I'd like to apologize for chapter 5's awfulness. It was short, it was bad, and now my writing has returned to its normal, more flowing style. I apologize, I was desperate and tired! Also, I forgot to put a disclaimer before, so here it is: do you really think I own these people? I'm thirteen, for goodness sake!
Chapter 6: Betrayal
Zelda was sprawled untidily across her bed, her tears staining the silk blankets which she slept on. She was in complete shock from the events of less than an hour ago.
Her father had called her into his throne room so that they could discuss a "very important matter". She had come in, curtsied, and waited. Her father had then said the terrible, cruel words:
"Zelda, it is my wish that you be married by your seventeenth birthday, which, as you know, is in seven months."
Zelda was surprised. "Father, I thought I was going to marry Link when he decided he was ready for marriage. What if he isn't ready by my seventeenth birthday? He's a year younger than me, after all, and-"
"Zelda, he's not going to change his mind. It's very obvious that he isn't in love with you, and you're going to have to learn to accept that. I'm not getting any younger, and if I were to die you would become Queen, but there would be no one else in line to the throne. You need a husband and children so that their will be heirs, or else the highest servant in the palace will become King." The king paused, as though afraid to say what came next. "Zelda, I have decided that you will marry Rauru, Sage of Light and wisest man I know. He would make an excellent King, and he would be first in line to the throne."
Zelda couldn't speak for a moment, and when she regained her speech she gasped, "Father, Rauru will most likely die before me! He won't ever be King, even if he marries me! And he's too old!"
"Zelda, I must ask you to calm down. And it doesn't matter whether or not Rauru ever becomes King, don't you see? His children will be wise like him, and they will be the future Kings and Queens. And he isn't that old. He's twenty years younger than me."
"Then he's...forty-eight! That's thirty-two years older than me!"
"I'm aware of that, Zelda."
"But-"
"That's enough! This is not an argument! You are going to marry Rauru the day before you turn seventeen and that is final!"
So now Zelda was on her bed, hysterical, when she had a sudden thought. She walked as though in a trance back to the throne room, loving her idea.
"Father?"
The King reguarded her cautiously, then said, "What?"
"If...if Link were to want to marry me before my seventeenth birthday, could he marry me?"
The king paused, looking rather grave for a moment, and then nodded solemnly. "Yes."
Zelda ran out of the throne room full of high spirits. If she told Link that she would have to marry Rauru if he didn't marry her, surely he would say yes! The future was looking brighter already.
~~~
"Mm-mmm-mm, mm-mmm-mm..." Ruto hummed to herself as she bathed in the waterfall, thinking of Brandon. Every now and then Link still crossed her mind, but it wasn't the same as before. He was more like a faded memory, a fling of the past that had disappeared long ago. She hadn't seen him in over a month, after all. He obviously didn't care about her.
But Brandon...Brandon treated her as though she was something he needed, like water, rather than just being the Sage of Water. Ever since she had mysteriously revived him(she still didn't know quite how that had happened), she had begun to realize that he wasn't as bad as she had once thought. He wasn't like the other Zoras, who treated her like a princess because she was, well, Princess. He treated her like a princess because to him, she was a goddess.
"Ruto?" Brandon, she thought, and turned around quickly, expecting to see his pleasant face. But it wasn't Brandon. It was...Link. Wearing his Zora Tunic, no less. Startled, she put a hand over her mouth and stifled a gasp, then smiled in a half-warm way.
"Link...what a pleasant surprise." She could tell she sounded distant, but what was she supposed to do? Swoon over him, when he had barely acknowledged her prescence for the last year? She stood there impatiently, wishing he would say something, but he had already crossed the water and embraced her. She stayed stiff for a moment, treading water and wishing he'd stop, when he pulled away.
"Ruto, is something wrong?"
Ruto looked away. "No."
Now Link looked even more surprised. "Well, something's changed."
"Do I have to explain everything I say and do to you?"
Now Link looked angry. "What did I do?"
"Nothing! Just leave me alone!" And she swam away, aware of Link's eyes on her back.
Then she saw Brandon, and he greeted her with a long, full kiss, and though she tried to pull away she failed. She could tell Link was still watching, and it made her slightly uncomfortable until she realized that there had never really been anything permanent between them. They had never even gone out, or said anything on the matter. Why should it be a problem if she had a boyfriend?
