"Talking to someone?"

Link stood in front of Princess Peach and Zelda with his arms crossed and blocking the only exit.

"I was," Zelda replied casually as she flipped her long blonde hair. "You will never guess who. It was Roy from high school."

Link let out a high pitched laugh. "Roy? You mean that loser that used to follow you around and write your name on his journal? He is entering? Oh, that is too rich." Link continued to laugh and eventually wiped away tears.

Zelda put her hands on her hips in an annoyed manner. "He was not a loser. Well, he kind of was, but it wasn't his fault." Then she added, "He has changed a lot, you know. You should of seen his smile…it could have bought a dead puppy back to life!" Her eyes became dreamy and distant.

"You should see mine," Link told her. He flashed a white smile at Samus who was walking by only to receive an orange, metal fist in his face. Zelda rushed to the aid of her boyfriend, who was now lying on the ground blinking his eyes, one now black, in surprise.

"Oh, you poor baby," the Princess said in a motherly voice as she picked him up and held him in her arms. She turned to Peach, who was looking at Samus with a combination of fear and surprise. "Peach, I have to go and take care of my boyfriend and his eye."

Zelda carried Link outside to his car with surprisingly little effort. As soon as the elfin, hero saw the black paint on his car, he jumped out of Zelda's arms, ran to it, and began to stroke it lovingly.

"My baby! I thought someone had stolen you! Oh, its okay, daddy's here." He took off his hat and used it to rub the hood of the car. Zelda coughed loudly and Link snapped back to reality, or as close as he could get when he was having a moment with his baby (not referring to Zelda of course). He placed his hat back on his head, slid into the driver's seat, and barely waited for her to get in before he started the engine.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He reached across Zelda and took his sun glasses out of the glove compartment, putting them with great finesse. Zelda just rolled her eyes and looked out the window as the car pulled out of the parking lot and they began the ride back to their hotel.

The two elves stepped out of the car and stretched as they made their way into the lobby of the Hudson Hotel. They were quiet and a bit hungry as it was almost one o'clock. Zelda sighed and was about to call an elevator, when a hotel employee ran towards her calling for her to wait.

The employee, who looked about 17 and was dressed in a red uniform with a hat that was slightly crooked on his head, took a few moments to regain his breathe. When he spoke, he used an important voice. He pulled out a sheet of paper and read off it in a way that suggested that he had practiced this quite a few times before. "There is a message for Princess Zelda from the 'SSB Melee Company.'" He looked up at Zelda. "You are her, right?"

Zelda nodded and the teenager continued. "Your battle is tomorrow and we need you to contact to us as soon as possible, preferably before 8:00 pm tonight. Thank you and good luck tomorrow on your battle." When he finished the letter, he handed Zelda the envelope with the message inside, and ran off eagerly in search of a new job.

Zelda suddenly had a strong case of butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't believe that she would have to fight so soon! She was sure that she could win, and yet what made her nervous was the fact that she wouldn't win, or even hit her opponent at all. Her mind flashed back to her dream she had last night; she was standing in the middle of the arena and the crowd was booing at her because she had done so badly. She shook her head to clear it of the thought, though it was still there in the back of her mind.

"They will probably still let you quit," Link said as he stepped into the elevator. Zelda pretended not to notice and looked away as she entered behind him.

"After all-"

"I am not quitting! I may be a princess, but I can still kick butt."

Link continued to try and persuade her to stop, but every time he opened his mouth, she would cut him off before he could say anything. Finally, Zelda burst.

"I AM ENTERING THE FREAKIN' TOURNAMENT!" she shouted. A long awkward pause followed and the only sound was Zelda panting heavily and the small beeping noise an elevator makes as it moves between floors. He felt very small, almost helpless. His eyes were wide and he nodded nervously. Suddenly, her sudden burst of rage vanished and she straightened her clothes and fixed her hair so one could never tell that she had said a word.

"Um," Link said quietly still in shock, "I suppose it always help to have a can do attitude…"

She knew she should be in bed. She knew that she should be getting as much rest as possible before her battle tomorrow. But somehow, she couldn't get her eyes to stay shut.

Zelda looked up at the full moon pouring in though the window. She was sitting nervously in a wooden chair that was standing by the window so she could look out at the empty street. It was so quiet and peaceful; exactly what she loved about night. No one has any problems. After all, everyone is in their beds sleeping soundly.

Everyone except her, that is. She was still up. And she had huge problems. Zelda began running her fingers through her hair like she always did when she got anxious.

Tomorrow she would die. She knew it. Or at least get beaten to a pulp. Her opponent was named Captain Falcon and he was one of the few people that she did know, at least by reputation. He was a racer, a deadly racer. He was portrayed by the press as the "bad boy" of racing, and the stories involving him often involved explosions, car chases, and swim suit models. She wasn't sure how well he knew how to fight, but she had figured out one thing: he sure knew how to look like it. Zelda recalled seeing him at the sign-on room. He was tall, broad shouldered, and chin had a large dimple in the middle. Underneath his exceedingly tight jump suit that would squeak as he strode about the place eyeing any women between 20 and 27, was large, strong arms that could pound a pathetic Princess straight to the underground in one blow.

Zelda stopped herself. She took a breath and remembered what Peach had told her when she called after finding out who was her opponent. Their conversation played back in her mind.

"This tournament is for human enjoyment, so the whole point is to have fun," the Princess had said in attempts to lift Zelda's spirit. "Just relax and think of it like a game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But when it is over, it doesn't really matter."

"Are you going anywhere with this?" she had asked her friend.

"Maybe. The point is, if he does anything that will cause you any lifetime mental or physical damage"-

"Like killing me?"

"Then you can sue the crap out of the Nintendo Brothers," she finished optimistically.

Zelda got up from her chair and slid into her bed thinking over what her friend had told her over the phone. If he kills me, I get a bunch of money. But if I am dead, what am I going to do with it? She sighed. It was time for some mental prep.

"It is just like a game. You can do it Zelda, you are strong. And you're good at games," she told herself. It was working; she actually felt a little more confident about the whole thing. "You are just here to have fun, meet some new friends, and pulverize my opponent." Now she was really feeling good. "I hope Captain Falcon is ready for this game, because tomorrow it's playtime.