Himmels: Haha, we FINALLY updated! School has been hell! You'd think that things would slow down a bit now that the end of the year is approaching, but nooo!

Draculina: Just a few more weeks...a few more and then we can do things that we want...We'll ride our horses, go hunting, go fishing, work at our jobs...sleep until like...one in the afternoon...

Himmels: Woo, can't wait! Anyway! Finally our latest chapter is up. We had a little writers block with this chapter, so yeah its just a filler.

Draculina: Weird. We've been getting ideas from the cracks of the Earth for our other story, but this one we were suddenly confused. That hasn't happened before...Eh, well, enjoy.

Chapter 4

Soaking Wet

"He's my best friend, best of all best friends,

Do you have a best friend too?

It tickles in my tummy, he's so yummy yummy,

Hey, you should get a best friend too!

--Toybox

(totally not country, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do)

Before I could leave the school, my new friends decided that they had to individually come and say good-bye. Link and his brothers and sister walked me to the parking lot (with Dark Link and Sheik it was unintentional, but I would like to think otherwise) and helped me spot out my Mom's car. I thought she would do me the wonderful favor of driving the German tank, but no, life wasn't, nor will it ever be, that easy. She just had to bring the Mustang! She better have a good excuse…

Rian appeared beside me and raised an eyebrow, "Wow…shiny," was all she said and walked to her own ride.

I wonder if 'shiny' is a good thing…probably not.

"Thanks for today, Link." I turned and smiled at him before I ran to the car, "See ya, Saria, Sheik, Dark!"

"Anytime!" Link called after me.

"Bye bye!" Saria shouted.

Maybe Sheik and Dark waved. Not likely, but maybe.

I hoped that nobody saw me get into the too much attention attracting car. Rian was the only person that commented on it, but she is hard to interpret. With a sigh, I place my heavy backpack between my legs below the seat and then looked at Mom who stared right back.

"What?" she asked innocently.

I leered some more.

"Oh, jeez, Zelda!" she said rolling her eyes, "You'll live. Your Dad took the truck into town, so I drove this. I doubt that they care if the car is nice or not. They might care that you don't have your license, however." She said putting the Mustang into gear and carefully driving out of the small lot.

I blinked, "Huh? My license?"

"Yeah, Link has one and he just turned sixteen. You're almost sixteen; just two more months." She explained, "You should at least have your permit, but you've been dragging your feet with this."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I said grumpily, "I just don't like driving all that much."

"I know, but it'll be useful." Mom said while turning onto the street and started home, "Anyway, let's not talk about that. We'll get that done soon. How was school? Did you make friends? Did you like your teachers?" she asked eagerly.

When my Mom said 'we'll get that done later' she meant that I'll be studying and obtaining my permit soon and there weren't any buts about it. I shrugged it off for the time being and answered, "School was actually pretty cool. There were stairs." I grinned and then continued, "I've met a few new people. Well…more then a few. Link is quite popular and he introduced me to his friends."

"What are their names? I probably know their parents."

"Well, there is Ruto Hokuikekai," I had to sound it out slowly for my sake more then Mom's, "Nabooru Villalobos, Rian O'Connor, Darunia Stein, Malon Hayner, and Link's brothers and sister, Dark Link McKirian, Sheik McKirian, and Saria McKirian."

"Er, Dark Link?" Mom said taking a glance at me.

"I think only his family knows his real name. I plan on getting it out of him one day…along with Link's middle name translation." I mumbled afterward.

Mom smiled, "And your teachers?"

"There is Mr. Gaebora, Mrs. Beitzel, Mrs. Amery, Aideen O'Connor; she lets us call her by her first name and obviously she is Rian's mom," I explained quickly and then continued, "and there is Wolf Fang and then Mrs. Fujiwatari." I beamed, "Wolf Fang is a real Comanche Indian! I'm talking real! He can speak the language and stuff! That's rare, you know. Mr. Gaebora is very stern, but he seems nice…I think…and Mrs. Beitzel is my favorite teacher, by far. She is so nice! Aideen is…tough, but I like her. Rian is a carbon copy of her. Mrs. Amery is quiet and calm, but I think I'll like her. Mrs. Fujiwatari will make math great for me, too. Her sarcasm is hilarious."

Mom laughed and said, "I'm glad you like it so far. That was a lot to take in. And you said it so quickly." She added.

