Author's Note: Okay, as of right now, I'm writing this at 12:52am having just finished writing chapter eleven. Wow, I have to go get sleep! But I just couldn't sleep without this chapter getting done!
Chapter 12: Sweet Dreams
At about 2:30, Link and Zelda figured it would be a good time to call it a night, or in this case, early morning. Just like Link had predicted, Kafei did get drunk having consumed two Chateau Romanis. He started flirting with just about every girl in the bar and got slapped by just about every one of them. Thankfully, Anju left before that started, so he didn't have to deal with her. Then, Kafei thought he was a Goron and kept shouting at a bottle "grow, you stupid bomb flower, goro!" While Link and Zelda found it amusing to watch, they knew that they had to get Kafei out of the bar before he got arrested.
Link went and grabbed Kafei and slung him over his shoulder. Kafei said that he wanted to ride a pony and Link covered that by saying that he could ride on his horse. Of course, being as drunk as he was, Kafei argued and said he wanted to ride a pony not a horse. Zelda laughed the whole time Link carried Kafei. It was just too funny. There was a time where Kafei thought he was being kidnapped by a stalfos and started beating Link on the back. Link was tough, so he just took it.
"We're almost to your house, Kafei." Link sighed.
"No…me want…your princess…" Kafei mumbled. Zelda looked at him funny. "She got…gots…nice…"
"I don't want you finishing that." Zelda said as she closed Kafei's mouth with her hand. Whose idea was it to let Kafei buy more than one Chateau Romani? After one more house, they finally found Kafei's house.
"Here you are." Link said opening the door and taking Kafei in.
"Nooooooooo…no home…I want…poes…for breakfast…" Kafei mumbled as Link placed him on the couch. Zelda gagged at the thought of eating a poe for breakfast. "Poes…where are my poes….where are…my…poes…"
In a matter of seconds, Kafei fell asleep and started snoring loudly. Link laughed softly at his friend's odd behavior and then put a blanket over him. He mumbled a couple words in his sleep as Link put the blanket on, but then went back to snoring. As funny as Kafei's behavior was, Zelda was a little concerned that maybe he would sleep walk and end up drowning or something.
"Link, do you think maybe you should stay the night with him. Just to make sure he doesn't kill himself sleepwalking?" Zelda asked.
"Nah, he'll be fine."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because I'm taking his key." Link smirked.
"Wow, sneaky." Zelda nodded in agreement with the idea. "So then he'll be locked in?"
"Yep, I've locked both the lock going out the house and the lock coming in. Now, he has no reason to sleepwalk out of his house." Link said with confidence. "So, shall we go?"
"Yeah. I don't know how much longer Daisuke can last." Zelda then yawned. "Besides, I'm getting tired. Today was a long day."
"I know. You worked your butt off from morning till sundown and then haven't slept once tonight." Link agreed.
Link and Zelda left Kafei's house and walked over to where the horses where still parked. They were both still awake. Both Link and Zelda each praised their horses for being troopers and remaining awake for almost the entire time. Link had brought along a couple carrots. He gave one to Zelda and fed one to Epona. Zelda stroked Daisuke and then fed him the carrot . Then, Zelda started to mount Daisuke and suddenly her vision went blurry for a few seconds. She hopped back down and let her vision return to normal.
"Zelda? You okay?" Link noticed her holding her head briefly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She mounted Daisuke and they started heading out of the village. They tried to get the horses going a little faster, but they were too tired, so they had to settle for a slow ride back to the ranch, which was just fine. It gave them a chance to converse.
"So, did you enjoy yourself?" Link asked.
"Oh, I did!" Zelda said remembering the dancing, the Chateau Romani, and she liked Link's friend Kafei too. "Honestly, I've never had so much fun in my whole life."
"Really? So, you've never been to a milk bar before?"
"Nope. Story of my life, trapped in Hyrule Castle for most of my life."
"Wow, so you really hardly got out at all." Link said feeling bad for her.
