Good GRIEF, it's been nearly a month since I last updated…and now I'm a week early! Clearly I am incapable of keeping track of time…
It's the Valentine's day chapter! The formatting this time round is different from before. Rather than it being all one story that flows together, this chapter is instead divided into five mini chapters, each featuring a different pairing (this is also why this chapter's so freaking LONG). There's the obvious PeachXMario, and Zelink (as requested by TheNinjaAlchemist95), the two I've hinted at previously, and a surprise pairing as requested by Autistic. So read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Oh, how I wish SSBB belonged to me and not Nintendo…
Though he knew very well that reading while walking is a dangerous pastime, Marth had still elected to stroll around the Smash Mansion with his nose buried in one of his tattered, well-thumbed paperbacks. He was so absorbed in the story that it was a wonder he didn't walk into anything…at least, not until he wandered his way into the cafeteria.
While passing by the kitchen, Marth collided with a chef who was holding a tray of cinnamon rolls. The tray was launched into the air and landed with a loud clatter a few feet away, and the pastries rained down on the surrounding area. The chef stumbled backward into the kitchen. Marth, on the other hand, staggered back and fell with a thud on the floor. Somehow, his book stayed in his hand, and he continued to read it as he sat on the floor, his book-free hand under his tailbone to ease the waves of pain after having fallen on it.
Samus watched this all unfold with mild amusement, though she couldn't help but laugh a little as one of the cinnamon rolls landed right on Marth's head and the prince never even flinched. He just kept reading that book. She stood up and walked over to him, plucking the pastry off his head in the process.
"Hey."
"Hello." Marth didn't even look up when he responded.
"Whatcha reading?" Samus asked, mouth full of cinnamon roll.
"Sec," Marth mumbled, and he continued to mumble to himself, eyes wide as cobalt dinner plates, as he absorbed the last few lines of the chapter. When he finished, he folded down the corner of the page and sighed contentedly. "It's my favourite part," he smiled.
"What is it?" Samus asked again.
Marth grinned wider. "A romance." Then, more seriously: "Where did you get that cinnamon roll?"
Samus gestured at the Altean. "Your head."
Marth frowned and glanced around him. "Why are there cinnamon rolls everywhere?"
Samus raised an eyebrow at him. "You really know how to lose yourself in a book, huh?"
"It's one of my specialties," he said crookedly.
"Uh huh." The bounty-hunter extended a hand to Marth. The prince eyed it curiously for a moment, then took it and stood up.
"So, what's for breakfast?"
Samus shoved her half eaten cinnamon roll in his face.
"Ah." Marth paused for a minute before continuing. "We should go sit down."
"Mm."
Together, Marth and Samus made for one of the tables that sported a tray of cinnamon rolls that hadn't been on the floor, when Samus spoke again. "You realize you've been holding my hand this entire time, right?"
Marth's slip-up shocked him so much he nearly stopped walking. Instead, he did his best to maintain a cool composure and said smoothly, "Yes I have, does it bother you?"
Now it was Samus' turn to be taken aback; however, she was just as good at maintaining a façade as the prince. "Why would it bother me?"
"I don't know," Marth shrugged, "because you pointed it out?"
"Er…" He had her there. As Samus fumbled for an answer, Marth looked around the cafeteria and spotted Pit at a nearby table. When the prince saw what the angel had in his hands, he nearly died on the spot. Is that…a camera? Once the flash had gone off, Pit lowered the camera and grinned devilishly at Marth. The look in his eye plainly said "This is so going on the internet." Marth stalked angrily over to Pit, unconsciously dragging Samus along with him since he was still holding her hand.
"Hello," Pit sang when Marth came near. "What's up?"
Marth opened his mouth to tell Pit off when Samus' free hand shot out, snatched Pit's camera, and flung it across the room. It soared through the air and landed with a shloop in the big bowl of oatmeal that was to go along with the cinnamon rolls. The chef carrying the bowl flinched slightly when some oatmeal spattered his face, but continued on and placed the bowl on a nearby table. Marth pitied the poor person who found that camera in their breakfast. He didn't have too long to dwell on it, however, because Samus was walking away and dragging him along while Pit yelled insults after them. She was still holding his hand.
