Don't worry! I'm not dead!

Okay, this is a story I wrote about a year ago...I found it in my old notebook and went "oh my goodness! I need to put this online!" It is really weird, but I like it.

Please tell me how it could be better. AND PLEASE REVIEW. YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW HAPPY REVIEWS MAKE ME.

Skyloft has always been that remote, sedate little town that everyone knew about and no one visited. Although there were other sky islands in the area, they were far enough away not to bother us, and we never bothered to bother them. There were never any visitors or newcomers, never any disturbances in our utopia. Somebody died? It would blow over quickly, nobody talking about it but each one thinking of it.. The world was so perfect that it was boring, until, one day, something disturbed my solitude.

It was the day of the new moon, about halfway through the school year at the Knight Academy, that he arrived. Hylia knows that it changed both our lives, and I think it also changed the lives of many other residents.

It changed them big time.

It think he actually arrived the night before I met him, at around midnight. Time zones change faster in the sky than they ever have on the surface. He left his own island at noon, and even my father, the headmaster, who had escorted him, had not expected them to arrive on Skyloft so deep into the night. He got the new arrival settled down – he had his own room in my father's academy, like me – and I heard nothing of the event until the next day.

The first time I ever saw the boy, I was sitting under a tree with my friend Karane. We were braiding each other's hair into elaborate swirls and buns, as young girls are apt to do, and giggling over the antics of some boys in our age group. We were only twelve then. I was in the middle of a sentence when we heard a twig snap and I whipped around (Karane was already facing that direction) to see a boy of about our age, maybe thirteen, standing there.

He hadn't noticed us; he was just standing there, on the edge of the island, staring up at the sky. He looked so stricken by grief that for a moment I thought he was going to jump, and I clambered to my feet and called out to him. He stiffened and turned, scanning me with blue eyes that were too big to possibly be his own. I eyed him as warily as he did me, unsure of my next move. On Skyloft, everybody knew everybody. So who the heck was this?

The more I stared at him, the more ensured I became that maybe he had been thinking about jumping. He was the embodiment of insecurity; his disheveled blonde hair fell over his too-big eyes, but I could still see them, deep sky blue pools, brimming with emotion. I just couldn't tell which emotions were there.

The awkward silence stretched until it was unbearably tense, and Karane wasn't helping by choosing that moment, of all possible moments, to shut her run-on mouth. She was staring at my back, waiting for me to do something. Everyone was waiting for someone else to save them from the silence, and so nobody did.

Eventually I decided to be the hero. Clearing my throat nervously, I extended a hand and tried my best to form a weak smile. "Hi, I'm Zelda. Zelda Harkinian." I waited for thirty seconds, and then tried a different approach. "Um...what's yours?"

He looked more directly at me and I looked at my feet. Why was he so cute? It was making this harder than it already would have been. He stared at me for a while longer, and I was surprised when his soft, sad expression hardened into one of miserable rage. I didn't know what I'd done – why was he upset with me? Should I keep trying or leave him alone? If I did that he might actually hurt himself.

I lowered my hand. "What?"

The boy glared at me a moment longer and then whipped around, sprinting toward the Knight Academy. Had I said something? I glanced at Karane, who shrugged and shook her head, mop of fiery, half-braided hair bouncing around as she did so. You tried, she mouthed.

I didn't see that boy again until the next day. I hadn't dared ask father about him for fear of being chastised, and I didn't know if anyone else had any idea who he could be. I was stumped, and to make matters worse, I had seemingly upset him. I didn't think I had done anything, but...

When I did see the boy next, I was strolling alongside the Bazaar, looking up at the sky. Today it was clouded over, unlike the harsh blue of the previous day. Like his eyes. I was still going over every stray hair, every freckle of that boy's face. I was positively obsessed, and I had freaked him out somehow and blown my only chance ever at marrying a guy other than Groose.

Darn.

It was bizarre, but just as Groose's name entered my mind, I heard his voice. Loud. Like, "I'm picking on Fledge because he's shorter and thinner and weaker than me and I'm self-conscious" loud.

"Oh, lookie, boys. Let's see who we have here – oh, it's our little friend," he addressed his clique, Cawlin and Stritch, his voice thick with false surprise. Wondering who they were picking on, I peered around the corner. Groose was standing in the spacious square, the central hub for our town, surrounded by his two friends. They were towering over the new kid, the very one I'd had on my mind for so long. I could barely hear Groose, but what I heard was enough to tell me that the boy was in for trouble. I crept closer.

"So you're the one Karane told us about," Groose sneered. His sheer size forced the smaller, blonde boy to stumble back a few paces. Karane! Really? "Kissing up to Zelda, are we? Well, stay away from her, shrimp, 'cuz she's mine, got that?" Instantly, he dropped the babying act. "Or was that too much for your teeny little brain to register? Hm?" Cawlin and Stritch snickered at this remark, which made me cringe inwardly for two reasons. 1) I felt awful for the poor kid they were picking on, and 2) Stritch laughed like "der-her-her," which is enough to drive anyone mad.

