Hey, all! I'm back! I would have posted this ages ago, but I had to get my computer re-formatted, and I finally got Windows XP! YAY! Now I just have to figure out how to use it...

Just wanted to say, thank you to all my reviewers!

To find the Future, Find the Past

Chapter Six

Coming Home to a Suspicious Mum

"Which is better," Zelda inquired, confused, "the Nokia or the Motorolla?"

Link looked over her shoulder at the mobile phones. In one hand, she held the newest Nokia model. In the other, she held latest Motorolla model. Link considered for a minute.

"Nokia." He finally answered her.

"I really don't see much difference..." Zelda trailed off, looking at the phones, "I mean, they all do the same thing."

"There's different functions on them..." He told her, "and they all don't navigate the same. The Nokia is more user-friendly, too."

"Oh..." Zelda's head swam. She had only been looking at the things for ten minutes, and she already had a headache.

"Let's just get you a phone, then," Link seemed to have a headache as big as hers, "and be on our way, shall we?"

"Yeah..." She decided on the Nokia, going with Link's advice.

"You'll want the Optus Prepaid, too." He told her as she made her way to the counter.

"Right. Nokia. Optus. Prepaid. Got it." She rattled off.

She made her way to the counter, and waited in line to get to the counter. So she would not be alone, Link came to stand next to her.

Not a word passed between them. Zelda felt that she had met him before today, but brushed it off as deja vu. She got that a lot. She never told her family, though. They were sure to call her a witch, then. The only reason they didn't hate her for her dreams was because of just that. They were only dreams.

'I wonder...' Her mind raced, 'if I would be able to go back to the castle without anybody knowing... Nah, probably not... I wouldn't even be able to get there to begin with. How would I get through the woods, anyway? Ugh. So many complications!'

She was so absorbed in her thoughts, that she didn't realise that the woman at the counter was free. Link prodded her in the middle of the back to get her moving. It hurt, too.

She walked nervously up to the counter. She sort of tuned out while Link did most of the talking. All she registered was that Link was talking, then the lady at the counter, then Link again. All she did was pull out her card and do the transaction.

The sound of her name brought her out of her stupor.

"Zelda..." Link attempted to break through her thoughts, unsuccessfully at first, "Zelda... Zelda!"

"Huh... Wha?" She really needed to get out of this shop!

"Let's get outta this shop, huh? It's so crowded!" He sounded quite annoyed.

"Yeah..." She trailed off again, "Sorry, I'm not good with crowds..."

"Well, what are we doing here, then?" He still sounded annoyed.

"I'm venting, I suppose." She smiled sweetly at him. He simply arched an eyebrow as if to say 'riiiight'.

"I'm serious!" She tried to make a point of it.

"OK!" He said, purely to shut her up, "I believe you!"

They barged their way through the shop, coming to the exit.

"Let's go over there." She pointed to a not-so-crowded clothing shop. Link simply groaned.

"Fine..."

Zelda truly appreciated that he was staying with her, but he could leave at any time. She reminded him of this fact.

"Nah, it's cool." He shrugged it off. He seemed to be a genuinely nice guy, but there was something really inconsistent about him. Zelda had only known him for about half an hour, and she could already tell.

LATER (around seven o'clock)

"So..." Link looked at her through the many bags she was holding, as they sat in the food court.

"So what?" She tried to look through them as well, and was failing miserably.

"Are you going home for dinner?" He inquired, "I mean, the shops are all about to close. There's really no point in staying out."

"Nope," she really, genuinely, wanted to hang out with him some more. She discovered in the past few hours that he was one of the nicest people that she had ever met. And he was really funny! She had laughed more in the past two and a half hours than she had ever laughed before. Not that that wasn't hard. Living with her parents was enough to quash anyone's sense of humour.

"Well, what are you going to do, then?" He inquired. Zelda shrugged.

"Depends." She said uninterestedly.

"On what?" Link asked her, getting a drink from a nearby vending machine, then coming back to sit down across from her.

"Dunno," she sounded like she was incredibly bored, "what time do you have to be home?"

"'Round ten." He answered her.

"OK..." They both sat in silence again for several minutes.

"Let's at least drop those bags off at your place..." He said after a few moments, "then we can go do something?"

"Sure..." She was a bit wary now, she still remembered Gonzo's word malfunction, "Why not? I'm just hoping that I won't have to stay home."

They made their way through the no-so-crowded-anymore shop and down to the bus stop. Link had to constantly warn Zelda of obstacles that were in her way. She couldn't see her feet through the bags.

"You know," he said, for at least the tenth time in the past half-hour, "I could carry half of those for you."

"Nah..." She was just stubborn. She wouldn't let him carry her bags if it meant saving her life.

"Are you sure?" He persisted.

"Yes!" She said, exasperated.

"OK! OK!" He could tell when to back off.

The bus got there just as they did, so they didn't have to wait. They got straight on the bus, and Zelda had no problems. When they were on, they proceeded straight to the back of the bus.

The entire bus ride was silent. Zelda looked out the window, while Link looked up at the ceiling. The silence was not entirely uncomfortable. In fact, Zelda almost preferred it to talking. Almost.

"Hey, Link?" She piped up suddenly, sort of startling him.

"Yeah?" He seemed to be bored.

"Where do you live?"

"Um..." She had caught him off guard with that one, "About a two minute walk away from you. The next street over. Assuming you live on the street that I met you in?"

"Yup." She tried to forget the place that she now had to call home. It was like living in hell itself, it was that bad.

Link stood up to press the button that indicated that the bus had to stop. They got off the bus, and proceeded to Zelda's front door.

"Here we go..." Zelda breathed, and pushed the door open.

"Zelda?" Her mother called down the hall, "Is that you?"

"Yes!" She called back. There was hardly any face-to-face speaking between her and her mother.

"Good. I want you to stay home." Zelda groaned.

"I had a feeling this would happen..." She muttered, "See you, Link."

"Yeah, see ya 'round." He sounded as disappointed as she did.

Zelda shut the door as she heard the front gate close.

"Who was that boy!" Her mother demanded, coming out into thehall,"And what were you doing with him!"

"He's just some guy I met on the bus." She shrugged,"He showed me around the shopping centre. It's not a big deal!"

Her mother seemed to be more relaxed now.

"Well, dinner is almost ready." Her mother told her, "Wash up."

Zelda went to her room, and dumped her bags on the floor. She would sort them out later. She then proceeded to the bathroom to wash her face and hands. It felt like a long day.

Dinner was a nightmare. Her mother had burnt everything, as per usual, and Zelda's father was incredibly fidgety. There was an unusual lack of conversation and silence reigned over the entire table. As soon as Zelda had finished eating, she excused herself.

In her room, she began to sort the things that she had brought on her shopping trip. She put dresses and shirts in the wardrobe. She put jeans, trousers and skirts in the drawers. She put little ornaments around the room. She put up new curtains. Heck, she even put a new cover on her blanket and pillows! Though they were already pink, this pink went better with the walls, as it was lighter. The other one was too dark. It was the same with the curtains.

By the time that she was done, it was time to go to bed. She set her alarm for six o'clock. That should leave her enough time to get to school early.

She closed her eyes, as she laid down. Once again, dreams plagued her in her, otherwise peaceful, slumber...

So... Did you like it? Please R&R and tell me what you thought!