Makeela leaned against Zelda's locker with all her books in her hands, waiting for Zelda before they would go back to grab her things.
Zelda was scrambling, trying to throw all of it into her backpack at once, nervous hands shaking as she held the handle of her backpack.
"It's going to be fine," Makeela said with ease and confidence. "Stop worrying."
"Varsity! I am worried. You're a goddess at every sport! I have to be nervous. You don't, Miss Guaranteed-to-be-Captain."
Makeela shrugged in agreement, which earned her a look from Zelda.
"Oh please. Your theater tryouts are way more difficult."
Zelda shuddered. No matter if it was auditions or tryouts, she hated the anticipation that came before anything. She was easily crippled in the hours before the events. But somehow, she always managed to pull it together just before.
Zelda finally gave up and threw her backpack down, which jostled her stuck book into place. She sighed and zipped it up before slinging it over her shoulder and following Makeela to her locker.
"They're both difficult. And I have auditions coming up soon for the play, too! Should I even do it? Should I just stick to volleyball? What if Coach doesn't even let me play this year? What if I suck? I haven't practiced since we played beach volleyball this summer. I'm going to fall. It's going to be my shoe."
"Oh just stop whining," Makeela laughed. "You're going to be fine." She pulled her gym bag out from where she'd stuffed it into the thin locker, though it took some finagling to pull it free. "Are you sure you don't want to do that warm-up run with me?"
Zelda scoffed. "I told you I'd go to the gym with you in an hour, but I'm not going to kill myself working out before I've even had the chance to get to tryouts. I'm not a superwoman like you."
"How many more compliments are you going to give me? Because I'm willing to take them all."
Zelda let out a deep breath, unsurprised with Ilia showed up behind them. Though she didn't play volleyball, she had been at the lunch table when Makeela had been looking for a gym buddy, and Ilia had been bored. Then, Makeela had invited Darunia, and even Revali and Sidon—though that was a courtesy to Darunia more than anything. Except for Makeela and Zelda, no one else had any reason to warm up, so Zelda till didn't feel inclined to rush to support anyone else. She was going to take a break.
"Ready?" Ilia asked, looking at Makeela.
"Yes I am." Her smug look was overt and directed right at Zelda.
But she just stuck her tongue out and fixed her backpack. "An hour, I promise. But no sooner."
"Fine, be that way!"
"Bye!" Zelda chimed, waving Makeela and Ilia off. She could see Link leaning against his locker, waiting for her to return. "Why are you still here?" she asked, leaning beside him on the cool metal.
"Just wanted to make sure you had everything before I go to work. I'm off probation, so I'm back on cars today, so I probably won't have my phone on me."
"I have everything. Thank you."
Link nodded, but he narrowed his eyes. "Got those weird shoes you couldn't find yesterday?"
"Yes, Link."
"Salty food and water?"
"I'm going to Hyrule Energized right now." She started walking, trying to keep her smile from appearing on her face.
"Okay. Extra pills?"
Zelda didn't respond as she pushed the doors open and leaned against the wall under the stairwell. "Yes. I have everything. You can go to work."
"Did you put gas in your car? If not, come to Gabe's and he'll do it."
"Link, where do you think I'm going? It's tryouts for volleyball. They're literally in this building."
"I know. I just wanted to make sure. Aryll's cooking tonight, too, so if you're hungry when you get home, just tell her I'll be late. There's no way I'm getting out before you today. I mean, if I do then I'll grab—"
Zelda pulled Link to her, silencing him with a kiss. "Stop," she laughed. "It's all good."
"Do I say break a leg? Or is that the wrong sport?"
Zelda chuckled, bringing him back to her. "The fact that you just called theater a sport makes you my hero."
Her lips were unrelenting against his, which Link wasn't inclined to complain about by any means. For several seconds, he matched her enthusiasm. He could feel her nails running along his scalp, through his hair moving to his ear. Link was quick to lose himself in her attentions before pulling away. "We're still in school."
Zelda shrugged and grabbed Link's belt, letting her fingers duck under his shirt.
Link practically choked, his hands gripping the fabric of her shirt so tightly that it wrinkled. "Zel, is this because I said theater was a sport?"
