Meanwhile, in the mirror:

Sakura's POV:

"Shotzo. Shotzo. Shotzo and a half," I growl, angrily pacing back and forth through the dark and occasionally running into a wall. "This is just peachy. She's out there making me look bad, and I'm in here, stuck, in a small... dark... place." As I speak, my voice grows softer, until at the end, where it's just a squeaky whisper.

Lying down on the ground, I make myself take deep breaths. You're probably surprised, aren't you? After all, this is Sakura, the one who used to sleep in a bookshelf. Well, if you haven't noticed, I quit doing that during my time in the past. And there's actually a reason for it, too.

Let me tell you a story:

Once upon a time, there was a hero girl who lived in a library. Because of her Waddle Dee past, she found sleeping in bookshelves to be calming and reminding of home. But, one day, all that changed.

River Village is infamous on Star World for occasionally having minor earthquakes, during autumn, especially. Never anything really bad, just enough to knock things over and make a mess.

One day, while the hero girl was sleeping, an earthquake happened. The earthquake made the bookshelf she was in fall over. While she wasn't hurt at all, she was suddenly stuck in a shelf, with the floor on one side of her, a wall on three other sides, and books on the other. She could hardly move, trapped in a tiny space. It was dark, and she could swear she could feel the air around her running out of oxygen.

Too terrified to even scream, finally the boy she was training, who was around 11 at the time, came into the library and starting calling for her. Finally, she managed to squeak out that he needed to go find help, alerting him as to where she was. Scared for his teacher and friend, the boy managed to (with the help of the wings from his cloak to give him leverage) pick the bookshelf up enough for the hero girl to crawl out.

She just sat there for a few minutes, trembling. Even though he had gotten to the age where he was too 'old' for such things, the boy sat down right next to her and took her glove in his, (he had received his first pair of magic gloves from her on his birthday that past summer,) telling her that she was going to be all right.

Sure enough, she was fine and unhurt. But after that, she became claustrophobic, and hated small and dark spaces. Especially the inside of bookshelves. And so the hero girl began instead to sleep on window seats and in chairs and such, but never again a bookshelf.

The End.

So, now you can see my dilemma here. It's not tiny in here, by any means, but when it's really, really dark and you can't see, it feels like the walls are closing in.

Speaking of birthdays, if it's after midnight, then it's Meta Knight's birthday now. I need to remember to make him some cookies or something when I get back. If I get back at all...

This is stupid. I shouldn't be stuck in here. I should've been the one to win that duel, not her. If only I hadn't have held back and not used dark magic. I threw a spell at her once, but it was just a minor spell that would've made her sword disappear. It missed, anyway. If I hadn't have been trying to be 'good,' I wouldn't be trapped in here.

Aw, who am I kidding? She wanted me stuck in here, really badly, you could tell. No matter what I did, I would've been trapped. I guess I should be glad that I didn't use dark magic. I haven't used it since I've been stuck in here, either, as tempting as it is to summon up a dark flame so it's not so, well, dark in here.

Taking one last deep breath, I mentally chide myself for acting weak. I'm not weak, I'm strong. And strong people don't lie in prison-mirror floors shivering because they're scared. So, I force myself to get back up and continue pacing.

Hopefully, someone will let me out, soon. The one who would be the most likely to help me would be Meta Knight. I'm sure that really soon he'll come put the pieces Dark Sakura left outside back together.

But, with a sinking feeling, I remember earlier this afternoon. My voice shouting "I don't need you!" echoes through my mind over and over again, making me feel indescribably guilty. What if I made him so mad that he won't help me? What if he decides to just let me save myself, like I said I could?

What if I'm stuck in this place... forever?

I can't help it, I'm lying on the ground again, actually sniffling this time. I'm not weak. I'm strong. But even strong people need help, sometimes. Even strong people have weak moments.

I just hope that I haven't dug a hole so deep for myself that I never get out.

Please, Meta. Forgive me.

***********************************************************************

(The next morning:) Kirby's POV:

"Hiya, guys," I call ahead cheerfully as I walk from my house to the castle.

"Kirby!" Shadow Kirby shouts out, waving. It's just too easy to make him happy. Grinning, I wonder if he'll always be like this. Even though I'm slowly growing up, maybe he'll just be a kid forever.

Maybe that's why Dark Meta Knight is always bitter, even though you'd think that eventually, he'd get tired of being mad all the time. Maybe Mirror-Worlders can't change like we can. Maybe they're stuck, the way they are, forever.

Oh, brother. That was really deep thinking for me, and deep thinking is boring. Just like nonfiction books. And broccoli. And things that aren't brightly colored. And trips to the doctor. Well, not so much when your doctor is insane, like Yabui is...

Suddenly though, my string of thought is interrupted by Shadow Kirby. "Uh, Kirby? Why are you wearing a blanket as a cape?"

