"Zelda! What a surprise! You should have told me you would come. I would have told the kids you would be here today."
"Think nothing of it. It was an impulse I had to drop by, but I will be more than happy to take over for you."
Roy watched as Zelda spoke with Rosalina in the back corner of the book shop. She looked so happy to be here. Happier than she'd been while they were out, anyway. The children, some of them Smashers, some of them not, looked just as, if not even happier that she was there. Compared to them, his frowning face must have looked out of place.
It would have been strange, had no one noticed. Chrom certainly did, as Roy heard Chrom clear his throat beside him.
"Is something the matter, Roy?" Chrom asked, folding the book he had been reading in his lap.
With a sigh, Roy said, "As a matter of a fact, yes. Something is wrong, and I would like your thoughts on the matter."
"Really?" Chrom smiled that fatherly smile of his, a face that welcomed any problem he could have. "Then by all means, tell me. I will certainly try my best to lend an ear."
"Thank you." Roy snuck a glance over to Zelda–a quick glance, hardly noticeable–before he ducked in his head and leaned closer. "It's... well, it's a little difficult for me to say."
"Difficult, you say? I suppose most problems are," Chrom said, smiling. He was trying to lighten the mood, and for that, Roy was grateful. He still cringed, however, and when he tried to think of a way to phrase it, no words came to him.
"It's... how do you say it..." Roy glanced around, hoping that maybe one of the books would have some sort of inspiration for him. It was a silly idea, he knew, but as he peered past a graphic novel perched on top of a shelf, he saw Zelda lower herself onto a wooden chair at the front, her fingers combing through the shelves around her.
An idea sprung into his head. Zlda was smart. She always knew what to say. Perhaps she would be able to explain it better than he could.
Roy opened his mouth to call for her, but before he could utter a word, she picked out a book and set it down on her lap.
"Children," she said, her gentle voice no louder than it needed to be, "Gather round, for I have a tale to share with you."
A crowd quickly assembled on the deep blue rug before her, and Roy closed his mouth. It would be rude to call to her now, now that she was in the middle of something.
Zelda paused to sweep her gaze over the assembled children. "The story I will tell you today is called "The Princess and the Frog." Now, is anyone here familiar with it?"
A couple hands raised. A few of the children even stood up to wave their hands, calling out, "Me! Me!"
Far from discouraged, Zelda's smile widened with confidence that Roy could only dream of having. "Is that so? May I rely on you all to help me tell my story? Yes? Excellent! Nana, would you like to be my Princess? And Popo, would you like to be my Prince?"
"Roy? Roy!"
Roy blinked, suddenly remembering that he had been in the middle of a conversation. He focused back on Chrom, ready to apologize, which was why he was so confused when Chrom met him with an oddly knowing look. Did he make a mistake? Did Chrom know something he didn't?
"Oh yes, my problem. You wanted to know what it was, right?" Roy stumbled out.
"I may have an idea, but yes, continue."
Roy blinked, ever so slightly surprised. "Wait a moment, what do you think it is?"
"It won't help at all if you don't tell me first," Chrom said, waving Roy away.
"Okay then..." Roy's eyes flitted back to Zelda, hoping that maybe she'd somehow wrapped up already. She wasn't, but as Roy watched her lead the children through the story gently, words found their way to his lips.
"You're married, right?" Roy said, and he turned back to Chrom with a little more confidence to his smile.
"I am."
"That means you know all about romance and women and that sort of stuff, right?"
"I do. A little more than I'd like to, sometimes." Chrom chuckled at what might have been a joke, but Roy had a difficult time following. When Chrom noticed, he shook his head and let his laughter trail off. "So, you're having lady troubles?"
Roy made a so-so gesture. "A little. I need to find a good spot for a date within the mall, but I'm afraid I don't know where would be a good place to take her."
Folding the book he had been reading shut and sliding it back into the shelf, Chrom looked over his shoulder, where Marth had his nose buried in his own book, and nudged him on the shoulder. When Marth looked up, Chrom smiled and said, "Marth, you've taken your wife to dates in the mall plenty of times, haven't you?"
