Here's the third chapter! This chapter was hard to write, for some reason. There are more pranks, though.
Also, I'm having Internet trouble, so I haven't been able to reply to the reviews. I'll do my best to reply sometime within the next couple of days, but no promises. I do appreciate all reviews, though, and would like to thank you for your time if you do review. I'll reply to you all when my Internet starts working regularly again.
I don't know if I made this clear, so here you go: The bond keeping Link and Sheik's wrists together isn't physical. The blue bands on their wrists can be seen, but only the magic users (Sheik, Impa, and Midna) can see the connection between the wrists. Also, things (like their clothes) can pass between their wrists with no obstruction. Sorry, I can't remember if I explained that or not, but that's how it is.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda. If I did… that'd be niiiiice. ^_^
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Sheik woke slowly, feeling warm. There was a comfortable weight settled on his chest. The sun was peeking into the window, illuminating the room with a faint glow. Smiling, Sheik settled into the covers.
The arm around Sheik's waist tightened.
Sheik shrieked (in a manly way, of course), and Link rolled off of the bed. His wrist pulled Sheik down with him, and they landed in a tangled, writhing heap on the carpet. Finally, Link clamped down on Sheik's shoulders, stilling him.
"Good morning," Link said, grinning up at Sheik cheekily. Sheik realized that he had fallen straight on top of Link, pressed chest-to-chest with him. He scrambled into a sitting position, Link doing the same.
"Shower," Sheik grunted. He wasn't a morning person even on good days.
When they reached the bathroom, they both stared at the shower uncertainly. Finally, Sheik lifted the shower curtain and passed his hand across one side. Link's passed on the other, the connection between their wrists not blocking the curtain. Sheik looked up at Link.
"I'll go first," Link said.
It was beyond awkward. Sheik had his hand pressed up against the shower curtain, with Link having to do the same on the other side. Link washed with one hand, and Sheik tried not to think about it. Link finished quickly, and Sheik passed him a towel.
Sheik took his shower quickly, trying not to think about Link standing right next to him. He took a towel from Link and dried off. Sheik dressed quickly, while Link slipped into the clothes he had worn the day before.
Link had apparently accepted that Sheik hated mornings, because he was quiet as Sheik led him into the kitchen and passed him a Poptart. They stepped out into the cool morning air, biting into their breakfast.
They walked through the streets, enjoying the early-morning silence. Link's house was three streets down from Sheik's. Link opened the door, smiling at Sheik's shocked look.
"Grandma?"
A tiny, white-haired woman was sitting in the living room, watching the morning news. She glanced up and looked at Sheik inquiringly.
"I'll introduce you after I change," Link told her, and she nodded.
Sheik followed Link down a long hallway.
"I didn't think anyone but Impa got up this early," he said. Link laughed.
"Grandma's always up before the sun."
Link opened the door to his room, and Sheik smiled fondly. The walls were painted Link's usual forest green. The soft, plush carpet was light brown, and the furniture was polished wood. The bed, the same size as Sheik's, had a thick blanket with dark and light green squares.
Link rummaged through a few of his drawers, and pulled out a pair of jeans and a royal red shirt patterned with golden triangles. Link changed swiftly, tossing his dirty clothes in a hamper. He turned to Sheik.
"Feeling better? You're not much of a morning person."
"If we were meant to get up this early, the sun would rise sooner," Sheik told him indignantly. Link chuckled.
"Come on, I'll introduce you to my grandmother before we head to school."
They went back into the living room and sat down on the couch. Link turned to his grandmother.
"Grandma, this is Sheik."
Sheik leaned over and shook the woman's hand.
"Nice to meet you."
"What a polite young man," she cooed. "Now, I realize that you probably aren't going to get out of your… predicament anytime soon."
"No ma'am, we'll be stuck together for the whole week."
"I figured as much," Link's grandmother laughed. "I've seen some difficult pranks in my time, but never anything like this."
