If you're unfamiliar with story formatting, because I know some people are: Italics are thoughts. So if you see a line or few in italics, it's thought process. I love mind tapping.

I'm home. It's been a month or two, but I'm home.

Bandana Dee stared at the door handle to his family's little house. He could hear his father working around back, but he knew the rest of his family would be inside…Who should he greet first? He knew his mother would probably be fixing the house up, and he didn't want her to have to leave her work and come outside to say hello…Plus, Silva—

The wanderer lifted his paw to the door and knocked. "Mom? I-It's me, Taylor; I'm home…"

"BAN-DANA!"

Bandana Dee glanced up at the top of the house, inwardly grinning upon hearing the speaker's voice out the window. Before he could answer back, the door opened and he was pulled inside.

"Bandana!" The wanderer's mother had left her work and dashed up to her son, sweeping him into a hug which he gladly returned. "Taylor, my big boy! How have you been?"

Bandana Dee rubbed cheeks with her, happy at being home with his family again. "I've been great, mom! It's been a little tough at times, but all the adventures I've had in the world are fantastic! I—"

"Ban-dana! Ban-danaaaaaa!" a tiny voice squealed. "BAN-DANAAAAAA!"

Bandana Dee was released from one hug to be tackled into another. "S-Silva! Hey, how's it going?"

"Great, big brother!" Silva chirped. She was a few inches shorter than her brother, which was a somewhat significant amount considering how small most species of Popstar were. "I've been drawin' lots of stuff, and sketchin', and readin', and I know a lot about different critters now! Did you bring me any kinds of bats?"

"Uh…I'm sorry, Silva; I don't have any bats right now." He hated disappointing the hopeful little Dee, but he wasn't fond of catching bats. His spear would likely harm them more than Silva would help them, biology lover or not. "But hey, maybe I can get one for your eighth birthday this year. Does that sound good?"

"Awww, big brother…" Silva pouted. "That's such a long way off…"

"Silva, Bandana has brought some guests with him, and he hasn't said hello to Daddy yet…" The mother Dee patted the younger Dee on the head, and she slowly released her older brother. "Let him say hello to Daddy so he can show you the puffies like he promised, okay?"

Bandana Dee's eyes brightened. "Yeah! Okay, thanks mom!"

The wanderer dashed out toward the back of the house, clearly happier to be home than he'd thought originally. His mother was just as thrilled, but she didn't mind him not sticking around right now—after all, she had Silva to take care of—

"Mama, look!" Silva chirped. She had climbed up on the windowsill and was staring out at the visitors her brother had brought along. "Puffies! I thought they were only one color like we are, but they're not! That's so cool; where's my notebook, mama?!"

"Silva, please…" The mother Dee picked her up and hushed her. "Be polite. You may think that's cool, but I don't know whether they do. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

She immediately wondered whether she should have said that, but it was too late.

"Okay!" the Dee child shouted, racing out the door.

"I wonder what's taking Bandana Dee so long," Dedede complained.

"I'm hungry," Kirby added. "Are you sure I can't get some food?"

"Please stop, you two. It's probably only been a few minutes, and you want to rush Bandana Dee with his family?" Meta Knight tried desperately to calm the group down. "You don't know what he's doing; maybe—"

"PUFFIIIIIIIIES!"

Much to the puffballs' confusion, Dedede instantly retreated a few steps backward, covering as many of his feathers as possible.

"Friends! My big brother sent you, didn't he?!"

The puffballs' eyes flew up to the approaching Waddle Dee, wondering if this was the reception they would get from all the Dees. The little Dee dashed down the hill and skidded to a halt right before the puffballs, though she tripped from this sudden action. She instantly pushed herself back up, glancing at Kirby, and then Meta Knight, and then back to Kirby. Dedede raised an eyebrow as he pretended not to exist; Meta Knight attempted to say something to the Dee.

"Um…hi, there. Who might you be?"

The Dee's eyes lit up, and she flung herself onto the blue puffball. Meta Knight tried not to fall over as the Dee clung to him and introduced herself, while Kirby merely stared and Dedede backed up a few more steps.

"I'm Silva! I'm Bandana Dee's bestest sibling, and I'm happy to meet you all! I'm happy to have you. Are you happy to be here?"

The little Dee glanced up at Meta Knight, who tried to smile despite the awkward situation. "Um, yes. I am...happy. How about you guys?"

