Heroes of Dreamland Rewritten, Book 3: Stars Amidst Darkness

Chapter 26

Meta Knight | メタナイト

It takes several hours to find her, but I finally do.

The castle courtyard and the secret library both turned out to be total failures. I didn't find her in Kirby's house, or his small fishing cabin on the Float Islands, or even in Patch Land. Getting away from an overly-eager Fluff and Dweebert took far too long; Fluff insisted that Sakura and Kirby both must come to visit as soon as possible, or they'll come to Dreamland to visit them themselves. I even checked in Cappy Town, though there, too, I ended up wasting far too much time trying to extricate myself from various social situations. I suppose that's the inevitable result of my never going to town anymore and no one in town's ever getting any real news from the castle aside from the occasional tax code change. It did, however, remind me quite sufficiently of why I generally avoid Cappy Town in the first place.

White Wafers was the logical next place to look, given how much Sakura loves this world. I didn't find her in any of the places we played in the snow that day. I didn't find her in the spot where she and I watched the aurora, either.

Standing there made me feel sad, somehow. I'm glad to know she's Blossom now, and that Blossom is alive, but there is something nostalgic about thinking back on that moment. That blissful moment was the last time she was able to look at me with youthful admiration, an unshaking belief that I was something good like her. Back then, she still thought that while I had maybe had my missteps in the past, I was still a good-hearted hero through and through. Immediately after that, I proved her wrong, and I've proved her wrong plenty times more since then, both now and in my past. Certainly, she still sees me as someone worth saving; she forgave me yet again today, even though I know I didn't—don't—deserve it. But since that moment when I shattered her trust for the first time... since then, she's always known that I'm really not as good as I try to be.

I checked the pine grove where I almost killed Magolor and then her, since it's so close by the spot where we watched the aurora. Of course, she wasn't there. I almost left the world then to go hunting elsewhere, even though I had no idea where else to look. Then, though, I remembered that there was one other place we spent some time here in White Wafers. I doubted she'd want to go there; she probably associates that place with bad memories. Still, I figured it'd be better to be thorough than to risk wasting more time or having to double back here later.

As I got closer, I finally felt her presence. It's there that I found her, curled up and shivering in a blanket in the cave.

The sun is getting lower in the sky, leaving the cave already cast in shadow. I sigh in relief, glad to see she's alright. I hesitate in the entryway of the cave, not wanting to wake her up. She needs her rest. The heaviness of my eyelids reminds me that I need sleep, too, not to mention a hot meal.

She suddenly sneezes from a chill, a huge motion that snaps her body away from the wall and back. Bonking her head against the stone wall wakes her up. She groans and reaches up to rub her head. One eye opens to scan the room. She immediately notices my silhouette in the dark, and jumps up, afraid. "Who's there?"

"It's just me," I tell her gently. I hold my gloves out to either side, making it clear I mean no harm. She's just woken up, and I haven't exactly been a trustworthy figure for her the past couple of days. "I've been looking for you since sunrise. I'm so glad to see you're alright."

She pulls the blanket more tightly around herself. I can see her breath fogging the air in front of her with every exhale. "I still don't know what to do, so don't ask."

"I'm not going to," I reassure her. I'm worried about the new threat to the planet, true; after all, who knows how far it's spread by now. I haven't been in the Woods all day, but the stuff must have thoroughly infected it by now. Even so, that can wait for a little bit. I don't want to overwhelm her. "You don't have to have that figured out yet. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."