By this point I had sneaked behind the park bench (super stealthy in my pink dress), and I could see the conflict on the new boy's face. He looked to be somewhere between terror and anger, a mixed expression like that of the previous day. In a moment of decisive rage, he lunged at Groose, who stepped back in surprise. Lucky for him, Stritch's foot found its way in front of the smaller blonde's. The boy tripped, and Groose, having recovered, grabbed him back up by the collar of his green shirt.

The boy aimed a few rage-filled punches at the bully, driven by his fear and...something else? but Groose held him at an arm's length so that he was just out of reach. Eventually he stopped, and hung quietly in midair. I couldn't see his face anymore, but I felt mine go red with irritation as the bullies started to laugh anew.

Then Groose punched the boy, pretty hard, judging by the way he flew back into Stritch, who caught him against his chest for Groose to come at again. That was it. This was beyond what Groose usually did.

"Stop!" I yelled, standing up abruptly, revealing my hiding place behind the bush. I strode over to the foursome, pausing at the new boy, whom Stritch had dumped upon the ground when I materialized. I bent over to his eye level.

"Are you okay?" I asked. The boy looked pointedly in the other direction.

"Ooh, de-niiied!" Stritch der-herred at his own comment.

"Oh, uh, hi, Zelda!" Groose said, and I could practically see him trying to think up an excuse. "Shut up!" He hissed at Stritch, who was still laughing idiotically, and turned his attention back to me. "I was just making friends with the new kid – see? He's part of the gang already!"

"Poor thing," I said dryly.

"No, honest, Zellie! He was just walking along and we kindly invited him to join!"

"Yeah, and I'll bet he'd agree to that, too, huh? Let me just ask." Defeat entered Groose's eyes as he realized he had a witness.

"What happened with you?" I offered my hand to the boy again, and he stood up and faced the other way.

"Looks like the little retard is ignoring you, Zellie!"

"Don't call me Zellie," I ordered him, and straightened up. "Please," I asked the boy, "just say something to me! I didn't mean to offend you yesterday!" Silence.

"He's dumb, Zel, I'm telling you!"

I whipped around and gave Groose the Death Eye, and then turned back to the boy. "What did I ever do to you?" I asked, my voice rising. "What did I do? I'm beginning to think you are just ignoring me, and I don't know why! Just because you're bitter about something doesn't mean you have to be a jerk." Silence. "What are you, mute? Answer me!" I demanded, unused to this sort of treatment. As the headmaster's daughter, I was respected, and that was a general rule. Looking back on it, I have realized that I was a spoiled brat before he arrived in Skyloft. See? He changed us all.

"Answer me!" The boy turned his face toward me, the same expression of frustration and grief scrawled across it, and then ran again. It was then that I realized my fists were clenched, and released them. I let my whole body relax. I heard Groose and his clique murmuring nervously, and I stood for a moment, wondering what I should do.

I should go after him and apologize.

I started out after him, but felt a sturdy hand on my shoulder and looked up.

"Let 'im go, Zelda," Groose said. "He isn't worth it."

"Yes he is!" I tugged my arm away at the last word, and ran after the boy. Where had he been headed? He was fast, and in the time it had taken me to decide to pursue him, I had lost him. "Dang it! Why am I so mean?" I asked myself, stopping and resting, hands on my knees. I was near the lake now, and stared at the water. In the sand...was that...?

I straightened up and walked closer to the lapping waves, relieved to see a trail of footprints leading into the water. He had crossed here – it had to have been him, or the water would have washed the footprints away. I hurried to the stepping stones and leaped over them, taking note of the same size footprints in the mud on that side. The only place he could have been going was-

I entered the cave (despite the fact that it was fenced off and marked with a sign reading "Warning: Waterfall cave. Bloodsucking monsters ahead. No children allowed"), and followed its winding path out onto the cliff. There he was.

I stepped out into the open air. The wind was buffeting the cliff, and I feared that I would be blown off. As I drew closer to the boy I could see a tear glistening on his cheek as he sat facing the sunset. His arms were around his knees. He was perched on the very edge of the cliff.

I sat down next to him, and he froze, noticing my presence. I froze too, suddenly nervous. He looked at me in apprehension. He still had that expression on his face, and I was beginning to think that it was permanent.

"It's okay," I assured him. "I'm sorry if I offended you earlier. I'm a jerk. I'm sorry," I apologized again.

He nodded, patting the grass next to him, inviting me closer, and turned back toward the crimson sky. The red was tinged with a lilac color, the color of my Loftwing's feathers. I pointed at the pink purple-color between the two. "That color is my favorite," I informed the boy. "How about you?" It was too obvious that I was trying to get him to speak to me, but I looked eagerly at him anyway.

He remained gazing forward until, after what seemed like hours, he pointed straight ahead at the darkest crimson. He looked at me and mouthed something. I gasped. Senseless words can dig deeper than you realize, Zelda Harkinian.