"Yeah, but I had so much fun tonight." Zelda said with a warm smile. She turned her attention forward again and the field started spinning a little. "Oh wow…"
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm…just a little…dizzy."
"Oh boy. It's the Romani." Link said pulling Epona to a halt. "We should wait until the side effects pass on through."
"Side effects?"
"Yeah." Link dismounted Epona after Zelda pulled Daisuke to a halt. "Your body isn't used to the alcohol, so you might be a little buzzed."
"Buzzed?"
"A very light case of the drunk state. Very light. Not a big deal at all." Link said helping Zelda off of Daisuke. He carried her over to a wall nearby and set her down. "Wait here while I bring over the horses."
Zelda obeyed and remained on the wall waiting for Link to bring over Epona and Daisuke. She leaned back and gazed up at the stars. Tonight was such a fun night and she didn't want it to end. Everything was amazing. Zelda shut her eyes and let the wind blow through her hair. Although she was tired, she didn't want that night to end at the same time. It was the best night she ever had. Zelda turned and saw Link pulling Epona and parking her right by the wall. He went back and got Daisuke and then sat next to Zelda. It was late and they were both tired, but it was safer for them to wait out Zelda's side effects and let them pass.
"You feeling any better?" Link asked.
"Sort of." Zelda answered. "The field still looks like it's spinning a little, though."
"Hmm, that's interesting. If they don't wind down soon, I think I might take you back to ranch on Epona and then we can come back and get Daisuke in the morning."
"But won't he run away?"
"If he's loyal, then no, he won't. But who knows? Daisuke has taken a liking to Epona so he might just follow her back to the ranch." Link laughed a little. A gust of wind blew and Link shivered a little. "Getting kind of chilly."
"Here." Zelda held out half of her cloak so Link could have some warmth.
"Nah, I'm good."
"You'll catch a cold and I don't want you going all delirious on me."
Link laughed remembering the day before when they brought her to the ranch. He remembered her being so sick to the point of saying she wanted to have a baby with him. Link smiled at Zelda warmly and scooted closer to her. The two of them sat closely together with half of Zelda's cloak on each of their backs. The cloak itself didn't warm themselves up, but each other's company did a good job. Zelda blushed at how close Link was to her and the idea of them actually sharing her cloak. Link stared up at the pitch black sky that still had plenty of twinkling stars.
"Zelda," Link started to say. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh?"
"I can't guarantee it, but okay." Zelda answered.
"Okay. The truth is…I…" Link turned to make eye contact with her. He found himself lost in Zelda's eyes. Not to mention the tip of his green cap was blowing in the way of his face. He brushed the cap out of his way and cleared his throat. "I…cheated on the bet."
"What?" Zelda asked looking at him funny.
"I cheated. Completely guilty." Link said leaning back.
"How? I mean, it was kind of dumb that you said I lost because the clock said 16:59 instead of 17:00, but…"
"That's where I cheated." Link interrupted her. "I switched all the clocks in the house back by fifteen minutes." He tried not to laugh, but couldn't hold it in.
"Oh! You are evil!" Zelda laughed. "So evil!" Link just hung over laughing his guts out. Zelda picked up a stick and threw it at him.
"Whoa! You really are violent, aren't you, Princess?"
"There's plenty more of where that came from!" Zelda said standing up on the wall. "And you know I will fight."
"Is that a challenge?" Link asked crossing his arms. Zelda just jumped off the wall on the other side of Link. "Hey! I'm not done with you, yet!"
Link, who was a fast runner, caught up to Zelda immediately and wrapped his arms around her. She shrieked when he caught her. Both of them laughed as Link picked Zelda up and spun her around. Zelda broke free of his grasp and ran down to Zora's River where she started splashing Link. He attempted at protecting himself from the cold, wet droplets and failed. Link ran into the river and started splashing Zelda as well. It turned into a splash war.
