This chapter is more of a stepping-stone than something that stands on its own.
Samus took a deep breath, trying to take in all of the cool night air. She looked around the garden, seeing the various colors stand out in the torchlight. It was possible to see the extent of the flowers from any bench that was chosen. She looked up at the sky to see the stars, a sight that she could appreciate when she wasn't so close to them. Her ship gave a nice view, but there's something different when you see it in the stillness of night, as opposed to the depth of space.
The air was refreshing, not too cold and not too windy. She came out in her Zero Suit this time, instead of her pajamas. She stood up from the bench and decided to walk around the garden. She took the vertical path to the top of the circle and started from there. As she looked at each of the plants, she found herself thinking back to the events of the day.
"It looks so nice out today…" Peach said, glancing out the dining room window.
"Want to go outside?" Nana said eagerly.
"It's rather sunny out, perhaps we could go to the garden." Zelda suggested.
"That sounds like fun!" Peach said. "Do you gals want to go right now?"
"Yeah!" Nana said. Zelda nodded with a smile.
The three turned to Samus. Samus gave a small smile. "Sure, sounds good."
The four put all of their dishes back in the kitchen and walked to the lobby. Peach and Nana were in front, while Zelda and Samus were in back.
"Hey Princess." Samus said. Zelda turned to Samus. "Are you and Link dating?"
Zelda smiled. "Well, we haven't gone on any dates, but yes, we're together." Samus nodded in understanding. "Why do you ask?"
"It's just that you guys seem to bring out something in each other."
Zelda tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"You two act like kids around each other. From what I can tell, Link is usually rather focused. And you're more…"
"Royal?" Zelda said, laughing slightly.
Samus laughed too. "Sure, that works. But together, you two seem to become much more light hearted."
Zelda thought for a second, then nodded. "It's like he said. People can be more than meets the eye."
"That's actually why I brought it up. Is there a reason you two bring out that side of each other?" Samus asked, as the group left the Mansion and started for the backyard.
"See…" Zelda began. "Link and I come from the kingdom of Hyrule. It's usually a very peaceful place, yet still full of life. Last year, a monster attacked the kingdom, shrouding it in an endless twilight. The monster, his name was Zant, wanted to rule the world by covering it in the essence of his homeland. The whole kingdom was terrified and confused. And Zant had me overpowered, I couldn't do anything for my people."
Samus listened intently, taking in every word the Princess said.
"Then Link came." Zelda's eyes lit up as she continued. "Chosen by our Goddesses, he saved Hyrule. He had some help along the way, and the strength from all of those people in addition to his own, he was able to defeat Zant and the greater evil, Ganondorf."
"I see. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that." Samus said, looking down at the sidewalk. "It must've been incredibly difficult."
"It was." Zelda nodded. "And for the longest time, people had a hard time even feeling remotely happy."
"So where do you guys want to go?" Peach asked.
Samus and Zelda had been distracted by their conversation and hadn't realized they'd arrived at the backyard.
"Let's go to the garden!" Nana said.
"Sure!" Peach agreed. "Have either of you ever been there?"
Zelda shook her head.
"Yeah, I have once." Samus said.
"Then let's go!" Peach said.
Nana ran off ahead, and Peach tried to catch up, but her dress made running difficult. Zelda and Samus slowly tailed them.
"So, what changed?" Samus asked.
"Hmm?" Zelda looked at Samus. "Oh, yes. It was Link. He saw how devastated everybody was, and wanted to lift everyone's spirits, at least for a little while. So he began acting all goofy." The princess smiled at the memory.
"Goofy how?" Samus said, smirking at the princess' face.
"He would do things like steal a dog's bone, then sprint through the market as the dog chased him. Or he would see me in the plaza, then run straight through the fountain in the center to reach me. Just silly things that made the people around it laugh. He quickly got me doing the same stuff."
Samus smiled. "Is that so?"
Zelda laughed. "Not quite as eccentric as what he was doing. But I did do some magic to liven things up. Fireworks and the such."
"Fascinating." Samus said, thinking about her story.
"And that's how our relationship grew. No matter how rough things got, seeing each other made us remember those moments, and things seemed… Well, less heavy." Zelda told her. "It's nice having someone who can do that, without even trying."
"That's incredible." Samus said. The group had arrived at the garden. Nana had already gone to the marble square and was looking at a group of flowers. Peach had waited for the other two to catch up.
"I think Nana's already found something." Peach said, smiling at the Ice Climber. "Shall we join her?"
Samus and Zelda nodded. As the three walked to the square, Samus noticed a lot of people were outside today. She saw Red with all three of his Pokemon out. They ran around with Pikachu in the field adjacent to the garden. Meta Knight was on the roof, in some sort of meditative state. Mario and Luigi had brought out a grill and were making what seemed to be hamburgers. Wario, Kirby, and King Dedede were standing at a distance, staring at the food, waiting for the moment they could have some. Olimar was in the garden, walking around with his Pikmin, being mindful of the plants.
"Hey look!" Peach said, pointing to Nana. One of Olimar's white Pikmin had run over and was looking at the flowers with Nana. "I wonder if it's the same one who ate with us yesterday!"
"Could be." Zelda smiled.
"Let's find out!" Peach said, picking up her pace for the square.
"So Samus.." Zelda began, stopping her from continuing. "What's your story?"
Samus looked away, towards Red and his Pokemon. She didn't want to talk about it. "Well…"
"Samus! Zelda! It is her!" Peach said, waving for them to come over.
"Another time, then. No big deal." Zelda said, trying to reassure Samus.