She smiled at Brandon and said, "We have a visitor." She turned around, expecting to see Link, but he was gone.
~~~
Link marched furiously toward Lon Lon Ranch, fully aware of the rapidly setting sun. He knew he didn't have any right to be angry, knew he had never really told Ruto how he felt about her, and now she had a boyfriend. Unless everyone in Zora's Domain greeted each other like that, and as far as he knew they didn't...
He began to run as he realized that soon the sun would set completely. It wasn't that he was afraid of the Stalchildren, just annoyed by them. And he didn't want to miss dinner at Lon Lon Ranch. While he was welcome to eat anything he liked, it always made him uncomfortable to just raid their pantry.
When he got there, he could see no sign of Talon, and assumed he was asleep. Malon, however, was so close to the front of the gate that it almost seemed as though she had been waiting for him. Or someone.
Link's suspicions were confirmed when she rushed at him and pulled him far away from the entrance, looking extremely nervous. Link stared at her for a moment, concerned, and then said, "Malon, what is it?"
"Link...something's happened..."
"Oh God, is it your father?"
"Oh, no, nothing like that. No one's died or anything." Relief came to Link immediately.
"Thank God..."
"Yes, well, anyway, something has happened, and it has to do with you, in a way..."
"Malon, what is it?!"
"Link, I'm...I'm pregant."
The words hung in the air for a moment like a deadly gas, and then the reality of it hit Link.
"You're...what?"
"You heard me, Link. I'm pregant. I'm going to have a baby. What are you going to do about it?"
"Me? What does that have to do with me?"
Malon looked hurt, and very surprised. "It has everything to do with you, Link! You're the father!"
"Are-are you sure?"
"Well who else would it be?!"
"Michael's brother! That guard! I mean, he raped you and everything...and it was before we, you know...so, he's probably the father!"
Now Malon looked as though she was about to cry. "So what if he did? Even if he is the father, I wouldn't exactly want him raising my child! The point is, you could be the father, so you should take responsibility for it!"
Link stared at Malon. "I...I...Malon, I don't know what to say. I don't know what I was thinking then and I don't know what you're thinking now. Are you saying you want me to marry you? So I can be the official father?"
"Of course." Malon said it softly, as though afraid to say it at all.
"Well, I'm sorry, Malon, but I can't marry you! I'm too young to get married! I...I..." But Link knew he had to marry her. She couldn't exactly raise a child on her own with all the work she already had to do...
"If you did marry me, the ranch would become yours. Dad left."
"What?! Why?"
"I don't know. He left a note about how he needed to know the truth about my mother or something, and he wasn't coming back."
"I thought your mother died..."
"So did I. But it was never exactly proved, so he must want to find out more or something..." Her voice grew soft. "Dad always said I looked just like her. I guess she had red hair too." Then she looked up at Link. "So, Link...will you?"
He sighed, worked up every fiber of goodness and honesty and loyalty and responsibilty in his body, and said, voice shaking and body quivering, "Yes." It felt like an agreement to death.
~~~
Michael had been living with Nabooru in her enormous temple home for almost two months now, and he was quite content there, even when he knew that no one in all of Gerudo Fortress even knew he existed. It wasn't that bad of a feeling, being anonymous. He had Nabooru, after all, who never ceased to amaze him with her carefree view of life.
But one thing had been nagging at him continually every day, growing in his mind each and every day, and now all he wanted to do was ask her this one question. He worked up the nerve to ask it one day when the two of them were sitting together in the middle of the desert at night.
"Nabooru, can I ask you something?" Nabooru turned and smiled at him, that fake yet vuluptuous smile that made his spine tingle, even now. "Well...how do I put this..." He paused for a moment, trying to think of the best way to say it, but finally just blurted the whole thing out: "Nabooru, why did you take me away from Hyrule Castle when you knew I had attempted rape? And why did you save my brother from punishment as well?" He looked her in the eye when he said this, because he wanted an honest answer, and he was certain she would not give him one.
Her expression changed, however, and suddenly Nabooru's bouncy personality was serious, and her smile turned into a calmer expression, and she seemed...normal. She turned and faced him seriously, and Michael realized that for the first time in perhaps all her life she was going to be completely straightforward, and not put on a shallow act like she normally did.
