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At sunset, the skies of Dreamland were habitually painted with gorgeous, golden hues. Ribbons of pink and red melted into the horizons creating a beautiful gradient of warmth that radiated and softly kissed the skin of those who were outside to take in such a stunning spectacle. Not a single cloud would taint the masterpiece of a canvas that lay above the land. Usually.
Today was not one of those days; the glowing, sunny skies had been tainted and consumed by a gloomy outcast sky. Smoky grey clouds marched like soldiers out to battle, straight towards the defenceless land below. The sea of grey snuffed out the remaining daylight, plaguing the land into an early darkness. A storm was coming in.
Everyone who had half a mind was inside already. This was the same with Fumu, Bun, and Kirby; the three of them were spending time together at the siblings’ home, reading and gaming and colouring respectively. Fumu glanced at the time, “ah, it’s so late already! Kirby maybe you should stay here for the night. The weather is pretty bad out there already- we don’t want you blowing away. Again.” In reply, Kirby waggled his arms around as if to brush her off, but with a happy smile as always to be polite. At his home was Kirby’s favourite fluffy blanket; it was royal blue and adorned with many golden stars that had been embroidered into the fabric, the blanket had been a gift to him from the entirety of the village when they built his house and so he held it dearly. Getting comfy under that blanket always helped Kirby feel safer when bad weather was afoot, so that’s what he planned to do! Despite a little bit of protest, the older sibling eventually allowed Kirby his leave, at the end of the day he was the legendary star warrior who defeated Nightmare. Fumu had to trust that he would be able to hold his own, and its likely he would make it before the weather got extreme, at least that’s what she decided to tell herself. With a ‘bai bai!’ Kirby began his journey back to his home, though was very quickly stopped in his tracks by another familiar face (literally) wandering down the castle’s cold, dark walls.
“Kirby? Are you not staying with Fumu and Bun tonight? It would not be ideal to go outdoors currently,” Meta Knight chimed. As always the blue knight was wrapped up burrito-style in his signature navy cloak. Kirby observed the knight glancing around as he spoke, as if he was checking for any other passer-by who may encounter them. “Wait, with this bad weather, you want your blanket don’t you?” Meta Knight was right on! Kirby beamed and wiggled his arms around with a smile. Once again the knight glanced around, ensuring nobody else was around except the two of them. “Hm…wait here for a moment then.” Meta Knight unveiled his cloak, before pulling it back around himself in one swift motion. The fabric warped upwards before it was no more, within seconds the knight had disappeared in front of Kirby’s very eyes! As soon as he was gone, a navy blob reformed back in his spot; from the blob Meta Knight appeared once more. However, with him came the oh-so familiar starry blanket that Kirby adored. Immediately the pink puffball ran up to the elder, but stopped short of Meta Knight so he could wait for the knight to hand it to him rather than snatch it from his hands. As expected, Meta Knight handed it over ever so carefully, aware of how prized the blanket was to the child. Kirby instantly smushed his face into the fleecy softness, cooing from the happiness it gave him. “Now you don’t have to worry about heading outside anymore- if you’d like, you’re more than welcome to stay with me, Sword and Blade for the night.” Kirby’s face beamed at the invitation; he liked being with his friends, but he adored being with the old knight just as much. “I suppose that’s a yes? Let’s go then.” He smiled, his voice full of tenderness. Taking Kirby by the hand, Meta Knight led him back to the entrance of his room within the castle.
They reached the door in no time, and quickly made their way through it. Once the door was closed again, and Meta Knight made sure it was locked, his charade immediately fell apart and his stoic, cold demeanour was nowhere to be found. Hastily the knight spun around and scooped Kirby up into his arms, gently squeezing the child in his embrace. Giggles and coos erupted from the pink puffball as he tried his best to squirm out of his captor’s hold, but Meta Knight’s onslaught was merciless. Eventually, the larger puffball loosened the embrace, under the mask he beamed at the child, “how was your day today little one?” After asking, he gingerly placed the child down onto the carpet.
