Life in the Smash Village

Opening Ceremony (Part One)

His laugh in response made her swoon, light blush dusting her pale face.

"Good point! Still," he yawned, "it is pretty early. Heading down for breakfast?"

"Right now? Sure!" Palutena walked alongside him to the Mess Hall, trying to make mindless chatter on the way.

"Where's the rest of the group?" She prodded.

"Uh, I actually don't know...maybe they'll join us in a bit."

"W-wait, so it's just going to be the two of us?!" She looked at him wide-eyed.

"If that's no problem?" Link stopped in his tracks, insecurity in his voice.

"Oh, no no, it's okay!" She smiled, regaining her regal composure. "I don't mind, Link."

He gave her a sideways smile and continued walking. They talked about their respective universes and shared connections between the two. Before they realized it, they were in front of the Mess Hall doors.

"Well, you must be quite something if you've got so many entities on your side!" Palutena remarked.

"I'm actually a bit jealous of Pit," Link responded, holding open the door for her before walking in himself.

"Why is that?"

"He's got you."

Palutena erupted into loud laughter, her legs nearly giving out on her. She felt her heart racing and heat rushing to her face, prickling her skin. This was it, she thought, I could die happy right now.

"Yeah," Link chuckled, "he's pretty lucky. I wish I had a friend like you to accompany me on journeys!"

Ack. Friend. The happy feeling fled from her just as fast as it came and was replaced with a stabbing ache in her chest. Her laugh subdued to silence. Palutena managed to keep a polite smile on her face as she reached for a tray.

"I'm sure it would be very nice to gain understanding of your journeys, considering the types of places you go to." She nodded while piling sweet breads on her plate.

"Yeah...hey, are you excited for the Opening Ceremony?" Link asked, compiling his own breakfast as well.

"Of course!" She nearly jumped at the chance to change subjects. "Pit refused to tell me anything about it, but I believe it was mentioned that there would be fans allowed to go!"

He let out a few chuckles and Palutena's face gave in to the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Well, that part is true. But don't worry, you won't get trampled by them," Link noted as they pulled away from the food line and made their way to their group's empty table, "we make sure to take safety precautions so we don't have to really interact much with them, save for the end. It's going to be a lot of fun, too! I can't wait to hear what you thought of it."

The two fighters continued their conversation and ate directly in front of one another. Soon enough, the Mess Hall was filling up as others made their way to breakfast. Link and Palutena's voices were lost in the growing noise.

Marth walked in with Ike not too long after, the two noticing the pair at the table.

"So that's where Link was," Marth scoffed, crossing his arms while Ike roughly grabbed a tray. The hero mercenary grunted in response, handling his food with equal roughness.