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Rosalina had been alone for as long as she could remember.
She grew up surrounded by the Lumas and taking care of them, but it wasn’t the same as real human contact. She had met Mario, but he didn’t stay often. It was always just Rosalina in the vast endlessness of space.
That is, until she received that fateful letter. She had been chosen for Smash.
Before she could even comprehend what it all meant, Rosalina was suddenly transported into another world, completely different from her own, though with familiar faces. Mario, Luigi, Peach… people she had vaguely known but still found comfort in.
Rosalina was surrounded by more people than she could count, but instead of being excited, she was overwhelmed. So many faces. So many names. And yet, who would really like her? Want to spend time with her? She was so useless, so awkward.
She didn’t deserve to be here.
Rosalina had relegated herself to the sidelines for many reasons. The first- and most pertinent reason- was that the Master Hand chose fighters randomly or at will to fight each other in an endless cycle of death and revival. She saw how this damaged her comrades/foes both mentally and physically and wished she never had to experience this. The first time she was summoned, she drew her wand, her hands trembling, as she had to fight Pikachu, an innocent creature. Or so she thought.
The Pikachu lunged towards her, and Rosalina summoned a Luma, commanding it to strike…
Then poof! The Pikachu disappeared.
Rosalina fell to her knees… she had killed it. The Pikachu descended down from the sky, and the fight continued. When Rosalina first died, she felt an excruciating pain followed by complete numbness. She was not sure how to process it all. Part of her liked it, yearned for it. She felt so much agony without any consequence that it gave her a rush. Like, fuck, she was alive.
Rosalina decided then and there to never go back there again.
When they weren’t fighting, the fighters lived in the Mansion. A gargantuan estate designed to specifically cater to all the denizens within it. Rosalina lived in the west wing, all the way at the top of the tower. Her room had a large skylight that gave her a wonderous view of the stars at night. She would sit there, tucked into a corner of the room, with a good book. How could one place be both horribly cruel and beautiful all at once?
On the off chance she had left her room to get food, Rosalina would see some of the more seasoned fighters, like Solid Snake or Princess Peach, who would gaze at her with a mixture of anger and sadness. She didn’t blame them if they resented her, of course, but their judgmental gazes still burned in her mind.
It was during one of these excursions when she met Roy.
Rosalina was making oatmeal for herself in the kitchen at 3 AM when she heard a heavy-footed person march into the room.
“Oh, hey!” the fire-haired boy exclaimed. “Are you a new fighter?”
Rosalina slowly turned around. “No.”
“Oh, guess I haven’t seen you around then. I’m Roy!”
He extended his hand forward, but Rosalina didn’t take it.
“Rosalina.”
“So, do you only come out at 3 AM or something? Kinda weird that I’ve never seen you before.”
Rosalina furrowed her brows. “No.”
Roy leaned on the counter, placing his face in his hands. “You really like that word, huh?”
Rosalina rolled her eyes. “I could ask you the same thing, you know?”
“What?”
“Do you only come out at 3 AM? Or something?”
“Ha! You got me there, Rosy! No, I just couldn’t sleep tonight.”
“Don’t call me Rosy.”
Rosalina must have been glaring at him pretty intensely because his eyes suddenly went wide.
“A-anyways, what are you doing up?” he asked.
“I’m hungry.”
“Ah, I see. I should’ve guessed from, you know, the oatmeal and all.”
Rosalina turned back to her food.
“I’m gonna make some sleepy time tea. Want some?”
Rosalina began heading out of the kitchen. “No, thank you.”
“Alright, sleep tight, Rosy!”
“Likewise.”
***
Rosalina was starting to regret her encounter with Roy that night. She soon learned how persistently stubborn the boy was when she discovered him pounding on her door one night. She swung open the door to reveal his silly, wide grin flashing at her.
“Hey,” he whispered. “Figured you’d be up. You know, 3 AM and all?”
