GDL: Lucky you! You get 2 chapters today!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has a copyright on it. Especially LoZ and any references to anything else.

Chapter 9: Jealousy and Confusion

Cat's P.O.V.

I stared blankly at Link and Jade. I thought, 'Something's wrong. I can feel it. I mean, why else would Link and Jade be so…nice to each other? Either that…or they're falling for each oth-no. That can't be the case…could it? Ugh, I'm so confused. Maybe it's in my nature to attract people I hate, just like at school.'

Flashback

It was in 10th Geometry. This dude who was extremely fat, annoying, and ugly decided to sit behind me. No matter what I did, he wouldn't leave me alone.

I hated him, yet he persisted. He wasn't even flirting, but the fact he wouldn't leave me alone was enough. He just wouldn't get the hint. Whenever the bell rung, I was relieved, because I could get away from him. His name was Nate.

And it was just one example of how I believed I would never find a man for me.

End Flashback

'Now that I think about it, he's like Kado, in a way. Annoying, persistent, and a total flirt. Except, Kado's not fat and ugly. He's just annoying, persistent, and won't find someone else to flirt with! GAH! Though…I guess I'll have to deal with it…maybe it just wasn't meant to be with Link and I.'

Link's P.O.V.

When I saw Cat's expression, I couldn't exactly contain the burst of excitement actually welling inside me. I mean, my idea had worked. No, scratch that. Our idea had worked.

With Jade actually being flirtatious, and no doubt succeeding in making Kado look a few times in a millisecond, we were gaining some ground here. She was wringing her wet hair out, her underclothes sticking to her skin. I looked away, fear of her yelling if she saw me glancing. But instead, my gaze fell on Cat.

My heart fell when I saw her face. She was glancing at me when I turned to her, and I couldn't help but notice the hurt expression on her face. Maybe it was too much, I wasn't sure. I couldn't think on it any longer, but try and find a way to busy myself on getting a fire going to cook whatever we had left for breakfast.

Leftover wood was easy to gather and burn, but the cooking was awful in my taste. I couldn't do it right.

Glimpsing up, Jade was smirking and shaking her head. I would have asked her to help, but she was too far away.

"Need some help?" Cat's voice rang in my ears. I hid my sudden shaking and sent her a shy smile. Her return of the gesture screwed my heart to skip a beat.

"Yeah, thanks," I replied. She smiled half-heartedly and knelt beside me to get the food to actually cook.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Kado watching Cat. Halfway through pulling a good shirt on whilst on his knees, he fumbled and fell over on his back. I laughed and he rolled his eyes. Cat shook her head, and from what I could tell, Jade was muttering something under her breath again.

"Nice one, Kado!" she scoffed from the river.

"Shut up, you!" he replied, his voice muffled.

"You still have some of your clothes over here!" I called to her.

Her eyes alighted mischievously, "Could you bring them over? This stuff sticks like glue on me!"

And no doubt, it did. She was covering her chest with the towel, now, as she shivered.

"That's what you get for jumping in the water!" Cat called, beginning the remnants of our breakfast. Soup, I presumed, with bread.

Her eyes were still roving us over, I was sure, as I brought Jade her clothes. I stood closer to her, just for the plan's sake, but the pit of my stomach was doing flips. I didn't exactly like how deep we were going into this.

"Thanks," she muttered, her teeth chattering slightly as she took the clothes.

"No problem," I sighed.

"What's going on over there?" she asked, her eyes roving around the perimeter.

I shrugged, "Cat's acting a little quiet and Kado is falling head over heels." No doubt she realized the truth in it.

"Well," she muttered, "At least this plan is working half-way, right?"

"It's working more than you think." I whispered in her ear. She glared at me for a moment, but soon enough, she had figured the gist of it.

She turned around and hopped over the bridge and toward the lone tree near the Kakariko Village.

"I feel like I'm freaking camping in elementary school, again!" she hollered in exasperation.

I laughed, walking away, not exactly feeling like seeing her stumble in anticipation to change her clothes. Besides, I was too busy evading Cat's pale-faced expression and Kado's glare.

Yeah, the plan was working way better than either of us thought.

Cat's P.O.V.

I was attempting to save our breakfast, regardless of the fact that I couldn't even cook meatballs without burning them. It made me realize that I hadn't really thought of home until now. Would there be a clone of me in my place, or would my parents be calling the cops looking for me? Either way, it did not help the wave of sadness and confusion that already flowed through me.

I took the soup type stuff and put the contents into wooden bowls, one for each of us. I gave one to Link, Kado, and Jade, while keeping one for myself. We all kept silent while eating our meal, though no one really liked the taste of the food.

