things fall apart

There was a momentary awkward silence as the three individuals in the room stared at each other. Zelda looked at Link worriedly, afraid of Cawlin saying something to make him snap and get in even more trouble.

"I'm going to need that CD." Cawlin continued.

"Oh?" Link said challengingly. "Why?"

"It doesn't belong to you." Cawlin's eyes narrowed, irritated with Link's snarkiness.

Zelda slowly put her spray bottle down and stepped carefully over the chu jelly to stand in between the fuming boys. She looked at Cawlin curiously.

"Is there something on it? Something bad?"

"That's none of your business."

Cawlin sighed.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be. Just give me the CD, so we can move on with our lives."

"No, I think I'm going to hold onto it." Link insisted. "Not like your weak ass is gonna do shit."

Cawlin glared, having reached the tail end of his patience with Link. Link was taller and stronger, but what he wasn't counting on was Cawlin's speed. He charged unexpectedly, shoving Zelda out of the way with a surprising amount of force. Before Link could properly react, he swiped the CD out of his hands and turned to bolt straight for the door. That right there was a dead giveaway that whatever footage or content could be seen or heard was bad and possibly incriminating, and Link wasted no time in chasing after the chubby young man. Cawlin knew that if Link got a hold of him he would be done for. Before he could reach for the door handle he strategically made a sharp turn to the right, causing Link to slam into the door and fall back in a daze.

Link recovered quickly, backing away from the door to look for Cawlin. As soon as he was far away enough, Cawlin made another run for the door. He smiled to himself triumphantly as he was just about to make his exit.

"Better luck next ti - "

WHOOSH!

A large glob of chu jelly was hurled at the back of his head, the force so strong it caused him to fall flat on his face. He tried to move up but the hold of the jelly was too strong. He was stuck. Link turned back and looked at Zelda incredulously. Her arm was covered in the viscous substance.

"...Damn, Z." Link grinned at her. "Nice moves."

She blushed.

"Thank you." She walked over to Cawlin and swiped the CD. "Now we know for sure that the content on here is good."

Cawlin protested, though Link and Zelda couldn't understand a word he was saying because his voice was muffled.

"Shtop!" He cried out.

"What do we do now?" Zelda looked at her dark-haired companion.

Before he could answer, curious voices reverberated throughout the dorm hall. They belonged to Lana and Ashei, who were curious as to what was happening in the room. Zelda's jaw dropped.

"An't breathe…. An't breathe!" Cawlin gasped, struggling to sit up from the jelly.

Zelda grabbed her spray bottle and gave him two quick spritzes. He sighed in relief as the jelly slide off the back of his head harmlessly.

The voices grew louder as the other volunteers began to close in on them. Zelda, still lost, looked at Link helplessly.

"Run." He said, not even waiting for a proper response before grabbing her hand and pulling her with him.

"Wha - ? Link! We're going to get in trouble!" She held onto the CD tightly, afraid it might fall with how fast they were running. Zelda wasn't even sure if she could keep up, Link was much taller which made his strides longer, and since he was holding onto her she had no choice but to try her best to match his pace.

"Doesn't matter," he said, keeping his breath steady and focused. "We're in trouble either way."

As they sprinted down the hall, the other volunteers came into view: Lana and Ashei, and along with them was Nabooru. They almost barreled into Ashei. Fortunately for them however, she had lightning fast reflexes and stepped to the side skillfully.

"Hey! Where are you two going?" She called out after them.

"Can't talk!" Link said.

Not long afterwards, Cawlin stumbled out of Groose's dorm, sprinting as fast as his little legs could take him. He was furious and it showed. His face was as red as the chu jelly they had been scraping off of the walls. Lana and Ashei stared after them curiously, but Nabooru, with a sharp mind and watchful eye noticed something the other girls didn't. In Zelda's right hand she had been holding onto a CD. And if Nabooru's suspicions were correct, that CD contained something absolutely no one should see…

Soon, Zelda's legs grew accustomed to the burn. Link noted this silently, letting go of her hand once he was sure she could keep up without his prodding. She was breathless, her heart felt like it was beating at a million miles per minute, and in spite of herself, she started laughing.

