The past month had gone by… shall we say uneventfully? Link had gone straight to Navi and asked her whether he should give the girl riding lessons or not. Not that he needed her approval, he just told Navi everything. He remembered Mr. Deku constantly telling him as a kid to 'always listen to Navi' and so he had. And until now, he hadn't been disappointed. She was a great friend.

She'd thought it was a little weird that she was asking him for help. After all, she could have easily hired a more expert teacher, but since she felt embarrassed about the subject… 'Why not?' she'd said.

Zelda was making slow progress. Really, really reaaaaaally slow, but progress nonetheless. They didn't talk much during practice, but spending time with her was really helping him to focus on his dreams. He could almost reach the object the little girl threw at him before waking up. Every night he got a little closer to it. Plus, lately he'd been hearing a different melody, but he couldn't remember the lot of it while he was awake.

Link spotted Riku sitting with a group of guys at the cafeteria. He grunted. It was Lance and G's group. Ever since the party, Riku had rambled on and on about those guys until he got to Link's nerve.

"If you like them so much, why don't you sit with them instead of us?" He'd said.

"Maybe I will" And there he was.

Link took something out of his pocket and headed straight to the Princesses' table. Zelda and Daisy were laughing at something while Peach took some selfies.

"Lost a horse, stable boy?" Just found it. Link ignored her and turned to Zelda. He straightened his hand towards her and held the golden chain and pendant: three golden triangles that made one big triangle.

"You dropped this yesterday at…"

"English" She said suddenly. Link blinked. "We share English class, you must have found it by my desk." She took the necklace and gave him a puppy look. Peach raised an eyebrow. She was suspicious. Zelda insisted "Right?"

"Right…" Link's face fell. Peach went back to her phone. "English"

"Where's that blue fly that's always hovering around you?" Peach said without taking her eyes off her phone

"There's a fly?" Daisy asked

"I mean that little parasite that's always with him. Careful, your girlfriend might get jealous if she sees you talking to us." She laughed. Link saw the line of her neck and wondered how much strength he would need to snap it.

He tried to make eye contact with Zelda. Get an 'I'm sorry', a smile, even a grunt would have been nice. But no, she refused to even look at him. Well, screw her and her flawless skin.

He passed Sora and Kairi on his way out. They were always all smiles and waves and good vibes. They weren't even bothered that Link didn't greet them back as he left. They stood up from their usual friends' table and gestured at them to wait while they walked towards Riku's table.

"Hey Riku" Kairi offered a smile to each boy at the table.

"Hey guys" Riku said in a low voice.

"There's gonna be a dance show at the auditorium in a couple minutes. We're headed over there and we were wondering if you wanted to join us." Sora said. He noticed Riku turned to look at his other friends before answering, but they didn't even seem to acknowledge they were there.

"Maybe later" Riku answered.

"Alright. See you later." Kairi looked as cheerful as always, unlike Sora.

As soon as they left, Riku's friends exchanged a look and smirked.

"Who was she?" Lance asked tentatively

"Just a friend from where I spend the summer at." He said. There was something about his tone that made him not want to get too deep into the subject.

"She was hot". G added

"Dude… she's 15"

"And way out of your league"

"Yeah right…" Riku scoffed. "I could date her anytime I wanted"

"Please." Lance said

"You'll see"

The afternoon was perfect. Link fed another carrot to Epona and she sped up. As the last rays of summer sun caressed his face and the wind ran through his golden hair, Link just felt right. There was something about riding - particularly riding Epona, his personal favorite horse - that made him feel at home. It was like he belonged, unlike anything he'd ever felt in school. It made him feel exactly like one of his dreams.

A flash of pink suddenly brought him back to the real world. Frankly, he didn't expect her to come. He guided Epona towards the stable and climbed down the saddle.

"About earlier today..." She said. He met her gaze for a second before she darted her eyes away, filled with guilt. "I'm sorry" Still no answer. She sighed. "It's just… do you mind keeping this between the two of us?"

"Didn't you already make that decision?" Link stroke Epona's hair, refusing to look at Zelda again. She narrowed her eyes.

"I guess so." She gently placed a hand on Link's shoulder and felt his muscle tense. He turned around and blinked. He didn't usually let people touch him… especially girls. "Just please. They wouldn't understand".

