Hey. Remember me? Yeah, I live. I know, it's a shock after all this time. I've learned recently that I am incredibly slow when it comes to writing anymore. Sorry about that.

So. This fic is really awful and makes me cringe when I re-read it, but I said I was going to finish it and I still intend to; thus, have a chapter. One of these days I may even overhaul this whole thing, rewrite it so that it actually doesn't suck like it currently does, because I'd still like to write a Link romance, but if I do rewrite it, this version, cringe-y as it is, will be staying up on the site, because while I have grown almost immeasurably as a writer since I started this back in 2007, I feel that to take it down would be an insult to the fourteen year-old wallflower who was proud enough of this monstrosity to post it on the internet for people to see, and I'd hate to insult her - I used to be her, after all, and I know how sensitive she is.

If you're an old reader of this awful thing, good to see you, sorry about the enormous wait. If you're new and you made it here somehow, I thank you sincerely for spending your time here when there are so many better things you could have been doing with it. To everyone who might be here reading this note, I hope that you enjoy the higher quality chapter I now provide you with as opposed to those that came before. Thanks again for your time and effort reading this junk!

Also, this is replacing the previous chapter 17, because I legit did not remember that I even posted that crap, so. Forget that ever existed, just like I did lol.


Of course, just ahead was a figure of speech. After using the Ocarina to call the horses to our side of the shore - which was not as instantaneous as in the game; in fact, we waited nearly until dusk before we heard the sound of distant hoofbeats - we decided it would be best to move a little further inland and set up camp for the night; all parties were in need of a rest, anyway. The next morning, Ari woke us before dawn had broken, and in the pinkish light that preceded it, Link and I broke camp and saddled our mounts, who gladly set off at a run when urged to move. As the sun rose early-morning orange over the mountain-studded horizon, we three travelers came thundering into the quiet village, with only livestock and the wide-eyed children who tended them to witness us.

Reining in the horses was a feat unto itself; after a taste of that cool morning air rushing past, it was hard for any of us to slow down. I thought idly that it must be true: what you do when you first wake up determines the rest of your day. Just as Shadow quivered with the effort of holding himself back, all I wanted to do was move. If I was impatient, though, Ari was impossible. From the moment she'd caught sight of the familiar buildings, the girl had been chattering incessantly and squirming in the saddle, clearly desperate to reach her destination now that she'd come so close. She guided us through the wide, grassy pathways between houses and pastures and gardens, giving us the history of each one she knew, the words coming a mile a minute. Silently, I glanced over at Link, who nodded, and we each allowed the horses a little more speed. Ari was winding herself up more and more with each home we passed, and I personally wanted to get where we were going before the child either couldn't take the stress anymore and started screaming or spontaneously combusted before our very eyes.

Finally, we came within view of the biggest house I'd ever seen in Hyrule, Impa's in Kakariko included. It was like a small castle, which kind of made sense - the rest of the houses we'd passed were white with thatched roofs, looking exactly like the pictures I'd used in a Social Studies report on Ireland that I'd done last school year (which, frankly, I was amazed I could remember at all with everything that had happened since then), and here in the center was the keep, made of heavy, sturdy stone and built to last. It was even equipped with a couple of small towers, which just pleased me to no end. It was the real deal, right here in front of me; I could have stepped into my report rather than a video game world and it'd have been the same, save for the good-looking guy riding the famous horse to my right.

As soon as Shadow had been reluctantly reined in enough that she wouldn't get crushed beneath his hooves, Ari flung herself from the saddle and made a mad dash for the magnificent stone structure, screeching out a name at the top of her lungs. Naturally, people came from the nearest houses to see what the ruckus was about - a pair of brunette boys, clearly brothers, with blue and green eyes respectively came from around the side of the keep and offered to take Shadow and Epona to the stables; Link agreed, to my surprise, and we dismounted, leaving us standing in the middle of a curious crowd as they were led away - and before too long, Ari reappeared in the doorway, waving us in with wildly flailing arms. "Come on!" she shrieked, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Already so done with the whispers floating through the crowd, not to mention feeling edgy from being stared at, I ran for it too, hearing Link's boots hitting the ground arrhythmically to mine. "Come on!" Ari yelled again, nevermind that we were right beside her. Instantly she was off again, practically skipping down the impressive maze of hallways, her black hair bouncing behind her as she went. "You gotta meet my gramma and my cousin! They're just down here! Hurry up, you guys!"

