A/N: WOW, I'm SO sorry it's taken me forever to update!! There's just been an onslaught of papers, tests, and work (etc) these past few weeks that have been driving me CRAZY and leaving me very little time to write. I'm imagining this story being finished in 20 chapters or less, so that means there'll be a few more after this installation! Hope you're not disappointed with this one:

Early the next morning, all the kids were in the basement watching cartoons, but the only adults who were awake and in the house were Malon and Zelda. Link had left about an hour ago to do some jogging, and had planned on asking Zelda to join him, but she'd been asleep then and he hadn't wanted to disturb her. Instead, he had left a short note by the clock on her nightstand—whose alarm, if Link had waited fifteen minutes longer, would have awakened Zelda. Presently, though, Zelda was in the kitchen and had just shown the note to Malon.

"Awww!" the red-head gushed, reading through the cute little love note. "That is so sweet! He totally loves you!"

The top half of Zelda's body leaned over the table; her chin was resting on her folded arms, and a wide smile graced her otherwise tired-looking countenance. "Is this really happening to me?" she whispered. "This has been so fast, so sudden, so out of nowhere …I'm almost afraid to trust it."

"Okay, well, that feeling needs to stop right there," Malon said, handing her friend back the note (Zelda took it and folded it, placing it carefully in her pocket). "For the umpteenth time, passing up on this opportunity would be the most grave mistake you could possibly make. Take it from someone who knows the dude well: he's absolutely, one-hundred percent sincere, and I highly doubt that even a team of wild horses could drag him away from you and that marvelous daughter of yours."

"You're right," Zelda muttered. "I know you are, I… I just get so hung up every time I go through another round in the ring with my mother."

"What? Come on, Zel, that was last night."

"I know, but the after-effects still haven't worn off completely. She may not have necessarily won that argument, but she always leaves me doubting my decisions and whatever I've said …I know," she said, looking up and seeing that Malon was about to interrupt. "It doesn't really make any sense, but that face-off we had last night was one of the scariest things I've ever done in my life, maybe second only to the fight we had in my room only moments before that one. After two bouts with her, I just feel so… wrong."

"You feel wrong? What does that even mean? Zelda, don't let her get to you like this, it's just what she wants!"

"Goddesses, I know!" Zelda growled, hitting her forehead with her fist as if to physically force out Clarissa's scathing comments and seeds of doubt. "I hate that she does this to me, but I can't help it! Every time she talks down to me like that, it's… it's as if I'm four years old again, constantly on the verge of tears because she scared me—and then learning never, ever to cry, because it's …a sign of weakness, isn't that awful? Our relationship was like some Pavlovian experiment; whenever I cried, she would yell at me or spank me until I learned not to cry anymore."

Malon reached out and grabbed her friend's shuddering arm. "Zel, I'm so sorry, that's terrible. Er… you… don't get mad at Megan when she cries, do you?"

"Of course not," Zelda hotly replied. She thought about it for a moment. "I don't even remember the last time she cried…"

"Hm." Malon didn't want to bring it up, but she wondered if Megan had somehow gotten the impression from Zelda one way or another that a crying Cleverly was not to be tolerated. She looked up when Terra and Vivien walked into the kitchen, both wearing long bathrobes and the latter clutching a mug of coffee. "Where'd you get that?" Malon asked, peering into Vivien's cup as the black-haired woman sat down. "Wouldn't you have had to come to the kitchen to get coffee?"

"Yes," Vivien yawned. "Which is what I did last night. This is sort of cold." She downed a long drain of it. "Doesn't taste too bad, though. Anyway." Vivien turned her attention to Zelda, who was now looking apprehensively at the overly-giddy expression on Terra's face. "Ter and I have a proposition for you, Zelda. Now I know what you will most likely say at the outset, so I just want to tell you to relax and think about everything we want to tell you before you jump in, okay? This isn't a huge deal, but you always—"

"We want to throw you a bridal shower!" Terra blurted out.

"Excuse me? No," was Zelda's immediate answer.

"Nein!" Vivien said, reaching across the table and slapping the side of Zelda's head. "I told you not to say anything until you heard us out!"

"Oh my gosh! A bridal shower?! That'd be SO much fun!" Malon giggled.

"Oh sure, don't slap her," Zelda remarked, as Vivien and Terra both smiled at Malon. "She spoke up before you were done, too!"