She was pleading with her eyes and Link wished he wasn't such a pushover. He tied Epona and went to get Zelda's usual horse. She let out a breath, relieved, and stepped back to give him some space.

"Great. So this is just between us." She paused for a moment. "Say…is that blue haired girl really your girlfriend?"

Link froze in the spot, eyes wide open. "Navi? Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"It's what Peach said. And you do hang out with her a lot. And she is pretty…"

"She's just my friend!" He helped her up and turned the horse around. Him and Navi, yeah right.

"Not so fast!" She yelled, covering her eyes with her hands. They weren't even moving.

High school wasn't everything Sora hoped for, but it was alright. He had made a lot of friends and was doing well on tests and stuff. Kairi was surprisingly responsible and she was always encouraging him and his friends to do homework. She almost made up for the fact that Riku's new friends had taken into bullying him.

It's not like Riku wasn't hanging out with them anymore. He and Kairi were always more than welcome to spend lunch and free periods with Navi and Link's friends, and even Riku when he wasn't with those other jerks. Kairi loved spending time with older kids, especially girls like Navi and she fit in perfectly. And, of course, Sora was fine with being wherever Kairi was, so yeah, it was alright.

He stuffed some books into his backpack and closed the locker. Kairi was chatting happily with Ash, Diddy and some other friends a few steps behind. He was so distracted by the way she was playing with her hair that he didn't even notice the two red heads coming until it was too late. He was pulled by one shoulder and smashed against the lockers on the other side of the wall and onto the floor.

"Take a picture. It lasts longer" One of the boys said without even looking at him and several people laughed. Some of them out of fear, Sora was sure. It was the third time this week. His friends rushed to help him up.

"Are you ok?" Kairi gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't mind them, Sora"

"Yeah, they're just jerks" Diddy added

Sora shook Kairi's hand off and stormed out, the same way the boys had gone, furious. He wasn't a coward. He wasn't afraid of them and he wasn't going to be made a fool of anymore.

Him and Navi, yeah right. What a stupid thing to say.

He was sitting on the table, feet resting on the bench. His elbows were placed on his knees and he held his head between his hands. Navi was reenacting something funny that had happened earlier that week. Link had no idea what it was, but he could tell it was funny, since his other friends were laughing.

She was moving her head back and forth and her blue hair was falling out of place, but she didn't seem to care. It had grown a little longer, but it wasn't nearly as long as Zelda's blonde hair. He knew he shouldn't be comparing the girls, but he couldn't help it.

Navi was wearing black leggins with black boots, a long loose white blouse and a light blue scarf that matched her eyes. He tried to picture her wearing a dress or a skirt and heels, anything Zelda would wear, but it was a hard exercise.

Zelda had said she was pretty. He guessed he couldn't really argue against that. Her skin looked soft, so did her pink lips. He stared as they opened into a big smile. That was nice too, and it brightened her whole face. Her eyes took a large portion of her face. It was kind of funny, seeing such a small person with such big eyes. She never wore make up, unlike Zelda, and her eyes were a different shade of blue. He had to admit she wasn't all that unpleasant to look at. And there was something about her eyes. Those deep blue eyes… were staring straight at him.

"Hellooooo? Do I have something on my face?"

She had placed her hands on her hips and had her eyes were locked on his, inquiring. Suddenly, he noticed she was really, really close to him. Of course, invading personal space was a habit of hers, and since this was a regular, common situation that could happen anytime - him being lost in thought and her getting too close - he didn't owe her an explanation.

"Nope, just the usual" He climbed down from the table, hanged his backpack on one shoulder and started walking towards the school entrance.

"I swear to God…" He heard her yell from behind.

He cracked a smile, pleased to make her lose her temper, and kept walking calmly. A large group of kids were gathered right outside, blocking his way. What the…?

"What is your problem?!" He heard from the center. He pushed some people to make his way to the front.

"Are you talking to me?" He recognized G's voice and immediately turned around to leave. He didn't wish to be involved in anything to do with that guy.

"Of course I'm talking to you, asshole." The crowd fell silent. Now he was curious. He pushed forward to take a look at whoever was suicidal enough to pick up a fight with G and his friends. "Quit bothering me".

"You have some serious guts if you think you can stand up to me" G raised an eyebrow and Lance laughed. Link pushed a couple of kids out of his way and finally got to the center. Wasn't that Riku's little friend from the beach?

