Chapter 27

-o-

Knocked Down

Within the short time-span it had taken for the three men to buy the pictures, Peach had snatched herself a map of the amusement park, bought them tickets for the ghost house and won a small bag of chocolates at one of the many Wheels of Fortune. She had resisted those figure killers to the very last – those tasty caramel sweets layered with milky chocolate that melted in one's mouth – but during the course of the day they had mysteriously seemed to disappear one by one, even though no one had wanted any when she offered. In the evening she had given up. She put one candy in her mouth at a time while trying to figure out how to lighten the mood. Nothing she tried seemed to work, and she had been at it for some time – the whole day actually. Well, she was not giving up.

"There is this ride called Whispy's Woody Ride," Peach told them, candy bag in one hand, map in the other. "I do not want us to miss dinner, but we should have enough time for a few more rides."

"What kind of ride is it?" Roy asked, knowing no one else would.

"You kind of ride in these boats–"

"Did we not ride one like that before?" Samus cut in, not wanting to go through a similar experience again.

"That look like logs," Peach said, facing away from Samus. "They float along a water trail with some beautiful scenery around."

"The same," Samus muttered.

"And then. Then you go down a biiig waterfall."

Marth, who had been looking at the setting sun, had his head tilting back down in a millisecond. His bottom lip trembled as if he actually considered talking to Peach and his ochre skin tone turned into a ghostly shade similar to Zelda's.

"This way, this way," Peach sang while she skipped ahead and observed the rides they were passing by, in case there would be one worthy of rearranging her schedule. This was the one part of the park they had not yet visited. It was better to be optimistic about it. After all, it was her last chance for some romantic development.

"Oy, pretty lady, care for a try?" a man called out from one of the many booths. He was tossing with a yellow ball to display what a fantastic game he had to offer. Link frowned, his gaze with excelled speed tracking down and identifying the source of the voice. "Pretty lady" could only refer to Zelda. Peach was like an ill-tempered piglet: small, round, pink and making a lot of unintelligible noises (definitely not pretty), while Samus was... well, Samus.

"I promise you'll have a lot of fun, prima ballerina, and the prices are not so bad, eh?" the man called out and wiggled his dark eyebrows. Behind him the last sunlight of the day was reflecting off silvery cans that formed a line of pyramids. The classic can knockdown game.

Samus smirked. It was obvious that he was addressing Peach, only because the princess looked the least likely to be good at games with her big round eyes, blonde hair and puffy pink skirt. What a horrible prejudiced dog. Surely, Peach had to see through him. But Peach was not looking at him. She had caught sight of the stuffed animals lined up on a shelf. One in particular. A pudgy purple skew-eyed thing with eyes set far apart and a long outgrowing from its head that ended in a blossoming flower.

Samus shook her head and looked at the others, expecting to see amused faces but, boy, was she wrong. Roy had a crooked smile on his face and his eyes wandered back and forth between Peach and her besought stuffed... thing. Link's ears were perking up a bit more than before. Marth, he seemed to actually be seeing the can knockdown game.

"I would be honored to claim the prize in your honor, my fair lady," Roy said with a bow to Peach and Samus rolled her eyes. She ought to have guessed. All three men were in their own way the old-fashioned chivalrous type, just waiting to come dashing in on a white steed and impress.

"Roy, I advice you not to," Marth said, just as Peach was about to act her part of the grateful damsel in distress.

"Pah, what could go wrong?" Roy replied, challenging Marth's stare. He grabbed Peach by the hand and marched past the prince towards the booth. "It's that fat purple carrot you want, right?"

Samus seriously doubted that the thing was a carrot. It looked more like an onion. She was about to ask Link for his opinion when she saw that he was glancing at Zelda, pressing his lips together and tapping his foot. Only one thing could be running through his mind.

"No," Samus said and tugged at his white sweater so that he stumbled closer to her.

"You're right. She's not the type to care for a stuffed animal or if you hit a target or two," Link sighed, while Samus felt like ripping her hair out. That was not at all what she had meant. He should not be thinking about getting anything for another guy's date at all, and what about their great master plan to make Zelda jealous? They could be doing a better job. Samus looked over at the princess who was paying them no attention whatsoever.

"Prince Marth, may I ask why you are against Lord Roy giving this harmless game a try?" Zelda said. The royal pair could just has well have been standing in a ballroom with a glass of wine and held a nonsensical conversation for conversation's sake – this association being made in a shabby amusement park full of clown colors and smiling pandas.

Marth scratched his chin, looking with disdain at Roy who was grinning like a fool while three yellow balls were lined up in front of him.

