Hey, guys! Didn't expect me to be done with this chapter so soon, huh? Well, surprise, surprise! I think it's because of the excitement of this story being completed. Yes, it's a very sad moment, but all things must come to an end. This chapter is nice and long. Still can't believe how fast I wrote this. It may suck, but perhaps it won't. It's up to you. Okay. This is it!

Ladies and Gentlemen: I present to you- The Finale

Chapter 23

Love is in The Air?

Zelda got up from her seat on the bus after drive down from the now gone Walden estate. She was the last one to get off. She skipped down the stairs and stood by the door of the bus. Link was waiting for her. He walked up to her and smiled. Zelda smiled back. "What is it?"

"Oh. Nothing. But close your eyes, Zel," he said with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Close my eyes? What are you up to, Link?"

"You'll see. Just do it." Link assured her.

Zelda sighed and closed her eyes. "Okay, now what?" She felt Link softly grab her hand. She heard his voice. "Just follow me, Zel. I'll lead you."

Zelda gripped his hand as he led her somewhere unknown. She felt her feet fall on a grassy area. Her heels clunked into the deep grass. As she was walking she smiled as she felt the warmth of Link's strong hand. She wanted to hold it forever. She picked up her feet to get her heels from getting dirty in the grass. About two minutes later, Zelda grew very curious. "Are we there yet?"

Link didn't respond. Zelda frowned and stopped walking. "Link!"

"Ow! Zel, don't yell in my ear!" Link yelled back.

"Well, I wouldn't yell if you would tell me what's going on," Zelda replied.

"Come on. Just be patient for a little longer." Link started to drag Zelda since she was trying to stand still until she received an explanation. But Link was too strong for her, and he continued to pull her along. He didn't say another word to her. Zelda knew she wanted to know what was going on, but Link was determinted to keep his lips shut, so she didn't press it further and kept her eyes closed. She decided to go along for the ride, or walk, she supposed. Another minute passed before Link suddenly stopped.

"Okay, Z! Open your eyes." He called.

Zelda opened her eyes. First thing that came to view was Link's aquamarine eyes, causing her to blush. When she looked past him, she saw her other friends Peach, Mewtwo, Marth, Samus, Roy, and Pichu. They were all standing in front of some large rose bushes.

Zelda looked at her friends. "What's going on?" she asked.

Samus smiled. "Ever since Veronica showed up to make your life hell, we know it was kinda rough for you."

"I'll admit it was. But it's over now," Zelda said. "So, why bring this up now?"

Peach grinned. "We've been thinking. You deserve a break."

"And we decided to put something together to put that lovely, bright smile back on you face." Roy said.

Marth grabbed one edge of the bushes, which parted in two like curtains. "So, without further ado, we present…"

Link grabbed the other end of the rose bush. "Something you'll never forget." They parted the bushes to unveil their surprise. Zelda looked and gasped.

They spoke together. "SURPRISE!"

"Oh my! Everyone's so…asleep." Zelda pointed out.

The smashers turned around to see what Zelda was talking about and gasped. There party was still together, but the smashers were not. Most of them were sound asleep and snoring all over the lawn. Zelda did look past the sleeping smashers and looked at the scenery. It was a large courtyard. There was a large fountain in the middle, spouting out massive waves of water. She could see group of musicians tuning their instruments in one corner. There was a large table filled with plates and cups on top of it. There were cups, napkins, plates, and silverware of all colors imaginable like green, blue, purple, yellow, black, orange, gold, silver, white, and of course pink. In the middle of the table was a vanilla butter cream five-layered cake with pink icing. There were chairs set up alongside the table that held the cake and off to the far right was another long table with large stack of gifts.

But what hung in the middle of the courtyard, said it all. It was a pink banner that read:

"HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY ZELDA!"

"Oh, you guys." Zelda grew teary-eyed. "This is so…"

"Absurd!"

"Huh?" Zelda turned to look at a fuming Peach. "Why is it, Peach?"

Peach didn't respond to her. She walked straight up to Mario, Luigi, and Fox who were playing cards at the end of the dining table. "You guys! What are you doing? You were supposed to be ready when Zelda came."

"Well, it's not like you called to warn us or anything," Mario replied. "So, we just sat… and sat… and sat…" He looked at his watch. "And now it's ten o'clock at night!"

Link frowned. "You could at least look interested in being here. It's a party. Look alive!"

"How is it that we are the ones getting yelled at, when you are the ones who are late?" Fox asked, and Luigi nodded in agreement.

Young Link, who was fast asleep, heard Link's voice. His ears and eyes twitched as he opened his eyes. They rose in size when he saw Link standing before him, and he stood up quickly. "Link!"

Link looked over at Young Link running towards him. Before Link could reply, Young Link knocked him down on his back with great force. "Oof! Hello, little brother!"

Young Link got off Link and glared at him. "Where were you? I thought something happened to you!"

Link looked at his younger self and smiled. "Heh. It's a long story."

Young Link eased up his glare. "Whatever you did, it almost cost you your life. I could feel it." He turned his gaze to Zelda. "You're okay, too!" He gave Link a small kick in the side for worrying him and went to hug Zelda.

Zelda held her arms out and hugged him. "I'm fine now, Young Link," she whispered.

Samus looked at Falco who was sound sleep. "This is ridiculous. This was supposed to be a surprise. Sorry about this, Zelda."

"It's okay," she said as she patted the top of Young Link's head. "I'm quite surprised anyway. Everyone can go to sleep. I do not need a party. Just being with you guys is good enough."

"Oh Poppycock!" Peach exclaimed as she marched back over to the girls. "You need a party. And beside Mario agreed to keep the party going. Everyone is still here after all."

"You got Mario to agree?" Samus said. "What did you have to give him in return?"

"Oh nothing. I just threatened him and did a little arm-twisting. Literally." She added.

"Great. So let's party!" Zelda said.

"Oh no! Not in those clothes, Zelda." Peach said. "You look like you got trampled by a cart by a stampeded of horses."

Zelda held her dress around the hems to examine it. "Oh, you're right. I'll just go put one of my other dresses. I think the lavender one would be good."

Peach placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "No need for those dresses. I've got some clothes in mind upstairs in your room."

"Oh wow!" Zelda twirled around in her new dress. The heart shaped torso was pink floral laced from top to bottom, the dressed ending a little under her knees. The pink stappy sandals gave Zelda a few inches. She smiled as she took off her crown, and tossled her blonde hair over her shoulders. "Peach, I love this dress!"

"I knew you would." Peach was primping her her. She had ditched her crown, and flattened her hair into a more loose and wavy style. She wore a white halter top with a pink peasant skirt. She smiled, once satisfied her hair was settled in the right places. "Okay

"Now that I'm ready. Let's go."

"Hold on." Peach and Zelda looked over at the bathroom. Samus came out of the room. She had changer her clothes also. She was wearing a a formal, strapless, black jumpsuit lined in white. She let he hair freefall down her shoulders. "Did you guys completely forget about me?"

"Nice, Samus. Very pretty," Zelda commented.

"It's cute and all. But I thought you said you were going to wear a skirt on Zelda's birthda," Peach said.

"No, not ever again. You know how hard it was to stay in that skirt all day? I'm tired and beat." Samus waved Peach off. "The day I have to wear a skirt it'll be too soon."

Peach closed her compact mirror. "Suit yourself."

Samus rolled her eyes. "Let's hurry down to the party."

The girls hurried out of the room and into the elevator. Zelda just smiled as she grew even more excited. "Girls, I'm really happy that you did this. I've never had a surprise party before. And I've never had a party where it didn't have to deal with my father bringing suitors pining to by my next husband."

Samus crossed her arms. "Your dad tries to find you suitors on your birthday?"

"Ever since I was twelve years old. He tried to do it when I was ten, but Impa gave him a talk and he reconsidered it." Zelda sighed. "I wonder what he's doing right now. Since I'm not a home, he must be lonely. Or, likely he's so busy, he hasn't thought about me at all."

Samus and Peach looked at their friend sadly. Peach started to think about her own family at home. Were they missing her? But she shrugged it off as she saw her dearest friends were here for her. And she'd be there for them too. She hugged Zelda. "Oh don't worry about it, Zellie. I'm sure he's fine. Instead, this a time to celebrate!"

Zelda warmly smiled. "You're right. I've had too many days already feeling sorry for myself. I'm going to finally have fun on this trip, and no one's going to stop me!"

Samus laughed. She moved aside as the elevator door opened. "Now that's the spirit!" She let Peach and Zelda out first and then she followed after them. "Let's do this!"

The girls hurried back out to the party. When they arrived, there were a few more people out there from Serine Isle. They all greeted Zelda with "Well Wishes" and Zelda thanked them all. With the greetings out of the way, the party really got underway.

Zelda couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun at a birthday party. She mingled with just about everyone at the party. Her buddy at Serine Isle, Kendrix was there and she met her family. Zelda spent most of her time with her smasher company. She learned how to play a friendly card game of "Spoons" with Mario and Luigi. She danced a little with Marth, Falco, Fox, and some others faces she learned along the way. She played some party games with the younger smashers and ate her first plate of food with Kirby and Yoshi. She made an effort to talk to everyone she could, thanks to Peach's heavily planned schedule that helped Zelda work the crowd on a party (that and Peach was like a stopwatch on how long Zelda talked to the guests). But while she enjoyed running into Peach continuously, there were two friends who somewhat escaped her eye during the party. It worried her, but she was having a great time!

