Author's Note: Well, it's been a long time coming, and I highly doubt that anyone who actually reads this story goes onto my profile to check out my work in progress section, but I do want you to know that I'm sincerely sorry for taking so long to actually type this out. I originally had an entirely different goal for this chapter, but then my flashdrive, Franklin III, was stolen and I lost all 3,000 words of the original copy. Then Senior year happened and the first semester of college... But anyways, I apologize again, and hope that you're happy with having an update. I would like to say that this chapter probably sucks, but that is only because I haven't written anything somewhat humorous (which I believe the other chapters achieve) in a long time and I think I've lost my touch.

Anyways, please read and review and know that I actually have a plan for this story. It's going to be a 4-shot and will include a few other pairings... well mostly mentioned and implied pairings. But I'll post those at the end of the chapter for anyone who actually cares. But now it's time for our featured presentation.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Love, Unrequited Chapter 3

Red clawed his way from the room seven hours later, tears streaming down his face. He was forced to sit through seven hours of romantic films and romantic comedies, and he wasn't sure if what was left of his masculinity could take another hit like that. He brooded down the hallway with Peach and Samus still cooing at the television, not noticing that he left. He knew that he really didn't have much time (maybe an hour or so) until they realized that he left, so he planned on using the time he had wisely. It only took him a few minutes to reach Pit's room and as soon as he got to the door he barged in and closed the door behind him.

"Pit, I need a place to hide for a while," Red called to his angelic friend. "So if you need me, I'll probably be in the closet."

Pit made a non-committal sound from his bed and Red took it as an "A-Okay." Moments later Red was in the most comfortable closet in the manor thinking about what had just happened within the last two weeks of his stay at the Smash Manor. It had been a really weird two weeks that was for sure.

"So what was so bad that you had to hide in my closet? I mean, I would probably hide in the closet if I just won a match against Snake, but don't think that you can hide for long," Pit warned from the other side of the door.

"It isn't because of that. Peach and Samus have been trying to teach me about love by making me watch cheesy romance movies," Red replied pounding his head against the wall, trying to remove the seven hours of useless lessons. "And why do you all keep saying Snake is going to come after me?"

Pit shrugged on the other side of the door and replied, "Because he goes after everyone who beats him. If you're really lucky someone else will beat him soon and he'll forget about you, as for the romance movies, that really sucks dude. Did they make you watch the one about the guy and girl who sent letters to each other across time? I really hate that one. It doesn't make sense."

"I know right? None of them make sense!"

Red was really happy to have someone who was (ironically) down to earth to be able to talk to. Pit had been his first friend, other than Peach and Samus, that he had made in the Smash Manor. Their initial meeting was in the cafeteria right after Red had dropped off his things in his room on the first day. Link had shown him the way to the food before going to sit with Marth, Roy and Zelda. Red had remembered staring after him like a lost puppy. He had looked around, trying to find any sort of familiar face (i.e. Peach or Samus) when someone had bumped into him. Red shrunk into himself and slowly turned around to see whose way he had gotten into. He was met with a pair of shining aquamarine eyes and a shock of brown hair. The most intriguing thing though, was the white wings that sprouted from the other boy's back.

Red blinked twice and gaped at the angel standing in front of him. The angel just grinned. "Hello, the name's Pit. Nice to meet cha'! You must be the new guy."

Red blinked again before pulling himself together and sticking out his hand for a handshake. "It's nice to meet you too Pit. My name is Red."

Pit smiled again and grabbed Red's hand. "We're going to be good friends Red. Let me show you around the cafeteria a bit."

After that day, Pit had devoted himself to being Red's best friend and had helped him many times, especially when Peach and Samus were on the prowl to force Red to do something.

"Hey, Red are you listening?" Pit asked.

"Uh, what? I wasn't paying attention," Red replied, realizing he had been having a flashback.

Pit sighed. "I was just saying that I was going to go downstairs and get ready for my brawl. You can stay in there for as long as you want though."

Red nodded and smiled. "Thanks Pit, you're a great friend."

Pit smiled as he left the room leaving Red sitting alone in the closet of someone else's room. It wasn't the first time that it happened, and Red was sure that it would happen again. It was usually because of Peach and Samus that he had to hide away from the rest of the house. This time, however, almost seemed different. It felt like everyone knew something that he was being purposefully left out of, and it made him feel slightly uncomfortable. He wondered what had everyone on his case, and why Peach and Samus wanted him to learn about love. Was it because of Link? Red almost blushed just because of the stray thought. He was really wrapped up about that Zelda in the room thing, wasn't he?