"What's so funny!?" He asked as they ran out the campus gates and down the street, not even stopping to look both ways for any incoming cars.

"I… I've never done anything like this before!" She replied, sparing a quick glance at the CD in her hands. Once they made it back to the apartment complex, they slowed down, stopping to catch their breath.

"I figured. You're a total goody-two-shoes aren't you? At least, in everything besides love."

"Ugh. Shut up." Zelda glared. "Of course you'd ruin a moment."

"A moment? What, were we supposed to be having one?"

"I - uh… I don't know…" Zelda shrugged, blushing furiously.

"Well, for what it's worth, you were pretty badass out there. Not bad, princess. Not bad." They both walked towards their apartment room.

"But it doesn't change anything." Link added, unlocking the door and leading them towards his room.

He grabbed his laptop off of his desk while Zelda sat on his bed, and then walked over to sit next to her.

She handed him the CD and they inserted it, waiting patiently for it to play.

"What do you think it is?"

"Who knows? An embarrassing party video, maybe? We're about to find out so just shut up and watch." Link sighed.

Zelda rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

The contents of the CD finally appeared on Link's screen. It was a video. He clicked on it, the thumbnail was black and white, and the setting appeared to be the school.

"Wait, this is HU. Why does Groose have this?"

Link started the video, relaxing a bit as they watched the footage.

"Looks like he snagged the security footage."

"So THAT'S what 'SF' stands for…"

"It appears so…"

They watched carefully. There was nothing of interest for the first five or so minutes, but Link didn't dare skip ahead, paying attention to every detail.

The tape focused on the Dinraal Residence Hall. According to the time and date it was past midnight, just before the break preceding winter quarter had finished. Two figures, clad in black from head to toe, walked to the halls with large buckets in their hands. Judging from the shape of their bodies, one appeared to be male while the other was female. The male unlocked the door with a key and they walked inside. The tape then cut to the inside of the halls, where the two masked figures entered a dorm, stayed for a few minutes, then left.

"Oh my goddesses… These are the people behind the chu jelly prank!"

"You think?" Link asked sarcastically.

They continued watching in silence, once the mysterious figures were done, they headed off, presumably to their car, and weren't seen again for the duration of the footage. Before the footage ended, a small man in a fairy costume emerged from the bushes, visibly distraught. They couldn't hear anything since there wasn't any sound, but beneath the bright glare of the street lights, they could see his mouth open and his face contort as he let out a muted scream, dashing out of the camera's view. The video ended.

Zelda and Link stared at the screen wordlessly, processing what they had watched. When Link looked at the time he flinched, clearly startled.

"Shit. We spent three hours watching this."

"Oh my goddesses! I missed my linear algebra class."

"Nerd." He scoffed, placing his laptop on the bed, and standing up to walk to the other side of his room.

"Why do you talk to me like I'm the only one here who cares about their studies?"

"Hey, I only had one class today and I went."

Zelda covered her face.

"Having to scrub all that chu jelly off the walls is stressful enough, missing class is just going to cause more problems that I do not need." She whined.

"Whatever. Just don't blame me for you not having your shit together."

Zelda looked at him, ready to give a snappy retort, but she was cut short when she saw him take his shirt off, his back towards her. She froze, her eyes glazing over his body in admiration. And when he turned back around, it was a reminder that he had an irritatingly handsome face to match. His gaze caught hers and they both found themselves flustered, the sexual tension within the room was almost too much for either of them to bear.

"You should take a picture, it'll last longer." He said.

Zelda knew it would be better if she didn't respond, so she grabbed his laptop, trying to quell her shaky hands and moved the cursor to different parts of the footage.

"What are you doing?" He asked, walking over to sit back down next to her. It was then that Zelda noticed how close they were, their shoulders were almost touching and she could feel the warmth radiating from his body.