Marth pursed his lips. "I have. Do you need any recommendations?"
"Not me." Chrom nodded his head in Roy's direction. "Roy does, however."
"I see." Marth narrowed his eyes. He looked over in Zelda's direction, then back to Roy. That confused Roy, as he hadn't told them that it had anything to do with Zelda, but he decided not to comment.
Marth closed his eyes to think for a moment. A few seconds later, he opened them, and slowly, he said, "I do not know what places I can recommend. I must admit, I've not had many chances to interact with Zelda, and I know little of her."
Roy frowned. "I... don't follow."
"Different people have different preferences. What may appeal to me may not appeal to you. You do know what she likes, right?"
Roy looked back at Zelda. She seemed to be finished with her story now, folding it shut in her hands. She slid it back into its place on the shelf, before she pulled out another from the same shelf. He caught a glance of the title: "Sleeping Beauty."
Humming, Roy said, "I might."
Zelda looked understandably curious as the two of them stepped into the elevator together for what might have been the fifth time today. He hoped that his nervousness wasn't as clear to her as her curiosity, but with how much he was fiddling with the hilt of his sword, some of that must have been bleeding through.
"You are nervous," she said, putting a delicate hand onto his shoulder.
That soothed his nerves quite a lot. It soothed him, bringing his heart rate back down to a manageable level, but he thought saying it would make it feel weird, so he kept that thought to himself. "Is it that obvious?" he asked instead.
Zelda offered him a smile and patted his shoulder. "Your face is wrought with worry, and you are fiddling with your clothes. Don't worry," she said before he could protest. "You have nothing to fear. If you cannot help me, I will not hold it against you. Even without this, you have still helped me a great deal."
"I know. But I set out to do it, and I want to finish it," Roy said with a sigh. "If I can't help you here, what kind of a friend would I be?"
Zelda blinked, momentarily taken aback. By what, he wasn't quite sure, as the smile wove into her lips before he could be sure it had slipped at all. "Where are we headed now, if you do not mind me asking?"
"Princess Peach's Castle."
Zelda's head tilted to the side. "I do not know how comfortable I would be, breaching on another monarch's territory. Besides, Princess Toadstool is a friend of mine, and I do not wish to intrude on her space while she and Mario are away"
Roy huffed and grinned. "Don't worry, I've already called to ask her if it would be okay." He hadn't actually. Marth had done the talking, but it was effectively the same.
"You called her?" She looked confused for a moment, a rare expression for her to wear, before Roy pulled out a cell phone and tapped its screen. "Ah. You called her on the telephone. Technology is truly a convenient thing."
"That it is," Roy replied. The elevator dinged, and the doors began to slide open. "But for now, maybe we can forget about all that. There is something I want to show you."
Marth may have called Princess Peach for permission to use the castle, but Roy had made other calls too. One of them was for Master Hand, who controlled all the stages, from the battlefield hazards to the weather.
It wasn't often that the Smashers called Master Hand. Most of them prefered to do things on their own, and Master Hand had given them plenty of things in the mall to do it without his help. On rare occasions, however, there were some things that they couldn't control in the mall, and they needed to ask for his help. Master Hand always waved them off and told them that they could ask him for whatever they wanted without having to worry to pay him back, but Roy still felt a little guilty just asking for such a big favor without payment. As the elevator doors pulled open, he thought for a moment that maybe it was too big a favor for Master Hand, and maybe he hadn't followed through.
Then the sunlight came spilling inside, and he realized that he'd been worried for nothing.
On any other day, Princess Peach's Castle would have been lit in the harsh light of the afternoon sun directly above. In a fight, it made everything clear to track, but it bleached the walls and made the scenery difficult to admire. When the sun had been lowered just a tiny bit, just enough to look like it was setting, the walls turned a pleasant shade of pink, and the ocean just beyond the bay glowed like sapphires.
Zelda didn't say anything as they stepped outside. Personally, Roy thought it looked very pretty. He turned to ask what Zelda thought of it, but paused when he saw her face.
