Samus tossed and turned in her bed; sleep eluding her once again. Sighing in defeat, she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Every time she tried to close her eyes and sleep she could hear the whispers; that insidious whisper that clawed at the back of her mind, like it did all those months ago, making the right side of her body tingle, and her entire body throb. She raised her right hand and stared at the back of it. It was normal. Perfectly normal, pale, pink human skin. She turned her hand over and over, idly wondering what she had looked like at the time when she was infected with Phazon.

She remembered catching glimpses of her reflection on her visor as the corruption had spread. She looked horrible, from what she remembered. She didn't recall feeling it, but she attributed it to the full body infection.

She shook her head clear of her thoughts. Throwing her legs over, she sat on the edge of her bed. She hated that whenever she tried to sleep, flashes of her recent experiences with that dark caricature of herself and Phazon would come to mind, unbidden. She'd have nightmares. Her fights with the other hunters, the attack that infected her in the first place, and her continual corruption until she couldn't even access her ship. They'd all come to the forefront of her mind.

"Fuck!" She punched the wall. She hated this weakness. It was like that time she saw Ridley again on Zebes, years after the attack. She'd frozen and collapsed within herself, a complete mess. In that instant she was lost within the memories of that attack she had long since buried in the back of her mind. She'd been useless that day. She couldn't afford to be like that again.

She got up from her bed and stepped out onto the balcony. Perhaps the cold air would help.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, letting the crisp cold air fill her legs. She held it for a moment before slowly letting it out. She repeated this a few more times.

It was helping a little.

She opened her eyes again and stared up at the starry sky. She tried to think about her night Zelda instead.

It'd been a while since she talked to someone, let alone held an intelligent conversation. They passed the night talking about anything that came to mind, like how many languages they knew. Small talk mostly.

Samus snorted, amused. She only knew Galactic Standard, or English. Zelda could speak three: Hylian, her people's language, English, and Ike's language. It made it wonder how easily could the princess learn and master a language.

After dinner Zelda decided that they'd walk and talk. Somehow they spent three hours together, which included the long back from downtown back to the mansion. It was in the foyer they parted ways, but not before Zelda wringed out a promise from Samus to meet up again sometime in the week.

Samus leaned against the railing. Thinking about the princess brought a small grin to her lips. Zelda was not like most people. She was intelligent. Very intelligent. Samus liked that; respected that. But more than that, she enjoyed the princess' company. She felt at ease around her, surprisingly. She felt like her normal self around. It'd been a long time since she had felt like that. Not since prior to Dark Samus' attack on Norion.

She ran her hands through her hair. She was tired.

But she didn't want to deal with the nightmares again. She walked into her bathroom where the medicine cabinet was. Perhaps it had something strong enough to let her sleep, if only a few hours. She'd just begun rummaging through it when the back of her left had glowed.

She held up her hand and activated her suit's holographic display, and brought up the incoming messages. She frowned reading the subject lines.

"Less than a day and they want a rematch," she muttered. She skimmed through each message. "No thank you." Crudely written and poorly phrased insults. She may as well have been challenged and insulted by children. She looked through the message trying to find the option to decline. When she realized something was off, she read and reread the messages closely. Perhaps the Hands decided to hide the option in some obscure area in the messages, she thought.

But there was nothing.

She scrolled down to the fine print of the challenges. "Refer to fine print of Brawler of Brawlers belt." She did not like what she read; not one bit. Pulling up the contract, she read through the aforementioned section.

"Oh fuck off," she groaned.

Any and all rematch challenges issued within the first two weeks of being awarded the belt cannot be refused.

She punched the wall, shattering the porcelain façade. This absolutely screamed of the Hand's handiwork. From what little she knew so far, Zelda was nowhere as shrewd. It didn't seem to fit her.

"What I get my hands on them," she muttered as she rifled through the cabinet until she found the only bottle of sleeping pills. Pouring herself double the recommended dosage, she popped the pills into her mouth before putting everything else away. Hopefully she'd be able to get some sleep before dealing with this in the morning.

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Samus stormed out of the Hand's office, fuming.

Denied. They denied her request to decline matches. She growled as she stormed through the hallway, throwing open the back doors as she marched through the threshold into the giant garden behind Smash Mansion.

