Chapter 4 – Gandalf's Departure
By the time evening had come, Aragorn and Arwen had prepared tents for Link and Zelda. After Zelda had gotten settled in and put on a dress Arwen lent her, she lay outside in the grass, gazing at the stars. She just sat and thought. "Will Link and I ever get home? What will become of Hyrule if we don't stop Ganondorf? Where is Ganondorf and what has he got to do with Middle Earth?" Suddenly the crunch of a leaf behind her interrupted her thoughts. She sat up and turned around to see Link standing there.
"It's getting late, Princess," he informed. "Shouldn't you go to sleep in your tent?"
Zelda sighed and lay back down on the grass. Before she knew it, Link was there lying next to her. "I can't sleep," she replied, looking at the night sky.
"I know what you mean," said Link with a slight grin. "Being in a strange land when something so confusing has happened. And I know you're worrying about your people, too. You're such a wonderful ruler to care so much about your kingdom."
Princess Zelda felt her face turn red. "Thank you," she said quietly. "You're a wonderful man, to risk your life to save me and my kingdom."
Link turned on his side to face her, and she did the same. "You know," he said softly, almost in a whisper. "I would say 'just doing my job' but that wouldn't be true. I do it for a…personal reason."
Zelda's face became shadowed over with gloom. "Oh. To impress Ilia?"
Link's reaction surprised the young princess quite a bit. He started to burst out laughing and pounded the ground with his fists. "You-you think that's the reason?" he asked between laughs. "No way! Ilia's a snob!"
The princess let out a sigh of relief. "So then what is your personal reason?"
Link stopped laughing and his lips curved into a grin. "I can't tell you just yet," he replied, lightly tapping her on the nose. His gesture made Zelda blush even more. "Oh, but I have to tell you something."
"Yeah?" Zelda asked, interested.
"I'm very sorry for getting you into all this trouble," Link apologized sincerely.
A warm smile spread across the princess' face. "Aw, Link, it's not your fault. And this would have happened anyways even if you hadn't come with me to chase Ganondorf. I'm glad to be here with you. I never told you this, but you're my best friend."
A lopsided grin appeared on Link's face. "Aw, Zelda…" he began, embarrassed. He then found himself taking the princess' hand in his. "You're my best friend too."
* * *
"Aragorn, have you seen Gandalf?" asked Bilbo Baggins, knocking on the frame of Aragorn's tent.
There was silence as Bilbo waited for an answer, but then he heard the sound of a pan clanging and then the tent shook. Then Aragorn came out, rubbing the top of my head.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Bilbo apologized.
Aragorn looked at him curiously. "For what?"
"Well, I must've woken Arwen and then she hit you on the head with a skillet," Bilbo replied, wringing his hands together.
Aragorn let out a merry laugh. "No, I tripped over the skillet and hit my head on the tent frame. Anyways, so what did you want?"
"Oh, right," Bilbo said in his usual Bilboian accent. "Have you seen Gandalf?"
"Is he not in his tent?" questioned Aragorn, raising an eyebrow.
"No, I looked," Bilbo replied.
A look of urgency and worry came across Aragorn's face. He reached in his tent, took out his robe, and put it on. Then he and Bilbo hastily dashed to Gandalf's tent. When they arrived there, Bilbo proved to be right. The tent was empty. But Aragorn's keen eyes noticed a note nailed to the middle tent post. He read it aloud for Bilbo to hear as well.
"Dear Friends," the king of Gondor read. "A dream compelled me to quicken the research of his 'Ganondorf'. I have gone to Gondor. I hope to be back soon with valuable information. So stay put and wait for the whinny of Shadowfax."
"Gandalf," Bilbo said with a hint of worry in his voice. "Aragorn, what are we going to do?"
Aragorn kept looking straight ahead as he replied, "Like Gandalf said. Wait."
A/N: I told you it would be short! The next chapter is going to be some fun everyone has. But what should it be? Any suggestions?
