Thanks to iranda20, Guest, LinkIsMyHero1328, RAF-Fire and sippurp123 for the reviews. :) They are much appreciated. As are the favourites and Alerts. Thanks guys!
Zelda's POV
It's strange... I didn't expect being partners with Link for this project assignment to be... not all that bad. In fact I've been enjoying speaking to Link for this hour. We just spoke about the past, when he wasn't so evasive of company, back when we were kids. How he once dipped my hair in the glue I was using to stick down the painting I made into my book during art. And how I in return chased him around the entire art room with a tube of paint, attempting to squirt him with it. But in the end only managing to squirt the teacher as she intervened in our friendly little fight, and receiving a scolding. I swore I'd get payback for that as he laughed at me. And looking back at it now, it just makes us smile and laugh.
We also got plenty of work done, covering a few of the topics and Link taught me things about the legend that I'd never heard before. Like how apparently the Triforce on the hero's hand would pulsate whenever there was real danger around, or how the Triforce pieces would resonate if all three weilders came together. Which is odd because my father has a large collection of history books, rare books, and I'd read through a lot of them, especially about the legend of the hero because it fascinated me. So it surprised me that his knowledge of this subject surpassed even my own.
But at any rate, right now we sit and we laugh as I tell him about the time I remember the two of us found a spider and how we had taken it to the teacher. But when she saw it running over the palm of Link's hand she had shrieked and yelled at us to get it away, causing other teachers and children to come rushing to the scene as though there had been a murder.
"I still don't understand why she was so terrified of a spider the size of a pea!" I laugh.
"Me neither. Spiders are nothing scary." He agrees, grinning.
I calm myself down with a deep breath, then glance back to Link with a sly smile, "So then." I say, and he gives me a light-hearted wary look, "What are you afraid of, Link?" I ask, nudging him in the side with my elbow.
He lets out a breath of laughter at my antics before looking off into the distance to think, "I'm... not really sure..."
"Oh come on," I say, prolonging the vowels, "There's gotta be something you're afraid of."
"Um, well..." He scratches his head, "I suppose I am afraid of a few things, but they're not common things like spiders or heights."
"So, like what?"
He looks away, "Like... losing people..."
I pause and stare at him as he gazes down at the table, looking a little lost in thought. I hesitate, because I don't really know how to reply to that. Did he... lose someone?
His eyes seem to light up in realisation, "Uh." He mutters before looking back up to meet my gaze and covering his face with a smile, "So, what are you afraid of Zelda?"
I just stare at him uncertainly for a moment, but eventually just let whatever he's hiding slide because whatever it is, he clearly doesn't want to talk about it.
I smile, "Well..." I say, scrunching up my face slightly and looking away with embarrassment, "I'll admit I'm, terrified, of being in deep water."
"You mean, you can't swim?" I hear him say.
"Yeah. I know it's really stupid." I say, shaking my head and hiding my face with my hair.
"Not really." He muses, and I glance up at him from the corner of my eye and snort.
"Yeah right."
"No I'm serious." He says gently, "You can easily learn to swim. All you need is a little courage." He smiles, "And I think you have that."
I put my head up, moving my hair out the way of my face, and turn to him chuckling, "Yeah, you won't think that for much longer if you actually saw me in the water."
He grins, "Nah, all it would take is a bit of getting used to and you'd be fine."
A smile tugs at my lips at that.
"Hey! Zelda." I hear someone call from behind me and I turn away from Link to see Dark approaching with Groose and Vaati.
"Dark." I say, a little surprised to see him.
"Hey, I've been looking for you. Midna and Sheik told me I'd probably find you here. You do know the school day has finished right?"
"Oh. Yes. We were just finishing off the work we were doing for history." I say, facing Link briefly and smiling before turning back to Dark.
"Pfft," Groose starts, "What are you doing hanging out with him, Zelda?" he says, fixing his pompadour conceitedly.
My expression drops and I furrow my brows at him before making my expression a little more neutral as if dismissive of what he said about Link, "We were assigned a project that we need to complete together, so that's why I'm hanging out with Link, Groose." My voice holds a small hint of menace.
I noticed Dark studying Link as I spoke.
"Okay," Dark says, "Do you wanna head out now babe?" He says, facing me.
"Yeah, okay." I reply before standing up and turning back to Link, collecting up the sheets I had written. "Well... I'll see you tomorrow Link. If you like we can continue this work after school tomorrow, in here again?"
"Yes, okay." He smiles. "I'll meet you here."
I smile back.
"Zelda." I hear Dark say and I turn to him. He wraps his arms around me and smirks down at me before his lips meet mine in a kiss.
