There and Back Again

Book 1: Endearment

Chapter 10: Dependable

I'd love to say that after Zelda and I kissed we lived happily ever after, but that wasn't the case. She left pretty much immediately afterwards and texted me that she shouldn't have kissed me.

I knew that was coming.

I mean, I can't say that I'm surprised, but it still hurt a bit. I don't blame her for anything. She was caught up in the moment after an emotional night.

Hell, I wouldn't have kissed her under any other circumstances except those, so I was caught up in the moment too.

Regardless, Ravio was becoming a real nuisance. He was getting in the way of my chances with Zelda.

My chances with Zelda.

It's so absurd to think that I even have a chance.

It'd been about a month since that day. Ravio and I hadn't run into each other any other times, thankfully. Zelda actually found a way around him for the time being. She told him that her Dad's really stressed about the election that's coming up in November. Surprisingly, Ravio bought it and wasn't going to be around for awhile.

Due to that, Zelda's been able to go out with her friends.

But more importantly, she's been able to hang out with me.

A lot.

She and I had regular study sessions after school. She was having difficulty in Calculus still, so I offered my assistance.

School in general had been very simple. It was senior year, so I wasn't taking many classes. Only the ones I needed for college and to get through the year. The only stressor on our minds was college applications. Luckily for me though, I'd already completed them. I just needed to submit them within a few weeks so I could be eligible for early application.

Speaking of school, it was just finishing up for the day. My English teacher had lulled me into a trance all class. We were discussing poetry.

Who cares about poetry?

I walked out to my car and drove home. Sheik wasn't with me today since he was up all of last night finishing a paper that he had due today. He probably pulled the "can I just email it to you, professor?" stunt.

I loved driving. Especially during Fall. Seeing the foliage on the way home was so relaxing. I loved them smell of the air during Autumn. It just made me happy for some reason.

I drove up to my house and went straight to the back yard to help Rusl with any gardening that he had to do. He seemed especially stressed out lately, so I was trying to help him.

He still hadn't told me about why he's been home so much more lately. I didn't want to ask him, so I've just been waiting for an explanation.

As I was walking to the back, I felt my phone vibrate. I took it out and saw a message from Zelda.

"Hey, do you want to hang out tonight? My Dad is busy with work and Saria just cancelled her plans with me to see Mido :("

Nice.

I unlocked my phone and replied. "Sure! Let's hang at my place. Aryll has been dying to see you lol"

I placed my phone back in my pocket as I made it to the back yard. As expected, Rusl was working on the pumpkins. We only had a week or two before Halloween, so everyone in town was going to be stopping by to see if they could snag a good one for a low price.

I walked up behind him. "Hey Rusl. How're the pumpkins doing?" He jumped up and greeted me. "Howdy Link! They're looking real good this year. I think we'll be able to sell most all of them. We can eat the rest." He and I laughed. I got onto my knees and started doing some weeding. Weeds loved to come in and kill our pumpkins towards the end of the growing process. It was aggravating to lose one so close to being finished.

"Hey Rusl, do you think it'd be ok if Zelda came over tonight. Aryll's been dying to see her." I laughed and continued working. I noticed him sit up and felt the smug look he was giving me.

"Are you sure it's only Aryll that's dying to see her?"

My shoulders and head dropped. He got me.

"Ok, fine. I want to see her. Can she come over?" Rusl let out a bellowing laugh. "Of course she can! She's a sweet girl." I smiled when he said that.

Yeah, she is.

I continued to help Rusl for a bit. It was about 4 P.M. now and we had finished for the day. Zelda was coming around 5 P.M., so I decided to freshen up.

You know... because girl.

I threw on a long sleeved blue shirt with a cool lobster design on the front. My Grandma had apparently given it to my father when he was my age, so Rusl gave it to me last year when I finally fit into it.

Yeah, it took me awhile to go through puberty. I was always the short, skinny kid up until my Junior year. I finally shot up and put some meat on my bones. I was still a somewhat skinny guy though. I didn't really gain weight no matter what I ate. Zelda always says she envies my metabolism.

I wasted time on my Wii U while waiting for Zelda. I don't know why this system gets so much flak. It's a ton of fun.

