WHOA this chapter's long! Wow...just over nine pages on Word...geez...

Well, enough of my shock. Here it is, like I said, the longest chapter ever!! Enjoy! And for our disclaimer today, Bowser!

Bowser: Yeah... All characters belong to their rightful owners...meaning, not UM here.

Me: Read, please!

Most people, when they open the door to see a hyperactive ball of pink running around nonstop, a masked warrior desperately trying to steer clear of a humanoid wolf, and a princess with a huge, oblivious grin on her face, among other things, would immediately slam the door shut and head for the hills. Midna was not most people.

"Um, hello?" she asked, stepping in cautiously. She jumped back as a blue blur, pursued by a small turtle-like thing, dashed past her. "Watch it!" she shouted, only to be nearly plowed over by a yellow rat, who was apparently chasing the turtle-thing. Midna shook the shock away, picked herself up, and, this time, looked carefully to make sure nothing else was going to attack her. Seeing no one, she walked further into the mansion. She twirled her red hair nervously and again called out, "Hello?" This time, someone answered.

"Are you looking for someone?" Midna looked down to see a short, er, puffball kind of thing wearing a mask and a cape.

"Um, yes," she said. "Do you know where Link is?" He pointed down the hallway towards the lounge, where the buzzing of a T.V. could be heard. "Thanks. I'm Midna, by the way."

"Meta Knight. Nice to meet you."

"Same here, Meta Knight." Midna walked by him and headed for the lounge. She walked past a wolf, who seemed to be looking for someone. "Hello," she said. The wolf looked up.

"Oh, hey. Guest of someone's, I suppose?" he asked. She nodded. "Welcome to Smash Mansion! I'm Wolf. Hey, have you seen a guy about yay big..." He lowered his hand to about half his height. "...wearing a metal mask and a purple cape? Kinda gives off a creepy vibe?"

"Oh, you mean Meta Knight?" she asked. "He's right..." Midna turned to find that the Star Warrior had disappeared. "...here... Are things usually this weird here?"

"Trust me," said Wolf, "this is actually one of our good mornings." The twilight princess shuddered at the thought of what a bad morning was. "Well, I'd better go find Meta Knight. See ya round...um..."

"Midna," she finished. Wolf nodded, then walked down the hallway. Midna kept walking towards the lounge, this time with no further interruptions, except for when she was nearly run over (again), this time by a rather short little man chasing tiny plant-like creatures. She sighed. How did Link and Zelda stand living here? Finally, she made it to the room. Poking her head in, the twilight princess saw Meta Knight sitting on one of the chairs. "How did you-?"

"Dimensional cape," he said. Midna was about to question how exactly that worked, but she stopped herself. She didn't want more of a headache than she already had.

"Hey, some guy named Wolf is looking for you," she said instead.

"I know."

"Are you going to go find him?" Meta looked at her like she was crazy. "I'll take that as a no," she muttered, not pressing it any further. Again, making the headache grow wouldn't be a good thing. Then, Midna finally saw someone she recognized. "Link!" she cried. The Hero of Light looked up from the T.V. screen.

"Midna! Hey!" he said, getting up from the sofa and embracing her. Zelda, who had also been sitting on the sofa, also got up and gave her friend a hug.

"Long time no see," the Hyrulian princess said. "You're still as pale as ever."

"Um, Twilight Realm, remember? Not 'Happy-Sunshine-Let's-Get-A-Tan' Realm." The three friends laughed together. Midna was happy that she was here, seeing her friends again.

Seeing Link again.

She smiled. She had taken a liking to Link ever since she had found him, trapped in his wolf form. She had been trapped in her own curse back then, too. Strange how similarities brought people together. Midna looked at Link, who had now taken his seat back. She sat down, too. He only thought that he was taking her as a friend. She was aiming to change that. Midna loved the way Link would look at Zelda, after they had saved her. The look in his eyes said that he would never leave, would always protect her. And Midna wanted him to look at her like that, too. She sighed softly and turned away. She was going to win his heart, no matter what.

