Heys! Chapter 3 is HERE! I just thought I'd say that just in case you didn't get it by the notification [some of] you received.

Sam: but you know, if you want to get emails about when Maya posts stories, you could always add her to your alerts! (hint hint)

Wonderful sales pitch, Sam.

Sam: *suddenly wearing random baseball gear* thank you.

Quixos: *groans in pain while clutching stomach* that was such a bad pun.

Sam :'(

Zelda: I'm sure he didn't mean it…

Quixos: *jumps twenty feet in the air and acts scared* who the hell are you?

Sam: do you even read Maya's stories? That's obviously Zelda…

Quixos: -_- obviously…

:3 Hi, Zelda! (To be said with Tauberpa's 'hi Tetra' voice from his Wind Waker Abridged Series)

Zelda: hi!

Even though I said I wouldn't do any more disclaimers, since you're here, you wanna do one?

Zelda: sure! Maya doesn't own me or any non OCs or non-original places! Those all belong to Nintendo. Also, Halo is the property of Bungie (or that other company that is making Halo 4 that I can't remember the name of) and Pokémon is property of whoever made it (cuz I'm not sure and I'm too lazy to look it up).

Quixos: oh, that was cr-

Sam: *claps hand over Quixos's mouth* I couldn't have done it better myself! Ew! Did you just lick me?

Quixos: …

-_-U oooookay, read on people! (Oh, real quick, I need to tell you guys that I've changed something I said in chapter 1. I said that the two classes only saw each other before and after school and during lunch. That has been changed for the sake of the story. I'll edit it in the actual chapter later. You'll see the change as you read, if you were paying attention. If you weren't, it won't really affect you that much. :3 Also, if you were paying attention, again in the first chapter, you would have noticed that Vaati has taken an interest in Zelda. Yes, there will be a little Vaati/Zelda in this story, but Zelda will end up with Link by the end, don't worry. (Unless of course you guys actually want Vaati to get the girl ;) ))

Link

I sat in my biology class, uber bored. I still don't get why Malon likes this class so much. The majority of the classrooms are divided into two sections. There are a few, like my math class, that aren't. I know that they designed the school like that so the normal and magical students could have class in the same room and not get in each other's way. But the other class has a really weird schedule. Sometimes they have classes in the same rooms as me, and sometimes they don't. I've tried multiple times to figure out their schedule, but I just can't.

Today, however, I got lucky. While I was sitting in my boring biology class, listening to my teacher ramble on and on, I saw the magic class come in. Their class is significantly smaller than ours, so they all have the same schedule. I suppose, at least for most of their classes, they're in the same room as one of the normal classes, but that classroom is rarely the one I'm in.

I watched Zelda as she came in, whispering quietly with Saria so as not to disrupt our class, and take a seat on the other side of the classroom. As I watched, she glanced up at me and waved slightly. My cheeks tinted pink and I looked away. My eyes were drawn back to her a moment later, however, as I saw Vaati come up to her. He sat next to her and joined quietly into Saria and Zelda's conversation. They didn't seem to mind at all.

Zelda

I walked into the room and sat next to Saria. We talked and giggled silently to each other. I glanced over her should and saw Link looking at me. I waved at him. A look of surprise crossed his face and his cheeks turned pink. He quickly looked away. I giggled and related the story to Saria. She giggled with me.

I wasn't really surprised when Vaati sat next to me. I was, however, surprised when he actually spoke. He never speaks when he's anywhere near the other class. Oh, well, the situation did call for conversation, though we didn't necessarily talk about anything productive.

"Alright, students, I am writing the instructions on the board," our teacher, Miss Impa, said. "Nabooru, you may stop staring at the boys in the other class and find a parter." She added without turning around. We all snickered. We were always quiet when we were a room with the other class, though we didn't necessarily need to be. These rooms are oddly soundproof. I'm not entirely sure how the people who designed the school managed that, but they did. Or maybe it was magic? No matter. I think, for some reason, the administration doesn't want the other class to know how quiet the two halves of the room are. Maybe because there are so many more of them than us, though I'm not quite sure what that has to do with anything.

I copied the instructions into my notebook and turned to Saria to ask her to be my partner, but then Vaati suddenly asked, "hey, Zelda, do you want to be my partner?"