"But who could I talk about it to?" He asked himself, while mentally going through his choices. "Peach and Samus are still watching romance movies, so they're going to be busy for another few hours. Pit just went to brawl someone. Link is a part of the problem and it'd be completely stupid of me to ask him. So who is left?"

Truthfully, not many people in the manor had taken Red very seriously since he had joined the Smash Brothers. His handful of friends had all closed in on him and before he knew it, he was in a closely knit clique. That was not to say that the other people didn't have other friends, but they seemed to all hang out together more often than they did with their other friends. He was cordial with a lot of them, but he knew he wasn't close enough to them to be able to ask about something of this magnitude. So, who did that leave for him to talk to?

"I guess..." Red gulped, "I could always talk to Zelda about it."

Red thought about it a moment. Who better to ask than the person the question was for? Sure, it could possibly be a suicide mission, but what else could he do?

"I guess it's my only choice," Red spoke aloud, trying his best to not start shaking in anticipation.

He stood up from his safe spot in the closet and hesitated a moment before walking out of Pit's room and into the empty hallway. Everyone must have been watching the brawl, but Red knew that Zelda would be in her room, probably reading some gigantic tomb or practicing her ninja skills. He moved quickly but quietly towards Zelda's room, making sure to tip-toe past Peach and Samus's room knowing that Dear John had another thirty minutes left and that they wouldn't leave their room until it was over. Zelda's room was located at the end of the hall opposite Pit's, so he had to go by all of the other Smasher's rooms and Master Hand's office in order to reach it. It was a risky business for someone who was only liked and tolerated by three-quarters of the Smash Brothers. He did eventually reach the door and stood in front of it for a moment, trying to figure out what he was going to say.

He didn't really have much of a chance though, because a moment after he reached the door, it opened by itself and Zelda called out for him to enter. He had jumped almost a foot into the air, and was sure that he heard Zelda and someone else chuckling softly. He took a deep breath before slowly making his way into the room. He saw, once he was all the way in, that Zelda was sitting at a small table with chairs drinking tea with Prince Marth of all people. They had both turned to look at him before smiling.

"Hello Red, would you care to join us for tea?" Zelda asked politely as she poured another cup for herself. "We were just discussing Pit's brawl with Yoshi."

"Um, okay I guess," Red responded, sitting in the seat that Zelda had offered. Zelda smiled and poured him a cup of tea. "Thank you."

"It's no problem. Would you like cream and sugar?" She asked.

"I actually prefer honey and lemon. If you have any that is," Red added quickly, hoping that he didn't offend her.

Zelda smiled and added honey and lemon to the cup of tea before passing it to him. He took a deep whiff of the tea and took a small sip instantly calming his racing heart slightly.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I think that Yoshi is going to win this brawl. He has much more experience under his belt, and his Yoshi bomb is some force to be reckoned with," Marth said and taking a sip of his tea.

"I, respectfully, disagree. Yoshi may have more experience, but Pit is much harder to get off the board. Yoshi has a much lighter frame and his jump isn't nearly on par with Pit's. He does have that dreadful move set as well, and we all know that as soon as he runs out of jumps he'll fall straight off the board," Zelda retorted calmly.

Red remained quiet throughout the rest of their debate, they had both prepared premises and conclusions that were backed up by fact and he felt that it wouldn't be right of him to interrupt. Especially because they both only had a certain amount of predetermined time to present their case and he didn't want to disrupt that. After about ten minutes of debating Marth eventually turned to him and asked him for his opinion. Zelda voiced her agreement and wanted to know who Red thought was going to win.

"Well, Pit's my best friend so I think I'm obliged to think that he's going to win. Oh, and Yoshi likes doing his Egg Roll and falls off the map a lot because of it," Red said scratching his head timidly.

Zelda's smile widened. "Ha, Red agrees with me! See Marth, your little plan backfired."

Marth's face turned pink and he quickly excused himself from the room so no one could see his anger. Samus and Peach used to tell Red that it meant he was going to throw a hissy fit and he didn't want anyone to see how immature he could be. Zelda laughed after he left and called, "I'll see you at Dinner Marth!"

