Chapter 3

Link and Snake were staring each other down, each thinking of ways to take out the other.

His biggest advantage is his more advanced weaponry. He's not very fast, but then, neither am I. His jump is about medium, but he backs it up with his minimized helicopter. But there he's at a disadvantage, for he can't use his arms. The biggest bother is his homing missile. He rarely misses his target. But then again, it takes a few seconds to charge. Whatever happens, I can NOT let him get the Smash Ball, for if he does, the fight is over for me. This will be a tough fight. I think the best thing to do would be to keep him where he least expects me to, which is on the ground, where he has the field advantage. If I stay vigilant, I can probably block his grenades and have enough time to retaliate with a bomb of my own, which, if it works right, will distract him just long enough for me to take him from the air, which will damage him enough to gain enough time to knock him out. But then, if the bomb doesn't work, I'll have to use my arrows or my boomerang to get him in the head, which will disorient him long enough for me to get him with a frontal assault. Given enough time, I'll deal enough damage to knock him out with an aerial attack. Such were Link's thoughts.

Snake was thinking similarly. He can't afford to keep me on the ground, it's where I have the field advantage. He'll most likely try to get me into the air where I can't use my arms. From there he can strike from below with his sword or a bomb. Well, that's out of the question. So I'll have to deal some damage with my grenades or my missile launcher. But it wouldn't do to forget that he has bombs of his own that he can retaliate with in the event that my grenades fail. Smash Ball is not an option for him. That TriForce Slash will be the end of this fight if he gets to it. He's at his most destructive when he strikes me from above. So even on the ground, I'm vulnerable, but not if I stay sharp. His projectile weapons have a fair range the pretty much eclipses the entirety of this stage. If he employs those, my only option is to dodge. If I react quickly enough, I could probably take his feet out from under him...no, bad idea. His gear adds too much weight to him to try that, and he's well armored, too. So I guess–

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

The buzzer on the training room door shattered both their thoughts. Snake flinched and cursed under his breath. Link smirked, knowing that Snake's distraction would have allowed Link to gain the upper hand. No mistakes in Brawl, Snake.

It was Snake who answered the buzzer. "Yo, what is it?"

"Yo, Snake, it's Falco, is Link in there?"

Link answered. "I'm here, Mr. Lombardi. Is something wrong?"

"Yo, Link, Samus want to talk to you in her chamber when you're free."

She wants to talk to me in private? Confused, but not showing it, Link replied, "Thank you for telling me, Mr. Lombardi. Please let her know I will be there as soon as I can."

"Will do, my man. By the way, ya might wanna watch ya back. Snake might take advantage."

"Eh?" Link turned around and immediately received a high kick directly in the jaw, knocking Link off balance. So much for no mistakes.

About an hour later, Link exited his chamber wearing lighter clothing and leaving his weapons in his chamber. I wonder what Samus wants to talk about.

As he made his way to Samus's chamber, he steadily got more nervous. How is it that I can deal with someone like Gannon or Zant and yet when it comes to women I'm nervous like nothing else? It makes no sense!

At Samus's door, Link drew a deep breath and hit the buzzer.

"Who's there?"

The sound of Samus's voice immediately made Link turn red. For the Goddess' sakes, what is wrong with me?

Link took a deep breathe and, hoping his nervousness didn't show in his tone, replied, "Samus? It's Link."

Seconds later, Samus's door slid open and Samus as standing there, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt with a dark red vest. She smiled and turned light pink seeing Link there. Goddamnit! I'm getting nervous already! Snap out of it, Samus! You need to stay focused!

"Hey, Link. How was your spar with Snake?"

"It could have gone better. I was taken off guard more times than normal, but I'll just have to work at it. What did you want to talk about?"

Samus turned slightly pink again and said, "Come on in, I wanna talk in private."

Link entered her chamber and blushed. I'm alone with Samus in her chamber. I must stay focused. Seated himself in a chair next to Samus's desk.

Samus sat on her couch by her artificial window. She had programmed it to show the galaxy. She took a deep breath and said, "Link, how do you think a man should act towards women?"

