Disclaimer: I do not and never will own the characters of The Legend of Zelda. Nor will I ever own Nintendo. Damn it.

THE DAYS IN FEBRUARY
by Cappucinno

o1. Chocolate

The day that she met him was nothing special.

There was nothing extraordinary about it. It was just Monday, a typical Monday, February 1st, no different from any other February 1st. The day had been dreadfully normal for Zelda Harkinian. She had just gotten a new job the week before so most everything had settled into a nice, normal, dull routine. Wake up, walk to the office, make some copies, staple some papers, take a few calls, make a few coffee runs, walk home.

There were no life-changing thoughts on her mind when she decided to make a left instead of a right at the crosswalk on her walk home. She hardly glanced up at the cheery little sign that read 'Beyond Bizarre Bakery' and she could only vaguely recall stepping into the strange place that claimed to sell 'the best' cinnamon rolls.

In fact, she was hardly paying attention when she stepped up to the counter, absentmindedly reaching for her wallet as she ordered a supposed 'best' cinnamon roll. Nothing special, just a normal cinnamon roll, no frosting. So busy not paying attention was she that she actually jumped when she heard someone laughing in the back room.

Her azure blue eyes fastened upon the door in the far back corner of the service area and only then did she realize that no one was there to take her order. She felt a familiar swell of impatience as she heard that laugh again. What right did the employees have to be enjoying themselves when they had an unserviced customer?

Zelda waited, stiletto clad foot tapping impatiently against the wooden floors.

For a second it sounded like there were footsteps behind the door, and then nothing. And then more laughter. Exasperated, the young woman threw her hands up in the air, more than annoyed.

"Hello?" She called, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice. "Do you want my money or not?"

"Hey, is that a customer?"

"Uh, dude, she sounds pissed." An indistinct voice, likely a surfer from SoCal if that lazy drawl was anything to attest to.

"Shit, who's supposed to be working right now?" Another indistinct voice, but this one had an unusually boyish intonation despite the lower tones and velvet-smooth delivery. Young adult, maybe a college student?

"Dude, I dunno… check the charts." There was the sound of rustling paper, and then a stream of curses. Zelda was standing by her initial analysis of college student. After all, what self-respecting adult would cuss like a sailor?

"What, dude?"

"Fuck, man. I'm supposed to be working." There was a chorus of laughter—were there more than two people back there?

"Well, get your ass out there Link."

Jeers and a round of similar commentary.

"Not cool, who switched my shifts?" Defensive.

Honestly, Zelda didn't really care who was on shift, but the original snack break she'd come in for was fast turning into a negative mark on her otherwise normal day; which immediately made it a bad day.

There was more indistinct chattering from the back room and finally someone stumbled out the door. More like fell out actually.

"Wha—? Hey man, not cool! Not cool, ffff—" Link turned and Zelda offered up an impatient smile that couldn't remotely pass for polite. "Hey there little lady, how can I help you today?"

"Excuse me?" If looks could kill, Link would probably be checking into the gates of limbo. "You have the nerve to make me wait for," She paused, glancing at her watch. "Two minutes and three seconds, and then you insult me? Who do you think you are?"

"What's that, miss? A chocolate chip cookie?" His grin was wide and Zelda was suddenly struck with the urge to slap it right off his face. The voice that she'd pegged for a college student was that of a young man approximately her age, maybe a little older. "Coming right up."

"Look dipshit—" She seethed.

"Ooh, looks like somebody's got a little temper problem." He waggled his finger at her disapprovingly, be-damned gorgeous blue eyes sparkling with mirth. "That'll be fifty cents."

He was already fishing the money out of the tip jar, a grin painted on his face as he shoved the pre-packaged treat into her purse, happily producing a receipt and tucking it into her clenched fist.

His hand was warm on her back, not that she was paying attention, as he guided her towards the door. Before Zelda could turn back to give the man a piece of her mind, the door was all but slammed on her face.

"Thank you, come again!"

Zelda managed to hear through the layer of glass that separated her from the cashier, her mouth hanging open in shock at the shut door. It took her a second to regain her composure and only then did she realize that the rude cashier's face was pressed up against the glass, his hand waving her cheerily off.

Beyond Bizarre indeed. As Zelda Harkinian stalked off down the sidewalk with murderous intentions, she had no idea that her life had just been forever changed.

o2. Coffee mug

"You came back?"

Zelda's expression was smug as she leaned casually against the counter, a self-satisfied smirk on her face as she watched the blood drain from the cashier's face. The coffee mug that he was supposed to be ringing up sat innocently between them, untouched. She noted with no small pleasure, that he was slack jawed.

"What, 'come again' wasn't an invitation?" She quirked a brow at him as she watched his mouth and then shut again. Oh yes, she was smug.

"I-you… but…" Link trailed off uncertainly, scratching at the back of his head, looking anywhere but at the vindictive young woman standing directly across from him.

"Can I speak to the manager?"

Zelda's smile was sugary sweet and she relished in the way that Link's shoulders seemed to sag. There was a pause and then the blonde sighed theatrically.

Zelda beamed.

"Is there a problem, miss?" The blonde haired woman sent another wicked glance at the cashier who was innocently twiddling his thumbs, a wide smirk curving at her lips.

"Yes, in fact, there is." Zelda said coolly, folding her arms as she turned to face the reed-thin manager. "I believe that this employee needs to be replaced."

"I see." The man nodded once but said nothing else, expression unreadable.

"…So, are you going to do anything about it?" Zelda was a bit ashamed to say that she felt like a five year old going to tell the teacher something a fellow student had done. Even now she could hear their high-pitched voices in her mind.

"Tattle tale, tattle tale, tattle tale…"

"Well, miss. I'd love to but," The serious looking man's expression didn't change and he pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. That in itself was a bad sign. Her heart sank. "I'm afraid I'm in no position to fire the owner. You see, there's a minor technicality in that I'd be out of a job if that happened..."

"What?" Zelda turned, horror-stricken, to face the cashier. The blonde looked abruptly up from his thumb-twiddling to fix her with a grin so wide that she forgot how to breathe for a second. Zelda could only watch with an impending sense of doom as he lifted a hand and waved pleasantly at her, looking rather wolfish as he did so.

"Link Forester, at your service. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Miss Harkinian."

She didn't even comprehend his hand closing firmly around hers in a shake that sealed her fate, or the feeling of paper being tucked into her palm. She didn't even realize that he already seemed to know her name though she'd never introduced herself.

All she could process was that damned grin of his and his lips forming a single silent syllable as she stared at him in a mixture of disbelief and disdain.

'Gotcha.'

At least for all of her troubles Link suddenly decided that the coffee mug was free. She hadn't been paying attention to it, but as she walked home she turned the porcelain mug over in her hands absently running a finger over the design.

She traced over two sloppily drawn stick figures, presumably a girl and a boy, though it was quite impossible to tell, and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Over their heads was a single heart, airbrushed a baby pink.

'I love you, baby.' Was scrawled underneath.

She'd nearly forgotten that Valentine's Day was in February. Leave it to a no-good, trouble-making, idiot of a restaurant owner to remind her of that.

What kind of name was Beyond Bizarre Bakery anyways?

A/N: This is just a fluffy little side-project of mine that I've been working on for a while now. It will feature approximately fourteen to fifteen short chapters, each containing two-three days, eventually ending at twenty-nine days. I'm currently working on day eleven, so you can expect almost weeky updates. Suprise, surprise, I'm actually ahead on this one! As always, reviews are much loved and very appreciated. Enjoy.

-Cappucinno