"YOUR MAJESTYYYYY!"

Dedede sat up in bed, groaning. Was someone calling him? At this hour of the—

"YOUR MAJESTY, IT'S GROWING DARK OUT!"

…well, there's nothing wrong with taking afternoon naps, is there?

Where was that coming from? Outside his room? But, there was no one at the door… Dedede glanced around, wondering where—

"Majesty, look at the window."

The king's gaze instantly snapped to his bedroom windows to see that someone was, indeed, there…though he couldn't see who. From their voice, he had a general idea, however…

"Why didn't you use the front door?" Dedede asked, raising an eyebrow as he unlocked the windows. "How long have you been out there?"

"I've not been out there for long."

A sapphire puffball swooped inside, circling the king's room in a lazy glide as he took in everything on the floor, on a shelf, and anything in between. Dedede held his hand out for the puffball, as if inviting him to come closer.

Instead, the puff turned his flight path toward the penguin, and gently lighted down in the palm of the king's hand. Despite the limited space, he still attempted to kneel—well, as best he could, for his species. Kneeling was a real problem for all species in Dream Land.

"Hello, your Majesty. I apologize for being away for so long, but—"

"Yeah, yeah; you probably had a project or something and you delayed it till the last minute," Dedede dismissed, as if this sort of thing happened on a regular basis. "So what brings you here today?"

Meta Knight tilted his head. "I thought I would visit you for Christmas. Is that bad? Have I interrupted something?"

"Meta! You're like…" Dedede glanced at his calendar. "…three days early. Are you just going to stay here for the snacks or something?"

Meta Knight pushed his mask onto the top of his head, staring up at his king with a slightly disappointed expression. It was then that Dedede suddenly remembered what species he was dealing with—particularly when he heard the high pitch of the puff's voice when he spoke.

"Your Majesty, I—"

"Nope. You don't even have to answer that question. I'm just glad you're here, Meta. Seriously."

The penguin set the puff on the ground and trotted back toward his bed, and the sapphire puffball followed him. Dedede threw himself onto the bed, bouncing a time or two from the impact. Chuckling, he turned to see what Meta Knight would do.

…

The sapphire puff simply spread his wings, jumped up to the bed, and landed gently on his feet. The king didn't even feel him land.

"Boriiiiiiiing!" Dedede rolled over next to the puffball. "Meta, you never break any rules. You're no fun!"

"Why would I break the rules when I could push them to their limits or exploit their loopholes?"

The king paused. "Hm. Good point." Then he shrugged. "But at that point, you're just a few steps away from breaking them anyway, so I don't bother myself with all that. If I'm gonna do something nobody likes, it isn't gonna make much difference whether I hide behind some rules or not, is it?"

"I suppose not. But I still prefer to keep within the rules, if possible."

Meta Knight tapped the king's arm with one of his wings, and the penguin rolled over so he could make eye contact with the puffball. It was quite awkward being one of the largest creatures in the castle, and even one of the largest creatures of his subjects. Sure, there were a few creatures who were somewhat bigger than he was, but that was getting into cute elephants and fiery lions. He interacted with his friends and the people of his kingdom far more than those other aforementioned creatures did. Perhaps that was why he was so aware of the size difference?

Although, it was fitting that as the king, he towered over his subjects in size and strength. It was a much better feeling than being a simple figurehead who just sat around making orders all day, and had to have his subordinates do all his fighting for him. Dedede didn't particularly enjoy battling monsters by himself, but if he was in a group or had at least one other person with him, even if they weren't fighting, he felt a lot more secure. He could defend himself if need be, but as for fighting tyrannical abominations…he preferred to have someone else with him. Dedede was used to having people around him all day; to not have someone he could call at any time drove him insane. It had to be Kirby's fault. Kirby felt the same way, so it had to be his fault.

Maybe.

Ignoring the fact that he'd always felt that way, even before the pink puffball arrived.

Especially ignoring the fact that he'd felt that way before Kirby was probably even born.

"Whatever, Meta. Say and think what you want, but you're still a goody-two-shoes."

