A note on pronunciation
An Kaba' te an æmei te Hyrule is pronounced arn ka-ba tee arn ay-mee tee high-rool.
Khandra is pronounced han-dra (silent K's. Dontcha just love 'em?)
Kae is pronounced kay
Last installment. This was quick... ah well, short but sweet, methinks.
Disclaimer: Kandra's mine, Garrat and Kay are mine and the An Kaba' te an æmei te Hyrule belongs to me too. The rest isnothing to do with me. Sort of... s
N.B; 'Future' as in after the events of the Wind Waker. I know you knew that, I was just checking. )
Chapter Three.
Future.
For as long as she could remember, she had loved to dance. Dancing was in her blood. Her mother had been a dancer. In fact, it was Kandra who'd taught her to dance. Tetra loved Kandra. Ever since she was three, whenever the ship made anchor at Windfall, Tetra had made her way on short legs all the way to the end of the island. There, on fair days, Kandra had taught her on the overhang behind Lenzo's Gallery.
Even before she'd taught her to dance, Kandra had taught her the old Hyrulian language. What is the point, she used to say, of knowing the dance, if you do not know the name or the words? Tetra had repeated this in her mind over and over again, and every time she nearly gave up, this thought came back to her and she persevered.
She'd learnt every dance in the world and could perform them all flawlessly. It only took her a matter of hours to pick up the steps; it was perfecting the routine that took time.
When Kandra died, Tetra stopped dancing. Somehow, it just wasn't the same. She gave up what she loved most and took on something she hated. The sea. She despised the sea. It took her parents from her and it trapped her on a wooden prison from which she could not escape.
Kandra would've been horrified if she knew she'd stopped dancing. Tetra couldn't bear the thought of her teacher's reaction if she had lived to know this. But she couldn't bear to start dancing again, either. It seemed that if she brought that aspect of her past up again, other less enjoyable things would also come back to haunt her. Like her mother.
Tetra was a murderer. She'd never forgive herself for her mother's death. When she had told Kandra this, her instructor had become angry.
"You are not to think like that, Tetra. What happened, happened."
Shortly after that, Kandra grew ill. Years of dancing had taken it's toll on her bones and she was slowly dying. It was on her final visit to Kandra, when the old woman was on her death bed, that she taught Tetra her final dance.
The An Kaba' te an æmei te Hyrule was the most difficult dance Tetra had ever had to learn. But it was by far the most beautiful. Its name roughly translated into 'The Dance of the Lover of Hyrule', and it was the most famous dance in the world. It was one of the only dances that had survived from the ancient kingdom of Hyrule. It was the dance performed by young, unattached girls to their lover, as an expression of love and lust.
It took Kandra until the day she died before Tetra understood the steps, but finally, on the night of her instructor's funeral, Tetra perfected it. She performed it beautifully- complete with the words- at the service as Kandra's body was lifted into a boat and pushed out to sea from the western shore of the island, and as the boat disappeared into the sunset, Tetra continued to dance and sing until she could no longer see where she was putting her feet.
She had never danced since.
Her feet ached. Her back was sore. She was exhausted. This had to be the worst day of her life. Tetra groaned and untied her sandals. She flung them into a corner of her room and flopped down on her bed. The pallet groaned in protest, but the old wood held strong.
What time was it? Tetra sat up and peered out of the porthole. Outside the sky was burnished red. The backs of the dolphins gleamed as they broke the waves, chirruping and calling to each other.
They were anchored just off the Forest Haven. It was renowned for its dolphin population, and Tetra had grown accustomed to seeing them every evening. It was a pity they wouldn't go past the drop off into the sea trench. Tetra would've loved to take them to Outset and show them to Aryll.
There was a knock at the door. Tetra rolled her eyes.
"What?"
The door opened tentatively and an attractive blonde head poked round the side. Tetra glanced up and smiled.