After an hour or two passed, it was midnight. Technically her actual birthday was over, but her friends still partied like time had stopped. Zelda found herself sitting down at a table. She was taking a breather and resting her feet as she ate more of the party food. She quietly observed her smasher company. Fox and Falco looked as if they were having a dance contest against Luigi and Mario. But it looked as if Luigi was the only one who could dance really well since he was getting a lot of attention. DK was curiously observing Pikachu and Pichu as they spoke in their native tongue. She smiled. I'm glad I'm still here. I thought for sure I was going to stay expelled. But here I am with the most important people to me. This has got to be the best day of my life. Oh, what am I saying? Everyday I spend with these smashers is the best.

Zelda felt someone approach her, and she knew exactly who it was. Are you enjoying yourself, Mewtwo?

I am actually. I'm glad I decided to not stay cooped up in my room to meditate.

Zelda turned around. She looked at her psychic friend. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. I wasn't sure if you were a party type.

I'll admit that this group of partiers is quite rowdy and rambunctious, but I am enjoying observing them in a party habitat. I'll have to remember to attend these birthday parties more often.

You should have a party on your own birthday. When is it? Zelda asked.

If you count the day I escaped from Giovanni's prison, and finally felt free, that'll be about four months and nineteen days from now.

I think that's a wonderful day to celebrate. After all, it led you here. Zelda stood up and gave him an assuring look. I'll plan your party for you. Maybe we can just have a meditation rather than a crazy party like this one.

Mewtwo chuckled at that thought. That would be very interesting. I'd like that. He relaxed his eyebrows, and finally spoke. "Thank you, Princess."

"Mewtwo, you know I hate being called that. Just call me Zelda."

Mewtwo nodded. "Fair enough… Zelda. If there's anything you need, please tell me."

"Hmm… well actually, have you seen Samus or Link? I haven't seen them since we came back out to the party." The thought of the two of them missing made Zelda think of past events. Stop acting ridiculous, Zelda. She scolded herself. They're not like that and you know it. Let's not get paranoid.

"Let's see. I haven't seen Link at all. But you're in luck. I just saw Samus over by the fountain with Falcon following her. She's probably still there."

Zelda let out a frustrated sigh. "With Falcon around her, I'm sure she won't stay long. I'll see you later, Mewtwo!" She took her empty plate, threw it in the trash, and hurried to go find her friend. She was almost to the fountain when Peach grabbed her hand.

"What's wrong, Zel?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to find Samus."

"You can find her later. You have a party going on, Zelda. She's bound to show up sooner or later."

"But I know where she is. She's at the…" Zelda looked at the fountain. It was empty, but she saw Captain Falcon grumbling as he got out of the drippy fountain. "Din, I just missed her. I'm sorry, Peach. I have to go find her now." Zelda got free from Peach's grasp and hurried over to the fountain to talk to Captain Falcon.

"Falcon!" she called.

Captain Falcon looked up to see the Hylian Princess. "Hello. What an honor to talk to you. How can I help you?"

Zelda inspected the soaked racer. "Samus did this to you, right?" Falcon nodded as he started wringing out his clothes. Zelda was determined. Where is she?"

"Heck! I don't know. She just stormed off after knocking me into the fountain for no reason at all."

Zelda lowered her eyes. "What did you do this time?"

"I sort of caressed her cheek and let my other hand wander across her back side," he said.

Zelda frowned. She didn't say anything else as she walked away from Falcon to go look for her. She muttered. 'Pervert' under her breath as she disappeared into the party goers.

"It was only for two seconds!" Falcon called out to her. "Three seconds tops!"

Zelda only had to walk for a while until she ran into Young Link in his red tunic. "Hi, Zelda!"

"Hi, Young Link! Listen I got to go!" Zelda moved right past him.

"But Zelda! I'm supposed to tell you something!" Young Link called after her.

Zelda kept walking till she saw a row of chairs, and at the end of them was Samus. She was sitting with her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her chest. She stopped right in front of her and watched Samus open her eyes. She was slightly surprised by Zelda's sudden appearance. "Zel? What's wrong?"

"I feel like I should be asking you that. You look pretty down," Zelda pointed out. "Are you enjoying the party?"

Samus nodded. "You know I am, Zel. Don't worry about me. I'm enjoying myself, but I'm just a little tired." Samus looked at Zelda staring deep into her eyes. "What?"

"You're lying to me. When you're fine, your eyes are much brighter. When you're sad or hiding something, your eyes look gloomy, foggy, and glossy." Her blue eyes burned into Samus' green eyes. "And that's exactly how they look. They look sad." She sat down next to Samus. "Tell me what's wrong and I'm not leaving till I know what."

Samus blushed a bit. "It's nothing you need to worry about. This is your birthday party, and you're supposed to be having fun. Now, go." Zelda didn't move and she remained silent. Samus sighed. "Forever stubborn. Fine, I really am having fun, Zelda. Honestly. But every now and then I keep thinking about… about well…"

"Marth?" Zelda watched Samus nod. "You're worried about what's going to happen to you two, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" she asked.

"I know you all too well now." She sat down in the chair next to her friend. "Have you had a chance to talk to Marth since we found out the truth that the Marth clone is the one that attacked you, and it was the Samus clone that kissed Link?"

Samus propped her head in her hands. "No." She lowered her head. "Zel, I don't know what to say to him. I accused him and I was wrong. If I talk to him now, I don't know what he's going to think of me."

"You should talk to him right now. I hate to see you two not talking."

"What if he doesn't want to talk to me?"

"I'm sure he does want to talk. What makes you think he won't?"

"We caught each other a few times looking at each other at the party, and then he would walk away or I would leave. He must think I'm not worth talking to or worth forgiving. He'll never want to talk to me." She closed her eyes.

Zelda looked back at the party. "I'm not so sure about that. He wants to talk to you."

"Really?" Samus chuckled. "And what makes you say that?"

"Oh, a gut feeling. Or, maybe because he's standing right in front of you," she replied.

"What?" Samus opened her eyes. She saw some very familiar black boots. She looked up to see Marth looking down at her. She gasped as she grew red in the face. How long has he been standing there? Did he hear what I said?

Marth's face remained soft, making Samus a little less nervous. "Samus, can we talk alone please?"

Samus was quiet but then she felt Zelda nudge her. She looked at Zelda gesturing her to say yes. Samus turned back to Marth. "Okay." She stood up and followed Marth as he led her away from the loud party

Zelda clasped her hands. Please make up, you two.

"Zelda!"

Zelda saw Link coming over to where she sat. He was wearing his black tunic. Zelda always thought Link looked very attractive in that tunic, though she never had the courage to tell him that. She was happy to finally see him, but her friend looked like he had something on his mind.

"Did Young Link give you my message?" he asked.

Zelda remembered Young Link was trying to tell her something."I didn't quite listen to him."

Link sighed in relief. "That's good. I thought you were just ignoring me. I was wondering if we could talk about something for a moment?" Zelda looked at the party. Link raised his eyebrows. "I promise to return the birthday girl back to her party before it's over. It won't take long. There's just some things I want to talk to you about."

Zelda stood up, and nodded. She'd take anytime to be with Link. The two friends took off away from the party.

Meanwhile, Peach was busy keeping the party together. Only problem was she couldn't keep an eye out for the birthday girl. But she kept herself busy by stealthily following Bowser and Ganondorf since she worried they were up to something. She stoppped only for a moment to answer a partygoer's question about the restroom before she lost track of them. "Now where did they go?" she said quietly.

"Oh, Roy!" a feminine voice called.

Peach stopped walking immediately and looked in the direction of the voice. She saw a girl with light, brown hair sashay over to Roy with a seductive smile on her face. Then there was another girl with short green hair who was already snaking her arms around Roy's body. Peach recognized the brown-haired girl from the autograph signing on Serine Isle, but this green-haired girl was new to Peach. She watched as the brunette stopped in front of Roy and flashed her sexy smile. Peach glared at them as Roy took in all the attention he was getting. He responded to the brunette by taking her hand and kissing it.

The brunette giggled. "You're such a tease."

The green-haired girl grew jealous. "Hmph!" she glared at the brunette.

Roy just chuckled and then he grabbed the moss-haired girl's hand. "Don't worry, Mia." He took her hand and kissed it too. "I treat all my girls the same."

Peach felt her anger boiling as Mia giggled like a cheerleader and she nestled her head against Roy's shoulder along with the brunette. Peach glared at them. Okay! Time to make an appearance! She clicked her pen off before storming over to the swordsman.

"So…" Roy began. "Your name is Karina, right? What a pretty-"

"Roy!"

Roy looked up and gasped. At first he didn't recognize her. But then he saw it was Peach with a very new and surprisingly attractive look. Not that her old look wasn't too bad, except making her look a little childish. This mature look made Roy gape at her. "Peach?"

Karina the brunette looked at Roy. "This is Princess Peach, Roy?"

"Uh… uh-huh?" He wasn't too sure.

"Yes, I am. And I'm going to have to ask you two to leave. I need to talk to Roy alone," Peach said sternly. "If you don't mind."

Mia placed her hands on her hips. "We do mind. We're talking to Roy here."

"Yeah, more like seducing him. Are you here for Zelda's birthday party or to get a date with Roy? Do us all a favor and split."

