I don't own the Legend of Zelda.
Link always thought that the name of their apartment complex was a classic misnomer.
Kokiri Woods… it conjured up misty images of the mythical forest full of children and glowing fairies that his grandmother had told him about when he was little. Here though, the trees scattered around the brown, squat buildings were spindly and young, and most of the residents were elderly. As he drove by, he could see two of them sitting on their porch chain-smoking. Koume raised a leathery hand to wave at him while Kotake stared at him through a cloud of grey-blue smoke – Link quickly waved back and then broke eye contact. He really wasn't in the mood to politely accept a shouted offer to have his cards read or awkwardly side-step talk of getting set up with one of their many nieces. They were morning regulars at Telma's diner, so he liked to think he put in his time already.
Link pulled into his assigned parking spot in front of Building C, shifted into park, and finally let himself fully relax back into the driver's seat with a deep sigh. He looked up to the top floor, and he could vaguely see Midna's shadow moving around behind the thin curtains of their shared unit. She hadn't been on the schedule today, so she had missed the… "incident".
His hopes of bursting in, the bearer of fresh gossip, were dashed as he approached the door of apartment 6. He could already hear Midna's voice loud and clear in the outdoor hallway between units.
"Yeah, so I've just set up a date with him tomorrow, he's coming to pick me up around 7 or so-"
I bet she's talking with Zelda, he thought absently as he searched through his keys and unlocked the door.
Midna turned to acknowledge him with a cheery wave, still in her pajamas and with her curly orange hair pulled up into a large pouf on the top of her head. The apartment phone was pressed between her ear and her shoulder, the cord trailing to the wall-mounted hook. After waving back, Link made a beeline for the couch, flopping down onto it with another sigh, this one of contentment.
"Yeah, Link just got home…" Midna turned to him. "Zelda says hi."
He raised his head off the arm of the couch and called back, "Hey Zel."
"He says hi too… you know, I'll ask him, because he probably forgot." Midna swung back around to him, the receiver now pressed against her sternum. "Did you want to come with me to Zelda's for a movie and pizza night? You already said you'd drive me over there, and Zelda said to extend the invitation your way."
He groaned, "I did say that, didn't I…" The couch creaked slightly as Link rolled up into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes, thinking it over. "I might fall asleep during the movie because I just worked a double, but sure, why not?" he answered.
Midna beamed at him, then popped the phone back up to her ear. "He'll be there! And I'll tell you more about Sheik when we get to your place." Another pause. "Yeah, we'll see you in about half an hour – make yourself all pretty for us. … Okay, bye bye." There was a click as she hung the phone up.
"You won't believe what happened today at work-"
"Save it for the car, I'm gonna get dressed and then you can tell me all about it." Midna looked at his work uniform with distaste. "You should get changed too, you always smell like onions after work."
"No, you always smell like onions after work, because you work in the kitchen. With onions," he replied.
"Fine, if we smell like what we work with, you smell like old people." His roommate dashed away to her room, the door shutting with a cackle before he could come up with anything clever to say.
Link shook his head, then walked back to his own room. He kicked at a pile of clothes on the floor to see if there were any clean shirts hidden inside, then decided against it and went to his dresser. His work shirt was added to the ever-growing laundry pile (one of many such piles in his room), and he quickly threw on his favorite green shirt. After looking down the hallway to see if Midna had emerged yet, he ambled over to the bathroom to see if there was something to be done about his hair. Chunks of dirty-blonde hair fell onto his forehead – combing his fingers through them only made them stand up more. Wetting his fingers helped marginally. If he could find his comb anywhere, that would probably help-
"You done primping?"
Link jumped and turned around to see Midna, now dressed and inspecting her nail beds with a grin.
"Have you seen my comb?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.
"The busted one that cost you half a rupee? No, can't say I've had any reason to borrow it."
"Well, shit."
"You look fine… Zelda won't care." Midna wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Besides, I'll be there too, so it's not like you'll finally get to hook up with her."
Link didn't need to look back in the mirror to know that his cheeks were burning. Midna laughed as she practically spun into the living room. "That's not… I wasn't… she's just a friend!" he sputtered uselessly after her. She waved him off.
"Don't worry, you two have my blessing, whenever it happens – just remember that I called it. Now, tell me what happened at Telma's today."
…
"And Anju told me nothing was going on between them," Midna groused as she opened the passenger side door. "Should have known she was bullshitting me."
