Magolor's POV:

Normally, when I'm at a party of any sort, I'm the annoying guy who's being all hyper and happy and running around eating all the snacks and trying to dance simultaneously, which almost ends up with me either dumping punch or pop on something important-ish and vacating the area before anyone notices, or someone noticing me being annoying or whatever and telling me I'm annoying. I've gotten used to it. People just can't handle my level of awesomeness, it's just a fact of life.

Tonight, though, here on this nippy mid-Lateautumn night here in Nintendo City, even though there's plenty of party going on around me, I'm not really a part of it. Sirica and Knuckle Joe got married today is what the party's about, although there's plenty of people who are also happy because Princess Rosie's home safe and sound again, and steadily getting better from the weird illness she'd been previously suffering from for awhile.

I swear, when we first saw her again about a week after Princess got let off the hook back on the SW Academy, I thought we were never gonna be able to get her to quit apologizing. While it's kinda fun to have the leader of the free world begging your forgiveness for her royal jerkiness from awhile back, it's still kinda awkward when she just won't quit apologizing to you. I think she finally figured out that there were no more hard feelings from us toward her, which is good, and she's since promised that she'll be more careful about never treating her subjects unfairly or losing her temper.

So... Yeah. It's a happy night. Everything's good, everybody's safe, and the Galaxy's at peace again. Kirby, Shadow, and Bandana are making their third trip through the reception's dessert line to get more cake and ice cream, Princess and Meta-Not are nearby them, seemingly just sitting together and not talking about much, at the moment, and me? Well, since I'm really not in a party mood for whatever reason tonight, I'm just sitting on a bench nearby and watching everybody else.

Hey, wanna go commandeer the music table and show everybody what real music is? I suggest to myself.

Nah, I don't really feel like it, I reply to myself with a sigh.

A minute later, I jump a little bit when someone taps me on top of the head. "Excuse me, but you looked sad, so I brought you a cupcake."

Spinning around in surprise since I don't like being sneaked up on by anyone, I immediately relax and accept the cupcake when I discover the only reason they sneaked up on me was to give me sugar. "Oh, um, thanks, random citizen," I reply thankfully without really looking at them.

They giggle, and unless they're a Halcandran, I'm assuming by the sound of that giggle that they're a she. "Are you not even going to look at me after I've just given you a cupcake?"

Still not looking up at her, I ask with a shrug, "I dunno; do you want me to look at you? If so, why? Why can't I look at that tree over there instead of at you?" Maybe if I go sit in the tree, I can eat my cupcake without anyone seeing me with my hood part off. Stupid Halcandran customs and their stupid making it hard to eat in public, blegh.

Seeming amused, cupcake girl muses, "Well, it's polite to properly acknowledge someone who just graciously brought you a cupcake. Besides, nya, I wanted to try and get you to ask if you'd dance with me for a song or two so I wouldn't have to ask you myself."

"'Nya?'" I repeat in confusion, finally turning away from scoping out the tree and back around to look at her again. She's a lilac Star Warrior-cat-thing with violet eyes, slightly darker purple feet, and white paw-gloves, who's currently smiling at me in bemusement. "Oh, sorry, Lady. I thought I knew you, but I guess I don't. Sorry. Anyway, uh, I'll tell you now that I'm terrible at dancing, but, uh, if you'd like to, I guess we could give it a go."

Laughing again, she shakes her head. "Am I really that different now? I guess I'm not totally surprised you don't recognize me, but still, you're awfully clueless, Magolor."

Jumping back in fear, I demand nervously, "How do you know my name? I've never met you before. Don't tell me you're a psychic or something; I don't trust psychics."

Her laughter grows harder. "No, I'm no psychic. I wonder if Sakura or one of the others would be having this same reaction? I just came to talk to you first because you looked lonely, you doofus, nya." Before I can run away in terror screaming at Princess that some wacko cat knows our names, said wacko cat mostly calms her giggles and explains, "I'm Jiyuu, Magolor. Sorry it took me so long to have a chance to come back and tell you all that I'm okay, but I've been really, really busy."

