Chapter 3

The next day, as the sun climbed from its bed in the east, Link too rose from his bed, sleep fogging his mind. Then in an instant the sleepiness vanished as he remembered what was happening today: his date with Maple!

"Woohoo!" he exclaimed, throwing his tunic on, "I gotta get ready!"

Link strolled around Horon Village and gathered some food, lava soup, and tasty meat. He put it in a basket and walked out to Holodrum Plain.

Just as the sun nudged in directly over his head, he heard a scream as Maple came hurtling towards him, seemingly out of control on her broom.

Link cried out and covered his face, waiting for the impact. But it didn't come. He peeked out from behind his hands to see Maple hovering in front of him, laughing.

"You gullible ass!" she said, pulling his hat over his eyes.

"That wasn't funny!" he said, grinning.

"Then why am I laughing? Come on, let's eat." She took a blanket from the end of her broom and spread it out on the ground, and so began the little picnic.

"How is it working for your grandma every day?" Link asked her.

"It's not that bad. Besides, I'm learning magic while doing it, so one day I can be a great witch." She took a sip of lemonade. "But look at what YOU do! You kill monsters and save entire worlds! How do you manage that?"

"It's very difficult, but the knowledge that people will be saved is what keeps me going." he replied.

"Uh oh, somebody's getting all prophetic." she teased.

"No I'm not! It's just… I don't know… I like what I do."

She smiled. "And I like you, Link."

"You do?"

"Yup." Suddenly she got a terrified look on her face. "What the hell is that?" she cried, pointing. Link spun around and drew his sword, and seeing nothing, turned back to see Maple had grabbed the last cookie.

"Hey, give me that." he said, but she pulled it away.

"Come and get it." she said.

He dove for it, and tackled her to the ground. She pushed him off and got on her broom. As she took off, Link grabbed on and pulled himself onto it.

"Gotcha." he whispered, closing his arms around her waist. She giggled and dove down, the broom dumping them both on the grass. He stared down at her.

"What are you gonna do, Link?" she whispered.

"I don't know."

"Are you gonna kiss me?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes…" she pulled him to her and they kissed, just as Maple had imagined in her dreams. And as far as she was concerned, he should be called a hero simply for the way he kissed.

"Remember a couple of minutes ago when I said I liked you?" she asked softly.

"Yeah."

"I take it back. I love you."

Link's breath was coming very quickly. Could it finally be true that he had found romance? Could his ultimate dream have come true? He slapped himself, to make sure he was awake.

"What are you doing?" Maple asked him.

"Just checking to make sure this isn't a dream."

"You're a stupid ass, you know that?" she asked, before kissing him again. "But you're MY stupid ass."

Link sighed and gazed up at the clouds. Onox could wait.

The next two weeks were a whirlwind of romance. Link and Maple were inseperable, and sometimes they spent entire days in each other's arms, listening to the birds. Witch Syrup frowned upon Maple being so preoccupied with a boy, but the Maku Tree didn't seem to mind the relationship and in fact seemed to encourage it. (Sort of like Jim's Dad on American Pie. ---M.J.)

Maple and Link often rode all over the countryside on her broom, as she had just gotten an upgrade to a Nimbus 2000. One day, they flew over to Koholint Island for some R + R, and their walk took them to the Island Library.

"Hey Maple, look at this!" Link called to her. "It's a whole book about traditions and customs."

"That's nice."

"It says here that the ancient Hylia people could only get married after passing a great test of courage… isn't that interesting, Maple? Maple???" He received no response. He looked around the entire library, but didn't see anyone else except for the dust mites sparkling in the sunlight that streamed through the tall windows.

Suddenly, a Wallmaster appeared from the shelf behind him and pulled him inside, his scream barely echoing through the building before disappearing completely.