???'s POV:

"All is proceeding according to plan, oh Great One," I breathe, giving a deep bow.

"Very good," he replies in a still-somewhat-tired voice.

Maybe that pathetic child did not kill him, but the Star Rod is one of his greatest weaknesses. He was indeed greatly weakened, and needed my help to recover. And so, with my Dark spells and potions, I have slowly been bringing him back to health. Soon, he will be completely back to normal.

Do not think for a moment that I am doing this for free. Heavens, no. I charged a price, a great price. Immortality has been granted me, and now that I can live forever, all I need to do is pretend to be on Nightmare's side until the little 'heroes' have finally finished him for me. And then, it will be my time to come to power, my turn to strike fear into the hearts of all.

They have forgotten me, all of them. Now I am just a character in their dusty old history books, the ones that no one reads.

I used to be a hero, myself. A very important hero, actually. But suddenly, I vanished. All thought me dead, but I actually just left their side for the side of power. Why waste time protecting others, when you can have it all for yourself? Weak people should be destroyed, only the strong are worth keeping around. Those are the ones who I surround myself with, the ones who now serve me as underlings of Nightmare, but will one day be only my own servants.

"Yamikage," I say suddenly, spinning around and addressing him as he silently appears in the shadows. He is the evilest of the Ninjas, and also, quite possibly, the most skilled. "Are you ready for your sweet revenge? That Meta Knight and Kirby, thinking they are greater than you, that they are stronger. How dare they? Isn't it high time you teach them a lesson?"

He laughs harshly, chillingly. "I have waited long for this day."

"I know you have," I smile darkly to myself. "You know your target. Bring the target to me, alive."

Excitedly, he agrees, "Yes, sir," and then vanishes back into the shadows, with skill and dexterity that any of the Ninjas would envy.

In a evilly-happy way, I hold my arms behind my back, hiding my magic-gloved paws underneath my black Dimensional Cape that pairs so well with my scarlet-red eyes.

Oh yes, indeed. All is proceeding according to my plans.

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

Meta Knight's POV:

I am sitting against the wall in Sakura's room, eyes closed, but not asleep. The reason I am here is to act as a sort of guard, because people keep trying to come in and bother her. So, I am sitting here and telling anyone who enters to go away and come back later, essentially.

Finally, she begins to stir, and I open my eyes. I am behind her, she cannot see me unless she turns around. With a smile, I watch as she sits up. I have already predicted her actions, now I just need to wait and see if I was right.

First, she looks around, a little bit lost. Then, she notices that I have left her a spare pair of magic gloves on the bedside table and eagerly puts them on. Then, she sees the pitcher of water and a glass that Magolor brought in. She goes to pour herself a glass, then pauses. Now, she is looking around, making sure no one is watching... and there she goes, throwing good manners out the window and thirstily drinking straight from the pitcher.

I cannot help it, I laugh. She turns a bright Maxim-Tomato red as soon as she realizes I am here, putting the pitcher back down and glaring, embarrassed, at a wall.

"Oh, do not stop on my account," I chuckle at her, and she continues to glare at the wall for a second, then relaxes and laughs.

"You know, it's not polite to scare people like that," she finally says, amusedly annoyed, as I stand up and draw my cloak around myself, then walk to where she can see me.

"My apologies, my friend. Do you feel as if you could eat something?" I ask, smiling to myself.

"An apple would be lovely right now," she nods eagerly.

With a nod back, I agree, "I will ask someone to fetch you one from the kitchen shortly. But first, I need to speak to you."

The way she grows dead serious immediately confirms my fears. If she remembers the 'dream' as well, then it really could not have been just a dream. Worriedly, she murmurs, "He's really still out there. He's really calling all of the monsters back to him."

"Shotzo," I sigh, rubbing my forehead. "This is terrible."

Frowning deeply, she agrees, "It is. What are we supposed to do, Meta?"

I turn and look off into space, nearly losing myself in deep thought. "I do not know, just yet. We are on the Lor Starcutter, on course for Nintendo City. It is a long flight, they are in quite a far-off piece of the Galaxy. If all goes well, we will be there in a day or so, possibly sooner."

"Nintendo City? You mean where the Manga-Head Princess from 'Pokémonland' lives?" she questions, with a slightly disbelieving smile. I do not think she has ever completely believed the story I and Kirby told her, although she says she does. "So, we're on 'Lor's ship?"

"That is all correct," I nod, then look at her curiously. "What happened to your old gloves? Did Dark Sakura take them?"

