Chapter Nine: A Forming Understanding

Author's Note: Thank you to my wonderful beta, RandomButLoved, for editing the chapter. I really appreciate it and I simply adore the little tidbits you added to make this chapter shine. I espeically love the ending, that last line you added was pure genius. Thank you so much for all the help. You truly are the best. :)

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur. Once I had gotten over my initial shock of Sheik being my chemistry tutor, I phoned Link and we had a short talk. He informed me that Sheik was really smart in the Sciences. He was planning to major in Chemistry, I believe is what Link said. Anyway, though, Sheik is at the top of all his courses offered at his school – all three of the Sciences: Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The last one astounded me, especially. Physics is considered to be the hardest of all three Sciences taught in any High School, and to know that Sheik is let alone in the course, and getting the highest mark is quite remarkable.

My impression of the boy had changed quite dramatically...

I had to stifle a laugh.

After our quick talk, we ended the call and I plunged myself into my school work. When I had cracked the History book open and started to read the pages one by one – while making notes on the side – I had been absorbed, drawn into the very pages. Whenever I begin to read any form of History, it just pulled me in. Everything about it just... fascinates me. I love the dates, learning how people lived during the various times, how society has evolved. It's wondrous! I could have spent hours alone studying the subject, but mother had called me from downstairs, saying that dinner was ready.

Dinner had been fairly quiet, leading to a fairy quiet evening in itself. Mother and I only exchanged curt greetings and nothing more. The air was tense in some ways, but never bothered me too much. It had always been like this, and was just something I had been living with for years on end. When finished, I washed and dried my plate along with my cutlery and left the room in silence; heading back upstairs after excusing myself to complete work. The rest of the evening passed by slowly and I had been preoccupied with studying, note making and the occasional text from Sheik, Nabooru, Link and even Saria.

And that wasn't even the worst day...

Sunday went by even slower, but was like any other Sunday in general I guess. Mother headed off for the University, leaving me at home alone. I practised some ballet downstairs in the basement. Mother had a bar and set of mirrors set up in a corner of the basement a few years ago so that I could practice in peace. I spent a good two hours downstairs before finishing off with a nice shower. I ended off the day with working on more homework and studying.

While studying though, sometimes I got distracted by watching the snow fall. It was too beautiful to ignore. You would stare as well. Every now and then, I longed to run outside and play in the snow; but knew I should not. I had other priorities to worry over, and playing in the snow would only cause for trouble later on. Thus, I shut the blinds and the curtains and focused all of my attention onto my course work. Before I even knew it, the day was over and Monday was about to come. It was time to head back to school and face another five days with my peers.

What fun… not!

It was still as annoying as it was before, but I shouldn't have expected any different in all honesty. Tiffany and a bunch of other girls were still pestering me about Link. They still wanted information about what had transpired between the two of us all those days ago. It was starting to drive me insane, and I think they knew that deep down – but either carried on for the sake of gathering information, or chose to ignore it. Whatever they had done this for, I was close to tipping over the edge of the Cliff of Life...

I slammed my locker shut with a loud bang, getting a few startled reactions. I gritted my teeth and stalked to my next class. It was the end of the day and I was pissed – more than pissed, if that was possible. I had not been able to eat lunch in peace or get any work done in any of my other classes. The girls were too nosy, for the love of Nayru! I had bucket loads of notes they had passed me, which all read the same thing: 'Are you and Link an item? If not, can you give him my number? Its: xxx – xxxx'

I had to make three trips to various recycling bins all day to trash all of the notes they had given me. My bag was full and my locker stuffed – some planted notes in there too.

"Stupid girls…" I grumbled darkly under my breath as I slid into my seat. My last class of the day was English. It was a nice way to end the day, since my teacher: Mr. Rusl, was such a nice man. On the first day of classes, he told everyone to call him by his first name. He hated it when students called him by his last name, which was Collins. He claimed it made him feel old. Thus, all of us started calling Mr. Collins, Mr. Rusl instead, and its stuck like glue ever since.

"Hello, Zelda." He smiled and glanced up from his desk.

"Hello... Mr. Rusl." I chimed, surveying him for a minute. Mr. Rusl was a man in his late thirties. He had short blond hair and wore a white headband most of the time. Sometimes he reminded me of a student whenever I would see him with his various headbands. Yet when he spoke, that was when you were able to tell he was older. His choice of words and vocabulary was so much more… enriched, advanced even, than most of the other students and teachers here at the school. He spoke eloquently and usually knew what to say perfectly for any situation!