"I vow to pray for thy success, my brave knight," Peach said and held up her crossed fingers. "I know you can do it!"

"When the honor of thy noblesome name doth depend upon my performance I shan't ever fail, I will see to't, Milady. Would fate it different hath, may death striketh," Roy said, adapting Marth's aristocratic intonation. He had picked up one of the yellow balls and was throwing it up in the air over and over, handling it with great ease and control. He even had his eyes closed, focusing more on the words he was speaking to Peach than on the object in his hand.

Marth turned to Zelda to answer her question. "You see, Princess Zelda." There really was no good way to say this. "Roy could not hit a barn if he so stood a meter away from it."

The ball fell into Roy's palm again, but this time he twisted his hand around and pulled back his arm. He threw the ball, hard, and the motion was over so quickly that he opened his eyes only once the round object had left his hand. A loud slam was heard as the ball swooshed past the cans and collided with the wall. It had barely missed the man inside the booth and he stared at the spot the ball had hit with a face as if Roy had fired a gun.

"He does not aim at all," Zelda observed in wonder and Marth nodded with closed eyes.

Peach's crossed fingers were twitching. Her smile was too. Roy was staying bent over in his throwing pose. If Mewtwo had been floating past them in that moment it was silent enough for him to have been heard. This was not quite how their little play had been supposed to turn out.

"T-the next one will hit for sure, I know it," Peach said, with all the enthusiasm she could muster.

"Y-yes, that was just a warm-up," Roy said and gripped his second ball.

"Come on, Roy!" Peach cheered and started chanting his name.

This time Roy tried a few throws without letting the ball leave his hand. He tilted his head a bit to the side, squinted, closed one eye, stretched his arm out. One deep breath and the second ball flew past the cans and smashed into the wall, and the man with the dark eyebrows dove under the counter.

"Although he keeps his eyes on the target he loses track of his movements. It is as if he never aimed at all," Zelda analyzed, utterly amazed.

"Correct," Marth said. "To Roy, true strength is to be strong for the sake of others. He is the kind of general to throw himself headfirst into the fire three steps before his army. With such an attitude he has never evolved a mind for ranged attacks."

"And this attitude has caused the same problem outside the battlefield, I presume?" Zelda added and Marth confirmed it with a nod.

"Indeed, you should see him try to hit a trash bin."

Samus felt a growl trying to get past her teeth. Indeed, Marth and Zelda had to be record-holders for the most boring conversation topics in the world. How was it possible for two people to be so engrossed in why a guy was a lousy thrower? Just tell him not to quit his day job and move on. Seriously, if Zelda ever was impressed by that boohoo-blue pansy and his monotone yap, yap, yap, she would personally send the princess to a mental hospital. Then again, it would probably be easier to cut off Marth's tongue – there could impossibly be another crazy quality Zelda would find in him that made him worth keeping – and they would all live happily ever after. Without Marth.

"This may take a while. I am certain that Roy and Princess Peach would not oppose to us indulging in other pleasures," Marth said. "Or perhaps you wish to take an early leave from this so-called amusement park altogether, Princess Zelda?"

Link and Samus inched closer. There was no way you could interpret what the prince said in a good way. Indulge? Pleasures?

"No, I'm fine staying here, thank you, and Peach and Lord Roy will probably not take too lo–"

Another ball slamming into the wall cut Zelda off.

"I assure you, Roy is the very definition of what coined the expression lucky at cards, unlucky in love and vice versa."

"Lucky in love, unlucky at cards in other words," Zelda said.

"Only in Roy's case it appears to apply to any kind of game."

Zelda glanced over at Roy exchanging money for a mighty supply of yellow balls. Yes, this would definitely take a while. Her gaze glided over to Peach. Did she really possess enough endurance and stamina to stay at Roy's side until the very end?

"I believe in you, my knight," Peach said with a voice tender enough to make the loneliest person in the world feel loved (well, with the exception of Marth perhaps). She could keep this up for hours without tiring, without a doubt.

"Roy," Marth said as Zelda turned to her friend and said, "Peach."

"Yeah, yeah, go enjoy yourselves" Roy and Peach said with one mouth and waved at them behind their backs. Their eyes were too busy following Roy's latest throw that had missed the booth and was soaring into the distance.

Marth and Zelda had just started walking away when Marth heard her breath tremble, soft like the rustle of leaves in the wind. His arm hovered by her waist. He could not say that it had been a deliberate move, but as he was about to withdraw his arm he was drawn in by the subtle scent of her hair and his hand landed on the smooth fabric of her dress to give her some support. Unintentionally.