After Nightmare’s defeat, and no known impending dangers approaching, Meta Knight finally felt it was right to tell Kirby of their connected past, and the bond they once had. Of course, he didn’t bombard the child with everything straight away. He took time to sure their current relationship was firm before trying to talk anything through with Kirby; they spent more time together, whether it be sparring, going to Whispy Woods and picking apples together, or simply watching the sunset at the beach. He imagined if he had not spent time with him, it may have been awkward and confusing to Kirby to have someone he barely knew come up to you and say, ‘yes so before you were put into hyper-sleep I was the person who raised and took care of you’. Confronting Kirby that day was the most nervous Meta Knight had been in decades, maybe even centuries. What if the child rejected him after it? What if Kirby became angry he never told him sooner and wanted him to stay out of his life? The knight had been riddled with anxiety for days, but Kirby was remarkably compassionate and caring, he knew deep down his thoughts stemmed from his own personal issues, and the child would accept him unconditionally.
And that he did.
Kirby was in fact, more than happy to embrace the knight as his parent once again. Perhaps he didn’t exactly understand the situation and just heard ‘me’ and ‘father’ in the same sentence and presumed the best from there. Deep down Meta Knight had hoped that some forgotten memories had resurfaced, but that was wishful thinking. Maybe it was what Kirby lacked compared to what everyone else seemed to have. Kirby joined the Fumu and Bun’s family all the time for dinners; he saw how his friends had loving parents who cared for them immensely, and yet Kirby had no one to fill that role for him, not until Meta Knight came to fill that role. He wondered how the child may have felt before he had told him on his- their origins. Both physically and emotionally the baby was an outcast from the rest of the village. But Meta Knight supposed that he was too, it strengthened their connection furthermore.
Shaking off his unnecessary thoughts, Meta Knight placed his attention back onto his son. He watched as Kirby mimicked his day’s events with his little, stubby arms, smiling and giggling as he re-remembered how fun his day seemed to be. Such a sight brought pure joy to Meta Knight’s once-hardened heart. “Is that so? Sounds like you had a great time then, star,” he head-patted the child to reaffirm his reply.
He truly loved being able to be dote on Kirby, but it’s something only possible behind closed doors…Meta Knight wasn’t ready for the rest of the world to know...not yet at least. He worried about the type of attention such a well-kept secret may garner. All of the questions he envisioned would be thrown his way by anyone and everyone was far too overwhelming to think about, and he didn’t want any parties looking into his past at all. For now, their father-son status was known only to them, as well as Sword and Blade of course; Meta Knight knew he was able to trust his companions.
Meta Knight ushered Kirby towards the living room, motioning for his son to get comfortable on the sofa. “Just a moment, I just need to remove my armour and then I’ll be back, little one,” Meta Knight expressed before heading into his own bedroom. In the mere minutes he was gone, Kirby climbed onto the sofa; it was a large sectional sofa which allowed for plenty of room to spread out, quite an upgrade from the singular wooden chair he remembered used to be the only seat in his dad’s living room previously. The sofa was fairly simple. There was no fancy detailing in the design at all, just charcoal grey fabric used for the seats, arms and back of it. Light-grey, square cushions decorated the otherwise empty sofa. Kirby made sure to pull his blanket over him as he sat down. He shuffled around in his blanket and leaned onto the side of the sofa arm, laying down but using it to prop himself up slightly.
It didn’t take long for the old knight to return with significantly less armour like he said, his mask and pauldrons completely gone from his outfit. All that remained of his ‘uniform’ so to speak were his gloves and navy-blue cloak that flowed behind him as he made his way back to the living room. Before reaching Kirby, Meta Knight paused to stretch; he reached his arms in the air and as he did he let out a surprisingly high-pitched yawn. The edges of his cloak began to follow the path his arms went to, floating up into the air, clearly not caring about how gravity works. The cloak slowly began to contort into points, growing larger and higher above his usual height. The navy of the cloak slowly faded into the same sapphire-blue that Meta Knight’s skin was. Large, draconic wings slowly began to form from what used to be the cloak; pink membrane phased in between fingers of wing. Deep violet began to stain the edges of the wings, the colour fading into the familiar blue around halfway up each wing. Once fully formed, Meta Knight flapped his wings twice in order to stretch them as well. He wasn’t able to use them much but did his best to make sure they were maintained properly. Finishing his routine he stared back towards Kirby, his golden eyes full of warmth and tenderness towards his son who returned his gaze with bright, starry eyes. The child had watched his wings transform many times already yet was still so amazed at the sight. Meta Knight couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. The knight made his way over to the sofa and carelessly flopped down next to Kirby. He allowed himself one moment to sink down into the comfy fabric, feeling one with the sofa.
