Hooray I'm back!! I am truly very, very sorry that I haven't written in
sooo long, but I had this horrible writers' block and I've been really busy
with school and junk. But anyways, I'm back and I'm still doing my best to
write this fic.
A billion of bunches of thanks to all my wonderful reviewers. I actually have more than 10! ^_^
Puppyfriendship: I'm doing the best I can! ^.^
MAXMAN: aw, thanks. *feels loved* and no I didn't think of that :-P but it's a great idea, thanks!
Zelda-jewel: thanks!
cv: thanks a lot! Stanton sounds cool and a lot better than Selth in my opinion. Thanks for the name!
Orion-san: um..okay, I didn't know that making Zelda wear jeans was so horrible. But in case you didn't notice, my story isn't about what Zelda wears. All you reviewed on was the jeans, but what about the actual plot of the story? If the only reason you don't like it is because of the jeans than, to me, that's not a very good reason. (glad you like unwritten law though)
Crystal Senshi: thanks ^_^
Kool Kaizer: yep, I'm still alive (yay) ^_^ and you're right I have been really busy (though I know that's not an excuse) I'm glad that someone actually likes the name Selth. And nice job on your story!!
AEris D.: A verbal spar? I never knew . . . guess you learn something new everyday. ^_^
Hao: Oh I'm sorry. But this is a z/l fic and I never really did like Malon. But for your sake I'll try and be nicer..try. ^.^
Ignorantly grinning: yeah I noticed that, but I didn't know how to fix that. Thanks!
Kalana The Three-Tailed Fox: thank you!
Zeldagurl: yep I love z/l romances too. They're so cute together ^_^
Mint-Wife of a Tomb Raider: aw thanks!
Fierce Diety Zelda: thanks. I am an excellent author, I know. jk ^_^
Ruby-Sama 4.5: yeah it was dead . . . . thankfully.
Aria Zephyr: yes he is a disgusting fowl hentai but I did that for a reason . . . I actually don't know how I'm going to make Link solve his little Malon problem . . . :-P and thanks!
Pinguicha: Don't worry, I'm keeping good ol' Ganny under a leash; he's not going a touch a hair on either Zelda's or Link's head. ^_~ and thanks too.
Inuyasha's kagome: yep this is z/l, my favorite romance. Thanks a gazillion.
I felt bad for not writing for so long, so I did two chapters. Yay! Well, moving on (finally) to the fourth chapter! Read away! ^_^ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 4: Returning Home
"What do mean she's not there?!" The king's thunderous voice split through the castle, startling the servants who were walking by.
"Well, I-I looked through all the rooms and-" the servant began nervously.
"-Then look again!" the king interrupted furiously.
It was dusk and the sun outside was slowly setting against a bright- orange sky. The king was beside himself when he had realized that the Princess was not in her room or out on the courtyard and it was slowly dawning on to him that she wasn't anywhere in the castle at all. But that had not stopped him from sending a maid to look for her; the poor lass had searched the entire castle twice and had come up with nothing.
The servant came back awhile later, having searched the entire castle for a third time.
"Well?" the king asked once she had neared.
"She-she can't be found anywhere, your majesty." The servant said bowing low.
The king's eyes bulged. "Well search harder! She has to be somewhere in the castle!" he bellowed.
The servant blinked. She had looked through every single nook and cranny and she was sure the princess was no where in the castle. But it was not her place to question the king. She gave a hasty bow and retreated out the door.
"You might want to be kinder to your servants. They are after all the ones serving your food." An abrupt female voice shot through the shadows.
King Harkinian spun around and came in face with Zelda's nursemaid, Impa who was leaning unperturbed against the wall. "Zelda is missing!" he shouted, as though she were all the way across the room, when she was just a few feet away.
"Yes, I sort of guessed that from your yelling." She said coolly. She was the only servant in the entire castle, who dared to disrespect the king. But she was Zelda's nursemaid and the king couldn't throw her out even if he tried; Zelda would see to that.
The king's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Do you happen to know anything about this?"