For a minute, I just stare at her, but then grab her in a hug for about five seconds before grabbing her paw-glove and dragging her off behind me toward Princess and Meta-Not, squealing "Kury Kury Kury Kury Kury Kuuuuryyyy!" the whole way. Within about ten seconds of that, I have Sakura and Meta-Not both staring up at me running over toward them (and a bunch of other peeps staring at me too, but who cares about them?). 

Confused, Kury questions, "You okay, Magolor? Who's this you're dragging across the town square?" Turning to Jiyuu, she apologizes, "I'm sorry about Magolor's behavior; he's actually really nice and a tiny bit more normal than he seems, once you get to know him..." Cutting off there, she murmurs in thought, "You know, you look a lot like someone I used to know... Sorry, no offense or anything."

Giggling, Jiyuu turns to me again and states, "Wow. I really must look totally different. Even Sakura doesn't actually know who I am, nya."

That's right about when Sakura stops stock-still. "You're joking. Jiyuu? Is that really you?"

With a small smile and a nod, Jiyuu agrees, "Yup, it's me. Like I told Magolor, I'm really sorry I haven't been around lately and probably left you all thinking I'd bit the dust. I've been fine, just... well, busy. Really busy."

Sakura gives her a slightly-exasperated look. "What were you doing that made you so busy that you couldn't even let us know you weren't dead? Also, okay, if you're still alive and I'm still alive and Meta's still alive, does that mean Dark Meta Knight's still alive out there somewhere?"

Meta-Not gives a worried groan at the very suggestion and helpfully maskpalms, because, ya know, maskpalming is always really helpful. 

Growing serious, Jiyuu shakes her head. "No, Sir Dark is gone. He won't be bothering anybody again anytime soon, if ever. And me, well... The reason I'm still around is simple. I was going to die; I think, pretty much, I had died, but the instant time started moving again, someone rescued me and told me it wasn't time for me to go yet, that I was still needed elsewhere." Seemingly jumping off-topic, she points up at the sky, and the three of us follow where she points as Kirby, Bandana, and Shadow join us, seeming curious and confused. "See how many millions upon millions of stars are up there, nya? Almost every one of them has a story of how they got there and the mortal life they had before, each with their own unique personality and character. There's a Guardian of the Stars who works among them, talking to the spirits inside whenever they awaken and want someone to talk to them and keep them company, but between keeping up with the Lumas and just how very many stars there really are out there, she can't be everywhere at once. She needed someone to help her, another Guardian of the Stars, and so, that's where I came in."

Looking back down from the sky and around at all of us, she puts her gloves behind her no-longer-caped back and rocks back and forth shyly on her feet. I notice that she doesn't have a sword anymore, either. "Rosalina's a nice boss-ish sort-of person, nya. She lets me catnap on the Comet Observatory in front of the warm fireplace pretty much whenever I want to and I don't have somewhere else to be, although that hasn't been often so far. I was offered either a smaller spaceship of my own or to be given the ability to fly through space as fast as a spaceship, and I chose the latter. So, if you ever see a comet flying through the sky, skipping around like a cat, that's me. Rosalina's already affectionately nicknamed me the 'Cat-Skip Comet.'"

Interrupting, Meta Knight murmurs, "Rosalina only ever visited her home world of the Mushroom Kingdom, and still only does, once every hundred years. Are you required to only come and visit us once every hundred years as well?"

Shaking her head, Jiyuu explains, "No, she chose to only go back once every hundred years; it wasn't a requirement. I'll probably be able to visit you all once a week or so. I know I'll definitely be in the Planet Popstar piece of the Galaxy on my rounds at least three times a month, if not once a week, nya." Sheepish, she adds, "I'm still trying to get used to the thought of never dying, since I've already moved on from a mortal form to an immortal one, just continuing to serve others rather than taking a place in the stars. It's weird being able to just fly around through space, too. Rosalina says it may take me a decade or two to get used to it, and although that seems like a really long time now, that eventually time won't seem quite so long to me anymore."

Quiet now, she finishes, "I'm really sorry I've left you all thinking I've been dead for as long as I have. I've been trying to get used to my new job, home, and 'boss.' Trust me, I'm really glad to see that you've all made it all right."

After giving her a hug, Sakura wonders, "How come Meta is okay, if Dark Meta Knight isn't? Not that I'm complaining or anything; that's not it at all. I'm just... confused. Grateful, but confused."

