Hundreds of cameras were flashing in their faces. Perhaps the Fancy Place didn't care much for royals, but the press sure did.
"Coming from a dinner, eh?" one newsman shouted.
"How was it? Where are you going now?" another called out.
Zelda was, of course, in shock. She wasn't used to getting so much public attention. And, truth be told, she didn't care for it at all. She looked back at her father for help, but all he could do was return her astonished appearance.
"Say Prince Marth," one reporter yelled. "How's about givin' your date a kiss, huh?"
"Ack, NO!" Zelda squeaked, unheard by the loud people around her.
But before she could do anything, Marth was fulfilling the newspaper guy's request-and not without passion, I must say. Zelda just stood there, limp from shock. And yet Marth was making it look like she was limp from what he liked to call "happy" surprise. Of course, he was the one who was in for quite a (literal) shock himself.
With all her strength, Zelda shoved her arms forward, with one of her almighty "yahs." Din's fire burst in Marth's face, leaving soot all over it. Hyrule's princess glared at him, breathing heavily. "What in Din's name do you think you're doing?!" she erupted.
It was then that Apmi broke through the Fancy Place's front doors. "What in Hyrule is going on out here?!" she yelled. The cameras started flashing in her face as well, to her annoyance.
"So you're from Hyrule, are you?" a newswoman asked.
"GAAAAHHH!"
With all the attention now turned to Impa, the four royal peoples managed to make a mad dash for it, with no one following.
"So.still up for that ice cream?" King Jaraad asked.
"Sure," King Harkinian answered. "What about you, Zelda?"
Emitting a short shriek, Zelda transformed into her alter-ego. Before her father could say anything, the Hylian princess ran. Ran and ran until she reached Peach's castle.
Sheik changed back to Zelda, and ran down the hallways to her room.
"Hi Zel," Samus greeted, as the princess flew past her.
Without a response, Zelda slammed into her door, unlocked it and threw herself onto her bed. The door slowly closed.
Inside of her, she knew it really wasn't too much of a deal. But that was waaay inside. On the outer surface, Zelda was going crazy. How dare Marth have the nerve to kiss her like that.and right in front of the media's faces, too!!
She heard the door open. "Zellie?"
"Go away!" she cried. "I don't care who you are, just leave me alone! I think I'm having a mental break down!"
"But Zel, it's just me. Summer."
With a bit of reluctance, Zelda sat up. Summer observed that the front of her cousin's lavender gown sparkled with wet tear lines.
"What happened?" Summer finally asked. "We heard a riot outside, and Impa went to see what was going on. She didn't come back for a while."
Zelda wiped away her tears. "I'm fine Summer, really. Maybe I'll talk more about it tomorrow."
Summer hugged her tightly, and then left to her own bedroom. Sighing, Zelda started changing into her Hello Kitty nightgown. She prayed that Link would never find out what had happened.
***
The next morning, Zelda stepped outside of her room and almost got hit by a flying newspaper. Alarmed, she looked up.
"Morning Zelda!" Fox greeted cheerfully.
"What're you doing?" Zelda asked drowsily.
"Delivering papers!!" Fox shouted. She looked at him blankly. "King Toadstool just subscribed to 'The Daily Smasher' and 'Royal Rubble.'"
"Never heard of neither," Zelda responded. "Are you delivering them to all of us?"
"Yep. But I'm just giving out 'Royal Rubble.' Falco's covering the south side with the 'Daily Smasher.' Well, got more to go. Bye!" And with that, Fox dashed off.
Zelda picked up the paper. Before she got a chance to look at it though, the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Zelda?" It was Samus, but she was speaking in a very stern voice.
"Yeah.what's up?"
"YOU, that's what!! Link asked me to call you because he was too afraid to do it himself."
"Sam, what're you talking about?"
"Don't you 'Sam' me, Zel! Didn't you get the paper this morning?"
"Well, yes."
"Did you look at it yet?"
"Well, no."
"THEN LOOK AT IT!!" Samus roared, before hanging up.
Zelda hung up too. "Well, what on earth was that all a-" Her eyes widened, and she spat out the herbal tea she had just made. "Holy Hyrule! What is this?!"
To Zelda's horror, she found herself on the front page of the Royal Rubble. And Marth was on it too.KISSING HER!! She let out a long scream.
Summer came running out of her room. "Zellie? What is it?!"
Zelda, whose heart beat had just increased immensely, began to calm down. As she read the article, she found that the newspapermen had written about her response to Marth's (evil and risqué) actions. It would certainly be embarrassing to the Altean prince if he read it.
Summer still stood there. "What.was that scream all about?"
Zelda's eyes widened again. "Oh goddesses, I've got to go!! I'll be right back Summer!" In a flash, the Hylian princess ran out of the room.
Shaking her head, Summer went back to her room and into bed.

Running down the southern hallways, Zelda tried desperately to remember which room was Link's. Fox had told her that Falco was delivering a different subscription to those in the south wing-which included Link and Samus.
Zelda came to a stop as she ran by Captain Falcon's room. He was a late sleeper, so he hadn't gotten his newspaper yet. She picked it up and scanned the front page article.
It was had the same picture as the other, only the editorial had a totally different perspective.
She sank down by Falcon's door and read it. How dare that newspaper!! It had the nerve to imply that Zelda had willingly let Marth kiss her like that.ooh, it was so humiliating!! Gritting her teeth, she felt a surge of anger rush through her. Zelda knew that this was the article that Samus and Link had both read.
"Hi Zel, what're you doing out here?"
Captain Falcon had poked his head outside his door, and had scared the living daylights out of Zelda.
