"You told her what?!" Candeloro yelled.

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By the time Candeloro and Shenandoah had returned to their rooms, the conversation had ended long ago. And the orange puff was clearly upset over the topic of said talk earlier.

"Hey, I told you to get your butts in gear and come back to the room. But noooo…" Gisela rolled her eyes. "You had to take your sweet precious time, so I took it into my own hands. Besides, I told her the straight truth. No sugar coating."

"Gisela! That was…was…completely uncalled for!" The red haired puff gaped. "You pretty much just told Letty that no one would ever love her! How could you say something so…awful?!"

"I couldn't lie to her." The black puff explained with an irritated sigh. "You know as well as I do that she's going to have difficulties once she becomes a 'true' warrior."

"Yes…I know that she will receive some judgment from others over her choice…but…" Candeloro clenched her fists. "But that doesn't mean that she won't have a chance!"

"Oh, so you too, huh?" Gisela grimaced. "Let me guess. It's that little pampered purple puff, isn't it?"

"His name is Dragato!" The orange puff corrected firmly.

"See, you even know his name. It's obvious that you've gone soft. You're utterly infatuated with him."

"Uh…Uh…I don't know what you're talking about! You're crazy!" The red haired warrioress protested.

"Am I? It's written all over your face. Don't try to deny it, with all your flirting, you batting your eyelashes at him…have some pride, won't you?"

Candeloro's cheeks turned nearly scarlet at the accusation. She felt angry. Gisela had taken this way too far. Poor Letty just wanted to show a little kindness to the blue knight, and from his behavior, it seemed that he felt the same way. But it seemed that the horned puff had managed to tear apart even the thought of budding friendship between the two puffs.

It wasn't like they were in love or anything. How could they be? They've only spoken to each other enough times to be counted on one hand. The same was for her and Dragato. They've hardly spoken to each other alone, and even then it wasn't of the romantic sort.

Yet Gisela was acting as though they were all guilty of treason.

"You won't even let her be friends with him?" Candeloro questioned. "How could letting them be friends possibly cause her any harm?"

"Simple. They start out as friends. Then suddenly they aren't friends. They get married. Then everyone's left with regrets and nuclear warfare in the mind!"

"Gisela…half of that didn't even make sense." The orange puff raised an invisible eyebrow. "Second, you're blowing things way out of proportion and exaggerating, even more than usual."

"You say that now, but I'm preventing a bad future! Like a time cop or something…yeah, I like that."

"…Shenandoah, are you hearing this?"

The yellow puff looked up from her book, acknowledging them for what seemed to be the first time since the archer returned to their room.

Candeloro nearly face palmed. "Have you even been listening this entire time?"

Shenandoah set her book down to the side. "Gisela, while I understand that you have the best of intentions for Letty, do you not think that she is capable of making decisions for herself? She is a smart girl, sometimes naïve, but she is far from ignorant. I believe that she can make good choices on her own."

"Shanny, not you too…" The black puff frowned, her tone almost sounding like a whine.

"While I do agree that the GSA was certainly not for romantic feelings to develop…you are missing something vital. Sir Arthur has tasked us to work closely with Sector H, and as a team we need to communicate with each other. We need to have respect for each other, and building friendships is important. It brings soldiers closer together. Denying Letty of that, over an irrational fear, is something quite ridiculous."

"Fear?" Gisela scoffed. "What is there for me to be afraid of? Shanny, are you saying that I'm afraid of them? Is that it? You couldn't be more wrong…they should be afraid of bme/b. I could easily break any of the soldiers here like a twig, maybe three at a time. So why would I be afraid of them?"

"Yes, what do you have to fear? You are easily one of the most physically strong warriors to ever be a part of the GSA." Shenandoah slowly narrowed her eyes. "But perhaps…it's not physical pain you fear…but emotional…?"

"W-What do you know?!" The horned puff lashed out. "What would make you think of something stupid like that?! I never told you anything!"

"You don't have to tell me anything. I can see it written on your face as we speak."

The red eyed puff's fists shook, she gritted her teeth. Shenandoah obviously struck a nerve, but if the yellow puff was intimidated by her near outrage, she certainly showed no signs of it. The archer calmly stared at the angry puff, showing no emotion. Candeloro bit her lip out of nervousness.

