Hey-o

Thanks to Imagination That, tswiftfan1, and DrDonuts for reviewing! Means a lot guys!

In response to tswiftfan1's question, you'll find my own opinions on the subject later in the story!

And referring to DrDonuts's comment, I can make chapters longer if you all would prefer. I figured 2,000+ was an ideal length, since these are meant to be read easily in one sitting. But I can make them more substantial if that's preferable!

FUN FACT: I posed the question "Would you look into your future?" to a lot of my friends before writing this. Every answer Link gets from the people in his life are actually the answers my friend's gave. With the exception of Zelda. Her views were written for her character.

I walked into the Hylian History Lecture, not entirely sure what to expect. I glanced at the front row as I passed by. Zelda wasn't there, but a few of her friends were. Not wanting to make it too obvious I was searching for someone, I casually looked around the room. I didn't find her anywhere else, so I assumed she just hadn't come in yet. Taking a random seat toward the top row, I realized I was really nervous. I don't know why, but I couldn't help but feel anxious about her getting here. Maybe I was worried about what she would say to me, or if she'd even remember to sit by me.

I checked my phone. 2 missed calls from Aunt Impa. She really won't let this go. I glanced up when I heard the door open. Lo and behold, Zelda walked in. One of her friends called out to her, but Zelda just smiled and waved to her. I saw her scanning the room, until her eyes locked with mine. She smiled and quickly walked up the steps. Taking the seat right by me, she said, "Hi there!"

"Hey." I smiled back.

"How are you?" She asked, opening up her backpack.

"Pretty good, can't complain. You?"

"That's good. I'm doing alright." She replied.

I nodded. There were a few seconds of quiet. It felt to me like an awkward silence, but Zelda really didn't seem to mind it. Wanting to say something, anything, to her, I abruptly said, "I actually did it."

She turned to me. "What's that?"

"I learned one of their names." I told her. "The old man on the bus, I talked to him."

She turned to face me more. "Really? That's great!" She said, smiling. Her smile turned to a confused look. "Wait, how? We had already gotten off the bus." I explained to her how the events of yesterday ended up in me officially meeting Rauru. I told her about how he visits his grandson every day and that his relationship with his son was strained, but seems to be getting better. "Or at least, that was how I saw it." I told her.

Zelda sat back, a content look on her face. "Rauru."

I don't know Zelda all that well, so she could easily be the type to want to talk to people. I had the feeling that she wouldn't hesitate talking to Rauru if I was around, since he and I knew each other. Well, with "knew each other" being loosely defined. Class went by faster than usual, but that's probably because I was able to kill time by making little comments that made Zelda laugh. Toward the end, though, she just seemed to stop acknowledging whenever I said anything. I guess I was over doing it.

After class, Zelda and I walked to the bus stop. We hadn't said anything since class was let out, and Zelda seemed to be thinking deeply.

"Zelda? Are you ok?" I asked.

She looked up at me, slightly surprised. "Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm ok."

"What are you thinking about?" I asked her.

She looked ahead at where we were going. "Can I ask you something?"

Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical on the inside. Last time she asked me something, I couldn't stop thinking about her. But I said, "Of course, what's up?"

"Why did you leave your apartment yesterday?"

I looked at her. She didn't stop gazing out ahead of her, almost as if she knew it would strike a chord. "I told you, my roommate was bothering me. What brought that up?"

She looked at me from the side of her eye. "Did it have something to do with whatever you saw on your phone?" She asked.

"What?" I was completely caught off guard, but tried to play it off.

"I saw you glance at your phone in class. You sighed, turned it off, then slid it into your backpack. I could be assuming too much, but I just wanted to ask." She said.

I looked down the road. We were coming up to the bus stop. "You're being a bit nosy."

Zelda turned to me. "But am I being too nosy?"

I couldn't help but be speechless. If anybody else I had just met had asked that I would've said Hell yes. But this was Zelda. She doesn't seem to try to make problems, she's just curious.

We just arrived at the bus stop. I sighed. "No, I guess not. But before this goes further, why do you want to know?"

Zelda walked in front of of me. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of concern and determination. "Because we're friends. And as my friend, I want to know what's wrong with you so I can help. You did the same for me."

That last statement took me by surprise. I did? I don't remember ever helping her. I listened to her questions, then couldn't even answer them for her. In fact, she said when she did come to me for help, I didn't do what she wanted. Some help I am.

"You talked to me."

Was she reading my mind? I looked at her. Her eyes had softened a bit. "You were there to talk to when I needed someone. Like I said, my friends don't like talking about this stuff. But you said I could talk to you, and that's what I needed. I still need it. And you're still here."

I looked right into her eyes. I met her just a few days ago, am I really that important in her life? Just because I gave her an umbrella and someone to talk to?

"So what happened?" Zelda asked, stopping my train of thought.

I saw the bus coming. "I'll tell you about it some other time."

"How about tomorrow? If you're not busy." She asked, head tilted.

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, that should work. I don't work until later in the day."

The bus pulled up to our stop. "Great!" Zelda said. "Let's meet up here at noon, ok?"

