Wow, didn't expect to clean this chapter up much quicker than I've anticipated. As a little treat, I'm releasing it early. Note that I did name it after the Phoenix song.

Chapter 3: Trying to Be Cool ~

Zelda couldn't believe the events which transpired just now. During this sudden moment, she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel. Part of her felt livid while another part desperately yearned for this, knowing that Chrom spoke nothing but the truth. Unfortunately, Zelda couldn't find the right words to say, sighing further in distress.

"Zelda, you're one of the most selfish people I've ever met."

She gave off another sigh which was resigned and weary. It signalized the end of deliberate effort and the beginning of incessant repentance. Zelda made her way towards a table near an oak tree and settled herself down. She folded her arms on the concrete table and laid her head down, hiding her shame from the world. She began mumbling to herself in a low voice. It was inaudible to everyone else but her.

"Maybe he's right… I've been so self-absorbed in my own misery, that not once did I even bother to realize how they felt before Sheik left… or even before his departure." A weak groan escaped from Zelda's lips. "Oh goddesses—how could I be so damn stupid not to realize this until now?"

Zelda began pondering really hard about the entire ordeal. She recalled all of the times were she reassured herself that she would become more like her brother, but instead, she was nothing but a pitiable coward. First of all, she immediately placed the blame on the boys who couldn't defend themselves and second, not once did she ever bother to think about how they felt. Her mind was only preoccupied on one thing and one thing only—herself. She remembered how they were always friendly towards her in the past. Heck, Pit, Chrom and Roy asked her if she was feeling alright after Sheik's passing.

She began feeling sick to her stomach—the prolonging anxiety began gorging at her abdomen, scavenging for any sustained guilt she harbored from within. Zelda knew those boys had gone though a lot of hardships, recalling the worst one being Vaati. Last thing she remembered, Vaati was pulled out of school long before Sheik's passing. Because of that, she never really knew of his whereabouts afterwards. She really hoped he was faring well. After Vaati's disappearance, she remembered how the other children instantly hopped onto the second weakest link, Chrom.

Slowly but surely, it all started to make sense now. As Zelda pondered further, she realized if she were in Chrom's shoes, she wouldn't have forgave herself either. Zelda shook her head, trying to ignore all of the submerging thoughts attacking her continuously. When she finally hoped she was free, Zelda got up from the table, only to be slammed down once more.

"Zelda!"

Pausing for a just a slight moment, she looked around frantically for the source of the sudden voice. The only thing she could pinpoint was it belonged to that of a small child. Scoping her eyes around the campus, Zelda saw no sign of a small child anywhere in sight.

"Zelda!"

Panicking a little, Zelda sat back down at the table and placed her right hand over her head gently. She could have almost sworn she was starting to hallucinate. The more she thought about the child's voice, the further she realized it sounded familiar. However, only one question remained—just where did she hear it before? It took her a moment to even try to put a face on the voice. Shortly after, Zelda realized the voice belonged to no other than Chrom when he was much younger.

She recalled how timid Chrom was in the past. Because of his meek nature, he had trouble making friends. It also didn't help in his favor that Chrom used to be much heavier back then which overall made him a very vulnerable target. He always tried his hardest to hide from the bullies, but they ended up finding him regardless. As Zelda continued to dwell on her own thoughts, it all started coming back to her.

"Zelda!"

A seven year old Zelda turned around and noticed Chrom running up to her. Looking puzzled, she wondered what he even wanted. Sighing, Zelda figured it was just best to get it done and over with. The sooner she heard him out, the sooner he would leave her alone. She crossed her arms, exchanged a look of annoyance and rolled her eyes. Chrom did not seem to get the hint.

"What is it now Chrom?"

"Um, well…" Chrom looked to the side while his feet rubbed against the down, kicking the mixture of freshly cut grass and dirt beneath him. He was always known for long, irregular pauses in his responses or stammering over his words. Chrom shuffled through the pockets of his trousers and took out a small piece of people which was neatly folded.

"Y-your secret admirer wa-wanted me to um... oh! Give this to you," he said.