"Yes, well, Malon's more sensible than you are," Terra explained. "Zelda, if you let me and Vivien throw you a bridal shower, you don't have to buy Christmas presents for either of us, or for our husbands! That's how much we want this, we want it for you! Oh Zelda, I've always wanted to throw you a shower! You wouldn't let us give you one when you got married to Marth—"

"We didn't like him," Vivien cut in by way of explanation.

"—and you didn't want there to be a big to-do with Megan, so we didn't get to have a baby shower, either. Zelda, you and Link you're like—you're Romeo and Juliet, you're Jack and Rose, you're Jamal and Latika! Just a small, intimate, bridal shower, no big deal!"

"Okay, before you say anything, let me add in my two cents," Malon said, speaking over Zelda. "I was originally planning on forcing a bachelorette party on you without your knowledge, and was also toying with the idea of sending a male stripper to your office. If you consent to this plan of Terra and Vivien's, I promise to call off my whole idea in deference to theirs."

Zelda, whose jaw had dropped at the words "male stripper," just stared wordlessly at her friend. Terra and Vivien high-fived Malon, who leaned back in her chair with a smug expression on her face. "All right," Zelda said slowly, once she had regained her composure. "IF I were to let you guys do this, how would—"

"I'm so glad you asked," Vivien said. "We thought that since all our female family is here anyway—as is Malon, your BFF—we'd just throw you a party right here! And if there's anyone back in California you want to invite, Terra and I will personally finance up to four friends' flights to Arkansas for a day."

"What?! You've got to be kidding me!"

"About flying out your friends? Of course we're not!" Terra laughed. "In case you forgot, Vivien is about the highest-paid doctor this side of the Mississippi, and I, well, I am simply married to an oil tycoon. Are you afraid they'd miss work? Whatever, most of your friends are lawyers, right? So they wouldn't have a conscience about lying and calling in sick for a day, would they?"

"If you were to invite anyone from California, who would it be?" Malon said, as Zelda once again seemed too shocked to be able to respond.

"Well…just two people come to mind, really," she mumbled. Wow, two people? Do I really not have any friends back home? "Schreiber, from the office, and Impa, my neighbor. …AH! IMPA!" She gasped loudly, eliciting both fear and amusement from the three other women in the room. "Oh my Goddesses, Link's mother! And Schreiber, she was his classmate in high school, but—Impa! His mom, that's how I met him in the first place, through his mother, she set him up with the job!"

"Whoa, no way," Vivien said. "That's incredible! Oh man, Zel, we've got to fly her out! Here and this Schreiber person, are they all you'd want to invite? Because as already mentioned, Terra and I are willing to take on two more."

"You guys, I don't even want you to do this, I'm humoring you enough as it is, aren't I?" Zelda groaned through her hands. "Or must we really go through it? I hardly even know anyone back home, I've just been so tied up with work—made more enemies than I have friends. Besides Schreiber and Impa, the only person I've ever even had half a normal conversation with is Megan's piano teacher—"

"Excellent, we'll invite her, then," Terra said, perking up and taking out a slip of paper. "What's her name?"

"No! Don't invite her, she hates me."

"What? Who could hate old charming little you?" Vivien asked, leaning over and pinching Zelda's cheek. "Come on, now, you brought her up so you have to tell us. You know you're exaggerating—this person doesn't hate you. She probably just holds you in very high respect, and would die of gratitude and awe if she were to receive word that you wanted to invite her to your bridal shower."

"She'll just say no."

"That's an option."

"I'm not going to drop this, Zelda," Terra said, poking a pencil in her sister's face. "Come on now, tell us. The more the merrier, after all!"

"FINE, her name is Saria Deku—and by the way, do you either of you know how crazy you two are for doing this?" Zelda asked, looking from one woman to the next.

"Yes," Terra and Vivien replied simultaneously. The latter continued: "And just in case you wanted to know, we've set the date for this Saturday, which is the day before you leave Arkansas. That gives your little friends three days to respond and tell us whether or not they feel like plane-hopping over here for this shin-dig. In the mean time, let us prepare for Thanksgiving!"

"Oh my gosh, that's today," Malon realized. "All the Christmas decorations around here were totally throwing me off!" She sniffed the air. "Oh! That's why it smells like turkey in here!"