And I kiss him back.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o
I get into the passenger seat of Dark's car and buckle up the seatbelt whilst he gets into the driver's side and starts the engine.
I read the digital clock. 16:27.
"Zelda." Dark says as we pull out the car park. I glance up at him; he keeps his gaze focused out the window whilst driving.
"Yes?" I ask.
He glances at me from the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to the road, "Y'know, there's a fair in town this Saturday. D'you want to go?"
"Really?" My face brightens, "Yeah! Um... Yeah." I shrug, "I don't see any problem with that." I say nonchalantly, concealing the child inside of me. I must look silly about my outburst now...
In truth, I love fun fairs, and to be honest quite a lot of childish things... But Dark doesn't need to know that.
"Okay that's fine babe." He smirks, keeping his eyes on the road.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o
Once Dark had dropped me off at my home I walk up to the front door of our large house and get my key out of my bag, unlocking the door and stepping in.
"Hey, I'm home!" I call out in the empty hall, locking the door behind me.
I walk through to the kitchen where I find Telma and Impa, my nursemaids that were hired by my father to look after me since he's never here. He's a member of the government of Hyrule so I very rarely see him. It bothers me but I don't mind too much because Telma and Impa are like close family to me.
"Zelda! Welcome home hun." Telma says, rushing forward to hug me as I enter.
I smile at her affection. "Thanks." I say, hugging her back. She releases me and grins, patting my head before heading back to do the cooking she had been doing previously.
Impa places down the letters she had been looking over as I approach and we envelop each other in a small hug as she also welcomes me back.
I plop myself down beside her as Telma speaks up, "So how was school, hun?" She asks, looking over her shoulder as she stirs the food.
"It was okay. I actually spoke to an old friend of mine for the first time in ages today."
"Oh, who's this then?" She inquires.
"Um, Link."
"Link?"
"Yeah." I smile.
"He's the kid that used to get you into trouble in infant school. I remember him." Impa says as she skims over a letter.
I laugh loudly. It's funny to think Impa still thinks him a bad influence to this day. Impa was the one who had to come in to see the head teacher on a few occasions because of us, such as the two we spoke about earlier.
Impa glances over at me with a slight surprised look at my outburst of laughter and I try to muffle the sound with my hand.
She smiles, "You were laughing then and you're laughing now. You haven't changed much have you Zelda?"
I take a deep breath to calm myself, waving my hand dismissively, "Well I like to think I'm a little more mature." I say.
"Key words in that sentence Zel: 'You like to think'" Telma chortles as she dishes out our meal.
I narrow my eyes playfully at her before folding my arms and leaning back in my chair, "Hey, I find that offensive." I state.
"Can't deny the truth hun." She laughs, bringing over two plates and setting them down in front of me and Impa. "Now eat up ladies. This is my own special recipe of cucco casserole."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o
After dinner I just sat in my room on my queen sized bed and talked to a bunch of my friends on Facebook whilst doing some of my algebra homework.
Midna pops up to me and I read her message,
Hey Zel, Sooo did you manage to find Link? XD
I smile and roll my eyes. I don't really understand why she finds it so funny, but I suppose that's just Midna and her odd sense of humour. I lean forward and type back to her,
Yeah, he was near to the back of the library now quit laughing at me .
Sorry, but it is funny :P How'd you end up losing him anyway?
I frown slightly.
Um, minor dispute?
Seriously? About what? o.o
He said he would do all the work alone if I wanted, and I suppose I got a little angry because I thought he was mocking me, as though I were incapable of working...
Woah woah woah, he offered to do ALL the work and you got angry!? You're mad. I would totally switch partners with you. I'd get an A for doing no work XD
No I'm sure Sheik is your number one partner. You know deep down you would have it no other way ;)
That's it. Where's my puke bucket? XP
Ha!
Oh yeah and Dark was looking for you, did he find you?
Yeah. And we're going to the fair this Saturday! :D
:o Is this like your romantic thing or can I come! ?
Hmm... I suppose you can come. And maybe a few other people. I don't think Dark will mind.
WOOT! Awesome! I'll see ya tomorrow then. I have to go, Doctor Who is calling to me.
Lol, okay see ya.
I bite the inside of my cheek as I sit cross-legged on my bed and glance over at my algebra paper. I don't really understand the last question on the sheet so I just stuff the work back into my school bag, ready to hand in tomorrow. I'm not a big fan of maths.
I fall back onto my bed with my arms outstretched and yawn before glancing at the clock on my nightstand: 20:01. Hm...
I roll onto my side and look through the windowed doors that lead to the balcony and just stare at the sky.
