Chapter Text
Susie had a meeting this morning.
Being the punctual businesswoman that she was, she arrived right on time at the Halberd’s hangar, where she found Sailor Dee waiting for her at the massive battleship’s entryway. Sailor greeted her warmly and then escorted her on board, down the many corridors leading to Meta Knight’s office. He had asked if Susie would come meet with him in person to discuss potentially installing an upgrade onto the ship. The knight sat at his desk, and Susie sat opposite from him, watching as he perused the schematics that she had brought. He had been curious about her Holo Defense API security system, and had been wondering about the possibility of reworking it into a combat training program.
“The Application Programing Interface parameters can be adjusted via this control panel.” Susie explained, pointing to the panel on the schematics. “Reworking the parameters to switch it from a defense program to a combat training program will be easy. The military on my homeworld used a similar technology for training soldiers.” Meta Knight nodded, seeming pleased with her work.
“Would it be possible to adjust the parameters so that one could select different training intensities and patterns?” He suggested. “Myself and the rest of the knights can handle a more intense training regimen, but I would like something lighter available for Sailor so that she does not injure herself.” Sailor was a strong girl, determined and willing to push herself in combat, but Meta Knight didn’t want her to push herself too hard.
“Absolutely. I can program multiple different intensity levels to suit everyone’s needs. I could even install some safety routines too, if you’d like.” Susie offered. “Basically, what they would do is prevent the program from being able to cause any serious injuries to users. An emergency shutoff command would probably be good to include as well, just in case.” Meta Knight agreed to those additions; they were all good ideas for improving the program.
“Excellent. Will you be free tomorrow to come and assist us with installing it?” He asked. “Since today is a holiday, I do not want to interfere with any plans that you may have.” Susie gave him a confused look.
“A holiday?” She repeated. “Hm… I didn’t even know that there was a holiday today. But I guess that would explain all of the decorations I saw on the way over here.” As she had made her way to the hangar, she had passed through one of the little towns near Orange Ocean, down an avenue of storefronts. It seemed as if there were heart-shaped items in the windows of every shop, and everything was decorated in red, pink, and white.
“Yes. Today is Sweetheart Day.” Meta Knight informed her. “It is a holiday celebrated all over Popstar. But since you are new to this planet, it is understandable that you are unfamiliar with it. I did not know anything about it either, when I first arrived on this world.” He thought back to the first Sweetheart Day that he had spent on Popstar, not too long after he had first been knighted by Dedede. Meta Knight had entered the castle for yet another meeting with his king, only to see that everything had been adorned in the traditional colors associated with the holiday, and heart-shaped decorations and sweets seemed to be everywhere. The knight had not celebrated any holidays growing up-Nightmare would have never allowed him to partake in any such trivial distractions-so the fun and festivities of Sweetheart Day, and other such celebratory occasions on Popstar, were all so new and intriguing to him. Now, looking at Susie, he could recognize that same spark of intrigue in her luminous blue eyes. She was curious to learn more about this world that had become her new home, to experience its customs.
“How do people celebrate Sweetheart Day?” She asked. “What’s the purpose of the holiday?”
“It is a day to celebrate love, both romantic and platonic.” Meta Knight explained. “It can be celebrated in many different ways. Children and close friends will typically celebrate it by exchanging cards, sweets, and other gifts with each other. Partners usually give each other gifts as well, and it is also common to on dates during the holiday.” He was looking forward to his own date with Dedede later; the two of them were going out to have dinner at Kawasaki’s. Susie’s expression softened a bit, softened into a wistful look that Meta Knight had seen all too often. That look meant one of two things: she was either thinking about a home she could no longer return to, or thinking about her father. Meta Knight assumed that in this case, it was the former.
“I see… we have… well, we had a similar day on my homeworld.” She said. “We called it Partners’ Day. It also involved partners exchanging gifts with each other and going on dates. Of course, I wouldn’t know anything about partners or dates…” A light blush tinted her face as she admitted this, and she looked uncharacteristically shy. Behind his mask, Meta Knight wore a look of surprise.