Rosalina blinked slowly before responding, “How did you find my room?”
“Well…” Roy started fidgeting his hands. “Don’t be mad at me, but I asked around about you. Turns out I never saw you because I live in the east wing.”
“What?!”
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry- “
Rosalina grabbed his t-shirts with his fists, bringing his scared eyes close to her rageful ones. “Who told you? What did they say?”
“I-it was Peach! And other than that, she told me that you like a chamomile with lavender blend of tea.”
Rosalina looked down, seeing the mugs of tea in each of Roy’s hand, some of which were spilled on the carpet. She let go of Roy, feeling horrible for what she had done. He was just trying to reach out to her in his own way, and she responded with violence and intimidation. She always does this. She always ruins things.
“I’m sorry,” Roy muttered. “I really am. I’m just gonna go- “
“Roy, wait!”
Roy turned around, his blue eyes looking that of a puppy’s.
“I love lavender, thank you.”
Rosalina reached out her slender hands and Roy gave her a blue cup with small, white stars on it. He really paid a lot of attention to her. Why? Why does he care so much?
“Well, goodnight, Rosy,” he said with a small smile.
“Why do you care so much about me?” Rosalina asked, immediately cringing at herself. That was a thought was supposed to internalize! Damn it!
Roy shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I? You’re a person, too. You deserve some tea and friends.”
Rosalina felt herself tearing up. She looked away, hiding a tear behind her bangs. “I-I’ve never had a friend before…”
“Well, consider me friend number one! We gotta stop hanging out at these ungodly hours, though.”
Rosalina chuckled and wiped away her tear with her finger before looking back at Roy. “It’s a deal, friend.”
Roy beamed before hurrying off.
***
Roy began visiting Rosalina’s room at all hours of the day. While it began as quick greetings and check-ins, it soon became Rosalina inviting Roy into her room and chatting. At first, Rosalina was internally cringing the entire Roy was in there. What if he thought she was weird? What if he broke something of hers? She felt so embarrassed and exposed; she might as well have stripped down in front of him.
To her surprise, though, Roy was ecstatic looking through everything, noting how many weird and fascinating books were on her shelf. She explained that she collected many books that came into orbit at the Observatory. Surprising her, Roy asked if she missed being out in space. Rosalina could not answer him, but she wondered how he knew that she was from space. Peach must have told him.
Now, it was time for Rosalina to do some reconnaissance.
She felt so embarrassed that she had shown off her room- her very private room- to someone else that she had to get revenge by entering Roy’s room! Ha-ha! Sure, she willingly let him in, but it was only fair. The only problem was that Rosalina had to talk to someone she wasn’t comfortable with, someone that knew Roy well enough to give her information.
Rosalina walked through the mansion aimlessly until reaching one of the living rooms. To her relief, there was only one person: Lucina.
Lucina, from what Rosalina could ascertain, was from Roy’s dimension (or at least a part of it anyways), so she was Rosalina’s best bet. Likewise, Lucina was known for being more of an introverted personality, so Rosalina knew she had found the holy grail of informants.
“Good afternoon, Princess Lucina,” Rosalina greeted as she entered the room.
Okay, Rosalina, she told herself. You can do this. Be a delicate princess. You got this.
“Oh, hello,” Lucina said, propping herself up from the sofa. “Princess Rosalina, right?”
“Yes, nice to meet you, Your Highness.” Rosalina curtseyed.
“Oh, please drop the formalities. I have no royal standing in this dimension. Besides, it’s weird.”
That somehow made Rosalina worse. She doesn’t know how to be casual with people!
“W-well…” Rosalina replied. “May I sit?”
Lucina smiled. “Of course.”
Rosalina sat next to Lucina. The silence that fell between the two women was deafening.
“So… what were you doing just now?” Rosalina asked. Shit, this was too awkward to handle, and she might be making it worse.
“Just resting,” Lucina replied. “I just returned from a battle from the arena. I need to catch my breath before the next one.”