"Michael," she said, looking worried, "that girl you tried to rape...well, I think Link, the Hero of Time, is in love with her."
"Yes...?" Michael had no idea where this was leading to.
"And...I'm in love with Link. Letting the men who hurt her go free was my way, cruel perhaps but still my way, of getting back at her." Michael's eyes became clouded, and he looked quickly away from Nabooru. "Look, Michael, I know you probably think I'm awful, but I did it out of love! I'm not that bad of a person once you get to know me!"
"That's not it." And then Nabooru knew what was bothering Michael.
"Michael, surely you didn't think I was in love with you?"
Michael turned to her, a quiet anger in his eyes. He tried to make his voice sound sarcastic and uncaring, but he knew the hurt showed clearly in his voice. "Oh, I don't know, I live with you for two months and it means nothing at all. Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't realize."
"Michael, I constantly bring men back here with me until they tire of me...or I of them, sometimes. I've kept you around because you don't seem to want to leave, and you are good in bed." She smiled at him as though this solved all their problems, and her fake personality was back, stronger than ever.
"Well, maybe I thought it meant something, Nabooru. Maybe I appreciated being saved from death or worse!" Michael's voice was rising quickly, but he didn't try to control it. "Maybe I'm in love with you! Ever thought of that?! I guess not!"
Nabooru reached out a hand and put it gently on Michael's shoulder. "Michael-"
But Michael wrenched away from her grasp. "Don't touch me!" And then, more softly, "You know, Nabooru, I wish you hadn't taken me away from Hyrule Castle. I wish they had hanged me or done whatever they were planning to do, because no matter what it had been, it would have been a lot better than this." He got up and started to walk away.
"Michael! Come back here! You won't last three minutes in the desert without me!"
Michael turned, his eyes like ice. "I don't care." Nabooru felt as though she had been stabbed, but she couldn't just let Michael go away. She grabbed his arm and transformed into an orange light particle, and hovered above the desert sands, waiting and hoping that Michael would calm down.
~~~
Note: Just because Link's engaged to Malon does NOT mean he ends up with her. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. But don't stop reading the story just because you hate Malon! I made something awful happen to her!
Chapter 6: Betrayal
Zelda was sprawled untidily across her bed, her tears staining the silk blankets which she slept on. She was in complete shock from the events of less than an hour ago.
Her father had called her into his throne room so that they could discuss a "very important matter". She had come in, curtsied, and waited. Her father had then said the terrible, cruel words:
"Zelda, it is my wish that you be married by your seventeenth birthday, which, as you know, is in seven months."
Zelda was surprised. "Father, I thought I was going to marry Link when he decided he was ready for marriage. What if he isn't ready by my seventeenth birthday? He's a year younger than me, after all, and-"
"Zelda, he's not going to change his mind. It's very obvious that he isn't in love with you, and you're going to have to learn to accept that. I'm not getting any younger, and if I were to die you would become Queen, but there would be no one else in line to the throne. You need a husband and children so that their will be heirs, or else the highest servant in the palace will become King." The king paused, as though afraid to say what came next. "Zelda, I have decided that you will marry Rauru, Sage of Light and wisest man I know. He would make an excellent King, and he would be first in line to the throne."
Zelda couldn't speak for a moment, and when she regained her speech she gasped, "Father, Rauru will most likely die before me! He won't ever be King, even if he marries me! And he's too old!"
"Zelda, I must ask you to calm down. And it doesn't matter whether or not Rauru ever becomes King, don't you see? His children will be wise like him, and they will be the future Kings and Queens. And he isn't that old. He's twenty years younger than me."
"Then he's...forty-eight! That's thirty-two years older than me!"
"I'm aware of that, Zelda."
"But-"
"That's enough! This is not an argument! You are going to marry Rauru the day before you turn seventeen and that is final!"
So now Zelda was on her bed, hysterical, when she had a sudden thought. She walked as though in a trance back to the throne room, loving her idea.
"Father?"
The King reguarded her cautiously, then said, "What?"
"If...if Link were to want to marry me before my seventeenth birthday, could he marry me?"
