Chapter Thirty-Four - Zelda's Realization
"And then do you know what he said? He said that he'd be happy to take it off my hands."
Link and Zelda laughed. "You gotta be kidding me!" Link exclaimed.
Sarah, who had just shoved a large chunk of chicken in her mouth, nodded vigorously.
"In my life, I never thought I'd run into someone who could eat as much as Link could," Zelda commented, leaning back in her chair.
Sarah swallowed and stuck her tongue out at Zelda. "Good digestion."
"What's digestion got to do with it? I'm just hungry."
Zelda rolled her eyes. "Link, what are we going to do with you?"
"Feed him to the fishes!" Sarah shouted.
"Hey! Watch it! I've had enough fish for a lifetime."
"Oh? And how is that?"
Link stood, pulling something from his bag. He tossed it to Sarah, who caught it.
"Interesting craftsmanship, nice painting, good quality. Zora made?"
Link laughed as she handed the Zora Mask back. "You could say that..."
"What else could I say?"
"I don't know, I just wanted to say that."
Sarah laughed. "So, then, what's for dessert?"
"You just ate the equivalent of three chickens! You're still hungry?"
"Well, so am I."
Zelda stood. "You two are insatiable. I'll go figure something out."
"I have an idea..."
Zelda turned to Link. "And that would be..?"
"Marshmallows!" he shouted, banging his fist on the table. "We must have marshmallows!"
Zelda and Sarah laughed. "Yes, Link, I will go fetch marshmallows."
"Better than chips, hmm?" Sarah asked, causing Zelda to stop for a second.
"Chips? You bring chips? Of all the things in the world, why chips?"
He ripped open the bag. "We were out of marshmallows."
But how would anyone know about that chip incident? I haven't told anyone anything about during the curse and neither has Link. Wait... No, it can't be...
"Zellie? You still with us?" Link asked.
Zelda nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, a little memory lapse."
"Ah, okay."
"Well, I shall return with your precious marshmallows." Zelda walked into the kitchens and weaved her way to the large pantry. She dug out the required marshmallows, and then stopped. Returning quickly to the dining room, she looked at Sarah for a moment.
"What did you say your name was?"
"I didn't," she responded. "I have a lot of names, but the one that I use now... is Sarah."
"Okay." Zelda sat down and tossed the marshmallow bag at Link's head. He caught it and tore into it. "Mind giving a small explanation?"
"Well, I wanted to be back, so I went and did so."
"Mind excusing me?" Link asked. "Gonna go find a good stick and a fire."
Zelda laughed and nodded. "Alright. See ya later."
He stood, calmly pushed his chair in, and bolted from the room. Zelda turned back to Sarah.
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want to stand in that forest and watch Link slip away again. He and I used to be so close, both before and during the curse. I don't want to lose it like I did before the curse."
"And your crush on him has nothing to do with it, does it?" Zelda asked, sarcasm seeping into her voice.
"Of course it does! I realized that both before and after the curse that I had fallen for Link, and I had fallen hard. The only difference is that during the curse, I could have acted on it. I'm sure you know quite well what I mean when I say that I wish I had back then."
Zelda nodded. "But what happened to you being supportive of me and him?"
"I only became okay with that when I found out that I was becoming a Kokiri. I couldn't be with Link if I was a Kokiri. I mean, come on, I was gonna stay ten forever, so that really wouldn't work out too well. However, now that I have a decent body back, I'm starting to see the whole Link situation in a new light. Not that I have any grudges against the Kokiri, it's just that I wasn't in total agreement with the limitations."
"And so you went and found a way to get your old self back just so you could try to win over Link?"
"Yes, although I don't know how lightly 'win over' should be used. I don't see the difficulty in it, not that I'm saying Link's easy to get."
"I have a good feeling you're going to have your hands full."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Sarah, Link told me that he loves me."
Sarah stopped, but only for a second. "Well, from what I can tell, you've done nothing about it. Figure this a healthy rivalry." She stood and walked out, leaving Zelda at the large table.
"Fear the wrath of the Marshmallow of Fire!" Link shouted, waving a flaming marshmallow around. Sarah laughed as it launched off the stick and landed with a splat on the ground.
"Yes, I fear the wrath of the splatted Marshmallow of Fire."
Link growled and stabbed another marshmallow. Sarah removed hers from the small fire that they had built. She looked at it for a second, and then gulped it down. She placed another one on the Deku Stick and held it over the fire.
"Here's a question for you. If these Deku Sticks are so flammable, then why aren't they catching fire?"
Sarah laughed as Link's stick suddenly flared up, flames rising fast. He dropped the stick suddenly as the fire consumed it.
"Here." She tossed him another one. "Enjoy."
Link put another marshmallow on his stick and propped it up over the fire. "So, what was the deal with Zelda in there?"
"She and I weren't exactly seeing eye to eye."
"Over what?"
"Don't worry about it. By the way, your marshmallow's on fire again."
Link growled as he grabbed the stick and flung the marshmallow off, watching it sail away across Hyrule Field. He stabbed another one, but Sarah grabbed his stick from him.
"Here, let me do it." She replaced the marshmallow and handed him her stick, which had a perfectly roasted marshmallow on it.
"Eternally grateful," he chimed, removing the marshmallow from the stick and shoving it in his mouth.
"You're going to choke one day if you keep doing that."
"You did the same thing!"
"My throat's bigger. I won't choke as easily."
"Nuh-uh!"
"Uh huh!"
"Your throat can't be bigger!"
"It's a scientific fact. I'm older, and so my throat's bigger."
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
Link jumped up, pulling his current stick from the fire. "I say no!"