He tried to turn towards Kirby or Dedede, hoping that the Dee would hug one of them instead. He wasn't used to physical contact with strangers, and he really wasn't sure whether he felt comfortable being hugged like…this…

Where is Bandana when you need him…

Dedede was currently hiding behind the side of Bandana Dee's house, snickering at Meta Knight's misfortune and completely ignoring the fact that he was within earshot of calling Bandana Dee over to them.

"You're so cute, blue puffy," Silva cooed, ignoring him and stroking his cape with her foot. "I wish my blanky stuck to my back like that…"

Dedede was polite enough to conceal his snickering, though it didn't escape Meta Knight's notice as he was familiar with the king's various forms of laughter. And just because Dedede was hiding how hilarious he thought this was, it didn't mean that he wasn't taking it down as a mental note—which he actually was, at that moment. The penguin quickly began thinking up some lines he could use about 'security blankets', and almost started laughing. But doing so would reveal him to Silva, so that wasn't an option.

"And you're sooo soooft…" The Dee tried petting him, but promptly fell off. Maybe this was why Dedede had backed up…Meta Knight felt like cursing upon thinking that. Yes, Dedede had gone to visit Bandana Dee's family once before, and he'd said some strange things about it. Perhaps this was what he'd been talking about.

Then something seemed to click in Silva's mind, and she became a little apologetic. "Oh, but mommy said you might not think that's cool. I think it's cool; do you?"

Meta Knight tensed ever-so-slightly, and the little Dee seemed aware of this. The knight tried his best to make a split-second decision that he wouldn't regret. Unfortunately, fast decisions and non-regrettable ones rarely went together.

Don't offend your hosts. Don't disappoint the little kid. Disappointing little kids is a don't-do and it could offend your hosts. You don't know what you're supposed to say here without offending her so just be polite.

"I-I never seriously considered it before, but…" Meta Knight hesitated, but decided to go through with his thought. "I suppose it's pretty cool…"

The little Dee thought about this for a moment. Then she flung herself back onto the blue puffball, who tried not to flinch as much but failed from the rough tackle. Silva squealed in delight.

"You DO like me, blue puffy!" The Dee sounded so happy, and Meta Knight was a little glad that he'd made the choice he did. On the other hand, would she have been so clingy if he'd said no? Considering how she was acting, even that was a possibility… "Y'know, I wasn't sure about you 'cause you seemed a little scared of me, but I guess you're just different. Oooo, you're so soft; you don't feel anything like our fur…"

The sapphire puffball assumed he should take that as a compliment, but he was too busy glaring at Kirby and Dedede for making smug faces at him when Silva implied that he'd been scared of her. Holy NOVA, she was rubbing cheeks with him…Cheek rubs were a sign of affection among Dees (and puffballs), so…what did that mean?

"Oh…sure. Kirby feels similar, if you're bored of me," Meta Knight hinted, trying to persuade the little Dee off of him without being rude. Waddle Dee children weren't as tiny compared to babies and adults of other species; Silva was three-quarters of a normal Dee's size.

Unfortunately, despite her similarity in size to an adult, his hint completely flew over the child's head.

"I'd never get bored of a puffy! And I like blue. My brother wears a blue bandana and he's really cool, so you must be almost as cool as he is!" She paused to glance quickly over to Kirby, looking a little guilty. "Um, you're still cool, pink puffy. I like pink, too! The frosting on my mama's cookies is pink, and she puts lots of frosting on them, and—" She suddenly thought to glance over at Kirby again, and double-took. "—hey, your eyes are blue! Whoa, cool…"

If the Dee had a mouth, she would have been gaping; blue eyes were relatively rare among Waddle Dees, as most of their eye colors were a shade of brown, yellow, or orange. As Silva analyzed Kirby's eyes, Meta Knight took a quick break to see what Dedede was doing.

The penguin was still hiding next to the house, trying his best not to move. Meta Knight suddenly remembered that Dedede had blue feathers and blue eyes as well, and wondered if he should call the king out to the little Dee child—

"And…blue puffy, what color are your eyes?"

All Meta Knight could do was blink at the abrupt turn of conversation, unsure of whether any reply would do any good at this point.

"Ah…huh?" The Dee narrowed her eyes, staring at him. "Um…uh…what color are your eyes?"

