It's yet another one-shot! This wasn't inspired by anything in particular, but it's more of me wanting to write about the three SSBB characters I use most often when in roleplays. Something of a mix between getting inside their heads and seeing how they'd interact with each other.

Also, do be aware that there is very slight (mostly onesided?) Dedede x Zelda in this. As in, only-some-brief-mentions slight. It's something I had in mind for this story, but it didn't end up playing out very much when I actually wrote it.

(1-4-12: Minor edits done to fix awkward phrases and formatting.)

The sun was beginning to disappear over the horizon, but its light would stay for some time. It played with the odd warp in space out over the sea, creating a shining glare in the shape of an 'X' in the sky. It was a beautiful sight, given how long they had been stuck in the cold world of Subspace.

But, for one individual, there was no beauty to be found. Only sadness. R.O.B. stood at the very edge of the cliff, looking at the glare. In that spot, his land used to float there. The Island of the Ancients had been his home, and the home of all the other R.O.B. units, for as long as they had existed. But, now...

He closed his eyes shut, beginning to tremble. It was all his fault, wasn't it? He could have stopped the production of the bombs. But, instead, he made a miscalculation, thinking that complying with orders would save them all. Instead, there was nothing left. No technology, no island, no friends. The only trace of the island's existence that remained was this lone robot.

To someone that had been created with the sole purpose of leading those on the island into prosperity, it was a fate worse than death.

Watching from afar was Zelda. She had been talking with Peach for a while, but their conversation had long ended. Now, with Peach busy checking over some of the younger ones for any injuries, Zelda had taken up watching the others. No one had left this cliff, exhausted from their fight with Tabuu. Instead, people split into little groups. Some, like Mario and Link, went with old friends to talk about their ordeals. Others, such as Diddy, Captain Falcon, and Olimar, had only just met recently and were now trying to learn more about each other.

Then there were those who stayed away, all off on their own. These, however, consisted almost entirely of those who had, at some point, worked under Tabuu. The sole exception was Dedede, who was finding it hard to gain the trust of everyone there. Zelda found herself trying to sympathize with all of them. For some people, like Ganondorf, this was extremely difficult, but for others, she felt more than a few pangs of pity for them.

Dedede had also started watching others. There weren't very many people to talk to. Sure, Ness and Luigi had become friends of sorts, but they were talking to people they knew better. Everyone else was either too engaged with their own group, or kept giving off cold vibes. He could swear that a few were glaring at him, even, despite what he had done for this world. Even as someone with great pride, Dedede couldn't help but feel a little lonely.

A chance glance at the one loner who wasn't regarding him with contempt led to him watching R.O.B. begin to teeter uneasily on the edge of the cliff, seemingly too lost in thought to realize this. "Hey!" Dedede didn't know if anyone else saw, and thus he chose to react now, running towards the robot and grabbing him by one of his arms, pulling him back a few feet before he completely toppled over into the ocean below. "Are you crazy or somethin'?"

R.O.B.'s gaze swept over the others. Few had even noticed, and most of those that did seemed like they were about ready to go back to their own conversations. Drooping his head in sadness, R.O.B. just closed his eyes again.

He felt himself being shaken, and Dedede's voice still struck him angrily. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Answer me already!" R.O.B. opened his eyes, but could only stare up sadly at the penguin. An awkward silence followed, before Dedede loosened his grip, staring at the ground. "Oh, right. No voice. You can't answer."

R.O.B. didn't know how to react. A part of him did not trust Dedede at all, and his actions and words did not help. But, on the other hand, R.O.B. was still thankful for the possibility of company. He turned away, pulling his arm free, but did not object when Dedede sat down a few feet away from him.

"So, was that an accident, or were you seriously thinking of jumping?" Dedede asked. "Beep twice for the first."

R.O.B. started two slow beeps – it was the closest thing to an actual voice he had – but as the second came out, he wondered if he really hadn't intended to jump. After all, he could have easily moved away... He added a third beep, then a fourth.

"What? What the heck's that supposed to mean? Do you just not know what you were thinking?"

R.O.B. nodded, and was met with Dedede clicking his tongue. The robot knew he must have seemed like a wreck now. But, could anyone really blame him?

At this point, Zelda decided to come over, and see what was up. She got up from where she had been sitting for the past half hour or so and walked up behind the pair. "Hello, Dedede, R.O.B.. Do you mind if I join you two?"

Dedede shrugged. "Ah, go ahead. I need someone who can actually talk, at least."

R.O.B. glared at him, which Zelda noticed. She spoke up for his sake. "Don't be hard on him. You can still probably hold a conversation with him."

"How so?"

Zelda sat down between the two, although it was a tight fit, as they hadn't been that far apart to begin with. "Easy. You look at his body language, and see the emotions. A stance or a look can say so much more than words sometimes."

Dedede looked over at her, scooting away a few inches so that they weren't pressed up so closely. "Alright, then. Tell me what you can see about me right now."

Zelda tilted her head to the side, thinking, before she responded. "You're on edge, because a bunch of people are ignoring you even though, without you, all would be lost. There's also the issue of some people being hostile towards you for the humiliation you put them through. You're taking your frustration out on R.O.B. because he can't talk back. Oh, and you think I'm cute."

