A/N: Thank you for those who read and reviewed the previous chapter! I'm so sorry, this is way overdue, I meant to publish this earlier, but I was busy with homework and things... Alright, without further ado, on with the story!
Disclaimer: Only the story plot is mine.
The Night of the Party
Zelda and Samus were standing at the double doors that led to the suite that the party was being held in. They were waiting for Peach, who had insisted that she was only going to be a few more minutes longer. Samus had ended up wearing the dress with the red rhinestones. She let her hair out of the ponytail she usually wore it in and, with Peach's help, pinned the hair clips in her hair. Zelda's dress was a red mermaid dress with a white ribbon tied in a bow around the waist. She had on silver heels (that weren't too high). Her date for the party was (you guessed it) Link, and although she was usually patient, Samus could see that she was itching to step through the doors and find her date. Samus herself didn't have a date, and was still reluctant to go to the party, but she comforted herself in the small fact that at least Ike was going to be there. Nana had gone ahead without them to meet her friends at the front garden. She kept going on about Young Link… Kids, thought Samus, shaking her head slightly.
"I'm ready!"
Peach hurried towards them down the hall. She had on a pale pink spaghetti strap dress that fell just below the knee. There were red hearts scattered along the bottom of her dress. She had on white heels and a sparkly necklace with a heart charm.
"You two look nice," she chirped, looking over Zelda and Samus' dresses.
"You too," said Zelda with a smile. Samus just nodded.
"Well, let's join the festivities, then!" Peach pushed the doors open.
The Worker Primids had done quite a good job of decorating the room. The lighting was perfect, the decorations were elegant yet fun; it all created the perfect ambiance. The dance floor was illuminated with lights that changed from red to white to pink.
"Link!" Zelda cried happily. She rushed over to him. He swept her up in a hug. "Happy Valentine's Day!" This was said in unison by the two and they laughed.
Peach giggled. "They're so cute together!"
"Yeah…" Samus was only half-listening. She scanned the crowd for Ike.
"Oh! Mario!" Peach exclaimed upon seeing the Mushroom Kingdom hero. She waved to him. "I've got to go, Samus. Have fun!" She hurried over to Mario, who gave her a rose. She hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. Samus rolled her eyes. Why did I come to this party?
She sat down at one of the tables. One of the Worker Primids placed a glass of water before her. She sipped absentmindedly from the glass. Is Ike not coming? As if to answer her thoughts, the double doors opened and Ike, Marth, and Roy strolled through them. Marth and Roy, after chatting with Ike, went to get something to eat. Following the two swordsmen with her gaze, she noticed the buffet and wondered how she didn't notice it earlier. She gave a little wave in Ike's direction. He saw her and came over to her table.
Ike had on a dark red dress shirt with a black bow tie and a pair of slacks. When he came and sat down, he remarked, "You look stunning in that dress, you know."
Quite surprised, Samus replied, "Oh… thank you." They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching their fellow Smashers mingle and enjoy the party.
"Do you—" they spoke at the same time. "You first," urged Ike.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to get some food," said Samus, smiling slightly.
"Sure," Ike replied, grinning. They got up and made their way to the buffet.
Ike came back with a few graham crackers, a banana, and a handful of strawberries. He also filled a soup bowl with a mix of strawberries and chocolate mints (to share between each other). Samus had grapes, crackers and Nutella, and some pretzels on her plate. (You see, it wasn't quite dinner time, so the buffet kitchen was only serving snack food at the moment.)
Ike and Samus ate their food, making small talk about the going- ons of the Smash Mansion. All of a sudden, a cheer went up. Music started to play and a considerable amount of Smashers moved from their seats to the dance floor. The DJ happened to be... "Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Valentine's day party! I'm your Kiiiiing DedeDJ! Our first song will be Party Rock Anthem!"
Samus raised an eyebrow. "Did he really…?"
"Yep, he sure did." Ike shook his head.
"…Oh, brother."
"Well, at least most of the others seem to enjoy it." Ike was right. Most of the Smashers were getting their party on, dancing to the pop music.
"I don't feel like dancing much… do you?"
"Eh, I don't feel much like it either." So they sat at their table, watching the other Smashers dance and bust out some moves. Samus would occasionally hum along with the song if she liked it.
"You know," said Samus after a while, "I didn't really feel much like coming to the party at first."
"Yeah, me neither," replied Ike.
"But… It was more bearable by far when you came." Samus stirred her water with a straw and fixed her gaze on the swirling contents.
