*Once again, this chapter starts in Link's POV.

**Oh, and about halfway through, it switches to 3rd person. Don't worry, I'll tell you when it does.

Chapter 10

As Zelda left the room, I caught a glance of her face. It was the closest thing I have seen to pure terror in a long time. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. Getting into a bit of trouble at school wasn't that bad.

As the teacher continued on with his long winded explanation about nothing of consequence, I was sure, I realised that there was nothing she could've been called to the office for. Unless... she was involved in that graffiti attack of the school a few days ago... Nah, I couldn't see Zelda involved in that sort of thing.

Something else, perhaps...

Her father, maybe? The terror on her face made it relatively clear, thinking about it again, that he was probably one of the first things that came to her mind. I was starting to get a little nervous now, too.

"Uh, sir, could I... get a drink?" I asked the teacher. He eyed me dubiously.

"In the middle of my class"

"I apologise sir, but I'm really quite thirsty." Perhaps I should spin some bull about needing to take medication...

"But surely you can wait until next period." Initiate Plan B.

"No, no sir I can't," I wailed dramatically. "You see, I need to take these tablets, otherwise I'll get little boils everywhere on my body, and they ooze with this green pus like stuff, and if anyone else even comes in contact with the pus, they'll get the little boils too, and then we'll end up with this whole pandemic on our hands! Now, seriously, wouldn't that just be awful? And to think, you'll be the one everyone will blame! Now, do you really want tha-"

"Go, go!" he yelled. "Just stop winding this crap!" I grinned as I hurried out of the classroom. Ah, the faces on so many of my classmates had been priceless.

There was a blast of cool air as I walked into the office area. I could see Zelda talking to one of the office ladies, one hand clenched tightly around her other wrist.

"-an urgent phone call for you a few minutes ago. They left a number for you to call back on."

"Do..." She swallowed as her voice came out hoarsely. "Do I have permission to call them back from my own phone?" The lady handed her a slip of paper with a phone number scribbled down.

"Or course, dear," the lady replied, sounding something close to sympathetic. Not good, not good, not good...

I followed Zelda as she headed out of the school to sit on the curb of the car park and dialled the number she had been given slowly. I crept to sit beside her, and she looked up at me with surprise for barely a moment before holding the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" answered the voice at the other end of her phone.

"Hello," Zelda answered quietly. "My name is Zelda Harkinian, you called my school and asked for me to call back?"

"Yes, Ms Harkinian," the lady at the other end said, becoming a little gentler. It scared me a little. "Umm... how far are you from the Hyrule general Hospital?"

"About forty minutes drive, but I don't have a car."

"Alright... you are aware that you're father has been staying here for supervision purposes for the last... five days?"

"Y... Yes." Zelda's free hand was clutched tightly in a ball on her knee, her skin stretched and white, and her entire arm was quaking. I put my hand on it, intending to calm her down a little, but I'm afraid my hand was shaking too. "What's happened? Is he alright?"

"He had a heart attack less than an hour ago," the woman said with a gust of breath that sounded terrible over the phone.

"But... but he..."

"I'm... I'm afraid that we couldn't do anything about it, honey."

"He... No, he couldn't... That would mean... he's..." Tears started to roll down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry, dear." The voice sounded sympathetic enough, I guess. I wondered how many times she had had to do this. "Listen, I think it would be best for you to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Ask for Dr Fraser and..." The phone slipped from her hand, landing heavily on the pavement beside our feet. I wrapped my arms around her tightly, feeling a few tears come out of my own eyes. I'd really liked that man.

"You... you shouldn't have left class, you know," Zelda whispered, her voice watery.

"At a time like this, that's all you can think about," I replied, a sad little laugh escaping my mouth. Zelda replied in kind, her sobbing becoming tragic as she leaned into my shoulder.

We certainly missed the rest of the period, I know that for sure. I finally coerced Zelda to stand up and started leading her to a car. "Come on, you need to get to the hospital."

"But... I..."

"Wait here a sec." I left her leaning against the car and hurried to a nearby classroom. I ducked underneath the window, threw a rock up and raised my head up for just a moment. In a few seconds, Sheik had hurried out of the classroom and followed me around a corner.