"Yeah," Vivien groaned. "I put that thing in two hours ago. So …I am going back to bed now. Goodnight."

"Um, morning," Terra called after her as Vivien, moving at a snail's pace, walked out of the kitchen. "Well!" Terra said brightly. "Looks as if I have a couple of phone calls to make, eh? Malon, keep Zelda distracted down here so that I can go find her cell and make any appropriate calls."

"It's on the dresser in the room I'm staying in," Zelda groaned, putting her head down on the table. After she heard Terra exit, Zelda said through her hands, "Oy, remind me why I'm letting them do this!"

"Because you're a good person who lets her sisters have fun every now and then," Malon promptly replied. "Go on, Zel! It'll be so much fun. Presents, people fawning over you, cutesy cards …oh." Realization dawned on her face. "Yeah, that's pretty much everything you hate all rolled up into one ball, isn't it?"

"Die," Zelda mumbled. She looked up at the sound of Malon obediently keeling over and falling off her chair, landing spread-eagled on the floor with her eyes shut and mouth hanging open. The sight of this distracted her so much that she didn't hear the front door open and close, and only looked away when Link, sweating and red-cheeked, came into the kitchen.

"What's Malon doing?" he asked.

"Playing dead," Zelda replied. She narrowed her eyes upon noticing that Link was carefully keeping one hand behind his back. "What's that you're hiding back there?"

Link only smiled and nodded to the other room, which he began backtracking into. Curiously, Zelda got up from her chair, stepped over Malon, and followed Link. The unavoidable sight of the humongous Christmas tree brought a reluctant smile to her lips, and she was thus momentarily distracted from noticing that Link was now holding out a small box in front of her. s

"Zelda Cleverly," he said quietly, opening the box. "I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the Earth, for having had the opportunity to work for you. But I know respectfully must hand in my few-weeks notice, because I want to resign and ask you to marry me."

Inside the box there was a humble ring—or at least, it was as humble as wedding ring can be. The golden band featured a square pattern of small, round diamonds at the front and center. It looked so minute and modest in comparison to all the wedding rings Zelda could remember her mother ever putting on—and for this reason, she absolutely adored the piece of jewelry that Link was offering her. Trembling noticeably, Zelda raised her hand, and Link quickly caught it. He slid the ring onto her finger.

"Perfect fit," Zelda whispered. She looked up at him, narrowing her lavender eyes at his sapphire-like ones. "How did you know my ring size?"

"Oh, a little bird told me," he answered. "A little bird who is pretending to be dead at the moment…"

"Wow, you mean I got it right?" Malon called from the kitchen. "I was totally just guessing! Go me!"

"Yes, Malon, you are awesome," Zelda said. Almost not daring to believe it, she looked down at the ring again and had to work hard to suppress a silly grin from plastering itself all over her face. So it was with a slightly more serious tone that she said, "Link, it's beautiful. Thank you."

He grinned at her. "I love you, Zelda," he whispered.

The smile was coming back. "I love you, too." Only a few weeks ago, she had thought that she'd never be able to say those words again—it was just false, empty, cheesy speech, that no one said outside of the movies. Yet here they were, those four ridiculously pleasant words, rolling off her tongue like it was the easiest and plainest thing in the world. And it was true, she knew it. She knew it because just telling Link she loved him filled her with an almost foreign, warm feeling that she knew she had not experienced in years.

"Aw, get a room already!" It was Jack, just coming down the main stairs and interrupting the tender, tacit moment that Link and Zelda were sharing. He laughed when the two of them jumped apart, as if he had walked in on them doing more than exchanging an amorous glance. Jack looked into the kitchen and said, "Hey, uh, what's Malon doing…?"

"Playing dead," Link and Zelda answered simultaneously.

"Oh." And he continued talking as if this were a perfectly normal thing for the redhead to do. "Zel, may I have a word alone with the uh, future bro-in-law for a minute? No, I know, just for a sec, okay? Go try and see if you can revive your pal." He waved to the kitchen, and after giving Jack a suspicious look, Zelda turned and headed for Malon. Jack threw an arm around Link and whispered, "So! How you been, pal?"

"Uh, not too bad since I last saw you about nine hours ago," Link replied, eying Jack warily.