Sarah tipped her current stick into the fire, lighting the marshmallow. "I say yes!"
The next few minutes were a sight to behold. They fought, flames and marshmallow goop flying everywhere. Neither would give in, instead pressing the fight on the opposing side. After several smashes of stick on stick, Sarah tossed hers into the fire.
"What was that for?" As he spoke, his stick burnt through, causing him to pull back. "Oh."
Sarah laughed as she watched Link grab a marshmallow from the bag and stuff it in his mouth.
"You know," Sarah said after a minute, "the sun seems to go down a lot faster."
"It's where you're used to the forest perspective. You're not used to outside life anymore."
"Well, I hope to remedy that."
Link watched as two Stalchildren rose from the ground, encircling him. "You might want to get packed." He drew his sword and beheaded the first Stalchild. With one more stroke the Stalchild vanished. He turned to face the other, but he saw Sarah smashing its head in with a flaming Deku Stick. It caught fire and crumbled under her smashing.
Link laughed as she put the stick out. "Good job. Now, shall we retire from this field?"
She nodded. "Good idea."
Link and Sarah had wound their way to his room. He sat on the bed, watching her walk around his room, examining the several gadgets strewn everywhere.
Link flopped back on the bed. "Marshmallows are good."
Sarah nodded, sitting down on the other side of the bed, turning to Link. "Yup. You know, you probably could do with at least one chair in here."
"Nah, wastes space."
She shrugged. "Whatever. Why did we run all the way here?"
"We didn't run, we raced all the way here."
"Ah. Why did we race all the way here?"
"Because I wanted to wear you out."
"Well, you managed to do that, that's for sure. Why did you want to wear me out? Were you planning something?"
"No, I just wanted to."
"Oh, okay." She yawned and propped herself against the headboard.
"Sleepy?"
"I thought we just agreed on that," Sarah said. Link shrugged.
There was a knock on the door, which startled Link. "Hey, think you can go get the door?"
Sarah sighed. "Lazy." She got up and walked to the door. She opened it a bit and saw Zelda standing there. "Oh, hey."
Zelda glanced at the disheveled look that Sarah presented. "I'm not, um, interrupting anything am I?"
Sarah laughed. "No worries. Come in?" she asked, opening the door wider.
As Zelda walked in, Link turned and sat up. "Hey, Zellie."
"Hey, Link. Tired, are we?"
"Yeah, I admit it. Takes a stomach full of goop and a nice run to do it, but yeah. So, how are you?"
"Eh, I'm alright. Gets boring over here with you two gone."
"Oh, trust me, it's not going to be boring for too much longer," a voice replied.
Link sighed. "Here we go again." He stood up and grabbed his sword from the table as Dark Link stepped down from the windowsill.
"What, not going to say hello? How rude."
"You've tried on more than one occasion to kill me and you call me rude?"
Dark Link shrugged. "Hmm. And who's this lovely young lady?"
Sarah stared at him. "Oh, so now that Link messed up your kidnapping plans, you've decided to try and be nice?"
"Saria, then. I see you've changed a bit. In a good way, don't get me wrong there. Now I'm wishing I'd waited a day or two to nab you."
Sarah didn't say a word, instead opting to turn around and walk away. Dark Link's hand shot out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
"Now hold on just a minute! I wasn't done taun-" Dark Link was interrupted by her fist connecting with his face. He laughed and wiped a bit of the dark blood from his nose. "It seems you pack a punch."
"And don't forget it."
Dark Link turned and walked back to the windowsill. "You know, I have a strange feeling that none of you guys like me very much."
"Hmm, I wonder where you got that idea," Link replied. "Now, what do you want?"
"Oh, lots of things. Fire, death, destruction, a touch of horror here and there, the usual."
"What do you want now?"
"Oh! You should be a little more specific next time. I just thought I'd drop by and see what's going on with my favorite enemy."
"Well, I was thinking of going to sleep for a bit, but then you showed up."
Dark Link laughed. "Well, you might want to rethink that a bit. You see, I have a small bit of business to take care of and I might need the Queen's help..."
"You better not touch her!"
"Oh, but I'd need to. Touching is a major requirement..."
Link chose not to listen to him anymore. He took his sword and lunged at the shadow, who laughed and jumped back onto the windowsill.
"I seem to have struck another nerve. Well, on that foot, I shall take my leave. See you soon, Zelda." He stepped back and vanished.
Link sheathed his sword. "If there is anything that deserves to be tied up and dropped to the bottom of the ocean, it'd be him."
"I'm in agreement there."
"You don't really think he'd come after me, do you?"
"I wouldn't put it past him."
"So, what are we going to do about it?"
"You two should get your rest. I'll watch and make sure he doesn't pay us a visit anytime soon," Link replied.
"Oh? And what happens when you collapse from exhaustion and he sneaks in, hmm? I don't like that idea. Any others?"
"Well," Link said after a second, "we could always run shifts. One of us stays awake making sure he doesn't come while the other two sleep. Then we can switch out."
"Well, we'll need a good protected room. Preferably with two beds," Sarah commented, not liking the idea of her shift where Link and Zelda would be asleep together.
"Agreed," Zelda said, not liking the idea of Link and Sarah sharing a bed.
Link shrugged. "Ok, whatever. I'll take first shift and you two get your sleep, okay? I'll wake one of you in a bit."
He followed them to the room that Zelda had thought of and sat down in the chair, watching them fall asleep strangely fast.
You better not show your shadowed face around here. I don't plan on losing Zelda to you. I'll sit here all night if I have to; I'm not letting you get her.