"Hey, Link, wha... what's wrong?" He eyed me curiously for a moment, taking in my red eyes and tear soaked shirt.

"I need to borrow your car," I replied quickly. "Zel... Zelda got a call from the hospital. Her father... didn't... make it..." My voice trailed off, becoming smaller. Sheik's eyes widened, then he pinched the bridge of his nose, like he always did when he was doing his best not to be overcome with emotion.

"How's she doing?"

"Not so peachy."

"I... didn't think so." He handed me his car keys. "Call me when you know more." I nodded and ran off back to the car park. Half way, I turned back and threw him the keys of my Epona.

"So you can get home," I called back to him, my voice cracking a little.

Zelda had sunk down to her haunches beside the car, her hands covering her face. She was still shaking. I cleared my throat before I spoke.

"Zel... come on." I pulled her up as gently as I could and helped her into the car, though I'm sure she didn't need it. The whole drive was spent in misery, as she curled up on the chair and glared out the window, sniffing every now and again and wiping away her tears.

In the hospital, she asked for Dr Fraser as soon as we arrived, and was, surprisingly, taken to him immediately. We were ushered into a room where a lone man sat at his desk, laboriously filling out paperwork. His greying hair was still shot through with streaks of brown and his eyes held a dull sadness.

"Ms Harkninian?" he asked as we entered slowly. Zelda nodded. "And your companion?"

"I... I want him to be here..."

"Alright." He let out a long breath. I reached out and took Zelda's hand as he pointed us to the seats before his desk. "You've heard the news, I'm sure, and I am dreadfully sorry. His heart attack was incredibly severe, and he passed away before we were able to get there."

"Ho... How could he just...?" Tears started falling from her eyes again, and it was all I could do to not let any leak out of mine.

"Your father had recently been diagnosed with coronary heart disease," he told us. "That means there wasn't enough oxygen reaching the heart and the blood circulation slows or becomes uneven. It occurs when the small blood vessels get even smaller and narrower, which they can't really afford to do. It is usually when a person is very overweight, or a heavy smoker or drinker."

Zelda choked on her tears. "But... he wasn't..."

"He wasn't any of those," I finish for her.

"We believe, in his case, that it was passed through his genetics," the doctor said heavily.

"Why... why didn't you do anything about it?" Zelda stood up and started pacing furiously, not bothering to wipe her tears away. I had seen this before, the second stage of grief. First came the sadness, then the anger. "Why didn't you help him?" Her voice was escalating.

"We... we tried," the doctor said, moving his hands in a placating gesture. "Truly we did. He was given pills for it, but he was too far gone for them to help him very much."

"So he was dying, and he didn't tell me?" Zelda had stopped and clenched her fist angrily. "Why didn't you do anything?"

"I'm... I'm very sorry for your loss."

(xxx)(3rd person)

It seemed like even the Goddesses were crying. Rain lashed the windows of Link's house violently and though it was past three in the morning, Link, Dark, Sheik and a slightly ill Tetra all sat awake in the living room, swathed in blankets and sleeping bags.

"D'you... think they're okay?" Dark asked. The smile had truly been wiped off his face.

"No," Link replied sullenly. "I can tell you for certain they're not."

"Think they're asleep?"

"No," Aryll answered, coming down the stairs and settling herself against her older brother. Link put an arm around her and helped her to get under the blankets. "How do you think they're going to get along now? I mean, alone."

"Same way we do, kid," Link said quietly. "With some hard work and a lot of help from their friends."

"I'm going to see Zelda," Sheik said, and Tetra blew her nose miserably.

He went up the stairs and down the hall a little way, pushing open the door to Link's bedroom where Zelda and Midna were supposed to be sleeping.

"Hey, Zel..." Zelda whipped her head around, her breath catching in her throat. She hurriedly wiped away the tears that had been trickling down her cheeks.

"What... what are you doing here?"

"Came to see how you are," he answered with a shrug.

"I'm... alive." Sheik shook his head. That was quite possibly the worst choice of words for this situation. He didn't say anything else, just put his arms around her as she let loose her tears once again.