Shame covers her face, and she stares down at the bed she is still sitting on. "No. They had absorbed all the Darkness I'd been using, so I took them off. They looked downright disgusting, I can't believe I hadn't noticed them sooner. Later on, I tried to use my Light to clean them. They just dissolved into ashes."

Frowning, I fret, "What if the same thing happens when we try to get your cape and sword back?"

Shame turns into sadness. Quietly, she says, "I think it probably would, if I ever managed to get ahold of them, again. I think my time as the bearer of the Dimensional Cape and Cherry Star Sword has come to an end."

Reassuringly, I reach out and squeeze her hand. "Well, one thing is certain. If nothing else, we need to find you a new sword first thing after we arrive in Nintendo City. Surely there is a silversmith, or at least a blacksmith, somewhere in the city. Also, I am sure Rose can help you find a new Dimensional Cape or Cloak of some sort. She does have Light magic, after all."

"Probably," she agrees, still sad. "But I don't think they'll have anyone who can forge magic-glass swords. I really enjoyed wielding Cherry Star, and I'm going to miss my wings more than I can say. Even if I find a new cape, it won't have the same wings. It'll take some time to get used to."

I can only imagine how she feels. Galaxia has become almost an extension of myself, as has my cloak. To have either one of them suddenly taken away from me, with little to no hope of regaining them... I would not say I would feel helpless, but strange, certainly. Like a part of me had suddenly disappeared.

"I missed you," she says suddenly, squeezing my hand back. "You, Kirby, and Bandana, especially; although I also missed the Waddle Dee, and even DeDeDe, a little bit. Being alone in the mirror was sad and scary."

"I know," I nod once, looking back at her again. "It may surprise you, but I spent a week or so in a mirror once, myself. I dueled my dark side, and he defeated me. Kirby had to collect the shards to save me, and trust me, that was just as humbling as it sounds. During my time in the mirror, I had to fight many mental battles, just as I am sure you have had to. But, in the end, I was myself again. Just as you seem to be."

She smiles, and it makes me smile to myself, as well. "I'm glad to be back to normal. It'll be nice to not have to hide everything from all of you, to not have to be stressed and snappy all the time. Just don't expect the library to be always perfectly cleaned all the time, anymore. That's more work than I'm willing to do without my magic 'shortcuts.'"

"Well, you are definitely the old Sakura," I laugh, then turn to go. "I will go get you that apple, now."

"One last thing, Meta," she says, hopping up and following me to the door.

"Yes?" I ask, turning back to her.

She stands up on tiptoe and kisses the top of my head, making me smile happily to myself. "Happy belated birthday, Meta. I'm sorry I missed it." She stands normally again, smiling at me, but then frowns.

"What is it?" I question, now frowning myself.

"Your eyes... They're glowing pink. I don't think I've ever seen that one before," she muses, thoughtful, then smiles innocently. "It's a pretty shade of pink. I like it."

Blushing underneath the mask, I calmly say, "It means I am seeing someone again that I have not seen for a while." Stupid mask, stop betraying me and showing my emotions to everyone around me.

"Okay," she nods, thankfully accepting that answer, instead of questioning why my eyes did not glow pink when I saw Magolor or Prince Fluff for the first time in much longer than I went without seeing her. "I'll try to make you some cookies later, as long as I can get the cabinets here to cooperate with my Waddle Dee abilities. For some reason, I don't think Magolor's pantry would be very-well stocked. It's probably as lousy as yours was, the one time I looked into it."

"I have never been a good cook," I mutter, a little bit embarrassed, but thankful for the change of subject.

Smirking, she crosses her arms and scolds, "You would be, if you had listened to me when I tried to teach you, instead of just eating all the ingredients. I can't count how many batches of nearly-chocolate-chip-less chocolate-chip cookies we made."

"In my defense, a bag of chocolate-chips does not last but a couple of seconds when you are inhaling it," I shrug innocently, making her laugh.

"Neither does a bottle of cinnamon," she grins wickedly.

Shuddering at the bad memory, I groan, "Do not remind me." I liked cinnamon-flavored things, so I thought inhaling a whole bottle sounded like a wonderful idea. It was... not. On a related topic, inhaling a whole jug of milk to try to wash it down and stop the choking is not all that pleasant, either. On another related topic, I have not liked cinnamon at all since I was young.

"You used to be just as much of a food vacuum as Kirby is," she giggles.

Rolling my eyes, I retort, "At least I was not getting lost all the time, like you did as a child."