She was still smiling. That hadn't changed. That never really changed, but her eyes were closed. She looked relaxed, almost blissful, and the setting sun caught on her face in such a way that her face lit up like polished gold, pristine and pure. Her hands pulled apart from where they had been folded across her lap and fell down by her sides, and as Roy watched in amazement, she started to hum, swinging her arms back and forth in a tiny dance.
It was oddly enchanting. It wrapped its gentle folds around his attention, and no matter how much he tried to look away, his eyes found its way back to her.
"So..." Zelda's eyes opened, meeting Roy's. Now Roy was able to pull his eyes away, and he turned to look at the scenery around them. At the trees, gently rustling in the wind, at the bright deep orange tiles of the roof they were standing on, and at the gleaming blue ocean that stretched out before them.
"So?" Zelda asked, smiling that golden smile at him. It occurred to Roy that he still had a sentence to finish. Also, that he was staring.
Roy returned to admiring the ocean. "So, do you like it?" he asked.
"It's perfect."
Roy ducked his head and hoped that the sunset was warm enough to hide his reddening cheeks. "Thanks," he said, quietly. Maybe a little too quietly?
He looked back over at Zelda, but she didn't seem bothered by it, humming and turning to look back over the trees below. If she didn't ask, Roy guessed there was no point in repeating it, so he went back to being quiet.
When Roy looked back to ask another question another breeze passed over them. The leaves rustled again, and in the distance, the faintest traces of a birdsong whistled through his ears. As the wind blew, it combed through her golden hair, blowing it past her face and letting it flow out like a shimmering banner, bright as the sun. If her dance before had been enchanting, this entrapped him under a spell she hadn't even known she had cast.
"How do you do it?" he asked.
"Hm?"
That hadn't been the question that he was going to ask before, but seeing her had completely distracted him. He hadn't expected her to hear, much less reply, though, and when she turned to him, he almost jumped. She had, though, and that left him with no choice but to go with it.
"I mean... how do you make yourself look..." Roy motioned to her helplessly. Really, what was he supposed to say to describe her? "How do you make yourself look so pretty, I suppose."
Zelda blinked once. Twice. For a second, Roy was afraid he'd asked something strange, and he rubbed his arm awkwardly under her gaze. "It was a strange question. You don't need to answer it if you don't want to."
"Why do you want to know?"
Roy looked up. "Huh? Oh, I don't know why. Maybe it's just that... you've been such a help to me, but now, I don't think I'll ever be able to help you back. I know you said that I don't need to help you back, but I'd just feel so bad if I didn't."
Zelda looked up. She tapped a finger against her chin and hummed, thinking harder than Roy had ever seen her think. After a second, she sighed, and she returned her gaze to him.
"You have nothing to be envious of," she said, smiling. "You may believe me to be pretty, but most often overlook their own outstanding qualities. Such is the fault of being us. Your actions mean much more than you think they do."
"Oh."
"If you continue to help others, perhaps there may come a day where you can finally believe you have repaid your debt as well. And surely there would be no harm in doing it, could there?"
"I suppose not," Roy muttered sheepishly. He turned around, about to head back to the elevator, when Zelda stopped him.
"And, for what it's worth, I think you're more handsome than I am pretty."
"Huh?" Roy spun around, eyes wide. Now there was no amount of sun that could hide how red his face had become. Zelda giggled in reply, and immediately, Roy tore his eyes away from her.
Had she been serious? Roy had never heard her make jests before, and this was a strange first one. He opened his mouth to ask, but Zelda was already brushing past him as she headed for the elevator, leaving Roy stunned behind her to wonder what that had been about, or if it had been about anything at all.
It's a few days late, but I was feeling down in the dumps. Maybe I've been there a bit often but I'm not the best at managing my time, and sometimes I forget to write. It happens sometimes. I hope this extra long chapter makes up for that a bit.
Leave any reviews if there are any typos, because I'm sure there are plenty. Next chapter on Thursday in two weeks, as usual. Until then, take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!