“Oh, how did it go?”
“Fine. I would rather not do it, but I wouldn’t have met such wonderful people otherwise.” Lucina gave Rosalina a smile. Did she mean her? How could she like someone- Rosalina, no less- so quickly?
“That’s a nice way of looking at it.”
“Yeah… I don’t see you that often in the arena. Why’s that?”
Rosalina shrugged. The sensations of dying crept upon her. “I-I’d rather not.”
“I understand… Well, I should ask you the same, though: what were you doing?”
“Actually, I was looking for someone to answer a few questions for me.”
That sounded weird. It sounded like Rosalina was about to make Lucina answer questions for a survey, and she would be put in a raffle to maybe- just maybe- win a cheap gift card.
“Well, maybe I can help,” Lucina responded. Fuck, she was nice. Maybe too nice.
“I just wanted to know more about one of the fighters, Roy. I heard he was from your dimension.”
Lucina leaned onto the arm of the sofa with a sly smile. “Oh, so you’re the girl he’s been talking about?”
Rosalina’s face immediately grew hot. “M-me? Why would he talk about me? What did he say?”
“Oh, just that he’s been hanging out with some mysterious girl that no one else has met.”
“O-oh, well, I guess that’s all truths.”
“Also, that you’re, like, soooo pretty and that your hair smells lovely and that he stole one of your- “
“What?!” Rosalina could feel steam billowing out her head.
“Relax, I’m just teasing. He didn’t say any of that.”
Rosalina calmed down a bit, though she felt a tinge of sadness when Lucina said Roy didn’t say she was pretty. Why did she care if Roy thought she was pretty? She never cared if anyone thought she was pretty before.
“Anyways, what did you want to know?” Lucina asked.
“Oh, right! I just wanted to know more about him. Where you’re both from and all that.”
“Well, he’s from my dimension, but he’s a prince of a different land. Truthfully, I don’t know much about him, and surprisingly, he doesn’t tell people much about his life before.”
Funny. Rosalina assumed Roy would be an open book, considering how friendly and bright he was.
“Do you know where his room is?” Rosalina asked. “I would like to deliver some tea to him later. It’s a surprise.”
Lucina smirked again. “It’s in the east wing. Fourth floor, second door on the right.”
Rosalina bolted up from the couch. “Thank you! I will repay you for this.”
Lucina let out a chuckle. “Hey, don’t worry about. Maybe we can hang out sometime?”
Rosalina felt a tinge of heat on her cheeks. “Y-yeah. Um, I’ll see you around then?”
“Sure.”
Rosalina sped off before she could say any more embarrassing quips.
A new friend… It was strange how suddenly Rosalina’s isolated life was changing. She wasn’t sure what she did to deserve all this.
Night fell. Rosalina spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hyping herself up for the visit to Roy’s room. She got along with Roy fine, despite their differences, but for some reason, going to him this time felt agonizing. Even when Roy visited her, she had to spend hours recovering from it.
Once the sun was completely gone from the sky, Rosalina walked to the kitchen. She rummaged through all the tea, speculating as what to Roy’s favorite tea is. She silently cursed herself for not asking Lucina earlier before deciding on a blood orange blend. For some reason, Roy’s energetic, friendly nature reminded Rosalina of the summer, fruit finally blossoming on trees, the kind of heat that tickles your skin when you walk out into the sun…
Wait, was she really dozing off thinking about a boy? What was happening to her?!
Just then, the kettle whistled on the stove, and Rosalina poured the boiling hot water over the tea bags. She picked out a simple, red mug for Roy. He didn’t strike her as the type to like intricate designs.
Rosalina took the mugs and walked to the east wing of the mansion, only passing by the occasional fighter. Luckily, most of them were too tired to engage with her. She recited Lucina’s words in her head. Fourth floor, second door on the right. Fourth floor, second door on the right. Fourth floor, second door on the right…
Rosalina was then face-to-face with what she assumed was Roy’s door. She looked around, checking if this was the right door again. Then, mustering up all her courage, she tucked one of the mugs in her elbow and knocked on the door.