"Um…" She bit her lip, finding it difficult not to look at him. "I was going back through the footage. Trying to see if we can figure out who these people are."

She went back to the part of the video where the culprits were in the dorms.

"Groose must have been trying to clear his name. That man can't be him, he's too… lean."

Link nodded, leaning in to get a closer look, and unintentionally pressing himself even closer to the blonde next to him.

Zelda exhaled sharply. The only reason she went back to the footage was to distract from the fact that she had been caught ogling over Link's shirtless body. He seemed to be over it though, curious enough as to what was happening.

She forwarded the video a little bit, skipping to the part where the female was standing right beneath the security camera. She paused it, noticing a line along the top of her mask.

"I - uh… I think that line is important." Zelda mumbled.

Link looked at her.

"Seriously?"

"What?" Zelda asked, "It could be…" She looked back at him, trying to focus on his face and nowhere else.

He leaned in even closer to look at the laptop screen. Zelda felt like she was going to faint any minute.

"Fuck, you might be right." He said.

"I am?" She asked, blanching when he looked at her again. "I mean… Yeah, I am."

"It isn't a line. It's a very tiny script." Link pointed out, backing away to give Zelda a better view. She looked closely. He was right. They were letters in a language that was foreign to her.

"What language could it be? It isn't Hylian."

"No…" Link murmured, his brow furrowed as realization began to hit.

"What?"

"It's Gerudo." He said.

"What!?" Zelda repeated, this time with shock and urgency.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" He asked, annoyed at her stammering. "What's wrong with you?"

Zelda blushed, not wanting to say anything about his being shirtless.

"Are you sure? How do you know?"

"I took Gerudo in high school."

"Seriously? Why not Ancient Hylian?"

"Does that matter right now?"

"I guess not. But if the two people in this tape are Gerudos, that narrows down the list of suspects quite a bit. The man HAS to be Ganondorf. The Gerudos consist of women at large. They're a matriarchal society."

"Yes, I'm aware. That means the woman must be Nabooru."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Who else could it be, Zelda?"

"I don't know, but this is huge. Nabooru's been covering the jelly scandal and investigating cases nonstop. What does she have to gain from doing something like this?"

"Everyone has their suspicions about her and Ganondorf being involved in some sort of affair. Maybe this is one of the things they've been doing together. Either way, we'll need to get to the bottom of it."

"We?"

"Yes, we. There's a mystery that needs solving, and we're going to solve it. I need to keep my eye on you anyways."

They both stood up, thinking deeply about the information they had unearthed.

"Now get out, so I can go take a shower."

Zelda complied with his request, heading to the door. But before she opened it, someone on the other side beat her to the punch.

It was Shad.

He looked at Zelda, then at Link who was standing behind her, shirtless.

»°«

The marbled floors in Groose's estate made a rhythmic clicking sound whenever someone walked atop them. Cawlin was there, pacing back and forth stressfully. He didn't like to show it, but there were many things he was afraid of, and Groose was at the very top of his list. In one of the chairs nearby sat Karane, who was also visibly upset at what transpired. She was upset and shaken, staring fearfully at Cawlin and devastated that she had to be in the same vicinity as him, given what he and Strich did to her.

The footage was gone. And Karane went through so much to obtain it. She was worried about what its captors would do once they watched the content, but even more worried about how Groose would react. She was expecting Cawlin to grab her and start berating her for her terrible indiscretion. But Cawlin looked like he was having some stresses of his own.

The front doors to the manor were opened. Sunlight filtered in from the outside, and Groose stepped in, noticing the nervous demeanors on his visitors.

As soon as Groose walked in, Cawlin stopped pacing, trying to calm himself down. Between him and Strich, he was supposed to be the stoic one of the pair. But Strich had always been weak, and he knew too much to just be let go harmlessly by Groose. Lately however, Strich had been purposefully distancing himself from the group, making up lame excuses to get himself out of meeting up with them.