She let out a frustrated sigh. Reigning in her anger she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, letting the sweet fragrance fill her nose, feeling the familiar tingle in the back of her nose. She let out a slow sigh, trying to breath out some of her anger; like how Old Bird had taught her years ago. It helped a little to alleviate her immediate anger.

"This is stupid," she muttered to herself. She shook her head and decided to take a walk. She had time.

She thought about the conversation she just had as she walked. She may have been a little aggressive with her approach, but every time she's won a championship belt she'd always been able to hand it back and decline and all rematches. Leave it to frauds and show-boaters to have their fight for the belt. But this time they firmly held their ground. She was tempted to shove her arm cannon at them and threaten to shoot, but she thought better. Beings who could physically bring her in from another dimension was not something to be taken likely. And she knew very little about them.

Samus stopped when she came across a patch of lilacs. She knelt down and stared at them, allowing the familiar scent to wash over her. The smell reminded her of when Zelda had pointed out her affinity to the flowers last night. It also made her wonder, did they actually talk about anything important, or about themselves?

She looked up when she heard something. She rose to her feet and tried to focus on where it came from, and what the sound was exactly. She followed the odd sounds for a while. Her search eventually led her to the central fountain, surrounded by a ring of trees that protected the plaza the fountain was set upon. There, seated upon the edge of the fountain, was Zelda. And in her hands was a strange blue instrument. And it was producing the sounds she was hearing.

Zelda glanced up momentarily to acknowledge Samus' presence. The huntress nodded.

Samus listened. The strange hollow tune was comforting. It brought on this feeling of peace and serenity, of ease and safety. It evoked this strange warmth within herself. Not unpleasant, but somewhat unfamiliar, like an old skill she long stopped using. But she couldn't name what she felt. The edge of her lips curled into a small grin, though. She liked whatever it was Zelda played.

Eventually the song ended.

Zelda lowered the instrument from her lips and looked back up. "Good morning, Samus."

She nodded in reply, and gestured towards the instrument. "What's that?"

"An ocarina." The brunette drew a close from her pocket in her dress and wiped down the instrument. It was then she noted her attire, a simple pale pink summer dress, and her hair was drawn into a simple ponytail.

"What were you playing?"

The princess smiled reminiscently. "A lullaby my mother used to play when I was a child."

"Your mother," she repeated. She stared off towards the trees, distantly. She remembered very little of her mother. She had no pictures, but she remembered people had commented she had her hair and eyes. But whenever she looked in the mirror, she could see nothing that could bring up the image of her mother. Or her father. Whenever she did think of her, all she could remember were fires and explosions. And Ridley's grim laughter as he slaughtered everyone in her village.

Samus jumped. She looked back to see Zelda was standing in front of her, one hand hovering just above her shoulder. The princess must've touched her, only to jump back in surprise when she reacted.

"Are you alright?" the princess cautiously asked, drawing her hand back.

Samus slowly nodded. She was okay, wasn't she?

"You seemed like you were off in your own mind for a moment," she remarked.

Samus raised her hand up in what she hoped was an assuring manner. "I'm fine princess, no need to worry."

The brunette warily nodded, but backed off nonetheless.

"Did you say something when I zoned out?" the huntress asked after a moment of silence.

"I asked if you also miss your mother."

Samus raised an eyebrow. "Why would you ask that?"

Zelda held up her ocarina, a wan smile gracing her lips. "I'd like to think that mothers who truly love and nurture their children leave behind a strong impression upon their children. For me, it was her music and company. I only wish she were still around to see my coronation two years from now."

"I see," she replied.

The princess looked back up at Samus. "So I ask again; what do you remember of your mother? Do you miss her?"

Samus shrugged. What could she say? How could she say anything when she knew and remembered nothing about her? The only thing she did remember was the image of her running in front of her younger self to take a shot from Ridley that had been meant for her.

"There's nothing to remember." She looked away. She didn't want to see Zelda's confusion or sadness, nor her pity. She still relived those memories though from time to time. But there was no need to relive the past. And Ridley was dead. She'd long since grown her past her fear of him. The past was in the past.

"That's quite sad, to remember nothing," Zelda said.

Samus shrugged nonchalantly. "Too young to remember anything. No pictures or anything. And I haven't tried going back since I left the first time. I doubt there's anything left anyways."

"You've never tried going back to K-2L?" Zelda asked, surprised.

"What's there to find, other than debris and overgrowth?" Samus sighed and sat down on the fountain. "It's been over 20 years; everything would've been covered up or buried. I doubt I'd find anything. Besides it's probably looted."

