Chapter 10

"They really did a number on you, you know that?" Malon told as she cleaned off Link's face.

"Really? I had no idea," he retorted in a mordant pitch.

She was right, all the same though. Blood was running out of his nose and a fresh cut on the upper left of his forehead. His eye was beginning to turn blue, promising a spanking new black eye the next day. He was bruised up pretty bad on his chest and back as well, though he wasn't about to let Malon touch that.

"Good lord, they got you pretty good," she said.

"How many more times are you going to say that?" Link grunted.

"Do you want my help or not?" Malon shot back.

"Yes, yes, yes…"

Malon was really the only one that had the slightest clue about any of that medical stuff. She was taking a nursing class in school and new how to do basic operations: like stitching up Link's forehead for example. He winced a bit as she tugged on the thread.

"Quit being a big baby," Malon demanded as she took the needle and looped it through Link's skin again.

"Hey, you're going dry you know! You try having a needle shoved into your head without anything to numb the pain."

"Ok, sorry, sheesh…"

"Thanks for sticking up for Zelda back there man," Serj thanked as he entered the bathroom as well.

"Yeah…"

Mido entered not long after to see what Link was up to. Red marks and bruises lined his face. Though it was rather horrible to think this, Mido found the sight rather funny.

"Damn dude, you look like shit," he greeted with a hint of laughter.

"Thanks Mido, way to be supportive."

Zelda soon turned the corner as well. Link rolled his eyes as the bathroom became ridiculously cramped. They all seemed to just stare at his bruised up face as though they were watching a TV show or something.

"You doing alright Link?" sounded Kafei's voice from down the hall.

"Yes, come on in, we'd love for you to join us!" he shouted in the most sarcastic tone he could come up with.

He was glad Malon was almost done; he was beginning to feel rather Closter phobic. It was already after 10 before Malon had finished, and needless to say, there wasn't going to be any party. Link didn't particularly care, but he did feel a little bad about the whole thing. But hey, that's what happens when you get the crap beat out of you for sticking up for your friend's, eh?

Link had no desire to be around anyone after being put to shame and nearly squashed to death in the bathroom. Sore as hell, he entered one of the extra rooms Serj had shown him and threw himself down on the bed.

It appeared as though nobody was leaving that night. Mido and Kafei got their own rooms, while Malon just slept in Zelda's room. It sure was nice having a house better than the white house.

Link could hear all of them having fun and watching movies until after one in the morning. He could have cared less, but they were keeping him awake, which he didn't take too kindly too. On the other hand, he couldn't sleep anyways for some reason. He constantly found his mind spinning about with so many different subjects. "God I wish I had my guitar…" he thought.

After tossing and turning for hours on end, he finally got frustrated and sat up and looked at the clock. Three in the morning… Running his hair through his thick hair, he put on his white A-shirt that was buried under his long sleeve shirt on the floor and pulled it on.

Smirking to himself a bit, he limped to the doorway and opened it very quietly. The last thing he needed was to wake anyone, especially Malon, for she would just shove him back onto the bed and order him to go to sleep.

"She's a good friend though," he thought to himself as he walked down the stairs.

He frowned a bit when he noticed that someone had left the TV on. The light flickered in the pitch black mansion, casting eerie shadows around the living room area. However when he had finally made his way down the stairs, he noticed that someone was sitting on the far side of the couch in front of it.

"What are you doing up?" he asked after flipping the light on.

"Can't sleep… What are you doing up?" Zelda shot back.

"Haven't slept at all," he replied as he sat down on the opposite side of the couch.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for everything you know," he stated, fixing his gaze on the TV.

"Sorry… Oh, sorry, I mean, damn it…"

Link laughed at her. She was glad that he wasn't looking at her, as she blushed a fluorescent red color. "Stupid!" she thought to herself and thought about smashing her face in.

"Although, I am sorry about Malon's party," Link told her, his eyes not moving from the music video of "Beast and the Harlot".

"Oh, s'ok. I'm glad that we were able to just hang out here too. Mido and Kafei are pretty cool," she began in conversation.

