Wow, I am not in a good mood right now. First, I get on the computer for the first time in a week because I finally had time to. When I do, I discovered that what I had written for chapter eight was completely gone, and I was almost done with it, too. Then my mom yells at me, and then I check the reviews and people don't like my ideas about Sheik. In MY story, Sheik is a separate person than Zelda. A totally different person! Not the same! Just assume that Zelda took Sheik's form after she met him and fell in love with him and crappity crap. She used that as a disguise to hide from Ganondorf. And I feel like making him somewhat evil because I'm evil. And yes, I have read parts of "Love in a VERY unexpected place." It is really good, and I got some ideas from that story, as well as from two others that I can't remember the titles of. Thank you, Icecold, you are an inspiration! As for the others, I could find them, but I'm too Goddamn lazy and I have a headache and I'm angry. And to top that off, I had not one, but TWO St. Patrick's Day parades last weekend, one in South Boston! (F.Y.I.- It's a really really really long parade! And I had to carry a friggin' drum!) So, is all that cleared up now? Sheik=Sheik, NOT ZELDA!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING 'CEPT MY COMPUTER AND MY CARDBOARD BOX IN THE SLUMS OF A MONOPOLY BOARD! I don't own Zelda, or Monopoly for that matter. *starts singing* I am slowly going crazy one two three four five six switch! Crazy am I slowly going one two three four five six switch…*grabs a stapler* Ahhh, my trusty Swingline! *pats it like a cat…eeew, I hate cats…*

A/N: At certain points in this chapter, the views between Arden and Link will switch quickly, but I'm sure all of you will be fine with it.

*Arden*

I walked back into my room to find a strange looking woman frantically searching through my dresser. She was short and plump, and was humming furiously. My boots clicked on the stone, and she turned around.

"Oh! Come qvickly! Ve must find you somezing to vear for zee dinner!" she exclaimed, beckoning me over to her. She had a really strange accent.

"Well, my name is…"

"Yeah yeah! No time! No time! You must hurry!" What the fuck was this? I'm not friggin dressing up like Cinderella.

"Lady, we have an hour," I said, hoping she would hear a voice of reason. She held up a pink dress. I scowled.

"Does not match your red hair!" she said, throwing it on the bed. That was it.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" She paused, and turned around.

"Oh! How rhude of me! My name iz Hilda! I vill be your azzistant for your zstay at zee castle!"

"I'm Arden."

"Yes I know. Now, we must pick somezing out!" She held out an elegant maroon colored dress. "Yuck! Much too simple!" she exclaimed, tossing it on the ground. I carefully picked it up, admiring its delicate and intricate designs. "Here, try ziz one on!" she said, holding out a green dress. I tried it on. Well, I tried to try it on; it was way too small.

"It's a little tight," I managed to squeak out. Not only was it tight, but it was too short. She laughed.

"Ziz one," she said, handing me a red dress. That one was too big. The blue one fit nicely, but I thought it was ugly. I wouldn't touch the other pink one. She finally pulled out this black and deep red dress. I fell in love with it.

"I like that one," I said.

"Then you'll love zee corset as well!"

"What?! No way am I going to wear a dress with a corset. I'll wear the blue one! Or the pink one!" She just chuckled.

I can't believe I wore the corset.

Well, it was beautiful, and it did look good on me, but I still hated the corset. Piece of crap…

"So beautiful! Zee boyz vill be falling all over you!" she said in delight, twirling around the room with the red dress I had tried on earlier. "Oh! If only I vas your size!" This lady was nuts.

"Right, so," I said. "Now what?" She stood there, obviously in deep thought.

"SHOES!" she shrieked, nearly knocking me over. She opened a bottom drawer, and pulled out elegant shoes that matched the dress. I put them on. She was bustling about, and I began to wonder what Link was doing. Heh, I wonder what he's going to look like, all spiffed up. Well, not like he's going to friggin pay attention to me when he's got the Princess to himself. "Arden, come here," Hilda said. I snapped out of my daze and sat next to her on the bed. She had a brush in her hand. I let her brush my hair, and I went back into my daze. What if Link was lying about Sheik? Would he lie like that? No, I don't think so. I guess it's better to trust a friend than a stranger. And Zelda. Why did I get such a bad vibe from her? I just don't understand these Hylians. Their lives seem to be more complicated than…well…Americans, and they don't even have half of the things we have! But I'm still not sure about Link. Was he playing me? Do they even know how to play people in Hyrule? Good God I think I've gone cross-eyed!

"What are you going to do with my hair?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, you'll see," she said, fiddling with it some more. She finally finished, and I ran to the mirror. My hair was shiny and calm for once, and she had a braid on either side of my head (above my ears) tied in the back with a satin black ribbon. I felt like a princess, tee-hee!

"You're so awesome!" I exclaimed, floating around the room.

"Zhank you," she said, grinning from ear to ear. "Now, child, come here," she said. I obeyed, and stood besides her while she dug through a small satchel hanging off her dress. She pulled out a beautiful necklace, and carefully placed it around my neck.

"Oh Hilda," I said, grasping it as she held a small mirror in front of it. It was a black stone with a silver backing on a delicate silver chain. "This is so beautiful," I said, turning to her. "I can't wear this! You wear it to the dinner tonight!" She laughed.

"Arden, dear, I von't be attending zee dinner, silly! I'm just a zervant!" Aw man, now I felt bad. "Don't fret, child! I vill be fine!" she said jovially. I sighed. We heard horn blasts echoing throughout the hall. "Oh! Zat means dinner vill be starting soon! Hurry!" she said, pushing me to the exit.

