A/N: Back again with a quick update! ;)

I've actually decided to omit Zelda's POV on the coffee date. There's just going to be too much repetition since both Link and Zelda's thoughts are almost the same. I hope this is alright with you guys!

Other than that, thank you so much for all your reviews and support. I can't thank you enough. =)

Enjoy!

Zelda

Monday, 7:30 AM

When it's Monday, I think I can speak for a lot of people: Our five senses malfunction, our mood is always that when we're hungry, and our brain is crawling in thick fudge and is everything else except for 'alert.'

But this Monday morning, I have defied these symptoms and have not been diagnosed with Monday blues that every other hormonal teenager in this school is cursed with. In fact, my brain has been wrenched into 'overdrive,' so much that it's much too unhealthy for a brain to be on for a Monday morning.

"Uh Zelda, you dropped this…"

I barely register Malon's voice as she bends down to pick up my fallen binder and books that I've apparently dropped.

"Yeah...you dropped this too…" Ruto also stoops down to pick up my pencils and other writing utensils. Only when I peer down do I realize that literally everything that was supposed to be in my hands have found a place on the floor.

"...Oh, sorry," I say, tenderly retrieving my temporarily neglected items back into the rightful cradle of my arm. However, my arm still feels numb and shaky. Looking back up at the bulletin board in front of me, I manage to grip tighter on my belongings, preventing history from repeating itself again.

"Seriously, Zelda," Malon says, putting her hands on her hips, tracing my gaze to the bulletin board that has been there for the past five minutes. "Are you really that surprised?"

"Yeah," Ruto pipes up. "Everyone could tell you'd pass. Just why are you so surprised?"

I think I murmur something incomprehensible that I don't even know what I say, but I'm too occupied denying the image my eyes are seeing.

On the bulletin board, the results for the play auditions are tacked on loud and proud in the center of everything else. I hadn't expected anything outrageous, in fact, I only looked to see if Link's name is on there. Unsurprisingly, my theory is confirmed after I'd read the first couple lines. But the line following that...my body just went in utter shock.

History of Hyrule Play Production: Audition Results

Hero of Legend: Link T.

Princess of Hyrule: Zelda H.

My brain stopped after that.

"Th-that can't be m-me," I say incredulously, pointing a shaky finger at the name that clearly means me.

Malon snorts. "Uh huh. Zelda can't possibly be Zelda, since there's obviously more than one Zelda in the whole school."

"But...why?" I stutter.

Ruto shakes me. "Are you kidding me? We've told you a hundred times and we'll tell you again: Your audition was amazing. Ah. May. Zing."

This strikes me speechless once again. All those comments...Malon's...Ruto's...Midna's...Link's… They...they truly meant it? Surely they're just saying it because we're friends?

Hey, nice job, really swept everyone away. I won't be surprised if you pass.

Ilia's comment slams back into me. Ilia...she wouldn't really have said it if she meant it, right? Yes, we might've did have some bad blood back then...but I wonder if she really meant it. She could've said something mean about it, said I did a horrible job. That would've been a splash of reality. But she didn't.

Did...did I really do a good job?

"Zeeelllldaa!"

And without warning, I'm back-slammed by someone as they lash their arms around me from behind, crushing me like a boa constrictor.

"M-midna," I choke between her death grips, recognizing her voice.

"You saw, didn't you?" she pipes, loosening her grasp and allowing me to turn around.

"You knew?" I ask. "You saw the results already?"

"Well no, but I don't even need to look to know that you passed, and I knew last night that I passed."

"You're quite confident," Malon says from the side.

Midna rolls her eyes at the fiery-haired girl. "Your point?"

"Ah, let's go see!" I jump in, tamping down any further escalation between the two. I've been trying to have them on better terms, and although I like to believe it's improving, it's always a good thing to be cautious.

The four of us crowd around the bulletin board once more. Since it's early on Monday morning, there's barely any traffic in the school—classes don't start until eight, and most students would choose to sleep in as late as a Monday morning would allow them. So we aren't pressured by any surrounding students to see the bulletin board as we see the audition results in greater detail.

"There's me!" Midna chirps, pointing her name next to the Twilight Princess role. "What did I tell ya?" She turns haughtily to Malon, who only rolls her eyes and retort, "Well, I passed too."

