Sakura Dee | さくら•ヂィー

When I'm finally released from my nightmares by being woken up, it turns out to be Kirby whom I have to thank for saving me. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be happy circumstances that caused him to wake me up, going by the fact that he's panicking so hard I can't even understand him in my half-awake, badly-rested state.

Rubbing my eyes furiously as I sit up, I try my best to focus in on his frantic cries, but even once I'm past the haze of sleep, I still have trouble understanding him as he runs around the cave chattering on in a frightened manner. Bandanna is quietly, worriedly watching both of us from where he stands in the corner, spear grasped tightly in his right paw. Standing up, I go over and gently catch the pink one by one paw. "Kirby, I can't understand a single thing you're saying. You need to calm down and tell me one thing at a time, okay? Now, take a few deep breaths, and then try to explain things again."

Looking up at me worriedly, he follows my instructions and takes a few deep breaths through his nose before opening his mouth again. "Okay, okay. Kirby-poy try t'be calmer now."

Giving his paw a reassuring squeeze, I tell him, "Okay, now, what's up?"

Pulling away gently, he crosses his paws and explains anxiously, "Kirby waked up, but don't know what time it is because it's still all the way dark outside except for lightning sometimes. Like, the really bad dark that was happenin' every night before the nice day."

Frowning to myself worriedly, I step to the mouth of the cave only to see that he's right. If it weren't for the electric lantern that one of the kids must have turned on, it'd be pitch black in here, too. Just as I prepare to venture outside of the cave, a massive bolt of lightning hits a nearby tree with a blindingly bright flash of light. Luckily enough for us, it only splits the tree completely down the middle without setting it ablaze, but I'm certain another strike would be enough to send the tree up in flames. Of course, the lightning is immediately followed by a rumble of thunder so loud and deep it makes several pebbles go cascading down from the cave roof and onto our heads. Kirby cries out in fear while Bandanna just trembles quietly in the corner.

"It's got to be daytime by now," I whisper fearfully to myself. "'Darkness such as Dreamland has never known...' He's here, and he's taken hold." Just then, another stab of terror goes through my heart as I realize something. Turning to the kids, I demand, "Where's Meta Knight??"

Shaking his head in fear, Kirby answers anxiously, "That's t'other problem, S'kura-poy. I can't find Meta Knight."

"Shotzo," I hiss to myself. Stepping carefully out of the cave, I call out as loud as I can, "Meta Knight? Meta Knight?! Where are you??"

There's no immediate answer, so I spread my wings in preparation for takeoff and draw my sword to use for light, only for a stern voice to reprimand me from nearby, "Don't you dare try flying in this weather. You'd be way too easy of a target."

Obeying instantly, I take a step backwards into the cave again and demand as I shine my sword around, "Where are you? I can't see anything out there!"

With a heavy sigh, the masked knight finally steps into my beam of light out from an area where I remember there being an overhang last night. "I'm right here. I didn't abandon you all again."

Heaving a sigh of relief, I grab his arm and tug him back into the cave so he's not out being a target for the lightning himself, not caring whether he doesn't like to be touched or not at the moment. "I wasn't worried you'd abandoned us; I was worried you were out there hurt or something."

He stops short and stares after me, now in the relative safety of the dimly-lit cave. "Do you even actually care, after..." His words cut off there, but the way he diverts his eyes in shame easily tells me what he was going to say.

The two kids glance rapidly back and forth between us in concern, confused by Meta Knight's intentional vagueness.

I pause for a second, staring right back at him even if he refuses to look at me, feeling a strange mixture of fear and fearlessness all at once. "You're still our ally and a Hero of Dreamland, Sir. Besides... I still don't fully believe that you were in control of what happened last night. My nightmare the night in the cave was awful, but it wasn't me. What happened last night was awful, but I refuse to believe that it was all you. And even if it was all you... we can't afford to be divided right now, over anything. The monster's here. And if Magolor was telling the truth last night, we know where the Lightning is now."

That's evidently news to Meta Knight, who stares back up at me in shock. "We do?"

Sighing heavily, I nod once. "You probably didn't hear it, or if you did, you didn't listen, but he said that the monster's in Bubbly Clouds. Probably picked that place 'cause it'd be an easy place for a lightning monster to set up shop and seal himself in with clouds."

Kirby interrupts, confused. "Mag'lor-poy was here again last night? Why's he following us?"

