AN: I decided to publish a chapter in the middle of the week because I felt like it! I feel like this chapter reestablishes where a lot of the characters are at this point, too, so it's a good foundation chapter, I think. Anyway, thanks for reading/favoriting/following/reviewing/ just being here! You rock!
Chapter 36: When what you need isn't who you need.
Link sat waiting for an interview at Linebeck's Shipyard. Since the note telling them Aryll's funds were running out, they'd been having Romani come less and less . . . an attempt to stretch out the year's funds. Link was faced with the difficult decision of either working, or staying home to care for Aryll. If he took care of Aryll, then they could save the money for Romani during the school year . . . but if he worked, then they could keep Romani anyways, but no one would be there for her in the summer as much.
And Shadow . . . as much as Link knew Shadow cared about Aryll, he had no idea what he was doing. He barely even understood what autism was.
Maybe he could change that.
He shook his head. It didn't matter. It was pretty much clear Shadow was not going to finish his grade at high school due to his heart attack, doctor visits, and all of his family drama. He would have to do summer school and couldn't be there for Aryll, either.
He stared out a nearby window. Where was Shadow, anyhow? Link felt like he hadn't seen him for days.
A light, but warm breeze blew loose sand into the air. It felt good against Vaati's bare skin as he stood outside Ezlo's hut on the beach. He stood barefoot, wearing the leaf outfit he'd grown up accustomed to seeing—it was basically a leaf skirt, with a leaf on his head to block the sun. He wore a leaf mantle around his shoulders to protect his pale, extremely sensitive skin from the sun, which Ezlo had made him wear, but Vaati hated it. He wished he could tan like other Minish . . . but he just got huge brown freckles that had Ezlo muttering, something about "cancer." Vaati paid no mind. He paid little mind to anything here. In the distance, out over the ocean, he saw the object he had been waiting half an hour to see, flying low over the waves.
A red, double-winged airplane, stuttering confidently in the wind, leaving little poof clouds in its wake. Like always, the pilot—Mr. Quill, the only one brave enough to fly out so far from western civilization—waved at Vaati, his pilot's goggles and hat masking most of his face, his scarf blowing in the wind. Vaati waved back. Mr. Quill is the one who originally flew Vaati to Hyrule in the first place. They'd nearly landed in the ocean several times, but it was all very exciting to Vaati.
Mr. Quill fumbled around his seat for a bit, and as he passed overhead, amidst a putt putt from his engine, a tiny bundle floated to the beach.
Vaati recognized the envelope before he'd untied it from the rest of the mail. Shadow had written him again. Shadow wrote to him a lot . . . Vaati had never answered, but he appreciated the letters all the same.
He trotted back to Ezlo's hut and went inside. The bamboo hut was tiny, but the bamboo furniture, the palm leaf cushions, everything was home to him. Comforting. He walked to a side room where his bed was, lay belly down on his bed, and opened Shadow's letter eagerly.
Sup V!
Well that was a cheerful beginning. Shadow's letters lately had ranged from sad to depressed. A change of pace was nice . . .
So things are crazy. My dad's in jail :(
Um. Never mind. NOT a change of pace. What was going on in Hyrule? He kept reading. Shadow laid everything out, this letter was longer than all the others. Vaati felt really sad for his friend. Shadow wrote about the rest of his life as well, his distrust of Sheik, his distance from Link and his grandma and half sister, his frustration at not being able to exercise, how the only thing that brought him any joy these days was his guitar . . . and there was something else. Something new.
I met this guy.
Vaati felt a pang. But he bravely kept reading.
I mean he's a cool guy, he's really smart and super, super cool, like REALLY cool . . .
Oh my goddess of Light, Vaati thought, we need to get this boy a thesaurus!
He takes me out to eat a lot, and we go do things at nighttime when we're both supposed to be in bed. Kinda reminds me of what we used to do, V :)
Vaati smiled. At least Shadow was thinking of him during these excursions.
