Sakura sighed as the others finally began to awake. She hadn't fallen asleep again once after last night's revelation, she had been too... she didn't know how to describe it. Sad, worried, scared, intimidated, all of those were a part of what she had felt.

Yesterday, they had flown about halfway between Nutty Noon and White Wafers, today they were going to cover the rest of the journey, if all went well. Meta Knight was in a much better mood today, and Kirby and Bandana Dee were as gleeful as always. But she was a lot more serious than usual, and the others noticed.

Meta Knight was kind enough to give her some space, but Kirby and Bandana were doing everything they could to make her cheer up. But no matter what they did, all they got out of her was a tiny 'smile.'

At lunch, Kirby sat in her lap and smiled sweetly at her, even offering her one of his cookies from the bottomless bag. "No thanks, Kirby. In fact, take mine," she offered.

Kirby frowned, then gave her a hug. "Kirby love you, poyo."

She looked at the little one in confusion. "What, Kirby?"

Kirby seemed a bit hurt. "Never mind, poyo."

Sakura frowned, unsure of what she had done wrong. "What?" she asked again. When Kirby just shook his head, she sighed and fell back into the depressed mood she had been in all day.

It is as I suspected, Meta Knight observed, his eyes a deep orange of thought as he sat across from her on a stump. She has no concept of love. She has an idea of what 'to like' is, but to her, to serve is to love.

He made an effort to speak to her as much as possible that afternoon, hoping discussion would keep her mind off of whatever was troubling her, but she just replied with as short of answers as possible. Suddenly, she asked him, "Would you ever be able to lay down your life if it saved someone else's?"

"Of course," he replied, surprised. "I am a Star Warrior. That is one of the most honorable ways for my kind to pass on. I would, of course, much prefer to save the other's life without losing my own, if that was an option."

She nodded once, her eyes looking far off into space.

"Is that what you are troubled about?" he prodded gently. "That you would have to die for us in the final battle?"

"Not exactly, but that's pretty close," she replied softly, still not looking at him. Flapping off, she murmured, "Thank you."

He frowned to himself. What would cause her to be worried about losing her life in battle? We have already faced many opponents, and not one of them has caused us much trouble.

Up ahead, Sakura thought, You probably will just have to block that attack yourself. It'll all work out all right, we're all going to go home safe and sound. Stop worrying about it. She forced herself to think of happy things, like flying and cooking. After awhile, she seemed a bit better off, but there was still something other than happiness in her eyes.

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"Well, Magolor. Your original plan failed. Do you have any other ideas?" the Monstrous Lightning asked, bored as usual.

"I can't believe they made it out of that alive, I had gathered hundreds of monsters," Magolor sighed in irritation.

"How capable were these monsters, though?" the spark pointed out snidely.

"Well, obviously not as capable as the heroes," Magolor snorted, then cowered as the spark sent a bolt toward him, which stopped just in front of his face.

"Well, now you get to fight them yourself," the lightning growled, surrounding Magolor in the same static field he had used the night before. "I am sending you to where the heroes will be arriving later tonight. If you value your pathetic life, you will not fail this time."

"Hey, I thought I was the brains of this operation! Since when do you come up with the ideas?!?" Magolor roared, struggling against the warp field.

"Since forever, idiot," the spark sighed as soon as the little creature was gone. Settling more comfortably into his spot here in the temple in Bubbly Clouds, he laughed evilly. He had already turned all of the soft, fluffy white clouds to his trademark dark gray, and was getting ready to send out such a strong storm that no one would be able to resist his rule. All would bow to his name, and these 'heroes' would soon be wiped from their minds with his powers, never to be given another remembrance. All he had left to do was finish carefully crafting this perfect storm of chaos. There would be no way the heroes could get to him in time, they still had no idea where he was, or that he had only just arrived here. This was going to be almost too easy, in fact. But who cared? As soon as Popstar was his, he'd move out into the rest of the universe. Nightmare would be remembered as a angel when compared to him, he would make sure of it.

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Days had passed again. Sakura had slowly but surely cheered up, all the way through White Wafers. She seemed to really enjoy the snow, something the others had seen many times before, but she couldn't remember the one or two times it had fallen in Cappy Town. It had happened since Kirby had arrived, so within her memory span, but apparently she had been on indoor duty the whole time.

"This stuff is so pretty, and soft. And cold!" she squealed, picking it up and randomly throwing it into the air for the umpteenth time. Some landed in Kirby's face, which prompted an impromptu snowball fight. Meta Knight sighed and stayed out of it, but his eyes were green in amusement as he watched the other three.