"Could it be, that you came here to forget the past? To prove something? …This is the only place you feel that you belong in the world. You've forgotten anything else that doesn't pertain to war. …Am I correct?"

"Shenandoah, she looks like she's ready to explode any time now…" Candeloro whispered. "What are you trying to do?"

Suddenly, the black puff slammed her fist on the table with such force, it collapsed into pieces. Not caring for the destroyed furniture, the warrior briskly passed the other two puffs without saying one word. She was bottling it all up. It was tearing her up inside, and all three of them knew it.

As Gisela grabbed the door knob, she heard Shenandoah say in a quiet, somewhat pitying tone.

"You can't run away from the past forever, Gisela."

Without so much a noise, the horned puff slammed the door. One of the screws in the hinges fell onto the ground with a soft 'clink'.

"Now what was the point in that?" Candeloro asked, turning towards Shenandoah. "She's more furious than ever! She could kill someone!"

"…Cruel to be kind…" The yellow puff answered softly. "You know as well as I do…her anger is a mask. And as long as she wears that mask, her true face will forever be hidden to the world. Only she feels that she needs it, that she can't face the world without it…"

The orange puff sighed. "I don't know what happened to her before she joined the GSA…but, whoever made her this way…whoever made her so scared that she feels like this all the time inside…they're evil. This entire time, I thought that she was just a control freak…but, something really traumatic must have happened to her."

And in their thoughts, the two puffs could only wonder.

"Gisela, why won't you let us help you?"

-

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About two weeks passed by, both Sector H and S remained at the base. The sectors did various odd jobs given to them by Sir Arthur instead of going on missions. The battlefield was getting quite vicious, and the leader of the GSA believed that Sector H was still not completely ready to be sent to the front lines yet.

However, several things over the past week had occurred. Some changes were taking place among the soldiers of both sectors.

Dragato and Falspar never seemed to leave each other now. Not in the sort of way where they didn't want to part ways out of friendship, but more out of distrust. It was as though they knew some sort of dark secret about each other.

On top of that, Dragato seemed to be taking extra care in his outward appearance for some odd reason. The only time he let his hostilities for the green puff with the mohawk slide was in the presence of Sector S. Maybe it was his upbringing that made him polite in front of the ladies, or maybe there was a specific person he was trying to impress…

Falspar was still on the prowl for Beta. Whenever he was hunting for the black puff, the mechanic/inventor always seemed to be conveniently absent from the scene. Not only was it suspicious, but it only further fueled Falspar's drive to find him. With each failed attempt of tracking down Beta, his frustration and anger only increased inside.

As for Nonsurat, these days he seemed to be feeling either one of two emotions. Obscenely happy to the point that some had asked if the turquoise puff was taking some sort of new medication, or so nerve-wrackingly nervous it looked like the poor young man could melt into a puddle on the floor.

Yamikage was as quiet as ever, but the ninja was obviously anxious for the sector to be promoted to a higher rank. All the troublesome events seemed to have began when Sir Arthur announced that the two sectors were to conjoin. And frankly, Yamikage was tired of having a room right next to Falspar and Dragato. And Nonsurat was acting so odd, it was even disturbing the ninja somewhat.

Garlude and Gisela always seemed to be butting heads. The lavender skinned woman disliked the black puffball greatly, and it was rare that the two ever had a mutual agreement. Gisela was rude and disregarded Sector H as anything but a waste of her time. And since Garlude was protective over her friends, they frequently got into minor scuffles over Gisela's mistreatment of them. Particularly Meta Knight, Jecra, and Falspar. But when it all came down to it, the horned woman had zero tolerance for any of them.

Jecra had finally seemed to get Meta Knight to warm up to him. The blue puff would eat meals with him, they would work together during assignments, and every now and then Jecra would see the real side of the usually stoic knight. Sometimes he would ask Jecra about his home life, what it was like before he joined the GSA. And during those moments, it was as if the blue puff had become the brother he secretly always wanted. But he hasn't told this to Meta Knight, for fear of warding off his new friend.