The sapphire puffball gave him an annoyed glare.

Dedede held his hands up in defense. "Hey, not sayin' there's anything wrong with that. You can still be cool, you know. Uh, you're still cool, you know."

Meta Knight sighed. The king poked the puff's cheek. "C'mon, do you want some hot chocolate? A snack, or something? I have cookies, too…"

The puffball's eyes almost instantly lit up, though his expressions of excitement were quite subtle. Meta Knight spread his wings, leaping off the bed and gliding over to the open door…landing on top of it. Dedede clambered out of bed, walking over to the door as the puff jumped off the door. He bounced on his tummy before landing upright, standing at the door as he waited for his king.

"I'll follow your lead, your Majesty," the puff hinted respectfully.

Dedede simply took the door, closing it behind them. "Because you don't wanna get lost. Whatever, Meta." Pause. "And, y'know…you can always call me 'Dedede', if you want…or a nickname, or something. You let the Dees and me call you 'Meta', so…"

Meta Knight thought for a moment.

"I could, but considering my role, it would be improper, your Majesty."

"Oh." The king sounded almost disappointed, but had learned that Meta Knight was incredibly stubborn unless he was mentally shattered, and he highly doubted that the puff was feeling that way tonight. Not because he could easily read what the puff was thinking, but because Meta Knight's focus on negative emotions rarely lasted more than a day, and he only snapped occasionally. Still, Dedede had learned a bit from hanging around with puffballs for several years, and he'd noticed that if they were experiencing particularly strong emotions, the aura around them felt somewhat different, as a result from the black hole inside their bodies. If either Kirby or Meta Knight weren't noticeably happy but were emanating that feeling, he would know that something wasn't right.

"But, considering that I've been calling you 'your Majesty' for years, it would feel awkward calling you something different."

Dedede snapped back to Meta Knight's conversation, cracking a grin at that. "Ah, so the real reasoning comes to light…"

The puff merely shrugged. "But considering that I've known you for years now, if you'd like me to call you 'your Ma—'…well, 'Dedede', then I will make my best efforts to call you that, your Ma—Dedede."

The king nudged the puff's cheek lightly, grinning. "Well, thanks, Meta. Y'know, I like that rule-following thing of yours now…"

"You won't be lonely forever, Dedede…" The queen of Dream Land patted her son's head, smiling. "King Dad and I will give you some little brothers to take care of. Okay?"

"Could I have two brothers? I want two brothers 'cause I like even numbers," the prince rambled. "And then I want a best friend, too! Then I'll have brothers AND a best friend! Can I have them, mommy? When can I meet them?"

"That's a surprise, Dedede. But I promise you, you can have two brothers and a best friend, okay? As long as—"

"Yes!" Dedede cheered. His mother quickly hushed him.

"As long as you agree to look after them, like a good big brother would do. You can play with them, and you can all help each other, but since you'll be the big brother, you have to look out for them and take care of them when they need it, okay? You're the oldest, so you'll be smarter and stronger than them. Mommy and Daddy can't be around to look after you all forever, so as the future king of Dream Land, when you meet your brothers and your best friend, remember to look after them for us, okay? Promise me that."

The little prince put his hand in his mother's. "I promise, mommy! I love my brothers and my new friend already!"

His mother, being a century or two old, could probably make hot chocolate better than he could. As a matter of fact, his mother would have made better hot chocolate, and she would have made Meta Knight eat a proper meal before he got his cookies. But Dedede was quite soft when it came to caring for his friends, and so he'd let Meta Knight have free range over whatever desserts he happened to find in the kitchen pantry. He hadn't turned around to see the puff's plate yet, but he could only assume that it would be ridiculous when he saw it. 'Extreme' and 'Meta Knight' tended to fit well in the same sentence.

"Didja want marshmallows, Meta?" the king asked, reaching for the bag. "Or would you rather have whipped cream?"

"Whipped cream, please."

