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Chapter Text

Today was a peaceful day in Dreamland, much more peaceful than usual. And Castle Dedede's knight was taking full advantage of it. There, in his room, sat Meta Knight, unmasked, peacefully reading a book. Sunlight was shining in through the window, making the room bright and warm. It was very quiet, and the only sound that could be heard was the clock on the wall ticking, very faint sounds of children playing, and the occasional twittering of birds.

Meta Knight's squires, Sword and Blade, were out on patrol, so he could finally have time to himself. It was impossible to get in any free time for weeks, due to training sessions, drama with the King of Dreamland, spring cleaning, and having picnics with his favorite student, Kirby. Speaking of Kirby, Meta Knight remembered that he had a training session with him later this afternoon. He would take his time though. He might even cut the session short, considering how relaxing and peaceful it was today.

Getting bored with his book, the knight quietly closed it and set it on his nightstand. He stood up, looking around the apartment for something else to do. He eyed a jar of candy on a bookshelf. Maybe... maybe he could have one! Now that he saw the jar, he was feeling a sudden craving for something sweet. He excitedly walked up to the bookshelf to grab the jar... but his excitement disappeared when he noticed how high up it was. Sword or Blade must have put it up there during spring cleaning yesterday. And it didn't help that Meta Knight's species was shorter than most others. He then realized something that made him facepalm. He was a Star Warrior! He shouldn't be tempted by little things like this.

Grumbling, Meta Knight went back to his book and sat down again. Every once and a while he would glance around, first at the clock on the wall, the door to his apartment, the kitchen... the jar of candy. It was proudly sitting high upon the bookshelf, just out of his reach, its colorful contents taunting him...

What on Planet Popstar am I thinking?! I need to distract myself, or something...

Meta Knight turned himself around so the jar of treats would be out of his field of vision, and tried to focus on his book. But he couldn't stop thinking about it! There were irresistible, addicting, and deliciously sweet candies right there, basically screaming at him to come and savor their sweetness. And he was too short to reach it.

There were mints, fruity candies, and chocolates in the jar. The mints—oh, the mints were bursting with flavor, and they left a sweet and refreshing aftertaste after being eaten.

The fruity candies were even better. There were five flavors: cherry, watermelon, green apple, orange, and lemon. Each one (Especially the lemon) tasted tangy at first, but it eventually faded into bursting flavor and irresistible sweetness.

The chocolates—the chocolates were the BEST. Their rich, smooth texture, together with their amazing and addictive taste combined to make the greatest and most delicious-

Meta Knight couldn't take it anymore. He needed those candies. Even one would be okay, as long as he could indulge in its delicious sweetness.

He ran up to the bookshelf, thinking of what he could do to get high enough to reach it. Jumping would obviously give no results, plus, if Meta Knight did grab the top of the bookshelf, he could risk it falling on top of him. Maybe he could fly up there? No, his wings were big, he could knock something over, and it would be a waste of energy (Or was he just being lazy?). He eventually settled on using a chair from the kitchen. Grabbing one, he carefully positioned it next to the bookshelf and eagerly jumped onto it. But, to Meta Knight's dismay, the candy jar was just out of reach. He hopped off, getting slightly agitated.

He spotted a wooden stool in the corner of his bedroom. It was only a little bit taller than the chair, and wouldn't help. But maybe...

Meta Knight grabbed the stool and walked back up to the bookshelf and the chair, placing the stool on top of the chair; positioning it in the middle so it wouldn't topple over. He then climbed on top of the chair, and then he slowly and carefully climbed onto the stool...

Meta Knight nervously held his breath as the stool wobbled a bit. He was high enough now, but he was quite high off the floor. Was a little piece of candy worth all this? He looked up and eyed the jar.

It's right there in front of you! Just grab it and get it over with!

Meta Knight unsteadily reached out towards the jar of sweets. He could hear the candies calling out his name at this point. He was sweating, his heart was pounding, and he almost had the jar, ready for sweet, sweet pleasure when suddenly—

SNAP.

The next thing he knew, Meta Knight was falling, and he was falling, fast. The last thing he saw was the floor when his vision quickly faded to black.

Chapter Text

Pain. That's the first thing Meta Knight felt when he woke up a few minutes later. What happened? He lifted his aching head to look around, but his vision was extremely fuzzy. Blinking to clear his vision, he lazily rolled onto his side and tried to remember what he was doing last. He was in his room by himself, reading a book and he remembered getting bored with it... But what happened after that?

As the knight's vision finally solidified, he came face-to-face with the stool from his bedroom, and a chair from his kitchen not too far away. Looking closer, he saw that one of the chair's legs had snapped in half, rendering it useless. He looked up and saw a bookshelf, with a jar of candy sitting on top... only to have his memories come flooding back to him.

Why had he been so stupid?! It was already a dangerous move, and the candies probably weren't worth the effort. And now, thanks to his stupidity, Meta Knight had probably given himself a serious head injury.

Groaning loudly, he turned onto his other side to look at the clock on the wall; squinting to try and see better as his sight was becoming blurry again. But his eyes widened as he read the clock, realizing that Sword and Blade would come back from their mid-morning patrol very soon.

Meta Knight struggled to lift himself up; he had to clean up his mess. He couldn't have his squires come in and ask what happened, it would beway too embarrassing to tell them the truth.

The exhausted knight finally got onto his feet, only for a huge wave of dizziness to come over him, causing him to stumble backwards and collide with the foot of his bed. He sat back down, groaning again as his head started to ache more, and his ears started to ring annoyingly.

How pathetic, Meta Knight thought. He was a Star Warrior, part of one of the most highly respected armies in the universe, and here he was, struggling to stay standing on his own two feet. All the more reason to keep trying though, I suppose...

Using the foot of his bed for support, Meta Knight slowly pulled himself up and got onto his feet. He took a deep breath and let go of the bed, waving his short arms about wildly to try and maintain balance. Slowly but surely, he reached the broken chair, picking it and its broken leg up, and quickly stuffed them into his closet, which, thankfully, wasn't too far away from where he was standing. Meta Knight then tiredly trudged over to his stool, standing it upright and moving it to the corner of his room.

After that, Meta Knight somehow managed to get into the bathroom so he could get a good look at himself, despite his dizziness. He stood in front of his mirror, desperately rubbing his eyes to clear his fuzzy vision again. Once his vision cleared, he looked at the mirror and saw the ugly mess that was his face.

There were red marks on Meta Knight's cheeks from being pressed against the floor, and his milky white eyes were glazed over from both exhaustion and blurry vision. Smack-dab on the middle of his forehead was a large, scarlet bruise that hurt to the touch.

Sighing, he turned on the sink, cupping his hands underneath the cold running water and he gently splashed his face. He flinched when the freezing cold water hit the bruise, but he felt slightly refreshed now, the ringing in his ears had faded and he didn't feel as exhausted as before.