Sitting down on the ground not far from Sakura and Meta Knight, the kitty-puff tells us, "Well, I don't want to sound boastful or anything, but... Well, apparently when I sacrificed myself for you, Kury, nya, it healed the Mirror and broke the Curse. Copies and originals won't ever be bound to each other like that again. Apparently, the Curse was constructed so that opposite- mirror, if you will- circumstances of the way it came to be would be the way it came to an end. It makes sense, I guess, if you think about it. Anyway... Yeah. If it hadn't been fixed, I think you both would be dead, even though I'm not exactly dead... It's hard to explain; sorry."

Chuckling, Sakura murmurs, "It's hardly as if I'm complaining. It's good to still be around, you know? Also... I'm so, so glad to see that you're actually okay. We really need to spend some time getting to know each other better- or, well, I guess, I need to spend some time getting to know you better. You already pretty much completely know me, huh?"

Shrugging, Jiyuu muses as she looks up at the sky again, "Not as much as you might think, sister." Getting back up, she glances over at me again. "So... Can I have that dance, now, nya?"

Nodding, I agree somewhat shyly (although who knows why), "Uh, yeah, sure. And maybe could I have a few of the other dances too? Like, maybe all of them? If you'd like, we could go take over the music or something at some point, too."

Smiling, she agrees cheerfully with yet another giggle, "That all sounds great."

So. Maybe things are working out better than I originally thought they were. Finding out someone's not dead when you thought they were is always a good reason to party, especially when you already have other good reasons to party. Although... Come to think about it, most likely, Author Lady knew all along that this was all going to work out this way and has just been cruelly manipulating mine and all of your emotions for all this time simply because that's what writer people do.

Hey, Magolor. I know I said I'd leave you alone from now on-

So why are you interrupting my fourth-wall-breaking fun-time, ya stick-in-the-mud?

Because I just wanted to say an actual 'goodbye' real quick. Thank you, so, so much, to you and all of the other guys for the amazing ride. I'm gonna miss you all, a lot. Take care of each other, okay? Stay Swagolor, buddy. Hopefully, this isn't the last time we ever have one of these chats, but if it is... Thanks. For everything. I'll see you around someday, hopefully, okay?

Okay. Geez, way to make me all depressed.

Sorry. It's just... the story's almost over and I wanted to say a proper goodbye. Oh yeah, hey, your ship survived the whole series. There's a reason for you to be happy.

I guess so. I'm almost gonna miss having you around to threaten to murder it and making me seriously wonder if I have schizophrenia. Where are you going?

To find new worlds and a bit more of who I am along the way, I guess. To write new stories and give new words life. To grow up. To find where I belong. Any or all of the above, you know? Anyway... I should probably get going. People are probably getting tired of this by now, and I need to finish this bit and then time-skip to the next and last scene of this piece of the story. Bye, Mags. Never quit being you.

Okay. Same to you, although I still don't fully understand where you're going.

"Magolor? Are you okay? You seem kinda zoned out, nya," Jiyuu murmurs, pulling me out of my crazy-head semi-schizophrenic thoughts and back into reality.

Nodding, I agree as I take her paw-gloves and hope I don't fall over or anything while we try to dance, "Yeah, I'm just fine. After all, something I've learned is that most of the time, there's not really any such thing as an ending- it's almost always actually just a new beginning. One adventure ends, another begins, and just because one chapter of our life is over doesn't mean that the whole book's over just yet."

Shaking her head at me, she teases, "Wow, that's deep, coming from you."

With a shrug, I wisecrack, "Well, I'm not entirely a random idiot, just mostly one. It's more fun that way."

Well, for now, I'll take this happy ending- but just until the next new, totes swagolor, ultra awesome beginning comes along. Although, for all I know, it might already be here.

Not that I think Jiyuu's cute or anything. Nope nope nope. Okay, maybe I do a little. Actually, maybe a lottle. What's a lottle? Oh, it's like a little but actually a lot, and- are you guys gonna get going, or not? Time-skip already. Here, I'll even give you the magical asterisk-line of Time-Skippiness:

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

(a couple of weeks later)

Sakura's POV: 

The day is chilly. Chilly and dark. Of course, the chilly part is completely normal for most places this time of year, and the dark part is simply because I have my eyes closed. Laughing out loud, I demand good-naturedly, "All right, Meta. Can I open my eyes now?"