But he kind of wants to date me, I think, and I don't know how I feel about that. Like, he talks me into doing things and I get into trouble, but I dunno . . . it's so much FUN! I just don't get any fun anymore . . .
Vaati's stomach began to sink very quickly, and his hands began to grip the letter so hard his palm sweat distorted the sides completely. He kept reading.
He's one year older than me—happy birthday me! It was two months ago, which you know, but anyway I never get tired of saying Happy Birthday to ME!—and he's taller and he's really nice. It's just . . . sometimes we get into some pretty bad trouble. Like not serious, we don't get caught. But I can't remember what happened in the morning, and neither can he, and sometimes . . . I mean . . . like when he holds me, it feels . . . nice. Sometimes when our faces get really close, I get really strange butterflies in my stomach. Is this what you were talking about when you said you liked me?
Vaati gripped the letter even harder. Yes! Yes that is what I meant!
It scares me that I like these things, Vaati. But I feel weird, too. Sometimes when he looks at me I don't understand what he's thinking and it scares me. He's a foster kid, he knows SO much more about everything than me, I'm so new at this. What should I do? I wish you were here. You'd know what to do. You always know what to do.
His heart was pounding.
I feel like crap. All the time, V. And I can't believe I'm even asking you any of this, I mean I know you like me, or maybe you don't anymore I dunno it's been a while . . . but I'm doing this stuff with another guy . . . and I don't know if I feel okay about it. . . but the thing is, when I'm with Vio, I actually DO feel okay . . . for a while I just forget everything. I mean he's got a crush on me, whatever. I don't want to lose him. What do I do?
With love,
Your Shay-Shay
Vaati gulped for the thirtieth time, then grabbed a paper and quill and inkwell, and began writing to Shadow for the first time in what seemed forever.
Hey there sexy~
Sorry I haven't written sooner . . . I've been really sad. But I get all your letters and I read all of them every day! Also, get a friggin thesaurus, WEIRDO.
Anyway, about this 'Vio' guy, DON'T DO IT! Nothing good ever comes of dating someone older, I mean he's only a year older, but he lives kind of on his own and doesn't have any parents, right? So he's basically an adult? STAY AWAY FROM HIM SHADOW! You're only going to get hurt, he's only going to hurt you. You should listen to your grandma! You were right, you should stay away from the mushy stuff until you're older and DEFINITELY don't ever go to live with him! Don't let him do ANYTHING to you that you don't want him to—
Shadow angrily crumpled Vaati's letter and threw it at the corner of his room. Vaati's just jealous, that's all. There's nothing wrong with Vio, there's nothing wrong with what we're doing! What he's doing. He would never hurt me. That flutter of uncertainty just would not go away. As much as he thought he loved spending time with Vio, there was something about it that just seemed . . . wrong. There was this emptiness that only went away when he spent time with Vio, but he didn't remember it being there before he met Vio. Even though they spent a lot of time together, Shadow find himself more often than not feeling lonely. He was constantly at odds with Grandma, never spent time with Aryll or Link, hadn't spoken with Sheik in ages, never went to school or even did his schoolwork, slept in late and never even saw anybody some days except his physical therapist and . . .
He picked Vaati's letter up, feeling guilty. His hands shaking, he caringly uncrumpled it. Vaati had gone to the trouble of writing him back despite whatever the horrible things he'd been going through, it must mean he's worried.
Why? Why am I at odds with ALL of my friends except Vio?! Why do I feel so much hate towards . . . EVERYBODY? He clutched Vaati's letter to himself desperately, beginning to sob.
"You're getting fat, Your Highness," the twangy high-pitched Zant's voice interrupted her thoughts.
Midna placed a hand on one heavy-set hip and thrust the other at him. "So?" In the last year she'd matured a lot, so she had a lot of figure figuring itself out . . . and with all the stress of being a princess to a stuffy council and . . . ZANT, causing her to stress eat waaaay more than was healthy . . .
Yes, she had been putting on a bit of weight.
