Before she knew it, a year had passed. After realizing she wasn't just a child, Meta Knight had held back even less. After every few weeks of her training, there would come a point where she would finally win a sword duel. But always, the next day, Meta Knight would throw himself even more into the fight, resulting in her losing again. Eventually, however, there came a time when they were truly evenly matched. Some of their duels ended in his favor, some in hers, some they would just call a draw.
As time had passed, they had become less like sensei and student, and more like equals, comrades. Sometimes they would journey into monster-infested areas and practice fighting together against others. They had two battle strategies: Either he would take the air and she the ground, or; if need be, they fought together on land, each having the other's back.
When she could, she practiced the Copy Abilities with Kirby. She discovered that aside from having a bit of a knack for Parasol, (which wasn't much of a surprise,) she just wasn't that good with the Abilities. Kirby was a different story. He quickly advanced a lot, which was good.
The winter had been very cold and rainy. During that time they were mostly confined to the inside of the castle, so she spent a lot of her time in the library. More often than not, you could find her reading to Bandana Dee and Kirby, the three of them curled up together inside her curtain-blanket.
Now, spring's balmy calm was again slowly turning into summer's bright, lazy days. Well, lazy for most inhabitants of Dreamland, anyway. As usual, she and Meta Knight were hard at work, dueling each other.
This was one of the days where their fight ended in a draw. Meta Knight signaled to her that they were done, and then flopped, tired, onto his back. She lay down as well, sticking her face in the freshly-mown grass and sighing. "At least now you get as tired as I do."
"I find it funny that you consider that fact some sort of victory," he spoke up to the sky.
"Well, yeah," she sighed. Then she picked her face up. "I smell... clover."
"Well, it is in season. But what does that matter?" he asked. When she didn't answer after a moment, he sat up and looked around for her. He spotted her down in a patch of the white, fragrant flowers, peacefully picking them and seeming to tie them together.
He strolled down the hill and sat down under a nearby tree, observing her. "What are you doing?" he finally inquired.
"I've seen the young Cappy girls in town doing this many times before," she replied, not really answering the posed question. "I've always wanted to try it, but the Waddle Dee wouldn't let me take time off to do it. They thought my fascination with flowers was strange." She paused and held up a finished circle of flowers, which she then put on her head and began again.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, a little bit amused.
She glanced over at him for a half-second, then returned to working on her flowery jewelry. "I never really had a chance to be a kid. Let me have some fun."
"I think that is fair," he replied. He watched, dozily, as she made herself a matching necklace and bracelets. He must've fallen asleep at some point, though, because he awoke to hear her giggling. "What?" he asked blearily.
"Hail, King of the Flower People!" she joked, pointing to his head. He reached up and took a crown of clover off.
"Very amusing," he deadpanned, although his green eyes gave him away. Handing it back to her, he decreed, "I abdicate the throne to you."
She laughed and added it to the one already on her head. "All right, then."
He jumped to his feet as he suddenly remembered something. "If you like flowers, there is someplace I want to show you." He offered her his hand. "May I have the pleasure of your company, Lady Dee?"
"Of course, Sir Knight," she replied happily, giving him a "smile."
He chuckled and helped her up, then led her to the garden. "You know, I have been here before," she reminded him. "I used to prune the hedges." She mimed using a pair of clippers.
"This area, maybe so. But it is another part of the garden I wish to show you. It is called the Star Warriors' Garden," he informed her, leading her through an entrance she had never noticed before in the center of a hedge wall.
She gasped in awe as she entered. The place was a large square, surrounded by hedges. In the center was a calm pond full of lazily swimming koi, and the place was filled with every imaginable variety of flower. But the thing that had caught her attention was all the way in the back. "A cherry tree," she whispered in wonder, as soft-pink blossoms floated to the ground from its branches. "But how? Blossom-viewing season ended weeks ago."
He chuckled, his eyes a content blue. "This is a special tree, for its blossoms are always in season. The books say it has always been here, and probably it always will be."
Walking toward it in wonder, she reached out a hand and caught one of petals floating in the wind. It sat there for a second, silently. But all of a sudden, all the blossoms rushed from the ground, sweeping her up and surrounding her in a cloud of petals. "What's hap-" she started fearfully, but the sound of a strong wind cut her off. Soon, the swirls had blocked her completely from view.
"What is this madness?" Meta Knight shouted angrily. He tried to slash through the flowers with Galaxia, but they created a thick wall to block him. Then, in an instant, the blossoms fell back to the ground; the wind ceased blowing. All was perfectly calm.
Frantically searching for her, he finally found her right under the tree. Lying perfectly still, she had a cape laid over her chest, and something at her side. He rushed over and inspected her, worried. He discovered she seemed to be breathing, so she was probably all right.
He relaxed some and again noticed the thing on the ground next to her, which looked to be a sword in a small sheath, close to his in size. Cautiously picking it up, he found that the sheath was made out of some strong, yet amazingly soft, material. He realized in amazement that it was made of cherry blossoms painstakingly sewn together.
He carefully slid the sword partway out. It seemed like the whole sword was in the sheath at once, although, by the laws of physics, that was impossible. That was different from Galaxia; its blade only appeared after it had been drawn.
