Wow...i actualy got a review demanding i updated...and i do it just for you,um is too lazy to go look up your name and i say i love my reviewers... I do though! Thanks for that review though...i don't think i would have updated otherwise! at at alost for plot at the moment so subjestions would be nifty!

Chickadee chapter 12

The sun was sinking into the west over the castle courtyard, casting the lush garden into gray shadows. The stones of the castle were old and worn but the construction was new and radiated a rejuvenated feeling from its old stones.

A lean figure leaned over the high balcony railing, observing the unexpected and un-informed of oddity below. She brushed a strand of platinum hair out of her face as she scrutinized the small brunette girl on the war horse below. Its blond owner was leading it toward the castle stables, and she watched till they disappeared inside of the structure.

The queen let a breathy sigh escape her. Their conversation earlier had been short and polite, and far more awkward than she ever would have imagined. But the girl had not been mentioned in the slightest. She let some of the more unpleasant possibilities run through her head as she peered down at the empty courtyard. She sighed again, there was no use fretting over it till she knew the truth.

A black and brown clad butler strode across the grounds toward the stable, just in time to meet link and his charge coming out. Zelda found herself leaning farther over railing, trying in vain to catch and words of the hurried conversation that was much to far away to hear to begin with.

She watched them hurry off through one of the doors leading into castle. She relaxed and ran her fingers along the railing. "Why are you here? Why did you come back?" she whispered to herself her mind puzzling its self and ignoring the obvious conclusion it kept coming to: that this was his home. She sighed again, it sounded more like a groan.

"Pop!" Molly blinked at the empty space were the offending bubble had been moments before. Once again she looked around in wonder at the large bathroom, with all its pink marble surfaces and all the odd smelly bottles of this and that. She swished her hands around in the bubble bath , watching the bubbles pop and swirl.

As soon as they had arrived at the castle link had fussed nervously over her. He had made quiet sure the blood on her hands and shirt had not been hers, all the while babbling questions at her she refused to answer. The interrogation had ended as he wiped her hands cleaned with a damp cloth and shuttled her off to the bathroom, telling her nothing more than to get cleaned up.

So there molly was. Alone. In a very fancy bathroom. On any other day this simple combination would have spelled disaster. Her mood could be best described as sulky as she sat in the middle of the behemoth tube. She looked remarkably like a drowned rat, with her dark wet hair sticking to her face.

She looked down at her pruned sudsy hands doubtfully, they were clean now. She wasn't so much upset about the incident now, for she had seen people die before, she was mostly wondering whether or not she should be upset. What was gripping her psyche the most was the idea that she could die just as easy, and she nearly had.

"Bang Bang!"

"Eip!" the sudden banging on the door startled her and she nearly threw her self out of the bath.

"You didn't drown in there did you?" links muffled voice asked through the door.

"NO!" she yelled back feeling most unhappy about being startled.

"well hurry up. I've got to meet a friend and I want to talk to you before I do." at those words the little girl let herself sink beneath the now cooled bath water, only her bright green eyes and a strand of long hair peeked up through the bubbles.

Link began grumbling and turned back to the over furnished room. A small dark haired maid stood in the door way snickering.

"sorry..." she said snickering, "it was open. I was sent here for your laundry" she finished finally controlling her snickers.

Link shrugged at her and her frilly black and white maid outfit. He unceremoniously dumped the two pack on the bed out. He continued to grumble as he separated clothing out from the piles.

The maid quickly bustled over to him and began relieving him of his laundry and both packs with the large basket balanced on her hip. Link tried to protest but the young maid was far to efficient and in the end he found himself siting on the end of the bed as she scooped anything and every thing washable into her basket.

The door to the bathroom clicked open and the sound of wet feet on hard wood pitterr-pattered toward the bed. Link couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her wrapped in the largest, most luxurious towel he had ever seen.

"Wait!" she grabbed hold of the maid's basket as she was about to turn and leave.

the little maid smiled down at her, "I'm only taking it to the wash."

"Well, this is clean!" she said pulling at the pant leg of a pair of her pants, she nearly pulled the basket out of th maid's hands as she continued to rummage.

"Molly...let the poor lady do her job..." he said getting off the bed to relieve the maid of the over zealous girl.

The maid smiled at him and lowered the basket for her so she could search better, "Well she does have to wear something." she said simply.

Link stopped in mid step, she had a point.

"umm...and this...its not clean but..." she never finished but scampered off into the bathroom with the chosen articles of clothing, the door banging behind her.

