The saloon's warmth greeted the blonde as she stepped inside, escaping the cold from outside. The door to the saloon always seemed like a portal to another world, the light from within drowning out the dark as she opened the door. It's fun and lively atmosphere being in complete contrast to the quite and calm outside world. The first thing that always hit Zelda first was the music. The Music always filled the room with energy, the blonde never could understand how such a small jukebox could produce as much sound as it did.

Looking around the room she noticed that a lot of the town had already shown up. It was almost a tradition for the town to come together on a Friday night and celebrate a well earned weekend. Gus was manning the bar as usual, with Emily working behind him. Pam was in her usual spot at the bar, stirring her scotch with one hand and staring off into space. Lewis was at a one of the standing tables with a drink in his hand. Robin and Demetrius were dancing to the music, Zelda thought it was sweet that they both still made time for each other even though both were usually busy with work. As Zelda walked up to the bar she could also see Shane leaning against the wall drinking from a beer, sulking as usual. Giving Shane a smile and a small wave she turned her attention to Gus who had come to take the blonde's order.

"Evening Zelda." He said greeting her as she sat down on one of the bar stools.

"Hi Gus." She replied happily.

"Can I get ya a beer?" Gus asked.

"No beer thanks, just a soda." She said with a smile. Zelda didn't like to drink and at most would only accept a glass of wine if it were a special occasion. Whenever someone asked why, she never gave them a direct answer. The truth was something she wanted to keep buried.

Gus handed Zelda her usual cherry soda which, in Zelda's opinion was a lot better than the slush in Joja-Cola. As she looked around the room again she met eyes with Lewis and decided she would go over and say hi.

"It's good to see you taking a break from work." He said with a smile. "Your grandfather always worked too hard." Lewis' smile faded slowly as he remembered.

"I've been wanting to ask you, what was he like?" The blonde asked.

"Hmm?" Lewis was surprised by the question.

"It's just… I didn't really get to know him. He only came to visit a few times in my life… I know he worked really hard to send money to me when I needed it. I just wish I could've spent some time with him."

"He was a very kind and gentle man." He started "He came here when he was around thirty, moved in with his wife. I was doing odd jobs for a living around that time, this was years before I decided to become mayor." He explained "In fact back then, if someone told me I'd be mayor I would have broken a rib laughing. I first met him when he hired me to fix the door to his shack. Poor fool didn't know a screwdriver from a hammer!" He laughed. "I helped him out and overtime we became the best of friends. In a few years your mother was born and although they didn't have much, i've never seen such a happy and loving family."

Lewis paused as he watched a faint smile appear on Zelda's face, with one hand the blonde gently touched a small necklace she was wearing. The necklace was of three golden triangles combined together with a small blue Sapphire in the empty space in the middle. Zelda wore it as much as she could as it had belonged to her mother and was one of the few items she had left to remember her by.

"Before that was your mother's it belonged to your grandmother." Lewis said pointing to the girls necklace. "I remember the day he gave it to her. He made it for their anniversary, took him three weeks."

"It's the family's symbol." Zelda said "Each triangle represents something different. Wisdom, courage and power." She listed pointing to each one.

"Your grandmother gave it to your mother when she moved to the city." Lewis explained "I've always admired your family's symbol, it's such a lovely sentiment."

"Thanks Lewis." She said thanking him for the talk.

"Anytime, I'll have another drink in his honour tonight." Lewis said with a grin as he raised his glass.

Zelda looked around again and saw that Leah was at a standing table with the local writer, Eliot. Her hair was in her standard braid that fell across her shoulder. It looked like she had washed up a little for the evening because there was no trace of paint on her hands. The two seemed to be having a great time chatting to each other. Not wanting to interrupt, the blonde went to the other side of the room and found Abigail, Sam and Sebastian hanging out around the pool table. Abigail was sitting on the couch watching the two boys play.

"Dude, how did you miss that?" Sebastian laughed as he watched Sam fail once again.

"Whatever man. Oh hey Zelda." Sam greeted as the he noticed the blonde.

