The Legend of Zelda: Only Chosen Love

Chapter 3: A Strange Offer

The rest of the day passed by quickly for Zelda. She managed to make it through the rest of her classes with ease, but she still strangely missed seeing Link's face everywhere. For a big school, the boy sure knew how to get around quickly. And during breaks between classes, Sheik and the rest of Link's friends would hang around with the girls, wondering if they had seen Link yet. Zelda couldn't stand waiting for the day to end so she could visit Link in the nurses' office.

Zelda was now sitting in her History class, eagerly waiting for the clock to strike four. Saria and Ruto were with her, and she could tell by their anxiousness that they couldn't wait any longer either. When the bell finally rang, they sprang up from the seats and immediately left the classroom without saying another word until they reached the nurses' office.

When they arrived, the nurse told them that it was alright to visit Link, so they quickly ran into his room, where he was laying on a bed, bandages covering his head and neck. He looked at them, and smiled. After just a few seconds, Link's friends came running into the room. The eight visitors smiled at Link, and he weakly smiled back.

"Link!" Ruto screeched, and hugged his neck. He winced in pain, and grunted when her arms wrapped tighter around his neck.

"Be careful, Ruto!" Alexis yelled. "He's still in pain!"

Ruto pouted, and released her arms from Link's neck. "Do you know how worried I was about you?"

"Ugh, whatever, Ruto," Link muttered. "Hey Mikau, tell me the news. What's happened since I was sent here?"

"Hm, well, I heard Ganon was suspended for two weeks!" Mikau said happily.

"Good. That bastard deserves a good whooping. I'll beat the crap outta him next time, just watch."

"How long are you going to be here?" Zelda asked.

Link was taken off guard. "The nurses are hoping that I'll be back by tomorrow, but I had a lot of damage taken to my head. They said I had a concussion. I don't blame them, I don't remember anything between the moment Ganon threw me, to the time I hit the wall. Everything in between is a blur..."

"You'd better be back by tomorrow!" Mido growled. "It's not fun when you're not here! I mean, who else is gonna be our bodyguard against Ganon and his thugs!"

"I don't think he needs anymore fighting for a while!" Alexis said.

"Don't forget Link, you also have a guitar club meeting tomorrow at lunch," Mikau muttered.

"Great, another thing to worry about," Link sighed. "By the way, how do I look in these bandages? Pretty cool, right?"

"It's awesome, Boss!" Kafei cheered. "You look tough!"

"Sweet. Hey Sheik, can you do me a favor? They're selling chocolate pudding in the cafeteria today... can you get me some? The nurses won't let me leave."

Sheik nodded. "Sure thing. I'll be back in a second." Sheik left the room, leaving in the direction of the cafeteria.

Zelda and the rest of the group pulled up the available chairs, and sat next to Link's bedside. Link sat up farther on his pillow, and took a sip from the glass of water that was sitting on his bedside table.

"I am so looking forward to seeing Ganon in suspension," Link snickered. "This is the first time Ganon's been in suspension for so long. I think they should have just gotten him deported. That would save me a lot of time and blood."

Mido grinned, and relaxed against the back of his chair. "Then when Ganon gets out of suspension, we'll give him a taste of his own medicine!"

"I'll be sure to bring my sword."

Link can be... really violent... Zelda thought. But he does have a lot to defend himself against...

"You girls should help us out," Mido snickered.

"What do we look like, black belt fighters?" Ruto said sarcastically.

"Sorry, we're staying away from fights," Zelda muttered.

Link cracked his knuckles, and crossed his arms behind his head so that he was leaning against them on the wall. He stared up at the ceiling, and played with the bandages around his face. Zelda could still see a bit of blood underneath the bandages. That looks like it hurts... Zelda thought as she stared at the wounds on his forehead.

Pretty soon, Sheik came in with a small cup filled with chocolate pudding.

"Here you go, Link," Sheik said, handing him the pudding and a spoon.

"Thanks," Link muttered, and began to eat his pudding. He smiled, enjoying the taste of the chocolate dessert.

Mikau stood up from his chair, stretching his arms. "Alright, I gotta go to guitar practice... see you later Link. Get better soon!" He left the room.

Kafei, Mido and Sheik also began to leave from their chairs.

"We all have to get ready for our next class," Mido sighed. "Lucky ass, you don't have to go." He smiled, and left the room with the rest of the boys.

Zelda and the girls stood up, ready to leave too.

"Get better soon, Link!" Ruto growled. "I don't like it when you're gone! It gets lonely!"

