Summer of Our Discontent
Make Me Like You
Saria smiled at Mido graciously as he pulled out her chair for her.
"Thank you so much." She said shyly.
"Oh, it's no problem, really. I'm just glad that we can finally spend some time together… alone." He said, blushing.
"Me too. I think this will be good for us. I don't want other people's drama interfering with us, you know?"
"…Us?" Mido asked nervously.
"As in our friendship!" Saria said quickly – perhaps a little too quickly because Mido's expression dimmed a little at her words.
"Hello! Are you two lovebirds ready to order?" A young girl with blue hair asked. She had a timid smile on her face.
Saria turned to look at her, and as soon as she did, the girl's eyes widened slightly.
"We aren't a couple, and no, not yet. Um, are… are you okay?" Saria raised an eyebrow, watching the girl make various facial expressions.
"Oh! … Yeah I'm fine. It's just that you look strangely familiar, that's all."
"Well, I'm Saria. And this is my friend Mido." She gestured over to Mido, who nodded at her uninterestedly.
"I think I know you. Don't you volunteer at the library?" Mido asked absentmindedly.
"Not anymore. Now that I have a job and can start earning rupees, I don't need to! My name is Lana, by the way. If it weren't obvious enough, I'll be your server."
"Okay! It was nice to meet you. Formally." Saria gave her a friendly smile as she walked away, opening up her menu and looking at the selections.
"Don't you think that was a little weird?"
"Eh, not really. Castle Town isn't that big a place once you've lived here long enough."
"Yeah, you're right. But still. Why would she recognize you of all people? Do you even go to the library that often?"
"No, not really. But let's not worry about that. What are you thinking of ordering? I might get a Deku Baba salad…"
"I think I want to try the fried cucco."
"That sounds so good. If I weren't trying to eat healthier I'd definitely splurge. But…" Saria stared at Mido for a moment, then craned her head and looked past him.
"But what? What are you looking at?" Mido frowned. Was something already going wrong on their date – er – hangout session?
"Is that Shad?" Saria asked, pointing behind him.
Mido turned around, and it was. He was following Lana like a lost puppy.
"What's he doing here!?"
"I don't know! I was going to ask you the same thing!" Saria said, "Quick! Grab your menu and hide your face. I don't want him seeing us here."
"…A-are you embarrassed of me or something?" Mido asked, frowning all of a sudden.
"It's not like that at all, I just want us to have a nice date with each other without any interference from our friends! … And Shad."
Mido sighed, picking his menu up and using it to hide his face. Saria did the same.
"Lana, please!" Shad said desperately.
"For the millionth time Shad, no. I don't want to work at the library anymore. Ever since I got you that tape, I was doing all sorts of weird tasks for you. It's like you went crazy!"
"I didn't go crazy, I swear. And I need you back there. Ruto quit so she could go and work back home at Zora's Domain and help with repairs after the raid. I don't have anybody else. I'm begging you!"
"I love my new job though, Shad. I'm actually getting rupees and it's a lot more fun than being in a stuffy building surrounded by books. Ew."
"How could you say that? Books are incredible!" Shad said, slightly insulted by her words.
"Can we talk about this later? I have customers that are waiting!" Lana huffed, walking towards Mido and Saria's table hastily, trying to get Shad away from her.
"Did you hear that?" Saria asked, peering at Mido from the corner of her menu. "Lana helped him blackmail us!"
"Do you think that's how she recognized you?" Mido gasped.
"Maybe! Ugh, why does this have to be happening now, on our date?"
Before Mido could respond – or even smirk at the fact that she called it a date – Lana was back at their table, slightly irate.
"Are you guys ready to order now?" She put on an extremely fake smile.
"Yes. I'll have a Deku Baba salad, and my friend would like the fried cucco."
Lana jotted their orders down quickly.
"Any drinks?"
"I'll have an Ordon Spring water." Mido muttered, still hiding behind his menu.
"…Okay?" Lana laughed at his awkward position. "What about you, darling?" She smiled warmly at Saria.
"Same thing. Okay, thanks, bye!" Saria tried to hide behind her menu again but unfortunately for her, Shad noticed.