Mia crossed arms. "And if we don't? Are you going to kick us out or something?"

Peach laughed. "No, of course not. I'm more into brute force." She punched her fist into her hand. "I am a smasher after all." Mia and Karina looked at each other and then back at Roy. Karina sighed. "See you around, Roy."

Mia glared at Peach one more time before turning back to Roy and smiling. "Call me sometime."

Roy nodded as the girl walked off. Roy sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes at Peach. "How many more times will you interfere with my life?"

"If it means setting you straight, I'd say as many times as I can." Peach scowled at Roy. "You're supposed to be enjoying this party. For Zelda's sake, why don't you go socialize instead of hitting on girls?"

"I'm tired of pointless, small talk," Roy replied.

"What about doing karaoke?"

"Gag me."

"Play Cards?"

"Snooze fest"

"Watch the entertainment?"

"Hardly entertaining."

"Watch the clown you rented?"

"If I see that clown again, I swear I'll slice its head off." Roy's thoughts went back to when the clown sprayed him with water.

"Eat?"

"I've done that so many times, it's not even funny. Now that you deprived me of everything, I guess I will go retire to my room and sleep. " Roy yawned and headed for the resort.

Peach watched him go. An idea popped in her head. "Why don't you dance?"

"Dance?" Roy snorted. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I'm being serious. Why won't you dance?" Peach asked.

"There's no one worthy of dancing with me. I'll blow them away with my awesome dancing skills. If there's nothing else, I think I'll leave now."

Peach let Roy walk a few more steps before she let out a big sigh. "It's okay, Roy. I understand."

Roy stopped. "What's okay?"

Peach smirked. "It's okay if you're scared to tell me. I know you can't dance."

"What?"

"You can't dance a lick. It's fine. You don't have to lie to get me off your back. And don't worry, there are a lot of people who can't dance. Well… there are a few smashers like Mario, Marth, Link, and Luigi who can.

"I dance way better than them."

"Sure you do," she said sarcastically. "I'm just saying this because when we had that welcoming party when we first arrived at the mansion, I danced with all of them and they dance fantastically." Peach giggled. "I wouldn't expect some hardcore, flat-footed general, like you to know how to dance. You're probably all clumsy and lopsided."

Roy started to get angry with the princess as she continued to degrade him and his dancing skills. He shook his fists in anger.

Princess Peach looked at Roy's shaking hands. "Aww… what's wrong?" she asked in a baby voice. "Is little Roysy Boysy upset because he can't dancey wancy?" Peach started to laugh harder. "Poor, wittle baby," she added.

Roy lost it. "Alright! That's it! You and me! On the dance floor! Right now!" Without waiting for a response, Roy grabbed Peach's arm and walked her over to the dance floor.

Peach sighed. I thought he was going to really snap at me. Maybe I was a little too harsh. Peach heard waltz music playing. I got to push him a little bit more. "What a shame. Only slow music is playing. We can't possibly dance separately," she said as plain as she could so he wouldn't catch on.

"Well, you and me are going to waltz then." Roy pulled Peach to halt with one arm around her waist. Peach placed her free hand on Roy's shoulder. Both of their other hands were raised and laced together. Before she could ready herself, Roy took off suddenly but smoothly.

Peach felt a feeling in her heart: peace. She had forgotten about the party and everyone else. The only person she was thinking about was Roy and about the feeling she had while dancing in his arms. He really was a smooth dancer. Peach put on a smile that was unnoticeable to Roy. His dancing makes me feel safe and protected. It's like I'm dancing on clouds or flying through the air as he spins me.

Roy looked at Peach for a brief moment. "I told you I could dance. But no. You wouldn't listen to me. I bet you feel pretty silly right now, huh?"

"Hmm… not really." Peach looked at Roy's confused stare as they continued to dance. "I knew you could dance all along."

"You did? Then why did you want me to prove it to you?" he asked.

Peach turned rosy pink. She was hoping he wouldn't ask that question. "Um… well…it's… I just wanted you to have fun. Yeah. That's it. I mean, after all, this is a party. You're having fun now, aren't you?"

"I guess so," he muttered.

Peach sighed in relief, and then she looked deep into his amazing blue eyes. She whispered to him quietly. "I know I am."

Roy stopped dancing. He looked straight at Peach. "Um… Peach? What's wrong with you?"

Peach groaned. He's older than me, but he can be so dense. "Nothing, Roy." She freed her hands from his. "Okay, we're done here. You can stop dancing and go back to your room if you want." She stepped back from him, ready to come back down to reality.

"Hold on a sec. I still want to dance with you," Roy said quietly.

Peach blushed even harder. "You do?"

Roy shrugged shyly, "Yeah, but don't get any ideas. It's only because you're the only good dancer around here. I mean, I'm sure there are others, but who wants to go searching for someone else when you already have a good dance partner," Roy explained, and Peach continued to stare. He scratched his temple with his index finger. "I guess since you're a bratty princess and all, you're supposed to dance well."

Peach looked at him long and hard, before sighing dramatically as she threw up her arms in a shrug. "Alright. Suit yourself." Peach let Roy take her in his arms again. "And the feeling's mutual. You just happen to be the best dancer around right now."

Roy took off again in lead and Peach followed. They didn't look at each other, but they both had heavenly smiles on their faces.

In the Garden

Samus leaned against the blue, wooden bridge. She shuffled her feet against the foundation of the bridge back and forth. She had been doing this for some time now. Occasionally she would look up at Marth to see him either looking off into space or watching Samus shuffle her feet. She didn't know what to say to him. But he was the one who asked her to talk.

Marth didn't realize it was going to be this hard to talk to her. He tried to look at Samus' face and he met Samus' eyes. They stared into each other's eyes for a second before Samus cut her eyes away from him and went back down to her feet. Marth sighed. It was now or never. "Samus. I think you know why I wanted to talk to you."

She nodded. "I'm sure it's about how we misunderstood each other again. This happens a lot between us."

"I noticed this too. It makes me wonder sometimes if…" Marth's voice faded. He didn't want to tell her. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"It makes you wonder if we should be together at all, right?" She asked.

Marth panicked. "No, Sam. I don't mean those words exactly. I really don't feel like us together is a waste of time and..."

"No, Marth it's okay. It's just I was thinking the exact same thing." Samus crossed over to Marth. "It's been bugging me ever since we had that fight yesterday. That useless fight made me realize something."

"Did it make you wonder if maybe we rushed into a relationship too fast?" Marth saw Samus nod slowly. He chuckled. "It's funny how well we think alike."

Samus agreed. "And then it's weird how we argue a lot. What does it all mean?"

Marth shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. But even though we argue, I still want to admit when I'm wrong. So, what I really wanted to say to you is I'm sorry for accusing you of kissing Link. I was wrong, and you were right. I should have trusted you to never do something like that."

"Yes, you should have," Samus said. "But I'm not any better. I didn't trust you either. I really thought you were the one who attacked me. And I apologize for doubting you."

"You know I forgive you, Sam. But I think back at how furious I was when I saw that kiss on Serine Isle and I just..." Marth turned and leaned against the railing of the bridge and looked out at the pond below it. "You were right, you know?"

Samus refrained from looking out at the pond, and stared up at Marth. "Right about what?"

"Everyone kept telling me I was, but I kept denying it. I really was jealous of Link, and maybe I still am," Marth said quietly. "It doesn't make sense. He's one of my good friends. Regardless, you and Link still seem to be much closer than you and I are. So, I thought that maybe Link was taking you away from me. And when I saw that whole kiss scene, I assumed I was right."

Samus felt guilty. "Why didn't you tell me this? If you didn't like me so close to Link, I could have stopped hanging around him so much."

"I could never ask you to stop being friends with Link," Marth replied. "And besides, I knew if I came to tell you that, you would say I was being paranoid and acting jealous. And that's exactly what you did, remember?"

The moment Samus called Marth jealous came back to her. "I did. It was only because I was so mad at you. I didn't know what to say to you. Back when you started yelling at me and accusing me, I really just wanted to break down. I didn't want look weak and broken in front of you. After that fight, I didn't think I'd be happy again."

Marth sighed. "But then you met Garrett, and all your troubles just drifted away."

Samus continued to stare out across the bridge. "For a moment, it seemed that way. Yes, Garrett was sort of like a knight in shining armor." Samus watched Marth raise an eyebrow at that comment through the corner of her eye. "I'm just being honest. He was very nice, a gentleman and sincere. He was caring and understanding. He reminded me of you."

"I would have never thought that." Marth retorted. "Peach described Garrett as if he were Mr. Perfect."

Samus giggled. "You do know people call you Mr. Perfect all the time, right? So, she wasn't wrong. You know, maybe I did put my trust in Garrett too soon, and maybe Link does know a bit more about me than you do. But to tell you the truth, even though I don't share everything with you, I feel the closest to you. After tonight and what you did to try and save me from the mind controlling device, I am certain I can put all my trust in you. Really," she confessed, making Marth smile.

But then her own smile dropped and she fell silent. Marth saw her hands were trembling. "Is there something else?" he asked when he saw sadness fill Samus's eyes.

Samus looked up at Marth. "I have a question for you. And have to be perfectly honest with me. Say the first answer that comes to your mind."

Marth sat on the railing and gave her his undivided attention. "I'm listening."