"Well, what would you have said if she had told you her and Kafei were seeing each other?" Link asked. He buckled his seat belt and motioned for Midna to do the same. She rolled her eyes at him, but started to strap in.
"Um, congratulated her?! I'm not that mean!" Now it was Link's turn to roll his eyes. "What? I'm nice to Anju!" She crossed her arms and settled back into her seat.
"I think Anju's kind of scared of you," he said as he turned out onto the main road. Midna scoffed.
"Making out at work… even when we're slow, that's ballsy. I didn't think the two of them had the guts. What did Telma say?" she asked eagerly.
"She was back in her office – and I wasn't about to tell her."
"Good, I would have had to reevaluate our friendship if you snitched," Midna said in a teasing tone, but Link knew she was only half-kidding.
There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes after that as Link merged onto the highway.
"So what all did you do on your day off?" Link asked.
"Not much – took a bath, read a book, watched the news," Midna said nonchalantly. "They still don't know what caused that fire out in Kakariko that burned down half that neighborhood. Isn't that weird?" she added.
"That's bizarre," Link agreed. He pulled to a stop at the light outside the turn-in to Zelda's neighborhood.
"And it's been like a week, you'd think they'd have a clue by now," Midna said, her tone slightly angry. "People lost everything, the least they could get is some answers."
"Yeah, I'm not sure how long these investigations tend to take," Link added, trying to mollify her somewhat. "They'll figure out what happened." Zelda's house pulled into view, a small one story with white siding. It had grown darker in the half an hour it took for them to arrive, and the windows of the house glowed from within. He pulled up next to the blue car in the driveway.
"Yeah, I hope so but I'm not counting on it."
Link let it drop after that, knowing that arguing about it further would just get her fired up more.
"C'mon, let's head inside."
The door swung inward before either of them could knock or ring the bell, and Zelda stood in the doorway, her hair pulled back into a long brunette braid. "Hey guys!"
"Zellie!" Midna squealed, rushing in for a hug. Even with Zelda's willowier frame, she still dwarfed Midna and her shorter stature. "It's been too long."
Zelda laughed at that as they disengaged. "What are you talking about? It's been a week."
"… Still," Midna shrugged.
"Hey Zel." Zelda turned towards Link, her smile brightening all over again.
"Link! I'm so glad you could make it! Here, come on in."
The inside of Zelda's house was clean and cozy, with blankets draped over a couch filled with pillows of every color and an old looking wing chair. The living room, kitchen, and dining room were all one room filled with warm light, helped by a couple of candles that flickered on the coffee table.
"Ooh, mood lighting," Midna teased.
"Hey, I wanted to make a good impression – I don't think Link's seen my new house before," Zelda replied, somewhat indignantly.
"I hadn't seen the inside, and it's very nice." Zelda grinned at him in thanks, and he returned it.
"Midna, I know you want wine – Link, do you want anything to drink? I have beer, wine, something stronger…"
"Just water's fine," Link responded, ignoring Midna's eyeroll.
"One day, I will get you to live a little," Midna said as she moved some of the pillows to make room for herself on the couch, then flopped down into the sofa's embrace.
"Mid, if he doesn't want to drink, it's fine," Zelda responded, handing Link a cold glass of water and motioning for him to sit down in the chair. She tossed a couple more pillows onto the ground and settled in next to Midna after gifting her a half-full glass of wine. "Pizza's on the way, I just got one pepperoni and one cheese – I hope that's alright."
"Works for me – why do you have so many pillows?" Link asked, a smile picking up at the corners of his mouth.
"Because I want some color without having to paint this whole room," Zelda said simply. "And when I want different colors, I just switch them out." She sat one on her lap and took a sip of her own wine. "Plus, they make this garbage couch more… comfy."
"I gotcha."
Midna looked back and forth between them incredulously. "Never in my life did I realize that the phrase "pillow talk" could be taken to such boring extremes," she groaned. "Downright painful."
"Hey, I'm just making conversation, and this is an impressive amount of pillows. It requires an explanation," Link declared in a put-upon, important sounding voice, and Zelda snorted.
"Yeah, the people deserve to know," she giggled, playing along with the bit.
"Well, I will beat you two with said pillows if we don't change the subject immediately," Midna said darkly.
