Twenty Seven: The Dress, The Birthday, The Dream
Sure enough, the next weekend Zelda found herself dragged in a circuit of the mall three times in search of a dress. After four grueling hours that she didn't care to remember, Lulu had finally found her "the dress." The top was the softest shade of cloud pink Zelda could have ever imagined, a strapless satin bodice that laced up in the back and tapered to a point in the front. The skirt was a pale ivory, also satin. A pink sheer wrap went with it, and though the dress was very simple, Zelda looked like a princess in it.
Which, technically, she was anyway, so it didn't mean all that much, but hey, it was the thought that was important, right?
So Zelda left the mall after a grueling five-and-a-half hour shopping trip, and once she got home, collapsed on the couch until Link peeled her off for dinner.
&-
On the second Wednesday in March, Zelda found herself jerked from sleep by a loud whoop outside her window, almost exactly five minutes before her alarm was set to go off. Sleepily, she hit the switch anyway, and then stumbled in one of her new bras and a pair of long pajama pants to the window, pressing her face up against the cool glass. Link was down on the driveway, dancing in circles around a giant hunk of metal.
"Zelda!" he shouted, seeing her in the window. "Look! Come look at my car!"
Laughing, she pulled away from the glass and tugged on her scarlet bath robe, tying it over her stomach, and padding down to the first floor, out the kitchen door to Link's new "car".
The first words out of Zelda's words were, "what is that thing?"
"This," Link stated, running a hand covetously over the hood, "is a '94 ford bronco, baby! The car of my dreams!"
"It does seem like the kind of car you'd drive," she stated, looking it over again. It was mint green, newly repainted, and though on first sight it was hideous, Zelda found it rather growing on her already. Kind of like how Link had. Uncertainty at first, fondness skipping along on its tail.
"Go get ready for school." Link's eyes were glittering. "We're going to give her a go."
Only two words were running through Zelda's head then, and those two words were oh dear.
&-
Link was, astoundingly, a far better driver than Malon, which was saying something as Malon wasn't a bad driver- she just was a bit too accelerator happy, which was deadly in a hummer. But Link and his Bronco (which he had decided to name The Millennium Falcon) were reliable, zipping down the freeway at a perky sixty-five.
"You know," Zelda stated from where she was sitting shotgun, "I was a bit afraid of riding with you."
"Why?" Link checked his mirrors and moved over a lane to exit.
"Well," she chewed over her words, then spoke, "you're just a little… wacky at times. I wasn't sure if you knew how to drive well."
"Of course I know how to drive." He pulled to a stop at a light and grinned. "I can sail, too."
Zelda raised an eyebrow. "You can sail."
"Yeah. My parents own a schooner, keep it at the dock. We didn't use it last summer, as there weren't any good days for sailing, really."
"A schooner, huh?"
"Yup." The light went green and Link turned, his bronco trundling down the street towards school and the parking lot surrounding it. "It's called King of Red Lions."
Zelda nearly laughed. Clearly, Impa had done her research.
&-
School was so boring, Zelda thought, dumping her book bag underneath her work station and plopping down in her chair just before comp sci. They were, at the moment, programming Pac Man- more than once, Zelda had forced Link to help her figure out the occasional kink or fifty in her code. When it came to things like code, surprisingly, Link was a genius. It probably had something to do with all his geeky friends.
Zelda logged in and began poking around the internet, checking her email- two spam and a letter from Audrey, which she decided to read once she got home. The bell rang and Zelda shut down internet explorer, swiveling to face her teacher and where he stood at the whiteboard. He scribbled out the pseudocode for what they would be doing that particular day and set them loose. Zelda got straight to work- no sooner than she had clicked on the desktop icon for JCreator, however, did the small black MS-DOS screen pop up. Her blood ran cold.
No. Not again...
Hello, Zelda. It's been a long time.
Her fingers hesitated over the keyboard.
Sorry if I seem rude, but I've got a lot of code to work on today.
Programming Pac Man?
She paused.
Yes. Not that it's of any importance to you, though.
She clicked out of MS-DOS, knowing that by now it would be worthless to try and shut it down, and instead got to working on her code. Of course, she hadn't even typed in a line before the MS-DOS screen came to the front. Damn him, Zelda thought as she accidentally hit enter. He must have requested focus or something.
Of course it is of importance to me. You're very important, Zelda.
eturn true;
Would you leave me alone? I'm trying to work.