Zelda glanced at the paper, shooting Chrom a small glare before looking at the note again before taking it.

"Um, thanks."

Chrom couldn't detect the lack of softness in her voice nor the look which conveyed bubbling aggravation. He avoided eye contact with Zelda at all costs. She seemed surprised that he was still even here. Usually he would give her the anonymous letters her secret admirer wrote for her and scurry away quickly before she was able to react. He glanced down at the ground once again before digging through his pockets. It was as if he had almost forgotten something. A small smile formed across his lips as he took out a small, nearly embroidered envelope and handed it over to Zelda.

"H-here—it's for you."

Opening up the card right away, it turned out to be an invitation to Chrom's birthday party. Zelda skimmed through the invitation before closing it, sighing softly afterwards.

"Chrom, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but nobody's going to go. You should know that by now, so why do you even bother trying?"

The card swayed side to side before colliding on the ground gently as Zelda dropped it without a second thought nor a single care in the world. She turned around and ran back towards her friends, leaving Chrom to his own devices. Chrom watched her take off, trying his best not to cry, but he couldn't help it.

"Wow… did I really do all of that?" she thought out loud. Zelda sighed, resting her head on the table. She hoped this sudden surge of driving down memory lane was done and over with. Just thinking back, she realized how much anyone could mature from such a short time frame. It seemed rather long, but it was small in comparison compared to those who were much older.

Sighing heavily, Zelda began regretting more things which happened in the past. She quickly realized that this could have explained why Chrom blew up on her like that. If her brother was still around, this would have never happened. Yet he wouldn't have approved of her actions towards them either.

As she thought the memories finally stopped swarming her, little did she know, her thoughts attacked her once again.

A thirteen year old Zelda sat at her desk during lunch break. She seemed to be far engulfed into a novel she was reading, just to be suddenly interrupted by her friends. Closing the book in defeat, her eyes met with both Peach's and Malon's gaze.

"Hey Zellie?" Peach asked.

"Yeah?"

"Malon has a question to ask you."

Tilting her head, Zelda wondered what Malon wanted to know. They had shared a bunch of things together, but perhaps that wasn't enough. Hopefully it wasn't something too personal.

"What is it?" Zelda answered.

Malon glanced to see if anyone was inside the classroom before grinning from ear to ear. Once she realized it was just them, she looked back at Zelda.

"Hey Zelda? I was wondering, do you like Chrom Iris by any chance?"

Zelda's face expression dropped swiftly from the mere thought of Chrom and shook her head in response. Not only was she asked this sort of question constantly by her friends, but also by her peers who barely even knew her. Part of her wished people would stop assuming she had a crush on him just because the teacher always paired him up with her out of pity. He was nothing but a scaredy cat anyways. Not once did he bother defending himself against his tormentors. Out of all things Zelda despised the most about Chrom, it was the fact he turned out to be her secret admirer. His lingering crush on her had yet to dwindle away. Pondering more about it, Zelda hated the fact that the letters I and N were somewhat close to each other, especially if no other student had a last name which started with anything between those letters. Unfortunately, this happened to be the case in Zelda's class. Her homeroom teacher assigned seats according by the students' surnames.

"No—of course not!" Zelda was even disgusted that Malon would assume such a thing. She was her friend! She should had known better than to insist Zelda harbored feelings for Chrom. "People ask me that question all of the time. What makes you think I even like him in the first place?! First of all, he's irritating and second, he's nowhere even near my type! I would never ever go out with him in a heartbeat. Not even if someone paid me a million dollars to."

It didn't help that both of their fathers happened to be influential, wealthy businessmen. So in turn, Zelda had constant run ins with Chrom for the majority of her life. Malon and Peach exchanged confused glances with one another before shrugging. Zelda excused herself for a moment and left the classroom to freshen herself up.

In the hallway, Zelda had came face to face with him. She felt as if the gods were cursing her, almost as if they were ushering her to go out with him. Chrom looked at her and blushed slightly. He clutched onto something behind his back.

"H-hi Zelda…" he murmured quietly. "I just wanted to give this to you. I thought you would like it."