"I have a restraining order against him, you know." Karane piped up, pointing at Cawlin who simply sneered back.

"If you haven't noticed, the frail forces of the law don't apply to me, and they certainly won't apply to whatever we do or discuss in my house." Groose walked to Karane, who found herself cowering in fear. "Furthermore, you agreed to this. To help me."

Cawlin smirked, walking over.

"Guess you're in a compromising situation. Sucks to suck."

Karane felt her blood boil.

"I did everything you asked me to, Groose."

"And yet you're here shivering like you did something wrong." Groose said in a mocking tone.

"Don't look at me. Look at him." Karane pointed at Cawlin. "He's the one who fucked up and let the CD get stolen."

Groose whirled back to look at Cawlin, enraged.

"You did what!?"

"You bitch…" Cawlin growled at Karane, ready to pounce.

"Shut up, fatass." Karane spat.

"Enough!" Groose's voice boomed, shaking the ornate vases that were furnished around the living room. Immediately they both fell silent, fearful looks flashing upon their faces.

"The CD was in your dorm… I went to get it but Link and Zelda found it first."

Groose stopped, thinking for a moment. His face softened up and he even cracked a small smile.

"Groose? Are you mad?" Cawlin prodded carefully.

"That footage contains the truth about what happened to the dorms. It doesn't matter whose hands it ends up in. It can only end in me being off the hook. But you," he glared at Cawlin, "should have kept a closer eye on it. Link and I are the furthest thing from being friends. He doesn't care what happens to me, and I was counting on that tape to be my saving grace. It isn't just about clearing my name, it's also about figuring out who set me up to take the fall. And without the footage, I can't figure any of that out. So yes… I am mad." Groose growled, approaching him menacingly.

Cawlin gulped, reaching his hand into his pocket.

"Groose, please. I can fix this. I have a solution."

"Do you? Are you going to find them and ask nicely?"

"Please. I'm not Strich." Cawlin pulled a device out of his pocket. It was a cellphone, with flecks of jelly stuck to it.

"How is this going to help us?" Groose swiped the phone out of his hand, turning it over.

"It belongs to that ditzy blonde. She dropped it when they ran off with the CD. I snagged it, figuring it would be useful somehow. We can convince her to do a trade of some sort. And if that doesn't work, we could blackmail her. I read her texts. She's fooling around with two guys at once."

"Hmph. You won't be off the hook until that CD is in my hands, but we'll have to make do with this." Groose said.

Karane squirmed uncomfortably in the chair, worried about the danger Pipit's friend was in. She didn't even want to imagine what Groose might do to her to get the footage back.

»°«

"Can we talk?" Shad asked, ignoring Link who simply smirked knowingly, walking back into his bathroom.

"Of course." Zelda said, walking out of Link's bedroom and into the living room.

"Look Shad, nothing was happening between me and Link -"

"Oh, he's not who I'm worried about." Shad cut her off dismissively.

He caught her by surprise. Zelda had never seen Shad get upset with her, and she certainly hadn't expected him to cut her off so quickly. Of course, she was already anticipating this conversation. Pipit had texted her earlier, warning her of Shad's suspicions. She reached for her phone in her pocket, but her hands came up empty. She didn't think much of it though, deducing it must have been in Link's room.

"Really?"

"Zelda, I just want you to be honest with me. Do you want to date Pipit?"

"No." Zelda replied quickly, trying to keep her breathing steady and not look too suspicious. She missed the mark, that sweet spot in between answering too fast and taking too long to answer. If she answered too quickly - which she did - it would seem like she was hiding something. If she took too long… then Shad would have had his answer regardless of what she said. She tried to soften up, and not let her nerves get the best of her.

"I know he likes you. I overheard him talking to Karane about how you two are 'working on' becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. I asked him about it and he didn't tell me shit. Zelda, I like you a lot. You know this. So please tell me the truth."

