Chapter 26: The Tunnel of Luvdisc

"An amusement park? Who would have thought? I can't believe I missed that," Peach said, radiant as the first sunshine of spring. A smile was on her face. She had linked arms with Roy, and he in turn was doing his utmost to respond to her cheerfulness. The lunch had been such a disaster that no one would have blamed the princess for being a bit out of mood. She seemed fine though, but Roy did not want to take any chances. Nothing was to interfere with Peach's good mood on his watch, and no sad dwellings on a certain prince's behavior would be allowed to resurface.

Even though Peach was her usual self, somebody else was acting strange. Zelda had turned enough shades whiter to make her look like a drowned person. Her behavior was also quite similar to somebody who had just been pulled out of a lake, and the more time that passed the more distant the princess seemed. Her acting skills were beginning to fall apart, albeit she still kept the wreck afloat. Marth glanced, ever so briefly, at Link and Samus who would not stop turning around in turns to glare at him. If they noticed that something was wrong with Zelda, the princess's efforts to make sure they did not would all have been for naught. Why did they feel the need to keep an eye on them in the first place? He could do nothing more than to stay by her side, and that should be innocent enough.

Feeling powerless had to be one of the worst feelings there were, but what could he do? Now that the strange connection between him and Zelda was suddenly missing he was faced with an awkward dilemma. He had fought that connection, then accepted it and taken it for granted. And now it was gone. Although it was shameful to admit, he was afraid. What if he reached out and there was nothing there?

"Marth."

Zelda jerkily grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and furrowed her brow when her unfocused eyes stared past him. He looked down, trying to read her expression but she only looked more and more sad the more time that went by without her saying anything else.

The princess closed her eyes and took a deep breath before moving her gaze to Link and Samus, who were now whispering quietly to each other. Marth had noticed since the very beginning how much those two had bothered her. He could guess the reason behind Zelda's sadness, but why would she have to care about anything like that? It was not being fair to herself.

"I must not be well," Zelda whispered.

It was possible that the lack of fresh air inside the restaurant had made her dizzy or that she had eaten something bad, but Zelda doubted it. She had been forced to make such ridiculous efforts just to act normal. In the end that one task had craved her absolute attention. It had clogged her ears, made it feel like there was a gong going off inside her head and she had put all her focus on fighting the blackness that had threatened to engulf her vision.

Tears burned in her eyes when she realized she could only recall split images of the latter half of the dinner and nothing but a buzzing sound that made the images fuzzy. What could she remember? There was a blurry image of Marth's face and Roy pointing at the prince.

"You made a scene just to get me out of there? Right?"

Zelda was right, but things had not turned out the way Marth had wanted them to. Well, it was not often that they did, and he would rather spare her the shameful details. It had been an easy decision to get her out of there. The problem had been to do it and not expose how unwell she was. There was only one way to avoid questions, and that was to become the centre of attention himself – the sun that bleached the sky and hid the stars. If it ended with him being hated, more than he already was, then so be it. He could stand it, as long as she did not have to suffer the same heartless treatment he had in the past.

But how could he get the right reaction out of the others? No matter how nasty his insults were they would ricochet off the half-woman. Her ego was like a second set of armor. The imbecile, his mind had been on "other things" so to speak. If it could be avoided he would rather not turn on Roy. That left Princess Peach. Princess Peach who could do and behave however she liked because she only had good in mind. Maybe he would have liked her better if she had been able to spot the weaknesses in her own personality, but that was not the case. As it often were with people.

Looking up ahead, the princess was skipping down the street, waving her hand at Roy to make him stop with the jokes that were making her laugh hard enough to give her a stomachache. What Marth had said seemed to be long gone from her mind.

Why would being heard be a privilege only for words of convenience?

And every unwanted message allowed to echo into silence?

If instead a whisper you tried to shut out sneaked into your ear, and managed to persuade...

Was that fair? Was it not manipulation? A betrayal of your own will?

No. No matter how you turned on words they never did any good.

"I was really out of it," Zelda's soft whisper interrupted Marth's thoughts. He heard fear in her voice, like that of a little girl who had just woken up from a nightmare. "If something like that happens at an important time, at a council meeting, what will…"

Zelda shook her head and clamped her teeth, not daring to imagine it. The smallest of trembles was felt through the blue sleeve of Marth's shirt. He was also royalty, he was also surrounded by smiling hyenas waiting to strike at him at first best opportunity. He understood, but the words refused to come, and he could not offer any comfort.