Because of this, a few students believe he is physic. They claim he is able to see the future and know when others come to him for advice before they even know it, so that he will be prepared to solve their dilemmas. I rolled my eyes at the thought. Mr. Rusl was no physic. He was merely an intelligent and kind man. Not to mention, he was also one of my favourite teachers within the entire school – besides Mr. Rauru, of course.

"Zelda, how are you?"

I lifted my head up from my bag, where I was getting by things out of. He was casually walking towards my desk, as if the weight of the world meant nothing to him. I was the first person inside the room since lunch hadn't ended yet, but I was glad of it so I could prepare myself for those damn messages again. "I'm fine." I sighed and looked away, catching his attention. Mr. Rusl frowned.

"Something is bothering you. What is it?" He asked. "You know you can speak your mind to me, Zelda."

My brows furrowed, but I breathed out a small laugh for him. "Is it that obvious?"

Mr. Rusl chuckled. "Just a smidge." I groaned.

"Wonderful."

Mr. Rusl sat down on the desk in front of me. I watched him and remained quiet. "Zelda, usually you're so focused and devoted to your work. I have never seen you act so…" He struggled to find the right word. "Confused." He soon decided, clasping his hands together. I raised a brow at him, not sure how to react for the longest of time.

"Mr. Rusl, nothing is wrong, I swear it. I am just tired."

He didn't look convinced, making my shoulders slum forwards in doubt and defeat. "What's bothering you?"

My eyes wandered towards the door and the few people who stood outside chatting in the corridor, my voice dying in my throat as I did so. Mr. Rusl seemed to understand, for the next moment, he had gotten up from the desk and was making his way towards the door. He shut and locked it. I sighed in relief. "Feel better, I presume?" He offered me a grin.

"Plenty."

"Care to explain now?" He inquired and sat back down.

My gaze wandered towards the ground. "Have you ever experienced a moment where… a lot has transpired in a short amount of time?" I asked and stared at him.

"That depends by what you mean." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, knowing somewhat what I had meant. "In most cases, I believe a lot of people have experienced that in some ways or forms."

"I suppose." I sighed and crossed my arms, sighing deeply. "It's a hard feeling to describe." I grimaced. "To point blank and shoot, I've just gotten myself into a little mess." I shut my eyes and bit my bottom lip. I could feel Mr. Rusl watching me, and knew he was interested.

"Would you like me to start from the beginning?" I offered meekly.

"That sounds like a plan." He nodded and sat down in the desk's chair again.

No less than five minutes later, Mr. Rusl knew everything. He had kept silent throughout my entire explanation, though he did seem like he wanted to cut in a numerous moments during it. I made sure to leave out some details, such as the main body of the numerous conversations I shared with Link, and the day I spent with Nabooru and Saria. Besides that though, he knew everything. "Zelda, you're tired because of the constant notes and questioning, correct?"

I nodded as he stood up. "That's right. I'm more annoyed than tired, actually." I corrected him. I hissed, grinding my teeth. "It's quite a bit to handle, and is pretty much driving me up the wall." Mr. Rusl did nothing but chuckle casually.

"I know the feeling all too well."

I sat up straight, tilting my head at him. "What do you mean?"

"Your very friend has confided to me from time to time, too."

My jaw dropped. "You... you know Link?"

He nodded and smiled at my reaction to this news. "His younger sister Aryll is good friends with my son, Colin. From time to time, Link has babysat for me. Colin really likes Link." He smiled warmly. "He looks up to him quite a bit."

My eyes softened. "Link babysits for you?" I murmured, feeling my cheeks heating up.

"That's right." Mr. Rusl said. "He's a good boy. I can understand why you'd enjoy spending time with him." He rubbed his chin. "And I can understand why a lot of girls would be interested in him. The boy is too kind-hearted. He doesn't know when to say no, especially to a sad face." I pulled a face, curious on what, exactly, he meant. "Whenever his younger sister wants something from him, she'll use this adorable little pout against him. Link can never refuse it." Mr. Rusl explained with a pint of amusement etched into his voice.

"I see." I leaned further back into my chair, breathing out a laugh. "I can imagine that actually."

"But back to topic on hand, Zelda." He said, heading towards the door and turning the conversation back to me and not Link. "What you feel is completely natural. Any person in your situation would be annoyed and tired from the constant questioning and messages."

