Why did I do it? I felt like it. So there. I've had several sad songs stuck in my head for a few days, and decided to bang out a tragedy fic. There ya go! Flamers will be, as you know, harmed in some vulgar or brutal way. I really don't like those damn flamers…

Disclaimer: I own everyone…no I don't…I sadly own no Kirby and company…they belong to whoever created them which is not me. Clear? Good.

Here we go.

Fumu sat up abruptly, her panting breaths breaking the heavy night silence. Sweat beaded her skin, and made her feel hot and sticky. The bedsheets were damp, and her heart was hammering her ribs painfully, ready to break out in its panic session. Fumu let herself fall onto the pillows, resting a wrist over her forehead as she steadied herself.

It was yet another nightmare that had conquered her, stole her peace, and wracked her dreams with fear and sadness.

She didn't want to lose him. Much as he overlooked her, she found he was the only thing she couldn't overlook…

Fumu, though disturbed by the dream, found her eyelids grow heavy, and finally she spun away into blackness…

…

When she awoke, it was well past noon. Fumu sighed heavily, and sat up, feeling the weight of grogginess pull her down like an undertow. She swung out of bed, landing on the floor lightly, and made her way outside.

In the courtyard, her brother Bun was playing soccer with Kirby. As always. It was the same as any other day. Fumu, driven by habit, sat down by the wall nearby, watching the raucous game play out in front of her.

She watched Kirby, the pink puff hero bobbing around the grass after the black and white ball that rolled around the ground. He was a hero, a savior, and now that things were back to normal, he was treated like every other kid in Cappy Town, though his heroics were never forgotten.

Fumu never considered herself a hero of any kind. Merely a side character in Kirby's story. A supporting role. Fumu knew she would never be a hero. She didn't much care if she wasn't. The universe was at peace, and that was all that she needed to be satisfied.

She felt a sudden prescence, and turned her head, stifling a terrified scream.

Blood…broken mask…shards of it piercing the skin…

She blinked. It was gone. In the place where her vision once was…he stood.

Meta Knight watched her through blank amber eyes, but his air radiated curiosity. Fumu sighed, looking back at him. Why do these dreams…know how to hurt me the most? She wailed inwardly.

"Something's bothering you." The knight commented. Fumu shrugged. Why bother talking to me? She thought bitterly, Don't you have to patrol the halls as always?

"No. Nothing." Fumu said, making sure her gaze was forced on the swordsman. It was a big lie, but the last thing she wanted was for people to get caught up in her meaningless problems.

The knight was silent. Fumu felt something tear at her heart. Something like a memory was trying to surface. A reminiscence of her dream…but it was such a hazy memory…no…absolute blankness.

"Poyo!" Kirby shrieked, and Fumu snapped her attention back to the field. Kirby had a dark bruise between his eyes, the rough shape of a foot.

"Bun…" she chided, "Didn't I tell you a thousand times to stop kicking Kirby?"

The boy shrugged indifferently, "Accidents happen." He replied, and walked over to Kirby, nudging his shoulder lightly, "Come on, you're not hurt. Get up."

Kirby was hesitant, but finally he stood, rubbing his sore face tenderly. But the usual shine lingered in his eyes, and a smile resumed on his lips. Kirby bounced happily, pain forgotten, and returned to his game.

Fumu smiled. How lucky she was to know young Kirby. To have stood by his side in his times of need. But why? Why shouldn't she always be by the young warrior's side? But it was true. Fumu felt farther away from Kirby everyday, her heart yearning for a new purpose, a new…what was it? She longed for a direct answer, but her emotions and twisted thoughts mangled her logic…everything was a haze of confusion…

She then turned, and realized Meta Knight had disappeared in his usual silent way. Fumu felt her heart twinge. She frowned, Why'd you leave? She caught the thought. God, what was wrong with her? Kirby was the one she cared about. Bun she also cared about. Why did she feel like she was being drawn away from them? What was this magnet that pulled her deeper into territory she did not know?

