Author's Note:

I've grown to love Roy and Falco :D

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Marth walked quickly through the halls. He had gotten so caught up in his fight with Link that he had almost forgotten his meeting with Samus. He turned the corner and entered the library. Samus stood up and placed her mechanical hands on her hips.

"So, you decided to show up after all." she said. She turned and motioned for him to come sit down. Marth followed and once seated they began their talk.

"So, what exactly do you want with me?" said Marth. Samus chuckled.

"I don't want anything. I'm helping you. Now, I see you've had troubles with Zelda. She can be…a bit of a problem sometimes." she said. Marth scowled.

"I don't know why she hates me so much…I barely know her." he said. He was a little annoyed when Samus began to chuckle again.

"Boy you don't get it do you? You spend quite a large amount of your time with Link." she said. Marth blinked.

"Yah…so?"

"So…" Samus sighed. "It's plain to see that you have a crush on him." Marth's eye twitched.

"H-how do you f-figure?" he stuttered. Samus sighed again.

"You tend to stare…a lot." Marth facepalmed.

"Okay so let's say if I did like Link…and I don't, what would that have to with Zelda hating me?"

"She likes him too."

"…"

"Yah." Samus sighed. "But she's the least of your problems. It seems Roy's set his eyes on you and he's determined to turn your life to hell." she said. Marth frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"I overheard him talking with Falco about some Christmas plan of his. Apparently he means to make you the target of some plan he and Falco came up with. I could tell you everyone who's involved but it wouldn't matter. Try not to piss off Zelda for now and you won't have your crush getting angry with you. You need to be in top shape if you want to pass the trials in two weeks and having your boyfriend whip your ass with the Master Sword won't be helpful to you." said Samus. She got up and began walking toward the door when Marth jumped up.

"But what about Roy?" he said, ignoring Samus' comment about Link. Samus turned and looked at him.

"There's not really much you can do other than watch your back until after the holidays."

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"Hey, what the hell is this?" said Roy as he held up his fork with a large, brownish-green substance for the others to see. Marth blinked slowly in obvious disinterest.

"Roy, eat your food." said Link calmly. Roy made a fake gagging sound and pushed his plate away.

"No way m'Lord." said Roy. "I don't want to die today." Fox sighed.

"Eatin' this won' kill ya. It's good!" said Fox happily with his mouth full. Roy stuck out his tongue.

"Psh, death be to you…" he looked at his glass and frowned. The liquid inside had a dark auburn tint to it. "I swear that looks like blood." Marth wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"You're so picky!" said Fox. Roy grinned and then turned to Marth.

"So Mars Bar, how's life?" he said, smiling. Marth glared.

"Don't call me that." he said. Roy whispered something to Falco and Marth quickly reacted.

"I heard a nasty rumor from someone that you plan on doing something to me. I want to know what's going on." he said. Roy turned back to Marth with a glint in his eye.

"Well well what a temper you have." he said. He leaned forward and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Believe me Marth, what I have in store is for your own good. It won't hurt you…it'll only help. Don't worry…you're in good hands."

"Anybody got any plans for the holidays?" said Peach. Zelda smiled.

"Well it seems Roy has plans for Marth. I personally think it would be better if it hurt but that's just how I deal with bad people." she said laughing. Link glanced at Marth. Marth had been drinking from his cup and set it down now, fiddling with it's position.

"That's how my parents thought too. After all," Marth faked a smile at Zelda. "That's how royalty lives life. Take the negatives from the personality and groom your heirs to be more polite and kingly."

"Yes, that's right." said Zelda, not expecting him to react this way. Link sat up straighter, a little pleased with how Marth had taken it. The rest of the meal went by quickly, and afterward the smashers headed to the entertainment room to decorate. Roy whispered to Fox and Fox nodded, smiling.

"I propose we group up for each decoration duty. First off, we need the streamers to be placed up on the walls and hangin from the ceilin. Next, we have the furniture to rearrange and tables to set up. Lightin, plannin, etc all have to be done today so I suggest we get to it. The groups will be made up of the categories you were placed in when you got here." said Fox.

