Hello, all! Twin - Tailed Callie here. I'm well aware that I haven't submitted much recently so, to keep you all alive and let you know I haven't died, here's the first part of that Kirby story I was on about. I don't know if I will continue to write this but if I keep watching 'Hosi no Kaabii', I should. Please tell me if you like it but don't give me ideas for a new chapter unless I ask you. Thank you all and enjoy! :)

I couldn't help but sigh with relief as I shut the door behind me. It had been raining hard all day and school had been as dull as anything. I'd tried to stay optimistic but I was just happy to get home out of the cold and wet. I turned my key in the lock and threw my soaked bag on the floor – no doubt all my work would be soggy and I'd have to dry it all out. Great!

Since it was Friday, chucking it down and Mum and Dad wouldn't be home for a while, I decided to warm myself up with a long shower: the water practically burnt my toes, hands and nose. I decided to wash my hair too, so I didn't look like Medusa on a night on the town. After that, I pulled on some warm, fuzzy socks, my nightie and pants and my dressing gown before scrubbing a raggedy towel through my vine-like hair. Personally, I couldn't think of a better way to start a wet winter weekend.

A few minutes later, I was sitting at my relatively new computer with a frothy hot chocolate on the untidy desk. 'What to do, what to do?' I wondered, letting my mind slowly amble along. A distant flash through the curtains caught my eye. I stared, scrutinizing the weather outside through the creamy cotton fabric. About a minute passed before a low boom grumbled in the clouds. 'Oh boy, storm coming,' I thought as I sipped at the hot chocolate froth. Storms were common around here so I wasn't worried. Rather, alert; I knew that this baby would be fierce and right on top of the house in a matter of minutes.

History and French homework took a little longer than planned but I had the time so it didn't matter. I turned away from the sink after placing the rinsed mug on the draining board and set off down the corridor – it was getting sub-zero in the house and I fancied staying alive for the evening. I fiddled around with the boiler for a while before the heating came on and trundled back to my room. Another flash of lighting blinded me for a second and a low growl of thunder let me know that the storm wasn't far off.

As I sat at the desk again to turn on my computer, I heard something. It was like a squeak – the kind a rickety floorboard makes if you happen to step on it. It made me pause, but I didn't take much notice of it. The hard drive whirred grumpily to life and my screen-saver faded into view – a picture of an original character a friend had kindly done for me. As I set up the internet, another burst of light lit up the room and the thunder banged immediately afterwards. At that point, I heard another noise; a whimpering. Now, floorboards, as far as I know, don't whimper and it wasn't me.

I turned and my dark hazel-green eyes scanned the walls and mess on the floor; it was then I noticed a large lump under the duvet on my bed and, on that lump, was a note. Curious, I got up and knelt down near to my bed. I could barely read the writing scrawled on the paper:-

'To whomever it may concern,

I am sorry to place such a burden on you but a very critical situation has arisen and I have been left with no choice but to place this one in your care. Please look after him; this child is essential to the stability of our world and yours. He does not understand this as of yet, but I am certain that you will help him to realize his responsibilities.

I humbly thank you,

The Star Warrior, Sir Meta Knight.'

I furrowed an eyebrow in confusion; Sir Meta Knight? Who on Earth was that? I stared heard at the lump of duvet in front of me. I could definitely hear whimpering and sniffling.

I tensely raised a hand and started to extend my arm out towards the duvet. I shivered and a train of thoughts rushed through my brain: 'What am I doing? Why am I doing this? Is this going to affect me in any way? And more importantly, what am I letting myself in for?' There was only one way to find that out though. I placed my hand on the fabric and quickly threw back the covers.

What the-?

A tiny, round, pink ball was on the mattress, shivering like crazy. He had big, red feet, small, stubby arms and his cheeks had soft, dark pink blushes across them. He was snivelling a little and drenched in a cold sweat. I could just see streaks of dried and fresh tears on his face. The poor thing looked absolutely terrified.

