Twenty two: More gloves, Sheik, and a dangerous new year

It was Christmas morning, and Zelda had still only gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom or clean herself up, each time with help from Audrey.

For some strange reason, her legs were too weak to support her.

And now on Christmas morning, she was lying propped up on pillows in her absurdly soft bed, watching the morning news on a large TV that had been hauled in. On it, there was a trio of merry 'elves' singing Christmas carols and dancing with bells. Nobody in the house was awake yet, she thought, and so Zelda was stuck on her own in her sheets being bored watching bad acting. And it was Christmas.

"Great time for my legs to go out on me," she mumbled, feebly twitching her toes. At first, Audrey had worried that it was paralysis, that she'd hurt herself during the course of one of her hallucinations, but Zelda could move her legs. They would just buckle underneath her whenever she tried to stand or walk, and crawling got her nowhere.

So she stayed in bed, even though she was feeling fine.

"Knock knock," rang softly from the door. It was Link! Beaming, Zelda hit mute and called, "come in!"

"Good morning, Princess. Have a nice sleep?" Link sauntered over and plopped down next to Zelda.

"Very, yes," she replied with a smile. "You?"

He'd been visiting her whenever he could. "I slept okay." He looked at the three dancing elves on TV and smiled. "Having your own Christmas party, are you?"

Zelda stretched, remote in hand. "Yup."

Link's melted arctic eyes were twinkling. "Everybody's awake downstairs and waiting for you."

"I can't walk, though," Zelda protested, feeling feeble and stupid. "You know that. Everybody knows that."

"Exactly," stated Link, grabbing a plaid blanket from where it was lying sloppily dumped atop the reclining couch. "That's why they sent me up."

"Oh no… you're not going to…."

"Of course I am," he replied with an innocent little smirk, handing Zelda the plaid blanket. "Here, in case you get cold…."

"Link," she began to whine as he gently pulled her from the covers, "really. This is embarrassing."

"Come on," he scolded, taking her up in his arms, not appearing perturbed at all by her weight. "It's Christmas. You didn't think we were all going to let you spend it in here alone?"

"Well, no…" She replied, throwing the blanket over her legs and looping her arms around his neck, doing her best not to cuddle into the warmth of Link. "But…."

"Come on, don't complain," he told her. "It's not every day you get to be carried by such a fine specimen of the male species as myself… can you get that doorknob?"

"Now you're just being narcissistic," Zelda replied with a laugh, opening the door for Link and allowing him to carry her through. She noted how cautious he was being, treading as though Zelda was made of glass.

"I'm never narcissistic," Link stated airily as he carried Zelda down the wide hall. "Just sarcastic."

"And self absorbed," Zelda countered, poking Link in the side. "And a pig."

"Never," Link replied with a grin. "Only sarcasm upon occasion."

They arrived downstairs and Link walked easily, and Zelda couldn't help but be awed and very slightly a little bit turned on by the sleek muscles in his back rippling under her hands as he carried her effortlessly. Wait. It was Link, for crying out loud. Not the finest boy to go hunting for. Hell, weren't there days when she wondered if he was even straight?

"You're so strong," Zelda couldn't help but say. "It's kind of scary. I never really noticed before."

"Finally you admit that I'm scary!" Link began a little jig and Zelda clamped her arms tighter around Link's neck.

"Scary, yes, but you're about as courageous and fierce as a kitten."

"What can I say? Kittens are very courageous and fierce." They turned the corner and Zelda heard the buzz of conversation, and then smiled as they walked into the living room, in which was settled Audrey and the Tudors, all beaming.

Zelda realized with a slight pang that her father wasn't there. Then she remembered that he never had been anyway.

"Zelda!" cried the little girls gleefully, jumping up and down from their place next to the Christmas tree. Audrey was sitting leaned against the wooden leg of an overstuffed armchair by the fire, the best chair, and Zelda realized with a small flutter of thrill that the chair was for her.

It had always been her father's chair.

"You really didn't have to do this," she protested as Link set her gently down in the chair, arranging a pillow behind her.