"Not yet, but almost, Flower. Be patient."

Shaking my head, I continue to allow him to lead me along by the hand like he has been for the past few minutes. He's been acting so mysterious all day today. A couple of days ago he asked me to spend the day with him today, but he never said where we were going. From the moment we got on the Lor Starcutter (Mags was nice enough to ferry us around again since apparently it's on one of his shipping routes anyway), I've been told to keep my eyes closed, and although it's been tempting, I haven't opened them once.

Life in Dreamland has been really peaceful lately. It almost felt like culture shock to finally wake up one morning in my safe, warm bed back home and not have any bad dreams bothering me or anything at all to worry about for the first time in years and years. I've slowly fallen back into my old routines of keeping the kids company often and occasionally tutoring them a little, hanging around the secret library and reading a lot, cooking with the Waddle Dees almost every day, avoiding Dedede and Escargoon all the time, and mostly just being the same Star Warrior who's hung around the castle since she showed up the summer before from her time trip to River Village. 

Even though the chilly, dreary winter rainy season is beginning in Dreamland, I've spent a lot of time in the Garden, reading, talking to Noki, who's now grown-up again, with Marica's translator ability, and enjoying the Fountain of Dreams and the cherry tree.  Meta's been busy training the Dark Meta-Knights (they've renamed themselves the 'New Meta-Knights') in the arts of knighthood and teaching the original Meta-Knights to get along with their new reflections and not constantly prank each other just because they all know each other's weaknesses. Kirby's been doing one of two things almost continuously ever since we finally got home: eating or sleeping. Shadow's been hanging around him, mostly, but he and I have spent several afternoons in the library doing reading lessons together, and he's getting better and better all the time. Bandana's been reading a lot of mechanics books, like always, and has actually started a small job helping out at Gus' gas station down in Cappy Town. Magolor's gone back into the shipping business, like I mentioned above, and has Sailor Dee and Giga to keep him company again. (Giga would not stop staring at me earlier and making sure I kept my eyes shut on the ride over to... well, wherever this is.) And Clerk? He's still in Hyrule, becoming better and better at all the Hylian Hero arts and becoming really good friends with Link and Rinda (and probably eating way too many slices of Rinda's apparently-famous pumpkin pie, I bet). He always seems shy when he talks about Rinda... I can't say that I'm really all that surprised. I have a feeling that one day, they'll be a couple, but I'm not going to push it or anything. After all, I've never been much of a matchmaker... not that I've ever actually tried, or anything.

Still in the dark, I continue to let Meta carefully lead me along by my glove. "Are we there yet? I can't see anything!"

Chuckling, he reminds me, "That is the point of this exercise, Sakura. We're almost there." A moment later, he finally stops and orders, "Don't open your eyes just yet. See if you can guess where we are first."

Taking a deep breath as he lets go of my glove and takes a step back, I take in as much of my surroundings as I can without the sense of sight to aid me. "Well, there's a thin layer of snow on the ground, and it's been snowing the whole time we've been here. Under the snow was leaves, for awhile, but now, not so much. It smells like pine trees, here, and I think I can hear running water in the distance. It's just like winter in..." Pausing there, I question quietly, "Is this actually where I think it is?"

"Open your eyes," he replies fondly, and when I do, I can't help but stare open-mouthed for a second before laughing in joy.

"It is! It is River Village! Oh, I thought I'd never see this place again... You can hardly even tell Nightmare touched the place, other than the fact that the trees have moved around some, since it's a different forest now than it was then. It's just as beautiful as I remembered," I turn and grin at him where he stands behind me, but then stop and stare at what stands behind him for a moment before running over and quite literally hugging a building, not caring at all just how ridiculous I probably look. "And it's the library, too! It looks just like the old one, and it's even got the iron-railed flat area up top on the roof that was always so perfect to climb up on and stargaze from... Do you remember your old astronomy lessons?"