"That, and you were cute making sure I had everything. It was nice."
Link had to grab her wrist to stop her, his eyes dark with desire as he ran his hand along hers. "You're not being nice. We both have to go, and you know it."
A mischievous grin spread across Zelda's face. "But I love you," she said in her most innocent voice.
"Mhmm," Link laughed.
Zelda threw her head back and made an annoyed sound. "I'd say we can save this for later, but I'll probably be too tired."
Link raised an eyebrow, a look entirely his own passing over his features, a cross between mischievous and flirty. "I don't mind doing all the work."
"I hope you don't mean schoolwork," a new voice rang out, and Link nervously banged his head into the wall as he moved far from Zelda as the small alcove allowed.
Zelda flushed an absolute bright red as she stared at Mrs. Joy, tongue-tied and unable speak.
"No," Link said, clearing his throat. He'd always been the better of the two dealing with Mrs. Joy. "She's coming over for dinner. We're talking about cooking."
Mrs. Joy's eyes passed suspiciously over them, landing on their uniforms. "Your shirts are untucked. Until you leave this building, you represent this school, and the dress code stands. Miss Harkinian, tuck it in. Mr. Hunter, you too."
"Yes, Mrs. Joy," Zelda said solemnly, fixing her shirt.
She glared at them both before turning and going up the stairs.
When Zelda could no longer hear the clanking of heels on the stairs, she turned to Link and hit his arm. "Go to work! You almost got us both into trouble!"
"Me? You're trying to seduce me!"
Zelda laughed and pushed Link out the door. "Have fun fixing cars!"
He waved behind him. "See you at the house!"
Zelda watched him get on his motorcycle and drive off before she headed to her own car. It didn't take her long to find herself in front of the building she longed for.
"Hi welcome to Hyrule Energized, would you like to try our Cucco Crow Wake-Up Wraps?"
Zelda hesitated. "Is that made with real cucco meat?"
"Oh yes, straight from the farm."
"Hrmm," Zelda murmured, pondering if that was true or sarcastic. "No thank you. I'm going to get a medium iced coffee with soymilk and two sugars, please. And a water. Oh, and a bag of rock salt chips. And that's all."
She made a face at the price that displayed on the screen.
"Drive up."
Almost immediately, Zelda regretted her decision to get a coffee with milk in it. Perhaps she'd just leave it in the car until after and stick with the water.
Zelda made the team, her usual position. Makeela was team captain, nothing unexpected there. There would be three weeks of practice before their first game. And with only a few months left of high school, Zelda was excited for things to move forward more quickly.
Like how she had her first official first day of work just two days after tryouts.
Maybe this was going to be stressful.
She'd bought the scrubs, she'd done the orientation, and she'd been assigned a leader who would give her and the others their instructions and tasks each day. To her immense surprise, it was Impa, the school nurse.
"Zelda! Hello! How are you doing today? I saw your name on the schedule, and I'd hoped it was you."
"It's good to see you, Impa," Zelda said cheerily. "I'm very excited to be here!"
"You won't be soon. But if you can get through the beginning of this program, you'll end up loving it."
Zelda had never experienced a solid day of hard work before in her life.
She spent her first day lugging trash and food trays around the hospital. Her hands looked like prunes from the water and hand sanitizer she had to keep using. She smelled like a mix of sick and sterile by the end of her first day.
By her second, she'd been entrusted with the task of running to the cafeteria for food, and not just returning empty trays. By the end of the first week, she'd befriended a boy who washes dishes, maybe her age, though he certainly didn't go to Daphnes Rhoam Hyrule High.
During her break, she'd begun meeting him in the cafeteria for jello cups. He ate blue, and he saved her one of the greens.
"So, Komali, why the kitchen?" she'd asked one day, waving her spoon around as she spoke.
He took a bite of his meal before waving the spoon around as well. "I want to be a chef one day, and you start somewhere."
"Are you going to school for culinary arts?"
He shrugged, his hair so blonde that it appeared silver in the light. "I think I'm taking a gap year to study under my uncle, who's a top-notch chef. Not a bad plan."
