taking a break from the usual "straight to the temple!" feel and getting a bit of character development done (at least, that's what I'm going with, I'm not sure if this is exactly that, but...)

also, in case you've forgotten, Link's mother's name is Alice. I've started just going ahead and calling her by her first name instead of referring to her as "Link's mother" because now that she's been established as Zelda's aunt, calling her only as Link's mother is a bit... I don't know... limited?


It was extremely early, or at least, it felt extremely early. Whether it was or not is another story. Link's mother was idly stirring her cup of tea, which had gone cold a while ago, and thinking about things.

As usual though, her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "You've got to be kidding me" she muttered, and then yawned.

Too tired to actually get up and answer it, she called: "Who is it!"

"Umm… Zelda"

"Oh." She sighed, "come on in! It's not locked."

The door opened, and then Zelda walked in the room. "Oh, I didn't wake you, did I?" she asked.

"No, I've been up for a while. What brings you here?"

Zelda sighed, the sooner she got this over with the better. "I know you're my aunt" she said simply.

Link's mother, or Zelda's aunt, looked up at this. "Did your mother tell you? Or did you figure it out yourself?"

Zelda smiled. "Neither actually, Thomas told me."

"He's still around?" Link's mother, (or Zelda's aunt, but Zelda was still getting used to that fact, so…) asked, sounding a bit shocked. Zelda nodded. "Blimey, I need to go say hello then, it's been a while since we last talked."

There was a moment of silence, and then Zelda asked: "So, now that I know you're my aunt, what exactly should I call you?"

"Aunt Alice, Alice, Auntie, I don't really care." She looked at her niece and gave her a small smile. "Where are my manners though? Go on and sit down, I'll get you something to drink."

"Kay" Zelda said, and pulled up a chair.

"Would you like some tea?" Alice asked, head in a cupboard.

"No thanks" Zelda said.

"Milk, then?"

"Yes please"

Alice passed Zelda a glass of milk, and then started making another cup of tea for herself. "Did Thomas tell you anything else?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Well, he did say that you were supposed to be queen of Hyrule, but that didn't happen because you ran off with Link's father. And that Link's father is dead. That's about it though."

Alice stopped what she was doing and didn't say anything for a moment. She let out a small sigh, and then continued. "He didn't say much then, just told you what everyone knows."

"Yeah, I guess" Zelda said.

"Is there any particular reason why you came here?" Alice asked, sitting down with her cup of tea.

"Well yeah, actually," Zelda swallowed. "I was wondering, does it bother you that your younger sister got to be Queen of Hyrule instead of you?"

Alice laughed. "You think I ever actually wanted to rule Hyrule? Of course I didn't! Growing up, it had always seemed like a pain, and I usually avoided doing any royal duties as much as possible. I'm actually glad your mother got it."

Zelda smiled for some odd reason.

A bit of silence passed.

Zelda looked at her glass of milk, which was now empty. She wondered briefly when it had gotten that way. "Umm… I should probably get going" she said.

Her aunt just nodded, deep in thought. "Mmhmm"

Zelda stood up and left.


"Hey Link!" Sheik called, "I've got a quick question."

Link sat up, he had been trying to take a nap on a hill, but the plan was failing. "Yeah?" he asked.

"How long has it been since you've trained?"

"A while, but I have been fighting monsters a lot lately…"

"Want to go down to the Training Grounds at the Castle?"

"Do we have to sneak in?"

Sheik took a second to think about that. "No," he said after a moment.

"Then yes" Link said, getting to his feet. He picked up his sword and shield and threw them on his back. "Though, I must ask, isn't there some item I need to go get? Another temple to go through? Something?"

"All heroes need a break" Sheik told him, a slight grin on his face.

"Good point" Link replied. The two of them headed off to the Castle.

"Just like old times, eh Sheik?" Link asked, as he shot an arrow another target with perfect aim.