"What! No, you're off the mark, especially with that last thing! I mean, that came out of the blue and everything!"

"Then, tell me why your cheeks got a little pink when I brushed against you, and you got even more flushed just now," Zelda smiled sweetly, as if she didn't realize who she was teasing – or if she even was teasing.

Dedede looked away, suppressing a snarl. "Okay, if you're so smart, then how about R.O.B.? What's he feeling right now? Tell me!"

"Certainly."

R.O.B. looked over at the princess, and their eyes met. He became a bit uneasy at this. It felt like she was seeing right into whatever soul he had, and that she could feel everything he felt. Perhaps this was the case, as for a moment, R.O.B. saw his sadness reflected in her eyes. When Zelda blinked, though, the air of composure she had was back, and she began to speak.

"R.O.B... You've been through so, so much. I've heard from the other groups about your people and what happened. You're sad because so many died following you, correct? But...I mean, aren't there others, somewhere? In your land? It should have turned to normal with the rest of the world, right?"

R.O.B. felt like there was a blow to his gut, or at least where it would have been. He stared back out to the glare in the sky, directing the other two to do the same. A few seconds of silence passed, before Zelda gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth.

"What's wrong, princess?" Dedede asked.

"I...I get it now..." Zelda replied, her voice sad and quiet. "It must have been warped beyond repair when all those bombs went off... Everything of the Island of the Ancients was been wiped from existence. Everything except..."

Dedede looked over at R.O.B., knowing how the sentence ended. "Damn. That's terrible. No wonder you tried to jump into the sea."

"He did what?" Zelda, in a burst of emotion, grabbed R.O.B. by his wrist. "You can't! They wouldn't want you to do such a thing!"

As R.O.B. tried to pull away, Dedede put a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "Calm down, kid, I don't know if he actually was. I don't think even he knows if that was intentional or not."

"...Don't call me a kid," Zelda muttered, letting go of R.O.B. and shrugging off Dedede. "I'm not one, and I'm only about seven years younger than you anyway."

"I meant it endearingly, you know," Dedede responded, but did not say anything else on the matter.

R.O.B. watched how silent the two had become, and wondered if it was either because of him or because of what they had just said to each other. He moved close to Zelda, enjoying the slight warmth, even though he wasn't able to actually feel it. R.O.B. also couldn't sit in the normal sense, but he was able to mimick it, moving down and bending his base forward so that he was at least about level with his companions.

"...I'm sorry," Zelda apologized; to whom, she did not specify. "R.O.B., please listen, though. Your people would not want you to suffer. They would want you to move on, and be happy. You have friends here, too, so you are not alone. Remember that."

R.O.B. nodded slowly. The pain was much too real to simply cast aside now. But, next to an ally, he felt like there was now a glimmer of hope. He would have to hold onto this spark if he wanted to keep going.

Zelda drew her knees up to her chest. "You know, I've had to endure hardships too, as the matriarch of Hyrule. I... My father died a few years ago. I was only seventeen then, but I was the only heir to the throne. It's been something of a baptism by fire, having to learn to run an entire kingdom. R.O.B., maybe you've also been faced with this proposition concerning your people: 'Life? Or death?'"

The two next to her watched her swallow hard and rest her head near her knees. Memories of the incident with Zant came back to her like a flood. And, for R.O.B., memories of being confronted by a controlled Master Hand came back to him. It was possibly the worst dilemma a ruler could face.

"...We're not so different, actually," Zelda whispered, looking up. "We surrendered peacefully to try and protect everyone, but they suffered anyway, and we were the ones left to watch. Just as you wore the robes synonymous with your Ancient Minister identity to hide your shame, I wore black robes to mourn those that had their physical form taken away by my choice. And, in the end, we avenged them. The key difference is that I've had more time to recover. But, hey, there's never a bad time for you to start."

The two looked at each other again, except this time R.O.B. analyzed Zelda right back, not paying any mind to her own scanning gaze. They were now connected on a level few others could connect on. They made choices, and made mistakes that cost them dearly. R.O.B. now understood that it was fully possible to keep going. The proof of this sat on his right, looking back at him.

Dedede broke into the conversation now. "Being a leader is tough work."

"It is, isn't it..." Zelda trailed off, before taking the conversation in a new direction. "Can you elaborate a little more on that, though? I've heard all kinds of rumors about you..." R.O.B. also turned his attention to Dedede; this, he was interested in hearing.

"Not much to say. I decided I wanted to be king, so I went ahead and declared it," Dedede pretended to be thinking more about this. "No one respected me, so I decided to say, 'Screw that, I'll make my own decisions'."

"You have a 'what's best for me is best for the people' mentality, don't you?" Zelda asked. "I've heard about what you've done, taking all the food for yourself and other such things. Perhaps that's why your kingdom won't respect you? You reap what you sow, after all..."

Dedede suddenly got up. "I didn't ask for your input on that, princess!"

