Disclaimer: (sigh) If only if only…

Summary: After Nightmare was defeated, Kirby disappeared for fifteen years to fight the darkness that lingers in the universe. Now he's back to fight a new foe that plans to walk in Nightmare's footsteps with the battleground as Dreamland again. But will he be able to do it when everything has changed? Eventual MK/Kirby

I know what many would think once they see the MK/Kirby. I don't care if you think the pairing is wrong and that it's something that belonged in hell. But one thing for sure, if you truly hate it, you wouldn't even attempt to read this story, less alone read this very sentence. (I'm not sure if there's going to be much of it actually but I just kinda wanted to add it here - this pairing needs more love!)

But for those who are remotely interested, please continue on reading.

Thank you for your interest.

XXX

After the prophesized hero defeated Nightmare, tormentor of all life in the galaxies, Pupu Village celebrated joyously. The citizens partied throughout the entire night after the battle and they didn't mind – after experiencing impending doom straight in the eye, they were just so grateful to be able to breathe at all. Sure the town lived somewhat peacefully even under Nightmare's rule, but it was the thought of being completely free what counted.

But the greatest benefit that came from this was no more monsters. There were no destroyed houses to rebuild, no wrecked forests to grow, and definitely no sheep herds to replenish (the mayor was very happy).

Yes it was mentioned earlier that Pupu Village was always peaceful even under the rule of Nightmare but now there was tranquility in the village like nothing before. There used to be a darkness, a lingering doubt that goes along the lines of "what if a monster would eat my children in the middle of the night?" or "what if the king does something stupid and destroy the town in my sleep?" in the back of the minds of all citizens. However, the darkness have relinquished, the doubt replaced by pure content of life.

For example, Fumu, who was obviously much more mature and responsible than King Dedede, worried constantly about the monsters and the schemes the king come up with. Now she's writing a book as she watches over the children playing on the grassy, sun-kissed hills, chronicling the adventures of Kirby from the moment he crashed on Pupu Village of Dreamland to the final battle against Nightmare.

Kirby…

Kirby became a renowned hero. The feat he had accomplished took him only about three days and three nights (and a year of training and fighting monsters before that). Kirby had done what took years of blood and violence tried to achieve by the Star Warriors. It was absolutely no surprise that tourists from many other planets and galaxies arrived to Pupu Village just to take a glance of the cute but powerful puffball.

But…that's probably what changed everything.

When Nightmare was defeated, King Dedede became extremely bored. Because Holy Nightmare Corporation wasn't there to attend his entertainment needs, Dedede ordered his Waddle Dees to build amusement parks and entertainment sites all around the town. Movie theaters were set up, along with malls, pools – anything that satisfied the King's interest. Of course if Dedede were to do something completely selfish like wiping out an entire forest to make a gold resort, Fumu would be there to stop him with Kirby close behind her. But since the blue penguin wasn't doing anything that harmed the environment too much, Fumu left him alone. Even if the penguin were to plan anything cruel like he used to, Fumu would trust Escargoon to watch over him not to go too far (all Fumu had to do is to threaten Escargoon that she'll tell his mother about him if he doesn't).

She should have.

Pupu Village used to be a humble community filled with happy neighbors. In the matter of a few months (the Waddle Dees are quick and efficient workers mind you), Pupu Village had to change its name into Cappy City because the population and economy increased drastically. King Dedede's contributions increased the tourist rates and the city's popularity. Kirby's mere existence in the town wasn't just a reason to go to the city anymore.

If one were to look at Dreamland from outer space, one would see a gray dot next to an abundance of green. That gray dot is Cappy City.

Fortunately the woods were left alone. Wispy Woods and the other natural beauty of land were left intact while the city was growing monstrously. The castle still sits on top of the green hill like a sentry in the outskirts of the city and the inhabitants didn't mind the giant changes at all.

Take the mayor for example: He now has more work but he feels like he is fulfilling his position to the fullest, and his wife is happy to see the mayor feeling so proud of himself.

By now the reader would think "Oh but Cappy City is becoming better right? The people are happy and the environment is intact and King Dedede isn't causing anymore trouble – there's nothing wrong!"