"I'm not dating Pipit, or trying to date him." Zelda lied.

"You sure seem to like him a lot…"

"I like both of you. As friends." She said reassuringly. "Shad, I really appreciate you saving me from a compromising situation, but I need my space. I'm a grown woman. I can make my own choices. And you should respect those choices."

Shad nodded, looking at the ground solemnly.

"You're right. I just don't want to waste my time. What's the point of being so shamelessly into you if you're into someone else?"

She smiled, moving forward to give him an affectionate hug.

"Pipit is a good guy. If he's says he's making his move, he has yet to do it."

Shad smiled, gaining a little bit of his confidence back.

"That's good to hear. Would you like to study with me in my room?"

"I would love to…" Zelda trailed off, thinking to herself momentarily.

"Is something wrong?"

"I need to grab my phone. Hold on." Zelda said, walking back to Link's room.

Shad nodded in understanding and went to his room.

Zelda opened the door, walking in briskly as she thought about where her phone could be. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen it since she and Link left the dorms.

She looked on his bed and near his desk, before turning to see Link near his drawer, stark naked.

She screamed.

"AAH!"

To her surprise he remained calm, not berating her for barging into his room so quickly. He didn't even rush to cover himself.

"Wanna scream a bit louder? I don't think everyone in our complex heard you." he taunted before rummaging through his drawers to find some clothes to wear.

"I… You… Naked!"

He slowly put his boxers and pants on, his eyes never leaving her face as he did so. Zelda on the other hand decided to focus on his bed to avoid seeing any 'parts' she shouldn't have seen.

"Why the hell didn't you knock?" He asked, stifling a laugh at her reaction.

"I think the real question is… why aren't you as embarrassed over this as me!?"

"I have no shame in my body. You don't think I noticed you checking me out earlier? Besides, I don't particularly care if you're embarrassed. You deserve it, for being so stupid."

"Excuse me?"

"Cut the good girl act with me, princess." He then cleared his throat, and spoke in a mock girly-girl tone. "If he's says he's making his move, he has yet to do it."

"I… You heard that?"

"It's a small apartment." He shrugged, putting his shirt on. "Though I guess I must congratulate you, since you've been putting on quite the show."

It was Zelda's turn to surprise him. Instead of getting overly defensive like he expected her to, she simply scoffed.

"Thanks, I'll be here all night." She said sarcastically.

He arched an eyebrow, walking toward her.

"You're not even going to deny that you're playing both of them?"

"You have your opinion of me. I've decided I don't care for it."

"Just like that?"

"If you were going to say something, you would have by now, right? I'm done trying to please you."

"I don't think you ever tried in the first place. But I must say, you're certainly bolder than you were when you first moved in."

"Yeah, and I'll keep getting bolder." Zelda said, and Link could do nothing but give her a satisfied smile. Cleaning up the dorms had forced the two to spend more time together than they would have liked, but there was something about seeing Zelda come out of her shell that was oddly gratifying to him.

She smiled back, but once they both realized they were staring at each other, Link decided to speak up.

"What do you want, anyways?"

"My phone." She replied, frowning as she remembered. She looked on his bed, beneath his bed, and even flipped his laptop around trying to find it.

"It isn't here…" She mumbled. "Oh my goddess! Where is it?"

"Calm down. I'm sure it's around here somewhere."

"When we were cleaning you took it away from me…"

"Yeah, and then you grabbed it back."

"Did I?" Zelda asked, her mind fuzzy on the details. After everything that had occurred in between - running away from Cawlin, spending hours watching the security tape and then talking to Shad… She wasn't sure of what happened. Nonetheless, she found herself upset with Link. "You shouldn't have taken my phone in the first place!"

"That doesn't mean I'm the reason you lost it!" He fired back. "Don't get mad at me. Let's go back to the school and look for it."

"You'll come with me?"

"I don't have work for another two hours. Why not?"

