Sakura Dee|さくら•ディー

Breathless, I find myself lying trembling on the ground, my sword within my sight but not within reach, face half-shoved into the snow, and a sharp pain in my side where I was just kicked by Meta Knight's metal boot, which is now keeping me pinned in place. Closing my eyes, I let out a sob of fear at what's coming. I've always wondered just how painful it is to die at the tip of a sword; I've always regretted knowing the pain I must cause monsters when I have to kill them. And now, I guess I'm about to understand how they feel. She who lives by the sword must also die by it, right?

Daring to open one eye, I stare up at Meta Knight, who stands over me, breathing heavily, eyes crimson, shuddering as if he's about to explode with rage. Still shaking, I stare wide-eyed up at his sword, which he holds in both gloves straight above my heart, ready to give the final strike.

Memories from months ago flood my mind. 'You're not turning me into sushi, not without a fair fight!' Well, little Dee, guess what? You're sushi, or about to be. Even after everything you've learned over the past year, you're still no match for the Meta Knight.

Meta Knight finally catches his breath and then raises his gloves higher with an angry growl, finally taking his boot off of my side. I scrunch my eyes shut, still shaking, still terrified, but at least confident of one thing:

I saved a life just now, a life which was just about to be wrongfully taken, I just know it. Even if nothing else, that one thing proves that maybe my life had some meaning to it after all.

Meta Knight gives a roar of rage, and I tense up, knowing what's coming next, only to hear the sound of wood splitting as Galaxia is driven not into me, but into a nearby tree.

And then, everything falls silent, all except for the sound of my racing heart.

With another sob, I dare to open my eyes, still trembling, and then slowly push myself up into a sitting position, my side still aching terribly from the harsh kick. I'll probably have a nasty bruise in the morning. "Sir... Are you all right?"

It takes me a minute to see him, my vision blurred by terrified tears, but then I finally notice him, half-slumped against the tree that his sword now hangs out of, one glove laid against the tree for support and the other, the torn one, under his mask, probably over his eyes. Now he's trembling too, with what looks like silent sobs.

Slowly standing up, I ask him, my voice cracking in fear as I do so, "Whatever that was, it wasn't you. I know that wasn't you; you're a hero, you're not a monster like that... Sir, are you all right?"

He shakes his head once, only to then tear his glove out from under his mask and scream at me in anger, "You let him get away! He was right there; I had him, I was finally going to kill him, and you just let him get away!"

Trembling again, I back against the tree that he had me cornered against. "I couldn't let you kill him. You would have regretted it forever. Sir... can't you see that? It would have been wrong. The Star Power would have let him die already if that was his will, wouldn't've he?" That same warmth from the other day begins burning inside me again, just as it did a minute ago when I begged for Magolor's life to be spared. "It's not your place to kill people who aren't clearly an enemy out for blood. He wasn't a monster or a villain anymore; he's a person, and like I said, it's not your place to be both judge and jury." Carefully stepping away, I pick my sword up, just in case I need it again.

He glares at me hatefully, but then stares at the ground again, still breathing heavily. It takes a moment, but his eyes fade from that awful crimson I'd never seen before tonight, to an angry red, and then into a deep, dark blue of sorrow.

"Sir," I start, only for him to shake his head at me and shove his broken glove under his mask again.

"I can't believe I let it take over... I needed only to kill him, not... not to become a monster... I'm sorry; I never meant for you to see me like that... I wanted you to leave before it got out... Why couldn't you have just left when I told you to?" The last part comes out in a scream again, but now, his anger isn't directed at me, not really. It's all aimed at himself.

Shaking my head slowly, I take a slow step towards him, still afraid, still not fully convinced that he's himself again yet. "If you'd killed him, you'd have regretted it for the rest of your life," I repeat, wishing I could help him somehow, wishing I could make him see. "I couldn't leave either of you to that kind of a fate. I had to stop you. I had to... I had to do the right thing, even if it was absolutely terrifying."

For a long moment, the only sound is that of his cape slowly repairing itself, until finally Meta Knight looks over at me again. "I'm so sorry... I never should have let myself get so out of hand like that; I shouldn't have let my rage take over..." I just stare mutely back at him, not knowing what else to do. As worry enters his eyes, he squints at me only for his gaze to grow wide again. "I thought I'd stopped myself quickly enough not to hurt you... Please, tell me I didn't hurt you..."