Gisela was always on edge as of late. The strong female warrior tried to keep a straight face, but it seemed that everything was trying to trigger her temper in the past two weeks. She barely spoke a word now, and was currently distancing herself from Shenandoah and Candeloro as much as possible. She ignored their attempts to reach out to her. If there was one thing Gisela hated more than anything else, it was being pitied. Sir Arthur had his eyes on her, and she wondered how long it would be until he discovered all the furniture she accidentally destroyed.

Candeloro and Shenandoah repeatedly tried to get their sector leader to open up, to tell them her worries in hope that it would decrease some of her inner turmoil. But all attempts were in vain. The orange puff found herself getting more and more involved with Sector H, and she actually began to enjoy their company. Especially the company of a certain ginger haired puff, even though it upset Gisela.

Shenandoah's random disappearances became more and more frequent. Whenever anyone confronted her of this, she always had some explanation ready. And maybe she did have business to attend to, but it certainly was fishy to her other teammates on some occasions. Strangely enough, Sir Arthur was also missing during certain times of the day. But it must be a coincidence…

Over the course of two weeks, Letty had diligently studied about bombs, and explosives of the like. She would stay up late at night reading, losing sleep in the process of her pursuit of knowledge. The thought of even holding an explosive still frightened her, but it was the only weapon she could wield so far. However, she felt a small warmth from within, knowing that she was finally becoming useful.

All in all, it was a very eventful two weeks. Even without a mission.

And Meta Knight was at the center of all the excitement, quietly watching the events unfold. Nothing much had really changed with him. Except he found that he was becoming a little more comfortable with his sector, something that surprised him somewhat.

Only there was one thing wrong with the past two weeks in his life. Letty was no longer speaking to him. He wasn't sure why, or what he could have done to ward her away, but they haven't spoken three words to each other since two weeks ago.

He didn't know her as well as the members of his sector, but the blue knight did entertain brief thoughts of wanting to know her better. That night on the beach, it made him think about what sort of person Letty was. He had learned that despite her cheerful nature on the outside, the pink puff carried a heavy burden within.

Meta Knight searched his mind to think of something that he could have said or done that could have offended her. Maybe his mask scared her, or he acted too cold and unfeeling. For some reason, it bothered him that Letty was purposely distancing herself from the blue puff.

Or maybe he was blowing things out of proportion and she was just busy these past two weeks. Letty was learning how to use her weapon, and he knew more than anyone that takes much concentration and effort.

Now he felt a bit ridiculous for dwelling on it this long in the first place. She was most likely working very hard to do her best, something that he admired deeply. But Meta Knight's mind was still running, did he really have any right to be so concerned over this? She didn't have to talk to him anyway, it wasn't like they were deeply involved into each others lives.

Yet, Meta Knight still couldn't shake the feeling away. It clung to him with a firm grasp and would not release him.

"Hey, Meta Knight? Are you still there?" Jecra asked, waving a little.

The blue knight snapped out of his inner thoughts, hearing the blonde man's voice. Jecra chuckled at the Star Warrior snapping out of his daze. That was one thing that Jecra had managed to practice during this time. He was almost as good as Sir Arthur when it came to telling what emotion Meta Knight was feeling at the time.

"Watcha thinking about?" Jecra asked with a smile.

"Ah, simply the past few weeks…" Meta Knight answered, a little embarrassed that he had caught him off guard like that.

"They've been pretty…eventful, haven't they?" The man laughed. "It feels weird just hanging around here. I mean, I think of this base as my second home, but it bothers me in a way knowing that we could be helping more on missions."

"Sir Arthur said the battlefields were far too dangerous for our sector to be a part of just yet. And as much as I may feel the opposite, Sir Arthur's word is final." Meta Knight inwardly sighed.

"I guess all we can do is wait then…" Jecra groaned. "…I wonder if my wife misses me."

"You talk about her very often. You must worry for her very much." The blue knight said.

"Well, after you're married, it's like that." The blonde man explained. "You worry and worry all the time, but…it's in a good way too. Like you don't really feel complete without them."

"…I do not understand."

"Eh, you will one day." Jecra nudged the blue puff with a smirk, much to Meta Knight's confusion.