Several twists and turns (just down here my france) and a short staircase down later, we'd come to what would modernly be termed a living room, although I wasn't quite sure what to call it in this case. Either way, we were greeted by the mouth-watering smell of fresh bread and some kind of meat wafting toward us from the table, where multiple plates had been placed. "Hi there!" We were then literally greeted by the woman standing up from the table, a shortish lady with a wild mane of flame-colored hair, blue eyes that looked almost exactly like Ari's, and a very noticeable baby bump underneath her cream-colored, flower-embroidered dress. "I'm Amari," she continued, walking right up and hugging us both like we were family rather than total strangers. "Ariela is my younger cousin, as you've probably gathered. We know who you two are already so don't bother introducing yourselves," she said right as we opened our mouths to do just that; taking advantage of our surprised silence, Amari swung around behind us and put a forceful hand on each of our shoulders, steering us to the table. "Ari said you've been traveling for a good while to get here, and I'm sure you must be starving. Gramma will be back shortly for you to talk to, but for now, eat."

"Ma'am-" Link tried to say, obviously about to protest eating their food, but Amari silenced him with a glare. "I said, eat," she stressed, and the Hero of Time was immediately silenced, scarcely daring to return my incredulous look with a furtive glance before obeying the red-head's command. Hurriedly we dropped into the chairs we'd been led to, took up our dinglehoppers (because 'fork' is too mainstream), and dug in with the kind of ferocity Amari seemed to expect. I'm only mildy ashamed to admit that it was only half fake, because 1.) It had been a pretty good while since we'd eaten anything that hadn't come out of that cellar, and B.) I didn't know exactly what it was we'd only just escaped being force-fed by a psycho pregnant lady, but that crap was good. It like some kind of biscuits and gravy thing, with meat that was best described as sausage, nevermind the seasoning wasn't anything I'd ever tasted before; it still got the point across. Conversation ground almost completely to a halt. Amari said words that I only half heard and made the occasional noncommittal sound in response to, and from what I could hear over the sound of utensils scraping plates, Link was right there with me. Teenagers and food, what can I say? It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that Ari wasn't even in the room anymore, presumably gone to look for the cousins' grandmother. As though summoned, the little girl came skipping back into the room just seconds after I had the thought, a stately gray-haired woman in a black dress following her. Each took a seat at the table, Ari next to her elder cousin, and the woman at the head of the table. Weird. Wouldn't a man traditionally sit there?

"So, you are the two Ariela has been talking about non-stop since she got here," the old lady said with a hint of amusement in her tone, looking each of us over as we tried to sit up straight instead of hunching over our plates. "I must thank you for rescuing my granddaughter and returning her to us. We are indebted to you, and not only for taking care of her - had you not brought her here, we would never have known the fate of our sister village. It is my hope that at least some of them survived the attack, but if they do not begin to appear at our gates soon, we will at least know the reason for their absence." In the time it took for her to say all that, I'd put my fork down quietly and took a cloth napkin out of the center of the table, trying to get all the gravy off my face and look at least halfway civilized. Contrastingly, Link polished off everything on his plate before putting his own utensil down with a slight clatter and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Seriously?, I wanted to mutter, but then again, such were the manners he'd been programmed with; I remembered well all the potions and Lon Lon Milk I'd made him drink over the years, and that he'd done the same thing after every one. Oh well. Amari looked pleased by his empty plate, at least. There wasn't much left on mine, but I didn't think I could manage another bite. After all that time eating just enough, the excess already had my stomach aching.

"Forgive my manners," Ari's grandmother continued, drawing my wandering attention back to her. "I am Kara, elder and leader of Lynna Village. It is an honor to have you here, Hero, and your companion as well," she said, nodding respectfully to us both. The heat in my face informed me that it was most likely glowing red again as I tried to replicate the gesture with some modicum of grace. Link handled it like a pro, just nodding back and saying something I didn't catch, too distracted by trying to fight my blush down. "Will you be staying with us for a while? No doubt you are tired and in need of rest, which could be more easily found in a bed here than on the cold, hard ground, I'd wager."

