Chapter Twelve: A Wonderful Finish

Author's Note: Thank you to my awesomely fantastic beta, RandomButLoved, for editing the chapter. I ADORE the little changes you've made to make this chapter sparkle even more. If anyone has time, please, please check out her work! Her stories are simply divine. :)

Link withdrew and pulled me close towards him. I sighed in contentment and rested my head against his shoulder, relaxed and in a daze. Beside us, I heard Ruto gape, but none of that bothered me. I was too busy recovering from that sudden burst of heaven. "Euphoria..." I whispered to myself, completely overjoyed. Link chuckled and pulled me closer, his head leaning against my shoulder.

"I... I don't believe this!" Ruto seethed and stomped away, unable to cope with staying near us any longer.

I shut my eyes and snuggled closer to Link. I could hear his heartbeat and it caused me to blush slightly. Link then whispered in my ear: "Thank you." Reluctantly I pulled away and was about to reply before he cut me off with a shake of his head. "Let's get out of here." He stated and started to lead me off the dance floor. I stumbled my way behind him, noticing the looks of anger girls shot me, and looks of surprise others cast our way. "Sheik, can I borrow your keys?" Link asked.

Sheik looked up, a mouthful of food in his mouth. "Huh?" He swallowed his food and added after: "Sure, but why."

"No reason." Link said with a shrug. "We just want to go."

"But we just got here!"

Link rolled his eyes. "You and Nabooru can have a good time. Zelda and I just want to go somewhere else."

"Fine, fine!" Sheik reached inside his back pocket and handed Link his keys. "Just drop the car off at my house tomorrow or something else, okay?"

"No problem." Link grinned. "We just need to find our coats and we'll be good."

"Ah, I can help with that!" Sheik laughed and disappeared for a moment. I titled my head to the side and watched as he returned, managing to carry his plate full of food in one hand, and both my coat, scarf and Link's in the other. "You both dropped these before and I grabbed them." He explained simply.

"Thank you, Sheik." I smiled and slid on my jacket. He said nothing in response, or whatever he was going to say was completely cut off by Link stepping towards me and aiding me in wrapping my scarf around my neck.

"Here, let me help."

"L-Link, thank you…"

"No problem." He smiled and reached for my hand. I bit on my bottom lip and looked away, once again feeling flustered. Link laughed and then leaned over, kissing my cheek. The tips of my ears turned bright red.

Sheik watched us, equally confused. "What the heck?" He whispered to himself. Link mouthed something to Sheik in reply, yet I couldn't decipher it. Sheik nodded, still stumped. "Okay then..." He scratched the back of his head. "Safe... safe driving."

"See you later." I leaned my head against Link's shoulder and together, we walked towards the door. Once outside, we once again stepped over the drinkers and smokers, heading for Sheik's car.

"After you." Link insisted and opened the door for me.

My mouth opened, but I got inside nonetheless. "T-Thank you." I slid inside and Link shut the door. While he walked towards the driver's seat, I noticed two people watching from the window. They were none other than Ruto and Ilia. "Oh crap..." I hissed and looked away. Link looked up after buckling his seat belt, silently asking me what was wrong. I pursed my lips together. "…Those two are watching us."

Link groaned, holding the steering wheel tightly as he turned his gaze away from them. "Ilia and Ruto. Goddesses, why can't they just leave us alone?" I shrugged my shoulders. "In any case." Link insisted. "Let's just get out of here. How about we head somewhere nice?" He started the car. "You have any suggestions."

I thought over the idea for a moment. "How about we go and get… hot chocolate?" I suggested.

Link eyed my clothing. "Can you manage to walk in those shoes all the way through the park?"

I frowned. "I never thought of that."

Link drove down the street, heading further and further away from the house. "Instead of getting hot chocolate from the vendor, would you like to get hot chocolate from somewhere else?"

I furrowed my brows together. "Do you mean a café?"

Link shook his head, grinning. "Not exactly."

Link pulled up into a random driveway. I glanced out the window and saw a beautifully built two-story brick home. "This is my house." Link explained and shut off the car. "I hope you don't mind, but I thought it would be nice to come here." I shrugged it off as I unbuckled my seatbelt, internally squealing still. "Be warned though." Link said as we both got out of the car. "My mom and little sister are home."

"What's there to be warned about?" I asked, confused.

Link toyed with his jacket's zipper. "You'll see." Unsure of what to say, I followed Link up the walkway and towards the house. Link reached inside his pocket and pulled out a key, inserting it into the lock. With a twist of the wrist, he reached for the handle and walked inside.

"Link, is that you?" Someone called.

"Yeah, Mom. It's me." He answered and shut the door. "I decided to come home early."

"Well, isn't that nice!" She called from the kitchen.

"Here, I'll take your coat." Link said, an empty hanger dangling in his hand.