I was about to reach out to him when another burst of lightning blasted the room and the thunder roared above us. The pink ball opened his eyes wide in fear and screamed before breaking down in tears. He shivered and wailed, making a terrible noise. As loud as it was, the little guy was scared witless and I couldn't just leave him to it.

"Hey..." I reached out to him but, as if by instinct, the ball jumped and skittered over to the pillows, still shaking fearfully. His dark purple-blue eyes shone with tears.

"Easy, lil' guy... Easy..." I soothed, holding out my hand. "C'mon, it's okay... Come on..."

The ball trembled and stared before slowly crawling over and holding out his stubby arm to mine. I smiled as I took his hand but his skin was freezing.

"Whoa, you're a chilly fella, huh? Stay there; I'll be back soon, okay?"

Soon, I was sitting at my desk again with the pink ball on my lap: he had my hot water bottle on his front and he was wrapped in a warm towel, fresh from the airing cupboard. Also, I had a bunch of cookies on the desk and he had his eyes on them; he was wiggling around to see if he could get to them.

"Oi, steady there, you," I chuckled as I settled him down again. "I've got to warm you up first – you're still freezing cold." The ball stared at me as I tucked him in with inquisitive eyes and an open smile. He seemed to be much happier now than when I found him; he giggled quietly and nuzzled into my waist. I smiled warmly at him – for some reason, whatever this guy did, it seemed to melt my heart. Whether it be a giggle or him wriggling around or when he stared in awe at the hot water in the bottle sloshing around on his front, anything he did made me feel all snug and fuzzy.

Then, I heard a gentle, growling sound. The ball blushed a little bit in surprise then looked away, embarrassed. My stomach flipped – the poor fella was hungry, no doubt. Now it was cookie time. I took the packet, tore it open and pulled out a cookie, offering it to the ball. He looked back, smiled widely and took it from me, threw it into his mouth and happily chomped away. He then clapped his hands, as if asking for more. I carefully dropped another two cookies into his mouth and he gurgled in delight.

"Poyo!"

"So you do talk, eh?"

Poyo, poyo."

"How long have you been under those covers, then? If you've been under them a while, I'll have to change the mattress. It's not good to sleep on a wet mattress, y'know."

"Poyo..."

I sighed. "This isn't much of a conversation, is it? Ah well, let's make a conver-"

Another flash and rumble cut me off and the rain seemed to pound harder on the window pane. The ball shrieked and burst out crying again, grabbing onto my shirt as a need for comfort. Surprised but unperturbed, I rocked him like a baby, cradling him and soothing him.

"He-Hey! Easy there. Hush, hush. It's okay. Shush. It's alright now... there... there ya go..."

The ball trembled and glanced up at me. "P-Poyo?"

"Yeah, it's okay now... Hey, little guy, d'you have a name of any sort? I'm Scarlett."

"S-Scarlett..."

"That's right, Scarlett. Who are you?"

The ball stared and smiled at me; that smile. Damn, it melted my heart.

"K... Kirby. Kirby!"

I almost dropped him. I was holding the real-life Kirby? This was just unreal, absolutely unreal. I knew he couldn't be this adorable and not be Kirby! I should've known when I first set eyes on him. One of the cutest characters on Earth... and I'm holding him... This DID NOT make sense, I swear on my life. This made no sense! This made less sense than the time I tried to do a barrel roll with no barrel! I mean, really, this just made NO sense whatsoever...

Whilst I was in mental denial, Kirby had gone and eaten the whole cookie (packet and all) and was laughing away merrily. I stared down at him; the words of that mysterious note came back to me. '"Essential to the stability of my world and yours... this one in your care... humbly thank you..." Well, if that's what they want, then they'll get it. I'll look after Kirby and he's going to become the best that he can be. I'll show this Meta Knight guy what we can do! Look out Earth; we have a Kirby and we ain't afraid to use him!'

So, there we have it - the first chapter of my first Kirby story. With the girl's name, my mum was originally going to call me 'Scarlett-Romany' so I wanted to use that as the name of one of the protaganists. Please like and review! ^^