…

Fumu lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The shafts of moonlight thrown in through her window cast a glow on her face, making it appear with a silvery lining. Angelic, to say the least. Fumu was weary, but she could not see herself sleeping. Not with her reoccurring nightmares still at large. She laid her hands over her eyes, sighing out her frustration, wishing she could just wail. Why did everything seem so far away? Why was it so hard to think? What was drawing her away…? Why was Kirby so far away? Why did he feel closer to her than anyone else…?

She shut her eyes, a thin blackness smothering her restless conscious. On the verge of a new nightmare, she caught the scent of smoke, of burning…god…don't let her see him burning…she had seen him bleeding, drowning…no more deaths…no more…

Fumu blinked open her eyes, realized the smoke was real. Her entire room was hazy with the emission.

She sat up, instinctual alarm punctuated by the scream of terror rising in her throat. She saw bright orange flickering from behind her door. "No…" she whimpered, and swung out of bed.

Dazed from sleep, she neglected to feel the door, and simply snapped it open, beholding in horror the rising red wall that expelled its deathly heat over her. She screamed, slamming the door as if it was enough to shoo away the flames. To be expected, the fiery death consumed the barrier, slithering into her room like a hell-bent serpent.

"Fumu!" It was Bun's voice. She could just barely make it out over the roar of the fire.

"Fumu!" That was Kirby. Where were the voices coming from?

"Fumu!" Were those her parents? Sounds were melting together. The fire was getting brighter and brighter to Fumu, and the singed feel of the close flames were starting to feel numb…Fumu knew she was going to burn. But why, when she was so confused? Wasting away under a pillar of flames with so many unanswered questions…

"Fumu!" This voice was loudest, as if close. Something shoved her, jolting her painfully back to wakefulness.

She opened her eyes. She screamed. Flames and cinders were piling on top of the knight who braved the fire to save her. Fumu thought this must be another nightmare. Yes! It was a nightmare! It was the same as last night…Meta Knight…her…he was dying. The flames were consuming him.

Fumu made a fist. No more nightmares. No more nightmares. She'd get rid of them, once and for all.

Fumu saw the flames crowding in close. The sound of glass shattering as someone broke her window to come to her rescue. She saw them at her window, ready to take her out of the burning castle and to safety.

Fumu sighed.

She grabbed at the felled knight, smothering the flames on his body. She dragged him to the window, coughing as the foul-tasting smoke filled her lungs. The rescue team took the barely conscious Meta Knight, and Fumu heard creaking above her. She sighed. No more nightmares. She had fixed it. Saved herself. No longer will she be tormented by the dreams that so tourcher her every night…no longer will the one she knows has captured her be tormented within her mind…

She shut her eyes, hearing nothing, seeing nothing, as the ceiling caved in.

…

It had been twelve months. Twelve months since the kitchen in Castle Dedede caught fire and went haywire. Two months since…I lost her.

The sky was gray. The air was dingy and smelled of rain. A full year had passed, much too quickly for me. Everyday a normal day, whisking by me, until finally this grim anniversary came around.

I found myself in a blissful silence and solitude, standing before a stone marker that lay sunken and ivy-swathed in the ground. One rose, shriveled with age, lay aloof from the other bundles of flowers that rested on the turned earth. I twirled a rose stem in my paw, watching it through glazed eyes. I waited.

The first drop of rain fell, hitting the ground in front of me. I let the rose fall atop the old one.

Sighing, I ran a paw over the stone marker, seeing the stone speckle with newborn raindrops.

"Something had been bothering you that day." I spoke at last. I was sincerely glad no one was around to hear me like this, my voice so close to breaking, "You knew…didn't you…" I took a breath, "You knew what would happen, you'd seen it…that much I…can guess. You feared…for me…I know…"

"You may not have been the hero of Kirby's story…" I said, lowering my voice, "But…you will be a hero of mine…I could have…" I paused, willing tears not to spring their way to my eyes, "I could have saved us both…we could…but…you chose me over you…"

I sighed, breathing until I felt steadier, "You thought...you were just nothing…but…you were. You are the reason I am still here…though you may not be able to hear me…you may still think you were never the one to be depended on, to be the savior, that it was never about you…but…" I sighed, letting the tears fall,

"It was about you…"

"Only you…"

Uh huh, tacky, I know. I was going for a romance with no fluff in it whatsoever. Eh, review, will ya? No flames. Thanks…