“Don’t come in!”
It sounded like Roy’s voice, but the tone was so different than his usual’s that Rosalina had to process what she was hearing.
“I-It’s me,” Rosalina spoke up. “You know, Rosalina?”
“Go away! Please!”
“I-I made you tea.”
“Please!”
“I-I’ll leave the tea outside your door if you change your mind, okay?”
Rosalina did just that, quickly walking back to her room. She sat in the corner of her room and sipped the blood orange tea, her mind swarming with thoughts. She thought of how Roy reminded her of summer again. Sure, he was warm and bright, but sometimes, the heat could be unbearable. Rosalina was reminded of this again.
She went to bed and tried to forget Roy.
***
The next day, Rosalina woke up at 12 PM, feeling an unbearable hunger brewing in her stomach. She got up, got dressed in her blue dress, and opened the door, noticing a paper that was tucked under it. She picked it and read:
Dear Rosy-
Sorry about snapping on you last night. I wasn’t in the right mind then.
How about I make it up to you with a tea party in my room? At our usual time, 3 AM.
Roy
Rosalina felt herself smile a little bit while reading this, even though she was still scared to see him. Going to a guy’s room at nighttime when he yelled at you the night before? Yeah, totally safe. Still, Roy seemed to be a bit oblivious when it came to nuances of communicating with women, so Rosalina felt a little better about the situation. She would remind herself to bring her wand just in case, though.
Rosalina spent the rest of her day trying to get her mind off Roy. The night before really worried and scared Rosalina, but she still had the image of Roy in her head from before then. When he was just a bright, happy guy that made her feel warm. Then, her mind replayed what Lucina said to her the day before: Oh, so you’re the girl he’s been talking about?
What did that mean? And, more importantly, why did Rosalina care so much? She and Roy were friends, so don’t friends just talk about their friends to other people? That’s what she and Lucina did anyways. Still, a part of Rosalina wanted to be sure Roy said good things about her. That she was smart and kind and pretty. What Roy thought of her mattered for some reason.
These thoughts, however, drifted periodically throughout Rosalina’s day. She mostly focused on reading and taking care of her house plants. The plants were a more recent development. Now that she no longer took care of the Lumas, Rosalina decided she needed to something else to pour all of her maternal instincts onto. Somethings will never change.
Then, 3 AM finally rolled around. Rosalina decided to wear something that intersected between comfy and nice-looking. Part of her wanted to impress Roy for reasons that alluded her, but it was still 3 AM; she wanted to be comfortable. Eventually, she decided on a large, comfy sweater with jeans. Nothing crazy, but she thought she still looked nice in it.
Rosalina walked down the halls of the mansion to the east wing. Seeing the mansion so empty and dark was both creepy and serene, like she was an archaeologist going through ruins. She took note of people’s doors to their rooms and all their decals. (She especially liked how Lucina and her father’s Falchion decals were pointing at each other.) Roy’s door, however, didn’t have anything on it, which Rosalina didn’t expect.
She knocked on the door, afraid of what the response would be.
“Come on in!” Roy’s voice chimed. It was like night and day from last time.
Rosalina slowly opened the door, peering her head in before coming in the room. Roy’s room was… not at all what she expected. It was super plain with only a bed, dresser, and mirror. No posters, no plants, nothing. Part of Rosalina thought this was to be expected- he is a young man, after all- but part of her wished she could have learned more about him through his room. Still, there was a tea set on the floor with two pillows beside it.
Roy himself was wearing a nice dress shirt and jeans. Looks like Rosalina wasn’t the only one looking to impress!
“Uh, hi,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets with a tinge of pink on his cheeks. Why was he suddenly nervous?
“Hi,” Rosalina replied with a small smile. She took a strange delight in knowing that Roy was nervous, which, in turn, made her more confident.