"sorry about that..." he said walking over and picking up a few stray articles that had fallen out in the process.

The maid grinned, "is she yours?"

"Oh hell no," he said with a smirk, throwing the escapees back in the laundry basket.

"well she's cute anyway," the maid smiled broader if that was possible, "well I'll have these back by tonight." and with that she disappeared out the door.

Link walked back to the large four poster bed and looked over the pile of things left on it. He heard molly's bare feet trotting up behind him.

"will you tie this?" she said curtly holding the untied strings that held the pink little shirt on. He tied it quickly in an over sized bow. She pulled herself up onto the large bed and began rummaging in the remains of their possessions for her hair brush.

Link watched her for a moment, "About this morning, you sure you don't wan to tell-"

"yep," she said finding the brush.

"Will you at least tell me-"

"Nope," she didn't look at him when she said this, but went about brushing her chocolate colored hair.

He crossed his arms and looked down at her on the bed. A look of concern floated on his brow, a look that could easily be confused with annoyance. She blinked up at him and bit her lip, she never liked it when she thought he was angry with her.

He sighed and turned his attention to the pile of stuff scattered across the bed, "Just want you to know, that if anyone ever tries to hurt you that damn well better try to do it back." he plucked a large bundle of paper out of the pile and looked at her as she squirmed on the edge of the bed under his gaze. He knew full well she had been in fight and had no intentions of letting her run around with a gut full of guilt over protecting herself.

"I know that..." she muttered.

"and..." he continued giving her a puzzled look at her lack of a confident answer, " even if its not you they're trying to hurt..." he finished letting her think on the implication. She sat there quiet for a moment.

"mmhmm,"she said softly nodding her head. He nodded slightly understanding a bit more of what happened, and slipped the parchments into his tunic.

"anyway," he continued briskly as if the conversation before hand had never taken place, "I've got to go meet with..." he hesitated for just ht e briefest moment, "...a friend of mine. And I'll be back in time for dinner, the servant said he'd send someone along with lunch for you..." he was stalking about the room now as if looking for something. "You seen my boots?"

"Nope," she watched him as he checked behind a gaudy pink and red upholstered chair that looked about ready to explode with the amount of cushioning in it.

"dammit...i left them...and then..." he began muttering to himself in that way that molly loved to imitate often. She began to giggle at him as he stood in front of the wash bowl on the chest of drawers. It was obvious now to her that he had washed himself up while she was in the bathroom, and this had involved misplacing his prized boots.

"nooo," there was a note of disbelief in his voice as he surveyed the room with his crystal blue eyes. He strode quickly to the bed again and peered beneath it.

"No..." he said making the word sound more like a heart felt curse.

"What?" Molly hung her self over the side of the bed so she could just see under the bed with him,all she could see under the bed was bare immaculate floor. She pulled her self up and was still mostly consumed by giggles as he swore venomously, still half under the bed. To her there was almost nothing funnier than him trying to find what he had misplaced unless he found what he was looking for right under his nose.

He stood up and looked at her and then frantically at the door, "she took my boots to the wash..."

Molly looked at him most unsympathetically, trying very hard to force the amusement out of her face. She could remember now in her rummaging that they had been there in the maid's basket. She couldn't help it anymore and burst out laughing again behind him.

He turned and glared at her, "its not funny!" he growled frustrated, he looked down at his feet with a bit of despair. The situation in which he had to face the new queen could not get worse he thought hopelessly.

"Maybe she wont notice..." he didn't realizer he had said this out loud, and molly dissolved into a yet another fit of laughter.

He cursed angrily, he was going to be late, he was going to be bare foot, "this is going to be awkward."

Molly didn't catch his last blurp due to the volume of her laughter.

"... screw it. I'm going anyways." he said to his feet, "and," he said pointing back at her, " you stay out of trouble...i mean it. And after this morning I don't even want you leaving this room till I get back."

molly cocked her head at him and stared...she had the sneaking suspicion she was being punished.

"how can i get into trouble in a place like this?" she said getting a bit defensive, she had no intention of leaving till he said she couldn't. She stole a glance at some of the odd and exotic items on the bed next to her, looking over them while he was gone would have entertained her plenty...

"I'm just saying i don't want to have to worry..." he trailed of after he said this, she bit her lip again. "this is important," he said sternly after an awkward pregnant pause.