"Well, mine are…white, or silver…" the blue puff answered hesitantly. Maybe if he answered enough of her questions, she'd leave him alone.

Apparently, Kirby did not share the same idea.

"Yeah, isn't it cool?" Kirby added. "I always thought it'd be just like in the stories, where the creatures with white eyes had special powers. I don't know what powers he has, though—at least, ones that are better than mine, heehee!"

Of course, this provoked Silva's eyes to grow wider and her to hug him again, squealing in delight.

Note to self: slap Kirby for that later. Not the insult; the prompt for the hug.

Whyyyyyyyyyy does he have to be so SOCIAL?! Kirbyyyy!

"Wow, puffy!" The Dee started rubbing cheeks with him. "You're so cool! You've got special powers and everything, and you're so cute…I don't know what could make you cooler, unless you had a pet bat! Mama says it's weird for people to have bats as pets, but I love bats and I think they're cool. Did you know that Berry Bats…"

While the Dee was still busy nuzzling him, Meta Knight managed to shoot a glance at Kirby.

No. No, Kirby. Don't you dare mention that I have bat wings, or I will give you a lecture in common sense and what I don't like for you to pull on me. I will—

"Silva! What are you doing?"

Oh, thank you…

A female Dee dashed down the slope towards her child, a worried expression on her face, and Dedede slowly tiptoed back around to the group from the side of the house. "Silva, what have I told you about climbing all over people you haven't met before? Most people might get scared or won't like it; how many times have I told you that? When I went to get your notebook, I thought you'd wait and behave yourself!"

"But mama," Silva whined as her mother carefully lifted her off the blue puffball. "He's blue; blue things are nice…and I only got to pet him; I didn't get to pet the pink one yet—!"

"Silva, I hope—"

"Don't worry." Meta Knight smiled awkwardly, nudging Kirby. The two puffballs bowed politely for the Dee they presumed to be Bandana Dee's mother. "She caused no harm."

"Are you her mom?" Kirby piped up, getting straight to the point that Meta Knight was waiting to phrase formally.

…thank you, Kirby. This is why nobody thinks that there's only a six month gap between our ages…

It wasn't that he disliked Kirby; far from it. It was just that Meta Knight was used to hiding his thoughts and opinions, and Kirby—being more acclimated with socializing and talking to people he didn't know than the sapphire puffball—was more likely to state his outright, or take risks in conversations, which made Meta Knight somewhat uncomfortable…And he always worried whether Kirby, being popular enough, would simply replace him with someone better or more interesting, and his heart would break like all those friends before—

"Yes, I'm her mom. You can call me Leaf, if you'd like, and…who's Kirby, and who's Meta?" The Dee glanced between the two puffballs. "I'm assuming—"

"Kirby!" The pink puff shouted, jumping up and down. "Hiiiii!~ That's my favorite catchphrase, by the way, so I say it a lot. It's all Meta's fault—" He gestured toward the sapphire puffball, who blinked in surprise at the mention of his name. "—because he likes Pokémon, and they say their names all the time so it rubs off. I used to say 'Poyo' because it was a formal military greeting that my mom used when she was still around, and Meta and I both liked that, but then stupid Dedede had to ruin it just because it meant 'chicken' in some other language. Then Meta said not to say it anymore unless it was to each other, or another Piko—Pikonyan like us." Kirby glanced at the knight. "Uh, that is what we're called, right Meta? 'Pikonyans'?"

The sapphire puffball—or, Pikonyan—merely nodded.

"So anyway, yeah, I'm Kirby! Star warrior, monster hunter, master angler, and hero of Dream Land! And also the Smash world. Dedede and Meta and I all helped save the Smash tournament from these weird shadow bugs and their master, so that was cool." Then he turned to Meta Knight, grinning. "And this is Meta, one of my best friends! I think he's my brother or something."

"I'm not actually your brother, Kirby; or at least, there's no proof of it," the blue puff murmured softly. "But thanks for the sentiment."

"Well, you do look similar enough…" Leaf began. "You know—"

"You could take DNA samples, puffies." Silva finally succeeded in pushing herself out of her mother's arms, picking her notebook off the ground and flipping through it. "If you give me a ride back to the house, I can—ooooooooooooh, mister penguin! You came back to me; how are you?!"

Dedede flinched as the little Dee launched herself onto him—well, launched herself onto part of his belt, and he held his hand under her to keep her from falling. "H-Hey, li'l Dee. You remember ol' Dedede, huh?"