"Yeah," Sheik said, missing his own target. "Except you've gotten better."

"Not like I tried extremely hard, it just kind of happened."

Sheik sighed. "Good for you" he said sarcastically. He abandoned the bow he was shooting with and instead threw a few daggers. Each one hit its mark. Link flashed a grin his way.

"Cheater!" Link said, grinning.

"Like you're any better" Sheik replied, the same grin on his face. The two burst out laughing.

"Man I miss the old times!" Link laughed. "Back before I was a hero and when you weren't… well… whatever you've become now."

"You aren't exactly a hero yet. You haven't really saved anyone."

"Meh," Link shot another target. "I'm getting there."

They continued shooting targets in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

"I wonder what sort of evil I'll have to fight to save Hyrule" Link said after a while.

Sheik shrugged. "No clue." He didn't want to go much farther on this topic. If he were to mention any names of evil that had attacked Hyrule before it might trigger a memory of Link's and he didn't want to go down that path.

"Good point" Link said, his voice sounding a bit distant. "Things do seem a bit different this time around."

Sheik turned to look at him. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, a bit worried.

"What?" Link responded, looking around him. "I-I don't know! What did I even say?"

Sheik let out a small sigh of relief. "Nothing… I must of heard you wrong or something."

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah."

They went back to what they were doing.


It was later in the evening, after he and Link had stopped training, that we found Sheik sitting in a nearly empty room in the Castle. The only thing in that room was a small piano, which had been abandoned after the Royal Family got the Grand Piano to put in the ball room. Whatever, Sheik didn't really care, he liked the small piano.

He was playing the piano. He was playing nice, kind of slow, slightly eerie song that fit him perfectly. His hands, which were both callused and bandaged, didn't really look like they belonged playing a piano, but he played with ease.

He had been playing for what could have been hours, when he finally realized that someone was watching him. He turned around, and found Link's mother standing in the doorway.

"I didn't know you could play" she said.

Sheik smiled sheepishly. "Well yeah, I-I…" he trailed off. "How long were you standing there?"

"I only caught the ending of that last song." She sighed. "I shouldn't even be here. If anyone caught me well… actually, I don't know what they would do. It's not like they could throw me out, this still technically is my home."

"You lived in the Castle?" Sheik asked.

"Yeah, I did. Of course I did. I was… well… I was the princess of Hyrule. Still technically am, I think."

"So that means you're Zelda's aunt."

"Yup."

"Does Link know?"

Alice sighed, and sat down in a chair that was in the corner. "No, I haven't gotten around to telling him."

Sheik laughed, and then remembered something. "You might want to tell him soon. I think he's got a crush on Zelda."

Alice groaned. "I need to knock that idea out of his head quick."

"So why'd you come here in the first place?" Sheik asked. "I doubt you came just to talk to me."

"No, I actually came back to… well… play a bit of piano." She looked down at the floor, as if embarrassed.

Sheik stood up. "Go ahead. I don't mind."

Alice looked up at him and met a pair of ruby red eyes. She smiled slightly, and went over to the piano. "I haven't played in a few years, mind you, so no complaining if it's terrible."

"Alright"

Sighing, and wondering why the heck she was getting herself into this, Link's mother slowly placed her fingers on the keys. She played a few feeble notes, but it was always hard to start at first. Especially when you knew someone was listening. But within a few seconds she had picked a song and began playing.

The song was slow, and sounded as if it should have been happy. But the way Alice played it; it had more of a somber feel to it. Even as the song hit one of its more complex parts, it still sounded… sad.

Immediately Sheik felt as if he were intruding on something very important. He decided it would be best if he just left, and so that he did.


okay, piano scene is a bit random, but I remember mentioning somewhere earlier in the story that Sheik could play piano, so I figured I'd go ahead and elaborate on that. Also, we get to learn a bit more about Link's mother.

oh, and in case you're wondering, Alice was playing Pachelbel Canon in D