"You gotta stay!" Ari burst out before either of us could say anything, scraping her chair backwards to jump up and down like a spaz. "The festival starts in just a few days! You can't leave yet!"

Link sat up straighter, gaining a twinkle in his deep blue eyes that I really didn't like, and for more reasons than one. I could honestly only describe that look as mischief, which probably didn't bode well coming from a guy with magic gloves that let him pick up towers, and there was an additional issue with that expression: namely, that it was sexy as heck. The time for denial was long over - after yesterday's freak storm and my subsequent sleepless night, too terrified of something else happening to close my eyes, I'd finally been forced to admit the truth to myself. Yes, world, I, Angel, have a crush on Link! There, out in the open. ...Sorta. Oh, come on, you can't expect me to tell the actual world when I'm still trying to deal with it in my own head, not to mention how super awkward it would be for me to just blurt that out for no reason. Honestly, people; think before you say these things.

Back to the matter at hand, Link turned his sexy troublemaker look towards me, excitement palpable. "You know," he said loftily in a poor attempt at nonchalance, "I did miss the Kokiri Festival on account of this adventure. Be an awful shame to miss another one, don't you think?" His eyes locked onto mine, and despite that I would have loved to say no - with good reason, we had things to do and I needed to find out if my friend was even still alive months after her vanishment by Wallmaster - there was seriously no way I could say no when faced with that face, and especially not with Ari and her relatives watching me like a hawk for my answer.

"Aw, what the shell?" I conceded with a helpless shrug, and he smiled breathtakingly, effectively melting my brain and erasing all the thoughts in it, though not before I got the chance to snicker at my own curse substitute. Thank you TMNT 2003. Ari squeaked and squealed delightedly, and Amari hopped up with a clap of her hands to usher us further into the house, saying something about freshening up that my melted brain didn't really bother to register, too focused on the conspirational grin Link was sending me as we were prodded down the halls. Being a lovestruck teenager, I could do nothing to stop the mad smile I gave back, nor the Avril Lavigne song echoing through my head as though the singed remains of my mind were trying to tell me to screw the potential consequences and go for it. Or, y'know, it could have just been because I said 'what the shell'.

But honestly I just need to be a little crazy
All my life I've been good
But now
I'm thinking what the h***...


A quick scrub with a washcloth and a change of clothes for all parties later, Ari had deemed it her solemn duty to begin leading her friends through the village, pointing out anything and everything she found even slightly interesting. The two teens did an admirable job of trying to pay attention to her seemingly endless tour, though Link managed a good deal better than Angel. The blonde appeared perfectly content to let the little girl tow him around by the hand, and seemed completely at ease in the faded blue tunic Amari had borrowed from one of the village boys for him to wear while she washed up the group's dirt-encrusted traveling things, not even raising a fuss when she snatched away his hat as well. Of course, a change of clothes and an absent hat weren't the end of the world, particularly not to someone who had already prevented that, but still, Angel was having a hard time trying not to gripe about his lack of reaction under her breath as she trailed behind the other two, deeply uncomfortable in the loose dress Amari had presented her with, calling it a relic from her thinner days as she rubbed her stomach fondly. It was a purposely pale blue that almost matched Link's new duds, and was very nice, actually. Somewhere in the back of her mind the brunette realized that Ari's family must have had a decent amount of money to their name to get fabric of this softness rather than the usual scratchy peasant fare (assuming Hyrule worked anything like Earth, that was), but she was largely preoccupied with how exposed she felt in the too-long garment with its total lack of shape. Her preferred clothing style generally consisted of form-fitting items, and that the dress she was now wearing simply fell in a straight line from her shoulders to her feet by design, with no way to tighten it down, was frankly driving her mad.

The second we get back I'm grabbing the sword belt and harness and doing something about this crap, she thought vehemently, fingers flexing repeatedly in frustration. Still, knowing there was a solution of sorts to the problem was calming to a degree, and the girl let out a noisy exhale as she finally started to look around at the bustling little town, humming the selfsame song that had been in her head since breakfast under her breath, not realizing that her companions were getting farther and farther away while she rubbernecked. Before too long, they were completely out of sight, but it ceased to matter, as the Earthling had stopped in her tracks outside a woodcarver's shop, transfixed by the sound of flute music wafting onto the streets from inside. A somewhat unnerving smile spread across her face as she swayed to the tune, a plot taking shape in her mind, before she finally bolstered her courage and marched through the door with her head held high. She just hoped what she planned to ask for would be finished in time for the festival...