"I do not, sire." Impa answered truthfully. Although she may not have looked it, she was very worried that something might have happened to Zelda, and had not the slightest idea where she could be.
He continued to look slightly suspicious but said nothing and instead lapsed into silent thought until at last Impa spoke.
"Do you think that something-that something might have happened to her?" Impa asked, failing to keep the fear out of her voice.
The king remained silent and chose not to answer.
"But the palace guards would have noticed wouldn't they?" Impa pressed on.
King Harkinian sighed. "I do not know Impa. All I can do is send out the guards to search for her, and pray that the Goddesses will help."
Impa, not satisfied with his answer asked, "But what do you think happened your majesty?
The king sighed again. "Impa, I do not know. I am as worried and clueless as you are." He replied wearily.
"But sire, someone would have seen if anything had happened to her . . . wouldn't they?" Impa asked hopefully.
"Yes, I suppose someone would. Which is why I believe Zelda left . . . on her own." The king said sadly.
Impa stared. "You think Zelda ran away?" The king did not answer but Impa could tell by his face what he was thinking. "Well if she did, she will return." Impa said firmly. "She knows to not leave her duties as a princess."
The king nodded. They stood for a moment, staring out through the window, onto the beautiful fields of Hyrule until finally the king said "You best be off to the kitchens, Impa. The guests expect a wholesome dinner tonight."
"Don't they always." Impa muttered. However she nodded as well and left the king to his worries.
The king sighed and continued to look out onto the grassy hills which were gradually beginning to darken, as the sun set. "Please come back, Zelda." He whispered softly to himself.
********************************
Zelda sighed to herself, noting that the sky outside was gradually beginning to darken. She knew, although she much rather not admit it, that she had to get back to the castle. The drawbridge closed by nightfall, and if she didn't make it there by then she would have to wait outside the whole night before it opened again. And besides, she didn't want to get her father madder than he probably already was.
She gave another sigh and stood up. Retracing her steps, she managed to find the exit and with one last glance, she left the Lost Woods.
On the path back, she kept her head low in case someone was looking her way and recognized her. She did her best at not thinking about what lay ahead of her, or her forced engagement.
Lost in her thoughts, Zelda was surprised when she found herself already at the castle entrance. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, she slid past the guards, this time managing to surpass all of them unnoticed, and feeling as though she was entering her own demise.
Just as she thought she had made it past all barriers and could sneak back up to her room, King Harkinian, who was walking out of a room, spotted her.
"Zelda!?"
Zelda, her foot on the top stair, cringed and silently cursed. She slowly turned around and attempted at a rather agitated smile. "Hello father." She said nervously.
"Where in Din's name have you been, Zelda?! Get down here, this instant!" her father yelled.
Zelda gulped and proceeded gloomily down the stairs. Her father was towering over her, fuming, his eyes little slits of anger.
"Where have you been Zelda?" he asked again, his voice dangerously soft.
"I was out." She responded coolly, swallowing any fear.
"Out where?"
"Outside the castle, you know in the market and field." She said.
"And, what may I ask where you doing there?" he said, his voice now a threatening whisper.
Zelda shrugged. She had promised herself long ago never to cower down to anyone, especially her father. Just because he was king, and all high and mighty didn't mean that even his own daughter had to bow down to him in fear.
King Harkinian opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment Impa walked out of the kitchens holding a plate full of food. "Oh, your majesty it seems we're out of-" she stopped dead once she had caught sight of Zelda.
"Zelda!" she shrieked, dropping the plate and sending the food crashing down.
"Impa!" Zelda said looking down at the stained carpet. Impa took no notice of it.
"Where have you been?!" she screeched sounding almost exactly her father but with more relief.
Zelda opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by King Harkinian.
"She was out in the market having a good time, while everyone here was worrying and fretting about her" The king answered, glaring at Zelda. Once Impa heard this, she stared intensely at Zelda, as if trying to determine if this were true or not.
Zelda looked down at her feet. She hadn't meant to get everyone in the castle worked up. She felt guilty whenever she upset Impa; Impa was like a mother to her and she didn't like to disappoint her.
