Oh my god, when did this get reviews?! Guest(s), you make me blush. Thank you so much for the lovely, encouraging comments. I'm so sorry I've kept you waiting, I hope you'll welcome me back with open arms!

.

Link wouldn't call himself a proud person. Ironically, he usually thought higher of himself because he rarely let his pride get in the way of things, which was how he got into music. While the other boys at school teased him for sticking with the piano as they spent their playtime outside, Link rode the waves of bullying until they gave up, too wrapped up in the sense of happiness and freedom that touching his hands to ivory keys gave him to feel embarrassed.

So he felt a little thrown as he opened his bedroom door, only just registering that he'd abandoned the drama club right in the middle of practice, because of pride.

He looked at his clock (an analogue clock shaped like a vinyl record, that Zelda had gotten him for his sixteenth birthday, he noted with a slight sting). It said the time was twenty-past-eight, and the club finished in just twenty-five minutes, so he thought against going back. He'd run into Keet at some point before Wednesday and apologise.

'It wasn't your fault,' said a niggling voice inside Link's head. 'You were being harassed.'

Link couldn't be sure that Ghirahim being decent enough to tell him what happened last night counted as harassment, but the whole encounter had stressed him out. The voice argued against that point, and Link realised that this was his pride - small and annoying and neglected, only just revealing itself after eighteen years of passivity.

Pride, that he recalled had made Groose bully him in early years of school and the reason Ghirahim was so arrogant. He didn't like pride.

And, he realised in that moment, pride had made him forget his sheet music.

Link cursed softly and arched off his bed, pushing his hands into his face. He breathed in deeply from exasperation, and decided he'd head back at nine o'clock, when everyone was gone.

.

The music sheet, headed with the title 'Nayru's Wisdom', was waiting patiently for Link as he entered the studio. He'd read it over earlier and liked the look of it, and smiled to himself at the thought of finally playing it. Since there was nobody to bother, now was a perfectly acceptable time to try it out, so rather than picking up the music, he sat down at the piano's stool and began to play.

The melody was simple, short and repetitive, but also calming, eerie and beautiful. Link decided a pedal harp accompaniment would go perfectly with this if it weren't for the lack of a budget in the production. His left hand moved in short bursts, his right hand playing in a steady rhythm, and he hadn't felt calmer in weeks as he thought about the music while he played.

"Back so soon?"

Link's hands automatically clamped down on the piano, exerting a loud crash of clashing notes that mimicked his surprise quite accurately. He glared over at the intruder of his peace, which was of course Ghirahim.

The man was leaning next to the studio's main door - what was with him and leaning? - looking smug that he'd caught Link in this state. Link wanted to snap back at him, but Pride was awake again and was holding his tongue.

Ghirahim didn't move, either. "How did you get in here? The door was locked."

Link wasn't sure how much he was obligated to say. "Keys." He answered eventually, and Ghirahim shrugged.

"Not like you're going to be able to steal anything valuable when making such a racket, anyhow."

Link's nostrils flared. "What do you want?"

Ghirahim paused, looked up at him properly, and then moved off the wall.

"I was just leaving and heard the piano being played. I'd wondered who had broken in."

"I didn't break in," Link said, grabbing his sheet music and starting to leave.

"Is this how we demonstrate maturity in university?" Ghirahim said quickly, as Link walked past him, which made him stop. He turned back to eye Ghirahim.

"What do you mean?"

"You're just so... cold!" Ghirahim said. He shivered to add to the mockingly upset tone. "You're freezing!"

Link's brows lowered into a frown. "What did you expect?"

"Well, it's not like I've done anything incriminating." Ghirahim scoffed. "You came onto me, you know."

"And you don't need to remind me of it," Link growled. Ghirahim didn't add anything, just returned his withering look, so Link left and hoped that Ghirahim would lock up after him.

.

"This is good, Link," Horwell said, taking off his headphones and pausing the music. Link smiled tentatively at his course leader's praise, relieved that his composition was good. He'd felt so clogged up recently that new music was so hard to come by. He still loved playing, obviously, but creating was exhausting and strenuous and he felt like he hadn't been doing so well-

"You could do so much better, though."

Link blinked, and rounded on his course leader. "What?"

Horwell looked apologetic. "We're in the second semester now. Your work is good, Link, it's always good - but do you remember the stuff in your portfolio? The emotion and detail in those pieces were so appealing... This just feels like a complicated piece to compensate for how flat the feelings in it are."

Link's heart sank, his cheeks glowing pink. He lowered his head.

"I can't just pull inspiration from nowhere," he said, trying to hide the irritation and slight hurt that he felt in his throat.

"I know, I know," Horwell said, raising his hands apologetically. "Just letting you know." He got up and walked away, already moving on to assess other works.

Link sighed and rested his chin on his hand, staring at the notation programme still open on his computer. He couldn't see what was wrong with his composition, but maybe that was just because he wasn't at the top of his game right now. His eyes strayed to look over the other students, until they found someone who had been staring back at him.

Link tried to skip his gaze over her to avoid the awkward eye contact, but he'd already registered that her large blue eyes were fixed on him, still unmoving as he made his way around the rest of the room, so he eventually looked over at her.

She wasn't unfamiliar, Link had noticed her in his classes before - hard not to, with bright blue hair - but he'd never spoken to her before. She seemed to keep to herself, just like Link had done for most of the time... So why was she staring at him now?