READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE FOR A BETTER READING EXPERIENCE (OR NOT)

Author's note: I have the time setting for this and Dissimulation now (so it makes more sense). The anime, it takes place ten years after that (and this is now a year after Kirby SSU). So that explains why Kirby can talk (say he's three-five during the anime, then he'd be thirteen-fifteen). Er, that means Marx'd be seven or eight during the anime…-_-

Oh, which means (I'm guessing) Fumu would be a few years older than Marx and Bun would be his age..?

Well anyway, thanks to ChaoCream, Awesome is Estester and Wolf'sBreath92 for reviewing. Ye shall rock for all eternity!

Ah, short chapters...

8

Itsumo

After I fell a few people came to my side and helped me stand again. My vision was still blurred from happy tears but I shook them off my face. I saw Dee, Kirby and random braid girl in a perfect circle around me. I bowed and thanked them one at a time, looking up to the room afterward. It was even larger than it appeared on the outside, which surprised me. Unfortunately it seemed to be decorated by some kind of wild animal. They obviously didn't put much thought into it.

At that moment I noticed not many people came. This was expected as I had pretty much zero friends. To prove this my only guests were Kirby, the braid girl, Meta Knight, the braid girl's little brother and Simirror. I guess I wasn't very good at socializing without scaring people.

When the first few minutes of the party passed a cake was wheeled in from some other mysterious room. The icing matched what I wore perfectly, even the red and blue hearts. It should've pleased me but for some reason didn't. Kawasaki, who was standing behind the behemoth sugary item, sliced it tenderly into a bunch of tiny pieces. After obtaining one and balancing it on my head I sat next to Dee, who was chatting with Kirby.

"Hello Marx!" she greeted me in a far too cheerful tone. The way she said that made me paranoid. Were they talking about me? No, it was wrong to just suspect things like that.

"Dee was telling me about the shop!" Kirby explained. He sounded frantic, which I swore I was imagining.

I offered a grin to hide my doubts. "Oh yeah, it's great there! A wide selection of everything, right Dee?" I took a bite of the cake. It was vanilla, my favourite. I chewed it for some time, savouring each bit with closed eyes. This comforted me somehow.

"Yes, it was nice wasn't it?" Dee placed her arm around me in a strange manner. The motion itself wasn't odd, but it was her expression and how quickly she did it; Almost forced.

"You were talking about me," I mumbled with an awkward glance away from them. Dee laughed calmly.

"No, what would give you a silly idea like that?"

A grin spread over my face. Maybe it was silly. "Yeah, I'm just being paranoid," I agreed, "So what's the point of these parties anyway? They don't seem to have one to me."

"Not everything needs a purpose, you know," a girl's voice pointed out from behind me. It was the braid person whose name I forgot.

"Oh, that's right! You don't have a purpose either! I forgot your name too," I cackled uncontrollably after saying this sentence.

The girl crossed her arms. "Like your purpose is any better. And my name is Fumu. I expect you to remember that!"

My mouth shut in a desperate attempt to seal the laughter but it escaped somehow. Dee grasped me, turning me so she could look into my eyes. I just laughed into her face, so she giggled too. We both sat there for some time, laughing our asses off. This probably wasn't the most healthy or sane thing ever, but damn did it feel good. Dee was the first to stop, slapping her paw over my mouth so I would stop as well.

I snapped out of it and looked seriously at Fumu. "You're right. I should respect you. You're one of the only intellectual beings here besides myself, Meta Knight and Dee here. The rest are below average, or better put, idiots."

"Hey!" a few people growled in unison around us. I hadn't noticed they were listening.

"I don't think Dee is that smart. Normal maybe, but not particularly brilliant," Fumu pointed out to me. I didn't respond to her and instead nibbled on my cake once again, "Are you ignoring me on purpose?"

Dee waved her paw at Fumu. "Don't mind Marx! He isn't being mean or anything, so don't be angry with him!" she pleaded. My mind was once again engulfed in the thought of cake, so I wasn't really listening.

"Um, what? Are you calling him crazy? I mean, I agree but…"

"Marx isn't crazy!" I retorted in the third person, "he's unique and all unique people are seen as crazy. Uh-huh."

There was silence following this sentence. Fumu covered her mouth to suppress some laughter. I picked up my cake with my mouth and tossed it at her. She covered herself but the icing splattered all over her shirt.