They start to toss back and forth, but I'm searching for one more girl's name. Anxious, my eyes leaf through the numerous names on the sheet until it finally calms after seeing it.

"Ruto, you passed to!" I exclaim to her.

Ruto nods calmly, much unlike my reaction.

"Aren't you surprised?" I ask again, shocked that she isn't freaking out like I was.

"Well, I mean, yeah I'm surprised, but I guess I don't freak out like you do." Ruto giggles as she nudges me. A genuine smile plasters over my face. I can't believe it! All my friends passed into the play. They're all with me. Play practice at first frightened me to the very bone, but now, not so much. I have all these awesome people to support me as I can to them. All of them are with me, and to make it even sweeter, Link passed too.

Link.

Link—

Wait.

Crash!

The resounding noise of binders, books, and writing utensils halts all other noise as my arms fail me once again, but I don't notice it as a new, unfamiliar, about-to-burst feeling enters my chest at a sudden revelation that has invaded my brain and sucked all sanity in its entirety. It's suffocating.

"Zelda?" Malon prods, head turned towards me from where it was arguing with Midna before.

"What's up?" Midna inquires, slight concern gracing her voice. Ruto stares apprehensively at me.

"L-link passed the a-auditions…," I choke out, the soaring feeling only heightening in my chest.

"Heck yeah he did," Midna says. "So what—ohhhhhh." She and the rest of them finally catches on as I swallow dryly.

Link is the Hero of Legend. I'm the Princess of Hyrule.

It's confirmed.

We're acting together.

Play practice is literally the only thing that's on my mind for the entire day. Through the classes that follow, I can barely focus on anything that I should be focusing on.

Has Link seen the results yet? Is he glad that he passed? And…and what would his reaction be when he finds out I'm going to be playing as the…Princess? Disappointment? Relief? Utter shock like me?

The first play practice is after school today, and I am nearly tearing out all my hair and chewing all my nails off thinking about what we'll have to do for the first day of play practice. Surely nothing too…intimate, right? Especially on the first day? (Not that I don't want that, it's just…Oh goddesses, this is so embarrassing.)

I have to stop fretting so much, otherwise I'll strip my entire body of keratin (the material that makes nails and hair. I know that much because I've learned it from science class, which I'm in right now and should be focusing on).

"Now students!" the teacher booms which shocks me out of my trance. "I will dismiss you now to your lab groups where you all will then work together to solve the essential question on the board. Lab groups are posted on the back wall over there. Use the notes we just took to help you, and don't ask me for assistance until you are truly stuck."

Wait, what notes?

I look down at my opened notebook, the page looking fresh from the store. Shucks, I wasn't paying attention. I just hope that my lab group would forgive me in the case that I have to tell them if I don't contribute much.

Closing the notebook's cover, I stand up from my seat grudgingly and make my way with the rest of the students to the back where lab groups are assigned on sheets of paper stapled on the wall. I'm still skimming through the diagram of tables, looking for my name before I hear it first.

"Zelda!"

Turning around, I spot a cheerful looking girl waving a manicured hand over in my direction.

There's my group! Giddy, I make my way over to them, taking in who I'll be working with. The girl who waved at me—Tetra, I think her name was—is there with another girl with ginger hair as well as with a dark-haired guy to finish off our group. I'm not sure particularly sure what his name or the orange-haired girl's is yet, but never hurts to know who I'm working with. Maybe we can be friends.

"Hi," I say to the group. "I'm Zelda." It's still early in the year, and this was the first time our lab groups got together. It doesn't hurt to introduce ourselves. I'm only familiar with Tetra because we've had classes together in previous years and gone to the same middle school. She and I have exchanged more words than your average classmate, but we don't interact much outside school like I do with Malon and Ruto (maybe Midna too—she's climbing up there).

"Well Zelda, I'm Tetra as you know," Tetra says optimistically and turns to the other two. "We went to the same school before."

The ginger-haired girl nodded understandingly and offered her own smile. "Nice to meet you guys. I'm Medli."

We exchange another round of 'hi's before we turn to the last guy at our table. To our mild surprise, he doesn't automatically take the hint and introduce himself and instead seems to ignore us completely before Medli prods, "Um, if I may ask, what's your name?"