"The Lightning told him to, is my guess," I mutter, reaching into my cape for some supplies to eat for breakfast since it seems I'm gonna need to take charge here for a bit until we can all get our heads on straight. Everything seems to be coming at us at once. "As soon as he ran away last night, the sky started turning black again and everything weather-wise started going south. I have a feeling the Lightning is mad he doesn't have eyes on us anymore. As far as he knows, we could be anywhere. We have to use that to our advantage." Passing out slices of bread (which by now is starting to get pretty stale) and some dried meat, I muse to myself aloud, "Of course, getting in to Bubbly Clouds without being noticed is going to be a pretty trick, especially since we can't fly and he's probably got a whole stormy fortress built around it by now."

When I shove Meta Knight's portion at him, he reminds me quietly, "I appreciate the gesture, but I can't eat in front of you three. You know that."

Evidently, he still hasn't caught on to the fact that I mean business. "Eat in the corner with your back to us, then. We won't look." When he just blinks back at me in mild shock at my bossiness, I huff and turn away again. "You need nutrition; we're about to fight the big huge boss monster this quest has been all about in the first place. Now go stand in the corner and eat your food."

"And think about what I did?" he mutters grumpily under his breath as he marches past me, but at least does what I says.

True to my word, I stay turned away from him as I start to eat some food myself, and gently push Kirby so he's not constantly glancing curiously back over his shoulder at Meta Knight's cape, which is all we could see anyway, other than maybe his silver mask sitting on top of his head, shoved out of the way so he can eat.

Frowning over at me, Kirby demands, "Are you all right, S'kura-poy?" Bandanna nods his fervent agreement with that question, his wide eyes filled with worry.

Softening instantly, I stay quiet for a long moment. No, Kirby, I'm not all right. I'm scared half to death. I'm scared of Meta Knight, I'm scared of the Lightning, I'm scared of what's going to happen in the next day or so. It's hard to believe that yesterday was so wonderful right up until Magolor showed up, when all I can feel right now is utter fear mixed with an urgent earnestness.

But when I finally answer, it's to reassure him, "I'm just in hero mode right now, Kirby. We can't waste any time for anything right now, okay? We have to go stop the Lightning before he hurts anybody. We have to bring back the sun and stars and rain. If we let him keep covering the world in darkness and storms without rain, everything will die, even if he never actually attacks anybody." Looking up at him, I continue, "And he's probably attacking other worlds, too. White Wafers seems to have mostly stayed snowy, so it's safer than pretty much any other world, but what do you think would happen if lightning like we saw a little bit ago hit a tree in some drier world like Whispy Woods?"

Both kids pale slightly, then Kirby nods and adds softly, "There's a big tree in Cappy Town too, poy. If lightning hitted it..." He shudders. "T'fire would prob'ly go all t'way to t'castle."

"Exactly," I nod once, firm. "And that's why we have to go and stop the monster, no matter what." Softening again as I finish off my food, I take one of Kirby's paws in my one glove and one of Bandanna's in the other. "The next day or so is going to be really, really scary. Even I'm scared. And that's okay; it's okay to be scared. It shows you're smart and that you're willing to do what you need to do to stay alive and safe. But we can't just hide and stay safe, right? Just like every other quest you two have been on, it's time to go face the monster causing problems and make him stop. We're not doing this because we like killing monsters, or because it's fun and exciting, but because even though it's scary and killing is awful, we need to make him stop so we can keep everybody else safe, right?" Both of them nod once, still looking afraid. "I know you're afraid; like I said, I am too. But I need you both to be brave."

"But Kirby-poy's so scared," Kirby whimpers.

Taking a deep breath, I look him right in the eye. "Were you scared when you fought Magolor?"

He nods. "Super scared. He was a giant, freaky wizard with a eyeball in his mouth."

Shoving that mental image out of my head as quickly as it entered with a shudder, I question, "Were you scared when you fought Nightmare?"

He nods slowly. "Kirby looked brave on t'outside, but on t'inside, was super-super scared."

I nod. "You were afraid, yes, but you were still brave, both times. You looked brave because you were brave." He frowns in confusion, but I give his paw a squeeze and finish, "Being brave doesn't mean you aren't afraid. It just means that you do what you need to do without letting the fear stop you." After looking at them both in the eye again, I spread out my wings and pull them both into a warm hug. "You guys are my best friends, and my Star Warrior and Hero Dee. I know you'll both do great. Thank you so much for coming on this quest with me, even though it's been scary." Pausing for a second, I gently nuzzle both of their foreheads with mine, one at a time. "I love you both, very much."

