Okay. I can't help myself. Another chapter early... I'm so bad at self control. And the beginning of this chapter is ridiculous because this day is nothing like yesterday (in the other chapters), so I'll just throw that out there.

The next day passed much the same as the first, except this time Sheik made it her goal to go out into the grassy area behind the mansion instead of the balcony. Again, she was not alone, and met Ike, Marth, a blonde woman in a blue dress with a chunky star follower, and a pink ball with a large mouth. The woman introduced herself as Rosalina, her star as Luma, and the pink ball as in no ways related to her.

"But his name's Kirby." She laughed, a sweet laugh, and her eyes twinkled merrily. "And what's your name, young lady?"

Sheik, constantly surprised by the ability of some to guess she was a girl instantly with no question and others failing to do so, raised an eyebrow, but answered plainly, "Sheik."

"Nice to meet you. You have lovely hair. I'm sure it would be beautiful if you let it down."

Sheik stiffened and searched Rosalina's face to see if she was joking, but her voice sang with earnestness and Sheik gave a shrug. "It's out of the way when it's up like this."

"That's true. I actually watched your brawl the other day. The one with Peach. She's a friend of mine and she asked me to watch her brawls. You're pretty agile."

"Thank you." Sheik was uncomfortable with the topic of herself, and though she wanted to bask in this affirmation, she didn't want to seem proud and she didn't want to continue the conversation either. "Who did you fight the other day?"

"Roy, Meta Knight, and Kirby here. It was interesting. You didn't get to finish telling me who you fought, Marth."

"King Dedede, Kirby as well, and Mario."

"He won every time," broke in Ike, clapping his friend on the back.

Marth winced and Ike's grin broadened. "Who did you fight, Ike?" asked Marth, frowning at him.

"All girls, surprisingly. Corrin F, Peach, and Zero Suit Samus."

"You won?"

"All but against Corrin F. She's fast and packs a punch with that dragon power."

"I fought Corrin," said Sheik.

All eyes turned to her and she instantly regretted her choice of action. When it came out that she won, everyone would think she was bragging. "Corrin M," she added hastily. "Pretty good."

"But you won," guessed Ike, raising an amused eyebrow.

"Barely," she argued, and caught herself. She stood, nodded at the group, and walked off.

"Nifty mask," she heard Rosalina say quietly as she left.

At breakfast, as she came away from the buffet, she spotted Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf sitting at one table. Zelda caught her eye and motioned her over just as Robin F called, "Hey, Sheik! Come sit by us!"

Sheik turned and saw Robin F and Lucina seated with Roy and Robin M. She glanced back at Zelda, who was rolling her eyes. Sheik's own eyes narrowed. Zelda's eye roll could have meant that she was positive Sheik wouldn't choose them because she liked Tri Force people better and wasn't good at socializing with other people. Or the eye roll could signify that she thought Sheik was putting on airs and thought she was too good for the Tri Force people now that she'd actually brawled.

Sheik paused, licked her lips, and promptly took a seat beside Peach, who was sitting at a table with Marth and the two Corrins.

"You beat me soundly yesterday," said Corrin M in his quiet voice.

"You put up a good fight," she returned, suddenly realizing she had never eaten with any of these new brawlers. The meals yesterday had all been eaten by herself or with her peers from Tri Force. Now she would be pulling down her mask in front of them.

True, it didn't matter so much, because she didn't pull it down low enough to reveal her red splotch on her chin, but it was intriguing to know that none of them had seen her mouth. Even now Marth and the Corrin F had paused from their food to glance at her with questioning eyes, waiting to see if she would remove her mask.

Eyes narrowing at them, she calmly pulled it down and took a bite of her whole wheat toast.

Marth cocked his head at her and then gave a small smile.

"Is it a rare thing for us to see the elusive Sheik unmasked?" he asked, taking a sip of water.

She raised an eyebrow. "I always unmask when I eat, so if I eat with you, then yes."
"Are you asking him on a date?" asked Peach, giggling.

