WOW! A chapter that didn't take 3 months to write!

Chapter 13: Home

Raphael was kind enough to fly Zion and Sushie back to the top of the cliff, where the yoshis immediately carried them back to the village. After what felt like a few minutes had passed, Zion was smack dab in the middle of a giant feast held by the entire village.

There was more fruit than he'd ever seen at one time. There were a couple different meats and fish to choose as well, but it was mostly fruits. He and Sushie were treated like MVPs at an event, with everything being brought to them at least once. He and Sushie continued to joke and laugh the entire time. The whole night felt like a blur.

Zion was already exhausted from the fight, but somehow managed to stay awake while the yoshi celebrated with dancing and singing. Zion didn't dance or sing with them, but cheered them on by shouting and clapping. It was well into the night when the party finally died down, and Zion was able to lie down in a bed. He fell asleep almost immediately.

Zion yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He reached over the side of the bed and grabbed his helmet, checking the time.

"Holy hell, it's already 10am?" For the first time he could remember, Zion had slept in. Having been military, he and his body were used to waking up around 6am no matter the circumstances. Due to yesterday's fight, combined with staying up late for the celebration, he was out cold and didn't wake up until 10am. Zion sat up and stretched, "I guess I better get myself together." He took a look at his suit in its case. It had regained enough power overnight to function, but what he was staring at was the flower that "saved their asses".

He reached down and picked it up. After the battle yesterday, the flower had regrown itself inside the capsule he found it in. That said, Zion noted the flower had lost its luster, but was slowly regaining its color. 'That final attack last night must have really drained it, AND my suit, but it does look like it's recharging. That's good, that makes it similar to my suit. If this thing had been a one and done I'd have been really pissed off.' Zion sighed and began putting on his armor, 'Time to head back home…'

Home. Now that was a word that got Zion thinking. He'd gotten so used to calling the Comet Observatory his home. It certainly felt like it. Back in his universe, most days were either heavily regimented, busy preparing for battle, or actually battling. Now, with Rosalina, he could take things at his own pace. Plus, being in love with Rosalina made every moment with her enjoyable. He began to smile as he thought about her. He hadn't been away from her for more than two days, but the only thing he wanted at the moment was to embrace her. Kissing her was a bonus. Of course, he would occasionally daydream about doing "adult activities " with her, but he was in no rush. Last he checked she was quite content with the life they were living, he would continue to let her set the pace for their relationship.

"Hey Zion, you up yet?" The flimsy walls made it easy to see Sushie calling for him, with the yoshi elder standing alongside her.

"Yeah, be out in a second." He finished putting on his suit, grabbed his helmet and suitcase, and proceeded outside.

Sushi was looking up at Zion with a big smile, "Guess you'll be heading out soon?"

Zion nodded, "That's the plan, gotta get back to Rosalina," he said with a big smile on his face.

Sushi smiled back, "Well, before you go, the yoshi have something they wanted to give you." She motioned to the elder, who smiled back.

"We can't thank you enough for not only quelling our fears about the dragon, but also defeating it. It may not be much, but we have something you might find useful. Please follow us to the shop, we stored it there once we retrieved it."

The three all went to the shop, Zion curious as to what this present might be. When they entered, his eyes spotted two large purple chunks that, after yesterday, looked very recognizable.

"How did you manage to get these?" He asked.

The elder chuckled, "It wasn't easy, let me tell you. Thanks to Sushie, Raphael, and his crows, we were able to retrieve one of the dragon scales, as well as a piece from one of the horns you cut off."

Zion ran his hand along the broken portion of horn. It was big, but it just might fit in his case. He could practically feel the electricity running off of it. Opening up his suitcase, he was glad to find it was just barely big enough to fit the horn. He turned back to face them.

"Thank you, the only reason we succeeded yesterday was due to our teamwork. I can return home victoriously, and proudly." He said.

Sushie nodded, "Take care of yourself Zion, and make sure to take good care of your girlfriend.

"No worries," he smiled, "I'll be doing just that." He put on his helmet, "I'll be back to visit someday, might even try to convince Rosalina to join in. I'm sure she'd enjoy your company." He picked up the suitcase, "See you both later!" He shouted while exiting the building.

"Don't be a stranger!" Sushie shouted back at him.

With that exchange, Zion began his journey home.

