Kirby's POV:

Well, we did it, or most of it, anyway. We killed the Solar and stopped the Darkness. Now all we've got to do is fix Dreamland and get rid of all the Dark Matter. I'll be so happy when we've finished all of that... I'm looking forward to eating my way through Kawasaki's menu a few times, and then going home to my house, kicking Tokkori out, and sleeping for a few weeks straight, enjoying sweet, happy, food-filled dreams again. If Tokkori won't get out of my house, I'll just sleep in my tree, or maybe I'll sleep in Meta Knight's secret library instead. Anywhere's good, really, as long as I can sleep.

Mmmm... I can't decide which sounds more amazing right now, a ton of food or a ton of sleep. Either way, I'd better stop thinking about it so hard. Now my stomach's rumbling and I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. Dozing off now would not be very smart of me, since I'd still have bad dreams, since we still haven't fixed the Fountain of Dreams. Hopefully we can find a way to do that... Otherwise we'll still all be on our way to being deaded, even now that Solar's gone for good. I dunno, maybe I shouldn't be so optimistic, but I kinda just have this sixth sense when it comes to badguys. Solar's not gonna be coming back again. 

Of course, sometimes my sixth sense is faulty... There was the whole Meta Knight NOT stealing my cake and actually trying to protect the universe from an evil dude who had somehow ended up in a red wooden box incident, and the whole thing where I went and fixed the Star Rod, only to accidentally summon Nightmare to Popstar when I did that, (although it would've been nice if Dedede had just told me what he had busted the Star Rod for, and I still don't know why he wanted to keep Nightmare away when he later started buying monsters from him), and I guess I shouldn't forget, either, about the time that Magolor ended up not being my friend after all (temporarily, anyway), or the time Marx duped me into helping him become a creepy monster guy by wishing on the stars through NOVA, or that time when Nightmare came back this last summer after I thought I'd deaded him already.

Okay, so maybe it's not so reassuring coming from me and my horrible sixth sense track record, but I'm completely and totally sure that Solar won't be coming back. He's deaded, once and for all, and it's about time, too... Creepy badguys who hang around for hundreds of years are one of the worst kinds of badguys.

Random thought, though... What's NOVA stand for? 'Not an Obvious Villain Aid?' I dunno. Anyway... Moving on. Back to what's actually going on right now, here in Tick-Tock Clock.

"Finally," Bandana sighs as he locates his missing spear, our last missing weapon, about half a mile from the part of town we fought the Darkness in, sticking out of a frayed, faded old awning in front of a brick building. "Well, we've found everyone's everything, right? Time to head back to the Starcutter, and then off to Castle Dedede and the Star Warrior's Garden?"

Swinging his wrench around happily, glad to have relocated it, Magolor agrees cheerfully, "Yup. Hard part's over, all. Smooth sailing from here. Almost time to party- which we totally should, you know. Party, I mean. A big enough quest like this certainly deserves a party to celebrate the fact that we all- I mean, almost all... survived... Aw, dangit, now I almost don't want to party. It's hard to party when someone's deaded, y'know? And I was gonna suggest we make it a nacho and ice cream sundae party, too. Those are the best kinds of parties. Maybe even throw in a potato bar, or-" 

Meta Knight ducks as Magolor almost hits him in the mask with his wrench, still swinging it around aimlessly. "Shut up, please, Magolor. You may have a 'party' if you wish, which apparently only involves devouring unreasonable quantities of food, but when this is over, I will be returning to business as usual."

Magolor gives him a disbelieving glance. "You're not actually going to be building yet another Halberd, are you?"

Meta Knight looks at him as if it should be obvious. "How else am I supposed to resume my regular patrols of Dreamland? Someone has to keep an eye on all the air-headed idiots of this planet and make sure they don't seriously injure themselves."

Rolling his eyes, Magolor suggests with a shrug, "So just keep an eye on Cappy Town. That's taking care of like 90% of the air-headed idiots right there, and you don't even need a flying death trap to do it."

Before things can heat up to an all-out war between those two, who are currently evil-eyeing each other, probably about to start throwing insults at each other's ships again, Sakura interrupts. "You two really are downright adorable and guy-ish when you start arguing with each other, but the heroing's not quite over, just yet. Anybody else worried about the Dark Matter that's still blocking the sun out? Like, at all? Sure, we're all feeling the sense of relief from beating the Darkness and Solar, but we can't just clock out now. KP duty and all that."

"Back when I worked at Burger Dee, I always clocked out right before nightly KP duty and let the newbies take care of it," Magolor shrugs, only to get an annoyed glance from both Sakura and Meta Knight. While he continues talking, we all seven (counting Clerk) start making our way back toward where we left the ship just outside the town, a ways away. "Then again, my coworkers really never liked me too much for that... Eh, maybe I don't want to go soaring off into the stars to party all by my lonesome and let you guys finish up here without me after all."

With a slightly sheepish smile as her glare fades, Sakura admits, "Besides which-"

"You need my ship to get you yahoos around. You're all a bunch of freeloaders. You owe me so much cake after this whole traumatic ordeal, Kury. Sooooo much cake. And maybe blueberry turnovers too. And maybe a couple of batches of chocolate muffins. Mmm... I like muffins. Okay, muffins are definitely required," Magolor interrupts and then rambles, growing dreamier and dreamier. And he claims he doesn't have a sweet tooth, the liar.