"We wanted to, though," Audrey stated with a smile, passing Zelda a small red wrapped square. Presents were passed around and then, as though on cue, everybody began to rip in amongst beautiful chaos.

Zelda's first present was a set of new bass strings from Alexandra, shockingly enough. Then after that came a thick book from Link- "The Myth of Atlantis",

"Audrey told me you'd like it," he explained with a grin. Zelda smiled at him, then opened the book and flipped through, her awe growing at the astounding color drawings, maps, sketches, and all the information.

"Wow." It looked like the old land. Link was beaming.

Zelda ripped into her next few presents, some nice candles from Impa, several new CDs as a joint gift from Haft and the girls, a simple silver key necklace from her cousin Alexandra's mother, and from her father, a massive and expensive gift certificate to Neiman Marcus.

She watched, bemused, as Saria ripped open an alchemy kit from her parents, then turned her eyes on Link as he carefully pulled out a new hoodie.

"Green." He looked it up and down and grinned.

Zelda turned her focus back to the other presents from random extended family members. It would be the same as every year- bizarre trinkets, jewelry, gift certificates. She wasn't disappointed. It was only as she was being helped up to her room by Link, Impa toting her things (Haft was helping the girls with their many gifts) that she realized Audrey hadn't gotten her anything. Feeling a little twinge, she inwardly sighed. Had she done something wrong, displeased her aunt in some way? She didn't know.

"Something wrong? You're quiet," Link commented as Zelda opened the door.

"A little tired," Zelda replied. "I didn't realize that I'm still a bit weak from being sick." And it wasn't entirely a lie.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No, I think I'll rest," Zelda replied. "You should go spend Christmas with your family."

"You're our family too, but if you want to rest... Oh, Zelda, I nearly forgot," piped up Impa as she dropped Zelda's pile of presents on the edge of her bed, ignoring Link as he carefully tucked Zelda between the sheets. "Your father said he'd be home later. He went to the airport."

"The airport?" Zelda delicately raised one blond eyebrow. "Why did he go to the airport?"

Impa shrugged. "He didn't tell me. He told me he wanted to tell you himself. Sorry…" In response, Zelda faked a yawn.

Impa smiled, then, and walked to stand next to her son, by Zelda. "Rest up," she said with slight amusement, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear. And then Link: "I'm sorry you're tired." The two began to walk to the door together, mother and son.

"It's okay," she replied amiably.

"We'll come up for you in a bit," Impa called, and the door shut. Zelda leaned back against the pillows, blowing random wisps of hair from her face and staring at the top of her lacy canopy. Her mind wandered to the inevitable.

Sterling was such a pain. One day he was hot, the next he was cold, friendly one day and nearly a stranger the next. Just yesterday morning he'd come in and visited her, but then he'd just left as though he hardly knew her! Zelda sighed to herself, then picked up the book Link had gotten her. She'd be lucky if she figured Sterling out before she was eighty, she thought, and it wouldn't be worth troubling herself over it if it wasn't possible anyway. After all, such a jerk was hardly worthy of her time. Or so she tried to tell herself.

Zelda began to read, absorbing all the information and correlating it to what she already knew about Hyrule. It fit. Everything fit. Just as she was turning to a page of a supposed map of Atlantis, the door to her room opened and Audrey entered, smiling softly at her niece.

"I'm sorry I didn't give you your present downstairs," the brunette said. "I didn't want to raise any questions."

"It's okay," Zelda replied, pushing herself to a sitting position and patting the bed next to her. "Sit. And thank you for going out and buying everything for me, Audrey." Zelda, unable to walk, had sent her aunt out with her shopping list and endless recitations of, "oh, thank you so much Audrey! You're a lifesaver, you really are."

Zelda's brain was jerked back to the present as Audrey plopped down next to her. "Anything for you, Zelda," she replied generously, and set down a small gold-wrapped package in front of her niece, tied on top with a pink bow. The package was maybe five inches wide, ten inches tall, and eight inches deep, and also very light. "Open it."