When I pull away, I'm rewarded with a beaming grin from Kirby and a fervent smile from Bandanna Dee. "Kirby love you too, poyo," Kirby tells me excitedly, while Bandanna shoves his forehead against mine and announces firmly,

"I love you too, She-Dee. You've always been like my big sister, as far back as I can remember."

I freeze at that declaration. Of course I know what sisters and brothers are; I've read about them plenty of times. I'd just never imagined being able to fit into a family like that, since Waddle Dees don't have family relationships. But as I touch my forehead to Bandanna's again, I tell him both aloud and inside my head, "You've always been like my little brother, too."

Not wanting to be left out, Kirby wriggles between us. "Can Kirby be a lil brother, too?"

Laughing quietly, I nod and give him a 'smile.' "Of course. I'd love to have two little brothers."

Kirby gives a squeal of delight and turns a cartwheel in the narrow cave, evidently not caring when he slams into the wall and ends up on his face on the ground. "Bestest day ever, even with scary monster! Kirby got a sister 'n a brother! Kirby got a fam'ly, poyo!" he cries joyously up from the dirt, voice muffled by the stony ground.

Meta Knight's remained quiet throughout this whole exchange, but finally rejoins the group, masked again, by helping Kirby up with one glove and then looking at all three of us sternly (though not unkindly). "As Sakura said, we cannot fly in this weather, or even travel by foot, but we have to get to Bubbly Clouds."

The three of us nod back at him, following so far. "So what do we do?" I demand.

"We warp," he orders, nodding at my cape. "You saw how I could teleport last night. You can do the same with your cape. I'll take Kirby with me in mine, and you take Bandanna in yours."

This, of course, is news to me. "Okay, but how do I do that? How do I control where I go, and how do I even use it to travel?"

Sighing heavily, he shakes his head worriedly. "I'd been planning on waiting until we'd got back to the castle to teach you, if that was possible, and if not... I left instructions that Sword and Blade were to do so if I could not. They do not have Dimensional Capes themselves, but I've trained them in how to use them. I would have taught you before our quest, but we had no time between when you got your cape and it was time to go; you barely had enough time to teach yourself how to fly."

"Trust me, I remember," I assure him with a sigh.

Nodding once, he continues, "Unfortunately, things being what they are, I can't exactly properly train you at the moment. I need you to simply trust me and follow my instructions. Essentially, what you are going to do is put yourself and Bandanna Dee into your cape like you would with any other possession. Your cape will fold in on itself and enter with you. Whatever you do, do not let go of Bandanna and do not let your cape part from you either. Next, you simply will yourself out of the cape again, as easily as you do when you will your cape into wings, with a specific destination in mind. You can't just warp anywhere in the Galaxy, of course— there is a range limit, and from here, Bubby Clouds is just at the edge of it, but thankfully, it's just up and north from here, so we should be fine. Just make sure to do this all as fast as you can, so you don't end up trapped between dimensions. In theory, I could will myself into the same part of Dimensional Space as you and rescue you if need be, since your cape would act as a beacon of sorts, but it would be a dangerous and tricky process for everyone involved, and Bandanna could easily be lost entirely."

Quickly growing more and more anxious, I tell him worriedly, "Sir, I don't think I can handle this already. I haven't had any chances to practice. If it was just me, that'd be one thing... But if it's actually possible to become trapped in some empty void or whatever, and I have to worry about Bandanna's safety as well as my own..." Shaking my head, I tell him quietly, "It's too risky. I realize it might be the only way, but it's just too risky."

At first, he seems to grow irritated, but quickly softens. "You're right. I can't expect you to be able to do this so suddenly. It's a complicated process." Shaking his head with a sigh, he adds in mild frustration directed at himself, "Besides, you've never even been to Bubbly Clouds, so it would be extremely difficult for you to warp there... You could end up anywhere in the world since you wouldn't be able to will yourself to a specific destination..."

"I'm sorry," I mutter, suddenly the awkward pupil once again, even if only for a moment.

"Don't be," he replies quietly, shaking his head once more. "I'll take Kirby and find a safe place for him to wait, then I'll come and get Bandanna Dee, and then you. You two wait here, and stay safe, all right?"

Nodding once, still feeling a bit ashamed even if this isn't really my fault, I agree, "Yes, Sir."

Gently grabbing Kirby's paw and wrapping his cape around the both of them (making Kirby look very cozy indeed, I must say), Meta Knight nods at Bandanna and I once. "I'll be right back; in less than two minutes, for sure." Just like the other day, he disappears out of thin air, taking Kirby with him, leaving only his cape behind him. And again, just like the other day, the cape twists up on itself and then vanishes with nothing but a very quiet 'poof' sound.