"It wouldn't hurt to try," Zelda suggested, as she sat down next to the blonde. "I like to believe that she'd made some sort of impact on your life, no matter how small. I think it would do her a disservice if you didn't try to find, or have, some memory of her."

"What good would it do?"

"Closure, perhaps?"

"I had my closure years ago."

"Then why are you crying?"

"What?" She touched her cheek. She recoiled from her hand, as if she just burnt herself. She stared at her hand. The pads of her fingers were wet. That was when she noticed her vision began to blur and water, and felt the tears drip down along her cheeks. Why? Why was she crying?

"Perhaps deep down, there's a part of you that's still calling out to her," the princess suggested, answering Samus' silent question.

Samus furiously wiped away her tears before glaring at the princess. "Are you trying to say something?" she growled. "If you are just say it."

"As you wish." Zelda looked at the huntress dead on. "You saw something horrible happen to your mother. But you were so young that cannot remember her face, nor your memories of her. But you remember the incident that hurt her, possibly what killed her, and that has buried any good memories you may have had of her. And then you were taken away, but you never truly had an opportunity to grieve because you didn't truly understand what happened. Your internalized it in the far reaches of your mind, and now has-"

"Stop!" Samus jumped to her feet and moved to create some distance. "Just stop!" She turned to face the princess. "I don't like that you're able to read my mind so easily."

Zelda calmly raised her left hand, showing Samus the back of it. Nothing. Keeping it up, she raised her right and conjured momentarily flashes of fire. The back of her left hand glowed momentarily, clearly displaying the Tri-Force of Wisdom upon it, before it faded away along with the fire. The glow hadn't been too bright, but Samus would've definitely noticed while they were talking.

"I haven't been casting anything since we talked."

"Because of the inherent bounds of my magic." Samus jolted in surprise. She looked around a moment before looking back to the princess, whose left hand was glowing again.

"To read your mind without concept would be a misuse of my magic," Zelda explained via some form of magical telepathy, and then spoke with her real voice, as the magic ebbed again. "And I've always been very observant of people." She looked down forlornly at the ocarina in her hands. "And I've also experienced watching my mother die."

"How did-"

Zelda looked up and gave her a sad smile. "You have the same face I do when I think about her sometimes." Samus said nothing in reply.

The brunette princess pocketed her ocarina and rose to her feet. She slowly approached the huntress and laid a hand on her shoulder. Emboldened by her lack of response, Zelda carried on.

"I remember those nights when I'd cry for her, only to be greeted by silence, or a servant. I'd cry for hours, held but not comforted, because it wasn't her. I learned to let her go, but even to this day, I think of her at times."

"Why are you telling me this?"

She squeezed the blonde's shoulder. "Because I think you deserve and should try to find some closure."

"Why do you care?" You don't even know a thing about it!"

The princess was unfazed. "Because I care about my new friend, who I can see is hurting."

Samus scoffed, stepping away from the princess. She stood off to the side, leaning against one of the trees that ringed about the fountain. This was ridiculous. She'd put all that behind her years ago. The Chozo were her family; like Old Bird and Grey Voice. They were her grandfather and father. She couldn't even remember her birth parents' names.

Then why did her chest feel so tight?

"Damn it," she choked. She covered her face with one hand. She didn't cry. She hadn't cried in years! Why now? Why now?

She looked over hearing Zelda playing on her ocarina again. The tune was different, but it was just as calming. She pursed her lips; Zelda probably thought playing something would help. Eventually Samus chuckled to herself. It helped, a little. She pushed off the tree and wiped away any residual tears and approached the princess.

"Look," she began, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I'd rather not talk about it. Let's just move on."

Zelda stopped playing and set the instrument down on her lap. "If you wish. Have you eaten yet?"

Samus shook her head. "No. I've spent all morning talking to the Hands."

"About?"

The huntress frowned. "I was challenged," she spat the word contemptuously, for my belt. Apparently there was a clause that said I couldn't deny rematches for a two-week grace period."

Now it was Zelda's turn to look peeved. "Ah yes…the change to the fine print." She sighed. "It was done behind my back, after I had submitted the final draft. I do apologize, but there's nothing else I can do at this point."

Samus shook her head. "It's stupid, that's what it is." She thumbed towards the colossal mansion that towered over the garden. "C'mon, let's grab some food."

