Chapter Thirty Three

~Normal POV~

I've been in here for exactly five days. There's a clock in the room, so I'm pretty positive. I'm starving, tired, bruised and scratched, and scared. For the last three days Ganondorf and his soldiers have interrogated me about how to defeat Link, asking how powerful Link is, more details on Earth, and all-in-all making me miserable.

I'm in a dungeon looking room, with four cells standing side-by-side. And I'm in one. The whole room is coated in a thin layer of dust, everything's made from the same white stone. All in all, it's a depressing room.

I've tried every which way to get out of this room. I don't have anything that can pick the lock. I even tried my necklace, but it wouldn't fit. I really wish I'd decided to wear bobby pins. There's nothing to dig a hole with, all the bricks are sealed together with no hope of being pried loose, and unfortunately I don't have a shiv to saw my way out. I'm effectively trapped.

What is taking Link so freaking long to find me? I hate being a damsel in distress, it's boring and annoying.

Then, a blast of sand enters the room. Great, they're back. I set my jaw, ready to take whatever they throw at me. And I mean literally throw. Ganondorf has one heck of a temper.

But it's not Ganondorf and his soldiers. A handsome boy in green and a glittering blue fairy step out of the dust cloud, coughing and blinking sand from their eyes. He smiles in relief when he sees me. Link! Finally! A huge grin appears on my face. I'm so relieved to see them it hurts.

He runs over to the cell I'm in. "Are you okay?"

"Considering the situation, yeah, I'm pretty good." I smile.

He frowns. "Nicky, I am so sorry. I should've stopped him. I should've..."

"Link," I interrupt him. "This isn't your fault, trust me. You always do that. I'm okay, I've only been in here for a couple of days. It's not like you could've done anything to prevent it–"

"Wait, days?" He interrupts. "Are you sure?"

I point to the wall. "The clock speaks the truth as far as I can tell. Five to be exact."

"No, that's not possible, it only took me a few minutes to get here with the ocarina."

I shrug. "Maybe it took a stupid and unneccessary detour."

"Nicky!" Navi flies in the cell and tackles me. Which doesn't really hurt since she's about the same size as Thumbelina.

I smile at her. "I missed you too Navi."

"Hey, Navi." Link asks. "Do you think you could pick the lock and get Nicky out of there?"

"The master of lock picking is at your service." She bows. Then she flies over to the lock and takes a tiny hairpin from her hair. Even she has a hairpin! From now on I will never leave home without one. She fiddles around with the lock for a few seconds, muttering to herself. Then there's a click and the cell door swings open. "Ta-da!"

Link runs over to me and embraces me. He still smells like pinewood. I'm so happy to see him. I pull back to smile at him, he smiles back, and it's the most welcome site in the world. Makes me miss home a little, for some reason. Despite his face being streaked with grime and his weary appearance, he's the most handsome guy I've ever seen. We look at each other for a few moments, then before I really know what we're doing, we're kissing.

Wait. We're kissing? Where the heck did this come from?

But, I like it. This is my first kiss, the kind of kiss I've always dreamed about, not to be a mushy romantic. I feel like my heart is trying to do jumping jacks in my chest. He kisses me softly, still holding me tight. I wrap my arms around his neck, not quite believing this is real. I can honestly say, I never thought I would get my first kiss from a video game character. And that he would be so absolutely wonderful.

We stay like that for a few more moments. Then Navi clears her throat loudly and we pull back, both of us smiling like idiots. I feel kind of lightheaded, but I don't really care.

"Um, I'm so surprised right now that I wish I was holding something, just so I could drop it in surprise." Navi says from behind us. We both turn to her. She's gaping at us. Yeah, I guess that was kind of sudden. Then, she speeds over towards us talking so fast that I can barely understand her. "But at the same time I'm totally not surprised! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I totally called it! I knew you guys liked each other! I mean, honestly, it was so obvious it's ridiculous that it didn't happen earlier!" She pulls Link's hair. "Dingledork! Why didn't you kiss her earlier?"

"Maybe because I knew you'd hurt me somehow," Link mutters while holding his head.

I smile. "That was a pretty good moment."

"I thought so too." He smiles and kisses me again.

"Okay," Navi gags. "Now it's gross. Stop it." In response, Link just kisses me again. "You're so funny, Link."

"I know, I have a great sense of humor. You guys love it." Link grins.

"Not really" Navi says.

"Debatable." I reply.

Link takes my hand and we hurry out of the cell. He talks as we start up the stairs. "Ganondorf's out setting traps for me, he doesn't know that Zelda's Triforce can tell her his exact location. We'll be able to get back to Castletown without much trouble."

I pause. "But that was five days ago."

"Huh?"

"When Zelda told you he was out setting traps, that was five days ago. He's been defending his last chunk of Castletown for the last day or so. Zelda and Sheik were able to take all of Castletown back except for the castle. He's defending it." I'm starting to get an anxious spot in my stomach. None of this makes sense. "Link, the ocarina shouldn't have taken that detour. It never did that in the game."

He looks nervous too. "You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Link!" Navi shrieks from the top of the stairs. "Ganondorf, he's here!" She whizzes back under Link's hat.

Link pulls out the Master Sword and steps in front of me. The sword hums and glows at his touch. "Stay behind me." He whispers. I don't think I'll argue with that.

A tall, broad figure appears out of the dust. Ganondorf gives Link that horrible smile that shows off his razor-sharp teeth. "The Hero. I've been expecting you. Did you enjoy your... rather long trip via the Ocarina of Time? I'm afraid you have me to thank for that."

"I should've known." Link says under his breath.

"Yes, yes you should have." Ganondorf laughs.

"Ganondorf, this is between you and me. Don't bring Nicole into this." Link pleads, but his voice remains cold and firm.

"Well..." Ganondorf thinks for a moment. "Just because you said please, I'm going to keep her involved."

Link's face appears to have turned to stone, cold and hard. "You've ruined my life. You've taken away almost everything I've loved, taken my life away. I'm actually glad for the experience though, I've matured a lot, I've become a better person. So thanks for that. But now it's gotten extremely personal. I'm not okay with you taking my parents and friends and my girlfriend." He pauses and turns to me. "Right?"

I smile at him. "Yeah, girlfriend, I like that. Has a nice ring to it."

"That it does." He smiles. But when he turns back to Ganondorf his face is cold again. "If it's my destiny to defeat you, I plan on doing exactly that."

Ganondorf nods. "Yes, I'm quite anxious to begin our battle. Shall we start now?"

"The sooner the better." Link says through clenched teeth.

Ganondorf snaps his fingers, and suddenly we're standing in the large throne room of the Dark Castle. "Then let us begin, Hero. Show me why the goddesses chose you as their savior."