Meanwhile, Sakura gives Meta Knight a dubious glance. "Since it's technically your fault that we don't have any other means of interstellar transportation because yours dies all the time, why is it always me who has to pay Magolor for our use of his flying boat?"

Shrugging, Meta Knight freely admits, "Because none of us have any money, and you're the only one who can cook."

Sakura sighs heavily. "I still don't know how you all kept from starving to death before I came along..."

Bandana thumps his spear as he waddles along with the rest of us. "I ate what the Waddle Dees ate, which you helped cook, most of the time."

Magolor tosses his wrench ahead of himself and rushes to catch it before it lands, bored. "Same as what I always eat when I'm not in the Popstar neighborhood: canned stuff, boxed stuff, and preserved stuff. Stuff that keeps and comes with clear instructions on the side of the package."

Shadow thinks a minute. "Berries, mostly. Sometimes fish I caught. Ooh, and sometimes other stuff with other Mirror Worlders would share with me. There was this bird girl who made really good pun'kin soup."

Grinning at my big sis, I laugh, "Anything. Everything. Food everywhere. Kawasaki's cooking. Everyone's leftovers. I've always been fine."

She giggles, and then glances at Meta Knight. "What about you, Mister Even-Dedede-Is-A-Better-Chef-Than-Me-And-He's-Never-Even-Cooked?"

After grumbling under his breath, Meta Knight unwillingly admits, "Mostly microwavable dinners and packaged cookies, or occasionally one of the other Meta-Knights' botched culinary experiments."

Clerk just laughs at us, his hands in the pocket of his again-hoodie-fied Dimensional Hoodie. "I've pretty much always gotten to eat Sakura's cooking. Either that, or granola bars, depending on what sort of a mood she was in, how tired our other chefs were, and what our food supply was like at the time."

Sakura's still giving Meta Knight a sympathetic look. "How can you possibly have a mini-army of, like, eight or so guys, and none of you know how to cook?"

Still seeming rather ashamed of the fact, Meta Knight mutters, "Vul knew how to better than any of the rest of us, but he disappeared around Thanksgiving several years ago, and we've never seen him since."

The one girl of the group stops in her tracks and stares after him with a disturbed look on her face. "Vul's a bird, right? Please tell me you didn't. Please, please, for the love of all things peaceful, tell me you didn't."

"I didn't, obviously, but I wouldn't put it past Javelin whenever he has a day where his internal computer's on the fritz. Of course, there's also always the legitimate possibility that Vul simply became absent without leave because he was tired of serving janitor duty around the Halberd Bay in order to teach him a lesson for acting like he owned the place the last time we ran a... quote-unquote 'training simulation.'" Meta Knight explains, but it doesn't seem to help Sakura's disturbed look all that much. Yeah... I've learned not to hang around the Meta-Knights too much. They're fiercely loyal to Mety for whatever reason, but they're not exactly... well, they're really not all that normal. Like, ever.

This time, I'm the one to interrupt the chit-chat chitty-chatter. "All right, guys, Sakura was right earlier, even if she is part of the problem now. Fun time's over. Serious mode on, now. We still gotta fix everything."

"Which is why we're headed toward the Lor," Shadow helpfully points out, and then looks at me with a worried frown. "How're we going to get rid of the Dark Matter, anyway?"

Shuddering, I offer him the options Rosalina taught us the other day. "You can take care of a small amount with Light, or you can burn it, shock it, corner it so it can't get away and expose it to really bright light, take the Star Rod, Love-Love Stick, or Crystal Gun to it, or wash it away with a lot of water, like a huge rainstorm that lasts a couple days or somethin'."

Seeming surprised, Sakura questions, "You can just wash it away?"

Nodding, I agree, "Yeah, but it pollutes any nearby water, and since a lot of Dreamland is ocean, that'd be a bad idea. Last thing we need is a lot of Dharks showing up."

This time, Bandana's the one to give me a weird look. "What the heck is a Dhark?"

"A Dark-ified shark."

Magolor bursts into slightly-crazy laughter. "Dark sharks, aw, great! Someone call the nearest movie company and tell them to make a horror-comedy flick called Dharknado or something!"

After thumping him on the back of the head and making him whine 'oooooow' at her, Sakura mutters, "Okay, so Dharks are bad. No just washing Dark Matter away. I guess our plan should be to fix the Fountain and let you go all Star Rod Kirby on the stuff?"

Thinking it over, I muse, "Yeah, I guess that's the best plan. The Crystal Gun'd be even better, but that's on Ripple Star, and we don't have time to go get it."

About then, we finally get back to the ship, and everyone starts to actually act serious. Most of the ship ride goes past in silence, until we finally get back to the castle area. At first, the castle seems way quieter than normal, but once we get close to the Star Warriors' Garden, we quickly see that things are way busier than they were when we left.

Surprised at all the Fairies and Waddle Dees working around the Garden (and we're still outside of the hedge fence, so I can't even see just how many of them are here), I can't help but murmur, "Uh, what's going on here?..."

One of the Fairies, one with bright green hair pulled up in two horsetails on her head (I forget what they're actually called; I don't have much experience with hair) and matching green eyes comes over, carrying a clipboard and wearing a green, important-looking vest, and greets us in a rather Meta Knight-y way. "Hello, heroes. We were hoping you'd show up soon."

