Chapter 15: A Turn for the Better

Before the first leaf Bowser had sent into the air brushed the ground, Link sprinted after the Koopa King. But as soon as the hero rounded the corner there was no sight of Bowser anywhere.

"That's strange. He can't have gotten far, that giant t… Ouch!" He didn't get to finish because Bowser had dropped down from above and kicked Link on the small of the leg before he ran off again.

"No manners these days", Bowser muttered crossly without looking back. Link had due to the pain grabbed his foot and been about to jump around on one leg. Instead of doing that he bit his bottom lip hard enough for it to start bleeding and put down his foot to run after Bowser. He knew the pain was intense but would not last long. He'd had worse.

Marth hadn't been as quick to react but had still gotten a good look of the whole scene that had ensued. His analyse of it was the following:

The ferocious monster had put his fire breathing nose where it clearly didn't belong when taping their conversation. While he, Prince Marth, had been, only temporarily mind you, too shocked to give him the punishment he deserved, the beast had made its clever escape. Since this part of town lacked any impressing skyscrapers he had, how wickedly, decided to flee over the roof of the nearest building. That was when the imbecile had opened his big mouth and the beast had made its attack before cowardly fleeing once again, leaving only some broken asphalt where he had landed after jumping from the roof.

Link only felt more confident now and nothing else. What did a little kick matter when it had caused his prey to come into view? Bowser wasn't all that fast either, although he should get some credit for not being caught yet.

"Don't even try to catch me!" Bowser yelled when he noticed Link following him.

"Give me that tape!" Link yelled back.

Bowser was already about to continue with his earlier escape plan and had climbed up on the roof of a square building. However, Link, who had the bad, although he would call it good, habit to carry a big and heavy arsenal around, smiled smugly as he knew how much of his head start this move would cost Bowser. Pulling out his hookshot, Link was drawn to the roof by its chain in an instant and Bowser hadn't even noticed Link was closing in on him as he was looking ahead, convinced he was safe.

Marth sighed as he saw the two disappear out of view. Well, he was good at tactical strategies. The wisest would be to follow them from below as they were so much more prepared for a chase on top of buildings.

"How does that plan sound you insolents?" Marth said aloud and brushed some blue bangs away. Then he remembered that he actually had to follow and started running.

Bowser successfully, yet a bit clumsily, got to another rooftop with Link in close pursuit. The Hylian hero followed every move without a second's hesitance, something he could thank his good reflexes for, and Bowser finally noticed the sound of Link's boots behind him.

"This ain't a princess if you think so", Bowser shouted over his shoulder and held up the tape recorder.

He hurriedly crawled onto a higher building attached to the one they were running upon. Link easily jumped after him and unsheathed the Master Sword as he thought he needed to make his point come across.

"I know that!"

"Oh, really? As stubborn as you are to get it back…" Bowser muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!"

Link noticed the distance between them decreasing for each moment. He thought silently to himself that Bowser must already be rather tired. Himself, he had not even begun to sweat.

They were approaching a narrow gap, but the next rooftop was located a bit further down so even Bowser could probably jump across. If he could just catch Bowser before it was time to jump. Link forced himself to run faster, to break the pace he had settled for and to breathe even quicker.

The gap was quickly approaching as Link came up on Bowser's right side. He counted the steps before he was to attack, just three more. He wouldn't make it before the jump. Two. Had to make a longer jump than him. One.

Link leapt off the edge but Bowser was no longer to his left. Still in the air, Link turned around and looked for any sight of the Koopa. He landed on the edge of the other roof without paying attention to making a good landing, which he did nonetheless. He had spotted Bowser, who had fallen down to the ground, but why? He should easily have managed the jump.

Bowser chuckled as he rounded a corner and ran to the left. He was so smart. Since he had nothing else to trust than his own two feet, when Link had closed in on him he had purposely let him just a bit closer to fool him. Then, he had abandoned the roofs to continue down on the ground. The stupid Hylian had of course jumped to the second roof and would be delayed.

Bowser grunted as he then noticed that Link was still close behind. They were now running along a narrow path. To their left they had a calm stream of water running far beneath, with several meters high cement walls rising on each side, and to their right the backsides of a row of buildings like a concrete wall.

As they reached this narrow lane Marth came running on the very same road a bit behind them.

There was a bridge but it was located far behind so the only thing they could do was to run forwards. This meant that all that mattered here was speed, leaving both Bowser with his weight and Link with all his weapons at a disadvantage.

