~ Chapter 1: Dawn of a New Day ~

It was the dawn of the first day at Harlington. School was now in session for both undergraduates and graduate students alike. The sun rose as a canopy of gold, bright amid the blue, bidding the laminating stars to take their nightly rest. A canvas with blended tones of rosy pinks and sandy yellows painted the sky. The start of a new day promised a new beginning as the nascent rays embraced the earth. Birds chirped their merrily little tunes with one another in harmony, embracing the new day with welcoming arms.

The sun's warm rays crept through the horizontal slatted blinds, shining on Zelda's face, trying to wake her up. A soft grunt escaped her lips, subconsciously tossing the nearest edge of her blanket over her face. She tried to catch a few extra minutes of sleep, however that was quickly abrupt by the entrance of her roommate.

Her roommate was up and about. She had just returned from the university gym. Her roommate inched quietly towards the window nearby the beds, grabbed onto the string and slowly tugged at it, opening the blinds without Zelda's consent. Her hair was a darker shade of brown, almost black as it was neatly tied back into a pony tail. The color of her hair complimented her pale, almost ghostly white skin as she donned a loose hoodie along with yoga pants to compliment her top.

"Hey—you aren't going to sleep in on the first day of classes, right Zel?" she said, grinning.

A disgruntled Zelda moaned in response before removing the blanket off of her face. She glanced over at the clock perched on the desk nearby before getting up. Zelda made her way towards the dresser, grabbing a clean pair of clothes before entering the bathroom. From there, she got ready for the day, even putting on her favorite makeup to make herself look much more presentable than she needed to be.

After Zelda finished, she made her way towards the kitchen. She opened the fridge as her eyes scoped around, wondering what to make for breakfast this morning. Her roommate heard Zelda rummaging through the refrigerator. She peered her head from the bedroom door.

"Oh hey, I should had mentioned earlier that before you even think about making yourself something, I've made you a yogurt parfait and I would feel really bad if you didn't see it," she exclaimed.

Zelda beamed at her roommate's thoughtful gesture as she reached for the parfait inside the fridge. Afterwards, she opened up a drawer nearby to grab a spoon before settling down at the small wooden table. Clutching onto her spoon, Zelda dived into the parfait and took her first bite.

"Wow! This is really good! Thank you for making me one Mei," Zelda complimented.

Mei extended her thumb up as her lips curled and winked in response.

"No problem!"

While Zelda continued eating her breakfast, she managed to capture a good look at Mei's face. She wondered how she was born naturally pretty in comparison to herself. Not once did she ever recall Mei wearing makeup or any kind foundation. Her skin just happened to be flawless. Zelda considered herself a plain Jane in contrast to the other girls. Maybe it was the thickness of her eyebrows. As much as she hated to admit, Zelda envied girls like Mei. She assumed Mei's natural beauty was possibly a result of exercising daily and keeping up with her food intake. Heck, she wouldn't even be surprised if she followed the nutritional guidelines too.

Despite being complete polar opposites and majoring in different subjects (Mei was a nutrition major while Zelda was majoring in English), the two got along the first day they've met one another.

After Zelda finished eating breakfast, both her and Mei stepped outside of their door room and started heading over to their first class of the semester. The two parted ways and said their goodbyes. Before Mei departed, she suggested for Zelda to join her for a yoga session sometime. As Zelda looked for the Language and Literature building, she decided to take the scenic route.

She took note of how aged the buildings were in comparison to that of her community college. They reminded her of old historical brick homes from her history books. Bright flowers outlined the walkway near the buildings. Various trees were scattered throughout the grassy fields with wooden benches resting on top. The monotone buzz from idle chatter from various students of different age groups and faculty alike leaped across the entire campus. They were enjoying the outdoors. Some students even brought their children to accompany them due to the university harboring a daycare center. A small smile formed upon Zelda's face.

"If Sheik was still alive, he would have loved being here."

Zelda continued to get lost in her own sea of thoughts, her mind fixated on her deceased twin. She wondered if the goddesses were watching over him. As she continued contemplating, a voice slowly pierced through, grabbing away her attention.

"Hey Zelda—is that you?"

The sudden voice snapped Zelda back into reality. She turned her head towards the direction of the voice. Before she could muster a word, another blonde haired girl rushed over. She was followed by an auburn haired girl. The other blonde tackled Zelda with full force, causing Zelda to take a few steps back before toppling down.

"It really is you Zellie!" the other girl chirped. She couldn't contain the excitement in her voice. Zelda couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's good to see you again Peach," Zelda said. "You haven't even changed a bit."

Both Peach and Zelda got up from the ground and brushed themselves off. The third girl walked towards them and waved at Zelda while standing close by Peach.

"So—who's your new friend?" Zelda asked.

"Well," Peach answered, "this is my cousin Daisy! I don't think you two ever met before."