"Come on, Sir Knight! Join us!" Sakura shouted, throwing one at him. It hit his cloak.

Glaring first at it and then at her, he humphed, "No."

"All right, be a willing target then," she chuckled, throwing another one at him.

Rolling his eyes, he bent over and appeared to be inspecting something.

Waddling over, she inquired, "What are you-"

He suddenly stood up, throwing a handful of snow up into her face. "What am I doing? Oh, just studying this frozen precipitation," he said innocently.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "This is war."

He chuckled. "You do not realize what you are getting yourself into, my friend."

"Is that so?" she asked, faking seriousness.

"Yes," he answered, beginning to form a snowball in his hand. "Prepare yourselves, all three of you."

What followed was probably the most epic snow battle Dreamland had ever seen. Even though it was three against one, Meta Knight was still most definitely the winner. "I warned you. I told you that you were biting off more than you could ever possibly hope to chew," he sighed, shaking his head in faux-mournfulness.

"You're always right, I should've known this would happen," she admitted, laughing as she dusted the snow off Bandana Dee's bandana. "Let's find someplace to warm up." The storm clouds hadn't seemed to reach here yet, as the skies had been bright and clear every day they had been here. They were leaving tomorrow to continue their search somewhere else, if all went well.

They found a cave, and Sakura and Meta Knight carefully built a fire with some dry wood they found in a crevice in the mountain that didn't have snow in it. Soon they were all dry again. "I will take first watch tonight," Meta Knight announced, walking out. Sakura and the little two soon fell asleep, snuggled close to each other while he stood outside.

Hours later, he shook her awake. Whispering, he told her, "Sakura, I think you would enjoy seeing this."

"Mm?" she muttered, only partially awake, allowing him to take her hand and lead her out of the cave. As soon as they were outside, though, she woke right up. It wasn't the cold, like you would expect, but what she saw in the sky that did it.

"What is that?" she asked, wonder in her voice, her eyes huge.

He smiled to himself. "The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis. It can only be seen in places close to the top of the world, like White Wafers."

Staring up at it, she breathed, "It's so pretty. All the colors... it reminds me of your eyes."

Looking at her in confusion, he asked, "What do you mean?"

Still staring at the sky, she explained, "Your eyes can be so many different colors, like all the ones in the sky. And they glow in almost exactly the same way."

"I see," he murmured.

She looked over at him suddenly. "What did Kirby mean, the other day? When he said he loved me? I've heard that word before, but I've never understood it. It's even in some of the books I've read. What does it mean?"

He turned and stared off into space. "Well, there is the love one can feel for things or possessions, where you enjoy something a lot. But between people, there are two kinds of love." He paused as he wondered how to explain it so she would understand. "There is the one kind, that you can feel for many people, where you enjoy serving someone."

"Okay, then I love all three of you," she said, some understanding coming into her eyes. He nodded once. "But what is the other kind?"

"It is the kind you can only feel for one person, and it is when you want to serve that person your whole life," he explained quietly, thoughtfully, looking far off into the stars.

"So, Kirby meant the first kind, right?" she asked, seeming worried.

Laughing, his mind now here again, he replied, "I assume so. Otherwise, it would be quite... awkward."

"I'll say," she shook her head and giggled. "Seeing as how he's so much younger than me, especially. So, when Kirby said 'I love you,' he basically meant 'I am glad to have served you?'"

"Exactly," Meta Knight agreed, a warm smile on his face, glad she had understood.

Shivering, she murmured, "It's so cold." She tried to pull her cape around herself, but it didn't work. "Whoever made this thing wasn't thinking about quests in polar climates, obviously." Without hesitation, Meta Knight threw a piece of his cloak around her shoulders. "Thanks," she sighed gratefully, stepping a bit closer to him to share his warmth.

"Of course," Meta Knight replied warmly.

"Aw, well, isn't that sweet," they heard a pip-squeaky voice say, and Magolor walked out from behind a snowdrift, looking half-frozen. "Did you have to find anymore secluded of a place to camp? I've been looking for you dumb-dumbs for days."

"So, where's your ambush this time, cute widdle badguy?" Sakura taunted, not moving from Meta Knight's side. She didn't see why she should go further into the cold when there wasn't any real threat.

Magolor rolled his eyes. "Look, I didn't choose to be born adorable."

Trust me, traitor, I feel your pain, Meta Knight thought, a bit bitterly, to himself.