"Good! That's fantastic. So listen—Viv and Terra were telling me that they're throwing Zelda a bridal shower, which is probably a good idea because they want to do something, and I think a bachelorette party would be too much. This does not mean, however, that the fellows and I are above throwing you a bachelor party! Huh? What do you say, pal?"

"That's a very kind offer," Link said, pulling out from Jack's arm and shaking his hand. "But I'm afraid that for your sake, I should decline. I wouldn't be a very fun guy to throw a party for, Jack. I don't drink and I certainly don't want any strippers."

"Hey," Jack said seriously. "In case you forgot, you are going to marry my little sister. You think I'd have some other woman dancing around and taking her clothes off in front of you the night before you and my little sister were bound together in holy matrimony? Because I do not stand for that kind of stuff. My other friends, sure, maybe, but not my future brother-in-law, you got me Link?"

"Uh, sure. okay."

"I'm totally serious, man. And no worries about downing a drink, either. We could go to a batting cage or two, light some fireworks 'cause that's what guys do, and then maybe go to a bar for the sake of the other fellas—but you wouldn't have to drink a drop, pal, I mean it."

And so, thanks to the incredible persuasive tactics of the Cleverly kids, both Link and Zelda ended up having parties thrown on their behalf in only a few days after Thanksgiving. The holiday itself was as chaotic and hectic as could be expected with a house full of so many people, but the celebrations were overall quite fun. All the ladies swooned over Zelda's ring (after Malon had pried her into the center of attention), and everyone was giving the couple their hearty congratulations. Predictably, the only one not joining in this particular festivity was Clarissa, who was still shocked that Zelda could have made such a spur-of-the-moment decision. The most social thing she ended up doing was coming down for dinner in the mid-afternoon, eating her turkey in a savage manner while barely tolerating the Christmas music and small children that surrounded her on every side.

"No, no, mom, you don't get to sneak away just yet," said Terra after dinner, when the family had broken up into smaller groups and Clarissa had tried to sneak upstairs. Grabbing her jaw-clenched mother by the elbow and dragging her back into the left side of the palatial living room, Terra said, "We're playing a game."

"What nonsense is this?" Clarissa growled through her teeth. "The children are all downstairs playing their Nintendo games if you want to play, Terra."

"It's not really a game, so to speak," clarified Vivien once Terra had forcibly sat Clarissa down in a large chair by the fire. "It's just a little Thanksgiving tradition thing that we have. You know, on Halloween you get free candy, at Christmas you have little gifts in the stockings, and on Easter you hunt for eggs. Well, at Thanksgiving, the thing is right there in the name. We want to give thanks. So we want to know what everyone is thankful for this year. Mom! Why don't we start with you?"

"Come on, Scrooge," Zelda snorted from the loveseat she was sharing with Link. Clarissa only fixed her with an icy glare.

"I'll start," Link offered.

"Oh, of course," Clarissa snorted. "Let me guess, young man. You are just unspeakably grateful for having met my daughter, is that it? The planets aligned, the gods bestowed upon you many a great blessing and gift so that you might be able to somehow woo her out of her normal state of mind. You are grateful that for some reason she took Vivien up on her offer to come out here for Thanksgiving, so you could catch her in an unusual setting and trap her into marrying you! Is that it, Link? Is that what you are thankful for this year?"

"Mother, I swear, if you don't shut up, I'm going to push you right into that open fire behind you," Zelda growled. Without another word, she stood up and headed for the front door, opening it and closing it behind her with a loud slam.

Clarissa put a hand to her heart. "That ungrateful little brat, how dare she talk to her mother that way!"

"Would you give it a rest already, mom?" Vivien sighed. "You can't actually be surprised with her, can you? I mean, you keep putting down Link in front of her, without giving him half a chance! That's being too generous, actually—you're just being downright cruel, to both of them! You have no right to just barge in and—"

"I am her mother, that's right enough!"

"Oh sure, play the mom card now! You can't just—"

"Um, Vivien?" Link interrupted, feeling very awkward that this conversation was going on right in front of him. "I think I should—"

"—no, no, Link, I'm on a roll." Vivien drew herself up to her full height, which was admittedly not all that impressive, but her expression was hard and her jaw set as she announced, "Mother, if you don't think you're going to be capable of being civil for the rest of your time here, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave my house. Yes, it's come to that. But we have tolerated so much crap from you over the years, and I refuse to sit through another moment of it! We are a family, so if you don't start acting like you're in ours, you can just shove out!"