Chuckling, he comes over and gives my glove a squeeze as he curls a wing around me and pulls me close to his side. "How could I forget? Any excuse to stay up late when you were young is a worthy thing to remember, as nearly everyone will tell you." 

After a second of contented quiet between the two of us, he sighs happily and tells me, "I was able to remember most of what this place looked like when I was here working on the reconstruction, but thankfully, I also found some old blueprints for it in some of my oldest papers. Ever since we finished it, I've eagerly awaited being able to show it to you. After all, this is the one place in the Galaxy that, well, figuratively belongs solely to the two of us. Kirby, Magolor, Shadow, Bandana... They've never seen this place. It's ours, in that sense; only ours." 

Seeming to grin under his mask, he turns to me again. "Additionally, everyone who helped with the reconstruction was given a house in return somewhere on Star World as repayment. It took some convincing, since this is technically a public utility, but I pointed out that the top floor has always been an apartment, so... Point being, it's ours. Well, er, mine, technically, I suppose... I mean, I don't plan on leaving Dreamland anytime soon, but maybe one day, if we- er, I- ever wanted to come back, this'd be here waiting for us- I mean, me. Me."

Smiling like a goof back and forth between him and the library, I sigh happily, "It's perfect, Meta. I'm so glad it's here again. I always loved this place back when I lived here, and now... Well, even Nightmare couldn't keep it down. It's so good to see it standing once more."

He looks over at me for a long moment, seeming to smile, before suddenly musing, "You always said you wanted to see what River Village looked like from above, remember? I could fly, but you couldn't back then, except by floating, and that's not considered normal for adults to do..."

Rolling my eyes with a quiet laugh, I agree, "Yeah, although why we Star Warriors ever made that odd social construct, I'll never understand."

Shrugging, he glances away, seeming almost uncharacteristically shy again. He's done that for a least a couple minutes almost every time we've talked, recently, like he's really nervous about something. "Would you like to go for a fly? I haven't seen it from above in a couple of centuries, and you never have... It's a bit chilly today, but otherwise, a lovely day for flying."

Grinning, I spread my wings in answer. "Sounds like a wonderful idea to me." He takes off ahead of me, and I follow right behind. It takes a minute to get up above the tree line and past the close-woven pine needles and branches, but soon enough, we're above the forest, and the sight absolutely takes my breath away.

The wind up here is too strong for us to talk to each other, but I can tell by the bright blue-eyed look Meta shoots me that the awed, amazed, joyous look on my face makes him feel very happy. This place is even more beautiful than I'd always imagined. The trees stretch on for what seems like forever in every direction, except for a small patch to the south where the village proper lies. The river valley cuts a winding, curving path through the forest, and as we fly over that area, I notice for the first time just how many streams it branches into that meet up again later on, only to branch off again and wind up in the same place once more farther downstream. It seems almost metaphorical to me, in some ways (no pun intended). Even though the river, and, sometimes, we and the people we love, can't always be together and have to branch off in our own directions for awhile, we always end up back together again in time.

Finally, Meta spots someplace good to land for awhile and catch our breath from the nippy gale, and beckons for me to follow him. The place he saw was a couple of large branches on two separate trees that have grown together over time, creating a large, natural bench-like thing that soars high above the ground, where you wouldn't be able to get up to it if you didn't either fly, float, or climb the tree. I wonder if anyone's ever seen it before, besides us, just now.

For a minute, the two of us just sit on the bench next to each other, breathing a little too heavy from the wind that's just been in our faces to really talk much. "I bet my cheeks are bright red," is the first thing I comment a second later with a laugh as I try to rub some feeling back into them. "It's so cold, but so beautiful today. Sunny snow-days are my absolute favorite."

"I know," he murmurs in reply, looking over at me almost studiously again. "Your cheeks are red, but you look as beautiful as always." When I blush and glance away shyly, he laughs at my bashfulness like he always does. "Now your cheeks are even more red, Flower."

Giggling, I tease back, "Really? You don't say!" Another quiet moment passes before he reaches out a wing and uses it to pull me carefully to his side. "Thanks. That's a lot warmer."

"Good," he replies fondly, and then begins hesitantly, "Sakura, I've been thinking-" only to be interrupted by an obnoxious ringing noise. "What is that?"

