Link paced before the heavy mansion doors agitatedly. Zelda's estate was massive. It could have been taken directly from a posh movie set. He had felt his mouth go dry when announcing his arrival at the gates into a speaker, and when the gates lifted to welcome him, for just a moment, he wondered if he should turn around and leave.

He hadn't of course. What kind of boyfriends would do something that cowardly? All it was going to be was a meeting, right? They would sit down, eat, exchange pleasantries, and get to know one another. Things were going to be fine.

Yeah right.

In all honestly, he thought his heart was going to burst from his chest any minute. He couldn't remember feeling this nervous since…well, ever. A week ago, Zelda told him he was going to meet her parents. He was like: okay, cool. I can do this. Can't be too hard, can it?
Then he found out that Zelda's father was Daphnes Hylia. As in, THE DAPHNES HYLIA. You know, founder and CEO of one of the largest industrialized magic corporations in Hyrule. Yeah, him. Link wouldn't be surprised if he dropped in for dinner right through the ceiling from his private jet.

Oh, Link knew that Zelda was rich, and that her last name was Hylia. But Daphnes was practically a divine figure in his mind, so he never even thought to put two and two together.

See, Link would consider his family middle class. They definitely weren't struggling – his parents had the occasional dispute over money when times were lean, but that was fairly natural, and he usually got whatever he wanted and paid for at least half of it himself.

He as probably a lot better off than Byrne, who lived off his aunt's government pensions, but he wasn't so la-ti-da wealthy to be considered anywhere near being in the same class as Zelda's family.

This was the cause of his anxiety. He didn't want to look like the kid who was after her money or something stupid like that.

He paused every once in awhile to straighten his shirt, rub a persistent crease out of his black pants, before continuing to mill. It was nearly dusk, the light above his head attracted swarms of insects. He just needed to take one more deep breath before ringing the doorbell with a, "Good evening, Sir or Ma'am," on his lips.

The door opened and he jumped back with a short cry. Zelda grinned back at him as he recovered.

"Hey, goofball," The brunette addressed him, "I thought I saw you walk up here. Come on in."

He entered and took his shoes off before following Zelda into the kitchen.

"Wow, you look amazing!" He said, coming in and giving her a hug.

"Hey, thanks! You clean up well yourself. Wait here a moment," She instructed, flashing a smile, "Let me go get my parents, okay?"

Link nodded, his nerves on fire as Zelda spun away in a beautiful purple gown. After her departure, his eyes meandered around the room of high ceilings and glass sculptures. From the cabinetry to the counters, the kitchen itself was probably worth a fortune. He let out a low toned whistle that echoed across the resonant whitewashed walls. Yes, Zelda's parents were definitely loaded, and that could only mean that they were going to be both overbearing and unforgiving.

Not wanting to touch anything, Link crept out of the kitchen and into the dining room where the table was already set with silverware and napkins fancily. He felt like he was movie. Any second now the royalty was going to come flowing down the stairs to receive him, he was sure of it.

"Ahem."

Link spun around and barely avoided shouting out again. There, standing before him in a sharp looking suit, was Zelda's father. He was a rather tall man with a face unaccustomed to looking all that stern, but tonight was a blatant exception.

"Hello, you must be Link," He said in a trembling baritone, "My name is Mr. Daphnes Hylia.

Link nodded with a "Hm,", unable to articulate a sentence beyond that utterance.

"My daughter hasn't told me very much about you, aside that you're fencing team captain," Daphnes prompted, leaving his sentence purposefully open-ended.

"Hm!" The blonde teen pulled at his collar, face flushing, "Hm!"

Daphnes lifted a brown eyebrow, "Honey?" He shouted to the hallway, putting a hand on Link's shoulder, "You're not having an allergic reaction, son, are you?"

Link began to make strangled sounds from the back of his throat. Tears began to leak from the boy's eyes, and his face continued to flush a darker shade of red with each passing moment. Daphnes leapt to his feet, "Honey! Get the Epinephrine pen!"