Samus got off the railing and stood in front of him. "As you know, the Marth clone tried to kill me just because it knew you were jealous of Link and wanted to take it out on me. And you know Garrett tried to make me his while he had that device on his neck. To make matters worse, he tried to order me to kill you with the malfunctioning mind-controlling device, right?"

Marth didn't want to think about it. "Unfortunately, yes. What does that have to do with…" Marth stopped mid-sentence when he saw Samus breaking down in tears. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"I-I want t-to know." Samus's voice cracked as she looked at him with worry. "If you were ever to find out someone was hitting on me and I didn't drive him away, would you either attack the guy or would you take it out on me?" she blurted out.

The odd question threw Marth for a loop. Where did such a question even come from? Marth watched her carefully, trying to find the answer. "What are you trying to say? Is there someone else?"

Samus' eyes widened. "No! There isn't! Please don't think that! I'd never want to do that to you!" she cried out.

Marth didn't expect such a reaction. "Relax, Samus. It was only a question."

"Then just answer mine!" Samus watched Marth still staring at her as if she was creeping him out. Samus couldn't take the silence. "Please answer the question! I just want to know. When you fought Garrett and he told you everything about the attack on Serine Isle, you had this look on your face like you were going to tear him apart. I had never seen you like that and it scared me. It reminded of how terrified I was when the Marth clone attacked me on Serine Isle. The clones are supposed to be just like their original, and so this bothered me. If I weren't the one injured, would you have gone after me instead of Garrett like the clone did? Between us, Garrett and myself: who would you...who would..." she couldn't even get the words out.

Marth watched Samus break down in frustrated tears. How long had she been thinking about this? Marth had seen this Samus before. A long time ago when he told her he loved her for the first time. And he did the one thing he wish he could have done that night. He slowly put his arms around her shoulders and held her close to him. She slowly stopped crying. She tried to look up at him, but Marth's hand upon her head kept her from doing so. She stood still as his fingers ran through her hair, a feeling she missed. Her tears started to evaporate as she rested her head on his chest. Marth opened his mouth. "Sam. How could you ask me such a thing?"

Samus was able to look up at him as she got free from his grasp. Marth cupped her chin in his hands. "That's a foolish question to ask. You should know the answer to that."

Samus shook her head. "I don't. So which one is it?"

"I'm going to have to reply with neither." Marth smiled down at the bounty hunter."As much as some of the boys who talk to you irk me, I could never think about trying to hurt them. Garrett really pushed me to the limit of wanting to kill him, but when you stopped me, I was reminded how violence will always be my last resort, not my first." He used his finger to wipe some of the running tears on her face. ""As for you, I would never try to hurt you, Samus. That would mean I would ruin this beautiful face that brightens my day. Apparently that clone didn't possess the ability to value you to the degree that I do."

Samus didn't believe him. "How can you say that? You're not being honest with me."

Marth frowned. "No, you're not being honest with me. Samus, I don't know where I would be if something happened to you or if I was the cause." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not joking when I say I care for you a lot. And when I care for someone, I am willing to protect them with my life. You still think I would hurt you, Samus?"

Samus looked Marth straight in the eye. She closed her eyes and ended her tears. "No. How can I ever think that?" Samus felt her answer, as Marth gave her a small kiss on her cheek, making her blush.

Marth smiled at this. "People can think the craziest things when they're in love."

Samus' eyes finally got their shimmer back. Without thinking much about it, she planted her lips on Marth and drove him into a long passionate kiss. He responded by putting his arms around her waist and she put her arms around his neck. Clutched closer to him, their kiss deepened for what felt like a long time before they parted and they slowly caught their breath. When Samus's breathing returned to normal, she smiled at her prince. "You don't know how long I've been wanting to do that."

Marth continued to hold the bounty hunter in his arms. "I feel the same."

"What are we going to do?" Samus asked in a whisper.

"I don't know. But we'll find a way to settle what's pulling us apart. Everything will work out. We usually find a way don't we?" Marth smirks, and Samus returns that same smirk. He let go of her, and looked in the direction of the party. "We better head back before we're missed."

"Right." Samus linked her arm with Marth's as they started to walk back to the party. As Samus rested her head on Marth's shoulder, she wished her and Marth could just leave and run away together. But Samus knew she would miss her friends at SSBM. There were many problems Samus knew she would face if she continued to live at the mansion. But as long as Marth was with her, she knew it would be okay.

On The Shore

"Oh wow, look at this!" Zelda ran out to the beach with her hands spread put. "I didn't know we could reach the beach from behind our resort. It's so beautiful! You can see all the stars so clearly here!"

Link watched Zelda wet her toes in the incoming tide. There was something magical about how she stood there with the wind in her hair. "Yeah, I found this beach some time ago. But aren't you a bit scared with how dark it is back here?"

Zelda looked back at her friend. "Well, it is kind of creepy. But when you're not alone, you don't have that feeling anymore. Plus, the stars are so beautiful."

Link got up from the sand and walked over to Zelda, standing right next to her. The waves were calm and quiet. He looked at Zelda, mesmerized by the stars as the moon shined on her face. She has that smile on her face again. She has about seven different smiles. And this is her best one. The one where she feels free and when she's happy. I've never seen anyone as beautiful as her...inside and out.

"Link?"

Link broke from his thoughts to see Zelda was no longer admiring the night sky. "There was something you wanted to talk about? We need to hurry and talk about it and get back to the party."

Link nodded. "Right. Well it's…"

Beep! Beep!

Link turned to see Zelda now checking her wrist communicator. She pressed the receiver button. "Yes?"

Zellie! Where are you? You have to open the presents now.

"Okay, Peach. I'll be right there." She turned the communicator off. "We'll have to talk later, Link. Everyone's waiting."

"But …but…" he stammered.

Zelda walked off. "We can talk tomorrow when the party's over, and I have a bit more energy, okay?"

Link grabbed Zelda's arm. "No, we need to talk now. Please, Zelda. I need to talk you about all this mess with Veronica and her family."

Zelda paused. Talking about Veronica was something Zelda could make time for. "Alright, I'm listening."

"Well, let me start by apologizing for everything. You warned me about Veronica, and I don't know how many times I'll have to apologize until it's enough, Princess."

"I could take a couple more apologies, but this one will do for now. And Link," Zelda said. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Princess?"

"Right. I'm sorry. Just couldn't resist." Link smiled. "Veronica did seem like a nice girl. And in reality she was. But not when we met her."

Zelda still hadn't gotten over the new side of Veronica."It was strange to see her sweet side. I wonder how she's doing. She barely has anyone now. I know she has her brother and mother, but I think she had a real close relationship with her father. Just like me and my father used to have. Still, I can't understand how a father could do such a thing to her daughter. I hate to speak ill of him since he's dead now, but.." Zelda's voice faded.

"Zel.." Link started, but Zelda quickly smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Being perfectly honest, the quicker I can forget everything from her visit to what happened on the moutain top, the better," Zelda said.

"Actually, I hope you don't mind talking about it a little more," Link said, catching Zelda's attention. "I wanted to know something. What drove you into wanting to kill me on the mountain?"

Zelda blushed. "You want me to answer that question?"

"If you could, that would be nice," Link said.

Zelda fished around for an explanation. "I knew Veronica really liked you. But I couldn't let someone like her continue to live in this world and ruin more lives." Zelda thought back to that moment on the mountain. The moment when she thought her best friends were on a train ride to her death. Mewtwo bleeding after being knocked out from behind from Veronica. And then, the confession from Link (who at the time she didn't know to be a clone) that he loved Veronica. "So much was happening when we were on that mountain. She had to be stopped, and so when I transformed into Sheik, I let my emotions get the better of me and I tried to kill her. But when you confessed that you loved her too, or rather your clone did, I didn't feel right separating you two, so I killed the clone as well. Then, you two could have been together."

"Zelda. Surely there were other options"

"I know! I know." Zelda's voice quieted down. " But I just wasn't thinking." Her face was hot. She blinked her frustration away as the wind blew her blonde hair. "If it makes you feel any better, I was going to kill myself right after."

Link looked at Zelda in shock. "Not really. Why would you do that?" he exclaimed.

"I… I…" She shut her eyes. "I just couldn't live with myself."

She looked away from him. Link tried to look at her. Zelda was hiding something. "You couldn't live with yourself because why?"

"Come on, do you really want me to answer that?" Zelda asked. "Just understand, Link, that I could never see myself living without you."

The sight of Zelda becoming more and more secretive caused Link to frown. "Zelda, we've known each other for a long time. We've always been honest with each other. And right now, you're not telling me something. I can tell when you're lying." Link moved to face Zelda head on. "Is it that hard to tell me the reason why you would do this?"

Zelda started to get nervous. I'm too afraid to tell him. But why? This is all I ever wanted, a chance to finally tell Link how I feel and...I can't trust him like I used to. And Zelda knew why: Veronica. These last few days, Veronica, even if under mind-control tested her relationship with her dearest friend. And every time: everytime Zelda tried to tell Link the truth, he rejected her. Link doubted her words. He doubted her. He doubted their friendship. Again and again and again. Link won't reject you. He'll listen...but everything with Veronica. It hurt so much for him to always choose her side. I can't bring myself to be hurt by Link again.

"I don't want to talk about it." Zelda stepped away from him. "That was the reason."