Marth turned a flaming red and Sheik felt a flush creep up her cheeks as well. "I was simply answering a question," she returned, voice trembling slightly. She calmed herself and stared hard at her plate and finished her food, threw her plate away, and stalked out of the room, pulling up her mask as she did so.

A patter of feet behind her caused Sheik to turn and spot Peach, hurrying up behind.

"I'm sorry, Sheik, if I offended you. I just… I don't always keep my tongue silent very well. Say the first thing that comes to my head, you know?"

"Or you just thought it was amusing to pair the handsomest man in Super Smash Bros 4 with the elusive, masked Sheik," she snapped, still blushing.

Peach gasped. "You mean you do like him?"
"No!" she retorted. "Not in the way you mean. But I know you think I look like a guy and I'm not pretty or attractive at all. Besides, I'm surprised you wouldn't take Lucina into account when you said that."

"Huh? Did she hear? But Lucina's a good sport. She knows when I'm joking," insisted Peach earnestly. "And I was totally joking."

"I believe you," she answered. "But it wasn't funny."

"I'm sorry."

"I forgive you."
"Thanks. It won't happen again. Oh! I wanted to talk to you. You know Ganondorf?"

Sheik shivered, knowing what was coming, and nodded.

"So he's totally from your same city, and he's totally the guy I was writing to a while back. It started as a school project and we just kept up the letters after it was done. It's so cool! He doesn't look at all like I imagined. And you know," she added, her voice sinking to a whisper, "he's seems like a very different person in his letters. In real life he's much more guarded."

Sheik knew that Ganondorf had another side to him, that was sweeter and probably matched the Ganondorf Peach had had in her mind based on the letters, but she wasn't about to reveal this to the princess. "He's always been quiet and stiff," she responded, folding her arms. "Like me."

"Oh, wow! Were you guys really good friends then?"

Sheik fidgeted. She wanted to lie and say yes, they had been wonderful, very close, friends, but she knew the truth would eventually come to light, and deep embarrassment would follow. "Two quiet, stiff people don't become friends with anyone," she answered, shrugging and trying not to care.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," agreed Peach as she fell in step beside her. They entered the Announcement Room that was already beginning to fill for the day.

Sheik stayed by the wall, waiting until a beeping sounded and the announcer's voice came over the speakers.

"Here are the brawls for the day."

Sheik waited patiently, finding it interesting to note that Marth was fighting Robin M and the two Corrins were facing off. Her name was one of the last called and she shuddered as she heard her opponent.

"Sheik versus Wario!"

"No, no, no," she growled under her breath, but tilted her chin in the air and stepped forward confidently to stand beside Wario.

"Glad to be fighting you, bud," he said, grinning wickedly and showing his teeth. "Remember what I said about these babies? I'm about to try them on you."

Sheik's heart began pounding, but she kept her eyes steely and coldly looked away, hastily stepping into their portal when it opened.

Sheik landed carefully, straightened, and narrowed her eyes, instantly loading needles as Wario waddled towards her, his mouth open wide in a nasty grin.

She released the needles and watched him stumble back, but, besides his grunt of pain, he showed no sign of trying another attack.

Sheik leapt into action. She ran forward, jumped in the air, and did a twisting flip over his head, pounding down with her toes and ramming them into his head.

He gave a howl of pain and rolled away, got to his feet, and glared at her. His eyes no longer look amused and, though his mouth was still smiling, he was plainly no longer having fun; even remotely.

Sheik gave an amused smile and jumped up and over him, spinning onto her shoulders to deal him a punishing kick in the neck. He staggered back and she stood and ran at him. Unexpectedly his ugly mouth opened wider than she would have thought possible, and she found her face inside, his teeth crushing her belly and back as he bit down. Even more terrifying than his bite, which hurt, was the fact that her head was inside of his mouth, his saliva was dripping on her hair and face, and his breath reeked of garlic.

With a stifled scream Sheik kicked him in the shin, pulled free, and backed up, her eyes lit with terror.

"He, he, he," he laughed. "Scared you? Better watch out. I'm a force to reckon with."