Zelda stood in the river to catch her breath. Link started walking over to Zelda. She stepped back and found herself tripping and falling into the river becoming soaking wet. Link laughed as Zelda shook out her messy hair. She glared up at him seeing how he was still fairly dry. Link offered his hand to help Zelda up. She grabbed his hand, but instead pulled him into the water right next to her. Zelda laughed as Link started shaking out his now soaking wet and messy hair. He let out a good laugh before he just warmly smiled at Zelda. She returned his smile with one of her own.
They sat in the water within inches away from each other just holding each other's gaze. Link found himself lost as the stars twinkled in Zelda's blue eyes. He could just melt at the sight of her. Holding her gaze, Link put another strand of her hair behind her ear. This time, instead of bringing his hand back, Link ran his hand down Zelda's cheek as she shut her eyes and appreciated the way he caressed her cheek. Zelda opened her eyes and found Link's warm eyes and smile aimed directly right at her. She wanted to take Malon's advice and tell Link her feelings for him. Right now, she thought it was the perfect moment.
"Uh…Link?" Zelda asked.
"Say no more, Zelda." Link said in his soft, angelic voice.
Link tilted Zelda's chin so she was facing him straight on. His hand moved to her cheek and caressed it. Zelda suddenly had the strangest feeling that she had never felt before. Sure, she had a crush on Link, but her crush on him never caused her that strange feeling. She remembered feeling the lump in her throat from when she danced with Link, but that was all she remembered. Zelda knew what she wanted at this moment. And to be honest, even though she didn't know it, Link wanted the same thing. Zelda moved her hand so it was lightly touching Link's cheek. Then, she began to lean in just as she did during the ball when she and Link were out on the balcony. Link also started to lean in and try to meet her in the middle. Just as their lips were about to make contact, Zelda opened her eyes and realized that this was too fast and things needed to slow down.
"Uh…" Zelda quickly pulled away blushing from embarrassment. "Sorry."
"Is something wrong?" Link asked.
"No. Well, maybe, but…I don't know." She stood up from the water. "We should probably get back to the ranch."
"Yeah." Link agreed getting up and walking with her over to where Epona and Daisuke were. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Link. It's not you at all." Zelda tried to assure him. "Really…it's just…it's me. I'm just…going through a hard phase right now."
"Right, I understand." Link smiled at her before mounting Epona. "You okay to ride Daisuke back to the ranch?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling much better now." Zelda answered mounting Daisuke.
The rest of the ride to the ranch was silent and a lot more awkward than it was during the first half of the ride. Link and Zelda made sure to make a silent entrance back to the ranch so that Talon and Malon didn't wake up. Link silently groaned to himself when he realized was time it was, which was almost 4:00. He was going to have to get up in about two hours to get started on the ranch chores. Zelda put Daisuke away in the stable and made sure it was locked for the evening.
Link waited for Zelda right outside the stable. They walked back into the house together. Zelda now found it awkward to walk with Link now for some odd reason. Link and Zelda quietly crept their way up the stairs. Zelda sent an awkward grin at Link before starting in towards Malon's room.
"Zelda?" Link asked softly. She turned around in response. "Sorry about what I did earlier, but, did your really enjoy yourself tonight?"
"Yes." Zelda answered truthfully. "It truly was the greatest night of my life. Thank you." She looked down at her feet briefly before looking back at Link. "Well, good night."
"Sweet dreams, Zelda." Link smiled at her.
Then, Link unexpectedly leaned in and left a kiss on Zelda's cheek before making his way into his own room. Zelda just stood there and lightly touched the cheek that Link just kissed. She smiled to herself before going into Malon's room and crawling into bed to have sweet dreams.
Author's Note: Okay, I started this chapter at 12:52am. It is now 5:24am as I'm finishing this up! No, it did not take that long! My friend came into the room I'm typing in and we chatted for HOURS! Anyway, what does this have to do with the fanfic? I have no idea, but what I do know is that a) it's time for this chapter's trivia fact, b) I'm tired, and c) I'm hungry.
Trivia: Link and Zelda were originally supposed to have their first kiss in this chapter. However, like Zelda, I felt things would be moving too quick in their relationship, so I decided to slow things down a bit.