Finally, I set the bowl down, too disgusted to eat the filthy water anymore. At least, that's what it seemed to taste like.

"Phew," Jade remarked, setting hers down as well, "As long as you're doing that, I can finally stop eating it, too."

I chuckled, "Sorry, I'm not a good cook."

"Neither am I," Link replied with a smile. I tried to return it, but I couldn't help but realize he was sitting too close to Jade.

I turned to glance at Kado, who was now boringly staring entranced into the bowl of soup.

"Kado," I whispered to him, thinking he was too lost in his own fright of eating the food to hear something too loud.

He didn't reply.

I continued, "Kado… you don't have to eat it."

"Oh, thank God." He breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and then tossed the rest of the liquid into the burning fire.

"Maybe we should get going," Jade offered, as she scrunched her wet hair with her hands, making short curls appear here and there.

"Yeah," Link smiled at her and she retuned it, "Sounds good."

I furrowed my eyebrows before turning away. Great, what in hell is wrong with them?

Jade's POV

Forcing to smile at Link was becoming harder and harder to do as the day went along. Sometimes, I just wanted to sock him. I was very easily getting tired of the couple thing, and if he tried to pull another "sweet" moment on me I was about ready to tackle him.

Chances of him cooing at me and pecking me on the cheek seemed to grow, however. So, I stayed away from option a.

Although, despite the many mental flaws, the reactions from Kado and Cat were priceless, no matter that they were horrible to bear. I could say only to Cat that this was for her own good, but I wasn't even sure what Kado wanted anymore. A laugh with me, a smile to her, a glare at me, and a flirt with her… It didn't make sense anymore.

I gave that part up. I was doing this for Cat and Link's benefit. If only she realized it.

"Ready?" Kado asked, as he reached over to where I was trying desperately to pack my sleeping bag and tie it up.

"Uh," I replied slowly while trying to sit on the bursting sleeping bag and pillow and tie it up, "Sort of…"

"Need some help?" he asked with a small laugh.

I glanced up at him from where he knelt in front of me, "Sure, thanks."

"You just hold the sleeping bag, and I'll tie the knots off," he said, taking the rope from me.

"Kay," I wrestled with the blankets from popping out from their near-perfect roll and continued to watch him.

"You and Link seem pretty happy right now," he murmured. I glanced at him for a moment before feeling a shiver go up my spine when his hand brushed my pant-covered thigh.

"Yeah," I whispered, "Thanks?" There was not much to say, really, when I was actually trying to hold back from calling the blonde a really, really bad name.

He chuckled, "Guess you won't mind me going after Cat, then?"

Before I could answer, he had stood up and walked away. Did he…did he just…? What the…?

I glanced at my hand, and realized my index finger had got caught in his knot. It took me a minute or so to get it untangled, but when I continued to stare at it, I couldn't help but realize something.

Maybe I was reading it wrong, or I was going too deep into it, but… I think he had me wrapped around his finger.

Cat's POV

It was bad enough she and Link were getting along so well, but now there was something odd about Kado. His flirting had ceased down slightly, from his usual up-and-hyperactive "I want to know you, babe" kind of thing.

Anyway, it was retarded. Who was I kidding? Kado was my only chance, and I was going to be damned if that didn't work for me either. One thing was for sure; I would have to talk with Jade about it, to finally set things straight.

XXXXXX

We finally reached Kakariko Village. With its houses with the shingled rooftops, the grassy front, dirt trails, towering windmill, and simple people, the place seemed right out of a fairy tale…well, literally… The rising sun sent a glow about everything, and I swore this was going to be one of my special havens in Hyrule.

"Where should we head first?" Jade asked, her eyes wide as she gazed at our surroundings.

"Impa's house, first." Link replied from behind her.

I watched from the corner of my eye as he placed a hand on her shoulder to point with the other. She cringed ever so slightly, and I nearly glowed with the thought that there was something still boiling inside her. But, my face fell when I saw her smile at him and nod.

Off to the Sheikah's house, I assumed.

XXXXXX

Introductions were simple. The guy there didn't care a thing for us if we were there or not, and we simply sat there, bored out of our minds. I would have hoped we could explore the village, but not even Jade was up for it. I gave up and plopped down on one of the chairs at the table.

Kado lifted his head from the book he had tipped off the shelf and smiled. I returned it before he could think something was wrong.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, of course. You?"

He returned to his book, "Yeah, of course."

Link and Jade rambled on upstairs. I could see their legs dangling from the edge.

"Could I ask you something?" Kado said from beside me.

I quirked an eyebrow before replying, "Shoot."

"Would you like to go out with me?"

My eyes widened at that.