I'll bother you when you're done, then. I can wait.
Zelda sighed and went back to work on her code. Goddesses, do you have it in for me or something? Do you feel the constant urge to test me? Gah. Life sucks.
Fifteen minutes later, however, Zelda had forgotten all about the little MS-DOS screen and was furiously trying to de-knot a rather infuriating mess she'd made of her code, proud to be able to state the fact that she'd been mostly successful with the debugging. Mostly.
Another forty five minutes later she was done for the day, congratulating herself as she closed down JCreator. And then the MS-DOS screen popped up.
Let's talk.
I'd rather not.
What a jerk. Persistence was not a virtue in cases like these.
Please? I won't bite you. I'm just curious about you now. I'm not madly in love with you or anything. At least, not like I was. I've got someone better for me now.
Zelda shivered.
I hope she thinks so, too. I hope she knows who you are.
Of course she does. She loves me and she says so. So let's talk. What happened to you over winter break that made you clam up so badly?
Nothing happened. Nothing that's any of your business, anyway.
You're not even going to ask how I was able to tell?
I bet you're going to tell me anyway.
You're right. See, I figured because there's this kind of ice in your eyes now. You don't smile quite so much as you used to. A lot of people think that you had a bad experience with a boy, or that maybe a loved one died, but I also see the gloves on your hands and how you tug at them. Are you going to tell me what they're for?
I burned myself.
And I'm the queen of England. I think the gloves tie into whatever it is that's got you so shut off. Sure you're nice and friendly and all, but you're different, too. More quiet. More thoughtful. You're introverted and pensive and jumpy, and you don't think anybody notices, but I do, Zelda. Believe me, I do.
I thought you said you'd found someone else to stalk.
Doesn't keep me from having an eye on potentially interesting figures.
Bastard.
Actually, I know my father quite well.
I didn't mean it that way and you know it.
And still my point remains. Are you going to tell me what's up, or am I going to have to figure it out myself?
Okay, I'll tell you. My mom died when I was a baby and I learned some bad things about her over the break that have changed how I view things. I cut my hands in grief, and some jackass came along and messed with my head while I was in mourning. Happy?
Someone screwed with your head? Tell me who and I'll kill him for you.
Zelda shivered. She wouldn't be surprised if this mysterious someone did.
No.
I don't think that's the truth anyway. There's holes in your alibi. I'll find it out, Zelda. I'll find out who you really are.
Are you done stalking me yet?
No.
Too bad.
Zelda shut down her computer and put her bag on her lap, staring at the clock. Two minutes.
I can't tell Link. I can't show Link. It's his birthday. Nothing's wrong. Nothing happened.
One minute.
I'm just not thinking clearly. Breathe in, Zelda. Forget it. Put on a smile. Your stalker has moved on. You're safe.
The bell rang and Zelda walked calmly from the classroom, down to the parking lot where she hopped onto the hood of Link's bronco, kicking her legs and waiting for him to show up.
Barely a minute later, the birthday boy himself sauntered up, and Zelda, unable to help herself, all but pounced on him.
"Something up?" he asked as he held her for a minute. Zelda took in a deep breath, then pulled away, beaming up at him.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIRTHDAY BOY!"
"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you shout, Zellie"
"I love you too."
"No you don't. Now hop in. Let's get home so I can open my presents."
"Yay presents." Zelda tossed her bag in the back seat after Link unlocked the Bronco. Into shotgun she hopped, breathing deep.
"Zelda, are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"I'm fine. I just had a- a long day." She faked a yawn. Link looked at her with skepticism, then shoved the keys into the ignition and turned, causing the Bronco to rumble, wakened from its daytime nap.
"Well, home we go, home we go!" And they were off, Link in a very good mood and Zelda feeling rather queasy. All of which scared her most, though, even more than her stalker's determination to find out the truth:
I've got someone better for me now. She loves me and she says so.
And then, from so long ago…
Fear is love, Zelda. Realize it. Admit it. You love me. You love the way I frighten you. You love the way you fear me at night, wondering if some day, I'll sneak into your room under the cover of shadows…
Something, Zelda was certain, was terribly, horribly wrong.
&-
Zelda hardly paid attention as Link ripped into present after present. Aside from his car, he'd gotten clothes, money, a few books, six new CDs, several games, and some new DVDs of anime, not to mention an action figure building kit.
Link laughed hard when he pulled out the "Draco Malfoy" shirt, and threw it at Zelda.
