I hope no one gets offended at how I portray these characters. I don't usually think Link is a jerk or something like that. For the purposes of this story he sorta had to be...

Sheik stood and got into line as well, not wanting to have to talk to Ganondorf while she waited for her food. She needed time to think up a couple good conversation starters before she could face him again.

"Excuse me. Sorry. Can I cut you?" Sheik turned as Zelda sidled up to her.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Don't follow me."
"I'm not," she retorted. "I'm getting in line behind you. How do you like everything?" She gestured vaguely.

"It's nice."

"Yeah. I think so too. I'm glad I have more guys to choose from than just Link."

"Beat it."
"No, no. Sorry. I won't talk about that. I know you don't like it."

Sheik turned to stare at her. "You're pretty different from Miss Goody-goody."

"You used to call me Miss Goody-goody?"

"In my mind," she answered stiffly, finally cocking her head. "Where'd you go? Finishing school?"

"No. I grew up and realized I didn't want to do nothing with my life, I wanted to use my money to help me do something… important."

"Which reminds me, how on earth did you get in? I've seen you kick. Sure, you're athletic, but not super agile or something."

"You don't just have to have agility," Zelda snapped, folding her arms. "Just because that's your middle name doesn't mean everyone has to be a karate champion. Ganondorf for instance. And that turtle dragon named Bowser, and that buff dude; Ike. They're probably not very agile."

"You don't know yet," Sheik answered, surprised that Zelda seemed to know everyone's names. "Ganondorf is very, very strong and by the looks those other two are as well. You are not."

"Time will tell," answered Zelda, folding her arms. "And I looked it up and we'll be able to replay any brawl we want just by searching for it."

"I'll be sure to look you up tomorrow evening," answered Sheik, calmly taking a plate and beginning to dish out salad for herself.

As she headed back to the corner booth with her plate piled high she had to smile. Zelda had changed from a goody-goody into a… an actual person; a person who was insecure enough to maybe want to be friends with her.

"Except I'm more insecure than she is," murmured Sheik, sitting down.

"Hey, scoot over," said a thick scratchy voice.

Sheik looked down into the beady black eyes of a short, fat man dressed like a motorcyclist with a crazily shaped mustache and a black 'W' on his yellow cap.

"I'm sitting here already," she icily informed him.

"Where do you want me to sit, boy?" he snapped.

Sheik glanced around the room and saw that most of the tables were full, or nearly so. And since Ganondorf was still in line, she was occupying this one by herself.

She moved over, sliding her plate with her, and the man tossed up his own food and hopped up onto the seat beside her. He was so short he had to kneel on the red cushions in order to be high enough above the table top.

Sheik watched in disgust as he crammed his food into his mouth and hurriedly turned away. He gave a low cackle. "Too gross for you, bud? What's your name?"
"Sheik."
"Wario. You a softee or something? How'd you get in here?"

Sheik chose not to answer it.

"Yeah, yeah," he continued. "Pretty stringy hair. Too messy. I gel my mustache every day. I should lend some to you some time. It works miracles."

He reached up a grimy, gloved hand and pulled a handful of her bangs to prove it.

Sheik turned a fiery red and slapped his hand away. "Keep your hands to yourself, weirdo."

"It's Wario," he answered, cackling again. "You know, you're too tall for your own good. You miss everything from up there, I bet. And that hat is so out of style. And what about those eyes. Red? How crazy! Mine are a plain and normal black. You're a freak."

Sheik was livid and Wario cackled again. "Turning as red as your eyes under there," he sniggered, finishing off his food. Then he opened his mouth wide and turned to look at her. His teeth glinted, but his breath smelled of garlic. "Brush these puppies every day. And they pack a punch in brawls, let me warn you."

"Control yourself," Sheik murmured to herself. "He's trying to egg you on. You're too cool for him. Settle down."

Ganondorf sat down again just then and Wario snatched up his plate, hopped off the seat, and waddled over to the garbage can to throw it away.

"Thinks you're a boy."

"Least of my worries," she retorted in a soft hiss.

He grunted and began eating his food. Sheik watched and her appetite, which had disappeared when Wario had arrived, returned, and she ate quickly.

"Night," said Ganondorf, standing.

Sheik polished off the remainder of her spinach and stood as well. "Good night, Ganondorf. See you in the morning."

He couldn't see her flashing smile, but she knew he could see the way her eyes crinkled and both eyebrows raised as he slowly turned and headed out of the dining room.

Sheik glanced around, nodded stiffly at Link, signed a thumbs-up to Zelda behind her back, and walked out of room, briefly raising her eyebrows at Samus, who was seated with her metal robot of a twin and a man wearing a mask.

Back inside her room she collapsed on her bed, bounced off again, hurriedly undressed, got into her pajamas, laid out her clothes for the next morning, set her alarm, and fell back in bed again, briefly debating whether or not to brush her teeth. A mental reminder of Wario was all she needed and she found that a toothbrush and toothpaste, plus floss, perfume, and deodorant, were all provided. She threw her old toothbrush in the trashcan, brushed her teeth, undid her braid, and brushed out her long blonde hair, examining it in the mirror. It wasn't that stringy, was it? Simply… unique.