"Ooh, ooh, and over here's the bakery, and there's a seamstress's shop over that way, and-"

"And we've lost someone," Link interrupted, scanning the streets behind them for a figure in a blue dress and finding no trace. He sighed and shook his head good-naturedly, almost wanting to laugh. He didn't know what he'd expected, really; you couldn't take a girl into town and think she wouldn't disappear to go shopping after so long away from civilization. Good thing he'd had the foresight to 'steal' his wallet back from within her things before they'd left the keep. He fought down the urge to snicker - they'd probably be able to hear her screeching from a mile away when she found out she had no money. Which was actually kind of terrible and he shouldn't be laughing, but after all the monsters he'd had to track down and kill to make up for her last shopping trip, he felt it was at least slightly justified.

"Aw, so she didn't see any of the stuff I showed you?" Ari pouted, bringing Link's wandering mind back to the present. "That's lame! Plus she's lost now - how's she gonna find us if she doesn't know where we are?"

The blonde reached down with his unoccupied hand, the other still held captive by the ten year-old, and ruffled the little girl's hair. "Town's not that big, Ari," he assured her. "I'm sure we'll run into her sooner or later." She hummed thoughtfully for a moment, mulling that over, before tightening her grip and pulling him along again, determined to finish her tour. Link let out a quiet sigh and did his best to look like he was paying attention, though in actuality, he too longed to slip away and visit some of the shops. He had something in mind for that crystal, after all...


It wasn't actually until hours later when the two teens finally ran into eachother again, each hurrying through one of the small castle's hallways in the opposite direction and too preoccupied by what was on their minds to see the other, making running into one another a very literal thing.

"Ow!"

"Hey!"

Red colored both faces as they looked up and saw just who they'd slammed into in their haste.

"Oh, hey Link!"

"Angel! Hi."

There was a pause as each waited for the other to speak and neither did.

"...Okay well nice talking to you. I gotta go."

"Yeah, I've got somewhere to be."

Fur was instantly ruffled, and the already high levels of awkward increased as they began to speak in stereo.

"You do?"

A pause.

"Well where are you going?"

Angel scoffed, affronted. "A place!"

At the same time, Link shot back, "Somewhere!" with a scowl on his face.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Ugh, would you move? I'm gonna be late!"

"Oh, now you can even be late?"

"Yeah, and you're making me that way! Move please."

"Whatever. Go then, since you're in such a big hurry."

"Thanks a heap, you're such a gentleman today."

"You know what, I don't have time for this anymore."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes really; I told you I had somewhere to be, and now I'm gonna be late."

"Aw, well, I'm glad I could inconvenience you!"

"Same goes for me."

"Oh my glob, just get out of the way, Link."

"Sure thing, if it makes you go away faster."

"I'm already gone."

"Good, stay that way!"

"You too!"

"Gladly!"

Hidden around the corner, Amari shook her head and sighed after she got her ears to stop ringing from the echoes of the shouting match. Teenagers trying to hide things from eachother - not the least of which were feelings - just never ended well, did it?

(~Link~)

Well, that went great. I have no idea what just happened in there. Why exactly did we start screaming at eachother for no reason? I let out a growl and leaned back against the door I'd just slammed behind me, pulling the shining cerulean crystal out of my pocket to glare at it.

"If I wasn't trying to keep what I'm doing with you a secret, none of that would have happened," I told it angrily. Being inanimate, all it did was glow at me. The back of my head thumped against the door heavily. "Great," I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. "Now I'm talking to crystals." I shoved it back in my pocket with a sigh and headed on to the jeweler I'd talked to earlier, after Ari finally got bored of showing me around and let me do my own exploring. Maybe it was stupid, I don't know, but I'd decided that I was going to have it made into a necklace for Angel. There wasn't any kind of occasion, although the festival made for a convenient excuse to give her something, where I might otherwise have to actually tell her that...

That I liked her.