Link barely caught a glance of Marth about to pass him. However, the prince felt that he shouldn't have to lower himself to round Link so he roughly gave the hero a push as he ran past. Link nearly bit his tongue at this unexpected and unfair push as his pace was disrupted for a second. If he hadn't been better built than Marth, and if Marth had been about as strong as he was fast, he could have ended up falling down in the water. But Link was hard to budge, always making sure to have good balance when in a fight, and the prince was too frail with a body that could be mistaken for a woman's.

Marth was closing in on Bowser, and it wasn't a trick this time. Bowser scratched his head as he desperately thought of a way to get out of this mess. As Marth came even closer Bowser all of a sudden swirled around. A comical yelp escaped Marth as he tried to stop but had too much speed and ran straight into Bowser. Bringing a hand to his aching head, Marth blinked at Bowser's face, trying to get rid of his dizziness and the stars twinkling before his eyes.

"Not the cape!" Marth blurted out as the sight of, although he was seeing double, sharp claws seizing the front of his expensive cape. The prince was lifted off the ground and the next second he was flying though the air, water quickly approaching. Then something cream colored caught his sight and he remembered the bag with the cream colored package containing Zelda's dress he was holding in his right hand.

Marth held the bag high over his head and started kicking upwards the second his feet broke the clear surface. Wide-eyed he gasped as he was above water once more and scrutinized the bag in his hand. It was dry and he took a breath of relief.

Link ignored Marth. Still slightly annoyed over the push his focus was elsewhere. Bowser wouldn't be stupid enough to try the same trick twice?

No, he wasn't. He did something even crueller. When Link came close enough the Koopa just stopped abruptly, with the intention of having Link ram into the sharp spikes on his shell. Link skidded to a halt, having to jump backwards twice just to stop on the spot. Staring at Bowser as if he had caught him stealing from a nun Link inhaled.

"What do you think you're doing!" he cried. Bowser turned around, looking much fed up with Link.

"Look, I don't know why you want this tape so badly. If it makes you feel any better I'll just show it to Ganondorf and no one else. I can respect a secret relationship you know."

Link was busy pondering why a villain would take the time to explain himself, not to mention compromise, so he didn't answer. Besides, if Ganondorf found out about the tape it would clearly not make anything better! Ganondorf would not for a second believe Link's lie. It was highly probable that he would confront Zelda about the whole thing, and that was what Link wanted to avoid.

"I need that tape", Link told Bowser patiently.

"You do know what this will cost me right?"

"No, can't say that I do."

"Well, you can't have it", Bowser said, looking like a big, stubborn child as he held the tape recorder out of Link's reach.

"Please, Bowser", Link said, not sounding as patient anymore, tapping the hilt of the Master Sword in his palm.

"Will you let me go then?" Bowser asked, glancing at the side street that would have been his escape.

"Sure thing", Link said, raising his eyebrows at the Koopa. Since when did villains ever give up?

Bowser put on a sour face as he handed Link the tape recorder and then strutted off. Link watched him go and then took a moment to enjoy the feeling of triumph. Now he would destroy the evidence, or rather, erase the tiniest mistake. He pressed the button and the small hatch opened, revealing an empty space where the tape should have been.

Link gaped at it. Had there never been any tape? A loud laughter, one he was growing accustomed to, made him drop the stupid expression on his face and look up at Bowser. The Koopa was already over at the corner, holding up a tape in the strong sunlight and sticking out his tongue at Link.

"Dummy", Bowser taunted before he was gone and Link crushed the tape recorder with one hand as he glared at the place where Bowser had disappeared. So much more annoying than Ganondorf in every way!

Kirby rolled off the chair when Bowser barged into the Smash Mansion, looking around frantically. "Where's Ganondorf?"

"You could ask nicely", Kirby chirped as he bounced back up on the chair. Bowser rushed past him, snatching a cookie from his plate on the way. Fortunately, Kirby was not one to mind.

"GANONDORF!" Bowser yelled when reaching the living-room, not having the patience to go looking for him. Fox covered his sensitive ears in agony and gave Bowser a dark look as he walked upstairs. Ganondorf just happened to be coming downstairs at the same time and if it weren't for a graceful dodge Fox would have been pushed over the reeling.

Ganondorf placed himself in front of Bowser with crossed arms and one quirked eyebrow.

"I won the bet", Bowser declared with a grin. Ganondorf did not move a muscle.

"Prove it", he replied coolly.

"Just listen to this", Bowser said and held up the tape. Then he realized that he needed something in order to play it. Ganondorf rolled his eyes and pulled out a tape recorder, with a built in cassette player. "Just listen to this!" Bowser repeated as he accepted it, put in the tape and reached for the play button.

"No!" Link shouted as the door flew open. Surprisingly his cry had made Bowser hesitate and Link was not one to let an opportunity slip out of his hands.