As crazy as life seemed to be at Smash Mansion, she was happy she came.

She didn't believe it.

She, of all people! Was she, Princess Peach Toadstool, developing a conscience?

No, she thought, sipping her lemonade (pink, of course). Of course not! What I did was for the good of Meta Knight and Jigglypuff! No one died! Peach looked up and across from the table that she was sitting at. She was outside, in one of the gardens, where she had set up a few café-style tables and chairs one day. There were a few other people outside, too. But the one particular person she was looking at was none other than Bowser Koopa. He had been in a depressed kind of mood all day, always looking down, quiet. The poor Koopa thought that it was all his fault. Maybe...

Maybe it was because it was what she did made Bowser unhappy that she felt so...what was the word? Guilty!

Peach twirled her straw, making the ice cubes clink against the glass. She had never felt...guilty (oh, how she hated that word!) about the things she had done before! Why did Bowser make this different? He looked up at her and gave her a small smile, then his eyes returned to the ground. Something about that smile...why did it make her feel happy, yet kind of sad, kind of longing, at the same time? Like she wanted to just reach out and give him a hug?

She must have been really out of it, because she jumped fifteen feet when Samus's voice pulled her back into reality. "Hey, Peach, you okay?" she asked. The Mushroom Kingdom princess looked at her.

"I'm fine, you just scared me a little!" she laughed. "What's up, Sam?" Instantly she regretted saying that, as Samus hated being called Sam, but the bounty hunter didn't give her a death glare or anything. Strange...

"You can't bug me about the ball anymore," she said, smirking a little bit. Oh, that was right! She still had to force Samus to go the ball!

"Oh?" she said, giving Samus a small smirk of her own. "And why is that?" Samus placed her hands on the table and leaned forward. A huge grin appeared on her face.

"'Cause I'm going with Wolf!" Peach's eyes went wide. Did she just say what she thought she said?

"...what have you done with Samus Aran?" she said at last. Samus laughed.

"Seriously, Peach, he asked me this morning!" the bounty hunter said, standing back up. "So now, like I said, you can't bug me about the ball anymore! Just wanted to make sure you knew!" Then, out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Blaze. "See ya, Peach! Hey, Blaze, guess what?" Samus ran off to talk to the fire cat, leaving Peach alone in astonishment. Samus had actually worked with her! She had a date! Peach smiled again. Less work for her, then. She had a feeling that good old Sam would pull through, anyway.

But then, her attention turned to Bowser again. Why? Why did she feel so bad? It wasn't like her, but she...she wanted to make it up to him somehow. After all, it was her fault... But what?

Bowser looked up and smiled again. His face turned a bit red, and he looked away. Peach, too, felt her face going a little red. Maybe...maybe if Samus could do it...

She got up and pushed in her chair. Hiding her sudden nervousness, she walked over to Bowser. "Hey, um, Bowser?"

"Yeah, Peach?" The Koopa's face went redder still. "What is it?"

"Remember what you asked me a while ago?" she asked. Bowser looked at her.

"About the ball?" he asked. "If you...er...wanted to go with me?" Peach glanced away from him for a second. Keeping eye contact with his now-bright, hopeful eyes would probably make her make a tomato look pale.

"Yeah, well, about that...," she started. Eye contact or not, it didn't make a difference. Her face was now bright red. "I...I decided...that...I, um..." She was definitely straying from her usual happy-go-lucky Peach attitude now. "...want to go with you," the princess said finally, her eyes completely to the ground. Bowser, however, looked in total shock.

"You...you actually w-want to go with me?" he stuttered. "Not Mario?" Peach felt a smile forming on her face.

"You mean Sir Eats-a-lot?" she said, chuckling. Bowser looked at her. He had never heard Peach insult Mario before. Was she actually being serious? "He wasn't going to ask me, anyway. And I thought I'd, I don't know, have more fun with you... Going with Mario would probably mean an entire ball spent at the buffet table," she said. The Koopa had to agree, of course, but he was still shocked. He managed a small smile.