Tch, yeah, that'd go over great, even if we hadn't just been yelling at eachother in the hall. She wasn't interested in me. But, either way, I'd already made up my mind to give her the necklace, along with a copy of the Fairy Ocarina that I'd made for her while we'd been at the cabin. Of course, according to the creepy old guy at the shop, it would take a few days for the former to be crafted, something about having to do the needed work slowly so as not to shatter the crystal in the process, so maybe I'd have time to smooth things over with Angel beforehand and they wouldn't have to be an apology gift.

Life just used to be so much simpler, y'know? I wonder if everybody has this hard a time when they like someone, or if it's just me. You know. Because of that whole skipping seven years of my life thing. Sounds like a good excuse, anyway.

(~Angel~)

Okay, what the shell just happened, please? All in the world I wanted to do was get back to the woodcarver's so I could give him these sketches, and instead I wound up randomly yelling at Link, which should not have been a thing. I don't even know why I got so mad; I have a temper, yeah, but it's usually less hair-trigger than that... Y'know what, I'm just gonna say the hallway was cursed, because he yelled back at me, and that's not normal, because he's a really nice guy and therefore not the type to scream at girls. Or anybody, for that matter. Stupid cursed hallway, screwing with people's days.

Naturally, I didn't want to admit that that shouting match had anything to do with me trying to hide the sketches from Link, although my rational brain knew that was exactly why it happened as far as my half of it was concerned. The door rattled in its frame as I pulled it shut hard behind me and rammed the back of my head into it a few times, mumbling, "Stupid," under my breath with each one.

I leaned there for a minute, no doubt looking like an idiot to anybody who might be able to see me (not that it looked like there was anyone there when I opened my eyes and glanced around at that thought), before standing up straight and pulling the papers out of the front of the dress - oh, sure, I may have looked stupid carrying around a sword with this dumb dress on, but the harness did make said dress more wearable, and also provided a convenient place to store things - and setting off for the shop with them in hand. After talking to the man there earlier, he had agreed to try making a new flute or two as long as I could show him what they were supposed to look like, hence the drawings. Because crazy ideas are my thing, I'd gotten one when I heard the woodcarver playing, and decided to ask for the flutes, two particular kinds from my home planet (glob that sounds cheesy) so Link would have something to play besides a magical artifact. Was that stupid? I really couldn't make up my mind on that one. The game and the official guidebook had always made it seem like he enjoyed his music, so I thought it was thoughtful, but you know me and thinking: it doesn't usually work out so great for me.

Still, though, I'd come too far to turn back now. Literally, I was almost there, like, the guy could probably see me from inside the shop already, so turning around would just be moronic. If these worked out, the only thing left to do would be to come up with a good reason to give 'em to him. From what little I'd heard about the festival so far, it seemed like there was some gift-giving that went on during that, so maybe that would work - assuming I'd managed to make up with Link by that point, of course; we did just scream our heads off at eachother in a public place. Otherwise, I guess the new instruments would have to be a 'sorry for yelling at you' present. The other option, a 'hey I thought you might enjoy these oh by the way I really like you' thing, was emphatically not an option. Not only did that just sound idiotic no matter how sophisicatedly you tried to word it, Link had zero interest in me, and telling him I liked him would accomplish nothing but making whatever time we spent in eachother's company awkward and weird.

Honestly. Of all the boys to fall in love with, I had to pick one who only existed in an alternate dimension/video game world. I wouldn't like to make things difficult for myself at all, would I?


The next meeting went markedly better than its predecessor. Bright sunlight shone in through the sparse windows and numerous arrow slits in the keep's walls, illuminating every mote of dust hanging in the air; the sight reminded Link of standing still for just a little too long in the Lost Woods, all the tiny sprites that gathered to flitter around him and dance inquisitively over his skin until he moved again and startled them into dispersing. He was again preoccupied, but not so much that he didn't see his traveling companion walking slowly down the hall when he rounded the corner, and he hesitated for only a few seconds before falling into step beside the Earth girl, whose eyes flicked over to him briefly although she said nothing. The sounds of life from the town outside filtered in with the light, muffled enough by the thick stones to create a feeling of distance, as though they two were in their own world, detatched from from the rest of humanity. Perfect place for an apology, in Link's opinion.

"Hey." His voice was soft and low-pitched, cutting gently into the relative quiet rather than shattering it outright.

Again, she cut her eyes at him before looking away. "Hey," she responded in kind, dragging the word out the slightest bit and ending it on a higher note than she began to show expectancy.