"Saria… Woah! Hey, it's me Shad!" Shad grinned at her.
"Oh. You two know each other?" Lana looked pleasantly surprised.
"Unfortunately yes…" Saria smiled sadly.
Shad rolled his eyes, looking over to Mido, whose face was still covered with his menu.
"I hate to burst your bubble but I'm going to need that back." Lana said, reaching over and grabbing the menu from him. However, Mido was willing to put up a fight. He tugged on the menu, trying to pull it back. He knew that Saria wanted them to have alone time from everyone they knew, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized how much he wanted it too.
"Give… me… it!" Lana growled slightly, finally yanking the menu out of Mido's hands, the force so strong that he lurched forward and banged his head against the table.
"Ouch!" He said, rubbing his head.
"Oh no! Are you okay?" Saria got out of her seat and grabbed Mido by the face, rubbing his temple gently for him.
"Mido…? You two are on a date? I knew you liked each other!"
Saria rolled her eyes, not even bothering to deny Shad's claims.
"Shad, can you please leave us alone? We just want a little privacy." Mido said, feeling harrowingly impatient with just about everyone on the planet with the exception of Saria at the moment.
"Hmmph. Whatever. But I thought you'd be hanging out with Groose or something."
"No, not today. It's just me and… my… date." Mido bit his lips after saying it, looking at Saria who was only inches away from his face, a tiny blush spreading across her cheeks. They stared at each other for quite a bit until Shad cleared his throat.
"Well, if you want to avoid Groose, you aren't off to a very good start." Shad said, smiling fretfully.
Mido and Saria turned and saw Groose with a certain farm girl, getting themselves seated.
"Uh oh." Mido raised an eyebrow.
"What the heck? Mido, did you tell him we were going to be here?" Saria frowned at him, crossing her arms.
"No, of course not! I didn't even know that we would end up eating here. Why would I want Groose interfering with our time together?"
"I don't know! But what are we going to do? You never told him that you were going out with me… Did you?"
Mido shook his head.
"I never got the chance. He had to leave and when he called me, he couldn't stop gabbing on about Zelda! By the time he was done, I told him we couldn't hang out today and just hung up. So… I guess Malon was his second choice?"
"Yeah. 'Second choice.' Pfft." Mido said skeptically.
Lana came back over with two tall glasses of water for the green pair.
"Here you guys go! Wait… have you two seen Shad?" She asked worriedly.
"Nope. Guess he disappeared." Saria said, sipping her water.
"Oh, okay. Well if you guys need anything else, don't hesitate to let me know!" Lana beamed at them then left.
Meanwhile…
"This is nice." Malon said, playing around with the plate setting. Though she and Groose had been spending time together, this was their first time at a restaurant with each other. She had been enjoying herself. It was especially nice that Groose had been so comforting to her since Link dumped her. And he hadn't pressured her into labelling their relationship… if there was anything to 'label' at all. It was sort of gentlemanly.
"Yeah, I agree. It's kind of weird. How this started. How we started." Groose laughed.
"Hah, I used to see you as Zelda's creepy lover." She bit her tongue when she saw his frazzled expression.
"And I saw you as her creepy best friend."
Malon gasped, though he knew she wasn't really offended.
"I'm not creepy!"
He rolled his eyes.
"Sure."
"Um, so like, how have you been? I know you and Zelda had a rough falling out. I did too with Link. But it's not like they were your best pals in the entire world…"
Groose scratched his head.
"I guess my life could be slightly better. But I have you. And Mido. And I'm alive and healthy. Physically healthy, not mentally or emotionally. But hey, that's still good!" Groose said, and it didn't fail in making Malon laugh.
"How is Mido anyways? We aren't very close but I know he likes Saria a lot."
"He's good! I haven't hung out with him in a couple of days. He said he's busy, so I decided that I probably should hang out with my other friends. Or, I guess I should say, 'friend.'"
Malon nodded, less enthusiastic as she heard his words.
"Ah, I get it. I was the second choice."
Groose's eyes widened.