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Breakfast passed without incident. Under a silent agreement neither broached the topic of mothers. Instead they traded idle discussion back and forth. Ironic consider they originally wanted to get to know each other. But Zelda didn't want to risk upsetting the huntress further. And Samus didn't know how to approach the topics she wanted without being outright rude. Despite her straightforward preference, she didn't want to risk losing her new friendship with Zelda. She'd lost too many friends already.

After breakfast they spent a while longer chatting over random things. Eventually they parted ways as Samus had her first match that morning against Donkey Kong.

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Zelda quickly found her seat and sat down next to her companions, Link and Fox. The two offered their greetings to the princess before returning to their discussions about the upcoming match. Or rather how Donkey Kong wasn't going to do well against the huntress.

Settling down she surveyed the stands. Despite it was a 'title match' there was very little meaning to the fight. It was a rematch, as Donkey Kong had competed in the Brawler of Brawler's tournament. But it wasn't like he fought his way through a gauntlet for this rematch. And there had hardly been any advertising about this, considering the challenge was issued only last night. It meant that only a meagre handful of people were in attendance. Everyone else was watching other matches and events that were happening concurrently.

In short it was just another day in Smash City.

In the ring two teleport pads appeared. Both fighters stepped out of their respective pads, and stared down at one another. The big ape happily bounced around on the balls of his feet, eager and ready for a fight. Samus stood on the spot, nonchalantly, clad in her Varia suit.

The countdown began.

The fight began.

Donkey Kong barely knew what happened. The bell rang. So why was the ground moving away from him?

Reality caught up to him as he started to pinwheel his arms uselessly to keep aloft. But it was for naught as gravity grabbed hold and he plummeted.

Unrolling from her morph ball, Samus looked up and tracked the monkey. She crouched, and suddenly shot up like a rocket, grabbing Donkey Kong as she passed him. Using her momentum she spun around and hurtled the giant ape back down. Within seconds the ground cratered as he smashed into it. Down in the epicenter, he was prone limbs sprawled out.

Landing with catlike grace, Samus slowly approached her opponent, who was groaning painfully from the sudden impact; also from what felt like broken bones. While the stadiums would protect their bodies from any permanent injuries, it didn't dull the pain of combat, which included injuries such as a broken bone, a punctured lung, or a death blow to the heart.

Samus leaned forward and grabbed the giant ape by the scruff of his neck, hauled him out of the crater, and then tossed him out of the ring.

Declared the winner she approached her teleport pad and stepped on it. One down, two more annoying fights to go.

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Samus' next match wasn't until the evening, so she decided to train in the mansion's basement. Dressed in her old white training outfit from her days with the Chozo, she opened the door to her usual simulator, only to find it in use.

To her surprise, Zelda was using it to fight against the system's Alloy dummies.

Zelda ducked under a punch to her head before responding with a hard uppercut, knocking it back. She punched out with her other hand, but instead of hitting it she unleashed a blast of air sending it flying back into another Alloy. She swept her hand across herself, launching an arc of fire that consumed her opponents.

From her hip she drew her rapier, parrying an attack of Alloy and kicked the chest of another one. The third barely gotten within read of her when it was decapitated. Samus raised her eyebrows in surprise. It had been a particularly vicious move.

Suddenly the princess disappears in a flash of green before reappearing behind the last two. She lunches and drives her sword through the back of one, and then grabs another and tosses it aside, lighting I ablaze. She grabs the hilt of her sword and slashes outwards, gutting it before it too disappears. The buzzer rang, ending the simulation.

Samus reflexively grabbed her belly. She knew that it would've been a very violent way to die. She looked to the princess. Her face was blank, void of emotions. Her eyes cold. It was such a drastic shift from the calm collected princess she saw this morning. Her soft grin was gone. The ever present glimmer of kindness in her eyes wasn't there.

And suddenly it all returned.

Zelda slowly breathed out and drew up to her full height, as if waking from a trance. She turned towards the door and stopped, realizing the huntress' presence. "Samus, when did you arrive?" she asked, sounding surprised and, oddly, shameful.

"Just now." Samus eyed the princess cautiously.

Zelda nervously played with her hands. "Are you alright?"

"I'm not sure," she replied. "What exactly did I watch?"

The princess looked away, uncomfortable with the fact the huntress saw her. "I see," she murmured. "You saw that."