Molly's face was the perfect picture of the question Why? They had always come and gone to many places. Never staying longer than a couple weeks. Why was this different?what did it mater if she got in trouble, though to be truthful her appetite for it had already been satisfied the day.

"just...don't leave our room." with this he stalked out of the room, closing the door ominously behind him.

Molly snorted, and crossed her arms, cursing him with every dirty word she new. She grumbled angrily over his frustrated exit while pawing through his things on the bed. A couple of creepy Masks caught her attention along with a bunch of talistmen on a necklace. She hardly paid attention as she continued to grumble about how he always told her what to do. Her earlier escapeadd was nearly forgotten for the moment.

She hoped off the bed and marched toward the door, "Just because he said not to," she thought fiercely as she opened the door and entered the hallway.

She stalked down though the maze like corridors. The maids and servants all seemed to ignore her and bustle about on there business. At the end of one particularly high vaulted hallway was a door larger than the rest. Molly approached it just behind a short portly woman in an apron. The woman opened the door to reveal it lead back into one of the court yards.

Molly looked about in the bright sunlight as the woman bustled over to a close line and began to fold things feverishly. Maybe, she thought reluctantly, it would be hard to get in trouble here.

The courtyard was smaller than the one with stable, a small pond, a tree that had become victim to the many close lines tethered to it, and a bunch of loud chickens was all that she found there.

The little fat woman finally seemed to notice her as she stood dejectedly in the sunlight.

"Ee' young'un what ye be doin'?" she said archaically as she grinned owlishly at her with her bright green eyes that popped out of her little wrinkled face in a comical mater.

Molly shrugged at the old lady, and wonder if she was going to try to yak her ear off.

"what be the matta' chill', the others not playin' with ye?" the old maid took down another shirt off the line and folded it neatly.

"I... umm..." she stammered not entirely sure what the old lady was getting at.

"you chil'ren can be so 'arsh sometimes, it surp'ises me you ever play nice at all..." at this she began to tut to herself as she continued to fold.

"oh..." molly hadn't even thought about there being other children in the castle, "i...um just can't find them all today." the ladies gaze was starting to freak her out.

"My child they be in the garden like they always be..." the woman chuckled at this.

"oh...didn't look there?" molly said a little unconvincingly and more than a little sarcastic.

"I remember when i twas your age-"Molly blinked at the woman as she gazed wistfully at the sky, some internal sense told her that now, more than any was a good time to make a quiet escape back into the castle.

The old maid looked up at the sound of the door banging and sighed, "oh well," the little old lady said with a sigh, "twoud have board her 'neeways."

22

Molly wandered about the castle again. The more she wandered in search of the gardens and potential companion ship the more her earlier escapead laid heavy on her mind. She was just about ready to admit defeat and attempt to return to her room and sulk, she was even contemplating asking for directions back when a loud shreik echoed toward her from the left.

She looked up from her thoughts and turned, coming face to face with a large arch way leading out into lush greenery.

She cocked her head quizzically, "must be the gardens."

"Tony that AIN"T FAIR!" a shrill voice yelled again as she entered, "you never tag Dylan when your it, always me!"

Molly quickened her pace down the gravel path and soon found her self in a grassy clearing sou rounded by small ornamental trees and bushes. Three children lay piled in an exhausted heap, they all seemed to be around our young trouble makers age, maybe eleven or so, but as always molly seemed small in comparison to them.

"Dylan is to hard to catch..." the dark haired boy said panting. Molly stood away form the watching, feeling very much the outsider.

"oh hello!" the platinum headed boy said joyfully catching sight of molly. She could only assume this was Dylan.

"who are you?" the little auburn red head asked sitting and smoothing out her blue skirt. For being a young girl she seemed to be awfully commanding.

"molly..."

"I'm Orelia Pyth," she said proudly attempting to courtesy while sitting, "you can call me Relly," she said with a giggle, "and those two stupids are Tony and Dylan."

the two boys waved on queue.

She waved back ,"what'ch doin'?" she asked with a broad grin as she joined them on the grass.

The dark eyed blond shrugged, "we were playing tag...but i think we're done with that now."

the dark haired boy nodded in agreement, "so...where you from? Are you staying? Who did you come with? Do you have any brothers?" the down pour of questions flew out the child's mouth at speed approaching gibberish.

She blinked her big emerald eyes at him.

"Tony! Don't be rude..." there was a silence and all three eyes were on molly, "well? Do you."

"oh sorry? You still want me to answer?" she asked perplexed.

