Heroes of Dreamland, Book 1: Kirby and the Monstrous Lightning (OLD)

World 5 Level 3- Sakura, Meta Knight, and Magolor

Sakura sighed as the others finally began to awake. She hadn't fallen asleep again once after last night's revelation, she had been too... she didn't know how to describe it. Sad, worried, scared, intimidated, all of those were a part of what she had felt.

Yesterday, they had flown about halfway between Nutty Noon and White Wafers, today they were going to cover the rest of the journey, if all went well. Meta Knight was in a much better mood today, and Kirby and Bandana Dee were as gleeful as always. But she was a lot more serious than usual, and the others noticed.

Meta Knight was kind enough to give her some space, but Kirby and Bandana were doing everything they could to make her cheer up. But no matter what they did, all they got out of her was a tiny 'smile.'

At lunch, Kirby sat in her lap and smiled sweetly at her, even offering her one of his cookies from the bottomless bag. "No thanks, Kirby. In fact, take mine," she offered.

Kirby frowned, then gave her a hug. "Kirby love you, poyo."

She looked at the little one in confusion. "What, Kirby?"

Kirby seemed a bit hurt. "Never mind, poyo."

Sakura frowned, unsure of what she had done wrong. "What?" she asked again. When Kirby just shook his head, she sighed and fell back into the depressed mood she had been in all day.

It is as I suspected, Meta Knight observed, his eyes a deep orange of thought as he sat across from her on a stump. She has no concept of love. She has an idea of what 'to like' is, but to her, to serve is to love.

He made an effort to speak to her as much as possible that afternoon, hoping discussion would keep her mind off of whatever was troubling her, but she just replied with as short of answers as possible. Suddenly, she asked him, "Would you ever be able to lay down your life if it saved someone else's?"

"Of course," he replied, surprised. "I am a Star Warrior. That is one of the most honorable ways for my kind to pass on. I would, of course, much prefer to save the other's life without losing my own, if that was an option."

She nodded once, her eyes looking far off into space.

"Is that what you are troubled about?" he prodded gently. "That you would have to die for us in the final battle?"

"Not exactly, but that's pretty close," she replied softly, still not looking at him. Flapping off, she murmured, "Thank you."

He frowned to himself. What would cause her to be worried about losing her life in battle? We have already faced many opponents, and not one of them has caused us much trouble.

Up ahead, Sakura thought, You probably will just have to block that attack yourself. It'll all work out all right, we're all going to go home safe and sound. Stop worrying about it. She forced herself to think of happy things, like flying and cooking. After awhile, she seemed a bit better off, but there was still something other than happiness in her eyes.

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"Well, Magolor. Your original plan failed. Do you have any other ideas?" the Monstrous Lightning asked, bored as usual.

"I can't believe they made it out of that alive, I had gathered hundreds of monsters," Magolor sighed in irritation.

"How capable were these monsters, though?" the spark pointed out snidely.

"Well, obviously not as capable as the heroes," Magolor snorted, then cowered as the spark sent a bolt toward him, which stopped just in front of his face.