We pulled into the long driveway and I leaned forward to look passed Mom and towards the McKirian house and there was that old truck driving parallel to ours. I grinned and thought, "Link must drive fast, because he caught up to our Mustang and we left earlier then him in the parking lot. Link wasn't even in the driver's seat when we drove passed the school."

Mom also must have caught this, because she narrowed her eyes at first and then shrugged with a small shake of her head. She parked the car on the left side of the small concrete section in front of the garage that was still probably stuffed with things to unpack. Opening the door and stepping out, I dragged the heavy backpack, filled to the point of me having a hard time zipping the dumb thing, and heaved it unto my shoulders. With me grumbling and my back hunched, I followed my Mom to the front door and wasn't surprised to see that she didn't bother to lock it when she left.

Watching me collapse on the couch after I let my bag drop to a hard thud to the floor, Mom asked, "Did they give you a lot of homework?"

"Let's just say they didn't show the new kid mercy and leave it at that." I replied.

"What all do you have?" Mom called from the kitchen. Just now I smelled the aroma of cooking meat and felt a tinge of hunger and remembered that I didn't eat much lunch.

"Um," I dug through the front pocket of my backpack and took out my little schedule do-hicky, "Section 2.1 and 2.2 in Biology answering review questions, section assessment of the Spartan chapter in World History, read the short story "My Left Foot" for English and answer the following questions 1-6 afterward, study verbs in German and complete worksheet, and section 1.5 questions 1-12 and 20-25 in Geometry."

"No mercy." Mom agreed, "Better get started."

I sighed and agreed. Heaving the pack back on my shoulder, I trudged up the stairs and yawned as I entered my room. Being easily distracted, I didn't turn on my T.V. or my ipod stereo while I started my homework.

"Ok, Zelda," I said to myself after stacking my textbooks and notebooks next to me when I sat down at my desk, "Do the stuff you find easy first and then work your way to the hard stuff." Taking the English book from the stack, I cracked it open and began reading the story.

O.oxo.O

"Honey, dinner's ready!"

Ha! I finished the English, World History, and I'm half way done with my Biology! Take that homework!

Standing from the desk, I raised my hands above my head and stretched. The smell of Mom's cooking has been torturing me for a while now, because it seeped upstairs while I was trying to concentrate. Closing the door behind me, I walked gradually down stairs and into the kitchen. Dad was already sitting down and Mom just finished placing the last dish unto the table. I smiled happily when I saw that she fixed sausage and sauerkraut. Hell, I can't speak like a German, but I sure can eat like one!

"Thanks, Mom! This looks great!" I said sitting down.

Mom sat down also and we were about to dig in before the door bell rang. We all blinked and then Dad got up and walked into the living room. We heard him open the door and then we heard a surprised greeting and cheerful how-are-you's (AN: Sorry, you's isn't a word). At that, Mom and I got up and peeked into the living room. All I saw was a man a bit older then my father at the door way. There were others behind him, but I couldn't see them as clearly.

"Come in!" Dad said motioning his hands.

"We aren't interrupting anything, are we?" the stranger asked.

Mom, finally recognizing him, said, "Of course not! Come and eat! You and the kids, I've made way too much anyway!"

The man turned and said, "Ah, Mrs. King, you're as beautiful as I remember!" Catching sight of me he said, "Oh, you must be Zelda. Link told me about you."

Link?

As if that was a signal, Link's big, bright blue eyes peered from behind the man's shoulder.

"Are you sure? I'm sorry if we came at a bad time, but we wanted to come see our new neighbors and old friends." He said.

"No, no! I truly did make a lot! Just in case Zelda had a bad day, I made her favorite and when I make that, I make a lot."

Damn it, Mom…

I put on a thin smile as the family of 5 almost shyly came in.

Link and Saria were the more open ones of the group, so they approached me freely. McKirian (which Dad simply called him, so I will too, I guess) and the other two stepped in slowly. Dark Link probably just didn't want to be here, but Sheik might actually be genuinely worried about intruding.

