This should have been posted... (*checks calender*) nine days ago... Oh well! It's here now! I hope you enjoy it!


"Hold still, will you?" Zelda scolded as she cleaned the gash on her friend's arm with a warm wash cloth.

Link sighed but did as he was told. "This isn't necessary. It's hardly a scratch."

"Says you. Honestly, Link, you need to be more careful. I can't believe you actually wanted to practice with real swords. Could you be more reckless?" Zelda chided.

It was late in the afternoon and the two were in the infirmary. Zelda had just stopped by the sparring hall to see if Link running drills with Pipit when she saw him get injured. After much protesting Link finally agreed to be patched up. However, he was constantly reminding Zelda that she was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"You always make such a big deal out of everything. So we used real swords; big deal. It's not like anyone got hurt."

"This," Zelda started, gesturing at the cut that ran the length of Link's forearm, "is getting hurt."

"I meant seriously hurt. Like I said before; this is nothing."

"Whatever, I'm through discussing this. You were reckless and that's that. Now keep your arm level. I'll be right back."

Link sighed again as he held his arm up and waited for Zelda to return.

Why does she always do this?

Zelda was usually tranquil and even-tempered. However, as soon as Link sustained any kind of injury, she would always be there to berate him endlessly and patch up even the tiniest of scrapes. He suspected it was because she cared for him- they were close friends after all. Nevertheless, it was a tedious and irritating routine.

After a few minutes wait Zelda, now carrying bandages and some kind of disinfectant, returned to find Link still dutifully holding his arm aloft.

"It's good to see that you listen to me sometimes," she joked as she applied the disinfectant to the cloth from earlier.

Link rolled his eyes. "What do you want me to do? Not train daily?"

"For the millionth time Link, I just want you to be careful. Now hush up. This will sting a little." And without further warning she began cleaning the wound once more. The disinfectant did indeed sting and elicited an occasional wince from knight in training.

"Oh please," Zelda drawled, doing nothing to alleviate the pain. "I'm sure a tough guy like you can handle a little pain. For God's sake, you cut your arm wide open. What's a sword wound compared to this?"

Link only chuckled in response and waited patiently for Zelda to finish tending to the wound.

"There," Zelda announced triumphantly once the last of the wound was wrapped in gauze. She took a step back and let Link stretch his arm this way and that. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," he replied still studying his arm, "it's great." Link then look up at Zelda smiled. "Thank you."

"Wow," Zelda exclaimed, feigning astonishment. "After all of that complaining I didn't think you would thank me."

"Very funny," Link scoffed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I do have to get back to the sparring hall." He gave his friend a quick nod goodbye and began heading towards the door.

Zelda hesitated before turning around and calling out.

"Wait, Link! Make sure you-"

"Be careful. I know," he finished from the doorway. And the door shut behind him.

Zelda stared at the door for a moment then slowly smiled. "Yeah right…" Zelda mumbled to herself as she collected the items around her.

I know you, Link. You'll wind up back here soon enough. Not because you don't listen to me but because it's just the way you are. And no matter how bad the injury is, you'll always tell me 'it's just a scratch'.