"Why did you run away?" Impa asked continuing to survey Zelda closely.
Zelda fidgeted. "I-I just wanted to get out, was all." She half-lied.
Impa and King Harkinian glanced at each other. Luckily however, a servant had just come rushing out, preventing them from saying anymore. "Your majesty, we are signing the peace treaty, and require your presence. If you could just come and sign-"
"Yes, yes I'm coming." The king said quickly. He sighed and turned to Impa. "Impa, I must leave. I trust you will talk to Zelda. And you, young lady are not out of the hook yet. I'll talk to you myself afterwards." He added sternly to Zelda. Impa bowed and the king left.
Impa turned back to Zelda who once again became extremely interested at her feet.
"Zelda you know what you did was wrong. It could have caused all of Hyrule to panic. What would they think if the princess was missing?"
"I know. I wasn't trying to scare anyone." Zelda said defending herself in a small voice.
"Then what were you trying to do?" Impa asked squarely staring down at her with her sharp gaze.
Zelda had long learnt that she could lie and get away with anyone except for Impa. Even by some miracle if she did manage to slip away her conscience caught up with her. So she forced herself to look back into Impa's steely blue eyes and tell the truth.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to get away, but I was going to come back Impa, I promise."
"Why did you suddenly have a change of heart over everything?" Impa asked.
Zelda realized with a sudden plummet in her heart that Impa still did not know of the engagement. Taking a deep breath she said in a very fake- nonchalant voice "Father just told me that I'm engaged to Prince Selth." Zelda waited for Impa's reaction.
Whatever Impa was expecting, it was not that. Her eyes went wide and then grew soft with sympathy and pity. "Oh Zelda . . ." she sighed.
Zelda hugged Impa and Impa held her tightly. She knew how horrible Prince Selth was and she knew how much it would have angered Zelda knowing she was engaged to him.
"Zelda . . . I know that's horrible. But running away didn't solve anything did it?" Impa said sternly.
"No . . . but it was lots of fun." Zelda said with a shy little grin.
Impa blinked and in spite of herself smiled back. She gave a false exasperating sigh and said "What am I going to do with you, Zelda?"
Zelda grinned. She must have heard Impa say that to her about 1000 times since she was little.
"You aren't hurt though are you?" Impa asked.
"No, I'm fine." Zelda was quiet for a moment remembering how if it hadn't been for Link she certainly wouldn't have been fine. She suddenly wondered where he was right now. She shook that thought out of her mind.
"What?" Impa asked, noticing Zelda's silence.
"Nothing." Zelda said quickly. Too quickly.
Impa's eyes narrowed. "What is it?" she asked again.
"It's nothing really . . . I was just thinking of something." Zelda said.
"Of what?" Impa wouldn't let go.
Zelda sighed. Just once she would like to see herself get away with something, but there was no hiding with Impa. Quickly she explained her story about what happened in the woods, without going into much detail. Impa looked stricken enough.
Impa was speechless and then recovered. "See, that's exactly why we were all so worried! Didn't you think when you walked in there? You could have died!" she shouted with more worry than anger.
"Impa relax, I'm fine."
Impa sighed and shook her head. "You're lucky someone was there." Impa said.
"I know." Zelda said quietly.
Impa looked down at her, a small smile of relief playing around her face. "You should get back in your room. And don't tell your father this, he'll explode."
Zelda smiled, relieved that Impa didn't punish her anymore than she would already be by her father. "Okay." She said and she headed back to her room, feeling that something at last had gone right today.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A/n: Whoops I guess I ended that slightly more angsty than intended. Oh well. : P
Ok, I know that sucked, but I'm still recovering from my writer's block. And I know that chapter had absolutely no romance or action in it, but it's a transition part so it's going to be boring. With any luck, the next chapter isn't going to be so boring (I should mention that I'm not exactly the luckiest person in the world ^_^;)
As always please, please, review. I don't think its lot to ask that you just click that little button right down there and say what you think. And don't just mindlessly flame. If you find something wrong than tell me what's wrong. So review! No review is a stupid review (unless it's a flame) ^_^
Well that's it and if you have any ideas please tell me. Thanks!