Link was getting irritated. "Zelda, tell me the truth. You never lie to me."

"I'm not lying!" She snapped. Stop, what are you doing, Zelda? Goddesses, am I hurting that much?

"Yes, you are," Link said angrily. "I'm your friend. You're supposed to tell me the truth on anything."

"I am!" Zelda couldn't stand there anymore. "Just leave me alone!" She all of sudden took off down the beach.

"Zelda, wait!" Link called.

Zelda plugged her ears. "Just shut-up and leave me alone!" She broke off into a sprint. She found herself running faster than usual and she assumed it was because she wasn't wearing heels. Her sandals were flat to the ground. Her ears picked up on Link's heavy stomps in the ocean from his boots. This pushed Zelda to run even faster. She would keep running until he would finally stop. The sounds of his boots were getting closer and closer. She thought maybe he was running faster. She looked down at her feet and noticed she was slowing down. And it wasn't because she was tiring.

What's wrong with me? I'm not out of energy. I can outrun him a bit longer. But my feet are slowing down. But why? Zelda was so wrapped up in her thoughts she failed to notice she slowed down even more. This caused Link to ram into her, and knock both of them down onto the sand. Link landed on his side slightly on top of Zelda.

Link felt a small pain in his arm from falling. He watched Zelda scramble up from the sand and try to get away, but he wasn't going to let her get away. Before she could start running, Link recovered quickly and grabbed her arm. He stood up and tightened his grip so she would be stable. But Zelda was struggling a lot to get free.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"Zelda, tell me what's wrong!" he shouted back. Yelling at Zelda felt odd because they hardly ever fought. But he wasn't even sure what the fight was about. He knew one thing though. In the time between now and Veronica showing up, something had changed between him and Zelda. Zelda, who was once so close to him, couldn't turn to him. The thought of losing that plagued his mind, and he would not lose her. But Zelda was putting up a strong fight.

"Why do you care? It's none of your business! Just leave me alone. You don't need to know everything that goes on in my life!"

Link grunted as he kept trying to restrain the princess. "Zelda! This is me you're talking to!"

"I'm quite aware of that and that doesn't change anything!" Zelda snapped.

Link watched as Zelda gave him one of the wickedest glares he had ever seen. And what was worse was it came from Zelda. What was wrong with her? He couldn't take it anymore. Zelda's stubbornness made Link say something he wished he hadn't. "You're acting like Veronica!"

Zelda gasped and became enraged. She lifted a hand and smacked Link across the face lightning fast! She could feel the impact of the blow sprout through her fingers like little shockwaves. But she didn't care. "HOW COULD YOU? HOW DARE YOU COMPARE THAT GIRL TO ME!"

Link was holding his left cheek that was surging in pain. He removed his hand and saw Zelda had left a very tiny cut on his face. He looked at her in amazement before giving her a very furious look. "It's like I don't even know you any more, Zelda."

Zelda looked at his cut on his face. Then she looked at her hands. What's wrong with me? I just struck one of my best friends. He didn't do anything to me and I yelled at him. He just wanted to know what's wrong with me. I now know why I slowed down when he was running after me. I wanted him to catch me. I wanted him to come after me because I really want to tell him about the feeling in my heart. But now… Zelda let out a small cry as she collapsed to the ground in tears. She fell on her knees and fell over like she was bowing, but she was using her hands to cover her face. "Link I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to slap you! I'm so, so, sorry."

Link slowly sat down on his knees next to the Princess. "Zelda. It's okay. I'll admit I wasn't helping the situation. But something is worrying you and it's worrying me badly, Zelda. I want to know why you're acting like this."

Zelda didn't lift her head just yet. "You asked me earlier why I tried to kill myself. The reason why is because I knew I couldn't live without you, Link. You're the reason I'm still alive to this day. You've been helping me ever since we were kids. You're the only one who would listen to me when I was still at Hyrule Castle." She choked her tears back and raised her head to look at Link. He was still listening. She continued. "I already told you when Ganondorf had me, I was scared. But then you came and then when you fought him in his other form I thought I was going to lose you to him. It ties into what was happening with you and Veronica. I thought you were going to leave me and go off with her, forgetting all about me. It tore me apart. And that's what led me into making that decision to kill myself. I wanted us to be together. I may be the princess, but I still follow you, Link."

Zelda took a deep breath. "I've always been afraid to say it. But you don't realize how much you mean to me. I guess what I'm trying to say is…I really like you a lot, Link. I really want be with you always. That's why I ran from you. I was scared of what you might think of me." She ended there. She looked at Link. He was looking at her with an odd look on his face. He didn't say a word. She sighed. "Okay, I just embarrassed myself, by expressing my feelings I have for you." She shook her head. "It was stupid to tell you this. You're probably thinking what is this foolish little girl talking about?" She chuckled. "I'm not even sure what I'm babbling about." She sighed and stood up. "Maybe I'll see you later."

"Zelda?"

Zelda flipped around and met with Link's lips pressing against hers. Zelda didn't expect this but she returned the kiss. She closed her eyes and let Link deepen the kiss. She cleared out all her other troubling thoughts and let Link continue to kiss her. He broke the kiss soon and stopped to catch his breath. He smiled. "Wow…"

Zelda smiled too. "Wow indeed." Her face was rosy pink. "You're a really good kisser." She dropped her smile. "Does it mean you forgive me?"

Link shrugged. "Well yeah." He stared into the princess's sapphire blue eyes. "But it means much more than that, Zelda. It means I really want to be with you too. This is why I wanted to talk to you. But just like you said before, I was the same. I was afraid of how you would react if I told you I liked you."

"Probably the same way you just did." Zelda said with a small laugh. "But I did have my doubts. With Veronica around..."

"My thoughts never changed. I may have thought I liked her, but my feelings for her were nowhere near as strong as the ones I have for you. I feel like an idiot for not realizing it."

"Can't argue with you there." Zelda answered with a smirk.

Link returned with a playful grin. "I get it, I was an idiot. It's been drilled in my head for almost two whole days now. You could at least sympathize with me."

"I'll try harder in the future." Zelda warmly replied.

Link chuckled. "The future huh? Then we have to seal this relationship for a good long time." Link got down on one knee in front of Zelda. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Zelda's eyes widened as Link opened the box to reveal a shining diamond ring with silver trim and a pink gem in the middle of the diamonds.

"Oh, Nayru." Zelda looked down at Link as he held the ring. "What are you...Link, are you going to propose to me?"

"Hmm?" Link looked at her and laughed. "No. Are you serious Zelda? It's your birthday present I bought for you. It was a friendship ring, but now that this has happened it can be much more than that. It's a ring that will seal our relationship, so everyone will know. So… Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Zelda looked down at Link. She nodded. "Yes, Link, Hero Of Time." She giggled. "I will be your girlfriend."

Link smiled. "Zel, you have made me a happy guy And maybe one day, if you're good, I'll propose to you!"

"Oh, whatever!" She laughed, before she looked out to the beach. "Wow… just like I saw it."

Link watched the ocean too. "What did you see?"

Zelda forgot Link's ears could hear just as well as hers. "Oh. Well… don't laugh. Earlier on, I had this dream we were sitting on the beach. Except it was a sunset. And then while we were sitting here you told me how you felt about me and then you asked me to be your girlfriend."

"And I hope you said yes?" Link asked.

"Oh, you know I did." Zelda said. "Oh yes, and then we almost kissed, but then I woke up."

"Really? Too bad? So, maybe you can give me a visual of how you almost kissed me?" Link suggested flirtaciously.

Zelda knew what that meant. She tried to kiss him again but she lost her footing, by tripping over a rock. She lost her balance and knocked Link down on his back and she landed on top of him. The tide rushed in and it soaked both of them. Zelda face flushed an even redder color. Her hands fluttered over his handsome face as the two laughed in their soaked clothing. "Sorry, I don't think the dream was supposed to go like that." she giggled.

Link just laughed and brought her head to his. "We're heading for an interesting relationship." And with that he kissed her again. The two kissed much longer than the first time. They were so busy kissing they didn't hear the footsteps coming near them.

"Well… that's one gift to give a girl on her birthday."

Zelda gasped and immediately stopped kissing Link. She looked up and saw all her friends. She realized it was Roy who made the comment. Peach, Samus, and Marth were just looking down at them and trying to contain their laughter.

Link didn't mean to, but he roughly pushed Zelda off of him. "Uh, hey guys… what's up?" he said nervously. It was Link's turn to be embarrassed as his friends started laughing to no end.

Marth smirked. "I think that should be our question for you two."

Samus smiled at Zelda as she helped the girl off the ground. "Having fun?" Zelda was really embarrassed, so she only nodded. Samus looked at the ring on Zelda's finger. "Is that an engagement ring?"

Zelda smiled. "No. It's just a ring to seal our relationship." she said.

"So what you're saying is…"

Peach cut Samus off. "You two are a couple now?" She exclaimed. Zelda nodded. Peach squealed. "AAAAAHHHHHHH!" She hugged Zelda quickly. "Finally! I'm so happy!"

Samus winked at Zelda. "Told you it would be a good birthday gift."

Zelda winked back. "Of course. You're always right!"

Marth nudged Link. "So…what did you to do to her while we were gone?" He said with a mischievous grin on his face.

Link frowned. "Marth, that's sick. You sound like Roy."

Marth laughed. "Just kidding Link. All in good fun."