"Tell me about this boy, Mid, I've been waiting for details." Zelda punctuated her utterance with a poke to Midna's shoulder. Her face absolutely melted into a dreamy expression that Link hadn't seen her make in the three years he'd known her.
"Oh, Sheik?" she purred. "I met him last week at a house party Anju threw, and we talked all night, and he's so smart and interesting and hot, and I can't wait to jump his bones tomorrow-" She stopped talking and rubbed her hands together furiously. "Mmmm! I'm excited!"
Zelda threw back her head and cackled at the expression on Link's face as he took in Midna's gushing. His roommate pointed elegantly at him while she took her glass in hand and had another large sip of her wine. "You're lucky I censored myself there."
He threw his hands up in surrender. "I guess I am."
"Link, did you meet him?" Zelda asked after her and Midna had stopped laughing.
"In passing – we didn't talk much, but he seemed nice."
"You could have come and seen him too, but someone had a test and decided to be responsible."
"Sorry, one of my anthro classes is currently kicking my ass and winning," Zelda grumbled into her wine.
"Eh, don't be sorry."
It was Midna's turn to get up and refill her and Zelda's now empty glasses. Zelda serenely looked over Link from head to toe and crossed her legs before settling her chin on her propped-up fist.
"How was Telma's?" she asked. "I had to do most of my studying at home today, otherwise I probably would have stopped by." Zelda had a habit of stopping in at the diner for a couple cups of coffee and a chat when she got sick of being alone at home.
Not that Link was complaining.
"Eh, besides walking in on my coworkers making out in the storage room, it was a boring day."
"Oh, who was it?" she asked eagerly.
"Anju and Kafei," Midna answered for him, holding the now brimming wine glasses by the stems. When Link raised his eyebrows, she waved him off. "It just keeps us from having to get up every ten minutes."
"Kafei's the cook with the purple hair, right?" Zelda clarified.
"Yeah, and he better not pull that shit when we're working together in the kitchen," Midna said crossly.
"I doubt it'll happen again," Link said. "They seemed pretty embarrassed."
"Well, good for Anju. To new romance!" Midna and Zelda clinked their wine glasses together. Afterwards, Zelda leaned over, her glass held aloft, and Link, picking up on what she was up to, took up his glass of water.
"Cheers," he said, wiggling his eyebrows as their glasses tapped. He could have sworn he saw Zelda flush pink before hiding her face in her wine with a giggle. Midna hopped up and walked over.
"Cheers me too, cheers me too," she chanted, and he quickly obliged before she spilled wine on him. "The circle has been completed!" Midna whooped before taking another huge swig.
The doorbell rang, and Zelda quickly got up and grabbed her wallet, pulling out a couple of colorful bills to pay. The transaction went quickly, and soon, they were all sitting with their plates on the coffee table eating their respective slices of pizza.
"I forgot how good Henya's is," Midna moaned. "How much do we owe you for the pizza, Zellie?"
"You got dinner last time, remember? Consider us even," Zelda replied after delicately wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"What about me?" Link asked before taking another big bite of his pepperoni slice. She shook her head.
"Don't worry about it – I'm sure you'll find a way to get me back at some point."
"Next time you come in to Telma's, I can cover your meal?" Link suggested.
"Deal!" she exclaimed, and he extended a hand.
"Shake on it?"
"Deal," Zelda repeated a bit quieter, and after a beat, she reached out a pale hand. He noticed that her hand was warm and softer than his own as they shook – for maybe a bit too long, Link realized as Midna cleared her throat.
"So what movie are we watching?"
"Oh yeah!" Zelda quickly withdrew her hand and scrambled for the remote on the coffee table. Midna shot Link a smug look over her crouched form, and Link stuck his tongue out at her as Zelda straightened up, the remote in hand.
"The guy at the store said this movie's really good," she said, waving the remote. "Are you guys ready to see if he's right?"
"I'm game," Link said, settling back into the chair while nibbling on the crust of his pizza.
"This better not be in Labrynnian with subtitles like last time – you know I'm stupid Zel, I need something easy to follow," Midna whined, shooting her best friend a toothy grin.
Zelda laughed. "You're not stupid, you're just drunk. But yes, I made sure to get something in plain Hylian this time."
"Good!" she cheered. Zelda fiddled with the remote quickly and the movie started up. An hour passed by quickly and without much chatter as the thriller played out, with a quick break for Zelda and Midna to crack open another bottle of wine.
