Hey everyone! I'm feeling super nice today, so instead of posting two small chapters, I'm posting I giant one! I was reading all my reviews again and realized that my chapters are alot shorter than they were when we first started the story, chapter 4 was over 4000 words long! So I've decided to buckle down a little more and start making my chapters a little longer.
Oh yeah, and at the end of the book, I"m going to post a bonus chapter and thank a bunch of people. So keep reading!
I can't believe we're almost to the end of the story, I really made it long, didn't I? I don't know for sure if the sequel will be longer or shorter, right now it's about 50 pages long, and I don't even think that's half of the story... hmm... I've gotta think about this...
Anyway, enought of my babbling, on with the story!
Don't forget to read and review! Anime Wildfire
The next day…
"Where were you last night Lee?" Kari asked at breakfast, noticing how tired Lee was,
"Oh, I was um… out for a walk." Lee said, yawning.
Kari's eyes narrowed, he was defiantly hiding something from her.
Lee stood up and headed for his room.
"I'm gonna go sleep for a while, I'm really tired." he said, disappearing down the hallway.
Kari waited until the sound of his boots faded in the distance before she jumped up and headed down the hallway to Lee's room.
Pressing her ear to the door, she heard him fall back in the bed and fall asleep.
She waited a few minutes before quietly opening the door and slipping inside.
Lee was sprawled out on his bed, fast asleep. Luckily for Kari he was a heavy sleeper when he was really tired.
Kari carefully glanced around the room. Determined to find out where he had disappeared to last night.
He had put a cloak on and left without a word, returning and hour later. After he had gotten back he shut himself up in his room, Kari had heard him talking to himself about something he had done while he had gone out, she had even heard him say her name.
It had puzzled her, and made her suspicious, what was he hiding from her?
Kari shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then she turned back to her mission.
Glancing around, she noticed a small box in his dresser. Curious, she walked over to his dresser and picked it up.
She was about to open it when she heard a noise, quickly she wheeled around and saw Lee stirring, she put the box back on the dresser and raced over to the window, jumping out onto the ledge outside Lee's window, hoping he didn't go onto the balcony.
Lee meanwhile, stirred again and opened his eyes, He sat up and glanced around.
That's weird, it feels like someone's in here, he thought, he stood up and glanced over at the small box on his dresser. He walked over to his dresser and picked the box up. Smiling softly to himself as he thought about who it was for.
Quickly he stuffed the box into his tunic and flopped back down on the bed, still tired dispite his little nap.
Kari glanced back inside the room, Lee had fallen back asleep, Kari glanced back at the dresser.
The box is gone. She thought to herself, her eyes narrowing,
I will find out what he's hiding from me! Kari thought, narrowing her eyes at Lee's sleeping form before sneaking back to her old room.
Kari left her room and headed down the hallway, completely lost in her thoughts until she bumped into Zelda.
"whoops! Sorry Kari!" Zelda said, giving Kari a quick hug, Kari blinked.
"N-no, it's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going, I was busy thinking." She said, gancing at her feet. Zelda glanced at her curiously,
"what are you thinking about?" She asked, Kari sighed, her shoulders slumped.
"Lee's hiding something from me, I just know it. He's been acting kind of suspicious." Kari said,
Zelda nodded, "I see what you mean, I've noticed he's been kind of distant too. Maybe he's just nervous, his birthday is next week. And then your birthday is two weeks after that, and then the plays another week after that. Oh, that reminds, me, Sheik says you have a rehersal tomorrow."
"thanks." Kari muttered, glancing at her feet before heading down the hallway towards the library.
Zelda watched her go, unhappy to see Kari so miserable.
"you'd better have a good excuse for making her worry so much Lee." She muttered to herself before heading down the hallway leading to the throne room.
(in case you're wondering, Lee and Kari have been going to play practice for a while, I just didn't write it down, figured I'd be to boring.)
Two hours later Lee woke up, completely refreshed from his nap. He glanced out the window and noticed the sun was going down.
It's probably almost time for dinner. He thought, he left his room and headed down the hallway towards the dining room, meeting Kari halfway there.
"Oh Lee, your mother just sent me to find you, she says it's time to eat." Kari said, she turned and quickly continued back down the hallway.
Lee hesitated for a minute before following Kari to the dining room.
Is she mad at me? He wondered, glancing at Kari, he noticed that she was looking the other way, almost determined not to look at him.
"Uh Kari, is something wrong-"
"we're here," Kari said, cutting Lee off, she headed for a chair on the opposite side of the table.
Lee sat down opposite of her, looking confused, why was Kari mad at him? He just didn't understand it.
Kari ate her meal in silence, refusing to look at Lee. Zelda and Link sat in silence as well, shooting glances at each other and wondering what was going on between Lee and Kari.
"So, Lee, what kind of cake do you want to have for your birthday?" Zelda asked, trying to break the silence.
Lee blinked, he had completely forgotten about his 16th birthday.