The ebony-haired guy turns slightly, and I'm the first person he catches his gaze with. "Dark," he answers simply before turning away once more.

There's a brief silence before Tetra gives one of her smiles once more and exclaims, "Cool name! Nice to meet you, Dark."

This guy called Dark only nods once before resuming staring fixated at the same spot he was looking at for the entire time we were here. Maybe he's just shy, I conclude. After all, who wouldn't be when meeting new people? I'm speaking for myself too.

Meeting my tablemates have distracted me from what was plaguing my mind before, but as we get into the swing of things in preparation for the lab we're assigned to do (something about separating hydrogen and oxygen from water), I'm suddenly reminded of play practice. Play practice...Link...

Immediately, my hand clamps up, my chest tightens, and every fiber in my body stiffens.

"Woah, Zelda, careful!"

Tetra's exclamation forces me to discover that my unsophisticated flounder caused me to jerk the electrical wire in my hand I was apparently holding dangerously close to the small beaker of water.

"It'll be quite disastrous if this has direct contact with the water you know," Tetra says, sighing with relief that I didn't just kill them all.

"Oh goddesses, I'm so sorry!" I sputter. "I was thinking about something else. I promise I'll focus now." Face hot, I train my eyes onto the wire I'm holding and will my hand to stay still.

"No sweat," Medli says, giggling, carefully fastening a metal clamp to the metal tip of the wire I'm holding. "Whatever you were thinking must be a big deal given your reaction!" she teases jokingly.

I smile sheepishly at her, still keeping my hand rock still, despite the second wave of anxiety flooding my insides at the allusion of play practice. "Heh, yeah…"

"What's on your mind?" Tetra says casually, connecting the wires to a giant battery-looking thing.

My insides stiffen once more. "Oh um…it's just that…," I start, beginning to hyperventilate from the thought of play practice this afternoon. I'll be acting. I'll be in a play. I'll be with the Hero of Legend Link. As the Princess of Hyrule.

"…It's just that play practice for the upcoming play…is this afternoon and I'm…just a little nervous," I finish.

"No way!" Medli gushes. "You're in the play?"

I flinch slightly, the unexpected attention causing me to panic a little. I barely notice that the guy called Dark has slightly turned his head in my direction. "Well, yeah…my friends kinda forced me to though," I blubber hastily. "Kinda regretting it now heh…"

"Don't be!" Tetra chimes. "I'm sure you'll do great at it. When is the official performance again? I'll come watch you when it's showtime!"

"You really don't have to," I say, trying to patch up my words. "It's a small play and everything, and it's not a big deal—"

"No, it'll be fun!" Medli interrupts as Tetra nods adamantly. "When's the big day?"

I sigh, defeated. "About a month from now. October 23rd."

Medli and Tetra giggle elatedly before Medli says, "Got it! Be right back guys, I gotta go write this down in my planner." She bustles off as Tetra exclaims, "Wait! Me too. Be right back!" And she too scurries off.

I release a large sigh and slump over on the table.

Great. Now I inadvertently told more people I know about the day when I become the laughingstock of the entire school. And who knows how many friends they'd bring? Medli and Tetra may be nice to me now, but our relationships are still ones like you and your neighbors—amicable, but not close enough to say any mean thing in the book and not truly offend them by it (unlike me with Ruto, Malon, and Midna who I have no regrets calling less-than-friendly names). And so it's very likely that after Medli and Tetra and all who thought I'm an alright person see me embarrass myself up on that stage, they'd lose every grain of respect for me and refuse to speak with me for the rest of high school (which is already nearly all four years of high school). Just great. Nice going, Zelda, nice going—

"Ahem." I look up to see the guy called Dark staring at me. "You're on the wire."

"Huh?" I lift myself from my slumped position over the table to discover that I indeed had been sprawled over the wire. "Oh sorry!" I blurt, reeling back, embarrassed. I realize that Dark has been handling this lab experiment himself while I've been selfishly blabbing about my inclusion in the play to Medli and Tetra.

Immediate guilt overcomes me as I quickly scoop up the wire. "I'm really, really sorry I haven't helped yet," I continue to babble. "I've got the wire now. Do we put it here? Or there?" To be honest, my mind is still racing from…everything, really. The play practice, showtime itself, my deteriorating reputation, and this lab that I've been neglecting and frankly can't contribute much considering my lack of attention to the notes we took before.