He took a deep breath and let it out slow. "So, about earlier." Another inhale. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," she said with a nod, "so am I. I don't really know..." Her tone indicated that there was more, but it never came, and he nodded slowly to himself.

"Yeah," he said understandingly. "Me neither."

She laughed, only a short chuckle but nonetheless. "We're a pair, aren't we?" she asked wryly, and he let out his own little laugh.

"Yep." He stopped then to properly look at her, and she followed suit, her short stature forcing her to look up to meet his eyes. "Really, though, I'm sorry for all that," he said as sincerely as he could. "I didn't mean anything I said."

The younger teenager smiled. "Really, though, I'm sorry too," she replied with a slight roll of her eyes, as though she were irritated by his more thorough apology. "You know I didn't mean what I said either, right?"

Link smiled back and nodded once. "Yeah. I know." In an unspoken agreement, the duo set off down the hall again at the same slow pace, and though the conversation was probably over, the Hylian felt the need to clarify. "So we're cool again?" he asked. He laughed for real when Angel shoved him, saying, "We never weren't!" exasperatedly. An easy silence fell between them for a moment, until Link felt that enough time had passed that he could interrupt it. "So, are you planning on doing anything for the festival?"

He got a raised eyebrow for his question. "I'm going, if that's what you're asking," Angel said, arching her brow further when he shook his head.

"No, I meant are you going to perform at all? You know, play an instrument or sing or something?"

The girl just looked lost now. "Why would I?"

"Because you have musical talent and why not?"

"Are you performing?" she counter-questioned, and he nodded, grinning at her frown.

"Yes," he said as though it were obvious. "I told you, I missed the Kokiri Festival this year, and I intend to make up for it at this one. I don't, however, intend to be up in front of everyone alone, so come on, now. What can you play?"

The Earthling just shook her head slowly, staring at him incredulously. "Nothing useful, if I had to guess."

Link gave her a look. "I highly doubt that," he said drily. "Don't you play a fiddle or anything? I saw two in your house back when whatever magic you and Lily conjured took me there."

She bit her lip, at the same time twisting a lock of hair around her finger, eyes unfocused and staring off into space. "Well, yeah, I play a little, but I'm not very good," she mused aloud. "I'm loads better with the cello, not that I'm an expert at that either, though."

He furrowed his brow slightly. "Cello... That would be the big one that sits on the ground?"

Angel nodded, then jumped as Link put an arm around her shoulders and began steering her back the way they'd come, towards the exit. "What's the big idea?!" she squawked, flailing to get away; no such thing happened, as he only held tighter. "Where are we going?"

"They're similar enough instruments that you should be able to play one if you can play the other, in my opinion," he explained, voice light. "So we are going to ask around and see where we can requisition a couple of fiddles, after which I'm giving you a crash course so you and I can play at least a song or two this weekend," he finished matter-of-factly, merely grinning again as she scowled at him and laughing when she purposely stumbled for the sole purpose of shoving him into the wall so she could wriggle out of his grasp.

She walked alone for the duration of the trek, but the fact remained that she went along.


Link, as it turned out, could be a slave-driver when he wanted to, and when it came to teaching Angel to play the violin, he most certainly wanted to.

"Again."

The Earth girl groaned, but obeyed, starting back at the beginning of the scale and working her way up it on each string, flinching every time she screwed up and hit a wrong note, just knowing she was going to hear him say-

"Again."

-and be forced to restart the walk up for the umpteenth time. They had easily borrowed two of the wooden instruments Angel now fought tooth and nail with and trekked a short ways out of town so that no one would be able to hear the unearthly screeching the inexperienced player knew she was sure to cause, and her prediction had come painfully true. She remembered why she didn't play her violin at home, now: because she sucked at it and inevitably gave up every time she tried. She'd have put this one down an hour ago if she'd been permitted, but Link was having none of it.

"Come on, do it again," he prompted when she failed to comply the first time, and she finally couldn't take it, reaching out to whack him (lightly, didn't want to damage it) with the bow.

"Okay, no. Seriously, I have been doing this forever and I'm getting exactly nowhere with it. You're not teaching me anything at all!"

