AHHH! NOOOO!

Pit: -drags Authoress by collar- I found her!!!

-hides face- I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!

Roy: You'd better be!

-cries-

Pit: Her excuses aren't good enough, if you ask me. Let's start the story before anyone else gets too angry!

I'm going to start wrapping things up. The tourney is now over, so yeah. So go ahead and cry, you fools. Mwahahaha.

Oh, and on a side note, I'm only going to be replying people's reviews with uh…review replies…no more at-the-bottom-of-the-page stuff. It took up too much room.

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Shut up," Marth said automatically as he entered the Observation Room. Without even looking, he added, "And wipe that stupid grin off your face, Roy."

"Aww, come on!" Roy kept smiling, coming over to the Altean. "I can't believe you didn't see that coming from Link."

"I can't believe it either," Marth grumbled.

"It's okay, Martha," Link joined in with Roy's teasing, calling Marth by the girl version of his name. "You went down with honor."

Marth rolled his eyes. "Well, I guess I came close…"

"That you did," Link nodded, and went to go receive a hug from Zelda.

"I wish I had a girl to comfort me," Marth said, pretending to be sad.

"Same here," Roy sighed, though he was completely serious.

As the flood of Smashers shoved themselves into the room to congratulate Link, Marth and Roy worked against the flow to get into the hall. Marth was stopped a couple of times to be congratulated on his hard work and determination, and that maybe he'd have "better luck next time." As the last Smasher passed the two swordsmen and they were alone in the hall, Marth turned to Roy.

"What about Samus?"

Roy asked quizzically, "What about her?"

"I thought you…and her…well, I thought you guys had something…I mean, after our talk the other night…you know."

"Blame Cupid," Roy said, but he tried not to sound too angry because he didn't want Marth to possibly tell Pit the things Roy said about him afterwards. He tried to balance it out by saying the following, "He's an awesome fighter and everything, but I can't believe he won over Samus so quickly. He looks like he's ten years old!"

"He's only sixteen," Marth pointed out.

"I know that, but Samus is seventeen, and I'm eighteen, and I can't help feeling it'd weird for her to like someone younger than her."

"Well, I guess, in true love, it doesn't matter…." Marth said quietly. He cringed as he saw Roy's face contort slightly.

"It's true then…" Roy sighed. "She really does love Pit…even more than me…"

Marth didn't know what to say. He placed a comforting hand on Roy's shoulder, but the redhead brushed it off and walked away. His calls to Roy were futile as the half-dragon stormed off in a mix of rage, loss, and confusion.

"Where is he?" Samus hissed, looking up at the fifth floor from the foyer, expecting to see a wild mess of red hair appear and makes its descent.

"He's probably sleeping," Marth closed his eyes and smirked. He opened them again. "You know how he is. It doesn't matter what time he goes to sleep, but if you know he skipped breakfast, he's oversleeping."

"The party's going to start without him…" Samus pretended to whine like a little kid. "One of you go up and get him."

"Let's send Zelda," Link offered, and the Princess scoffed. "You know how moody he gets when we wake him up, and he'll never lay a hand on a girl."

"Why not Samus?" Zelda asked.

"Up you go, Zelda," Marth ignored her comment and shoved her up the stairs.

Zelda turned to glare angrily at her friends, but it was only comical. She began to laugh as she made her way up and disappeared down the hall from the view of the remaining Smashers.

"You're so lucky she's your girl, Link," Marth smirked at Link, who only replied that Marth spoke true words of wisdom.

They stood for a minute before Zelda appeared behind Samus and cried, "He's gone!"

"What?!" everyone cried simultaneously.

"His door was locked, and I kept knocking and knocking, but I finally teleported inside in case something was wrong. He left this note for you…" She handed a piece of paper to Samus. "I teleported down here to tell you right away."

Samus opened the letter and found tears began to stream down her face. She noticed he hadn't started the letter with "Dear Samus," but rather simply "Samus."

Samus,

I asked Master Hand if I could return home early. He consented. This is my goodbye to you; I wish I could've said goodbye to everyone else as well, but I couldn't. So say it for me, will you? I don't know if I'll be returning next year…things may change. I only have one thing to say to you.