Samus raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain what that was?"

"In simple terms, I used my magic to become…hyper focused on my objective, to win the fight."

Samus nodded. It was a common mindset in her line of work.

"Back home, I met a magician who created these dummies, very lifelike, for me to spar against. But to win, I needed to 'kill' them. I found it difficult to do so." Zelda sighed and sat down, her expression pensive. "I found I couldn't find the strength to 'kill' them. I consulted some of my men, and most of them told me that they learned to switch off their minds, and do their jobs, to separate themselves from the fact they're killing. At least until they found time to deal with it later."

She looked down at her hands. "So I tried that, magically. I sectioned off most of my mind, and only allowed enough of my 'self' out so that I could think and direct my actions. But otherwise, I had created a 'perfect killing persona,' as my instructor called it. Cold, ruthless, and efficient." She shuddered saying those wards. "I don't use the skill often, but I felt it would be best to at least maintain it. I may never know when I need it."

Samus nodded again. "That's not too different from what soldiers do."

Zelda nodded, before looking back up. "How do you people do it?" she asked. "How can you just…turn off your mind like that? To become desensitized to the fact you're taking a life?"

"You don't," she answers. The huntress sets down her bag and leans against the door frame. "What you need to understand princess is that killing another being is not natural for most people. If you see a soldier cut someone down with hardly a thought, it's because he's been conditioned to do it automatically. It takes a certain mindset to kill without as much of a care. They're called psychopaths."

The princess nodded, slowly taking in Samus' words. "So…then why do my men say they turn off their minds?"

"Because otherwise, they'd go mad," the blonde answered. "To that end, who exactly did you talk to?"

"The senior members of my guard."

Samus scoffed. "Of course they'd tell you that. They've liked had to kill before because they had to. Even then only a very small handful of soldiers can say that. Most hardly ever actually kill anyone. We're naturally not comfortable with the idea of shooting someone down; especially if we're able to look them in the eye."

Again the princess nodded. "And what about you? Are you immune to the effects of taking another life?"

"When it comes to the space pirates, yes."

Zelda looked up at the huntress in a mix of horror and surprise. "You…almost sound like you enjoy it…"

Again Samus shrugged. "Perhaps," she muttered. "But if you lived my life, you'd understand my thoughts and opinion. And why I have no compunctions against killing them."

The princess raised an eyebrow, challengingly. "That is still no excuse to devalue life."

"I never said I did," she said. "But they have done a lot of horrible things where I come from. As odd as it sounds, they are an embodiment of evil. And in my line of work, it's often my job to kill. But," she raised a hand to forestall an argument, "only when I have to. I don't need to, I won't. It's a waste of resources, and it accomplishes nothing, both for my trade, and my life."

Zelda visibly relaxed, seemingly satisfied for now.

"Not everyone can do it though," Samus added after a brief moment of silence. Grabbing her gear she entered the room and approached the control panel. "Some are too kind for it, or don't have the stomach for it." She looked to the princess. "You're too kind for it."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "But what about my -"

"That's an artificial headspace you created for yourself," said Samus, cutting off the princess. "Like you said, you're still fully aware of your actions and surroundings. You'll see it, remember it. You could beat the constructs because you knew within yourself they were never real." She turned to the princess and knelt down so they were at eye level. "It's completely different when you can look them in the eye, and see the thing you're killing, absolutely scared out of his mind, knowing he's about to die."

Her voice softened as she continued. "You'll question your actions. More likely than not you'll remember the people you kill, over and over again. It'll eat you from the inside."

Zelda shuddered. "It doesn't sound pleasant."

Samus hummed in agreement. "No. But for some it does get easier, and they learn to turn their mind off form it." She stood up and started to stretch. "But the feeling never truly goes away. Instead they learn to deal with it. It is a type of mental trauma."

Zelda fell silent for a while, contemplating. She looked down at her hands; clean and unblemished. Her skin smooth, protected by her magic. Samus' words echoed within her mind. Despite her apparent cavalier attitude towards killing, she could see it had given the taller woman a different perspective of life, and it's value.

At first she'd initially thought she was a heartless killer. But looking into her eyes and watching her, she felt and knew that assumption was wrong. Samus knew when to kill and when to show mercy.

She watched the blonde as she carried through the motions of her warmup. There was a certain grace to her movements, the way that her lithe body moved with such precision. There was no waste in her movement. Very precise. Very direct. It reminded her of how Samus seemed to approach things.