Sebastian also gave a small wave as Zelda sat down next to Abigail at the couch.

"Who's winning" She asked the group.

"Same as always" Abigail said smirking.

"Shut up." Sam responded quickly as he leaned over the table and lined up another shot.

The group laughed as Sam failed again at putting a ball in one of the holes. As the boys continued to play Abigail began to talk to Zelda, the music helping to make their chat more private.

"So Willy has been helping me fish, and I was able to catch some of the fish that we needed for the offerings." Abigail said making sure Zelda was the only one who could hear her.

"That's great, I've been growing some of those fall crops we need. You should come over tomorrow and help me carry some."

"Sure thing. We should visit Rasmodius again, it's been a while. I also want to ask him if he could put in a good a word for me at the adventurer's guild."

"You still thinking about going down in the mines?"

"Absolutely! I've wanted to explore the mines since I was a kid. I'm ready." Abigail said confidently.

"Just be careful, Lewis told me there are some pretty nasty things down there." Zelda said worry written across her face,

"I'll be fine Zelda, I'm not afraid." Abigail responded defensively.

"I'm not saying you are. Just promise me you won't do anything stupid." The blonde said gently putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yea ok. I promise." Abigail responded relaxing a bit.

The blonde gave her friend a supportive smile before turning her attention to the two boys who were calling the girls over.

"Hey Zelda you want to play?" Sam said waving the blonde over.

"Sure! But… uh...I don't really know how." She said scratching the back of her head.

"It's easy I'll teach you." Sam said handing her a pool cue.

"I don't know if you'd be the best teacher." Sebastian said smirking.

"Shut up!" Sam said with a glare before turning back to instruct Zelda.

Warping himself around her from behind he helped her find the proper hand positions and showed her how she should take a shot.

"In theory it's simple put the balls into the holes." He said as he watched her line up her first shot.

"Right." she said.

The group watched as Zelda took her time. Sizing up the shot and trying to figure out how much power she would need. Zelda's tongue stuck out slightly from the side of her mouth as she concentrated. Finally ready she took her shot sending the cue ball smashing into her desired target, the ball was sent down the table and just barely made it into one of the many holes.

"Good job." Sebastian Said smiling in approval. "You're already better than Sam."

The group shared a set of laughter as Sam pretended to hang his head low in shame.

"What?" Leah asked defensively as she watched Elliot nearly chuckle.

"It's just… I've been telling you since we met that you should have an art show in town and you've always said no. When Zelda says so, you suddenly decide to have one?" Elliott said still chuckling.

"I still think it might be a mistake so you better shut it before I change my mind." Leah responded in a huff

"What's she like?"

"What?"

"Zelda. I don't know her very well but she must be special for you to decide to come out of your shell." Elliott said.

Leah new the question was relatively simple but for some reason she found it hard to come up with an accurate answer.

"She's… different." Leah said looking across the room at the blonde who was sitting on the sofa next to Abigail. "She's sweet and kind and just different from anyone I know. She's always smiling and brings this energy wherever she goes. It's… hard to describe."

"Sounds perfect!" Elliott said.

"Hun? What do you mean?"

"Sometimes the best subjects are the hardest to describe, try putting what you feel with Zelda into your work." Elliot explained. "I know you still haven't done anything with that log of wood yet. Now you have some inspiration."

It wasn't the worst idea she had ever heard, and she had been looking for inspiration recently. Maybe she would give it a try.

"When do you think you'll have your art show?" Elliot asked

"Probably sometime in the spring, that way I have all winter to prepare."

The conversation slowly changed as Elliott started ranting about his novel and his "struggles" as a writer. Leah tried to pay attention but slowly found her thoughts drifting off. Leah couldn't help but keep glancing over at her blonde neighbour from across the room. Watching her laugh with her friends. It was a sweet sight. Zelda was her neighbour, friend and one of the nicest people she had ever met. So why did Leah feel so confused when she thought of her. How do I feel about Zelda… the question was so straightforward, so why was the answer so complicated? As she watched the blonde Elliott's words bounced around her head.

"She must be special." Leah whispered to herself.