Link rolled his eyes, and waved goodbye to the rest of the girls. Alexis, Saria, Ruto, and Malon turned to leave.

"See you later Link!" Malon said.

"Get better soon!"

Zelda gave Link a smile, and turned to leave, but was stopped when Link grabbed her arm.

"Please... can you stay for another minute?" Link asked her. Zelda looked at the door. The girls were already gone. It was just her and Link, alone.

"What do you want?" she asked him.

"I just... want you to stay. Why did you come and visit me anyways?"

Crap, Zelda thought. I can't tell him that I was worried about him! Think up an excuse...

"Oh, Ruto just dragged us all here because she was so worried about you," Zelda replied.

"Oh, really?" Link said suspiciously. "If I didn't know better, I'd be guessing that you were worried about me."

Wow, so he's a mind reader too.

Link released her arm, and gestured for her to sit down on the chair next to his bed. She hesitated, but sat down anyways.

"Thanks for visiting me... at least now I know the new student doesn't completely hate me," Link muttered.

"I never said I hated you... I just don't feel like dating any boys right now."

"Well, I wasn't asking you on a date. I was just thanking you for coming to visit me. And anyways, I could also tell by the look on your face that you were worried about me."

Zelda bit her lip, knowing that her expression of worry was clearly visible to Link now. All Link could do was stare at the ceiling to avoid looking at her worried face and saying something stupid.

"You know, I heard about you...," Link began, trying not to choke on his words. "About how you dumped every boy you went out with."

Zelda raised her eyebrow at Link, and he began to worry that he said something wrong. He knew she was going to yell at him.

"Where did you hear that?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Mikau told me. I just wanted to know if this was true..." Link didn't know what her response would be, but he knew it wouldn't be very pretty based on the expression she was giving him. He just continued to stare at the ceiling.

Zelda took a deep breath, and began to speak in a low voice. "It's true. I've gone out with lots of boys, and I've dumped them all."

"Why?" Link dared to ask.

"Because they were all the same. They didn't care for my feelings, or even about me. They just cared that I was pretty, and all they would want to do was have sex."

Link winced when she said that. He looked at her with sympathy in his eyes, a frown on his face.

"Is that true?" he asked.

"I don't lie unless I have to. And I can trust you to keep that a secret, right?"

He nodded, and stared back up at the ceiling. "Then I guess by now... you already know that I like you."

Zelda smiled, and reached over and held his hand. "I had a feeling you did. And... I guess you're alright too. But I-"

"Give me a month."

"What?" Zelda asked, stunned, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Give me a month... to make you fall in love with me."

Zelda blinked, and looked at him funny. Link stopped staring at the ceiling, and looked in her eyes.

"If I can't get you to fall in love with me by the end of December, I'll give up, and move on."

"Link, do you honestly think that you can make me fall in love with you by the end of December?" Zelda asked shockingly. "I mean, it's already November! That doesn't give you a lot of time..."

"That's one thing you don't know about me... I can read people's emotions. I can... tell what you're feeling right now."

Zelda swallowed. She didn't know such a skill existed. And she knew that if he wasn't lying and really did know how to do this, he would find out that she did like him.

"I won't tell you what you're feeling though," Link continued. "Unless you want me to."

"I'd be happy if you kept your mouth shut," Zelda muttered.

"Alright, alright." Link sat up on his pillow, his back supported by the wall. "So, considering the little wager is on, how would you like it if you came to my guitar practice with me tomorrow?"

Zelda thought over it for a minute. It didn't sound like a great date to her, but then again, she wasn't even asking for one, so she nodded in approval.

Link smiled, and rested himself on his back again, closing his eyes. "I have to get some sleep... I'll talk to you later, okay Zelda?"

"Sure," Zelda replied, and turned towards the door.

"Have a good first night here," she heard him mutter as she left the nurses' office.

Yeah, she thought. I'll try.

When Zelda made it back to her dorm room, it was nearly six o'clock. Her roommate was a girl named Navi, who seemed like a really big chatterbox. The moment Zelda stepped inside the room, Navi introduced herself, and began talking about her time at the school, and then began asking Zelda questions about her first day.

"So Zelda, did you make any new friends today?" Navi asked her, sitting down on the couch. Zelda sat across from her, drinking from a cup of hot chocolate.

"I met a few. Saria, Alexis, Ruto, and Malon."

"Oh yeah, those girls are nice to hang around with. Ruto can be annoying sometimes, but she's alright."