His head still hurt like crazy, though.

Meta Knight wobbled out of the bathroom (Nearly bumping into the wall in the process), snatching his mask from his nightstand so he could put it back on his face, and sat down on his bed. No one had seen his face before, except for Kirby, who had revealed it by accident. He let it slide, though. Kirby couldn't speak well enough to reveal the secret to anyone, and the child was too kind to embarrass his mentor.

Meta Knight thought about the upcoming training session with his favorite student. It would be pretty hard to train Kirby now, thanks to his current condition. What if Kirby found out what happened? How would the child react?

The knight sighed and rubbed his temples. Kirby's a ball of sunshine, Meta Knight thought. He's very obedient. Hopefully everything will go smoothly; I don't want to make him worry about me...

Meanwhile, in another part of the castle...

"Well that was rather climatic," said Blade, who had just exited the throne room with his brother, Sword.

"Yeah, but I hope the little fella's ok," replied Sword, rounding the corner of the castle corridors. "It looked like King Dedede smacked him pretty hard..."

"Waddle Dees are tough. He should be fine," Blade assured him, approaching the apartment that belonged to the two knights and their mentor, Meta Knight.

King Dedede had summoned Sword and Blade to give them a message for Meta Knight. The whole time though, Escargon, the King's servant and friend, kept loudly complaining about how bored he was. The King got so annoyed and furious he grabbed his hammer and tried to hit Escargon, but the slippery snail got out of the way and Dedede ended up letting his anger out on a poor Waddle Dee instead. Sword and Blade had since left the throne room, slightly amused.

"Enough about that though, what are ya havin' for lunch?" Blade asked his brother.

Sword stopped walking for a minute, pondering the question. "I haven't decided yet. Did you?"

Blade stopped walking too, glancing over at Sword. "Obviously a BLT. What else?"

Sword gave an exasperated sigh and started walking again. "Ugh, youalways have a BLT," he grumbled. "You should try something different for a change..."

The two knights finally reached the door to their quarters, only to find out that it was locked from the inside.

"Maybe Sir Meta Knight wanted some private time?" Sword suggested. Blade nodded and started knocking on the door rather loudly, the sound echoing through the castle hallways.

"Sir Meta Knight! It's Sword and Blade, can you open the door, please?" He yelled. No response. Blade pressed his ear against the door, but he couldn't hear anything.

"Move over, let me try," Sword said, shoving his brother out of the way. "SIR META KNIGHT, IT'S US, OPEN UP!" He shouted, knocking on the door just as loud as Blade had, only to receive a punch in the elbow from said knight.

"Don't do that, you're going to scare the Waddle Dees and get us in trouble!" Blade stated angrily.

"Well, YOU'RE the one who was knocking pretty loudly first!" Sword talked back.

"But YOU were shouting louder than I was!" came the reply.

The two siblings continued bickering noisily, like little children, until they heard the door to their apartment open, revealing Sir Meta Knight. But... something was off about him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you two at first, but can you please stop shouting?" the masked knight angrily asked his squires.

"We're sorry..." they replied simultaneously, hanging their heads in shame as they walked into their quarters, and Meta Knight shut the door behind them. They noticed that their mentor's voice sounded very slurred.

Sword and Blade watched Meta Knight walk over to his nightstand, putting his book in the drawer, when they finally realized what was wrong.

Meta Knight had put his mask on upside-down.

They started snickering, and Meta turned around, hearing their giggling. "What?" he asked, only for Sword to start laughing louder as Blade walked up to him.

"U-Um, Sir Meta Knight, you might want to take a look at yourself in the mirror..." Blade answered as he started to giggle again.

"Huh?" Meta Knight raised an eyebrow, running into the bathroom. He nearly fell backwards in shock when he realized what he did, his eyes turning a bright pink in embarrassment. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" he shouted, feeling his face get hot as his two students started to howl and snort.

The aggravated knight clumsily fixed his mask, making sure that the door was closed while he did so so his squires would't see his face. He stomped out of the bathroom, glaring at Sword and Blade. He felt their loud laughter drilling into his head, making his ears hurt and ring again.

"Oh man, that was hilarious," Sword said, having finally calmed down.

"It sure was," Blade agreed, but nervously swallowed when he noticed Meta Knight glaring at him and his brother.

"This remains between you two and me only, understand?" Meta Knight angrily told his squires.

They simultaneously nodded, smirking as they walked into the kitchen, when Sword spoke up. "Hey, Sir? King Dedede has requested your presence, he said he wanted your opinion on something."

Meta Knight groaned and rubbed his head. "Ugh, I wonder what annoying thing the King wants now?" he wondered aloud. "I guess I'll leave now, I have a training session with Kirby later anyway..."

"Alright, good luck sir," Sword replied, giving a confused glance at his mentor. The knight's voice was still very slurred.

Sword and Blade looked at each other worriedly as they heard the door to the apartment slam shut.

"Did you notice how slurred his voice was?" Sword asked.

Blade nodded and crossed his arms. "Yeah... Maybe he's just tired," he replied as he started to make his BLT.

After leaving the apartment, Meta Knight leaned against the wall, sighing heavily. There was no way that this was going to end well, no, not at all...

Chapter Text

Meta Knight tightly wrapped himself in his cape, trying his best to stay walking in a straight line as much as possible. He was so dizzy, he felt like he could fall over at any second. But he couldn’t give up now, he had business to do.

He groaned when he felt his vision get blurry for the millionth time. This was getting ridiculous. He was even feeling a little nauseous now. What the heck did he do to his head? Maybe he—

Meta Knight was startled from his thoughts when he collided into… well, something. His vision was too blurry to make the orange figure out at first, but he eventually recognized it as a Waddle Dee.

“Aaagh, I-I’m sorry!” He apologized, attempting to hide his eyes, which were pink from embarrassment.

The Waddle Dee stared at him in confusion for a moment, before deciding to leave and continue its work.

Ok then… hopefully no one else saw that, thought Meta Knight. This is getting embarrassing…

Meta Knight rounded the corner of the castle hallway, approaching the throne room. Hopefully King Dedede wouldn’t be too annoying. To everyone’s surprise, the King of Dreamland wasn’t too mean to his subjects anymore, but he could still be full of himself at times. He was also very bored most of the time, his previous entertainment he found in ordering Demon Beasts was now gone, and the most he could do these days was loaf around and watch TV.

Meta Knight walked up to the door to the throne room. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it open, hoping for the best, yet prepared for the worst…

 King Dedede was sitting on his throne, tapping his gloved hand on the arm rest impatiently. Where on Planet Popstar was Meta Knight? He had asked for him nearly twenty minutes ago! This wasn’t urgent, but he really wanted to ask Meta Knight about it…

He heard the door to the throne room, and sure enough, there was Meta Knight, looking a little distracted.