Do you remember how we first met?

Roy

Samus reread the short letter four times.

"How could he? How could he?" she kept repeating, until Link took the letter from her to read himself and left her hands empty. Soon, Pit came and enclosed his around hers, looking into her eyes worriedly.

"Wow…" was all Link could say before passing the note to Marth and Zelda.

After Prince and Princess had read the note, they were all left in a state of shock. Samus broke away from Pit's hold and ran to the office. When the others followed her, they discovered she was yelling at Master Hand.

"Why did you send him home? Why did you consent?" she shrieked as tears came down her face quickly.

"He said he had unfinished business back at home—"

"He has unfinished business here!" Samus stamped her foot down.

"I'm sorry," Master Hand said solemnly. "There's nothing I can do to bring him back by force. I can only summon him. It's his choice to return here or not."

"Isn't there anyway I can talk to him?" Samus cried desperately.

"Well, there's the Communication Room," Master offered. "That thing's rather convenient now, isn't it? We didn't have it last year…oh, and I made new devices so all the Smashers can remain in contact until next year. I'm handing them out tomorrow at the portals."

"Did Roy get his?" Samus asked Master hopefully.

"Yes, he was the first to get one."

A small dash of hope entered Samus's heart as she then tore from the office to the Communication Room. Throwing herself down in the seat, she set the mode to PRIVATE and demanded for Roy. She prayed she could somehow reach him, but then the screen began to blink "UNABLE TO CONTACT."

"No!" Samus shouted and requested for Roy again.

The same thing popped up and Samus stood. She knew Roy was refusing to see her

He doesn't want to see me again…she thought bitterly as she made her way back to her friends. Pit said nothing as he pulled her into a hug. He let her sob on his shoulder, wishing himself that his friend would return for one more day.

"That's it," Marth said. "I'm going home to talk to him. I won't have that special device, so contact me using the CR in a few hours."

Before anyone could protest, it was Marth's turn to race away.

"Marth's gonna get Roy to realize what he did wrong," Pit told Samus over and over. "You'll see. Let's go do something while we wait."

Link and Zelda looked at each other worriedly. Letting Pit and Samus walk off, Zelda turned to Link.

"Well, at least we'll have those devices to keep in touch. Maybe it has a camera on it or something. That way, you won't have to sneak to the castle to see me," she giggled.

"Thank goodness," Link grinned. "I'm really glad I tried out here."

"Me too," Zelda smiled. Then it faded. "Do you think Samus and Roy will turn out alright?"

"Who knows," Link shrugged. "She seems to be really into Pit. I mean, he sincerely cares for her."

Zelda looked at the ground, "But so does Roy."

Link wrapped his arms around her. "I hope this works out."

"Me too."

"Well, he won't talk," Marth sighed to his four companions that remained at the mansion. It was evening now, with the party going on everywhere in the mansion. Music, laughs, and playful screams reached the ears of anyone who was anywhere on the premises. "He ignores me, and even threatened me with his sword to stay away…yup."

"He really is all that mad at me," Samus said despondently.

"Give him time," Marth reassured. "You know how he is with his temper. It always takes him awhile to come out of it."

"But…"

"Just enjoy the party and contact him the day after tomorrow on the device Master will give you," Marth told Samus. "If he refuses to answer, contact me."

Samus nodded.

"So are you coming back to party with us?" Pit asked, talking for the first time.

"Of course I am," Marth smiled to his friends. "Just let me try to talk to Roy one last time, and then get Master Hand to use his magic to summon me."

The gang nodded their good-byes as the screen went blank. Samus turned in the chair to face the others, and sighed. "I'm hoping for the best."

"That's the spirit," Link grinned. "Now, let's go back to the party. I'm starving."

Pit and Link headed off towards the hall as Zelda helped Samus out of the chair.

"Let's just have a fun time," Zelda told Samus. "Let's say good-bye to all our friends since tomorrow we'll be busy packing and everything."

Samus nodded her head slowly and walked with Zelda out of the Communication Room.

There you go. Shoot me.