"Sooo, where are we going?"

"Yeah, what should we ride next?"

Marth inhaled and turned around to face the two neanderthals, whose mere presence was the root to all evil that had befallen Zelda on this cursed day. Link and Samus, arm in arm, were grinning at the prince – while their angry eyes screamed that they were after his blood. It gave Marth a headache only to think about the torture he would have to go through to be rid of them. The question was whether it would be worse to try to fend them off or to leave them hanging around.

Damn, Samus hated that pretty-boy. The prince's face was telling Link and her to go to hell clearer than if he had said it with words. Not that the little eye-servant would ever say such a thing in front of Zelda. How about being a man for once? Too big of a challenge? The anger was flaring and moving around inside of Samus like a baby trying to grab her attention and made her chest feel like it was in flames. If only Zelda would look up and see the expression that was on his face. It set her ablaze to see Marth get away with his behavior when Zelda was right there, in his arms.

"Are you all right, Zelda?" Link asked, putting on a smile. Samus could feel just by touching his arm that he was anything but calm. It was one thing that Marth was hanging around his princess like a blue planet in an orbit, but now Zelda was being awfully clingy. It was as if she was glued to the prince. Something else was odd too. Was she not a little too quiet? A little too pale? Maybe something was wrong? Maybe there existed a connection, and maybe that was what Link was trying to find out?

Samus observed the Hylian princess closely when she glanced up at Link. Her eyes moved affectionately across his features and she seemed to glide further and further into her own mind. Samus could have sworn that for a second this distance allowed a flicker of pain to surface, but a quick look in her direction and Zelda was smiling back at Link. She moved effortlessly and gracefully away from Marth.

"Me? I am perfectly fine," Zelda said and her body language as well as her tone of voice said the exact same thing down to the smallest word. "We better start moving. I could not help but to overhear earlier that you wanted to ride the roller coaster, Samus. Shall we?"

Link, Samus and Marth all turned to look at the huge roller coaster at the centre of the park. It rose like a mighty castle above a small town. Impossible to miss.

The construction was a dreadful vomit yellow that was rusting off at places. It was much too noisy to be safe and the bars that made it up shook ominously under the pressure of the three trains. One of them had just left the station and was fighting its way up a hill steep as a wall. It sighed and moaned to the monotonous clanking of a tired chain but somehow miraculously dragged itself over the top. Screams pierced the air when the train was unleashed downward in free fall. It tossed into a corkscrew – people's heads tossed around enough for a headbanger to have trouble keeping up. It threw itself into a loop. Slowed down to a standstill near the top. People were hanging, dangling several meters up in the air, with their shoulders pressed to the black restraints. The train sped up again to the sound of a choir of shrieks.

How could that ever have seemed like fun? Link, Samus and Marth stared at the monstrous murder machine with beads of sweat on their pale faces. In unison they turned their heads back to Zelda standing there with her light hair and blue dress moved by the smallest puff of air. Who in their right mind would put her in that?

Before his inner eye Link saw Zelda board the horror wagon through a cloud of grey smoke, and with the loud clanking of that forsaken chain in the background. In his mind, he was about to pull her out of it when he was strapped down by the restraint lowering itself with a hiss and pressing him down. For some reason it happened in tune to a maniacal laugh but, hey, it was not reality. Yet.

"Absolutely out of question!"

"Forget it!"

"You're not going near that thing!"

All three of them voiced their protests at the same time. Zelda put her hands on her hips, her sweet expression gone in an instant, and she coldly observed them one by one. One heeled shoe moved in front of the other and slowly, slowly she approached them until she stopped centimeters away from Link.

"Why?" she said.

O, Link had been through this before. The "I-am-going-to-have-my-way look" that had gone undefeated through one-hundred and twenty-three battles with him. The "I-am-the-princess-and-my-word-is-final look" that she used at work. This time would be different, he swore. No matter what argument Zelda came up with he would not let her strut straight into the claws, or in this case seats, of death. Keeping her alive was more important than spoiling her. He just had to hang on to that simple fact and not let Zelda angle it to her favor.

"Because," Link said, knowing that the argument he had in mind would only make her more stubborn, but what were the options? He did not have the time to think up a better retort than the truth. "It's dangerous."

Her eyes narrowed, her gaze froze, like a cat about to dig its claws into something that dared to move in its presence. When she spoke, however, there was not the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Then there is no problem. That thing was built for people to ride. The security measures taken are near to bringing it to an overboard." Zelda pointed at a train entering a loop. "Not a single thing has happened to a single ride while we have been here. It's perfectly safe."