Zelda complied, pulling the string that tied the pink bow and letting it slide to the sheets. With a grin at her aunt, she savagely ripped off the gold wrapping, then crumpled it into a little ball. She pulled off the white lid of the box, and stared down into it.

Gloves. Pair after pair of brown and black leather gloves were stacked on top of one another.

"Gloves," Zelda repeated, drawing out the top glove, left, and sliding it onto her left hand, pulling at the strap. It was a mixture of brown and black leather and was sewn very carefully, and there were no finger tips to them. They only covered her palms, and the backs of her hands, and just past her knuckles.

"For your triforce," Audrey clarified simply. "You can tell people that you burned your hands over the break and now you have to wear them."

"Audrey…." Zelda turned her hand over in the light, admiring it. The gloves really were beautiful. "Thank you…"

"It's a necessity," the older woman replied with a shrug. "I'm simply getting you started. Some of them are leather, some of them are cloth, all of them are washable. It's not the best of presents, I'm afraid, but when you need more, tell me. I know of a place where I can call in favors and get them for a fairly inexpensive price."

"They're lovely," Zelda replied. "And perfect. Thank you, Audrey."

"You're welcome." Audrey smiled gently as her niece wrapped her arms around the older woman's middle. "And thank you for the Me-Hepburn purse, Zelda. I really liked it."

Audrey was obsessed with her namesake, Audrey Hepburn, and when Zelda had been at the mall in late November with Malon, she'd seen the purse and instantly thought of her aunt. It hadn't come cheap, either, but any expense was small where her aunt was concerned. "You're welcome," Zelda said with a smile.

"Do you feel much better? Do you think you'll be out of bed soon?"

"With any luck," Zelda replied, shrugging one shoulder. "I'm feeling a bit better than I have in several days. I'm betting I'll be fine by New Years'. Can I come down for Christmas dinner in a bit?"

Audrey kissed Zelda on the forehead. "Of course you can. I'm going to go now, though. Your father will be here soon, and he'll want to see you."

"Why'd he go to the airport, anyway?" Zelda asked, tilting her head and scratching her neck.

"I think he'll want to…. Er… show you himself. Ah, look, here he is," Audrey added as a knock resounded at the door.

"Zelda?" It was unmistakably Old Man Harkinian.

"Come in," she said, pulling off the glove and slipping it inside the box, putting the lid on and tossing it into her pile of gifts.

"Ah, Audrey," boomed Harkinian as he entered. "Good to see you."

"You too, Rich," she replied easily. "Don't let me interfere- I was just on my way out."

"Of course." He held the door open, allowing her to step out, and then shut it behind her, walking over to sit by his daughter.

"Hello, Zelda. Having a good Christmas?"

"Yeah, pretty," Zelda replied nonchalantly. "I went down and opened presents with everybody."

"Walked?"

"Was carried," she replied. "I am feeling better than I have in days, though. I think I'll be walking again by New Years'."

"Of course, of course." Harkinian stood up, walked and stopped awkwardly next to the armoire for a moment, then began to pace. "Zelda, I'm afraid there's something important I need to tell you."

"Does it have something to do with going to the airport instead of spending Christmas morning with your only child, who you haven't seen for half a year?" Her cheerful tone offset the tense words.

"Yes. Zelda, do you remember Aroma Dotour? Monsieur Dotour's widow?"

"Yesss…. Monsieur died in a car wreck about a year ago, didn't he?"

"Yes, Zelda. And Aroma and I have been spending quite a bit of time together… Zelda, I'm going to marry her. Shiek's going to be your brother."

"Wh… what? When did this happen?" She hoped she didn't look too pale. All of a sudden, she wasn't feeling so hot either.

"Do you remember that I comforted her quite a bit after her husband died?"

"Yeah… oh… I suppose it was only natural, then…."

"Yes," Richard replied. "I just picked her and her son up from the air port. They'll be staying with us now and, Zelda, quite frankly, you're going to be expected to be up here quite a bit more. Whenever you have a three day weekend, or a break of any sort, you are to come visit home. I let you stay down with the Tudors over Thanksgiving, but that was a one time thing."

"Why didn't they come to the wedding?"