Yes all of that is true. But the crime rates in Cappy City have increased as well. Chief Borun started to have a lot in his hands that Meta Knight and his followers had to assist him. With a help from Silica, Knuckle Joe, Sir Arthur, Sir Falspar, Sir Noisurat, and Sir Dragato (for their wish to take down Nightmare has been fulfilled finally), they started the humble Cappy Police Force that eventually grown into the Popstar Police Headquarters, the main headquarters for law and justice with many smaller branches all over the planet. The former Star Warriors became in charge of the overall balance. Kirby wasn't the only hero in Popstar anymore.

Not to mention that Kirby started acting...strange.

Kirby was his happy puffball self after he defeated Nightmare but became much more…quieter. He didn't play with Bun and the other children as much. At first Fumu believed that Kirby was maturing quickly after his battle with Nightmare, but when Kirby's silence prolonged, Fumu paid attention to him. Kirby didn't smile as much anymore. After a month, Kirby stopped coming out to play in broad daylight. When Fumu tried to find Kirby, she found him outside on the highest castle balcony looking at the stars with a look of yearning in his eyes.

She doesn't know what he is yearning for yet it hurts to see him with those eyes.

"I don't get it Meta Knight," Fumu sighed, looking down at the small cup of hot coco in her hands on one chilly day."Nightmare is gone and nothing seriously bad is happening. Why isn't Kirby happy? I tried to talk to him but he wouldn't say anything to me."

The two were standing on the far end of the castle balcony, watching Kirby who was staring the starry sky once more.

Finally, Meta Knight broke the silence by softly replying. "Fumu, why did Kirby come to Pupu Village in the first place?"

"He didn't," Fumu answered," Kirby's ship made him crash on the planet because it detected the demon beasts."

"And what was Kabu's prophecy about Kirby?"

"Didn't Kabu say that a star warrior would come to aid us in our time of need?"

"But what about afterwards?" Meta Knight asked her the final question. "Our time of need has passed. Although Nightmare is not gone, he is not a great threat to the universe anymore."

"Wait a second!" Fumu exclaimed, turning her head to Meta Knight with wide eyes," Nightmare is still alive!"

Meta Knight nodded calmly. "As long as there are bad dreams, Nightmare will always exist. But Kirby has defeated him with the Star Rod, which keeps Nightmare's power to a minimum. We will never have to worry about Nightmare."

Meta Knight turned to Kirby.

"But that doesn't mean that there isn't danger in the universe."

"What does this have to do with Kirby?" Fumu asked with concerned eyes. "Kirby was born to be a Star Warrior and Star Warriors existed only to defeat Nightmare. He already had done what he had to do! He doesn't need to continue fighting monsters and demon beasts and…"

Fumu shook her head.

"Are you saying that Kirby still has to fight? That's so wrong! Kirby deserves to be a kid! He deserves to play and have fun with everyone!"

"But Kirby is not a child anymore," Meta Knight cuts back in. "As you say, Kirby was born to be a Star Warrior. And so Kirby will always be a Star Warrior. He was born with an instinct to protect and fight the forces of the darkness. To make him stop fighting is to have him go against his instincts."

"But that's just not fair!" Fumu said that bordered to a childish whine.

"It isn't, isn't it?" Meta Knight said sadly. "I understand how you feel and I have talked with Kirby about this plenty of times."

Fumu's eyes widened once more. Kirby actually talked to Meta Knight and not her?

Before Fumu could feel the corners of sadness creeping into her heart, Meta knight hurriedly say," It's not that Kirby doesn't trust you Fumu. There are some things…that only those like us can talk about."

"But the thing is that Kirby can feel what others can't. Kirby is a pure being who can feel the shadows because he has very little darkness in his heart. And now…Kirby feels that he is needed somewhere else."

Meta Knight sighed before leaving the balcony.

"It's only best to leave him alone Fumu."

And she did.

A week later, Kirby disappeared from the face of Popstar. The entire city went into havoc because their hero was missing. The only one who knew what happened to the pink puffball was Meta Knight who told the reporters that Kirby is continuing to fight the forces of evil somewhere else and nobody needed to worry about him. Eventually everybody carried on with their business. Kirby took down the emperor of darkness and nightmares – despite his sweet appearance, the little puffball can definitely take care of himself.

