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It had been ten months now. Ten months since he got flung into this other world, with no idea where he was or how to go back home. Stuck into this place with no idea of what was going on at home, or if the others were okay. And… it was starting to get to him.
He missed his home. He missed his friends. And…
And he missed Kirby. A lot. And by a lot he meant that he was thinking of them more and more frequently.
He missed everyone, of course. And he thought about them constantly. But, well… there was certainly one person he thought of more than the others.
It started with the stars. Of course it did.
Now, he had always been a big fan of stargazing. Ever since he was little, he would look to the stars for comfort, for company. Somedays, when he was alone, they felt like the only friends he had. And even now, he still liked to simply look at the stars. But when he’d tried to do it here, instead of being comforted like he usually was, he’d been only reminded of his situation. Because the night sky here… It wasn’t Popstar’s sky. It wasn’t Popstar’s stars.
Still, he tried not to think about it too much. Instead, he tried to make it a game, a game of finding names and constellations.
And then one night. Looking at them, he was reminded of the stars in Kirby’s eyes. And how pretty they were. And how he would’ve loved to play this game. And… How much he missed them.
And it only got worse from there.
Every day he thought about them. He thought about them when he saw something interesting, or funny he wished he could tell him about. He thought about him when he ate food. It got to the point where his heart would jump every time he saw something pink in the corner of his vision.
Now, he knew why he was… feeling this way. But still. He had no idea you could miss someone this much. He had no idea you could think about someone this much. Which wasn’t all that surprising, considering how much time they usually spent together…
So yeah. He missed his best friend. A lot. How couldn’t he?
And it made his situation all the more frustrating. Because he wanted to do something, so badly, but he couldn’t. He could only sit around and hope the problem would solve itself, no matter how much he wanted to move. Because leaving the village for too long meant exposing the Waddle Dees to an attack from whatever force brought them here, and he wasn’t going to let that happen.
He had responsibilities.
And yet…
He wanted to go look for them. So badly. Go look for all of them, wherever they were. Because they were also here, right? They had to. He knew they weren’t going to just sit around while everyone else got sucked up by the portal. But he stayed, because he knew what his role was.
And… there was something else. Something in his gut that told him that, even if he didn’t find them, Kirby would find him. He didn’t know exactly why he knew that. He just did.
The day of the attack was a weird mix and horrible and strangely good, many emotions swirling inside him that contradicted each other.
It was supposed to be a normal day (well, normal for this being flung in another world anyway). He didn’t want to just sit around, so he’d gone to harvest food. He made sure to stay close to the village, so he could come help quickly in case of emergency.
And then he’d gotten ambushed.
It was a coordinated, well planned attack, many of the beast pack’s troops attacking him all at once. And even though fending them off wasn’t a problem on its own, there was a lot of them. Too much for him to beat them fast enough.
By the time he’d made it back to the village, it was already too late. Seeing the flying cages overhead, he’d desperately tried to chase after them, but to no avail. He’d been forced to go back to the town, dejected and hopeless. This was it. Exactly what he feared would happen.
It was heartbreaking, seeing all the damages of the raid. The once quaint little town had been reduced to ruins and rubble. He was used to seeing their work destroyed and needing to be rebuilt, after all those attacks on the castle… But this one felt extra depressing.
Until he saw something pink. And round. And very, very familiar.
“KIRBY!”
! He knew that voice!
Kirby turned around, only to see a quick blur of orange and blue before it crashed into them. They greeted that impact with a wide smile, gladly reciprocating their friend’s hug.
Now, usually, he was the one who crashed into his friends for hugs. But this? They didn’t mind this. At all.
“You’re finally here… I missed you…”
Huh? But it had only been a few hours at most…
Bandee then noticed Elfilin looking at them, and hurriedly pulled back, blushing.
“Ummm. I’m glad you’re finally here! It’s been so long…”
“Hehe, what do you mean? It’s only been a few hours at most…”
Bandee stared at them, stunned.
“Kirby… I haven’t seen you in ten months…”
Ten months?! No wonder he reacted that way! They didn’t even want to imagine being separated from him for so long…
…
“Well, it doesn’t matter right now. I’m just glad you’re back.”
They smiled, before hugging him again. He probably needed it right now.
“Yeah… I’m glad I’m back too.”
Even if I knew you would be back eventually.