"Aroma needed to attend to matters with her own family."

"You're not going to give her Mom's old room, are you?"

"Of course not," Harkinian said, as though the idea were absurd. "It's as much your room now as it was hers, and it would be an insult to her memory."

"Yes," said Zelda, greatly relieved that she was at least being allowed to keep the memory of her mother. "It would be. Are they here now?"

"They're unpacking. The wedding is set for June, by the way."

"June. Of course." Her voice was very faint.

"You're going to be a bridesmaid."

"Alright."

"Try and be kind to her. She does like you, Zelda, and hopes that you'll look upon her as a mother."

"I will."

"And I trust you'll get along with Shiek, won't you?"

"Absolutely. Dad, I've got nothing wrong with either of them. In fact, I quite like them. I'm just… surprised is all. Very surprised."

"I believe she has a Christmas present for you. I've already apologized on your behalf."

"I'll make it up to her." Zelda's voice was a little faint. Richard smiled, and, surprisingly, kissed the top of Zelda's head.

"I'm sorry I haven't been the best of fathers, Zelda. I hope that you don't hate me for this."

"I don't," she replied. "Wouldn't."

"Aroma and Sheik may come in later to visit. Do be amiable."

"I will."

And then he was gone, leaving Zelda in her bed, shocked.

She blinked once. Twice. She tried to digest the information as best she could. "What the….."

And then she yelled for Link.

.:&:.

Aroma Dotour was not her father's usual cup of tea. Once a model, now weighted with age, she had a head of carefully dyed, carefully styled red hair, a less-than-perfect belly (she refused to go in for liposuction, ever) and always wore a black shawl for her dead husband's memory. Her lips were painted red, her eyelashes curled meticulously, and blush splashed across her cheeks. There was a wart just below the corner of her mouth, and her long fake nails were painted scarlet.

"Oh, my dear!" Aroma swept into the room looking rather like a fat canary, planting a fat kiss on Zelda's cheek even as she engulfed her in a hug. "It's been so long since the last time I saw you, Zelda. Your father told me all about your illness… I do hope you're alright?"

"I'm fine," Zelda managed to choke out. "I'm over it. Just a little weak, though."

"Hey Zel." Shiek sauntered over to stand at the foot of the bed, studying her playfully. "I heard all about you being sick, too. Crazy." He shot her a sparkling grin, and Zelda remembered that she had always quite liked Sheik. He wasn't always vying for attention, and he wasn't spoiled. He was just a boy, a tanned boy with corn-wheat hair and ruby eyes who had a lopsided smile and liked riddles and mythology.

"What was it that you had again? Measles? SARS? I don't quite recall…"

"It was just the flu," Zelda replied, then smiled. "How was your trip, Ms. Dotour?"

"It was fine, and oh, your father was such a gentleman about the whole thing, apologized to us so much for causing such an inconvenience, but the only time we could come down was Christmas day! Oh, my darling, you must call me Maman, or perhaps Madame. I couldn't presume to ask you to call me Mom, but surely the French equivalent will do?"

"Of course, Maman," Zelda replied. Dotour beamed brightly, then sniffled, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Oh, you always were such a sweet child…" she wrapped her arms around Zelda again, and Sheik laughed.

"Mom, you're crushing her," Sheik piped up from his post at the end of the bed where he was flipping through Zelda's Atlantis book.

"Oh dear, I am so very sorry, Zelda, it is just that I am so glad to have you as a daughter. I always did want a daughter…"

"But she got me." Sheik put the book down and grinned wolfishly. "Pity her."

"But isn't it lucky you two are so close together in age?" Dotour gushed. "Why, Sheik just turned seventeen last month. When do you turn, Zelda?"

"May," Zelda replied, smiling. "Happy belated birthday, Sheik."

"I'll leave you two for a bit," Dotour buzzed. "I have simply so much to do! Why, I must check in with all the guests, peek in on the servants, plan the wedding and not to mention Sheik's room… good bye, my darlings."

And in a whirlwind of red hair, yellow dress, and black shawl, Dotour was gone.

