o.o.o
Six
o.o.o
Link was taking too long to respond. Zelda began to sweat; she had no idea what she had just done. However, she held her ground and kept his hands tightly locked with hers. She wasn't going to let him get away this time. She needed an answer no matter what.
"Uh, be with you? But... we're always together, silly. And I know that you love me. I love you too. You're my best friend. Best friends love each other, don't they?" Link couldn't stop talking, "What's the difference now? Why are you looking at me like that? Um, I think I left something in the oven... wait..."
"Link!" Zelda squeezed his hands tighter. She was tired of excuses. Link gulped and tensed up a little more. He wasn't ready for this. Sure, he had taken a few risks earlier and yes they did kiss for the first time but inside Link was ready to jump out of his skin. He tried to come up with some excuse, but her stern look made him even more nervous. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? How long has she felt this way? Why couldn't he say anything back when he obviously felt the same?
"I... can't do this." Link said, parting from her.
"But... why?" Zelda watched in distress as Link went over to his Loftwing. "Link, answer me! I'm tired of you always avoiding this!"
"Can't you see? That's why."
"What is? I don't get it!"
"Whenever you bring something like this up... we fight."
"That's because you won't ever try!" Zelda ran up and hugged him from behind. "Link... I can't hold it in forever... I need you..."
Here she was, pouring her heart out to the one man that she had always loved and he wasn't doing anything about it.
Here he was, listening to the one woman he loved pour her heart out to him and he couldn't even reciprocate her feelings. The one thing Link wanted in the world was right here and he couldn't even take it.
Because he didn't want to get hurt, nor did he want to hurt her.
Relationships had bigger chances of ending than friendships did, in his mind. As much as Link loved her and couldn't imagine his life without her, he was too afraid to actually be with her because of that simple fact. If they started dating, she would change. He would change. There would be more expectations, more fighting. He didn't want that with his best friend, but yet he did. Link just didn't feel like he could live up to the expectations of a girlfriend, or even a wife. If they became a couple, it wouldn't just be about them. He would have to impress her father—who already seemed to favor someone else. Link just didn't know how to deal with this.
"I guess... you don't want the same as I do then..." Zelda's arms retracted back to her sides and she tried really hard not to cry. Even though he was silent, she felt like she got her answer.
And it broke her heart.
'Tell her you need time... tell her something so that... she doesn't do this...' Link struggled with himself, but... nothing.
"Fine... I'll just get married and live happily ever fucking after." Zelda jumped onto her Loftwing. "You... you will never realize how much I love you..."
"Zelda... wait..."
"What, Link?! What is it? Are you going to try to say something but then stop? I'm sick of it! You always leave me hanging with these things! You have no idea what this does to me!" Her tears rolled uncontrollably down her cheeks, "I love you more than anyone in the world and this is how I'm treated... I can't... take it..." she covered her face and cried.
"You're crying already..."
"BECAUSE OF YOU, IDIOT!"
"Zelda..."
"Because YOU are too afraid to give your heart away..."
o.o.o
Zelda ended up going back home. Link and his Loftwing stayed down below with Gorko, who watched everything transpire. Gaepora was sitting in the kitchen when she arrived. Zelda was in too much grief to notice, however; she felt like her heart had just been stomped on. However, that didn't stop her father from lecturing and yelling. Zelda just sat and took it; she wasn't even listening for the majority of the time.
"You will be home-schooled from now on! You are not to leave this house without Groose or someone else that I approve of."
Zelda just nodded; she didn't quite hear him.
"And I will arrange the wedding for this weekend."
Nod.
"You will start training with some of the housewives here."
Nod.
"Are you listening?"
"Nothing matters anymore. Just do whatever you want..." Zelda dragged herself to her room and shut the door. Gaepora knew he was doing the wrong thing. He knew that she hated this.
But he didn't know how to stop what he already started.
o.o.o
Link made it to class on time the next day, surprising everyone. Zelda was nowhere in sight. Karane came up to him and popped him in the head.