"Finally, we're here, doesn't it look great?" Peach said. She pulled at Roy's red T-shirt and her eager eyes waited for some kind of response from the others.

Marth tilted his head up. The front gate was large enough to compete with the castle gates back home in Altea. There was a mass of people outside, crowding all the way over the yard. They all walked up one of the two low stairs, which twisted themselves around flowers planted to form an image of the mascot of the amusement park; a blue panda.

An enormous sign hung above the entrance, with white wires tangling their way around it like lace, or something similar to the complicated pattern you would see on the wings of a butterfly. The blue panda was raising its chubby arms at the sky next to the name of the amusement park: Fun Fun Fun Land.

"Doesn't it look like fun?" Peach said and clasped her hands together.

"Like fun it does," Samus said.

"Now, I am sure we'll have fun, but I didn't think it would be this crowded," Roy said and stopped in his tracks. "It'll be evening before we're even past the entrance."

Roy had no reason to worry. Getting inside barely took a quarter of an hour. It was worse standing in line for tickets for the rides – the entrance fee was child's play in comparison.

"What should we ride first?" Peach asked.

"The roller coaster looks okay," Samus said with a shrug, hoping to distract Peach from the dreadfully slow carousel with different colored Yoshis. Peach's grin disappeared before you could say "Koopa" and she had put an arm around Samus's shoulders and pulled her to the side before you could add "Paratroopa" to that. Her intense stare made Samus suspect that she was intending to hypnotize her.

"Noo-oh, Samus, this is a date. You go about it the wrong way." Peach shook her head. "How you behaved at the restaurant. But now you have a chance to do this properly, and I will support you through it all."

"Thanks," Samus said, no more alive than a rag doll in Peach's arms.

"Well, we can ride the roller coaster later if you want to. You can scream and grab his hand," Peach said to meet Samus halfway at least, and patted her shoulder.

"Why would I do that? It's freaking embarrassing."

Peach rolled her eyes.

"Because you're scared."

"I'm not."

Peach was about to roll her eyes again, but since it had not seemed to come across the first time she settled for the more obvious sigh and moved in close enough to make their foreheads touch when she raised her vaulted eyebrows at Samus.

"Of course not, but he does not have to know that."

"Don't say that you like fast rides?" Samus said before she could stop herself and pulled away. It was much easier to picture Peach clinging to someone and shrieking enough to make the other passengers deaf. Peach chuckled in a very un-Peachy manner, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, and pressed her index finger to her full lips.

"Shh," she hushed and winked.

"What will it be, ladies?" Roy asked the two girls as he approached them.

"The Tunnel of Luvdisc," Peach decided on the spot and twirled around, raising her index finger towards the blue sky. She gave Samus a push and sent her straight into Link who grabbed her, to keep both his and her balance, and the Hylian gave Peach a dark look. That she had pushed Samus was not the issue. He knew that Samus was tough enough to handle it. The problem was that he could guess what kind of ride it was. There were certain special circumstances when this particular ride was endurable, maybe even nice to ride, but this was not one of those times.

"The Tunnel of Luvdisc?" Roy said, his smile shifting between faltering and widening. Peach nodded and Roy kept smiling, too busy with that to do anything when Peach pulled him towards a huge sign in the distance, and the rest could but to follow.

"Well, aren't they being lovey-dovey," Link muttered, glancing over his shoulder at Zelda burying her face against Marth's shoulder, arms wrapped around the prince's arm.

"We have to keep up our act," Samus reminded him and turned his face forwards again with one of her long fingers put to his chin. "We're a couple, remember?"

"You decided that on your own," Link said.

Samus also glanced back and then mimicked Zelda's way of grasping onto her escort. She heard Link gulp and felt how he tried to struggle free without making too much of an affair about it, but she had him stuck in a death grip. She dug her short nails into his arms and he gritted his teeth at her.

"Well, aren't they being lovey-dovey?" Peach said and giggled when she stopped her inspection of the other two couples and turned to Roy. "It's all going really well."

"Right," Roy said and laughed. He had tried to grab Marth's attention while Peach was busy spying, but Marth had not looked at him once, which was quite unusual. It was not like the prince to let anyone cling to him like that either. He hated any kind of physical touch unless he was the one to initiate it. And you thought you knew a guy.