"Your mom's a riot," Zelda informed Sheik, then shook her head. "Weird. You're going to be my brother."

"And you're going to be my sister." Sheik stuck out his tongue. "Sorry, no offense Zel, it's just that I've never particularly wanted any siblings."

"I'll only be around on breaks and stuff. You'll hardly have to deal with me."

"Yeah, what's up with that? Did the old man give you the boot or something? Don't worry, I won't spill," Sheik added, plopping down at Zelda's feet.

"Well, in half he did," she said with a shrug. "You know, Dad's weird… what are you going to call him, anyway?"

"He told me I can call him 'Sir' if he likes, but he'll always be 'Old Man Harkie' to me in my heart." Shiek pressed one hand to his heart dramatically, and grinned. "So, how did he half send you away?"

"Well, I was going insane here, totally rampant," Zelda stated, "and Dad didn't know what to do with me, so he asked some family friends of ours if they wouldn't mind taking me as they're much better at raising kids- they've got a boy my age, Link, I think you'll like him- and anyway, they said they'd be delighted to let me stay with them for a year or two so that I could get a "real" high school and teenaged experience, so off I was shipped."

"Are these people awful or something?" Sheik asked, scratching his short messy hair.

"Actually, they're really cool. I'm having a great time staying with them. I've joined a garage band and school isn't as awful as I thought it would be. What about you?"

"Not really doing much with my pathetic little scrap of life," Sheik responded. "I've taken up Aikido, actually, and I've started writing a bit. Nothing else to speak of, other than stupid home schooling, which I hate. Hey!" He snapped, his scarlet eyes alight. "Do you suppose I could go with you, once Mom and the old man are married and see what "real" high school is like?"

"I don't see why not," she replied. "It's not like they couldn't accommodate you. They're paid extra, actually, for handling me, and all my necessary expenses like clothes and stuff come from an account dear old Dad set aside from me, which I'm sure you could draw off of."

"How much is in it?"

"Just above three million, at the moment."

Sheik whistled low. "Wow. Bet that's just a drop in the bucket, too."

"For Dad? Yeah. I don't know why he thought I'd ever need three million dollars… go figure."

"What do you think of this crazy wedding business?"

"Honestly, I think both our parents are insane," Zelda replied, flicking a strand of hair over her shoulder. Just then, Sheik caught sight of the back of her left hand.

"Wicked," he stated. "Did that just show up? 'Cause I got one too, fell skateboarding a week or two ago and it showed up as a bruise, but hasn't gone away yet. People keep asking me why I've got a tattoo, and I tell them it's no tattoo, it's a bruise." Sheik laughed. "Kinda strange. Definitely strange. Never heard of it happening before."

"It just showed up, you say?" Zelda asked, eyeing the back of Shiek's left hand. "A week ago?"

"Coulda' been two." He shrugged, and held out his left hand. "See for yourself."

They compared the backs of their hands, and Zelda felt an odd chill. The triforce on the back of his hand was the exact replica of hers, down to the darker third triangle. "You know what it is?"

"I may, or at least, I thought I did," Zelda replied, staring between their hands. "We might want to get my aunt Audrey, though. She knows about this stuff. Have you told anybody about how it just showed up?"

"Nah," Sheik replied. "I'm not that stupid. It obviously means something. I just don't' know what." He shrugged. "You know, maybe it's a sign from the gods or something."

"You think it's possible?"

"Hell, I don't see why not. Can't take everything with a grain of salt, and some things just can't be explained. Like random triangles showing up on the back of your hand. You want me to go get Audrey?"

"Please do," Zelda said faintly.

"Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes…. Sis." He grinned and sauntered out the door.

Zelda sat back against the pillows and looked at the back of her hand. What the Din…..

.:&:.

"Well. As far as I can say, this has never occurred to my feeble knowledge, it shouldn't have occurred, and I can fathom a guess as to what has happened but I'd prefer not to."

Zelda looked at Shiek, who was watching Audrey with lazy bemusement.

"So I've got magic powers and stuff now. Cool."