"Not at all!" she retorted. She was afraid to jump at him, in case he bit her again, but fury overcame any rational fears and she raced at him, stopped short and, as he came waddling at her, and charged up an attack, jumping forward and kicking his nose back into his face, turning to give him a hard back kick in his chin, and following it with a series of jabs.

Wario fell hard on his rump and she readied an attack. Just as he stood Sheik grabbed the collar of his shirt and brought him up to her face before hurling him down, jumping on his stomach, and kicking him as he hurled into the air.

He landed, she hurled her needles, and followed him into the air with a high jump and a strong kick that sent him flying off the platform. He grabbed onto the edge and Sheik leapt back as he jumped up.

The man abruptly pulled a motorcycle from nowhere, hopped on, and drove straight at her. Sheik dashed to the edge of the platform and readied needles.

Wario laughed evilly and his motorbike sped forward. At the last minute, instead of hurling her needles, Sheik jumped high into the air, clearing the bike, and it plummeted off, Wario falling with it to his loss.

In the misty gray room, Sheik jabbed twice with her hands in quick succession and straightened to stare icily at the far wall. She didn't need to look behind to see Wario clapping for her, and his clapping didn't alleviate any of her anger.

As soon as she had dissolved back into the Announcing Room Sheik fled for the bathrooms. She pushed open the door marked 'Women' and dashed into the first available stall, slamming the door shut and leaning back against it, gulping in deep breaths.

"It's okay. You won. It's okay." Her fear was that he would do it outside of brawls. And if he didn't do it outside of brawls, she knew she couldn't avoid him forever. Eventually they'd get paired to fight again. She shivered, gulped, and went out, examining herself quickly in the mirror.

Her hair was stringy, and she dragged her fingers through it, trying to comb it a little neater, sniffing it and smelling garlic. "Ugh." She narrowed her eyes at her reflection and finally threw back her shoulders and stalked out and back into the Announcing Room.

Mystery brawls brought a fresh apprehension on her. Was it possible to fight the same person twice in one day? She glanced past her hair at Wario, nervously twisting her hands together.

"Stay calm. Show him you're not afraid."

Sheik bit her lip underneath her mask and walked up to him, flinching as she tapped him on the shoulder.

Wario turned and she stared straight into his eyes, her own glittering furiously. "By the way, Wario; I'm a girl."

Then she turned and was the first one to walk into the portal as it opened.

Sheik stood as her feet touched ground and glanced around in surprise. The platform was grassy, and the background was… fake. Strange. She glanced down at her feet, moving them slightly over the grass. It was a little spongey. Strange.

Her head jerked up and she stared at the caped figure standing at the opposite end, giant sword ready, as he faced her. It was Ike.

"That's not so bad. He's nice, as far as I've seen," Sheik murmured to herself. "But no gentleness. I just have to beat him."

Ike's voice suddenly roared across the space between them. "Prepare yourself!" His tone bore not a hint of pleasantness by any stretch of the imagination. It was cold and angry and deep and extremely frightening.

Tears unexpectedly stung her eyes, but she angrily blinked them back. If brawls changed potentially nice men into monsters, so be it, but she was the same, and her moves were in no way hindered by his actions.

Sheik leapt forward and easily dodged his sword attack. He was slow, she could tell, and his heavy sword, despite his muscles, still swung laboriously at her. It was easy to dodge. She leapt over him and struck him in the back with a side aerial kick, sending him tumbling forward.

He lay on the ground, his cape covering him like a blanket, and she ran forward to deal another punishing blow. Just as she reached him he leapt up, the giant blade swinging around and catching her on the ankles. She hurtled backwards, but righted herself in the air. Multiple handsprings brought her to the edge of the stage and she crouched, eyes narrow, waiting as he stood there, sword pulled back, eyes squinted, glaring at her.

Abruptly he let loose and charged at her, faster than she had thought he could go, his sword hitting her full force and hurling her off the ledge.