Instead, the penguin strolled over to the refrigerator and grabbed a can of whipped cream. He rarely used it, so he'd originally bought the cheap kind. However, after learning that his friends enjoyed it, he'd bought some made with better ingredients, and just instructed the Dees in the kitchen to make something interesting for him with it. Like a parfait. It was so simple, yet he'd enjoyed it.

Ah, speaking of parfait, himself, and Meta Knight, that brought up a funny story. It actually made the king smirk as he spread whipped cream over Meta Knight's hot chocolate.

Dedede, being an only child raised by caring parents, had learned to try and eat pretty much any type of food introduced to him. He was always willing to try new foods; even weird things perked his interest. After the Lor adventure, however, he'd learned that his sapphire companion held completely opposite food viewpoints. Meta Knight, used to eating the same cheap food off a space base, would not eat anything that contained ingredients he hadn't tasted before, and his diet was mainly composed of meat, sugar, flour, and dairy. Excluding tomato paste and fruity candies, the puff would not eat any 'plant life', and he'd made it very clear that persuading him to each such disgusting plant life would be an impossible challenge.

So one day, after having one pizza too many, Dedede decided that he'd give that impossible challenge a shot. It was rather difficult to think of a good approach, as Meta Knight recognized most edible fruits and vegetables on the planet, and he was too observant to slip something into his food without telling him. Instead, the king sliced up a banana (as they weren't blatantly-recognizable in pieces), mixed it up with some chocolate pudding, cake cubes, and whipped cream, and gave it to the puff under the name of a parfait. When questioned on what the 'mystery pieces' were, Dedede stated that they were similar to the balls of 'future space ice cream' that were all the rage in big cities now, and that they were his latest trend, so the puff was obligated to try them since his king was eating them and they were popular.

Much to his surprise, Meta Knight did not recognize the bananas and actually consumed the entire parfait. He still enjoyed chocolate parfaits to this day, actually.

The banana trick lasted for about two weeks before a Dee slipped up and let the puffball know that he was being deceived. Much to the king's dismay, once the puff labeled the bananas as 'plant life' instead of 'artificial ice cream', he refused to eat them, sending the penguin right back to where they started. Dedede had picked on him for a long time, trying to persuade him to eat the bananas again, but so far, he'd been unsuccessful. It made it hard and awkward when they found bunches of bananas on adventures.

Oh well. I'm trying to take care of them, mom and dad…

Speaking of taking care of people, the hot chocolate had more than enough whipped cream on it now and would probably send any normal person into shock from the sugar content.

Dedede took his mug and Meta Knight's and walked back over to the kitchen table. By some Christmas miracle, Meta Knight had not taken an insane amount of snacks, and was nibbling on what he had rather slowly, considering he was a puffball. The duo ate in silence for a while before Meta Knight broke the silence.

"Thank you for showing me such kindness, your Majesty," the puff offered politely. "I could have helped you make the hot chocolate, you know…"

"What? Oh, no! It's no problem, Meta; seriously. I like cooking."

No way he'd let his friends know that he enjoyed taking care of them. He'd be slaving in the kitchen all day for some baby puffballs. But as long as he hid the fact that he was taking care of them, he should be okay, right? Taking care of his friends, fulfilling that promise he made, and having a good time. Even if he had to pick on pink puffballs to keep up his image.

…annnnd it looked like he'd have to add 'telling puffballs to eat their food' to that list of things he was supposed to be doing.

"…Uh, Meta; if you need me to grant you permission to drink your hot chocolate, I grant you permission to drink your hot chocolate. I don't think it tastes bad, so finish it before it gets cold."

Dedede had to try his hardest to hide his grin as he watched the puffball climb onto the table so he could lick some of the whipped cream off. He'd tried to get some better chairs in here, but it seemed they were still a little too short. He probably should have chosen a normal-sized cup instead of one that was the same size as his special, oversized cocoa cup (and therefore, about the same size as Meta Knight), too. That might've helped. Dedede turned over one of the metal cookie containers and pushed it over to the puff's cup. "Try standing on that, Meta. It might help you."