Link wearily climbed up the stairs and entered his room carefully. Sheik let Zelda go and Link took up his spot. As Sheik closed the door behind him as he left, Link opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't think of anything to say. He knew how she felt, and that there wasn't any words that would make anything better. Instead, he just smoothed down her hair and whispered, "It won't always hurt this much, I swear."

(xxx)

They were woken by the sound of a clanging pot. Midna groaned and turned over in her sleep. Link's hand was still around Zelda's waist and he moved it quickly as she stirred. There was a knock on his door just before it creaked open.

"Mornin' all," came a cheery voice.

"What the hell are you doing up so early, Sheik?" Link muttered hoarsely.

"It's past ten in the morning and we're making pancakes," he announced. Link started.

"What? You're using my stove?" Zelda let out a long moan in her sleep and moved so that she was leaning against Link again. She had been so comfortable...

"Yeah, Aryll said we could."

"Oh." He shook Zelda's shoulder gently. "Hey, Zel, get up." She let out a long breath and let her eyes open.

"Yeah... I'm up." She pushed herself away from Link, who looked just a tad disappointed. There was a sound of loud sizzling coming from downstairs and Sheik hurried off.

"What did you do?" he yelled down to them.

"Nothing," Dark replied, a little too quickly. Tetra laughed, probably at Dark.

Link led Zelda down the corridor and pointed her to the bathroom. "Tetra bought over some stuff from your house last night, for you and Midna. Come downstairs when you're ready. I'm going to go make sure those idiots don't burn down my house." Zelda nodded at him and turned around to start shuffling through the bag.

When she got downstairs, Link was sitting at the bench opposite the stove, where Sheik and Dark were manning the cooking. Well, Sheik was doing his best to make breakfast, while also trying to stop Dark from eating all the batter. Tetra was standing near Link, piling the ready pancakes onto plates and throwing several toppings on top of them, all of which seemed to consist of some form of sugar. Midna sat down next to Zelda, her head lying on her arms.

The seven of them ate breakfast together. Or at least, attempted to. Sheik, Dark and Tetra continuously threw jibes at each other, with Aryll and Link throwing in the occasional snide comment here and there. Midna and Zelda stayed quiet, the latter having cut up her pancake into little bits and was pushing them around her plate without actually eating anything.

"I'm... not really hungry," she excused finally. "I think I'll go take a shower or something."

"There are clean towels in the linen closet just opposite the bathroom," Link told her. She nodded absently and headed up the stairs. It was a quiet for a moment, until Midna pushed away from the table.

"I'm... um... yeah..." She didn't even bother to finish her sentence as she walked away. When she too had disappeared from sight, Link and Dark sighed in union.

"If she stays like this forever, I officially won't know here anymore," Dark decided grumpily, though his voice was a little sad.

"She's not going to stay like this forever," Sheik assured. "You just need to give them time to heal."

"In that case, let's put some morphine down her throat and put some stitches through it," Tetra suggested half heartedly.

"Only you could suggest stitching someone up when they're hurting on the inside," Link muttered.

"Hey, I don't hear you suggesting anything." Link snorted and felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards. It was hard for him to imagine not being friends with Tetra, now, but he hadn't been last year, or the several years before.

(xxx)

Zelda sat upstairs for hours. Every now and then, one of them would wander upstairs, only to find the door to Link's room still closed. They never even heard the shower go on.

In the late afternoon, an impatient Link knocked brusquely on, technically, his own door.

"Yeah," Zelda replied softly. Link entered to find her sitting on the bed, nose in a book. It was so familiar a position to find her in, he almost smiled.

"You... alright?" he asked.

"Mmm."

"The school called today," he informed her casually. "They wanted to know if you'd be there on Monday, but I told them I'd call back later..."

"Yeah, I'll be there. And so will Midna."

"You... don't have to go?" He unintentionally phrased it as a question. "I mean, I'm sure they won't mind-"

"We'll go," she said again, firmly. "He would've wanted us to."

"If you're sure..."

"I am." Silence stretched out between them, until finally Link sighed.

"Talk to me, Zel. Talk to any one of us. We want to help you get through this," he urged.