Ike gave a small smile. "You know, I felt the same way when I saw you… Not to mention the dress." He looked away and Samus thought she saw a blush.
"Heh… thank you…" Samus felt the heat rise to her face. He's really sincerely complementing me…
Just then, King "DedeDJ" announced, "Here's the last song before the gift exchange! Don't worry, there will be more music from your King DedeDJ afterwards! Enjoy your gifts!"
With that, a slow, relaxing tune began to play. Ike, whom Samus had notice was fidgeting slightly during King DedeDJ's announcement, stood up. "Would you, ah… would you like to dance?"
"Um…" Samus drummed her fingers. "I…"
"Come on," urged Ike with a grin, holding out his hand.
…Oh, heck, it's Valentine's Day—why not? With that thought in mind, Samus took Ike's hand. He led her to the dance floor and placed his hands on her slender waist. Samus, not knowing much about dancing, decided to put her hands on his shoulders. It seemed to be the right thing to do, because he smiled at her and they started to dance to the slow, mellow tones of the music.
It was actually quite enjoyable; Samus found herself smiling when she looked at Ike. He was smiling, too. The song concluded with a final flourish from a crooning saxophone. Ike spun her around and she gave a genuine smile. Ike chuckled and gave a small bow. "Thank you, thank you."
"Wow, Ike, I didn't know you could dance," remarked Samus, punching him lightly in the arm.
"Heh, me neither," he replied, cracking a grin. Samus nearly facepalmed as they and the rest of the Smashers made their way to the corner of the room where the gift hunt was being held. The gifts, which were already arranged in a cluster on the floor, came in varied shapes and sizes; it reminded Samus slightly of the Christmas party of last year. She vaguely remembered the comment Nana had made about Sheik and Snake and wondered if the rumor was actually true. The Smashers quieted down as Master Hand and Crazy Hand floated towards them.
"Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. I hope you all have been enjoying the party so far. Pertaining to the Valentine's Day gift hunt, you are all free to go about looking for your gift. Make note, though; the number one rule is that you may not open your gift until after the hunt. You have fifteen minutes to try and guess which gift is yours. At the end of fifteen minutes, I will be announcing which gift belongs to its respective Smasher and who that gift was from. Good luck!"
"Yeah!" Crazy Hand jumped in amidst the presents. "Which one is mine?" A few of the Smashers facepalmed; it was obvious he's had a little too much chocolate. Master Hand grabbed Crazy Hand by the index finger and dragged him away. Crazy called out to the Smashers, "Eat a ton of chocolate, and party on the dance floor, and let the loooove come through! Oh, and I'll be making mayhem in the gardens near the fireworks display if you need me—"
"Oh, no you won't," said Master Hand almost menacingly. "If you even attempt to do so, I will not hesitate to deliver your punishment."
"What? I'm not going to mess up the fireworks. They're so pretty! Sparkly, colorful, pretty!" The two hands' voices faded away as they exited the suite. After those few moments of awkward silence, the Smashers began to mingle around the gifts, trying to figure out which one was theirs. Some Smashers found their gifts right away; it was mostly because of the wrapping paper. But Samus, having no clue as to which gift was hers, finally just picked up a random gift and, after giving it an experimental shake (and finding it to be a bit heavy), carried it with her to wait for Master Hand's revealing of the gifts.
The fifteen minutes were up and Master Hand swept into the room. "Hello again, Smashers. Think you have the right gift? You're about to find out!"
Master Hand began calling out the "to"s and "from"s of all the gifts. Samus smiled when Pikachu received his gift (yes, Samus was Pikachu's mystery gifter). He squealed and ran over to her, leaping into her arms for a hug. "Pika-pika! Chaaa!" Samus had gotten him some gourmet electric-type Poke-chow and some Oran berries, along with a black bandana.
"You like it?"
"Pika-chu!"
Aw… Samus cuddled with Pikachu before letting him run off to enjoy his gifts.
Just then, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Ike standing there. "Hey, looks like you found my gift to you."
"Really? Wow, I just chose a random gift."
"Heh, lucky you," Ike said. "Won't you open it?"
Samus nodded and tore off the wrapping paper, which was black with white stars. In the box was a medium-length sword. The hilt was black with gold decorations. "Whoa…"
Ike was looking away. "I didn't know what to get you… You've already got the latest upgrades for your power suit… So I thought you might want to try a different style of fighting… And I wanted it to be a sign of our friendship..."
