It started out as a prank.

Yes, a prank.

I should have stopped when I had the chance.

Before it got… awkward between us.

But don't worry. It got better.

Anyway, you wanted to know about it, right?

OK, here it goes. I'm not good at telling stories, so bear with me here.


He probably thought it was Groose, or one of his cronies.

But it wasn't.

It was me.

Yes, I admit it.

Blame the girl, why don't you?

Why did I do it again?

I dunno.

I just thought it would be funny.

And it was.

Really funny.

Well, funny until it got awkward.

Awkward is a weird word, isn't it?

…You're lost, aren't you?

Fine. I'll start over.


I don't remember how I had first learned to jimmy a lock.

Oh, that's right. I think he taught me.

Oops.

Him?

Have you been paying attention?

It was Link.

Yes, him. Don't give me that look.

Who did you think we were talking about anyway?

Never mind. Stop distracting me.

Did you want to hear the story, or not?

Good.

Anyway, for whatever reason, I decided to sneak into his room at night as he was sleeping.

…That… didn't sound right.

Like, at all.

Ignore that.

Back to the story:

I don't remember how I got the idea, I just did.

So I brought a marker with me…

And I drew a mustache on his face while he slept.

What? Were you expecting something else?

I'm not going to continue this story if you keep thinking like that.

We good here?

OK, continuing.

He was a heavy sleeper so he didn't notice.

It was easy.

Almost too easy.


So I kept the ruse up for a week, drawing mustaches on his face in the night. Every morning he would get up and as he walked down the halls of the Knight Academy, people would try not to laugh.

It's amazing how long it took him to notice the first time.

Of all people it was Henya, the cook, who pointed it out.

You should have seen her face.

Actually, you should have seen his face.

Anyway, he ran to wash it off, cheeks red as he sped down the halls.

Yes, even after seeing that I kept it up for a week, only a week though.

Why did I stop?

I definitely didn't stop.

It just got… awkward.

OK, I stopped after that.


So, seven days after I first started, I snuck into his room again.

He, lying on his back as always, slept.

It was a hot night, the window open and a thin sheet over him.

I uncapped the marker, leaning over his sleeping form and bringing the point to his face.

Then the unexpected happened.

I guess he was waiting because he grabbed me by the shoulders, eyes snapping open.

I was too shocked to yell as he tossed me to the bed, gripping my upper arms.

He held me to the sheets, looking down from above.

He wasn't wearing a shirt.

Damn it.

Why did he have to be shirtless?

That's right, it was a hot night.

He was hot too.

It was warm where he had been lying. The bed smelled like him as well.

Sorry. That's a bit creepy, isn't it? I'll stop.

Anyway, the moonlight drifted through his open window, illuminating our faces.

It was us. In silence.

It took him a few seconds to register that it was me he had pinned under him.

By then I was already as bright as a tomato.

No, not a tomato, his Crimson Loftwing.

Yes, my face was that red.

It was… awkward.

Did I ever mention that awkward is a weird word?

…I did? OK. Sorry. Moving on.

He released me, pulling back and sitting on the edge of the bed.

He had his elbows propped on his knees, hands holding his head as he looked to the ground.

I silently got up, slipping off the bed and creeping towards the door.

I opened it, leaving without looking back.

Only once I closed it behind me did I realize that I had dropped my marker somewhere in his chambers.

Going back for it would have been awkward.

I suppose I already made that point though, hadn't I?


Karane must have heard me return.

"Why do you keep going out at night?" She asked through the thin divider in our room.

I didn't reply.

"Zelda," she said seriously.

I sat down on my bed, hugging my knees to my chest.

I still didn't reply.

I heard the door to her room open.

Good. She left. Now she wouldn't—

Then the door to my room opened.

Karane stood in it.

I put my feet back on the floor, looking at her as she walked up to me.

She stood before me, matching white nightgown swaying in the small breeze blowing from my window.

Yes, we had matching nightgowns. That's beside the point.

She was staring at me.

Staring.

Have I ever mentioned how creepy her stare is in the moonlight?

Anyway, she grabbed me by my shoulders, pushing me back until I lay against the sheets as she held me down from above.

"Tell me what happened."

I didn't respond, my face flushing as I averted my gaze from hers.

Remembering.

She smiled.

"Oh. I see," she said, releasing me.

So she's a mind reader now?

Or was I just that bad at hiding it?

Either way…

Great.

She left me alone in the room.

I missed her company.

Almost.

Until I remembered her stare.


He avoided me for most of the next week.

Actually, I avoided him.

Scratch that. We avoided each other, neither of us making eye contact.

No one questioned who had drawn the mustaches on him, or why they had stopped.

Thank Hylia.

So it went on for almost a week, us, avoiding one another.

It felt so… awkward.


It was Karane's idea.

At least I think it was. I still haven't gathered the courage to ask her.

It's not like Link would have gotten around to it on his own without a little push.

Or maybe he would have.

Nope.

He wouldn't.

Not in a million years.

…Well, I guess he might've.

Anyway, I was lying in bed awake, facing the wall.

That's when I heard the door open.

Great, Karane. I thought.

But it wasn't.

I swore I could have locked the door.

I did lock the door.

Did Karane know how to jimmy a lock?

Through the thin divider I heard her turn over in bed as she slept.

So it wasn't Karane.

I knew it wasn't Karane.

Whoever it was came closer, stopping and standing over my bed.

I heard them kneel beside it.

My heart sped.

Karane, this was not a good joke.

Then I remembered it couldn't be Karane.

Karane was asleep.

The figure began to quietly speak.

"Zelda, I…"

It was Link's voice. He whispered in my ear.

I held my breath.

He didn't say anything else, probably thinking I was in dreamland.

At least I hoped he thought I was sleeping.

Then he kissed my cheek.

It was a simple kiss, really. In truth, just a peck.

I'm not even sure if you could call it a kiss.

Yes, I called it a kiss.

OK, it was a kiss.

Don't tell anyone though.

You won't tell anyone, right?

Especially not Karane.

…You're going to tell Karane, aren't you?

Anyway, he kissed me.

Then left. Setting my marker on my desk before he softly closed the door behind himself.

I lie in bed, wide-awake.

How could I go back to sleep after that?

All this time I'd been drawing mustaches on him as he slept.

I could have kissed him.

No.

That would have been awkward.

Awkward is a weird word, isn't it?

…Well, maybe it isn't all that weird.


A/N: You have no idea how many times I misspelled Karane as either "karaoke" or "kraken" as I was typing this. XD

Karane, the Karaoke singing Kraken!

OK, I'm done here.
Not really, actually.
I've always pictured Karane as "that one friend" of Zelda's who is there for her to lean on if needed, but also can be pushy if necessary.

Since when did I make this about Karane?

Actually, if you didn't know already, this is one of three perspectives of the same story. The other two, Weird, and Bizarre are from Link and Karane's views, respectively.