Welcome to Seven Years of Bad Luck, Version 3.0, now officially titled "Fireworks of a Different Kind".
I am rather officially canceling this fic. I'm flattered that you enjoy this bit, but, as it stands, I've never been able to figure out how I want the larger story to end. I came up with this story as a junior in high school, and, as a good deal of time has passed, I'm now a much different person. Everything that shaped how I write has changed since then. I have other projects now, including other Zelda-related projects, that I am focusing my very limited fic-writing attention-span. So, I'm really sorry if you liked this one, but sadly, I'm going to call it off. I've come up with a different title and decided call it a little one-shot instead. But thanks for giving this a read!
Disclaimer: I don't own anybody in this chapter, everybody belongs to Nintendo.
ENJOY!
Fireworks of a Different Kind
Barnes's fireworks burst through the early evening skies, drawing "Ooh!"s and "Ahh!"s from every street corner and back alley in Castle Town. Every soul in the city had flung themselves whole-heartedly into the festivities.
Save one…
Midna left the wild tumult of the pub just as the sun dipped below the horizon. The flickering firelight glow from the open door sent her slender silhouette sprawling across the stairs. A long, black robe swished around her ankles as she climbed the cobbled steps into the alleyway, and the red sunset glow turned her pale complexion into shining silver, lighting her orange hair into windswept fire. She climbed atop a wooden crate in the corner and sat, leaning against the gray wall as she straightened her skirt across her pale knees. She sighed as she stared at the darkening sky, shot with the bright flashes, and dreamed of home. She pondered the past few months with their many changes, contemplating her duty and how everything might have gone differently if she had done as she was asked in the first place.
Lost in her thoughts and in the skies, she didn't notice the bar's door open or see another long silhouette play across the stairs. It took a warm hand on her knee to nudge her back into reality.
"Are you alright?" Link asked calmly.
"Yeah, fine," she replied. "Just fine. Don't mind me, just go back in and enjoy your party."
"It's your party too," he said in the same even tone.
"I'd rather be out here," she muttered back in a half-answer. It'll never be my party, she would've finished but didn't. "Don't worry. Go have fun."
"I would have more fun if you were there." Midna smiled a little; he flirted with much less finesse than her previous suitors had, but, for some reason, Link's odd bits of flattery, dropped clumsily into conversations, touched her heart more unexpectedly than anything else had.
"It's too bright in there," she joked back, and his warm smile brightened her thoughts.
"Alright," he laughed and turned to return to the light.
"Do you want to stay out here with me?" she blurted, freezing him in mid-step.
"Are you sure?" he replied as he turned back, barely hiding a wider, brighter smile.
"Of course." She patted the crate next to her. He climbed up beside her and sat cross-legged as Midna tucked her knees up against her chest. They sat in silence for a long time, watching the stars come out amid the bursting fireworks.
"So what are your plans? You know, after this whole hero business blows over?" Midna said, finally breaking the silence.
He thought for a moment before saying, "I hadn't really thought about it. I guess I'll go back and live in Ordon and work at the ranch. Maybe clear some forest and start my own farm. Maybe settle down… How about you?"
"I don't know either. I usually just roll with the punches, decide on a whim. I never plan, I just go." Both were quiet as their minds wandered, lost in their respective futures. Both were thinking the same thing. One knew he couldn't ask it. The other knew she shouldn't but eventually did:
"Do you want to go somewhere?"
"What?"
"Do you want to go somewhere? Get away from the drunk crowds and all?"
"Zelda wants us to be here for the party at midnight."
"We can be back in time."
"I guess… Alright, let's go."
She warped them away to Ordon Spring where the fresh water rippled against the white sand. Midna cast off her black robe into the sand, let her hair down, and waded out into the water, the hem of her skirt brushing the water. She turned back to Link, still standing, on the bank.
"The water's great," she joked as the lapping water chilled her ankles. "Come on." She extended her arms toward him. "Come swimming with me."
Woohoo, chapter 1 done. Chapter 2 is going to have two parts in it because I have a huge block of time that I have to chop out if I want to *spoiler alert* keep this "T" rated.
Lulz, enjoy until my next update... Whenever that will be!