He moved his hand, revealing he hid a gift box and a bouquet full of red, lavender and pink roses behind his back. Chrom handed them over to Zelda as she took it without thinking. Zelda knew the rose colors symbolized something—pink roses symbolized love, lavender roses symbolized love at first sight, and last but not least, red roses symbolized true love. Forcing herself to smile, Zelda was about to thank him until Chrom spoke.

"Hey Zelda—I was wondering with the dance coming up so soon, would you like to go with me?" he asked.

Before she could even answer, someone shoved Chrom into a nearby locker, causing him to whimper from the slight impact. Zelda turned to see who the perpetrators were. It turned out to be none other than Groose, Cawlin, and Strich. Chrom slowly got up, wincing a bit from the throbbing pain in his stomach.

"Hey Porky, didn't I tell you to say away from Zelda?" Groose lectured. Not once did Chrom give him the satisfaction of replying. Instead, he just frowned. Zelda sighed and looked over towards Groose and his posse.

"Groose, for the last time, I'm not going to the dance with you. And for the love of goddesses, please stop harassing Chrom. He's already pathetic as it is. Find yourself a better hobby and just—I should get going."

With those words, Zelda made haste towards the girls' restroom.

Another sigh escaped her lips. Zelda got up from the table, hoping this would be the last of her sea of regrets. She needed to stop living in the past and learn how to move on, starting with Sheik's death. For some reason, her mind wasn't lingering on about her brother anyone. Instead, it decided to change course, making Zelda remember all the things she had done to the other boys, specifically the one who told her off.

Taking another stroll around the campus, Zelda couldn't help but crossed paths with another familiar face. However they didn't seem to budge, so Zelda did not notice their presence. After what felt like a couple of minutes, Zelda noticed that the sudden flashbacks had finally ceased to. Or so she thought.

She exhaled softly, just to hear a voice echo afterwards.

"Nobody will ever love you!"

Instantaneously, Zelda knew whose voice that was—it was her own. Just when she believed the flashbacks were done and over with, Zelda placed her hands over her face, trying to force them to go away.

However to no avail, she failed. It was like if it was trying to tell her something.

A fifteen year old Zelda walked down the corridor in Floria Academy alongside Marth, hanging up fliers for the annual cancer walk the student council had requested to be put up. Marth looked over to her and smiled.

"Hey, let me take over from here. Since you've been working hard all day, you deserve a break," he told her.

Zelda thanked Marth before handing him the remaining stack of papers. From there, she proceeded on and decided to freshen up before returning to class.

Prior to her own knowledge, Chrom meandered through the hallway as well. Today was his final day at Floria Academy. He pranced around, being ecstatic that he was finally leaving this hellhole. But if there was one thing he would truly miss, it was Zelda. Even though she's been joining the crowd lately, he still felt something for her.

"I cannot wait to start over at my new school!" Chrom told himself, beaming with confidence and radiating determination. "Perhaps I could change myself and make everyone surprised when I come back to show them that I'm no longer the hopeless fat kid they've picked on for so long," He grinned slight before slouching in utter disappointment.

"What am I even thinking? I know that'll never happen. Guess I'm forever bound to being stuck like this, so I should just give up my dreams of yearning for acceptance."

While Chrom continued wandering the hallways, he noticed Zelda. Smiling from one ear to another, he rushed over towards Zelda. He knew this was going to be his final chance to interact with her before he left.

"Zelda!"

She turned around at the mention of her name, just to notice it was only Chrom and rolled her eyes. Zelda placed her hand on her hips and gave him a look of disdain.

"Ugh—what do you want now? Can't you see that unlike you, some of us are actually busy?" she responded with an attitude.

Chrom frowned a bit in slight annoyance before he spoke.

"Jeez—I just wanted to say goodbye. Perhaps we could finally start dating and send letters to each other! It would be like we're pen pals, but instead we'll be lovers separated by distance!" he beamed.

Zelda gave off another disgruntled sigh. "Jeez, have you always been this socially awkward? I'd really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but for the last time, I'm not your damn friend! I never was! Stop giving me gifts, stop following me, and stop emailing me! Goddesses—I don't even know how you've even got ahold of my information, just leave me the hell alone!"