The entrance to Tunnel of Luvdisc had you walk in under the most charming of roofs resting on baby blue pillars. There was not much of a view other than the giant heart-shaped sign with two very weird kissing fish on it. They were of the same shape as a heart, the mouth opening where the sharp bottom tip should be, and of an inviting coral color. Around them there were several heart-shaped bubbles and below them "Tunnel of Luvdisc" was scribbled in white formal writing.

"Oh, we should have gone with our regular outfits," Peach said when she saw the fairy tale setting. "We would all have blended in so much better."

"Yeah, all of us," Samus said, having just caught up with Peach and Roy, and scowled at the princess who cocked her head to the side and batted her eyelashes at her.

Samus dragged Link past Peach and Roy. She got in line, quite disgusted by the few couples that did not seem like they could keep their hands off each other when there were families with children in line too. But these octopuses were not important enough to waste your time on. The important thing here was that Marth and Zelda saw Link and her, and she turned around to keep a lookout for the approaching couple that sure took their time. Maybe Marth was trying to get rid of them?

"Samus, Zelda doesn't care," Link sighed, still insisting on cringing and making weak struggles to make her let go of him. Having him going emo was at least better than having him fight back the fiery way only he could. She could always worry about him later.

"Shut up," she said.

"Oh, look Roy, they're taking pictures of the couples and, oh, look, isn't the sign beautiful? Look, the entrance to the tunnel looks like a heart too. I am so excited!"

Drifting off into her fantasies, Peach sighed and leaned onto Roy's shoulder, making him shrug worse than Link.

"This isn't a real date, is it?" Roy said and tried to laugh, but it died away almost instantly.

"Then why don't you push her away?" Samus commented. A spark of life had found its way into Link's eyes when Samus turned around to face Roy but she would still not let go of him and he sunk back into his void of depression. Peach giggled and moved away from her date. She fanned herself, but her small hand was not enough to hide her blush from Samus who raised her eyebrows at her, like a teacher who had caught a delinquent doing something bad.

Zelda and Marth finally caught up with them and took place in line.

"Who takes the first boat?" Samus asked. Peach was looking down at her feet and Roy scratched the back of his head. Zelda and Marth said nothing, as expected. Samus's gaze fixated on Zelda and did her best impression of Peach's intense hypnotic stare. She just wished that she had Peach's round turquoise eyes. They were like enchanting crystal balls and her own were not quite as magical. Zelda nuzzled Marth's arm with her eyes closed and a growl made Samus's throat vibrate when it traveled to her painted lips.

"It's your turn," the teenage boy, who was handling the amusement ride, said with flickering eyes. Samus looked strong enough to break him like a twig and even though Link looked more harmless than usual he did not look like anyone you wanted to mess with either. The young boy tugged at his light blue T-shirt, with the Fun Fun Fun Panda on it, and stuttered: "P-please, get on."

"Why does this dress have to be this tight," Samus muttered under her breath when she attempted to spread her legs to step into the boat and at the same time drag Link with her. They tumbled into the boat that looked like a hollowed out swan with red painted seats. The hard material was not very comfy but as Peach would have said: "If it looks pretty you should let complaints delay."

"Remember to smile at the camera," Peach called out to them when the swan floated towards the entrance, which looked like nothing more than a heart-shaped black hole. On one hand, it was framed by light bulbs, but they did not serve as much decoration in the daylight.

The second the darkness engulfed Samus, the temperature dropped and it cooled her off in a way that felt surprisingly nice. Link was at last released and Samus massaged her own neck now when she finally noticed how tense she had been.

"Does it have to be this dark?" Link said next to her and because her eyes started to adjust she could make out the way he crossed his arms and sunk in his seat. This was a bad sign. He was moving on his own and even going as far as to talk of his own free will again.

"Relax. Marth doesn't have it in him to do anything if that's what you're afraid of."

"There's a narrow path over there by the wall."

"Don't even think about jumping off the boat. We're going to have our picture taken and it's going to be romantic," Samus hissed and thrust her finger into his chest. It felt like being punched by an average man. Link's eyes moved to the path again and Samus gasped, "no, you don't!" She threw her arms around his torso just as he attempted to make a run for it. "If you leave this stupid bird boat I will personally hunt you down and run you over with it so that you drown."

"Well, when you put it like that."