A billion of bunches of thanks to all my wonderful reviewers. I actually have more than 10! ^_^
Puppyfriendship: I'm doing the best I can! ^.^
MAXMAN: aw, thanks. *feels loved* and no I didn't think of that :-P but it's a great idea, thanks!
Zelda-jewel: thanks!
cv: thanks a lot! Stanton sounds cool and a lot better than Selth in my opinion. Thanks for the name!
Orion-san: um..okay, I didn't know that making Zelda wear jeans was so horrible. But in case you didn't notice, my story isn't about what Zelda wears. All you reviewed on was the jeans, but what about the actual plot of the story? If the only reason you don't like it is because of the jeans than, to me, that's not a very good reason. (glad you like unwritten law though)
Crystal Senshi: thanks ^_^
Kool Kaizer: yep, I'm still alive (yay) ^_^ and you're right I have been really busy (though I know that's not an excuse) I'm glad that someone actually likes the name Selth. And nice job on your story!!
AEris D.: A verbal spar? I never knew . . . guess you learn something new everyday. ^_^
Hao: Oh I'm sorry. But this is a z/l fic and I never really did like Malon. But for your sake I'll try and be nicer..try. ^.^
Ignorantly grinning: yeah I noticed that, but I didn't know how to fix that. Thanks!
Kalana The Three-Tailed Fox: thank you!
Zeldagurl: yep I love z/l romances too. They're so cute together ^_^
Mint-Wife of a Tomb Raider: aw thanks!
Fierce Diety Zelda: thanks. I am an excellent author, I know. jk ^_^
Ruby-Sama 4.5: yeah it was dead . . . . thankfully.
Aria Zephyr: yes he is a disgusting fowl hentai but I did that for a reason . . . I actually don't know how I'm going to make Link solve his little Malon problem . . . :-P and thanks!
Pinguicha: Don't worry, I'm keeping good ol' Ganny under a leash; he's not going a touch a hair on either Zelda's or Link's head. ^_~ and thanks too.
Inuyasha's kagome: yep this is z/l, my favorite romance. Thanks a gazillion.
I felt bad for not writing for so long, so I did two chapters. Yay! Well, moving on (finally) to the fourth chapter! Read away! ^_^ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 4: Returning Home
"What do mean she's not there?!" The king's thunderous voice split through the castle, startling the servants who were walking by.
"Well, I-I looked through all the rooms and-" the servant began nervously.
"-Then look again!" the king interrupted furiously.
It was dusk and the sun outside was slowly setting against a bright- orange sky. The king was beside himself when he had realized that the Princess was not in her room or out on the courtyard and it was slowly dawning on to him that she wasn't anywhere in the castle at all. But that had not stopped him from sending a maid to look for her; the poor lass had searched the entire castle twice and had come up with nothing.
The servant came back awhile later, having searched the entire castle for a third time.
"Well?" the king asked once she had neared.
"She-she can't be found anywhere, your majesty." The servant said bowing low.
The king's eyes bulged. "Well search harder! She has to be somewhere in the castle!" he bellowed.
The servant blinked. She had looked through every single nook and cranny and she was sure the princess was no where in the castle. But it was not her place to question the king. She gave a hasty bow and retreated out the door.
"You might want to be kinder to your servants. They are after all the ones serving your food." An abrupt female voice shot through the shadows.
King Harkinian spun around and came in face with Zelda's nursemaid, Impa who was leaning unperturbed against the wall. "Zelda is missing!" he shouted, as though she were all the way across the room, when she was just a few feet away.
"Yes, I sort of guessed that from your yelling." She said coolly. She was the only servant in the entire castle, who dared to disrespect the king. But she was Zelda's nursemaid and the king couldn't throw her out even if he tried; Zelda would see to that.
The king's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Do you happen to know anything about this?"
"I do not, sire." Impa answered truthfully. Although she may not have looked it, she was very worried that something might have happened to Zelda, and had not the slightest idea where she could be.