"Thank you, your—Dedede." The puff pulled himself onto the cookie container, taking a large mixing spoon and stirring the hot chocolate as he licked the whipped cream off the top. The king had given him such a generous serving that most of it still hadn't melted, and much to Meta Knight's dismay, his face and cheeks were soon covered with the fluffy topping.

"Your Majesty…" the puff began slowly, blowing on the hot chocolate as he stirred it. "…Why…do you treat me with such care, despite knowing that I'm…likely more mature than the rest of your companions? I'd assume you'd just leave me to take care of myself."

"Why would I do that to one of my little buddies?" The king made a face. "It's not about ignoring you because you can do things on your own; it's about being nice to you because you're my friend. I thought you'd know that, Meta." He reached for another box of fancy Christmas cookies and offered them to the puffball. Meta Knight inspected them critically before choosing the largest chocolate cookie. "…you aren't hurt or anything, are you? You usually ask those questions when something's wrong."

"I'm all right," the puff answered, swallowing the cookie. "I just…thought I'd ask. It's…It's nice when people are nice to you, your Majesty…"

The king poked Meta Knight's cheek, wiping some of the whipped cream off. "It's 'Dedede', Meta. Not 'your Majesty'. And I'm always nice to you, aren't I?"

"You attempted to set me up on an evening out with that ice princess last week," the puff muttered, sipping some of his drink. "I thought I told you that I'm not interested in such things right now."

"Awwww, but your cheeks were so red, Meta." Dedede smirked as he saw the puffball's expression. "More purple, but hey, you're lookin' about the same right now as you did then. And she was hitting on you in the beginning, so you should've accepted the offer."

"I told you, I'm not interested in that sort of thing right now," Meta Knight repeated, burying his face in the whipped cream. It was only a few seconds later before he reached back for the cookies.

"But I'm plenty nice to you outside of that, Meta. Like, I'm nice enough to take away your cookies before you get sick for the rest of the night."

The puff simply glared at him from the side of the whipped cream mountain.

"You're lucky my mom isn't here, Meta. She'd make you eat some real food before she gave you any of those cookies," Dedede said, eyeing the puff's plate. Meta Knight stared back up at him curiously, finally able to make eye contact with him after polishing off the whipped cream.

"What…What were your parents like? If it brings up bad memories, you don't have to answer…"

Dedede leaned on the table, taking another sip of his hot chocolate. "Well, Meta…" He sighed. "I don't remember much of them. Not much important stuff, anyway. I remember a lot of us playing together, eating tons of different stuff—which you really should have been there for—"

Meta Knight made a face at such implications.

"…uhhh, let's see…We played golf and croquet. Dad tried to teach me some chess, but then the Waddle Dees ended up teaching me the rest…They gave me that slide in my room, and we always had parties and celebrated stuff together…But I don't remember the important stuff. Like, I remember my dad—well, he was the king at that time—had a few formal events, where he had to represent as the king. But I don't remember much besides how he looked dressed up, y'know? And they didn't tell me much of the family background either, or why they moved here…I guess they were waiting till I was older. But they loved kids. They liked rules, too. They probably would've been right up your alley until they broke out some lettuce and stuff."

The puffball didn't answer at first, instead studying the king's expression. Just as he was about to say something, Meta Knight did.

"You miss them, don't you…?"

"Of…" The penguin couldn't help his melancholy expression. "Of course I do, Meta. I wish they were here right now, to spend Christmas with us. I mean, I know your caretaker really loved you, to let you stay with her and her husband and family, but your circumstances just aren't the same as having parents that you were born from and were attached to before you even knew anyone else besides them. It's like…if your caretaker left you, after you spent your whole life with her. Like if you knew her and trusted her completely for longer than you could remember. That's how I felt about my parents."

He didn't see Meta Knight frown often, but he was now. The puff wore a sympathetic expression as he continued staring at the king in silence. Dedede felt as if he should continue, so the quietness would be gone, but he couldn't think of anything else to say—

—until he felt a puffball's paws grasping his gloved hand.