In the next swan boat Peach was leaning over the railing to try and make out the fish, which looked like the ones on the sign, in the water below them. Could they really live in an amusement ride, and in such shallow water? But they was not enough to serve as a distraction. It was all Samus's fault that things had got awkward between her and Roy. Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom was a delicate woman with a loving plumber in her life. How could Samus ever think that she would turn her back on that? Infidelity should be illegal. Yes, without a doubt. It was just like Samus to come up with such crude and indecent suggestions.

Peach straightened up and fell back against the back of the seat when a flash of white lit up the darkness. She flew at Roy screaming at the top of her lungs. Her heart beat like the sound of a drum inside of her, and it took a while for the squeaky noises around them, which was sneaking in between her heartbeats, to be registered at all.

"It's okay," she heard Roy's voice. When she had her eyes closed it was hard to image that such a deep and solid voice belonged to someone with as boyish looks as his. She let her eyes remain closed, her weight sinking onto him. Maybe she could just stay like this for a little while longer and he would speak again? It was kind of cozy in a curious way.

"Really?" she said, making her voice a teensy bit more high-pitched than it already was.

Now when the shock had given away she could hear that the squeaky noises in the background were singing that was accompanied by music that could have come straight out of a music box.

"Yeah, open your eyes. I think you'll like this."

Roy gently pushed her away. She blinked away the spots that the blinding flash had left dancing on her retina and saw that around them there were tiny gnomes placed on islands of green plastic grass and bright flowers. The flowers were all of the same simple design that a child would draw, with round petals and a circle area of yellow in the middle.

"How cute," she said. The gnomes all looked so happy dancing with each other, sitting next to each other, giving each other gifts or hugging – with Pokémon right next to them mirroring what they did. The gnomes reminded her of the Toads back home in the Mushroom Kingdom. After all, the most prominent thing about them was their kind nature and they were also cute and tiny with their adorable little vests that matched their mushroom hats.

"Mmm, cute," Roy agreed, an elbow resting on the side of the boat while he took in the sight of the robotic gnomes and their stiff movements with mild interest. They all had eyes that took up half of their faces and smiles that covered what was left.

"I feel homesick all of a sudden," Peach said with her chin resting on her hands that were locked together.

"Don't be," Roy blurted. "We'll ride something fun after this and you'll cheer up in no time."

"I didn't mean that I was sad," Peach said with a laugh and gave him a weak push. "I just remembered how much I like home. That's all."

Roy nodded, like a robot running out of batteries. He was not supposed to cheer her up then? He tried to discern the answer from her profile as she was watching the gnomes, but the only thing he found was that her small snub nose was cute.

"I just hope that Marth does not mind this too much," Peach said when they passed three gnomes singing with arms around each other's shoulders and swaying to the music, and three Mankeys doing the same.

"Don't worry about him. He might hate things that are bright and colorful but he actually has a soft spot for mushy stuff like this."

"Mushy?"

"In a good way."

"Oh."

Zelda and Marth came last.

She was right next to him. Melting into the shape of the seat. Was like a statue on a stone bench. The lights cast reflexes that danced in her eyes that were dim and soulless. Marth's gaze wandered down her still body, where not even the light fabric of the blue dress would be ruffled by the gentle rocking of the boat. Ever since they had sat down, she had made no attempt to let him support her, even though she had during the walk clung to him and relied on him.

A knot tied in his throat when he thought of offering her his shoulder. He would not mind it if she needed rest, something or someone to lean on. Although he could respect that she did not allow the weakness it meant to be dependent on another unless it was unavoidable. Naiveté was a wishful state of mind that would forever clash with reality. If the world had been like the one painted inside this tunnel, then it might have been possible to lose yourself in such mindless bliss. But the world was no so. Perhaps that was what he enjoyed about this ride.

These gnomes – these flawed constructions with stiff movements, frozen smiles and squinting eyes – were made by men, and was in a sense telling of their wish for what the world should be like. Marth did not doubt the existence of good or love. Only, his experiences had taught him how fickle they could be, and that even good wishes could have dire consequences. He did not trust in good, because it was the most blinding thing there was. The wish itself he could accept though. For a moment he was allowed to be in the world he had thought he lived in as he grew up, although this merely counted as a caricature of that sweet uncomplicated illusion.

