Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I claim profit from them.

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Tangled Web We Weave

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zelxpeach

samxsheik

peachxsam

samxzel

samxzelxpeach

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The world is eclipsed in swirling tendrils of cigarette smoke and ash. The sweet smell of tanglible dreams burn her nostrils, but she pays no heed. She has the universe at her fingertips, at her feet; she's royalty, after all. She's the Queen, the matriarch of her people. A petty excuse for the fact that she's in bed with another woman, truth be told; but her mind, wicked thing it is, delcares, "fuck it all".

Peach kisses down her sternum, down the slender arch of her body.

She murmurs some sort of nonsense; "I love you, I love you" when love has nothing to do with anything at all. Love complicates things, says Father, love makes us fools. Marriage is the path of the crown, end of story, no fairytale ever afters, no 'happily's. Peach's fingers, free of the virgin white gloves, trace paths over her breasts, and a curtain of silken sunshine frames their faces. They kiss, of course; Peach's silly attempts at convincing the world, "Look, I can love, love isn't wrong."

Love is blind, yes, not wrong.

Peach's lips are fire on her skin, a brand; Zelda cooes in response, wraps her stocking clad legs around the princess's waist, undulates beneath Peach's body.

Wrongwrongwrongwrong Sheik chants. Wrongwrongwrong.

Shutupshutupshutupshutup, Zelda thinks, throwing her head back and crying out when Peach's lips find a spot on her neck that just drives her crazy(er).

"I love you," Zelda gasps again, into Peach's ear.

Peach says, "I know," and her voice is thick with emotion and tears unshed; the world explodes in starlight and euphoria as Peach's finger slide gently, gently inside and curl. "I love you too".

They awake, huddled against each other, in the throes of puppy love and the taste of their girlcrush on their lips, and oh, the taste is sweet.

(likepeachesandcream)

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andthensheikcomesout

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The world is eclipsed in cold metal and steel. The smell of blood and sweat makes her nose crinkle, but she doesn't care. Samus is everywhere, all at once, lips and teeth biting and drawing a ragged gasp and a hiss from her lips. The universe has them dangled by their strings, puppets in a web of lies and liasons, and the knowledge that the end is near drives them faster, faster. There's no gentle cooes, no awed whispers; only sharp demands and orders.

"Don't hold back," Sheik growls against Samus' neck, trapped in a cage of limbs. Samus' lips curve into a frown from their spot against Sheik's neck.

"Fine," she mutters. She grabs Sheik's wrists and holds them, easily, pinned above her, hands held tight against the cold metal. Her teeth sink into Sheik's collarbone; Sheik lets out a pained whine, Samus shudders at the sound; in pain? in pleasure? Sheik can't tell.

Does she want to?

No.

Samus's fingers rip away the bandages over Sheik's chest, wisps of cloth dragging over her breasts; she lets out a breath.

Stopstopstopstopstop Zelda screams.

Sheik doesn't even bother with a response; the end is coming, they both know it; perhaps Sheik wants Zelda to feel just how bad the real world hurts, because for seven goddamned years Sheik had to feel it. Why shouldn't Zelda feel it? Let Peach walk in, see them; the thought makes her chuckle.

"Zelda can feel it, can't she," Samus hisses darkly against Sheik's lips. "She knows, doesn't she?"

"Yes," Sheik says.

Samus rips away, then, wiping the back of her mouth. Her eyes are smoldering with hate and disgust; at herself, at Sheik, at everything.

"Get the fuck out," she rasps, baring her teeth, "I'm not your fucking tool. Whatever you've got against Zelda, leave me the fuck out of it."

Sheik bows her head, fixing her clothes. She stands, leaves, but her eyes seem to say, "yes you are". Samus is alone, again.

"I'm not a tool," she says, "I'm not a tool. I'm human."

The suit glows in the darkness.

("areyou?" it asks.)