So life in Cappy City went on as it did before. King Dedede and Escargoon deal with public affairs, Meta Knight and the former Star Warriors protect the balance of justice and Fumu and the children continue their peaceful lives. Fumu knew her life has completely changed than it was before: no more dealing with a childish tyrant king, no more doubting Meta Knight's intentions (said knight barely comes to see Fumu and the King anymore for the knight and his followers travel all over the planet to oversee for any criminal activities), and no more worrying for Kirby's welfare.

This routine continued for fifteen years.

XXX

"Fumu, please pay attention to the front," Fumu's teacher scolded lightly. Her voice then transitioned to a more concerned tone. "This is the fourth time I had to bring your attention to the board dear. Are you okay?"

Fumu, who had been staring blankly down her textbook for the past ten minutes, shook her head quickly, reprimanding herself silently in her mind. "I'm fine Miss Marcy – I guess I'm feeling a little…off today."

"You're such a good student Fumu but please try your best okay?" Miss Marcy said before returning to her lecture.

25 year old Fumu is now a teenager who is attending a middle school in Cappy City. At first going to school was beyond her because she used to be the one who was teaching the class. But within the past fifteen years, schools and buildings have set up in the city and it was mandatory for anyone under forty five years to go to school to receive their education. Even Silica and Knuckle Joe are going even though they can skip the schooling and stay at their job posts. But Fumu knows that Silica and Knuckle Joe never really had a "normal" life before and this was their chance to experience how it's like.

It was no surprise that Fumu excelled in academics. All of her teachers adore her and she stays the top in her classes (and the school rankings). She abides the rules, turns in her homework on time, and pays attention in class.

But today she is not feeling well. Today was the day when Kirby disappeared.

Although Kirby disappeared without telling anyone his reason to, Meta Knight had hinted strongly that Kirby was fighting foes on the other side of the universe.

Fumu shook her head and pinched her arm to get back to focus. Her mind is wandering back to Kirby again and she has work to finish.

But by the time she starts writing down the notes of her teacher's lecture, the bell already rang, signaling that school is over.

Fumu was the first to leave the room.

XXX

"The reports have come in my lord!" Sword cried with papers in his hands. "It is confirmed that there is indeed an illegal trade for ship parts in Wesley Warehouse back in Cappy City. Shall we take immediate action, sir?"

Meta Knight stuck out his hand and Sword gave him the reports. After scanning over the details quickly, the masked puffball sighed. They have arrived to Illusionary Valley, a small country that's located in the bottom of Popstar to drive out the bandits who invaded Mirage Village. Because of the country's diminutive size, many wannabe dictators (Marx was quite difficult to dealt with though), gang families (the Squeak Squad wasn't so easy either), and bandits (a bunch of nobodies but still annoying) have targeted the country, believing that taking over the country will be an easy accomplishment. However, the Popstar Police Headquarters have already planted a department there to watch over the country.

But that still didn't stop them from trying.

For the past several weeks, Meta Knight has discussed stratagems with Sir Arthur, coming up with solutions and rejecting some. If they were to charge directly, the bandits will threaten to kill off the villagers, keeping them hostage and bringing Meta Knight and Sir Arthur into a tight situation. Meta Knight proposed that they should wait for a week so the bandits will drop their guards but Sir Arthur turned it down, saying that rumors state that the bandits are already raping the female villagers and they don't have time to wait.

Finally the two decided. The officers, led by the two knights, approached the sleeping village at dawn to evacuate the hostages quickly to the outskirts of the village. By the time the bandits awoke, all of their weapons have been confiscated. Because the residents were outside of the village, there was no chance for any innocent person to be harmed. The troops went all out.

The bandits were captured and the villagers were safe - save for a few raped victims (Sir Arthur began sulking for hours straight, that damned hero-centric perfectionist), but the mission was successful.

Still it was, if Meta Knight were to put it bluntly, hell.

And here are a bunch of papers demanding him to return to Cappy City because of another criminal activity that needs to be repressed. There was really no moment of respite for the busy puffball is there?

Meta Knight chided himself. He agreed to take up this position for the sake of balance and he will proudly continue to do so without any complaints. He went through far more worse in the war.

Meta Knight wrapped his blue cape around him protectively like a shield. "Does Sir Arthur know the news?"

"Yes sir. Blade gave the message to him as well."

"Good. Round the officers up – we'll be leaving in two hours."

XXX

Bun stared at the fire blankly, mindlessly watching the flames flicker at every small breeze that sneak into Kabu's altar. Shadows danced on the walls but Bun was not sharing their enthusiasm.