"I... I can't," she said in a choked voice. Link shook his head and backed out of the room. He couldn't help but notice that, in the entire time he had been there, while her eyes had been on the pages of the book, they hadn't been moving along the text and neither had the page been turned.

(xxx)

The house was quiet, but for the occasional whir of the dishwasher or buzz of the fridge. The couch in the living room had been pulled out, on which two sleeping bags had been messily laid out. Two others lay on the ground, recognisably Link, with his golden hair strewn across his face and Sheik, with a book still open on his stomach where it had fallen from his hand when he had fallen asleep.

Zelda crept down the stairs in thick track pants and a loose shirt, arm curled around a little box that she held just under her armpit. As she crept through the living room and into the next room, she was surprised to find the television already playing. Loud explosions and squeaking sounds were emitting from the speakers on either side of the television. On the couch, engrossed in the movie that was playing, were Tetra and Dark.

"What are you doing still awake?" Zelda whispered to them from just behind the couch. Tetra squealed a little as her head spun around to see who it was and Dark actually tumbled right off the couch and landed with a thump on the carpeted floor.

"Couldn't sleep," Tetra replied, letting out a long breath as she recognised Zelda.

"Did you have to sneak up on us like that?" Dark grumbled as he brushed himself off.

"I... Sorry, I was just..."

"What are those?" Dark grabbed the box out of Zelda's grip and inserted one of the DVD's into the player. It started paying automatically, and they were met with childhood videos of Zelda and her family.

It may sound awfully cliché, watching only family movies after a close family member had passed away, but Zelda had run out of options. How many times had she called his phone, just because she was afraid that she might forget his voice? Every time, after exactly eleven rings, it went to voicemail, and she was met with his silly little message, 'Good day, this is Daphnes Harkinian speaking. If you want information about education, please leave a message. If I know you, please leave a message. If you want information about the bodies, please call back at a later time.' Pause. 'I swear, that last bit was a joke. Here comes the beep.'

Curled up on the couch, with two of her best friends beside her, Zelda's attention was firmly planted on the screen, as she tried to store the sound of his voice, the lines on his face, every tiny little movement he made, so she wouldn't forget him. As she began to fall asleep, a thought ran through her mind:

Perhaps memorising all this would take more than one night...

(xxx)

Zelda and Midna had just about been dragged out of the house by Sheik, Dark and Tetra, with Aryll tagging along, and Link was quite happy to be alone for a little while. As much as he loved all his friends dearly, seven was quite a crowd. He sat now at his dining room table, sorting through mail he had just picked up from Zelda's house.

Junk mail, bill, random notice, junk mail... Then into his hands came a large envelope, heavy and thick and not very bendable. Flipping it over in his hands, he found that it was addressed to Zelda and not her father. The little stamp in the corner looked vaguely familiar and he stared at it until he registered in his mind where it was from.

Hylia High School.

Curiosity piqued, he ripped open the envolope and read the covering letter.

To Miss Zelda Harkinian,

We are very pleased to inform you that your scholarship attempt has ended up successful. We would be honoured for you to join us at Hylia High next year and the ones after to complete your schooling at our wonderful school.

We would like to hold an interview with you at 3:30 on Tuesday to get to know you a little more. Keep in mind that this interview will not affect your scholarship, as that is already yours. It may confirm the amount of scholarship, however.

Once again, a huge congratulation for doing so well in your exam and we are looking forward to speaking with you soon.

"Thank you, from the Vice Principal here at Hylia High School, Mr Vincent Parish."

Link stared at it in utter confusion, trying and ultimately failing at trying to figure out what the hell he would do.

A/N EDIT: re-uploaded in the very early hours of the morning on 16/12/2010

Author's Notes:

Hiya! Well, I got this chapter up as fast as I could. I don't really want this author's notes to drag, so I'll make it as brief as possible.

First and foremost, I hope you all liked the chapter! I know, a little sad, but I really needed something like this to happen so I could write the first scene that I thought of when I started writing this story.

Secondly, a HUGE thank you to everyone who reads/reviews this story. I'm so pleased by the number of people who have my on their fav's list, alerts list, or who just read this in general.

I think that's all, except for the usual request. Please leave me a review.

Thanks for reading.

buddy w