I rub my head in embarrassment and shrug. "I'm also going to stea- I mean, borrow one of Meta Knight's masks."

"Why?" he demands, while Bandana gives me an incredulous look.

"Because I'm scared, poyo," I say, 'poyo' making a now-rare appearance in my speech.

"How will the cape and mask help?" he looks at me blankly, lost.

Blushing and dragging a toe along the ground, I answer, "Well, Meta Knight's super-brave, right? And Meta Knight wears a cloak and a mask, right? Well, I just thought, y'know, maybe if I wear a cape and a mask just like Meta Knight does, it'll make me brave, too."

Pulling out his clipboard, Bandana writes with a shudder, Don't add a mask. That'd just be creepy.

Laughing, I agree, "All right, no masks. I promise. But I'm keeping my cape. It looks so cool. I'm Super Kirby!"

"Dwee dee-dee dwee dee dee!" Bandana Dee sings a super-hero tune as he scribbles down, I wanna cape, too!

Quietly, Shadow Kirby asks, "Can I have one, too? I mean, I know I'm not a hero like you guys, but... It would be fun to pretend."

Nodding, I say, "Sure you can, Shadow." He's always been sort of like my little brother. Of the Star Warriors that are still out there, I'd say he's probably the baby of the family.

Yeah, the family. There's just me, Meta Knight, who's sort of like my big brother, Sakura, who is my big sister, Falspar, Dragato, and Nonsurat, who are sort of like my cousins that I don't really know all that well, Arthur, who's sort of like everybody's grandpa, and the Dark Star Warriors. Shadow is like my little brother, and Dark Meta Knight (and now Dark Sakura, too,) are kind of like the crazy relatives who hate everyone and that everyone tries to forget even exist. And Bandana Dee, (who Sakura and Meta Knight declared an honorary Star Warrior last fall after we'd been home for awhile, even finding a Warp Star somewhere to give him,) is my brother-who's-actually-older-than-me-but-feels-like-my-twin.

Ever since my trip to Nintendo City, I know there are other Star Warriors out there. But still, these are the ones who are my family. It's kind of a weird family, being so far spread out, and only having one girl, (well, I guess there's two, now,) and not having a mom or a dad, but it's my family. And I love it the way it is.

****************************************************************

Meta Knight's POV:

Well, a course has been set for Halcandra. Sighing as I finish working with the navigation system, I pull my mask off and set it aside. This is one of those rare times when there is absolutely no one around who could walk in and see me, so I can take it off without having to act paranoid.

Call me prideful if you must, but I still do not like the thought of sharing what I look like with anyone. I just know that the first time some Cappy or castle-dweller, (or, Star Power forbid, DeDeDe,) saw me with it off, all the respect that the name 'Sir Meta Knight' has earned would go flying out the proverbial window. When you hear the name Meta Knight, you think of some big, strong warrior. It is bad enough that I am so short, if people knew how young and innocent-looking I still am, even after my time in the war, it would be terrible.

Whereas I am sure most people have guessed that I look similar to Kirby, seeing as how we are both Star Warriors, I hope that they think I am somehow scarier-looking. I do not want to be thought of as cute. Just as I said as a child, I am not cute, not at all, no.

Leaning back in the pilot's seat that I thought to include this time around, (standing in your ship, all the time, does get to be quite tiring, especially when this is the second day in a row you went sleepless the night before,) I look up at the ceiling, thinking hard. About the children at home, wondering about how well Sakura took her first night in the mirror, pondering about many things. I think a lot, but I do not say much, even when I am actually around other people. I only speak when necessary, instead choosing to quietly observe and listen to the conversation around me as much as I can.

Letting my eyes drift shut, I nearly fall asleep, when suddenly, an urgent bing-ing wakes me back up.

"Oh, what is it this time?" I groan, leaning just slightly to the side and touching my head to the cool, metal wall as I glare at the ship's control panel. "I spend so much time telling people you are not a failure, and then every time I need you for anything, you fail me. This hardly seems fair," I mutter quietly to the ship, not caring that talking to inanimate objects is one of the first signs of insanity.

"Dwee?" a voice behind me questions sleepily. Oh, Shotzo. I completely forgot that he was onboard.

"Sailor Dee, could you please close your eyes and stay there for a moment?" I ask with an irritated huff. Finally, I can take my mask off for once, and then someone shows up that I have to hide from. It figures.

"Dee-ee," he yawns in return, which I hope means 'yes.'

Assuming that it does, I grab my mask and buckle it back on to my shoulder pads, shifting it until the eyepiece is in the right place. And then, after telling Sailor Dee, "At ease," I turn back to the control panel, searching to see what is complaining.