“Hello, your Majesty, I—OOMPH!” Meta Knight was interrupted mid-sentence by tripping over… the carpet? How did that happen?

“Well that’s no way to greet your King!” Dedede hissed angrily.

“I-I’m sorry, your Majesty, I d-don’t know what got into me…” Meta Knight lied, feeling his face get hot again. He had tried to conceal his dizziness, but failed. And now he had just humiliated himself in front of King Dedede.

“Nevermind. Now tell me why did ya took so stinkin’ long to get here! I’ve been waitin’ for nearly twenty minutes!”

Meta Knight gulped at this statement. Did he really take that long to get here? What would he say? He couldn’t just tell King Dedede what really happened, he would probably tell the whole village about it!

“Meta Knight?! META KNIGHT!!!”

Meta Knight was startled out of his thoughts again. “I’m sor-“

“Ugh, just forget it…” King Dedede grumbled, glancing to the side for a moment, before looking back at Meta Knight. “Now, I’m gonna be completely honest to ya here, and I want your honest opinion…”

Meta Knight raised an eyebrow. King Dedede had never talked to him like this before. What was he going to ask?

“Do you think I should get a hobby?”

Meta Knight was obviously not prepared for this, as he visibly started sweating. “Uhh…”

King Dedede chuckled loudly. “Sorry if I put ya on the spot there. Ya see, I wanted to ask you, because Escargon didn’t wanna help me at all for some reason, and I think you’re the most mature person in town, other than that annoying brat Fumu. So whaddya think?”

Meta Knight shuffled on his feet uncomfortably. When would the torture end? “Why thank you your Majesty, but I’m not good with topics like this…”

“Well, I’m sure you can think of somethin’!” the king replied.

Meta Knight thought about it for a moment. Maybe… it would be good for the King to get a hobby! It would give him something else to do instead of constantly laying around all day. “Well, if watching TV all day isn’t your hobby, then yes, I think you should get one.”

King Dedede was not happy to hear that. “Of course it’s not! I just, uh, well…” He trailed off when he noticed Meta Knight walking up to him.

“Hmm… well, what else do you like to do?” Meta Knight asked, smirking underneath his mask.

“Well, uh, I like to eat…”

“Maybe you can travel around the world and try different kinds of cuisine,” Meta Knight suggested. “Just don’t go too crazy. You know what happened last time you went too far with food…”

King Dedede grimaced at the unpleasant memory. Thanks to Holy Nightmare, he had learned that food (Potato chips in particular) can sometimes be very deceiving. “Nah, maybe not… how about cookin’? I’ve got some cookbooks I can follow…”

“If you want to use the cookbooks, you need to know to read. Do you even know how to read?” Meta Knight asked, his smirk turning into a quizzical grin.

King Dedede’s face reddened. “Uh, ‘course I do! But now that I think about it, it seems a little boring. Ooh, I know, how about paintin’?”

This time it was Meta Knight’s turn to grimace. King Dedede had attempted to make a masterpiece before, and it did not end well. “I don’t know… how about you think about it for a little while, and if you think of something, come tell me about it, okay?”

King Dedede frowned. “It did seem a little silly, anyway…” he mumbled, shuffling a little in his throne.

Meta Knight’s face paled. He suddenly felt vertigo coming back to hit him at full force. He needed to leave, now! “U-Uhm, your majesty, I’m sorry, but I’ve forgotten that I’ve got to be somewhere! Bye!” And with that, Meta Knight rushed out of the throne room, leaving behind a very confused King Dedede.

Why did he rush out of the room like that? And why did his voice sound so weird? the King wondered. Oh well. Now, I wonder what I can have for lunch… King Dedede then got off of his throne and left the room through a different door than Meta Knight had.

Meta Knight had since ran outside onto the nearest balcony, struggling to keep down the bile rising up in his throat. He squinted, the bright sunlight making his head hurt even more than it already was. He leaned over the edge of the balcony, coughing and sputtering. Why did everything feel so awful? His head was pounding, the bruise on his forehead was throbbing, and he felt extremely nauseous and dizzy.

After waiting at the edge of the balcony and taking deep breaths for a little while, Meta Knight felt his nausea fade. He sat down, sighing heavily. He felt so violated! He had embarrassed himself one too many times, not to mention that he felt terribly sick. This is so humiliating… he thought, rubbing his aching head.

He considered canceling the training session with Kirby, but decided against it. What would he tell the child? Kirby would only get concerned and suspicious. Kirby’s too young to be worrying about me, he thought. I’m going to have to try.

Making up his mind, Meta Knight left the balcony, heading down the hallway while trying to maintain his balance. He would not give up.

 Meanwhile, in a meadow nearby…

“Okay, Kirby, try again,” Fumu told Kirby.

“Un, tooo, twee, fow, fiii!” Kirby exclaimed ecstatically, a big grin on his face. He had just finished a rigorous game of soccer with his friend, Bun, and the other Cappy children. Kirby was now cooling off underneath a tree while Fumu sat nearby, tutoring him.

“Well done Kirby!” The girl said happily. Kirby was making great progress in his speech. She had also noticed that the child was incredibly intelligent for his age. Not that that surprised her, however, because Kirby was born to be a Star Warrior. His fighting skills were top-notch.

Fumu rewarded Kirby with a big, juicy apple, which he quickly snatched from her hand. “Uh-uh-uh! What do you say?” She quickly scolded, interrupting Kirby.

“Tank-ooo,” Kirby replied, swallowing the apple whole. He had remembered his manners, but he felt like he was forgetting something else, something important… what was it?

Fumu looked over at Bun, who was in the middle of the meadow. He seemed to be looking for something.

“SIS?! SIS!!!” he suddenly cried out, panicked. “MY POCKET KNIFE’S GONE!”

Fumu sighed, standing up and walking over to her little brother. “Alright, alright, stop shouting. You couldn’t have lost it; you always keep it in your pocket all the time!”

“But I swear it’s not in there!” Bun yelled, frantically running his fingers through the grass in hopes of finding his lost item. “I can’t lose that pocket knife; Meta Knight gave it to me!”

Meta Knight! Kirby had a training session with Meta Knight today!

“Poyo poyo!” he cried.

Fumu gave a confused look at Kirby. “What is it Kirby?”

“Did you find my pocket knife?” Bun asked eagerly.

“Poyo Meta-kni!” Kirby replied, pointing his stubby arm at Whispy Woods, his and Meta Knight’s regular training spot.

“You’ve got a meeting with Meta Knight? Now?” Fumu inquired, while Bun slouched down in disappointment.

“Poyo!” Kirby answered, nodding his head in confirmation.

Fumu nodded in understanding. “Ok, then,” she said, smiling. “See you later, okay?”

