Calm breezes whipped along as lean willows swayed delicately. Butterflies fluttered and sparkled as they seemed to carry hope and dreams to the sky. The sun shined particularly bright as there was hardly a cloud to even cover a bird.

The regal fairy queen walked down the green path as she soaked in the radiant beauty. This particular spot was her peaceful and private garden. The place was rather unknown and rarely visited by no one but the queen. As such, she found it very fitting to relax in and especially perfect for a casual stroll. Here, she wouldn't be bothered or pestered and here she could forget all of her countless worries.

The fairy did indeed have much to worry about. Being the ruler of the entire Ripple Star was rather a difficult task. One that certainly need much love and care but especially time. The fairy put her heart and soul into her work and loved her homeland dearly but sometimes she wished she could be free of the tiring job.

At times like this, she did grant her wish and relieved herself of ruling. After all, everyone needs at least a little time to rest and relax. She wasn't foolish though and made sure that there was always someone to take her place at these times. Although her garden walks were rare and rather short, she savored them dearly.

The fairy was hoping that she could train Ribbon to help her more and maybe one day take over entirely. The day would come eventually when the tired queen would no longer have the ability to rule. She had full faith in Ribbon but didn't want to burden her when she was yet so young.

Smiling, the queen pulled out her watering can. Gardening was her favorite pastime. It gave her bountiful pleasure to make and watch plants grow. Watching about any kind of life grow did please her immensely but there was something about plants that made her especially pleased. Probably because of the fact that they were helpless on their own.

The queen was so lost in her thoughts and gardening that she didn't notice Dedede who was walking up. The fairy screamed and dropped her watering can as his shadow was cast upon her. She turned around, only to see a rather shocked penguin.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I thought you were t-that hideous monster. I have a horrible fear of shadows nowadays." The fairy queen burst into tears in spite of herself.

"Uh…I didn't mean to scare you." Dedede stated quickly. Although he rather enjoyed frighting others, there was nothing funny about scaring this timid fairy.

"I-I'm fine." the queen spoke after a little while. "It's just that memory…I just can't help it. Every time I remember…I'll get over it…I know I will…" The queen wiped her eyes and attempted to smile. "But, what are you doing here?"

"I was lost and stumbled over. I saw you there and thought I'd ask you for some directions." he admitted.

"Well, now that you're here, why don't you accompany me?" she asked as her tone brightened and became quite cheerful.

Since he had nothing better to do at the present, he nodded. "Sure, your…uh….majesty…" The blue penguin was rather unaccustomed to referring to anyone other than himself as royalty.

"Ripple, you can call me Ripple."

"Ripple? You mean this entire star is named after you!" Dedede exclaimed, wondering if he should change Pop Star's name.

"Oh no, not really. I'm named after the star not it after me."

"I didn't know you liked gardening, Ripple." Even though he hardly knew her at all, it was rather uncommon for royalty to do something so common.

"Nobody does! Isn't it great to have your own secret hobby." she smiled and laughed nervously.

The two of them continues to walk down the path as Ripple stopped occasionally to sprinkle water on her various plants. She nurtured them with care as she attempted to forget about her scarring memories.

She admired Dedede and the others greatly for saving her star and helping lots of other places as well. It was indeed very brave of them to stand up and fight the evil which had harmed them so. If she was in their position, she probably would've hid from it all.

"I've never been to Pop Star. Tell me, how is it there?" Ripple asked, wishing to break the silence.

Dedede was going to start boasting about how amazing it was, but the queen's simple sincerity made him think otherwise. "It's swell." he muttered plainly.

"It that so. At least it's not boring." The queen replied. She would rather Ripple star was a bit more casual. There was always so many things happening. Fairies had a tendency to be so active and there was so many of them. At least not many of them were hurt when…

Ripple dropped her watering can and held her head. "I must…absolutely must stop thinking of it."

A part of Dedede wished the queen would just stop being so emotional but another part of him was quite sympathetic. After all, he knew perfectly well what the fairy was going through. Being possessed by Dark Matter was not an easy thing to get over.

"Well dang, I'm not used to this whole comforting biz, but I know one thing, you've just gotta leave it in the past." he attempted to reassure her.

"None of the fairies understand me. They don't know why I scream in the middle of the night at nightmares. They don't realize why I'm so afraid of the dark. They…they don't-"

"It's okay, I kinda know what you're goin' through."

"You…you do? But…"

"I, myself was possessed by the brute. Three times in fact."

"Really!" the queen wiped her eyes. "You don't know how comforting it is to find someone who knows what's happening to me and can actually understand."

"Aww, think nothing of it. Here," The penguin handed her the watering can which she accepted shyly.

"T-thank you… for being there for me." The fairy smiled a true smile and placed her frail hand in the penguin's. "We'd best go back to the castle, the award ceremony will be starting soon."

"Well, what are we waitin' for!" he smiled awkwardly as the fairy paused suddenly.

"You know, you'd be adorable if you dieted a bit."

As Dedede pouted, two figures snickered playfully behind the bushes.

A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed and I really hope that wasn't OOC. It's so hard making Dedede nice and keeping him in character… Anyways, I'll leave it to you guys to guess who was snickering at the end there.