Finally convinced that the danger is past, I sheathe my sword and then collapse forward onto my gloves on the ground, causing him to grow even more afraid. "You only kicked me," I sob, as all of the fear from the past several minutes all starts cascading out at once. "But I thought... I thought you were going to kill me... I was so scared... That wasn't you, Sir, it can't have been you... But that was so terrifying... I really thought I was going to die..."

Everything is silent except for my sobs for a long moment, before Meta Knight whispers, "It was me, at least for the most part... I let my rage blind me, and I almost... I almost..." When I look up at him, trying to get my emotions under control again, feeling so ridiculous for bawling like a baby like this, he adds, "I am so sorry... I should never have... I... I'm sorry, I..."

Shaking my head, I push myself into a sitting position again and rub my eyes, trying to make the sobbing stop. "I was so scared... Meta Knight, you... Why? Just, why??"

Standing up slowly, Meta Knight yanks his sword sharply back out of the tree and then sheathes it, before inspecting his torn glove with a heavy sigh and tugging it off, revealing for a second a blue paw as he throws it away into the snow and then replaces it with a spare from the depths of his mostly-repaired cape. I didn't even tear it completely into two, I don't think; I just put a big hole in it. "This is very good marksmanship," he remarks quietly at the tear in his broken glove, "as was the gash through my cape. You have learned so much in the past year alone, and not all just from me... You disarmed me without violence..."

Trembling, I look up at him, the sobbing finally over but my voice still trembling. "I didn't want to hurt you, Sir. I hate hurting anybody. I just wanted to make you stop before you did something you'd regret."

He looks at me for a long moment before shaking his head. "What did I ever do to deserve someone as pure and gentle as you as my squire?" After briefly fidgeting with his new glove to make sure it's on right, he then comes over and helps me up, before shocking even me when he bows before me just as I've bowed before him several times. "I am so deeply sorry that you saw me like that, and even more so that I almost... I almost..." His voice cracks, and his words stop.

Not knowing what else to say or how to help, I just put a glove on top of his head like he always does to me. "I forgive you," I tell him, and I do, but I'm still scared. That can't have been him... Meta Knight's a hero, right? He'd never... he'd never do something terrible like what it seemed he was about to do. Even so, I'm still frightened... I don't ever want to make him angry like that again... I don't ever want to see that awful shade of crimson again...

Forgetting is not going to be nearly as easy as forgiving...

As he still kneels before me, which is probably the deepest form of apology he knows how to offer, I step away from him, still trembling a bit. Just a few minutes ago, I felt so close to him, like maybe despite how silly and childish I've always been, maybe I was starting to become his friend just like he is my friend... And now... Now I'm scared of him. I know... I know I still need to give my life for his in the coming battle, that it's my true purpose in life, the very reason I exist, but... I'm afraid.

"We... we should go check on the kids, or I should," I tell him, voice still shaking in fear.

"I'm so sorry," is all he says, still kneeling, still staring, ashamed, down at the ground.

"I forgive you," I repeat like a broken record, but after that, I turn and run as fast as I can all the way back to the safety of the cave.

While we've been in the thicket, the sky has started to be flooded with angry black clouds with jagged, furious bolts of lightning jumping from one to the other. The Lightning and Magolor are connected somehow, it seems, though I somehow know it's not Magolor's fault... When Magolor fled, the monster grew angry... and now, the beautiful lights and the stars are all gone... As is the warmth I felt inside of myself once again, the 'stellar energy...' or, maybe, the Star Power himself...

He really does exist, doesn't he?

That thought offers me some hope, but it's not enough to calm my terror. If even Meta Knight has some dark secrets that I don't even want to know... and he's what we call a hero... Then what does that make me? What is my connection to that puffball with the fangs? Is she somewhere inside me, waiting to be let out, like Meta Knight with his monstrous rage?

Shuddering at the thought, I duck inside the quiet, peaceful, almost-warm cave, dive under a blanket, curl up on my side, and, quietly, so I don't wake the kids, I begin to cry, until finally exhaustion takes over, and I'm dragged back down into a deep, nightmare-filled slumber.

In all my dreams are crimson eyes, bolts of fiery lightning, and roars of rage, and I can do nothing but die, over and over again, with not a single way to defend myself— until I grow fangs and something awful and angry explodes out of me in a darker-than-night cloud, swallowing up everything it touches, including myself, leaving nothing behind in its wake but pain, hatred, sorrow...

And darkness.