But she exercised! And her doctor said she was healthy, soooooooo . . . Midna remembered her mother had big hips, and big boobs and . . . BIG . . . and was SUPER athletic and happy. Midna didn't find big bodies unattractive in other girls, so she really didn't think anything of it in herself. Rather liked it, actually, the thought of eventually growing up to look like her mum. Screw Zant and his anorexic ideals . . . Seriously, had that guy ever heard of a burger?!
Now Sheik. THAT girl knew how to do skinny! Well, boy. Before she was trans. Or maybe she was always trans.
Whatever.
"The point is!" Midna said, as though she had been speaking all of her thoughts out loud for Zant's benefit, "I'm not FAT, you're just JUDGMENTAL, and I don't dress for you." She huffed and gestured a languid hand, turning away from Zant to hide the sly grin on her face. "To think my fiance is complaining about there being MORE of me . . . very degrading . . ."
Zant quickly began backtracking, "I'm just concerned for your health, Mid—I mean your highness!" He fell to his knees and began bowing down to her repeatedly. "I don't mind there being more of you as long as it's HEALTHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Midna smirked and inspected her fingernails. "I don't know," she said, "I might just have to . . . run away from all of this!" She did so.
"NOOOOOOOOO! PRINCEEEEEEEEEEEESS!"
"Goodbye Zant, I'm off to marry the Monkey King on the Isle of Otala Wala!"
She flew out of a window and landed as deliberately heavily as she could manage. "FEAR ME WORMS!" She called, grinning toothily, "FOR I AM YOUR GOD COME TO PUNISH YOU!" She stomped her anger out on the grass a couple minutes, and then left the Twilight Estate.
As she exited the gates, she lifted her eyes from the pavement to almost run smack dab into the most gorgeous, hourglass shaped woman she'd ever laid eyes on.
Wait.
That's Sheik!
"Wat."
It was Sheik, but he—she—HE was dressed in ladies skinny capris, a pink fluttery top with an empress bustline, and obviously wearing a bra.
A bra.
Midna chuckled nervously. "Sheeeeeeeik . . . what are you doing?"
Sheik's cheeks reddened behind—oh goddesses, he was wearing MAKEUP, and lots of it—EARRINGS?! And a . . . a . . . a necklace! And a clutch bag.
Hoo-ey, Zelda from the past was making a blast in the future.
"Wait!" Midna cried before Sheik could say anything. "I got it!" She brandished a finger at her friend's get up. "It's dress like the opposite gender day! . . . No? Um, okay . . ." Finally over her shock quite a bit, Midna began to feel concerned. "What's going on, Sheik?"
Sheik's shoulders hunched towards his ears as he reddened even more. "Just . . . call me Zelda, okay?"
That felt entirely wrong to Midna, but she said, "Okay."
A deep voice called from across the street, holding to ice cream cones. "Hey, peanut!"
Midna recognized Mr. Harkinian, of course. Her mouth opened. Will wonders never cease?
Sheik grinned and threw her arms around her father's torso. "Hi, Daddy!"
Mr. Harkinian handed her an ice cream cone and glanced at Midna, merely nodding. Sheik said a quick goodbye and Midna waved as they left.
It was strange, she thought. Strange how when Zelda came out as Sheik, it hadn't felt wrong at all. It just felt normal. But now . . . with Sheik pretending to be Zelda . . . it felt so wrong.
Midna began to shake with fury, fists clenched at her sides, almost crying from rage. Sheik is male, he is NOT female, and King Johannes is making him feel like he has to act like a girl to get his attention! To have a FATHER! She spat in the king's general direction.
She'd never been so angry in her life.
No destination in particular in mind, Midna charged down the sidewalk, putting all of her anger into every step as she sprinted as fast and furious as she could.
AN: Sooooooo I went back and realized I described Midna as "petite," so I take that back about her being chubby before. But you can be petite and chubby both, can't you? Petite is more of a body type, isn't it? ANYWAYS, this chapter solidifies her figure for the forseeable future! MIDNA IS CHUBBY! And I misspoke. I guess she just really evolved in my head the last year I've been writing this story . . . Cha-cha!
