To Find The Future, Fund The Past

Chapter 8

Strange Feelings

Zelda could barely pay attention in her first four classes that day. Apparently, the school was nearing the end of the school term. The holidays came in another two weeks, to be exact.

Since she had discovered that Link had been the one she would have to look for, it had pieced together in her mind. The unexpected kindness he had shown her, the instantaneous friendship, the unexplainable trust… and the hurt whenever she looked into his eyes… It all made sense.

During lunch, Zelda was sitting alone. She didn't like any of the people that she had met that day.

Someone crept up behind her, and covered her eyes with their hands. Zelda was about to dig her elbow in their abdomen when…

"Guess who?" someone whispered into her ear.

Zelda knew that voice!

"Link?" she asked softly. The hands were removed from her eyes, and he came around to sit next to her.

"What are you doing here, all by your lonesome?" he looked at her, tilting his head in a comical way. It made his shaggy, blonde hair fall into his deep blue eyes. The effect was stunning. Zelda shrugged, but her stomach was doing flips.

"No one here is really the sort of friend I'm looking for, so I guess I'm not gonna make any friends today." She tried to sound like she didn't care. The reality of it stung her, though. She didn't want this school to be like the other one, where she would be the loner.

"Well," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "it's lucky that you have me then, eh?"

Zelda went bright red. She cursed herself for not putting on any foundation when she did her makeup that morning. The feel of his body against hers was strangely warm, considering it was winter.

"I suppose so." She managed to choke out. It was strange that she could barely speak around him today. She hadn't even met him twenty four hours ago, for Din's sake!

Zelda mentally slapped herself. She was not to use the names of the Great Goddesses in place of what could be a curse word. She would be punished later by the Sages, if she ever met them.

"Well," he got up, and offered her his hand, "let's get you introduced to my siblings and cousins then, huh? I think you'll like them, and I know they'll just love you!" he said, half jokingly.

"Thanks." She didn't take his hand, but stood up on her own. He looked vaguely hurt by this. "Let's go!"

Link led her over to a corner of the grounds that was shrouded in a family atmosphere. She knew that, should the inclination take him, he would be instantly accepted by these seven girls and five guys. Zelda, however, was another story.

"Who's the chick?" some guy, possibly Link's younger brother, piped up.

"I'm going to let her introduce herself…" Link trailed off, hearing his name being shouted out from across the oval, "I gotta go. Go easy on her, will ya? I don't want you scarin' off another one."

Everyone, except poor, petrified Zelda, laughed as he ran off to play a game of soccer. Everyone went back to what they were doing before Zelda and Link had shown up. Zelda just stood there, not knowing what to say or do.

"Is she still there?" a little female voice said from the group. A few of them looked over at Zelda.

"Yup." Another voice, this time male, replied to the small female voice.

"She so obviously has a bleach job!" one of the older girls was muttering, "I mean, no one has blonde hair that colour! It's too perfect!"

"Ahem!" Zelda scared the living daylights out of them, forcing her voice to work, "I would appreciate it if you did not talk about me like I am not even here! I do have ears, and I can hear everything you are saying!" she was so angry, she was beginning to hyperventilate, "And, for your information, this is my NATURAL hair colour!"

Zelda flicked her thick ponytail over her shoulder, and stormed off in the other direction. She didn't notice that one of the smaller girls, possibly a thirteen year old, had begun to follow her.

"Excuse me…" the little girl piped up, Zelda recognized the voice as the girl that asked if she was still standing there like an idiot.

"Yes?" Zelda turned around to look at the tiny girl.

"Umm… I'm sorry." And with that, the small girl took off.

DURING FIFTH PERIOD

Zelda had finally found a subject that she liked. History.

She listened, enraptured, as the teacher droned on about myths and legends of ancient people, and handed out a form. It was to visit the castle that her father took her too. They had taken to calling the place 'Australia's Piece of Mystic History'. It sickened Zelda.

Zelda glanced over at Link. He was sitting a few desks to the left of her. She found that he too had just happened to glance at her at that exact moment. She managed not to choke, and flashed him a little smile. You could have fried an egg on her face. He smiled back at her showing many of his teeth. At least they were better than Gonzo's.

Zelda was sure she had imagined it, but his face seemed to have turned a little pink when she smiled at him. She dismissed it as wishful thinking. But what she was wishing, she had no idea.

"There will be a little competition," the teacher was saying, "to find a name for the place, until the true name is discovered. You have two months to return the note, and pay the money. The only hitch is that it is overnight, and on a weekend. There will be full details at Friday's year meeting."

The was a shuffling of paper and bags as students folded their notes and put them away. After a few moments, the noise died down.

"Now, we will be studying this place, but we have no ready texts that are published, nor any sources that are not valuable, or reliable for that matter." The teacher took a deep breath, "We are extremely lucky to have all of the thing that we do have, though. They are all copies, but are actually used for the research, so I must ask you not to break anything. The only reason we have these materials is because they are on loan to us from Mr. Gregory Hilyan. Zelda," the teacher glanced in her direction, making her squirm, "I would ask you to thank your father for loaning these priceless artifacts, and to tell him that I will personally make sure that they are not befouled in any way."

"Yes, Miss…" Zelda was tomato red. There were a few gasps from the class. She must have been radiating heat or something.

"Now," the teacher extracted an instrument from under the desk, "I want someone to tell me what this might be. And what it was used for."

Zelda looked around the room. It was pitiful. Didn't anyone know an Ocarina when they saw one? Zelda raised her hand, and the teacher nodded at her.

"It's a musical instrument." She stated, positive that she was right, "The people believed that they could speak to the spirits by using it."

"That's…" the teacher faltered, "an interesting idea. But how would you play it?"

Zelda stood up and proceeded to the front of the room. She pointed to various holes and the mouthpiece.

"You blow in through here, and use your fingers to play different notes."

"Well," the teacher huffed, "would you care to give us a demo?"

"With that?" Zelda wasn't sure.

"Yes, that." The teacher chided her, "It's a new one, made from the cast of the old one."

"Oh…" Zelda was embarrassed. She took the instrument from the woman, and put it to her mouth. She froze for a minute, feeling a sense of familiarity. Not with the instrument itself, but the shape of it.

The class began laughing at her. Feeling unsure, she put her fingers to the holes, and blew. The one note threw her into the rhythm of it. One note, and she recalled the entire Hylian stave.

'Left… Up… Right… Left… Up… Right…' Zelda recalled in her head, playing the entire lullaby for the class to hear.

"Well." The teacher huffed again, clearly irritated, as the class began to applaud, "That sounds fairly remedial. Could you play something a little faster?"

Zelda felt that she was being singled out by the teacher for some humiliation. It wasn't fair. Zelda felt tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.

"I'd like to try, Miss." Link had his hand up in the air, waving it around. The teacher simply nodded at him, and took the instrument from Zelda as she went to sit down. Wiping it off, she handed it to Link.

Zelda sat down, and watched him. He struck up a faster tune then she did. She immediately recognized the notes that he played. 'Down, Right, Left, Down, Right, Left' she followed the song that he played in her mind. Like the lullaby, it sounded familiar to her. As he played the final note, the class erupted into applause, much as they did for Zelda.

Link handed the Ocarina back to the teacher, and sat down at his desk. Zelda looked at him, and he smiled at her, sending her stomach into back-flips. She smiled back, and he winked at her.

Just then, the bell went to signal the end of the school day.