I was caught in a moment of indecision. Saria glanced up at me from her notebook and smiled encouragingly, then paired up with Ruto. I turned back to Vaati, "sure."

We worked out the problems on the board while Impa handed out the things we would need for a small experiment we would be conducting today.

"Remember, class, come straight here for the rest of the week so we have the most time possible to conduct these experiments," Impa reminded us.

At the time, I wasn't entirely sure as to why dissecting various small creatures would have anything to do with shadow magic, but our teachers are very creative. They always incorporate everything we do in class into what we're learning somehow, even if it seems completely unrelated at the time.

I shrugged this thought off and got up to get one of the worms we were dissecting today. I pulled on some latex gloves and winced at the smell of the preservative. I brought the worm back to my desk and waited for Vaati to return, since he had gotten up to get gloves. Then, I picked up a scalpel.

Link

I saw Saria leave Zelda and go work with some other girl I didn't know. Zelda stayed where she was and started working with Vaati. They wrote in their notebooks for a while, then Zelda picked up a scalpel. I saw her gently hold the thing they were dissecting (I couldn't see what it was) with one gloved hand, and slowly lower the scalpel to it. She began making one long slice as Vaati watched over her shoulder. After a moment, Vaati opened his mouth and said something. He then reached down and grabbed Zelda's wrist. He carefully pressed her hand down a little then guided it as they finished the slice. He moved in a little closer to her and reached around her to pick up something from the desk. He then inserted that thing into the thing they were dissecting, which I now guessed was a worm by the long slice.

I expected him to move away from her again once he was finished, but he didn't. For whatever reason, he stayed close to her and continued looking over her shoulder. A rush of jealously swept over me and my cheeks turned redder. I turned back to my teacher and suddenly felt the urge to pay attention.

Zelda

I pressed the scalpel into the worm and began to cut it as Vaati watched over my shoulder. When I got about halfway done, he said, "you could cut just a bit deeper." He slowly reached over and wrapped his hand gently around my wrist. I felt the pressure on the top of my wrist as he pressed it down, forcing the cut to run a bit deeper. He then guided my hand down to the bottom of the worm. He then stepped up close to me and reached around behind me for the braces that kept the slice open. As he did so, his arm brushed my waist. I was surprised; it didn't feel unpleasant. He braced the worm open. I expected him to move away again, but he didn't. He continued watching over my shoulder. I wasn't sure how I felt about this close proximity, but his breath was tickling my neck and it would be a lie to say that I didn't enjoy it. It would also be a lie to say that I was perfectly comfortable with it, too.

I glanced at my notebook and began carefully looking through the worm for the parts we were supposed to identify. Vaati moved away from me to draw the inside of the worm. After a minute or two, we switched and I drew the worm while he searched for the parts I hadn't found yet.

When we had found everything, we began cleaning up. Vaati took the worm up front to ask how to dispose of it, while I began cleaning the bench. When we were done, we pulled our gloves off and washed our hands. I was feeling a little awkward around Vaati, so there wasn't much conversation. He pulled the towel off the ring at the end of the table to dry his hands, and I reached over to grab the part of it that he wasn't using. As I dried my hands off, my eyes met his. They were blood red. It was such an odd color for eyes… He noticed me staring and gave a small smile, showing no teeth.

Caught off guard, I smiled awkwardly back. Noticing my discomfort he chuckled slightly, but not enough to make me feel more uncomfortable. Just enough to make me smile a little wider. He had a cute chuckle. We finished washing our hands and he replaced the towel. Now that we had laughed a little, the air seemed to clear around us slightly. The bell rang and the other class got up to leave. I followed Vaati out of the classroom, not quite sure why I was suddenly admiring his hair so much. What a beautiful lavender color.

Link

I happened to glance over near the end of the class. I saw Zelda and Vaati holding a towel and washing their hands. They laughed at each other and seemed awfully happy together. I scowled. The bell rang and I stood up quickly and left the room, eager to be away from them.

I met up with Sheik as I opened my locker.

"Woah, dude, your face is really red. What happened in that class?" he asked me.

"Nothing," I replied bitterly, grabbing my books.