"Alright then," he said. "I can't wait."

"Me either!" said Peach. She giggled. Well, that was easier than she thought! Feeling rather daring, she wrapped her arms around Bowser and gave him a huge hug. "Thanks!" she said, running off and leaving an even more shocked Koopa. Peach grabbed her lemonade and dashed inside. For now, she could think of nothing else but her and Bowser and the ball. Now that she had a date, she could move on to her favorite part.

Dress-shopping.

Jigglypuff was exhausted. She had been asking all morning, and still no one had agreed to take her to the dance. There had to be someone left to ask. Ganondorf had said no, Falco had said never, King Dedede had said he'd rather choke on a rock, Mr. Game and Watch...well...

Jigglypuff dashed up to the two dimensional man. "Hey, Game and Watch?" she asked, somewhat desperately. "Do you have a date for the ball?" Game and Watch looked at her, then beeped three times. Jiggly cocked her head. It didn't help that she couldn't speak beep.

"He said he can't," said R.O.B., who had just rolled up to them. The robot was Game and Watch's main translator.

"Oh," she sighed. "You already have a date?" Game and Watch shook his head. "Then what?" she asked. He beeped.

"He has a job as a bathroom attendant," the robot translated.

"A bathroom attendant. Of all the things...," muttered Jiggly. Then she looked to R.O.B. "Do you have a date, then?"

"I, too, have a job as a bathroom attendant." The balloon Pokémon looked at him.

"Are you serious?" she asked. He nodded. "How many bathroom attendants do you need for one bathroom?"

"Oh, one. We're each in the separate bathrooms," said R.O.B., as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're both guys," Jiggly pointed out. R.O.B. suddenly turned quiet. He turned to Game and Watch.

"It appears we have a problem, friend," he said. "Apparently, I am not allowed to enter the bathroom I am attending." Game and Watch beeped. The robot glared at him. "What do you mean, 'Stay out of my bathroom or die a horrible death, Robo-freak'?" The other started to beep angrily, and R.O.B. started to yell even louder. Jigglypuff quickly snuck away, hoping to never be a part of a conversation like that again...

Jigglypuff shuddered at the memory. But now wasn't the time to be stopping to think. There was asking to do. She looked around, hoping to see someone without a date, or a bathroom attending job of any kind. Most of the people in the lounge already had dates. But then, she spotted a beaten cardboard box, sitting innocently in a corner. Stupid Snake, she thought. Hasn't he realized by now that the cardboard box trick never works on anyone? The puffball walked over to the box. She heard a few beeps from inside. Hey, Snake doesn't have a date, does he? And he probably won't get one, so maybe... Snake didn't seem like the most usual of dates, especially for Jigglypuff, but right now, she wasn't going to be picky. She lifted the box up.

Solid Snake, suddenly realizing that his box haven was gone, put down his codec and glared at her. "What do you want?" he asked, irritated. Jiggly bit the inside of her cheek. She was having second thoughts about this now. But she asked anyway.

"Um, Snake, do you have a date yet?" she asked nervously.

"Why'd you like to know, Puff?" he retorted. Jiggly's face went red with anger. She really hated it when people called her Puff. And Snake knew it.

"I kinda need one, in case you didn't know," she said. Maybe she shouldn't be asking him, but she was down to pretty much her last resort here. Snake looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out if she was really being serious here. Then, he burst out laughing.

"Wait, you're asking me?" he managed to choke out. "Ahaha, that's a good one! That's almost as funny as when Otacon ate thirty-seven cookies and had an allergic reaction!" He kept laughing as Jiggly's face grew redder and redder.

"What's so funny?!" she shouted. Pretty much everyone in the lounge was staring at them now. So much for not making a spectacle of things...

"You seriously aren't joking?" asked the mercenary, wiping some of the tears from his eyes. Jigglypuff gave him a look that said, Yes, you moron, I'm serious. He stopped laughing for a second, thought a moment, then started laughing all over again. Neither one of them noticed the codec beep a message: signal found.