Zelda began walking to Peach and Nana. Samus sighed in relief, feeling like she had dodged a bullet. Zelda had said a lot, does that mean she should've done the same? Zelda considered her a friend, that much Samus knew. Why else would she have been so open about herself?
Samus walked over to the others, all of whom were greeting the Pikmin. They were all crouched over, trying to get close to her, so Samus just stood in back. She saw Olimar walk over to them, probably to retrieve his Pikmin. He seemed to pick up his pace as he was passing by Samus.
Is he still afraid of me? Samus thought to herself.
"Excuse me." He said, talking to the other three. "I need to take this one back. Too much exposure to a white Pikmin is bad for plant life."
"Because they're poison?" Nana asked. Olimar nodded.
"Ok, if it's for the best…" Peach said, sad to see the little white creature leave.
"Sorry. Bye guys." He said, running off with his group of Pikmin, the white one in hand.
They all said bye. Even has he passed by Samus, she said her goodbye, but that just seemed to make him run faster. That irritated her.
"Are you ok Samus?" Peach asked. "You seem upset."
Samus sighed. "It's Olimar. I think he's afraid of me, and I don't know why."
"Really? You can't tell why?" Nana asked.
"Nana! That's very rude!" Peach yelled. Nana sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
Samus looked at the marble square, in thought. "Sure, I know I'm rough in a match. But out here, I try to be calm."
"Yeah, but Samus, you're still kind of scary." Nana said. Peach bopped her on the head. "Sorry, not scary. Intimidating."
"That's not better!" Peach scolded.
Samus shook her head. "No, I kind of knew that already."
"It's just that you don't say very much. And you're, like, reeeaaally tall!" Nana said, jumping with the last comment.
Samus thought about what she had said, knowing she was right with all of it. "I guess you're right." She said.
"He just needs to get to know you!" Peach said, trying to raise Samus' spirits.
"Exactly." Zelda agreed. "You're a very easy person to talk to, once you get the opportunity." She smiled at Samus. The blonde bounty hunter smiled back.
"Samus, where are you from?" Nana asked.
Samus looked down at her, eyebrows raised. "What?"
Nana shrugged. "It's just that we don't know much about you. We know you fight aliens, but that's about it."
Um…" Samus mumbled, as all three girls were looking at her. They were all curious about her. "I was born on a planet called K-2L, but I haven't had an actual home for most of my life. I sort of live in my ship."
"Cool!" Nana said. She turned to Peach and Zelda. "See? Now we know our friend even better!"
Friend. Samus thought. Even an innocent little girl calls her a friend, no strings attached.
"Would you care to go on Samus?" Zelda asked.
Samus finished her lap around the garden. She would've kept thinking, but a noise brought her back to reality. She instinctively reached for her Paralyzer, but she hadn't brought it with. She looked around the garden, but didn't see anything. She skimmed over the field, but to no avail.
Suddenly, in the patch of flowers near where she was standing a few flowers began to droop. She saw them start falling in a circular shape, all centered around a pink flower with a white stem. Samus thought the flower looked familiar, so she walked towards it to inspect it. The flower began moving around on its own, making Samus flinch. She heard a familiar high-pitched noise coming from the plant.
Samus smiled to herself and shook her head. She grabbed the plants stem and pulled it out of the ground, pulling up a white Pikmin. She walked to a bench in the square and placed the Pikmin beside her.
"Does your captain know you're out here?" She asked, amused. The little Pikmin shook its head. Samus leaned back and sighed.
"You must really like it out here." She said. The Pikmin tried to mimic her pose by sitting beside her. "I do too. Especially at night, it's very quiet."
The two sat there in silence for a little bit. The Pikmin would occasionally tilt its head from side to side, as if trying to see things from every possible angle.
"Did you have fun today?" She asked. The Pikmin nodded its head vigorously. "Me too."
"Well, I have a brawl in a bit, so I'll see you guys! Feel free to watch if you'd like!" Peach said, heading back towards the mansion.
"Good luck!" Nana said. Zelda and Samus gave a smile and a wave.
"Hey Samus." Zelda said. "Don't feel any sort of pressure with us. If you ever want to talk, we'll be here to listen, we won't try to squeeze anything out of you."
Samus smiled. "Thanks Princess."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about asking those questions, Samus…" Nana said, hanging her head.
"It's ok." Samus told her. "Don't worry about it."
"Ok!" Nana said with lifted spirits.
"Really though. We're friends. We'll learn more about each other slowly." Zelda said.
That thought probably should've made her uneasy, but it actually comforted Samus a bit. She had new friends with her. People that wanted to talk to her, and who she could talk to. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time.
"Yeah." Samus smiled. "That sounds great."
As the night went on, the breeze became a bit colder. The little Pikmin began to shiver and Samus began getting tired.
"What do you say?" Samus asked. "Time to go in?" The Pikmin nodded it's head, still shivering. Samus held her hand open and the Pikmin jumped on. Since she had her Zero Suit on, she was protected from the Pikmin's natural poison, much like Olimar and his spacesuit.
A feeling of freedom swept over Samus. She hadn't had a close friend since Adam died, and feeling close to people was something she missed. She had friends who are always willing to listen, even if she wasn't in the mood to talk.
Samus looked down at the Pikmin in her hand. It looked back with its big pink eyes. She smiled at it. "We're friends too, right?" The Pikmin gave a little jump and nod.
She put the Pikmin on Olimar's window. The window was still open from when the Pikmin escaped. It seemed to have trouble closing it though, so Samus helped.
That night Samus went to bed feeling more refreshed than she had in a long time.