Zelda glanced at her new watch. She'd realized that if there was one thing she needed to splurge on, it was a durable watch. "I have to get back up, but I'm going to see Mrs. Grizwald today, so put one of those ice cream cups away for me, okay?"
"Sure thing. Have fun cleaning up vomit."
Zelda scoffed, leaving her empty tray with him. "That's next week."
And the next week, it was true. Impa had warned her that cleaning up after patients was the more disgusting part of the job, but if she could make it, she'd be all set in the future.
"Hi Mr. Owlan. How's the knee today?" Zelda asked as she started collecting the bits and pieces from the patients' room. His knee was bothering him, and Zelda knew that, despite the fact that he was in the hospital for post-heart surgery complications.
"Oh, Hilda!" he said, never able to get her name right. But she'd stopped correcting him and instead answered to Hilda. "I saw this show on television. Do you know what it is? It was about this young man… and he turned into a feral dog! And then… well, it was unseemly."
"Moonlight Howl? Were the main characters Castor and Amalia?"
"I thought it was Fredrick, but that sounds right. It was disgusting! The things they let air on tv these days! Do you watch that show?"
Zelda bit her lip and checked the juice carton before tossing it into her trash bag. "I will admit that I've seen it."
Mr. Owlan narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you old enough to watch that show?"
"Plenty old enough. Don't worry."
"Good! Tell me what channel I can find it on! And give me a stronger pill while you're at it!"
"I can't touch your meds, Mr. Owlan. You know that as well as I do."
"Well, one day, you'll learn that you listen to your elders, regardless of what they tell you!"
"Are you telling me to give in to peer pressure?"
He scoffed. "Do I look like a peer to you?"
And as she recounted the story to Komali, he laughed. "Gods, that show! It's so good!"
"I know," she sighed. "Did I tell you Link has a huge poster of Amalia on his door?"
"And you stare at her every day?" Komali snorted. "Well you're an angel. If he were my boyfriend, I'd make him take it down." He paused and leaned heavily against the table. "Is he doing better?"
Zelda bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah. Thank you for letting Impa know I had to leave, by the way. She was understanding when I explained."
"Will you explain it to me? I thought someone had died."
Zelda thought back to several days ago when she'd received a call from Gabe while she was at work. It had been Mikau's anniversary, and Link hadn't taken it well. He'd torn off his guitar strings, smashed a radio, and tore through another pack of cigarettes like it was candy.
But since then, he'd calmed down significantly, and he was back on the patch, and the gum was almost always in his mouth. He'd spent two nights clinging to Zelda in bed, and she'd felt his erratic breathing as he fought back tears.
Gabe had said it would pass, and he was right. But Zelda still didn't know what to do about the pain that Link was carrying still, the pain that would appear just as forcefully the next year, and the year after that.
Link's time was spent fixing the things he'd broken and hanging out at Pipit's house while Zelda worked or had practice.
Komali didn't bring the anniversary back up. Instead, he looked forward. "Your first game is this weekend, right?"
"Yep! Can't wait."
"Do you think your boyfriend would mind if I came, too? Cheered you on?"
Zelda grinned. "No, of course you can come! He won't mind."
"You've told him about me?"
Zelda scoffed, like the answer was so obvious. "Yes. He likes your hair, too. I showed him that picture we took in front of the Mipha statue. Why wouldn't I tell him about you? You're my best work buddy."
Komali shrugged nonchalantly and tapped his phone screen. "Send me the details and I'll be there."
Zelda picked up her phone and started typing right away. "You'll finally get to see everyone. Makeela is very excited to meet you."
"She with your other friend yet?"
"No! And I don't understand, because they're both obsessed with each other. Link and I want to trap them in an escape room next."
"Nice," Komali chuckled, checking his phone when it dinged. "Thanks. I'll be there. But for now, my shift is over. Enjoy your afternoon with…"
"Miss Tetra. She's my favorite after Mr. Owlan, but don't tell."
Zelda slid her badge into her pocket, along with her phone, and hurried up the stairs, oblivious to Komali's gaze following her until she was out of sight.
"Impa?" Zelda said, startling herself to a stop.