"Of COURSE I dooooooo! Gimme a cheek rub, mister penguin! Pleeeeeeeease gimme a cheek rub, mister penguin?"

Dedede obliged, but not without a comment. "Oh, but you know, the little space aliens over there give rides, y'know. They're the ones I was tellin' you about, that are real special and rare, remember? The ones I said I'd bring next time? The pink puffball likes fruits, and the blue puffball likes sweet stuff. So why don't you—"

Silva instantly broke away from the penguin, shooting over to the puffballs and grabbing her notebook, bouncing in place.

"You're special puffies! Wow, I'm so excited to meet you! Mister penguin told me SO MUCH about you! It's an honor!" She bowed quickly, as Waddle Dees were unable to curtsey. Even bowing was hard enough. "I never thought I'd meet some members from a near-extinct species! Maybe you guys can let me take notes on you like mister penguin did—"

"I think that's enough, Silva," Leaf interrupted gently. "They're our guests, and they might not appreciate that idea."

"But can they give me a ride—"

"No, Silva." The mother Dee moved to pick her daughter up again and restrain her from accidentally mauling their guests. She turned to the two puffballs and their king. "I'm sorry again for her, Great King—and Kirby, and Meta."

"But mama…" The little Dee looked as if she would burst into tears. "…I didn't do anything bad! They said they were happy to see me! Did I make you mad, puffies…?"

Kirby and Meta Knight glanced at each other before staring back at Silva with sympathetic faces.

"No, you've done nothing wrong," Meta Knight assured her.

"Yeah, you're okay," Kirby continued, walking over to the Dee. "You can be our new friend, just like Bandana Dee!"

The pink puffball stared at her, smiling as he lifted her in front of him.

"So as our new friend, do you want a ride?"

Silva squealed in delight. "Oh, YES, puffy! I LOVE you; THANK you puffy! Oooooh, you're so soft…"

Meta Knight sighed in relief, following them into the house with Dedede close behind them.

Whew…at least I didn't have to be the one to volunteer to give her the ride…

"So, this is Kirby—"

"Hiiii!"

"—Meta—"

The blue puff waved politely.

"—King Dedede—"

"That's King Dedede to—oh wait, you already said that…"

"—and me," Bandana Dee finished. "Guys, these are my parents, and this is my little sister Silva."

"Can I pet the puffies now?" Silva whispered to her mother.

"No Silva, not right now," the older Dee shushed.

"Kirby, Meta, Dedede, we're glad to have you all. You boys are welcome to wander around here and do whatever you want; Bandana can introduce you to the rest of the families out there, if you want. We'll be eating with them tonight, since it's a reunion week, so meeting them's inevitable. Or did you wanna come out back; I see Dedede's on the tall side." Bandana Dee's father eyed the group over.

"Let's go out back," Dedede suggested readily, already backing out of the house as well as he could manage. He'd barely fit had Kirby and Meta Knight not used some…'spatial distortion' on him. Kirby and Silva dashed over to help push him out, giggling, while Bandana Dee sighed and decided to help them. Meta Knight hesitated on helping out immediately, instead turning toward his friend's parents. "Waddle Dee tribes live in closely-spaced 'neighborhoods', correct?"

"For ours, at least." Bandana Dee's mother nodded. "We all live in the general vicinity. Whether or not a family builds a house is all dependent on how many members there are. Most of our housing material is taken apart and transported if we ever have to move. We still have wanderer blood, as you know. Do you know about that sort of thing?"

Meta Knight nodded. "Oh, yes, I do. I tend to think I have a bit of that, sometimes…How do you cure that?"

"What, the desire to go somewhere?" The father raised a possibly-nonexistant eyebrow. "Go on an adventure. Either that or fight a bunch of enemies; I've heard lots of supposed remedies. Don't know how many of them actually work."

"Oh." The sapphire puffball seemed somewhat disappointed. "Well—"

The house creaked, causing the Dees and Meta Knight to turn toward the door. Kirby, Silva, and Bandana Dee were just managing to push Dedede's shoulders out of the door. The king was not amused.

"Bandana Dee, next time you oughta tell me how—Oof! Small your house is! Yowch!"

The penguin finally managed to pull himself out of the doorway, doing so with such force that he landed flat on his back outside. He even cleared the porch, he'd pulled so hard. Kirby, Silva, and Bandana Dee snickered at the king's misfortune.