The room was silent for a few minutes after that. Red felt uncomfortable and Zelda was sipping her tear and looked as though she was gathering her thoughts. Red took the silent opportunity to look down at his lap and fiddle with his fingers. What was he supposed to say? Should he be direct and just ask the question, or try to find out indirectly with a series of hypothetical situations and see if she would say anything off the cuff?

"So, Red, is there anything that you want to ask me? It is highly unusual for you to visit me," Zelda asked, sipping on her tea. "And by the way that you're twiddling your fingers it seems as though it is important."

Red flushed from the analysis. "You're very… observant, aren't you?"

"Yes, it's one of the curses of being the chosen one of Nayru. Just like Link is rather hard-headed because of Farore and Ganondorf is very temperamental because of Din," Zelda admitted.

"I did notice that," Red noted quietly. "But yes, I do have a question for you. It's about that thing that happened earlier."

"Oh, you mean when I was in the room with Link? Or do you mean when I turned into Sheik and put laxatives in Roy's cereal?" Zelda asked, smiling mischievously.

"Wait, what? Um, the first one," Red smiled widely thinking about Zelda's prank on the hot-headed swordsman, but it was wiped from his face as soon as he remembered what she had asked.

"What about it?"

Red paused. What about it did he want to know? Did he really want to ask if they were dating? It seemed kind of personal and it wasn't really his business anyway. So, he decided to do the only thing that could possibly get him out of the hole that he had dug for himself. He started at his lap and twiddled his thumbs.

Zelda sighed. "Red, I know you have something to ask me. You might as well come right out and ask it, or will you make me have to say it?" Red was silent. "Okay, I guess that you're almost as thick as Link. I am not going out with him."

Red blinked in confusion and looked up to the Princess, who was sipping on her tea as though she had just commented on the weather. "What?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"I am not going out with Link. He's available. You can have him. Must I spell it out for you?" Zelda listed with mock annoyance in her voice. "It's pretty obvious Red, stop acting dumb, we both know that you're smarter than most of the smashers in this tournament."

"You're right," Red admitted, still in slight shock.

"Of course I am, now you should probably go before Peach and Samus finish their marathon. You have about ten minutes before Dear John is over."

Red jumped up from his seat in fright and made his way to the door. He turned to bow to Zelda, as red as a tomato, and closed the door behind her. Once he was gone, she smiled and reached under the table to pick up an old walkie-talkie that had been taped underneath. She pressed the button and announced to the other side, "Red's been reassured. Operation search and destroy is ready for initiation. Wait five minutes then you can go."

On the other end of the line, Peach and Samus started giggling and responded to Zelda with an affirmative. They had to go and find a Hyrulian. After the five minutes were over, Peach and Samus left their room and traveled down the still deserted hallway, only making one stop at Kirby's room to recruit Kirby and Lucario in their mission. The group of four conferred with each other over what kind of approach they would take in order to keep the situation from escalating, not that any of them really expected it to. After a moment the group continued on their way towards Red and Link's room and paused in front of the door before Peach took out her spare key and opened the door. They were greeted with the sight of Link lying on his bed reading a big book, his Master Sword lying on the ground next to the bed.

"Hey Red, is that you?" Link asked, not looking away from his book. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier."

Peach giggled and said, "We're not Red, but we'd still like to talk to you if that's okay."

Link quickly sat upright and looked at the group of people who entered his room. "Hey guys, what do you need?" He asked hesitantly.

"Poyo poy yo!" Kirby replied happily but unhelpfully.

Everyone stared at him for a moment before Samus broke the momentary silence. "We need to talk to you about someone that I'm sure we're all familiar with, and someone that we," She paused to gesture at the people standing around her, "are very concerned about."

"Of course by that she means that we need to talk to you about Red," Peach added helpfully.

Link blushed to the tip of ears and nodded slowly. "Wh-what about Red? He's a great guy and you know, a good friend and all. Why would you be concerned? Wait, is Ganondorf trying to bully him again? I swear to the Three that I will find that man and rip him limb from limb again! Not even Din will be able to resurrect him when I'm done."

Peach and Lucario shared a knowing look while the Hyrulian raged around the room, looking for his supplies. Samus and Kirby were just sort of confused. "Uh, Link… What are you doing?" Samus asked.

"Getting my supplies so I can give the King of Darkness a lesson he will never forget," Link replied angrily. "Have any of you seen my boomerang?"