"Hey, Samus?" Marth asked tentatively.
"What?" She replied without turning around.
"You're still holding my hand."
Samus stopped walking now, and Marth moved to face her. "Well?" he prompted.
Samus watched him for a minute, then gave in with a small sigh and smiled. "I know."
Feeling oddly triumphant, Marth smiled back. "Happy Valentine's day."
"You too."
"Can I take off the blindfold now, Zel?"
"Not yet."
Zelda was leading a blindfolded Link down the halls of the Smash Mansion. She had found him by the cafeteria - by this time she knew the first thing Link did in the morning was go get coffee - and had told him she had a surprise for him. Interested, and being aware that it was February 14th, Link allowed her to blindfold him and lead him by the hand down to her room, where the surprise was waiting. The anticipation was getting to him, though. He couldn't wait for the princess to tell him he could take off the blindfold.
"Okay, Link," Zelda said as she shut her bedroom door, "you can take off the blindfold now."
Link obliged, and the first thing his blue eyes fell on was the thing on Zelda's bed: an ice cream cake, with pink icing forming a heart and just big enough for two.
The Hylian was stunned. "Zel…this is…"
"Hush," she told him. "Eat." She passed him a plate. Being an ice cream lover, Link couldn't refuse.
Ten minutes of stuffing his face later, Link leaned back on Zelda's bed, full of ice cream and quite satisfied. Zelda shifted over to be beside him and placed her head on his shoulder. "So?" she asked. "Did you like it?"
"I did," Link replied, "very much."
"Good. I'm glad."
"Although, I could use some milk now," Link said very seriously.
"What for?" Zelda was slightly confused. "You just ate a whole bunch of ice cream, which is primarily made of milk."
Link shrugged as best he could with Zelda's head on his one shoulder. "Ice cream cake makes me thirsty. I blame the fudge."
"Then I blame it, too," Zelda laughed.
"Heh…"
They were silent for a while. Then Link turned his head down to where Zelda's was against his shoulder, and he touched the side of her nose gently with his own. He placed a hand along the side of her jaw and tilted her face upward until their lips met. He kissed her passionately for a minute, then pulled away and spoke very softly, "Happy Valentine's day."
Zelda responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him again. Oh, Link thought to himself, how I love Valentine's day.
Sheik did not like Valentine's day. She hated all the pink, the mushy lovey-dovey things that all the couples did, and most of all - and she would never admit this to anyone - she hated how none of the boys paid her any attention. She was a girl, too! Maybe she didn't have Samus' figure, or Peach's natural beauty, or Zelda's royal charisma, but she had many lovely qualities that boys just failed to notice. She couldn't think of any at the moment, but she knew they were there. Resigned to being ignored for the remainder of the day, she closed her bedroom door behind her and stepped out into the hall.
Sheik wandered the halls; she wasn't hungry for anything, and couldn't think of anything better to do. But despite her lack of desire for breakfast, she still found her way into the cafeteria, and as she entered the door she caught a glimpse of a blue-haired man descending down to the storage room. Intrigued, she followed.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found Ike rummaging around in a large box with a "this side up" arrow pointing at the floor. Sheik quietly approached him, then tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Ike."
The warrior cried out in alarm and stumbled sideways into a stack of boxes, toppling them over with a large amount of noise. Momentarily off balance, Ike grappled around for support and his hand eventually landed on Sheik's shoulder. After he caught his breath, he looked Sheik in the eye and demanded, "What the heck was that for?!"
Sheik remained very straight-faced as she said sarcastically, "I was testing your manliness."
Ike raised one eyebrow and uttered the single syllable, "Wow," before turning back to his box. Sheik could see now that it was filled with fake flowers: some were lying on their own, while others were arranged together into hairpieces, corsages, and bouquets.