"What? N-No! Oh goddesses Malon. No, never. I didn't mean it like that all. I'm… I'm sorry if I gave you that impression."
"It's okay, I get it. That's kinda how we've been treating each other. Not important enough to be prioritized first."
"Now you're just putting words into my mouth."
"No, I'm just stating the truth."
"I'm sorry, I really am. We spent so much time together and I wanted some guy time for a change. Then I figured that I would just lay off of social interaction for a bit since Mido was busy, but… I don't know. I was just feeling so…"
"Lonely." Malon finished his sentence for him.
"Yeah." Groose sighed, "That's the word."
"I'm not mad at you. At all. This summer has been hell. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm ready for it to be over."
Groose nodded. Malon smiled at him and put her small hand over his.
"I don't care if I'm a second choice. You still chose me. That's what matters."
Groose blushed, taking her hand into his and giving it a supportive squeeze. Whatever this was, whatever they were, he was beginning to realize that he liked it. A lot.
"I, uh… I need to use the restroom." He said nervously after holding onto her hand for a while. The way she made his nerves go affray was a mystery all of its own.
"Okay!" She said, pulling her hand back and stifling a giggle when she realized how sweaty it was. He must have been really nervous.
He stood up and walked towards the inside of the café to use the restroom.
"Is he walking towards us? Oh no!" A strangely familiar voice murmured.
Groose arched an eyebrow, and looked to the side to see Saria sipping on some water nervously with someone else that was hiding behind his drink.
Groose decided to walk over. Which probably wasn't the best idea.
"Hi Saria! Crazy seeing you here!"
"Oh… Hi Groose! How are you?" She asked, seemingly terrified of the burly dude in front of her.
"You alright?" He asked skeptically, "I heard you talking to… your friend. I hope it wasn't about me…" Groose looked over. He was still stubbornly hiding behind his drink.
"Oh, I'm good. Great, even!"
Groose nodded, staring at her for a good while until her mysterious friend finally decided to move his drink.
Groose probably shouldn't have been surprised, and he wasn't, but his reaction said otherwise.
"Is he gone?" Mido asked, though a split second later his question was answered when he saw Groose towering over him.
And he was fuming.
"No, not yet, but I will be." Groose said, turning rather dramatically.
"Groose, wait!" Mido said.
"What?" He asked, turning back around. "It's obvious that you're 'busy.'"
"I'm sorry! I meant to tell you… I just didn't know how! I didn't want to make it seem like I was blowing you off."
"Oh please," Groose rolled his eyes, "That's exactly what you did! If you were tired of hanging out with me you could've just told me!" He snapped.
"I wasn't tired of hanging out with you at all, I just wanted to hang out with Saria… alone!"
"Wow. Malon wasn't lying when she said you really liked her." Groose mumbled to himself.
Mido's ears twitched slightly.
"Yeah…" He looked back at her, giving her a bashful smile. "I do."
"Look. I didn't mean to ruin your guys' date. I just wish you had been honest with me at first. I would've been cool with it. But you lying to me, that's not cool."
"I didn't lie, I just wasn't very specific about what I was busy with."
"Alright buddy. Well I have a date to get to as well, so I'll just head inside then get back to her." He said, giving his friend a good natured smile. He turned one more time to leave for his destination, but unfortunately for him, Lana had been walking right towards the table behind him. He tried to move out of her way, but his shoulder smacked right into her chest, sending the food that she had been trying to take to Saria and Mido flying all over the place instead. She fell back, covered in lettuce and bits of cucco.
Groose's jaw was wide open.
"Holy crap! My bad!" He extended a hand towards her, but Lana shook her head bitterly, using her hands to push off of the wooden floor and help herself up instead.
"I'm good, but you should watch where you're going."
"I know. I'm an idiot." Groose sighed. "Do you need help getting cleaned up? I could –"
"No! I don't think that'll be necessary!" Lana snapped, "I'm fed up! Do you hear me? Fed up! First, Shad won't stop pestering me to come back to the library, then, I have to wrestle the menu out of his hands!" Lana pointed at Mido, who immediately looked down rather shamefully. "And now, I'm covered in Deku Baba salad! I hate salad! It should be illegal! I love this job but I swear, some of you guys are just SO rude!"