Marth glanced at Zelda again. He liked this, and somebody was here beside him. Somebody who did not make him feel like he was in the company of a black shadow, a plain mask that threatened him to keep his guard up. Someone who made the invisible walls crumble and who stepped over them. But as it was now, it was not certain that he would get a reply if he called out.

"Marth," Zelda said, so quietly it was nearly drenched by the discreet background music.

"Yes, Zelda?" he said, trying to put a foot on the ice to see if it would hold. His heart beat as though he heard ice crack beneath his feet over dark depths of winter cold water. No more words for now.

"I apologize for being such a burden to you before. You must regret accepting my invitation."

"Not at all."

I have been sincerely hoping for a moment spent alone with you.

Had I been a more courageous man I may have been the one to make the invitation.

Marth resisted swallowing, trying to ignore the distracting feeling when saliva gathered in his mouth. He moistened his lips, daring to look at the woman beside him once more. She smiled, albeit briefly. Such a sincere smile was rare, felt exposing to put on your lips, and could not be allowed to linger for too long. It told Marth a lot though, and he preferred it to any wide, sunny, warm, shy, inviting smile that had ever been wasted on him. His struggle to come up with words ended. He did not have to try to explain the complex and undefined emotions he could not put into words, because she understood. Once more he could look into her eyes and feel that not everything was hopeless, or that the world was such a lonely place.

Without letting his gaze go astray, he grasped for her hand. It would have to suffice until he could voice his thoughts.

"I hope that we can find more time to spend together. It feels as if the years before I met you have been wasted, as we feel so close now but know next to nothing about each other," Zelda said and her eyes darted to their linked hands. "Well, you have told me a few things about your background. I do not mean to say... I mean, I may be awfully clumsy when it comes to getting to know..." She fell silent and gazed up at him, giving his hand the lightest squeeze.

"I feel the same," he whispered.

It was strange how he should have such a hard time to communicate but did not fear letting her know what he would not dare speak, even to the ones he had known since birth. She leaned towards the back of the seat, still facing him, and a rosy blush was tinting her pale cheeks as her hand escaped his gentle grasp.

"Next time you may make the invitation," she mumbled jokingly. He was about to promise her that he would, but there was something odd that kept picking at his attention, like a forest of thorns had pierced his cape and clothes and had him stuck. Right, it was the blush. For a woman who had grown up, like him, mastering the art of not showing surprise, if so Monday switched with Saturday and Bowser blew confetti instead of fire, it was strange that such an uninteresting conversation could bring forth a blush. No matter how endearing said blush was.

Again, words failed Marth. His hand flew to her forehead. He was aware that his hands were a bit on the cold side, but even so the range in temperature he felt was too great for it to be considered normal.

"You're having a fever," Marth spoke the obvious, feeling as if he was on the same intelligence level as the imbecile when the words left his mouth. He tightened his jaw. It was getting harder to speak, although he wanted nothing but to reprimand her for being up and running. The good news was that this would serve as an excellent excuse to end this disastrous date that put such strain on Zelda.

"It's not that bad. I should be able to pull through until the date is over," Zelda said and Marth frowned at her. "Please, let's not ruin things for the others," she begged.

Preposterous, sacrifice your health for their little outing? Not even they would allow it if they knew.

"Marth, I do not want to get in the way of Link and Samus. Peach has been looking forward to this too."

Have them go on without us.

No, Marth knew that they were too selfish to let Zelda leave with him. They would rather surround her, ignoring that they were the case for half of the pain. They would stay close, and let her be infected by their presence. She would have to keep on hurting like this, in spite of what he thought of it. Being a prince was all about accepting that you could not have things your way. But why?

I swear stand by you and ease your burden. An ally to turn to.

Light was slowly moving across her face. She stared as intently at him as he did at her. He realized that the soothing ride was over and that the light came from the outside as they exited the tunnel. Silently, he let his hand fall from her forehead. It was enough for her to know that he complied with her wishes.

A bright flash from a camera had Marth snap his head straight forward again. And which sight greeted him if not the other two couples, lined up and waiting for the royalties at the exit. Closest was Peach who looked much alike one of the gnomes inside the Tunnel of Luvdisc, then came the trio of glares. And here Marth had been so sure that Roy would be the odd one out, but the lord stared at him with an intensity that matched Samus and Link's.

