There were a lot of things spinning around in Peach's mind, but the one thing she knew was that she wasn't going to die - not today, at least.
"You must believe me, Ms. Forest," Peach began. "I am an innocent here. My parents never told me about anything of this."
Zelda narrowed her eyes at her. "And yet the very clothes on your back were probably bought because my sisters and mothers all died for this."
Peach couldn't believe what Zelda was telling her. There was no way her parents had committed a mini-genocide. They had always loved her. Her mother was the very picture of motherhood, there could be no way she had ordered the deaths of many Hylian men and women, even if they were despicable, disgusting and second class. She cleared her thoughts. She would think about this more clearly when she was out of harm's way.
"I didn't know about that," Peach said. "Killing won't solve anything. Let me talk to my parents. If they have money, I'm sure they would try recompense for all the lives they took."
Zelda's eyes flashed dangerously. "You really know nothing about us, don't you? Hylians are not interested in money, especially when it's blood money. You think that money would be adequate enough? Besides, your parents would never agree to it, and you even suggesting it proves you're as bad as them."
Despite herself, Peach felt her cheeks burning in shame. "I don't know what else you can do but my death won't bring them back."
Zelda narrowed her eyes into even smaller slits. "I don't care a whit for you, it's true. But your parents deserve to understand what they did to us and this is the only way. You need only blame them for loving you this much otherwise I wouldn't even be after you."
Peach's hand slid to the handle of the compartment door, but Zelda saw.
"You think you can escape?" Zelda asked.
Peach tilted her head up. "I can and will."
In a flash, Zelda started toward her. Using her other hand, Peach whipped off her wide-brimmed hat and jammed it on Zelda's head, right as she came toward her, momentarily disabling the Hylian from charging right to her. With her other hand she wrenched open the compartment door and slammed it shut just as Zelda's fingers tried to prevent her from doing so. There was a loud CRUNCH! as she slammed the door on Zelda's fingers and the Hylian let out a howl of fury and pain.
Peach didn't pause. Madly, she ran down the compartment to the next cart, her heart hammering wildly. She was on a train, but she didn't know where to go. There aren't too many places to hide, she thought. She rushed past the dining cart, to the first one she had boarded but as she ran past the lavatory - the very same one Mr. Yoshi had directed her to before, a hand shot out from the bathroom and snagged her around the waist and dragged her into the cramped space, pulling it shut and locking it in one swift motion.
Peach took a deep breath, but before she could scream, a hand clamped down on her mouth and her scream became muffled. The other hand managed to pin her hands behind her, trapping them between their chest and her back.
"Do you want to die?!" a voice urgently whispered at her ear, making Peach's heart stop.
It was Roy Forest. Or Eliwood. She didn't know who he was, just that he was dangerous as everybody on this train probably was. She wriggled in his grasp, trying to free herself, but his hold on her only grew tighter as he held her against his chest.
"Stop struggling," he hissed at her. "And maybe I'll let you go."
She gave a muffled sound of protest and tried to struggle a little more, but it was useless. Roy had her bound to him so tightly that she knew she was powerless in his grasp. She stopped flailing and hesitantly, he let go of her mouth.
"Let me go," she said. "You said you'd let me go if I stopped struggling. This is inappropriate!"
His breath was warm against her ear, and his voice mischievous. "Inappropriate? Ah, but it feels so right."
"How dare you!" Peach hissed. "First, you set your fiancée on me and now-"
Roy's grip on her loosened. "My fiancée?" he sounded lost for one moment, before he said, "Oh yes! I remember now. I told you to look for my fiancée. I told you to tell her that..." he suddenly chuckled. "So you found her, then?"
"She's a lunatic! And she's Hylian! How she ever boarded the train..." She stopped abruptly as a more pressing matter entered her mind. "You're engaged to her!" And though she was finding that she rather liked the feeling of his arms around her, his warm chest against her back, she lurched away from him and turned so that she could study him.
He raised his eyebrows at her. "And that surprises you?"
"Of course it does! You're... you're a normal person, like me. And she's... Hylian! We're not even of the same race!"
A slightly disappointed look crossed Roy's face when she said this, a look she found she didn't like. "You don't even know me," he said quietly to her. "I could be the furthest thing from normal."
She realized he was right. This was a man she had only had one conversation with. Why did she believe it would be outside his reach to court a Hylian? She crossed her arms and turned away from him, staring at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was in knots from all of the running she had done. Her eyes looked crazed, yet there was still the disappointment lurking there.
"You're right," she said, turning back to him. "I don't know you at all. I don't even know why I presumed you were remotely normal at all." She felt her breathing grow faster and leaned against the sink as she regarded him angrily.
"You make it sound like an insult," he said, and there was a spark of annoyance in those blue eyes as he said it. "That I'm not some kind of racist the way you are."
She gaped at him. "How dare you! I'm not racist."
"You think being Hylian isn't normal. And the thought of her being with me repulses you because as you said, we are not of the same race." He smiled bitterly at her. "Though several minutes ago, I would have wished that it was because you would have rather it been us together."
Her lips tightened against each other. How she longed to slap him! Her fingers twitched at the very idea, but Roy's eyes flashed down and noticed it right away. "You would slap me for my impudence?" he laughed sardonically. "Don't bother; the thought of being with a racist such as you repulses me."
She stomped her foot. "Don't call me that! I find it strange that you of all people would find the thought of a racist - which I'm not, by the way - repulsive, considering you tried to kill me. Or rather handed me to somebody who wanted to kill me with no such warning!"
Because the restroom space was incredibly cramped, Roy couldn't take a step back at her accusation. But he did lean away from her. "That's preposterous. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it a long time ago, believe me. The thought becomes more and more attractive each time you open your mouth, anyway!"
"Are you threatening me?"
"I'm merely telling you to shut up," he responded frostily.
She stared at him with maddening hatred. Then she turned on her heel to the door. "I don't have to put up with this," she muttered, her fingers fumbling for the latch.
"What are you doing?"
"Leaving! I can't bear to be in the same place as you! Not to mention, you wish to kill me."
He laughed, which only made her angrier. "What a fool you are! Haven't you heard me say? If I wanted to, I already would have done it. As it stands, if you go out there, this Zelda Forest will be after you! She'll find you!"
"I'd sooner her find me than have you laugh at me in a condescending manner."
"Peach," he said, using her name for the first time. It was strange, the effect it had on her. It tugged at her heart, but she refused to give in and unlatched the door.
His hand circled her wrist, preventing her from opening the door and she said in a quiet voice, "Let go of me."
In an equally quiet voice, he said, "No. Peach," he said and gave a long sigh. She felt his breath come out, blowing a few strands of her hair forward. A moment later, she felt the weight of his head against her shoulder, his messy hair tickling the side of her neck. It was incredibly inappropriate, she realized. And yet this act, made her freeze. "I do not wish to fight you."
She said nothing, not trusting herself to speak. He stayed that way for what seemed like a long time. Finally he lifted his head from her shoulder and asked, "Why is Ms. Forest after you?"
Peach opened her mouth, perhaps to say she didn't know. But perhaps it was because he had placed his head on her shoulder. Perhaps it was because he said he didn't want to fight her anymore, that she said softly, "Because my parents love me."
She felt his hand on her wrist tighten and pivot her around to face him. He studied her face with his bright blue eyes, taking in her disheveled, weary face. He opened his mouth and then...
...Then the door burst open.