He continued to look slightly suspicious but said nothing and instead lapsed into silent thought until at last Impa spoke.
"Do you think that something-that something might have happened to her?" Impa asked, failing to keep the fear out of her voice.
The king remained silent and chose not to answer.
"But the palace guards would have noticed wouldn't they?" Impa pressed on.
King Harkinian sighed. "I do not know Impa. All I can do is send out the guards to search for her, and pray that the Goddesses will help."
Impa, not satisfied with his answer asked, "But what do you think happened your majesty?
The king sighed again. "Impa, I do not know. I am as worried and clueless as you are." He replied wearily.
"But sire, someone would have seen if anything had happened to her . . . wouldn't they?" Impa asked hopefully.
"Yes, I suppose someone would. Which is why I believe Zelda left . . . on her own." The king said sadly.
Impa stared. "You think Zelda ran away?" The king did not answer but Impa could tell by his face what he was thinking. "Well if she did, she will return." Impa said firmly. "She knows to not leave her duties as a princess."
The king nodded. They stood for a moment, staring out through the window, onto the beautiful fields of Hyrule until finally the king said "You best be off to the kitchens, Impa. The guests expect a wholesome dinner tonight."
"Don't they always." Impa muttered. However she nodded as well and left the king to his worries.
The king sighed and continued to look out onto the grassy hills which were gradually beginning to darken, as the sun set. "Please come back, Zelda." He whispered softly to himself.
********************************
Zelda sighed to herself, noting that the sky outside was gradually beginning to darken. She knew, although she much rather not admit it, that she had to get back to the castle. The drawbridge closed by nightfall, and if she didn't make it there by then she would have to wait outside the whole night before it opened again. And besides, she didn't want to get her father madder than he probably already was.
She gave another sigh and stood up. Retracing her steps, she managed to find the exit and with one last glance, she left the Lost Woods.
On the path back, she kept her head low in case someone was looking her way and recognized her. She did her best at not thinking about what lay ahead of her, or her forced engagement.
Lost in her thoughts, Zelda was surprised when she found herself already at the castle entrance. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, she slid past the guards, this time managing to surpass all of them unnoticed, and feeling as though she was entering her own demise.
Just as she thought she had made it past all barriers and could sneak back up to her room, King Harkinian, who was walking out of a room, spotted her.
"Zelda!?"
Zelda, her foot on the top stair, cringed and silently cursed. She slowly turned around and attempted at a rather agitated smile. "Hello father." She said nervously.
"Where in Din's name have you been, Zelda?! Get down here, this instant!" her father yelled.
Zelda gulped and proceeded gloomily down the stairs. Her father was towering over her, fuming, his eyes little slits of anger.
"Where have you been Zelda?" he asked again, his voice dangerously soft.
"I was out." She responded coolly, swallowing any fear.
"Out where?"
"Outside the castle, you know in the market and field." She said.
"And, what may I ask where you doing there?" he said, his voice now a threatening whisper.
Zelda shrugged. She had promised herself long ago never to cower down to anyone, especially her father. Just because he was king, and all high and mighty didn't mean that even his own daughter had to bow down to him in fear.
King Harkinian opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment Impa walked out of the kitchens holding a plate full of food. "Oh, your majesty it seems we're out of-" she stopped dead once she had caught sight of Zelda.
"Zelda!" she shrieked, dropping the plate and sending the food crashing down.
"Impa!" Zelda said looking down at the stained carpet. Impa took no notice of it.
"Where have you been?!" she screeched sounding almost exactly her father but with more relief.
Zelda opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by King Harkinian.
"She was out in the market having a good time, while everyone here was worrying and fretting about her" The king answered, glaring at Zelda. Once Impa heard this, she stared intensely at Zelda, as if trying to determine if this were true or not.
Zelda looked down at her feet. She hadn't meant to get everyone in the castle worked up. She felt guilty whenever she upset Impa; Impa was like a mother to her and she didn't like to disappoint her.
"Why did you run away?" Impa asked continuing to survey Zelda closely.
