"And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid,
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny because he never did"
I have to say a huge thank you to the supermegafoxyawesomehot shhimaninja16, TheBlueAlienRobotZombie, GreenAndBluePatches, NekoKitty13, prettyguardianofhyrule, ShadowNinja1011, Bleachshowlover1, Franne, PrincesscharmingKnight, and zeldax! Also a big thank you to my absolutely flawless beta reader Princess Zelda-figure skater, I don't know what I would do without you! So now you guys know the truth about Zelda's past, it's time to hear another chapter from her point of view…
"You have such beautiful eyes," Sheik mutters to Midna. The two of them sit on the couch in my apartment, she sits on his lap with her feet up on the couch, his arm is holding her waist and they stare deeply into each other's eyes.
"Aww baby," She whispers.
"No seriously, like really beautiful…" He replies. I roll my eyes, trying with all my might to focus on creating a lesson plan for tomorrow.
"I'm the luckiest girl alive…"
"Goddess you're so gorgeous, I could just eat you up right now!" He lets out a playful growl, quickly shaking his head and squeezing her sides, she giggles like a little girl.
"Please don't!" I interrupt, climbing up from my chair, lesson plan in hand as I make my way over to the kitchen to find my teaching guidelines.
"Sorry Zelda," Midna mumbles guiltily. "I guess I kind of forgot you were here…"
"Yeah, not your fault." I say, trying, and failing, to sound sincere.
"Sorry Zelda!" Sheik says, giving me his best puppy dog eyes. "I know this must be hard for you."
"Please!" I say, feeling a laugh escape me, "Like you care about me! Look, if you're going to do the dance with no pants please close your door and try not to be too loud ok?" I make my way back over to the desk flicking through my teaching guidelines.
Sheik just shrugs, and returns to passionately kissing Midna. I grip my fists into tight balls, ignoring the low moans escaping Sheik. For the love of Nayru, Zelda! Just focus on the lesson plan…
"Teaching children the importance of sharing is a key life lesson, so it is best to introduce this idea to them early in their life. Teachers have used various methods of introducing this idea to the children, some teach this during play times when children are fighting over a toy, others use role play or puppets to teach it. Whatever method best suits you as a teacher and the students learning ability should be used."
"Oh no…" Sheik mutters, pulling away from Midna.
She frowns, looking a little disappointed. "Already?"
I grimace as he gives her a sarcastic look. "No not that! I just realised I'm meant to be at work!" He climbs to his feet, picking up his leather jacket, shrugging it onto his shoulders.
"Well I'll come with you," She says. "I could sure use a drink."
He grins, "That's one of the advantages of being a bartender! But no, I need to work, and having you there will just distract me!"
"Oh alright…" She says, "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too," He replies, stuffing his keys into his pocket and pulling her into him, giving her a long lingering kiss.
"Seriously!" I exclaim.
He pulls away. "You're right, sorry! I'll see you later Midna!"
"Bye!" She says, waving a little as he makes his way out of the apartment, carefully closing the door behind him. I let out a ragged breath, walking over to the kitchen and pulling open the fridge door. I take out a bottle of cider and break the cap off with the bottle opener fridge magnet.
Midna laughs. "Zelda I was just kidding about needing a drink, it was only an excuse to spend more time with Sheik!"
"Not for you!" I say, taking a long gulp, feeling the cool liquid pour down my throat.
"Yeah, we kind of got carried away, huh?" She mumbles, looking down at her feet.
I sigh, walking back over to the living room and flopping onto the sofa. "Look, I can only just about deal with the two of you being together, I don't think I can stomach having to listen to the two of you canoodling!"
"You're right, come on, I'll cheer you up, let's do some baking, huh?"
"Ooh called me up again tonight but ooh! This time, I'm telling you! I'm telling you! We are never ever ever getting back together! We-ee are never ever ever getting back together! You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me! But we-ee are never ever ever getting back together! Like… ever…"
We both break into fits of laughter as Midna closes the oven door. "Is that Taylor Swift?" She asks, pulling her oven gloves off and throwing them onto the kitchen counter.
"Yup!" I reply, putting the dirty bowl into the dishwasher. "It's my ringtone too!"
"Good!" She replies, re-tying her apron. "I'm glad to see you finally getting over the jerk Ganon!"
I smile, "It just feels so good, like I'm free again! Back then I felt like I was… shackled, you know? Like I couldn't just be myself, now I've finally gotten away from him I feel so… so… free!"
"About time too! I'm really happy for you!" She replies, "So, shall we make butter icing?"
"Sure!" I close the door of the dishwasher and wipe my hands on my apron. She makes her way over to the kitchen cupboard and pulls out a large bag of icing sugar and the measuring scales.
That's when my phone begins to ring and Taylor Swift's voice can be heard, slightly muffled, through the pocket of my skinny jeans.
"Who's that?" She asks as I pull my phone from the pocket, carefully studying the screen.
"I don't know, the number's withheld…" I mutter.