While Kirby rushed off to Whispy Woods, Fumu reached her hand in Bun’s pocket, and, unsurprisingly, she felt the pocket knife. “Bun, it was in your pocket the whole time!” she said, aggravated.

“Uh, I thought I had put it in my other pocket, sorry…” Bun mumbled, cracking a sheepish smile.

Kirby, meanwhile, had sprinted into Whispy Woods, being careful not to trip over any roots or rocks. He knew exactly where his usual training spot was; it was in a clearing, next to a very tall and a very pretty waterfall. One time Meta Knight even had Kirby practice swimming in the river. That was a fun day!

He eventually heard the sound of running water. He was almost there! Pushing a bush aside, he leaped into the clearing, giving a cheerful and eager yelp, ready to start the day’s training.

But Kirby came screeching to a halt when he noticed that Meta Knight wasn’t there. Where was he?

The child carefully looked around the clearing, calling for his mentor. No dice.

“Poyo?” The toddler tilted his head in confusion. Usually Meta Knight would be waiting in the clearing for him. It wasn’t like his mentor to be late…

Kirby walked over to a tree and sat down underneath it. He twirled a blade of grass at his feet, wondering where Meta Knight could possibly be…

Chapter Text

Meta Knight had managed to find his way to Whispy Woods while also staying out of sight of other people. Thank goodness, he thought. Hopefully everything else will go oka—

He was once again startled from his thoughts, this time by tripping over a tree root. He quickly pulled himself back up, wiping off his mask. This is getting annoying, he thought. Meta Knight continued walking... but… didn’t he pass that rock on the ground there? He turned around, but… he was sure he passed that tree stump with the wavy rings. “Great. Now I’m lost,” he muttered under his breath.

Meta Knight turned around again, trying to stay in a straight line. All he had to do was get to clearing, finish the training session with Kirby, and then he could go home and crash into bed. He could do this…

“POYO!”

That was Kirby! He was almost there…

BAM!

Something collided into Meta Knight. Whatever it was, it hit him very, very hard. He stumbled backwards, seeing stars, and finally, he fell over. “Urrgh…” He groaned, rubbing his aching head, which now hurt even more thanks to the collision.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a very blurry pink figure standing above him. “Kirby…?”

“Meta Poyokay?” the child asked, clearly concerned about his mentor.

“Yes, I’m fine Kirby…” Meta Knight grunted, using a tree next to him for support as he pulled himself up.

Kirby frowned, looking down at his feet. “Sowwy…” he apologized, thinking he might’ve angered his mentor.

“It’s okay, Kirby, it was an accident,” Meta Knight replied, placing an assuring hand on the child’s back, and he was rewarded with a warm smile from Kirby.

“POYO!” the toddler cried out, suddenly grasping Meta Knight’s hand; tugging it energetically. “Go poyo! Now!”

Meta Knight chuckled and started following the eager child. “Okay, okay, let’s go…”

After trekking though the woods for a few minutes, the duo made it to the clearing. Kirby released his tight grip on his mentor’s hand and ran into the middle of the clearing, rolling in the soft grass and giggling adorably.

Meta Knight couldn’t help but smile at the sight; his eyes turning pink in amusement. Kirby was the definition of pure happiness, and it didn’t look like that would change for a long, long time.

“Alright Kirby, let’s get started,” the knight commanded his student, throwing a spare sword he had brought with him to the ground.

The child obeyed, immediately inhaling the silver blade. He felt a surge of power go through his body as he copied the sword’s properties, donning a dark green cap and producing a bright white sword, all in a flash of blinding light. He had become Sword Kirby!

Meta Knight flinched from the harsh light. His headache was getting really bad now, but it was too late to turn back. He could do this…

Meta Knight drew his own sword, Galaxia, but… the sword didn’t spark to life like it usually did. Why?

You know you shouldn’t be doing this, the magical blade silently spoke to Meta Knight. What do you think you’re doing?

It’s too late to turn back now. C’mon, work with me… Meta Knight thought in response.

No.

Kirby tilted his head in confusion, while Meta Knight started sweating. Please, Meta Knight pleaded to Galaxia. I’ve already embarrassed myself way too many times already…

Fine, but trust me, you’re only making things worse for yourself… And with that, Galaxia sparked to life in a blinding yellow light, while Meta Knight let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, today, I want you to try and look for open spots. Try to find out when I’m most vulnerable, and whenever you see an opening, try and attack me,” Meta Knight commanded, ignoring the queasy feeling in his stomach. “Don’t let up, okay?”

Kirby nodded, gaining a determined expression. Seconds later he charged at his mentor to try and swipe at him, only to have his attack blocked. He circled his mentor, avoiding one of his swipes. Kirby then quickly rolled behind Meta Knight to strike from behind.

To Kirby’s surprise, the attack landed.

Alarmed, the child rushed over to a now fallen Meta Knight, thinking he might have hurt his mentor. “Meta-Kni?!”

“I-I’m okay, Kirby, don’t worry; you actually surprised me there, good job…” Meta Knight tried to act happy, but he frowned inwardly. You know that’s one big bull-faced lie, he told himself.

Kirby smiled at his mentor’s praise, patiently waiting for the knight to lift himself up so they could start training again.

This time, Meta Knight swiped his sword at Kirby, who blocked it just in time. Kirby started attacking rapidly, while Meta Knight tried his hardest to keep up and block each attack.

Meta Knight suddenly felt dizziness coming over him. No, not now! he thought. His head started spinning, and his vision swirled as Kirby knocked Galaxia out of his hand. Finally giving up, Meta Knight fell flat on his back, moaning loudly.

Kirby let out a frantic and confused cry. Meta Knight was usually much better at sword fighting than him, so why was he having issues? And, now his mentor had just fallen over! …What was wrong?

Meta Knight felt something shake his arm, and he turned to see a very terrified-looking Kirby.

“Kirby, I’m fi-“

“Poyo Meta-Kni?” Kirby whimpered, interrupting his mentor. He knew something was wrong, he could tell. Meta Knight was being stubborn and wouldn’t share it.

Kirby smirked, suddenly having an idea.

Without warning, the child tackled Meta Knight and grabbed the edge of his mask, attempting to pry it off.

“KIRBY, STOP THAT!” Meta Knight yelled, completely startled. He started flailing around to try and shake the child off. “GET OFF ME!”

Kirby ignored his mentor’s orders, struggling to keep a good grip on the mask. After a few minutes of fighting, Kirby managed to pull Meta Knight’s mask off, but he lost his grip as he did so and the mask went flying through the air, landing dangerously close to the river.

Meta Knight immediately pushed the child off of him and rolled onto his face. He couldn’t let Kirby see that horrifying bruise his forehead.

Kirby sat up and gave Meta Knight a confused look. He had seen his mentor’s face before, so why was he hiding it?