"Well, I'm going to get something to eat, since we have the day off. I'll meet up with you later. I'm really hungry." Jecra complained.

"Is there ever a time when you are not hungry?"

"Yes, when I'm sleeping." The blonde man crossed his arms matter-of-factly before heading towards the base's kitchen.

Meta Knight continued to occupy himself with his thoughts. The current events of the war, the various changes among the soldiers…and her…were frequent topics the blue knight thought about. Sir Arthur had told him that contemplating such matters too deeply and too often would cause him to become restless, but it has always been difficult for the blue knight to relax.

The Star Warrior rounded the corner of a hallway before opening the door to the dormitories. He suddenly heard a loud yelp when he opened the door.

"Aaaoh!" A thump was heard following the pained cry.

Meta Knight quickly looked to see who was behind the door. It was someone that he had just been thinking about earlier.

A familiar puff with blonde hair was lying on the floor, clutching her forehead with her small pink arms.

Beside her lied a box turned on it's side, dormant explosives were strewn around from where the girl had dropped them in shock and surprise.

The blue knight frowned deeply when he saw a bruise forming on her arm.

"If Letty did not hate me before, she certainly has a reason to now." Meta Knight thought guiltily.

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He immediately held out his hand to the fallen girl. "My most sincere apologies, I didn't know someone was in the dormitory. Are you alright?"

Letty's eyes met his. The pink puff ignored his outstretched hand and slowly stood up. Meta Knight drew back, feeling a little hurt and confused.

"Y-Yes. I'm fine." Letty said quickly. "It was an accident."

Meta Knight nearly gasped when he saw a small amount of blood on her forehead. How forcefully had he opened that door?

Letty, held her hands to her forehead as if to hide the injury from him. He had already seen it, and the blue knight felt that he was responsible for causing her harm.

"No, you are injured. Come with me, I can treat the wound properly." Meta Knight tried to persuade her, out of concern for her well being.

"I-It's just a little cut! Nothing to be worried about. It doesn't even hurt." She replied hastily.

He knew that wasn't the truth, she winced and removed her hands from her forehead. Letty's short pink arms had a small amount of red smeared on them.

"Do not lie to me. I can clearly see that you are in pain. Let me-"

Letty stepped away from the blue knight. "I told you that I'm fine! So…so just leave me alone!"

Meta Knight paused in slight shock, not expecting her sudden outburst. What was causing her to act out this way? Sure, the knight had not known Letty for long…but this was entirely out of character for her.

The pink puff had taken her attention away from the knight to pick up the fallen explosives she had dropped, then placed each one in the box. Meta Knight leaned down to assist the blonde girl with her task. She scowled, a look that certainly didn't suit someone with such a sweet face.

Still, she said nothing to encourage or discourage his efforts. When only one dormant bomb remained, both Letty and Meta Knight reached for it. Letty had grabbed it on the ground first, but Meta Knight accidentally placed his hand over hers.

For a brief moment, neither of them moved. An uncomfortable silence filled the room. The blue knight had never really touched hands with someone outside of a formal handshake, much less a woman's. He never realized how much smaller and more delicate they were compared to his own.

Letty coughed nervously, snapping him back to reality. Meta Knight removed his hand from hers, feeling ashamed and embarrassed for allowing himself to linger for so long. She gingerly picked up the bomb, then placed it with the others.

The pink puff stood up, then reached to lift the box. Meta Knight was one step ahead of her, taking the box into his arms.

"H-Hey! Give it back! I need those!" She frowned.

"I want to carry them for you. You shouldn't lift something so heavy with an injured arm."

In truth, the box wasn't that heavy. Even someone of Letty's small stature should be able to lift it without much difficulty. But the blue knight wanted answers. Why was she acting so cold towards him?

"I can carry it myself…so, just go on about your business." She said, about to take the box from his hands.

Meta Knight suddenly lifted it above his head, out of her reach. Letty puffed her cheeks in annoyance. She tried to swipe it from him still, but she was too short. The blonde was probably the only one in the GSA smaller than him, and though he certainly knew how it felt…

The sight of Letty jumping up and down, flapping her arms like a baby bird trying to take flight…was absolutely precious.