The blonde listened to her vent before cracking open one eye and looking up at her from where he lay on his back in the grass, hands behind his head, one knee up and the other ankle resting atop it, to take in her frazzled appearance. Still wearing the unadjustable blue atrocity, she had had to use bits of string to tie the loose sleeves down to her arms so they wouldn't get in the way of her playing, and Amari had cheerfully agreed to pin her hair back for the same reason, though by this point both efforts seemed to have been in vain; the sleeves were steadily slipping their bonds, and most of her head was covered in flyaways, making her look quite mad if truth be told, particularly when taking into account the scowl on her face. With an almost imperceptible sigh, Link sat up and turned to regard her seriously, nodding towards the instrument in her hands. "One more time," he said expectantly, and she growled, but did as bidden, tucking the instrument under her chin and raising the bow to begin again.

This time, he didn't stop her, even when she continuously made mistakes, letting her get all the way to the highest possible note on the E string before getting to his feet and walking over to her. "I know what you're doing wrong," he began in a placating tone of voice, stepping behind her and turning her head back to the front when she tried to look over her shoulder at him; he didn't miss the shiver that ran up her spine when he pulled out the pins failing to hold it back and swept his hands through her hair to put it up again. When it was all out of the way he moved on to the sleeves, tying them back up tightly enough to stay without cutting off her circulation. "I have since the beginning. I thought if I had you try over and over again with the same result you'd figure it out on your own, but I see now that you were too irritated to think right and I'm sorry I didn't catch on to that sooner." She held her breath as he placed his hands over hers, gently guiding her fingers to the right positions. "Like you said, you're used to a bigger instrument, so the jumps between notes that you're making are too big, and you keep missing notes or hitting one that's off key. They're similar, yes - actually they're virtually the same, just different sizes - but the fact remains that this is not a cello, and if you try to play it like one, you're going to keep screwing up." He let go of her and stepped back, hearing her sharp intake of breath as soon as he was gone, but made no remark on it, simply walking back to where the other instrument lay in its open case and taking it up, positioning his fingers where he'd put hers, then performing the same thing he'd asked her to do, beginning on the G string and walking up the scale, then the lowering the bow and looking at her pointedly.

A blush still colored her cheeks from his earlier proximity, but she drew in a breath and tried to copy him, managing better now that she'd seen it done, though it still wasn't flawless. He smiled encouragingly. "Much better. Run through it a few more times until you can play the full scale without hitting a bad note, then do it again to prove it wasn't a fluke. After that we'll start working on a song or two. Deal?"

"Deal," she mumbled, and set to work as he settled back into the grass to listen in comfort. It was slow-going, though she was definitely making progress. By sunset when Link decreed it time to head back into town, she had almost managed to complete her task, and probably would have if he hadn't spoken and startled her into hitting a bad note. He sent her an apologetic look for that, but she just frowned back, making him laugh lightly.

They arrived at the keep just before dusk and were instantly swept away to the dining room by Amari, who yet again threatened to stuff food in their faces if they didn't do it themselves. Afterwards, she grabbed them up and led them down a hallway to their respective bedrooms, pointing out where everything they might need could be found before bidding them a cheery goodnight, then practically throwing them inside and locking the doors - in fact, she did lock Link's, swiftly replacing the big key that allowed her to do so in a pocket on her dress, although Angel's door was left open, which had them both blinking bemusedly, though naturally neither could see the other. Upon realizing that that was the whole point, Angel burst into a fit of giggles, which she tried and failed to muffle; on the other side of the wall that divided their quarters, Link pouted silently.

Finally mastering herself, Angel walked over to said wall and knocked on it lightly. "Good night," she said softly, not wanting to disturb anyone else who might be trying to sleep.

"Good night," Link murmured back.

(~Angel~)

Well isn't this just fabulous. First time in a proper bed in I don't even know how long and I cannot for the life of me fall asleep. Why? Because there's nobody else in here but me and it's creeping me out. I sighed and shifted, trying to find a comfortable position even though I already knew it was hopeless. I hadn't realized how much I'd come to rely on my traveling companions over the time we'd been together, but it hit me now that I hadn't really had any time alone since we started this weird little adventure, especially at night. Obviously we didn't sleep in a dog-pile or anything, but Link and Ari were always close enough that I could hear them breathing, and now that it was just me by myself, I found that the silence unnerved me to no end.