Turning to Bandanna, I question, "I wonder how long it'll take him—" only to be interrupted by a flash of lightning outside, distant enough that we aren't blinded but close enough that we can see it even from inside the cave. Bandanna and I stare at each other and then both dash to the cave opening, only to see a ton of lightning going off all of a sudden up and to the north, way off on the horizon.

Right smack-dab in the middle of where Bubbly Clouds would be if we could see, far above Popstar's top point.

"He knows they're there," I whisper in terror. "He's attacking them."

Shoving his forehead against mine, Bandanna reminds me, "Meta Knight said to wait for two minutes, remember?"

With a sigh, I nod anxiously. "Yeah, I remember. But if they're under attack..." My heart starts racing as I start to realize the full implications of this situation. I can't warp to Bubbly Clouds; we've already established that, but we can't just stay here. Meta Knight could die right now without me there to help, and possibly even Kirby too. I can't just let them fight alone.

Evidently, I'm thinking those thoughts of terror loud enough that Bandanna Dee, who's still touching his forehead to mine, can hear me. "Sakura. We won't just let them fight alone. We can get there."

"But we can't," I think back at him, starting to panic despite myself. "I can't warp; we can't fly... We wouldn't even be able to see where we were going since I'd need both gloves free to carry you, so I wouldn't be able to use the Cherry Star Sword for light. How can we get there??" It's clearly already been two minutes (plus some) by now, and the lightning still hasn't stopped. Something's obviously keeping Meta Knight from coming to get us.

Interrupting my panicked thoughts once again, Bandanna orders as his brow furrows in urgency, "Call for Kirby's Warp Star."

Panicking worse, I answer aloud, "I can't call the Warp Star; it wouldn't come to me. I'm not a Star Warrior, number one, and even if I was, I doubt Kirby's Warp Star would come to me."

"Sakura, listen," he orders me. "Calm down and actually listen to me for once, all right?"

Closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths, I nod fearfully, trying my best not to start shaking.

"Okay. When Kirby was a baby, he couldn't call the Warp Star himself. He had this friend, I think her name was Fumey or something, who could call it for him because she was his guardian of sorts. She was definitely not a Star Warrior, if you're wondering, but it still came to Kirby whenever she called for it."

"Did she ever ride it?" I point out in worry. "Besides, I'm not Kirby's guardian—"

He interrupts urgently. "No, she never rode it. It wouldn't've let her ride it. Kirby's Warp Star doesn't even let me ride it if he's not there helping me; we've tried behind Meta Knight's back before. It always just lazily turns sideways close above the ground until I end up slipping off. But it let you ride it the other day, just as nicely as if Kirby was the one controlling it by the end of the little misadventure. You might not be Kirby's guardian, but you're his ally. Why would it go when his guardian called it but wouldn't come for you, when you can even ride it and she couldn't?"

Still wary, I also point out, "But you said yourself it didn't go to her; it went to Kirby whenever she called it."

Bandanna gives a deep mental sigh. "Sakura... It let you ride it. Meta Knight told us once that if a Star Warrior calls for a Warp Star, any unoccupied Warp Star in the area that isn't boxed up somewhere will fly to help them, no matter who their owner actually is."

Shaking my head, I panic aloud, "But I'm not a Star Warrior!"

"Sakura!" the young Waddle Dee actually shouts into my mind, starting to sound a bit irritated. I finally fall silent again. "You can ride it. You are a Warp Star rider. Whether that makes you a Star Warrior or not, you can call for it. We have nothing to lose anyway; either it works or it doesn't. It's our only chance to get to the others, and they need us right now." Pulling away from my forehead, he points his spear to the distant north horizon again, and I can see that the lightning that's all gathered in one tiny area of the sky is showing no sign of letting up.

I swallow nervously and stumble back a step, not knowing what to do. Scared, I look to Bandanna for help, but all he does is gives me a look that clearly states that it's up to me now to make a choice.

Groaning, I turn around into the cave and grab up the electric lantern before yanking one of the batteries out, making Bandanna give me a startled look before everything goes completely and totally dark. I stuff the lantern in my cape and then take a deep breath before inhaling the battery and swallowing it (don't try this at home, kids), making a face at the nasty, acidic taste. An instant later, I can feel electricity crawling all over and throughout me as some of it snakes onto my head and turns itself into a light-pink, sparky tiara-like headdress.