"Link! She's here!"

Nice.

I ran downstairs and opened the door for her. Behind the door was a girl who'd managed to capture my heart in just a few mere moments. She looked as amazing as ever. She was wearing a baby blue T-shirt and had a purple, zip-up sweat shirt on. Her blonde hair was braided into one, long braid that ran down her back. She looked truly beautiful.

Why was I analyzing her so much? It wasn't a date.

I'm a freakin' creep.

"Hey Zelda, come on in. It's too cold to be standing outside." She giggled and entered the doorway.

"So, was there a lot of traffic on the way here?" She gave me an annoyed look and shrugged me off.

I was a bit sarcastic sometimes.

We walked into the kitchen to find Rusl making dinner. "Hey, Rusl, Zelda's here." He spun around from the oven and placed the sheet he'd taken out on the stove.

"Zelda! It's pleasure to see you." Rusl put a big smile on his face and shook her hand. He always liked to make my friends feel welcome, and Zelda was no exception.

Zelda smiled back at him. "Thank you for letting me come over for dinner. I just needed to get out of the house for a bit."

Get out of the house?

"Oh, yes, I bet your father is dealing with a lot right now. How's the future Minister doing?" Rusl continued to run around the kitchen, making sure to pay attention to Zelda.

"Oh, he's well. He's just stressed and that makes living with him difficult sometimes." Zelda giggled playfully and walked over to the table across from the kitchen.

She didn't mention that she wanted to get out of the house. I highly doubt it was an issue with her father. It was most likely Ravio.

I looked over and saw Zelda taking her sweatshirt off and placing it on the back of a chair.

So much for worrying about Ravio. He can wait.

I walked over to the table and took the sweatshirt from her to hang up by the doorway. She thanked me as expected.

I'd just hung up her sweatshirt when Rusl called out to me. "Hey, Link, do you mind taking Aryll to her soccer game tomorrow night? I'm going to be out for a few hours and need the help."

Out? Where was he going?

"Yeah, of course. Where're you going?" I saw him stop for a brief moment, almost as if he had to think of what he was going to say.

"Ah, just doing some business. Nothing too important." He smiled and went back to making dinner.

Yeah, business. Something was up. He'd been acting strange for over a month now. I think I'm going to ask him about it later.

Nothing else too eventful happened after that. We all sat down for dinner and shared some laughs. Rusl was purposely telling Zelda about all the dumb things I did when I was younger. I knew he was trying to get under my skin and embarrass me, but I just laughed it off. It was all in good fun.

We both thanked him for dinner and went to my room to play with Aryll for awhile. She loved it more than anything when Zelda came over. She told me it like she finally had a sister to hang out with. Considering how she was the only girl in the house, I understand where she's coming from.

We were having a blast playing Mario Kart until Aryll dropped an awkward bomb. She'd just lost a race due to me "cheating" apparently.

"That's no fair! No cheating!" Zelda and I both laughed at her childish excuses. "It was a fair race, Aryll. I won fair and square." I looked at her and gave her a brief smile.

"Zelda, can you tell your boyfriend not to cheat anymore?"

Shit.

Things got quiet immediately. I jumped to my feet. "Ok, little sis. Time to go. We've been playing long enough." I walked over to her and picked her up. She kicked and squirmed. I heard Zelda giggling in the background.

Huh. I guess she didn't find Aryll's remark awkward.

I put Aryll down in her room and kneeled down to her height. "Zelda and I are just friends, ok? No more of this boyfriend, girlfriend stuff. Zelda has a boyfriend." Aryll scoffed. "Well that's just stupid. She obviously likes you if she's seeing you more than she sees him."

I stopped to take in what Aryll had just said.

I mean, Ravio was a disgusting person, but Zelda and I were seeing each other quite often.

Could a girl like Zelda really like me?

That kiss didn't mean anything. It was in the heat of the moment and she was vulnerable. We both agreed that it wasn't a big deal and wasn't real. It couldn't have been.

I walked out of Aryll's room and shut the door.

I muttered to myself. "Could it have?"

"What, Link?"

Damn. She was standing in my doorway across the hall.

I tried to think of an excuse for what I said, but she probably didn't hear it. So I came up with the most original response of all time.