She sighed gratefully and they both headed out of the apartment complex and back to the campus. It didn't take them long to get back to Groose's hall. When they returned, they ran into Lana, who glared at them angrily.

"What the hell, you two!? You totally ditched us!"

"It's been hours since we left, why are you still here? Don't you have classes to go to?" Link asked.

"I'm dedicated to this school and to cleaning these dorms." Lana said.

"Whatever. We need to find blondie's phone." Link nudged Zelda, who glared at the nickname.

"Blondie?" She whispered angrily.

"So you prefer… princess?"

"You can't call me that! Only Pipit can call me that."

"Is that so?" He whispered to her, before speaking up to Lana. "Have you seen it?"

"After you guys ran off, we cleaned up the rest of that dorm. It was empty, if that's what you're asking." Lana said, lugging her bucket with her to the bathroom.

Zelda looked at Link, panic evident on her face.

"That means that…"

"...Cawlin has it." Link finished her sentence with an aggravated sigh.

»°«

The fountain at Castle Town Mall was absolutely divine. The water was always sparkling, and not too cold, or too warm. To most citizens, these were not details that mattered. As long as they could chuck a coin in and make an empty wish, the fountain will have done its job. For Tingle however, the fountain was a perfect bathing area. Now that dusk was approaching, it was the prime opportunity for him to take his bath.

He hummed to himself, stripping out of the little green suit he wore and jumping into the fountain with the free soap samples he snagged at Hylia's Kiss, the most popular beauty shop in Castle Town. He took a much overdue bath, scrubbing every nook and cranny, momentarily forgetting that he was in public. Not too many people were out, and he didn't have any shame in being in the nude. But the police did…

Once he finished, he stuck his suit into the fountain, scrubbing it with soap then sticking it back on, despite the fact it hadn't dried.

He skipped around, greeting passerbys happily, when two voices caught his attention. He turned around, gasping dramatically at what he saw.

The desert lady! He thought to himself in horror. And then there was the man beside her…

He scrambled to the nearest trash can and hid behind it, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"... I didn't even know he got a hold of it." Nabooru said.

But Ganondorf wasn't having it.

"And what happens if they show it to the provost?"

Nabooru stopped suddenly, turning to glare at Ganondorf.

"This is YOUR fault. Not mine! I just want to graduate, get my degree, and find a job!"

"You're a part of this, whether you like it or not." They stopped walking, standing only a few feet away from the trashcan Tingle was hiding behind. He trembled.

"I know. But Ganondorf please…"

Tingle peeked to look at them, and saw Nabooru trace her fingers down Ganondorf's arm.

"I'm scared."

"You didn't seem scared a few weeks ago. You knew the risk, and you didn't care for the consequences."

"I didn't care because we were doing well for ourselves. Groose was the perfect suspect. And now, if they watched the footage that is, they'll know."

"It's too late." Ganondorf took hold of Nabooru's hands. "There's no point in thinking like that. This isn't over yet. And the footage 'proves' nothing. We were careful. Very careful. You still have Strich, and he will prove to be a valuable asset to us. So calm down and give him a call, okay?"

Nabooru sighed, moving closer and allowing herself to get caught up in his embrace. He held onto her patiently, closing his eyes for just a moment to relish in the moment. He would have held onto her forever if he could.

"Let's go." He said eventually, pushing her away.

"Where to?"

"Home. Our respective homes, that is. We can't risk running into any students out here."

Nabooru complied with his request and they walked off to the parking lot to head their separate ways.

Once they were out of sight, Tingle sprung up from behind the trashcan, and sprinted in the opposite direction to the school.

"House of thieves… House of thieves…" He panted, "Blue hair… blue hair!"

A/N: I'm full of surprises this weekend, aren't I? I was so focused on SOOD, but I didn't forget about this. Everyone's PMs and reviews wouldn't allow me to. Thank you guys for your patience. I know it's been over a year. Time has really flown by. Trying to find the time to write Fanfiction with my course load at school is overwhelming. Please don't be too mad.