He found her on the swing with eye liner running down her pale cheeks. "Zelda?"

She had tied her hair back into a sloppy ponytail and was wiping at her eyes. "I should have punched her."

Link sat down on the swing next to her and sighed. "Then you'd get suspended."

"I don't care." Zelda growled, shivering. "I saw her come straight at me and shove me into that table." Her dress was soaked with fruit punch and it would leave a large stain but that isn't what had made his friend cry... or run from the dance. It was the humiliation of being confident in herself one moment then being pushed, face first, into a bowl of sticky liquid which caused half of their class to laugh.

It wasn't funny and Link didn't laugh... the first thing he had done is tear Marin away from his friend, effectivly ripping the zipper on her dress and almost causing another kind of scene, then he scooped Zelda up. Zelda had then brushed past him and ran out the door... away from the laughs, Marin's smug face, and a kiss that almost happened between them.

Aerosmith, a favorite band of theirs, had been playing "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" over the speakers. Marin must have saw them getting closer to each other, zoning the rest of the dancers out, and then pounced.

Link laid his jacket, the one he had tied around his waist before getting out of the car, around Zelda's shoulders. "We can go roll her house if you want."

"I'd rather put a snake in her bed."

"Before or after we stink bomb it?"

Zelda smiled, despite herself. "Before." She sighed and dropped her arms down by her side, rocking herself lightly. "You realize that if you had gone with Malon that-"

"I would have been bored and completely distracted by how pretty you are." Link smiled, taking her hand. His cobalt eyes found hers and his heart skipped a beat.

Zelda smirked. "That was pretty smooth."

"I try." Link brushed eyeliner off of Zelda's cheek with his thumb, blushing, then leaned forward and just as his lips brushed hers, a voice broke in.

"Well, well, even after I try to stop a disaster it still seems to almost happen." Marin stood in her fourteen year old, blooming beauty with her hands propped on her hips. "So, Link, is the punch really that good or are you really attracted to a pale, white fish?"

Link turned, blue eyes white hot with fury, and he growled. "Funny thing, I only smell fish and I'm pretty sure the wind is coming from your direction."

The vulgar remark caught Marin off guard and her face turned as red as her hair. "You DID NOT just say that!"

"But I did." Link stood, stepping in front of Zelda. "And I'll say it, again, until every single person hears that Marin Gull is a dirty whore."

Zelda saw tears well up in Marin's eyes and the satisfaction of it almost made her smile. Her enemy dashed off, whimpering, and left the two alone. Zelda tugged at Link's hand. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." He smiled, helping pull her up from the swing. Link threw an arm around her shoulders and led her down the street. "I told Mom that we would walk home."

"Funny," Zelda leaned her head on his shoulder, an easy feat for she stood just below his chin. "I told my mom the same thing."

"We hang out too much." Link laughed, squeezing her closer.

"Nah, hanging out with you is usually the best part of my day." Zelda grinned up at him and blushed. "Would you stop giving me goo-goo eyes!"

"Why?" He smirked, winking.

"It's freaking me out!"

"Why?"

"Link." Zelda gave him an annoyed look.

"Why?" He chuckled. "Really...why?"

Zelda blushed. "Because... its... you, I guess."

Link smirked. "I've decided that I like making you blush."

"Link..." Zelda whispered, bitting her lip.

"Yes?"

"Never change." She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and laid her head back down on his shoulder as they continued the thirty minute walk home.

One would think the two would have ended up dating after that night... one would think it and one would be wrong. They did remain close friends, however.

"Zelda." Sandra had her face resting in the crook of her arm. Her dirty blonde hair was mussy and her light violet eyes were glassed over from last night's binge. An empty bottle of alcohol dripped onto the wooden table in a kitchen that looked like it had been the center piece of a Home magazine. "Someone is beeping."

The soon to be seventeen year old, Sophmore High School and Junior College student, frowned at her mother. "Mom...that's your phone." Pale, slender fingers reached over and stabbed a button on the touch screen cellular device then signed Zelda Harkinian on the top line of her homework in neat, cursive letters. Zelda had begun her insane educational venture by signing up for College classes during summer and winter break. She amazed her professors by blazing through the courses and had earned several awards before her fifteenth birthday.

This was a time of great stress in the teenagers life for her parents' relationship had dissolved into a barrage of angry words, slamming doors, nights in hotels, and finally a divorce... or the near completion of one. David Joseph Harkinian had been found with another woman by Evelyn when she had come to visit. The other woman did not stay with David much longer after being caught though the news brought little joy to Sandra's life.

That was over a year ago, Zelda's father left with few words as a goodbye, and it was up to the teenager to clean up the shattered pieces of her mother. Sandra was doing better and was more sober than drunk though there were nights that Zelda had to drag her mother up the stairs to her bedroom. Those were the nights that the sixteen near seventeen year old cried herself to sleep or threw herself into her homework.