So everyone made their way to their places of work. It was of no surprise that Link and Marth were placed in the same group. Roy had run off somewhere and had 'apologized' before taking off. This left Marth and Link alone…together. Their job was to set up the tables and get the kitchen ready for cooking and stock it with plenty of food and drink choices.

"Go ahead and lift that side and I'll try to help as much as I can." said Link. His arm hadn't quite healed yet. Marth nodded and lifted the table side with both hands, Link helping with his right hand. They shifted it against the wall and let it down carefully. "Great job. Now we need to put the uh…"

"Tablecloth, on the table. And the drinks are in the freezer." said Marth. Link looked down at the ground, hiding his blush.

"Um…yah. L-let's go find it then." They grabbed and set the tablecloth whilst their red headed friend made some changes to the drink selection.

"Okay, this is non-alcoholic eggnog. We replace it with maybe…one or two of the real stuff?" said Roy, turning to Falco. Falco shook his head, lifting the last three bottles of non-alcoholic eggnog.

"No. We can't risk givin the wrong stuff to the wrong people. Keep the non versions in a separate box and the real stuff in the non version's original box. Got it? That way, they think that this box is the non-alcoholic stuff when it's really the alcoholic and vice versa." said Falco. Roy nodded.

"I like it. It's genius." he grabbed the non-alcoholic eggnog and lifted them into a new box. "Help me pack them in. Marth and Link will be in here soon to put the drinks in the refrigerator." The boys finished their work and as soon as they finished, they took off towards the Dining Hall and back into Entertainment Room. It just so happens that Link and Marth were now entering the freezer.

Link shivered at the cold and Marth made his way over to the drink boxes. Link frowned and sighed at them. "Don't even think about it Link." Link turned to Marth who was holding one of the boxes. "Your arm isn't healed yet. Just open the refrigerator and put the contents of each box into it okay?" he said. Link nodded and followed Marth into the kitchen.

They worked quickly and without fuss. Something Marth was grateful for. He almost dropped the box at one point and for the first time ever, he witnessed Link's laughter.

"Careful or we'll have more work to do." he said. Marth smiled warmly. He liked Link's laugh. It was soft and whimsical. And childish too. Like Link had some sort of hidden part of his personality somewhere in there. Link felt equally the same when he saw Marth's smile. It wasn't like his cold temper which flared up less and less often. It was inviting and kind.

"Um…yah that could have been messy." he said. He lifted the box up onto the counter. "That's the last box. We'll unload it and we'll be done."

Link nodded. They began to unload the box when they reached for the same bottle. They froze as their hands touched and both blushed bright red. They then laughed nervously and Link took the bottle, Marth silently cursing himself for not paying attention.

'Well that was…fun…" Marth commented as they climbed the stairs to their room. Link nodded.

When they got to their room they rested on their beds, organized their dressers, and freshened up in the bathroom. As they retired to bed Link looked up at Marth and smiled weakly.

"Thanks…for today. I know I was…rude earlier today. You were right about my constant coming to Zelda's side." he said softly. Marth propped himself up onto his elbows.

"W-well, I was just as rude. Maybe we can start over?" he said, hopefully. Link stared at him for a moment before nodding and smiling wider.

"I'd like that." Marth grinned and got up from the bed. He stuck out his hand.

"Hi I'm Marth." he said. Link took Marth's hand and nodded.

"And I'm Link…nice to meet you, Marth."

"Nice to meet you to Link."

I'm grateful to have met you…

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The holidays came quickly and as the night set in Roy and Falco put their plan into action. They had volunteered for drink duty to make sure their plan went down the way they wanted and no one had a problem with it. Roy prepared two drinks for his swordsmen friends and grinned wickedly. Falco chuckled.

"Roy you can be brilliant sometimes kid." said Falco. Roy nodded.

"I know Falco. Let's put this plan into action…shall we?"

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Author's Note:

Hmm...wonder what they have in mind? Review please!