Hello again! I decided that I could post two chapters in a row for my
apology gifts. So... here you go!
Disclaimer: I don not own Legend of Zelda
Chapter Three
"My name," my lips quirked into a shaky smile, "Is Sasaki no Ruzu."
Sheik's red eyes gazed at me questionably. "What does 'Sasaki no Ruzu' mean?" He finally asked.
I chuckled, sending a bit of pain rippling up from my stomach. "It means 'Rose of the Help Tree', but I don't know why whoever gave me that name chose that particular one...I'm not very helpful. And do I look like a flower to you?" I finished with a silly question of my own, trying to get him to laugh.
He giggled.
Have you ever heard a boy giggle? Perhaps you have. It's just weird-sort of like a little girl's, in a way, but different. I had never heard a boy giggle before, and for some reason it struck me as funny. I bellowed out a laugh, making me wince from tensing my stomach muscles. It went unnoticed.
"No, you don't look like a flower," he pushed his head near my hair, wrinkling his nose, "and you don't smell like one either. Going a week without-"
"A week? I was out for a WEEK!" I screeched, my eyes widening in panic. Sheik clapped his hands over his ears.
"QUIET!"
I immediately quieted, shaking from fear. 'God, does every woman sound like that when she's angry?' I pondered, thinking of my adoptive "mother".
"I still have other patients in here, Ms. Roozu," she announced stiffly.
"I'm getting out of here. Sheik, would you mind helping me walk? My stomach still hurts a bit, and I don't want to walk next to anyone that stuffy and stiff," I asked loudly, making the lady scowl, which in turn made me smirk.
Sheik nodded his head. "Where do you want to go?"
I moaned as my body fully submerged in the water, with help from one of the servants who had spotted Sheik and me on our way to the maids' quarters. My mind lingered on the familiar sight of about ten maids all crammed into the same room ("To make sure there is enough room for guests," the lady who had helped me replied when asked). Such unfairness even here…
I deduced that, wherever I was, there were far too many similarities between it and my old "home", if you could even call it that.
While I was mulling over how unfair life was, the maid was doing her best to do her job. "Do you need any help washing yourself Ms. Sasaki?" she asked me.
There was a noticeable difference between this realm and that, however, I noticed upon looking at her face. She had no bruises. Her face was clean; I could see only the slightest traces of powder on her cheeks, and that only brought a rosy hue to compensate for the slightly pale complexion of one who spends too much time indoors. And she seemed almost…content.
I almost laughed in spite of it all. What strange concept contentment was! And here, I found that it actually existed, reveled even, and not just acted as a tattered mask over a shaky, fear-struck countenance.
"No,but thanks anyway," I replied, the warm water heating my aching body and filling me with a dizzy sense of peace. I stood up weakly, refusing any help when the woman worriedly hovered her hands around my tiny form. I nearly screamed as a burning sensation trailed throughout my torso when I tried to wash my extremely tender stomach. My already shaky knees collapsed, sending me back under the water.
Tears escaped my eyes as the pale beauty walked deep into the water in which I had fallen backwards into, and dragged me back to a ledge for sitting on. "Oh, honey," she cooed sympathetically, allowing me to cry on her lap as she smoothed down my messy hair, "It's okay. Do you want some help washing?"
"Yes please," I sniffled, watching as she scooped some water into her bucket and felt the silky liquid pour over my head. I calmed down significantly as I felt her fingers gently wash out the dirt and grime—and probably, blood—that was in my hair. When she was finished, I felt another cascade fall over my head, sending the mired soap suds down to join their bright, bubbly companions.
"Eww," we chorused, looking at the now dirty water. I smiled up at her and
she smiled down at me. We both burst into laughter.
"Call me Alain," she told me.
"Then you call me Ruzu," I responded.
I smiled. "What does it mean?" I asked, tilting my head to the side as she conditioned my hair.
She blushed. "It means 'beautiful one', but I'm not even pretty," she replied, looking down at me as if I were about to say 'You're right! You're hideous!' I laughed.
"Don't be ridiculous. You may think you're not beautiful, but you are. Blue eyes, blond hair, giant boobs... I mean, seriously! If you had a different outfit, you'd look like a princess! Besides," I told her, her eyes bright from the unexpected compliment, "looks don't always matter. It's what's on the inside, not the out. If someone can't see that, then they're too shallow and they need to see that there are some absolutely gorgeous girls out there thatcould marry a rich man and then poison him for his money.
"Then, there could be the pimply, greasy haired girl that was always talked down upon by all the snooty, pretty girls, that no one would ever know that she could be the nicest, prettiest, most gorgeous girl there ever was on the inside! And that's all because they tried to go after someone who practically has a stamp on her forehead saying 'I'm gorgeous, come screw me!' stamp!"
I didn't realize I had gone into a rant until I heard my own voice ring out so loudly that it literally echoed in the room. I clapped my hands over my mouth, sending a flurry of hastily scooped up suds flinging in all directions. I knew for certain I was going to be in trouble. I tensed for the blow…
But it never came. Instead, Alain laughed so hard that tears streamed down her face, which quickly turned as red as her rouge from lack of oxygen. I was beyond surprised. Usually raising my voice to even half my prior pitch would get me knocked halfway across the room; but a rant? I don't know where I suddenly found the guts for something like that.
But the answer would have to come at another time. Once Alain regained her composure somewhat (though for several moments, she still laughed, sputtering tidbits of my rant to herself), she rinsed my hair, then went to busy herself with straightening the room as I finished up. I quickly washed my body, drying myself off with a white, fluffy towel. But one of the comments she made to herself made me nearly drop the towel in surprise.
"I can't believe a ten-year-old said all those things."