"You...you can't talk. Can you?" I asked quietly. The boy shook his head sadly, looking at the ground fifty yards below as if he was seriously considering it. If he tries anything, I will stop him, I promised myself.

"So...um...what's your name?" I was still determined to somehow communicate with him. He must have had a terrible social barrier for so long.

He shook his head.

"What?" I asked.

He sighed. The expression in his eyes was strained, as if he was trying to think of a way to communicate, as well. Then he took my hand, seeming enlightened.

Goddesses. What was he doing now? He placed his index finger in my palm. He stroked my hand, and I was still dumbfounded. But he was determined, and his gaze remained locked to my hand. Then I realized that he wasn't just stroking my palm; the movements were repetitive. He was drawing something...no, writing something. M. It was the letter M, and he was trying to talk to me. M. I looked up and nodded, feeling like a major idiot for not understanding. What a smart idea! He began to write in my palm, one letter at a time. He wrote fluently, as if he had done this before.

My favorite color is green, but I also like red. And blue.

I laughed. "Cool! Say something else!"

Hello, Zelda. Did I spell that right? My name is Link. You have a strange boyfriend. He paused before "strange," as if he had another word in mind for Groose.

I blushed. "He's not my boyfriend!" My tone was defensive, and I laughed at myself.

Good, you deserve better. He smiled. How much of that did you see?

"Only...all of it. I'm sorry about Groose. He's really a good guy, once you see past his tough exterior. He just has an inferiority complex. So, technically, you should be flattered."

Many people find that hard to do. To see beyond the exterior. Like with Groose, or with me. Because I am mute most people think I am stupid. But I am not. People rarely try to look past their first impressions.

"Well," I said, "I can see how smart you are. I'm like that, too. I look sweet and innocent, but I can be downright mean."

You are not mean. You are sweet, innocent, and kind. Do I bother you?

"No!" I cried. "Why would you think that?"

See? You are nice. You lied, yes? So you wouldn't hurt my feelings? You at least think this is a little weird. He gave me a "you can't fool me" look.

I smiled. "You're very nice, too."

You are avoiding my question. Yes or no?

"Fine, a little. But everyone is a little weird. If you're weird, that makes me weird. And Groose is weird – have you seen his hair? And my best friend, Karane, is convinced that she's part boy. Maybe she it. It was all I could do to get her to braid my hair yesterday, and it was even harder to get her to let me do hers. And Pipit's nose is always so high in he air he can't see where he's going, and Stritch laughs weird, and Fledge-"

I get it. We are all weird. Link wrote, and we both laughed.

"So, how did you get here?" I changed the subject nonchalantly. "Where are your parents, are they coming soon? You must miss them." I felt Link's hands stiffen. Finally, he wrote,

My parents are dead, Zelda.

"Oh."

I lived alone for a long time. They say for a teen to be "mentally stable" he or she has to have at least five major adult influences in his or her life. I had zero. He held up a hand, his thumb and pointer finger in an "o" shape while he mouthed "Zero." I went to live with my uncle a few months ago. He was nice. But there was a plague and he died, three days ago. That's why I'm here.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be callous." I noticed that Link was holding his breath. "What?"

Honestly? I was waiting for you to say that they are in a better place now.

"Oh, no, never. That's so annoying after a while," I groaned. He looked at me in confusion. "My mom died when I was seven," I explained.

Oh, sorry.

"She's in a better place now," I said, and we laughed again. "And I have my dad. He's...fun."

He brought me here. And didn't shut up the entire ride. Like people who can't talk need to hear other people talk nonstop or something.

"Don't worry, he's like that around everyone." I giggled. "Do you like it here so far?"

It is pretty, Link wrote.

"But do you like it?"

I like the weather. I like you and I sort of like your dad. I like the water here, it's very...clear...and I met Mia. She is nice. It is pretty, He repeated himself, running out of excuses.

"Yes, Skyloft is really pretty. Do you like it?"

Is everyone always this unfriendly?

"No, not at all!" I laughed. "They are usually really nice, except Groose. Groose is trouble. But you have to stand up to him!"

Um... I laughed that he took the time to write his um's. He was incredibly verbose, for one with such a roundabout way to communicate. I would. But he won't let me talk to him. He thinks I'm weird.

"No. He's jealous. Because he can tell I like you." Link looked at me, and I clapped my hands over my mouth. "I didn't say that out loud, did I?" He just laughed.

I like you too, Zelda. You are my friend. He paused. But for now, just my friend.

"Agreed," I smiled. We both looked out toward the sunset, where the harmonious violet and crimson were just fading into a gray twilight. I pulled up my free hand and placed it in his.

You are my friend too, Link.

And that is the story of how my life was changed. But truly, it is only the beginning of the story. We were very young then, and more has happened to us now then either of us ever imagined. Today I stand with him on the same cliff, but we are in a whole new world, inside and out. We have discovered ourselves in a new location, and we are ready to begin a new chapter of our lives there.

It's one I'll want to reread over and over.

And maybe others will read our book too – if they don't judge it by its cover.

END

Review pleaseee!