There was the sound of thudding footsteps overhead and Zelda came running down.

"Mom's still getting changed –" Zelda stopped at the outrageous scene in front of her.

"Breathe with me, boy!" Daphnes roared, kneeling beside a purple-faced Link, "From you diaphragm! I know Gerudo Yogi breathing techniques. You're going to be alright! That's right, in-out-in-out…"

Link!" Zelda knelt beside her boyfriend and pressed her palms to his face, "What's happening to you?"

"Hm-hm-hm!HM!" Link squealed from the back of his throat, shaking with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Zelda pressed a hand to the back of her head where her hair was braided in disbelief. What was going on? What a disaster!

In removing her hand, she caught sight of a wisp of dark magic leaving her fingers. She brought her hand to her face and sniffed. A silencing charm? The brunette's eyes widened in horror, which quickly morphed to anger as she drew herself upright, figuring the mechanics of a counterspell in her mind.

"I have it!" Zelda's mother came rushing down the stairs with an elongated box in her hand, "I have the Epipen."

"No, wait!" Zelda blocked her mother with her arm. She knelt before Link, whose eyes were sealed shut with embarrassment, and waved her hand, undoing the spell, "Link? Say something. Are you alright?"

Link's eyes slowly opened, "Can I go home now?" He whispered, timidly.

Zelda's parents let out a pair of relieved sighs. At his wanting to leave, or the fact that he wasn't dying in their kitchen anymore, Zelda was unsure. Maybe both.

The brunette helped her boyfriend to his feet with a scowling expression.

The date was ruined. Her boyfriend would probably dump her for that scare. She set her jaw.

Midna!


All Byrne really wanted to do was take a shower, finish summer reading a book for school and go to bed. Fencing with Link hadn't really left him that tired, but the conversation the two had had spurred thoughts that wouldn't stop rotating inside his head, leaving him exhausted.

After returning home a sweaty mess, he and Anjean went for a routine grocery run. As Anjean ran about in her usual enthusiastic manner, he had to keep running after her, putting back things she grabbed off the shelf they didn't need.

Her dementia was getting worse. She would confuse days, especially holidays and forget people's birthdays. She would sometimes forget recent events, and her childhood memory was fragmented at best.

She would also lose track of the things she was doing, as seen in going to the store and finding half the ingredients for baking a cake, and half the ingredients for making a casserole. All of which Byrne put back, of course. They were there to buy ingredients for lasagna, something he had to remind her of at least twice.

In the midst of reading the back of a packaging label to make sure there weren't any traces of lactose in the tomato paste can (factories these days!) Anjean said something which got to him.

"Did you see those lovely ladies over there?" She pointed with her eyes, "Byrne, why don't you say hello?"

Byrne glanced over his shoulder and watched three pretty Hylian girls chatter noisily in the middle of an aisle. He turned away and shrugged, placing two cans of the tomato paste in the cart.

"You know I worry about you sometimes. You do such a great job taking care of me, I never see you having fun," his aunt admitted affectionately, and Byrne felt a pulling at his heart,"Oh, that reminds me. Do you know if Carben will make it for dinner tonight? Should we make more food?"

Byrne shook his head, not wanting to rehash the disaster that occurred the last time they went shopping where he had to remind Anjean that Carben had died and that she attended his funeral.

After returning home and making diner, he stood, washing dishes, thinking about the girl in the café.

Why do people want me in a relationship? He wondered, bitterly. Once finished, he took a quick shower. Hanging up the towel and retreating to his room, Byrne sat on his bed to think.

The truth was: he was bored. He had things with which to occupy himself, but really it was all a rouse since he rarely played music for anyone but himself, and he hardly knew anyone on the fencing team except for Link.

His life seemed to revolve around keeping Anjean out of trouble and surviving high school. Maybe he should talk to the girl…

Tiring of his circulating thoughts, he pulled his guitar out and strummed. As he did, the sudden thought of Link meeting Zelda's parents popped into his head. Reaching for his phone he texted : How'd it go?