“Am I understanding you correctly, Secretaria?” He asked her. “You mean to say that you have never gone on a date? You have never had a partner?” Susie’s blush deepened, and she nodded meekly.
“It’s a little embarrassing for me to say, but… yes. When would I have had the time?” She pointed out. “I was all alone in Another Dimension for so long, and when I finally got out of there, I was too busy running my company and too concerned with trying to get my father to remember me to have any time to entertain a romance with anyone. It felt very lonely at times, and Dad failing to recognize me didn’t help with the loneliness, but back then I had more pressing things to worry about than feeling alone…” Meta Knight frowned. Susie had lived so much of her life in solitude in Another Dimension, and even after she had escaped, even after she had reunited with her father, she had still felt as if she was living a solitary existence. He knew painfully well what that sort of loneliness felt like, the loneliness that came from not being physically alone, but from being in the company of someone who made you feel as if you were alone.
Meta Knight had spent his formative years isolated in Nightmare’s fortress, with only the dark being, his “father”, available for companionship. And Nightmare hadn’t been very good company to him when he was growing up, just as Susie’s father had not been very good company to her after she began working for him. The two of them were much alike in that way, struggling with the love that they felt toward fathers that didn’t love them back. The only difference was that Susie’s father had genuinely loved her at one point, before she had disappeared, before his mind was warped by his desperate attempts to use Star Dream to get her back. Nightmare had never loved Meta Knight, had always viewed him as nothing more than a tool to achieve his goals instead of a son.
Meta Knight had found ways to deal with his feelings of loneliness. He had found friends on Popstar, had found a partner in Dedede. He had many people who he cared for, and who cared for him in return, making sure that he never felt alone. Susie had found friends on this planet, but she lacked a partner. There was someone in their little ragtag group of friends that she had fallen for-it was glaringly obvious, everyone could see the way that her face seemed to light up, her eyes seemed to sparkle when a certain puppeteer magician was near her-but so far, she had made no effort to act upon those feelings. Meta Knight had wondered why, although her admitted lack of romantic experience seemed to be a good explanation for her hesitancy. Love could be equal parts exciting, confusing, and terrifying, especially for one who had spent so much of their life isolated from others. Perhaps she hadn’t even been aware that what she was feeling was love.
“Well, now you have time to seek companionship.” He reminded her. “Perhaps you can pursue a relationship with someone, if that is something that you desire.” He was trying, in his own subtle way, to encourage her to open her heart to the man that she loved. Meta Knight could tell, had known for a while now, that Susie was absolutely smitten with Taranza, even if she herself hadn’t realized it yet. He wondered if she was beginning to come to that realization, if she was beginning to understand that what she felt for the king of Floralia had surpassed friendship, had blossomed into romance.
“Yes… it is something that I want. I think it’d be nice to have a partner…” She mused. “Dad’s gone, my company’s prospering, so I guess there’s really no excuse for me to not pursue it.”
“Do you have your heart set on anyone in particular?” Meta Knight asked her. He kept his tone neutral, although he sported a rather smug grin behind his mask as he noticed Susie’s expression shift again. Her face reddened once more, and she averted her gaze from him, staring down at the API schematics. She was his friend, and Meta Knight hoped that she would act on her feelings for Taranza when she was ready, but it was quite amusing to see Susie, someone who was normally so cool, calm, and collected, become so flustered over even the slightest suggestion that she was in love.
