AKA Malon totally ships Link and Zelda
Link was in a very confused daze. He had asked Malon to help him pick out a birthday gift for Zelda, so she had conceded to take him to the bazaar, admitting she hadn't gotten anything for the princess yet either. She dragged him to Beetle's Department Store (which Link found a little too expensive), Chudley's Fine Goods and Fancy Trinkets (he just felt like the salespeople were staring at him disdainfully), and Rem's Shoe Shop. Malon had stopped to consider getting Zelda a pair of the new Pegasus Boots that were apparently the newest fashion trend, but Link felt obligated to sheepishly inform her that Zelda already had a pair.
But Malon was undeterred. She towed Link along to Sera's Sundries, a quaint little boutique that had a lot of dresses and jewelry. There Malon found no less than six pieces of jewelry she thought would be perfect for the princess. After thirty minutes of deliberation, Malon decided she couldn't narrow down the selection down and bought all of them.
Now Link was feeling desperate. Zelda's birthday present to him had been awesome. The Green Windfish Headphones and loaded Music Pass so he could download songs to his mp4 player had by far been the best present he had received. But so far his only idea had been to get his girlfriend a new Indigo Go's t-shirt at the Happy Mask Shop. As much as he liked that idea, he felt as if it wasn't enough and voiced as much to Malon.
"What if you get her something from Moonlight Merchant as well?" she suggested. "You stick more in that sphere than Beetle's and Chudley's and such anyway. Plus they have cute summer clothes. You could get Zelda a swim suit or something."
"I'm not gonna get her a swim suit," Link rolled his eyes trying to stop the rising heat in his cheeks. "But we can check it out. There's gotta be something in there she would like."
"You know, you could just make her something," Malon said as they walked to the Moonlight Merchant. "Gifts from the heart like that are right up Zelda's alley."
"I feel like that's so clichéd or something though," Link shrugged. "I wouldn't know what to make her anyway, and I don't like all those cheesy DIY present ideas online."
"Fair enough," Malon conceded as they walked into the store.
Link instantly felt at ease with the faint background of rock and indie music. Malon was right; this was more his sphere. He instantly set about perusing the store for gift ideas. He steered away from the jewelry since Malon had gotten her plenty. He quickly found a cute pair of sunglasses that had a small pink bow on one side and snatched them almost on instinct. He then shifted through the many buttons on display. He knew Zelda liked the different stickers and buttons he had on his school bag and guitar case, so he picked out a psychedelic patterned blue one since her patron goddess was Nayru and Nayru's color was blue, a heart shaped one with intricate gold outlines on it, a glittery gold version of the old Triforce of legend, and a little black one that said: "It's dangerous to go alone!"
Malon approved of his choices, so he paid for his small presents and headed to the Happy Mask Shop to get an Indigo Go's shirt. Link fearlessly entered the dimly lit store while Malon stuck close behind him.
"Farore, this place is creepy," Malon muttered.
"It's not that bad," Link laughed at her trepidation. "I used to work at a Happy Mask Shop back in Calatia."
"You know that really doesn't surprise me," Malon huffed as they reached the back of the store.
Link eagerly looked through all of the different band shirts. There was merchandise for pop bands like the Poe Sisters and Oracles and heavy metal bands like The Masked and Interlopers. But much to Link's disappointment, there wasn't a single Indigo-Go's shirt on display that Zelda didn't already own. Link inwardly cursed his girlfriend's obsessive need to own every bit of merchandise associated with the band. He turned to Malon.
"She already has all of these shirts," he explained. "What do I do now?"
"Maybe you could take her out to dinner," Malon shrugged while glancing nervously at one of the employees who had large gages in his ears. "You know, treat her with somewhere nice like the Central Square Café."