"I'm not skilled at comforting people, your Majesty, but…I'm sure your parents didn't want to leave you, either…"

The king had to look down to meet the puff's gaze. His silver-colored equipment and sapphire skin matched the shades of the silver-and-blue decorations on the kitchen's walls, some of which were older than the puff himself. Not that he'd know that, but Dedede did, and could recall which decorations those were.

"I'm sure they intended to tell you that later, but…at the same time, if it was particularly important for you to know, they might have left you a note or letter somewhere to inform you of such topics. Of course, they may not have. If they didn't think it was incredibly important for you to know why they came here, or what their origins were…they wouldn't have left anything behind unless they expected you'd be curious. But surely, your parents had to have some memorabilia left behind from parts of their lives. Try searching their belongings—if you still have them. Some of your Dees may, if they were old enough."

Dedede blinked. "I…I never thought of that, Meta. Thanks. I don't really know what they did with Mom and King Dad's stuff."

He gently rubbed the puff's cheeks with his thumb to show his gratitude. Dees, and apparently puffballs, rubbed cheeks to show friendly affection. Due to his size, the king had adopted simply rubbing their cheeks with his fingers instead of bending over to ground level to rub cheeks with them. Not to mention that having a beak made things a little awkward at times.

Meta Knight's wings twitched a few times as he backed away and almost literally dove into his hot chocolate cup, polishing the liquid off true to puffball nature before strolling casually across the table, back toward his king. How the puff could absorb so much caffeine and sugar was beyond him.

"You're welcome, your Majesty. I'm glad I could give you some decent advice, in return for what you've given me. I know we've all had our…rougher times throughout life, but I'm certain your parents would be satisfied with where you've ended up. You've become a good ruler over the years…especially compared to the ways other kingdoms have headed."

"Well…" Dedede grinned, reaching between Meta Knight's wings with an ungloved hand. The sapphire puffball lay down on the table; there was potential that the king might pet—erm, politely stroke him. "I think it was nice of you to say that, Meta. …Thanks."

When he'd first met Meta Knight, he'd never imagined in his wildest dreams that the puff would let anyone touch him, much less intimately pet him. Meta Knight was rather quiet, and avoided social interaction unless it was related to business (or other puffballs). However, as time went on and he'd become friends with the puff (and saved his life a time or two), Meta Knight had gradually opened up to him. It turned out that the puff was actually quite affectionate with people he trusted-though admittedly, it had taken a long time to get to that point. Meta Knight had a lengthy list of moral qualities for people to check off before he'd trust them, one item being that he had to know the person long enough to acknowledge it was solid fact that the person was genuine in their qualities and not putting on a façade. Reasonable considering that Meta Knight...hadn't had the best of companions in life, but rather difficult when the puff was mortally wounded or suffering from hypothermia. Dedede knew these things. Mainly because he'd been around when they'd happened.

Not to mention that, as adorable creatures and high-class fighters (of which some puffball families worked exclusively for royalty), most puffballs were accustomed to and enjoyed being petted by the people whom they were sworn to protect. Meta Knight's wings began to relax as Dedede stroked his back; not too hard, but not soft enough that it would tickle.

"You're welcome, your Majesty," the puff murmured, eyes closing halfway. "You're our king, after all…"

Dedede blinked.

Huh? Yeah…I am their king. Hmph, didn't really feel like it today, too much. But it's true. I'm the guy in charge of this country, and a few others. Ultimate ruler and guardian of all the people in those countries. Doing what my mom and dad used to do, back when they were…around. They did such a good job. Although they didn't have as many countries as me to take care of, then.

Ultimate ruler and guardian of all the people…

…wow, that job sounds WAY bigger than any one person can handle. I'm glad I have so many employees to deal with all that for me. I can't take care of everyone at once…but, y'know, I can take care of some people at once…

…

Mom…Dad…if you're out there...have I been doing a good job of taking caring of my 'little brothers'? He pushed the puff's mask off the top of his head so he could continue stroking him. I…I know you never got to give me any, but…do my friends here count? I've been trying my hardest for you…

It's…not really been easy. It always seems like a lot of the time, Kirby gets all the attention, Meta is the smart guy who's always right, and Bandana is just inwardly cringing at how dysfunctional we all are. Where do I fit into that? The strong guy? The oldest one? The king? That guy who always gets into food fights with Kirby? I wonder how they think of me?