She sighed, tied it in a loose braid so it wouldn't tangle, and jumped into her bed. The springs bounced nicely and she gave a happy sigh as she turned off the lights with the light switch by her bed, muttered her prayers, and shut her eyes.

Her dreams were filled with trying to smash targets in front of all the brawlers and each time she failed until tears were streaming down her cheeks as she kept trying to reach it. Wario was cackling in the background and finally she screamed at him to stop and woke up.

It was dark outside and she lay still, squinting up at the ceiling, hands clenched into fists at her sides; arms ramrod straight.

She rolled over on her side and reached a hand out from the safety of her covers to click on her phone. It was four o'clock, only a half hour before she would have gotten up. Knowing she would never get back to sleep Sheik decided to get an early start to the day.

A familiar morning song her father loved trilling in her head, she leapt from her covers, turned on the bright lights, and began her morning routine.

First the pajamas were folded and the suit was slipped on. Sheik had always loved how complicated her clothes looked, when really they were all simply attached to each other and easy to slip on. She slipped on the shoes and began tying her leg wrappings around her shins and calves. From there she wrapped her wrists and lower arms and then each finger. Entering the bathroom she let out her hair, brushed it again, braided it, wrapped it, brushed out her bangs, and fastened the turban on, pinning it in place. She wrapped her mask around her face and then wrapped her neck with the white scarf. The finishing touch was a metal tip on her braid and she confidently drew out her chain from within her sleeve, pulling out needles simultaneously.

"I'm being ridiculous," she scolded herself, glancing self-consciously around to make sure no one was watching, and returning her weapons to their proper places.

The sun was coming up now and Sheik clicked on the phone. Five thirty. Perfect.

Forcing herself to walk calmly, Sheik left her room, locked the door, and made her way, with her phone's help, to a balcony. With a sigh of contentment she plunked herself down on a bench and rest her chin on her arms as she stared out over the vast expanse of grass and trees. Tonight she was definitely going to explore; alone.

A footstep sounded softly behind her and she turned to see Robin F standing there.

"Hi. Mind if I join you?"
Sheik made no reply and turned back to stare, but she was no longer cheerful.

"I'm an early riser," explained Robin. "I always like to be prepared. My brother doesn't get it at all. He just likes things to be neat and then he can relax, but I'm always jumping around and stuff. Sometimes I'm surprised we're related. Do you have any siblings?"
"My younger brother died in a fire."

"I'm so sorry."

"He was better at gymnastics and karate than me and he was two years younger."

"That's so sad. Were you close?"
Sheik gave Robin a sideways glance. "As close as a brother and sister normally are. It wasn't anything special. Something I regret now."

"Yeah. I guess I should count my blessings. It's pretty hard sometimes. Honestly, I wouldn't wish him dead, but I don't like having a twin. I'm like a carbon copy of my brother. Like a female counterpart. I know my parents didn't do that on purpose or something, but I feel boring."

"Boring can be better than unique," answered Sheik. "Trust me, I know."

"Yeah," sighed Robin, dropping her chin in her hands. "Are you married?"
Sheik stiffened and turned to face her. "Certainly not."

"Oh."

"Are there any brawlers here that are married?" asked Sheik, curiosity piqued.

"Yeah. There's this Falcon guy who's married to some girl back home and this green haired girl named Palutena who also has a husband. I can't wait to get married."

"You're a girl all right," snorted Sheik.

"So are you, aren't you?" exclaimed Robin, jerking back to stare at her.

"Yeah. But not a typical one."

"Unique?"
"That's the word."

"Well, that's true, but at least I don't moon over anyone like Lucina does."

"Marth, huh?"

"Yeah. I mean, she might marry him, but mostly she just admires him. A little too much, too, and he's a little uncomfortable with it, but he's too nice to tell her to leave him alone."
"Have you six known each other your whole lives?" asked Sheik.

"Sorta. Ike, Lucina, and Marth knew each other since childhood. Roy and us two Robins came on the scene later on while we were all training for brawl."

"You guys are a pretty interesting set of people. All got different talents by the looks."

"Yeah. Except Robin and I. You know, we both have exactly the same sorts of weapons and the same tomes and the same final attack."

"Huh?"

"We can both summon Lucina's father to come help us."

"Lucina's father?"

"Yeah. Chrome. He was our trainer and using our tomes and stuff we're… Pretty cool." Robin grinned. "You look pretty cool too."

"Thanks," Sheik answered drily. She stood. "Bye."

"See you later," responded Robin, smiling a little.

Sheik turned and stopped short to avoid smashing into a young woman with pale white skin, gray pants and hair, and a blue tank top that didn't cover her belly button. She nodded stiffly at Sheik and she nodded stiffly back, searching her eyes. She didn't have any pupils.

Sheik passed on, wrinkling her nose and resisting the urge to wrap her braid around her neck. Strange. Not that anyone here was really normal. Even she herself wasn't normal.

If you like it and you know it clap your hands, stomp your feet, and R&R.