Link had to look away, running a hand down his face while he took a deep breath. With a swift turn of his head he looked her straight in the eye. "While we've been here, yes. Have you looked at the state of that thing? It's not a question of if, it is a question of when. Are you going to be on it when something happens?"

"And what about you? Before you wanted to ride it too. I saw your look. Why was it not dangerous then?"

Link was about to say that it was just a roller coaster – what was there to be afraid of – but he thought better of it. It was not easy explaining the difference.

"Well, you see..." He fell silent, gaze lightly touching upon her delicate features. His hand hesitatingly moved towards her. It brushed her skin when pushing some silky hair back. "You have a weaker neck for example." His thumb touched her cheek and his index finger followed her jawline. The three fingers left stroked the skin of her upper neck.

With a snap Zelda turned her head away. "That's what the headrests are for." One glance over her shoulder told Link that Marth was standing there smirking at him.

"You could get a concussion or something," Link insisted, lowering his hand dejectedly.

"Children are riding it."

"And something has got to be wrong with their parents. I'm not that thoughtless and while we're here I'm responsible for anything that happens to you."

"No one made you responsible for me," Zelda said darkly. Link was almost sure he heard a snake hiss along with that.

"Impa, your bodyguard if you remember, has personally asked me to look after you whenever she can't."

"I'm nothing but a job to you?"

"No," Link said heftily. "Why this all of a sudden? We've been through enough for you to know it's not like that. I promised Impa only because I want you safe. If I did not do a good job you'd be in more danger with me than with her and I can't have it like that."

"Impa would never interfere with any of my intentions."

"Even when they're stupid – I mean dangerous. Have you ever been in one of those things?"

"According to you I would be dead if I had."

"Exactly!"

"You are being over protective," Zelda said, pronouncing every word with exaggerated articulation and poking her finger into Link's chest.

"I'm not. Zelda." He clenched his teeth not to groan. "I care for you. Is it that hard to understand?"

Her hand fell – he did not break the eye contact between them but he could feel it – and she shook her head at him.

"It is the same as always. You are more interested in babying me than being with me. Instead of looking at us as two people I am just something that needs to be kept from breaking? Is this friendship? Caring? We cannot do something as simple as riding a roller coaster together?" It hurt the way she looked at him. "You're shutting me out."

"I'm not shutting you out," Link said without a second thought. How could she have got such an idea into her head?

Of course he wanted to be with her. Of course he wanted to spend time with her and laugh together with her. He did not want to complicate things. That he looked out for her did not mean that he looked at her like an object – how did that work even? He grabbed her shoulders and was about to tell her that, if it made her feel better, they would ride the roller coaster. They would be together and not care about anything other than having fun. He would spend the rest of the evening proving her wrong on all points.

A sudden realization made Link close his mouth before any of those words came out. Wait a minute. This was the same old thing all over again. Zelda was making him lose sight of what he was arguing about and before he knew it he was caught up in one of her schemes. Another creak from the roller coaster instantly wiped away the part of him that had been about to give in to her.

"Zelda, I'd never shut you out," Link said, still holding on to her, "but I am not going to ride that thing with you."

"But you would with Samus?" came her swift reply.

The yes was halfway past his lips when he stopped himself but it was too late. She knew what he had been about to say. He could see it in her face. All emotion in her eyes had died. Not a muscle worked to form an expression. He removed his hands from her in haste.

"Samus is not... She does not..."

"Have a weaker neck?" Life entered Zelda's black pupils once more.

"It's different," Link said, sounding more angry than he had intended but there was something about the way she was looking at him, and that vicious tone of voice. Something he could not stand.

"Fine. I'll ride it with or without you," Zelda said. She marched past him, turning her torso to make sure that she did not as much as nudge him when they passed. "We'll meet up here later."

Samus slapped her hand to her forehead when Link stumbled around and ran after Zelda while calling out her name. His voice could be taken for angry, but beneath that there was so much panic it was painful. She should be scolding that Hylian boy for not sticking with the plan but she could not. Anyone could see that project jealousy was long gone from his mind and, admittedly, Samus did not want Zelda to ride that thing either. It should have retired about eleven years ago or so. Maybe twelve.

"Princess Zelda!"

Samus spun to the left where Marth was standing some distance away. His face was flushed and he was breathing hard, as if he had struggled a lot to simply call out those two little words. His voice that was usually smooth and soft had sounded awkward and iffy in its loudness.

Zelda and Link had both stopped and looked back over their shoulders. Zelda furrowed her brow, trying to make out Marth's expression from a distance, as if to confirm that he really had been calling out her name. She started walking back, Link's eyes following her when she moved past him.