"Oh, nothing."

Nailed it.

Zelda smiled to herself and continued to look beautiful as always.

Did she try to look pretty or was it just natural?

I mentally slapped myself.

Definitely natural.

She smiled at me. "Hey, follow me." Zelda started walking downstairs.

Well, ok then.

I followed her downstairs and saw her putting her sweatshirt on.

Damn.

I gave her a confused look and she just continued to smile back at me. What was she up to?

She opened the door and headed outside. I grabbed a blue sweatshirt from the closet and continued behind her.

When I got outside, I saw Zelda making her way up onto the garage.

So, that's what she's doing.

I ran over to her and offered her my help, but she shrugged it off and made it up on her own. I climbed up after her and walked over to sit wear she was on the roof.

We sat quietly for a few minutes before I broke the silence. "I'm sorry about Aryll's remark. She's a bit young and doesn't quite-"

"Link, it's fine!" She laughed and blew it off as if it was nothing.

That was a good thing, right?

No, that's bad... I think?

I suck at reading a girl's emotions.

I laughed back. "Alright. I just wanted to make sure." She smiled and continued star gazing. It was another few minutes before either of us spoke up.

I really didn't like when there was silence between us. It made me feel like she'd think I don't care about talking to her or whatever, when in reality I just didn't know what to say.

"This roof seems to have become our spot." Zelda said in a playful manner. "We always seem to end up here."

I smirked and let out a brief chuckle. She said it in such a happy tone that it almost made me forget why I was always on the roof.

"Link..." I looked over to her, noticing she was a bit uneasy. "Why are you always on the roof?"

I closed my eyes and turned to look at my shoes. I knew this question was coming someday.

She must've noticed my hesitation. "You don't have to answer that. I'm sorry if it's too personal. I understand."

I needed to tell her. It wasn't going to hurt anything, so why not?

Well, other than because it was a painful memory.

"No, it's ok. I'll tell you. Just let me explain it without interrupting me. I don't like having to repeat myself when it comes to this." She nodded her head and gave me her full attention.

I let out a deep sigh.

"The first time I came up here was when I was seven. That day, I was home with my Uncle Rusl. Aryll was with us too, but she was only a baby, so she doesn't remember any of this. Rusl and I were playing with LEGOs when we suddenly... got a call." My voice cracked upon saying that.

Dammit, Link.

Zelda scooted over to me and put her hand on top of mine.

I took a deep breath and continued.

"The call was from Eldin General Hospital. I'll never forget the look on Rusl's face during that call..."

I closed my eyes.

"My parents were in critical condition as a result of a violent car robbery and mugging. They were parked in a large garage near the mall they were out at. My mother was waiting in the car while my father was inside, paying for parking. He was only about twenty feet from her apparently. I don't know. That's just what the police report said."

I took a few deep breaths. I hated this part.

"While he was paying for parking, two men opened the passenger seat door where my mother was a pulled her out. She let out cry, which notified my father. She was repeatedly stabbed after that. He saw the entire thing."

I felt tears welling up. Zelda moved closer.

"He charged them and managed to actually knock one of them out. Upon doing so though, he was left open for attack and was stabbed by the other man. He collapsed and was stripped of his wallet. The other man picked up his partner and threw him in the back seat. The they sped off. Nobody was around to see it other than an elderly couple. They called the police and are responsible for helping my parents to the hospital."

Tears had begun falling from my eyes. I didn't try to hide it.

"Rusl grabbed Aryll out of her crib and took us to the hospital immediately. When we got there, the doctors told us that my mother had passed away and that there were just too many wounds on my father for them to save him. I ran past the security and found my father's room. I ran over to him, tears cascading down my face. I saw him look over to me and smile. He reached out for my hand and held it tight. He called my name."

I had to stop for a moment. I regained my composure for a second.

"My father, Fado, told me, 'Be proud of who you are, Link.'"

I took a minute after that. I had difficulty saying those final word without losing it.

"I still don't know what he exactly meant by that, other than to always be proud of myself and to never look down on myself. He passed away holding my hand. I believe he held on just long enough so he could say goodbye to me."