I walked into the bus. "Sounds good." I turned around and saw Zelda wasn't getting on. "Aren't you coming?" I asked her.

Zelda shook her head. "No, I live two blocks that way." She pointed down the street perpendicular to the bus route. I stared at her in disbelief, mouth agape. She waved and smiled at me. "See you tomorrow!" She began walking away.

I went to my seat trying to make sense of what just happened.

"So she's been joining you on the bus for the past few days, even though it's going out of her way to get home?" Rusl asked me.

I nodded, still flabbergasted. "Exactly!"

The bar was busier than it had been last night, but that's to be expected on a Friday. The regulars were here, and tonight they were joined by Rusl and his wife Uli. Rusl was something of a father figure to me. I met him through my Aunt Impa when I was 15, and he's always been willing to give me advice. Uli was a bit more reserved, but still warm, motherly friend of mine. Their son, Colin, was 15 and more than capable of looking after his little sister. They knew this, but why still didn't want to be out all night, so they used the excuse of needing to get home to see the kids. On nights when Uli joined him, the two were gone by 8. Otherwise Rusl usually stayed until 10 or so.

"Sounds like this girl has a little crush on you, Link." Uli said, smiling.

Mikau put his glass down. "I don't want to put you down bud, but I don't think that's what it is."

I nodded slightly. "Yeah, I don't think so either."

"The girl's just a bit nuts." Darunia grunted.

"Always a possibility." Ashei said, taking a drink.

I sighed, picking up a glass. "I doubt it."

"So what do you make of it?" Shad asked me.

"I can't say for sure." I said, putting the glass down and leaning on the counter. "I think she just needs someone to talk to. Like, she has thoughts that most people don't think about or don't want to hear, but she just desperately needs to get them out there."

"And you're that someone for her to talk to?" Rusl asked.

"I guess."

"You don't sound happy about that." Mikau pointed out.

"It's not that I'm not happy about it, it's just…" I thought about it for a second. I really wasn't happy about it. But, the weird thing was, i wasn't un-happy about it either. I really didn't know how I felt about it.

"It's just what?" Ashei asked.

"It's confusing." I said, scratching my head. "I guess I just don't know what to do when someone's depending on me."

"Come on, kid. It's not like she's asking you to save her from a tower. She just wants to talk." Darunia said.

"Now now, no need to be hard on him." Rusl spoke up.

"I'm not being hard on him, he's being hard on himself." Darunia said, gesturing his hand to me.

"He has a point." Ashei said. "Stop thinking about how you should handle it. The way you were handling things before you started thinking about this stuff seemed to work well."

"I'm not sure that's the best plan." I told her.

"There is something to that, actually." Shad interjected. "Perhaps you could help the girl who always plans things by being impulsive."

"That could work." Mikau said, looking into his glass, then holding it up. "One more Link."

"You got it." I said, grabbing the glass. After filling it and handing it back, I laughed. "Hey, isn't the bartender supposed to help the customers with their problems? Not the other way around?

"If you insist!" Darunia blurted out. "So, I have to visit my brother Darmani tomorrow, and he has this kid that just won't stop crying…"

I walked to the bus stop a few minutes after noon and saw that Zelda was already there. She turned and smiled when I called out her name.

"Hey Link!"

"So where did you want to go?" I asked her.

"How about Stock Pot?" She suggested.

"Sounds good." I looked down the road. "Any idea when the bus will get here?"

Zelda shrugged. "How about we walk instead?"

"Um…" I glanced around. It was a bit windy, but not so bad we couldn't tough it out. I smiled. "Sure, why not?"

As we began walking, Zelda stayed quiet. If what I knew about her was true, that meant she was thinking hard about something. I took the time of silence to look around the neighborhoods as we passed by. Hyrule City was pretty big, but the smaller areas were very quaint. The walk was calming, or rather, as calming as it could be knowing Zelda was going to ask me something big.

After about 10 minutes of silence, she finally spoke up. "You said you work later, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but not until later tonight. I have plenty of time."

"Ok." She quietly muttered.

The rest of the walk was silence again. I began wondering if I should come up with an excuse to leave early, it was starting to become uncomfortable. But we arrived to the Stock Pot Diner after a bit and took a booth. Zelda immediately looked out the window. I was about to grab a menu, but she suddenly spoke up.

"So what's been going on with you and your roommate?"

I raised an eyebrow. For a serious question, she seemed awfully aloof. "How many toes does a Dodongo have?" I asked her.

She looked at me, confused. "What?"

"Just seeing if you were listening."

"Oh, yeah. I'm listening. Sorry." She said, pushing her hair to the side.

"Zelda, what's going on?" I asked, resting my arms on the table.

"What do you mean?" She leaned back.

I was about to continue, but I realized doing so would've been making quite a few assumptions. I'm assuming I know her. I'm assuming she's the Zelda that Ashei knows. I'm assuming she's not usually like this. I'm assuming she's had a good life but something bad has happened. Zelda doesn't assume, she always asks before she says anything. She may be nosy, but I'm even worse. I'm being presumptuous.