The moment was cut short due to a boisterous bout of thunder roared throughout the sky; drops of rain began to plummet and assault the walls of the castle. The thunder was fairly far from the castle walls still but manged to cause quite a spook. Kirby flinched at the sudden sound which Meta Knight immediately caught onto. Ever since the battle with Kracko just as he had arrived in Dreamland, Kirby had developed a rather intense phobia of thunder and lightning (justifiably) and although he had gotten better with it over time as he continued to live on Dreamland and its tropical climate, the occasional louder storm caused his fears to get the best of him once again. Meta Knight acted instinctively; he curled one wing around his cub and gently pulled him into an embrace, ensuring the starry blanket stayed around him. “It’s okay little star,” Meta Knight smiled, he pressed his cheek against the younger ones and tenderly nuzzled him. “I’m here, there’s nothing to be afraid of. How about we do something to distract ourselves hm? We can watch something, or read, or perhaps you’d like to bake?” Kirby perked up at the third option, as Meta Knight knew his little one would, if anything could distract Kirby it was food. “You’re always one to think with your stomach aren’t you child?” he teased, poking Kirby’s belly, resulting in a fit of giggles from the tot. “Alright, let’s go see what ingredients we have in.”
Turns out they had all the right things in for cookies; Kirby was more than happy with what they had decided on baking, as cookies were one of his favourites (they were one of Meta Knight’s favourites too hence why he had all the ingredients in). After prepping the trays with parchment paper, they began on making the dough. Naturally, Meta Knight took the lead due to his superior precision; he measured out each ingredient and then handed them over one by one to Kirby who carefully dropped them into a large bowl, attempting to create as little mess as possible. Kirby stuck his tongue out in concentration whilst adding each ingredient. When Meta Knight noticed he stifled a chuckle, but he was glad that baking seemed to distract Kirby enough. Two more strikes of thunder had gone off whilst they had been baking and the tot was none the wiser to it. The dough ended up being caramel colour, and it was sticky with a slightly grainy texture- just exactly what they wanted for this particular recipe. The last task to do to make the dough 100% complete was to add the chocolate chips; Meta Knight chopped up a milk chocolate bar (his preferred type of chocolate) into large, similarly shaped chunks, he used the knife he was holding to scrape them into the bowl and grabbed a spatula to fold them into the dough. It looked delicious… He was tempted to eat it as it was currently, but if they cooked them then they could leave some for Sword and Blade later. To compromise, the older knight slipped off one glove and dipped a finger into the mix, pulling it back out and plopping it into his mouth. He was right, it tasted as it looked: delicious. He repeated the motion of dipping his finger in again, but this time he held it over to Kirby, “It tastes great, want to try?” A silly question really. The child pounced at the opportunity, wrapping his mouth around the dough-covered finger to get a taste of the dessert they worked on together. Unsurprisingly it was Kirby approved; the tot made a few noises of delight and hopped around in place, garnering yet another laugh from his father. “It seems we agree they taste good then. Alright little star, let’s scoop them onto the trays, then they will need to chill for a bit before we put them in the oven.” Puppy eyes peered right at him. “…If we put them in straight away they’ll melt too much in the oven and combine with each other, it’s better to chill them first so the dough is firm and wont melt as quickly when baking.” His reasoning did not deter the puppy eyes. Meta Knight sighed, “alright, I’ll put them in now, but I’m telling you they will combine, star.” Kirby did not care; food was food. The knight scooped several cookie-sized balls onto each tray, using up the entirety of the mixture. Begrudgingly, he placed each tray into the oven and noted down what time they would need to be taken out, which was in about 10 minutes time.