I carefully press the call button and flick my hair back, holding the phone up to my ear. "Hello?"
"Hi, is this Zelda Harkinian?"
"Uhh… yeah! Who's speaking?"
"It's good to hear your voice again… I've missed you Zelda…"
My stomach begins to churn inside of me, because I'd recognise that deep, confident voice anywhere. I feel my grip on my phone loosen and it falls to the floor with a loud clatter. My hands are shaking as my heart thumps hard against my rib cage, an ache emanating from just below my neck. The air whistles in and out of my lips as I begin to hyperventilate, and I find myself staring down at the phone lying on the floor, his voice repeating my name.
Midna turns to me, frowning. "Zel, what's up?"
I point down at the phone, my hands still shaking. "It's… it's… it's him!"
Her eyes widen in shock, she keeps glancing between the phone and me, she hesitates for a few moments, unsure of what to say. "You don't mean… not Ganon?" I know exactly what I want to say but the words get lost in my throat, the only noise escaping me is a high pitched squeak.
She gives me a pained, panicked expression, stooping down to pick up the phone, she hesitantly holds it to her ear.
"Ganon?" She stutters, "Is that you?" She listens in silence for a few moments, before her expression turns to one of anger. "No, no! Just… urgh! Leave her alone you ass!"
And with that she hangs up, her blood red eyes meet mine, I can still feel myself shaking. She shakes her head a little, because neither of us know what to say.
Eventually I summon the words to say something. "How in Hyrule did he get my new phone number?"
She shrugs slowly, "I don't know Zelda…"
"Oh my goddess… no! No!" I collapse onto one of the kitchen stools, my head in my hands. "He can't do this, it's not fair!"
"Hey, it's ok, relax Zelda," She makes her way over to me, resting her hands reassuringly on my shoulders. "There's nothing he can do even if he does have your number, he lives right on the other side of Hyrule field, he's too far away to do anything."
"I guess you're right..." I mumble, swallowing hard. And even though I know that Midna's right, somehow, I don't feel safe any more.
I lie on the sofa, trying my best to pay attention to the episode of 'How I Met Your Mother' currently on the TV, but all I can think about is Ganon, and frankly… I'm terrified. Midna is curled up in the armchair across the room flicking through an old dog-eared book. She turns another page, her eyes scanning the words. From across the room, a quiet, muffled clicking noise can be heard and the front door is pushed open.
Sheik makes his way in, dumping his bag on the armchair by the door, a wide naive grin on his face. "Well hello there baby, I missed you so much!" He says, dashing across the room to Midna, he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her to her feet, kissing her collar bone and talking between kisses. "I have spent all day at work just thinking about all the nasty things I'm going to do to you…"
"I'm still here!" I exclaim, sitting up a little.
He turns to me, a little guilty. "Uhh… sorry, I thought you went to bed Zel…"
"Yeah well I didn't." I mutter, my voice a little sour.
"Sorry! Come on Midna, let's go to your room and leave Zelda in peace," He takes her hand, trying to lead her towards the bedroom, but Midna stands firm.
"Sheik…" She mutters.
"Yeah, you're right, let's just sit down for a while." He takes a seat in the arm chair Midna was sat on a few moments ago, pulling Midna onto his lap.
"No, Sheik, you don't understand." She says, looking down. "Something happened while you were gone."
"Huh? What? Is anyone hurt? Are you ok?" He asks, looking between the two of us, his eyes wide.
"Uhh… Zelda got a phone call," She says, brushing her long auburn hair behind her ear.
Sheik frowns. "Who was it?"
Midna doesn't say anything, just gives me a pleading look. I sigh. "It was Ganon."
He takes in a sharp breath, a look of shock on his face. He carefully stands Midna up, getting to his own feet and running over to me, he kneels in front of the sofa I lie on, grabbing my hand protectively. "What did he say?"
I shake my head a little, not wanting to relive the conversation. "He… asked who it was, so I told him it was me and… he told me he missed me, that's when I figured out who it was."
"Then what?" He asks, squeezing my hand a little tighter.
"I panicked, I dropped the phone… Midna picked it up and told him to leave me alone."
He gives Midna a thankful look, before turning back to me. "How… how did he get your new phone number? We changed it specifically so he couldn't call…"
"I don't know!" I say, my voice in a higher pitch than usual.
He looks away for a moment, as if thinking. I notice a thin layer of moisture on his forehead. Eventually he speaks. "Ok, there's no need to panic, we'll go into the city centre tomorrow and I'll buy you a new SIM card, ok?"
"Thanks…" I say, breathing a sigh of relief. "You're a really good brother Sheik."
"It's ok, it's what any decent person would do."
And suddenly I feel so overcome with the whole situation. I feel so secure with everything that Sheik is doing for me, but it's Ganon… he doesn't give up without a fight, and the worst part is it's never normally a metaphorical fight… I feel my eyes begin to sting as Sheik gives me a pitiful expression. He reaches out, pulling me into a tight hug.
"I won't let him lay a hand on you ever again…" He whispers, "I promise you that."