So...How many of y'all remember Rosa from the Oracle Games? She doesn't really have a large role in the plot, but you can tell from her dialogue that she likes Link a lot! I think it sucks that she doesn't have her own entry in the character box, though given how few fan fics she's actually in, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. Oddly enough, this isn't the only, or even the first, story on this site with this pairing! The other two will be hard to find, but just narrow your filters down to romance stories in the Oracle Games, and you should eventually find them.
Oddly enough, the story with such an obscure pairing ends up being my longest kiss scene to date! I guess I had fun with it!
Anyways, if y'all like this, or you have advice on how I could write better kiss scenes, please leave a review down below! Thank you, and I hope you all enjoy!
If there was one truly confusing thing about Subrosians, Link thought as he handed a payment to a shopkeeper in the underground realm, it was how they used chunks of various ores as their currency. For someone who'd grown up using rupees for money, the Subrosian way of buying and selling was novel and, admittedly, rather strange. He recalled voicing his confusion once, during his first time in Subrosia, and learning from a passerby who'd heard him that to the subterranean people, mining and metalworking were as life itself; paying in ore allowed a Subrosian to make the tools used to carve out their livelihoods from the rocks. While Link had to agree that that made a lot of sense, he still had a hard time internalizing it, thus his bemusement every time he found himself handing over a few bits of metal ores as he did now.
Link shrugged away his thoughts as he left the shop. The strangeness of the Subrosian currency didn't really matter to him, so long as he was able to buy supplies for his mission in Holodrum.
"Oh, Link! Hi!" came a perky female voice off to one side. Link turned to see the distinctive orange cloak and pink bow that marked the speaker as Rosa, a Subrosian girl around his age who'd helped him through a critical part of his early journey. He'd actually bought her the bow she was currently wearing, and in return, she'd taken him to inaccessible places that he'd needed to reach. Of course, she'd insisted on calling it a date, and with all the chatting they'd done on that little jaunt, that hadn't actually been too far from the truth.
She came up to him now, bright eyes gleaming under the hood and scarf she wore. "I was hoping you'd be around today," she said as she got next to him. "I thought...we could go on another date maybe?" She said this a bit more quietly, almost shy, and Link could tell she was hoping he'd say yes.
Well, he wasn't really in any hurry to be anywhere. And he'd always found Rosa endearing since they'd first met. So he nodded with a warm smile. "Anyplace in particular you want to go?" he asked.
Rosa stopped short, then leaned in closer. Her next words were spoken almost at a whisper: "Actually, yeah. I know you're from the Surface, and I was hoping maybe you could show me what it's like up there." Link's eyes widened a bit. Rosa, like most Subrosians, never really ventured out of the underground country, as if it unnerved her. But she clearly liked him; to the point, it now seemed, that her curiosity over where he'd come from overcame any nervousness she may or may not have felt about being at the Surface.
Link nodded again, eliciting a cheer from the girl, and a sudden, tight hug. Then the two of them began strolling through the broad stone lanes of Subrosia, chatting all the way.
They came to a tunnel that led to the Surface, and Rosa started to get excited, her voice taking on an intensity he'd not yet heard from her. Halfway up to the opening, she took Link's hand, squeezing it tightly in anticipation.
The tunnel opened into the bare foothills, covered in short grass, with the occasional rocky area exposed. The summer sun was in the southeast, bathing the hillsides in its radiance. It also shone uncomfortably in Rosa's eyes. "Ow!" she exclaimed with a wince, throwing an arm over her eyes to shield them from the sunlight, "It's really bright out here! I'm not used to this."
Link mentally cursed himself as he looked at his companion. He really should have seen that coming; Subrosians lived underground, so stepping out into the sunlight would naturally be uncomfortable for them. He thought quickly of a place they could go where the blinding sunlight would not be as much of a problem. "Hey, I think I know a place that's shadier than here," he told her. "Would you like to see a forest?"
"I heard the word shadier...I'm in!" Rosa responded, nodding emphatically. So, putting an arm around her shoulders to steady and guide her, he began making his way to the nearest patch of woods he could see, a quarter-mile down the hillside. As they walked, he felt her free arm slip around his waist, pulling them closer together. Though he knew she wouldn't be able to see it, he fought a rising blush down.
Finally they came to the eaves of the evergreen forest. Here the sunlight was, as predicted, far less intense, and Rosa finally took her arm out from over her eyes. When she saw the fir and spruce and cedar trees rising up all around her, she gasped. "There's so much green," she observed, awed wonder leaking into her voice. "I never thought I'd see more green in one place than you already wear, Link...and...What are all these sounds I'm hearing?"
Link smiled; his companion was clearly happy already. "Forest creatures," he replied. "Birds, squirrels, insects...these woods are full of life."
It was hard to discern a Subrosian's emotions under the hooded cloaks and facial scarves they customarily wore. But Link could still tell Rosa was smiling, moved almost to rapture by the sights and sounds of the forest. As he watched, she began running and dancing around, her wild, joyful laughter echoing off the tree trunks.
As Link watched, he felt his pulse quicken. He wasn't even surprised. He may have never seen Rosa's face. But seeing this, hearing her laughter, feeling her excitement...it made his spirit soar. And then she came barreling towards him again, a pair of slender, golden-brown arms reaching out from the folds of her cloak, and in an instant, Link caught her in an embrace. They twirled around a few times, Link's laughter now joining hers.