The two exchanged smiles with one another as Daisy beamed wide. "Hi! I'm Daisy! It's a real pleasure to meet you Zelda, it really is! My cousin told me all about you and everything!"

Zelda cocked a brow and crossed her arms. She gave Daisy a playful smirk. "What did she exactly tell you?"

"Well..." Daisy tapped her chin repeatedly. She tried to remember all the times Peach rambled off about Zelda, which was almost all the time. "She said you're extremely smart, beautiful, brilliant, and overall, a really good friend."

Giggling, Zelda couldn't help but grin from Peach's flattery.

"That sounds like Peach alright. Say, we should meet up at this exact spot near the oak tree later and oh, maybe get some lunch too! This depends on your guys' schedule of course! Anyways, I should really be heading over to class right now."

With those words, Zelda began making haste towards the direction of the Language and Literature building. Before heading off, she turned around and shouted at the two cousins.

"It was nice talking to you again Peach! Same as for meeting you Daisy! See you guys whenever!

Zelda barged into the classroom and glanced at the clock near the whiteboard. Seeing that she arrived just in time, Zelda sighed in relief. She looked around the classroom and took note how huge they were in universities in comparison to community colleges. While community college classrooms seated an estimate of thirty students, university classrooms varied depending on the course and location. Some housed over sixty students, while others housed over a hundred.

Despite the architectural exterior of Harlington being much older, the interior was kept up to date and even showed signs of recent renovations over the years. Zelda's first class had flexible learning space with tiered, auditorium-styled seating and smaller breakout areas. In the center of the room near the exit sat the teacher's desk. Overall the classroom placed high emphasis towards the center, presenting a large presence to the professor.

Zelda contemplated for a slight moment, trying to figure out where to sit before settling down on a seat in the front row, near the teacher's desk. She knew she would most likely get distracted if she were to sit up in the back. A couple of other students were already seated in the spots they had mentally claimed as well. They consisted of two girls chatting up a storm in the back row, another girl browsing through her tablet in the middle row, and couple of boys on the far end of the classroom engaged in a conversation of their own. Last but not least, another boy sat on the far end in the same row as her.

For some peculiar reason, the boy's gaze was intensely fixated on Zelda, almost as if he was interested in either befriending her or perhaps, even something more. Being curious, Zelda decided to look in his direction. He caught sight of her and exchanged a small smile with her before glancing at his phone. The boy had blue hair, almost indigo even. His eyes shared the same color as his hair to compliment his features. Zelda couldn't help but find him kind of cute.

Time neared as a flock of students barged through the doorway, scoping out the classroom for unoccupied seats. The chatter grew gradually louder as the room began to fill up. Some students discussed how they spent their summer break while others met each one another for the first time. A familiar face entered the classroom which consisted of another blue haired individual. As his gaze met Zelda's, he quickly rushed over and sat in the chair next to her.

"Hey Zelda, I haven't seen you in a long time," he greeted. "How have you been?"

"Well—I've been good. Believe it or not, I've just recently transferred over to Harlington with my associates, so I've got my general classes out of the way," she replied. Zelda immediately recognized Marth from high school. They both graduated at the top of their class and were voted most likely to succeed in the yearbook. In addition, people used to mistake the two as a couple all of the time, due to the fact they participated in many similar activities. However, they just happened to be really good friends.

Zelda smiled in response. "That's great to hear!"

The two engaged in a small conversation, playing catch up with one another. Little did Zelda know, the other boy went back to staring at her, quickly glancing back at his phone whenever Marth or Zelda peered in his direction.

Shortly after, an older man entered the classroom, holding onto a stack of papers and placed it on the desk in the center. Everyone assumed him to be the professor for the course and those papers to be the syllabus. He wore charcoal trousers, a woolly sweater and smiled from ear to ear. Some students already had purchased their textbooks prior to the start date while others waited to see if the class even required one. The professor went up to the whiteboard and began jolting some things down, which included the name of the course, the days and times it met along with his contact information (phone number, email address and best method of contacting him). As he turned around, the students' murmurs dwindled down as they gave him their undivided attention. Clearing his throat, he faced his students.

"Greetings fellow students. Welcome to Literature and Cultural Difference, otherwise known as ENG262. I'm Professor Robert Lewis and I'll be your teacher for the semester. Seeing how this class meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9 a.m., we'll be able to discuss the importance of literature when it comes to our cultures."

Robert began pacing around the room.

"Some of you are here because it's a required class for your major, while others are taking this course for an elective credit. Since today is the first day, we'll be going over the syllabus for the remainder of the period. If we manage to finish early, I'll dismiss you guys afterwards."

He would grab the stack of papers and handed them over to each row, telling the students on the farthest end of the room to pass them along. As Zelda received her syllabus, she began skimming through it. She wondered how much essays and or projects were going to be involved in the course.