"Y-you…YOU!" Fumu shouted, "You sick little b—I can't swear."

"Can't swear? You suck," I snickered, preparing myself to run from her at any moment, "Are you gonna try to hurt me now?"

Dee unexpectedly jumped in front of me and waved her arms in the air. "No hurting Marxy-Marx! You can't! See, he's just too cute," Dee grabbed my sides and shoved me in Fumu's face. She then whispered, "Marx, try to look cute."

I stuck my tongue out at Fumu. Her eyes widened for an obscure reason so I tilted my head, puzzled. "You have a bruise on your cheek." She stated the obvious.

Dee lowered me to the ground softly. I grumbled and tried to point at the bruise with my tongue. This didn't really work. "Yesh, bwoose!" I nearly choked after talking without my tongue in my mouth.

"Marx! Marx!" Kirby suddenly appeared as I withdrew my tongue, "I have to tell you a secret!" he whispered loudly, pulling me close to him by my bow tie.

"What is it?" I groaned. He removed my hat slightly and cleared his throat, pressing his lips on my ear.

There was silence from everyone around us (meaning Dee and Fumu) leading up to the final epic sentence. I waited patiently for whatever important thing Kirby felt he needed to tell me. That was when it happened.

"YOU'RE A COMPLETE LOOOOOSSSSSSEEEERRRR!" the shriek hit my brain instantly and I fell to the floor with the words echoing in my head. The pink puff giggled, running away from me at top speed. It took me some time to realize I was still at the party, able to hear. I spit at seemingly nothing, then I heard a splat. My once blurred vision cleared to find a wet-faced, frustrated looking Dee. She wiped the saliva from her face as the nerves travelled through my body, making my face warm. She seemed just about ready to yell at me when…she laughed.

It was a warm, reassuring sound that eased my tense emotions. I let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't angry. She was happy; I amused her. I think the only thing I needed to worry about then was if she would ever stop. There were even little tear drops forming in her eyes which she proceeded to wipe away, flinging them to the side.

"Th-that! Marx! Y-you-! Do you..?" her words came out in between gasps, "That was hilarious!"

"It was?" I wondered. Dee patted my head with the happiest expression I think I'd ever seen. It looked so cute on her too.

"Presents!"

The four of us faced the sound of the shout. It was Fumu's brother, waving like a maniac from across the room. A burst of excitement rushed through my body. This was the first time anyone ever gave me a present for my birthday. Yes, this could possibly be the most enjoyable day in my whole life.

"Marx, are you awake?" Dee giggled, standing. She tugged me up by my hat violently, "C'mon! The presents are for you after all."

"Pressies…" I mumbled, only half aware as we rushed over to where everyone else was standing. The boy (Fumu's brother) passed me a small box with silver wrapping. The tag on the side had some kind of messy scrawl all over it. It said 'Kby.' I sighed. Kirby couldn't even spell his name right. That was pretty comical if you think about it.

"Kiiiiirbyyyy," I whined, "You spelled your own name wrong…you have no goddamn right to call me a loser!"

He responded with a big grin. I took my attention away from the annoying blob and back to his present for me. It had such shiny wrapping, kind of metallic. I tore it with my teeth and it made a crisp 'rip' sound. The contents of the inner box was a snow globe. Two little people were trotting down a dirt path wearing hats and scarves. It made me feel envious of their happiness.

"Do you like it?" Dee asked at my side. My head moved up and down on its own. It actually created an empty mood in the pit of my stomach, but she didn't need to know that. I could never upset Dee with silly things like this.

Another gift was shoved in my face. It was wrapped messily in three shades of green. This was obviously Dee's. I was careful with this one, opening it gently instead of ripping anything. I was quite surprised to see a hand sewn pillow with my name embroidered untidily on the top corner. It added to my emptiness and I couldn't explain why. I felt guilty for not being happy. I wanted to tell someone and apologize, but it would probably be better to lie. Then no one would be angry or disappointed with me.

"It took me a long time to make," Dee took the pillow from me and studied it, "I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though. I can tell it makes you feel good too by your face!" she kissed my forehead in a loving manner. This small action quelled some of the horrid emotion I felt.

"I do," I murmured. There seemed to be no more presents for me after that. I guess the extent of people's caring only goes so far. It didn't matter though, as long as they were here. As long as they recognized this important day for me. As long as they knew I existed, it would all be okay. Yeah, everything would be okay.