"That's no fair!" She yelled. "I should have known! It's always the quiet ones!"

"Alright, alright." Meta Knight said, trying to contain the chuckles threatening to escape him. "Where were you going with them? I can deliver the box for you in your stead."

"N-No! I'm the one that needs to take them! You can't!" She protested, waving her arms again in a frantic manner.

"Why so?"

"B-Because…because I'm taking them to Gisela…" The pink puff admitted.

Meta Knight sighed. "I am well aware of her distaste towards me. However, I will not let that get in the way of being an honorable knight."

"No, you really can't do it! Because…I…she…"

"Because…?" He asked in a questioning, yet patient tone.

"Because…I told her that I wouldn't talk to you anymore…" The blonde said quietly, refusing to make eye-contact with the other soldier.

"…Is that why you have been making so many attempts to avoid me?" He asked, drawing in a breath.

"…Yes." Letty frowned, looking at her feet."I'm not supposed to talk to you anymore…No, wait! I'm doing it now! This entire time, I've been talking to you! I'm still doing it!"

Letty suddenly covered her mouth with her small pink arms to silence herself.

"…Why did you make such a promise…did I do something to upset you?"

"No…no…Gisela, she…she made me promise…" She explained. "It's not you. Well, it sort of is. She just really doesn't want us to talk to each other."

Meta Knight suddenly set the box to the side, yellow eyes meeting blue. "Letty, what right does she have to decide who you may associate with? You are her teammate, not her underling-"

"It isn't like that!" The blonde protested. "…Gisela takes care of me. I know that the rest of you think she's just a puff with a terrible anger problem…but, she isn't always like that. One time, I was very sick during a mission. Gisela stayed up all night to make sure I was okay…"

Letty continued. "Not once has she ever threatened me. She just wants what's best for me…"

Meta Knight's gaze softened somewhat. "I can see that you truly believe in her judgment and choices…but…do you not think that you would know more than anyone what is best for yourself?"

Letty's eyes widened. Nobody had ever told her that before… nobody ever asked what she thought before…

"Whether you choose to engage in conversation with me, or anyone, is entirely your choice. I will respect whatever you choose to do…However, I wish that your decision is a reflection of what you want."

"But…" Letty's eyes slowly made contact with his, her blue eyes peeking through her blonde curls. "Why do you care? We don't even know each other that well…"

"You are right. We have not known each other for an extended period of time." He agreed. "But, from that one conversation, I could tell that you are a very kind girl. It would seem disappointing that I would not get the opportunity to speak with such a warm natured person again."

Meta Knight lifted the box, then carefully placed it in her small pink arms.

"I do not want to see you get into trouble with Gisela, though it is against my wishes for you to carry such a burden. Letty, I would strongly advise that your wound be properly tended to, if anything."

The pink puff slowly nodded. "Alright…I will. …I'm sorry I was so awful to you."

"It's alright. There was no need to apologize in the first place. Consider it forgotten."

She watched the blue knight head down the hallway, eventually returning to his own room. With a relieved sigh, she turned the corner of the hallway, lost in her thoughts.

"What I want…huh?"

-

After days of constant searching, or what could be seen as stalking, Falspar had finally found Beta. The black puff was alone in the storage room. How very suspicious.

Summoning his inner anger, the green puff marched into the room. Beta turned around, hearing the door slam behind him. The white eyed puff seemed startled by the noise.

Falspar suddenly bopped the mechanic on top of the head, eliciting a cry of shock.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"For telling Dragato about the 'thing'!" Falspar yelled, with another well placed whack.

"Falspar, what in the great Gamble Galaxy are you talking about?!"

"Don't play dumb with me! You told Dragato about the thing! The…the bottle rocket! You sold me out! For money I bet!"

This time, the black puff managed to block the other's hit. Beta looked insulted, even disgusted that he would suggest such a thing,

"I don't know what made you think that, but Falspar, what could I possibly gain from 'selling you out'?"

"Money of course! You told Dragato, so he could blackmail me! You're a traitor…you dummy! Waah!"

Falspar whined dramatically, even though it did hurt some amount on the inside.