Magolor shuddered, then continued, "And I don't have a taskforce this time. I'm alone, the Monstrous Lightning sent me here to fight you myself. Now, obviously, I am unarmed. So, let's make a deal. I'll tell you where the guy you're looking for is, if you'll give me back my ship in the end so I can go home."

"You did not seem so eager to be rid of your master last time," Meta Knight said warily. "And you have already made yourself known as a liar. Why would we trust you? Your offer, in reality, is probably just an attempt to trap us."

"We're not stupid," Sakura agreed.

"That's debatable," Magolor snickered. "You guys haven't exactly been able to find him on your own, now have you? Of course, he only recently actually got here, and now he's getting ready to send the worst storm ever heard of out all over the planet."

Tensing a bit, Sakura questioned nervously, "How bad of a storm?"

"Bad enough that being inside won't help you, I'll tell you that. He doesn't care how many lives are lost, just so long as everyone is convinced of his limitless power. Whoever is left will become his servants. Then, he will feed off the energy in the air, and continue his journey to the next planet and the next. This guy means business. He says he won't rest until the whole universe is under his control, until Nightmare is remembered fondly in comparison to him. And he's also going to completely remove the Star Warriors from everyone's memory. It won't even be just Kirby and you anymore, Metal Knight. There won't be any of your kind left," Magalor sneered. "So, if you want any chance of survival, I suggest you agree to help me."

Meta Knight shuddered and drew his sword, his eyes turning a deep, dark red. Sakura followed suit, then looked to him for direction, but he shook his head. "Give Magolor your sword," he ordered quietly.

"Why?" she asked in confusion.

"I am going to duel him, of course," he explained. "Now, do as I commanded."

She did. "Try not to get any scratches on it, got it?" she humphed to both of them. They ignored her.

"I don't know how to use one of these things! All I know are laser guns!" Magolor pleaded, staring at his foe in disbelief. Within seconds, the Cherry Star Sword was lying in the snow, and Sakura quickly picked it back up and sheathed it.

Meta Knight had forced Magolor up against the wall, and was now pointing Galaxia's tip at him. "Here is another 'deal.' You tell us where the Monstrous Lightning hides, I let you keep your sorry life. You have betrayed me once, and no one ever gets an opportunity to betray me a second time."

Sakura shuddered. Meta Knight was acting much darker than his typical self, and she didn't like it. It was very unnerving, disturbing even.

"Okay, okay. He's somewhere filled with clouds. I don't know this planet that well," Magolor whined.

Meta Knight swiped, barely missing. "The whole planet is covered with clouds now, I suggest you be more specific."

"I don't know, okay? It was all white and fluffy before he got there, and there's a temple, and please get that thing out of my face!" he squealed.

"Bubbly Clouds. I should have known," Meta Knight whispered as Sakura continued to watch anxiously. Sheathing his sword, he humphed to Magolor, "I suggest you become more familiar with this planet, as you are never getting your ship back. And, if what you say turns out to be another lie, I will find you. You will not be so lucky next time."

Magolor nodded, speechless in fear.

"Now go! Get out of my sight!" Meta Knight hissed.

Nodding again, Magolor ran off. They assumed they would never see him again, but they were wrong...

Sakura took a deep breath of relief. "I hope I never get on your bad side."

Meta Knight smiled darkly to himself, his eyes still red but beginning to return to yellow. "Trust me, it is not a pleasant place to be." Suddenly filled with shame, he took a deep breath, forcing the darkness inside him back under control. "I am very sorry. I do not get like that often."

Obviously frightened, she whispered, "It was like you were a completely different person. Your voice was different, even."

"I am sorry," he murmured again. Why had he ever accepted this 'gift?' It had only ever brought him regret and difficulty.

"I'm not mad, Meta Knight," she said. It was easy to see that, but it was also easy to see that she was very scared. "I'm going to take next watch."

He nodded once. At least he had not lost her trust, she was willing to let him be near Kirby and Bandana Dee still. "I should not have let my rage get away from me. I am ashamed you saw me like that," he whispered, his eyes on the snowy ground.

"It's okay," she said. "I don't know much about your past, but I do know that it wasn't good, so I don't blame you at all."

"It is not that my past was not good, it is just that there are many bad things that have happened to me," he explained, then hesitantly left her to stand alone under a quickly-clouding sky.

"It all comes down to the next few days," she realized softly. "My quest is nearing its end, one way or another." Her eyes narrowed in determination. "You had better be ready, Monstrous Lightning. The Kirby Dee is coming. Maybe I can't destroy you, but trust me, you will be very much weakened."