Last night, she did a bit of both.

Zelda had threw her golden hair up in its signature ponytail and attempted to put some make-up on though she only managed foundation and eyeliner before she had to leave for school. She snatched her coffee off the table, shoved everything into her messenger bag, and left her mother half asleep in the kitchen. She had skinny jeans on, knee length brown leather boots, a white tunic with a gold chain belt that had charms dangling from it, a red scarf about her neck, and a black coat. Long gold hoops dangled from her pointed ears and it was those ears that caught the sound of a slightly raspy, baritone voice.

"Zelda."

She turned to her name and smiled. "Link...hey."

Link stood confident in a long sleeve, black, button up shirt that had Celtic crosses stitched in, black as well, and wore dark blue jeans that hid his combat boots. A Triforce neckalace hung around his neck, a birthday present from Zelda, and blue studs were in his ears while his hands stayed warm in fingerless, black, gloves. He had his Symphony X hoodie tied around his waist and his sleeves rolled up to the elbow. "You want a ride?" His mother had finally given him the Impala after he got his liscense and a job which Link had little complaints about. He worked as a cashier in Buckle and usually bought his clothes during the clearance sales because he had access to the coolest selections first.

"Sure." Zelda yawned.

The Impala had been pulled up to the side of the street and the passenger door opened which meant Zelda would have had no choice but to accept Link's offer. Her friend sat in the driver's side then pulled out onto the road. "You need to get out of the house." He frowned, glancing at the cup in Zelda's hands. "And a real night of sleep."

"Can't." She yawned, again, laying her head against the cool glass of the window. "I got school, college, and Mom."

Link turned down the road leading to the Heart, which was the only road that connected every Realm to the other, and shook his head. "Did you even know that we didn't have school today?"

Zelda blinked. "...What?"

"No school." The blonde sighed. "So, when I saw you run out of your house toward the bus stop, I thought that we could hang out this weekend."

His friend frowned and shook her head, sleepily. "I can't... my Mo-"

"My Mom said that she is going to take this weekend off to spend with Sandra. Me and you are going off to be seventeen not home bodies." He smirked. "Got that, Beautiful?"

Zelda blushed, rolled her eyes, and kissed her friend on the cheek. "Thank you."

"Get some sleep." Link smiled, kissing her back on her forehead and turning the heat on because he knew how cold blooded his friend was.

A gentle shake woke Zelda from sleep. "Afternoon, Gov'na." Link smiled with his devilishly charming smile from a rugged face that gave him a Rocker's appeal. "We're like two hours from where I'm taking you and I thought you might want to do a little bit of site seeing."

Zelda stretched out, noting that her jacket was off but not remembering taking it off, and realized that she had not felt rested like she was in a long time. "We are we?"

"Ikana Canyon." Her door opened and a gloved hand pulled her out of her seat. The weather was cool, comfortable, and slightly windy but Zelda loved it. Link beamed at her. "We came here as kids...do you remember?"

"Sixth Grade field trip." Zelda laughed and took her hair down to resituate it.

Link's hand touched her wrist, lightly, and his cobalt eyes peered into hers when she went to tie the spun gold locks back up. "Leave it down..."

Zelda blushed, nodded, and threw her scarf into the car before shutting the door. She took Link's arm and tried to calm the rapid beating of her heart. "So, what does Malon think of this trip?"

"She doesn't know." He replied, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his jeans. "We...broke up."

A gasp came from pink lips. "Why? When? How?"

Link chuckled and said, matter-of-factly. "Why? You. When? Two weeks ago. How? I broke up with her."

Zelda stopped and stared at her friend. "...Me?" Her fingers found the locket that her Grandmother had given her and fidgeted with it. "I'm...uh, confused."

Link brushed a lock behind Zelda's ear and smiled, softly, with a light shining behind his eyes. "Yes, you... I'm worried about you, Zelda. You're never around... you never smile anymore." He took a small step away and smirked. "Malon hated that you would always be brought up when we were together... It also doesn't help that she is really starting to connect with Lon Lon Ranch. I want to explore the world a little, get LOZ started up, and maybe break a few hearts on the way." He laughed at the last part then shook his head, an amused smile on his face. "Malon wants kids, I really don't think I do, Malon is amazing with animals, cuccos try to kill me, and then there's the fact that I'm always distracted by how pretty you are."

She blushed, staring at him with sparks surging through her body. "I really hate when I blush." She swept past him and tugged his hands. "Now, come on, before you do something stupid.

"Like what?" He laughed.

"Let's just say, Link, that if you try to kiss me then I'm going to punch you so hard that your future children will have nightmares about it."

Link pulled her back to his chest as their eyes found the red-orange Ikana Canyon. "It might just be worth it."