Blushing again, I reach into my cape and pull out a now-enchanted old Nokia that I gave Kirby the number to so he could call it with his Cell Phone if he ever had any trouble and none of the rest of us were around. The enchanted part comes from the fact that I put a spell on it so that it'd work even somewhere without cell reception, and that I also charmed it so I can hear it even when it's in my cape. "It's Kirby," I murmur a second later, apologetically. "I'd better make sure he's okay."

Meta Knight sighs in mild irritation but nods, letting me get up and take a couple steps away out of old habit before answering. "Kirby? Is everything all right?"

"Uh, yeah, everything's fine. Everything's completely and totally fine, Sakura. I just wanted to let you know something, so don't panic," Kirby tells me, sounding nervous and kind of... weird.

Of course, my first reaction to that is to want to panic. "What did you do? What did who do? Who did what? Who's dying? What's going on?" 

Meta groans over on the branch and mutters something about always being interrupted whenever he's trying to do something important.

While I give him another apologetic glance, Bandana panics in the background on the other end of the call, "What do you mean, everything's completely and totally fine?! We. Are. Clay. Freaking clay. We are not 'fine.' Nobody is 'fine.' We all look like some kindergartner's art project- well, me and you do. Everything and everyone else looks like some color-blind kindergartner's art project, since they're all stone cold and gray! Nobody is 'fine,' Kirby!"

Bandana's fear is rubbing off on me. "What in Dreamland is Bandana going on about? Where's Shadow? Kirby? I don't care if you're the Warrior of the Stars; you'd better explain what's going on right now, Mister."

"Be quiet, Bandana!" Kirby groans and then says to me, rather awkwardly, "Uh, well, these weird Dark hands showed up awhile ago, and they kinda turned all of Dreamland to clay, and then they stole all the color from everything, leaving it frozen- not like it was during the Dark Matter, exactly, but still a little bit bad. Shadow was visiting the Mirror World, so I dunno how he is, but he's probably okay. Anyway, there's this Fairy girl named Elline here who has paintbrush powers, and me, her, and Bandana are gonna go stop the hands. We're all gonna be okay; I just wanted to let you know what was going on. Okay, bye."

As the sound of Bandana still freaking out in the background cuts off suddenly, I yelp, "Kirby? Don't you dare hang up on me, Mister. Listen, first find Shadow, and then- He hung up on me, didn't he? That little pink marshmallow hung up on me." Groaning, I rub a glove over my face, holding the phone at my side in my other glove. "Do I call him back? What do we do? For crying out loud, it's been only, like, a month since the Solar incident. Do we ever get a break?"

While I continue to panic, someone suddenly takes the phone out of my hand. "Sakura, how do I turn this off?"

Turning on Meta Knight, who is now apparently maskless, I try to take it back, but he uses his extra inch and a quarter of height to his advantage and holds it just out of my reach as he gives up on finding out how to turn it off and takes the battery pack out instead. "Meta! We need that! Kirby needs us!"

Tucking it in his cape, he disagrees, "Kirby will be fine. It hardly sounds all that serious, and Bandana is there to aid him. He's faced much worse before completely on his own, Sakura."

"'Hardly sound all that serious?' Something turned everything to clay. If that's not rather serious, then I don't know what is," I disagree with a huff, crossing my gloves in mild annoyance. "We should go help, anyway. It wouldn't hurt anything."

In the next instant, I find myself carefully dipped down toward the tree branch, Meta's gloves in mine and one of his wings keeping me from falling backwards. "He'll be fine, Sakura. It's our day off. We've already gone and helped a lot lately, don't you think?" he points out with an almost-impish grin. Well. Someone's definitely in a good mood today, if he feels like teasing me like this.

Blushing, I try to come up with some witty remark in reply, but only manage a shy squeak. 

Chuckling at me, he kindly helps me back up into a standing position. "Do I have your attention again now?"

Nodding, I mutter shyly, "Uh, yeah. Yep. You do. Completely and totally."

"Good," he nods happily, but then grows serious again. "As I was saying, I've been thinking about something a lot lately." Turning away a second, he begins, "There's something I need to ask you, Flower; something important."

Tilting my head in curiosity, I question cluelessly, "Yeah? What's that?"