Rosalina had grown very accustomed to not sleeping. Maybe it was the energy from the grand stars? Maybe there was some other magical force at play? She didn't know, but it didn't bother her. If anything it allowed her to continue her work of monitoring the many galaxies with fewer interruptions. However, it was clear to her that Zion didn't like it. His opinion was that she should rest regardless of her body being able to function without it for long stretches of time. It was certainly a point they both argued and disagreed upon. However, today Rosalina was feeling tired and sluggish. Perhaps tonight she would rest for a few hours before returning to her never-ending duties. She was just leaving the fountain when she saw it in the distance. There was no mistaking the streak moving through the emptiness of space.

"He's home," she said aloud with a smile on her face. She quickly flew over to the landing pad of the observatory to greet him. No sooner had she gotten there that Zion landed himself. He pulled his suitcase alongside him, only letting go right before reaching her and taking off his helmet.

"I'm home," he said with a smile that made her heart flutter.

She smiled in return, "Welcome home my love." She embraced him and they shared a kiss. While in the middle of their kiss, a bunch of luma began to gather around them, welcoming back Zion with his "title".

"Welcome back Knight!"

"How was your journey Knight?"

"Did you bring me back any star bits Knight?"

The two of them separated, and shared a short laugh at the lumas antics.

"Calm down everyone, let's not crowd Zion all at once." Rosalina got the lumas to relax. "So Zion, care to tell us all about your journey in the library?" She was also eager to hear how his quest went.

Zion grabbed his suitcase, "Lead the way."

After they reached the library, Zion told Rosalina and the lumas about his journey from the very beginning, sparing no details. Rosalina remained silent through the storytelling, only nodding in places to confirm she was indeed listening. The lumas asked all sorts of questions about the colors of things, the spinning rooftop, and the volcano. However, when he began describing he and Sushies harrowing encounter with a dragon, Rosalina interjected.

"Wait please, Zion. That dragon, did you say its name was Leventhan?" She asked.

Zion nodded, "That's right, hard to forget with the entrance he made. Not to mention him roaring it the way he did."

Rosalina nodded in return. Zion continued to tell of the battle he took part I'm against the dragon. Rosalina looked at him with a neutral expression, but internally…

She was horrified.

Zion had said he was a trained soldier. That he had encountered and fought various creatures that threatened the existence of his own universe. But she had never seen him fight, he had never gone off to fight once he had made his home at the observatory. To all of a sudden hear that he had fought a dragon of all things! Her thoughts were in turmoil. What's worse, the name Leventhan went back and forth in her head. The name not only sounded dangerous, she knew she heard it before. Had she read about it? She had a bad feeling, but the more she thought about it the worse she felt. It was a dragon, so that already narrowed down the selection of galaxies it could have come from. She was pretty confident she knew which book had the information she needed, but she'd have to wait until Zion had concluded his story.

Rosalina was consumed by her own thoughts for so long that she didn't realize that Zion had finished. By the time she had broken away from the prison that was her thoughts in chaos, Zion was ushering the last of the lumas outside of the library leaving only the two of them.

They stared at each other in silence before Zion spoke up.

"What's wrong? I know you were silent for most of the story, but part way through you seemed to lose focus entirely."

Rosalina, unusually nervous, bit her lower lip as she stood up. "Let me check something first, it should be quick." She went to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a dark covered book. She quickly began flipping through the pages while Zion waited patiently.

"I knew it, I HAD heard of Leventhan before today. He hails from a galaxy in a distant corner of the universe. He shouldn't have been anywhere near here, let alone in the Mushroom Kingdom…How could I have overlooked something so serious? How could I have messed up this badly?" Her voice was starting to sound shaky.

"Rosalina, what's wrong?" Zion asked.

"...My job is to protect the universe. To monitor the movement of various dangerous creatures. Leventhan posed a grave threat to any galaxy other than his own. Had I known he was anywhere near the Mushroom Kingdom I NEVER would have sent you there"

"Rosalina it's okay, I took care of-"

"No it's NOT!" Rosalina yelled, throwing the book to the ground, her hands clenched into fists, "You could have been KILLED, and it would have been MY FAULT!" Her hands went to her chest. She was breathing heavily at this point, "I wouldn't have known why you didn't return." She dropped to her knees,"I'd be all alone… again." She began crying heavily, her face in her hands. Zion reacted quickly, kneeling alongside her and holding her as she wept.

For a few minutes, Zion simply held Rosalina as she cried and her tears continued to fall. Eventually, her crying began to subside, which coincided with her embracing Zion.

"Deep breaths Rosalina, deep breaths," Zion instructed, to which she followed.

"In," Zion said as Rosalina inhaled.

"And out," she exhaled.

Zion and Rosalina repeated the process a few more times, resulting in Rosalina's breathing becoming more stable.