"I'm not afraid of you!" Sora raised a fist, defiant. The boys laughed again.

"Beat it, kid." Lance said. Listen to him, Link thought. "And while you're at it, stop following Riku, he's sick of you"

"Riku's my friend."

"Please. The only reason he talks to you is because he's sorry about what a loser you a…"

There was a collective gasp, as Sora's fist collided into G's stomach. Link caught sight of Kairi, staring in horror and Navi trying to get closer to her within the crowd. G pushed the kid away from him and made a fist. He charged backwards and went straight to Sora's face. The kid closed his eyes, there was no way he could have evaded the punch. Dammit.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

A flash of green rushed forward, and before he knew it, Link was blocking G's fist with his arm. He lowered it violently, making G momentarily lose his balance.

"Knock it off" Link blurted, his eyes swords. G looked genuinely surprised, but quickly relaxed his expression.

"Stay out of this, Peter Pan" he smirked, staring at someone behind Link.

Wha…

"WATCH OUT!" He heard Navi's voice over the crowd. He felt himself being pulled backwards and fell. He heard a rip as the contents from his bag flew all over the place. Some notebooks, papers and pencils were scattered around, along with his ocarina. It rolled all the way over to G's foot. Link crawled forwards to grab it, but before he could even reach it, G stepped forward and crushed it. Crushed it. His precious ocarina's pieces went flying through the air. "Oh no…"

Link stood up, his expression unreadable. He could hear some echoes and figured it must be the boys laughing. He wasn't sure, since time seemed to have stopped. He felt his emotions overtake him slowly. His muscles tensed as he darted forward and he caught a flash of fear on G's eyes just before he collided fist first into him.

"You're not serious about the stable boy, are you Zelda?" Peach said, more than asked, while she examined her own face exhaustively in the bathroom mirror. Zelda covered her mouth with one hand and stared desperately from Peach to Daisy and back again. "Are you?"

"How did you…"

"His little friend told us" Daisy smirked. "We didn't believe it, but you confessed to it just now"

Zelda felt so stupid… Even more stupid than Daisy, and that was saying something.

"But of course," Peach spoke up again. "We know you can't be serious about him. I mean… come on."

"He's handsome" Daisy pointed out.

"He's a complete weirdo"

"And a loser"

"And he smells"

"He does not"

"He looks like he's hiding something all the time"

"You can't be serious"

"I'm not." Zelda finally said. "Of course not, what do you think?" Peach gave her a look. "I just thought it would drive G jealous".

Inside one of the bathrooms, blue eyes went wide. Kairi had thought about leaving quietly once the three girls came in, but she'd gotten curious once they started talking about Link.

"Is our friend a genius or what? Ohhh, you know what would be loads of fun?" Peach went on. "You could mess with the elf too."

"OMG you're going to make two people crazy jealous, this is gonna be great." Daisy laughed.

"You think that girl will be jealous too?" Zelda asked.

"Pleaaase. She's like totally in love with him, but of course, who would pick that over you?" Peach's voice echoed as the three girls exited the bathroom.

Kairi grabbed her bag and pushed the door open. This was bad. She had to tell someone.

Detention…

It was a good thing they decided to separate the boys into two different classrooms, or else, they'd still be at each other's throats. As a result, Link and Sora got stuck with Miss Kotake while Lance and G were being watched by her twin sister Miss Koume. Link almost couldn't believe the world would be cruel enough as to make two of such foul creatures.

The teacher was snoring heavily. Link tried to stand up, as quietly as possible. All he needed to do was reach for his wallet and keys, just in front of him on the teacher's desk and then he would be out.

The woman snapped her eyes open and grimaced. Link automatically fell back into his desk. Sora choked down a laugh. Miss Kotake grunted, gathered the boys' stuff and stuffed it into a drawer in the desk. She held the key in front of them before locking it and standing up. Link smashed his head against his desk, while Sora followed the walking crooked nose with his gaze all the way to the classroom door.

"I'll be back" She threatened and left.

They heard her sister coming out of the other classroom as well and watched through the window as they left the building, followed by the two red haired boys, who shot a mocking look at Sora before running away into freedom. G's face was all swollen and had dry blood all over his shirt. Sora chuckled.