Groose looked at Saria, who shook her head.
"We're rude?" He asked, trying to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.
By now, everyone was staring at them, murmuring amongst themselves. Malon had even walked up to check up on Groose.
"You okay?" She asked, observing him carefully.
"I'M the one that isn't okay!" Lana wailed, shaking her pigtails and trying to get all of the food off of her body.
At that moment, an older man walked over to see the commotion.
"Lana…" He said incredulously, "What on earth are you doing?"
Lana gasped, picking up the tray and desperately trying to rearrange the food on it.
"B-Boss! I didn't expect you to come out here and check up on me!"
"Well obviously I came at a good time. I can't believe what I'm witnessing. Not only did you ruin two perfectly good meals, but now you're yelling at the customers too? This is completely unprofessional!"
"No! It wasn't my fault, it was his fault!" She pointed at Groose.
But the man wasn't having it.
He shook his head.
"It's never the customer's fault. Never. I'm incredibly disappointed in you Lana."
"I'm sorry, please, just give me another chance –"
"No. I have a reputation to protect, and if this is how you're going to treat our customers, you aren't ready to work here. After you clean this mess up, you're fired." And with that, he walked back inside.
Groose bit his lip. He knew that the poor girl was probably on the verge of tears. Wordlessly, he walked inside to use the restroom, too much of a wimp to look back and see her expression.
Lana closed her eyes, bowing her head and trying to compose herself. A conspicuous Shad resurfaced with some iced tea in his hands.
He cleared his throat.
"So like I was saying before… The library is ALWAYS looking for volunteers. You don't get any rupees, but you can get community service!"
Saria, Mido and Malon all glowered at him.
"What?" he asked innocently, taking a swig of his tea. "Too soon?"
Should I grab it? Mido thought to himself, looking at Saria's free hand. With her occupied one, she was carrying her meal along with a dessert, both were free after Lana's 'incident.' He had to admit, even though their date had been ruined he felt bad for the young girl. Not to mention she had no other choice but to go back to doing volunteer work at the library with Shad, which sucked even more.
"We're here." Saria said, standing in front of her house, breaking Mido out of his thoughts.
"Oh!" Mido said, startled. He smiled at her, scratching his head awkwardly.
"Are you okay? You seem to have a lot on your mind."
"Oh... It's nothing really. I was just bummed that our date was a catastrophe. And that poor girl got fired."
Saria shrugged, shyly smiling to herself.
"Some things just… happen for a reason, y'know? I still got to spend some quality time with you. You even walked me to my house, you're such a gentleman."
Mido blushed, scratching his head.
"Well, I would've driven you but… I don't have my license." He said, realizing how stupid and uncool it sounded out loud.
Fortunately Saria laughed.
"Would you like to come inside so we can continue our date?"
Mido frowned.
"I'd love to, but my parents were expecting me home by now. Maybe we can do this again?"
Saria nodded, trying her best to hide her disappointment, but still managing to see the best of things.
"Is that your special way of asking me on a second date?"
Mido laughed, taking a moment to just look at her fully. She was absolutely beautiful. There's no way he would willingly turn her down.
"Of course."
"I guess I'll let you get going, then. I don't want your parents to be upset with you." Saria waved at him reluctantly, slowly stepping towards her house.
Mido nodded, turning around, though he honestly didn't want to.
"Uh…" he said silently, then with a much stronger voice he called out, "Saria, wait."
He was facing her direction again, and much to his surprise, she exhaled loudly, dropping her bag and dashing towards him with surprising speed.
"…Saria? – mmph!" Mido was caught by surprise when she gave him a quick peck on the lips.
The kiss was too sudden for him to enjoy it, but he still stared at her incredulously.
"Ah, I'm so sorry!" Saria said, blushing like crazy. "I shouldn't have done that. I just… I'm sorry. REALLY sorry."
"T-That's fine." He said, twirling around his own bag of food.
"What was it that you wanted to say to me? …D-Did you maybe… change your mind about coming inside?"