O.oxo.O

The dinner here was…loud. McKirian and Dad were the loudest, but Link and Saria both were a close second. Mom and I piped up at times and laughed when we were supposed to, which was pretty often, considering the many jokes told by our neighbors and the funny stories. My favorite story yet would have to be the one of Dad getting chased by the McKiran bull while riding his ATV through their field. Or at least I thought it was funny, but Dark Link and Sheik didn't laugh at all. Sheik smiled a little, but it was virtually invisible. And at one point Sheik did actually say 'thank you' when I passed him the sauerkraut, so he wasn't a mute. Dark Link, however, was the farthest thing from the life of the party. He barely lifted his head and glared at his father and doppelganger brother when they tried to get him to talk.

When we finished eating, we migrated to the living room where the adults sat on the couch and we just sprawled in random places. At first we just listened to the older one's conversation, but eventually we started our own. Of course, the two quiet ones didn't contribute any, but they seemed to be listening. We talked about my life in California and how the schools were different. Link and Saria in turn talked of their own lives here in Texas. I noticed, however, that they didn't talk much about their childhoods, but more of their teen years (though Saria was barely 14). I also noticed that they kept veering the conversation back to my life in California. They asked about my friends back there and I told them about my best friend that I hoped would visit one day, because I miss her so much.

"What's her name?" Saria asked.

"Midna." I smiled, "She said that she is saving up for a plane ticket out here. I've been keeping contact with her through e-mail and stuff like that."

"You got to introduce us when she comes!" Link said happily.

I nodded still smiling.

We spoke some more, but I was feeling a little self-conscious at talking about myself. I then tried to get Sheik or Dark Link to talk, but when I asked them a question (which I tried to make more then a yes-or-no answered one) they just nodded, shrugged, or shook their heads. Dark Link didn't bother to answer with a mere movement half the time, making Link scowl and nudge him.

Seeing me shift around a lot, Link said, "Your legs asleep?"

"Oh, no," I replied, "I just don't like being in one spot for a long time. I constantly have to keep moving. Odd isn't it?"

"Let's walk then!" he said immediately getting up.

Saria sprang up in agreement and motioned for Sheik and Dark Link to do the same. Slowly they did so (Saria dragging Dark by the arm) and followed us out the door.

"Going for a walk." I called to my parents.

"Alright." One of them said.

O.oxo.O

Generally, we were pretty much silent, save for the sudden spurts of talk that usually Link or Saria initiate. At first we wandered down the dirt lane, but when we reached the end we turned around and went straight back. Instead of heading back inside, we went by the side of the house, passing the big oak tree and to the peanut plants. Saria laughed suddenly and skipped in between two of the rows. Link grinned suddenly and pushed my shoulder making me bump into Sheik. He then took off in after Saria.

I looked at Sheik and asked, "Does that mean 'chase me' in Link's sign language?"

Sheik glanced up slightly and nodded.

I smiled at him and then pushed both his and Dark's shoulder. A very faint smile reached Sheik's lips, but Dark gave me an are-you-kidding-me look.

"Hey!" Link called. He was already well into the field, Saria even farther in.

I pushed the quiet boys' shoulders one more time before I ran after the talkative two. I heard footsteps behind me, so I knew Sheik was following, but I also knew that Dark Link was bringing up the rear at a walk.

I frowned and slid to a halt when I reached the end of the fields and saw Link and Saria hop over the fence that signaled the end of my property. Sheik suddenly blazed pass me with a surprising speed and cleared the fence in one jump. I still stood there debating whether to follow or not. I jumped when I felt Dark push me a lot harder then I pushed him. I stumbled forward and glared at him. He raised his eyebrows at me almost mockingly and strolled on to his cousin, brother, and sister. At one point he must have caught up with us at a run, or at least that is what I assume. I then jog up to them and again hesitate at the top of the fence.

"What's wrong?" Link asked.

"Er, aren't we trespassing if we climb this fence?" I asked.

"Oh, good God, Zelda!" Link laughed, "California must be a crappy place if you can't climb your fence and explore."

My eye twitched and I answered, "No, it is not a crappy place. We just respect other people's property lines."

"What is the point of having all this land if we aren't going to share it with one another?" Link asked and then added, "And even if they did care, how are they going to see us like 50 acres away? Unless they have a scope on a rifle or binoculars then we're screwed, but this guy that is behind you is nice enough not to shoot us."

My lips went thin, but I followed them anyway.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I want to show you the river." Link replied.

"There is a river here?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't notice it from your window or something." Saria said.

I frowned again (I'm doing that a lot lately…) and thought back to when I was looked out the window. I never saw a river.