"Uh..." Magolor starts, looking ready to make a break for it, but the Fairy actually cracks a small smile and lets us know,

"Don't worry about the whole 'Outlaw' status thing. Thanks to the Decorating Fairy Ribbon and her late older sister, we're on your side. Now... Well, as you can see, we've been here since about this time yesterday, cleaning the Dark Matter out of the area and trying to get some of the plants replanted. We're not sure if the sakuranoki's gonna make it or not... The spirit from inside of it- we call her Noki- has been brought back to the tree, but she still seems kinda sad and/or sick. We think the broken Fountain has something to do with it... She keeps telling her caretaker that she's worried about it, since it's her friend, and that she's not used to it not talking to her at all."

"Sakuranoki?..." Sakura mutters slowly, but then jerks. "That's right. Sakuranoki. Cherry tree. The cherry tree's alive! I almost forgot!"

We all give Sakura a weird look, (minus Clerk, he's still on the ship since he didn't want to tower over people again), and Magolor reminds her in a voice like he's talking to a kinda crazy person, "Uh, Princess? Trees are alive. It's kinda a tree thing."

Facepalming, Sakura groans and tells him, "I know that, Mags. I meant, I met the cherry tree back when she was first being brought to Popstar to be planted here. I didn't see the spirit, and I couldn't quite understand what she was saying when she talked to her 'Mama' Fairy, but I could tell she was talking. She's not just a cherry tree, and not just 'cause she always blooms. There's something special about her, just like mine and Meta's swords." A moment later, she closes her eyes and tilts her head slightly, as if listening to something. "I can hear her again now. I still can't quite understand her, and she sounds really weak, but I can hear her talking in there."

The Fairy, who was looking through a few sheets of her clipboard, glances up at Sakura again. "You can hear Noki? Hmm. You and Ribbon are pretty much the only ones, then, and Ribbon's definitely the only one we've found so far who can understand her." Shaking her head, she sighs and lets the papers fall back into place. "We all really hope the tree can make it; she's the last of her kind, a rare Ripple Star treasure, and we want really badly to start a reforesting program once she gets better. Ribbon told her, and she hasn't stopped being excited about it most of the time since then. Says she's wanted to be a 'mama tree' forever, although, she seems like a little girl... She says it's only 'cause she's sick and that she's normally much taller and grownup, but for now, she's just a little tyke of a thing. Cute as a button, that's for sure." 

Glancing around at us, she adjusts the headset she wears on her head and questions, "Which one of you is Kirby? Oh, by the way... I'm Glendie, a colonel in the Fairy Forces. I'm sort of in charge of making sure everyone is where they're supposed to be at the moment, which is why I need to know which one of you is Kirby." Smacking herself in the forehead before I can answer, she adds, "Oh, and I'm supposed to ask you all... Is the spider Star Warrior guy dealt with? We wanted to make sure he was properly disposed of... He... Well, Ripple Star is very, very angry with him at the moment."

"He's gone," I assure her with a nod. "Why are you so mad at him? And what did you mean earlier about Ribbon's 'late' sister? And is Ribbon here? And I'm Kir-"

Interrupting, she offers me a small smile and tsks kindly, "So many questions, just like lots of little kids." Growing sad, she goes on, "Well... Taffeta, Ribbon's younger sister, gave herself up in order to cast a powerful enchantment to get the spider monster away from our planet, since at the time, we Fairy Forces were still on the Planet Pipi and Ripple Star was otherwise defenseless. The Queen had been sick for quite awhile, and about the same time Taffy... passed on, the Queen joined her. The Heir Flower hasn't blossomed yet, but it has budded and seems to be doing well and getting bigger, the Nurturing Fairies have told us. We're all still mourning the Queen, but Ribbon was adamant that we come here as soon as we could. She said our help was needed here, and the girl wasn't joking. The Fountain looks terrible, even now that we've cleaned the Dark Matter out and put an invisible temporary shield up around the Garden to keep things out, since the original one's gone kaput. It's clean, but still busted, and so empty and gray... By the way, that reminds me again; I really need to know, so quit being so mum about it, please. Which one of you is Kirby?"

Before she can talk over me again, I clear my throat to get her attention and strike a halfhearted 'ta-da' pose. "I'm Kirby, Glendie. Nice to meet you."

After staring at me a moment, she sighs and taps a green (surprise, surprise) pen against her clipboard impatiently. "No, really. Which one of you guys is Kirby? You know, the Warrior of the Stars? Saver of Ripple Star? Banisher of Dark Matter? Nightmare Slayer? None of these titles ringing a bell?"

Sighing, I promise her, "Although I've never heard most of those names for me, I'm really Kirby, and I really did do all those things."

She furrows her eyebrows and gives me a disbelieving look. "But you're just... well, a kid. I was expecting, I dunno, someone more heroic." Jutting her pen in Meta Knight's direction, she adds, "I was thinking it'd be him, if anybody."

Rolling his eyes, Meta Knight assures her as he wraps his cape around himself and gets comfortable, apparently having just decided that we're gonna be here for awhile, "Trust me, Miss Glendie, if you were ever expecting me to single-handedly save your planet, you'd most likely be rather disappointed. Believe it or not, Kirby is far better and more talented a warrior than I have ever been." When she continues to glance between the two of us, unconvinced, he adds, "Believe it or not, he really has done everything you've heard about him."

She chuckles, shaking her head. "This can't possibly be the legendary hero who defeated the Sorceress Drawcia."