The king paused, looking rather grave for a moment, and then nodded solemnly. "Yes."
Zelda ran out of the throne room full of high spirits. If she told Link that she would have to marry Rauru if he didn't marry her, surely he would say yes! The future was looking brighter already.
~~~
"Mm-mmm-mm, mm-mmm-mm..." Ruto hummed to herself as she bathed in the waterfall, thinking of Brandon. Every now and then Link still crossed her mind, but it wasn't the same as before. He was more like a faded memory, a fling of the past that had disappeared long ago. She hadn't seen him in over a month, after all. He obviously didn't care about her.
But Brandon...Brandon treated her as though she was something he needed, like water, rather than just being the Sage of Water. Ever since she had mysteriously revived him(she still didn't know quite how that had happened), she had begun to realize that he wasn't as bad as she had once thought. He wasn't like the other Zoras, who treated her like a princess because she was, well, Princess. He treated her like a princess because to him, she was a goddess.
"Ruto?" Brandon, she thought, and turned around quickly, expecting to see his pleasant face. But it wasn't Brandon. It was...Link. Wearing his Zora Tunic, no less. Startled, she put a hand over her mouth and stifled a gasp, then smiled in a half-warm way.
"Link...what a pleasant surprise." She could tell she sounded distant, but what was she supposed to do? Swoon over him, when he had barely acknowledged her prescence for the last year? She stood there impatiently, wishing he would say something, but he had already crossed the water and embraced her. She stayed stiff for a moment, treading water and wishing he'd stop, when he pulled away.
"Ruto, is something wrong?"
Ruto looked away. "No."
Now Link looked even more surprised. "Well, something's changed."
"Do I have to explain everything I say and do to you?"
Now Link looked angry. "What did I do?"
"Nothing! Just leave me alone!" And she swam away, aware of Link's eyes on her back.
Then she saw Brandon, and he greeted her with a long, full kiss, and though she tried to pull away she failed. She could tell Link was still watching, and it made her slightly uncomfortable until she realized that there had never really been anything permanent between them. They had never even gone out, or said anything on the matter. Why should it be a problem if she had a boyfriend?
She smiled at Brandon and said, "We have a visitor." She turned around, expecting to see Link, but he was gone.
~~~
Link marched furiously toward Lon Lon Ranch, fully aware of the rapidly setting sun. He knew he didn't have any right to be angry, knew he had never really told Ruto how he felt about her, and now she had a boyfriend. Unless everyone in Zora's Domain greeted each other like that, and as far as he knew they didn't...
He began to run as he realized that soon the sun would set completely. It wasn't that he was afraid of the Stalchildren, just annoyed by them. And he didn't want to miss dinner at Lon Lon Ranch. While he was welcome to eat anything he liked, it always made him uncomfortable to just raid their pantry.
When he got there, he could see no sign of Talon, and assumed he was asleep. Malon, however, was so close to the front of the gate that it almost seemed as though she had been waiting for him. Or someone.
Link's suspicions were confirmed when she rushed at him and pulled him far away from the entrance, looking extremely nervous. Link stared at her for a moment, concerned, and then said, "Malon, what is it?"
"Link...something's happened..."
"Oh God, is it your father?"
"Oh, no, nothing like that. No one's died or anything." Relief came to Link immediately.
"Thank God..."
"Yes, well, anyway, something has happened, and it has to do with you, in a way..."
"Malon, what is it?!"
"Link, I'm...I'm pregant."
The words hung in the air for a moment like a deadly gas, and then the reality of it hit Link.
"You're...what?"
"You heard me, Link. I'm pregant. I'm going to have a baby. What are you going to do about it?"
"Me? What does that have to do with me?"
Malon looked hurt, and very surprised. "It has everything to do with you, Link! You're the father!"
"Are-are you sure?"
"Well who else would it be?!"
"Michael's brother! That guard! I mean, he raped you and everything...and it was before we, you know...so, he's probably the father!"
Now Malon looked as though she was about to cry. "So what if he did? Even if he is the father, I wouldn't exactly want him raising my child! The point is, you could be the father, so you should take responsibility for it!"
Link stared at Malon. "I...I...Malon, I don't know what to say. I don't know what I was thinking then and I don't know what you're thinking now. Are you saying you want me to marry you? So I can be the official father?"