Meta Knight felt his heart skip a beat as he heard the baby’s footsteps approaching. “Kirby, I’m fine,” he mumbled, but his voice sounded a lot more slurred than he wanted it to be.

Kirby started pushing his mentor, trying to roll him onto his back. “Poy-o!” He grunted. Why was his mentor acting so stubborn?!

With a groan, Meta Knight finally gave in, rolling onto his back, flinching as Kirby let out a frightened cry. “Um, don’t worry Kirby; it’s not as bad as it looks…” Meta Knight assured, but frowned as he knew he had just lied again. It honestly was a lot worse than it looked.

Kirby was shocked. That bruise looked really painful. “Poyo?” What had happened to his mentor? Did he get hurt?

“I’m sorry, Kirby… I, uh, fell down this morning,” Meta Knight tried to explain, grimacing as he felt nausea coming back to him. “I think I hit my head really hard, and now it really hurts… I don’t feel so good…”

Kirby frowned and gently hugged Meta Knight; trying to make him feel better.

Meta Knight couldn’t help but smile at Kirby’s concern. “Thank you, Kirby…” he whispered.

Meta Knight tried to lift himself up, but he started to feel dizzy again and fell onto Kirby. The child helped the exhausted knight get onto his feet, wondering what to do next. Maybe he could take Meta Knight to Dr. Yabui? It couldn't hurt to try; the doctor was good at making people feel better...

Satisfied with his decision, Kirby started tugging Meta Knight's hand again. "Poyooo!" he squealed.

"What is it, Kirby?" Meta Knight inquired.

"Poyo, Yabee!" responded Kirby.

Meta Knight raised an eyebrow. What was ‘Yabee’? Did Kirby—

Oh no. Kirby meant Dr. Yabui, didn’t he?

“Kirby, no!” Meta Knight yelled, prying his arm out of Kirby’s grasp. “I can’t go to Dr. Yabui’s; you know what he’ll do to me!”

Kirby frowned; watching Meta Knight wobble over to Galaxia had fallen. He had to convince his mentor to go to the doctor, but how?

Meta Knight scoffed at the thought of going to Dr. Yabui’s. The doctor was always a rather curious type, especially if he had the chance to inspect anything other than a Cappy. No doubt he would try and take off Meta Knight’s mask to find out what lay beneath it. He would probably share the secret with the whole town, too…

He finally reached Galaxia, but as soon as he picked it up, the magical blade started nagging him again.

I told you that you’d only make things worse for yourself, it said with a hint of humor in its voice.

Be quiet, you, Meta Knight retorted, sheathing the golden sword, silencing it for good.

He turned around and looked at Kirby—and immediately regretted doing so. Kirby was giving him the puppy-dog eyes and the quiver-lip. Try as he might, Meta Knight could not resist that face.

“Okay, Kirby, I’ll go… but I need my mask back,” Meta Knight surrendered.

Kirby immediately perked up and gave an excited yelp, going over to the river and grabbing Meta Knight’s mask. He ran back over to his mentor and held out the mask, a bright smile on his face.

Meta Knight smiled, taking his mask while the child squeezed his arm. He put it back onto his face, hoping Dr. Yabui wouldn’t be too much trouble…

Chapter Text

"Kirby, stop pushing me so fast; I'm going to fall over again," mumbled a very dizzy and aggravated Meta Knight. He and Kirby were walking along the path that led to town, which was where Dr. Yabui's office was located. But Meta Knight was starting to wonder if going there would be a bad mistake…

Kirby continued to push his mentor energetically, feeling proud of himself. He was able to convince Meta Knight to go to the doctor! It was very hard to convince him to do almost anything, unless it had anything to do with swordfighting or training. Sometimes, though, Kirby would be able to persuade his mentor to go on picnics with him.

"Well here's a rare sight!" a familiar voice called out from behind the two puffballs. They turned around to see who it belonged to, and they came face-to-face with Moso, the village's postmaster. "What are you two doing here?"

Meta Knight wasn't sure what to say at first. "Umm…"

"Poyo poyo! Poyo Meta-Kni poy Yabee!" Kirby attempted to explain.

"Hmm?" the elderly mailman inquired, tilting his head in confusion.

"We're, uh, going to Kawasaki's," Meta Knight lied through his teeth.

"Oh, ok then. See you around," Moso responded, turning around and leaving.

Kirby turned around and glared at his mentor.

"What? I can't tell him the truth, it's too embarrassing," Meta Knight justified.

Kirby just shook his head and continued to push his mentor. That was close, Meta Knight thought. But now Kirby's mad at me…

The knight looked ahead of him, noticing that he and Kirby were very close to town now. It was very crowded, probably due to the lunch rush hour.Here goes, he thought. I'm probably going to embarrass myself really, really badly…

 Fumu walked out of the store with her brother, clutching a plastic bag in her hand. "Here's our dinner for tonight."

"I wonder what Mom's gonna cook with all that stuff," Bun wondered aloud.

The siblings suddenly heard lots of murmuring and whispering, and they turned to see… was that Meta Knight?!In town?!

They ran over to the masked knight, feeling very confused. Meta Knight never came to town, at least not while it's crowded like it is now!

"Meta Knight, what areyou doing here?" Fumu asked.

Meta Knight bit his lip. Should he really keep up with these lies any longer? Maybe it would be best to just tell the siblings the truth. They were more trustworthy with secrets, anyway…

"…Th-there was a little… accident…" he mumbled quietly.

"Accident?!" Fumu yelled frantically, attracting the attention of some Cappies nearby. "Kirby's not hurt, is he?!"

Her question was answered when said puffball appeared from behind Meta Knight's back, giving a cheerful chirp.

Bun put his hand to his chin. "So if Kirby's fine, then why…?"

"Poyo Meta-Kni poy Yabee!" Kirby exclaimed, waving his stubby arms in the air.

"Um, what's he saying, Meta Knight?" Fumu inquired.

Meta Knight's face reddened. He had no choice but to tell them now. "I'm the one who got hurt," he explained, trying to stay quiet so no one else would hear. "I hit my head really hard this morning. I tried to hide it from Kirby, but he found out and now he wants to take me to Dr. Yabui's."

Bun couldn't help but laugh. Meta Knight going to Dr. Yabui's was a funny thought, in his imagination, at least.

Fumu elbowed her little brother, stopping his giggling. "Is it really that bad? I mean, do you actually feel sick?" she questioned.

Meta Knight looked at the ground in embarrassment. "Yes…"

Fumu felt a smile tug at the edge of her lips. She knew Kirby cared for his mentor very much, but she didn't think that he cared this much. "I'm sure everything will go fine," she said. "I mean, Kirby's with you. He'll make sure that everything will be okay! Right, Kirby?"

"Poyo!" the child cheered.

"Uh, could you… you know… not tell anyone else about this?" Meta Knight pleaded, still avoiding eye contact with the two siblings.