Unblinking, Meta Knight states simply, "He is."

"Took out Dark Nebula?"

"Yes. He went through me to do it, too, even though I was genuinely trying to help."

"Ended Dark Mind?"

"That'd be him."

"Killed Nightmare?"

"Yes, my Fairy Friend. He did that as well."

"Stopped Queen Sectonia last spring?"

"Yes. That was truly the child you see before you."

Turning back to me, she gives me a stunned stare. "Wow. You get around, huh, kid? Well, I have to say, I'm honored to meet you. Can I maybe get your autograph?"

Shoving the clipboard back out of my face that's suddenly been shoved in it, I sigh, "Look, can you just tell me what you need me to do?"

Rather starstruck, she nods and points into the Garden. "Ribbon's by the cherry tree, with Noki. She wanted to talk to you asap."

Nodding, I take off in that direction, leaving the others behind me. Before they get out of earshot, I can hear Magolor offer, "Hey. Ya want my autograph? 'Cause I'm not unwilling to show some love to a fan like Kirbs is."

The Fairy disagrees with a snort, "I don't even know who you are. You're not famous like Kirby is."

Sakura adds just as I get to the hedge, "Hey, Magolor, should I go find an icepack for that third degree burn?"

"Shaddup, Kury. I don't see anyone asking for your autograph, either."

"No burn there. I'm a Ninja. I like being under-the-radar." 

Sakura's denying Magolor's try at an insult is the last thing I hear before entering the Garden. It definitely looks better than it did the last time we were here, even if the sky is still creeping me out. At least all the Dark Matter's gone from here, and the Dark potion-sludge has been cleaned out of the Fountain. Some of the flowers are growing again, the koi pond is clean, even if kinda empty without many koi in it, and some grass is poking up here and there, not to mention that the old hedges have been replaced with live, healthy ones.

At first, all I can see are a ton of Waddle Dees and a bunch of Fairies who I don't recognize, but then I spot Ribbon sitting on a root of the sick, empty-looking cherry tree, right next to what looks like a see-through ghost girl with light pink cherry blossoms all over her head, light brown skin, leaf-green eyes, and a pink dress with short, puffy sleeves and white buttons all down the front. The 'ghost' sits with her knees pulled to her chest and her skirt mostly pulled down over her bare feet, staring ahead of herself in an almost lifeless manner. 

When the two see me, Ribbon manages a tiny smile and waves me over, although the cherry blossom girl barely blinks at me. She makes a motion as if she's sighing and hides her face in her skirt, but doesn't make any noise.

A second later, I've gotten past the busy-as-bees Waddles and Fairies and over to my favorite Fairy. "Hi, Ribbon. I, uh... I'm glad you're safe. I'm really sorry about all the bad stuff that's happened on Ripple Star lately... I wish I'd been there to help, and I'm really sorry I wasn't."

Shaking her head, a sad smile still on her face, she murmurs, "I know you were busy being a hero, and from what I'm guessing, you did do what you needed to do to save everybody. That's good. At first I was kinda mad at you for not being there, but then I realized that even you can't be perfect- no offense meant. It was a good thing I realized that, not bad. I'm not mad at you for it anymore; it wasn't your fault, at all. It just... happened, like bad things do sometimes, and I'm just trying to not let it get me down for too long, is all. It's really hard for now, but things'll get better as time goes on, I think. In the meantime... I'm trying not to think about it, too hard. After all the Dark Matter cleanup's done here and we've got the Fountain fixed, I'm going to head home and take care of Taffy's Daughter Fairy for her; make sure she's got someone to look out for her and love her, you know? That'll probably keep me busy for quite awhile... I'm sure I'll be okay."

The cherry blossom 'ghost' seems to sigh again, glancing over at the Fountain in a half-awake manner. "This is Noki," Ribbon introduces me as she puts a friendly hand on the girl's head. "She's sort of my sister, and the spirit of this sakuranoki tree. Right now, she's not doing so well... She really misses the Fountain. Noki, this is Kirby."

Turning her head so its side rests on her knees now, Noki seems to speak to Ribbon by blowing at her, but I still can't hear anything. Ribbon translates for me, "She says she misses someone named Marica, too, but I don't know who that is. She also says hi to you, and sorry for not being more excited to see you; she just feels really bad right now."

For a second, I hesitate, but then walk over next to Noki and give her the biggest hug I can manage, which surprises her and actually gets her to smile an eensy-weensy bit. "It's okay to not feel okay when times are bad, Noki, and I promise I'll do my best to fix things. All of us will, okay? Your friend the Fountain'll be safe again soon, I'm sure of it."

After hugging me back, Noki turns to Ribbon, sleepy, and says something again.

"Good idea," Ribbon nods and smiles slightly at her. "Go into the tree and sleep for awhile. We'll all be okay here." Noki disappears a second later, and Ribbon pats the tree root right next to wear she sits, asking me to sit down with her.

Once I've done so, she picks up a cloth bag sitting next to her and hands it to me. "I found this in the Archives before we came. I figured you'd need it."

After giving her a curious look, I pull a sturdy wooden box out of the bag and open it. Inside is the Crystal Gun.

For a minute, I just stare at it, but then give Ribbon a huge hug that almost knocks her off the tree root. "Thank you so much, Ribbon! Now me and you can get rid of all the Dark Matter really fast, just like the first time. I mean, it'll take a little bit, but still. We'll be able to save that piece of Dreamland."