Today was pretty different to the usual day I suppose. And it's because of Link. I don't really know why Link has circled my mind for this day, because I never really considered speaking to him through all these ten long years of him keeping distant. I just didn't care all that much after the first year because I knew he wouldn't tell me the reason he decided to be so quiet, so I just stopped bothering to ask what was wrong.
We were both seven when he first started acting different, and I still remember the way he acted when I spoke to him. So quiet... And it was strange.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o
Ten years ago...
I waved a final goodbye to nanny Impa as she left from the school before turning back to the teacher and following her into the building to where our classroom was with the rest of my noisy classmates.
Before we entered we placed our coats and bags on the pegs in the cloakroom. I placed my coat and Loftwing themed bag down on my own peg before running off into the classroom with Midna.
She turned to me once we'd entered, "Ha! I won! I beat you to the classroom Zelda!" She yells gleefully.
I clenched my fists and stomped my foot in annoyance, "Midna It wasn't a race! You're stupid!" I said heatedly.
She stuck her tongue out, "You're just jealous because I'm super fast." She grinned.
"Nut uh." I reply, folding my arms stubbornly.
"Okay everyone let's settle down." I heard the teacher say and we both turned to her, "The first ones to sit with arms crossed and legs crossed on the floor get to go to break time first!"
And at that everybody moved like a stampede of cattle to sit on the floor with their arms and legs crossed and backs as straight as the trunk of a tree- me and Midna included.
The teacher congratulated us at our speed and called out the register. And when Link's name was called, there was no answer. It wasn't a surprise because he hadn't been here for the whole past week. I'd hoped a little that he'd be in today because it was Monday, and hopefully he'd recovered from whatever was wrong with him. Guess the hope didn't work.
But later that day as I played with the building blocks on the floor with a few of my friends, Link arrived with a strange woman that I had never seen before. And he looked unhappy.
The teacher and the woman spoke for a long while in the corner of the room where the entrance was, and Link stood with them for the whole time. He looked lost.
I carried on playing. Building up the blocks to the highest possible point ever with the help of Ruto and Ilia and Sheik, then afterwards knocking them down and watching as all the pieces clattered against the floor, laughing at the fun we were having.
We repeated this a few times, before I glanced over and noticed Link sitting on the sofa with the teacher in the corner of the room. His legs were pulled up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them and his head rested on his knees. He looked like he was shaking and that the teacher was trying to comfort him.
I tilted my head to the side questioningly and decided to approach them, leaving Ruto, Ilia and Sheik to continue playing.
"Hey Link!" I said, stopping in front of him and the teacher with my hands wrapped together behind my back and a beam on my face.
"Ah, Zelda." The teacher noted happily, "Maybe you can do us a favour. Link isn't feeling all that great at the moment so maybe you could play with him and cheer him up, hey?" She spoke gently before turning back to Link, "How does that sound, Link?"
The only way in response to this was for him to curl up even tighter, turning away from her slightly in the process.
I frowned.
The teacher opened her mouth to console him but a loud shout emanated from somewhere behind me and we both turned in the direction of the noise to see Midna yelling at Sheik for- of what I could see- destroying the castle she made in the small sand pit with one of the building blocks we were playing with. The teacher got up quickly, not before patting Link on the shoulder in empathy. As she walked by she said to me with a smile, "Try cheering him up, would you Zelda?"
I moved forward and plopped myself down beside him. He made no indication that he sensed my presence so I shuffled closer to him and attempted to pry his arm away from his legs, "Link, what's wrong?" I asked, furrowing my brows in concern.
He shrugged me off and moved away slightly, refusing to speak to me.
I sighed and moved closer again, "Come on, please tell me."
He stayed perfectly still, ignoring me.
I huffed and folded my arms, looking in the other direction in feigned annoyance, "Fine, if you don't tell me in three seconds then I won't be your friend anymore." I threatened frivolously.
I counted to three out loud, emphasising each number, yet he still remained silent.
"Come on Link." I whined, dragging out the vowels and latching onto his arm.
"...I..." I heard him mumble quietly, and on top of that, his voice was muffled by how his mouth was covered by his body.
"Hm?" I wondered, leaning down and tilting my head up at him in an attempt to see his face. It didn't help.
"I... I d-don't want to, talk to you. Please... go away." I just about made out what he said and I leaned back in the seat in indignation, folding my arms crossly.
"Fine, be that way."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o
That wasn't the last I tried. I tried many times after that too. He would just never tell me what was wrong with him... But now, it's been ten years. Surely it wouldn't hurt him too much to tell me what was up back then by now. Maybe I should ask him about it tomorrow when I see him...
Hey, I know this chapter may not have been the most exhilarating thing you've ever read, but you may have discovered plenty in this chapter. All relevant for the future. ;)
Okay so let me hear your thoughts in the reviews and thanks for reading!