Kirby nodded and started helping Link gather his things. He crawled underneath Link's bed and three of the occupants of the room heard his screams of terror. Peach sighed and put her hand on Link's shoulder to try and calm him down. "Link, honey, Ganondorf hasn't done anything to Red. You just jumped to conclusions that we all know are rather ridiculous."

Link blushed again and dropped everything with a simple, "Oh."

The room was quiet for a moment, except for Kirby's screams of terror from under the bed. Lucario was the only one who looked concerned over the puffball's obvious fear. "Are we going to help Kirby at all? He sounds like something is trying to eat him down there."

Link turned and looked at his bed. "Well, I didn't think it was that dirty under there," he said, reaching his arm underneath the bed and fishing for Kirby. After a few minutes of searching, he pulled out the coughing, wheezing puffball from underneath his bed. The others in the room looked slightly distressed over the puffballs condition, but were relieved when said puffball jumped up, reinvigorated, and waddled back to Peach's side.

"Anyways, as I was saying, we are concerned for Red," Samus reiterated. "He is so young you know? A year younger than you I believe. And we are wondering if he knows what is happening around here, and I would say that we are also all wondering how this is going to turn out for both of you."

"How what is going to turn out?" Link gulped.

Lucario rolled his eyes. "I think you know what we're talking about. Even you aren't that dumb."

"Lucario, that isn't very nice," Peach admonished, wagging her finger slightly, "Even if it is true. Now, Link, we all know exactly how you feel and you know that you should try and let Red know exactly how you feel about him. If you don't then someone else could swipe him up. I know that some of the other Smashers have been commenting on his looks."

Link almost looked furious again, before he sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. "I know," he admitted quietly. "But I haven't had a good time to tell him. We've both been busy lately, and every time I try to tell him how I feel someone interrupts me. Then, yesterday, he came in the room when I was talking to Zelda and I think he thinks that I'm still going out with her, even though we broke up two years ago."

Lucario looked less than impressed. "Why do I feel like I'm in a crappy romance story?"

"Life is a crappy romance story," Peach interjected helpfully. "Anyways, the answer is simple then Link. We'll help you get ten minutes of uninterrupted Red time and then you can tell him how you feel."

"But," Link began. "But what if he doesn't feel the same way? Then I'll end up hurt and he'll feel awkward hanging around me. It'd be a disaster."

Samus sat on the bed next to Link and put an arm over his shoulders. "Then you will just have to make sure you're very convincing. That way, Red won't be able to reject you."

Down the hall, in Pit's closet, Red shivered. He could almost sense that something was going to happen and he knew that it wouldn't be good. Nothing ever turned out to be good when it came to the Smash Manor. He looked at his watch and contemplated going down to the mess hall for dinner. "It couldn't be a bad idea," He reasoned. His stomach growled in agreement and he slowly made his way out of the closet and into the hall way. The rest of the house appeared to be in the mess hall, so he would probably be safe going down the hall. He spotted a stray box or two, but made sure to give them each a wide berth and never gave them a second glance.

It wasn't until he reached Jigglypuff's room that he noticed the small pink Pokémon waiting for him. She was staring at him, and he could only wonder why she was waiting for him. The Pokémon generally avoided him like the plague, even with the good press that Charizard, Squirtle, and Ivysaur gave him. He stopped and stared at the small Pokémon as it reached for his hand and led him to the Pokémon sanctuary. He only glanced behind himself once, and saw that Pikachu was following behind them, almost as if to keep an eye on Jigglypuff and to make sure that Red didn't do anything nefarious. Once he reached the room, he noticed that the Pokémon were all gathered around something in the middle of the small plain where the gigantic Caterpie infested tree was.

Jigglypuff led him to the tree and he almost fainted where he stood. He couldn't believe his eyes. The Pokémon had brought him there to see Mew. The super rare pink Pokémon was floating around the tree, mewling happily while it flew with some Pidgey. Red started in awe. Mew was the rarest Pokémon to ever exist, and possibly the most powerful other than Mewtwo. Jigglypuff was almost amused with the look on Red's face as he stared at the legend floating around in front of him. The Pokémon was almost shocked that the trainer didn't pull out a master ball and capture the Pokémon that only appeared maybe once a millennia.

Squirtle ran over to its trainer's side and smiled widely at Red's shell-shocked expression and called out for Mew to come closer to Red. Mew squealed in happiness and approached the world famous trainer. It swirled around Red a few times before grabbing his cheeks and pulling them apart jokingly. He snapped out of his reverie and laughed. Mew cried out in happiness and tapped Red in the shoulder and ran away, clearly wanting to play tag. Red smiled and tapped Jigglypuff on the head, who in turn tagged Pikachu. In a few moments all of the Pokémon in the sanctuary were running around, trying to not be tagged.

