Chapter 4

Friday could not come fast enough. Despite the light first day, Link soon found himself almost buried in homework. He often found himself working all the way up to the time he had to go to bed. Anju was able to provide some help, but she went to bed even earlier than he, and he was hesitant to disturb her any more than he had to. The smile she wore when she came home from work each day seemed strained somehow, as if force upon a tired face that was not meant to bear it.

The load was not yet so great that he had to stop making dinner though, and hopefully it never would be. While he had no doubt that Kafei would surely be okay with him taking the extra time for homework if that was what it took, he felt some obligation to make his new parents' lives more pleasant where he could. He had also come to enjoy cooking. There was something mindless about the task that allowed him to relax, and there were few feelings as satisfying as seeing a useful creation come together in a matter of minutes.

On Thursday evening, he had made quite a large pot of lentil soup. There was enough left over for dinner on Friday, and perhaps even a healthy snack over the weekend. He therefore sat next to Desi in the back of Nabooru's car guilt-free as the Gerudo drove them all to the park after school. His backpack with the weekend's homework was locked safely in the trunk, and with luck it would be hours before he next had to think about it. An afternoon of freedom, running, and adventure awaited him. And of course, spending time with Zelda was always pleasant.

"Are you sure you're okay with letting us run on our own?" Zelda said to Nabooru as she brought the car to a stop in front of a trail. "If you're going to have an aneurysm or something, we really wouldn't mind having you come along."

"Yes, princess, you are very cute," Nabooru grumbled. Then she turned in her seat to look back at Link. "If she tries to do something stupid, you have my permission to stop her, and to mock her relentlessly."

Following Zelda's example, Link left his phone and house key in the door's cupholder, then exited the vehicle.

"Five o'clock," Nabooru called out the window. "You have a watch, so no excuses for being late."

Once she had gone, they began stretching.

"I can't believe you guys are running for fun," Desi complained. "Just after gym class? Really?"

"It was only tennis," Zelda said, stretching down to her toes. "That hardly counts."

"I just don't think it should be legal to have to sweat more than twice a day."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Zelda said.

"Oh, no way. You aren't losing me that easy. Come on, let's run," she said, and set off down the trail.

Zelda glanced at Link, shrugged, and trotted after. Link followed, and soon the two had caught up to Desi. They followed the trail up a hill, dotted with all the other people enjoying the weather. As the hill leveled out, the trail ran into a forest, where the leaves had just begun to turn to gold. Soon they became immersed in the forest's embrace, the trees above filtering the harsh sunlight. If they shared this forest with anyone else, that was not known to Link. To him, there was only the trail, the trees, and the two girls running beside him.

The pace was slower than he would have preferred. Each time he let his legs truly go free, he had to reign them in and wait for Desi. Even so, he was running! He was no longer confined to a small, circular track, and his only restriction was that of time.

"How are you so dang happy about this?" Desi asked him. Link just laughed and kept on smiling.

They stopped for a rest around half an hour in. Desi collapsed down against a tree, but Zelda remained standing and stretched some more. Link joined her. His calves felt rather tight from their slow pace. Once Desi was ready, they set off again.

Their next stop came far too soon. Shortly after they began, Zelda paused in front of a fork in the trail.

"Do you remember which way we came from?" she asked.

Link ignored Desi's grumblings and slowly turned his gaze about himself. In truth, lost in the run, he had forgotten to pay attention to any landmarks. Even when he stood at each branch in the trail and looked back toward the way they had just come, he saw nothing familiar.

"Honestly, no. But if I had to guess, I'd say we take the right fork here."

"Works for me," Zelda said. "If things start to look unfamiliar, we can always double back."

"It's a forest. Everything looks the same," Desi said, but she started running just the same.

The right fork did not look familiar, it turned out, and neither did the left one. Five o'clock came and went. Eventually, Link had to conclude that they were completely lost. Desi's gripes were near-constant now, and even Link was getting discouraged. It was hard to tell his legs to run when he knew that they might be carrying him in the wrong direction.

Zelda alone seemed unperturbed.

"We're getting nowhere," she said, stopping. "Let's stop and think about this for a bit. Running around is only going to make us more tired."

Link wiped some sweat from his forehead and rested against a tree. He was getting quite thirsty. They should at least brought some water with them. He did not enjoy the thought of holding a bottle of water as he ran, but it would certainly be better than getting dehydrated.

"Do you have any ideas, Link?" Zelda asked.