Once everyone received their syllabus, Robert began to go over every detail; from the rules, assignments, quizzes to even the required textbooks for the course. After fifty minutes had passed, class came to an end. Before students departed for their next class or their breaks, they had to sign an acknowledgement form and turn it in. This was so Robert knew who attended the first day of class. Those who failed to show up on the first day were dropped immediately. After that, he and the other professors could care less whether their students showed up or not.

Zelda walked out of the classroom alongside Marth.

"Say Marth—if you don't mind me asking, what's your next class?"

"Um, I have BIO302 next. You see, I'm a pre-med student," he replied, following it with a smile. "Say Zelda—what are you majoring in?"

"Oh me? I'm an English major. I've always had the passion for writing and literature, so I just figured why not major in something you love," Zelda said, shrugging. Marth rose a brow, taking note how Zelda sounded rather unsure of herself, yet paid no heed into it.

Eventually Marth realized he had to depart much earlier than he had thought, recalling his next class started at ten. He waved goodbye to Zelda, hoping he would see her later on as the day progressed.

Zelda began making her way towards the oak tree she ran into Peach and Daisy at. She wondered if they even remembered to meet under it after their first class ended. As she came closer, she noticed the two chatting right away, causing her lips to curl slightly. Peach and Daisy noticed Zelda and beckoned her to come over.

When she arrived, she noticed the blue haired boy from earlier. He seemed to be engaged in a conversation with his friends. Next to him stood a blonde hair girl with a pony tail and an indigo haired man who wore a dark green bandanna over his forehead. Zelda couldn't quite put a face on the others except the guy from her literature class.

Peach took note of Zelda's gaze and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey Zellie—what are you looking at," she asked, being curious.

"Oh, it's nothing really," Zelda responded. Daisy looked over at Zelda, and then at the direction she glanced at before giving her attention back to Zelda.

"Well, something tells me you were staring at that boy," Daisy teased in a little melody.

Zelda's face turned a bit red, causing her to flail her arms in response.

"No I wasn't!" she shouted, defending herself. Daisy kept giving her that look which said she didn't believe her. Finally, Zelda leaned over and sighed in defeat. She figured it was just best to tell them the truth.

"Alright, alright, fine! That guy over there's in my ENG262 class. For some reason, he kept staring at me for reasons I'm not so sure of," Zelda answered, shrugging.

Peach looked over at the trio not too far from before glancing back at her friends and grinned. She couldn't help but join in Daisy's fun and teased Zelda.

"Well, for starters, he's really cute! You should definitely talk to him Zellie!" Peach nudged Zelda on side and winked.

"Peach, I barely even know the guy! Plus, I'm not really interested in dating at the moment. My studies come first before a baby carriage," Zelda stated flatly.

Peach shrugged, which was immediately preceded by a high pitched giggle afterwards. "Oh well—that just means more cute boys for me then!"

Daisy learned towards Zelda and whispered in her ear. "Real talk Zelda, you should go talk to him sometime. See what he likes, dislike, and all that other jazz. You know—get to know him and everything. If we're going to be honest, high school was the time were we were told to participate in many extracurricular activities as we can. Meanwhile once college starts, that's when your actual life begins."

Daisy wrapped her arms around Zelda's shoulder and pointed at the sky.

"You should really go out and experiment with the things you were never allowed to do. You know, like having fun! College is about making new friends, meeting cute boys or girls if you're into that sort of thing, going to parties and cram studying until you pass out. So–get out of your comfort zone and strut your stuff girlie!"

Peach heard her cousin's helpful speech and decided to chime in. "Daisy does bring up a certainly good point Zellie. Once you're finished with school, you really won't have time for all the fun things in life anymore."

Zelda sighed. She knew they weren't going to take no for an answer. She stared at the ground and took a deep breath before replying.

"Well—I guess you guys are right. Maybe if I run into that guy later on today, I'll talk to him," Zelda said.

Both Peach and Daisy beamed at her response and jumped around. Unfortunately, their excitement was cut short since they realized they needed to start heading over to their next class. The two exchanged their goodbyes with Zelda. Before they left, Peach shouted over to Zelda, telling her she wanted an update on her progress. Zelda sighed once more, staring off into the distance.

"Boy, what did I just get myself into?"

While she had some free time left, Zelda decided to search for where her World Religions class was located. She made her way towards the Humanities building and swiftly came to the conclusion that her class was upstairs. As she began heading up, Zelda accidentally missed a step, causing her to fall backwards. Before she collided onto the floor, someone caught her in the nick of time.

"Hey, you should be more careful next time."

Zelda paused and blinked for a slight moment. She turned her head, wanting to catch of glimpse of her savior. Her green eyes met with his blue ones as she got lost in its trance. He had the most gorgeous dirty blond hair and the cutest crooked grin she had ever gazed upon. It was tied back into a ponytail. For some reason, he looked vaguely familiar. It was almost as if he was somebody that she used to know.