A very awkward silence followed this proclamation, as Clarissa looked at each person there in turn. When no one said anything, she got to her feet in a huff and glared Link directly in the eye, shaking her finger at him: "I swear, boy. You put one toe out of line or hurt my daughter in any way, and there will be hell to pay." And with that, she swept out of the living room and up the stairs to pack her things.

"Just make sure when you leave that you use a side door, because I'm sure Zelda's still moping outside the front one," Vivien called after her.

"Should I go talk to her?" Link asked Terra.

"Who, Zelda?" She smirked. "Or my mother?"

"Er…either, I guess."

"No. I think Zelda needs to be on her own for a short while, just to cool off. You've probably noticed by now that she's not really at her best after having a row with dear old mom. And if you want to go ahead and have a little chat with Clarissa Cleverly, well, that's pretty much like walking into the lion's den."

"Yeah, a bit," Vivien agreed, nodding fervently at Link. "Only you're not just going into the lion's den, but you're putting your head in the lion's mouth. And you're not Daniel, so God won't bail you out. You would actually die."

"Thanks for the advice, guys," Link said, standing up and tugging down his sleeves. "But I'm going to risk death for this one." As he headed for the stairs, he thought he heard Malon whistling a dirge; he turned around and saw her quickly avert her gaze. So he steeled himself once more and got up the staircase, then headed for the room whose door was open and in which he could hear the sound of quick, frustrated packing. He saw Clarissa hurriedly throwing her things into a large, extravagant suitcase, and she didn't notice his presence until he knocked on the doorframe. "May I come in?"

"I don't see why not," she snorted, returning instantly to her packing. "This isn't my house, after all, it's Vivien Lee's!" Her next few mutterings seemed to be directed more to herself than Link: "Ungrateful, spoiled … going and throwing her own mother out, what did I raise her to…? …not the end of this…!"

"Mrs. Cleverly, are you…crying?" Link asked, taking a few steps closer.

"NO!" she yelled quite louder than was expected. But there was the evidence she was lying, right there in her eyes, which were sheen over with glistening, yet-unshed tears. In her attempt to blink them away, two fat tears rolled down her cheeks and she grunted in frustration. "All right, fine! Are you satisfied? Are you thrilled? Go on back downstairs and tell everyone that you came in here and saw the old battle axe crying like a child, go on, I don't care!"

"I wouldn't do that," Link said seriously, as Clarissa's packing became faster and thus noisier. "If I were to tell them at all, which I won't, I'd never say you were crying like a child. Crying like a child might be, say, if you were to cry after skinning your knee. Funny story, actually. One time I was at the zoo with your granddaughter, and she tripped and had two cuts, one on each knee, each one gushing blood. And do you know how many tears she cried over it? Not a single one." His eyebrows contracted when he thought he saw a smirk of pride come over Clarissa's face. "And do you want to know what I thought of that?"

"You're about to tell me, regardless."

"I was shocked, really. I know older people who'd have been sobbing over it, but Megan just stood there like it was nothing. Malon got it, but I didn't, not just then—but this little girl was raised by a woman who grew up believing that crying was not acceptable for anyone over the age of two. That's wrong, Mrs. Cleverly. It is inherently wrong. I submit to you that you, right now, are not crying like a child. You are crying like a human being, and to be frank, if I was in your situation right now, I would most likely be bawling about it."

"Don't presume to tell me how you would feel in my shoes!" Clarissa hissed, going to the dresser and grabbing her things there, sparing Link an angry glare when she could. "Don't you dare!"

"Getting chewed out and then thrown out by your own daughter? Yeah, that's gotta be rough," Link said, putting his hands in his pocket. All cards were on the table now, and it was time for Clarissa to get a taste of her own medicine. "But you want to know why you're crying, Mrs. C? It's not even because Viv wants you to leave—I don't think she wants you to leave, she just wants you to be polite. But you're sorry. You're sorry you haven't been better, that if you could just pull it together for a few more days, you could stay and everyone would be happy."

"I do not appreciate what you are saying, young man," Clarissa said in that dangerous whisper of hers. "And I do not appreciate your sweeping your way into my daughter's life, and forcing her to—"

"Mrs. Cleverly, if I may," Link interjected, speaking in a louder voice to overpower her. "If you think I just came prancing along into Zelda's life and forced her to marry me, then you know her less than she thinks you do. Your daughter is the most brilliant person I have ever met. That, and also one of the most self-confident."