"That was just lovely, wasn't it?" Peach said while Marth helped Zelda out of the boat. "Sure, I would not have minded if there had been a couple of doves or a bit more hearts. A waterfall perhaps? But it was nice nonetheless, don't you agree?"

Peach's eyes moved from one to the other, but either they looked back with the corners of their mouths pointing at the ground or they avoided seeing her at all.

"Yeah, it was great," Roy gave in. "Should I get our picture?"

Roy pointed at a booth that had a heart-shaped sign that matched the one of the ride, only on this one the fish were grinning with sparkling teeth at the visitors of the amusement park.

"Yes, I so do want it," Peach cried and grabbed Roy's hand. It took a great effort of her not to start jumping on the spot and when she could not fight the urge anymore she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I haven't bought it yet," Roy said, through chattering teeth in spite of the hot weather.

"We can show it to our baby," Peach said, unaware of the way the smallest puff of air through her nose or mouth as she spoke flew onto Roy's skin. In her state of blissful obliviousness she nuzzled his neck and her thick golden bangs, soft and ticklish like silk, rubbed the bottom of his chin.

At the mention of the baby, Roy's rigid form went back to normal. He dug his hands into the pockets of his black jeans and rocked a bit on the soles of his feet.

"Of course. We should tell him that we'll go with the whole family next time. It can be hard to explain why Daddy and Mummy need some alone time and we wouldn't want to neglect him."

"Yes. Maybe we could take him on the Tunnel of Luvdisc next time?"

"But I thought that was something for just the two of us," Roy cooed and blew some air into her ear.

"Please, snap out of it," Samus interrupted the two of them. "We better split you two up. Guys, you go and buy the pictures and we'll wait over there."

To make her point clear Samus flung Link towards Roy, who glanced at Marth, and the three men dragged their feet to the photo booth with arms hanging at their sides.

Link's eyes were on the dirty sneakers he had borrowed. Right now he felt like a worn old shoe himself; always on the ground and falling apart. Samus was a cold merciless woman. Once an idea settled in her head she went all out to pull through, regardless of what others thought. What had this project jealous accomplished? Zelda did not give a rat's ass about him. Quite the opposite, she seemed fonder of Marth than ever and the mere thought of her soft cheek rubbing against the prince's arm made a bitter taste rise in his throat. Having Marth in his field of vision made it stronger until he felt like throwing up, preferably over Marth's khakis and umber-colored Berluti shoes.

"You're looking the wrong way," a woman's voice screamed in Link's ear. He whirled around, grasping at his white sweater, but it was not him the woman had addressed. She was standing behind him in line, close enough for her elbow to poke him in the side while her eyes narrowed at her boyfriend. "You ruined our picture," the woman complained. The man, with shaggy blond hair and spring jacket thrown over his arm, could only look with fear at her twitching hands with their long threatening nails pointing at him.

"How was I supposed to know they had put the camera at the exit?"

"That's not the point here. You were checking out another woman in our picture."

"Aww, come on, I was not. There is no one else in that picture."

"What else would you be staring at?"

"But the pic didn't turn out that bad?"

The woman coughed, her hands approaching each other in a way that suggested she was miming a serial killer strangling its tenth victim.

"Not that bad? I wanted something like that," the woman cried and Link ducked to avoid his cheek being sliced up by her nail when she pointed at one of the many screens that showed off the taken pictures, numbered so that people could make a correct order. He took a glance at what, supposedly, was the perfect romantic picture.

Of course, as if he had expected it to be any different, he went from feeling like an old shoe to feeling like a twice retired sneaker dragged over gravel and dug into the deepest ickiest pile of mud you could find on the twenty-sixth rainy day of a month. Of course it was Marth and Zelda's picture, the two of them riding on a swan and framed by the big heart that was the exit. Marth's hand cupped her cheek and she blushing from the tender caress. Well, at least it looked that way. In reality, it was just his hand moving from her forehead that had ended up close to her face, red from fever, but it was an easy enough mistake to make.

A mother gasped and clasped her hands over her son's ears when Link expressed his opinion about the picture. And so did several more parents quite the distance away.

This was the last straw. Could the prince of perverseness never keep his nimble fingers to himself? Din, Nayru and Farore, all three goddesses together, give him strength.

The first thing Link noticed after his mantra had lost its power was the woman from before staring at him. She cuddled up to her boyfriend, both of them looking like fish with their gaping mouths and round eyes. The second thing he saw was Roy, whose upper and bottom lipped seemed to have slipped in opposite directions, and then Marth who looked like he had found a hair in his soup at a restaurant.