"Oh, please, don't even worry about that," the girl assured. "Your secret's safe with us!"

Meta Knight nodded his thanks, and Kirby grabbed his hand to start dragging him to Doctor Yabui's again.

"Hope you feel better!" Fumu yelled, watching the two puffballs go through the crowd. "C'mon, Bun, let's go home," she said, walking towards the castle, with her brother following close behind.

Kirby and Meta Knight, meanwhile, were slowly navigating through the crowd, earning a few confused looks from the Cappies. After a few minutes, they reached the doctor's office. But dizziness overcame Meta Knight again, and he fell into the double doors of the building, causing them to open slightly.

Dr. Yabui nearly fell out of his chair in shock, adjusting his glasses and looking around for the source of the noise. He eventually spotted Meta Knight in heap on the floor at the entrance, with Kirby at his side, trying to help him up.

"What are you two doing here?" the doctor asked, coming out from behind his desk and approaching the two puffballs. "Here, let me help you." He then gestured for Kirby to get out of the way so he could grab both of Meta Knight's hands, giving the knight some support so he could pull himself up.

Meta Knight felt his face get hot. He had embarrassed himself in front of Yabui already. "Thank you," he mumbled, getting onto his feet again.

Kirby then shoved his mentor towards the doctor, making Meta Knight trip and nearly fall over again. "Yabee, poyo poy Meta poyo?" the child cooed, a pleading look in his eyes.

"You… want me to take a look at Meta Knight?" Yabui inferred, cocking his head in confusion. Kirby answered with a slow nod. "…Well, I thought I'd never see the day!" the doctor exclaimed, smirking and rubbing his hands eagerly. "Come this way, please."

Yabui proceeded to open the door behind him, walking into the room it led to and looking at the two puffballs expectantly. Kirby immediately bounded through the open door, but Meta Knight stayed put, looking at the floor. Am I seriously doing this? he thought. He glanced up saw the doctor crossing his arms impatiently.

Meta Knight sighed; it looked like he had no choice. He hesitantly and sluggishly shuffled into the room; Doctor Yabui closing the door behind him.

"So what brings you here today?" the doctor questioned, snatching a clipboard from the counter nearby.

Meta Knight clumsily climbed onto the examination table. He struggled to get into a comfortable sitting position, making the tissue paper on the table a mess. "…I-I fell. And hit my head really hard."

Yabui didn't seem satisfied with that answer. "…Uh, you didn't need to come to me for that… but is it really that bad?"

Meta Knight nodded. "Yes, I hit my head so hard that it really hurts, and I feel really dizzy," he grunted, squirming on the examination table. Why was it so hard to get comfortable on it?!

"Hmm, well, in that case, I might be able to do something for you," the doctor said, approaching the miserable knight. "Oh dear. Uh, how do I say this…?"

Meta Knight fidgeted even more uncomfortably; now he had torn the tissue paper completely in half. "What is it?" he groaned, glaring at the doctor.

Yabui looked at Meta Knight uncomfortably. "…I'm going to need you to take your mask off…"

Meta Knight quickly scooted away from the doctor, wrapping himself in his cape protectively. "No, I can't," he nervously murmured, starting to sweat. "Please don't make me…"

Kirby pouted at Meta Knight, and Dr. Yabui crossed his arms, shaking his head. "Well, you want to feel better, don't you?" The doctor queried. His question was met with silence. He glanced over at Kirby, getting an idea. "Kirby… can you help me?"

The child smirked and nodded, climbing onto the examination table. He scooted next to his mentor, making the knight feel even more uncomfortable.

"Kirby, don't you dare…" Meta Knight leaned back as Kirby's paw reached for his mask.

"Poyo!" Kirby cried, getting closer to Meta Knight, who kept scooching back until he was at the edge of the examination table, unable to move back any more. Meta Knight scowled; Kirby had him cornered.

"Why do you need me to take my mask off, anyway?!" Meta Knight grunted, desperately blocking Kirby's attempts to get his mask off.

"I need to check the extent of the damage," the doctor replied, adjusting his glasses. "Plus, I want to give you a general checkup, as you've never been here before, and I need some information for the records."

Meta Knight scoffed and looked back at Kirby, who had stopped reaching for his mask for some reason. But Kirby was giving him the puppy dog-eyes and the quiver-lip…again. Meta Knight sighed and looked down at his feet.

That little distraction was all Kirby needed; he immediately latched onto Meta Knight's mask and pulled it off, exposing the knight's face.

There was silence in the little room for a while; Meta Knight had a disoriented look on his face, Yabui looked absolutely shocked, while Kirby looked extremely proud of himself. Yabui eventually broke the silence "What the heck? You… look just like Kirby!" the doctor exclaimed, pointing at Meta Knight. "Are you two family or somethi—"

"No, we're not family, but weare of the same species," Meta Knight explained, interrupting Yabui and giving him an unamused look.

The doctor looked down at his clipboard uncomfortably. "…Riiight. Anyway, let me take a look at you," He mumbled, approaching Meta Knight again. "Well, that's one big bruise. Does it hurt when I do this?" The doctor questioned, lightly pressing the bruise on the knight's head.

"Yes; please don't do that," Meta Knight pleaded, shutting his eyes tightly and grimacing.

Yabui retracted his hand, nodding and writing something down on his clipboard. "Yeah, I should've figured…" he trailed off, looking around the room for something. "Drat. I left my tools in the other room. I'll be right back," and with that, he put his clipboard back on the counter and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Meta Knight looked over at Kirby, who was beaming. Meta Knight couldn't help but smile back. The child could be stubborn sometimes, but he meant well. Meta Knight knew all Kirby wanted was for him to feel better, so maybe this was for the better.

One time Kirby had accidentally knocked Meta Knight's mask off during a training session. That moment not only showed how eager Kirby was to learn, but Meta Knight felt like they had become closer friends during that time. He could remember it distinctly…

 "Kirby! Focus on me, and only me. Do you understand?" Meta Knight commanded, making sure to keep eye contact with his student.

Kirby nodded, struggling to not look at the pretty red butterfly flying between him and his mentor. He desperately wanted to go chase it and try to catch it, but he couldn't disappoint his mentor.

The butterfly eventually flew out of sight, much to Kirby's disappointment. "Alright Kirby, try and attack me again," Meta Knight ordered, getting into a battle stance.

The child obeyed, dashing at his mentor. Their swords collided, causing a loud metallic clang to echo throughout the air. The two puffballs circled each other, patiently waiting for each other to make a move.

Then they both attacked—at the same time. Kirby sliced upwards, while Meta Knight attempted to slap Kirby with the flat of his blade. Both of their attacks made contact; the tip of Kirby's sword got caught underneath Meta Knight's mask, causing it to flip upwards and fly off the knight's face. Meta Knight's attack hit Kirby's side, but it intentionally wasn't very hard; he didn't want to hurt the child.

