A/N: Thank you all for the support!
o.o.o
Three
o.o.o
Link felt kind of bad for yelling at Karane and Pipit, but even if their intentions were good, they didn't quite understand what was at risk. They both were afraid of being rejected and losing each other. That was a given. However, to Link it was way more than that. He needed her in his life. Zelda was the only person he could trust. She was the only person that he could rely on. She was the only girl that could make his heart flutter. She could right his wrongs and put him in his place. He loved that she could be assertive and confident, but also cute and shy. Her personality was a perfect balance for someone like him—and maybe he only thought so because it was all he had ever known, but he didn't want to know of anything else. Zelda was the one that he wanted. She made up for what he lacked.
That was why it irked him so much when people teased him or tried to interfere with their "relationship." They just didn't get it. Link was stubborn. He liked to go at his own pace, even if it was at the expense of others. Link didn't have the courage yet.
If Link were to confess to Zelda, he wanted to make sure that he was ready—for everything. How he would know whether he was ready or not was a different story. Link has never dated before. He has never been attracted to anyone but Zelda. Sure, there have been girls that would come to him and tell him they liked him, but that didn't sway Link. They weren't like her. Although Zelda's father, Gaepora was fond of him, he still expected the best of the best for his little girl. To Zelda's father, Link was seen as just a good friend. Part of that could have been because Gaepora was also the Headmaster of the Knight Academy... and Link was somewhat of a slacker when it came to schoolwork.
It wasn't that Link wasn't smart, per se, it was more a matter of laziness. Procrastination was a huge problem for him. Zelda would often get after him about it. Link only enjoyed the physical subjects that he could actually apply to his future life as a Knight, not Math, History or English. He knew all of the basics; what was the point of the rest of it? Link certainly couldn't see it. However, that made Groose more appealing to Gaepora and that itself was kind of sad. Groose may have been cocky and lacking common sense at times, but strangely he was at the top of the class—along with Zelda. Physically, he was stronger than Link. He had bigger muscles; something Zelda swore up and down that she didn't care about, but occasionally Link would catch her staring. Sometimes he wondered if she actually did like Groose at one point in time. She always denied it, but Link was insecure. Many guys have tried to date Zelda over the years, but she always turned them down. He was thankful for that, but at the same time he couldn't help but wonder if he was going to lose her to someone else one day.
He obviously didn't want that to happen.
Morning came and Link was already awake. He was tired of laying around and just wanted some fresh air. Link got dressed and went out. Ghirahim, Groose and Cawlin were huddled together, whispering something. They immediately noticed Link and decided to mess with him.
"How dare you get in my way!" Groose yelled, "We all know that Zelda will be mine someday!"
"How do you figure?" Link asked, "Because if you recall, she nearly threw up when you got near her. That doesn't sound like you're destined to be together to me."
"S-She was just... nervous!" Groose retorted, but he had finally accepted defeat. Link tried to walk away from them, but they just wouldn't shut up. Ghirahim danced around him (literally) and started mocking him. Just then, Zelda came outside and saw what they were doing. However, Ghirahim didn't notice her.
"What is this? Is little Linkie too afraid to ask out his best friend?"
"Shove it." Link tried to move past him.
"We all know it, Link. Everyone knows that you two are so much in love."
"YEAH!" Groose added, "You two are always rubbing it in our faces!"
Zelda listened to everything; she was hoping that maybe Link would redeem himself somehow by flipping them off or whatever, but he just stood there and took it. Normally he would be shooting comebacks but something was strange about him today. Was it because of her? She didn't mean to call Link a jerk; she knew that the way that she handled it was wrong. It was like all of her frustration came out with that one little incident. Of course Link tried to stop it, but Zelda was just being too sensitive lately. Hiding this from him was driving her crazy.
Zelda wasn't good at admitting her mistakes, so instead she would retort with mean remarks.
"Why would Zelda want a scrawny fellow like you?" Ghirahim continued to swirl around him, "She needs a real man. What would you be able to offer her? You can hardly pass your classes."
"Yeah, by academic standards, you're dumb!" Groose said.
"And by anyone's standards, you're dumb."
"Argh! I'll have you know... I've got plans!"
Zelda had enough. She marched over to them and pushed Ghirahim away from Link. The man fell onto the ground and started whimpering. "You threw off my groove!"