Mido grabbed Saria suddenly, brushing his lips against hers.
He pulled away slowly, the both of them staring at each other with shocked expressions.
"W…What did you want to say to me?" Saria repeated dumbly, her bright green eyes twinkling with anticipation.
Mido stared back, too scared to say anything to her.
"I love… I can't wait to see you again." He fumbled around with his words recklessly.
Saria nodded solemnly; like he had said something she wasn't keen on hearing. Nonetheless, she smiled and ran back to her house, closing the door for good.
"Dang it! Why couldn't I just say it?" Mido asked himself, pouting and crossing his arms.
Twilight. It was approaching. For Link, it brought something more primal out of him. He felt braver and more confident than he had ever felt before. But at the same time, he was worried. He looked around anxiously, then looked down at the soft, white box in his hands. What the hell was he doing? What the hell was he thinking? This was by far the stupidest stunt he had tried to pull this summer. It was a stretch, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to clear the air with Zelda. Things between them had been good.
Really good.
Fantastic, even.
Compared to their usual encounters with each other, in which they would yell at each other until their throats were sore, then leave feeling ridiculously frustrated.
Now, however, their encounters were considerably gentler and left a different type of frustration.
Link smiled to himself dryly. There were many things he didn't like about Zelda, many things he didn't understand. But maybe, just maybe… that wasn't such a bad thing. There were qualities around her that were positive. She was a good friend. She was determined and dedicated in everything she did. She speaks her mind and stands up for what she believes is right. She –
WHAM!
Link cried out suddenly as his vision was momentarily blurred by grains of sand. He stood up immediately, shaking his head to get the soil out of his hair and turned to look at Zelda. She was laughing uncontrollably.
"Oh my goddesses, that was funny!" She said, her laughter slowly reducing itself to tiny giggles here and there.
He arched an eyebrow, crossing his arms, clearly unamused.
"What took you so long?"
"I was trying to figure out what to wear." She said simply, walking past him and sitting on the sand, extending her legs so that the water could brush her toes.
"Why? Did you want to impress me?" He asked, smirking as he sat next to her.
"No. I just wanted to be comfortable. Every time I come here I end up getting my clothes messed up."
Much to his surprise, Zelda was a bit less 'conservative' than usual. She was wearing a tank top and shorts, exposing her beautiful, pale legs. He wondered how she had managed to avoid getting a tan throughout the summer.
"But anyways, what was it that you wanted to speak to me about?" Zelda looked at Link curiously, but he was too fixated on her legs to bother regarding her question. When he realized she was looking at him he looked back at her blankly.
"What?"
Zelda rolled her eyes, trying to keep a smile off of her face.
"You told me you wanted to talk. Was it about anything in particular?"
"Oh, right. That." Link said, fumbling around with his pockets for a few moments.
"Everything alright?" She asked, slightly concerned at his nervous behavior.
"Yes, I'm fine. I just… Well, I wanted to say thank you."
"Thank you? For what?" Zelda asked, puzzled.
"Thank you for being kind to me. You've really been a blessing to me these past few weeks. And I know we don't have a record of being civil to each other, but I do appreciate that you were able to overlook our differences for me."
Zelda scratched her head.
"I guess I should thank you too. Sometimes I felt like I was being ganged up on by Malon and Groose. But neither of us did anything wrong. Honestly, I feel like I really shouldn't have been involved in any of this. But of course Groose had to be an idiot and love me. I don't really see why he liked me so much anyways."
"I do." Link said, not even skipping a beat or stopping to think about his words.
"What?" Zelda asked, slightly startled.
Instead of repeating what he said, he stood up suddenly, offering a hand to Zelda to help her up.
"Forget it."
"…Okay…" Zelda sighed, rubbing her arm uneasily after standing up.
"There's actually another reason I wanted to meet with you in person."
"At Lake Hylia? With all the sand and the insects, and the annoying guays?"
Link rolled his eyes.
"Is that all you see in this place? I think it's beautiful. Sort of romantic."
"I suppose." Zelda said, looking down at her feet. "So, are you gonna tell me the other reason or not?"
Link studied her for a moment.