After pausing a long second and taking a deep breath, he turns back to me and kneels on the wide branch just like he did the day I knighted him, with a sprig of cherry blossoms from the sakuranoki in his glove, probably just pulled from the depths of his cape.

While I stare at him, rather stunned, he requests slowly, his voice shaking slightly with nerves, "Sakura Dee, would you please do me the great honor of marrying me?" Before I have any chance to answer, he goes on, voice growing stronger as he continues, "You are the dearest friend I've ever had, the closest ally, and the most priceless treasure that's ever been gifted to me by the Star Power, and I want you to be my nearest, closest friend and helper, always. I love you dearly, Flower, more than I ever thought I could, and more and more so with every passing day."

I open my mouth to answer, but no words come out at first. That, of course, is when I realize that I've started silently crying like some big old baby with my gloves held over my mouth as I stare back at him. Great, Sakura. Reallllll classy, there. After swallowing back my nerves, I start to nod and slowly manage to stammer out as I reach out and close both gloves around his, accepting the delicate, fragrant soft pink flowers, "Yes, Meta, of course. A million times, yes. I would... I would be glad and honored to serve you as your wife."

A grin of what I can only describe as relief breaks out over his face as he lets me take the flowers and takes my face in his gloves, lovingly wrapping his wings around me in a close hug. "For so long, I never dreamed I'd live to see a day like this in my life," he murmurs, and then, before I have any idea of what in Dreamland's going on, he's ever-so-gently leaned in and started to kiss me.

You know, I never gave much thought to what my first kiss would be like, as odd as that sounds. Now that I'm actually experiencing it, I can tell you that it's a strange- but definitely not at all unpleasant- sensation. My heart races, but at the same time, I feel such a beautiful sense of calm, safety, and belonging. The kiss only lasts a few seconds before he slowly pulls away to smile at me again in an almost-dreamy manner, but it was completely and totally perfect. I wouldn't change anything about it, even if I could.

Right about then, I realize that I'm smiling in a kinda dopey way right back at him. As my blush deepens and I give an embarrassed giggle, I stutter, "I-I love you, Meta Knight."

He closes his eyes and gently touches his forehead to mine. With a deep sigh of contentment, he murmurs back, "I love you too, my Sakura Dee."

We just stand there, snuggled close to each other, for several minutes, until the snow starts coming down a lot harder and the wind picks up and blows a lot stronger, making us both really cold. "Ready to go back into town and visit my mother?" he asks reluctantly, neither of us wanting the magical, perfect moment to end, and both of us trying our best to commit every single second to memory, like a moving picture.

Sighing, I agree with a slow nod, "We probably should." He gently lets me out of the hug, and the two of us fly back down to the ground but then start to walk again, in no big rush. When I shiver a moment later, he curls a wing around me and pulls me close to his side again to guard me from the chill. "Thanks, Meta. When we get back, we need to tell your mom, and my mom, a-and probably a bunch of other people..."

Laughing as we start to go back, he disagrees as he takes my glove in his again, "Sakura, of course I told my own mother that I was planning on proposing to you, and of course I asked your living parent's blessing before I asked you. Both our mothers already know."

"Oh, duh. Well, uh, we still should tell Mags..."

"Magolor also knows. I didn't want to tell him, but it was the only way I could find to convince him to agree to bring us today," he tells me with a roll of his eyes, but even 'Lor can't wipe the brilliant smile off of his face right now. "So does Sir Arthur- he's like a father to me, so of course I spoke to him about it. Dragato, Falspar, and Nonsurat were all nearby when I spoke to him, so they probably overheard, and I know for a fact that your two sisters were eavesdropping when I spoke to your mother, so I'm sure they also know..."

Laughing a little bit, I roll my eyes and squeeze his glove again. "So am I the only person in the entire Galaxy who didn't know you were going to propose to me until it actually happened?"

Grinning, he agrees as he glances over at me, "By now, most likely. Hopefully you'll have the chance to be the first to tell Kirby, Bandana, and Shadow- as soon as the apparent clay mess gets worked out in Dreamland, that is."

Smiling shyly, I agree, "I hope so," and then frown slightly. "When will we, uh, actually get married? I mean, if you don't mind my asking."