Most people were already following what was going on. Zelda, who had arrived barely a quarter earlier with Peach, had not paid the slightest of attention as she kept focusing on the book she was reading. Now things were getting a bit too loud to tune out though and the book lay forgotten on the table.

As Link dashed towards Bowser another figure showed up in the open doorway. Marth, dripping with water from top to bottom and holding a cream colored shopping bag in his left hand and a sword in his right. His jaw tight and his gaze fierce, he roughly pushed some wet bangs out of his face. The water gave his face a shimmer of madness which was strengthened by the look on his face as he spotted the cassette player.

"Release the tape!" Marth demanded as Link cried "Hand over that tape."

Link burst forward and went for a tackle. Bowser lost his breath, not ready for the force behind Link's attack and the tape recorder fell out of his fumbling hands as he tried to keep his balance. It hit the floor and glided across it. Link was trying to wrestle himself away from Bowser as Marth ran towards it, leaving a trail of water behind him. But it stopped gliding at the end of a long dress and someone else picked it up.

"Now what is this all about?" Zelda asked with a furrowed brow as she twisted the tape recorder in her hand.

Link and Marth both froze in a state of panic as her index finger brushed the play button. What any normal person would have done would of course be to ask her simply not to play the tape, but neither of the swordsmen could think that clearly. To them both it was already too late.

"Zelda! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please, I'm sorry", Link begged, stumbling to his feet and pleading while Marth with hands balled into fists exclaimed "Not a word on that tape is true! They are all deceitful lies!"

As they kept on repeating this till it seemed like they had done it a bit too long to have faced their doom they stopped and waited for Zelda's reaction.

"Get to your feet", she said with authority none had ever in her voice and Link was quick to obey. But Zelda did not look at Link as she spoke to him, her focus happened to be on Marth.

"What did you mean?" she asked as she strode over to him, Link watchfully keeping an eye on them in the background.

"Mean?" he asked as he tried to recall just what he had said during those confusing seconds.

"What is a lie?" she asked, yet it was a question you would not dare not to answer. Her manner of speaking reminded Marth so strongly of those nobles he loathed that he for a second was filled with hatred towards her. She was as changing as the waves of the sea and he did not like it because it made it so much harder to trust her.

She saw his eyes darken, an expression she had never seen etch his features. She could not waver now when she had taken one step. She had taken on the role as the impartial judge and could not back down, nor accept anyone to stand above her.

"Who are you accusing of lying?" she asked and her voice contained such strength you would never think her capable of it.

"It is none of your business", he hissed and crossed his arms, reminding her of a child being scolded for the first time in its life. This was when Link stepped in-between.

"How dare you speak to the princess like that", he said, his voice a note lower due to how upset he was. Marth raised his eyebrows in mock amazement.

"What a way to speak of your…" he trailed off as he caught sight of Link's eyes widening in horror, noticing his body tense up and his lips press shut. A looped smile, a look of spite, Marth could not hold back. He had seen through the lie.

"Oh."

Why else would Link fear the mentioning of his relationship with his princess? If not it was because it needed to be kept secret, but then Link's reaction to Marth's "oh" had already revealed that his first guess was correct.

Suddenly filled with ill will and determined to have Zelda angry at the hero as a bit of comfort for her being turned against himself earlier, Marth put on a smile. It happened to make him look rather arrogant but he thought little of it as he walked over to Zelda.

"I beg of you to forgive me. Please, play that tape and I shall reveal to you the unforgivable dishonesty I earlier spoke of."

Everybody's eyes were on the prince as he strode back and forth with one arm behind his back and making gestures with the other as he held his little speech about betrayal.

"…I of course suspected it all along and therefore, since I could simply not let it go on behind your back, decided to take it all in my own two hands. I had to lower myself to a couple of trifling lies of little importance. It was all in the name of good…"

Now he had his own words defended. Link was staring at him, speechless, looking hollow and defeated.

Marth had to interrupt himself as he saw the strict look on Zelda's face. She held up her chin, drawing the prince's attention to her exposed neck. As not to be impolite he quickly directed his gaze to her face instead.

"Did you lie Link?" she demanded, for the first time looking at the hero. Link who was standing between her and Marth turned around to face her. He tried to make himself as small as possible before her and actually managed to shrink below her height. He fiddled a little with his fingers before he dared to glance shyly at her.

"Yes", he admitted in shame.

"Did you have a good reason?" was her next question.

"Yes", he exclaimed and straightened up. Then he thought that nobody else would probably see it as important and quietly added: "Well, I guess not…"

Zelda turned away from him without another word and Link was sure his heart had stopped beating. One hard burst inside his chest and then he could no longer feel anything. Zelda walked past Link over to Marth, fixing him with her gaze. Such penetrating eyes that the prince wished for nothing else than to squirm and scream as they burned him.