"Touché," she shrugs.

"Well, I will go get you that apple now," I shake my head, amused.

Disagreeing, she offers, "I'll go with you. I want to see the others."

"Ah, yes. I will warn you, there are more 'others' than you are expecting," I tell her. "There are also some other things which may surprise you."

"Eh, I'll be fine," she shrugs, then opens the door, causing Kirby, Bandana, and Shadow Kirby, who were all leaning on the door and eavesdropping, to fall over onto the floor.

"Um... Heh, heh," Kirby tries, grinning up at us innocently.

"How long have you been listening?" I demand, irritated, my eyes narrowed down to two probably-orange-colored slits.

"Ever since you started talking about food," Shadow Kirby giggles. "You inhaled a bottle of cinnamon?"

"Maybe, maybe not," I mutter quietly, glaring in annoyance at all three of them.

"Who's this little guy?" Sakura asks, helping Shadow up. Typical Sakura, rather than being mad at the children, she is going to be all happy with them. "I don't think I've met you before, buddy."

"His name's Shadow," Bandana says.

"Who said that?" she frowns, looking around.

He finally stands up, off of the floor, and 'smiles' at her. "And my name's Bandana."

Eyes growing wide, she stares at him for a second, then gives him a huge hug. "You can talk! How can you talk?" she demands, bursting with happiness, eyes sparkling.

Shrugging, he replies, "Kitty-Bozo put a spell on me."

Shaking her head, she sighs, "Well, my dark side is good for something, at least."

"Don't forget me!" Kirby says, wriggling like an excited puppy. "I wanna hug, too!"

Laughing, she lets go of Bandana Dee and pulls the pink puffball into her arms, instead. "I missed both of you so much. I need my little brothers around, or I get bored."

"We missed you too, Sis," Bandana murmurs, almost unwillingly. He is about as fond of sharing his emotions with other people as I am.

Shyly, Shadow Kirby pulls on one of her gloves and requests, "I know you don't really know me, but can I have a hug, too?"

You can tell he has melted her heart quite thoroughly, as she gives him a hug, too. "Of course, Shadow. It's nice to meet you."

"Kirby, Meta Knight, and Bandana were right. You are nice. I like you," Shadow grins at her.

Giggling, she replies, "I like you, too."

"Well, we should probably go introduce you to the others," I interrupt, finally letting go of my cloak and gesturing to the still-open door.

"All right, then," she agrees, letting Shadow Kirby take her hand and drag her from the room, while he chats her ear off about anything and everything. He tends to be a bit shy around everyone else, but Sakura is one of those people with whom any child can be comfortable around. She has a very sisterly personality.

Rather than following the others to the sitting room, I go get Sakura an apple from the kitchen. The excitement may be distracting her, but she really does need food.

When I return, she is happily engaging in conversation with Magolor about the places he's been most recently, with Dragato, Falspar, and Nonsurat occasionally offering comment.

She eagerly accepts the apple I bring her, and eats it while the others fire questions at her, which she politely answers between bites. But you can tell that she does not really feel up to quite this much socializing just yet, so after about half an hour, I start to gently get the others to let up some. Here I am, protecting her again. Not because she is weak, but because I care for her.

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

Sakura's POV:

A while later:

"How long have I been gone, anyway?" I ask Magolor between bites of my fourth apple as I lean against a panel in the engine room. This place also seems to be his workshop, of sorts. "Well, if you know, I mean."

"Like a week or so? Maybe a bit more?" he shrugs, pulling back out of the engine-or-whatever he's checking out and looking at me for a second. I have no idea what he's doing. He tried to explain it to me, but like pretty much anything tech-y, it just went right over my head. "I dunno, depends on how long you were gone before I saved Meta-Not off of the U.S.S. Narcissist."

Giggling, I tell him, "That's a perfect name for that ship. You're a genius, 'Lor." I love Meta, he's my best friend, but he can be a bit full of himself at times. I've suggested once or twice that he try taking his mask off of the front and including it as an emblem or something instead, (pride comes before a fall, you know?) but he just reminded me about my technical inaptitude both times. I don't really mind, maybe eventually he'll just get tired of the same exact ship and try something else.

"Why, thank you, Princess. You're not too air-headed yourself," 'Lor teases, making me laugh. We have our disagreements and stuff, but for the most part, we get along fairly well. I think of him as one of my best friends, second only to Meta. He's even saved my life once or twice, so he really is second only to Meta, even in that respect.