Roy smirked. "Yeah, all in good fun."

Link looked back and saw all the partygoers were here. "What did they see?"

"Not much. They just saw when you were kissing her the second time." Roy explained, "I think they even taped it."

Link and Zelda didn't think they could be even more embarrassed. But as they looked at each other, they started to laugh and so did their friends. "So..." Link began. "What are you guys doing out here anyway?"

Peach decided to explain. "Zelda didn't come when I told her to come open presents. Then Young Link told me you and Zelda were talking on the beach, so I decided to bring the party out here." She started bursting out laughing. "But we didn't expect to see you two making out on the ocean shore." Peach looked at Zelda. "And by the way, nice approach to a kiss, Zellie."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Like you could do any better."

Peach put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me, I…"

"Girls, I would love for you two to continue this conversation," Samus said as she stepped in between them. "But we still have a party going on. Why don't we finish it?"

Zelda and Peach nodded. They'd finish this much later. "Oh right. Let's go." Zelda grabbed her boyfriend's hand and then they walked off together to the new party on the beach.

Zelda received many gifts for her birthday. Jewelry came from the younger smashers. Luigi gave Zelda one of his crazy inventions. Fox and Falco bought some very exotic jewelry from Sauria. Mr. Game & Watch baked some cupcakes for Zelda. Zelda could have sworn she saw one of them hop. Captain Falcon bought her a tight body suit similar to his. He didn't only receive a slap in the face from Zelda, but a beating from both Peach and Samus. DK had made a fruit basket for her. Kirby bought her some books on Romance. Marth and Roy bought her some battling gloves and some new equipment for when she turns into Sheik. Pichu and Pikachu put together a bouquet of wild flowers for her. Pichu placed one of the flowers in Zelda's hair to wear. All her other fellow smashers got her jewelry or clothes from their world. Samus gave her gift last. She handed it to Zelda. It was a charm bracelet. And each charm was one of the smashers' symbols.

"Thanks, you guys." Zelda said as she put the bracelet around her wrist. "These are really great gifts."

"Can we cut that cake now?" Yoshi exclaimed. "I'm starving!"

Zelda nodded. "I'm with Yoshi on this one. I'm ready for cake."

The crowd of people surrounded the cake. Zelda stood in the middle of the crowd. They sang the birthday song to her and then clapped right after.

"Okay. Make a wish, Zelda." Link said.

Zelda nodded. She closed her eyes and thought about her wish. She took a large breath and…

BOOM!

The cake exploded everywhere. It flew in everyone's faces, clothes, hair, everywhere. It was a sugary explosion! When Zelda looked around. Everyone was covered in cake. She frowned. "This has Ganondorf and Bowser written all over it."

Young Link's ears picked up on some snickering. He looked over at the bushes. Young Link pulled out his bow and his flaming arrows. He aimed and shot the bushes. They lit on fire and he saw the two of them run out. Ganondorf's cape was on fire and Bowser's tail was like a firecracker burning. Young Link tugged at Zelda's dress and pointed at the criminals. "Found them."

Peach crossed her arms. "I knew they were up to something."

Zelda and everyone else glared at them. Ganondorf and Bowser looked at the angry crowd. Bowser gave a hesitant laugh. "Pretty good joke. Huh, Zelda?"

Zelda didn't say anything. But Peach did. She pulled out her frying pan. "I'll show you whats about to be funny!" She lunged for them but Master Hand stopped her. He was covered in the most cake. His fingertips were jolting. "No need, Peach. I'll handle this. When I'm done with them they'll know the true meaning of a good joke!" He started to shoot lasers and lightning bolts out of his fingers. Ganondorf and Bowser ran off screaming with Master Hand chasing after them. Everyone started to laugh.

"Well." Samus took some of the cake out of her hair. "So much for dessert."

Zelda shrugged. "Oh, who needs cake anyway?"

"I do!" Yoshi cried.

Peach laughed. "Don't worry. I have an extra made. I knew they were up to something. So, let's have cake.

Everyone cheered.

After the cake was eaten. Zelda and her friends danced for a very long time and then they went out to be by themselves. It was going to be a quiet moment to talk, but Samus and Marth grew a wee bit angry at Roy for spying on a private little conversation the two were having. This caused them to push Roy into the ocean and then Roy pulled them in with him. And for no reason, Zelda, Peach, and Link were dragged into the argument. They were eventually in the ocean themselves. But it turned out to be fun after that as they played in the beach water. Zelda knew this was one birthday she wouldn't forget.

Two Days Later

Samus pushed down hard on her suitcase. "Come on. Stay shut!"

She sighed and sat down on the suitcase. After the recent events that had been happening, Master Hand decided it was best to go back home. So, now all the smashers were sitting at the airport waiting for the plane to arrive. She didn't mind. There were a few days where Samus had fun. She didn't get to spend everyday with Marth, but the two days she spent with him after they made up were very entertaining and...intimate. She blushed as she thought of the romance, but quickly stopped when she remembered the problem that was sitting under her. She sighed and sat down on her suitcase, which wouldn't seem to stay shut.

"Need an extra rear?" a female voice said.

Samus looked up and saw Peach. She smiled. She scooted a bit. "Yes. That would be a big help."

Peach was not wearing her puffy pink dress at all. She hadn't worn her crown since Zelda's party. She was now dressed in blue jeans and red-orange tank top with shoes to match. She sat down on the suitcase next to the bounty hunter dressed in a red and white stylish sweatsuit. Her hair was back in its tomboyish ponytail. "So, Sammie. We're heading back."

"Yep. Today's the day. What a relief." She sighed defeated. "Oh, who am I kidding? I wish we really didn't have to go back. Things will go back to normal for me."

"What do you mean?" the princess asked.

"Well, I'm going to have to go back to my missions and Marth's going to have to go back to Altea every now and then. We'll hardly ever see each other. This trip brought us together."

"I suggest that maybe the both of you should find some days to spend together." Peach advised her. "Otherwise you'll go back to the way you two were before. You get what I'm saying?"

"Yes. But I don't know if I can just alter my missions. They come when they can. I never know when they're going to come up. They just do." She replied.

"That's tough, Sam. You have to make the decision on your own then. What do you enjoy more? You work or your boyfriend?" Peach was hoping Samus would pick the right answer. She sighed. "If I were you, I would drop the job."

"My job? Why?"

"Well there are three reasons. Reason number one, they work you very hard on those missions and then you come home tired and go straight to sleep. Reason number two, you already have the job of being a smasher in SSBM and do a pretty good job of being one. And reason number three is, if you do the missions you have a 65.9 percent chance of keeping Marth as your boyfriend. And it will be hard to find another guy as great as he is."

"65.9 percent? Where did you come up with such an odd number?" Samus asked as she tapped the side of her suitcase.

"I calculated. I'm good with boyfriend percentages. Plus, shopping and dancing and other things girls fantasize about." Peach explained.

Samus rolled her eyes. "Of course. Why wouldn't you be?" She looked up at the cloudy sky. "Okay. I'll think about it. Speaking of fashion, are we going to talk about this "fashion sense" you criticized my clone about, thinking it was me? Hmm?" she challenged Peach.

Peach blushed. "Oh, that? Well, you see..." Peach suddenly waved. "Look it's Zelda! Yoo-Hoo, Zelda!" she avoided conflict once again.

Zelda waved, unsure of why she was waving when she saw Peach less than a few minutes ago. Zelda walked over to them with Samus' computer in her hand. "Sam, Fox wanted me to give this back to you. What was he using it for?"

Samus shrugged. "I don't know. Every now and then he uses it to call to his ship The Great Fox. At least I think that's what it's called. Falco said he's always talking to someone very close to him, so I just let Fox use it." She looked at her computer as Zelda handed it back. "It's beeping."

"Its been beeping ever since I left Fox's room. What does it mean?"

Samus didn't answer. She sat back down on the bench of the airport and checked the beeping noise. "It means I have an email. Probably for a mission."

"What's an email?" Zelda asked.

Peach took care of the question. "It's electronic mail. Not literally. You can call them letters if you want. It's sort like how you write letters and then you send them to a friend?" Zelda nodded, indicating she understood. Peach continued on. "The only difference is these letters are sent by computers and they're sent much faster than by mail delivery."

Zelda understood. "Oh. So its faster transportation."

"Exactly."

"Oh no." Samus murmured.

The two princesses looked over at their friend. She was looking at her small computer in disbelief. "This can't be right."

Zelda looked over Samus' shoulder. "What can't be right?"

Samus looked up at Zelda. "This letter was sent by Garrett."

"What's wrong with getting letters from him?" Peach asked.

"I didn't give him the email address to this computer. Or the code. And get this. He's still here at the Nintendo Festival. In fact, he's somewhere amongst these planes at a plane called… Windansea? I guess that's how you say it. But he left this email because he says he wants to talk to me."

"Ooh…that cannot be good." Peach said quietly. "Do you think he's still trying to get with you?"

Samus shook her head. "No, he couldn't be." She twirled some of her blonde hair around her index finger. "But let's just forget about it okay? I'll just delete it and we'll never mention it again."

"Samus Aran! The brave and fearless Samus Aran is scared to talk to a guy?" Zelda clasped her hands together and propped them on her lap as she sat down in her new light blue sundress. "I think you should go talk to him. You need to tell him you and Marth are back together and he cannot continue to flirt with you."