Seeming surprised, she murmurs, "You really want me to come along with you? But I'm not even a Guardian Fairy. I'm just... well, me, Ribbon."

Giggling a bit, I shake my head at her. "Don't be silly. Being Ribbon is why you're so great. Now come on, it wouldn't be the same without you! Just like last time, right? What was it we called ourselves?..."

Cracking a smile, she quietly cheers, "Ribbon and Kirby, the Ultra Two-o!" After giggling like me, she adds, "Although I knew the word was actually 'Duo', you were just so cute. That quest was the funnest thing I've ever done, Kirby. I'd love to help you clear out the Dark Matter again."

Picking up the Crystal Gun, I grin at her, "Well, then. Let's go save Popstar from that bit of trouble. The guys here can handle the Fountain... I hope."

Spreading my wings, I take off, and Ribbon follows behind me, both of us determined to save the planet even while still being cheerful about it. That's the way I usually quest, and it's the best way, I think.

Don't worry, Dreamland. You'll be safe and sound again soon.

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

Sakura's POV:

"Welp, there goes Kirby," I remark as he and his Fairy Friend go taking off from the Garden about five minutes after he was sent off in that direction. Once the Fairy got sick of Magolor's trying to convince her that he was famous enough to warrant her asking him for an autograph, things mostly settled down among our group. Since then, in the past beautiful, wonderful, utterly peaceful ten seconds, we haven't done much. "Now what do we do? Work on the Fountain?"

Nodding, Meta Knight agrees, "That'd probably be the best plan, but where do we even start?"

Crossing his gloves, Magolor muses, "I kinda get the feeling that a defibrillator wouldn't help much in this instance."

Rolling my eyes, I point out, "Besides that, Dedede's way too cheap to have one around. If he ever has a heart attack from all the junk food he eats, he'll be regretting his stinginess. Statues of yourself won't start your heart again, people." Focusing more on the actual problems around here, I close my eyes and try to think. "Okay, if I were a deaded Fountain of Dreams, how would I get fixed?"

A quick-talking, Northern Chivalry-like accent suggests from right behind me, "I don't know, maybe you'd want someone to at least take a look at ya and see what needed to be done before trying to think of a cure plan." Jumping in surprise, I spin around to see my sword's star spirit standing just behind me. "For a Ninja, you're way too easy to scare."

Making a face at her, I mutter, "Yeah, well, you don't exactly have any sort of a presence, so it's hard to sense you."

Curious, Shadow tilts his head at her and questions, "Who're you?"

Crossing her arms, Cherry Star tosses her shimmery, glow-y light-hair and informs him in good-natured showoffiness, "I'm Cherry Star, aka Marica-but-you'd-better-not-call-me-that, and I'm what makes Kuku's sword so special."

Making a face, I mutter, "Only Terra's allowed to call me that, or do you want me to call you Mari?"

"Never mind then, I'm what makes Madam Uppity Dee's sword so special." Even though she doesn't have a visible face, I could swear that she sticks her tongue out at me when I glare at her right after she says that. "Anyway... I wanna go check on Noki, but I don't want to wander off too far from M.U.D. here, in case she gets ambushed or something and needs me to help keep her alive. So, M.U.D., let's go check on Noki." When my glare intensifies, she just giggles, grabs my glove, and basically starts dragging me after her. "I didn't even mean for Madam Uppity Dee to spell out M.U.D., it just somehow worked out absolutely perfectly."

"Perfectly for whom?" I grump, but secretly can't help but mentally chuckle at the star spirit's goofiness. She's got quite the personality, that's for sure.

In what seems to almost be becoming a habit, Meta Knight (and, by extension, everybody else) start following after me as I'm dragged off by a well-meaning starry kidnapper.

Inside the Garden, Cherry Star lets go of my glove, not caring that the sudden lack of tugging makes me fall onto my face in the dirt, and quickly vanishes into the cherry tree to visit the sakuranoki spirit whom I still haven't seen. Once Meta's helped me up, trying and failing to keep his eyes from glowing light green at me, I dust myself off and look over at the Fountain. "Well... at least it's not oozing black gunk all over the place anymore, but how do we fix something so powerful and integral to the whole Galaxy? How was it even built in the first place?"

A whooshy voice informs me a second later, "He told me once that he was built by the Ancients to just be a pretty Fountain, but that a star came and somehow connected him to the Dreamspring, the place where every sweet dream is born. That's how he became the Fountain of Dreams." 

Not recognizing the voice, I spin around to see Marica standing just behind me again, this time with a little sakuranoki spirit girl, I'm guessing, holding shyly onto her arm and mostly hiding her face behind the star spirit. When I frown at them both, trying to figure out how I can understand her suddenly, Marica explains with a shrug, "I'm a kick-butt star-girl who gives an epic sword its power and who lived in a magical cherry tree for a few centuries, so I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve- like, just as a teeny little example, being a universal sakuranoki translator. Deal with it. Anyway, all of you lot ought to be able to understand her now."

Again, Meta Knight seems to be trying not to laugh, but this time, Marica shuts him up with an unimpressed glance. "That's the second way, at least, that I'm even cooler than Laxi. I'm faster and I speak sakuranoki, and I'm only a one-star show. Ha, that makes three."

Galaxia's voice sighs in exasperation, but the horse doesn't become visible. "Yes, well, Marica-"

"Cherry Star!"