"Um, vanilla, I would like a vanilla cake." Lee said, glancing at Kari. She was staring at her plate, still determined to ignore him.
(What can I say? Lee is a vanilla-over-chocolate kind of guy.)
"A vanilla cake! That sounds so good! Your birthday is going to be so much fun! We'll have a ball and everything!" Zelda said, completely forgetting about her dinner.
"um Zelda, careful of the food…" Link muttered as Zelda began to bounce up and down.
"we'll have dancing! Lots of food and of course, a contest!" Zelda said, Lee's head jerked up.
"A contest? What type of contest?" He asked, also completely forgetting about his food.
"Why, a drawing, and the winner gets to dance with the birthday prince!" Zelda exclamed, clapping her hands, Link shook his head. (Anime sweat drop)
Lee looked down at his plate.
"I don't dance…" he muttered, Zelda merely grinned.
"that's ok! We have dancing teachers to teach you how to dance!" Zelda replied.
"that's not what I meant…" Lee muttered to himself, Kari suddenly stood up.
"I'm going to get some sleep, busy day and all." Kari said, Lee stood up as well.
"great idea! I'll come with you!" (he is relieved to get away from Zelda, plus he wants to talk to Kari alone.)
Zelda continued to rant on about Lee's party ( Link completely ignoring what Zelda's saying…) as Lee and Kari left, causing Link to continue eating the food.
(everyone else completely forgot about the food.)
Lee followed Kari back to their rooms, as she opened her door, Lee grabbed her arm.
"Kari… I'm confiused, did I do something to make you mad at me?" He asked, Kari looked up from the floor and met his gaze.
"I don't know Lee, I'm still trying to figure it out myself." She said, she pulled her hand from his grasp and went into her room. Closing the door behind her.
Lee sighed, he didn't understand. What could he have done to hurt her so badly? Lee went into his room and closed the door.
Could he have offended her? No, he didn't offend her…
Lee flopped back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling, he remembered the pain in her eyes as she had met his gaze.
"I don't know Lee, I'm still trying to figure it out myself."
Lee remembered what Kari had said, and it stung him.
(how could it not? Being ignored by the one you love would break your heart.)
He stood up and walked out onto his balcony, peering over the edge, he could see the palace gardens below him.
Grinning, Lee looked over the garden, there was a fountain on one corner, underneith a willow tree, in another corner was a giant maze. The rest of the garden was filled with exotic plants and flowers from around the world.
As Lee gazed out over the garden, an idea popped in his head. Carefully he looked around the rooms, looking for a rope of some kind.
After a few minutes of searching, he gave up.
I'll just jump, it's only about 20-30 feet from the ground. He thought, jumping onto the railing of the balcony and peering down to the ground.
Lee easily jumped to the ground from the balcony, landing on the soft grass at the bottom of the balcony.
Glancing around, Lee saw that their was no one else around. He grinned to himself in spite of his troubles with Kari.
This was the perfect chance to go tree climbing! Lee glanced around the garden, searching for the perfect tree to climb. And he found one, the cherry tree was blossoming with beautiful pink flowers,
(Lee doesn't like pink, that tree just happens to be the most relaxing, plus it his and Kari's favorite tree.)
Lee approched the tree and started climbing.
Ten seconds later he was sitting on one of the branches, his back leaning against the trunk of the tree.
Lee leaned his head back and closed his eyes, man it was such a relief to get away from being a prince once in a while.
Lee yawned and was about to fall asleep when he heard a noise, he opened his eyes and glanced around, noticing Kari standing at her balcony, her hair blowing in the wind and her eyes closed, enjoying the beautiful day.
Lee his behind some of the branches, carefully keeping himself hidden from Kari, he watched as she opened her eyes and continued to gaze up at the open sky.
But her gaze slowly turned away from the sky, she glanced down at her feet, a look of misery on her face. Suddenly, she buried her face into her arms and started to cry.
Lee was confused, why was she crying? He cosidered jumping down from the tree and going to talk to her, but decided against it.
On the balcony, Kari stopped crying and wiped her eyes, she couldn't get al emotional right now, she had to focus, she had to find out what Lee was hiding from her, and if ignoring him was the only way, the so be it, even though it broke her heart in the process.
Kari pulled out her ocarina from her tunic (her tunic is made for girls.)
And started to play her favorite song, Zelda's lullaby.
Softly she hummed the song along with the ocarina, smiling as she put her ocarina away after she finished the song.
Glancing around the garden, she decided to go for a walk, it might help calm her down and clear her thoughts.
Lee, meanwhile, was still watching Kari, she had just finished playing her favorite song and was glancing around.
Lee watched her look around from a rope or something she could use to get down, after a minute of looking around with no success, Kari shrugged her shoulders and jumped off the balcony, much to Lee's surprise and landed softly in the grass.
Kari flipped her hair over her shoulders and head in the direction of her favorite tree, the cherry tree.
But as soon as she approched the tree, a green figure jumped down directly in front of her.