Meta Knight was stunned; his face had been revealed. He frantically looked around for his mask—but it was too late. Kirby had seen his face.

"Meta-Kni?!" The child exclaimed, running up to his mentor. Meta Knight looked just like him! But… was Meta Knight angry at him for knocking his mask off?

Meta Knight noticed Kirby's worry, and quickly comforted him. "Hey, it's okay, Kirby. It was an accident," he assured, rubbing the child's head. He was rewarded with a beaming Kirby.

"Poyoo!" the child chirped, jumping onto his mentor and giving him a tight hug. There was someone else that actually looked like him! Could they be related, perhaps?

Meta Knight smiled and hugged Kirby back; there was no one else around to see them anyway. Nobody else knew, but Meta Knight didn't mind receiving affection from the child, nor did he mind giving it to him. He didn't admit it to anyone because he knew it would damage his reputation.

Kirby snuggled into his mentor's side, enjoying the attention. Meta Knight… was more than a mentor to him now. He was someone else he could look up to, other than Fumu. Knowing that there was someone else that looked like him relieved him, and it sparked his curiosity. What if there were more people like him out there?

Meta Knight continued to cradle Kirby, gingerly wrapping the child in his cape. Kirby was growing up, for sure. Even though Nightmare has been defeated, he had to make sure that the child would be prepared; the world can be a wicked place, and evil could attack at a moment's notice. He just hoped that Kirby would stay happy and carefree, no matter what happened…

 Meta Knight's happy memory faded in a blinding light, quite literally. Doctor Yabui was back and was using one of his tools to shine a bright light into the knight's eyes.

"Th-that hurts, stop p-please…!" Meta Knight pleaded, squinting. The bright light was making his head hurt even more, not to mention he was feeling very nauseous again.

The doctor complied, turning off the light and putting the tool away. He pulled out a blood pressure cuff and wrapped it around Meta Knight's arm. He pressed the round part of his stethoscope against the knight's arm and inflated the cuff. Meta Knight grimaced as the cuff got very tight,way too tight for comfort.

Yabui eventually let the cuff deflate. He pulled it off and wrote something else on the clipboard.

The doctor proceeded to check Meta Knight's reflexes, lungs, and heartbeat, much to the knight's annoyance.

After finishing, Yabui put his tools away and glanced at Meta Knight. He looked very pale and exhausted. "You feeling okay?" the doctor asked.

Meta Knight gave the doctor a look. "Yeah, but can you please stop shouting?" he moaned, tiredly rubbing his eyes.

Yabui tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mea—ohhh, I know what's wrong with you," he said.

Meta Knight was losing his patience. "What is it?"

"You probably gave yourself a concussion from that fall you mentioned earlier," Yabui implied, pulling out prescription paper from his pocket. "That obviously explains your headache and dizziness. But it also causes sensitivity to sound and light, confusion, memory loss, and nausea and vomiting, depending on how severe the case is."

Meta Knight nodded; satisfied with the diagnosis. He was utterly exhausted, and he just wanted to go home, so he was happy with whatever the doctor said.

"I'm going to prescribe a stronger pain killer for you," Yabui explained, writing on the paper he pulled out. "Hopefully it should help with that headache."

Again Meta Knight nodded, watching the doctor leave the room once again. He looked to his side and saw Kirby sitting right next to him, looking at him worriedly. "Don't worry, Kirby, I'm okay…" Meta Knight mumbled sleepily. But he jolted up, scaring the worried child even more. He suddenly felt extremely nauseous again, and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep his breakfast down this time. He dived towards the trash can in the corner of the room and threw up into it. He closed his eyes, not wishing to see the gross-looking muck falling into the bin.

Kirby whimpered and quickly ran over to Meta Knight's side and hugged him, trying to comfort his mentor.

It was at that moment that Doctor Yabui walked back into the room; awkwardly staring at the two puffballs. Meta Knight momentarily stopped vomiting and panted tiredly. He turned and glared daggers at the doctor. "…Uh, I'm sorry. Go ahead and finish, I'm not looking," Yabui apologized, turning around and looking at the bottle of pills in his hand.

Meta Knight continued to throw up, causing the child at his side to whimper more and hug him tighter. After Meta Knight finished, he wobbled over to a sink and rinsed his mouth out.

"You can take two of these a day; one in the morning and one at night," Yabui explained, watching Kirby guide the exhausted knight to a chair. "Now as for your recovery, don't do anything too crazy or anything that needs you to react or think quickly. In other words, give your brain a rest; at least until you start to feel better."

Meta Knight nodded tiredly, grabbing the bottle of pills being offered to him by the doctor. "Thank you," he grunted, attempting to put his mask back on. With Kirby's help, he eventually put it on correctly. "Um, I'd like you to keep what you saw today a secret, if you wouldn't mind…"

"Are ya kiddin'? Of course I won’t tell anyone! It's not anyone else's business to know my patient's secrets," Yabui said with a chuckle. "It's one of the unspoken rules of doctoring. Now go home and get some rest; you'll need it."

Meta Knight blinked. That answer surprised him. "Okay then, thanks again for your help, I appreciate it," He said, getting out of the chair, nearly falling over again. He was supported and guided out of the room by Kirby, who was tugging his hand gently.

The puffballs carefully walked out of the doctor's office. Kirby stopped for a moment, looking around before proceeding to lead his mentor to the path that would lead to the castle. He would periodically look back and make sure that Meta Knight was okay.

The knight continued to drowsily follow Kirby, heaving a sigh. The doctor's visit had gone surprisingly well, but he was sure to run into someone up at the castle; he would probably have to explain his embarrassing situation to them, too. He just hoped King Dedede wouldn't find out what happened…

Chapter Text

The two puffballs finally made it to the castle, much to Meta Knight’s relief. He had fallen over multiple times due to dizziness during the trek, and he would have to stop and take a break. At this point Meta Knight was so exhausted and dizzy that he could barely walk straight without leaning on Kirby. The child didn’t mind, though; he just wanted his mentor to feel better.

“Sir?!”

“What happened?!”

Meta Knight sighed; it looks like he and Kirby had run into Sword and Blade. He prepared himself for the embarrassment that was sure to follow as his squires ran up to him. He gave them a minimalized explanation of the events that occurred during the day, including his fall, intentionally not telling them the explicit details of it.

“Um, Sir? How did you fall in the first place?” Sword asked, sounding very confused. As much as he respected Sir Meta Knight’s privacy, he was also very concerned and curious as to what happened. Even Kirby looked up at his mentor with wide, curious sapphire eyes.