"Stop it!" Jigglypuff glared at him. Snake, of course, didn't listen, and continued to laugh like a lunatic. "I'm taking that your answer is a no, then." Now, he stopped.

"You thought that I was going to say yes?"

"Well, I was hoping someone would," sighed Jiggly. Snake looked at her.

"How many people did you ask?" When she started to count, he made her stop before his headache grew.

"And they all said no!" she cried. At that, the mercenary started to chuckle a little. "I still don't see what's so funny!"

"What's funny," he said, "is the fact that you're completely oblivious!" Jiggly blinked, which pretty much proved Snake's point.

"Oblivious to what?" she asked. Snake sighed.

"Why do you think everyone's rejecting you, Puff?"

"They...all already have dates?" the balloon Pokémon offered. This time, the mercenary slapped his head.

"No, fluff-for-brains! No!" he nearly cried. "It's because they don't want to go with you! And that's what's so funny!" Now, Jigglypuff's face went a deeper, angrier red than most people would think possible.

"That's not true!" She began to puff up slightly. "I'm sure they all have perfectly good explanations!"

"The perfectly good explanation is that no one would take you to the ball in a million years," he said, crossing his arms. "You're an annoying, hyperactive puffball who doesn't give a care about anyone else, since you're too busy trying to find yourself a date!" Jiggly began to puff up more. "Next to that, you're a pest, an idiot, and a panicky whiner. You're basically what everyone doesn't want in a date," said Snake. "And yet, you keep asking anyway. Sometimes, I don't get you idiotic people." Jigglypuff had now inflated herself to about her limit. But then, something hit her. She deflated almost as quickly as she had inflated.

She was annoying. She was being selfish, and panicky, and hyper, and everything Snake had said. She was driving everyone insane, all because of some stupid ball. Jiggly looked down. Maybe she didn't deserve a date after all. Tears started to form in her eyes. Snake looked at her. "Hey, Puff? You gonna be alright? I mean, the truth hurts, but..."

"Am I going to be alright?!" she cried, looking up at him. "No! I'm not going to be alright! How can I be alright if I'm already a stupid, selfish jerk?! You're right, I shouldn't even be trying!" The tears started to run down her face now. "Just...just leave me alone!" she shouted, pushing past the mercenary and running down the hallway. She kept running until she reached her room, not even bothering to watch where she was going. The balloon Pokémon opened the door, dashed inside, and then slammed it so hard that it could be heard across the mansion. She collapsed on her bed, crying hysterically. Stupid Snake, stupid ball, stupid her...

Stupid everything...

In the time he had known her, Meta Knight had seen Jigglypuff pout, whine, puff up, and maybe even sniffle a little bit. But never, ever, had he seen her nearly burst into tears.

He also had never, ever felt such a great urge to beat Snake into a bloody pulp before.

But, more than that, he felt plain horrible. He had seen Snake and Jigglypuff arguing. It was basically common knowledge that arguing with Snake wouldn't end well. So why hadn't he done something? Break it up, back her up, something! But, no, he'd sat back and not gotten involved.

Bad things always seemed to happen when he did that.

Meta looked over at Snake and couldn't help but wince. It seemed like there wasn't going to be much of him left to beat into a bloody pulp. Every female Smasher in the room had run over and started beating the mercenary over the head with anything they could find (and the guys were taping this for future blackmailing opportunities). Above the noise, an unfamiliar voice could be heard. It seemed to be coming from Snake's codec.

"And if you think I'm taking you to this ball, Solid Snake, you are so wrong!"

The Star Warrior decided not to think about that too much. Right now, he had a best friend to attend to. Meta got up and walked out into the hallway, but not before giving Snake a final glare. He started down the hallway. It wasn't long before he ran into Blaze, who was leaning against the wall like she didn't care about anything. She looked up at him.

"She went that way," was all she said, pointing down toward Jiggly and Meta's room. He didn't ask how she knew that he was looking for Jigglypuff, instead nodding as thanks and heading for the room.