"Shut up you little-"
"Zelda, let's just leave." Link grabbed her hand. She shivered at his touch. They walked for at least five minutes—in no particular direction, but Link kept her hand in his the entire time. Zelda wasn't about to complain. They stopped in front of the bazaar. Link retracted his hand and felt a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat and kicked the dirt beneath him; trying to avoid eye contact.
"Link, what are we doing out here?"
"I don't know."
"Okay? So... what do you want to do then?"
"I don't know."
Lie.
He wanted to hug her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to sweep her off her feet and take her away from this place. They could run away together and nobody would ever find them. That's what he wanted to do. He wanted Zelda by his side—forever.
"Umm..." Zelda was unsure of what to say. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Look, I've... got homework... to do..."
"What? Are you sick?" Zelda placed her hand on his forehead, "You don't have a fever..."
Her closeness made him even more nervous. Now he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Link was entranced; he was no longer in control. His arms found their way around her and without realizing it, he was holding her. Zelda squirmed beneath him, but Link only tightened his grip, making her loosen up instead of fighting it. Zelda hugged him back. They didn't care how awkward this looked to the bystanders. Link was lost in his own world. He had no idea what he was doing, but he liked it.
"What... are you..." Zelda trailed off. Even though this was amazing, she couldn't help but feel like she was being led on. He didn't like her more than a friend. It was impossible. Zelda broke away from him.
"I'm sorry." Link was avoiding eye contact again. He felt really stupid now.
"For... what?" Zelda tried to hold back her tears, but it was a lost cause. Would Link ever understand? "I'm just going to go back to the dorms... I'll see you later..."
"No... please don't... go." Link begged, making her weak in the knees. Once again, he was losing control of himself. Zelda stayed in place and waited for him to say—or do something, but nothing was happening... as usual.
"Bye." she walked off. Link didn't try to stop her again.
'Subconscious, I hate you.' Link thought to himself.
o.o.o
Zelda went to the Lumpy Pumpkin pub the next day with Karane. She was still a bit disappointed with Link. Karane gave her sympathetic looks. She had an idea of what Zelda was thinking about, but she decided to keep her comments to herself this time.
"Hey, how have you two been? I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks." the waitress, Kina said to them.
"We're doing great!" Karane answered for her, even though she knew that Zelda wasn't very happy at the moment.
"I heard that you and Pipit finally started dating!" Kina patted Karane's back and she blushed. "I'm so happy for you two. What about you, Zelda? Find that special person yet?"
But Zelda didn't hear her.
"Zelda?"
"Oh! Um, nope! I'm still single as ever." Zelda tried to crack a smile. To tell the truth, it was kind of annoying when people would ask her about her relationship status. If everyone knew how she felt about Link instead of Link himself, why did they continue to ask?
"Oh, I see. Well, don't worry. You'll find him." Kina giggled, "What can I get you today?"
They ordered some pumpkin soup and Kina hurried off. Zelda fiddled with her spoon.
"Alright, what's the matter?" Karane asked.
"It's nothing... I just... have a lot on my mind."
"You do realize that you contradict yourself with that statement?" Karane joked. "You know, Link is not a mind reader. Guys are dense. They won't know how we feel unless we say it to their face."
"Yeah, I guess... but it's not that easy."
"I know."
Kina returned with their pumpkin soup. It smelled so good, Zelda thought and she couldn't wait for it to cool down so that she could dig in. "By the way, Zelda, would you be interested in a job?" she asked.
"A job?" Zelda looked up at her inquisitively.
"Yeah... it gets pretty crammed here on the weekends. I was wondering if you would like to work here part-time? My dad is looking for someone and I know if it's you he would definitely go for it."
"That sounds great!" Zelda exclaimed. A job was just the thing that she needed to distract herself from all of this. She had never worked before, but she figured that it would be fun. Plus, it would be nice to have a little bit of money of her own. Zelda was all for being independent and supporting herself, even though Gaepora spoiled her all of the time. She was nearly and adult and it was time to stand up on her own feet.
"Awesome! Why don't you come in for training on Wednesday and Thursday? You've been here enough times to learn the menu, but there are still other things you need to know. Would that be okay?"
"Yeah, as long as it's after my classes are over."