"You're nervous."
To his chagrin Zelda smacked his arm, though she didn't look too angry.
"Of course I'm nervous! You're nervous too. You're acting all weird and nice and it's freaking me out!"
"Oh, I'm acting nice? How rude of me! Would you like me to just call you a bitch and smash some cucco eggs onto your head?"
"Hey! You better watch your mouth!" Zelda growled, poking his nose.
Link didn't expect the tiny action to get him so riled up, but it did. Before they got caught up into a stupid argument however, he stopped himself.
"This is stupid. I didn't want to meet you here so that we could fight."
"Well I sure hope not. Things have been… decent between us."
"I know. So, now for why you're here… Can you turn around for me please?"
"Why?" Zelda asked stubbornly. She was already suspicious of him. Why would she need to turn around? Was he going to strip naked or something?
"Just shut up and do it, please. I've waited too long for this." He said impatiently. His hands were practically shaking, he couldn't believe that his nerves were irrepressible and that it was all thanks to the one girl that had managed to resist his charms.
Wordlessly she turned, her beautiful golden locks trailing down her back. He sighed, not wanting to startle her, and took her hair, swooping it over her shoulders. She gasped slightly as his fingers brushed against her bare skin, but remained silent. Then, he opened the box that he had been holding on to and pulled out a necklace. He opened it and wrapped it around her neck before latching it securely.
The cold gem fell against her bosom and Zelda looked down, her eyes widening.
It was the replica of Zora's Sapphire that she had seen in the gift shop on the day of the raid. She wanted to buy it, but the group of thieves had made that an impossible endeavor.
She turned immediately, her cheeks were tinted pink and she looked like she was struggling to find the right words to express what she was feeling.
"…How?" She asked, unable to focus on anything but the beautiful gem she now possessed.
"I went to Zora's Domain while they were rebuilding. Surprisingly, it hadn't been stolen. So I decided to buy it."
"But… But why would you buy it? I mean, you said it yourself. It's really expensive."
Link shrugged awkwardly.
"You really wanted it. And I don't think it was fair that they had robbed the place blind before you could buy it. So I got it for you."
Zelda was finally able to look away from the deep blue gem, and into the deep blue eyes of the male in front of her.
She bit her lip, noticing him shiver as a cold wind passed them by. It was no longer day time, the sky was slowly turning orange and the lake was nearly barren. No one was around to interrupt them, to stare at them, or to ruin their moment with each other. It's as though this was what Link wanted all along.
Wanting to give him warmth, she stepped forward and pulled him towards her in an embrace.
"Link…" She said, her voice slightly muffled by his shirt. "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever given to me."
He smelled good. He smelled amazing. And being in his arms, it felt so right. Why had she done this? Why had she denied herself the pleasure of his comfort?
He laughed, his body shaking as he held onto her graciously.
"It's kind of ironic, isn't it?" He asked sadly.
She pulled away, smoothing out his shirt, but his arms were still locked around her waist.
"What is?"
"That the nicest thing you've ever received, was given to you by the one you hate the most." His expression was bittersweet.
Zelda's eyes dimmed slightly at his words.
"I don't hate you, Link."
"These past years we've known each other, that's certainly the impression you gave me."
"I'm sorry." She said weakly, biting her lip.
Link laughed again. It was obvious that deep down he was hurting, but he played it off coolly.
"I always thought that you hated me back."
"Well, we have told each other on numerous occasions that we hate each other."
"But it was out of anger."
"You don't think that we say things we truly mean in the heat of the moment?" Link inquired.
"If you aren't careful with your words, no."
"Hmm." Link said pensively, thinking to himself for a moment.
"Then I guess I'll just have to choose my next words carefully." He finally said.
"Why?" Zelda asked.
His grip on her waist tightened, and it was only then that she remembered he had been holding onto her this whole time, like he was scared that she would run away.
"We've known each other for a very long time, Zelda. And all these years… well, we've driven each other crazy."
Zelda chuckled, reminiscing about their younger days.
