Archive of Our Own ^beta

“What’s going on, Captain?” Sailor Waddle Dee whispered to the captain beside them.

Captain Vul shrugged. “I’m not sure. Sir Meta Knight has just called us to assemble.”

And that, indeed, was what happened. The Meta-Knights were assembled on the bridge of the Battleship Halberd, awaiting their leader’s instruction. Their leader, meanwhile, was standing off to the side, facing away from them.

Meta Knight could hear the brief exchange between Sailor and Vul from his vantage point, and it only made him feel more nervous. In truth, he had assembled his knights to ask them for advice on something very close to his heart. Is this really a good idea? he wondered, staring at the floor. Is any of this a good idea? …No, no, I can’t afford to doubt myself now. He clenched his fists and stood resolute. I’m going to do it. I just need to figure out how.

“Sir?”

He slowly approached the middle of the bridge, then turned to face the knights. “Captain,” he acknowledged.

“Is there danger?” Vul asked. “Are we protecting Dream Land from some threat?”

“What about a rescue mission?” Sword Knight interjected.

“Who are we rescuing?” Axe Knight asked.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.”

“No, there’s no danger, nothing like that,” Meta clarified. “I have called you all here today to ask for your advice.” Here we go.

Murmurs of mild confusion could be heard amongst the crew.

“There is something important that I must tell someone,” he continued, being intentionally vague. Then, he shook his head. “No, let me be transparent. I intend to confess my love to King Dedede.”

“Ohhh!”

“Really?”

“The king is lucky to have the love of such a noble warrior as yourself, sir!”

“Yeah! Go get him, sir!”

“Quiet! Please!” Meta requested, raising his voice slightly to be heard above the ruckus. Once the bridge fell quiet, he continued. “I can think of no finer group of soldiers to trust with such an important matter, which is why I wish to ask you all for advice.”

“Advice? On how to confess?” Vul inquired.

Meta nodded. “Yes. I have a vague idea of how I would like to do it.”

“Tell us, sir, tell us!” Sailor encouraged.

“Well,” he began, “it has to be a spectacle. I won’t have it be ordinary.” He closed his eyes and began to pace around in a circle. “Something… impressive. Something fit for a king such as Dedede. After all, he loves extravagance.”

“That is true. His Majesty does love extravagance,” Mace Knight agreed.

“Go big or go home,” Blade Knight added.

“Exactly, Blade Knight,” Meta said, pointing at him approvingly. “But it has to be… cool. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Of course!” Sailor concurred. “But what’s an extravagant and cool way to confess your feelings…?”

“Fire,” Trident Knight suggested.

“Fire?” Javelin Knight asked.

“Yeah. Involve fire somehow. Fire’s cool, right?”

“I’m pretty sure fire’s hot.”

“He means figuratively,” Sword pointed out.

“Oh. Right.”

“Sir?” Trident asked, turning to look at his leader.

“I thank you for the suggestion, but I don’t think I entirely see your vision,” Meta replied graciously.

“Hmm… ice.”

“Are you just going down the list of elements?” Axe interjected.

“At least ice is literally cool,” Javelin retorted.

“What are you talking about?” Captain Vul questioned, furrowing his brow. 

“Elements are cool!” Trident insisted. “Think about it. Some big display using something naturally occurring, like ice or fire. It gives you the element of nature. Heh! Element! Do you get it?”

“Wow, so funny, Trident,” Blade said sarcastically. 

“Oh, what do you know?”

Meta shook his head at the two.

“Sorry, sir. Sorry, Trident.”

Trident Knight waved a hand. “It’s alright. It wasn’t really that funny anyway. I’m sorry, too.”

Sailor clapped jubilantly. “Conflict resolution!”

They’re a great team, when they’re getting along, Meta thought wryly about his knights. He made a point of asking them to be polite to each other, while also being a hypocrite in his banter-filled relationship with King Dedede. On more than one occasion they had butted heads even though they were good friends. It just so happened that one of their favourite pastimes was trading sarcastic comments and joking with each other in such a manner that an outsider could think they didn’t get along. 