“No, not at the moment...” She mumbled. It was a poor attempt at a lie, but Meta Knight decided not to reveal that he knew she was not being honest about her feelings. “Gosh, I don’t know how I’d even try to begin a relationship with somebody… the only things I know about love are things that I learned from reading the occasional trashy romance novel I’d find in Another Dimension…” While Susie was stuck wandering in that strange realm, she would occasionally come across different items that had slipped in through dimensional rifts. She had found and read many books there to pass the long hours on her own, and some of those books had been romance novels. But real life wasn’t full of the burly swashbuckling pirates and fair ladies of the ton that the books followed. Those love stories were always predetermined, their beginnings, middles, and ends set in stone by the authors. If she were to try and create her own love story, her own romance, she had no idea how it would start, what it would entail, how it would end up.
“I am sure that you do not need me to tell you this, but romance novels are not the most realistic portrayals of love and courtship.” Meta Knight said to her. “Treat them as an inspiration, not a guide. There is no guide to love, really. You must simply do what your heart feels is right.”
“I know that there’s not really a guide for this sort of thing, but… how did you do it?” Susie asked him. “How did you win Dedede’s heart?” Meta Knight hadn’t expected that question. But he did have an answer for her.
“Hm... I suppose that it helped that we were great friends before we became something more.” He mused. “It is not very difficult for a deeper intimacy to evolve from a strong friendship.”
“But how did you figure out that things between you had evolved in that way?” She asked again. “Meta, when and how did you figure out that you were in love with Dedede? How did you know that what you felt for him was love and wasn’t just friendship?” Susie was well aware that she might not get any further responses from him-Meta Knight didn’t typically like to discuss matters of the heart with anyone except his closest of friends. He loved Dedede, and everyone knew that, but the knight was quite reserved when it came to talking about the finer details of their romance and marriage. It was something wonderful, but something personal, something he only spoke of with those he trusted. Susie hoped that he now trusted her enough to be willing to impart some romantic wisdom to her.
Meta Knight was quiet for a moment, then he glanced over to a framed photo that he had on his desk. Susie peered over at it as well. It was a photo of the knight and the king together. The softness and love in the knight’s eyes as he regarded it was unmistakable to Susie. Meta Knight reached out and lifted the frame, caressing it gently in his gloved hand. Susie could see now that it was a photo from Meta Knight and Dedede’s wedding. The pair stood in front of the Fountain of Dreams together, both of them looking completely happy and enamored with one another.
“My feelings for Dedede had already begun to shift from friendship to love before this event, but it was during the Star Rod incident that I started to realize just how deeply in love I had fallen.” The knight explained, setting the photo down on his desk once more. “I do not believe that I have told you about the Star Rod incident. Has anyone else said anything to you about it?” Susie nodded.
“Kirby has. He said that Nightmare invaded the Fountain of Dreams, and Dedede broke the Star Rod to trap him in there and prevent him from causing any harm to Dream Land.”
“That was one reason, yes. But there was another.” Meta Knight revealed. “He broke it to protect Dream Land, and to protect me as well. Dedede knows that I am more than capable of protecting myself, as I know that he is more than capable of protecting himself. We both pride ourselves on our strength. But we still have our own vulnerabilities, our own fears and struggles, even if we try to mask them. No one is invulnerable, and everyone has their own demons. Some are just better at hiding them than others.” Susie knew that very well. She had her own share of vulnerabilities and demons that she tried to keep under wraps, she had her own dark past that she would rather not share, except among her most trusted friends.
“Dedede had gotten to know me well enough at that point to be able to easily tell when I was shaken by something-or someone-even if I did my best to conceal it. And I had grown to trust him enough to disclose my past to him, to explain why I was so shaken by Nightmare’s presence.” Meta Knight thought back to that day, so long ago now, when the two of them had gone together to Rainbow Resort to investigate suspicious activity by the Fountain. They discovered Nightmare lurking within its magical waters, and the dark being attacked them relentlessly. The pair were unable to defeat him and retreated to Orange Ocean, so that they could gather their thoughts and determine what to do next. It was there by the tangerine seas that Meta Knight told Dedede everything, told him about how that dark being in the Fountain had found him and raised him, had tried to mold him into an instrument of destruction, and had tried and failed to kill him when he was no longer useful.
