Disclaimer: FORKLIFT!

This is my first romance story that I wrote in the long long ago…don't expect it to be good.

A Hero's Thoughts on Love

Misty's first romance! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

"Love. It's a funny word. Not like, 'Ha-Ha' funny, but, well, it's just that...it's.......strange-funny. It has so many different meanings. It's almost confusing. I mean, I understand when someone says, 'I love the white stuff in the middle of an oreo.' Or like when they say, 'I love the smell of the cologne you wear.' They mean that they really, really like something. But I don't understand love between a man and a woman. I don't think that anyone will truly know, but all I know is that I haven't got a clue.

"Ever since I saved Hyrule, people have been saying to me, 'Oh, now you're a celebrity!' Oh great, what's that gonna do for me? All the young girls in Hyrule.... 'love' me. I mean, it's great that so many people appreciate me, but, truthfully, sometimes, it really sucks. I mean, I can't even go into the freakin' Hyrule Market without people swarming me. Young women constantly ask me every possible question in the world. Sometimes, I'm flattered. Sometimes, I'm grossed out. But the first thing they say is always, 'I love you!!!!!' I just don't know how to respond to that. Natch, I'm flattered. I always just say, 'thanks' and try to slip away. But the thing that bugs me the most is when they say that they love me. I mean, they don't even know me...how can they be capable of loving someone that they don't know?

"That's what confuses me. Nintendo Power Magazine did an interview with me, where people send me letters. More than 3/4ths of them were about love. Who do I love? Do I have a girlfriend? How do you feel about all the girls in Hyrule loving you? I made really lame excuses, like, 'I have no time for love.' Right, and the Triforce has 27 pieces. Damnit....I really wish I could understand...love...love between a man and a woman. I have time for love...sometimes. I just wish I knew how to use it.

"You see...I've never really had a chance to grow up. Seven years suspended in the Temple of Time is a long time. I've missed so much. Sometimes, I think I should have just should have let Zelda send me back to my regular time. I don't know. Nobody but Zelda understands that I haven't lived seven years of my life. There are so many things I don't understand. I sometimes think I'm not capable of the love between a man and a woman. I'm so.......alone." ::chokes back tears::

"Link?" a feminine voice said. I turned around. Zelda. Oh God. Zelda- here, in my house....Oh God. See, this is what pisses me off! I mean, Zelda, she's a great person, and a great friend, but, lately, I've been feeling....weird around her. Not like....eww-weird, just, I can't describe it. Weird. Like, I'm attracted to her or something. I don't know! She comes by my house sometimes just to stop and say hi. I was pretty relieved that she stopped by. "Zelda, what are you doing here- I mean, uh..uh.." Oh, brilliant response, Link. Zelda didn't say anything, but she smiled. *God, she's so pretty.* Did I just think that? What the hell is wrong with me?

"Link. Are you okay?" she asked quietly. *I am, now that you're here.* Oh my God, why am I thinking all these random thoughts? "It looks like you've been crying, are you sure you're okay?" she said to me. I didn't know what to say. I felt kinda...dumb. I mean, here I am, all alone in my house, and I'm crying. Geeze, some hero, right? I said the first

thing that came to me. "No....I wasn't crying." Smooth. Real smooth. She walked up to me, and took my hand. *Oh no.* Something was happening to me....I had that weird feeling, I felt....I felt....I needed Zelda. I've never felt this way about a woman before. Zelda and I walked over to my bed and we both sat down on it. "Link, is something troubling you? You seem, upset about something." She was still holding onto my hand. I just stared at the ground. "I- I don't know." I could feel tears welling up in my eyes again. I didn't want to cry, but I knew that nothing could stop the tear from rolling down my cheek. I have never cried in front of anyone. Never. I seldom cry. Sometimes, before I go to sleep, I feel the pangs of loneliness, and the tears come. But only sometimes do I cry at night. But I have never ever cried in front of anyone. Never.

I was feeling so many mixed emotions. Even with Zelda there, I still felt that lonely, empty feeling inside. I felt embarrassed, crying in front of her. I was so confused. I put a hand to my eyes, and I felt more tears come. I couldn't stop. I was so filled with loneliness.

Suddenly, I felt a soft hand against my cheek. Zelda was drying the tears from my eyes. I uncovered my eyes, and looked at her. She just stared into my tear-stained face. She had a look of worry on her face. "Link, I, I don't know what to say." She didn't know what to say? "Do you want to talk about it?"

I don't know if I saw it coming. I don't know if she did either. But either way, it happened. I kissed her. I don't know why. I guess I felt that I really needed her. She was a little caught off guard. But to my surprise, she responded by putting her arms around my neck, and I pulled her close. I knew it couldn't get much further than this because, well, I really didn't know what the hell I was doing. She was trying to go a little further than a kiss, but I pulled back, with her arms still around my neck. She just stared at me, as if to say "Hey man, why'd ya stop?" "I, I'm sorry, " I finally said. Her arms slipped off my neck, and I stared back at the ground. Her hand went on my back. "Link, you don't have to be sorry. That wasn't bad at all." I smiled a bit, and looked back at her. "Do you want to talk about why you seem so sad?" she finally said.

And for the next hour, I told her why I was sad. I told her about how I always felt lonely, and confused. I felt as if I was complaining, but she never said anything about that. She just listened to me, and understood everything. She gave me advice. She helped me out. She didn't seem to mind that I cried a few times. It was about 10:30 when she said she had to be going. She got up off my bed and walked out. Right before she reached the door, I said, "Zelda." She turned around and looked at me. "Thank you," I said. She smiled, ran back to me, and kissed me. Then she ran out the door. I walked back to my bed and just sat on it. I thought all about what Zelda had told me, and how she advised me. I smiled to myself, and felt that Zelda had given me more than advise. She had given me back a piece of my life that I missed. And, I love her for that.

(re-uploaded. You better have enjoyed it lol. Go download toccata and fugue by bach. And haydn's kyrie while you're at it.)