"Of course." Malon said it softly, as though afraid to say it at all.
"Well, I'm sorry, Malon, but I can't marry you! I'm too young to get married! I...I..." But Link knew he had to marry her. She couldn't exactly raise a child on her own with all the work she already had to do...
"If you did marry me, the ranch would become yours. Dad left."
"What?! Why?"
"I don't know. He left a note about how he needed to know the truth about my mother or something, and he wasn't coming back."
"I thought your mother died..."
"So did I. But it was never exactly proved, so he must want to find out more or something..." Her voice grew soft. "Dad always said I looked just like her. I guess she had red hair too." Then she looked up at Link. "So, Link...will you?"
He sighed, worked up every fiber of goodness and honesty and loyalty and responsibilty in his body, and said, voice shaking and body quivering, "Yes." It felt like an agreement to death.
~~~
Michael had been living with Nabooru in her enormous temple home for almost two months now, and he was quite content there, even when he knew that no one in all of Gerudo Fortress even knew he existed. It wasn't that bad of a feeling, being anonymous. He had Nabooru, after all, who never ceased to amaze him with her carefree view of life.
But one thing had been nagging at him continually every day, growing in his mind each and every day, and now all he wanted to do was ask her this one question. He worked up the nerve to ask it one day when the two of them were sitting together in the middle of the desert at night.
"Nabooru, can I ask you something?" Nabooru turned and smiled at him, that fake yet vuluptuous smile that made his spine tingle, even now. "Well...how do I put this..." He paused for a moment, trying to think of the best way to say it, but finally just blurted the whole thing out: "Nabooru, why did you take me away from Hyrule Castle when you knew I had attempted rape? And why did you save my brother from punishment as well?" He looked her in the eye when he said this, because he wanted an honest answer, and he was certain she would not give him one.
Her expression changed, however, and suddenly Nabooru's bouncy personality was serious, and her smile turned into a calmer expression, and she seemed...normal. She turned and faced him seriously, and Michael realized that for the first time in perhaps all her life she was going to be completely straightforward, and not put on a shallow act like she normally did.
"Michael," she said, looking worried, "that girl you tried to rape...well, I think Link, the Hero of Time, is in love with her."
"Yes...?" Michael had no idea where this was leading to.
"And...I'm in love with Link. Letting the men who hurt her go free was my way, cruel perhaps but still my way, of getting back at her." Michael's eyes became clouded, and he looked quickly away from Nabooru. "Look, Michael, I know you probably think I'm awful, but I did it out of love! I'm not that bad of a person once you get to know me!"
"That's not it." And then Nabooru knew what was bothering Michael.
"Michael, surely you didn't think I was in love with you?"
Michael turned to her, a quiet anger in his eyes. He tried to make his voice sound sarcastic and uncaring, but he knew the hurt showed clearly in his voice. "Oh, I don't know, I live with you for two months and it means nothing at all. Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't realize."
"Michael, I constantly bring men back here with me until they tire of me...or I of them, sometimes. I've kept you around because you don't seem to want to leave, and you are good in bed." She smiled at him as though this solved all their problems, and her fake personality was back, stronger than ever.
"Well, maybe I thought it meant something, Nabooru. Maybe I appreciated being saved from death or worse!" Michael's voice was rising quickly, but he didn't try to control it. "Maybe I'm in love with you! Ever thought of that?! I guess not!"
Nabooru reached out a hand and put it gently on Michael's shoulder. "Michael-"
But Michael wrenched away from her grasp. "Don't touch me!" And then, more softly, "You know, Nabooru, I wish you hadn't taken me away from Hyrule Castle. I wish they had hanged me or done whatever they were planning to do, because no matter what it had been, it would have been a lot better than this." He got up and started to walk away.
"Michael! Come back here! You won't last three minutes in the desert without me!"
Michael turned, his eyes like ice. "I don't care." Nabooru felt as though she had been stabbed, but she couldn't just let Michael go away. She grabbed his arm and transformed into an orange light particle, and hovered above the desert sands, waiting and hoping that Michael would calm down.
~~~
Note: Just because Link's engaged to Malon does NOT mean he ends up with her. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. But don't stop reading the story just because you hate Malon! I made something awful happen to her!