After twenty minutes without an answer, Byrne sighed and fell back against his bed.


Link awoke when his bed undulated from beneath him.

"Crap!" He yelled as his younger sister, who excitedly jumped up and down on his bed, "Aryll, get out of my room!"

"How'd your date with Zelda's parents go?" She slid off his bed and towered over him.

"Go away," He repeated, shoving her away, "NOW!"

She stuck her tongue out, "You're no fun. Then again, you're a BOY, so that shouldn't be such a surprise."

Link kicked out with his foot from underneath the sheets. Aryll danced out of the way and slammed his door shut, "Good morning to you too, grumpy pants! By the way, it's almost 10. " She screeched through the door.

"Whatever!" He called back, reaching for his charging phone on the nightstand.

He found a long text from Zelda and spent about seven minutes reading an apology letter she must have typed out last night. From the sounds of things, she really seemed worried that he was going to dump her. He sighed in relief. She seemed more worried about him and his feelings than what a fool he'd made of himself last night.

Midna, he thought, shaking his head. He responded: NP. Don't stress. I actually thought ur dad's kinda cool…Wat do u want 2 do 2 M?

If he had to be fairly honest, last night was probably one of the worst nights of his life. He had never felt so humiliated and vulnerable in front of anyone. He sort of hoped that if he ignored the fact, then maybe the event would retreat from everyone's minds.

He found Byrne's text next and laughed. He called the other boy's phone. This was definitely a story that had to be told.

The phone rang until voicemail picked up.

"Hey, got your text. Call me, alright?" He said before hanging up.

The blonde stretched with an audible yawn. He had a Captain's meeting with Impa at twelve, and last time she gave him the hairy eyeball for being two minutes late. That Sheikah was a Type-A, OCD psycho…

"Well," He grunted to the half-finished owl carving on his nightstand, "Time to be productive."


Byrne had exactly two minutes to stop in the café before going to help Nabooru set up for the new student induction. He raced, pedaling as fast as he could down the street. He didn't even bother to lock his bike, rather, he left it lying on its side, a gear still spinning off to the side.

The glass door slid open with a chime. He was greeted by a chorus of "Welcome" by the three café girls.

He nodded and walked straight over to the window.

There she was, sitting, hunched over a black binder. She wore a thin, blue dress with utilitarian boots. Long, silvery blonde hair spilled around lightly tanned skin and around a white scarf. A with one hand she balanced a steaming mug of coffee, the other traveled across the music before her, all the while her head swayed to an unheard tune.

He walked up to her, feeling like electricity was jumping from beneath his skin. The girl looked up, curiously. When their eyes met, both parties dropped their jaws.

Oh, shit…A small piece of paper slipped from Byrne's lax grip.

She's a Sheikah.

Byrne glanced down at the item he'd dropped. She followed his gaze, face flushing in recognition of what it was.

"I-I…" Byrne stuttered.

The girl suddenly put her mug down, forcefully onto the table, and crossed her arms defensively. When Byrne opened his mouth to try to say something else, pan flute notes blasted from his pocket.

He dove his hand into his sweatshirt and retrieved his phone.

"S-sorry!" He managed, before darting out of the café. He jumped onto his bike, nerves on fire, and pedaled off, feeling sick.

Upon reaching the school, he locked his bike and checked his phone.

One missed call from Link.

He leaned against the red brick of the building, realizing what he had left on the table of the café.

Screw it…it's already done, he reasoned.


Sheik sat, spine straightened and tried to regain her composure. Her cheeks were still flushed after that Lokomo boy went running out of the café. A few of the other customers were still staring, and she had to pretend not to notice.

She slowly moved her hand over to the slip of paper the boy had left. She picked it up, stiffly, and read it:

Byrne of the Lokomo – 3-141-5926

She folded the paper in her hand and gazed out the window in contemplation, features softening. Suddenly, her eyes brightened, and she quickly made to pack away her things.