Zelda fidgeted. "I-I just wanted to get out, was all." She half-lied.
Impa and King Harkinian glanced at each other. Luckily however, a servant had just come rushing out, preventing them from saying anymore. "Your majesty, we are signing the peace treaty, and require your presence. If you could just come and sign-"
"Yes, yes I'm coming." The king said quickly. He sighed and turned to Impa. "Impa, I must leave. I trust you will talk to Zelda. And you, young lady are not out of the hook yet. I'll talk to you myself afterwards." He added sternly to Zelda. Impa bowed and the king left.
Impa turned back to Zelda who once again became extremely interested at her feet.
"Zelda you know what you did was wrong. It could have caused all of Hyrule to panic. What would they think if the princess was missing?"
"I know. I wasn't trying to scare anyone." Zelda said defending herself in a small voice.
"Then what were you trying to do?" Impa asked squarely staring down at her with her sharp gaze.
Zelda had long learnt that she could lie and get away with anyone except for Impa. Even by some miracle if she did manage to slip away her conscience caught up with her. So she forced herself to look back into Impa's steely blue eyes and tell the truth.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to get away, but I was going to come back Impa, I promise."
"Why did you suddenly have a change of heart over everything?" Impa asked.
Zelda realized with a sudden plummet in her heart that Impa still did not know of the engagement. Taking a deep breath she said in a very fake- nonchalant voice "Father just told me that I'm engaged to Prince Selth." Zelda waited for Impa's reaction.
Whatever Impa was expecting, it was not that. Her eyes went wide and then grew soft with sympathy and pity. "Oh Zelda . . ." she sighed.
Zelda hugged Impa and Impa held her tightly. She knew how horrible Prince Selth was and she knew how much it would have angered Zelda knowing she was engaged to him.
"Zelda . . . I know that's horrible. But running away didn't solve anything did it?" Impa said sternly.
"No . . . but it was lots of fun." Zelda said with a shy little grin.
Impa blinked and in spite of herself smiled back. She gave a false exasperating sigh and said "What am I going to do with you, Zelda?"
Zelda grinned. She must have heard Impa say that to her about 1000 times since she was little.
"You aren't hurt though are you?" Impa asked.
"No, I'm fine." Zelda was quiet for a moment remembering how if it hadn't been for Link she certainly wouldn't have been fine. She suddenly wondered where he was right now. She shook that thought out of her mind.
"What?" Impa asked, noticing Zelda's silence.
"Nothing." Zelda said quickly. Too quickly.
Impa's eyes narrowed. "What is it?" she asked again.
"It's nothing really . . . I was just thinking of something." Zelda said.
"Of what?" Impa wouldn't let go.
Zelda sighed. Just once she would like to see herself get away with something, but there was no hiding with Impa. Quickly she explained her story about what happened in the woods, without going into much detail. Impa looked stricken enough.
Impa was speechless and then recovered. "See, that's exactly why we were all so worried! Didn't you think when you walked in there? You could have died!" she shouted with more worry than anger.
"Impa relax, I'm fine."
Impa sighed and shook her head. "You're lucky someone was there." Impa said.
"I know." Zelda said quietly.
Impa looked down at her, a small smile of relief playing around her face. "You should get back in your room. And don't tell your father this, he'll explode."
Zelda smiled, relieved that Impa didn't punish her anymore than she would already be by her father. "Okay." She said and she headed back to her room, feeling that something at last had gone right today.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A/n: Whoops I guess I ended that slightly more angsty than intended. Oh well. : P
Ok, I know that sucked, but I'm still recovering from my writer's block. And I know that chapter had absolutely no romance or action in it, but it's a transition part so it's going to be boring. With any luck, the next chapter isn't going to be so boring (I should mention that I'm not exactly the luckiest person in the world ^_^;)
As always please, please, review. I don't think its lot to ask that you just click that little button right down there and say what you think. And don't just mindlessly flame. If you find something wrong than tell me what's wrong. So review! No review is a stupid review (unless it's a flame) ^_^
Well that's it and if you have any ideas please tell me. Thanks!