Link shook his head. He had had an idea, in truth, but he was not quite ready to admit that the idea had been 'let's take every path in the forest until we find the one that leads out.' It might work as a worst-case scenario - the forest couldn't possibly be that large - but he did not think that was the sort of idea Zelda was looking for.

"Nothing at all? Please, anything you can think of might help. You have to have some idea. Is there some landmark you remember that we could navigate from? Any familiar sounds?"

He tried to think, for her sake, but Desi was right. Everything in the forest looked the same. He couldn't understand why she expected him to find their way out. And she kept looking at him, like he was just supposed to magically know what to do. Desi could think just as well as he could, he was sure. Why not ask her?

Link shook the useless thoughts from his head and glanced once more about himself. The trees stood just as tall and wild as they did everywhere else. When he looked hard enough, he started to see that the leaves might be a bit lighter here, but that hardly meant anything.

"Ooh, we could make one of those divine rods," Desi said. "You know, those sticks that look like a 'Y' and find stuff."

Link then understood why the other girl had not been asked for ideas.

"I think I have a better plan," Zelda said. "Here, give me a boost up to that branch."

Obliging, Link made a step for her with his hands. He had done the same for Fado many times, but Zelda proved to be a good deal heavier, and he ended up having to support her with his knee as she reached up for the branch above.

He tried not to grunt as she lifted herself. For a moment, her shoes dug into his skin, and then her dangling feet were swinging toward his face. He back-pedalled swiftly. He did manage to avoid her feet, but then he tripped on a root and fell down on his back.

By the time he regained his feet, Zelda was already several feet above the first branch and moving steadily higher. He resisted the urge to call out 'Be careful.' That would only distract her.

Then she disappeared among the upper branches. For a few breathless moments, the forest was completely still. Even Desi had ceased her fidgeting to look up at the canopy. Link thought he could see some leaves rustling where Zelda had disappeared, but it was too high to be sure.

"I think I can see the parking lot from here," Zelda called.

"Which way is it?" Desi asked.

"Hang on. I'm coming down."

The princess emerged from the treetop, scampering down from limb to limb as easily as he descended the stairs from his room each morning.

"Catch me," she laughed as she reached the bottom branch.

"What?" Link asked. Even as he spoke, he stepped forward without thinking, readying himself to intercept her fall. Before he could pause to wonder how he would actually do that, she dropped down. Two sneakers collided with his chin, then one hundred some pounds of princess plopped on top of him, driving him to the ground.

Zelda started laughing so hard she bent over double, strands of sweaty blonde hair sticking to Link's face.

"That was a joke," she said, once the laughter subsided. "You weren't actually supposed to catch me.

"It wasn't very funny," Link muttered. That had hurt. He was lucky he hadn't lost a tooth or broken something. His wrist, in particular, had gotten trapped between their bodies on impact and was now sending alarming messages up to his brain.

"Are you two planning on getting up anytime soon?" Desi asked.

Zelda rolled over - digging her knee deeper into his thigh as she shifted her weight - and pushed herself to her feet. Link lay there for a moment massaging his wrist, but Zelda put a stop to that when she grabbed his hand and yanked him up to his feet.

"Oh, stop being dramatic. I didn't fall that far. Come on! The parking lot's over there," she said, making her way off the path, toward a thick patch of brush.

"Zelda, the trail doesn't even go that way."

"It will," she said, pushing deeper into the vegetation. "We just have to find it first."

Link sighed and followed, Desi trailing behind him.

"You know, when Nabooru said that thing about you doing something stupid-"

"Trust me, you haven't even come close to seeing stupid yet," Zelda said without turning.

"She's right, you know," Desi said, coming abreast of him. "Not even close."

"That is not an encouraging thought."

As carefully as he tried to pick through the sharp branches and brambles that now surrounded him, he could not keep from getting scratched. They raked at his skin, slowly at first, but as Zelda got farther and farther ahead, he increased his pace and the scratches grew more frequent.

"Do you know what poison ivy looks like?" he called to her. "Because I don't, and I'd rather not have it ruin my weekend."

"Just don't step on anything too plant-y," she replied.

"That doesn't-"

"Just keep on walking, dude," Desi advised. "We can kill her on the ride home."

Just as Zelda had said, they soon emerged from the forest. The parking lot was just at the foot of the hill they stood on. Link was covered in scratches, a couple of which even oozed blood. Sweat glued his shirt to his chest, a blister was forming on his foot, and his stomach growled in annoyance. Despite all this, the sight of Nabooru storming up the hill almost sent him running back into the forest.