This question caught Link off guard. Of all the questions I was expecting, THAT was definitely not one of them.

Link cleared his mind and answered, "Well, personally, I believe that a man should see a woman as someone of importance. Someone with an intellectual capacity equal to his own. Someone with thoughts, hopes and dreams. To me, a woman is more than the opposite gender of a man. I believe that a woman is someone to be treated like a human being, for despite her different anatomy and different way of thinking, a woman is still a human being."

Samus stared at Link. He's serious. He believes that women are more than collections of body parts.

"Why do you ask, Samus?"

Samus sighed. "Because you're the only person I know with kind of view. You see me and other women as human beings. If more men had views like yours, this world would be a much better place."

Link sat perfectly still.

Samus continued on. "Most of the men around here only see me as a body. Before I fought in my Zero Suit, every respected me so much more than they do now. The moment I shed my Power Suit to test my agility, nearly every male around here was ogling me as though my face was non-existent. You're the only one who still respects me as a person...and...and..."

Link realized with a shock that Samus was crying. This isn't like her? What happened?

Link leaned forward and placed his hand on hers, a gesture he would never have tried with any other woman, and one that he'd normally be too nervous to make. But at this moment, the urge to comfort Samus was more powerful than his nervousness.

Samus looked down, startled. Link's hand was rather rough, having dealt with weapons since he was ten years old, but she was even more startled by the look in his eyes.

"Samus," Link said, and she heard the emotion in his voice, "I still respect you. I always have. A change in garb would never change my respect for you. You're Samus Aran. A hero in your own right, and a very good person. You understand the hardships of fighting for those you care for, and you are one of the few who understands it as I do. I feel that I can speak with you about anything, because you will listen to it and understand my view."

Samus stared Link in the eyes and realized what he was trying so hard to say and the moment she realized what he was thinking, the words came from her mouth before she had time to realize what she was saying.

"I love you, Link."

Link immediately turned scarlet. "You...you..." Of all things that Samus could have ever said to him, this was the least expected. She had never been this emotional before.

"Link, you are the only person who has ever truly understood me. You know better than anyone else here how living a life of fighting for your life from the time you're barely a teenager can change your life and your view on everything about it. You're the only one I can truly be myself around. You're the only one I can express my true feelings to, and I know in my heart that your respect for me will never lessen because you don't see emotion as a weakness."

Link couldn't believe what he was hearing, and yet he knew none of this was fake. "Samus...I...I love you too..."

Samus looked down at Link's hand. "Link...why are you still holding my hand?"

"Isn't this how you show a person you love that you care about them?"

Samus smiled. "A better way would be this..." And with that, Samus threw her arms around Link's neck and kissed him square on the lips.

Link instantly turned beat red as Samus's lips pressed against his. As she broke the kiss, Link smiled and kissed her in return, placing his arms around her and hugging her closer as he kissed her deeply. Samus responded by tightening her arms around his neck and kissing him more deeply as he continued kissing her.

I'm kissing Samus...I've confessed my feelings for her and I'm kissing her...I've never felt this happy in my life...Link thought as he continued kissing Samus.

What happened to me...I'm usually more composed than this...damn men...Samus thought ruefully as she continued kissing him.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

The two of them jumped apart as Samus's door buzzer shattered the romantic moment. "Who's there?" they said in unison.

"It's Marth. A meeting's been called for everyone here. Something about several Wire Frames getting lose."

Samus and Link stared at each other.

Fuck! This just HAD to happen! We finally confess our feelings and we have to deal with Wire Frames.

Link was looking serious. This can not be good.

Samus looked at Link nervously. Link looked Samus dead in the eyes and kisses her quickly on the lips and said softly, "We can finish this later. We should go deal with this."

Samus nodded, serious now herself. "I'll meet you in the conference room."

Link nodded and left her chamber, dashing towards his own chamber. As he left, Samus immediately began changing her clothes, donning her Zero Suit and Power Suit at top speed.

I don't know who let the Wire Frames loose, but I'm not letting them get away without a fight.

Yup! Samus and Link confessed their feelings!

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