"Zelda…." Chrom's shoulders slumped slowly. "I...I...but—"

"Don't Zelda me! The only reason why I've even accepted your stupid gifts in the first place was because I felt sorry for you. So let me tell you something straight—I'll never, ever love you! No—nobody will ever love you. So you should just stop trying and realize that you're nothing more than a pathetic weakling. I now bid you good day!"

Zelda hugged and turned around, storming away, leaving a disheartened Chrom in tow. He felt tears building up in his eyes before wiping them away with his sleeve.

"No…" he told himself. "I'll not cry anymore. If I ever come back or meet them again, I swear I'll change. They won't be able to kick me around any longer!"

Zelda sighed as she stopped in her tracks. She couldn't even believe those cruel words managed to come out of her mouth, let alone tell someone that. What hurt her more was the fact that Zelda was doing quite the opposite of what she wanted to do. When her brother passed away, she reminded herself constantly to follow in his footsteps. But instead, she held onto all of these unnecessary grudges. They even went to the point of hurting those who only tried to comfort and befriend her.

Zelda made her way towards the university library and stepped inside. From there she saw row after row of nearly lined up novels with their spines facing outward, being arranged in alphabetical order. Fiction, non-fiction, encyclopedias and foreign texts were all separated from one another. Comfortable arm chairs were scattered throughout the room while a sear of tables sat across from them in distance near the computer lab. As Zelda looked around, her eyes caught glimpse of a little built in coffee shop near the periodicals.

First things first, Zelda decided to log onto one of the school computers to get her class acknowledgments out of the way. Afterwards, she made her way towards the coffee shop. She decided to order herself a mocha frappuccino before settling down at a small table near the café. The song on the satellite radio transitioned from Kacey Musgraves' "High Horse" to "Trying to Be Cool" from the band Phoenix.

Taking a sip of her drink, Zelda decide to tune into the music, seeing how she had nothing else better to do. As she focused on the lyrics, she mainly picked up on two phrases from the song.

Pondering about it, Zelda wondered if Chrom transformed his entire image and demeanor because of her. It could have been a possibility, but before she could dwell on it, the sound of scooting chairs broke her chain of thought.

Zelda looked up and noticed Marth and Peach joining her.

"Hey Zellie! I'm finally back from my final class of the day! I was wondering of you'd like to join me for dinner and—"

Marth held his hand up, cutting Peach off before she could even finish rambling. Peach crossed her arms in irritation. Meanwhile Marth leaned in and whispered in Peach's ear.

"Um Peach? I didn't mean to cut you off like that, but it looks like something's bother Zelda," he stated.

Peach finally took note of Zelda's body language, and nodded her head slowly.

Looking back at Zelda, Marth asked, "I couldn't help but notice that something's bothering you. Care to explain?"

Zelda shook her head and sighed.

"Do you guys ever have one of those days where you brain just goes "Remember the time you did this?" Let's just say mine's been doing that a lot lately as of today. It doesn't help that I had a recent encounter with something and I just…" She couldn't find the right words to say. Wanting to make her happy again, Peach decided to swiftly change the subject to the cute boy from earlier, hoping it would cheer up Zelda.

"So—did you ever get to talk to the cute boy we were talking about earlier? You know, from your first class?" Peach asked.

Zelda laughed nervously before she responded. "About that… I have something to tell you Peach. That guy… turned out to actually be Chrom—you know, from elementary school."

Peach's eyes widened from the sudden, meanwhile Marth kept his mouth shut. It was as if something bothered him. Leaning over towards the table, Peach looked Zelda dead in the eye.

"No way—you're kidding, right?! How could that be Crybaby Chrom out of all people!? That man has a perfect body and… and…"

Peach got up and threw her hands up in the air while her body slouched back down in her seat. Zelda sighed yet again.

"People change Peach… and to be honest, I feel like I should apologize to him. I mean, I was pretty rude to him back then, especially when he didn't even deserve it. Who knew what more he had on his plate besides the other kids harassing him."

