Heroes of Dreamland, Book 1: Kirby and the Monstrous Lightning (OLD)

World 2 Level 4- Time Passes, A Blossom Blooms

Before she knew it, a year had passed. After realizing she wasn't just a child, Meta Knight had held back even less. After every few weeks of her training, there would come a point where she would finally win a sword duel. But always, the next day, Meta Knight would throw himself even more into the fight, resulting in her losing again. Eventually, however, there came a time when they were truly evenly matched. Some of their duels ended in his favor, some in hers, some they would just call a draw.

As time had passed, they had become less like sensei and student, and more like equals, comrades. Sometimes they would journey into monster-infested areas and practice fighting together against others. They had two battle strategies: Either he would take the air and she the ground, or; if need be, they fought together on land, each having the other's back.

When she could, she practiced the Copy Abilities with Kirby. She discovered that aside from having a bit of a knack for Parasol, (which wasn't much of a surprise,) she just wasn't that good with the Abilities. Kirby was a different story. He quickly advanced a lot, which was good.

The winter had been very cold and rainy. During that time they were mostly confined to the inside of the castle, so she spent a lot of her time in the library. More often than not, you could find her reading to Bandana Dee and Kirby, the three of them curled up together inside her curtain-blanket.

Now, spring's balmy calm was again slowly turning into summer's bright, lazy days. Well, lazy for most inhabitants of Dreamland, anyway. As usual, she and Meta Knight were hard at work, dueling each other.

This was one of the days where their fight ended in a draw. Meta Knight signaled to her that they were done, and then flopped, tired, onto his back. She lay down as well, sticking her face in the freshly-mown grass and sighing. "At least now you get as tired as I do."

"I find it funny that you consider that fact some sort of victory," he spoke up to the sky.

"Well, yeah," she sighed. Then she picked her face up. "I smell... clover."

"Well, it is in season. But what does that matter?" he asked. When she didn't answer after a moment, he sat up and looked around for her. He spotted her down in a patch of the white, fragrant flowers, peacefully picking them and seeming to tie them together.

He strolled down the hill and sat down under a nearby tree, observing her. "What are you doing?" he finally inquired.

"I've seen the young Cappy girls in town doing this many times before," she replied, not really answering the posed question. "I've always wanted to try it, but the Waddle Dee wouldn't let me take time off to do it. They thought my fascination with flowers was strange." She paused and held up a finished circle of flowers, which she then put on her head and began again.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, a little bit amused.

She glanced over at him for a half-second, then returned to working on her flowery jewelry. "I never really had a chance to be a kid. Let me have some fun."

"I think that is fair," he replied. He watched, dozily, as she made herself a matching necklace and bracelets. He must've fallen asleep at some point, though, because he awoke to hear her giggling. "What?" he asked blearily.

"Hail, King of the Flower People!" she joked, pointing to his head. He reached up and took a crown of clover off.

"Very amusing," he deadpanned, although his green eyes gave him away. Handing it back to her, he decreed, "I abdicate the throne to you."

She laughed and added it to the one already on her head. "All right, then."

He jumped to his feet as he suddenly remembered something. "If you like flowers, there is someplace I want to show you." He offered her his hand. "May I have the pleasure of your company, Lady Dee?"