I nodded and unzipped the jacket. He helped me slide it off, and slid the coat over the hanger. "Link, Link, Link!" Another person shouted. I watched, amused, as a little girl who looked to be no more than eight, ran down the stairs heading straight for Link. She had Link's hair colour and eyes. "Welcome home!" She extended her arms out wide.

"What a greeting!" He laughed and bent down, scooping her up into a tight hug. She giggled and squirmed, trying to inch her way out of the embrace. As I removed my scarf and heels, I found myself sighing at the sight. Link looked so cute standing there.

"Who are you?" That snapped me out of my daze. Looking down, I noticed that his younger sister was staring at me. "Are you a friend of Link's?" She asked sweetly.

I walked forward. "I hope I am."

I grinned and ruffled her hair. Link playfully rolled his eyes and set Aryll down. "Of course you're my friend, Zelda."

"Your name is Zelda?" She questioned. I bent down to reach her height. For an eight year old, she was still quite short.

"Uh-huh." I replied. "My name is Zelda. What is yours?"

"Aryll!" she cried and extended her arms out again. Suppressing the urge to giggle, I merely smiled wide.

"You're too cute!" I whispered, making her laugh as well as Link. "Can I give you a hug?"

Aryll titled her head to the side and looked towards Link. "It's your choice Ary." he said and unzipped his own jacket. Aryll pursed her lips together, looking to be deep in thought. For a little girl, it just made her seem even cuter. My urge to hug her was growing by the second.

"Well?" I clasped my hands together, begging. "What do you say?"

"Yeah!" she launched herself forward causing me to fall on my rear.

Link smirked and shook his head. "Ary..." He chastised.

Aryll ignored him. "Zellie!" She leaned her head against my shoulder.

"Aww." I breathed and hugged her close before mouthing to Link: "I love her."

Sheepishly, Link rubbed the back of his neck. "She has that effect on people..." He agreed. I knew how much he loved Aryll even from his reaction to all of this, and it warmed my heart. I can't even remember how I prayed to the Goddesses for a sister and brother, learning in the future that it would never happen until Mother found a man.

"My, my, who do we have here?"

"Mom..." Link tensed, looking somewhat embarrassed.

I looked away from Aryll and saw an older woman standing not too far from us. Instantly, I released my hold on Aryll and stood up, dusting myself off. I could feel her gaze on me, which caused my cheeks to turn a shade of pink. "Link, you never told me that you were inviting company over!" She spoke and walked forward. "If I did, I would have made you all something to eat."

"Mom… this is Zelda." Link introduced me.

Offering a faint smile, I extended a hand forward. "It is quite nice to meet you, Mrs. Gaiden." Mrs. Gaiden was a tall and slim woman with a short blond hair and dark green eyes.

"It is very nice to meet you too, Zelda." She replied and shook my hand. "This is the first time I've heard anything about you. I'm sorry if that sounded rude."

"It's quite alright." I chided. "I-I understand." I glanced down towards the ground and studied my bare feet. "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

Mrs. Gaiden's gaze softened. "Far from Zelda, we weren't doing much to begin with."

"Mom, Zelda and I are going to make some hot chocolate." Link explained and reached for my hand, leading me further into the house. "Is that all right?"

"Link, please wait a moment," she announced. Both of us stopped and waited. The sound of the closet door opening was heard and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mrs. Gaiden bending down to retrieve something. What could be looking for? I wondered, curious. "Ah, here we are." She stood up and shut the closet door. "Zelda, the floor in the kitchen is quite cold. You don't have any socks on, so I wouldn't want your feet to get cold. Here, you can wear these."

She placed a pair of red slippers onto the ground. The slippers were fuzzy and had flowers printed on the top. "T-Thank you..." I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed, and slid my feet into the slippers. They fit perfectly and were quite comfortable.

"It's no trouble." Mrs. Gaiden said. "If you two need any help with anything, just give me a call. I'll be downstairs with Aryll." She bent down and scooped up Aryll into her arMrs. Aryll protested and shouted, waving her arms as she yelled Link's name.

"Link! I wanna help too!"

"You can help later, Aryll." Mrs. Gaiden spoke, heading down the bottom flight of stairs. "Right now though, I need your help in cleaning up a mess you made downstairs."

Aryll pouted, looking quite annoyed. I titled my head to the side and waved. Aryll's frown worsened. Link chuckled and shook his head again. "Come on." he said and continued to lead me forward. We passed by a formal dinner room and the living room before entering the kitchen. "The hot chocolate mix should be in the pantry." he said and released his hold on my hand. "Zelda, can you grab two cups from the drawer beside you?"

"Um, sure…" I walked forward and opened the higher drawer. Nothing but plates and dishes were seen. I shut the drawer and tried another. "Ha ha!" I laughed and grabbed two large cups. "Found them."