"No,' she growled, as she flew off the stage. Angling her body she hurtled back down, jumping and flipping over Ike, and dashing away to ready her needles. He prepared a dash again, but she hurled the sharp weapons as he ran forward, making him fall back with a grunt.

Ike jumped high into the air, surprising for someone of his weight, and hurled down, sword extended. Sheik activated her shield and he landed just behind her. Flipping to her shoulders she did the splits, kicking him off the ledge.

He fell and she stepped back only to see his sword, alone, hurtle upwards and spin in the air briefly. An instant later his large hands had grabbed it and he was on the ledge again.

Sheik ran at him and jumped to flip over a sword attack. She misjudged the length of the blade and the tip caught her in the stomach, sending her shooting into the sky.

Gritting her teeth she focused and disappeared, hurling through the air until she landed behind him. With a kick and a jab she knocked him back. As he stood she shot out her chain, letting it snake around his leg before jerking him towards her. She grabbed him by the cape and narrowed her eyes as she stared briefly into his. His eyebrows were knit into an infinite glare and his teeth were bared. This seemed to be a whole entire other person.

She hurled him down, kicked him into the air, and jumped after him, twisting in midair to twirl around, inflicting pain with her screwdriver kick.

She landed neatly and looked up just in time to see his body, screened by blue fire that emanated from his sword, land just in front of her. The sword slammed down, and the fire burned.

She gave a stifled shriek of pain and staggered back. He was on top of her, and grabbed her up, his muscles bulging as he pulled her close to him. Their faces were inches apart and his eyes were still sparking fire as he hurled her down, jumped on top of her, his boots digging into her back, and leapt after her with his sword, which knocked her farther into the air.

Sheik grabbed the edge of the stage and took gulps of air. He was standing over her suddenly and his sword was raised, blue fire all around it.

"Never," she whispered, and leapt up.

His sword slammed down and as he jerked it from the ground she leapt at him, the sides of her hands smacking his neck on either side. He jolted forwards and off the platform.

She watched in astonishment as, with a terrific jump, he did a complete backflip, landing just behind her.

She activated her shield as he struck her, but the force of the strike brought a whirlwind that blew her hair around her. She leapt up, disappeared, and reappeared at the edge of the stage, waiting for him to attack as she prepared herself.

As he ran at her with a roar she realized her planned kicks and jabs wouldn't work and hurled a single needle instead. It caught him and he stopped, grunting in pain. She decided to follow it up and ran at him.

He narrowed his eyes and she narrowed her own as she leapt in the air with a sidekick. Instead of dodging or getting hit he threw up his sword. The blade caught her and carried her with it as it spun high into the air. As she fell towards the ground he jumped past her, grabbed the double handle, and shot down, knees bent, to catch her beneath the golden sword.

Gritting her teeth and grunting Sheik exploded away from him, jumped over another attack, and hurled her needles. He stepped back with a growl as each on hit him in the face and she jumped up and hurled down with a round kick in midair, followed up by a series of quick jabs with her hands. Surely, Ike would fly back now. How long did it take? She wasn't sure if she'd been brawling him longer than she'd brawled Corrin, but it felt like twice as long, and his hits, though fewer than hers, hurt worse than she knew hers did.

"He's strong," she murmured, activating her shield as he brought his blade slamming into the ground. "But I'm fast."

Sheik began a series of small attacks that mostly consisted of jabs and back kicks, and spent the rest of her time avoiding Ike's painful, but slow attacks. Unfortunately, the swordsman showed no signs of tiring and pursued her relentlessly.

"Just a few more strong attacks and I can send him flying," she decided. She ran at him, leapt behind him, and spiraled onto her shoulders, kicking him in the back and sending him hurling off. She waited at the edge, activating her shield as he leapt up, and hurling a needle at him as he tried to regain his footing. He fell again, but the tip of his sword caught her as he again leapt up after it to make it onto the stage.

She stumbled back and pulled back her fist, ready to jump forward and knock him off for good. He leapt up and shot through the air, landing just behind her. Before she could turn around he punched her in the face, kicked her in the stomach, and brought down his sword with one hand. The blade knocked her from the cliff and her face stung as she concentrated and leapt back up, only to find that Ike had jumped off after her.