With a soft chuckle, he assures me, "Of course I don't mind at all, Dearest. And I was thinking one of the Spring months, perhaps? It'll be warmer in Dreamland, then..."

As I nod and continue to make plans with him while we slowly walk back through the woodsy winter wonderland to his mother's home in River Village, I can't help but feel happier than I ever have been before in my whole life. I'm going to be married to the best friend I've ever had, the universe is finally safe again (for now, except for a clay hand monster, apparently), my family is safe, my friends are safe, and everything is relatively calm once more.

Now, let's see... I read somewhere that a good way to end a story is with the same way you began it, so here goes:

Hi. I'm a Star Warrior, and not your average, everyday Star Warrior, either. I've seen some pretty crazy things in my life, and I've learned quite a bit, too. Sometimes, nothing around one seems too sturdy, reliable, or solid, but two things are always for absolute sure: Light is always far more powerful than Darkness, and love is always far stronger than hate.

What's my name? Well, my name has been many things over the years, but at the heart of it all, my name is Sakura Dee- but soon, before I know it, I'm sure, it'll be Sakura Knight. Believe you me, I can't wait. Somehow, I feel like the greatest adventure of my life is yet to come.

Adventure or no, life hasn't always been very easy- in fact, sometimes, it's been very hard, overwhelmingly hard, even, but since it all led me here, I wouldn't change a single moment of it. But that's the thing, isn't it? No matter how useless or worthless or even utterly hopeless we feel, even in our Darkest moments and days, even in our loneliest nights, we are still precious and loved. The Star Power has a special, unique plan just for each and every one of us, a special way to show us what our Light is, what his Light is, and where we belong. Even during the hardest times, we have to remember that he's leading us to somewhere far better than anything we could ever plan or choose for ourselves, and ultimately, he's leading us to the stars.

I guess the last advice I can offer you, dearest Reader, as I await the wonderful things my tomorrows will bring, is to never give up hope, never quit looking up at the stars and dreaming, and to never forget that the one who made you loves you always with his whole heart and has better things ahead for you than you could ever imagine, even when it seems like things will never get better and that you're all alone, and even on those days when it seems like Darkness is the only thing left in the universe and that every single flicker of Light around you has died out forever. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that no one is ever really completely alone, that there is no place in the universe that is ever completely without Light, and that all things really do get better with time... And hey, time's something I'm a bit of an expert with, so you can take my word for it.

Well... I guess that this is where we have to say farewell, dearest Reader. From here on, you can't follow me and the others any longer, but that doesn't mean the story is over. The story's never over. Even if the characters and locations change, the long, beautiful, tapestry-like tale of the Galaxy won't end until the day the stars come down. Just because this chapter is over doesn't mean that the story is, even if you never hear anymore of our story. I guess... I guess all I have left to say is this:

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing my story- our story- with us all. Thank you for being there with us every step of the way, for being with me every step of the way, from the fateful night what feels like an eternity ago when I found my voice, to this, the most wonderful moment of my life so far.

Goodbye, my dear, dear friends- or, should I say, may your days be filled with Light, and may the Star Power guide you.

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On flows the river, and on goes the sky

The Darkness did fall and the Light did arise

May the Light be with you wherever you are

On flows the river, on glow the stars.

On flows the river! my child, dry your eyes

On flows the river! there's no need to cry

The Darkness did fall and the Light did arise...

Forever flow, river!

Forever glow, stars!

Forever flow, river!

Forever glow, stars!

Keep hope in your hearts, loves...

Wherever you are.

~The End~

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Yes, it says 'the end.' No, there is no question mark following it this time, as there has been in all of my other works whenever those pesky two words popped up. Yes, there is still a chapter (epilogue, actually) left. How on earth does that work? Soon, my young Padawans. Soon, all will be made clear. This is really the end of what we'll hear from the Heroes of Dreamland here in this series, but someone's going to helpfully tie up the last of the loose ends for us- someone who's already popped up a few times over the last few chapters of this tale.

One more update to look forward to, guys. Let's make it count.

P.S., to PrimeJourney: Well, our old joke came true after all. *chokes back tears enough to singsong* Sakura and Meta Knight, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G... Thanks for being here the whole way, my friend. God bless.