He told Dedede about how he had uncovered the true goals of his ‘father’ and escaped from his fortress, only to be beaten so viciously by him that he had lost his wings and nearly lost his life. Meta Knight remembered feeling Dedede’s large hand on his back, gently touching where his wings had been, where the very beginnings of wings were finally starting to regenerate. The king hated Nightmare, hated what he had done to his beloved knight, hated that he couldn’t defeat that ruthless dark being. Dedede couldn’t give Meta Knight his wings back either, but he could do something to give him some peace of mind.
“After hearing about my past, about what Nightmare had done to me, Dedede was determined to stop him. We could not beat him in battle, but Dedede had a plan to prevent him from doing any further damage to Dream Land and to me. I distracted Nightmare while Dedede obtained the Star Rod and broke it. Nightmare was trapped in the Fountain, but with the Star Rod shattered into pieces no one in Dream Land would be able to dream. I am sure that Kirby has told you the rest of this story.” Susie nodded again; she knew exactly how this story ended. Kirby loved to talk about his past adventures, and he was particularly fond of talking about this one. It was a special memory for him, as it was both his first meeting with Meta Knight and the first real beginning of his and Dedede’s shift from rivals to friends. The little guy had told her all about how he’d put the pieces of the Star Rod back together, and-after a slight misunderstanding and some help from Dedede-used its power to vanquish Nightmare once and for all.
“Even though Kirby was the one to eventually defeat Nightmare, I was deeply moved by Dedede’s attempt to protect me from him.” Meta Knight explained. “To know that someone cares about you enough to do something that comes with great risk, to put themselves in the way of harm in order to spare you from it… that is quite possibly one of the grandest displays of love that I can think of. When you find someone who adores you so much that they would do anything to bring light into your life, to ease your burdens, it is not hard for romantic feelings to develop. I was unsure then if Dedede felt the same way for me, but that was when I realized that I loved him.” That all seemed pretty logical to Susie. But she still had some questions.
“How did you figure out that Dedede loved you too?” She asked. “It took a while, right?” The knight blushed from behind his mask. It had taken him and his king an embarrassingly long time for the two of them to realize that their feelings were mutual.
“Yes… it took a long time, much longer than we would both like to admit...” He muttered, a hint of annoyance evident in his voice. But he wasn’t annoyed at Susie for asking about it. He was annoyed at himself, for not revealing his feelings to Dedede sooner. “We told each other eventually, but with the benefit of hindsight, I can recognize that there were signs of his love for me long before we confessed. There was the Star Rod incident of course, but even before that there were other things, other small acts and gestures to indicate that Dedede cared for me as more than just a friend.” Susie leaned in closer, intrigued.
“Oh? Like what?”
“He would always give me very thoughtful gifts, he would want to spend a lot of time with me, and he would miss me terribly when I was away on missions with my fellow knights.” Meta Knight started listing off every little sign of love that he could think of. “He also taught himself Lengua Oscura, so that the two of us could speak it together.” Susie understood how important that must have been to Meta Knight. Lengua Oscura was the language that he had grown up speaking.
“While I am fluent in both languages, I do find it easier to think in and to express myself in Oscura compared to Galactic Standard. It is what I am more familiar with. But Oscura is not as commonly spoken on Popstar as Standard is, and when I first arrived on this world, I did not know anyone else here who spoke the language.” Now he knew plenty of people who did. Susie had become quite proficient in Oscura from studying books on the language while she was trapped in Another Dimension, and she could easily carry on conversations in Oscura with Meta Knight. Kirby had also learned a little bit of Oscura, though not quite enough to be fluent yet, and he struggled with pronouncing certain words. The Meta Knights, Sailor Dee, and Captain Vul had picked up a good amount of the language too, from all of the time that they spent hearing Meta Knight speaking it in their presence. But in the past, when he had first arrived on Popstar, Meta Knight had known only one other speaker: his beloved king.