Said 10 minutes flew by. Whilst they were waiting, the duo once again made themselves comfortable on the sofa. Meta Knight had handed Kirby the TV remote so he could put something on; the child wasn’t one to watch TV at all and didn’t exactly understand the concept of how it worked. He just pressed buttons until something came on that appealed to him. Eventually, the screen landed on a channel broadcasting a show about a… blue dog family? Kirby was lured in by the visual style, he became entranced by it, not even noticing that Meta Knight had left at one point and had also returned with a plate of freshly baked cookies in hand.
“-Irby. Kirby! The cookies are done- You finally found a show you like hm? I’ll make sure to note down the name so we can find it again at a later date as well.” Kirby managed to pull his gaze from the silly, mesmerising dog cartoon and looked directly at the plate of cookies. Meta Knight was right (as always); they did melt. The edges were crumbly, exposing the inside of the cookie, from where a knife had been used to slice and separate them, but despite the emergency surgery they went through, the cookies still looked delectable. He stood up and positioned himself to inhale, but the knight quickly whipped his hand out and covered Kirby’s mouth, “I’m not having my entire living room sucked up, it won’t hurt you to eat them normally, star.” The child pouted for a second, but a smile made its way onto his face as his father retracted his hand from his face to grab a cookie and hand back it to him.
Kirby wolfed it down; it was so scrumptious! Seeing how the child happily gobbled up his cookie, Meta Knight decided it was his turn to enjoy the sweets they had so lovingly made together. Unlike the tot, the larger, blue puffball bit into roughly half of his cookie instead of devouring it in one gulp; he wanted to savour the flavour of it. The soft, spongy texture dissolved on his tongue and tasted ever so sweet and vanilla-y. The sticky, gooey chocolate found its way into the mix. Like day and night, the two flavours worked together to create a perfect combination- forming the perfect cookie experience. A very satisfied hum escaped from the knight, he scoffed down the remainder of his cookie in delightful bliss. Considering it was pretty late, Meta Knight had decided it was best for Kirby to have only one cookie for now, and perhaps later he could have another before bed with some milk.
Putting the now empty plate back in the kitchen, next to the sink ready to wash, Meta Knight quickly returned back to Kirby and sat himself down next to the puffball. Promptly, his cub took his sitting down as an invitation and snuggled up against Meta Knight’s right side, pulling his fleecy blanket back over him. With a light-hearted sigh, the old knight rested him arm on top of him in response, assuming constant head pat position. He also delicately wrapped one wing around his son, to keep him close and provide an extra layer of comfort on top of that. The blue dog show was still blaring on the TV, but Meta Knight didn’t have it in him to turn the show over after Kirby had finally found something he liked, so he was stuck watching cartoons with the tot (not that he minded all that much as long as Kirby was happy).
Minutes hastily turned to hours; the duo were cuddled up paying attention to the TV. For being a kids show, Meta Knight picked up on some surprisingly mature topics mixed in with all of the silly slice-of-life antics. A particular scene that stuck out to him was when one of the two children of the family were re-enacting their mother’s pregnancy by using a balloon under their shirt. The balloon had popped which had caused a negative reaction from the mother, and the father subtly comforted her by holding her hand after it occurred. Children were very unlikely to pick up on it, but Meta Knight understood the scene had the undertones of miscarriages during pregnancy, quite a serious topic for a kids show to be honest. He supposed it was put there for parents who were roped into watching the show with their children, just as he had been with Kirby, so they also had content that they could understand and enjoy, or stories that they could relate to within the show as well. Families weren’t perfect, and Meta Knight believed the cartoon did a great job of conveying that by showing the ups and downs of it all.
