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 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 to 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.

A/N: So… Thanks for taking the time to read my first fanfiction. I know I had a boatload of fun writing it… :)