"You idiot!"
"Ow!"
"They were cleaning Zelda's room out this morning! What do you know about this?"
"I don't know anything!" he lied. He had somewhat of an idea.
"I'll tell you!" Groose marched over to them. "Zelda's getting married to ME this weekend! She doesn't need school anymore! She's going to be my cute little housewife!" he boasted.
"Why, you!" Link pushed Groose so hard he nearly flipped over the desk behind him. "Don't you DARE say that about her!"
"Marriage?!" Karane shrieked. "There's no way she would marry you!"
"Oh-Oh yeah?! She told me herself this morning!" Groose yelled back. "She said she gave up and that she just wanted to get it over with!"
"Oh, sounds like she's so excited." Karane said sarcastically and crossed her arms, glared at Link, as if this was all his fault. In a way, it was and Link knew it.
Owlan came in holding a book to his face when he noticed all the commotion. Everyone immediately returned to their seats, but the tension in the air was still very apparent. Groose made cracks at Link throughout the entire class. He really just wanted to deck him, but he knew he would be kicked out of school without a second thought if he did that. Groose was Owlan's nephew, so naturally he was favored over him. Link tried to ignore him and just wrote down whatever notes he could remember. Even Karane was a bit surprised that he was taking notes; usually Link would be asleep. He wasn't sure what had come over him.
When class was over, Karane forced Link to come upstairs and see Zelda's empty room. "What are you going to do about it?" Link stepped into her former dorm room. The floor creaked beneath him; an all too chilling sound. Zelda's pink and purple decorations were gone. Her bookshelf was empty. Her clothes weren't in her cupboard. Her harp that she often liked to play was laying on the desk; they probably didn't know what to do with it. Link picked up the harp and held it. 'I made a mistake...'
"So... where is she?" Link asked Karane, as if she knew.
"Who knows?!"
Link sighed and went back to his room. He set Zelda's harp on his own desk and stared at it. Maybe he really was over-thinking this. After all, Zelda has been his best friend since they could walk. Would a relationship really ruin them?
Only if he let it.
Link felt terrible. He pushed away the one person that he wanted most.
No—the one person that he needed most.
'I can't let her get married... I can't let her give up on me...'
Nobody could help Link but himself and he knew that. It was time to face his fears. It was time to finally let go and let her in. All he was doing was hurting himself and avoiding the inevitable. He and Zelda were meant to be. Even if a relationship didn't work out, Link felt like he would always have his best friend. He felt stupid for even denying her. A sudden wave of determination came over him. He grabbed the harp and ran out.
Gaepora was coming down the hall when he saw Link carrying Zelda's harp. Link stopped and bowed to him.
"Where are you off to? My class starts in fifteen minutes, if you have forgotten."
Link knew that he was demeaning him, but he tried to keep his composure. This was Zelda's father; whether he liked it or not, he had no be on his good side."I... um..." Link couldn't really come up with a cover, so he decided to just tell the truth.
The absolute truth.
"Sir, I am in love with your daughter."
Saying it was scary, but after he did it, he somehow felt better. Link had never actually said that out loud until now. It felt... good.
Gaepora sighed. "Link, step into my office."
o.o.o
Zelda had been laying in bed all day. She didn't even bother to look and see if anyone was guarding her window; she just didn't care. She would rather stay here than face Link. She would rather stay here than get married to someone that she obviously hated. Time was winding down for her to be at work, but she didn't think that she was going to make it. She just didn't have the desire to do anything right now. Link had rejected her.
Zelda had tons of pictures of herself and Link, but she had turned them all over so that she couldn't see them. It hurt too much to look at them.
She wished he was here.
Zelda had never felt so helpless in her life. Was this what love felt like? She knew that it wasn't a fairytale, but she at least thought that it would feel much better than this. Sure, she has missed Link before, but now she missed him more than ever. His smiling face appeared in her mind and she tried to shake it out, but she couldn't. She had not stopped thinking about him since she got home. She barely slept the night before. Zelda was a mess. She never anticipated how much this would effect her.