"Nice." Link shut the pantry, carrying a small box with a matching lid. "Mom keeps the powder inside here." he stated, seeing my look of confusion.

"I understand. Everyone does their own thing." I shrugged.

"Exactly!" He grinned broadly. Together, we made the hot chocolate. Link and I worked together, chatting and having fun. Within minutes, the drink was finished and ready. "How about some cookies?" He suggested. I grinned, and that was all that he needed. Link set his cup onto the counter and headed back towards the pantry, withdrawing a small transparent box filled with cookies. "Mom and Ary baked these a few days ago. They might be a bit hard by now, but they're still good when dunked in hot chocolate."

I licked my lips. "Sounds great!"

"Let's sit down." Picking up my cup and Link's, we headed towards the kitchen table and sat down. Link popped the box's lid open and placed the lid on the table. "Take your pick!" He announced playfully. Grinning, I leaned over and snatched two cookies. Bringing one up to my mouth, I took a quick bite. It tasted wonderful.

"Link, these are great~!" I sang, hungrily eating the cookies as if my life merely depended on it.

"Ary will be so pleased." He murmured and sipped his hot chocolate. It was then quiet between us. I ate my other cookie and Link continued to sip his hot chocolate. Normally, these sorts of silences would have agitated me by now. Nevertheless, with Link, it just felt natural.

I sighed and leaned back into the chair. "What time is it?" I asked, a few minutes later. Link checked his watch.

"A little after nine."

My eyes widened in shock. Mother had no idea... "I-I should be heading back home...!"

Link frowned. "Your Mom expecting you home?"

My cheeks tinted pink. "She, um, believes that I'm at home as we speak." I chuckled nervously. Link raised a brow. I sunk back into the seat. "Mother doesn't know about the party or anything." I whispered. "Right now, she's busy at work with a conference or something. Anyhow..." I fiddled with my sweaty palMrs. "When mother left the house, she believed that I would be at home the entire time."

"Zelda!" He groaned.

This time I frowned. "Link, I know that's bad… but Sheik talked me into it." His brow reached so high up on his forehead that it disappeared underneath his hair. I licked my lips. "Let me explain from the start." Beginning with my "low" chemistry mark to the part with Sheik becoming my tutor and forcing me to attend the party, I told Link everything. "And that's it." I heaved a sigh.

"We better get you back home then." Link concluded and stood up.

"Link?" I blinked. "You're not… mad?"

"What's there to be mad about?" He reached for both of empty cups and headed towards the sink. "You didn't do anything bad. You're just a regular teen who ended up having a fun evening. It's nothing to be ashamed or mad of."

"Are you serious?" I repeated, flabbergasted.

"Zelda..." He rolled his eyes. "You did nothing bad. We just need to get you home soon." Quickly, he rinsed the cups while I closed the lid on the cookies and put them back in the pantry. "Ready to go?" He asked. I nodded subtly. "Great." Quietly, we walked back towards the foyer and slipped on our jackets. I deposited the slippers Mrs. Gaiden had given to me onto the side and put Nabooru's high heels back on. "Your scarf!" Link exclaimed and handed it to me.

"Why thank you." I winked and wrapped it around my neck.

"Mom, I'll be back soon. I'm just driving Zelda home!" Link called and then unlocked the door.

"Drive safely!" She shouted from downstairs.

"I will." Link let me walk outside first and then he shut the door. Hands in his pockets, he searched for the keys and unlocked the car.

"Bye, bye!" I waved, standing on my front porch. Link stood by Sheik's car, which was parked on the road. "I had a great time."

"Same here!" He replied and waved. "See you later." I watched him climb back into the car and shut the door. When the car started and he began to drive down the street, I waited until I could no longer see him. Then, I walked inside and shut the door behind me. Slipping off Nabooru's shoes and my jacket, I hung up the coat and scarf.

Grabbing the heels by the armload, I ran up the stairs, praying that mother wouldn't be home yet. I tiptoed down the hallway and saw that neither her bedroom light was on or her study. "Phew." I wiped my brow. I was safe for now. "Just need to change my clothes and wash off this make-up..." I whispered. "And then I'll be home free." As I walked inside my bedroom, I shut the door and locked it. I didn't want to take any chances. Reaching for my pyjamas, I grabbed them and headed to the bathroom.

Tonight was fun, I grinned and studied my reflection in the mirror. Though it sucked to meet Ruto, I did end up having a wonderful evening because of that interaction. Shyly, I touched my lips. And I had my first kiss because of it too; I thought and rubbed the back of my neck. My cheeks felt red. Beads of sweat formed behind my head. I better wash this stuff off.

I decided and tried my best to push the thoughts of kissing Link to the back of my mind. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, the thought wouldn't fully dissipate. It was like Romeo and Juliet, just without the tragedy of modern day society...