Heroes of Dreamland, Book 5: Nintendo World: The Fate of All Worlds (OLD)

Manipulation and Capture

Sakura's POV:

Meta Knight, Kirby, Bandana and I are on top of the building next to the shelter, which is much more stable. The fireworks ended awhile ago, so I let these three up here to share with them some of the goodies from my 'secret stash' I always keep around. I've got Hostess snacks, glow sticks, a bag of Cheetos... Great stuff. Meta Knight's probably not going to be willing to eat any of it, (they've got artificial ingredients! *gasps*) but just having all four of us together again is more wonderful than I can express. It's probably not fair of me to let these two stay up and outside later than the other kids, but this is a special occasion.

After bringing up a couple of air-tight tubs from my fire escape 'bedroom,' I pop one of them open and dig through it until I find what I'm looking for. Giggling, I hand Kirby and Bandana both a glow stick. "Okay, you bend it until it makes a snapping sound, and then you shake it really hard. Trust me, you're gonna love this."

After giving me a weird look, they both do so. Kirby instantly starts squealing the second his glow stick starts giving off a golden light. "How did you get all those fireflies in there? They're so bright!"

Bandana seems just as awed by his blue glow stick, which he's waving around in front of him like a magic wand, drawing patterns in the air. (He and I had a talk earlier. Well, it was more me talking at him and hoping it got through to him. I can't use the forehead-to-forehead trick here, unfortunately. I'm glad he found some friends, but I asked him to keep an eye on Kirby. It all worked out, but still.)

I go to explain to Kirby that it's not fireflies, but rather fluorescence, but why ruin it for him? Glow sticks are one of the few 'magical' things out here, so I answer in a conspiratorial whisper with a huge grin, "Magic. Even out here, a few things are still magical."

Joyous, they both ask for a second one, then run crazily around the roof with each other, the two of them playing 'sword duel.' A wide smile on my face, I sit down next to a lost-in-thought Meta Knight who's staring up at the sky and snuggle up to him, being acknowledged by him wrapping a wing around me. I have to admit, I think I like this even more than the cloak. 

With a sigh of happiness, I close my eyes and enjoy the sound of my brothers playing. This is the happiest I've felt in so long. Soon, we'll be out of the city, and we'll be able to be outside like this whenever we want. And there, there will be trees and grass and rivers and sky and life. It'll be so heavenly to be out of the concrete jungle. Hopefully, we'll be able to stay there for awhile. From what I've heard about the new place, it's practically perfect.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" I question Meta after a long minute, opening my eyes and looking up at the sky like he is. "You're being awful quiet, even for you."

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he replies, "I was thinking about how dim the stars are here, and how there are so many millions more in the sky at home."

"Yeah," I agree with a nod. "The cloudy stuff is called smog. That blocks most of the stars-"

Chuckling, he assures me, "I know what smog is, Flower. Do you not remember that factory Dedede built that spewed that smog that Nightmare had specially formulated to be a thousand times more destructive?"

Sighing, I remember that he's right, although I hadn't known about the 'specially formulated' part until now. "Oh yeah. I had forgotten about that. Well, smog blocks most of the stars here. You can see a lot more in less populated places, like where we're moving to. But even there, there are way fewer stars than there are inside the box. All of the stars here can be seen inside the box, but we have millions more there. I have no idea why, other than that maybe something happens inside the box that doesn't out here that causes stars to form. I guess you'd have to ask Nintendo themselves that. Too bad we're 'just programs' to them." My voice grows a little bit bitter at the end, but I shake it off. Tonight's a time for me to be happy.