"Next please," a high-pitched voice called Marth over to the counter.

A teenage girl with round cheeks, and her pale blonde hair in a ponytail, radiated nothing but pure happiness at being able to service the handsome prince. She looked happier than the Fun Fun Fun Panda on her cap.

"Which number is your picture?" she asked.

"Twelve, sixty-eight," Marth said.

"What a pretty girlfriend. You two make a beautiful couple," the girl commented when she returned from the printer and put the picture in a paper frame made up of hearts and the two Luvdiscs.

Link glared at a spot on the back of Marth's head, waiting for some kind of denial from the prince. He would not have the nerve to call Zelda his girl when both he and Roy was standing right behind him, would he? The Hylian focused all his bitter resentment into a ray of loathing that streamed at the prince.

Deny it, deny it, deny it, deny it, deny it, deny it.

Marth picked up his wallet to pay.

"WHAT THE F-"

Roy's arms slunk between the openings between Link's upper body and arms. To the Hylian it felt as if his shoulders were dislocated, either that or his body was running off without arms, when his dash towards Marth was stopped by the small but sturdy frame of the young lord. Roy gritted his teeth and spread his legs as far as he could to get enough strength and balance to hold Link back.

Marth turned around with a small plastic bag and looked no more surprised than if he had found two ants battling it out in place of Link and Roy.

"I'll wait with the two ladies," Marth said. "You know that I don't like crowds, Roy."

"Two? Aren't they three?" Link asked Roy, confusion replacing rage for a short moment. Marth was already on his way back over the pastel green bridge that led to the photo booth.

"I do not think Samus counts in his world," Roy said, his grip around Link loosening while he looked, with a raised eyebrow, at Marth's disappearing back. Link moaned and stretched his arms when he stepped away from Roy and up to the counter. If the anger was put aside, if only for a moment, it was hard for it to build up again. Now he felt as if he was inside a sauna, the heat overbearing and sucking up all of his energy.

"Twelve, sixty-six," Link told the blonde girl behind the counter and massaged his right shoulder. "It does not even feel worth it to pummel him anymore," Link said, his back to Roy while the girl went to get the picture. "You should have let me. I thought the two of you were having a fight."

"Sorry, Link. He might need that pummeling but I know where my alliances lie."

"Here you go," the girl said and held up the picture where Samus sported a smile more forced than that of a child receiving toothpaste instead of candy when trick-or-treating. Link looked like he had been found dead in the water inside the tunnel and pulled into the boat to serve as prop. In spite of being the couple in the tightest embrace, they were far from the most charming one. In fact, several people were whispering and pointing at the picture shown on the monitor with less than admiring faces.

"Twelve, sixty-seven," Roy said and leaned his elbow on the counter.

"W-why, of course, right away," the girl stuttered, redder than a reddish and stumbled away in her hurry to get him the picture. "Have a nice day," she breathed when she handed it to him.

"Thanks," Roy replied with a wave, leaving the girl staring after him in a daze.

"I should have asked for his phone number."

(A/N)

Ahaha, hello, remember me? (crickets chirping)

I could go on forever summarizing the emotional roller coaster I have been on, so I will simply apologize. The few times I tried to write it only ended with Link being on the receiving end of my frustrations (maybe that still shows). I was really looking forward to explaining Marth's jerky behavior too (mastermind plan: shock-explain), although I have little hope for him to come across as more sympathetic (well, I like you, Marth). It does not change that he did act like a real jerk though.

I feel so bad after receiving such wonderful reviews. I was convinced that there would be nothing to say about the previous chapter. Peach is really starting to get cuddly with Roy. If anybody told Mario about this... And Samus using her sex appeal in spite of not having any experience (well, she seems to have been at one or two bars and she does not lack confidence. I cannot imagine that it would be that much over the top, seeing as this was written by a girl who thinks that holding hands is good enough romance and who never takes the first step). God, there is so much I want to reply to. I do not think any thanks could make up for my long absence (but it increases my gratitude tenfold). Thank you!

I am quite busy now, so I am afraid that I might go on a long writing break again... until then...

(right, made a mistake when I wrote funfair in the last chapter Did not know that there was a difference to amusement park. I will see when I can get around to changing it).