"Hi," Link said sheepishly. "Sorry, I should've-"
"No it's fine; I'm just being nasty, sorry." Tetra sat up and patted the space beside her on the bed. Link grinned and sat down next to her. Tetra's senses tingled. He was so close…..
"It's just, well I was on the island and I saw your ship and thought, hey, it's been a while…. I just thought it might be nice to see you and have a chat, you know?"
Tetra's heart gave a nervous flutter. He came to see her….. Snap out of it! Tetra mentally shook herself and fixed a playful grin on her face. She hated this façade of nonchalant competitive friendship. Inside, she was dying.
"What's this all about?" She asked in amusement, giving his ponytail a playful tug. "Last time I saw you, you were half a foot shorter with half a foot less hair." It was an outrageous exaggeration. She'd only seen him two months ago on her seventeenth birthday.
Link laughed.
"I'm just trying out a new look," he replied.
"It suits you," she said. Tetra prayed that he didn't get the accidental undercurrent in that.
"Thanks."
Tetra suddenly felt incredibly self conscious. Was her hair okay? Was there anything in her teeth? Did her breath smell? This wasn't like her. She wasn't the type of girl who got all wound up over boys.
Link suddenly looked at her and snapped his fingers.
"I totally forgot, the whole reason I came here was to- uh… oh it's stupid, you'll just…"
"What?" Tetra looked at Link curiously. A nervous blush was sneaking up on his cheeks.
"Umm, well, it's just… I've got some friends on Windfall Island and they're getting married. I said I'd go to the party but it'll all be people I don't know and I don't really want to be the gooseberry so…."
"Yes?" Tetra said, only just keeping the excitement in her voice under control.
"Well I wondered if you wanted to come with me. It'll be a laugh y'know? Free booze and all that shit."
Tetra pretended to consider it. She didn't want to appear keen. Actually, she didn't want to be keen. But she was.
"Sure," she said. "Why not."
Link laughed.
"I knew I could count on you, you're a star." He kissed the top of her head, and turned towards the door. He turned back. "Three weeks today, yeah? At sunset on the pier?"
"Absolutely."
Tetra waited until she heard the cabin door being closed, then jumped up and punched the air with an exhilarant whoop.
Tetra looked around nervously. The pier was deserted. Everybody was up in the square finishing the wedding sermon. Link was nowhere to be seen. Should she go looking for him? Perhaps he'd forgotten and gone straight to the party? Should she just get Gonzo to take her back to the ship. Tetra looked behind her. Too late for that, he was already out of sight. Great. She'd been stood up.
"There you are. Sorry, I'm late, I know."
Tetra turned and smiled. Her heart gave an extra hard thump. He was gorgeous. He hadn't shaved recently and a short, rough stubble had grown on his jaw, making him look rugged and unattainable. He was wearing a smart tunic and belt and new boots.
Tetra smoothed down her dress and did a neat little twirl.
"Well, am I presentable?" She asked playfully. Link whistled.
"Oh definitely."
Tetra smiled, delighted. It was a brand new dress. It was quite short and made of silk. It was tight round her torso with a flattering neckline and a low back. The skirt was flounced and lifted when she spun around. She'd been testing it out in her room all afternoon. She'd bought expensive new sandals and a white pashmina from a vender and was wearing it draped loosely around her shoulders. She'd taken extra special care with her hair and, although it was loose, it had taken her ages to get it just right.
"Right then," Link said. "Let's get going." He put a hand on the small of her back and steered her up the steps towards the square. Tetra shivered with arousal at his touch. This was too much.
The square was alive with music everyone was laughing and dancing and the drink flowed freely from large kegs in front of the pictographer's gallery.
"That's Garrat and his wife over there," Link told her over the din. "Go and say hi and I'll go get us drinks."
He left Tetra and disappeared into the crowd. She swallowed and made her way across to the couple in wedding attire. The woman smiled as she got closer.
"Hi, you must be Tetra," the woman said. Tetra smiled and handed her the bunch of flowers and carefully wrapped nacre champagne flutes she'd bought for them.