Meta Knight once again felt cornered with all of his students watching him intently and waiting for an explanation. He just could not catch a break today, could he?! “…I was trying to reach… something high up,” he mumbled, trying to find the right words to say. “I couldn’t reach it at first, so I used my stool and a chair from the kitchen, the latter of which broke while I was standing on them.”

“So that explains the missing kitchen chair,” Blade snickered under his breath. But Meta Knight must have heard him, as he received an annoyed glare from his mentor.

“Eh, anyway… you knew, Sir, that we have a ladder in the closet that you could’ve used, right?” Blade continued.

Meta Knight nearly facepalmed, overcome with humiliation. “No… why was I such an idiot…?” He complained, slouching down and unknowingly making Kirby struggle underneath his weight.

Sword chuckled, making his way to the knight’s side. “It’s okay, Sir, we all have one of those days where we make a mistake that seems to ruin our whole day,” he assured, giving Blade an amused look. “Like that time when we ran out of bread and Blade freaked out so much that he got kicked out of the castle and fell into the moat…”

“Yeah, I kinda felt stupid after that…” Blade confessed. “But still, I needed bread for my sandwich! How would you feel if you couldn’t have lunch?”

Kirby looked terrified at the thought, much to Meta Knight’s amusement. Even though the child was very young, he was very well known for eating large amounts of food to satisfy his hunger. It would be very hard for Kirby to get through lunch time without eating a thing.

Sword, on the other hand, simply snickered. “You could have had something else to eat to avoid the whole situation altogether,” he stated matter-of-factly, looking back at Meta Knight. “You see, Sir? Everyone feels stupid when they look back on their past mistakes, knowing they could have done something else to prevent them from ever happening. What you can do is learn from your mistakes and remember to do the right thing the next time. Simple!”

Meta Knight couldn’t help but smile, but he also felt more embarrassed. Here he was, being reminded of one of the simplest yet very important lessons life had to offer—by one of his own students, no less!

“Thank you, Sword…” he said. “Now, I’m going to—hey, what are you two doing?!”

He was interrupted mid-sentence when Sword and Blade grabbed his arms to give him support, relieving Kirby of the weight in the process. “We’re helping you, that’s what,” Blade answered, his voice laced with amusement. “We wouldn’t be good squires if we didn’t, now would we?”

Blade had a point there. Meta Knight sighed heavily, unwillingly allowing his squires to guide him to his room. Kirby closely followed them, happily babbling along the way.

As the three knights approached their room, Kirby wriggled in between Sword and Meta Knight, taking them by surprise. The child pushed his way past the knights and scampered to the door, trying (and failing) to reach the doorknob.

“Well, somebody’s got an eager little helper, huh?” Sword snickered.

“Be quiet, Sword,” Meta Knight retorted.

Blade unlocked the door, allowing Sword to literally drag Meta Knight into the apartment. The exhausted knight crashed face-first into his bed, uttering a muffled groan.

His three students stared at him in silence for a minute. “Sir…? Did you need help?” Blade spoke.

“Mmmph,” was all Meta Knight could muster the strength to say, leaving Sword and Blade to assume that he was miserable at the moment and wanted to be left alone.

“…We’ll leave, then, and give you some privacy. See ya,” Sword said, leaving the apartment, his brother following close behind.

Meta Knight moaned as he heard the door shut, rolling onto his back and trying to get comfortable in bed. He was so occupied with trying to get comfy that he didn’t notice that Kirby was still in the room with him.

“Poyo!” the child chirped, jumping onto Meta Knight’s bed, startling him greatly.

“Ack! Kirby, don’t do that… please…” he muttered, pausing between words to yawn. “You should probably go, too. Aren’t Fumu and Bun waiting for you?”

Kirby pouted and shook his head. “Meta feel betta?” he cooed, tugging at his mentor’s cape.

“A little bit, I guess,” Meta Knight answered, feeling his lips curve into a smile. But Kirby didn’t seem satisfied, expectantly and curiously looking at his mentor. At that moment Meta Knight realized the child wasn’t going to leave until he was happy.

“Okay, Kirby. Here, why don’t you put this on my nightstand for me?” Meta Knight asked, taking off his mask and offering it to Kirby. The child beamed and immediately obeyed, taking the mask and putting it where Meta Knight had requested.

Meta Knight, meanwhile, was pulling the blankets over himself and getting situated so he could finally get some sleep. He eased his aching head onto the pillow, and curled up in the blankets. It was so comfy, he felt like he could doze off at any second…

“Poyo? Meta-Kni?”

The knight groaned and opened his tired eyes, turning to see Kirby at the other side of the room. The child had a pleading look in his eyes and was pointing at something. What it was, though, Meta Knight couldn’t tell at first…

Oh great. He was pointing at the candy jar, the whole cause of this mess. It seemed like Kirby wanted some candy.

“Go ahead, Kirby, you can have some if you want…” Meta Knight replied sleepily, not wanting to deal with it at the moment. He did wonder how the child would be able to reach the candy, though, considering how high it was…

He watched as Kirby slowly sucked in air and inflated himself like a balloon, floating to the top of the bookshelf and gently landing on it. Right, I forgot he could do that, Meta Knight thought.

He watched with amusement as Kirby excitedly opened the jar and started to take some candies out. Kirby carefully removed the foil wrapping on each of them and sampled the sweets, a big grin on his face. Meta Knight did not expect what the child did next, however.

Kirby looked over at his mentor, then back at the candy, seeming to be contemplating something. He then picked up the candy jar and inflated himself again, landed on the floor, and slowly walked up to Meta Knight, offering the knight the jar of sweets

“…F-for me?” Meta Knight inquired.

Kirby beamed and nodded happily, holding the candy higher.

Meta Knight was speechless. Kirby, being the overly hungry child that he was, barely shared his food with anyone, let alone candy. To be offered food by Kirby meant that the child considered you one of his best friends, or maybe something even beyond that. Meta Knight had never seen Kirby share food with Fumu or Bun before, and they were practically his best friends!

“Kirby, I…th-thank you…” Meta Knight stammered, still dumbfounded. He looked in the candy jar, unsure of what to choose at first. He eventually selected one of the chocolates. He rolled the small candy around in the palm of his hand, watching as Kirby ate another candy and jumped onto the bed beside him.

Meta Knight didn’t have time to protest as the child curled up in his mentor’s cape and blankets and cooed happily.

Maybe he didn’t want to push Kirby away. That, or he was just too tired to do it. Meta Knight wasn’t sure at this point. He lied back down and wrapped an arm around Kirby, and he was rewarded with the child snuggling closer to his side.

He finally decided to eat the candy, unable to resist. Yes, he was a knight, but he didn’t care that he was eating sweets. It was his guilty pleasure.

Kirby had fallen asleep already, much to Meta Knight’s amusement. He watched the child sleep peacefully, relishing the taste of the candy in his mouth.

It was sweet.

And just like this moment he was sharing with Kirby, he would savor it.