"You've got a sick sense of humor."
She grinned, slightly forced. "I know."
Link didn't notice. Impa did. Just before the birthday dinner, she called Zelda in, to help set the table.
"Something bothering you?"
"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"
Impa smiled softly as she pulled a pizza out of the oven. "Never."
Zelda sighed as she opened a cabinet to pull out six plates.
"I've just got this bad feeling, Impa. Horrible in the pit of my stomach, like something is very wrong, or is shortly about to be."
"Any reason for you to feel this way?"
"Well…" Zelda paused, debating whether or not to tell her guardian, setting down the plates one by one on the table. "It's just… this guy was sort of stalking me a while back. Nothing big, just an MS-DOS window would appear on my screen during Comp-Sci and he'd try to talk to me. He'd say the creepiest things, too, like, "fear is love, Zelda. Realize it. Admit it. You…" Zelda cut off with a shudder, unable to continue. "The words burned themselves into my brain. But after I finally opened up and told Link, it all stopped. But just today, that little black box popped up again. He said he was over me and was just curious now, and that he had someone who did love him now. Unfortunately, I can't forget what he said about fear being love…" She stopped, pulling silverware out of a drawer. "I'm worried."
"With reason. The answer will be revealed to you, though, I promise. For now, try and put these difficulties from your mind, hard as it may be. You have every reason to be worried; however, it is Link's birthday and I don't want it spoiled for him." Impa smiled. "I may be a Sheikah attendant, but first and foremost I am a mother and I want my son to be happy. Especially if there's the very real chance that, in the future, he will never be happy again." Impa looked down sadly, sighing. "Oh dear…"
"I'm sorry, Impa," Zelda apologized as she put the last fork down on the table. "I wish things weren't like this."
"As do I," she stated, and then smiled wryly. "But let's not think of this! We just need to remember that today is Link's birthday, and we need to make it fun for him. Right?"
"Right!"
Impa called in the girls, Link, and Haft, and the dinner commenced- it was Impa's masterpiece homemade black olive pizza, with a side of pasta shells and salad. It was delicious, and everybody stated so. Zelda tried to follow Impa's advice, to be pleasant and put the thoughts from her mind, and found herself enjoying the celebration a bit more. When at last she trooped up to her room after having three slices of the delicious green soccer ball cake Impa had magically whipped up, she found that her stalker was far from her mind, her brain instead filled with happiness from Link and his family.
She poked her head into Link's room to say good night, and smiled as she saw him sitting on his bed, yawning, clad in the new Yellow Submarine shirt she'd bought for him and a pair of long flannel pajama pants.
"Happy birthday, Link. I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight," he stated with a yawn. And Zelda left and went to her room, peeling off her own clothes and collapsing into bed, slipping into a deep sleep immediately.
&-
Through the fog, she could see two shadows. One was big and bulky, obviously male, the other, small, lithe, tiny. Female. The male voice spoke.
"Do you fear me?"
A tiny reply. "Yes."
"Say that you fear me. Say that you love me."
"I fear you. I love you."
Smack.
"Not good enough. Come now, don't be so shy. Let me take a look at you."
A muffled sob. "Please, don't touch me. Don't look at me."
Another smack.
"Why shouldn't I look at you? You're mine. Mine! All for the taking. You belong to me. You fear me and you love me. Do you understand?"
The reply was shaky. "I…. understand."
A growl. "Good."
The girl squeaked. "What are you doing? You're hurting me."
No reply- only the sound of ripping fabric.
Her voice grew more frantic. "Please, let go. Please, please... no, don't… please…."
"You are afraid of me."
"I love you, I love you, you're hurting me, please stop, please, no, don't…."
"Do not tell me what I can and can't do!" It was a roar. "I will do as I please with you. You tried to run and this is how you must repent. Stop struggling."
"No, please don't, I don't want…" Her words tapered away into a frantic, anguished scream.
&
updated9:12 PM central
Sunday, May 15, 2005
A/N: In a very grumpy mood tonight so I'm keeping this short. Things, as you can tell, are about to get very interesting, so hang tight. Next update will be as soon as I can post it- probably by next Wednesday, but that's also the last day of my finals so it may be the Thursday night following. And yeah.
Sorry this always takes so long and is in such short amount. And I'd say that it's quality, not quantity, that counts, but quality isn't too great at the moment either. Forgive me this, I swear it'll be better soon.