He heard her before he even saw the door. Loud sobs echoed down the hall from the room. Meta sighed and walked up to the door. He stopped. What was he doing? He had no idea how to comfort a hysterical girl! He would probably make it worse by trying.

But as he listened to the crying from the other side of the door, he couldn't turn away. He couldn't leave her there. It would prove that he was just as cold and uncaring as people thought he was. So, even though he had a really bad feeling that this was going to end in disaster, Meta Knight knocked.

"GO AWAY!"

Meta flinched. Well, his ears certainly enjoyed that. "Jigglypuff, it's me," he said. The sobbing seemed to soften a little.

"Meta? Oh..."

"Can I come in?"

"...I guess," was the reply. Gently, Meta Knight opened the door. He stepped inside. There was Jigglypuff, sitting on her bed, her face stained with tears. "H-hey, Meta Knight," she sniffed, trying to hold back any tears she had left.

"Jigglypuff," he sighed, walking over to her. He sat down next to her on the bed. "You know," he said, "you really shouldn't take Snake seriously." Jiggly looked at him, then looked away again.

"He's right, though," she said quietly. "I'm hyperactive, and annoying, and..."

"Jigglypuff?" Meta cut in. She looked at him again. "Stop beating yourself up. Who cares if you're a bit energetic sometimes?"

"Mostly everyone," she muttered.

"Oh really?"

"Everyone yells at me, and I don't listen. I keep talking and talking and talking and..." She stopped. "See, I was just doing it." Meta sighed.

"You're not annoying, Jiggly," he said.

"You're just lying to make me feel better," Jiggly sniffed, turning away. She turned back when she felt Meta Knight's hand on her arm.

"Jigglypuff," he asked, "would I lie to you?" She shook her head, tears starting to come to her eyes again. "See? There's nothing wrong with you. You're good the way you are. Perfect."

"But...but no one wants to take me to the ball. I'm not perfect at all," she said quietly. The tears started to trickle down her face. "I'm...I'm just..." Her words started to get quieter as she tried unsuccessfully to choke back her tears. Eventually, she just stopped trying and broke down. Meta Knight looked at her, then, almost instinctively, wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Jiggly looked up at him, somewhat shocked, but snuggled closer to him anyway.

"Jiggly," Meta sighed quietly, holding her tighter. "It's alright," he said. This wasn't turning out exactly the way he had planned. He had no idea what to do, so he just kept hugging her as she kept crying. There had to be something...something he could do... Then, another one of those little thought bubbles of his popped up. But this time, he didn't swat it away.

This time, despite how crazy it seemed, he listened.

"Jigglypuff?" he asked. She looked at him, still crying. "Do you...want to go to the ball with me?" Oh my god, he said it. He was shocked. He said it! Jiggly seemed shocked as well.

"But...," she stuttered, "you...you didn't want to go! You said...you said that..." Meta Knight held his hand up to her mouth.

"It's a yes-or-no question," he said. And, please, answer it before I realize what I'm doing. He took his hand away, gently brushing her cheek. Jigglypuff thought for a moment. She snuggled in even closer.

"...yes," she said, barely a whisper. She closed her eyes and smiled. She was still crying, but now, they were tears of joy. Maybe...she didn't have to be perfect... "Meta?" she asked.

"Yes, Jigglypuff?" Her smile grew.

"You're the best friend a girl could ask for," she said. Then, exhaustion completely overtook her. Still smiling, she fell asleep, snuggled in Meta's arms. He looked down at the sleeping Jigglypuff and smiled behind his mask.

He had gotten himself in really deep, that he knew. There was no turning back now. But, right now, at this moment, with her in his arms...

...he didn't really care.

Well, there you have it. Yes, I made Snake the bad guy.

I was listening to "Somebody to Love" by Queen while I was typing that last section. I nearly cried. Being completely honest here. So that's where the chapter title idea came from. It belongs to Queen.

Cookies to all of my lovely reviewers! Until next update, ciao!

-Umbreon Mastah