Thanks to Imagination That, SailorZeldatheLightAlchemist, and tswiftfan1 for reviewing!

I took a sip of my drink, having finished all of my food. I looked at Zelda. Her face seemed stuck in a melancholic state. Almost like she wanted to cry, but wouldn't let herself because I wasn't. I can't say I was expecting a nonchalant reaction, but this still kind of took be by surprise. She must be very empathetic.

"And that's why you saw me look at my phone in class." I said, shifting my gaze to the window. After a few minutes, I turned back to her. She was staring at her food, not eating. "You can ask whatever's on your mind, it's ok."

She stammered a bit, trying to gather her thoughts. "I don't know. I-I guess… What does he have?"

I took another sip. "Multiple Myeloma. Blood cancer."

Zelda's face tensed up. "How far is it?"

"Stage 3. Pretty far along, apparently." I said.

"How long does he have?"

I glanced outside. "A few months, I think. Maybe a year."

"Are you ok?"

I quickly faced her. "What?"

"How are you doing?" She asked me, genuine concern in her eyes.

"I don't know, it's whatever." I shrugged. I heard Zelda's voice begin to shake. "Doesn't really phase me."

"How?!" Zelda yelled, throwing her hands on the table. She wasn't glaring, but she was giving me a really intense stare through red eyes. I was taken aback. I've never seen Zelda yell, she didn't have a voice that seemed capable of it.

"Why would it?" I said, getting defensive. "He picked on and demeaned me. I'm not saying I would've wished death on him, but it's there. Oh well."

"What do you mean? How can you say that when somebody is dying?!" She said loudly. Not quite the yell she did before, but I had clearly upset her.

"People die all the time, this isn't anything new! And Groose was never anything but an ass to me, so quite frankly, I don't care all that much!" I responded. I realized I was beginning to raise my voice to match hers.

"He's your family!"

"He's never acted like family, so why should I treat him like family?"

*SMACK*

Zelda reached over the table and slapped me across the face. She looked at me for a second, as if I had utterly betrayed her and it was the only thing she could do to get away from me. Never had I received such a guilt-inducing look. She gathered her jacket and stormed out of Stock Pot. I sat there, stunned. I'm sure I was getting stares, but I couldn't bring myself to focus on them.

What was that? Was she taking his side? Just because he's sick? She doesn't know what I had to put up with just to make it out of that house. And now that I'm out, Impa is trying to get me back in by using Groose. I'm not biting. I didn't want to chase after Zelda, she had just flat out slapped me and left. But I did anyway. I don't know why, I just found myself paying for the meal, then immediately going outside to look for her. I didn't see her anywhere near the restaurant, but it randomly dawned on me where she would be.

As I walked, I felt something come over me. I wasn't mad at her. By all accounts I should've been, for reasons ranging from hitting me to forcing the bill on me. But I wasn't. I couldn't say why, but part of me trusted that she had a reason for doing everything she did.

I came near Kokiri Park. The place was huge, being able to have a playground and an actual soccer field. But on the opposite end, there were a few trees and picnic areas, along with a paved path that went around the entire park. There were three bus stops on one side of the park alone, I figured she went to one of those.

I crossed the street and walked to the nearest bus stop. There she was, looking at the cracks in the pavement. I walked over and stood beside her, without saying anything. She never looked over or even made a noise, but I could tell she knew it was me.

"Sorry." She said quietly, under her breath. "I was out of line. You were opening up to me and I shouldn't have hit you."

I didn't want to sound accusatory, but I had to ask. "So why did you?"

"Link, how important is family to you?" Zelda asked, looking up. She still wasn't looking at me, but she managed to get her eyes off of the ground.

Zelda will never say direct answer, I guess. "I never really thought about it."

"Well, think about it." She said immediately after, almost as if she anticipated my answer.

I sighed. I looked at her, but she was still staring right across the street. I shook my head, trying to think. What did it mean to me? I don't know, it was just there. "Family is always there, but isn't a permanent thing."

Zelda never moved. It seemed like my answer hadn't even registered with her. After a minute of nothing but dead air, I eventually sighed. Why do I keep talking to her? It hasn't done anything for me other than give me a lot of head aches and a red cheek. And on the other side of this coin, why does she keep talking to me? She says we're friends, but all I do is tell her things she doesn't want to hear. We're not gaining anything from this. I wonder if she knows that.

"Ok." Zelda said finally. "I can understand why you think that."

"Well, what does it mean to you?" I asked, more out of obligation.