Meta Knight remembered the first time that Dedede had greeted him in Oscura. His pronunciation had been a little off, but Meta Knight could still understand him, and the king’s skills in the language had only improved with time and practice. When he had eventually asked Meta Knight for his hand in marriage, he had done so in perfectly spoken Oscura. Whether it was said in Standard or Oscura, whether it was shown via words or actions, Meta Knight knew that he was loved.
“I was impressed that Dedede would take the time to learn my preferred language so that I would have someone else to speak it with. It made me feel welcome on Popstar and in Dream Land. It made me feel like I truly belonged here on this world.” He smiled at the memory of the first time he had felt that way. It was a nice feeling, finally being at peace, at home. “That is another reason that I fell in love with him. I had no home with Nightmare, but I had found a home here on Popstar, and found a home with Dedede. I feel a happiness with him, a comfort with him, that I have never felt with anyone else.” Susie smiled-well, she didn’t have a mouth, so she couldn’t smile in the traditional sense-but she seemed to smile with her eyes instead. They held a warm shine.
“Aww, that’s really sweet, Meta! You two really do love each other so much!” She beamed. “So, there were all of these signs before you told each other how you felt… how did you actually end up telling each other, though? What led up to it? How did you know that it was an appropriate time to say something?” The knight grew quiet for a moment. Not because he was unwilling to answer her, but because he would have to recall a rather unpleasant memory of being separated from his king before getting to the much more pleasant memory of their mutual confession.
“After my attempted takeover of Dream Land, Dedede and I were distant for some time. We were not speaking with one another. We only saw each other when Kirby wished to spend time with both of us.” There had been many wounded feelings between them at the time. Dedede had been saddened and angered by Meta Knight’s attempt to overthrow him, and Meta Knight had felt it pointless to explain his true motivations, to explain just how deeply he cared for and adored his king.
Dedede had assumed, incorrectly, that Meta Knight had tried to take over his kingdom because he viewed him as an inept ruler, but that could not be further from the truth. Meta Knight had done it out of love, out of a desire to protect his king and all of the other people he cared about. It was an extreme measure to take, but he feared that anything less extreme than that would not be enough to get everyone to take threats to Dream Land and to their own safety more seriously. The knight couldn’t bear to see his king possessed by dark forces once again, couldn’t bear the possibility of his new home and the man he loved being cruelly ripped away from him. He thought that by taking control of everything he could prevent that from ever happening. But it had been a misguided endeavor. Meta Knight had hurt his king’s feelings, and had nearly gotten himself and his fellow knights banished from the kingdom.
Kirby had stepped in to prevent that, of course. As Dedede was about to formally sentence Meta Knight and the others to banishment, Kirby stormed into the castle and demanded that they all be pardoned for their crime. The little guy had insisted that Meta Knight and his crew may have done a bad thing, but they weren’t bad people and didn’t deserve such a harsh punishment. Kirby was also quick to point out that Dedede had done his fair share of bad things in the past too and had been forgiven for it. Dedede eventually relented and allowed all of the knights to remain in the kingdom, but after that day, the king and Meta Knight made sure to stay far away from each other. Dedede had thought that Meta Knight couldn’t possibly love him if he would try something as ruthless as taking the throne from him, and Meta Knight thought that Dedede couldn’t possibly love him after he betrayed him in that way, even though he had noble intentions. The feelings that they held for one another remained buried, unspoken.
“We did not have a proper conversation about everything, about what I had done and how we felt for each other, until the strawberry shortcake incident. Even though we were not speaking, circumstances forced Dedede and I into having to work together to try and prevent Kirby from unleashing Dark Nebula. But, as we worked to find a solution together, as we started to talk to one another again, we found that we had missed each other. Both of us felt that it was the proper time to explain everything, to tell each other just how deeply we loved each other and to be clear about our intentions. But, Susie, you should not use the two of us as an example, if there is somebody that you are thinking of confessing your feelings to.”