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peachknowstoo

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The world is eclipsed by sheer curtains and the sun's bleeding corpse. The smell of floral perfume and female charms fog her brain, but she ignores the comforting aura Peach radiates as their hands clasp together. Peach is too sweet for this, too innocent. Samus feels the gallons of blood staining her hands, and suddenly feels dirty. She wants to hate Peach for making her feel weak, but the fact that Peach is just so ready to give Samus forgivness without expecting something in return makes hating her impossible.

"Sheik tried to sleep with me," she says. Best to get it over with. "I almost let her."

Peach is silent.

"Zelda was there. Inside." Peach stiffens, and her lips part in surprise. Samus coughs, tries to draw her hands away from the warm clasp of Peach's own; Peach holds on, still.

"They're different," the princess murmurs. "Two sides of a coin, yes; heads, tails. What Sheik feels and what Zelda feels are different."

But Samus can see it; she can see that pain in Peach's eyes. Trying to convince herself that she can still keep everyone happy and have her own little slice of ever after.

"I love her," Peach says, suddenly. "I really do. I'm not supposed to."

"That's nice," Samus says, awkwardly.

Peach's eyes start to fill with tears. "I'm trying to love all of her, I am, I am!"

Samus draws back; then she wraps an arm around Peach's shoulders, draws her close. She flinces when tears, hot and heavy, hit the exposed curve of her neck.

"But I can't," Peach wails, "because--"

"Yeah," Samus interupts. Sheik doesn't love Peach, so Peach doesn't love Sheik.

Love isn't easy, it isn't wrong, but it's blind.

Peach arms wrap around Samus' waist, tightly. She sobs. "I'm trying, but it's just too hard!" Samus says nothing, only holds onto Peach's shaking shoulders tighter. She presses a kiss to the crown of Peach's head, indulging in the sweet smell of Peach's shampoo.

"I'm trying," Peach says again.

"I know," Samus murmurs, tilting up Peach's face. Her make up is messy, now, Samus realizes, but Peach is still so damn pretty. "It's alright. She knows."

She leans down, presses a gentle kiss to the corner of Peach's mouth. "She knows."

(i'llfillinthegap)

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there'sagaponlyshecanfill

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"You kissed her," Zelda says, softly "you let her kiss you."

Samus doesn't answer.

"Sheik doesn't love you; Sheik doesn't love anyone." Zelda covers her face. "Sheik is-"

"Bitter. Twisted. Hurt. Lonely." Samus trails off. "Funny. S'just like me. I can't love anyone either."

Zelda flattens her lips. "Is it because you're afraid?"

"No," Samus says, "it's because I don't know how."

Zelda reaches forward to brush Samus' face; Samus ducks her fingers.

"You're not a saint," she says roughly, "stop forcing yourself to be."

"I-"

"You can't love all of her, because she can't love all of you," Samus says, "and you both know it."

Zelda acknowledges this with a choked, bitter laugh.

"If I can fill that gap," Samus says slowly, as if testing the waters of her idea for the first time, "then you'll both be happy, right?"

"Why would you do that to yourself?"

"Because I'm human," Samus says to herself, more than to Zelda, "and it's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

("justdon'tgettooattached")

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toolate

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The world is eclipsed by lies and deciet, by love and hope.

There's no smell to addle her brain.

Only taste; only touch.

The sex is too awkward to try at first; who does what, when, oops...; Samus is far more experienced, Zelda's a fast learner, Peach is eager. Then the sex becomes far too good to pass up.

Love is a forbidden word that Samus refuses to say or receive. Love is for Peach, for Zelda; Samus is there to fill in that gap, only that, after all. Sheik's voice mocks her lightly ("thought you weren't a tool?").

Then, one night, when the world is quiet and sweat clings to their bodes, Peach murmurs, "I love you."

Zelda replies with a mumbled, "...'ve you too..."

Samus says, "I love you."

They both look up at her. "Don't get too attached", Samus had warned. Zelda smiles warmly, slips one arm around Samus and entines another with Peach's hand; their joined limbs rest on Samus' stomach. Peach cooes something sweet and sappy, kisses below Samus' ear, and lays her head in the crook of her neck.

Sheik is silent.

The suit doesn't glow.

(loveisn'tblind)

...they lived happily...

.ever after has yet to be revealed.

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end

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