A tiny yawn escaped from the little pink lump snuggled into his side. “Tired my little one?” he questioned, rubbing his child’s head. Looking at the clock across the room he realised it was past 11pm- a lot later than he expected. That dog show really was mesmerising wasn’t it? “Perhaps we should head to bed now, its later than I expected, are you happy sleeping with me tonight?” Kirby didn’t challenge the knight’s suggestion at all, only cuddling further into his side. It was certainly past his bedtime, so Meta Knight took that as a yes. Sliding off of the coziness of the sofa, Meta Knight turned around to scoop up the tired child into his arms once more. “Do you want some milk and cookies before bed, little star? Meta Knight wanted to test Kirby to see how truly tired he was. Although the child didn’t perk up the same way he did before, Meta Knight felt the lump he was carrying move specifically in a way that felt like him nodding his head. “Ha, alright then- Let’s get you comfy first and then I’ll go grab some for you.” They made a beeline for the knight’s bedroom; Meta Knight entered the fairly plain room -he didn’t care for decoration all that much- and placed Kirby down gently on his bed. The duvet was a desaturated blue-ish grey adorned with crescent moons, perfectly paralleling Kirby’s own starry blanket. His pillow was the usual white, perhaps ever so slightly tinted blue, and was circular in shape. Seeing it reminded Kirby of the full moon- it looked cosy to sleep against. Flicking his bedside lamp on, Meta Knight turned to face the door, “once again, I’ll be a moment, little star.” The knight quickly disappeared, from outside the room Kirby heard the TV power off, as they forgot to do that before. The light filtering in from the door to the bedroom also slowly faltered as Meta Knight went around turning the apartment’s lights all off. He re-emerged with a glass of milk and singular cookie on a plate, handing them over to his son as he reached the bed once more. He allowed Kirby a moment to have his bedtime snack, orbiting towards a barely visible closet on the other side of the room to grab something quickly. All the while, Kirby, unaware of how to actually enjoy and savour food, wolfed down the cookie and chugged the milk immediately after.
“If you actually paced yourself when eating, I bet you’d enjoy your food even more than you already do, Kirby,” Meta Knight teased with a warm smile, having observed the child as he walked back to the bed with an enormous, light-yellow pillow sewn in the shape of a star. “I bought this a while ago now; I thought you might like it for when you stay over here, a star for my little star-“ he abruptly cut himself off, inwardly cringing slightly, being cheesy wasn’t his thing (he needed to work on that). The old knight peeled the duvet slightly so he could place the star pillow next to his round moon-like one, he then grabbed the empty plate and cup and placed them onto his bedside table, he’d already switched off all the lights and wasn’t wanting to undo all of that work for two dishes, it wouldn’t hurt to wait until morning to take them back to the kitchen, at the same time he switched the bedside lamp off once more. Finally, he clambered into his cozy, cushiony bed and grabbed Kirby, pulling the tot towards him. Placing his cub at his side so he could lean against his star pillow. He grasped the duvet and pulled it over the both of them, so they were both comfy and snug under the covers.
Meta Knight expected the yawning child to be out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow, but the little one struggled against the pull of sleep to do one more thing; he latched onto his father’s side and lovingly nuzzled his cheek against him. For almost all puffballs, love (often of the familial kind) was conveyed though acts of physical affection- it was almost like a language of its own to them. It was quite rare, but whenever Kirby nuzzled up against someone it was his way of telling them he loved them and felt safe in their presence, Meta Knight had been victim to this sentiment many times over. Naturally, he returned the affection. The knight turned to face his cub and nuzzled back- purring softly, “I love you too, little star.” He wrapped his wing around the child, enveloping his son in a protective embrace. Kirby rested against his father’s chest, finally giving in to his desire to sleep. He drifted off, lulled into the land of dreams by the steady rise and fall of his parent’s chest, comforted by the gentle, stable thudding of his heart.
The storm that had roared on earlier had calmed significantly, now only the occasional melodious pitter-patter of raindrops tapped rhythmically against the windows of Meta Knight’s room. Kirby slumbered peacefully; he had completely forgotten about the raging storm. In his mind, Meta Knight was beaming at how strong his cub had become, being able to enjoy himself without fear of the weather around him when he used to be so petrified of it to the extent that he failed to function, hiding away in his home teary-eyed and sobbing until the storm passed entirely. He smiled down at the sleeping form, proud at how far Kirby had healed from Kracko’s trauma. Meta Knight heeded his own tiredness; eyelids beginning to slip and obstruct the soft glow of his golden eyes. He was content with drifting off to sleep knowing Kirby happily snoozing as well.
Kirby may not entirely heal, but that was okay. Meta Knight would always be there whenever Kirby needed him, to soothe and protect his son when he found himself afraid, when he needed that affection and support from his loved ones.
You’ll always be safe by my side, little star.