All right, contrary to what I said earlier, I didn't exactly mean I wanted to jump into a relationship, and still having something for Link didn't make it any easier.

I stuttered to begin, "I-it's…I just don't think it's the right time for that kind of thing."

Yeah, that sounded like a good reason.

"Really?" he asked, his voice didn't seem to betray that he hadn't bought it, "What about Link and Jade? They don't seem to care."

My eyes narrowed and I glared up at Jade and Link. They probably hadn't heard us.

Jade's POV

"This is getting ridiculous, Link." I told him, glancing down at Kado and Cat. She was turning to peek up at us now and then.

He sighed, "Just wait it out a bit longer, all right?"

I growled in annoyance, but careful to conceal my expression, "Fine, but if one more thing happens, I swear…"

"Wait a little," he cut me off, sending me an annoyed expression, "It's only been a day and they're churning up inside."

I couldn't help but smile at that, "Yeah, I guess so. I just don't want to hurt Cat anymore."

He nodded in understanding.

It took a while to finally notice that Cat was walking up the stairs to meet us. Her eyes seemed placid and I narrowed my eyes at her worriedly.

"Everything all right, Cat?" I asked.

She turned to me and began coldly, "Could I talk to you, Jade?"

Glimpsing at Link, I stood up. "Yeah, sure."

Cat's POV

"What is up with you and Link? I know you couldn't have made amends THAT easily. Just yesterday you were at each other' throats! You're planning something, aren't you? Either way, it pisses me off! Y'know what, I'm going to go against everything I believe in, but I'm going to go with Kado now. Serves you right for messing with the natural order."

An eerie silence loomed around the small house until Jade finally spoke up, "…Cat it was just a sche-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! I'M SICK OF YOU TWO!"

I stomped out of the small house and slammed the door behind me.

Jade asked, "Think I should go after her?"

Link sighed, "No, I will. I got us into this mess, and I'll get us out of it."

Link ran out of the house, hoping to find me at any cost.

Outside, behind the skultula house

I tried to calm myself down, but the tears and anger would not cease no matter how hard I tried. No matter how hard I tried to accept it, Link and Jade being together just didn't click in my mind.

I thought, 'Why did I have to blow up like that anyway?'

Before I could continue my thoughts, I heard footsteps approaching. The footsteps turned out to be a person, and not just any person. It was Link. Jade probably told him to come looking for me.

He tried to say, ""Cat I-"

"No, it's okay. I apologize for how I acted earlier. You should be able to be with whoever you want to be. I shouldn't have assumed it was some scheme. Either way, I accept it. And I hope you two are happy together."

Link appeared to be shocked. His face then became blank.

He suggested, "Let's get back inside, shall we? It's not good to be out after dark."

I sighed, "Alright."

Back inside Impa's House

We walked back inside, and Jade was there to greet us. Kado just sat in the corner, reading his book again.

Jade asked, "Are you okay now, Cat?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about the trouble I caused."

Jade, "It's alright. I just hope you'll be okay."

I nodded.

An hour later

The guy/woman who runs the place made dinner for us. We ate it in silence, and then went to our own parts of the house to do whatever before bed. Jade and I when to one part, and Link and Kado went to the other. I sat on the bed, while Jade sat on a chair.

I was bored, so I started to sing,

"It don't do me any good
It's just a waste of time
What use is it to you
What's on my mind
If it ain't coming out
We're not going anywhere
So why can't I just tell you that I care

(Cause) I'm feeling nervous
Trying to be so perfect
Cause I know you're worth it
You're worth it
Yeah

If I could say what I want to say
I'd say I wanna blow you... away
Be with you every night
Am I squeezing you too tight
If I could say what I want to see
I want to see you go down
On one knee
Marry me today
Guess, I'm wishing my life away
With these things I'll never say"

Jade groaned and complained, "CAT ANYTHING BUT AVRIL LAVIGNE! FOR THE GODDESSES' SAKE!"

"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean I can't."

Before we could continue our argument, Link showed up at the edge of the stairs.

He asked, "Was that you singing, Cat?"

I nodded slowly. I thought, 'Oh god, please don't tell me he heard what I was singing.'

He commented, "You have a great voice. Be proud of it."

I mumbled, "Uh…thanks."

He then turned and walked away. Jade just huffed and got into the other bed.

'Something tells me this is going to be a loooong journey.'

We all got into beds and went to sleep for tomorrow's trek up Death Mountain. What would happen after that? Well, we would find out in due time.

GDL: Wow, that was fun. Anyway, R&R. And thank xbluxmoonx for writing Link's and Jade's P.O.V.'s throughout this chapter.