"If there is one person I trust", she said and made sure he did not look away before she went on. "…it is Link. I will not tolerate to have anyone pull lies out of his mouth. It is neither fair nor right. If false words have passed his lips it cannot have happened without a good reason which I shall trust that he has in this case. Also his sincere regret I must take into consideration."

A loud explosion finalized her statement. A blast of fire erupted from Zelda's hand and pieces of what was once a tape recorder fell to the floor. A burnt smell spread over the room and made people wrinkle their noses. Zelda brushed some dirt off her otherwise undamaged glove while everyone else tried to recover from the shock of seeing a behavior from her they would never have expected. Not to mention few had know her to be able of using magic.

"Link does not keep anything from me", Zelda stated and placed herself at said person's side. Marth ground his teeth behind pursed lips. He wanted to shout at her what a liar her precious hero was but he could not make the words come out. He had never been in such fury in his entire life. How easily she had robbed him of his moment of triumph, and worse was that he could not blame her. Because Zelda's voice made you believe all she said was right no matter how wrong she was. She showed such good will and faith that it drove him insane to see her walk away after speaking them, and knowing such righteousness had made her act wrongly.

He stormed off, shoving Falco out of his way while Dr. Mario managed to jump aside. Roy made one try to cheer him up but Marth did not open the door to his room and Roy had to give up.

One of his windows was framed by a socket so you could climb up and sit there, leaning against the glass and watching the garden outside. Mart had found it a much better place than his bed to be whenever he needed to think, since it was colder by the window. The sunshine this day did ruin the hardness and coldness he needed to feel calm.

He was still soaked but refused to change his clothes. He sneezed once as he sat there alone, spotting Link and Zelda down in the garden. Marth hugged his knees and buried his head so that his eyes peered over the edge of his arms through his blue hair. The Hylians were sitting at the trunk of a tree, Zelda hugging her knees just like he did. He now knew that Link loved her, a crude and pitiful love, but love nonetheless. He didn't like it. He didn't like that she who was like him could care for such a person. It did not suit his idea of her in the slightest.

He snorted as Link put a flower in her hair, an amaryllis. A rosy color tinted her pale cheeks and she averted her eyes while Link smiled at her.

Her hair was in a neat bun on the top of her head, except for the locks she usually let hang loose on either side of her face. Link was whispering something in her ear while twirling strands from these locks around his fingers, his knuckles brushing her bare skin just above the collar of her dress. Marth winced at his hands touching her and scoffed at his poor knowledge. What a flower to give the lady that had won your heart. Did he not know that an amaryllis could symbolize the message of that you might be beautiful but your heart will always remain cold towards me.

The shopping bag lay on the chair by his desk. He had promised himself never to upset her again and now just look what he had brought upon himself. But he had to see her since she had to have her dress back. He both longed for and dreaded the meeting.

I was tempted to make Marth refer to Link as "the imbecile" in this chapter too but then... Perhaps that would ruin the joke? (So he only did it once). I also noticed that I used plenty of similes to children (oops) but they make for such a good comparison that I let them be.

If it makes anyone out there feel any better I felt so sorry for all I did to Link in the previous chapter. I walked around pitying him for a whole day. Perhaps it is hard to notice but I'm trying to keep some sort of balance here so that if things go bad for one of the admirers something must happen to level their situations afterwards…

As for Link. Generally he is a good guy who people gathers around but all this "foolishness" as one might call it all comes down to that he puts himself in difficult situations for Zelda. All Link's misery is the cause of pressure he feels that he has to accomplish things. As long as he is relaxed all goes well. I know I haven't really pointed out his good sides, therefore I will now list a few of his good qualities :) He's got inhumanly great eye measure, he's an athletic prodigy, he has a good sense of rhythm, can play a fair amount of instruments, can eat almost any type of food, unbelievably great stamina, he can go without a bath for months and still smell good, he can handle several night in a row without sleep, good singing voice etc.

Haha, and Bowser got away with everything because I love him. And everybody wanting some MarthxZelda, thou shan't fear. The whole dress situation must be solved and I think you all can guess it leads to some interaction.

And what may not be forgotten: My deepest and most sincere gratitude for all of you who took the time to review. I'm speechless. Really. I've never gotten so many nice and elaborated reviews or opinions making me smile. I really don't know what to say! I'm getting all teary-eyed here. I shall take all suggestions into consideration, I promise! It's the least I can do and once again I thank you all. (Ugh, hope I can get away with this note being awfully long).