"Why exactly do we have a box full of these?"
"No idea," Ike spoke as he continued to search the box. Sheik couldn't help but admire how sexy his blue hair was from this angle. She wondered if the colour was natural.
Sheik's musings were interrupted when Ike cried out with glee, "Found it!" He emerged from the box with a bouquet of assorted flowers. He presented them to Sheik. "Aren't they pretty?"
Sheik's mouth turned down in disgust. "They're fake."
"Oh…well, yes," Ike stuttered, "but tell me: which is your favourite?"
Sheik watched Ike suspiciously for a moment, then pointed at the single red rose in the middle of the bunch. "That one."
Ike acknowledged the response with a nod, and then was quiet for a while as he thought to himself. "She'll probably like them, then…" he muttered.
"Who'll like what?" Sheik asked.
Ike's eyes snapped up; he could've sworn he hadn't spoken loud enough for anyone but himself to hear. Nevertheless, Sheik had heard him, and now he had to cover himself.
"Er…n-no one," he fumbled, "I…er-I have to go back to…to Crimea!" and he ran past Sheik, up the stairs, and into the kitchen.
Back in the storage room, Sheik was confused by Ike's odd behaviour. What does he mean, he has to go back to Crimea? she pondered. He left with the bouquet, too…he must have a girlfriend back home. Sheik's heart fell at the realization. I'm such an idiot. Feeling angry and rather close to tears, Sheik marched back up to the kitchen and all the way to her room, slamming the door behind her.
-X-X-X-
It wasn't until very late at night that Ike returned back to the Smash Mansion through the portal. He stealthily crept back inside and made his way down the hall to the door he was looking for.
-X-X-X-
Sheik heard someone knocking at her door. Rubbing her dry eyes, she got up off her bed and went to yell at the person who so rudely interrupted her self-pitying. And who should she open the door to but the one from whom all the self-pitying stemmed.
"What do you want?" Sheik asked sourly, refusing to look Ike in the eye and instead staring at the floor.
"I came to give you something."
No matter how hard Sheik tried to suppress it, she felt a small glimmer of hope appear with Ike's words. "You…you did?"
"Here." Sheik looked up. In Ike's hands was a bouquet full of ruby red roses, just like the one she had told him she liked, except these ones were real. "Those are…for me?"
"Of course," Ike reassured her, "who else could they be for?"
Sheik decided not to answer that, and instead took the flowers from the warrior and graced him with a rare smile. Then she couldn't control the overwhelming happiness anymore and launched herself at Ike, hugging him tightly. "Thank you," she sobbed into his shoulder. "Thank you." She felt his strong arms caress her as he replied, "Happy Valentine's day."
"FORE!"
Mario ducked as Peach swung back her club in preparation to whack the golf ball down the course. She hit it, and it flew off at an incredible speed. Mario watched in admiration as the ball flew way up into the air, reaching its maximum height with a graceful arc and then landing not ten feet from where Peach was standing, bouncing slightly. As terrible as the shot was, Mario still praised Peach.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" he cheered, clapping. Peach smiled with delight and stepped back to let Mario take his turn.
Peach may not have been the best golfer, but Mario's skill was undeniable. He hit the ball and it soared through the air, terminating by falling on to the putting green and bouncing its way into the hole.
"Hole in one!"
Valentine's day for the Mushroom Kingdom couple was rather simple: Mario treated Peach to something, and then the princess did likewise. This time, Mario opted to take Peach golfing. As for what Peach had in mind for him, he had no idea, and he was spending every second thinking about it. As a result, the end of the game at the eighteenth hole came as a surprise. The final score had Mario standing with -30 and Peach with a record-breaking +100. Naturally, Mario let Peach be under the impression she had won.
"Okay, Mario," Peach trilled as they left Mushroom Kingdom golf course, "now it's time for my gift to you!"
Mario was in a haze as he walked with Peach through the town back to the palace. As the pair strolled the streets, many toads stopped what they were doing to stare at them. Some waved and called out greetings, and Peach waved back at each one of them.