Roy gestured to the pillows. “Please, take a seat.”
Rosalina sat down. “You seem like you’re on your best behavior.”
“I just… feel really bad about yesterday.” Roy began to pour the tea. “I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. You must’ve been really scared.”
“I wasn’t scared so much as I was worried.” Rosalina took her cup and saucer. “What was going on?”
Roy took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “I guess there’s no use hiding it. I was, uh… having a panic attack. I-I’m not proud of it, but I get those often.”
Rosalina’s expression melted into worry and pity. “Oh gosh, Roy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you got those.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, I’m not proud of it.”
“Were you panicking about anything specific?”
“No, nothing specific, I guess. I-I just feel this pressure on me. Like an invisible weight on my chest constantly.”
Rosalina took a sip of her tea. It was an Earl Grey lavender blend. A bit bitter, so she poured some milk in it.
Roy continued, “In my world, I’m a prince. My dad was, like, this legendary hero and everything, so I feel like I have to live up to that standard. That absurd standard.”
“But you’re here now,” Rosalina added. “I mean, who knows when we’ll ever go back home? You’re free from that burden.”
“Here made it worse. I feel like every match, every battle, I have to win. I have to do my best. I have to defeat everyone I see, but I hate it. I hate fighting people. I hate coming back and seeing their faces in the mansion. I hate how I feel when I die and then get resurrected. Over and over and over again.”
Roy began breathing heavier. His blue eyes were wide.
“S-sorry,” Rosalina stammered. “Maybe we should talk about something else now…”
“No,” Roy said in a harsh tone, making Rosalina jump a little. “I think I needed to air this out. If I bottle it up, I just get another panic attack.”
“Well, I’m glad you could talk to me about it.”
Roy smiled. “Yeah, thanks for listening… Anyways, how’s the tea?”
“Hmm, a bit on the bitter side, but good!”
“Can you tell I don’t actually know much about tea?”
“Could have fooled me. I mean, this tea set is adorable!”
“Ha, well, I actually borrowed this from Byleth. I, uh, wanted to impress you.”
Roy’s face was completely red now. Rosalina felt her chest tighten up seeing this. Did he seriously think of her the same she thought of him? No, the light had to be fooling Rosalina’s eyes.
The two spent the rest of the night talking about… well, everything. Honestly, what didn’t they talk about? Even though they would see each other almost every day, the conversation never died out. Rosalina talked about her plants and her books, and Roy discussed weapons and armor. Before meeting Roy, Rosalina had no interest in the history of certain fighting styles, but Roy narrated it in a way that was captivating.
Rosalina glanced at her watch. “Oh, 5 AM. It’s my bedtime.”
Roy stood up. “Shall we call it a night? Er, morning, I guess.”
She let a chuckle and stood up. “I guess we shall.”
The two walked to the door, and Roy held it open for her. Rosalina stepped outside and turned back to look at Roy, who was standing closer than she thought. She could feel her heart in her throat, pounding furiously. She didn’t want to know his answer to the question on her mind, but she had to know.
“Roy…” she muttered.
“Yeah…?” he replied.
“Was this a date?”
Roy leaned against the doorway, his face matching his crimson hair. “D-depends, did you want it to be a date?”
Now it was Rosalina’s turn to blush, as she nodded her head.
“Cool, so could I, uh, kiss you goodnight?”
“Just the cheek please.”
Roy leaned forward and planted a small kiss on Rosalina’s left cheek. The small gesture made Rosalina entirely flustered, surprised at how soft Roy’s lips were. In that moment, he was very… princely.
“W-well,” Rosalina said, trying to form a coherent thought. “Thank you for the kiss and goodnight!”
“Night, Rosy.”
Rosalina sped off to her room. She wanted to leap and sing and dance, but she stayed composed. When she got to her room, she closed the door and cupped her cheek, still feeling Roy’s warmth.