"But what about Link?!" I exclaimed as she slammed the door shut behind me. I looked down the dimly lit hall in both directions, and decided to get Link. I went to knock on the door, but before I placed my fist on it, it swung open, and Link was shoved out towards me. He slammed into me, unable to stop, and knocked me back.

"Whoah!" he exclaimed, stumbling to the side. I regained my balance, and took a look at him. He had a black tunic on, subtly embroidered with gold. He had a black belt with a shiny gold belt buckle, and his legs and arms were covered with clean white fabric. He had a matching black hat on, but no sword or shield. His boots were black, too. I could say that he looked good, or cool, or super-neat-o, but those were all understatements. He looked straight-up hot. His hair was combed, and the usual stubble that covered his chin and cheeks was gone. "What's 'a matter?" he said, staring at me with that cocky smile on his mug.

"Uh…I…uh…nothing," I stuttered. Unable to stop myself, I reached out and felt the fabric. It was crushed velvet or something, very nice to the touch. "Ooooh, fancy-schmancy, eh? Velvet, how sexy," I said sarcastically. He growled.

"Shut up, I wouldn't be talking," he retorted, stepping back. I felt his eyes burning holes all over my body. I couldn't help but blush. He walked up to me in silence, and cautiously extended his hand towards my chest. I was ready to slug him, but he just grabbed the necklace. "Who'd you manage to steal this from?"

"I didn't steal it!" I cried.

"Sure you didn't."

"I didn't. That lady Hilda let me borrow it for tonight." He rolled his eyes. "What?!"

"That Hilda's pretty interesting, isn't she?" he asked, letting go of the necklace. I nodded. We heard horns blasting again. "Come on!" he said, grabbing my arm and racing down the passageways.

"Link! Slow down! I can't run in these shoes!" I cried, in vain. He just quickened his pace. Why did this guy insist on running all the time?

*Link*

Damnit, we need to go faster! We ran up through the grand upstairs hall, and then down the main flight of stairs. I stopped running and regained my composure. I gazed over at Arden again. She was so beautiful in that dress. She smiled, so I took her arm, and as charmingly as possible, walked into the dining hall. I turned to Arden and smiled, she looked even more attractive under these lights. We all took our seats, and waited for Zelda and Sheik to enter.

"What are we having?" Arden whispered to me, watching silver platters being placed on the table. I shrugged.

"Probably steak," I replied. "It's the Princess's favorite." She smiled.

"Well, at least she's got good taste in food," Arden said, nudging me with her elbow. Zelda and Sheik entered the room, arms linked, and everyone stood and applauded. They took their seats after Zelda made a long boring speech about how wonderful it was to have everyone here and how honored she felt to have such magnificent guests like me and Arden; total bullshit. But the people loved her, so we all went along with it. Well, the meal went by smoothly, and I noticed no weird eye contact between Sheik and Arden. After the dessert was served, the band started to play a bit louder. Zelda and Sheik rose simultaneously, and walked over to the dance floor. Arden started to get up, but I stopped her.

"The first dance is always for Zelda and Sheik," I informed her. She sat back, and pouted.

"This music sucks," she whispered to me. "It's too tinny and formal. Those musicians need to loosen up." I chuckled. Soon enough, the song ended, and couples filled the dance floor. I dragged Arden over, and tried to dance with her. She definitely wasn't in step with the rest of us, and it was the easiest dance we do!

"Arden, don't you know how to dance?" I asked, laughing.

"Yeah, but not like you do. Teach me!" she said, grabbing my hand and waist. I taught her our basic waltz, but she still didn't seem comfortable. "It's the music," she said, pulling away. "I'll be right back," she said, and then disappeared into the crowd.

*Arden*

I wandered my way to the pit, and waited for the song to end. I saw a horde of girls surround Link, so I didn't feel too bad for leaving him on the dance floor. They finally finished, and everyone clapped. I walked up to the pianist, and asked if I could sit in. He nodded, and I sat down. Let's see if all those years of lessons were worth something…

*Link*

As I tried to push my way through the girls surrounding me, I heard a piano begin to play. Everyone stopped and listened, intrigued with the sounds swirling all around us. I had never heard such music before, and it was quite interesting. My head began to bob, along with a few others around me.

*Arden*

Just…keep…going! I kept on playing, letting the music flow from my fingertips. I was always good with jazz, and also with improvising. The pianist seemed to catch on, and I was able to leave him playing by himself. The drummer began playing a rock beat, and I went over to the guitars (damnit, they had them in Majora's Mask!). I quickly gave them the chords to follow, and soon enough, we had somewhat of a good band playing jazz and 1950-ish rock. Some people were dancing already, and I wandered back to Link. He was just standing there with his jaw dropped. I shrugged, and began to dance with him. He obviously didn't know how to grind, so I started to show him. A crowd began to form around us as we danced, and I think they were both chocked and intrigued at the same time.

*Link*

Oh my goddesses, this was so much fun! I had never really been this close to a girl in that way, and the feeling was indescribable. Sheik came over, and started dancing on the other side of her. I looked around the room, which at this point was spinning, and caught Zelda's gaze. Her eyes were clouded over with hatred, and I could tell she was furious. I didn't care, though; I was having too much fun making an Arden sandwich with Sheik. We danced on into the night until Arden and I got tired. She pulled me off to the side, and we slowly made our way back up to our quarters.

*Sigh* That took me forever! And again, I'm really really REALLY sorry that I haven't been updating…at all. So, if you have any questions, or wanna chat or something, my email addy is LilDrummerGirl65@aol.com. Just tell me who you are before you start talking so I don't think you're a stalker or something. Thanks for your patience!