He could always ask…but, would he get an honest answer? From Kirby, maybe, but from anyone else, unlikely. Dedede was aware of some of his flaws, and no matter how true an insult was, he just didn't like it. Even if it wasn't meant to be insulting.

Who cares…I've got my little buddies here, and if they didn't like me, they wouldn't keep coming back to me. And they especially wouldn't work for me or run off to save my life on a whim. Did you have friends like this, Mom and Dad? I remember seeing a puffball and some Waddle Dees in your old photos as a kid…

Something light brushed his arm, and Dedede started slightly at the sensation…until he realized that it had just been Meta Knight's wing. The puff had closed his eyes at this point, and the king noticed that his breathing was softer. The penguin glanced over to his clock.

10:00 PM

Is it really that late? Heh, not late for me, though. Mom and Dad, I hope you don't mind me staying up so late all the time. If you still meant for me to have a bedtime at this point, uh, I'm sorry…

Why am I even thinking to myself like this…Mom and Dad can't hear me anyway. I've just gotta live with what I've got. And I've got some Waddle Dees, some friends, a ton of castles, kingship, and…

And Mom and Dad's old photo albums…

How ironic it would be, if his parents interacted with adorable, space-alien puffballs like he did. Dedede didn't remember exactly how he'd learned it, but the puffballs did enjoy it whenever he petted them, and he knew the spots they liked to have rubbed. The same went for Waddle Dees…so…What were his parents really like? Had they known…somehow…that things would eventually end up this way…?

I wish you'd told me more about you, Mom and Dad. But I guess I was too young to really understand any of it, much less remember it.

I miss having you here…

But instead, I've got my friends here with me.

At this point, Meta Knight had completely relaxed and was splayed out on the table in front of him, mostly asleep. There was a slight chance—very slight, of course—that he may have even been drooling. Dedede gathered the puff into his robe, put his glove back on, picked up their dishes, and started heading back to his room. The Waddle Dees could wash everything in the morning. Or the night, depending on when they got started cooking holiday feasts.

The king yawned as he strolled down the hallway, dragging a sleepy puffball in his arms with him. He'd assumed the sugar in the whipped cream would have had more effect on Meta Knight, especially considering the mountain of it he'd topped the cup with, but apparently sugar didn't do much for the puff anymore. Dedede had seen the puff at work on his projects that he did for extra money—he consumed a few jars of candy and some other sweets to get started, worked through the project, and then ate another serving as his reward for finishing. Dedede had tried the same thing, but only ended up with a stomach ache. It made him wonder how the puff could eat all that without any negative impact at all—although, he hadn't hung around to see the after-effects of those sugar doses, so perhaps it wasn't as it seemed.

Dedede pushed open his bedroom door and turned on a dim light, much to Meta Knight's apparent dismay. He could tell because the puff rolled over in his arms and almost kicked him in the ribs.

Am I seriously going to go to bed this early? There's gotta be a horror movie or something on to watch!

…nah. It wasn't fitting to watch horror movies around Christmas, anyway. He could just get up early tomorrow and annoy the chef Waddle Dees and Meta Knight.

The penguin set the puff down in his pillows, changed into his pajamas, and climbed into bed. Admittedly, Meta Knight still had a room set up in this castle, but after sharing confined tents and caves with each other and two more adventurers, he was sure that the puff wouldn't mind sleeping with him tonight. The Dees had put so many pillows on his bed tonight that the king was sure he'd never find the puff—or awkwardly crush him in his sleep. Or suffocate him by accident.

"G'nigh', Meta…" Dedede mumbled, pulling the covers over his head.

And…thanks for tonight, too…