I leaned back. "Nothing, never mind." Now if was my turn to ask. "Can I ask you a question?"

Zelda tilted her head. "Ok, sure."

"Do you a girl by the name Ashei?" I said. I figured it was the best place to start.

"Ashei." She repeated, thinking. "I think there was a girl named Ashei in my high school. I never really knew her though. Why?"

I waved my hand. "Not important. But as a follow up question, something has happened to you recently, hasn't it?"

She was sort of stunned for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "I guess. But a lot of things happen."

I looked at her seriously. "Something big."

She seemed scared. "What are you getting at?"

"Ashei remembers you." I said.

"Link, you're kind of freaking me out." Zelda said, shifting in the booth.

"Sorry." I shook my head. "Ashei visits me at work. I brought you up once, and she told me about a girl in her high school who had everything going for her. Aside from the name, you and that Zelda don't seem much alike, but when you said you knew Ashei, it was clear you were one and the same. But something has happened, and it's changed you. You've mentioned it in passing before, but I figured I could bring it up."

Zelda looked back out the window. "I see."

Neither of us said anything for a minute. A waitress came and got our order, leaving us to our silence again.

"Do I bother you?" Zelda randomly said.

And here we go. "Of course not. I wouldn't be here if you did. Why would you ask that?"

"I feel like I'm not giving much to this friendship." She said bluntly, still looking outside.

"And I am?" I asked.

She immediately looked at me. "Yes. You are able to put together so much about me. You listen when I talk and begin to figure me out. You're piecing together who I am as a person. Whereas, I don't even know how to talk to you if I'm not complaining."

"That's because we skipped a few steps. We began having big talk without ever having small talk." I told her.

Zelda thought about what I had said, and she seemed to be doing it rather intensely. Then she leaned forward. "You're right. I'm very sorry. Can we start over?"

I smiled. "No." Zelda seemed taken aback. "See, I believe in forgive and forget. Well, for the most part. And I don't want to forget what I know about you, and I still want to start making small talk. So let's just…" I looked out the window. "Let's just say we started our journey at a different point on the map."

Zelda broke out her smile. The one that keeps making me pause to truly appreciate it. The one that makes the world just a little bit brighter. "I like that. A lot."

Zelda and I talked for a bit after that. I learned she's majoring in Political Science, and I told her I was majoring in History. I mentioned I moved to the city from Kakariko, and she told me she's been here her whole life. Her best friend was named Malon, and I told her mine was named Pipit.

"Is that you're roommate?" Zelda asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah, that's him." I said.

"Do you guys get into fights often?" Zelda said, smirking.

I smiled down at my plate. "Now and again." Wanting to change the subject, I brought up the bus. "Hey, what's up with you riding the bus?"

Zelda giggled to herself. "Oh, right. That's probably pretty weird. Remember the day we first met?"

I laughed. "It was only 3 or 4 days ago, so yeah I remember."

"Oh, right." Zelda smiled. "Well, that day I was going to visit Malon, she lives on Hylia Drive. Well, the day after that, I went on the bus to return your umbrella. Same with the following day. And from there, I just kept going to talk to you."

"You flatter me." I chuckled.

"Well, we're friends! And I like seeing my friends!" She said, putting her hands up.

I smiled. "You don't have to go out of your way to see me. Here." I pulled out my phone. "What's your number? It'll make things easier."

Zelda held her hand out. "Here." I gave her my phone. She put in her number and sent herself a text. "There we go!"

"Great, now if you want to talk, I'm right here." I held up my phone.

Zelda rested her chin on her hand and smiled at me. "Link, what's your family like?"

I began to get a bit worried. "Why?"

"You're just so friendly. I can only imagine your family is the same." She said, still smiling.

I sighed. "I never really thought of myself as that friendly. But I'm glad you think so." I smiled, but only for a second. "My family is…" I trailed off and looked out the window.

Zelda got a concerned look on her face. "Do you not want to talk about it?"

"It's not a particularly happy topic." I said, not meeting her gaze.

"If you don't want to, I completely understand." She said, leaning back.

I looked at her. "You know what? You've opened up to me, I want to do the same for you." I sat up straight. "Well, my parents died when I was a baby, too young to even remember."

"Oh, Link…" Zelda said.

I put my hand up. "Hey, it's ok. I never really knew them. So then my grandma took me in. Unfortunately, she too passed. I was about 10 at the time." Zelda's face kept getting sadder and sadder, but I tried to give her a reassuring look. "So then my Aunt Impa took me in. I lived with her and my cousin Groose until I moved out here for school."

Zelda was quiet for a few seconds, but eventually muttered, "I'm sorry, you really didn't have to tell me all that if you didn't want to."

I smiled at her. "I wanted to tell you."

She gave me a sympathetic smile in return. "Well, I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. Are you close with your aunt and cousin?"

"Not really. Groose was bigger than me, so I got picked on a lot. And my aunt keeps trying to call me."

"Why's that?" She asked.

I sighed. "Well. Because now Groose has cancer."