"And remember to be sincere about it." Peach added. "He could be a very sensitive guy. And I mean a very sensitive guy in the bad term. Like he may try to hurt somebody. So, tell him with calmness in your voice."

Samus bit her lip. "Thank you, Peach. Now you've made me even more unconfident." She looked back at Zelda. "Let's just forget it."

Zelda shook her head. "No. You have to tell him."

Samus sighed. "Okay. But come with me for moral support."

"Sure."

Samus stood up and closed her computer. "If Marth comes and asks for me, tell him I went to the bathroom or something. If I take longer than 15 minutes, send someone to find us."

Zelda folded her arms behind her back. "Nothing is going to happen, Sam."

Peach nodded. "Okay. But hurry back. The plane leaves in 30 minutes." She got off of Samus' suitcase and sat on the bench as the two girls left. Before she could take a breather, she saw Marth, Link, and Roy coming into view. Peach gasped. "Already? I haven't even thought of what to say."

The Windansea Jet

Samus gulped. She saw Garrett in plain view. He was leaning against a pole and to top it off, Veronica was with him. She was playing with the clone Pichu from yesterday. Zelda started to push her friend towards the plane. "Come on, Sam. You can do it. What are you so worried about?"

"It's nothing. I don't know why I'm worried." She took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready."

Samus stood on her own without her friend pushing her. When she was close enough, she saw Garrett look up at Samus. He smiled and waved. "Hey, Sam. Glad you made it."

"Wish I could say the same thing." She said while gritting her teeth. Luckily he didn't hear it.

Zelda saw Veronica. "Hey, Veronica."

Veronica looked up. "Hi."

Zelda smiled. I still can't believe that I'm talking to her like this. It's just too weird. "What's going on?" Zelda felt a sharp nudge in her back. She saw Samus giving her a look asking her what she was doing. Zelda frowned. "He wants to talk to you alone. Now go talk to him." She whispered.

Samus sighed in defeat and drug herself slowly over to Garrett. She stopped a few feet away from him. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, I do. I want to talk about what happened while I had that device on my neck. I know that I tried to get you to fall in love with me. And then I tried to kiss you and then I almost hurt you." Garrett ended. "And I'm just apologizing to you for everything that happened to you while I was being controlled."

"You know that wasn't your fault." She told him.

"Yes it was. I fell for my sister's trick and I allowed her and my father to put that accursed thing on me. And then it interfered with your life."

Samus shoved her hands in her pockets. "Can't argue about you interfering. But again, not your fault"

"It doesn't matter. I felt guilty. You see, Samus. I told you all I was leaving for my mother's place a few days ago. But I got caught up in some last minute work. But while I was working, I could not stop thinking about you."

"Garrett…please." Samus wanted to leave so badly.

Garrett sensed this and grabbed her hand. "Don't leave just yet, Sam. I want you to hear this." He looked at her in the face. "Samus, while I was controlled, I was acting out my real feelings for you. I really do have these strong feelings for you, and I didn't want to leave without letting you know about them and I wanted to hear your response."

Samus turned the color of a red rose. "Garrett, it's sweet of you tell me this. And back when I was angry with Marth, I may have been even more flattered. But as you know..."

"I know you and Marth made up. But I can also tell something has changed between you two." Garrett exclaimed. "I will tell you this, Samus. I won't give up on loving you."

Samus tried to get her arm free gently without upsetting him. Her stomach felt like it had butterflies. "I know you'll find someone else to replace me."

Garrett gently grabbed both her hands and stared into her eyes. "I never will find anyone else. There's no one else in this world like you." He could see Samus was feeling uncomfortable. He sighed and dropped her hands. "But I'll continue to not interfere with your relationship with him. You two are together right now and I respect that. Like I told you when I first met you. I'll never try to take you away from Marth. I admire him. He's a very good person to you and he respects girls and their needs. He's really lucky to have you."

Samus finally was her normal complexion . "Thank you for respecting that space." She looked at her watch. "Listen, I have to go now. So, this is it." She held out her hand.

Garrett laughed. "I doubt that." He shook her hand, but it was more like he was massaging it. "I will miss you, Miss Aran."

Samus knew she was going to turn red again, so she turned quickly. I'm glad I can resist him much better than I could before. If I didn't make up with Marth I would probably be smothering him in kisses. Samus walked off.

"One more thing, Samus." Garrett called. "If he ever does anything to you or leaves, I'll still be around."

"I'll keep that mind." She answered without turning around. Her confidence and bravery returned. "I have one more thing for you too. Don't wait on me, Garrett. Find someone else. I'm positive that Marth and I are going to be together for a very long time." Samus continued to walk. He didn't respond to her comment. Maybe he's thinking about what I said. Or maybe he didn't listen at all. He's just like Captain Falcon in a way. He never gives up. But unlike Falcon he's more respectable towards women and he won't rush them into anything. Samus smiled as she thought of Marth. But I already have someone who is better than two of them combined.

"So what are you going to do now. Veronica?" Zelda asked.

"Well, with my father gone, I'll start a new life with my mother. Maybe when I see Katy again, we can start over. I hope she can forgive me for the accident." Veronica stroked the clone Pichu in her arms.

Zelda smiled. "I'm sure she will. From what I've seen from the two days without the mind-controlling device, how could she not forgive someone like you. You're really a nice and sweet girl. Very different for the girl I met."

Veronica laughed. "Thanks. I still can't believe we're talking like this. This is the way it should have been from the beginning." Veronica turned around and saw her brother coming back. "I guess it's time to go." She turned back to Zelda. "It was so nice to meet on different circumstances than before. Maybe we'll meet again."

"Possibly." Zelda said. She was cut off by a hug.

"Thank you." Veronica whispered. "Thank you for freeing me from that nightmare."

Zelda stood there for a moment. Again, she found this to be one of the most bizarre things ever. She had gone from Veronica grabbing her by the collar and threatening her to a kinder Veronica hugging her and declaring her gratitude. Was it a dream? If it were, Zelda didn't want to wake up. She'd rather face this Veronica than the one she had come to know over the past few weeks. She then returned the hug. "Anytime."

Veronica sighed and let go of the princess. She turned around to face Samus. "I have thank you too, Samus."

Samus gave her a light smile. "It was nothing."

"No. It was because of you and my brother's teamwork, you found out how to stop me. Plus all your other friends too."

Samus cut her eyes past Veronica. "Um…yeah…sure."

"You and Garrett were like the perfect duo." Veronica added.

Zelda eyed Samus at that comment, but Samus kept her composure. "Please don't say that."

Veronica didn't reply to the remark. "Can you tell them I said thank you for their help? Well ,I must be going now. Bye, girls." Veronica skipped off to the plane with the clone Pichu in her arms. She followed her brother Garrett and they walked up the ascending stairs into the jet. Samus watched them give one last wave, but she saw Garrett staring at her. They climbed into the jet and in under a minute the jet took off into the sky.

As they left, Samus crossed her arms. "What a weird family."

Zelda shoved her elbow into Samus' side. "Sam! That's not nice." Secretly, Zelda felt the same way. The two took off towards their own plane. After a while of walking, Zelda spoke. "So what did Garrett want?"

"Nothing important. He just confessed his undying love for me." Samus said flatly.

"I'd say that's very important." Zelda looked at Samus through the corner of her eye. "And how did you respond to him?"

Samus kept her gaze forward. "I just told him what you said."

"And?" Zelda asked.

"Well, he took it well. In the sense that he said he loves me, but he would put his love on pause until Marth and I crash and burn or something. His reason was he knew we made up, but he said he also knew what Marth and me agreed on. But I don't know how he could possibly know."

"What did you two agree on?" Zelda said

Samus stopped walking and face her friend. "We agreed to no longer date."

"What? No longer date?" Zelda repeated.

"Only temporarily." Samus explained.

Zelda didn't care about that statement. "Temporarily or not. I don't understand. You two were so close last night at the party. How did that happen?"

"It happened after you and everyone else went to bed. Marth called me in the middle of the night and said we needed to talk again. And so we did. We talked about each other and our lives and then it came down to the fact that we shouldn't be dating so exclusively."

"Why?"

"As you know, Zel, I've been having problems with guys like Garrett. I'm still slightly attracted to them and to be honest, there might still be a little lingering feeling of care for Garrett. I'm sure it'll pass in time. Either way, I found out from Marth that even he has moments where he would flirt with another girl. Not that I already didn't know this, of course. Roy has such a mouth on him. And so you see, that's basically why. Mewtwo told us right, we got together too quickly. Until we can get past our uncertain feelings, we decided not to date each other again like we used to. We may do a few things together, but only like small, meaningless dates. Dates that don't mean we have to be in a relationship." Samus ended.

Zelda just stared. "I can't believe you just told me that. You guys seem the most sure about each other. Is this what you think Garrett knows is going on between you and Marth?"

"I'm guessing. So now I'm vulnerable to him, aren't I?"

"Pretty much. But you have to stay strong, Sam. Don't give in to his attractive looks. Look past them and remember who his relatives were and his perverted bar friends."

Samus laughed nervously at that. "That'll definitely be something to keep in mind. But don't worry. I'm sure we'll start dating like we used to sooner or later. But until then, I'll just have to be sharp."