"The world." Zelda said, tearing up. This got me interested. I turned to her, but she quickly looked back down at her feet, hiding her face behind her hair. "Family is everything to me. They've always pushed and encouraged me in everything I wanted to do. They stopped me from making stupid mistakes and yelled and me when I made them anyway. They consoled me when I was down. My dad, brother, cousins, all of them. I wouldn't trade them for anything."

"What about your mom?" I asked.

Zelda's hands went up to her face. Her shoulders shook and I heard a light sob. "My mom isn't here anymore."

That's when it all hit me. I understood why Zelda did what she did.

"I'm sorry." I said looking across the street. "I didn't know. That… That was really rude of me, I… I'm sorry."

Zelda just turn her body away from me, trying to hide herself.

Zelda puts family above all else. Unfortunately, she just lost part of it, and in a way that it will never come back. And here I am, telling her that I think losing a family member is like throwing away a shirt that you never liked wearing.

I didn't know what to do. Should I put my arm around her? Whenever I lost somebody, people would just give me sad, reassuring smiles and a hug. Maybe it was just because I was young, but nothing anybody did ever really helped. I doubt it would be much of a consolation to her.

I sighed.

But maybe it was also because when they did those things for me, it was at a time when none of the tragedy had really hit me yet. It was weeks later when I really felt somebody's absence. And those times, when I locked myself in my room to keep everybody else out, was when I wanted somebody the most.

For once, I know exactly what's going through Zelda's head. For once, I know why she's here with me. And for once, I know what I can do to help her. I know that nothing I could do could begin to fill the gap left by her mom's passing. But I know what she needs right now, at this moment.

I walked around her to see her face, but she was still bowing her head, hiding it in her hands. I stepped forward and put my arms around her. I pull her in and let her head come into my chest. I feel a slight jerk when she realizes just what's happening. I almost thought she would push me away, but I feel her hands leave her face and wrap around my back. I can smell her shampoo and it brings me to tighten my grip. It really made me feel like it was just me and Zelda.

I don't know how long we stood there. It couldn't have been longer than two minutes, but time still seemed to go by slowly. To anybody passing by, we probably just seemed like a couple hugging, but to us the outside world was shut out for a bit. She needed a shoulder to cry on. And I was more than happy to be there.

I think we both felt it. This was both of us simultaneously apologizing to and forgiving each other.

I looked up and saw the bus coming, then looked down at Zelda. Now really isn't the time to leave.

"Hey." I said quietly to Zelda. "Let's go to the park."

She nodded. It seemed like she had stopped crying, but still couldn't look up at me. She turned to the park, I kept one arm around her to guide her. We walked to the picnic area and found a bench that, at this time of day, had the shade of a big tree covering it.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. I took my arm away from Zelda and found myself enjoying the serenity of the park. The day wasn't particularly nice and sunny, but since the wind had calmed down from the walk to Stock Pot the air had a cool stillness that made everything seem frozen in time.

Zelda sat looking at her hands in her lap. She had wiped the tears off her cheeks, but her eyes were still a little red.

Eventually, she said, "Sorry. That was a weak moment."

I turned my head to look at her. "It's ok. You're allowed to have those."

I saw a small smile start to appear, but quickly go away. "Sometimes it just gets to me."

"I know the feeling."

Zelda shook her head. "Oh right. Parents, Grandma…"

I looked at the sky. It was a bluish gray. No discernible clouds, yet no blue sky either.

"My mom," Zelda began. "She was always there for me. Seriously, I'm not just trying to make her seem better than she was. If I ever came to her, she would stop everything for me. Whether I needed help with my homework or couldn't reach something on a shelf, she would help me. She got me interested in Poli Sci as a way to try helping people. She helped me look into colleges. She told me she knew I was going to do great things. And she said how much she was looking forward to what I would become."

I reached out and grabbed one of Zelda's hands.

She started to break down again, but managed to maintain her composure. "She was so sure of my future. But now that she's gone, I can't help but feel like my future is gone too. I just don't know what to do."

"I know it seems scary, but you don't need to know." I tell her.

For the first time since the restaurant, Zelda looks me in the eye. Her blue eyes hold everything she can't say with words. I can see it in her, a longing for answers.

"I think your mom was right. You really are going to do great things. But don't plan for that just yet." I squeeze her hand. "Take things day by day. Then once you're able to handle that, take them week by week. Eventually you'll get there, there's no rush. Because no matter how long it takes, your mom would… No, will still be proud of you."

Zelda just looks at me, bewildered. I can tell she's processing what I said, trying to see if she can believe it. I can't tell if it works, because she goes back to looking at her hands in her lap. I let go of the one I held onto, but then Zelda scoots over so she's right by my side. She kisses me on the cheek then rests her head on my shoulder. Her fears aren't gone, but at least she knows she doesn't have to face them alone all the time.

"Thank you."