Link visibly blanched. The café Malon mentioned had been around for ages; it was even a historic landmark in Hyrule. Therefore, it made it all the more expensive to eat there. They left the bazaar and began the short trek back to campus. Link didn't know what he was going to do. Malon kept babbling away, talking about different gift ideas he could make, but he wasn't listening. He only had a week, no, six days to get Zelda an amazing gift, or she would just be receiving sunglasses and buttons from her boyfriend. Link smashed his palm into his forehead. He was screwed.
As they waited for the light to change at the corner of Strawberry and West streets, Link's eyes began to wander. Malon's continued babbling flitted through his mind. Take her up to the Observation Deck at sunset; no that was cheesy. Bake her peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, her favorite; he lived in a dorm with no kitchen. Make a date jar; now that was ridiculously clichéd.
Link sighed and glanced across the road. They were almost to the upper class/historic downtown area of town, so it surprised Link to see a pawn shop on the other side of the street. Just as he turned his eyes away, however, something glittered in the corner of his eye. He looked back to the pawn shop and fixed his gaze on the display window. There sitting in the front was a small golden harp. The arms were white and curled above the crossbar, and there was a strip of blue cloth wrapped around one side.
"Oh I was trained to play a lot of instruments and sing, too," Zelda giggled. "As a proper princess, I learned piano and flute, and even the harp and violin. But I stopped all those lessons to take up archery and some light fencing."
"What instrument was your favorite?" Link asked.
"Well, I really liked singing the best," she smiled. "But playing the harp was my favorite. It makes such sweet sounds."
Link dashed across the road, barely pausing to check for oncoming traffic.
"Link!" Malon yelled after him. "Where are you going?"
But Link didn't pause until his face was practically pressed up against the glass staring at the golden harp. Up close he could just see the intricate etchings along the base of the harp. He couldn't really tell what the markings were; he would have to polish the harp before giving it to Zelda.
"Oh my Goddesses, Link," Malon huffed as she finally caught up to him. "What the heck was that?"
"Look at that harp, Malon," Link pointed eagerly at the instrument. "Zelda told me once that her favorite instrument to play was a harp. Isn't that one perfect?"
"I don't know, Link," Malon looked up at him skeptically. "It looks a little beat up."
"I can fix that," Link smiled widely. "I dunno; I just feel like that's the perfect gift for Zelda. No, more like I'm meant to get that harp for her."
Malon's eyes widened, "Well if you feel that strongly about it, let's go check it out."
They walked to the entrance of the store and were greeted by an elderly Goron.
"Welcome, brothers," the Goron smiled at them. Malon made a face at being called 'brother.' "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yeah," Link pointed to the display window. "We were looking at that harp outside. Could you tell us anything about it?"
The old Goron's smile grew, "Ah yes, I've had that harp for a while now. Can't seem to get rid of it, or maybe it's just been waiting for the right person to come and pick it up." His black eyes twinkled as he walked over to the display window and picked up the instrument. "It still works perfectly fine, though it could use some cleaning up as you can tell."
"How much for it?" Malon asked.
"I've had it priced at 120 rupees, but I think for you, I'll bring it down to 90 rupees."
Link's smile fell. Ninety was still too far out of his price range.
"We'll take it," Malon stated and headed to the register.
"No Malon, this is my gift," Link protested. "I can't let you pay for it."
"It's like you said, Link," Malon glanced at him as she handed the old Goron her credit card. "Zelda is meant to have this harp, and you are meant to give it to her. I'm just helping out a little."
Link's face broke out in a crooked grin, "I'll pay you back. I promise."
"You better," she pointed her finger into his chest. "Or I won't let you copy my notes when you skip bio anymore."
Link nodded as the old Goron handed him the golden harp, which was now wrapped up in a simple box.
"Thank you very much," Link waved to the Goron as he and Malon left.
"I hope the princess enjoys her gift," the Goron smiled knowingly.
Link cringed, while Malon laughed. The old Goron must have recognized him from one of those tabloid magazines. But his embarrassment wore off quickly as his excitement over Zelda's present grew. Oh he couldn't wait to see her face as she opened her gift.