"Ike… it's beautiful. I love it." Samus gave him a genuine smile.
"You do?"
Samus nodded. "You… You'll help me learn?"
"Yes, I will," replied Ike, looking relieved at the fact that she liked her gift.
At that moment, music started playing again and many of the Smashers returned to the dance floor. King DedeDJ had returned and was starting another round of songs. A few minutes later, the Primids working the buffet began serving the dinner food. Not surprisingly, most of the Smashers on the dance floor left to get their dinner. They sat at the tables and enjoyed food like rotisserie chicken, shrimp, pasta, croissants, and other foods of that nature that usually weren't served at the cafeteria for dinner. Of course there were chicken fingers, macaroni, fries, and popcorn shrimp and foods of the like for the little Smashers (Master Hand thought of everything). There was a pleasant hum of conversation throughout the suite as the Smashers enjoyed their food—and might I add, they enjoyed it without a food fight breaking out.
Samus herself enjoyed both the meal and spending her time with Ike. They talked and talked, even after they had finished their meal and the Smashers were once again rocking out with King DedeDJ, who was actually proving to be pretty good at what he was doing.
After what seemed like no time at all, Master Hand entered the suite. "If you would please follow me outside to the front gardens, the fireworks display will begin in a few short minutes."
The Smashers filed out through the doors of the Smash Mansion and chose spots for themselves on the very nicely-kept front lawn. Pit, by the request of Master Hand, had recruited some of his angel guys (from his Final Smash, you know) together and they were flying around with heart-shaped bows and fake arrows with hearts on the tip. Many of the Smashers snickered as they saw the mini "Cupids" flying here and there. Charizard spat a fireball at one and it flew around wildly on fire until Pit noticed and quickly put it out. The Smashers laughed at this and settled down, waiting for the fireworks to start. Ike and Samus sat together and made small conversation while they waited. The dark sky was cloudless and this of course made for a stellar view of the stars, which were scattered across the heavens.
"You know, Samus, I don't believe I'm regretting this party anymore," said Ike, chuckling to himself as he remembered how much he'd been dreading it before.
"Heh, me neither. I mean, I didn't want to be here at first, but ever since you came, it just kept getting better…" Samus gave Ike a shy smile.
"I agree." Ike returned the smile, albeit more confidently. "Just talking with you, and spending all that time with you… We're definitely more friends than rivals, wouldn't you say?"
"Definitely," replied Samus, feeling a spark of happiness deep inside that she had never felt before…
Just then, Master Hand's voice rang through the air. "Watch the skies; the fireworks are starting!"
The talk amongst the Smashers ceased as they waited in anticipation for the fireworks to start. The first firework lit up the night sky—it was a silvery Smash ball that dissipated into brilliant little sparkles. This evoked many "oooh"s from the group of Smashers. Another firework shot up and exploded into two hands that could only be Master Hand and Crazy Hand.
The fireworks continued to impress the Smashers—a few wondered if Master Hand had done them himself. There were all kinds; the ones that popped like popcorn in the air, the ones that fell in a waterfall of sparkles, the bright, loud ones that could be heard from a mile away. The finale included a surplus of hearts and a unique firework that wrote "Happy Valentine's Day" in the sky. The Smashers applauded when the display ended.
Presently, they all began to file back into the Smash Mansion. It was actually quite late, and many were beginning to feel (if they weren't already) tired.
Ike and Samus joined the Smashers trooping up the staircase to their rooms. Samus accompanied Ike to his room, where they both lingered for a while.
"Well, Ike… Thanks for making the party so much better," began Samus.
"I could say the same to you," replied Ike, grinning a little. A span of silence stretched between the two Smashers, as neither one was sure what words could be adequate to close their time spent together. They somehow sensed this between each other, but were unsure of how to remedy the feeling.
Finally, Ike murmured, "Well, actions speak louder than words…" With that, he wrapped her in a firm yet gentle embrace. Samus was surprised, but after a moment she hugged him back. As Ike released her from his embrace, he left a feather-soft kiss on her cheek.
"Thank you, Samus… Happy Valentine's Day." Ike smiled and squeezed her shoulder. Samus blinked, then smiled, a genuine smile.
"You too, Ike…" She returned the kiss impossibly gently.
They departed then, each to his and her own room and thoughts. Samus drifted off to sleep, thinking of how amazing the day had turned out to be and, greater still, the one she had shared it with.
Please review! Your thoughts and critique make me happy!