Hey Guys! So this was an idea inspired by the drawing that is actually the cover of this wonderful story (if I do say so myself). It was drawn by Finny Chang (finnichang) so follow her tumblr! She's so cool!
I intend to finish this by December 24th, so I'll really try hard to keep up with updates. This story is based off of one of my all-time favorite animes: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. More specifically, it parallels with the Endless Eight and Disappearance arcs. The idea is the same - just different characters and a little twist of my own. Modern AU, don't hate unless the writing sucks or something is unclear. I LOVE FEEDBACK, SO GIVE ME DA LOVE! (OR HATE, WHICHEVER)
I wanted to try and sort of follow the Skyward Sword characters without going too crazy. You'll see familiar names, like Link, Zelda, Impa, the Goddesses, Possibly Ganon/Ghirahim/Aghanim/Something-im (I haven't decided all of the baddies yet. HEHEHEHE) but then you'll maybe have a random Ravio or Karane or Pipit or an OC maybe.
~Disclaimer: I literally own nothing - the basis of the plot (Haruhi Suzumiya - inspired), the cover art (Finni Chang), the title (Twelve Days of Christmas), and the characters and story line (Legend of Zelda) - NOTHING EXCEPT THE ACTUAL WRITING.~
Well, I hope you enjoy! Rate, Review, Follow, Favorite!
~Blaze
Chapter One - Glitches
Week 1, December 24th
11:02 PM
University Main Hall
Zelda settled the thick pair of glasses on her nose as she turned another heavy page of the book in her hands, ignoring the the alluring smell of alcohol and cheap cologne that filled her nose and shocked every sense in her body. Instead, she leaned over the bar's counter with no interest in anything except Emma and her stupid love story. Nope, nothing, not even her boyfriend who dumped her on Christmas eve.
Ex. Ex-boyfriend. Goddesses, she had to get used to that.
With a sigh of frustration, Zelda pounded her fist against the table, sending the wine glasses scattered across the table into a frenzy of spilling and tumbling. She ignored the glares and the insults thrown at her, shoving her face into the novel and pretending she didn't exist.
After a few minutes, when she looked up from her book again, she finally remembered why she was even here - the Christmas lights floating along the walls; the wonderful voices of the acapella group ringing blurrily in the haze of her brain; the smell of warm Yankee Candles. Zelda allowed herself to enjoy the lulling music, ignoring the insane amount of pain in her chest that came with the realization that she didn't have anyone to dance with. It occurred to her that someone had dragged her here to help her forget about her troubles. If they had assumed that she was going to drink at some cheap effort of a university Christmas party, though, then they were obviously wrong. She had to go find them later and punch them in the face. If it was Karane, then Zelda would be sure that the poor redhead wouldn't be able to find her roomkey for the next week.
With a sigh of discontentment, she went to finish the remaining few chapters -
- when she noticed the guy sitting next to her.
His dirty blonde hair fell into a mop over his head, his blueblueblue eyes bright from the glowing warmth of the disco lights. He kept staring at her, his eyes lit with something - something strange, something that made her feel uncomfortable. Their staring contest lasted for much longer than it should've, with Zelda pulling away after what seemed like an hour. She could still feel his eyes boring holes in the side of her head, and she suddenly found her hand trembling as she tried to concentrate on the book in front of her.
Zelda sighed at her failed attempt at reading, throwing a couple glances at him. His eyes hadn't left her, and she assumed that he was about to say something. Then he opened his mouth.
"Are you alright?"
She reluctantly met his stare once more. He seemed to realize her discomfort, so he averted his gaze back to his glass.
"Sorry. It's just that you look… well, you look like someone ran over your cat or something."
Zelda blanched, her hand shooting up to her cheek. She blinked in surprise when she found them to be moist. She didn't even realize she'd been crying before. Goddess, was she that pathetic?
Sniffling, she scrubbed her eyes with a frightening amount of vigor, not really caring that her mascara smeared over her sleeve. It was too dark to see her face clearly anyway. "Oh… um, well..." Zelda shifted slightly, taking a couple breaths. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it, especially with a stranger, but right now that didn't really matter.
"I, uh, I got dumped a couple hours ago, in a way," she finished lamely. "My boyfriend sort of kissed his ex. She yelled at him, he tried to - well, he got aggressive, and I jumped in and made hell happen." She sucked in a breath. "In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have given him a black eye, but I - I was angry."
The guy shrugged in recognition, though he did seem mildly concerned by the whole hitting part. "My girlfriend got tired of me, but she wasn't sure how to break it off. I pulled out last week before she threw me under the bus on Christmas."