"It'll only be until the week's over," Link said, and Sheik felt a pang of sadness. Yes, he wanted the full use of his arm back, but still… he had spoken with Link more in the past twenty-four hours that he had the whole year they had gone to school together.
"Sheik?" Sheik looked up when he realized that Link was talking to him.
"What?"
"He's not a morning person," Link explained to his grandmother. Turning back to Sheik, he said, "Do you want to stay over here tonight?"
"That'd be great. Impa's staying out of town tonight for a business meeting."
"Then of course you have to come stay with us," Link's grandmother said.
"Alright," Sheik glanced at the clock on the wall. "Link, we'd better go."
"Yeah. We'll see you after school, Grandma."
As they stepped out of the house, Link looked sideways at Sheik.
"It sounds like you're used to staying by yourself."
"Impa has to go out of town a lot. She works for a security company, and they have a bunch of meetings and conventions every month. I used to stay with my cousin, Kafei, when Impa would leave. Kafei got married when I was fifteen, though, so I started staying home by myself."
"How long does Impa leave at a time?"
"It's usually only for a day or two, but some meetings last from a few days to a few weeks."
"A few weeks?" Link asked, shocked.
"Impa's the head of her division of the company; she has to go to the meetings. Whenever she was gone for longer than two days, Midna would come and stay with me, or I'd go to her house."
They reached the school and walked across the lawn, avoiding the stares and students pointing towards their hands.
"You and Midna are pretty close, huh?" Link asked, gripping the door handle and pulling. The door didn't budge. "That's weird… is the door locked."
Sheik grabbed the other door and pulled it open. He pointed to the signs.
"Classic switch, 'Push' for 'Pull'," Sheik chuckled. "Anyway, yes, Midna and I are close. We met in third grade at Hyrule Elementary. Midna slipped a gummy worm in my milk and stole my sandwich while I wasn't looking. I put a popup clown in her backpack the next day. We were in a 'war' for the whole week before the teachers finally put us in time out and demanded that we make up."
"What happened?" Link asked as they pulled their books out of their lockers. Sheik grinned.
"A bully named Ganon came up and demanded we give him our snacks. He stole Midna's cookie, and I head butted him while Midna jumped on his back. We've been best friends ever since," Sheik smirked. "The week we met was the first week in September."
"So, Prank Week was born," Link said as he opened the door to their first class, which they thankfully had together. Sheik nodded.
History went by quickly. Sheik wrote the notes to share with Link because, frankly, Link's handwriting was a messy scrawl. After class, Sheik swung by his English class to pick up the day's notes and they headed towards Link's Science class.
"Are you sure this is ok?" Link asked. "Aren't you doing Poetry this month, too?"
"I've got a pretty good hand on Poetry," Sheik said, grinning. "When evil rules all, an awakening voice from the Sacred Realm will call those…"
"…destined to be Sages who dwell in the five temples," Link finished. "It's a good poem. It won last year's poetry contest, right?"
"Yes," Sheik paused. "I wrote it."
"Should've known," Link said, grinning.
Sheik followed Link to all of his classes, mind wandering to Link's smile. It was a nice smile, really. Especially when it was aimed at Sheik.
Lunch arrived and they made their way to the cafeteria. They grabbed their food and sat down. It wasn't long until Saria joined them.
"Is it true?" she asked before she had even sat down. "Did Midna really…?"
Sheik raised his right hand, pulling Link's up with it. Saria cracked up laughing.
"I told you!" she managed to get out between her laughter. "I told you she'd get you back. No one messes with Iris!"
"Iris?" Link asked.
"Midna's car," Sheik told him. He looked at Saria. "Yes, we all know it's funny. Stop laughing."
"Sorry, sorry."
They lapsed into a moment of silence before someone walked up to Sheik.
"Hey Sheik."
"Hi Medli."
The Rito girl held up a plate.
"Do you guys want a cupcake?" she asked. Sheik took one and narrowed his eyes at Medli.
"What's the catch?"
"Catch?" she echoed too innocently. Sheik raised a brow.
"What did you put in them?" Sheik demanded. Medli sighed.