Dedede… he thought to himself, feeling nervous once more. Thinking about the king usually filled him with happiness, even if he didn’t tend to show it, but now, with his plans to confess, he was frightened. He shook his head a little in an attempt to shake the thoughts out of it.

“Sir?”

Brought back to the Halberd’s bridge, Meta Knight looked up. “My apologies. I was… lost in thought. Where were we?”

“I was talking about my element idea, sir.”

“Yes…” Meta thought about it for a moment. “Yes, that’s a good idea, actually.”

“It is?!”

“What do you mean, sir?” Vul asked.

“I could use my own powers to manipulate ground and rock.” He looked at his hands, an idea beginning to form. “Yes! Perfect!”

And so, Meta Knight began to train his powers for a love confession worthy of the king. He docked the Halberd in a quieter area of Dream Land, away from prying eyes, and began to practice on the nearby boulders—lifting them into the air and trying to arrange them to spell out a message.

“Arghh… agh!” the knight cried as he hovered in the air, his arms beginning to buckle from the effort.

“Sir! Be careful!” 

“Don’t overdo it!”

I have… to get… this right…! he told himself mentally, but he had to heed the words of his subordinates. He relinquished his hold of the boulders and they crashed to the ground. He plummeted shortly after.

Screams erupted from the Meta-Knights as they saw their leader fall through the air, but there was nothing to fear. Meta caught himself at the last second with a flap of his wings before he touched the ground. He then promptly passed out.

“Meta Knight! Meta Knight! Wake UP!”

A familiar, yet unexpected voice was yelling at the knight as he lay on the grass. “Mmnnghh… Kirby? What are you doing here?”

“I heard something really loud!”

Meta opened his eyes and sat up, looking around. He was surrounded by his concerned subordinates who gave him an apologetic look. “Ah, yes. I can only assume the loud noise you heard was me.”

“What were you doing?” the puffball asked, turning to look at the pile of boulders nearby.

I can’t tell him. Kirby wouldn’t be able to keep the secret. “Training,” he prevaricated, getting to his feet.

“With rocks? For what?”

Well. “...It’s a surprise,” said Meta.

Kirby’s eyes widened. “For who?”

“That’s a secret. But it will be a nice surprise. …I hope.”

“Okay! I just wanted to know what that sound was.” The kid smiled and waved his hands gleefully. “Bye, Meta Knight! Bye, Meta-Knights!”

“Bye, Kirby!” the Meta-Knights responded in unison. 

Meta waved one hand, and though no one could see it, smiled under the mask. 

Kirby departed, and once he was out of earshot, Captain Vul spoke up. “He came out of nowhere, sir.”

“He does tend to do that,” Meta acknowledged matter-of-factly. “I must continue practicing.”

“Wait, sir! You’ll over-exert yourself!” 

“You need to rest!”

…They do have a point. He nodded. “Very well. I will take a break.”

Meta continued to train day in and day out until he could spell his message of choice in the air with boulders and hold it up for enough time for it to be read. It was long and gruelling, but he had finally succeeded.

So now, it was time to confess his feelings.

“King Dedede! King Dedede!” Sailor Waddle Dee cried as they ran into the castle.

The king, who was lounging on his throne presently, lurched forward in shock. “Whoa! Sailor?! Whatcha doin’ here?” 

“Come quick!” they implored, waving their arms around in distress. “Outside the castle! Please, Your Majesty!”

Not one to ignore a cry for help, Dedede hopped out of the chair and got to his feet. “Alright, alright, I’m comin’!” 

He pulled his hammer out of his robe as he ran out of the castle, ready to face whatever it was. But when Dedede made it out, all he saw was Meta Knight, standing on the grass. Before he could say anything, the Waddle Dee beside him yelled.

“NOW, SIR!”

Meta jumped into the air and quickly flapped his wings, flying high. He threw his arms out, and with them, a considerable amount of boulders that the king hadn’t noticed before suddenly floated up into the air.

“What…?”

Suddenly, Meta’s hands began to move a little. And with them, so did the boulders. They began to rearrange themselves into something. Words.

Dedede’s eyes widened as he read the message in the sky. 

‘I LOVE YOU’.

“Meta…!” he gasped.

“He saw it, sir!” Sailor relayed.