"A shame," Zelda said jokingly, giving him a weak smile. "We could've been ditched together."
He chuckled as he brought the glass to his lips. "I guess the support would have been helpful."
Zelda shrugged, then went back to her book, feeling slightly better.
The rest of the party was a blur, and when she woke up, she couldn't remember anything.
After all, it was December 17th the next morning. How could she remember a night that never happened?
Week 2, December 24th
11:07 PM
University Main Hall
- not even her boyfriend who dumped her on Christmas eve.
Ex. Ex-boyfriend. Goddesses, she had to get used to that.
With a growl of frustration, Zelda pounded her fist against the table, sending the wine glasses scattered across the table into a frenzy of spilling and tumbling. She ignored the glares and the insults thrown at her, shoving her face into the novel and pretending she didn't exist.
After a few minutes, when she looked up from her book again, she finally remembered why she was even here - the Christmas lights floating along the walls; the wonderful voices of the acapella group ringing blurrily in the haze of her brain; the smell of warm Yankee Candles. Zelda allowed herself to enjoy the lulling music, ignoring the insane amount of pain in her chest that came with the realization that she didn't have anyone to dance with. It occurred to her that someone had dragged her here to help her forget about her troubles. If they had assumed that she was going to drink at some cheap effort of a university Christmas party, though, then they were obviously wrong. She had to go find them later and punch them in the face. If it was Karane, then Zelda would be sure that the poor redhead wouldn't be able to find her roomkey for the next week.
With a sigh of discontentment, she went to finish the remaining few chapters -
- when she noticed the guy sitting next to her.
(She felt a pang in her chest then - something was different. Something had changed. But how could have something changed if she'd never seen it before?)
His dirty blonde hair fell into a mop over his head, his green polo wrinkled and unbuttoned in a mess. She watched as he thanked the bartender for a glass of grape juice, his hazy blue eyes meeting hers when the glass reached his lips. Zelda winced just by seeing his dishevelled figure, the growing concern inside her stomach turning the holiday-themed cookies she had pigged out on an hour ago into a twisted knot.
Zelda hesitantly turned away, throwing a couple worried glances at him. His eyes hadn't left her, and she assumed that he expected her to say something. She opened her mouth.
"Are you alright?"
He blinked back at her, slightly surprised, his glass in midair as he went for a sip.
(Somewhere in the back of her mind, Zelda was sure she had seen those deep blue eyes before.)
"I'm sorry. I just... I thought you looked upset," she said, averting her gaze. "You look like someone ran over your cat or something." Somehow, Zelda was sure those words weren't her own, but she let the thought slide.
The boy stared at her for a long, frightening moment before sighing, dropping his cup to the table. For some reason Zelda thought she noticed a flicker of recognition in his eyes when he looked at her.
"I, um..." He hesitated, rolling his wrist slightly as he tore his eyes away from her. "I've been having a terrible week. Something... Something really strange happened. That's all."
"Oh." Zelda knew he was being cryptic for a reason, but she allowed it to pass. He seemed like he wanted to change the subject, too, because he suddenly said, "You look like hell yourself."
And so she told him what had happened between her and her goddamn bastard of a boyfriend, and the entire time, she felt as though he knew the story even before she had even started speaking. And for a moment she was sure that he had seen him somewhere, and she was about to ask him if she had seen him before -
But then the moment passed - or maybe she allowed it to.
And when she woke up, it was December 17th, and she had forgotten.
Week 3, December 24th
11:23 PM
Cloud University Main Hall
- when she noticed the guy sitting next to her.
His dirty blonde hair fell into a mop over his head, his green polo slightly crumpled and loose. She watched as he thanked the bartender for a glass of grape juice, his blue eyes meeting hers when the glass reached his lips. Zelda blinked by seeing his dishevelled figure, the growing concern inside her stomach turning the holiday-themed cookies she had pigged out on an hour ago into a twisted knot.
(Somehow, Zelda was sure he looked a lot better than the last time she's seen him, but then she caught herself - when had she ever seen this guy before?)
Zelda hesitantly turned away, throwing a couple worried glances at him. His eyes had drifted away from her, instead staring straight at the glass. She opened her mouth hesitantly.
"Are you alright?"
He blinked back at her, slightly surprised, his glass in midair as he went for a sip.
(Somewhere in the back of her mind, Zelda was sure she had seen those deep blue eyes before.)
"I'm sorry. I just... I thought you looked upset," she said, averting her gaze. "You look like someone ran over your cat or something."
He rolled his eyes slightly, making Zelda feel strange - she was actually expecting him to stare at her again.
"I..." He hesitated, rolling his wrist slightly as he tore his eyes away from her. "I've been having a bad week. Nothing too out-of-the-ordinary."