"Self-confident, is that so?" Clarissa asked, zipping her suitcase shut. "Wasn't it just last night that Zelda was telling me before you, knight-in-shining-armor, graced her existence with your presence, she was depressed? I was under the impression that depressed people were not particularly self-confident."

"What I meant is that when she makes a decision, she got to it herself and she doesn't let anyone else do the thinking for her. You must know that. So every time you make some snide or hurtful comment about me …and you know what, I wouldn't even care—but every time you do that, Zelda feels it like you're saying it to her. Because your judging me is also judging her decisions and her opinions."

"How nice of you to go ahead and tell me what Zelda is feeling," Clarissa said sweetly, pushing past Link to get out of the door. "But I am not going to stay here any longer where I am not wanted. And I'm certainly not going to stick around to see Zelda get entangled further in your misogynistic web of deceit!" The sound of her high-heeled shoes and mutterings to herself echoed slightly down the hall as she stalked away.

Well, sir, you really put your foot in it this time, didn't you? Link thought as he walked towards his room. Clarissa must have come to Vivien's in a rental car, because a few moments later, Link heard an engine rev up before fading into the distance. He ran a hand through his hair and half-shut his door. To his slight surprise, talking so directly to Mrs. Cleverly had caused him to sweat quite a bit, which was all the more unexpected as it was so cold. Fumbling in the closet for another shirt, Link peeled off the one he was currently wearing and tossed it into a pillowcase he was using as a dirty clothes bag. When he heard the door close quietly, Link ducked out of the closet and saw Zelda walking slowly towards him.

"No, no, it's fine," she said, when Link hurriedly reached to put on a shirt. "I just came up here to see if you were all right." With a heavy sigh, Zelda sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry my mother's being so horrible to you. Really, I… I wish there was something I could say, but there just isn't any way to explain or excuse it. She has and always will be just plain, old, take-me-as-I-am Clarissa Cleverly."

"Zelda, I feel terrible," Link muttered, taking a seat on the chair by the dresser. "It's my fault your mother left. I shouldn't have intruded on all this, on this family holiday—she wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for me. I mean, what right did I have to come and…? Man, I'm such a jerk."

"Link, you're playing right into her hands," Zelda said, trying not to laugh at what she thought to be his adorable naïveté. "Lord knows I've done it enough times, but don't you let her get to you this way; it's just what she wants." When Link still looked downhearted, Zelda pursed her lips and went on: "When my mother walked out that front door a few minutes ago, everyone downstairs broke into applause! She's the damper on our holiday, Link, not you, never you! Everybody loves you! Vivien only invited her out of obligation; she invited you because she wanted to get to know you and because Megan absolutely adores you. No one is sorry, Link, no one. So I wish you wouldn't be." She coughed awkwardly. "Besides, if you hadn't come on this trip…"

He looked up at her, where she was perched on the edge of his bed, and there was something in Zelda's eyes that he had definitely never seen there before. Her legs slowly uncrossed, and she whispered "Come here" so quietly, that he didn't even hear it, only saw her mouth the words. Without a second thought, Link got up off his chair and went over to join her. She met him in a simultaneous kiss and embrace, moving her hands slowly up to stroke his face.

"If you hadn't come on this trip," she whispered, speaking so closely to him that her cool breath felt like it was cleansing his face, "I would never have realized how much I wanted to do this with you."

It had been years since she'd had something like this, since she'd touched a man's bare back and strong arms; so strong, yet so gentle. His fingers wove deftly into her hair, not grabbing it in an aggressive way but teasing it out, enjoying the feel of it only because it belonged to her. Zelda did not even remember lying down, but suddenly they were in a horizontal position on the bed, and she was filled with an indescribable, over-powerful feeling of love.

Despite the near-freezing temperatures outside, the room was beginning to surround them with heat, pushing in on all sides, urging them to go on and do what was on both their minds. But Link pulled back, and moved to one side, leaning on his elbow and surveying Zelda with a look of intense curiosity. She stared up at the ceiling, waiting for her heartbeat to return to its normal speed—but she couldn't ignore Link's stare for long, and finally shifted her gaze towards him.