"I heard you get around the school a lot."

Navi nodded, and began playing with her long light-bluish hair. "That's true, Zelda. Next to Mikau the Zora, I'm the first person to get all the latest gossip and news, along with my friend Tatl, and her younger brother Tael, who's in the tenth grade."

"So, all four of you know everything that goes on in the school?"

"Yep! Well, we don't talk to Mikau much, because he's with Link's gang, who resides at the other end of the school, but Tatl, Tael and I have good resources! All of our information is spot-on!"

"Then can you tell me a bit about the school's guitar club?" Zelda was hoping to get information about the club so she would know what to expect with Link the next day.

"The guitar club is pretty popular these days," Navi began. "The best members though are Mikau, Japas, and Link. They rock out loud!"

I knew it, Zelda thought. Link is a good guitar player, and really popular at that.

"I hear that Mikau, Japas, Link, and their drummer, Tijo, are going to play a concert for the school's fundraiser for the upcoming winter dance. They haven't gotten a singer yet... but I hear that they're debating whether Mikau or Link sings. Link keeps saying that he doesn't sing, but they don't believe him..."

"Maybe Link can sing," Zelda interrupted. "He kinda looks the part..."

"You've met him? Isn't he the cutest boy alive?"

Zelda bit her lip. She agreed with Navi, but she didn't freak out over the boy's looks as much as she did.

"And it's so weird how he hasn't found a person to go with him for the winter dance!"

Zelda blinked. "He hasn't?" Of course he hasn't, you dummy, she thought. He wouldn't be trying to prove himself to me if he was in love with someone else... but wait, am I saying I'm in love with him? Zelda, get those thoughts out of your head! He's just another guy... but... he's not like the others...

"I wonder if he'll ask me...," Navi continued, beginning to dream into her own little world. "But he's got so many other girls in his life... especially Ruto. That girl is like a demon when it comes to Link. She won't let anyone else have their hands on him..."

Oh great, I hope she doesn't see me with Link tomorrow then. Zelda smiled, imagining how much Ruto would freak out at the sight of her going to guitar practice with Link.

Zelda heard a phone ring. Navi picked up a small blue cellphone, and began speaking into it to the person at the other end of the line. Wow, she's got a cellphone. Lucky...

Navi stood up, and began to walk around the room, talking to the other person on the line.

"Tael, you know that Biology project is due tomorrow! Get off the phone and get working!" She hung up, and set the phone on her bed.

"That was Tael?" Zelda asked her.

Navi sighed. "Yeah, and he's slacking off again. He's supposed to have this Biology project done by tomorrow, and he's not even close to having it finished! I swear, that boy's going to fail!"

"What about his sister, Tatl?"

"She's the smart one, and she doesn't slack off. I don't know why Tael bothers to call me though. He should just call his sis..."

Zelda smiled, and walked to her bed, sitting down on the mattress, and opening her textbook to study. When she left her home to come to the academy, she had made a promise to her family that she would study hard and become a high-ranking student, and she wasn't going to let that promise slip away now.

She sat there studying for hours, and Navi read up on the latest school news on her laptop computer. It was where Navi always got her latest gossip to tell to her circle of friends.

When Zelda was finished studying, it was nine o'clock, and she was planning on going to bed soon so she could get an early start in the morning. She set her books underneath her bed with her bag, and pulled the covers over her, not even bothering to change into her pajamas. She was extremely tired, and the day had been long. She couldn't wait for a nice, long sleep...


Link, on the other hand, was having a hard time falling asleep. He felt fine, in fact, he couldn't have felt better. He finally got the nerve to say what he wanted to Zelda. But he was regretting it; did he say the right thing? He was hoping she actually would come with him to his guitar practice, and wouldn't just blow off his offer. He knew that she thought he was a total weirdo, maybe even a freak. How would he look at her the next day? He was mostly worried, and didn't even bother to think of how the day would go if she did accept. But he couldn't help but dream about her smiling face, her amazing personality, her amazing angel-like body... he ended up dreaming of her most of the night. He dreamed of holding her, spending his days with her, kissing her...

Link snapped his eyes open, and sat up in his bed. He looked at the clock; it was four in the morning. He groaned, and turned over in his bed onto his side. He couldn't believe he had a weird dream like that. He had just met Zelda today, and he was already having romantic dreams about her? Link bit his lip hard, punishing himself for having such stupid dreams. He winced in pain, and then stopped. He closed his eyes, and tried to fall asleep, hoping not to have any more stupid dreams.

It didn't work.