Peach looked up and saw her friends returning. "There you two are. Your guys are looking for you. They took your suitcases to the plane already. I told them you both were freshening yourself up. They're standing by the plane I think."

"Okay. Come on. We better get on the plane too." Samus helped Peach off the bench and the three of them walked over to the plane.

"So ends our lovely vacation." Zelda said as she waved to Link, waiting for her by the plane as Peach said. "Think we'll get another one?"

"Not for a very, very long time." Samus answered as she walked over to Marth.

Marth had a smile on his face. He held up a familiar piece of jewelry in his hand. "I believe this new clasp will hold your bracelet together. Plus all the dents are out of your bracelet."

Samus took back the bracelet he had given her some time ago and looked at it. "It looks brand new." She gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Marth. This means a lot. But maybe you should keep it since we're not dating like we used to anymore."

Marth shook his head. "Doesn't matter. That bracelet is a symbol of the bond that keeps us together. Besides I doubt I'll see another person with the same name as you, Samus."

Samus laughed at Marth's corny joke. "You can be so silly sometimes. And that's what I like about you."

"Aww...think we'll be like them one day?" Zelda said as she snuggled against Link's shoulder, who only chuckled and pressed his face against hers.

Roy rolled his eyes at both couples. "Come on, guys! Please don't get mushy on the plane ride home. It's a good five hour flight."

"Roy!" Peach exclaimed. "Leave them alone. You're just jealous that you don't have someone special in your life like Marth and Link do."

"Please. I can get anyone. I'll have someone in good time." He lowered his eyes at Peach as he started to board the plane. "You on the other hand, are going to be one of those old miserable ladies whose best chance for a husband is her cat." He laughed and boarded the plane.

Peach grew angry. "I'm going to strangle that jerk!" She stormed onto the plane. The other four smashers laughed as they heard arguing and fighting on the plane.

Samus turned to Link and Zelda. "We better hurry and get on before we get left."

"You guys go ahead. I need to talk to Zelda for a moment."

"Alright then. See you on the plane." Marth said as he and Samus walked up the stairs.

"Oh, wait." Samus looked in her carry-on bag. She pulled out a large black handed it to Marth. "Here's your book back from when we first came here."

"The book!" Marth remembered his beloved book was stolen on the plane ride here. "You had it this whole time."

"Well, Link and Roy hid it in my carry-on bag. They suggested I throw it over a bridge, but I know how much your books mean to you and I figured in case you got bored, you could read it. But you see, you had fun without it." She sighed. "So, now that you've spent a little bit of socializing time with us, you can have the book and read it if you want. I'd hate to leave you suffering both here and back."

Marth looked at the book. He tucked it under his arm. "That's alright, I can read anytime. This is probably our last time to spend much time together before I go back to investigating Altea and you go back to missions." Marth brushed some of Samus' hair out of her face from the wind. "I rather spend my five hours talking to my friends and spend some time talking to just you."

Samus smiled. "I would too." She followed Marth onto the plane as he put his arm around her shoulder.

Zelda smirked. "Their little break-up won't last long."

Link shook his head . "Of course not. The first thing that's going to happen is Marth's going to get all paranoid and complain to Roy and me."

"Then Samus is going to start feeling guilty and talk to me and Peach."

"And then they'll face each other and …"

"They'll argue for half a day, then get together the next day, and that'll be end of that." Zelda giggled thinking about it. "We know them well, don't we?"

"Too well." Link pulled something out of his pocket. It was a white envelope. He waved it in front of Zelda's face. She looked at him as he explained, "Falco was supposed to give this to you two days ago and he just remembered now. This was your other surprise. It's a letter from Hyrule."

Zelda gasped. She took the note slowly from his hands. She opened the envelope and three contents came out of the envelope. There were two amulets and a bracelet. Zelda looked at the note that fell out. She slowly read it.

Zelda,

It has been a while since I've seen you. I know you're making us proud while you are in Nintendo. But we've always been proud of you. Since it is your sixteenth birthday, your father believes it's time for you to carry the Tri-Force amulets of Farore and Nayru. I will explain later what theses amulets are for. In the meantime, please take good care of these items. Give the green amulet to Link and you keep the blue one. I know you two will keep them safe.
The third item in the letter is your Mother's bracelet. Right before your mother passed, she gave it to me and she wanted me to pass it on to you when I felt you were mature enough. You have developed into a lovely young lady. Your father may not say it often and he may seem like he doesn't care for you, but he is quite proud of the splended young woman you are becoming. He believes you are in your mother's image.

I hope you are having a lovely birthday and we miss you. We hope to see you again soon.

Love,

Your Father and Impa

PS Make sure you keep that fairy boy under control.

Zelda clutched the note tightly in her hands. "I never thought I would hear from them again."

Link placed the amulet of Nayru around Zelda's neck. It was a whole fake triforce with the three pieces and in the middle of it was a blue like sphere and the blue power inside was swirling around inside the sphere like wind. His was exactly the same except his amulet was the power of Farore and it was green. "Are you going to be okay?"

Zelda felt tears come to her eyes, but they were tears of joy. "Yes. I always thought something happened to them. But now that I have this letter in my possession, I know they're alright." She wiped her tears away. "I feel like a large weight was just lifted off of me. Even still, I do miss Hyrule."

Link thought about his home. "I miss Hyrule too. But they'll be okay without us. They seem to be doing fine right now."

Zelda nodded. "Yes." She looked at her blue sphere necklace. "I guess we have a duty now. We have to protect these amulets. I wonder how hard that will be?"

"We're a great team, Zelda. We'll be able to handle this easily. As long as we have each other to rely on." He kissed Zelda's forehead. "I'm going to always be here for you."

"And I will be here for you. too." Zelda smiled. "We'll keep Hyrule safe for as long as we live. I'm sure our future adventures are going to be a real roller coaster."

"Don't know what the future holds, but I think our future is going to be bright." He heard their names being called. "Looks like we better hurry onto the plane." Link shoved the envelope into his pocket as they walked side by side onto the plane. "Hmm…a plane ride. huh?" He smirked at Zelda. "You scared?"

Zelda thought about it. Let's see. I'm going on a plane ride with my good friends Samus, Peach, Marth, and Roy. Plus I have you with me Link. And the six of us will be too busy having fun.

She lightly laughed as she squeezed Link's free hand gently and whispered into his ear. "Not anymore."

THE END

IT'S OVER! Well it's been real reviewers. Thanks for all you have done. I would like to thank all the people who put this in their favorites. And I thank the following reviewers:

Hylian Princess,

xxlovely-,

RoyalFanatic,

Anomaly10,

halomasterchief,

Mullenium Master,

mew katt

SnowCrystal,

Babykoalaprincess,

Sage Of Downtwon Hyrule,

The Mad Joker,

KuroNeko1492,

Rynada,

Peanut673,

sasukeuchiha180,

animeluvagirl93,

Kitsoony,

Midnight,

who cares,

Psychogunner,

Vaun Harkinian,

crystalicios,

sam,

Harakiri-Penguin

reindled wildfire13,

Nakoya,

Itxier,

Crazyfreak,

Ickiakki,

Anon.,

DlandZel,

theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff,

Z-Lover,

Crazed Individual,

ryupendragon13,

Your #1 Fan,

Wildfirerekindled1994,

anime/videogame freak,

superdave,

ryuchan13,

Numbah X,

TieFighterPlt181st,

SHSW360,

Sweet-Saphine,

ashley-the-b-daplayer,

PrincessT,

Numdenu,

XxSaphire EyesxX,

THEFLOOD,

Encumbrance,

Anonymous,

Fallen D,

Sweswe,

shooter rainy,

Shadow Link50,

Clario,

Keaton,

Moonbeam,

MarthZeldaLink-triangle fan,

the hero of time 2005,

takigurl,

SweetChobit,

darkbth,

pikachukitty,

Super Davis,

Sunruner,

HappyHam,

Zekoi,

Brackish,

Candi,

funkymoleperson,

zeldaisthebest,

Hamtarolover226,

israelac,

Jedi Chick –A-,

ZeldaFreak,

X-Aria-Ztar-X,

Chocolate-Snowman-2222,

Yuki-Year of the Rat

You guys are all so awesome. I was thinking of something. I wanted to make a forum where of us can just gather and talk about our stories and give advice on stories and stuff. But it will all be positive. I think it would be nice if we all exchange advice and stuff. So I was thinking of making the forum myself. It'll be called Fanfiction Extravaganza. And we can all just have topics on fanfiction and stuff. I think it would be fun. But if it doesn't work out, I'll just delete it. Anyway, where do I go from here? Well I've been thinking about writing about four more stories all at the same time. I don't know what to name two of the stories. One of them is nameless and its sort like a connecting story to this one. But in the meantime while I work it out keep an eye out for the two new upcoming stories My Smile is Yours and Romanticism. My Smile is Yours is going to be a mature and serious romance. Not sexually mature. It will still be rated T. I'm still a proper child. Romanticism is going to be a silly love story with many couples coming together thanks to a certain cupid and then there's someone trying to break the couples apart. That's all I'll tell you for now. I guess while I'm working on those stories I would like to read your guys' stories so please update them. You don't know how happy I am that you had the patience for my slow updating. I thank you again. I never thought I would reach over 200 reviews. Anyway, I'm going to miss you all. Bye now! Now, please excuse me while I pass out from exhaustion of writing. (Passes out)

Royal Kenya