Disclaimer: I do not and never will own the characters of The Legend of Zelda. Nor will I ever own Nintendo. Damn it.

THE DAYS IN FEBRUARY
by Cappucinno

o3. iPod

Zelda had no intentions of returning to Beyond Bizarre after her rather embarrassing episode with the manager and the idiot of an owner. However, sometimes life leaves you no choice but to follow the predetermined lines of fate. And that was how Zelda, her boss, and her boss's boss happened to end up seated at a booth at that exact place.

The blonde attempted to distance herself from the whole situation, blocking out the friendly banter that bounced between her employers and that damnable reed-thin manager with the annoying glasses. And besides that, though she never once looked up from her menu, she could very well feel the force of his stare on the back of her head.

God, why did her employers have to choose such a miserable place as their absolute favorite restaurant? The name was weird and the staff was decidedly incompetent. And the chocolate chip cookies had been stale.

Stale.

And how did they manage to mess cookies up anyways? Zelda scowled down at the menu, grating her teeth together as that familiar laugh filled the background. Pleasant laughter, a little rough, a little boyish, a little too honest. Not that she was paying attention.

Of course not.

As the conversation took a turn for dull Zelda glumly picked at the bread rolls they had been supplied with, making a point not to eat it. She was quite oblivious to the curious looks from her bosses and the disappointed expression on a certain blonde's face as she sullenly pushed the shreds of bread around her plate.

"You're not eating?" The voice was entirely too close to her and she could damn well feel the puff of hot air over the back of her neck. Zelda jumped a mile and jerked around, wide azure eyes landing upon a pair of royal blue ones.

Her breath stopped as a tuft of sun-bleached blonde hair fell into those eyes, head cocked in question. As if belatedly realizing how close the man was to her, Zelda turned her head and cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"It's not poisonous, I promise."

Before she could even think about what was happening there were fingers pushing against her lips and she opened her mouth unthinkingly. She found herself chewing thoughtfully on a piece of rosemary bread that melted against her palate, the butter melding perfectly into the flaky spiced bread.

"Mmmm…"

Link's smile was broad as he leaned over the back of her chair, chin nearly resting on Zelda's shoulder as she drifted off into the land of food-induced bliss. Clearly not a man expecting rejection.

"Well, at least I hope it's not poisonous…" Link commented in an offhanded manner, one finger tapping thoughtfully against his lips as he 'hmmed' to himself.

"Shut up, you're ruining the bread."

The blonde stopped, blue eyes widening a fraction before settling back and a genuine smile lit up the contours of his face. He was quite handsome, actually. His face could have come right off a statue of some ancient god and from what she could tell he was toned. Very toned. His hair was a mass of unkempt and subtly wavy blonde hair, the occasional platinum streak attesting to the amount of time that he spent in the sun.

"Mmm, God." Zelda managed around a mouthful of heavenly bread. "What is this? Dear Sweet Godesses, I think I've died and gone to heaven. Who makes this?"

Link smiled in a self-satisfied manner, lips imitating Zelda's trademark expression. He remained wisely silent, as requested, and pulled a black iPod from his pocket, clapping his bulky headphones over Zelda's ears. Immediately the sound of music filled her ears as she tore another chunk of buttery bread off and let it dissolve in her mouth.

"Kokomo? The Beach Boys?"

She turned back over her shoulder fixing the blonde with an incredulous look and Link shrugged in an innocent manner. She gave him another look which clearly said, "Strange child," before turning back around and proceeding to devour the rest of her bread-from-heaven.

If he wasn't talking to her then at least he couldn't ruin the delectable rosemary rolls or further piss her off. She was in no mood to pitch a fit with her employers so close at hand. Not that she was really focusing on them much anymore, seeing as she was unresponsive to the subject of their conversation.

"Does she know him, you think?" Zelda's boss, Nabooru, asked with one eyebrow raised in a gesture of curiousity.

"Hm. Maybe we can get a discount?" Sheik, the Vice President of Din Inc. asked thoughtfully.

"Tch. We better." Nabooru scoffed. "He sure as hell doesn't feed me like that."

And with the music playing in her ears she couldn't hear Link's happy bragging in the background.

"I win, pay up."

"What? No way." The SoCal surfer, dubbed Shane, drawled in his usual lazy manner.

"Come on. Cough up the mullah."

"Dude, you don't even know if she's hooked for reals."

"Fine. Don't pay me today. Pay me double tomorrow, for when she comes back."

o4. Umbrella

Zelda didn't look up to see his horribly self-satisfied grin. It had been bad enough to imagine it all day as she'd stapled packet after packet of paper together, and she certainly didn't need to see it again. In fact, if she saw it one more time, Zelda Harkinian would probably go insane.

"Two rosemary rolls." Zelda said, digging out her wallet, dutifully avoiding eye contact.

"For here or to go?" Strangely enough the voice was free of its usual teasing and Zelda actually had to look up in shock. A calm face greeted her, carefully devoid of all emotions but the polite smile that curved at his lips.

"Umm. To go." Zelda said, still quite shocked by this anomaly.

"That'll be 3.50, Miss Harkinian."

Zelda raised a brow as she surrendered the money to the blonde, quite disturbed by his lack of bothersome comments. He knew who she was, so that clearly wasn't it.

"Link?" The blonde looked up, cocking an eyebrow at her.

Yes, it was Link. And he certainly didn't look like he'd been abducted by aliens. Zelda frowned as she leaned forward suddenly, looking for all the world like she was actually worried about him.

"Are you sick?"

Link blinked curiously at her and shook his head slowly as if he were communicating with someone with a very unstable mental condition. He spoke in a very similar fashion.

"No…"

The blonde suddenly frowned and planted her hands firmly on her hips, hardly blinking as the heavenly bread was deposited on the counter in front of her in tasteful brown wrap. Wait, that was just a paper bag. Never mind.

It just deserved tasteful brown wrap.

"Then what the hell is wrong with you?" Zelda finally spat out, and at that Link had to laugh.

"Zelda Harkinian. You walk into my shop dripping wet looking like a drowned kitten in stilettos, and I know for a fact that this is out of your way, it's pouring outside and you don't have an umbrella. All for two pieces of bread. Do I really need to say anything?"

Zelda grudgingly admitted that no, he didn't, and she left Beyond Bizarre Bakery with those two pieces of well earned rosemary-rolls-from-heaven.

Link watched her leave with the distinctly satisfied air of someone who had just won the lottery.

"Yo, Shane?" He called.

"Fine. You win." And the poor surfer had no choice but to fish out his wallet and tuck a twenty into his boss' waiting hand.

A/N: Just another quick, short, to the point updates. Still stuck writing on Day 11 eleven though, so be prepared for a dramatic slow down come Chapter 5. Thanks, as always, to my lovely reviewers– you make my day.

reviewpuh-leaseIluffyewguys?

-Cappucinno