"In theory, you do. In actuality, you don't. You haven't been taught by a mage of any sort, and only very rare people can pick up magic of their own accord, and even then, they can only perform the simplest of magics."

"Isn't there someone I could take lessons from? I think it'd be cool to make things spontaneously combust."

"Sheik, I'm very glad that you're being accepting of this, but we need to figure out what needs to be done about this now." Audrey turned her frustrated gaze on Zelda. "Any words?"

"Well…" she thought carefully, feeling the back of her left hand tingling as she drew on the power that lay there. "It could be, perhaps, that the other river is coming to slowly collide from the first, and Sheik is from it."

"And it's Sheik instead of a second Zelda?"

"Right," Zelda gave a nod, "because there can't be two of me. And didn't the princess have a disguise for when she walked around and appeared to people? Wasn't it almost like she became another person entirely? Perhaps this, then, is that echo."

"I may very well be an echo," Shiek stated suddenly from the end of the bed where he was idly flipping through the journal, "but that doesn't mean I'm not real."

"Of course not," Audrey agreed. "When you shout something and it echoes, the echo is every bit as real as the words that poured from your throat. You may not be the original, but Zelda isn't the original either. Echoes are distorted, both in the metaphorical and literal senses, but despite the distortions, they're still very real." Audrey sighed, looking between her niece and her nephew-to-be. "This is just, plainly put, a mess." She turned her eyes on the two teens. "This is bad, and I hope that you two know you're going to have to stick together. We have to be ready for anything."

"Anything?" Sheik echoed, scratching his hair.

Audrey nodded. "Anything."

.:&:.

New Years' Eve. Zelda sat alone in her room by her own choice, a spiral notebook in front of her as she jotted down all the things that she wanted to be- needed to be. Stronger. Smarter. Faster. And in every sense of the word- though the holiday was merry, Zelda, for one, chose not to participate, as she knew that something was coming. Something big was coming.

Inwardly, she laughed at herself. She sounded paranoid. She should be locked away. But the fact of the matter was that, though everybody's eyes were closed to the truth, she knew. It was her and Audrey, and possibly Sheik, and maybe someday, if her suspicions were right, Link. But until then…

Zelda completed the list and folded it away, tucking it safely into the box that contained the locket, the ocarina, and the journal. And then, looking out at the bonfire in the yard below (she could walk by now, but had chosen to stay alone that eve), she lifted up her flute of champagne as the clock struck midnight and drank deeply, insulting the fine liquor's quality. As she emptied the flute, she thought of her resolutions, and promised herself that she would be all that she could be. She would be strong. She would be unstoppable.

Goddesses help me, she thought, finishing the champagne. And then she kissed the night, and went back inside.

The New Year had come.

END BOOK I

.:&:.

Uploaded:

Sunday, March 20, 2005

10:17 AM

A/N: I am sooooooo sorry that I didn't upload this last night! In short, my day completely blew yesterday, but I think the worst part was when my little sister poured tomato sauce all over my head (note, she's almost FIFTEEN) and then I got kicked out of the house for no reason. Thank god I was rescued by a friend and therefore spent most of the night lying on their bed and watching blue collar TV and feeling much better. WHEN I got home way past my bedtime, I walked into my room and my stuff had been thrown everywhere, and I couldn't write. I couldn't even turn on my computer. So I cleaned and by the time I was done, I was feeling a bit better, a bit, but I was too upset to edit so I just went straight to bed.

WHEW that was a mouthful. Anyway, this is the end of book 1 and everybody has met my favorite character now, Sheik. Sheik is such a riot, I heart him much much. Book 2 will be making a public appearance probably in 2 weeks, on a Sunday as well as I will not have any time at all to write or work or edit or anything, as I will be at the theater five hours a night every night through Easter break to Saturday, April 2 . Just a wee bit depressing. So that's why you no get no writing for two weeks, le GASP, but I swear on Zelda's vintage '57 precision bass that you WILL have an update on Sunday the 3rd.

Drop me a review, and hey, if you're bored enough, AIM me. I like talking to people. I want to talk to you.

/weird

Until next time,

Lyxie