He looked over at Zelda and leaned closer, squinting his eyes a bit.

"She looks familiar—too familiar to be exact," he thought.

A moment of silence perched itself between the two. They awkwardly gawked at one another, studying each other's features. Around two minutes later, the boy finally spoke.

"I know this may come off as rather creepy, but you look like someone I've used to know. Say—is your name Zelda Nohansen by any chance?" he asked.

Zelda tilted her head in bewilderment. "Yes I am," she replied. "And you're?"

The boy placed a hand on his chest and smiled softly.

"I'm Link Farron! Do you remember me?"

From the moment she heard his name, her face expression dropped. Just a moment ago, Zelda smiled at him, thankful for his kind deed. Now she just wanted to lash out at him and give Link a piece of her mind. The last thing which even plagued her thoughts was running into any of those guys from her past whom she despised. However, this was much worse. Much, much worse. Zelda had come face to face with her brother's best friend, or rather, ex-best friend seeing how Sheik was long gone. If she were to compare Link's actions to the other boys combined, his misdeeds would outweigh theirs by a huge landslide. She loathed Link for running off when her brother needed him most. What made things much worse was the fact that after Sheik's passing, Link completely fell off the face of the earth. Just what kind of best friend abandons someone when they need help the most anyways?

A pathetic, lowlife traitor, that's what!

Zelda lowered her brows as her lips curled upside down. She inched slowly towards Link, causing him to back away before started shouting at him.

"Just what kind of joke are you playing on me now?!" she questioned.

Link on the other hand, was puzzled by her own actions. He continued backing away from her. The poor guy was completely clueless to what was even going on.

"Don't play stupid with me Farron! You could have helped him, hell, you could have done something but no—you're nothing but a coward! You've abandoned him when he needed you the most!"

It took a moment to click in Link's brain before he realized who she was talking about. He was surprised that she was still mad at him over something that was way beyond his reach.

"Zelda wait—I can explain..."

Before he could seize the opportunity to justify himself, Zelda cut him off. "Are you going to explain your own actions by using defensive reasoning?! I don't think so! Out of you and those four other losers, you're the absolute worst!"

Link sighed. The only thing he could do was shake his head.

"Zelda, please—!"

Before Link could further emphasize his position, another figure who managed to overhear their argument decide to intervene before things quickly escalated.

"Sir, I think this young lady wants you to leave her alone. Besides, don't you think you're being rude?" he said, smirking.

Link looked over at the figure and glared at him. There was something eerie about this guy he couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Oh great—he's here. Just the person I wanted to see."

The man stepped between Link and Zelda and extended his arm, telling Link to back off. "I'm sure you have much better things to do than to harass this poor woman," he added. He rummaged his hands through his icy white hair, taunting Link in the process.

As much as he wanted to plummet his fist into his face, Link knew this guy wasn't worth it. He figured in order to make amends, he needed to catch Zelda some other time. Link still couldn't believe that she was still upset over something that happened years ago. While Link began to walk away, the other man approached her and bowed down before extending his hand.

"Are you alright miss?" He glared over in Link's direction. "Some people could be quite rude..."

Zelda simply nodded in response. "I am. Thank you for saving me from him earlier."

"No need to thank me. It was just common sense." He paused for a moment before realizing something. "Well, it looks like I'm being the rude one now. I haven't even introduced myself yet. The name's Ghirahim by the way," he said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ghirahim, I'm Zelda."

"Zelda..." he answered, pausing for a bit. "What a lovely name. Say, I'd love to sit down and chat with you, but I have much more important matters to tend to. Perhaps we'll cross paths again sometime son."

"Yeah."

The two exchanged their farewells before Zelda went upstairs. Before he disappeared from her sight, Ghirahim turned around and faced Zelda.

"Before I depart, let me warn you about something ahead of time. There are other fools roaming around, just like that Link fellow you were talking to. I would advise for you to be on guard at all times."

With those words, he vanished before she could even seize the chance to question him. Sighing, she found the location of her next class as Zelda sat on a nearby bench, waiting for it to start.

"Just what does Ghirahim mean by other fools... wait—does he mean that they're here too?!"

It seemed that fate wanted Zelda to cross paths with them once more. Little did she know, this was only the beginning.

While I had originally named the female Wii Fit Trainer Jennifer in the original, I've decided to change her name to Mei in the remake. I personally feel it suits her much better.

Anyways, while I already have some pairings set in stone (some of them I'm not going to even name yet), I am always up for suggestions for them. Note that there will also be MLM and WLW relationships in this story.

The parings that I've decided to utilize (and reveal to you) which are going to be in this story thus far are: Link/Zelda (super obvious), Mario/Peach, Luigi/Daisy, Marth/Caeda and Chrom/Robin (female).