“Meta! I already told you that there’s no one!” Susie insisted. Meta Knight noted that she was getting more and more emphatic in her claims to not be in love with anybody, and was getting less and less believable each time.
“I know. You have made it very clear that you do not have feelings for anyone at the moment. But, should you ever fall in love with someone, do not assume things. Do not wall yourself off from the other person. Be honest about how you feel, and ask them for honesty in return. And, most importantly of all, do not delay in acting upon your feelings. The only regret that I have about my relationship with Dedede is that I did not make my feelings known to him earlier.”
“Yes… that makes sense.” Susie agreed. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Even though he had answered all of her questions about love, Meta Knight could see that there was still a look of uncertainty in her eyes. Something was bothering her.
“Is there something else troubling you, Secretaria?” He asked her.
“Ah, well… it’s nothing, really…” She tried to wave him off. “It’s a dumb thing to be worried about…” The knight gave a reassuring smile-hidden behind his mask, of course-but he hoped that she could tell from his eyes that he was trying to offer some reassurance.
“I will not judge.”
“It’s just… well… what do you do if you feel that you’re… unworthy of love?” Susie questioned. He could tell that she was trying to keep her voice calm, measured, but the slightest bit of distress was evident in her tone. “What do you do if you feel that you don’t deserve to be loved, or you feel that you don’t deserve anything nice in life, for that matter…” Meta Knight’s reassuring look shifted into one of concern.
“Are you feeling that way now?” She didn’t say anything, just lowered her gaze to the schematics on the desk again. The knight waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts and find her words.
“Everyone on Popstar has been very kind to me since I came to live here, even after everything I did to this planet, even after everything I did to all of you. Especially you, Meta…” She finally said, looking up to face him once more. “There are a lot of times where I feel that I don’t deserve that kindness, where I feel that I don’t deserve to be allowed to live here. I’ve done horrible things. Could anyone really ever love someone like me?” When she had first found herself stuck on this world, most of the denizens of Dream Land had hated her, feared her. Kirby had been kind to her, had befriended her, but his efforts to get all of his other friends to like her were unsuccessful.
Out of all of them, Meta Knight had hated her the most, and understandably so, since she had mechanized him against his will. Initially, Susie didn’t understand why he was so upset about it. She thought that he would have been grateful that she had molded him into something grander than himself, grateful that he could be a part of something as magnificent as the mechanization of a planet. But everything that had happened since then had humbled her, had opened her eyes to all of the wrong that she had done.
When she learned of what had happened to her homeworld, saw true evil in the terror that was wrought on it at the hands of the Kreeg Conglomerate, she saw that same evil reflected in herself and what she had done to Popstar. For the first time, Susie truly understood where all of the hatred and fear the others held toward her had stemmed from. She felt that exact same hatred and fear toward the Kreeg. And, she realized that, to the people of Popstar, she was no better than the Kreeg. She decided that she didn’t want to be like the Kreeg, didn’t want to be the villain in someone else’s story. Susie had worked hard to do better, to become better. With time, all of Kirby’s companions had grown to like her, to genuinely call her their friend. Even Meta Knight had forgiven her, something that she had been very surprised by, but also very grateful for. However, there were still moments where Susie questioned if she was truly worthy of having these people in her life, and if she was truly worthy of being given refuge on Popstar now that she was unable to return to her homeworld.
She had redeemed herself, but sometimes, when she was alone with her thoughts, she still felt like a horrible person. She felt like her new friendships, her new home, were undeserved and unearned. She felt like nothing she could ever do, no amount of good she tried to do, would ever make up for all of the bad. Meta Knight regarded Susie for a moment as she sat there wrapped up in her thoughts, wrestling with her demons. He had experienced many of his own moments like this, moments of self-doubt and self-loathing.