When they arrived at Peach's palace they were greeted by two guard toads who led them up the pink cobblestone steps to the pink wooden doors. Once inside, they walked down through the entirely pink hallway to a little side room that Peach had had decorated just for the event. She ushered Mario inside, and then turned and said, "I'll be right back!"
Once Peach was gone, Mario took in the room. It was virtually windowless, except for a row of thin rectangular windows running along the top of the walls. In the center of the room was a round cherry wood table, with two matching cherry wood chairs, one on either side. On the table was a vase of roses. Mario sat in one of the chairs and waited for Peach to return.
Five minutes passed, and then ten, and then twenty with no sign of Peach. Mario was getting antsy with excitement. And then, Peach returned, but not with cake as Mario was hoping.
"Oh, Mario!" Peach wailed as she dashed through the door and flung herself on the ground beside Mario's chair. "I'm so s-sorry!"
Mario was so confused he didn't know what to do, which was perfectly fine because Peach continued on without needing a cue.
"I r-ruined your cake!" she bawled. "I l-left it *hic* i-in the oven t-too long and r-ruined it! N-now we'll n-never have o-our special v-Valentine's day!"
As Peach continued to sob on the floor, Mario hopped off his chair and circled around to comfort her. He made to pat her back, changed his mind, went to say something comforting, and changed his mind again. He sighed. How was he going to comfort Peach seeing as she was so upset on their special day? Hmmm…
Abandoning all form of thought, Mario acted instinctively and pecked Peach on the cheek. The mushroom princess's sobbing faltered a little at the contact, and she lowered her hands to look at the plumber. "Oh, Mario…"
Mario smiled lovingly. "Buon San Valentino."
Peach laughed lightly. "Happy Valentine's day!"
Diddy Kong came quietly into the cafeteria, with a laptop in his hands. Seeing the room was mostly empty, he set up the computer device in the far corner, where it would be quietest. He turned it on, hit a few buttons, and within minutes, the happy, smiling face of Dixie Kong appeared before him.
Pit observed all this from a few feet away, and he couldn't help but soften a little inside when he saw the way Diddy Kong's face lit up when he began to skype with his girlfriend. He listened to and smiled at the happy monkey noises coming from both Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong. He was so absorbed in the adorableness of it all that he didn't even notice Diddy Kong beckoning for him to come over until the monkey hopped over, grabbed Pit by the hand and dragged him over in front of the laptop.
Once there, Pit watched as Diddy Kong gestured toward him and gave some sort of monkey introduction. On the screen, Dixie Kong nodded to Diddy Kong, then turned and waved animatedly at Pit. The angel smiled and waved back. Then, just before leaving the pair alone, he pointed discreetly at Diddy Kong and gave two thumbs up for Dixie to see. She giggled, and when Diddy Kong turned around to see at what, Pit was nowhere to be seen.
The two monkeys continued to chat and retell to each other all the adventures they had had recently. They talked for hours; all who entered the cafeteria and caught sight of Diddy Kong and his laptop smiled at the monkey's commitment to his friend. Some of them secretly wished that they could have a relationship like the one Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong clearly shared.
When night began to fall, both at the Smash Mansion and in Dixie Kong's world, the pair decided that it was time to say goodbye. Just as Diddy Kong made to close his laptop, Dixie put her hand to her lips and blew a sweet kiss. The recipient grinned and blushed, and after a second, blew one back. Then he closed his laptop for good and left to return to his room, heart riding high on cloud nine. It had indeed been a very happy Valentine's day.
(EDIT August 3, 2012: small piece of my author note was eliminated here, once again because it demonstrated my previous ignorance to…well…everything.) Hopefully what I included here satisfied you all, because now I am entirely fluffed-out and will now return to more action/humour/crazy things because the part of my brain that creates the fluff is worn out.
Next up: ANOTHER LITTLE ARC! YAY! And yes, that means return of the cliffhangers :) mwahahaha!