He gasped at the sword's beauty when he got around to observing it. It was a dark pink, but it was see-through, as if it was made of colored glass. The hilt was a lighter pink, and was opaque. Set in the hilt was a white gem shaped like a cherry blossom, and set in that was a cherry-red star-shaped ruby. "The Cherry Star Sword," he whispered in astonishment. "I thought it was a myth. Of course, I thought Galaxia was a myth, until I found it."
She stirred and blinked her chestnut eyes slowly open. "What ha-happened?" she stuttered weakly.
"I am not sure if there is a way to explain these events," he replied, helping her sit up and lean against the tree. He handed her the cape and the sword, which he had returned to the sheath.
"What are these?" she asked in surprise. Carefully pulling the sword completely out of its sheath, she breathed, "It's beautiful."
"It is yours," he informed her gently. "It is the Cherry Star Sword, the second-most-powerful sword known to the galaxy."
"Why do I get it?" she asked, amazed, as she studied the intricate stitches holding the petals together on the sheath.
"Because you are the one it is meant for," he shrugged. "There is probably not any more of an answer than that. There does not need to be."
"And the cape..." she sighed. It was made out of a gossamer-y thin, pink material that matched her sword in color. She stood up, still a bit wobbly, but quickly recovered her balance. Putting the cape on, she 'smiled.' "It's so pretty!" she leapt up in the air for joy, but then the most amazing thing happened. The cape turned into a pair of soft-pink, feathery, angel-style wings, which she subconsciously flapped a few times. She squeaked in surprise, and they turned back into a cape, causing her to fall the around four feet she had flown up back down to the ground. "Oof. What was that?"
He stared at it, as awed as she was. "It must be similar to my Dimensional Cloak, which you know can turn into bat wings and let me fly."
"But I thought there was only one Dimensional Cloak. The books written by the Ancients say so," she replied, turning it back and forth, making sure she could control it.
"I think this is one of their tricks," he chuckled. "There is only one Dimensional Cloak. This, Sakura, is quite obviously a Dimensional Cape."
She nodded and laughed in agreement, then stared at him. "What did you call me?"
"My apologies, I should have explained first," he apologized. After turning away from her and looking off into space for a long moment, he repeated, "'Sakura.' It is from the language of the Ancients, and means 'cherry blossom.'"
"Okay, but why did you call me that?" she asked him in obvious confusion.
"It is tradition for a Star Warrior to be named by a witness of the time when they either receive their powers, or their special weapon," he informed her. "And I just witnessed you receive the Cherry Star Sword and a Dimensional Cape, so it is the custom for me to be the one to name you, even if you are not exactly a Star Warrior."
"I thought my name was Kirby Dee?"
"That is not your name, that is your title. My title is 'The One Who Wields Galaxia,' and Kirby's is 'The Pink Star Warrior,'" he explained. "I do not know how he came to be called Kirby."
"Well then, who named you, Meta Knight?" she asked. Exhausted, she sat down against the cherry tree again and sighed.
"Actually, I was originally just named Meta. The 'Knight' part came later, but that is a story for another time. Now, you should rest for awhile." She nodded and soon drifted off.
He sat close by his friend as she dozed, ready to defend her against more flowery 'attacks,' if any came. There weren't any, and hours later, she woke up again. Feeling somewhat revitalized, she started pulling off moves with her new sword.
"It is almost sunset. We should return to the castle," he declared.
She followed him, but continued playing with the sword. The sheath seemed to disappear whenever she pulled her sword out, and reappear whenever she decided she was ready for it. She slowly followed him, jumping around and slashing through imaginary foes, until she sent a bolt of energy out of the tip of her sword.
She should've known it could do that, Galaxia could. And so could any sword that was the product of a Copy Ability. She stopped, feeling stupid, next to Meta Knight and watched as the bolt flew through the air- and sliced the beak off a hedge shaped like King DeDeDe.
The two stood there for a second. "I take it you were not very good at hedge pruning," he commented. Then, sharing a sideways glance, they both started laughing uncontrollably. Rushing out of the garden before they were caught, they ran until they came to the training room.
"That is the most I have laughed in years," he sighed, finally calming down.
She sat down on a bench until she had settled down as well. "Wait," she started suddenly, looking at him in confusion. "Why aren't you mad at me? Didn't I just, well, defy the king?"
He shook his head. "We both serve the king, but we both also know he is not exactly the sharpest sword in the arena. He is definitely not the kindest king either. Mocking him - to some extent - when he is not there is acceptable. Ask Blade or Sword about the time I kicked the king's tank down a mountain sometime. And he actually was there, then..." he chuckled softly, shaking his head at some memory. "Now, Sakura. You probably still feel exhausted, do you not?"
"Yes, actually, I do. Which is strange, since I took that long nap," she mused, followed by a big yawn.
He nodded once. "I am not surprised. Much has happened to you today, so I would suggest you go to bed early tonight. After you read to the two young ones, of course. They would probably have a mutiny if you did not."
She 'smiled.' "Yes, sir," she agreed, then left. He didn't act like her sensei that much anymore, but that's still how she thought of him.
He went to his bedroom and watched Channel DDD for awhile, laughing, as the head news story was about the 'vandalized' hedge. A Cappy was reporting on the incident while a Waddle Dee filmed, but you couldn't really tell that was the case, or hear what the reporter was saying either. For the Waddle Dee was instead filming the king running around angrily, randomly hitting the ground with his hammer in crazed fury.
After that news section was over, he decided he would go to bed early too. He hung his mask up on a bedpost and went to sleep, the moon's rays reflecting off its smooth surface.