There was a knock at her door. Kina's voice sounded from the other side.
"Zelda, are you in there? I thought we could go to work together!"
Zelda couldn't bring herself to say anything. Kina knocked again. Finally, Zelda pushed herself to get up and open the door. Kina was a little surprised that she wasn't ready for work.
"Zelda... what's going on? Did you forget what day it was?" she gave her a sympathetic look.
"I... can't go..." Zelda mustered.
"Why not? My dad and I were really looking forward to-"
"I can't go!" Zelda yelled, startling the girl. Kina didn't respond and just ran off. Zelda slammed the door and immediately felt stupid. She wanted to go after her and apologize, but it was too late. She probably lost the job now. Zelda had never been so stressed before and she had no idea how to handle it. Her life was spiraling out of control—and it all happened in a matter of days.
"What should I do...?" Zelda slid down onto the floor and cried.
o.o.o
Gaepora had been feeling bad about forcing Zelda into this marriage, but it wasn't entirely his decision. If it was up to him, he would never have arranged it in the first place. He knew that Zelda didn't want to marry Groose. However, he had committed terrible sins that could ruin him, his family as well as the Academy—and the one person that knew about it was blackmailing him for it. His reputation as Headmaster was on the line.
"Link, I don't think that you're a bad kid."
"Really?"
"I know how Zelda feels about you, but there are things going on that I can't quite control."
Link gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"
"To be honest," Gaepora kept avoiding the point, "I would much rather my daughter marry you than that idiot. You're the one that makes her happy."
Link was shocked. "So... why? Why does she have to marry Groose?" Link shuddered at the thought of it.
"Because her father is a liar and a cheater and he doesn't know how to fix it."
Link couldn't quite understand, but he tried to piece it together, "so... if it was something that you did, I still don't get why Zelda has to suffer in your place."Maybe that was a bit out of line, but it was the only thing that he was getting from all of this.
"Zelda is much better off just going along with what I say rather than what would really happen."
"So... why did you call me in here?" Link was a bit agitated.
"Because I want you to take her back. I want you to stop the wedding."
This wasn't making any sense.
"I know that you love her too. I've made so many mistakes in my life that I can't take back. Putting this marriage together was the hardest thing for me because I knew that it would tear my daughter apart. But you, Link, you can make everything better for her. I know you can."
"It sounds like you're just trying to avoid them."
Link knew all about avoiding problems.
"I'm just trying to make sure that my daughter will be happy when I'm gone." Gaepora held his head low, "I have failed her. Take my place, Link. Love her, take care of her and make her happy for the rest of her life. Only you can do this."
"What... exactly... did you do?" Link asked carefully.
He wouldn't say.
There was a knock on his door. Professor Owlan poked his head in. "Are you going to start class or not?"
Gaepora glared at him, "I'll be right there."
o.o.o
Gaepora decided to excuse Link from class that day so that he could go and visit Zelda. Link reluctantly agreed; but he was on his way over to her house anyway. Link held her harp in his hands. He didn't quite know how to play it, but he figured that maybe he would get her attention if he did. She didn't get mad at him often, but when she did he knew that she wouldn't listen unless he said or did something drastic.
However, Gaepora's words lingered on his mind. What in the world could be so terrible that he had to set his daughter up with Groose? And what was up with that tension between him and Owlan?
Regardless, in Link's mind, this all seemed selfish.
Why couldn't he just face whatever it was like a man?
Maybe this was hypocritical of Link, but he was finally understanding that if he didn't act fast, he was possibly going to lose Zelda forever—the one thing that he was so afraid of in the first place.
He had to get her back—and keep her. Not for Gaepora's sake, but for his own.
Zelda was the love of his life.
o.o.o
o.o.o
A/N: So there's more to it than meets the eye? I wonder what it is? Hehe! Please leave a review below! Only about three chapters to go!
By the way, I often put chapter progress in my profile, so make sure to check that for updates!