"I never saw it." I shook my head.

"Well, did you use binoculars or a scope on a gun?" Link asked.

"No!"

"Then you wouldn't."

I then mumbled, "Why would I have a gun scope?"

"So you can shoot things far away." Dark said sarcastically.

"I don't have a gun!" I told them hotly.

For a second, they all froze like time stopped for two seconds and then they walked again. I had a distinct feeling that I'll be hearing some California jokes sooner or later by most likely Link…or Nabooru if he tells her. Rian will just call me a wimpy bitch or something…

I stepped high through the tall, dry grass. Careful not to step into a groundhog hole or something, I tried to step where Link did knowing that he knew everything about this place. At one point I accidentally tripped and had to clutch his shirt. Sheik grabbed me by the neck collar and hauled me back onto my balance. Hearing Dark snicker from behind made me blush slightly. Thankfully, after walking for what seems like a mile, we reached the river that the McKirians were talking about. I must say, it is absolutely gorgeous. The banks curved back and forth through the hot earth, splashing its water up onto the trees above. The river was wide enough that someone placed rocks in a semicircle inside the water, making a small swimming hole.

"There's even fish in it." Saria exclaimed as she raced to the water, kicking off her little lime green boots in frenzy.

Link followed also, grappling to my hand and dragging me to the banks. I kicked off my shoes and didn't notice Link undressing. When I looked up I gasped and the laughed in the awkwardness. Saria, too, had only an undershirt and boxer-like shorts on. I turned away in embarrassment for them, but then just saw the chest of Sheik.

I squealed and covered my eyes, "What are you guys doing?!"

"What?" Saria asked with confused eyes, "It's a swimming hole. You swim in them."

I peeked through my fingers and replied, "So that means undress here?"

"Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm getting my pants wet." Link said shaking his head, "Haven't you seen a guy half naked before?"

""No!"

Link laughed gleefully and pulled Sheik by his side saying happily, "Then admire! Admire! We feel no shame!"

I closed my eyes once more and laughed hard. I managed to gasp out, "Just get in the water!"

Still grinning, I sat upon the bank and placed my feet into the water. To my surprise, Dark sat next to me, his feet also in the water and watched his family play around. I blushed again when he turned to me and stared unblinkingly. With a thrust of his chin, he asked me through sign language why I wasn't in the water.

"I don't have an undershirt or boxers on." I stated.

He raised that oddly elegant eyebrow and smirked.

I narrowed my eyes at the sudden face like this and then caught on with a sigh, "But I do," I continued, "have underwear and bra on."

He chuckled lightly. That was a weird sound. It was almost like he didn't know how to do it. He then said, "I was just teasing."

I smiled softly, but then was shocked out of my little tunnel vision of Dark Link when the trouble making Light Link splashed me with that cold water.

"LINK!" I shouted and then stood within the water kicked a stream at him, "TAKE THAT!"

O.oxo.O

"The next time we go to the river we'll bring an extra pair of clothes." Link said nodding.

"Yes, Link." I said tightly, "We'll do that."

A war of water erupted after I returned Link's splash. We thought it would all end when we accidentally got Dark Link, but however, he got pissed. He talked his cousin and brother into the water, while Saria and I swam out of the way in the nick of time. We probably emptied the river of half its water, I swear.

Dark and I didn't take off our clothes when we ended up in the water, so we were soaked to the bone when we were walking back through the peanut fields. Saria, Sheik, and Link had there pants on, but still didn't have shirts (except Saria). When we opened the front door and stepped inside still not a little bit dry even from the steaming hot walk back, the adults eyed us with something between amusement and confusion.

"Took her to the river." McKirian said in more of a statement then a question.

The younger McKirians nodded.

"Humidity won't let you get dry." Mom continued.

We shook our heads.

"Wanna dry off?" Dad asked.

We nodded.

We then clambered up the stairs towards my bathroom where I had towels on a shelf. Everybody took one and was shaking heads dry, except…Link.

"Hey, Zelda! I like your room! Cool dragon statues!"

I then heard something drop and shatter. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Sorry."

Himmels: Ja, ja, just a filler. But fun a little fun right? We'll get into the more important stuff soon enough.

Draculina: When we say soon enough it means in a few weeks after we update our other story, lol.

Himmels: Hope y'all are still enjoying it so far!

Draculina: Review and tell us!