Lucario stood off to the side and watched all of the merriment with a smile on his face. It was an endearing scene, even to someone as battle hardened as he was. "It seems that all of the Pokémon have accepted Red," he mused. "I'm glad."

Red was looking for a place to hide, Pikachu was on his tail and he knew that he couldn't outrun the small electric mouse. He ran to the tree and stopped when he thought he saw someone standing off by the door. He squinted to try and see who it was, but before he could get a good look Pikachu tackled him with a happy squeal. By the time he got up and looked back, the figure was gone and Red shrugged and continued playing with the Pokémon.

It was almost an hour later that it started getting dark and the game of tag was over. Mew had finally said goodbye (in its own special way) and left the Pokémon sanctuary. The Pokémon all started dispersing and going to bed for the night leaving Red alone with the five Pokémon Smash brothers. It seemed as though Pikachu and Jigglypuff were finally comfortable around Red and his three starters were all ecstatic to have two new friends. Red smiled and started leading the way back to the Smasher rooms.

Five minutes later, Lucario reemerged from the brush and headed for the tree that moments later had been base in a game of tag. He stood there and stared at the moon and eventually felt a presence of someone he knew and cherished come close to him. "Hello Mew, it sure has been a while hasn't it?"

The small pink Pokémon smiled and sat in the lowest branch of the tree, right next to Lucario and mewled softly in agreement. Lucario smiled and let the silence sweep over the both of them as they stared at the rising moon. "You know that trainer you met today? I'm helping him come to the realization of his love for another. Sound familiar?"

Mew giggled and nodded.

"I hope that it works out for him. He's had a tough life, even if he doesn't want to admit it."

Red crept into his room as quietly as he could. He knew it wasn't that late, but Link sometimes liked to go to bed early, and could get kind of cranky when woken. He knew he was going to be fine though, as soon as he saw Link sitting on his bed clearly waiting for Red to come. Red smiled at him and Link smiled back with a curious expression taking up his face.

"Hey Link, why aren't you asleep? Don't you usually try to go bed early?" Red asked looking at Link's jittering.

"Uh, well, usually I do like to go to bed early. But today I want to talk to you about something very important," Link took in a deep breath and tried to compose himself. "Red… I think that I'm in lo-"

"Where is he? Where is the Pokémon Trainer?"

Something was going on and it didn't sound like it was good. Link pushed Red behind him just as Ganondorf slammed the door open and charged into the room. There was an electric tension in the air as Ganondorf spotted Red hiding behind Link. Link met his evil gaze with one that matched in power and tenacity. Someone could possibly see the electricity in the room as Ganondorf to a slamming step forward and Link to an obvious step back, bringing Red with him.

"What do you want Ganondorf?" Link snarled.

Ganondorf sneered. "It's none of your concern. This is between him and me."

"If you mess with him, you mess with me," Link declared daringly. Red blushed slightly at Link's bold words.

"Whatever, I won't let a brat like you get in my way. Pokémon Trainer, I challenge you to a Brawl!"

His shout echoed into the hallway and down the stairs, causing the other smashers to come out of their rooms. They all rushed to Link and Red's room to see what the commotion was and saw Ganondorf and Link in an electric stare down with Red being held behind Link protectively. Peach, Samus and Pit rushed to the front and Peach and Pit had to hold Samus back from charging in and smashing Ganondorf.

"What gives you the right to challenge Red like that?" Link nearly shouted, glaring angrily at the green-skinned King of Evil.

"I believe that the rules of the tournament state that I may challenge anyone to a brawl so long as both parties understand that it will have no hold in their rankings in the tournament. And I want to prove, once and for all, that this brat is unfit to be a part of this tournament," Ganondorf stated smugly. "So step aside Hero."

"No," Link growled. "You have no right. If you want to fight someone so badly, why not fight me?"

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger. Anyways, the other pairings, as you might have seen are going to be implied!Mew x Lucario, some PeachxSamus if you squint (I guess), MarthxRoy (that was in chapter 2), LinkxRed (of course), and I was thinking about implied!JigglypuffxKirby. Anyways, please drop a review. I would appreciate it. Truly.