"How long did the Halberd last this time, I wonder?" I smirk a bit and cross my arms. I have a bet going with Sailor Dee about this. I said the ship wouldn't last a day, he said he thought it would make it at least twenty-four hours. If I win, he has to help me fix an old thwingamabob I found in one of the castle rooms; if he wins, I have to help him with his chores and fix him his favorite dessert: peach cobbler, a la mode. On a completely irrelevant subject, why the heck do people say 'a la mode' instead of just 'with ice cream?'

"I think Meta-Not said something about it lasting only ten hours this time," Magolor calls over a loud banging noise that part of the ship suddenly starts making.

Yay! I win. I saw Sailor Dee wandering around earlier, I'll go tell him I won later on.

Flustered, Magolor hollers as the ship makes a coughing noise, "I don't think I'm helping things any, here."

Laughing, I shout back, "Get Meta Knight to look at it. Maybe he can get it to last a day or two."

"Shut up," he growls in a completely failed attempt at copying Meta's accent. "Can ya hand me that wrench? We'll try the 'beat on it until it gives up and decides to cooperate' technique."

Complying, I grimace, "If you get us all blown up, my ghost is going to haunt your ghost forever. Just warning you, Mags."

"Eh, it'd beat being haunted by Meta-Not," he wisecracks as he accepts the wrench, then gets whatever's complaining to shut up rather quickly. I only hope he didn't murder it, whatever it was. "You're a lot prettier, for one thing. Much more charming, as well."

"I'm a hero. I'm not pretty," I huff, quite offended.

Laughing, he half-agrees, "Whatever ya say, Princess."

Shadow Kirby suddenly appears. "Sakura? Kirby and Bandana have mentioned before that you like to read to them."

"I do," I smile. "But they don't like to sit around and listen as much anymore, sadly."

Smiling shyly, he asks, "Could you maybe read to me, for just a little bit? I mean, if you're not too busy here, or anything."

I smile at him warmly. This little guy has already stolen my heart, he's just such a sweetie. He's so much like Kirby was several years ago, only better at talking. "Sure, as long as 'Lor doesn't mind your stealing me too much."

"It's fine, you and I can chat some more later," he assures me. "Hasta la pasta, Princess."

"See ya later, 'Lor," I laugh, then let Shadow drag me off to a Copy Ability room.

"In here, no one will be noisy," he explains, handing me the book he's been holding the whole time.

Happily, I let him sit down and snuggle up to me, and then I read to him until he starts to doze off. "Do you want me to go?" I offer, getting ready to get up.

"No, you can stay," he yawns, rubbing his eyes. "Can you be my sister, too? I mean, since you and Kirby are siblings, then I think that technically, Dark Sakura is my sister. But can you be my sister, instead? You're not scary or mean, like she is."

"Sure, Shadow," I smile, then close my eyes and doze off right along with him.

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

Kirby's POV:

That night:

"Bandana? Are you awake?" I ask, rolling over so I'm facing his bed on the other side of the room. Shadow is in my bed tonight, and he's sound asleep.

"Yeah. What is it, Kirbs?" Bandana questions, rolling over so he's facing me, instead of the wall.

Smiling thoughtfully, I say, "I just wanted to say that I'm glad Sakura is back. But, I was just wondering, have you noticed anything... strange, about her?"

Rolling his eyes, he replies, "You mean the way she and MK hung so close around each other so much today? And the thing she said about the 'pink eyes' while we were eavesdropping on them earlier?"

"Yeah," I nod, wrinkling my face up a little. "You don't think she and Meta Knight are in 'the L word' with each other, do you?"

"Lobster," Shadow sighs.

Rolling his eyes, Bandana snorts, "No, love."

"Shadow's asleep," I explain with a laugh.

Then, we both make disgusted faces and gagging noises at the thought of those two being in love, then think about it, then both shake our heads and say in unison, "Nah."

I continue, "For one thing, Meta Knight's too cool for stupid mushy stuff."

Agreeing, he nods, "Yeah, and Sakura's too naïve to notice if someone was flirting with her or anything dumb like that."

We both grow quiet for a minute, then say, again in unison, "But to be safe..."

"We need to make sure they don't spend too much time around each other," I suggest.

"Definitely," he agrees.

"But it's probably nothing, anyway. Y'know?" I mutter, then roll over onto my back, about to fall asleep.

"Yeah. Just... Don't use the Cupid Ability on either of them anytime soon, okay?" he jokes, and I giggle a bit, then doze off.

Sleep... the only time I've been in Dreamland for several days now. I really miss home.