Beta frowned. "Now look, first off I don't know how Dragato could have possibly found that out, because I didn't tell him. Second, I wouldn't tell someone, because both of us promised that we wouldn't talk about it. I've respected that oath, and as much as I love money, you've been with me much longer than money has…"

The green puff was confused. "But…but if you didn't…then who?"

"I don't know. I promise we'll find out later, but right now we have bigger things to worry about Falspar."

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The tone in the mechanic's voice held some urgency, slightly frightening the red haired puff. Beta knew something…

"Beta…what's going on? You're acting weird."

"Look, I'll give you the fast version-" Beta suddenly halted. "Shh! Don't say a word!"

"Why? What-" The green puff's mouth was quickly covered.

Beta opened the door to the storage room very carefully, attempting not to make a sound as he did so. The two puffs grew silent as Sir Arthur and another puff passed by.

The puffball accompanying Sir Arthur was tall for his species, and his body was a dark grey color. His armor was elaborate and well decorated, showing signs that he was a highly ranked soldier. His cape was a golden color, flowing behind as he walked.

Even though Falspar had only gotten a glimpse, something else also stood out. The soldier's eyes were a rare sea green in color, and his hair blue-black with spiked bangs.

Falspar couldn't ever remember seeing him before. He would certainly remember someone who looked like that. His armor made Nonsurat's seem tame.

"…who is that?" Falspar asked after they had passed.

"That other soldier, his name is Mercy. I'm sure that you can tell that he's a high ranking soldier here. But…if he's back then we're in for a bad ride."

"Why? Beta, tell me what's going on! You're not making any sense right now!" The green puff yelled, only for his mouth to be covered once again.

"You don't get it! He's one of the 'specials'. He goes on secret missions. The kind of undercover work. Only…he has a very…unique reputation."

"What? Is he another Gisela? He couldn't be worse." The red haired puff laughed.

The black puff frowned. "No, he's a jinx. At least it seems like he is. Every time he goes on a mission, he always brings back news of disaster. And this time will probably be no different…"

Falspar shook his head. "Beta, I want to make some sense of this, but right now you've been blathering nonstop. As for the jinx thing, Beta this is war. I mean, I've been told countless times that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed…but even I know that there are constant accidents in war."

"Falspar, you aren't liste-"

Suddenly, the black puff's voice was cut off by Sir Arthur's voice from next door.

"Three sectors?! We've lost three sectors?!" The man yelled, distraught. "How…how did this happen?! Three…all of them…just gone? Mercy, please tell me this is just a joke…please…"

"I wish I could say it was a joke…I'm so sorry, Sir Arthur." Mercy's voice could be heard. "I-It's all my fault. I just wasn't strong enough…"

"No…I know that you did your best…you always do." Sir Arthur sniffled a little. "Did…did you at least give them a proper burial after the battle?"

Mercy paused, as though he was thinking of whether or not to speak. "My lord, Sir Arthur...there wasn't anything left to bury…"

Sir Arthur held back a sob as the news came crashing down. Three entire sectors were lost, and the consternation of it all was nearly suffocating the man with guilt.

As the two puffs in the storage room listened to their leader's sorrow, they silently looked at each other. Both realized what it meant for them and their future.

Because after that day, everything began to change for the Galaxy Soldier Army.

Author's Note: Again, sorry for the late update. My computer was having technical difficulties.

I should say, at this point is where the backstory becomes mostly very serious. We'll get back to Nonsurat's problem, and Falspar's at another point. But Mercy's appearance is the incoming sign that the war is getting serious now. I should say, Beta and Mercy are not exactly on the best of terms... This is sort of why Beta thinks he's a jinx.

The next chapter will return to the present. Then after the Halberd issue is over with, there will be about three flashback chapters every present chapter there is. Because we still have lots of backstory to cover. Yeah.

I'll be honest. Letty was kind of a 'meh' character for me at first. I know it sounds weird, especially since I made her. But now I really like how she's coming together since I've given her more of a personality and her own insecurities. Not to mention, she's so awkward and just as big a dork as some of the other characters. So I think it's been easier to write her recently than it was before.

I really think I'm starting to ship these two. Help me.

Anyway, look forward to next chapter, and sorry if this one wasn't very exciting.

Leer Justice, away!