The princess rose to her feet. While she had intended to train by herself, this presented a unique opportunity to her. A small smile graced her lips as she approached the blonde huntress.

Said woman nodded when she noticed her, a silent affirmation she could talk. "Would you be interesting in sparring with me?"

Samus stopped her routine and regarded the princess with a look of surprise and skepticism. She hadn't expected such a request from the princess. But then she remembered why she approached the princess in the first place. She grinned.

"Why not," she said. "Any limitations?"

"Just do what you normally do in a spar," the princess said. "Just try to not kill," she added as a bit of a joke.

Samus chuckled as they moved to either side of the ring. She eyed the princess' rapier only to see her detach it from her belt and put it aside, before she took her place across from her.

"Hand to hand," she remarked, falling into a stance.

"Only hand to hand," the princess repeated. "No offensive, magic."

The huntress nodded.

For a moment they stood, silent, staring at one another, gauging their opponent. One was a seasoned veteran of over hundreds of skirmishes and years of dedicated training. The other was a relative unknown, with maybe two years of training and condition, with a major aspect of her skillset taken away. They began to slowly circle each other, eying one another like a hawk waiting for its moment to strike. Both waited, patient, ready. From experience they knew an opportunity would present itself, albeit one was borne from combat, the other from waiting for events to come.

Suddenly Samus jabbed. The princess slightly leaned back, the attack harmlessly passing by. The struck back aiming for Samus' face. The huntress parried the attack and retaliated with an elbow. Zelda ducked underneath and tired an uppercut only to find air as the huntress backed off.

The princess grinned as they circled again.

The huntress' expression remained blank, a passive mask of emotions.

Suddenly it was the princess who charged, as the two began to exchange blows. Neither gave or gained ground, as their attacks were blocked or parried, or missed all together. Nor were they trying. Their attacks were inquisitive, probing, reading the skills and capabilities of their opponent.

Samus punched, and then suddenly everything spun as she found herself on her back. She barely had time to process before she rolled aside dodging a punch, pulling her arm out of the princess' grip in the process. She scrambled to her feet, but the princess was upon her again. She back pedaled a few steps parrying punches to her before blocking a kick meant for her belly.

She grabbed onto the leg and yanked on it, throwing the princess off balance. She swept out the other woman's leg out from underneath, taking her down to the mat. She grabbed hold of Zelda's ankle and pulled her leg into a lock, and leaned back, pulling on the joint. She held on for only a few seconds before Zelda's cries told her it was enough.

Samus rolled away from the princess, giving her a moment to recover.

The brunette slowly sat up before grabbing her ankle and lightly massaged the joint. She looked to the blonde with a mix of awe and surprise. "What did you do?"

"Ankle lock," she explained. At the princess' curious expression she continued. "It's a type of leg lock." Again the princess was confused. "It's a type of submission hold, designed to cause pain on a person to force them to stop fighting."

"Like what you did to me."

Samus nodded. "In practice, a submission hold can cause serious injury, or can kill someone."

"Surely you jest!"

"Nope." Samus approached the control panel and summoned an alloy. Grabbing the training unit she wrapped her arm around its neck and locked it into place. "This is a chokehold," she explained. "I could easily suffocate someone like this." Standing up the dummy she arched an eyebrow at the princess. "Would you like to learn?"

"I'm not sure if I'd be up for that." Zelda warily eyed Samus and the idea of being taught something so lethal.

"There's more to submission holds than the chokehold," she said.

For the next couple of hours Samus demonstrated, explained, and walked the princess through a few types of holds that she knew, including arm bars, types of leg locks, and various joint locks, especially her a few that Zelda could easily use in a dress, specifically wrists and fingers. Included in Samus' explanations were also its various applications not only in an arena situation, but also in combat and self-defence, an idea that the princess took a liking to.

By the time Samus decided to end the session, Zelda walked away with a new found appreciation for submission combat.

As they approached the fork in the hallway, Zelda turned to the huntress. "Samus, would you be willing to teach me more?"

The blonde grinned. "As long as you understand that I'm not going to go easy on you."

"I wouldn't expect less," the princess replied, grinning back.

The huntress nodded and waved, turning to depart.

"Samus, one more question."

She turned around and waited for the princess' question.

"Would you be up for dinner again, after your match?"