"Better?" Zion asked with concern. Letting go of her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

Rosalina shook her head, "Not really, no," she said exhausted.

"Can you stand up?"

She hesitated before answering, "I…don't know…I feel weak."

Zion understood, such an emotional outburst would leave anyone feeling drained.

"Don't worry, I've got you." He got into a crouching position and moved to her side.

"What are you- EEP!" Rosalina let out a very girlish cry as Zion picked her up bridal style. "Zion, what are you doing?!" Despite being the only two in the library, she was apparently embarrassed being held this way.

"Just hold on, I've got you," he began walking towards the door to the library, "Can you please open that door for me? I got my hands full with a beautiful woman." He flirted.

Rosalina was turning into a blushing mess, she quickly opened the door and covered her face with her hands.

'Looks like it's working. A good distraction does wonders sometimes.' Thought Zion.

He brought Rosalina right to the bedroom, and gently laid her down on the bed. Before he could return to standing upright, Rosalina grabbed his arm.

"You okay?"

"I want…to hold you," She requested.

"Ok, can I at least take my armor off? Maybe even shower first? I'm still pretty filthy from my excursion."

Hesitantly, Rosalina nodded and let go of Zion. She also repositioned herself so she was sitting up against the headrest.

Zion wasted no time in removing his armor, grabbing some shorts and a shirt, and heading to the connected bathroom. Thankfully, he had the foresight back when he decided to live at the observatory to install a seat for him to use the shower. Sure, the limbs were built to be waterproof, but drying them off was always a major pain due to all the moving parts. He'd keep his arm on and simply do his best to keep it from getting completely soaked. As for his leg, he opted to remove it when showering.

While going through his routine in the shower, his thoughts were on Rosalina.

'I've never seen her have an outburst like that. On one hand, it's clear she was worried I could have been killed; which is certainly fair. On the other hand…it's clear that she doesn't want to be alone again…well, I don't plan on leaving here anytime soon, but if danger comes I'll have to fight. I won't let her come to harm, no matter the cost. That said…I don't even know if she ages. I'll age and die eventually…what then?...' Zion shook his head, clearing his thoughts, 'No use worrying about it now, I better get out and back to her.'

Getting out of the shower, Zion quickly dried himself off and returned to the bedroom. He was greeted with the sight of Rosalina sitting up in the bed wearing a light purple nightgown. The covers were up to her waist, and she was looking down at her hands. When Zion reentered the room, she turned to look at him.

Zion spoke up, "You said before you wanted to hold me?" He had a soft smile on his face.

Rosalina looked tired, but she also had a blush showing that she was still slightly embarrassed. 'She's fine when we kiss, hug, and hold hands, but the moment she directly asks for affection she always gets flustered. She is so cute.' he thought to himself.

"I…I do," she lifted the covers beside her motioning for Zion to join her, "I wish to hold you and…snuggle with you." She was still blushing.

Zion himself was a little surprised, this would be a first for both of them as well. They hadn't shared the bed before, but this was a clear invitation. While his mind did drift to some more…"adult things"…he pushed them to the back of his head. Right now Rosalina needed emotional support.

Without a word he joined her in the bed, sitting next to her. She was on his right side. She leaned against him and took a deep breath.

"I know you promised to protect me, but can you make me one more promise?" Rosalina asked.

"If it's within my power, of course."

Rosalina used her hand to gently turn Zions head so they were facing each other. "Please, don't die trying to protect me. Don't die FOR me. I want us to live together for as long as possible."

He hesitated before responding, "Alright, I can keep that promise." He leaned over and the two shared a quick kiss.

"Thank you," Rosalina said, her eyes getting heavy. She shifted her pillow, and lay down on the bed. Before Zion could move an inch, she grabbed his arm. "Please…stay with me tonight...I don't…I don't want to be alone."

Zion silently nodded. Rosalina let go of his arm as he removed his shirt. He then reached down to remove his prosthetic leg since it wasn't as flexible without the suit being connected, and placed it beside the bed. He then settled into the bed beside her. While he was lying on his back, Rosalina wasted no time in moving closer to him. They wordlessly maneuvered so that Zion had his arm around Rosalina, going down to her back, while Rosalina rested her head on his chest.

"Mmm, goodnight…my knight…love you" Rosalina muttered half asleep already.

Zion kissed the top of her head, "Goodnight my princess, I love you too." With a job well done, Zion relaxed before he too fell asleep.

Man, writing wholesome scenes just feels easy for me, unlike action scenes which take forever. Ugh.