Chapter Eight: Market Town

As the princess moved closer to the center of town with Impa, more people began to run out from their houses or fling open windows. It looked ominous, like the princess was being surrounded in a colosseum setting, but she looked as if it was a frequent occurrence and remained unfazed.

She glanced over almost every face she could see until her eyes rested on Link. Lighting up from the ease of her search, she gestured for him to come down. Link looked around anxiously as all eyes turned to him.

Fado gave him a gentle push towards the princess, but Link resisted. Instead, he beckoned her towards him and pointed toward the house. Princess Zelda rolled her eyes, but urged Impa to follow.

When they finally arrived inside, Link was waiting with Fado. Zelda made an amused face at him. "Why am I not surprised that you don't like large public crowds worth of attention?"

Link shrugged pleasantly. "It's like you know me or something."

Gaebora suddenly came from the other room and knelt down. "Princess Zelda! I did not expect to see you again so soon." He looked up and saw Impa. "Well, at least this time your attendant is with you. Are you well?"

Zelda nodded. "I am, thank you." She turned back to Link. "My father gave me permission to come here to properly thank you. He insists that you take the reward for finding me, as was offered: 10000 rupees."

Link's eyes practically popped out of his head and he finally noticed the sack that Impa held. He shook his head frantically. "No, I can't take that! I didn't even know there was a reward! I didn't know you were the princess!"

"My father, the King, says I'm to insist."

Impa handed Link the bag and he took it. He could hear Fado gasp with excitement, creeping closer just to see inside the bag. Instead, Link handed it to Gaebora. "You should have it. Use it on something that's good for everyone here. And give some to Cremia. But otherwise, it's not something I want."

"No Link," Gaebora protested. "This is yours."

"And I'm giving it to you."

Zelda looked at Impa with a smug look, as if she'd won an argument. "Well, that's from my father. I wanted to give you something as well."

Impa handed her a smaller package.

Link shook his head. "I really don't need anything."

Zelda sighed. "Do I have to make it a royal command?"

Defeated, Link took the package and unwrapped it. In his hand was a small sword, no longer than a knife but perfectly sized. Link examined the little beauty. The grip looked like wood, but felt like proper steel in his hand. It was perfectly balanced, light but strong, and designed with a small red stone as its main design feature.

Zelda clapped her hands together in excitement. "I had the blacksmith make it special! How does it feel?"

Swinging it around a few times, Link started to laugh. "It's great! Thank you!"

"I thought you might want to name it the Kokiri Sword, since we were right near the Kokiri Forest. The Lost Sword just didn't sound quite as right to me."

"The Kokiri Sword is perfect. I love it."

Gaebora smiled and jungled the rupees. "You won't take the rupees, but you'll take the sword? You are not to play with it inside the house, and you will always be aware of your surroundings. That's no toy."

"I know."

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Link turned to Gaebora. "We should go to Market Town. I think that would be a nice trip."

Zelda grinned, remembering their conversation about the bustle of the town. "I think that sounds lovely. It's very busy this time of year, and there will be plenty to do."

"Princess," Impa practically whispered. "You are on a schedule today. We must go back."

Link grabbed Zelda and pulled her into a hug and turned his mouth away from the prying adult eyes. "I need to tell you something important," he hissed into her ear.

When he broke away, Zelda nodded briefly and turned to Gaebora. "Will you come to Market Town soon?"

Gaebora looked like he'd been backed into a corner. "Um… of course, Princess. We will come this weekend, I suppose."

Zelda beamed and looked back at Link. "I'll find you in Market Town then," she said with a wink.

Impa looked at her with a disapproving look, but said nothing of it. "We need to go."

"Of course. Link, Mr. Gaebora, Fado, I will see all of you this weekend." And with that, she turned and followed Impa out.

"Did you hear?" Fado exclaimed. "She remembered my name!"

Link sighed, hardly hearing Fado. He had to tell her about their connection. He could just feel it; she knew more than she was letting on.

As Gaebora led the children over the drawbridge to Market Town, he let out along, hard breath. It would be hard enough navigating the crowd, but even more difficult to do so without losing any of the kids. When some wanted to see the Temple of Time, others wanted to visit the shops, especially the newly opened Happy Mask Shop.

Gaebora looked over at Link, Saria, and Fado. His eyes were glimmering with a knowing look. They would be on a mission. And with that, he chose to follow Mido, Mila, and Malo to the Happy Mask shop.

Finally alone, Link turned to his friends. "I need your help! The Princess is supposed to find me while we're here. I have to find her."

Saria's eyes widened. "You're going to see her again?"

"I am. I need to talk to her alone. It's important."

Fado didn't even bother to hide his excitement. "We get to see Princess Zelda again? I'm ready!"

Saria rolled her eyes. "Of course we'll help find her. And not for Fado's sake," she laughed.

They spent the better part of an hour searching Market Town. From the inside of shops, to standing in line for the Bombchu Bowling Alley, they couldn't find Zelda. He enjoyed the sights as he wandered, but his mind was preoccupied.

A large crowd began to gather near a stall where a vendor was yelling out different prices. There are people everywhere, crashing into you as they try to get to the nearest market stall. It's unreal. The chaos is fantastic. Zelda's words ran through Link's mind again and again as he headed into the large herd of customers. He felt himself knocked around, almost hit in the head, and stepped on.

And then he saw a young girl calmly standing off to the side. She looked like a commoner, but Link could see an expensive looking ring on her finger. He slid up beside her.

"You look like you're ready to work on Lon Lon Ranch."

She laughed. "I had to make due. I'm glad you found me."

He turned to Princess Zelda. "I have to talk to you in private."

"I know. I have just the place. Come with me to the castle. You can have your own tour."

Link sidestepped away from a fast elbow. "They will let me in?"

Zelda laughed and pulled Link out of the crowd. "No, of course not. We're going to have to sneak in."

A/N: So I'm replaying Skyward Sword and realized that it's spelled GaePora not GaeBora, since that's pretty much the version of the character I was using, not the owl. If you were picturing the owl, go for it, but I wasn't thinking of him. I'll keep it the way I have been using it, but whoops!