"Oh, they're lovely!" The woman gasped. "Thank you. I'm Kae, by the way."
Tetra liked Kae immediately. She was nice and easy to talk to. They stood chatting for a while. Link still wasn't back with her drink.
The band started playing a new song. The area made clear for dancing emptied. Tetra listened for a moment then froze. Farore, Din and Nayru no! It couldn't be.
"Oooh, I don't know this one," Kae giggled.
"I do," Tetra said faintly, then, without realising what she was doing, began to move through the crowd. Her heart beat faster as her feet picked up the familiar rhythm. The dance of the lover of Hyrule….. It started slowly. She began to sing the words that she thought she'd forgotten, softly, the old practised accent slipping nto place. Tetra strutted, twirled, stopped. The music started again. Strut, twirl, stop. A drum roll…. And the music burst out, filling her ears and her mind, pumping adrenaline through her limbs as she turned, leapt and gyrated in time to the music, the routine as fresh in her head as if she'd learned it only yesterday, yet so perfect, so lovingly performed.
The music stopped. Tetra loved this bit. She waited, counting the irregular five beats. Suddenly the music erupted and she flipped, once twice, three times backwards with a twist in the air landing neatly with a twirl. The band finished, and the crowd roared with amazement. There was clapping all around her, and the noise brought Tetra back to the present. Link was stood watching her. There was a funny look on his face, a confused half smile. Oh goddesses, she thought, he knows.
The guest flooded back onto the dance floor as a new song started and Tetra ducked down and scuttled away under the arch and away from the noise. Her breathing was ragged and uncontrolled as she ran up the hill towards the overhang. She ran right to the edge then slumped low behind the stone marker of her former instructor. Pulling her knees up to her chin tears began to spill down Tetra's cheeks. It was over, she'd blown it. He'd hate her.
There was the sound of footsteps behind her. Tetra held her breath and pleaded silently for them to go away. She didn't want to be found.
"Silly, what are you doing up here?"
Tetra looked up. Link stood above her, still with drinks in his hands. He set them down on the grass then knelt down beside her.
"What was all that about?"
Tetra sniffed.
"I…." Her voice wobbled and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. Well this was just great.
"Oh, don't cry- come 'ere."
Tetra felt his arms close around her. He was strong and warm and firm and he smelt like the wind and the sea. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed. Link held her close and stroked her hair. Then he lifted her chin and kissed her.
Tetra's mind exploded, her nerve endings crackling and her senses screaming. Her body moved towards him, craving his touch, pressing herself into him, so that no part of her wasn't touching him. The kiss lasted what seemed a life time, and when Link finally broke away from her, there was a soft smile on his face.
"You never told me," he said.
Tetra laid her cheek on his chest and he tenderly kissed the top of her head.
"I thought you might laugh," she said quietly. "Or that you might be horrified and stop coming to see me, and that would've been even worse"
There was a pause, then Link said, "How long-"
"Since the very first time I met you," Tetra whispered.
Link was silent for a while, then he settled down against the marker and drew her onto his lap.
"I always thought you just wanted me as a friend, and that no matter what, that's all we'd ever be. I thought you liked that Medles, or whatever she's called."
Link looked at her surprised.
"Medli? Hey, Tetra, she's cute but…. Well… she's not you."
It was Tetra's turn look surprised.
"You mean-"
"Ever since that dirty great bird dropped you in that tree," he said with a smile. He kissed her again, then drew away slightly and gazed into her eyes.
"I propose a toast," Link murmured into her hair, planting little kisses along her jaw. "To you and me-" more kisses, moving down her neck towards her collar bone, "-and the beginning of something very special."
fin.
Romance, again, I know. Sorry. Can't help it. Next one'll probably end up the same, too. Ah well. Reviews loved as usual. Critisism desperately needed, as want to be good writer.
C' est fini. Et assez petite, mais, c' est la vie.