Peach stood silent while Marth was in agreement with Zelda.

"That's a good step. Besides, it's better to make amends with someone, rather than having feelings of hate linger on in life," he told Zelda.

"But wait a minute," Peach interrupted. "There's something that doesn't quite add up. Just how in the world did Chrom even obtain Zelda's contact information to begin with?"

"That's a really good question Peach, now that I think about it," Zelda added. While the two girls tried to speculate possibilities, Marth kept his mouth shut the entire time while his eyes shifted towards the left. Peach caught sign of this and poked him.

"Marth… do you have something to do with this?" she asked.

Marth sighed and shook his head. "I was the one who gave Chrom your information Zelda."

Zelda's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe someone whom she was close to give her information so freely. She wasn't sure how to feel, but she wanted to hear Marth out. Maybe he had good intentions on why he gave Chrom her contact information.

"Why did you do it Marth?" Zelda questioned gently.

"He's my cousin. Why wouldn't I try to help him," Marth replied. "He was already being physically abused by his father, and I couldn't stand to see him being so sad all of the time. Every time he talked about you, his eyes lit up with a spark of admiration. I felt that maybe helping him would lighten up his mood a bit, so I gave him your contact information."

Not once did Zelda say anything. She couldn't believe it. Now she felt even worse, knowing that Chrom wasn't only just getting harassed at school but at home as well. And his father seemed so kind too. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons Chrom moved away was to get out of a domestic situation.

While Zelda continued contemplated, in the meantime, Peach glanced down at her phone and responded to a text message before returning back to the conversation.

"Hey guys," Daisy said to come meet her over at the daycare center she works at. She could really use our help right now, plus her boss said it was alright." Peach figured helping her cousin would help lighten the mood. Thankfully Marth and Zelda agreed to tag along.

Zelda stepped inside the daycare center and glanced around. There were separate vocations for the children based off their age range and group. She followed Peach along with Marth as they made their way towards the three to four year olds section. They stepped inside. The room was reminiscent of a small classroom, except for all of the toys aligned in shelves and on the floor. The three were greeted immediately by Daisy and another dirty blonde haired girl.

"Hey guys! Glad you can make it," Daisy said. "Oh yeah—before I forget, let me introduce you to my friend and coworker Ilia."

The group exchanged their hellos with one another, even getting to know each other in the process. Two young boys ran up to Daisy, glancing at the other grownups with curious eyes.

"Miss Daisy," the blond haired boy asked. "Who are they?"

"Well Lucas, they're my friends," she answered.

"Ooh—are they grownups like you?" asked his brother Claus.

She nodded. After Daisy answered their questions, the two twins resumed back to playing with each other. They grabbed some Legos as they decided to build a city. Daisy turned around and continued her conversation. They talked discussed their schedules along with their opinions of their teachers thus far. All was going well until another child ran up to her. He wore a red cap along with a yellow and blue striped t-shirt.

"Miss Daisy," the boy whined, "Lucy hit me!"

Daisy excused herself while she knelt down and sighed. "Ness, where did she hit you?"

Ness pointed at the small red mark on his shoulder. Daisy got up for a second, not only to stretch his legs but to look for the culprit as well.

"Lucy, come over here!"

"Coming!"

Peach and the others glanced over and observed Daisy. They were curious to see how well she handled her job. After all, Daisy wanted to be an elementary school teacher. A little girl with blue hair which was pulled back by a white hairband ran up to her. She stuck her tongue out at Ness before looking at Daisy.

"Yes Miss Daisy?" Lucy answered sweetly.

"Why did you hit Ness?" Daisy asked gently.

"Well Ness said that my friend wasn't my boyfriend!" Lucy whined.

"It's true," Ness butted in.

Daisy shook her head and scolded both of them. On top of it, she made Ness and Lucy apologize to one another. After doing so, the two children resumed their usual activities while Daisy went back to join her friends.

"Aw, she has her first crush already! That's so adorable," Peach exclaimed happily.