"GAAH!" As she jumped up, the paper went flying out of her hands and into Falcon's face, and ran down the hall to Link's room.
301, 302, 303.here we go, 304.
Steadying herself, Zelda knocked on the door. Please answer.she thought. Please open up!!
"Who is it?" came Young Link's voice from inside.
"It's me, Zelda!" she said back.
"Go away!"
"Young Link, please! You must let me explain this to.your older self!"
"Why should I? Is there a wrong way to take this story?! What could possibly be left to explain?? The picture says all!"
"Young Link, you let me in here or else I'll break down this door!!"
"No you won't."
"You know I can, and I will! Now let me in!"
After a slight hesitation, Young Link slowly opened the door. Zelda had almost never seen an expression so cross. "He's in the bedroom," the young hylian warrior said darkly.
Kneading her hands, Zelda walked up to the door with caution. She opened it slowly, trying not to disturb the one who laid inside.
"Link?" She looked around for him, but didn't see him. "Link, where are-" she noticed a lump underneath his bedcovers. Her gaze shifted towards a paper that lay on his nighstand. There were six teardrops on it that had smudged the print
With gentle hands, Zelda reached down and pulled the covers off of Link. He sat huddled in the top corner, crouched into some sort of ball. He looked up at her, with an expression that was quite easy to translate.
What have you done to me? It seemed to say. Were you simply toying with me? Sadness and confusion erupted from his face.
"Link, don't take this the wrong way," Zelda said quietly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he whispered.
Zelda gradually sat down on a chair by his bedside. "Listen to me Link. They've got it all wrong. Truly."
Link sprang up and snatched the paper. "How could they?! Look at that picture, Zel!" He smacked it with his hand. "That is you! And that is Marth! And this.did you read it?!"
"Yes. But I-"
"But you didn't read it right, did you? Well then ALLOW me, princess!" He started reading from the article. "'Their wonderful evening together alone ended with a very passionate kiss from Marth, returned by Hyrule's princess Zelda! We believe that an engagment is to be announced soon, so don't be surprised. We hope furthur articles will ensue on this romantic relationship.' And your expression! Just look-"
"Link, you're jumping to conclusions!" Zelda yelled, standing up. "Won't you please just listen to me? Why do you believe them? You don't even KNOW them, but you know me! You know I love you! You know you can trust me!"
"No, I don't. In my whole life, I don't think I've ever been able to fully trust anyone."
"Link, how can you say something like that?"
"Because it's true! TRUST! Is there even such a thing.?"
"Link, please. You're starting to exaggerate. You're-"
"No, I'm not! It seems to me that the only way people survive in this world is through lies and deceit! I'm almost beginning to believe what Ganon said to me once." He snorted. "'Anyone who feeds on honesty will be very unsuccessful in his later days.'"
"Oh, please! You're really carrying on! I think someone must have spiked your water last night, or something! You're taking this whole thing too far!"
"No, I'm not princess! You never cared for me at all! It's obvious that you've had this thing for Marth for years! And you were just trying to make him jealous, weren't you?! Why I risked my hide trying to save you, I have absolutely no idea anymore."
Zelda no longer felt bad for Link. He'd just made her more upset than she'd ever been in her entire life (and that's including the time Summer set her pet dog on fire by accident). She walked up to him, and struck him hard across the face. The force knocked Link back onto his bed.
Zelda stared at her hand, shaking. "Oh, Link.I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry! I just got so frustrated. Please, forgive me. Listen to what I have to say."
But he wasn't about to give in that easily. "No, you're going to listen!" he shouted. Link swung to the other side of his bed and grabbed his sword.
"Don't!" Zelda warned him.
Young Link came bursting through the door. "Older self, don't do it!" He was half too late. Link had already swung the sword. The sudden shout had surprised him, and the weapon went flying out of his hands. So instead of hitting her neck or heart, the sword sliced into Zelda's arm.
Letting out a cry of agony, Zelda sank to the floor. Young Link saw his older self collapse onto his bed. Then he rushed over to Zelda.
"Zel, are you all right?!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." she slowly lifted her and off of her arm where she had clutched it.
"Fine nothing!" Young Link shouted. "Look at your arm! That cut's gotta be like three inches deep!!"
"You're exaggerating," Zelda sighed, standing up. "Again. Why did you come in here, anyway?"
Young Link pulled out an edition of the Royal Rubble. "This. Once you went into my older self's room, I knew something bad was bound to happen. And at first, I thought you deserved it." He coughed, as Zelda raised her eyebrows at him. The two of them walked into the kitchen, and she turned on the sink as he continued. "But then I saw your paper, and I read the front page. I knew that this paper had to be the truth. I knew you'd never do something like that to older me-especially if it was Marth."
Zelda smiled slightly, as she let water run over her gash. "I wish you could explain it to Link. Sometimes he can be so immature."
"I'll try Zelda. Don't worry yourself." He paused. "So did you really use Din's Fire on him? In his face?!"
She laughed. "Yep, I did. Funny, but your newspaper seems to have left out that tiny detail." After wiping at her score, she frowned slightly. "Well, I suppose that when I wear my gloves, they'll cover up the scar."
"You know, I bet someone did spike his drink last night."
"Hey, how'd you know I said that?"
Young Link rolled his eyes innocently. "Oh, I was.you know.I was just eavesdropping a little."
Zelda looked at her scab. It reached from her elbow almost down to her wrist. Then she headed out the door. "I don't think I'll go to breakfast today. Just do me a favor.tell everyone what really happened. Including your older self."
"Sure thing, Zel."