"Marica, I just so happen to be far more mature than you, and far more experienced in battle, so who is the real victor here?"

Snorting, Marica retaliates, "You've also got a much higher kill count, and I don't mean that as a compliment." Galaxia goes back to being silent. "Anyway... Noki, do you know any way we could fix your friend?"

"His name's Somni," Noki whooshes, burying her face even more in Marica's side, seeming so shy that she's almost scared of us. "Short for Fons Somniorum. It means 'fountain of dreams' in some Ancient language."

"Latin!" Magolor squeaks before anyone else has a chance to talk, which leads to all of the rest of us staring at him in confusion and awe. "What? It's not like I've never read a book, you know. When you love archaeology and such, you tend to learn a few things like dead languages along the way."

Ooookay then. Turning back to Noki, I give her a soothing smile and say gently, "Somni's a good friend of yours, I bet. Right?" She nods, peeping one kinda-shiny-and-reflective green eye out from behind Marica at me. "Is he little like you, too?"

She peeks out a little more, lets go of Marica's arm, and puts her hands behind her back. "Yeah," she whooshes. "Normally we're both grownups, but since we're both weak and sick right now, we're little. It's easier for our homes to keep us alive this way, I think. I can't remember for sure, though." Pushing some cherry blossoms out of her eyes, she adds in worry, "Somni's sleeping, and has been for several days. It's not a good sleep, though."

All of us feel our hearts sink. Giving the little one a panicked look, Marica demands, "Is he asleep forever?"

"Not yet," Noki murmurs shyly, grabbing onto Marica's arm again. Poor little one probably just wants to rest and be left alone. "He's just really a lot asleep, because he's so sick and weak. If he got better, he'd wake up again, yup yup." She giggles slightly there, but quickly grows worried again and hides her face in the star spirit's side. "Noki just wants him to get better. Noki misses her friend."

Giving her another warm smile, I promise, "We'll try our best. Don't give up hope, okay, sweetie?" 

She offers me a small smile, and then suddenly dashes over and gives me a quick hug before going back to hide behind Cherry Star. "You're nice, 'Kura. I like you. Mama Cherry was right; you're somebody special. I'm glad Marica gets to help you."

Glancing down at her, Marica places a hand on her head and then turns to us again. "I'd better put her back in the tree. Being out of it for very long at all isn't any good for her." With that, she turns away, but before she goes, Noki turns back to us one last time, the breeze carrying her cherry blossom 'hair' behind her in a magical, rather majestic fashion.

"Somni can get better. The way to make him better is somewhere in the basin. Just look, and you'll find it."

As soon as she's left, the rest of us look around at each other and then start searching around the basin. Honestly, I'm searching so hard that I barely even notice when Cherry Star comes back and jumps back into the Cherry Star Sword. 

After a few minutes of searching, Shadow's the first to yell, "I found some writing, but I can't read it! Someone please come read it for me!"

All of us rush over and discover that the little guy's found a little golden plaque close to the bottom center of the basin, where you'd never notice it while the Fountain was full and flowing. On it is emblazoned some silver lettering, which is in Latin, I think.

Before Meta Knight can start to slowly try and translate it, Magolor jumps in. "Cum spem omnem incidisset pereunt, Cum somnia mortui sunt, Cum commoventur aquae non fluunt, Adhuc vivere. Loquere Lumine. Loquere Amoris. Loquere Pacem. Loquere Spero. Loquere Veritatis. Loquere Fidei. Et dum in nocte lucent sidera supra, Adhuc vivere."

"Aaaand what's that mean?" I question blankly. I've never gotten chance to learn Latin, unfortunately- yet, anyway. I still have several centuries left to spend learning and doing things, I hope.

"Essentially, it means 'When all hopes are lost, When dreams are dead, When the waters are not flowing, I still live. Speak Light. Speak Love. Speak Peace. Speak Hope. Speak Truth. Speak Faith. And while the stars shine in the night above, I still live,'" he explains, and then shrugs nonchalantly when we all stare at him. "It's not that difficult to learn Latin, peeps. Seriously."

Shaking his head, Meta Knight ponders, "But what does it mean to 'speak' each of those things?"

Magolor raises his hand hesitantly. "I think it means to literally just say those words. It might just be a reset code or something, to reopen its connection to the Dreamspring. We all know the Fountain gets its power from the water, so if the water's back, I think it'd be okay."

After thinking it over for a second, I sigh. "It's worth a try. I'll start. Let's see... Uh... There it is. 'Lumine.'"

Magolor eagerly volunteers himself next. "Amoris."

Bandana tilts his head at it for a second, then stutters, "P-pacem."

Meta Knight kindly picks up the last few, I guess since Latin is similar to Spanish/Knowledge Clan's language. "Spero, Veritatis, Fidei."

Nothing happens for a long moment, to the point where we all sigh in disappointment. "Well, it was worth a try," I murmur, feeling ever-so-slightly deflated, but then the Fountain makes a tiny gurgle sound.

Magolor sticks his face down into the basin. "Did you hear someth-"

KERSPLOOSH.

Coughing and sputtering, Magolor pulls his now-soaking face out of the stream of water that's just started spraying out from the spout he had his face closest too. "Welp, there's the water. Yayz."