"Yeah, yeah they are."

"How long have you known them?" she inquired.

"Oh, jeez… Um… Kafei for about five years, and Mido about my whole life," Link recanted.

"Wow, that's quite a long time."

"Yeah, it is. They're good guys, they've really helped me through a lot," he told her as he watched Sinister Gates begin his guitar solo.

"I bet…"

"Well, pretty screwed up first week of school, eh?"

"You kidding? I've never had this much crap happen in one week!" Zelda exclaimed.

"Ha, yeah, but it's not that bad now, is it?"

"No, not since I met Malon," she replied.

"See, there you go."

The music video was almost over. Link didn't really find this situation as awkward as Zelda did. She was afraid she was about to do something stupid. Something really stupid.

"Would you like something to drink?" she recovered, standing up from the couch.

"Oh, no thanks."

"Link."

"Fine, get me whatever," he mumbled audibly.

Zelda walked passed him and into the kitchen. Link watched her the whole way. She wore a short pair of gray cloth shorts and a pink tank top. Shaking the thought from his head, he smacked his temple and glared down at the TV.

"You idiot, what are you doing? You're checking out your best friend's little sis! Get over it already, really!" he thought in a fit of guilt.

"You coming in here or not you gimp?" he heard Zelda's voice call from the kitchen.

Rolling his eyes, he limped away from the couch and to the kitchen. He became a little irritated when he saw that the kitchen was almost the size of his apartment. God, it has to be unhealthy to be that rich.

"Man, your parents must make a lot of money," he said, looking around the kitchen.

"Well, my dad does now. We didn't have anything until recently," she replied as she set a kettle on the stove to boil.

"He must have gotten a good job here," Link stated as he sat down on a tall stool that sat in front of the kitchen island.

"Oil rigs pay a lot of money these days. He makes fifty dollars an hour and another hundred a day just for showing up. It's a huge change really…"

"Wow, that is a lot… What do you mean by that? How was it such a big change?"

"Back in Florida, we were so poor we could only afford to heat one room. Serj had to work his butt off so he could help pay for bills and food. Ha, he would always go down to the music store and use their amps instead of his. He didn't want to use any more electricity than he had to!"

"Oh, he never told me about any of that. That really had to be tough," Link continued, a little concerned.

"It was hard because mom was dead. She passed when I was six, but I never really knew her that well, so it didn't hurt me all that much as stupid as it sounds. She was at work all the time, sometimes for two weeks straight. It hit dad pretty hard though. That's when things went down hill…"

"Serj never told me... I'm sorry to hear that," Link said, a little puzzled as to why Serj never told him.

"You don't have to apologize for everything you know," Zelda smarted off and received a frown. "Well, Serj doesn't really talk about an personal issues much. He's always been like that, real distant. I know he cares about his family, but he really doesn't show it all the time. Dad's always gone, so he really takes care of me," Zelda explained as she pulled the kettle from the stove.

"Yeah, I can understand why…"

"So what about you? Serj told me you guys haven't had a gig in two months, and you don't have a job… so… how is it that you still manage to keep paying for stuff?" Zelda interrogated as she poured the scalding water into two mugs.

"Well, when my parents died, I was left everything, including their bank accounts, the house, the black Camaro that's parked outside your house… everything."

"Oh, I see…"

"With a little help from my grandparents, I sold the house, put the money from it in my bank account, and put all of their things into storage. I couldn't even bear to look at their things… I haven't seen any of it in three years now…"

"You know Link, you're the reason that things have gotten better for me here," she said randomly, mixing up the powdered cocoa in the mugs.

"Ha, what do you mean?"

"When I found out about your parents and your little brother, it really made me realize just how selfish I was being, you know? I guess I had a bit of a revelation…"

"Thank you?"

"Ha, sorry, I just thought I should tell you that. So, how exactly did you get so good at the guitar? I mean, you're the best in San Demas without a doubt!" Zelda complimented as she set the hot cocoa in front of him and took a seat next to him at the island.

"Hmmm, long story…"

"I've got nothing better to do," she stated in a bit of a smug tone.