"Oh." Zelda knew he was being cryptic for a reason, but she -
(There was that flicker again. That pang when she felt something was off. Vaguely, she wondered when the last time she felt like this, but it slipped away from her before she could grab it.)
- Zelda knew he was being cryptic, so she pressed further.
"What do you mean, a bad week?" She found herself asking. "Is everything okay?"
That's when the boy started staring at her again, his eyebrows raised in surprise. She felt triumphant at that point, glad to get a familiar reaction. He kept doing that before taking a large gulp of his grape juice.
"If I told you, then you wouldn't believe me."
Zelda narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think I could make that assumption on my own."
He tilted his head as if considering, then looked at her with a slight breath. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt."
And then he leaned in and kissed her, hard.
Zelda squeaked when his lips touched hers, his entire smell, clouding her senses and filling her head. His tongue tasted like grape juice, his scent intoxicating her with grass and pine and something else -
She shoved him off of the barstool with full force, her eyes only seeing red as she heard the predictable crash of the guy falling to the ground. She heard herself shout a bunch of words she wasn't ready to repeat in her head, then stormed out, cheeks burning, eyes stinging.
When she woke up on December 17th, she found her hand reach her lips.
Why? She had no idea.
Week 4, December 24th
11:37 PM
Cloud University Main Hall
- his blueblueblue eyes bright from the glowing warmth of the disco lights. He kept staring at her, his eyes lit with something - something like I-just-did-something-bad-and-if-you-find-out-you'll-probably-punch-me-to-the-moon type of guilt that made her feel uncomfortable. Their staring contest lasted for much longer than it should've, with Zelda pulling away after what seemed like a week. She could still feel his eyes boring holes in the side of her head, and she suddenly found her hands trembling as she tried to concentrate on the book in front of her.
(For some reason, she was really, really tempted to punch him in the gut. Also, she was somewhat sure she had read this page of the book in front of her at least a billion times even though she checked it out only yesterday.)
"What do you want?" Zelda asked, cringing when her voice came out as irritated.
The guy's expression changed from one of guilt to one of radiating hope, nearly scaring the hell out of her.
"So you do remember!" He yelled, smiling brightly, and Zelda felt her face go hot, her body slightly leaning away.
"R-remember what? I've never seen you in my life, dude. What the hell?"
(For some reason, Zelda was sure she'd just lied, but she shrugged it off - of course she'd never seen him before!
...right?)
His excitement suddenly died, his shoulders sagging and his lips turning down in a frown. "Damn," he muttered, turning away. "I'm sorry. You... I guess I thought you were someone else."
An awkward silence passed. Zelda snuck a glance - his frown hadn't disappeared. Feeling bad, she closed her book, hoping she wouldn't regret this.
"What's your name, anyway?" She asked.
"Link. Link Forester." He turned to her, raising his glass. He looked sort of surprised. "And you are...?"
"Zelda Harkinian," she replied. "Nice to meet you."
"Like the royal family from the middle of the second millennia," he said thoughtfully. "Interesting."
"How did you know?' She asked, slightly taken aback. "Not many people know about my heritage."
"Believe it or not, I also have some royal blood from that era as well," he replied, smiling. "My father was an archeologist. He dug up a couple temples from around that time. It was really cool. I remember when he took me there." Link's eyes gleamed with memories. "Turns out when he translated some of the runes we found our blood line was consistent with some of the names in our family." He raised his glass to her. "You must be pure Harkinian, then."
Zelda was awed. "That's really cool," she mumbled quietly. "Is your father still investigating...?"
She trailed off when she suddenly saw the light go out in his eyes. She knew that look anywhere - after all, she had worn it once herself.
Link shrugged. "He... Uh, he was killed in a cave-in when they were investigating one of the tunnels underground. Some people miraculously survived, but unfortunately he wasn't one of them. I was ten."
"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have asked." She sucked in a breath. "My mother was murdered when I was eight. I couldn't feel anything for months."
"Weird," Link said, acknowledging her with a nod of sympathy. "We both lost our parents when we were kids. We both got dumped on the same week. Strange, huh?"
"Yeah, you're right. Wait," said Zelda, blinking, "how did you know I got dumped?"
Link choked on his drink, looking at her with wide eyes as if he'd slipped something he shouldn't have. Then he composed himself, patting his chest with his hand.
"Huh. I thought you told me. Or don't you remember?"
Before she could say anything, he got up and left, disappearing in the crowd of people.
On the morning of December 17th, Zelda woke up with a splitting headache, dreaming about a boy with bright blue eyes laughing at her as she stumbled across memories she never had.