Grinning, I step back from it and watch in thankful awe as the water continues to flow stronger and stronger, but then frown as I realize the Fountain isn't repairing itself. The water doesn't have rainbow ripples in it, either, which can't be good, and the Star Rod, which lies in a neat pile of shards by the basin, remains in shards. "What'd we miss, guys? We did what it said..."

From the skies above comes a whoop from Kirby, who's excitedly clearing the Dark Matter from the sky with some kinda crystal gun thing, Ribbon flying along right behind him. Slowly, the sky peeks through, and as we watch, the first star begins to twinkle in the evening sky.

Sighing in happiness, even though I'm still worried about the Fountain, I murmur, "I missed the stars so much while we were stuck in Fancy Free..."

The others fall quiet too, the only noises the bubbling of the Fountain and the Fairies and Waddle Dees milling around us, finishing up their reconstruction work for the night. Just the water in the Fountain flowing again seems to be cheering them up quite a bit, and I have to admit, it does make me feel a little bit more hopeful, too.

Meta Knight takes my glove and gives it a loving squeeze as more of the stars slowly fade into visibility in the sky, and we can see more and more sky while Kirby and Ribbon keep clearing it up. About the time the sky grows black and all the stars can be seen, we all frown to ourselves as a tiny twinkling noise begins behind us.

Kirby lands next to us with Ribbon a minute later. "It's too dark to work now... We'll have to keep working tomorrow," he explains, and then stares at the Fountain. "Wow... What'd you guys do?!"

Spinning around, we all stare in amazement as a stream of Light of all colors curls around the clear crystal structure, carefully repairing every crack and break and making that musical little twinkling noise the whole way. A little piece of Light splits off from the main group and wisps around the Star Rod, which flies back together like a magnet and majestically takes its place back at the top of the Fountain. Once it's all fixed, the Light gathers together again and hovers a second before diving into the top spout.

By now, all the Waddle Dees and Fairies have stopped their work to watch with us. Aside from the sound of the water, you could hear a pin drop. For a long, agonizing moment, nothing else happens.

But then, water that is filled with rainbow swirls and ripples, water that gives off a warm, hopeful glow, comes downright gushing out of the Fountain at its normal speed. Even while we all grin in amazement at the sight, the glorious, vivid Fountain of Dreams surrounded by a powerful glow, the Fountain still has some magic up its sleeve.

Out from the basin, like some kind of underground glowing roots, rainbows of Light go shooting out in all directions, and even though it's dark, I can see color returning to everything all around us. Something tells me this life, color, and vitality is spreading out all over Dreamland. The Fountain is the 'Heart' of everything here, so now that it's 'beating' again, everything is coming back to life.

Not far away, the bent cherry tree straightens up and explodes into bloom, soft pink, fragrant blossoms flying everywhere. Smiling at it like a goof, (after all, that tree is really special to me, for hopefully obvious reasons), I reach out and catch one of the little flowers as it floats by and hold it in my gloves for a long moment before tucking it into my cape to save as a little treasure. If I remember right, sakuranoki blossoms never die, so I could show this to my kids one day- I mean, if I ever have kids. I hope to; I know that much. Even if I don't, I still want to save a flower. I still never want to forget the day that Dreamland came back to life.

While everyone gazes around themselves in wonder, Kirby states in simple, childish awe, "Well, I guess we won't need to go around with the Crystal Gun again tomorrow." Everyone can't help but laugh at him, but much to my surprise, after the laughter dies away, I can suddenly hear a bunch of voices that weren't there earlier.

"Yes! Dreamland is saved, everyone!"

"No more scary dark stuff! Hooray!"

"Eep. The Pink Devourer just looked at me. I hope he's not hungry."

"D'ya think the king's gonna make us work normally again tomorrow?"

"Let's just hope no one tells him things are normal again. Maybe he'll keep hiding in the dungeon with Escargoon for a few more days. Cleaning up the spider's webs all over the castle'll be so much more peaceful that way."

"Waddle Dees," I whisper to myself in confusion, making Meta give me a weird look. "Hang on a sec." Cautious, disbelieving, I drift through the crowd of Fairies over to a Waddle Dee, who immediately makes eye contact with me. "Have you... have you all let me back into the One Mind?" I think at him slowly, hesitant, scared to find out that it's not actually true and I'm just imagining things.

The Waddle Dee 'smiles' back at me warmly. "You have helped to save Dreamland, and you've proven you have a Waddle Dee's spirit. Besides... you've never been like the Pink Devourer. You're one of us." Bowing his head to me slightly, he informs me happily as several other Waddle Dees in the area chorus along with him, "You have served us, She-Dee. We have served you."

After all these years of wandering, of learning who I am and where I belong, I'm finally not an Outcast anymore. Even though I'm a Star Warrior, my 'Clan' has welcomed me home and let me be one of them again. My eyes threatening to spill over, I close them and bow my head back to the Waddle Dee. To every voice in the One Mind, I think, "I am glad to have served you, my brothers. Very, very glad."

A moment later, I can see Bandana Dee jump out of the corner of my eye as he gets let back in, and then can't help but laugh and wipe my eyes with the back of one of my gloves as a mob of Waddle Dees grab him and start carrying him around on top of their heads, cheering where only those in the One Mind can hear them. I don't think Bandana's ever looked so proud in his life as he does now, when they call him the Hero Dee and start singing some made-up-on-the-spot ballad about the Hero Dee who helped to save Dreamland.