"Course we do you ninny" Dylan said with a wide and curios grin.

"umm..." she began, "very far away, i don't think so, Link, no." she said listing the answers out on her fingers.

"Link?" tony asked asked as the other two looked at each other.

"my ma said that the queen was in love with a man named link once." Relly said looking deep in thought.

"a queen?" Molly asked in disbelief, "ha! Can't be the same person at all."

"Why not?" tony questioned.

"There aren't very many people named Link out there," Dylan said wisely.

"i can't imagine any one with enough brains to rule a country falling in love with an idiot like him!" Molly took great pride in being able to proclaim this.

"tee-hee! Is he that bad?" Relly exclaimed with a clap of her hands, "my older brother is an absolute Nimrod!"

"oh yes...earlier he misplaced his boots and and had to go to some stupid meeting completely bare foot!" she told them.

"Really?" Tony asked over the laughter, "sounds like something Dylan would do!"

"Na ah!" Dylan countered shoving his friend away.

"yes sah!" tony knocked into him with his shoulder. It soon turned into an all out tousle.

"Look," Oreliah said with a knowing smirk, "told you they were two little stupid peas in a pod."

the struggle ended quickly with the larger Dylan siting on his companion, "I resent that!" he managed to say before being shoved onto the ground.

"Can you swim?" Dylan suddenly asked, his face appearing inches from her own as he stared at her through his bright platinum hair with his dark chocolate eyes.

"yes."

"Good!" Relly's blue orbs sparkled with glee, "I've been trying to get them to go swimming all day!"

"You wanna go?" Tony asked the group officially turning to molly last.

"ummm...okay?" she was a bit awed by how quickly she had been included in their activities.

"Come on!" Relly yelled excitedly as she hoped up to her feet, hauling molly up as she went.

"last one there is a shriveled deku!" Dylan yelled as he raced ahead, tony yelling planitifulyu behind him.

Link was doing his best to wait patiently in the large sunny library. It was a rather plain study for queen. Books lined every wall only interrupted by two large windows and fireplace.

At the moment link was trying very hard to keep himself in one of the dark wood chairs in front of the large desk. His efforts didn't last long and he soon began to pace nervously, and well barefoot. He made at least three passes by the desk before he stopped and looked over the items on it. What chiefly dominated its surface was a large map of the kingdom. Around the edges of Hyrule the map faded into nothing. Link grinned, and pulled out the parchment tucked in his tunic.

No sooner had he began to unroll the parchment than he heard the door click shut behind him. He turned and came face to face with Zelda for the second time that day. She was dresses rather simply in a white buttoned blouse and fawn breeches.

"oh...ummm...sorry." he said quickly crossing his arms and taking a step back from her desk.

"it's quite alright," she said with a smile seeming to find a wealth of amusement in his actions.

"I was just looking at the map..." as he said this she crossed the distance between the door and the desk with what can only be described as cat like grace. She unrolled his parchment and gave it a good long look.

"yours seems rather more traveled than mine..." she looked up at him expectantly as if this warranted some sort of res pounce.

He sort of just nodded his head and shuffled his feet, "yep..." this may seem like a shy jester at first, but really he just couldn't think of anything else to say.

Zelda just gave him this look, a feminine kind of look that no mere man could ever attempt to interpret ate, "you just going to stand there?" she ask with biting sarcasm.

"...if I have to..." Link's mind was screaming the word IDIOT at the top of its mental capacity.

"well a map is little use to me if I know nothing about them."

"well..." he said looking right at her and leaning over the map again. And thus began a long involved conversation of the terrain and peoples shown on the map.

After a while the awkwardness seemed to leek out of the situation and each found them selves seated opposite each other pouring over the map Hyrule and nearly all of its neighboring lands ranging the farthest to the south and west.

"you sound like you've done this before." she was still looking down at the map.

"done what?" he leaned back into his seat. He watched how her long sheer bangs hung down both sides of her face, complimenting her strong cheek bones and gave her face a bright pixie like expression as her pale blue eyes darted about while reading the map.

He blinked in surprise as she answered his question, "giving reports, rather military style i might add." she looked with a questioning look.

"Oh well," he ran his fingers through his hair, "I have."

the look on the young queens face obviously asked him to expand on the subject.

"ummm," he started and pointed at a large country farthest to the south, "this is the country of Chokit." he began.. "about three years ago give or take a bit... it was having a civil war. Its safe to say the king was greedy bastard that enjoyed mass slaughter of his own people when he was displeased with them."

the queen give him a grim look as if this somehow she though the story could go down hill from there.