"Here," Dark says. He takes the wire from my hand and inserts the end into the battery-looking thing at the end of our table.

"Oh…thanks," I murmur, guilt still gnawing away at me for being so utterly useless.

"Zelda," he says, the foreign voice with my name causing me to peer up. He's still fiddling with the small black device in front of him, and he moves a little closer to me to grab the second wire. "The play…Are you looking forward to it?"

"I wouldn't count on it," I reply, self-conscious. Why is everyone so interested about the play?

"You have friends to do the play with, don't you?"

"Well yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm a poor actor."

"And your friends can?"

"Well…yeah. Most of them. One of them, though, is in a similar situation like me." A small smile escapes as I think about Link and how we both were on the same boat. I can't help but almost feel some sort of pride that we both were practically forced to join the play against our will. It's like our own little secret, a sort of bond that I'm glad we share. Even though it's of miserable disposition that we were cursed to join the play, I can't help but feel like we're closer in that way.

"One of them?" Dark questions, breaking me out from my thoughts. He turns to me as if further interested.

"Yeah, he also was kinda forced to join the play."

"By his friends?"

A reflexive giggle flies out of my mouth as recall endearingly to last night over our coffee. It has made me the happiest person alive, and I had managed to dream the best dreams in my life last night. "Well…no. He kinda had to join for the extra credit points auditioning gives him."

Dark doesn't say anything to that or react much, but I'm still shaking out from my smitten stupor from last night. Dark has turned his attention back to the lab expression in front of us, and I'm starting to think that our conversation is ending. Instead, however, Dark continues on with a different topic.

"I've seen you around before," he says suddenly, thrusting me back into reality.

"Oh really? That's cool," I reply, somewhat caught off guard by his words. "I see a lot of people I know around the hall."

"Yes, but, not just here. I've seen you around the city as well," he says.

"That's cool to know that we live around in the same area." It really is, but isn't surprising; I see a lot of people I recognize from school around town sometimes (and avoid them).

"If truth be told, I actually wanted to talk to you quite a while back."

This surprises me. "Oh is that so? Well I wouldn't have minded if you did," I say cordially, but I actually do mind—I don't want to talk to anyone from school except for friends. I'm just that antisocial. But in a way, I kinda feel bad for this guy—maybe he doesn't have many friends, and I should be flattered that he wants to chat with me of all people. Especially when I feel as if every day that inches by my reputation is slowly crumbling.

Dark shrugs casually. "I've wanted to speak with you when I saw you in town the other day."

"Well why didn't you?" I ask pleasantly, because it felt right. I'm really just trying to be as friendly as possible, because I always get so paranoid when meeting new people. It would devastate me for someone to dislike me.

Dark pauses for a second. He seems to be unsure on what to say next, but my observations are wiped clean as he continues. "A…friend advised me to talk to you in school first."

I allow a grin. "That's considerate, but I don't think I would have mind."

Suddenly, he turns to face me fully. I haven't noticed just how in close proximity we are, since after all, we both were trying to figure out how to work this gadget thing in front of us. Instinctively, I inch just a slight millimeter away from the abrupt movement.

"Are you seeing anyone?" His sudden question is so abrupt I lose all ability to speak for a bit. Frankly, the candidness of his words remind me a bit of Mido.

"Um—"

"Guys!"

Before I know it, Medli and Tetra are tumbling back. "Sorry we took so long."

"It's fine," I reply, turning around from where I was facing Dark, slightly grateful that our conversation was interrupted as it was. "We got—well, actually Dark did—manage to set the experiment up," I add casually, resisting the unidentifiable tightening in my chest again. Why…why did he ask that question? Now I don't know what to think anymore.

"Oh, thanks Dark," Tetra says to him, but I can tell she and Medli still don't have the brightest impression of him. To fuel that even more, he doesn't say much back except for a slight nod.

"Let's hurry up with the experiment, shall we?" Medli proposes, somewhat guiltily. "I mean, I really took a bit too long, and I'm sorry that you guys had to deal with everything."

"It's alright," I say. "Not a big deal. It seems like we got everything connected now, so all we have to do is to switch this batter-looking thing device, right?" I say, a hasty and disorganized feeling flooding back. I quickly switch the device on.