Marth looked more rigid the closer she came, and once she finally stood in front of him he said nothing. Samus would even describe his demeanor as cold but, as always when Marth and Zelda were concerned, there was something to that silence. Why else would they enjoy it as much as they did? One could only feel left on the outside next to them. She hated that.

There was nothing poetic to it. It was like watching two extraterrestrials communicate in a language one did not understand; minus the clicking bug noises, the sucking sound of tentacles and the snapping of claws. Or like watching psychics communicate via thoughts, but even there one could usually discern pupils moving or a corner of the mouth twitch.

Much to Samus's surprise, Marth leaned in and started whispering. She could tell by the way he was moving his lips that he was speaking quickly. At the brink of her vision she could make out Link coming up next to her. She heard the sound of him inhaling through his nose, that alone telling her he was unhappy. If Marth wanted to he could steal a kiss. He did not have to do much more than pout to close the distance.

Marth pulled back. Just in time not to be slapped by Zelda's hair when she turned around. She looked a lot more composed when she walked over to Samus and Link, both waiting for some kind of clue on what the royalties had been discussing.

"We'll do as you say, Link. It was childish and stupid of me to be that stubborn about it and I'm sorry. Let's ride something else," Zelda said and bowed her head as an apology.

"But you were set on going. Why, all of a sudden, don't you want to anymore?" Link asked.

"I changed my mind."

One point to Zelda, Link thought to himself. A blunt answer to cut the conversation short.

"No, you didn't," Samus cut in, arms crossed, and bored her gaze into the princess.

Zelda placed a hand on her chest and stared at Samus with huge eyes blinking in disbelief. She appeared to be actually shocked that anyone would interrogate her further. "It's the truth. What Marth said made me change my mind."

Nice try, Princess.

"What did he say?"

Was it possible to look as sincerely apologetic as Zelda did? Her hand closed into a loose fist. "I am sorry, but that is not up to me to share with you."

The ball was in Marth's court now, and everybody knew Marth would not say a thing as it was nobody else's business to him. They had been led into a dead-end. Checkmate.

"I suggest the Ferris wheel," Zelda said with a sweet smile and turned on her heel.

Samus shook her head, three times slowly. "Oooh, she's good," she said in a low voice. "She's not half as innocent as she looks."

Link merely sighed and held out his arm for her.

"You know I hate to be treated like a girl," Samus huffed with faked anger as she took a firm hold.

(A/N)

(Sound of cricket chirping - again). Anyone there? Okay, I better get down on the ground and start bowing. I am so sorry for another dreadful delay. I so badly wanted this triple date arc over with, but in the end I decided to prolong it with yet another chapter (or else you would just have finished reading a +9000 words chapter).

The last time I updated, in a forgotten era, I forgot to thank all of you who partook in my poll. It was a lot of fun seeing what kind of shippers have stuck with this story (even though I begged people who haven't even read it to vote too). As it merely serves as something for me to think about I figured that it would be quite rude of me to comment on a result that did not suit my liking, but to tell the truth I am aghast, upset, infuriated, close to fainting and severely disappointed! Luigi and Cake! You thought I was joking, weren't you? I can tell you that the cake has actually been introduced in the story and as I believe in the uniqueness of an individual and that the love felt for every individual is thus unique, it is not some kind of cake that can just be replaced. It is the one and only! I try my utmost not to bash pairings but, be prepared, this ship is going down!

I so do hope no one took that outburst seriously? (O_o) I would be concerned if you did.

Btw, what did Marth do to convince Zelda? He told her that he... nah, I'll leave it up to you. And because I know that I am lame with descriptions: the stuffed thing Peach wanted was a purple Pikmin.

Somehow I feel that the roller coaster was inspired by the roller coaster HangOver (lovely name, isn't it?) at Liseberg. I got tall enough to ride it once before it was sent to the dump and I remember that it broke down several times while I was still too short. It really was a horrible yellow thing, and it is also the one ride that has made me throw up (I did ride one spinning thing called "Tornado" five times in a row directly afterwards, but still...)

So, Roy and Peach are out of the picture. Is Marth really trying to ditch the others? Teaser for the next chapter (already in the works): Two couples split by two cars at the Ferris wheel. Zelda confronts her own emotions, what will she find? The cake meets its fate. "I love you." Who will utter those three little words, and what will the reply be?

Thank you so much for reading. And as always, thank you so much reviewers! I was so scared the last time I updated that everyone would be gone. I felt undeserving to find new reviews waiting for me in my inbox the next morning. I swear, there is no better way to start a day after a worrisome night.