The group of college students resumed their conversation. Since it was the afternoon, parents started coming in and out, picking up their children. Daisy and Ilia would take turns updating the parents on their child's progress. Eventually the door opened as it revealed Link, whom happened to be wearing a baby carrier. A young infant who looked to be about sixteen weeks old rested inside, looking around. He happened to have the same shade of blue hair as Lucy, except that his eyes were brown.

Glancing up, Lucy noticed Link and grinned wide.

"Link!' she beamed and ran up to him. Link ruffled her hair for a bit before getting Daisy and Ilia. The other three got up as well. Zelda was surprised that he was even here. Peach took note of Link and nudged Zelda on the side of her stomach, giving her a wink as she hinted towards another cute boy for her. Oddly enough, she was insisting that Zelda and Link would make a great couple.

"Hi Link!" Ilia greeted. "I take it that Lucy's father sent you to pick her and Morgan up again?"

"Yep. He said he was feeling a bit under the weather, so he decided to take a nap before heading out to work. Left me with the kids again like he always does," Link replied, chuckling a bit.

Daisy would begin filling Link on Lucy's progress. Meanwhile Lucy looked fondly at Link. Zelda couldn't help but noticed she was infatuated with her babysitter. She most likely saw him as older brother figure or a second father. Overall, Zelda found it to be quite adorable. She figured she would first try to make amends with Link and even help him after he was done talking.

Lucy frowned a bit, glancing at her brother and how close he was to her "boyfriend." Ilia looked over and knelt down. She was curious to ask the three year old a simple question.

"Hey Lucy, what do you think about your baby brother?"

"I like him, but he smells sometimes," Lucy exclaimed, plugging in her nose. She had most likely stumbled upon Link or her father changing Morgan's diaper at some point.

Ilia chuckled and glanced over towards the grownups. "Kids say the darnest things, right?"

They nodded in unison before Link made his way out, holding Lucy's hand. Zelda followed him in pursuit.

"Link wait!"

He turned around and noticed Zelda. Link grinned a bit. It was almost if he had a plan of some sorts in mind.

"Now you're talking to me normally. So anyways, what's up?" Link said.

"I just wanted to apologize for my actions earlier… I've shouldn't have blamed you and acted childish. As a matter of fact, I think you were telling the truth," Zelda said.

Link nodded and ruffled Zelda's hair a bit.

"Eh? That's all in the past now. Hey—how about you come over to the townhouse I live in. It's not too far from here, plus it's pretty quiet over there. I live with three other guys if you don't mind. One should be at work, as for the other two, I wouldn't know. So, how about it?" Link offered.

Zelda thought about it for a moment before nodding. Lucy frowned at this, seeing Zelda as a threat.

She glanced around the neighborhood and observed the lovely townhouses while Link dug through his pockets, removed the key and opened the door. She would step inside and take off her shoes near the entrance. Zelda was surprised at how clean it was and caught sight of the children's toys being organized. She helped Link out in the process, grabbing Morgan out of his hands while she placed him inside the play crib. Morgan happened to fall asleep, which was always a good thing.

Lucy looked at Zelda, frowning the entire time before storming off into the bedroom, as if to get something.

Zelda glanced in her direction before she shrugged. She decided to make herself at home, plopping herself down on the couch. She took note of the large flat screen TV accompanied with a couple of gaming systems nearby. A coffee table divided both the couch and the TV. After she surveyed the living room, Zelda looked at Link.

"Hey Link? What's with the children's toys?" she asked.

"Oh that?" he answered. "Let's just say that those kids live here too. One of my roommates is their father, whom I've happen to known since the first year I've started here."

"That's interesting. Say, about Lucy—is that her actual name or is it her nickname?"

Before Link even answered, he quickly realized he forgot to offer his guest a drink. He excused himself for a moment and went to retrieve a glass of water. Afterwards, he went back into the living room, handed Zelda the glass of water as he sat down next to her on the sofa.

"Sorry about that," Link apologized. "Now anyways, let me answer your question. Lucy's just her nickname. Her actual name is Lucina."

"Lucina?" Zelda leaned in, interested. "That's a beautiful name. If you don't mind me asking, how old are they?"