"Nothing as in 'nothing', or nothing as in 'I don't want to talk about it?" he asked.

He knew me so well. I slammed my locker shut and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough. Come on, let's go."

I followed Sheik to English, where we sat down by the wall near the back. He spoke to me about some video game, trying to get me to loosen up, until the bell rang. It was working, too. I had almost forgotten about Zelda and Vaati. Almost.

After English, it was time for lunch. Sheik and I got our lunches and walked over to the table where we always sat. A moment later, Malon joined us. We sat and ate and talked about nothing in particular until the magic students came in. Zelda was walking in between Saria and Vaati, laughing happily with both of them. They sat in that same order, and as soon as they were sitting, Saria turned and talked to some other girl, while Zelda began talking exclusively to Vaati. I felt envy run up my spine as though it were a small rodent.

I gulped and tried to focus on what Malon was saying, but it was quite difficult.

Zelda

After school, I was talking to Saria as we made plans for Friday. We were hoping that she would be free to sleep over at my house. We walked toward the door, but we were interrupted by Vaati.

"Hey, um, Zelda? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Vaati asked awkwardly.

"Uh, sure," I replied, nodding at Saria to tell her to wait for me outside.

Vaati stood in front of me for a minute, not meeting my eyes. Then he took a deep breath and gulped, "okay. Um, Zelda? Are-are you free…this Thursday? (A/N: Just to avoid any questions later, I know Thursday may be slightly different than what most people would do, but I have a plan for Friday, so it wouldn't work then… *evil laugh*) Do you want to go on a date with me?"

I was taken aback. I blinked at him in surprise for a minute before I considered. I really didn't have my eyes on anyone else, and after what he made me feel in the bio lab today, why not? I might as well give it a try and see what happens. I couldn't deny that I did like him a little.

"Sure. What time?"

His eyes flooded with relief and he smiled at me, "why don't I pick you up around 7?"

"Sounds good. See you then!" I walked past him.

"Okay, see you," he sounded somewhat distant, as though he hadn't quite understood what I said.

I left the school and saw Saria waiting patiently for me.

"So, what happened?" she asked me.

"I have a date on Thursday," I replied nonchalantly.

"Really?" she stopped walking a moment, then jogged a few steps to catch up with me, "with Vaati?"

I nodded.

She smirked, "you realize that I'm going to have to start a rumor now, right? And that you're going to be the envy of every girl in our class."

I laughed, "whatever, Saria. Race you!" I took off laughing.

"Hey, not fair!" she began sprinting after me.

Wednesday passed without event. Seriously. I was so incredibly bored that I almost fell asleep in one of my classes. And when you work with magic on a regular basis, that's nearly impossible. The highlight of the day was when we did another dissection. I still had no idea how it had anything to do with shadow magic, but I paired up with Vaati and sliced up a frog just like I was instructed. Vaati seemed incredibly happy today, too. I glanced at Link a couple times during the class, but he seemed very focused on the teacher. Odd…hadn't Sheik said he hated Biology? Oh, well, it didn't matter.

Thursday passed much the same as Wednesday. We dissected a fish and I sat next to Vaati in every class. He seemed really excited and wanted to spend every moment with me. But he wasn't clingy, so it wasn't like he was annoying. I was happy for that fact. I worked with him as my partner in every class where we had to work together, and I enjoyed his company. When school was over, I said goodbye to him and walked to my house with Saria.

"Okay," Saria began as she threw open the door to my closet while I sat on my bed, playing with a rubix cube, "we've got to find just the right outfit. It can't be too dressy, because he didn't say it was formal, but you can't go in jeans and a sweatshirt, either. I think a dress might be a little much, so maybe a skirt? Yeah, a skirt and a nice top. Nothing too fancy, but fancy enough that he knows you put some thought into it." She rummaged through my clothes, pulling out various articles. When she had settled on an outfit, she forced me to change into it immediately, even though it was only four, and began searching through my makeup, making a very similar speech about that.

When she was finally happy with my outfit, she had me looking forward to the date. Granted, I hadn't been dreading it, but I had been just thinking that it would be simple and quick. But Saria had this way of making me really enthusiastic about things, even when I didn't want to be. We hung out in my room until the doorbell rang at 6:57. Saria jumped up excitedly and pulled me off the bed, "he's here!"

