily whilst shaking her head.

She had a very sick feeling in her gut because she knew what they were in for… And Fluff didn't…

Since dreamland was facing no threat, it was as peaceful and happy as ever.

At the moment Kirby wasn't sleeping. In fact as time passed by Kirby's naps lessened.

Meta knight explains that this is the case because Kirby is getting older. But since his aging process was so slow, kirby still napped many hours a day. Just, not as much as he used to.

As of late, kirby was fishing with his strange little blue friend, Gooey, who was very close to Kirby, in a "Boy and his dog" kind of way.

Gooey considered Kirby his closest friend, hence why he followed him everywhere. He'd do anything in his power to protect the pink puff the best he can, so he gets really skittish or overprotective when something unfamiliar or extraordinary appeared. Speaking of extraordinary-

The sound of a portal opening, two shrieks and a thud were heard from behind some bushes.

They obviously went to investigate where the sound was coming from. They'd be foolish not to. It could be another being threatening to take over dreamland. Or possibly the entire universe…

Fluff struggled to get back on his feet. The weight of his new form was rather hard to deal with.

Angie looked down at Fluff with a devious smile.

"It's all coming together... Once he sees how hard things are here he'd definitely want to go back!" she thought.

"Man walking around here is tricky..." Fluff said before he finally found his balance.

"But I always fancy a challenge!"

"Or… Maybe not..." Angie thought once more in disappointment.

Fluff looked around in search of his small pink friend.

Suddenly the puffball in question with his slobbering ally popped out from the bushes.

Gooey growled a little bit from the unfamiliar faces.

"FLUFFY!" Kirby shouted as he ran towards the yarn king.

"Hey there Kirby! You... haven't changed.. A bit... Literally..." Fluff said as he looked down at a pink puff ball that was unexpectedly much smaller than him.

"Kirby what happened? You've barely grown an inch! Are you stuck in limbo or something?"

Fluff picked Kirby up gently and examined him closely. Rotating him up and down and sidew to side to figure out what the problem may be.

"Nothing is wrong your majesty. Kirby is perfectly fine." A calmer voice stated from behind.

The yarn king jumped at the sudden answer and diverted his attention to Angie. "How do you know that?" He asked bewildered.

"Apologies sire, but I wasn't the one who said that..." Angie assured.

Then who did?...

"It was I highness." Meta knight said suddenly appearing behind his acquaintances.

All of them were startled by this but calmed down immediately upon realizing it was just him. You'd think Kirby would be used to it by now though.

"Oh c'mon Meta knight! It's good to see you too but PLEASE just call me Fluff?" The yarn king begged.

"I'm sorry sire. But as someone who serves royalty I'm afraid that is something I cannot bring myself to do right now. I hope that you understand..."

Fluff sighed... He was doing a lot of sighing today...

"Yes. I understand." Fluff answered politely folding his arm behind his back.

Meta knight smiled warmly behind his mask.

"Tis alright majesty. All is well... I'm sorry for my sudden pop up. I'm also sorry I cannot do as you asked. But I CAN answer your questions about Kirby, and everything else in this dimension. If you would like that is."

"Yes! Thank you! That would be perfect!" Fluff said with enthusiasm as he and the others were escorted to Castle Dedede.

Fluff and Angie had settled in Meta Knight's quarters. Adjusting to the shift in the mass and weight of their bodies.

"So, you guys age THAT slowly?!" Fluff inquired over a cup of tea.

"Yes. Believe it or not Kirby is about over 220, And I myself am about 10,000 years. Give or take a decade or two... I gave up on keeping track on the exact age for other priorities." Meta knight explained.

Since Nightmare's defeat the older star warrior had become more comfortable with sharing things about his race.

"Heh, that's understandable." Fluff chuckled before sipping some more tea.

Kirby inhaled the entirety of his own warm tasty treat (cup included of course.)

Fluff was about to ask another question until the penguin king himself barged in on them. Roughly slamming the door open while letting out throaty laugher

"King Fluff? Yo majesty! How are ya doing?!"

Fluff sighed. Again.

At this point he had pretty much given up on trying to get them to treat him like a normal acquaintance. Then again he had to cut them some slack. It had been a lengthy 10 years since their last interaction.

"I'm great! Uh your majesty." Fluff said cautiously and politely.

King Dedede had become considerably more kind hearted after settling his grudge with Kirby. He even allows Kirby to visit and spend nights in his castle whenever he felt like it.

But even with THAT Dedede was still a little bit short tempered and easy to offend. So the littlest bit of caution wouldn't hurt.

"How about you and everyone else? Tiff? Tuff? Adeline? The rest of cappy town? What have they been up to?"

Dedede chuckled. "Y'all are just a bundle of good questions ain't ya?

Well for starters lil ol bratty gal, Tiff, is now a BIG ol bratty lady. She founded Cappy town's very first "proper" school, as she calls it. And snotty mischievous Tuff , surprisingly became a doctor of all things. You'd expect a fella like him tuh wanna become a warrior or somethin'. Guess life is THAT unpredictable huh?"

Fluff gave his lightly tilted smile. "Well becoming a warrior isn't easy. Especially for people who aren't as gifted as puffballs. And besides, maybe he's deciding to save lives in a way that's not as appreciated. And I fully respect that."

Dedede laughed heartily and nodded in agreement. "Well that's a sweet way to look at it pal."

"And what about Ado?" Fluff asked again

"Hasn't changed that much. She's still a painter, but hey, she makes money off of her work... and uh who else... uh..."

Dedede searched for other things that have changed. A lot had happened since Fluff left...

"Nago having kittens?" Meta knight reminded.

"Oh yeah! That quiet cat guy had kids!" Dedede added

"What about the other animal folk?" Fluff asked again taking another sip.

"Rick the hamster finally tied the knot."

"Oooh good for him." Fluff commented quickly sipping again to let them continue.

"Nothing much has happened with Kine and Mine... they've been rather distant lately..." Meta knight explained.

"Well why don't you go visit them?" Fluff asked once more with a concerned look.

"Well we don't wanna just barge in. They obviously WANT us to stay distant. I ain't the rude ruler I used to be Majesty. We don't wanna interrupt them while they're busy.."

Meta knight cringed internally at how suggestive that last part sounded.

Fluff continued to look on and smile innocently. Then another 'brilliant' idea beamed into his mind.

"Hey! We should all go see how they're doing now! I'm sure they won't mind! Plus this could be a sort of first for all of us!"

Without thinking, Fluff sprung out of his seat running towards the edge of the castle balcony, before proceeding to jump off-

"MAJESTY NOOOO!" Angie called out.

"IN THIS DIMENSION YOU CANT TURN INTO A-"

*Thud*

"Parachute..."

...

All of them looked down at where Fluff had fallen...

"Oooo... Right in the rose bushes..." Dedede cringed, feeling second-hand discomfort.

Meta knight winced. "I will… Go to call Tuff..." He said, slowly backing into his quarters.

To be continued…

Well that's it for now... Find out what happens next time on 'Prince Fluff's Epic Dreamland!'