After that, the knight’s arms went slack and the boulders collapsed to the ground, thankfully far enough away that nothing was harmed. Meta then slowly made his descent.

“Meta!” Dedede repeated, running over to him.

Meanwhile, Sailor quickly departed to give the king and the knight some privacy.

“Are you alright?” King Dedede asked.

“Hahh… hahh… I am fine,” he panted. “Sire…”

“I’m guessin’... that message was meant for me?” he asked tentatively.

The knight nodded. “Yes.” Then, he grabbed his mask.

The king let out another gasp as it came off and Meta placed it on the ground. “You never take off your mask!”

“That is precisely why I’m doing it now.” 

He had a serious expression, but now that his face was visible, Dedede could see the apprehension in it as well.

“I love you, King Dedede. I am in love with you.” Meta let out a small sigh and closed his eyes. “It’s… strange.”

“...What is?”

“I’ve fought the greatest warrior in the galaxy… I’ve seen and fought terrifying things… and yet, I’ve never felt more terrified than I feel right now.” He opened his eyes and stared back up at the king.

“Heh.” Dedede grinned. “That’s just how it is. Scary monsters in Dream Land? Total breeze. But pourin’ out your heart to someone? Whoo… that takes guts. But you don’t gotta be scared of me, Meta. I know I’m big, burly, and the king, but still!”

“Pfft… heheheh,” the knight chuckled beside himself.

“Nah, nah, I’m just bein’ silly,” Dedede continued in a softer tone. “The real reason you don’t gotta be scared is ‘cause… ‘cause I love you back.”

“You… you do?” 

He nodded. “I do. I love you, Meta Knight.” He smiled tentatively. “It’s a shame though, that you went to all this trouble to show off and I can’t get you back!”

“Get me back?” Meta smirked, amused. “This isn’t a competition, sire.”

“We can make it one!” He grinned mischievously and held his fists up, enthusiastic. “Can’t have you upstagin’ me in the grand gesture department, after all! I gotta do somethin’ just as big for you. No, bigger! I’m gonna start plannin’ now! It’ll be the biggest, grandest gesture the likes of which you’ve never seen!” the king threw his arms into the air for emphasis.

“Hahaha! Dedede!”

“Yeah?”

“Perhaps, instead of planning for a spectacular gesture to rival mine… you might indulge me with a smaller, but no less meaningful gesture?” Meta couldn’t help but smile as he said that.

“Oh, yeah?” Dedede asked, seemingly none the wiser.

“Yes. I wonder if I might kiss you. That is to say… May I kiss you?”

His eyes widened. “Ah! Well, ain’t that gentlemanly of you! Like them knights in stories! All gallant and dashin’ and heroes that sweep princesses off their feet. Now, I’m no princess, but I’ll letcha sweep me off my feet.” Dedede smirked at him.

Meta blushed. “It is perhaps more impressive for a humble knight such as myself to sweep a king such as yourself off his feet,” he replied flirtatiously.

Dedede held a hand up to his beak, making a thoughtful pose. “Hmm. I dunno about humble,” he joked.

“Oh, shut up!”

“Shut me up yourself, then!”

“Gladly!” And with that, Meta jumped into his arms and pressed his lips against the king’s beak.

“Mm!” Dedede caught the knight and held him close, kissing him back.

After a moment, they pulled away and smiled at each other. 

“Y’know, I’m all for gallant and dashin’, but it’s that attitude of yours that really drives me crazy. In a good way,” he clarified.

Meta’s cheeks gained a pink tinge once more. “You, too, drive me crazy in a good way with your cocksure manner.”

Dedede raised an eyebrow. “‘Scuse me? Could you run that one by me again, please?”

“Heheh. Brazen. Brash. Arrogant,” Meta suggested.

“What, d’you read a dictionary for fun?”

“Thesaurus, actually.”

“Of course. Forgive me,” he said sarcastically, grinning.

“You’re forgiven.”

Dedede placed the knight back on the grass. “Well, now. What are we s’posed to do about the rocks?”

“...I had not thought that far ahead.”

“Bahahahaha! You’re kiddin’!”

He shook his head. “No. But I will think of something.”