"Of course. How about... five o'clock to ten?"
"I'll be there!"
o.o.o
Zelda was so excited about her first job that she forgot all about Link for the time being. She rushed home just to tell her father about it. He was in his office looking over some papers when she came in.
"Hello, my dear."
"Daddy! Guess what?!" Zelda jumped up and down in excitement.
"My, my, aren't you happy? What's going on?"
"I'm going to start working at the Lumpy Pumpkin pub on Wednesday!"
Gaepora gave Zelda an anxious look, "That's... great, but you really don't need-"
"Dad, I'm really thankful for everything you do for me, but this is a wonderful chance to make some money on my own. I'm so excited!"
Although Gaepora didn't mind women in the workforce, he actually preferred Zelda to be a housewife. It wasn't that he didn't believe in his daughter, but he was a very traditional person when it came to family. Zelda knew this. She had been conditioned her entire life to fulfill her family role, but to Zelda that just wasn't right. She wanted to do more in life than just fix dinner and take care of children. Her personality just didn't fit the housewife mantra.
"Honey, you know that I would much rather-"
"I know, dad... but I want to find my own path." Zelda cut him off. "I really hope that you will let me do this."
Gaepora sighed. His little girl was growing up so fast and he wasn't quite ready to accept that.
"You are my only daughter. Is this really what you want to do?"
"Of course," Zelda smiled.
"If that's the case, you must do something for me."
"Huh? What's that?"
Gaepora snapped his fingers twice and the door opened. In walked Groose; wearing a suit and tie. "If you want a job, marry him."
"What?!" Zelda shrieked; this was the last thing that she expected from her humble father. "Hell no!"
"Watch your tone!" Gaepora snapped.
"Aww, that hurts my feelings!" Groose pretended to cry. Zelda tried to stop herself from kicking him in the shin.
"This is the only way that I can know that you will be safe. Groose is a very fine young man and I am comforted if I know that he will be around."
"But dad... I hate him!"
"This is the best thing for you. Groose came here this morning and asked for your hand in marriage. Of course, I agreed."
Zelda wanted to rip Groose to shreds, but that wasn't realistic. She did, however want to do some sort of harm to him. He grinned widely.
In Skyloft, if the father accepted a proposal, the said daughter was required to go along with it. Zelda just wanted to cry. This was insane. Zelda rushed out of there. There was no way in hell she was going to marry that idiot. Maybe her father meant well, but he didn't really know what Groose was capable of. He didn't know that Groose always bullied her and her best friend. He didn't know that Groose was more of a coward than Link was. She would be better off learning how to fight on her own. But the law went against her in every way.
Normally, Zelda didn't defy her father, but this was going too far. It wasn't going to happen. She was still going to go to work. She was still going to graduate and she would never settle for the label of 'housewife' or 'trophy wife,' or anything like that. Zelda may have been a hopeless romantic, but she also had a strong sense of independence. She needed to be able to experience life to the fullest; not be tied down. She never really felt like Skyloft was her true home anyway.
Link saw Zelda running towards the edge of the land. She jumped off, called her Loftwing and the Loftwing swooped in and caught her. Link realized that she was going down below the clouds. Zelda wasn't allowed to go to the surface by herself; it was way too dangerous. Gaepora appeared behind him and startled him.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Follow her."
"Uh, yes sir."
"I'll go!" Groose said. His Loftwing came and he started to go after Zelda. Link took this as a challenge and did the same. He couldn't let Groose get to her first. If Link had any rivals, Groose was it.
Gaepora sighed and watched as the two guys disappeared underneath the clouds. He knew that he was risking his relationship with his daughter by arranging this marriage, but at the same time he truly felt like he was doing the right thing.
Link caught up with Groose. "Stay back! I don't need you to rescue my fiance!"
"Fiance?" Link repeated. They could see the surface below.
"That's right! Her father said yes to my proposal! By law, she has to marry me!"
"What?!" Link's heart shattered. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Did Zelda accept this...?'
He was too late.
Link directed his Loftwing upward. It was over.
o.o.o
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A/N: That's the end of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and tell me what you think so far! I can only see this story having about nine to thirteen chapters—but that could change. Thank you so much to everyone that has followed, favorited and reviewed so far! Have an awesome day!