"There's only one downside to you and I, er… tying the knot."

"What's that?" Link asked, his brow furrowing slightly in concern.

"My sisters are forcing a bridal shower on me, and unless I am very much mistaken—which I rarely am—my brothers will have some sort of celebration with you. And since you don't really know anyone here, a lot of their friends you've never met will probably end up coming, and I hope they don't leave too bad of an impression on you."

"Hey, any friend of your brother's is a friend of mine."

"Hm. You may want to reserve judgment until you actually meet them.

-------------------------

That Sunday, Vivien went to the airport to meet Zelda's three Californian bridal-shower guests. It was never quiet when Viv was around, so the car ride back wasn't very awkward at all, considering that none of them had met previously. Impa (whom Link had called on Thanksgiving to share the news with) was the most quiet, chipping into the conversation only when addressed by name. Schreiber was bouncing up and down in her seat, unable to contain her glee or surprise that Zelda could've made such a hasty and huge decision just over Thanksgiving break.

"Imagine if she hadn't taken this vacation!" she kept saying.

Saria was also rather chatty, and although she'd initially felt strange accepting a plane ticket from her student's aunt, she and Vivien fell quickly into a lively banter. Besides, Saria was happy for what this marriage would mean for Megan, of whom she had always thought very highly and believed the girl had deserved a father. Malon was also a pretty good friend, so it wasn't as if there'd be no one for Saria to talk to in Arkansas. The only thing that had hung her up was a gift.

"What'd you get Zelda?" Saria asked Schreiber from the back seat as they pulled onto Vivien's street.

"No! No telling!" Vivien insisted, cutting off Schreiber as she'd been about to answer. "Bridal showers are always the most fun when nobody but the buyer knows what's inside the package, am I right?"

Zelda might've said that Vivien had a sick sense of humor. Because when she opened the present from her sister, her face turned crimson when she saw the scary French lingerie that lay within. Vivien burst out into a series of loud guffaws at Zelda's reaction, while Terra looked suitably embarrassed for her little sis. But everybody else seemed to find it a highly useful if not hilarious gift, and Malon in particular insisted that Zelda keep it.

"Go on, Zel, you've got a great sense of style on the outside!" she laughed, on her fourth drink and starting to show it. "Now let Link see that you've got style when it comes underdressings, too! Ha, ha, ha, ha! If you don't want it, I'll take it, but heaven knows I don't have anyone to show it off in front of!"

Tight-lipped, Zelda only tossed the lingerie back into the bag from whence it came and sunk deeper in her chair, as there were no more presents to open. Finally, that part of it was over. But then, some of her other half-sisters and her sisters-in-law began pegging her with questions about how soon she planned on doing it with Link, what kind of dress she wanted to wear, and when the wedding date was set for. Eventually, Zelda stood up and excused herself, rushing out of the room under the pretense of needing a bathroom but really just wanting some quiet for a few moments.

Walking in the general direction of the nearest bathroom, Zelda passed the music room and saw Impa sitting on the bench by the piano. Curiously stepping inside, Zelda said, "I wondered where you'd gotten off to in the last few minutes. Is everything okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, it's fine," Impa said with a smile, playing a few notes on the piano with her right hand. "It just got a little odd, is all. I mean, I'm going to be your mother-in-law, isn't that strange? I can't quite picture it… Zelda, you're a dear, and I care for you tremendously, I just…"

"What is it?" Zelda asked, taking a seat.

"You and my son seem like an odd match," Impa said awkwardly. "He's a good boy, Zelda, but sometimes—I mean, he's…" She sighed heavily. "Oh, don't mind me, Zelda. It's just the jitters! My boy, getting married, you know. It's weird to think! Well, we mustn't be rude—ought to get back to your little party, hm?" And she stood up gracefully and exited the room, leaving Zelda feeling confused and a little out of sorts. It was as if for a moment, a Clarissa Cleverly-like impulse had been about to come spilling out of Impa, but she'd suppressed it, which meant she was one step above Clarissa at least.

But still, she was thinking something. There's something she didn't want to tell me and that's reason enough to worry…

A/N: Sorry, that last bit must have seemed a bit odd. But don't worry, dear readers; all will be explained. In the mean time, you've got Link's bachelor party to look forward to in the next chapter, which I pray will come sooner than this one did! Please review :)