He brought his sword down between his legs and the blade hit the back of her head, sending her spiraling out of control and down, down, down into the white abyss. Looking up through bleary eyes she saw him hurling down just above her, a black, caped silhouette.

The portal caught her and she found herself in the misty room. Straightening, but breathing hard, she clapped slowly as Ike materialized in front of her, hurled his sword down so that it imbedded itself in the ground, and folded his arms. He spoke.

"You'll get no sympathy from me."

"I suppose not," she muttered. An instant later both were back in the Announcing Room.

Sheik turned away, not wanting to meet his gaze, but he placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, and she forced herself to look into his eyes. Both her eyebrows raised in astonishment. There was no glare and his eyes, though not twinkling, were friendly.

"Good fight. You're fast. Speedy Sheik."

Sheik gazed at him. "You…"

"I get a little fierce in brawls. It's nothing personal." He gave a slight grin. "Come on. It's lunch."

Sheik dully followed him through the halls and into the crowded dining room.

"You said, 'You'll get no sympathy from me.'"

"Yes. One of my slogans. The other would be 'Ha!' and the best would be, "I fight for my friends,' but that's only after I viciously slice the air." He smirked. "I watched your winning pose the other day. The elusive Sheik simply grunted."

"What did you want me to say? 'I fight my enemies?'"

Ike's laugh was a pleasant rumble and he grinned at her as they got in line. "You're funny."

Sheik rolled her eyes and suddenly blanched as she stared down at the pasta. It was some sort of fettuccini, but the smell of garlic on it was plain and her stomach heaved as she relived the moment inside of Wario's mouth. The saliva; dripping onto her hair. The reek of garlic…

Her stomach heaved again and she knew her face was as white as her mask and turban. Her eyes dilated and she clapped a hand to her mouth, clutched her stomach with the other, and dashed out of the room.

There was a pounding behind her and she knew Ike was following. Her pace quickened and she ran faster, flipping off a wall to skid into the women's bathroom. His footsteps faded as he continued on and she pushed open the door and ran out again. She found the elevator, and took the stairs instead, running down them as fast as she could. One floor; two floors…

Sheik shoved open the glassy double doors to outside with her hip and broke into a full on run, fleeing everything. She reached a tangle of trees, crawled inside, and curled up into a ball, sobs tearing at her throat, her back heaving.

She tasted bile in her mouth and spit it out. Despite the lack of garlic in the vicinity, her stomach twisted again and she jerked down her mask as she retched onto the ground. Her throat stung from her stomach acid and she glared at the blurred mass of her breakfast through the tears that filled her eyes.

Blinking rapidly she balled up saliva in her mouth and spit, a sob tearing loose. She crawled painfully away from her vomit, slid under a branch, and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them with both hands, forehead resting on her knees as she cried. The tears dripped down her cheeks and slid towards her mouth. She licked them away and then spit on the ground. Her stomach twisted again, but she fought it, biting her lip until she tasted blood, and spitting again.

"Sheik."

She twisted her head to look up at Ganondorf, his familiar face visible through the screen of leaves and branches.
"Leave me."

"No. What happened?"

"I said, 'leave.'"

"And I responded in the negative," he retorted, pulling aside a large branch and stepping over to her. He bent down and placed a heavy hand on her back

Sheik bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know what's wrong."

"You do know what's wrong, and I want you to tell me."

"Wario," she said finally, a sob forcing itself out. "He's so…"

"So what?"

Sheik gave up and pushed herself to her feet. "You wouldn't understand."

"You're right. I'm a stiff person. But I want to help if I can."
The gesture was sweet, but the lack of understanding didn't let it be anything but that. "Thank you." She pulled her mask up, slipped from the thicket, and dashed back towards the mansion.

Awww. Ganondorf was just trying to be friendly, right? Does anyone else usually think of him as sweet and misunderstood? I don't usually think of him like that.