I laughed, "I'm actually surprised you still are. Come to think of it, why are you still here?"

She shrugged, "are Link and Malon here?"

It was my turn to shrug, "why?"

"If they are, there's no need for me to leave yet. I'll just hang out here!"

"Yeah, and if you wait long enough, you might still be here when I get home!"

"If you're not too late, I will be."

"You're starting to sound like my mother."

The doorbell rang again.

"I'm surprised my dad hasn't answered that yet," I remarked.

"Doesn't matter, go!" she practically shoved me out the door and into the hallway. She followed me down the stairs and winked at me before she went down into the basement.

I flicked my hair over my shoulders and fixed my clothes. Then I opened the door, "hi, Vaati."

He smiled at me and his red eyes flashed with excitement.

Link

I sat on a beanbag, crouched forward in concentration. I kept my eyes on the screen, watching my radar. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an Elite came jumping toward me. Before I knew it, I was looking at my dead body from a third person view while the letters at the top of the screen said, "respawn in 3…2…1…" I paused the game and leaned back. I glanced over at Sheik who had a smug expression on his face.

"Okay, so you're better at Halo than me!" I admitted.

Malon laughed, "hand me that controller, Link."

I did so. We had worked out a system of playing where only two people would play, and every time one person died, they would give the controller to the person who wasn't playing. Unfortunately, Sheik was the best of all three of us, which wasn't really fair, since he could play whenever and Malon and I could only play at his house. Neither of us had any game consoles. Well, Malon had a few Pokémon games on her Gameboy, but that was really different from Halo.

"I don't know how you do it, Sheik," I said. I stood up to go to the bathroom and tapped Sheik's shoulder as I passed him. To be honest, I'm not even sure if he heard what I said. He looked pretty concentrated.

When I returned, Malon and Sheik were still at it, and Saria was sitting on the couch with Malon. I plopped down in the beanbag I had been occupying before and she turned to look at me, "hey, Link."

"Hi. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I'm just waiting for Zelda to get back. But if she's too late, I'll have to leave and hear about it tomorrow."

"About what?" I asked.

"About her date with Vaati."

I felt my eyes grow wide and I looked away. From the corner of my eye, I saw Malon glance up from the screen at me with a look of concern for a split second before she was concentrating again. I swallowed hard, "oh. I hope she has fun."

Apparently, my acting skills are better than I thought, because Saria said, "yeah, me too."

"Do you play, Saria?" Malon asked, obviously changing the subject.

"A little. I never really got into games. At least, not this kind of game. I do have an old N64, though," Saria replied.

"Really? That's cool," I said, glad that Malon had gotten me out of that awkward situation.

"Yeah, but I never really play it anymore. I used to play it all the time with my dad. What about you, Link?"

"I don't really have any game consoles. I'm only a gamer because I spend as much time here as I do in my own house. And I have for as long as I can remember."

Saria laughed, "yeah, me too. I've spent so much time here it's not even funny. Zelda's like my sister and her room is my hole. I only crawl out to go to school."

I laughed, and Malon chuckled. Even Sheik chuckled a little. I guess he wasn't as focused on the game as I thought he was.

Wow, I just realized how long our conversation from earlier was… We should make them shorter so no one gets bored…

Quixos: OMG! You're right! I can't believe I was social for that long!

… Well then… I hope you guys enjoyed!

Quixos: I didn't.

-_- don't be mean.

Quixos: *shrugs* it's who I am.

Whatever. And just so you guys know, I avoided conversation between Zelda and Vaati as well as details of the dissection because I haven't dissected anything in, like, four years or something. So, sorry if that part is slightly awkward and fast moving. I couldn't think of another way to do it. Also, I know a bunch of you asked for longer chapters. This one is still a bit short. I was going to make it longer, but then it would have been crazy long, so no reviews about longer chapters. The next one will be much longer, I promise. Also, there were a lot of very quick transitions between Link and Zelda in this chapter. That won't happen too often. Only when I'm trying to make a point.… Hey, where's Zelda?

Sam: on her date with Vaati, duh…

Right…I knew that.

Sam and Quixos: -_-U

Until next time peoples! :3

~Maya