"Lucy's about three while Morgan's only sixteen weeks old."

Before she could interrogate any further, Zelda was interrupted by Lucina, whom seemed to be a bit miffed that she was even over here in the first place.

"Hey Link? Who is she?" Lucina asked, pointing at Zelda.

"Oh her?" Link wrapped his right arm around Zelda, causing her to slightly jump. "She's an acquaintance of mine. Her name's Zelda. Now Lucy, remember your manners and be nice to Zelda, okay?"

"Aw, okay," she answered, pouting. Lucina took out a sheet of paper from the desk nearby and handed it over to Link. "Look what I drawed today!"

"Wow! That's really nice Lucy! I'm sure you father would love this when he gets home. Now, how about we put on a movie?"

"Yeah!"

Lucina ran up to the cabinet, opened it up and began scoping through countless blu-rays. After she found her favorite cartoon movie, she took it out and closed back the cabinet, running back to Link. He grabbed the Blu-ray from her and set it up for her. From there, Lucina's eyes were a hundred percent fixated on the TV.

Zelda heard a sound coming from upstairs as the indigo haired man from earlier made his way downstairs, holding his car keys. He looked over and noticed Link and Zelda.

"Hey Link, I'm heading out now. Boyd wants to show me something apparently and—hey, who's that?" he asked.

"Oh her? That's Zelda," Link responded. He then added, "Zelda, this is Ike. He's one of my other roommates."

They both waved at one another before Ike teased Link with a grin, thinking he was trying to get something started with her and left. He told Link he would fill him in on Boyd's discovery when he returned. Link and Zelda decided to try and get to know one another, exchanging phone numbers, emails, Facebook pages and even their discords while Lucina watched the movie. About two hours later, the door opened again. Zelda wondered if Ike had finally returned or if it was one of Link's other roommates. Lucina got up swiftly and ran towards the door which gave Zelda an easy hint. Morgan was awake by now, sitting on top of Link's lap.

"Daddy you're home! And you've brought pizza!" Lucina chirped happily.

Footsteps were heard, approaching the kitchen first to place the pizza on the counter. Zelda looked towards Link, assuming that Morgan and Lucina's father was back. She was curious to see who their father was. Seeing how Lucina didn't return, Zelda assumed that her father served Lucina her meal. More footsteps were heard as they made their way towards the living room.

"Hey Link, I've brought some pizza home for dinner if you don't mi—"

All of the sudden, the room got quiet real fast. Zelda froze as she came face to face with Chrom. The entire thing she could only think about in the back of her mind was her little theory once again.

"Is he the father of those two kids? If I remember correctly, his birthday's on May 27th, which means he should be around the same age as me, that being twenty. If that little girl is only three, that means…"

"Hey Chrom—is everything alright?" Another figure Zelda didn't recognize joined them. His hair was a mixture of white and warm grey as they wore a black hoodie.

Link got up from the couch, holding Morgan. He made his way towards the kitchen. Before he left, he only said one thing.

"I'm going to get some pizza now. While at it, feel free to chat it up."

Link decided to drag the other boy with him before his departure, leaving Zelda alone with Chrom. There was an awkward silent between the two. Zelda figured she should probably get going before things escalate again. Chrom just stared at her as both of their eyes met with one another. Observing Chrom's eyes closely, Zelda could see the pain inside them, noticing that he was obviously upset about everything that's ever transpired between them.

"Hey Chrom, listen—I did a lot of thinking recently, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you. I didn't realize how much I was hurting you. To be honest, I don't even blame you if you don't forgive me for my stupid actions. In fact, I wouldn't forgive myself either," Zelda said.

Chrom paused for a moment, thinking to himself as he let her words sink in. After a minute or two had passed, a small smile formed upon his lips.

"I forgive you. To be honest, I felt that was being too harsh earlier. I didn't mean to but dwelling on the past ain't going to help us now, isn't it?" Chrom chuckled a bit at his response.

"Yeah, you're right."

Zelda smiled softly as well. She was glad that he was able to forgive her. Perhaps tomorrow she'll look for Roy or Pit to make amends with as well. Her mind dwindled back to her little theory again before being interrupted by Link shouting across from the kitchen.