He was here to talk to Kabu.

Bun knows this is silly because Kabu stopped talking ever since Kirby left. This created a commotion as great as Kirby's disappearance did but Meta Knight says that the stone sage is merely resting. There are no dangers in Popstar, thus there is no need for him to be awake and prepare spread his wisdom to those who come to his domain.

But even so, after having a tough time or just needing to vent, Bun would come to Kabu's altar to just talk. He would talk anything from what happened at school to his personal worries and fears. Sure at first it felt incredibly awkward, which made no sense to Bun because Kabu can't hear him anyway but he always feels so much better talking out his thoughts, even if his listener isn't really a listening at all. It was probably because he could let out the deeper and more mature side of him that he dared not to show to his family or friends. He's content with his simple life and would like to keep it that way thank you very much.

But now he just wants to talk about Kirby.

Because today was the day Kirby left Popstar, Bun couldn't help but be reminded by his childhood friend. Kirby was in the castle, the grassy hills, the woods – he was everywhere. Memories of the pink puffball plagued Bun and Bun couldn't help but feel sad and nostalgic. He wasn't as kind to Kirby as his sister did but he loved Kirby too.

So here he was, dwelling in the memories of the times he spent together with Popstar's hero.

Before he knew it, he spent nearly two hours talking endlessly. He checked his watch: nearly six. If he spends any more time here, his parents back home will scold him for coming home late and he'll have to go through another light lecture about curfews and that there are bad people that come out in the night and blah blah blah.

Honestly he's 22 years old – he can take care of himself! But he really doesn't want to go through a twenty minute speech staring at his feet, pretending that he feels bad that he was disobedient and making his parents worry and whatever.

"Well thanks for listening to me Kabu," Bun finished finally. "Mom and dad's are gonna be mad at me if I stay any longer so let's call it a day 'kay?"

He gathered up his backpack and was about to leave when a deep familiar voice spoke," The long-lived Kabu will wait for you then."

Bun froze. He slowly turned around to see Kabu's eyes, which looked as if the statue had always been awake.

"Is there something wrong, son of the Prime Minister?"

Bun dropped his backpack.

XXX

Outer space is beautiful today as it always was on any other day. Despite the devouring illusion the great void produces from the background, it is what fills the space that is beautiful. Remnants of what used to be humongous asteroids and comets decorated the blackness next to the humongous passing stars and planets. The wonderful thing about space is that everything stands out. Even the smallest bright dots in the horizon caught his attention.

Even though he knows there would probably be a long battle ahead of him, he can't feel the pressure. Well he always had been that way and he doesn't care about his lack of serious attention. He's just doing what he feels he must do.

His small spaceship passed the Nebula Belt, bits of sparkling rocks and frost coating the metal surface and clouding the cockpit. As the ship continued to move, the space dust will wear away so he doesn't care.

Suddenly his navigation orb brought up to life, signaling him that his destination is not so far. He looked up and his bright blue eyes gazed to the star shaped planet that was now only kilometers away from him. He bent forward and pressed his small hands against the windshield, becoming excited.

And then his hand inadvertently pressed the WARP button.

Kirby's eyes widened, muttered "uh oh," and quickly tried to put on his seatbelt before he was thrown against the back of his star ship. But before he put inserted the buckle, the ship had already activated the shield around the cockpit and dashed forward like a comet.

And Kirby was pressed like a flattened marshmallow.

XXX

Oh my god that didn't end so well – I got pretty lazy around the end. I know that the story is pretty boring and there isn't that much dialogue but I want to show how much Popstar has changed after Nightmare was defeated and how it affected everybody. Although I didn't elaborate further from Dedede and Escargoon's sides, the chapter was already over 3,000 words and I didn't want to push it.

Some of the buildings, places, and countries do not exist in the Kirby games - there are just out of my own brain.

And honestly, I don't know what Fumu's and Bun's real ages are. And in human age, they would be adults. But none of the Kirby cast are exactly human and Meta Knight, who had lived throughout a war, is still well and alive and sound like young experienced mentor. I assume that the aliens in the anime would have great longevity so I applied that here in the story.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!

REVIEWS AND CRITICISM IS WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS! (shot for desperation)

But most of all ,thank you for reading my first Kirby and adventure fic. Until next time~