After what I assumed was another half hour or so of tossing and turning, I decided to heck with it and pulled myself up out of the actually very nice bed, shuddering when my bare feet touched the cold stone of the floor. Grabbing the pillow and one of the blankets and stuffing them under one arm, I reached over to the bedside table to grab two of the hairpins I'd taken out earlier, then made my way silently out the door and to the next one, biting my lip as I fiddled with the internal mechanisms of the lock by way of the pins. I had no idea if I was doing this right at all, given that my only lockpicking experience came from playing Assassin's Creed 3 and I sucked at it in that game, but regardless of said inexperience, I must have done something right because the lock clicked, and the doorknob turned obligingly when I tried it afterwards. The effort it took not to break into some derpy-looking happy dance was extreme.

"Link?" I whispered into the dark room, then wanted to facepalm. Typical me, not considering that he might be asleep; no, I just waltzed in anyway, because I don't think things through, like, ever. It seemed that wasn't the case though, as his answer was almost immediate.

"Angel? How'd you get in here?"

I opened the door a little wider and snuck inside, closing it softly behind me just as I'd done with mine. The window in the room allowed moonlight to fall in slanted rays on the bed, illuminating Link's confused expression.

"Picked the lock," I replied with a little one-shoulder shrug, as though it were no big deal, and he was obviously restraining laughter at that; it came out as a series of breathy chuckles that made me glad I was still in the dark so he wouldn't be able to see how the sound made my face flare up red again.

"Okay, fair enough, but why?" he asked, leaning forward from where he'd been propped up against the wall to rest his elbows against his knees, one of which was bent while the other lay flat on the mattress; it was a lazy kind of slouch that I wouldn't have thought to see from someone who usually stood with his back militaristically straight, and the pure interest that caused it coupled with the amusement still dancing in his moonlit eyes almost made my knees weak. Good glob did I have it bad.

Not exactly trusting my voice, I shuffled over closer and shook the pillow at him before I answered. "Honestly? I can't sleep. It's creepy being over there alone and not being able to hear you or Ari breathing a few feet away, so..."

He nodded like he understood exactly what I meant and scooted over so I could sit down next to him, hugging the pillow and blanket to my chest. "Yeah. After so long having other people around, it's weird to be alone again," he said quietly.

"Tell me about it," I muttered back, and we sat for a few minutes in silence before he snagged his own pillow and made to stand up.

"Well, I'll take the floor then-" he started, but I practically tackled him to pull him back down onto the bed, not even considering the potential awkward that could have come from doing such a thing. Fate smiled on me, though, as he was too surprised to be embarrassed and I was too busy running my mouth already.

"I didn't come over here to chase you out of your bed!" I said exasperatedly.

"I'm used to the floor anyways," he tried to convince me, but I am a stubborn creature and didn't relent, just hanging on tighter, and he sighed, putting his hands up in defeat. "Fine, you win." Satisfied, I let go, and he moved over as close as he could to the wall, lying down and gesturing towards the empty portion. "Your half, then."

Of course, as I crawled down to the foot of the bed to get the junk I'd brought with me, it occurred to me that we were sharing a bed and I realized just how weird I'd made things, but it was too late. Not only was I already here, I really did feel better having him near, even if the degree of nearness was new and slightly frightening. I didn't say anything as I plopped the pillow down and curled up under my blanket, back turned to Link, though after a moment I decided I had to say something.

"Hey Link?"

"Hm?"

"...Thanks for putting up with me."

He laughed softly but said nothing, just turned around so that he was facing the wall like I faced the rest of the room. His shifting forced me to move backwards a little lest I fall off the edge of the bed, which resulted in our backs touching. We both stopped breathing for just a minute, stiff as we each waited for the other to react, but when neither of us did, we relaxed again, me after him, and the momentarily tense atmosphere in the room faded away. Before long, our breaths synchronized, and despite how nerve-wracking it was to begin with to be able to hear and feel his every inhale, it wasn't long before the familiar sound of his breathing lulled me to sleep.


So this was not where I wanted to stop this, and the chapter is totally not formatted the way I wanted it to be because the site was being a biotch to me for some reason, but, regardless, this chapter is finally up, and the next one is in the works. Thanks so much for reading! I love you guys ;)