"Well, you see, playing guitar was in my family's history. Grandfather played, his father played it, my father, his uncle, my three cousins… so I kind of had to. I, I only played because my old man wanted me too. I knew the basics at best. I could play some stuff from the Police, and other real easy bands. I never, I never really tried to get good. But there was this one song that my little brother just loved… He begged me to play it, but I wasn't nearly good enough to play that one," he elucidated.

"What song was it?" Zelda pressed.

"It was from one of my favorite guitar players, Joe Satriani: Always With Me, Always With You. Gorgeous instrumental it is. I starting learning how to play it, but I never could get it. It was far too difficult for me at the time. But, but after my little brother died, I, I… I never felt worse in my life. I felt as though I had failed him in a way. He's gone now and I'll never be able to play that song for him…"

"Oh my god, Link… You can't blame yourself for that. Don't be so hard on yourself," Zelda comforted and put her hand on top of his.

"Well, that's how I got to be so good. I played my heart out, took three guitar lessons a day from three different teachers, and I did it all for my old man and my brother. It was like my way of putting their souls at peace I guess. And hey, I ended up enjoying it along the way!" Link finished.

"Did you ever learn how to play that song?"

"Ha, no. Never really had the heart to even listen to it again. Haven't heard it since it happened."

"I really think you should learn it," Zelda prodded.

"Why?"

"You're brother may not be alive in flesh and blood, but he's still in your heart and he'll always be with you. I think it would really put him to rest if you played it for him," she explained.

"You think so?"

"I know so. Not to mention, I'd love to hear you play it sometime," she said with a smile.

Link smiled back at her. Maybe she was right. It would be a disservice to not play that, wouldn't it? The boy would have died in vain if Link didn't learn the song…

Zelda stood up patted his back softly. With one last smile, she turned and began to head out of the kitchen again. Link turned in his seat.

"Zelda."

"Yeah?" she answered and turned around.

"Thank you," he expressed, stepping up close to her.

Zelda smiled and nodded to him to acknowledge his gratitude. He seemed to close in on her like a wave of water. Before she knew it, he was standing right in front of her.

Link felt like he was melting as the beauty gazed up at him; her emerald green eyes so innocent. He couldn't hold himself back anymore. The war inside his head had raged for far too long now.

He leaned forward and slid his lips onto Zelda's. She was surprised at first, but recovered and kissed back, her soft lips massaging his own. Link's tongue traced her lips as though asking for permission. Her mouth opened a bit and he slid his tongue in, rubbing hers all the while.

Link had kissed a million girls before, but nothing like this. There was so much passion in the whole moment and feeling, and Link couldn't help but be absorbed by it. He pulled Zelda's body into his chest and embraced her as the intensity built.

"Who left all the lights on?"

Link snapped away from Zelda and jumped back into his seat and began to quickly gulp the burning hot cocoa. Zelda's eyes widened and she turned the corner of the kitchen and entered the living room. Serj was coming down the steps.

"Oh. What are you doing up?" he asked groggily.

"Couldn't sleep. I was just in here talking to Link," she said without even realizing it.

"Link?"

Link rolled his eyes at her utter stupidity and could hear Serj making his way down the steps and onto the threshold. He held his position and just continued to slurp his drink. Serj turned the corner and frowned a bit.

"What the hell man? You should be in bed with how beat up you are," Serj scolded.

"Can't sleep," he shot back.

"You're lucky it's the weekend you know," Serj grunted with a roll of his eyes.

Link felt a wave of relief wash over him as his friend turned and left the kitchen. Zelda had sat back down on the couch watching TV, acting as natural as she could. Serj slowly trudged back up the stairs and up to his room. As soon as the door shut, Zelda jumped up from the couch and whirled around the kitchen corner.

"Hot?" she asked.

"Can't feel my tongue," he exasperated, his blood boiling at ridiculous heat temps.

He set the mug down and hurried past Zelda, who gave him a very sweet look. With one last smile, Link headed back up the stairs and to his own room. When he shut the door, Zelda twirled around with a huge smile on her face.

"Damn, that felt good…" she thought.