Disclaimer: Legend Of Zelda Twilight Princess belongs to Nintendo :D

Chapter V

Being in a city drove Ariel and I up a wall for the first few days. We stayed in a hotel, and although it was located on the quarter of a quiet city square, I stayed in bed all day with a thick pillow covering my head. Ariel probably did the same- I'm not sure- the only thing I noticed were her mood swings and the sounds of glass breaking every now and then. It was like that feeling you get, when your about to go down a roller coaster. You know- your stomach dropping, and then the sudden rush. Only this was thousands of times faster. Now I wonder: How in the world did Mr. Crepsley put up with us?

Ugh, I miss the Cirque Du Freak.

It got better after the first few days, though. Ariel and I both seemed to adjust at about the same time. Some days, however, I would just sit and look out the window, and watch kids play soccer while traffic was slow. It upset me- I missed childhood. I missed being a kid. But that was all behind me now, I already went through all that crap, and I was just gonna have to deal with it.

And, I did deal with it, because living in the city made me feel like a normal human again.

Ariel and I fell into a comfortable routine after the first week. We could sleep in and do what ever we wanted without a care in the world- We'd eat a huge breakfast, go out and explore the city, watch television and play video games. It definitely beat doing chores, that's damn sure.

One night, I was sitting on the couch, playing video games with Ariel- the kind that you rent. She was playing Twilight Princess, we were hanging out like we usually do, when she paused and looked at me.

"Darren.. Have you.. noticed that Mr. Crepsley hasn't been around one night since we got here?"

I noticed there was concern in her voice, so I looked at her and studied her frown. "He has been kinda weird.. Do you think it's anything to worry about?"

Ariel looked down the controller in her hands for a moment, considering the situation.

"Nah." She resumed the game, and we continued to just hang out, like we normally do. I guess the reason why neither of us seemed to care was because it was great to have Mr. Crepsley out of our hair.

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It was the beginning of December, which brought thoughts of Christmas to mind. When I woke up at around one p.m., I saw Ariel sitting on the couch, in front of the television. I sat next to her, just in time to see the ending credits of whatever movie she'd been watching start to roll.

"I haven't watched TV in a while.." She said, handing me the remote. "It's nice, you know, to take a break. While you were sleeping and I was watching this movie, I began thinking about how I used to watch television all the time at my old place.."

I nodded, noticing how she used the word place, like usual. It seemed to me that the orphanage where Ariel grew up had some.. abusive adults there, which explains her shyness and stuff. She never called it by its name, just "that place."

She gave a slight laugh, but not a happy one- just a more, good humored-pissed-the-fuck-off laugh. "I know it probably sounds stupid, but I remember how they, amazingly, had one television set there. It was kind of like the baby-sitter, because no one else cared about you, so the TV kind of raised you.. Ugh, never mind me, I'm just rambling now. What was it you were going to tell me?"

"Huh?" I had been interested in what she was saying, but I never began to tell her something before she started speaking, so the question caught me off guard.

She brightened up, apparently, because she was giggling now, which made me light up too. "You came over here with that look in your eye, the one you get when your about to explode because you have so much to say."

"Oh," I laughed with her- It was pretty funny that she knew me so well. Anyway, back to what I was saying before- Christmas.

"I was just thinking, well, it's the beginning of December.."

"Yeeahh?"

"Annnd," I smiled. "Well, you know, it'll be Christmas soon- The hotel staff are gonna throw a big party, you know, with ham and turkey and stuff."

"Christmas.." Ariel repeated under her breath. She then shrugged carelessly. "I don't really give a crap about Christmas, Darren."

"What?" I exclaimed, surprised at her. "Why not?"

"Well.. I don't know, I guess I just have the memories of walking around in the snow, seeing bratty little children in front of store windows screaming about what they wanted. Everybody just wants to receive, and maybe sometimes.. I might look and see a few families all happy, because they have each other.. I wished I could have been them."

"You've never celebrated Christmas..?" I asked.

"No."

"Well, you should celebrate it with me, this year." I asked. She turned to face me, crossed her arms, and I had no choice but to resort to the puppy eyes.

Ariel laughed, looking up at the ceiling. "Aw, man, I do that to you all the time- I should have known you'd get me back!"

"Fine." She said, finally accepted defeat. "I'll celebrate your silly holiday with you."

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist me," I said sarcastically, striking a phony model pose. She started giggling again, pushing me over, and we both laughed.