"What should I do about it, though?" I whined, not acting as I usually would.

Mr. Rusl stopped walking and sighed, as if he had been through this a lot before in his past. "In my opinion, I think it would be best to not complain to any other females about this." When he saw my mouth dropping, he quickly interjected and raised his hands in a defensive way. "Because you do not want any unnecessary drama to arise because of this, do you?"

"No." I shook my head, my face paling.

The mere thought of other girls teaming up to try to attack me, let alone do anything to me, sent massive chills down my spine. I gulped and breathed in deeply. "Zelda, I'm not trying to scare you." Mr. Rusl said earnestly, then mumbling the rest. "I'm just trying to help you. I don't want you to experience anything because of this. In all honesty, the girls should be minding their own business, and worrying over other matters. But then again, they're only teenagers."

Beads of sweat formed behind my head and lower brow. I chuckled nervously and fanned myself with my notebook. "Still though, I don't know what to do about them." I slouched back into my seat. "I had to make three trips to the recycling bins today." I muttered, though loud enough for him to hear. "The girls had given me so many notes it was crazy..."

"I can imagine it would be." Mr. Rusl said and fiddled with his headband. "For now, from how you describe it, it sounds like you are handling the situation well. If anything spirals out of control however, don't feel embarrassed to come and ask me for help Zelda. I'm here to assist you whenever you'll need it." He patted my shoulder. "You're a smart and wise girl. I'm sure you'll figure out what to do."

"Thank you Mr. Rusl." I smiled my heart pounding, feeling the tips of my ears growing warm to match my face. "That... really means a lot to hear."

"You're one of my best students, Zelda. I don't want anything bad to happen to you." He headed back towards the door, smiling back at me. "If you ever want to talk, I usually spend most of my lunches in the classroom. If I'm not here, check the teacher's lounge." He unlocked the door. "If you ever need to talk or need anything, feel free to ask, okay?"

"Right." I whispered back, feeling uncomfortable as I saw the students beginning to enter.

"Wonderful." He said and began to welcome other students into the classroom.

I fiddled with my notebook for a minute and glanced towards Mr. Rusl. Currently, he was speaking with a few boys and girls. Each of them was smiling and some were laughing. My eyes softened. "Thank you, Mr. Rusl..." I whispered during his chat with the students, a warm sensation filling my body as the students returned to their usual seats – the outset of the lesson beginning. "I cannot thank you enough... for everything."

School was out and finished for the day, a weight from my chest being lifted so fast that I didn't realise it had gone for the longest of time. Ever since my chat with Mr. Rusl, I had felt much better about everything. I had managed to complete the remainder of the day with a smile on my face and throughout the entire walk home. By the time I reached the front steps, mother unlocked the door for me and stood in the foyer.

"Hello." I greeted her with a smile. She merely frowned. I raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"Zelda, your tutor will be here in twenty minutes. If you have anything you need to finish before he arrives, get to it now." Not wasting another second, I dropped my bag on the ground and removed my coat and boots. Putting them away, I scampered upstairs with my bag trailing behind. "Be sure to have plenty of paper and pens on hand, as well as your textbook and binder." Mother shouted from downstairs.

I rolled my eyes. "I will not forget. Thank you for the reminder, however." I cried and shut the door with a slam. "Really, how naïve do you think I am?" I muttered under my breath as I unzipped my bag. "I know what to bring downstairs for tutoring, I am not that dumb..." I headed towards my closet and changed out of my uniform. I settled for a pair of jeans and a long sleeved black shirt with matching fuzzy black shoes, making my feet feel all warm and toasty.

"What else should I do?" I said to myself, wondering aloud to help me think better. "I'm just going to bring my entire bag downstairs since I have everything inside there all ready. I've changed my clothes and hung up my uniform." It would be too late to take a shower, even a quick one. "I guess I'll just goof around until then." I sighed.

And yet, mother was calling me downstairs before I could fully relax from the day's events. I shot up from the bed and jumped to my feet, shouting that I was coming and carried my bag downstairs. Right before heading down the stairs, I made sure that my hair was not in a complete disarray and that my clothing was neat and straight. Then I headed downstairs, awaiting what Hell I was about to go through – especially when I knew exactly who my tutor was.

Farore, give me the strength to get through this. Nayru, give me the wisdom to please mother. And Din, give me the power to push through these tough times...