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"A flower cannot blossom without sunshine nor a garden without love."

... That's a Chinese proverb. Maybe I should go and try gardening again.

[She sighs and absentmindedly pets the Pikachu sleeping on her desk.]

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[Marth blinks.

Oh, Mei Ling... You and your proverbs.]

Are you well?

[He offers a bit of a light wave to her Pikachu.]

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[Raimei sleepily waves back to Marth, she remembers you from the party!]

I'm... as well as I can be for the time being, thank you for your worry Marth.

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[Oh, hello Raimei. Aren't you just a cutie. Yes, you are. Why, if you weren't behind a camera, Marth would gladly give you some scritches.]

As well as you can be...?

[Please don't let him be the cause of this.]

Is there anything I can do to help?

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No, no, it's fine. Please don't concern yourself over it.

[Raimei gives another "pika!" before settling down again. Mei Ling is quickly waving her hands to indicate there is nothing to worry about. Or at least outwardly. Really she is worried about how forward she was the other day.]

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[Mei Ling, you're doing an awful lot of flailing.]

In the same way you may worry about me, I would think your behaviour to be a bit... abnormal. Well, abnormal for the collected and composed Mei Ling that I know.

I do not mind listening, you know. It may even free me of some of my thoughts, which would not be the most terrible thing to befall me.

[Whatever the case may be, Marth doesn't seem at all warded off, even by forward remarks. That's either grace, him being oblivious, or him being accustomed to it. He'll never tell which one.]

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Please, don't let it concern you... I can't bear to have your concern.

[She looks away from the camera. Raimei is looking at her curiously, tapping Mei Ling's hand gently. Meimei, what's wrong? Don't look like that. You look really sad. Now the Pikachu's face looked sad too.]

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To have my concern? Really, is that such a terrible thing? It is only natural to concern for those you care about. Friends, family, and more.

If it is so troublesome, while I cannot prevent myself from it, I can at the very least, keep it to myself.

[He leans over in his chair and cradles his chin in the palm of his hand as he looks between Mei Ling and Raimei. What a couple of complicated females...]

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... Shall we say this.

[Taking a deep breath, Mei Ling looks as if she were steeling herself for some act that she couldn't bear to do.]

Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.

[There's a small hint of a smile creeping back into her face. She could bring herself to look back at the camera again.]

Charlie Brown. From The Peanuts comics. I used to love those as a kid.

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[Marth simply stops.

Well, his mental processes stop. Now, he's not that familiar with foods and analogies that may be used in modern time, but he does have the slightest idea as to what peanut butter is, thanks to everyone and their informative selves.

But all the same, he can't stop staring at Mei Ling. She really was saying something of the sort to him. He'd thought perhaps he'd misinterpreted.]

Unrequited love?

[He finally manages to squeak it out. Except not really squeak. It's like pulling teeth, though.]

I have never heard of Charlie Brown, Mei Ling. Still... Unrequited love... Two very powerful words, really. A common fear that many have. Fear of rejection.

[Even he has it.]

How presumptuous of me. Kindness is sometimes never more than kindness. It would be inappropriate for me to assume it to be anything else.

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Rejection is powerful. Very powerful.

[Well, there she was. Frozen. Rejection never crossed her mind until now. She didn't want it to cross her mind. Hence the reason she never really... did anything assertive to Otacon.

She murmurs something along the lines of "I like peanut butter" and talks about little things under her breath about peanuts and bread and peanut butter and jelly as if to take her mind off it. Sure she sounded like she was going a bit mad.]

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Except I was not...

[What exactly does he say? This is such a frustrating situation to be in. How many times has Midna felt this way when Marth's...

Oh, right. Marth has never really been upfront to her about how he feels. His brazen talks have been very few and far between.

But everyone handles things differently.]

It is normally about this time that Sheeda smacks me in the back of the head to say something useful.

[It's actually the first time he's genuinely missed her. Imagine that.]

I... When you are ready to talk to me, Mei Ling, I will be all ears for you. But I really do not wish you to feel you must until you are absolutely ready. I am very sorry for any inconvenience I have caused you.

[And he feels horrible. All over. So excuse him while he goes and runs off to do something nerdy.]