"It appears I have gotten the Spark Ability," I comment drily to myself, remembering the old days right after Kirby had arrived in Dreamland, when Meta Knight seemed to always take it upon himself to narrate the event aloud whenever Kirby decided to swallow something that granted a Copy Ability. I haven't heard him do it since after Kirby defeated Nightmare; I wonder why he stopped. Maybe he figured we'd all figured the phenomenon out by that point.

Taking a deep breath, I focus the crackling energy into a sphere that surrounds and envelops both Bandanna and I like a forcefield. Bandanna Dee gives me a look that clearly says, 'You still can't fly like this.' After all, I wouldn't be able to keep the shield up and carry him simultaneously.

"I know," I answer his glare aloud, before jerking my head for him to follow me outside of the cave. The light from my electric shield gives us just enough light to see the immediate area around us by, and the shield should protect us from all the storm clouds we're about to have to go flying through.

That is, if we're able to go flying through them at all. This just has to work.

We stand outside in the open air for a moment, listening to the stale wind blow and the distant thunder rumble. Finally, I call out as loud as I can, "Please, Warp Star! Come to my aid!"

At first, nothing. Now shoved up against me by the smallness of the shield, so that the sides of our heads are touching, Bandanna muses, "Well, what you said sounded fancy enough."

Just as I start to wonder if I should maybe try again, on the very edge of my hearing appears a tiny, sparkling sound that fills me instantly with warmth and hope.

"It's actually coming," I whisper in shock, and a moment later, it grows loud enough that Bandanna can hear it too.

Joyfully, he tells me in a mental whoop, "I told you it'd come!" as the sound grows ever louder, and suddenly, a bright light comes streaming down from the sky toward us like a shooting star coming to grant our desperate wish.

An instant later, it gracefully stops short just in front of me, low enough to the ground for me to step right on. Slowly, cautiously, I do so, and just like the other day, it begins to tilt and move according to my every tiny movement.

Bandanna hops on just behind me and grabs hold of me carefully, keeping his spear safely within our sparky shield but pointed away from both of us so that neither of us wind up hurt by its sharp point.

Not knowing what else to do, I keep my gloves out to either side, both to keep the shield up around us and for balance, and tell the Warp Star quietly, "Take us to Kirby."

Just like that, it streaks up into the sky. As soon as we reach the clouds, lightning begins to jump out at us, but I furrow my brow in concentration and keep the shield up and around us despite every attack trying to get through. Thankfully, the Warp Star tilts as needed to keep me on board, but Bandanna has to continue to cling to me for dear life, his fear finally starting to betray itself again through both physical trembling and mental yelps of fear. The Warp Star does all of the navigating as it carries us ever closer to Bubbly Clouds, much faster than I could ever fly with my wings. It might not be as fast as 'warping' with a cape, but it's still pretty dang fast— hence the name, probably, or vice versa.

As the Warp Star and I continue to move as one, with the storm clouds streaking past around us, the lightning striking at us at every turn, and the distant ground below rendered invisible by the darkness that covers the world, trying to choke all of the life out of it, the warm feeling I felt at the sound of the Warp Star's approach continues to build and intensify. Now, I know what it is for certain—

The Star Power.

I may not be a Star Warrior, but he has still chosen to reach out to me and allow me to become one of his own, just like Meta Knight said he would to anyone who allows him to. And yet, I have a feeling that this is something more than mere acceptance of my acceptance, and that the absence of my acceptance wouldn't make much difference, anyway. I'm a hero; I've been chosen to help save the Galaxy that, according to Meta Knight, the Star Power himself guides and controls. I've been chosen as a means to his ends, a vessel for his will, I guess you could say, whether I first chose to be or not.

And with that warmth inside me, our shield around us, and the Warp Star carrying us to help our friends, I narrow my eyes, ready and willing to face the fate that awaits me on the other side of the cloudy fortress, whatever it is.

This is the Star Power's story, and I'm just a character within it. I cannot control my own fate, but the fate I will be given is the one I have been chosen for. I may not know what the future holds, but now, at least, I know who holds the future.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to destroy the Lightning, but at least I will be able to weaken him. Just as importantly, Star Power willing, I will be able to save my friend and mentor in the process.

I may never know what I am, but at least now I know who I am. I am Sakura Dee, the foretold 'Kirby Dee,' and no matter what fate I meet with in the coming battle, one thing is certain—

I am destined to be a Hero of Dreamland.