"Ohhh…Maybe those 'small rulers for kingdoms of small people' guys had a point…" the king moaned. "My back will be out for a week now…"

"The king is getting old," Kirby teased. "Not like certain young puffballs."

Dedede stood up, pretending to rub his back and hold a cane. He put on his best 'grandpa' voice. "What was that, sonny? Ah can't hear that good anymore…"

Kirby and Silva laughed at this, which only prompted him to continue.

"'Ey, it ain't my fault! Back when I was a little boy, I could run circles around you ol' whippersnappers! My hearin' was sharp as a dog's, and I could run like a…a…"

"Puffy?" Silva supplied.

"Puffy! Yeah, I—wait a minute!" Dedede blinked, shaking his head. "What am I saying anyway?! I won't be outdone be a little pink gumball!"

"What about the blue one?" Silva pressed.

Dedede paused. Despite the fact that Kirby had beaten Meta Knight several times, the king greatly respected the knight, though he wasn't sure why exactly this was so. He never really considered whether Meta Knight could outrun him; he knew the puff was quick, but to consider the thought that he might be faster…

"Ehhhh…" Dedede crossed his arms. "I don't know about that. I've never seen him run a lot."

"Um, hate to cut this short, but…" Bandana Dee waved his paw. "…I was gonna show you guys around before dinner. I figured you'd want to have fun tomorrow instead of spending the day with introductions."

Oh, Nova. Meta Knight inwardly shrank. I was hoping to avoid a crowd of social interaction…No, get it all over with, Meta. He has a point. Take care of business first. You don't want to have to introduce yourself every time you have to walk up to someone…although, shouldn't they at least know Kirby and Dedede? I guess not personally or anything, so—

Kirby cheered. "Suika!"

Everyone except Meta Knight turned toward the pink puff and blinked. "Huh?"

"Oh." Kirby shuffled his paws shyly. "I thought there might be some Dees with watermelons, and I was excited. Maybe they have some Maxim Tomatoes; they're really good too!"

"Oh boy." Dedede rolled his eyes. "Leave some for me; I had cup noodles for lunch."

"Yes, you all," Meta Knight interrupted. "Are we going to head off and complete the introductions, or are we going to idly stand here and discuss watermelons?"

"Okay, okay; we're moving," Dedede grumbled, turning to follow Bandana Dee. The wanderer turned and waved at his little sister as he led his friends off.

"Bye for now, Silva! I'm going to show these guys around, and we'll be back later on!"

"Okay, Bandana! Okay, mister penguin! Don't forget to come back to see us, puffies!" Silva called as the quartet walked away. "I'm gonna help mama make more cookies for the blue puffy!"

The other members snickered upon seeing Meta Knight stiffen at this comment. Clearly, Silva remembered more that was said than they'd previously thought.

"And don't forget to come meet as at our campfire tonight. I brought some marshmallows!" Bandana Dee's mother shouted.

"Mama, I wanna help cook the s'mores!" Silva piped up as the quartet walked further away.

As the quartet moved on to the rest of the tribe, Dedede suddenly scooped Meta Knight up and began rubbing him against his cheek. The king patted the puffball on the head, grinning teasingly. "Ohhh, blue puffy, you feel soooo soooft! Isn't your security blanket so cool?!"

"Can it," Meta Knight commanded, trying to push his way out of the penguin's grip and eventually succeeding. "You might give people bad images about that like the last time. Remember the 'luau pants'?"

Dedede's face paled. "Dang it. I do. That was your fault; you came up with it."

"I came up with it, yes…But just remember, Your Majesty, that you were the one who decided to broadcast it to the rest of the audience."

C/N: Not much to say at this point, except that I don't normally use OCs. Most people come to the archive to read about canon characters and don't have a lot of time to brush up on an OC's backstory and such, so I try not to focus on them too much. However, for some stories there is a need for them and dangit Multi, I did forget that because I'm a self-critical perfectionist. It's just that most OCs in this archive have very predictable story purposes (canon character X OC), or end up consuming the story with like 10-20 OCs. I...can't keep track of all that. Just, no. But I won't get into a 'how to make a good OC' rant. That's yet another journal topic.

(On edits: This chapter has been revised and while there are still chunks of the original hanging in there, the dialogue with Silva has been almost completely rewritten.)