"What?" Link said, irritated

"You beat the shit out of them"

Link paused

"Yeah, well that'll teach them better than to mess with me". He turned his face away from Sora.

"I don't understand what Riku sees in them." He went on anyway. "Why would he want to be around people who are just…" He took a moment to consider. "What is their deal, anyway?"

"They're just jerks"

"I wonder what happened to them". Sora kicked back, hands on his head. Link turned to face him

"What do you mean?"

"Well something must have happened, right? I mean they can't just be bad out of nothing,"

"It's very…" naïve "noble of you to think that".

"I just refuse to believe someone's heart can be pure darkness. There's always some light in there, somewhere". He stated.

"That's a strong thing to believe" Link let out a sigh. "You're brave, kid. And don't worry. Riku's gotta come into his senses sooner or later"

Man, this kid was genuinely concerned. Link had noticed Sora saw Riku as an older brother, a role model. It bothered him too, seeing one of his best friends so excited about dickheads, but he was kind of used to it. It wasn't the first time Riku went off with odd people, but he always came back in the end. Sometimes Link wondered what those people saw in Riku, rather than the other way around.

He glanced at the clock and shifted uncomfortably. Zelda…

"What is it?" Sora followed his gaze

"I have to… be somewhere"

"We could just go. I don't think they're coming back anytime soon".

"No, I need my stuff. She locked it inside the drawer".

Sora lowered his hand to his pocket and felt the key. Should he? The guy did seem like he was in a hurry. He took it out and studied it. Then finally let out a sigh and stood up.

"I can get them for you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"What? How?"

"Just trust me. And I mean it, you can't tell anyone." Sora looked straight into his eyes and Link didn't dare to argue. He stood up and followed the kid, curious.

"Fine, I won't"

"Ok" He reached the drawer and held the key just above the lock. And paused. Please, please, please don't tell anyone. He stuck the key in and a white light glowered from the lock, as it clicked open. Link's mouth dropped.

"Where did you get that?" He asked while he gathered his stuff.

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're thinking" Sora replied, indignant

"I wasn't…"

"It's…" He paused and frowned. "It's hard to explain. It sort of came to me one night, in my sleep. I was dreaming of something like it and when I woke up it was there, in my hand. You don't have to believe me."

"I do" The words escaped Link's mouth before he even thought about them. But it was true. Sora smiled.

"Thank you." The two boys hurried out the door, careful not to be seen, but there was no one around. "Hey, why does everyone call that guy 'G'?"

"He has this stupid name, but threatened everyone not to call him by it, or else"

"What is it?"

"Ganondorf". Link made a face. Sora laughed, and Link had to admit, he did too.

"You told her?" Zelda stomped her way to where Link was standing, furious.

"What?" He was still panting for air, he just ran all the way from the school just to get there in time.

"You told her?" Her voice rang loud. "Peach told me your 'little friend' told mine about our secret, between us. Riding lessons. Now everyone knows!"

"Why are you so ashamed about riding?" Link asked, his voice calm.

"I'm not ashamed about riding." She scoffed. And then realized what she just said. Link stared at her in disbelief, one hand on the horse's saddle. He raised an eyebrow and waited. "Why would you tell her?"

"I tell Navi everything. Besides, I told her before we even started."

"You don't understand." She sounded utterly frustrated. "She's got this, like, major crush on you. She's obviously totally jealous, she's so possessive with you, and she only wants you for herself!"

Link took a moment to take in the words… That was… a lot.

"She doesn't… She's my best friend. And she acts like that with all her friends, not just me."

Pause

Zelda frowned.

"I'm sorry. It's just…Gah. I'll just have to deal with it".

Deal with it? Link suddenly didn't feel like riding anymore.

"Hey…" She spoke up again. "I'm sorry about what my friends did to your ocarina."

He gazed at her. She did look sorry… She opened her purse and took a blue object out of it. She handed it to him, doubtful.

"I found this in my house." She said. "Take it."

Link stretched his hands and she placed it on them. It was a shiny brand new ocarina. It was beautiful.

"You…" He was struggling for words. He wasn't used to getting gifts. "You play?"

"Not really" She giggled. "Only this one tune my nanny used to play for me as a kid."

She took the instrument back and placed it in her mouth. As she blew softly and the notes started coming out, Link froze.

It was his melody.

His melody. The one he'd always dreamt of.

It had to be a sign. It just had to be.