"Well yeah, but—"

"And then according to our instructions, we have to light a match, blow it out, and stick it in the oxygen tube to see if we've separated hydrogen and oxygen," I continue. To be honest, I'm rushing a bit, because I just want this to be over—I've got way too much stuff on my mind right now. Truthfully, I'm also trying to recover from Dark's unexpected question. This unidentifiable feeling in my chest, coupled with the vision of me going into play practice later this afternoon as the Princess of Hyrule acting with the Hero of Legend is the perfect recipe for haste.

I light a match. Just get this experiment over with, I think, bringing the match to one of the two tubes. I assume this one is the oxygen one, and although it might not be, it wouldn't affect much if it happened to be they hydrogen one, right?

"Wait! Hydrogen is highly explo—!"

BOOM!

I should have listened in class.

Play Practice for "History of Hyrule" Production—Room 214

I'm tempted to slam my face against the board where this piece of helpful information is posted. This whole day I've been preoccupied with this. Now my chest is about ready to burst, for now it's time for me to go there. Play practice. Where Link is.

"I can't go," I snivel, miserably leaning my head against the wall.

"Hurry up, Zelda!" Midna prods next to me. "We can't be late. Actually, you can't be late more, because you're the Princess of Hyrule for goodness sake! You're one of the two most important roles!"

I groan despondently, my nerves taking over me. I don't want to act. I'll embarrass myself, and even if my audition apparently was that impressive, I can't guarantee anything now. Especially in front of Link. Even if he told me he had to audition for extra credit and passed anyway, he'd do an indefinite better job than me. I'll be the worst person he'd have to act with.

Still…

I can't tamp down that feeling in my gut, that fluttery, animated simmering that said I would be lying if I said those are negative feelings.

"Woah!" I'm suddenly jerked by the arm by an adamant Midna.

"Looks like you need some help," she says with a grin. "Room 214, we're coming for you!"

"Wait," I splutter. "What about my, uh, makeup? And costumes and stuff?"

"Relax, sheesh," she says. "They have everything there already. All you need to bring is your own butt over."

I start to resist from her grasp once I see the plaque 'Room 214' in the near distance, my heart beginning to pound all over again. Who will I see? Will there be a lot?

"Oh seriously Zelda," Midna says, releasing my arm and facing me. "Why are you so uptight?" When she sees my (certainly beet red) face, she comes to a reveling conclusion. A wide smirk spreads on her face.

"Ohh I know why now. It's from this morning again—you're nervous to meet your future boyfriend, am I right?"

Jackpot. (Maybe not the future boyfriend part yet though, but a girl can dream, right?)

I visibly flinch. "Why would you say that—"

"I knew it!" Midna belts and promptly snatches my arm again. "We're going! Besides, I wanna talk to Link too." With that she marches both of us inside the fateful classroom.

Blinding lights of stage equipment is what I see first. As my vision clears, I see numerous other pieces of equipment. Boxes full of props, a wheeled rack holding several articles of clothing, large, full-length mirrors stationed to the side…It's overwhelming, really.

"Ah hello there!"

Suddenly, I'm approached by a tall, kind-looking woman. I don't need another second to recognize that she's Ms. Anju. "Hello," I reply with a smile.

"If I may ask, what's your name?" She pauses before giggling to herself. "Of course I know who you are! You're Zelda, lead role for Princess of Hyrule; your audition definitely stuck out to me."

My face only grows warmer as I smile and respond, "Thank you. I'm glad to be here."

"Well, Zelda, I'm glad you came! I've got you checked off for attendance, so we've got that covered. We're just waiting for a few more students, so you can just use this time to get settled, explore some of the props we'll be using, or talk with others."

I nod benignly as Ms. Anju hustles off to another group of girls who just came in the door I went through a few minutes ago. Now what?

As I turn around to take in my surroundings, Midna has already disappeared, most likely searching for other more exciting people to talk with other than me. Sure enough, I see her chatting with a few people I don't know.

I look around some more, searching for a certain redhead and beauty queen. They're nowhere to be seen. I assume the worst.

"They better not have ditched me here," I mutter unpleasantly to myself. "And after all they made me go through…!" I whip out my cell, and I'm in the middle of sending a furious text before someone taps me on the shoulder.

