Well, it wasn't exactly dawn.

It was the beginning of the day, that bit was true, but the amount of sun shining through the dismal clouds was even less than it had been the day before. She shuddered a bit as Meta Knight woke up and flew down to join her on the ground.

"Good morning," she said softly, still staring at the sky.

"Is it a good morning?" he asked hypothetically, looking at the clouds in concern as well.

"I don't know. It's so ominous, isn't it?" she murmured, then glanced over at him. "It cleared enough to let the starlight through last night, and the clear skies lasted most of the night. Is he trying to trick us, or does he have to sleep?"

"I am not sure. Either way, we need to discover where he is hidden as soon as is possible. Everyday, the clouds cover more of our land," he sighed almost silently. "I am sorry you had to give up your... family, for this."

She gave him a 'smile.' "I don't regret that in the least, Sir Knight. I am proud to serve Dreamland, and also to fight alongside three of Dreamland's greatest heroes."

"And when we return someday soon, you will be a hero as well," he reminded her, his eyes flashing between a content hue and a concerned shade of blue.

She nodded, then suddenly asked, "Do your eyes change color when your mask is off, or does your mask do that so that people can tell what you're feeling when your face is hidden?"

He moved his gaze from the atmosphere to her, his eyes yellow now. "No, actually, they do not. But what does that matter?"

She shrugged. "I was just curious. I've wondered that for as long as I can remember."

"I have wondered something about you, myself," he admitted. "Can you still remember as far back as you could a year ago? Or several years from now, will you have forgotten this very conversation?"

"That's a question I've asked myself quite a few times," she told him. "I don't think that'll be the case, though. I still remember when Kirby arrived, and that's about as far back as I could remember before."

"I see," he said. Watching the sky again, he added, "We should probably wake the two small ones soon. If we make as good of time as we did last night, it will be very likely that our arrival in Cookie Country will be before sun-fall." He shook his head, "If we can tell sun-fall from night, which is a fact I am unsure of."

Flying up into the tree, she gently shook the small ones awake, trying to sound cheerful. "Come on, you two. Time to get going. Up and at 'em!"

Kirby blinked his blue eyes open. "Mornin', poyo," he yawned, while Bandana Dee gave her a 'smile' to show he was ready to go.

"Grab some fruit out of the tree for breakfast," she told them, flying up and picking a few of the apples for herself and Bandana Dee, then tossed some down to Meta Knight.

"I think you will find yourself regretting that decision," he told her, putting the fruit in his pack to eat when he was alone and could safely remove his mask.

"How so? This tree isn't Whispy Woods, is it?" she asked nervously.

His eyes glowed an amused green. "No, but Kirby will have it empty before you can say-"

Kirby starting inhaling before he could finish his sentence, leaving the tree barren of all but a few leaves. "Kirby," Meta Knight finished, his voice shaking in barely controlled laughter.

Sure enough, that was the next word out of her mouth. "Kirby!" she shouted, then groaned. Handing a few apples to Bandana Dee, she sighed, "At least we got some."

"Poyo," Kirby giggled.

She rolled her eyes, then gave Kirby a quick hug. "I can't stay mad at you. You're too cute."

"Poyo, I know," Kirby nodded.

"That is much of the problem, that he is completely aware of the level of cuteness he possesses," Meta Knight told her.

"I'm sure it is," she shook her head, amused. "Let's get a move on."

"Agreed," Meta Knight nodded once, flapping up to where they were. "We really do need to get moving, especially now that Kirby has removed our cover."

Kirby rubbed his head apologetically as Meta Knight gave him a sideways look that bordered on annoyance.

Sakura laughed. Kirby was better at killing tension than a cup of hot mint tea. "I guess so. Ready to go, Wing Kirby? Bandana Dee?"

The two young ones nodded their assent.

"Let us fly," Meta Knight ordered. Three of them took off, the other began air-hopping.

"If you get too tired, Bandana, you tell me. I can carry you for a while later if need be," Sakura told the Waddle Dee, gliding past him.

"Me too, poyo?" Kirby asked with a mischievous grin.

"No, not you too, poyo," she laughed. "You have wings, you'll be fine."

He pouted and flew ahead a bit, doing loop-de-loops and such to pass the time. Bandana Dee joined his buddy soon after, while Sakura and Meta Knight both fell into deep thought.

All of a sudden, after they had been flying awhile, Meta Knight suddenly flew close to her. "Sakura, how much do you know about the Ancients?"

She jumped a bit, then looked at him. "The Ancients?" she repeated.

He nodded once, still looking up ahead of them, keeping a watchful eye for enemies.

"Well," she started, "I know they were the ones who built Planet Popstar and Dreamland, a very long time ago. I know they taught the very first inhabitants their language, culture, arts, fighting styles, things like that. I also know that they were not like any other species known to Dreamland, but that's about it."

He nodded. "You also know, I assume, that one of the Star Warriors' duties is to pass down this treasure of knowledge from generation to generation of heroes, which is how you are named with one of their words."

"Well, I knew it was passed down, but I didn't know that that was the Star Warriors' job," she admitted.