"Honestly, growing up with you was frustrating. I felt like I was trying to befriend someone that tried her hardest to distance herself from me. And I guess I just found it would be easier to make your life miserable." His grip on her loosened slightly, and Zelda had to physically keep herself from trying to re-enter his embrace.
"You were unique. I hadn't quite known anyone like you. Your love for music, the way you remember your mom, how you can be so poised and polite yet know when to speak your mind… I guess I was kind of infatuated with you."
Zelda couldn't respond, she simply listened and stared at him intently as he continued to confess his feelings to her.
"It was weird. To feel that way. Because at other times I felt like we were at war with each other. I'd fire at you, and you would fire back. I hadn't expected it. It seemed like a game that we were playing. But I knew that I would have to get over it and move on with my life."
"Did you get over it?" Zelda asked, her hand itching to grab his.
It was hitting her suddenly, how badly she wanted him. How badly he wanted her.
"For the longest time, I thought I had. I thought, it's time for me to let go. But sometimes, when we yell at each other, or when you get a little too close… I realize that maybe it isn't that easy."
"We've played this game with each other for so long and it's ending now because we're realizing how much it hurts." She commented quietly.
"Yes." He responded. He looked toward the sky. "I think this place has been important for us both. I figured if there were any place to tell you something this important, it would be here."
No response.
Link looked away from the sky to look back at Zelda. She was staring at him expectantly, a morose expression on her face.
"…What?"
"Just say it." She said.
"Huh?"
"Say that you like me. That you're in love with me. That you're still infatuated with me, just like you were when we were kids. It should be one of those three, so just say it."
"You know I'm not good with words."
"You seemed pretty eloquent a few moments ago when you were talking about all the reasons why I'm wonderful."
"Yeah, but those are words that I've been practicing to say to you for days upon end."
"Well I'm telling you what to say now. So say it."
"What if I don't want to say it?" Link asked challengingly.
"Then this is a waste of my time." Zelda said, moving past him.
"Wait." Link grabbed her, pulling her back. "Tch. I give you an expensive necklace and this is how you treat me?"
"You give me an expensive necklace and can't even man up and admit that it's because you like me?"
Both of their faces were cherry red at this point.
"Fine. Have it your way. I like you. I'm in love with you. I'm infatuated with you. I always have been. I didn't know why when I was younger. Sometimes I wonder to this day. Whenever we argue, or you slam the door in my face. I think to myself, out of everyone on this planet, why did my heart have to pick her? And then I look you, and it feels as though the answer is self-explanatory."
"Why?"
"Because you're the most beautiful girl I know. So why wouldn't it be you?"
"That sounds a bit shallow to me."
"But that's because your idea of beauty is shallow. My idea of beauty is subjective. Like when you meet someone and you don't think much of their appearance, but the more you get to know them, the more attractive they become to you."
"I thought you weren't good with words." Zelda mumbled to herself, looking down at her feet.
His hand slowly cupped her face, gently forcing her to look at him.
"I have my moments. Now it's your turn. Tell me that you love me."
Zelda's bottom lip quivered as she turned to observe their surroundings. There were no excuses to be made. No Groose, no Ilia, no Sheik, no Midna. Nobody that could possibly sabotage their moment. Nobody that would dare to do such a thing.
Finally, she looked back at him.
The sun was departing from the late afternoon sky.
Night was getting ready to take its gloomy toll.
Zelda exhaled, closing her eyes as though there would be some sort of large impact along with her words.
"I love you. No matter how many times I tell myself that I don't, no matter how many other girls you lead on in front of me, I do. I didn't know what it was at first. The burning sensation in my chest when I saw you try to make things work with Malon, or the unease I felt when I was with Groose, but I know now. I know that it's love. It… It can't be anything else."
She waited, to feel a rush of embarrassment to flow through her body, to hear Link laugh at her and mock her words. For one of their friends to burst out after being disguised as a tree. She waited for him to take back everything he said, to act as though it was all a ruse, to take the necklace home and leave her emotionally strung.
But all she felt was another cold breeze, and his soft lips firmly pressing themselves against hers.
A/N:
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Chapter Eighteen Theme Song: Make Me Like You
Artist: Gwen Stefani