"Looking for me?"

"Malon!" I sputter, alarmed by her ambush behind me. Turning, I notice Ruto also next to her, apparently stifling a giggle. "You actually came," I blurt, and despite the resentment from before, relief floods every inch of my brain to find that they actually haven't neglected me here.

"Well duh, I'm the one who wanted to do this in the first place. And who are you to say that to me? I'm actually surprised you showed up," the redhead giggles. "Knowing you, I actually wouldn't have been surprised if you ended up fleeing back home and skipping play practice."

"Thank Midna," I groan. "She wouldn't let me leave."

Malon slightly rolls her eyes the mention of Midna, but Ruto catches jumps in. "I feel ya," she says, jutting a sideways thumb towards Malon. "This dork also didn't let me leave."

"We're on the same boat then," I say, chuckling.

"Hey," Malon says suddenly in a low whisper. "…Where's that coffee guy?"

My smile immediately disappears as the same inscrutable feeling smolders in my gut. Immediately, my eyes are peeled as they take in my surroundings. Has Link arrived yet? Has he already realized the same thing as what I've been mulling over the entire day?

"Yeah, where is he?" Ruto murmurs. "You'll be acting with him, right? And to think he's the coffee guy you've been talking about..."

Malon nudges me teasingly as my heart begins to pound once more. "Don't deny it, Zelda, you're looking forward to it."

"Oh shut it, Malon," I complain, but my fingers are beginning to twist against my palm uncontrollably.

"You like him," she continues to tease as I continue to peer around anxiously for the familiar mop of blond hair. He did come, did he? Is he nervous? Is he feeling how I'm feeling? Has he realized that he'll be acting the most, ah, close...with me? All intrusive thoughts and 'what if's are flooding my head, and I swear I begin to hyperventilate.

"There's him."

And beyond the end of Malon's pointed finger, I see him. My heart stops for a moment.

He's here. The Hero of Legend.

Unfamiliar flutters begin to torment me once more as I struggle to contain the exhilaration bubbling in my stomach.

Just what would we be acting today? I'm so nervous I can hurl. I definitely can't embarrass myself today. Or any play practice day for that matter. Not in front of Link.

He's laughing with his friends, completely unlike how I'm feeling. I recognize Mikau next to him, along with a beefy looking dude, and I realize they haven't noticed me yet.

"Well? You gonna talk to him?" Ruto presses.

"No I can't!" I blab. "He's busy talking with other people, see?"

"Never hurts to say a simple 'hi' or anything like that," Malon says.

I shake my head rapidly. "Uh, maybe later." I can tell Malon and Ruto are beginning to give up, but then I catch Midna approaching Link. They exchange a few words before Midna suddenly looks up in my direction. She says something to Link before he also looks up to where Midna was looking at. My breath catches in my throat.

All of Link's features seem to brighten as I see that contagious smile spreading on his face once more. It was only a couple days ago that we were chatting with each other in that little café, but it's only now do I realize I've been craving and longing to see that familiar grin on him again.

Maybe play practice won't be such a bad thing. Link's smile comforts me. The extreme overdrive my heart has been in from the days hyperventilation seems to power down exponentially. Why was I freaking out so much? It's only Link. And…it's not like we haven't held hands or hugged or anything that the play or script will most likely ask for. It shouldn't be that hard…right? But…

My breath catches in my throat again. The script surely wouldn't ask for more than holding hands, right? It certainly can't have us…k…k-kiss right?

…Not that we haven't done that before either.

I nearly faint at the intrusive thoughts that are plaguing and waging war with the sanity I have left. However, I can't deny the increasing pounding in my chest, because…I wouldn't…mind doing that again.

But…in front of…hundreds of people? Scratch that, my saneness has really gone and disappeared.

"Hey Zelda."

Woah, when did he approach me? Link's perfect features and that ruffled hair makes me nearly explode from his perfection. I'll be acting with him. Can my world soar even higher?

"Hi, Link," I say, trying to meet his gaze steadily but fail miserably.

"You're…here," he says. "I'm not surprised though! Of course you'd pass."

"Same for you." An awkward silence hangs over us, and my face grows even hotter because I know we both know that we're the Princess of Hyrule and the Hero of Legend respectively.