"You risked hearing it by telling us, though," Zelda replied calmly, in contrast to his anger.

"You know, I didn't stick around this group just to get insulted. There's a reason I'm not hanging out with the others. I saved your asses. Shouldn't that count for something? I'm not like the others you all shun!"

Dedede's voice had gotten increasingly louder, and it only made the silence following it that much more painful. R.O.B. glanced around, seeing that, once again, they had attracted brief attention from everyone else, but as before, they were already beginning to return to their conversations. R.O.B. then watched as Dedede turned away, beginning to leave.

"Wait!" Zelda grabbed the back of his robe, stopping him from going further. "I... I'm sorry, it was mean of me to bring it up like that so bitterly... Don't go. I want to hear what you have to say..."

Dedede looked back, down at her, then at R.O.B., then out into the horizon. "...The sun's down now; it's starting to get dark."

"Don't change the subject... Just stay for a while, please?" Zelda pulled him down back next to her. "...I've heard good things about you, too. You know when to stop messing around and start doing things to save the world, or at least those around you. Something about crystal shards and Dark Matter, I think?"

"Yeah, and plus there's the time I broke the Star Rod," Dedede sighed. "Everyone thought I was just being a jerk by preventing anyone from having dreams, but I was trying to prevent Nightmare from spreading, well, nightmares. I might be pretty selfish, but I can put aside my needs if serious stuff's going down."

"Why didn't you explain yourself, though?"

"...Honestly, after everything you've heard about me, do you think they would listen? I've never told anyone of what I was planning, because most would accuse me of lying! Why do you think I had to group up people to take on Tabuu later on the way I did?" Dedede needed to vent his anger out on something, and picked up a rock. Turning to once again face the sea, he threw it out towards the ocean, watching it tumble down below, shrinking from view until it could not be seen, even before it hit the water below. "...Of course, it's not like I need their blessing to be a hero. I'll do what I want, when I want, whether they know my hows and whys or not."

Zelda hung her head, and not just because she pitied Dedede for having to put up with distrust. She had been one of the ones he tried to save, and he had even sacrificed his own badge for her. And still, in the end, it didn't get to work on the intended person... "Point. But, I guess there's a few similarities you have with us. That is, you'll protect your people if you need to, sometimes by drastic means. Correct?"

R.O.B. wasn't sure how to agree on Zelda with this. Perhaps he was just biased, but he found it harder to warm up to Dedede than she did. True, now he seemed a lot less villainous and a lot more like a normal person with his quirks and flaws, but R.O.B. was not yet sure how much trust he'd put in Dedede. But, maybe, if Zelda, the wise young woman who stepped up to the head of her land before she was in her twenties, could put all of her trust in Dedede...

Whether this was naivety or a true lack of bias, Dedede was just thankful to know at least one person was on his side, although he wasn't about to admit it out loud. "Yeah, sure, if that's what you think. I mean, in the end, we've all been heroes, right?"

"Like at the end of this day," Zelda smiled, sneaking a quick scan over everyone else gathered on the cliff. "...How do you think Master Hand's doing?"

"The better question is, where is he?" Dedede shook his head.

R.O.B. stared down to the sea, as if he would suddenly gain the ability to see through the depths, to the bottom. Master Hand had to be down there somewhere. He couldn't die from being underwater, since he would be unaffected by the pressure or the lack of air, but he would probably have to take a long time to recover. Eventually, the others would come to terms with this, and for now, they'd have to learn to move on without the god of this world.

A breeze rushed by, and Zelda shivered. Dedede looked at her, concerned. "Are you cold? You can borrow my robe if you want..."

Zelda as caught off guard by this uncharacteristic show of generosity, but did what she could not to show it. "N...no, it's alright. It was just a little chill. But, let's just stay together, all of us. It's a little... I-I like the warmth, honestly..."

"Wait, but shouldn't we all start heading our separate ways?"

Zelda stared forward, at the dusk settling in the sky. "I think everyone is going to spend the night here. That's not even beginning to consider what we might have to do tomorrow. We're supposed to continue planning for the next Smash Season and everything, but we're missing Master Hand, so who knows what'll happen..." Zelda's eyes lit up as she thought of something. "Oh! Dedede, R.O.B., why don't you two join?"

"Us?" Dedede was echoing R.O.B.'s same thoughts, and ironically was speaking for someone with a completely polar personality as well as himself. "That'd be great! But, don't we need Master Hand's permission? Even I know when yelling my way in ain't gonna work."

"I think," Zelda explained, grinning, "that after the heroic deeds both of you have displayed, he would be more than willing to let you in. I'll put in a good word when I can; I might be new as well, but the previous Zelda's reputation is a big boost. But, for now... For now, let's just rest. It's been a long week, or even longer for some of us."

As darkness fell, on the outermost edge, three leaders stayed close together. In many aspects, they were as different as could be. But, at their cores, they had faced similar challenges, and they were now ready to move on. And now, they didn't have to make the journey alone.

I have to say, this actually revealed some surprising chemistry between R.O.B. and Zelda. Only halfway through this did I realize the similarities in their pasts. But, anyway, thanks for reading!