"It is," he said. "Therefore, when we return from our quest, that is the next thing I will begin to teach you."

"All right, then," Sakura agreed, thinking the conversation was over. "Sounds good to me."

"But that is not the main reason I asked you this," he continued. "I asked, because many of our prophecy books come from the Ancients. So do many of our other books. Any book older than about eight hundred years, to be truthful." He paused, his eyes orange in deep thought.

"All right?" she prompted, unsure of where he was going.

He shook himself out of some string of mental activity. "Most of these books are easily readable, a handful require a knowledge of their language to understand. But there are a few that are in some sort of code."

"Code?" she asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, it is hardly understandable, nearly inscrutable. It has sentences like, 'c\:kirbyjump3264,' 'c\:metaknightflight21,' things like that. Nearly every sentence begins with 'c\:,' so I am assuming that is a sentence opener. But the rest is normal terms, just arranged in a way that is nearly impossible to understand. They seem to be some sort of prophecy books, just coded," he looked at her, his eyes green in curiosity. "Every time I have met a new person, I have found them somewhere in the books. Sometimes they appear several times, in several books, sometimes few, or occasionally only once." He looked up ahead of them again, observing Bandana Dee and Kirby having a race, quickly becoming just two tiny dots far ahead in the sky.

"Okay, so how often do I appear?" she asked, interested.

Minutes later, he finally turned to her again. "That is the thing that confuses me."

"What?" she asked, her brow furrowing.

"Sakura, your name never occurs anywhere in these books. Not as Sakura, not as Kirby Dee, not as Super Dee. It never even mentions a female Waddle Dee." He finished, "Every person in Dreamland, from the king, to the littlest of the monsters, is a character in these tomes, every person. Except for you."

She frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means, it seems almost like the Ancients never expected you... to exist." His eyes, now orange in deep thought, moved from her to the clouds.

"I am in a prophecy book, though," she reminded him. "Two of them, even."

"Yes, but both of those have been written much more recently. They are definitely much younger than eight hundred years, at least."

She sighed sadly. "So you're telling me I'm a mistake. A random character who was never supposed to be involved in these happenings?" her eyes dropped to the ground, not sure what this meant for her.

"No, that is most certainly not what I am telling you," he disagreed, then gently ordered, "Look at me."

She lifted her eyes to him, both of them filled with a deep sadness.

"This is something else you need to remember well. No one, not a single person, is a mistake."

"Even the badguys?" she pointed out dubiously.

"Even they," he told her. "Even the badguys serve a purpose."

She nodded, unconvinced. "Why am I not in there, then? The two prophecy books make it sound like I'm someone important."

"You are someone important," he argued.

They were both quiet for several minutes, then Meta Knight continued, "My hypothesis is that the Ancients knew the Monstrous Lightning would come, but they thought those of us who would already be here would be enough to fight him. But, farther down the line, someone realized that we would not be enough, that we would need you as well."

"Maybe," she agreed half-heartedly, not really believing him.

"Do not let this discourage you. You will be as much of a hero as Kirby, Bandana Dee, and I are, even if the Ancients weren't expecting you to be," he told her kindly.

Flapping away from him, she muttered, "Thanks."

He let her have her space for awhile, then flew up to join her again. "If it interests you, I have brought the code book that includes the Monstrous Lightning as a character with us. Its title is 'Kirby and the Monstrous Lightning.' You can look at it when we land, if you would like."

"I might just do that," she agreed, feeling a bit better. No one could stay upset long while flying, it was such an amazing, freeing feeling. "The little guys sure are getting pretty far ahead," she noticed, then challenged, "I'll race you to catch up to them."

"I do not race," he shook his head. "I am above such foolery."

"Then you do not win," she teased him, copying his strong accent.

He narrowed his green-in-amusement eyes at her. "Is that so?"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded, faking seriousness.

"I must disagree with you," he chuckled, suddenly plowing ahead.

"Hey, no fair!" she laughed, flapping hard to catch up to him. "Knights aren't supposed to cheat!"

"I did not cheat," he disagreed from up ahead. Laughing, he pointed out, "You never set a time to begin, now did you?"

"That's still not fair, and you know it," she chuckled. "Oh!" she suddenly yelped, her wings disappearing, causing her to drop below the clouds.

"Sakura!" he gasped, stalling and preparing to nosedive, but she reappeared several feet ahead of him.

"Ha!" she called back, laughingly.

"Now that was unfair," he shouted ahead, trying to catch back up.

"What? You never said I wasn't allowed to scare you, now did you?" she teased him.

He managed to pull up to her again, just as they reached the small ones. "Shall we call it a tie?" he asked, amused.

"That is fair," she agreed. Suddenly, he pointed ahead. "You don't need to do that to confuse me anymore, the race is over," she reminded him.

Shaking his head, he continued to point. "Up there! There is Cookie Country, on the horizon."

She 'smiled.' "We made even better time than you predicted, Sir Knight."

He nodded, serious again. "And that is a good thing, my friend. For time is of the essence."

"Poyo," Kirby agreed, and the clouds rumbled ominously to hail their arrival.