"What time is it?" she said. Her voice was no louder than conversation level, but she spoke with an intensity that demanded attention.

"Look, I know we're a bit late, but-" Zelda began.

"What time is it?"

"Five forty-five."

Nabooru nodded, saying nothing, looking at each in turn. Link wished she'd just shout. Her silence was suffocating.

"I was moments from calling the Hylian Guard to comb the forest for you."

"We got lost," Zelda said. The bold, adventurous girl who had led them straight through a thicket of brambles was replaced by someone much meeker, looking at her feet as she mumbled excuses.

"You got lost," Nabooru repeated, raising her eyebrows.

"I thought we'd be able to find our way faster, but…"

For a brief second, Zelda's gaze darted back toward Link. Unwilling, he took a step back. Was she about to blame him for this? But before she could say anything else, Nabooru spoke again.

"We can discuss this later. Come, let us return to the castle. Your friends will be hungry, I think," she said. The anger had passed like a spring shower, leaving only the trace of harshness that seemed ever-present in the Gerudo's voice.

Link and Desi exchanged a confused glance, then followed Nabooru and Zelda to the waiting car. They all squished together in the back, and Zelda handed out the bottles of water that had been placed there sometime during their run. The ride home passed in tense silence, but as soon as they entered the castle and Nabooru left them ("to preserve my sanity," she grumbled), Zelda and Desi began chattering again.

It was a struggle to pay attention to them, distracted as he was by the castle's interior. He had been to Hyrule Castle more than once on a field trip, but the tours had shown little more than the throne room, the council chambers, and other such important locations. But (after a painless frisking by security) Zelda brought him straight to the heart of the building, where the Royal Family lived.

Though the exterior and the state rooms had maintained much of their traditional stylings - great crenelated walls of stone, guards with spears and metal armor outside the gates, hallways lit only by torches and sunlight - the room they now stood in was fully modern. An array of lights flickered on as they entered, and there was an intercom system build into the wall which Zelda used to request a plate of sandwiches.

Minutes later, a maid clad in a simple faded-red skirt and blouse wheeled in a cart laden with perhaps half a dozen sandwiches. At a glance, Link could see tuna salad, ham, and even peanut butter.

Zelda thanked the maid with a warm smile, and then she and Desi grabbed sandwiches and began eating. Link was more hesitant. He slowly picked up one containing chicken breast and crisp lettuce between two thick slabs of homemade white bread and turned it in his hands.

"If there's nothing here to your liking, I'm sure we could find something else," the maid said.

Link almost jumped.

"No, no, it's not that at all. I'm sure it's delicious. It's just…" He paused. He wasn't quite sure how to explain himself.

"You're uncomfortable being served like this, aren't you?" Zelda said.

Link nodded, relieved that she understood.

"It just feels wrong. I mean, I didn't do anything to deserve something like this."

"Susan, why don't you tell Link what you were doing before I called?"

"Counting the tiles in the children's dining room," the maid said, pulling her lips together in a tight smile. "That was after I polished everything in the first-floor study for the third time today."

"And - if you don't mind, of course - what were you doing before coming to serve at the castle?" Zelda said.

Susan glanced down at her feet, and for a moment Link feared the princess had gone too far. Then the maid lifted her head and spoke.

"Unemployed. Couldn't find work for a year. I'd always dreamed of being something more than a maid, of course. What girl doesn't? But it's work, it doesn't follow me home, and as I'm sure you've discovered, Master Link, chatting with Her Highness is always a pleasure."

"We could easily get by on half the staff we have," Zelda said. "A quarter, if we did things like make our own beds and choose our own clothes. But it creates jobs. Same thing with the military. Why do you think we keep it so large? We haven't even seen a battle since the Farona Insurrection over a century ago."

Link looked down at his sandwich. He did feel somewhat better about the pampering service now, but he doubted that it would ever truly sit easily with him. He had always been taught to do things for himself. Being lazy was a flaw in character. But he could see Zelda's point.

"I get a little weirded out by it too, sometimes," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Nabooru could tell you all about the fuss I made when they started trying to make my bed for me. But we all have to make sacrifices." She winked at him and giggled.

He wasn't sure how he felt about her humor, but at last he put the sandwich in his mouth. He had not realized how hungry he was until he tasted the soft bread. He consumed it in seconds.

"I'm so glad our food pleases you so much," Susan said, grinning.

He had one more - peanut butter this time - while Zelda and Desi split an egg salad sandwich. Once they were finished, Zelda dismissed Susan and took Link on a tour of the castle.