"Oh yeah—before I forget to tell you, guess who called today and said they're coming over?!"

"Is it—oh gods." Chrom sighed, remembering that he should had been used to this by now. Speak of the devil, the doorbell rang as he told Zelda to answer it for him. She nodded a bit, seeing how he offered her to stay for dinner.

Zelda opened the door, just to be greeted by a tall, well-built brunet. He dressed very sharp, reminding Zelda of a strict authority figure. Many people would probably mistake him for being much older due to the way he's dressed, but she could tell that he was fairly young. He was most likely seven or eight years older than they were at the most. She recognized him as the boyfriend of Chrom's older sister or "nanny" as he called him, Frederick.

Frederick stepped inside and greeted everyone. He seemed to recognize her from a long time ago.

"I see that you've two managed to run into each other again. I remember all of the times Chrom used to reminisce about you milady. He called you pet names which ranged from silent princess to even light maiden. Ah, those were the times," he stated, smiling.

Chrom's face turned a deep red color from all of the second hand embarrassment he was receiving. "Gods Frederick… did you really have to tell her that?!"

"Of course. While at it…"

Frederick started cleaning the living room while Zelda blinked. The two exchanged glances as she giggled a bit while they made their way into the kitchen. They joined the others for dinner as Frederick finally met up with them, dusting Link, Zelda and the other boy off before standing next to Chrom. He greeted Lucina before diverting his attention towards Zelda.

"Perhaps you should join Chrom sometime for his daily fitness regime," Frederick suggested.

Zelda laughed a little bit. He was similar to her roommate. Perhaps if he and Mei had met, they would talk each other's ears off about the importance of fitness and daily exercise.

"Um, let me think about it."

She could tell that Chrom was getting embarrassed by all of this. Meanwhile Link and his other roommate chuckled, finding it amusing. Zelda assumed after Chrom left Floria Academy five years ago, Frederick placed him on a strict exercise and dieting plan, which explained his now well-toned body. Realizing that it was getting late, Link offered to walk Zelda back to her dorm. He made a mental note to introduce her to his other roommate later. Lucina frowned in the background while Link and Zelda left.

"Hey Link, I had a great time tonight. But I have one question to ask you—did you plan this whole thing?"

"Well, maybe not the Frederick part, but perhaps. I felt that you two should make amends with each other and look where it took you. Now you only have two left to go!" Link exclaimed.

Zelda smiled slightly as they made it to the dormitory. Link parted ways with Zelda before she entered her dorm room. When she stepped inside, it appeared that Mei wasn't back yet. Zelda smiled as she decided to relax for a bit before calling it a night.

However when her mind thought about Chrom's children, her smile faltered. From what she grasped from mere observation, he appeared to be a single father. Not once did she hear anyone mention anything about the children's mother. Then it suddenly hit her.

Zelda wondered if her words really did affect Chrom that much.

And that's it for the third chapter. You just gotta love how clever Link is. Now if only Zelda could realize how cute he actually is, then we'll really be heading somewhere. While I would love to work on the fourth one, I have some things to do, so it probably wouldn't be out for some time.

For those wondering, it was Male Robin who made his cameo. In this story, he will be going by Daraen. Here are the optional story questions which are just me asking for suggestions. For instance, I'm having trouble coming up with majors for the other characters. If you think you have a good one, please suggest it. Even if they had yet to appear in the story.

So depending on who Zelda makes amends with, she can either have it really easy or much more different (a little hint for you all: Pit number two).

Anyways, here's the optional questions (aka a fancy word for suggestions).

1. Who should Zelda make amends with next? Roy or Pit? Note that depending on which option you want, these characters will be introduced (also note that not everyone will be listed).
Roy: Robin, Daraen
Pit: Dark Pit, Palutena, Viridi

2. How do you think Zelda hurt Roy? How do you think the other kids hurt Roy?

3. How do you think Zelda hurt Pit? How do you think the other kids hurt Pit?

Anyways, stay tuned for the fourth chapter!
- Ashe