You all understand that you'll be required to act 'close' to the Hero of Legend, right? There will be physical interaction and a lot of eye contact with him, so this part requires comfort in that.

Ms. Anju's statement (inconveniently) floats back to me since the time she enlightened me and the other candidates of our part before our auditions. I remember feeling nervous yet excited at that testimonial, but I never imagined to do it with…Link. I haven't even realized until now that Malon, Ruto, and even Link's friends are nowhere to be seen. Yet I feel slightly panicked without my friends.

"So, um…you excited?" Link's question breaks me out of my mental warfare as his words cause me to instinctively look up. His eyes seem to sparkle, but his expression also reflects nervousness.

"I…guess," I hear myself say. "You?"

"Yeah, same…" There's a brief silence before Link speaks up again. "I know you'll do great."

"Not better than you, of course," I say with a giggle.

He chuckles with me as well. "I beg to differ." He takes his time to calm down before adding, "Oh yeah, did you manage to complete all your homework?" I know he's referring to the night we had together with our coffee, how I had a mountainous amount of homework that still had to be resolved.

A sense of warmth and gratification swells inside me from the memory of that night before I answer, "I managed to complete most of it. Good thing it wasn't due today. But that also means I have more homework from today as well."

Link laughs quietly. "More fortunate than me at least. I haven't finished any homework. How much have you got left? Maybe…we can work on it together later, if you want."

"I'd like that," I answer without hesitation, excitement bubbling in my stomach once more. "I've got a healthy amount of it left, and to top it off, I've also got a make-up assignment from science today from a little…mishap." I toss the last part in for the humor effect, but I really do have to do a make-up assignment—my science teacher wasn't pleased to find a charred table and damaged equipment. I've learned now (and will remember for the rest of my life) that fire and hydrogen should never ever meet. Forbidden love at its finest. And I made it happen. Thank goodness for goggles and gloves, otherwise I would be paying for Dark's, Medli's, and Tetra's medical bills.

"It's…a long story," I say to Link's intrigued expression. His eyes just light up into that lovable smile once more as he shrugs and says, "Well, I'm all ears."

I sigh, resisting further mortification to surface. This is Link. Maybe he won't laugh at me. "It's just that I wasn't really listening, so I messed up the experiment pretty badly, especially for my tablemates who were listening. Well, actually one did most of the work, and I kinda regret messing it up for him."

Link's laugh sounds like jingles of bells, not jeering like I prepared myself to hear. "Sorry to hear that. Who is this unfortunate soul whose precious experiment you messed up?" he asks between chuckles.

I don't realize that I've also been snickering along until I have to calm myself. "Trust me, I don't think he wants me in the group anymore. I think he said his name was Dark—I know, pretty interesting—and my other tablemates are two girls called Medli and Tetra. They're really nice!"

Facing back to Link after calming my laughter, I realize suddenly that his expression has drastically changed.

"…Link?" I prod.

"Did you say that his name was, Dark?" Link says, his expression suddenly guarded.

"Yeah…," I say slowly, puzzlement beginning to shroud over me. Why did Link react like that when I mentioned Dark? Perhaps they know each other?

"Did you talk with him?" Link questions.

"Well, yeah, we were tablemates after all. He did most of the science experiment."

"Anything more?"

I think for a moment. Yes, Dark did say stuff that was a bit abrupt, but maybe that's just how he socializes. After all, he doesn't seem like a person who talked much with others. I feel a little bad for him, because I've been on that boat before.

"Not really, I think," I answer Link. "Just small talk, nothing out of the ordinary."

Link's facial features seem to relax after. Even more curious, I start, "But why do you ask? Do you know Da—"

"Practice begins now! Please come gather over here. Princess of Hyrule and Hero of Legend, please make your way over here first."

Anything and everything that was previously on my mind has been dashed. A new surge of anxiety breaks out everywhere, and new, irrepressible panic begins to fester in my muscles.

I peer over at Link to see what we should do. His face also looks stricken, but his jaw opens and he speaks tautly, "Let's go." When he sees me still rooted in my spot unwilling, reluctant, unable to move, he grabs my hand.

The firm, warm grip immediately pacifies my soul so potently that it's overwhelming. I can do this.

A/N: Thank you so much to FanaticMarioMan for editing and RedBlazer for proofreading! Thank you for reading!