"You're doing well, Zelda. But there's something I haven't prepared you for yet. Come with me."
As if it wasn't ominous enough, Impa led Zelda through a hallway, stopping just outside Mr. Owlan's door.
"When they're done, we're going to make the bed together, okay?"
"Done?"
"Mr. Owlan died about an hour ago."
"What?" Zelda gasped, peeking into the room.
She immediately regretted it.
He was pale, his skin ashy and his eyes closed, like sleep. But he was lying on a gurney, ready to be covered by the zipper of the bag.
Zelda's hand went to her mouth, and she let out a sob as she turned to Impa. "I was just… we were just talking!"
Impa put a hand on Zelda's shoulder, holding onto her in the hallway. "He was sick. And if you were just talking to him, then I'm sure you made him enjoy his last few hours. He wasn't alone. Did he laugh?"
"Yeah. We were talking about dirty tv shows after a while."
Impa paused for a moment, but squeezed Zelda's shoulder. "Then he went out laughing. Remember that. You helped make his days here enjoyable, and it's not your fault he died. But you work in a hospital with sick patients, and this will happen. So just brace yourself here with me. Okay?"
Zelda wiped a tear as the stretcher wheeled by them, headed for the elevator.
"Alright, come on. Let's do the bed. And tell me which of those television shows was his favorite, too."
And as she told Impa stories about Mr. Owlan, and Impa shared stories of several of her favorite patients who'd passed, Zelda realized something: she'd been cleaning up messes, sure, but she'd become invested in the lives of every patient who's room she visited. She knew that Mrs. and Mr. Lineback were expecting their first child in two months, though he was in the hospital with persistent chest pains following a heart attack. Her job was to clean his tray and leave, but she enjoyed learning more about them. She wanted to be able to help. She wanted the helpless feeling of knowing that Mr. Owlan had asked her for stronger pain meds that might have helped his passing, but she couldn't.
She'd seen doctors and nurses galore when she was a child. Too many visits were spent with her and the nurses talking, keeping her entertained.
"Impa?" Zelda asked.
The older woman looked up, waiting.
"How many years did you have to go to school to become a nurse practitioner?"
A/N: Okay! WHEW I got this one out! This chapter was fun while writing, but I had 0 motivation for it! We've got timeskips! We've got school! We've got Zelda finally having something that interests HER! We've got DRAMA upcoming! AND LET ME JUST SAY THAT I AM UNFORTUNATELY NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO WRITING THIS VOLLEYBALL GAME BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT VOLLEYBALL! So... that'll be interesting. Here I come, Youtube! Lol!
Also, on a shameless plug of a sidenote, I started another Zelink fic this week that I don't plan on having run nearly as long as this one does. It's NOT the fic I was yapping about a few chapters ago. It is, in fact, a different one. It's called Written in the Stars, and I'm very excited for the next chapter of it that I'll be posting tomorrow! So that's me being shameless. I can hear the bell and the "Shame" chant in the distance now, so I'm outta here!
REVIEWS: (They're coming from several chapters, so if you're still out there, hi! I'm answering you!) Dk21 Xcl: HONESTLY! It woke him RIGHT UP! Guekskahsnaja (and I assume all the similar spellings of your name are all you?): This fic is unabashedly cliche and I'm 100% okay with that hahaha! Sometimes you need your dose of cliches. Hospitaller1080: First off, I LOVED the Roommate and I WISH it was finished! So I hear you with the conflict! I do also like these two having conflict everywhere ELSE as well though. So I definitely know what you mean. I'm so sorry to hear you were hit by that typhoon! I hope you're safe and well! 3 ElenaGilbert24: I feel proud of fictional characters ALL THE TIME so I know what you mean by that hahahha! I think this chapter is also the next step for Zelda, who is dealing with all this new stuff at once and trying to hold it in and together while realizing what she wants in life. There will definitely be more about her relationship with her parents, though right now, she's avoiding them for sure! Link is finally going to get to move forward now that the anniversary passed, too. AND THANK YOU FOR READING! I love seeing your reviews! They brighten my day, and I'm really glad you have been enjoying my fics! 3