Finally, I notice which piece of the panel is upset. "Low fuel?!? Gargh! I thought I told you to put in the reactor that makes its own fuel weeks ago!" I turn and glare at Sailor Dee. He shrugs innocently in reply.

"Do not just shrug at me. It is not like we can turn around now. We are stuck, here in space, and we are going to die unless someone just happens to float by. And the odds of that happening, taking into account the amount of traffic this area gets and how immeasurably big outer space is, are around several quintillion to one."

Blankly, he shrugs at me, not that concerned. "You do realize how big of a number a quintillion is, do you not?" I ask, just a bit sarcastically. He just shakes his head. "Dreamland really needs a better education system," I groan, leaning back and staring at the ceiling again. Well, Meta Knight, just how exactly are you going to get yourself out of this one?

Just then, the radio begins to crackle, making both my assistant and I jump a bit, then stare at it hopefully. "Calling the U.S.S. Narcissist, come in, U.S.S. Narcissist," an unmistakable pip-squeaky voice singsongs, shattering my hopes and making me about fit to break something. "This is Captain Magolor of the Lor Starcutter, requesting permission to save your life!"

"You. Of course it just had to be you," I moan in disgust, then frown even deeper. "How in the Shotzo do you even know that we need help?"

"Your ship automatically sent out a distress signal," Magolor giggles back. He is quite enjoying himself, I can tell. I can just mentally picture him leaning on his control panel and deviously grinning underneath his cloak at his radio set.

"You fail me yet again," I hiss at the control panel, which just bings again. "Well, if you are going to save us, then do so."

"Do I hear a pleeeeeease?" he singsongs again.

"I hate you," I reply stoically, narrowing my eyes at the radio's speaker.

Snickering, he laughs, "Aw, come on. Common courtesy, all that. Surely that's included in the code of honor, Meta-Not."

"Fine. Please save my life, or I will use the last bit of fuel to ruin your precious Starcutter," I say quite seriously, making sure that even though I must accept his help, I do not make it too pleasant for him.

"Ooh, someone doesn't sound very grateful," he murmurs in faux-disappointment.

Still dead serious, I order, "Sailor Dee, activate head cannon," but receive nothing but an annoyed glance in reply. Good help is so hard to find, these days.

"Fine. I just had the paint job touched up, last thing I need is your puny cannon chipping it," he taunts, and then suddenly the Halberd disappears, leaving us standing in the Lor Starcutter.

"Well, let us see. This time it survived for around ten hours off of the ground. I think that may just be a new worst record," I grumble, then glare at Magolor. "You should be glad that I do not strangle you."

"Oh, I'm not too worried about it," he snickers. "Who's this?" he adds, tossing his head in Sailor Dee's general direction.

"Sailor Dee, the most loyal member of my Meta-Knights," I tell him, voice full of sarcasm. Sailor Dee puffs up proudly, anyway. Sarcasm, a language which I am quite fluent in, but of which most Dreamlanders seem to have little to no knowledge.

"You have an army named after yourself, and your face on your ship," Magolor shakes his head at me, then collapses into laughter. "Captain Meta Narcissist, of the U.S.S. Narcissist, with his merry band of Narcissist-Knights!"

Noticing that even Sailor Dee is snickering, I draw my sword, making both of them gulp and shut up. "I am going to one of the training rooms to vanquish some of Magolor's dummies for him. You are both going to leave me alone." I say coldly, using Galaxia to slice through the door to the next room as I bitterly see the now-lifeless Halberd through a porthole.

"You're paying for that," Magolor laughs. "Anyway, where you headed?"

"Your home world," I answer, pausing in the doorway but not turning around. "I will find a new ship there."

"Why are you going to Halcandra?" he wonders.

"Sakura is in trouble, and I am trying to save her," I answer simply.

His demeanor changes instantly. "Princess is in trouble? Why didn't ya say so?" he frets, sending the ship into hyperspace without warning, causing both me and Sailor Dee to fall over. "Is she all right?"

"I hope so. I have no way of knowing, for sure," I reply to his floor, then attempt to maintain my dignity as I get up and leave the room. As if this journey was not already going to be hard enough, now I have to put up with Magolor. Can this get any worse?

As he begins to sing an off-key version of 'I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts' at the top of his lungs, I realize that yes, it can indeed get much, much worse.

Sakura, only for you would I put up with this. You had better be grateful and make me several batches of chocolate-chip cookies the first thing after we get you back home.

(Hey! I know I don't usually write more than a chapter a day, but today I was in a writing mood. More of a writing mood than usual, I mean. So, if you count the timeline, I wrote three chapters today. I think that's a new record! Anyway, don't forget, you have until April 10th to enter the KatRD cover design contest! I've already received one submission, and I know of one more on the way, but if anyone else is interested, that would be awesome! Thanks, guys! Poyo on!)