Meta Knight comes over to me and takes my glove again. "Are you all right, Flower? You look as though you've been crying," he asks in gentle concern, his pink eyes betraying just how deeply he cares for me once again.

Nodding contentedly, I hold his glove to my cheek and assure him quietly, "Happy tears. The Waddle Dee have let me and Bandana back in. They've let us come home." Sure, it's gonna take awhile to get back into the practice of keeping most of my thoughts where they can't see them and to tune out of the One Mind when I don't want to hear them all, but I did that for several years already once upon a time. I can figure out how to do it again. What matters is that the family I grew up among has let me be one of them once more. Nothing could ruin this moment.

Just then, though, much to my surprise, Sir Arthur enters the Garden. Usually he's followed around by Drags, Non, and Spar, but this time, it looks like it's just him. He looks around a moment before noticing me and Meta, and then hurries over, I assume to speak to Meta. When he gets here, however, it's me he addresses. 

"Lady Dee. So sorry to interrupt what looks like a hard-earned victory for all of you, but I have pressing matters to discuss with you."

Shaking my head a little bit, I assure him, "It's fine, Sir Arthur. Is everything okay?" Getting a bad feeling, I question, "Is everyone on Star World safe?" Admittedly, though, why he'd want to tell me about that and not Meta first, I don't know.

Seeming worried, he rubs a glove over his currently-maskless face. "I came as soon as I was sure Solar wasn't going to return to Star World, and his memory-changing curses on the land had finally let go. However... Most people still don't remember Stellar or anything of the like because all they've heard their whole life is that Solar was the first head general. While there are more who know the truth now than there were, there's not many." I give him a frown, wondering how he knows, but then he explains, "Geo explained everything to me when he and the rest of the others were released several hours ago, when I formally announced that Star World had dropped all charges. He wanted me to let you know that he's deeply sorry for how he treated and spoke to you the other day."

"He had better be sorry," Meta Knight mutters sourly.

Somewhat ignoring him, I gently press Sir Arthur, "So, Sir, what brings you here?"

He sighs heavily. "Before Solar left, he told everyone you were Petal, and since no one was there to know any better the day Stellar died... Everyone thinks you're the one who killed an 'unknown but important' member of the army, just like they always have. It wasn't a spell that did that; it was just simple lies passed on for so long that everyone has genuinely begun to believe that they are truth. Point being... Even now that Solar is gone and they can all finally believe that he's evil, after hearing everything he's done recently from Princess Bara herself, they still think you're the old deserter and traitor they've all grown up hearing about."

"Oh no," I whisper, my heart having sunk all the way down to my feet. Oh no is a pathetic understatement of the fear that's started rising up in me. This is not how I wanted this day to end. My voice rising to a slightly-louder-than-normal volume, I continue, "That's not fair! I never even did anything wrong; it's all just a vicious rumor Solar started!"

Placing a glove on my shoulder, Sir Arthur agrees, "I know, Lady Dee. From everything I've seen of you, I know you would never do the things you've been accused of." Hesitating, he adds with a fond smile, "Since the memory-blocking spell is gone, I can even remember knowing you when I was a child one summer, long, long ago. So you wrote 'The River' completely by accident, having learned it in the future, eh? Anyway... I know from those memories, as well, that you are definitely not the kind of person you are accused of being, but hardly anyone else knows and believes that."

Meta Knight finally speaks again. "It's hardly as if they can accuse her of doing such a thing when there isn't even any evidence against her. If they even try, that's hardly just or fair."

"'Justice for old wrongs' is all the rage all of a sudden, I'm afraid," Sir Arthur replies with a frustrated almost-roll of his eyes. "Even if it's not quite 'justice' for the accused, unfortunately."

Shaking my head and burying my face in my gloves, I groan, "So... what does this all mean for me, right now, right here?"

Just as unhappy as I am, Sir Arthur puts it simply, "It means, my friend, that you are once again in very big trouble."

When it rains it pours, I suppose. Well, I'm innocent. They'll have to see that one way or another...

I hope.

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

Even while the Warrior of Time and her dear friends found a new worry, little ones, some more good happened where the heroes could not see it. Noki and Somni reclaimed their healthy, full-grown, angelic forms, and the flowery spirit of the tree and the watery spirit of the Fountain spoke together all night, leaning their heads together, and singing to the stars above. Noki was very thankful that her dearest friend was safe once more, as was Somni. 

Yes, Luliae. They did indeed feel happier that night than they had even before all this had happened, because sometimes, it takes almost losing something to realize just how dear it is to you. That's why it's important to never take things for granted, because sometimes, you don't just almost lose them.

Anyway... those two spirits?... Well, they lived happily ever after- at least, for then. If ever anything else ever happened to them, well... That's probably part of another story for another time, which we may or may not ever get to. For now... It's time to rest again. We'll continue this story tomorrow, dear ones. Sleep well tonight, children. May your dreams be sweet.

Aw, great. Now I kinda ship the Fountain of Dreams and the sakuranoki. Geez. I personify too many things, huh?... Eheheheh I'm odd. 

Anywayses. BOOK STILL NOT QUITE OVER YO. There's probably three chapters left now, counting the epilogue. Possibly four. Probably three. Anyhow, there won't be an update tomorrow (most likely) but I hope to get one up on Saturday.

Anywayses again. Good night and sweet dreams to all of you, and may God bless you. Thanks, as always, for reading. It really makes my life, so again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. <(^D^)^

Poyo on,

-Elizabeth