If Link's new room was large, then the castle's rooms were positively cavernous. The towering shelves in the library were far enough apart that four could comfortably walk abreast down the aisles. They peered through a window at a giant room where a veritable farm of people working at desks, typing furiously, making calls, and taking notes. Even Zelda's study, crammed full of bookcases, posters, and kitten plushies seemed remarkably open and uncluttered.

"I'd show you the throne room, but I think father's still meeting with the Gerudo emissary," Zelda said.

Their tour ended in the center of the castle, in the small chapel where the Royal Family paid homage to the three golden goddesses. There were shrines elsewhere to the light spirits, the Goddess Hylia, the storm gods, and others, but at the heart of it all the austere triune of Din, Nayru, and Farore reigned supreme.

Link marveled at the perfect rows of gently-burning candles, the flaming arms of Din that seemed to tie the ceiling together, the cowled monks that stood unmoving in small enclaves hewn in the room's three sides. The air felt cleaner here, somehow, as if he had stepped into a bubble set apart from the world. The soft patter of his feet on the hard, wooden floor echoed throughout the chamber. He winced that he had so disturbed the seemingly perfect stillness, but Zelda kept walking, and so he followed, clacking his feet all the way.

"Have you ever played an organ before, Link?" she whispered.

He shook his head.

"Mr. Timmons bought a keyboard for the orphanage once, but it didn't take long to realize that that was a bad idea."

"Give it a try," she offered.

He looked around. All the monks were steadily gazing straight forward, as if completely oblivious to their presence. Still, he could not shake the feeling that someone was watching him, that he was intruding on another's home.

"The goddesses delight in song," Zelda said. "It's okay."

As they were speaking, Desi climbed on the organ bench and began to play a ponderous tune with a single hand. Even she seemed rather somber in this place. Her face was a vacant mask; her only expression was the tip of her tongue protruding slightly from her lips as her hand measured its way across the keyboard.

"Show Link how to play," Zelda told her when the girl had finished.

Desi smiled and patted the bench next to her. His anxiety evaporated as soon as he sat down and saw the mammoth instrument before him, its pipes running up the wall, through the ceiling, and out of sight.

The song she had played opened with a big leap up the keyboard. The first time he played it, he had to lift his hand completely off the instrument, breaking the sound and ruining the melodious spell that had begun to enchant him. Then Desi showed him how he could hold a key down with one finger while he positioned his hand to strike the next. He had to stretch quite a bit to reach, and it was made even more awkward by having to use his right hand, but he soon achieved at least some manner of flow between the first three notes.

He could not say how long he spent at the organ. Long enough, at least, for his bottom to grow sore, and his back stiff. Desi was patient with him, slowly coaching him through the rest of the song. Sometimes Zelda chimed in with advice. "Try using your thumb for that note instead," or "It would help if you kept your wrist straight." No one ever spoke louder than a whisper.

Progress came slowly, but eventually the two girls agreed that he was ready to play it through without their help. Desi scooted off the bench, and he faced down the organ alone. As he struck the first key, a wave of calm engulfed him. Somehow, he knew that he would play it right. He knew that it would be perfect. When his fingers traversed the keyboard, it was as if they were gripping the hand of an old friend. He felt an energy guiding him, soothing his hands, pouring from him into the organ, and from the organ, out its pipes into the vast universe.

When he was finished, he released a breath he did not know he had been holding and lowered a shaking hand into his lap. No one spoke.

The next sound he heard was a clap of thunder, followed by a torrent of rain pouring down upon the roof. Then, a laugh erupted from behind him. He turned to see Zelda, hands raised high above her head, her whole body trembling in laughter.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You played the Song of Storms," Desi said, her face slightly pale.

A flash of lightning through the stained-glass windows nearly blinded him as another roar of thunder announced the heavens' fury.

Mr. Owlan would probably say something about a large sample space. Miss Rebecca would smile politely and say, "That's very interesting, dear. I didn't know you had musical talent." Even he wanted to tell himself that he was being silly. People did not just conjure storms.

But he had felt something. Every part of him wanted to call it stupid, but he had felt a call to the universe in the song he had played. This was no coincidence. He had sung the Song of Storms to the goddesses, and they had responded with the fiercest onslaught he had known in years.


A/N: I just realized that my em-dashes have not been displaying correctly on this site. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused, and I will go back and edit whenever I stop feeling lazy about it.

In the future, an em-dash will be denoted as a hyphen surrounded by a single space on each side: " - " Which isn't right at all, but whatever. If you know of a better way to handle it, let me know, yeah?