"Alright, free leftover cake!" Kawasaki announced. Kirby was first in line, of course, followed by Fumu's brother (Bun, I think?) and Simirror. They were all so cheerful it was almost sickening to me.

"Marx?" a nudge from Dee, "Marx, aren't you hungry?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm too happy to eat."

She seemed content with this response and snuggled me accordingly.

After the party Dee wanted to help clean with the others for a while. I agreed to wait outside as I figured she wished to be alone with her friends. So I stood in the woods, whistling some song that popped into my head. I wonder where it came from. Maybe something my mom sang to me when I was little? No, that couldn't be it. I Would never remember something like that.

"Marx," I gasped at the sound of someone saying my voice. It was Meta Knight who possessed a teeny gift in his gloved hand. The wrapping was so neat it looked professionally wrapped, though I knew it wasn't. He placed it on the ground in front of me, "open this," He ordered.

"Ah…okay!" I took it in my mouth, tearing the wrapping off like a hyperactive kid on their birthday (which I was, technically). There was a little box inside, sort of like a mini version of what I gave Dee a few months ago. It opened itself and played the same song as Dee's did, but in a higher pitch. Meta Knight took the wrapping from me and tucked it somewhere inside his cape.

"I shall throw this away for you," he grumbled, "You should like this. It took me many days to find."

I cocked my head to the side. "But…why would you go to all this trouble for me? It's not like we're friends or anything."

"I understand you," Meta Knight began to walk toward the house, "we may seem very different yet we have much in common," he turned his head slightly to me, "if something bothers you remember that Dee is always there for you. I don't have someone like her, so for my sake, if not your own, tell her what might be on your mind. There is no need to hurt in silence." With that he left me all alone to be confused.

"Wuh?" I asked the unresponsive air, "what does he mean? I-I feel bad now. Is he hurt? I'm sorry…I'm sorry," I repeated those two words a few times before falling to the ground. I felt so guilty. Not just for Meta Knight but because I wasn't happy. I should've been overjoyed with everyone and be in tears with thanks. Why wasn't I? What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I be normal and feel good like everyone else? It wasn't fair. I wanted to be like them too.

"Marxy-Marx, it's time to go home," a paw, presumably Dee's, nudged my side, "wake up please. You can sleep in the bed tonight if you want. Marx?" she held my face in her paws and grew serious, "why are you crying? Did someone hurt you?"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled with tears pouring down my cheeks, "I'm sorry I'm not happy. I wanna be, I wanna thank you and I wanna feel like you do. Is there something wrong with me? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so—"

"Stop apologizing," she demanded, "nothing is wrong with you. You're almost perfect, but no one is totally right? So um, I love you. Is that the right thing to say..? No, if you want to talk then…then that'd be okay!" her arms waved in a few directions frantically, being careful not to hit me, "I-I'm really not that good at this. I mean, sometimes but…uh…"

I laughed even though my eyes were still wet. "No that's okay. I feel a bit better now," I suddenly remembered what Meta Knight said only minutes ago, "can we talk about it when we get home though?"

"Of course!" Dee picked me up and cradled me like a baby. This was probably hard for her but she also seemed to enjoy it. I did too. It had been a while since I was held like this. Maybe even years. I could barely remember what it was like, just fuzzy, warm memories. I wonder who it was that carried me…

"I love you too," I whispered, finally responding to that sentence she said earlier. Dee hugged me a bit tighter with a snuggle. Maybe, just maybe, I could call this the best moment of my life. It wasn't like the selfishly triumphant feeling I had when I made my wish on Nova or even the one I had when I first made friends with anyone (though that was a joke so they could make fun of me, it still felt good). This feeling…it was different. It was the purest thing in the world with no catches whatsoever. What was it? Was it…love? Yes, love.

Never ending love.

Author's note: Such a cute ending :O The title…it means always, if you didn't know that (A lot of you might). And I finally put Meta Knight in it, being nice in his weird ways XD! He's definitely growing on me, which is why I made him do that! :3

Oh and I'm sorry this took a while to update. I'll be faster for the next chapter, hopefully in time for Valentine's Day! Yep, one event after the other. There won't be much 'excitement' for some time (meaning no violence or anything). Huh, I still hope you enjoy this. I don't like writing action or violence and what not, but if you want I could…maybe…no, probably not. XD

I mean, this is a hurt/comfort/romance. C'mon. But, but…well, you'll see.