“You have earned everyone’s kindness and have earned your place on this world, Susie.” He reassured her, gently placing one of his hands over hers in a comforting gesture. “If we did not believe that you were genuinely reformed and remorseful over your past actions, then we would never have become your friends, and never would have allowed you to live here. You must not dwell too much on the past. It is a part of you, and you can learn much from it, but do not let it burden you as you create a new future for yourself. You will always have a home and a future on this world, and you are not unlovable. You must believe that.” Meta Knight knew that this was easier said than done. He still struggled with the demons of his own past, memories of his childhood with Nightmare, memories of his first days living on Popstar where he found himself wondering if he was a good person or was just an instrument of evil. Those feelings were hard to conquer, but they could be conquered. Susie would conquer them too, with time. While she seemed encouraged by the knight’s words, there was still something weighing on her mind.
“I’ve got one last question for you, Meta. So, I’m not in love with anybody right now,” She started off, once again denying that she had feelings for someone, “But… what would you do if you thought that someone you loved was in love with somebody else? Hypothetically, of course.” Meta Knight knew that this scenario was not as hypothetical as she would like him to believe. She was worried that her beloved puppeteer magician had all eight of his eyes set on someone else, and Meta Knight had a pretty good idea of who that someone was.
“There was a time, when Dedede and I were not speaking with each other, when I thought that he was developing feelings for Ripple.” He explained, referring to the fairy queen of Ripple Star. “But, when the two of us did start talking again and I asked him about the nature of their relationship, he told me that they were simply just good friends, and neither of them had ever harbored any romantic feelings for each other. So, I would say that if you are ever worried that someone you love has feelings for another, simply ask them.” He had once stressed over the possibility that a queen had won the heart of his king, and now it seemed that Susie was likely facing the same dilemma. She was worried that the king of Floralia still held feelings for a queen that would never, could never return those feelings.
“Yes… I guess the only way to know for sure is to ask.” Susie agreed. “Well, thank you, Meta. I really appreciate all of the advice.”
“You are welcome. I suppose that our meeting is finished, then.” Meta Knight carefully rolled up the schematics that Susie had given him and rose from his chair as she rose from hers. “I must take care of some other business before I go out to dinner with mi rey this evening. You should do something to celebrate the holiday as well, Susie. You do not need to have a partner to participate in the Sweetheart Day festivities, and you will likely be receiving a Sweetheart Day card from Kirby later. He makes sure to deliver cards to all of his friends before the day is over.” Meta Knight could picture the little guy right now, probably hard at work in his house cutting construction paper into heart shapes and using an alarming amount of glitter glue to create something special for each and every one of his companions.
“Maybe I’ll do something fun later, once I’m finished with work.” Susie decided. “And if Kirby is going to come by and give me a card, I’ll make sure that I have a little gift to give to him in return. Anyway, I’ll be going now, but I can definitely come by tomorrow morning to install the API on the Halberd. Have a nice dinner with Dedede.”
“Thank you. Take care.” As Susie exited his office, Meta Knight wondered if their conversation would inspire her to take action on her feelings for Taranza. If she didn’t, then perhaps Taranza might work up the courage to say something to her first. Meta Knight could tell that the king of Floralia was just as smitten with Susie as she was with him. Taranza always looked at her with such adoration, always had the biggest smile when she was near. They were completely enamored with each other, something that seemed to be obvious to everyone but themselves.
Meta Knight would not press Susie to confess, at least not for now. But, if this went on for much longer, he felt that it would be necessary for him to step in to help his young friend, to give her a polite nudge to tell Taranza that she loved him. And, since the two kings were good friends, Dedede might be able to give Taranza some encouragement to admit his feelings to Susie. Meta Knight wrapped his cape around himself and made his way out of his office. As much as he hoped that things would work out for Susie, he had more important matters to attend to at the moment-he still needed to get a Sweetheart Day gift for his husband.