"That night, my parents passed away. When I got home, Rusl went over to his chair and sat there all night. I left my room in the middle of the night and climbed up onto the roof. I cried there until morning. Ever since then, I've come up here whenever I've been upset."

Zelda wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight.

I hung my head. That memory, no matter how many times I told it, never got easy. I lost my parents and they're never coming back.

If that's not the worst feeling in the world, I don't know what is.

"I am so sorry, Link. We don't have to sit up here if it's meant for when you're upset."

I shook my head. "No... it can be our spot, too. It's a good place to talk, and... and it gets my mind off of what this place is usually used for." I looked over to Zelda and smiled.

I must've looked so stupid. I'd just finished crying, so I probably looked really dumb.

Zelda smiled back and hugged me.

Stupid or not, it worked.

OH! I just remembered!

"Oh, Zelda! I forgot!" She was clearly surprised by my new tone since she jumped. "Forgot what?" She laughed at my sudden excitement.

"I think I've come up with a way to get you out of your relationship with Ravio." Zelda's mouth dropped. "No way. Seriously?!"

Please Goddesses, let this work. "Yeah, but one thing first. What's Ravio's father like? In terms of morals and such."

She pondered for a second. "He's a very honorable man. He may spoil Ravio to no end but have no doubt, he will not hesitate to punish poor behavior.

Hehehehehehehe. Gotcha, asshole.

I gave Zelda a big smile and a laugh. "Ok, I think this will work, but I can't tell you what I'm going to do. Your surprise is how this will all work." Zelda gave me a concerned look.

I took her hand. "Do you trust me, Zelda?" She let out a sigh. "Of course I do." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Ok, awesome. I can't guarantee it'll work, but it's the best I can do." Zelda smiles lightly and looked away. "I just don't want to get my hopes up."

That makes sense. Why would she have any reason to believe that this would go her way? Regardless though, I needed her to be positive.

I held her hand tighter. "Zelda, everything will be ok. I promise." She looked over to me and smiled genuinely. "Ok, Link."

Well, now I had to make this work. I just promised her.

We got off of the roof shortly after and Zelda left. I thanked her for listening to my sob story and she went on her long trek home. All two blocks away.

I walked back inside after waving bye to Zelda and started to head upstairs. I was just about to begin my ascent, but Rusl caught my eye. He was in his chair and had his head in his hands. I walked over to him.

Time for some answers.

"Hey Rusl, can we talk?" He picked up his head and let out a heavy sigh. I think he knew this was coming. He looked at me, ready for me to start.

"So, I was just wondering why you've been home so much lately and why you've been to Castle Town more often. It's been happening for the last month or so and you keep tip toeing around the subject. Is everything ok?"

It felt like an eternity before he answered. He sighed again.

"I was fired, Link."

I felt a hard lump in my throat. "F-fired? But... why?" Rusl just shook his head. "I don't know, Link. They refused to give me an explanation. I was fired before you started school. That's why I've been working so hard in the backyard. It's our only source of income right now. I've been going to Castle Town for job interviews but every time I get there, the company that I applied for claims to not know about it. I have the emails from them and everything, but nobody will see me."

What? That makes no sense. Why would all these companies do that?

"I'm going to be blunt with you, Link. We're having massive financial problems right now. I don't know if I can afford to send you to college next year." Rusl's face with full of shame and embarrassment.

"Rusl, don't worry about it. I can go to school later. What's important is sticking together and making sure that everything works out. It will be ok. I'll get a job or two. I'll sell my video games, books, anything." I was honest about that. It would suck to not have those things but the family comes first. No matter what.

Rusl had tears in his eyes. "Thank you, Link. Your father would be proud of you."

I smiled to him. He got up from his chair and started to head up to his room. "I'm going to head to bed. We can talk about a game plan tomorrow."

I nodded my head and watched him walk away. Once I heard his door shut upstairs, I fell back into the couch.

Things were about to get a lot more difficult around here.

I pulled out my phone and texted Zelda.

"Things are about to get really rough for my family and I. I'm really going to need you to help me through this."

She responded immediately.

"Anything for my best friend. I'm always here for you."

I smiled at her response and was about to put my phone away when I got another message from her.

"Everything is going to be ok."