"Alright, there's a gummy worm in them," Medli admitted. Sheik took the wrapper off of the chocolate cupcake.
"I do love chocolate," he said. Sheik took a bite, and immediately spit it out.
"What?" Link asked. Sheik tossed the cupcake into a nearby trashcan.
"It was burnt!"
"You asked what was in them, not about the outside!" Medli called over her shoulder, making her way towards the next table. Sheik shook his head.
"Sneaky… you've got to be careful with food during Prank Week."
As if on cue, Mido sauntered up and offered Link an Oreo. Link took it, glancing at Sheik, obviously able to smell the toothpaste in the middle of it. When Mido glanced behind him, Sheik took the Oreo and tore a bite-sized chunk out of it and handed it back to Link. Link hummed in appreciation.
"Thanks Mido! That was good."
"What?" Mido swiped the Oreo and took a big bite of it, spitting it out in disgust. The cafeteria burst into laughter.
"Thanks," Link said, nudging Sheik with his elbow.
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Right after lunch was Sheik's favorite class: music. As he walked in, he noticed that the teacher, Mikau, wasn't there yet. Motioning for Link to hurry, Sheik knelt down by Mikau's rolling chair.
"Hand me that tape, will you?" he asked. Link passed it over, and Sheik taped the wheels of the chair.
"What are you doing?" Link asked.
"This is tradition," Sheik explained, standing up. "I do this every year, and Mikau forgets every year. You know how scatterbrained he is."
They hurried over to their seats, and the door swung open. Mikau, a Zora of only twenty years old, rushed in. He jumped into his chair and pushed off. The tape caught on the wheels, and Mikau went flying. He jumped back up, looking around.
"Sheik," he said, grinning. "You win again."
"Are you ok, Mikau?" Sheik asked, shooting him a winning smile.
"Never better!" Mikau threw his arms wide. "Lulu just got the news! We're going to have a baby!"
There was a loud cheer, and Mikau's smile grew wider.
"Thank you! Now, let's get started! Sheik? Would you play the song you've chosen for the performance?"
"Got it."
Sheik pulled out his golden lyre, placing it in his lap. He shot Link a look.
"Do you mind?" he asked. Link shook his head.
"Go ahead."
Sheik picked the lyre up, settling it at chest height. He strummed it gently, checking that it was in tune. Nodding to himself, he launched into his favorite song: the Prelude of Light. It was a smooth, airy tune that wrapped around the room captivatingly. It reminded Sheik of sunlight streaming down from a tall, open window. Sheik plucked the last few notes fondly before opening his eyes.
The room erupted into applause. Sheik lowered his lyre, smiling with pride. Link looked awestruck.
"Very good, as usual," Mikau said. "Link? Would you like to go next?"
Link's eyes shone with mischief as he pulled his ocarina out. Sheik placed his arm close to Link, who began playing. Sheik's jaw dropped.
It was the Prelude of Light.
As the notes floated through the air, Sheik could almost hear his lyre notes harmonizing perfectly. Link finished with a flourish, looking at Sheik with a smile.
"It's a great song."
"It's actually a duet," Mikau said, coming up next to them. "So, what do you say? Do you want to perform together? You know, after this is over," he motioned to their wrists. "We're performing next month. I think you could be ready by then."
Link and Sheik shared a look and nodded.
"Good! I can't wait to hear it. The two instruments really bring the song together. They fit."
Mikau wandered off to the next student, and Sheik looked at Link.
Blue eyes shining, Link smiled at Sheik.
"I can't wait, either."
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So, I didn't really like this chapter. I don't know; it just wasn't my best, I think.
Oh, the 'poem' Sheik wrote was actually lines from the Ocarina of Time. I tried writing my own poem, but my brain wasn't working. I also apologize for any errors and misspellings; I did testing today for five straight hours and my brain fizzled out on me, but I wanted to get this chapter up tonight.
Anyway, let me know what you think, please! I love reviews! (Who doesn't?) Thanks for reading!
'Till next time!
-Snow-