They calmed down after several seconds and sat together upon the layer of pine needles that covered the ground. Rosa sighed contentedly. "This is wonderful," she said, looking around at the trees, "I think if I ever came to live at the Surface, I'd want to live someplace like this. It's a shame more of us don't know about these places."
Link smiled. "I'm glad you like it," he replied, arm going around her shoulders again. Rosa leaned into his embrace, nuzzling into his cheek, which made him start to turn pink again, before laying her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for several minutes in silence, listening to the song of the forest around them.
The silence was broken when Rosa softly asked him, "Have you ever seen what we're like under our cloaks?"
Link turned to her. "I...I haven't," he replied.
"I thought not," Rosa said. "We seldom show our faces outside our homes. I don't think I've ever known why, I've just accepted it and done the same. Have you ever wondered, though?" Link nodded. He was curious as to what lay under the long cloaks of the underground folk. Rosa acknowledged his response with a nod of her own. Then those arms came out again, removing the copper brooch that held her cloak closed. Link averted his eyes with a blush, which she immediately noticed. "Oh, relax, Link," she said with a laugh, "we do wear clothes under these cloaks, you know."
So Link turned his gaze back, watching as she lowered her hood, let her cloak fall away from her, and removed her scarf…
He found himself looking at the most ethereally beautiful young lady he'd ever seen. Her eyes caught his attention first: they were larger than one would expect, and all black, the glow he'd noticed before being nothing more than light reflected off their dark surface. Her hair came down to the base of her head, and was a silvery pale color. It framed a creamy pale face with petite features and a pointed chin. Her skin was quite remarkable; it darkened gradually from her face down her slim neck, to a golden brown around her collarbone and on down her arms. She wore a sleeveless pink shirt and white trousers, both of which looked to be made from satin; said clothes clung to a lithe form that, taken with her almost otherworldly features, made Link wonder if she was some type of fairy in disguise.
He didn't notice his own blush, but Rosa did, and she knew what it meant. "Do you really think I'm that pretty?" she asked innocently, making his blush intensify. He managed to hold himself together enough to nod, though, and that caused her own face to go a little pink. Then she thought of something. "I've been wondering about what's under that hat," she said.
Link shrugged. "Just more hair," he mumbled, casually taking off his green cap. And indeed, that was exactly what was revealed. But what caught Rosa's interest were his ears; pointed ears were something rare outside the Hylian people, so this was the first time Rosa had seen anyone with ears the shape of Link's.
Link blushed yet again when she said, "Those are some really cute ears," reaching towards one with one of her hands. The first touch of her fingers on the point of his ear sent surprisingly pleasant shivers down his spine, and he let out a small hum on reflex. Rosa paused, then grinned. So his ears are ticklish, she thought. Her other arm went around Link, pulling him into her as tightly as she could, leaving him with no escape as she began stroking the knifelike edges of one of his ears.
"R-r-Rosaaaaa…" Link stammered, his face turning pink again.
Rosa stopped, bewildered by his reaction. "Did that tickle or feel good?" she asked curiously. Link looked sidewise at her, his face still heavily flushed. "I'm gonna guess both…" she surmised.
She was surprised when Link reached out a hand of his own and ran his fingers along the edge of one of her own ears. Rosa cooed and leaned into the contact. "This just feels good," she told him, "so nice try."
But Link didn't stop. Seeing her contented expression had struck a chord in him, and he found he couldn't bring himself to pull his hand away. He barely even registered his free hand coming to rest on Rosa's waist.
But she noticed. Her eyes opened, fixing Link with a sly smile. "So you like me too, then?" she teased.
Link gasped, blushing once again, before he realized that...yes, he really did. Aside from being absolutely stunning, Rosa was friendly, chatty, and had a way of making his troublesome quest seem not so bad. He didn't notice himself leaning in until his forehead met hers. As he looked into those large, all-black eyes, he knew what his answer would be.
"Yes," he whispered, before shyly placing his lips on hers. He heard the Subrosian lass coo in delight as she eagerly returned the kiss, leaning in so hard that he fell upon his back, with Rosa atop him. That caused their lips to separate for a few seconds as they both stared at each other, Link in surprise, Rosa absolutely beaming.
She giggled softly, before she leaned down and captured his lips, cupping both his cheeks as she kissed him far more intensely than he originally had. Despite feeling a little overwhelmed, Link gave in and matched her pace, one arm pulling her tightly against him by the waist, the other hand burying itself in her silvery hair as they made out on the pine-needled ground. That kiss lasted longer than Link expected. Several times he thought Rosa might be pulling away, only for her to open her mouth a little and kiss him even more passionately than before.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she did pull away, and only then did coherent thoughts return to Link's mind as they lay panting, one atop another.
Somehow he managed to speak: "You want to go into town to get a bite?"
Rosa smiled. "I'd love to," she answered. "But when we're done, you'd better believe we're coming back here and picking back up where we left off. Those lips just look even more enticing now." She brushed Link's slightly-swollen lips with her fingers as she said this.
Link chuckled a little nervously, but said nothing as they got to their feet, and walked hand-in-hand through the forest towards the town of Horon.