"AH!" Kari screamed and jumped back, almost falling into the pond next to the tree.
The green figure started laughing, and it took Kari a few seconds to realize that she recognized that voice.
"… Lee?" Kari said, propping herself on her elbows. ( fell over from the shock)
"man I really surprised you there Kari! I thought that one time with that floating book was good! But this blows that away…"
(the trick he is refuring to is one where he and Kari visited a magic shop, while there Lee found a magic floating book and used it to play a prank on Kari… end of explanation…)
"it's not funny Lee." Kari said stiffly, her hands on her hips, Lee continued to chuckle.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't funny…" Lee said, Kari snorted and rolled her eyes.
"so… Lee, what are you doing in the garden?" Kari asked, ( trying to change the subject…)
Lee finally stopped laughing, "well, I was sleeping in the tree, then I saw you come out, so I watched you and then you came down here and I scared you to death!"
"so you were stalking me?" Kari said, Lee looked alarmed,
"No! I wasn't stalking you, I was hanging around in the tree." Lee said,
"Sure ya were." Kari said, crossing her arms, Lee nodded, "I really was."
Kari rolled her eyes and turned her back to Lee, Lee watched her curiously,
"uh Kari, are you still mad at me?" Lee asked, Kari stiffined. "-cause if you are, I just want to apologize, I don't know what I did that upset you, so will you please tell me so I can make it up up you?"
Kari started shaking, she bit her lip.
"Uh Kari?" Lee said, Kari wheeled around,
"you want to know why I'm angry with you? Well then let me ask you something!" Kari shouted, Lee leaned back a bit, surprised by Kari's outburst.
"What's so important that you couldn't tell me! Why didn't you tell me the truth about where you went the other night! Do you really have so little trust in me!" Kari shouted.
Her explosion left Lee a little speechless, Kari took a deep breath and turned her back to Lee, her arms crossed.
"is that what this is about?" Lee asked, "me going to town the other night and not telling you? Is that why your so upset?"
Kari's face softened, she turned back to Lee,
"yes, Lee, that's what this is about." She said softly. (Kari truly is an amazing girl…)
Lee didn't say anything, he just watched Kari.
"Lee… I just want to know, is there another girl you love?"
Lee was shocked by her question, wait a minute, was Kari… jealous?
"Kari… are you jealous of something? I don't love anyone else! Why would you think that?" Lee asked,
Kari sighed and rubbed her arms,
"it's just that… the other night, I saw a box in your room, a box you would use to give jewelry to someone, and I just wondered… if maybe… it was for a girl, a girl other than me that you had met."
Lee was silent for a moment, but inside he was mentally fighting himself.
Just tell her now! It's the perfect opportunity!
No! wait for the perfect moment!
How did she find out?
Go for it! Go for it before it's too late!
No! If you tell her now it might ruin your relationship…
Lee, with these thoughts racing through his mind, bit his lip.
"Kari, that box you saw, inside was a gift for my mother." Lee said, "I'm sorry, I never meant for you to think I fell in love with another girl, the gift in that box was for my mother, I just couldn't tell anyone cause I was afraid she would find out, you know how she is…" Lee lied, biting his lip and hoping Kari would buy his excuse.
Kari was silent for a moment, thinking.
"so… the box… in it is a gift for your mother? It's not a gift for another girl?"
"exactly, the thing in the box is a gift for my mother, it has nothing to do with another girl." Lee said,
Kari looked down at her feet, her cheeks pink.
"oh… now I feel really stupid, I was mad at you for no reason."
"well, ya kind of, it reminds me of that time when we were little, you remember? You got mad at me cause I pushed you into the pond, and all week you refused to talk to me. Man I was sad that week…"
Kari crossed her arms triumphantly.
"Ha, that was my plan all along, to make you so miserable that you would beg for me to forgive you, and it almost worked too, if Sheik hadn't gone and spoiled the whole thing…" Kari said, pouting.
"that may be, but do you remember what you did to him? Ugh, it still gives me shivers when I think about it." Lee said, shuddering as if to prove his point.
"so… we're friends again?" Kari asked, glancing at her feet, Lee grinned at her,
"of course we're friends, we were always friends,"
"I'm glad, I was starting to get really bored." Kari replied, Lee grinned at her, than suddenly, he blushed.
"um, Kari? Well, I just um…"
"…?" (giggle, I can just imagine her sitting there staring at him. Giggle)
"um, well… I was just wondering…"
"wondering what?" Kari asked, Lee blushed even harder.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go with my brithday party with me, you know, like as my date… or something." Lee said, he was still blushing,
Kari smiled at him, and he turned a deep shade of crimson. (or you could saw a reallllly dark red…"
"of course I'll go with you, I"ll be your date so you don't have to worry about being mobbed by girls."
Lee finally stopped blushing.
"thanks Kari, I'm glad we're friends again."
What I tell ya? nice and long, sort of, I was origionally gonna make this two chapters, but decided to make it one.
See ya next chapter! Anime Wildfire