"well i got involved and eventually-"

"how'd that happen?" she asked curiously, resting her chin on his hands in an innocent gesture.

"I, um, got a, um captured." he admitted trying his best to look her straight in the eye. He hated to admit this more than that he once let a skull kid high jack his horse.

"really now? You?" she asked with a near chuckle.

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, "...yeh." he said reluctantly, "a group of rebells came through the next day and liberated the whole village. I joined up with them till they over threw the king, had nothing better to do really..."

"and this explains why you give good military reports about maps?"

"Gods you like your specifics..." he said crossing his arms.

She gave him a childish grin, "curiosity did nearly kill me more than once. You could probably say the same..."

he snorted at her and rolled his eyes, she gave him a reappraising look which he could make no sense off.

"well if you must know I was a scout." she nodded now, even though she had easily assumed as much.

"now..." it was her turn to lean back in her seat, "who is this little girl I saw earlier?"

"Molly?"

"well i would assume... if that the girl that was with you..."

"oh yeah...thats her. Bit of a...handful."

"do you always avoid direct questions," she said with coy grin seeming to be both slightly frustrated with him while still being amused.

He gave her a hard look and gave her his shit eating grin, "Yes I enjoy making it a habit of mine."

"well I'll ask again who is she?"

"do you want the specifics?"

"goddesses above...your just being an ass now aren't you!" she looked up in exasperation.

"I also make that a habit of mine..." he grinned broadly at her frustration, "and forgive a guy for resenting being interrogated."

She breathed a heavy sigh and there was a pregnant pause, "I apologize. I'm just...-"

" curios?" he added

"...perhaps, its hard to tell sometimes" at this she turned away from his slightly and tuck one strand of platinum bangs behind a long slender ear.

"now whose being the ass." he put both hands behind his head and waited for her rebuttal.

"did you just call me an ass?" she said looking back at him suddenly, her face was more surprised than injured.

"maybe, its hard to tell..."

"oh shut up you!" she said almost playfully kicking him lightly under the table, "i think i liked you better when you were quite...you were cuter then too..."

"I believe i may resent that," he said leaning back on the table top, his chin resting on one fist.

"well i honestly don't care at the moment," her grin betrayed her words, not something that happened to the queen often, "and if you haven't forgotten, i would like to know how a man like you came into the guardian ship of that little girl."

"with the specifics?" he was simple glared at in answer, he was starting to wonder why he had been so worried earlier, " if you get really technical, I'm her brother's godfather." she looked at him as if expecting more, "well her sister was a friend of mine... and she made me the godfather of her son, and they both died in the birth, so as godfather i got stuck with her sister."

"So let me get this straight," the pale eyed queen said doubtfully, "both her mother and father, sister and brother in law are dead?"

"unfortunately, the village couldn't afford to put up another mouth, the war had taken a lot out of the people, and her sister was the figure head during it...and well I was her second, So they thought it was most fitting and easiest on them if I took her..."

"the war? You brought her here all the way from that country Chokit?"

he shrugged, "had to come check on this place at least once didn't I?"

she gave him a wide eyed look as if he had answered an unasked question, " I suppose, but i always doubted you would come back at all..."

"thats what Naburo said..."

at this Zelda laughed, "of course she did, I don't know a bigger pessimist."

he shrugged again, "what time is it?" he asked un expectantly.

"four thirty... why?"

"I promised Molly I'd be back for diner and well she has a tendency to get into trouble if i leave her alone for to long."

"the joys of parent hood?" she said darkly.

He blinked, he had never quite thought of himself as being her parent, "I suppose..."

"well its been good seeing you again so soon..." she said again with her coy knowing smile as he got up to leave.

he stood near the door and looked back at her, "its been longer for me... you can keep the map." and with that he left the room.

As soon as the door clicked behind him her smile slowly melted. Her face became a mask for the concerned thoughts whiling through her head. Slowly she began to chastised herself, she shouldn't have been so intergenerational or cynical, she knew she was better than that. The whole situation was awkward maybe if he had had a purpose in returning things would have been easier, instead he was hear simply there to 'check up on the place'.Zelda groaned and rubbed her temples, she hated events with no obvious purpose.

"They always make the future blurry..." she mumbled to herself, running the possibilities of his arrival through her mind with out much success.