Everything was going swimmingly until the phone rang out from the kitchen.
"Now who could that be?" Zelda asked more to herself than anyone present and hopped up from the couch to go answer it – Link noticed her stumble a little and catch herself with a giggle. Link reached over the saucy and crust-filled plates for the remote and paused the movie.
"Nohansen residence, this is Zelda speaking. Oh, hi Grand-" She abruptly stopped talking, seemingly cut off by the person on the other end of the line, and her face went slack. She turned towards the wall. "He – he's what?" A pause, then, "Is he okay?" The silence in the room grew tenser, and both Link and Midna were now staring at Zelda's back.
"Okay, where are you?... Well, where are they taking him? I'll meet you guys there." Her voice had grown louder, and a slight waver in it was the only other hint of panic in her countenance. "I'll see you there, Grandma." She hung up the phone and turned to her friends. Her eyes, nearly violet in the shadows of the kitchen, were wide with shock.
"Um… so my dad's being taken to the hospital, and my grandma says I need to get there as soon as possible." Her voice was higher pitched than before, and her eyes were darting around the room.
"Gods Zelda, what happened?" Midna exclaimed.
"I don't know, she didn't give me many details, but I think it's bad. I need to get to Hyrule General right now." Despite the urgency of her words, Zelda seemed frozen in place.
"I can drive you over there," Link announced after a couple of heartbeats of silence, standing up. Her eyes flicked over to him, and she shook her head.
"No, you don't have to do that-"
"You've been drinking though," he interrupted, his voice firm. "I'll drive you over there, it's not a problem." He looked down at Midna, who was draining her glass of wine. "You want to come?"
After one last gulp, she wiped her mouth and hiccupped before responding, "Of course I will. Let's go now." She stood up and turned towards Zelda, who was finally unstuck and grabbing her purse from a hook by the fridge.
"… Thanks guys." Her voice was filled with relief. "I thought I was going to have to go it alone."
"We wouldn't leave you to deal with this by yourself. Now let's head out."
…
Link dropped Zelda and Midna off at the doors, and then drove off to find a spot to park, a task that ended up being easier said than done in the crowded lot. When Link finally walked through the sliding doors into the waiting room of the ER, Zelda was nowhere to be seen. He spotted Midna sitting in one of the beat-up green vinyl seats against the wall, her arms crossed and a slight scowl on her face. Her slanted amber eyes roamed over the other rows of people in the large waiting room, and her face relaxed slightly at the sight of him. He made his way through the small clumps of people waiting to see a doctor over to his roommate.
"What did I miss?" Link asked as he sat next to her. The doors slid open again, and a woman walked in carrying a flushed, wailing toddler. Midna's eyes followed the pair as she answered.
"Zelda went up with her grandma, and she said she would come back down and let us know what was going on." They were both silent for a minute. The woman with the toddler sat down to wait with the rest of them, looking exhausted as she tried to calm down her child. The air in the room was stifling, buzzing with nerves, and he could see many other people who didn't look sick or injured anxiously waiting either for their loved ones to return or for any other news.
"You think he'll be okay?" Midna asked, her voice quiet.
Link thought for a second, and then answered, "I'm not sure… Zelda didn't say what had happened?"
"No, her grandma whisked her away pretty quickly." She sighed. "I hope he's alright." Midna paused. "Daphnes has always been very kind to me." Link had never met the man, but he'd also never heard Zelda say a bad word about him.
The next two hours passed in relative quiet. Midna occupied herself with a couple of magazines that had been left sitting on the little table next to her seat, and when Link wasn't reading the months-old stories over her shoulder, he spent time watching and counting the other people in the ER. The woman with the toddler was called back after about 15 minutes of waiting, and the pair didn't return.
"How long has it been?" Midna said, closing the second magazine she had been perusing. Link checked his watch. 10:30. 24 people in the ER including them.
"It's been about 2 hours now."
"Shit, I don't want to leave without talking to her, but we both have to work tomorrow." Midna propped up her cheek on her fist, slouching in her chair. "I think it's going to be bad – she would have come and told us something by now."
"Maybe she just got wrapped up in talking to the doctors and her grandma," Link suggested.
"Maybe," Midna acquiesced, but she still sounded doubtful. "D'you see any more magazines?"
"There's some over by that lady with the brown hair," he pointed out. Midna hustled over quickly, eager to ease her boredom. After a couple minutes, Link excused himself to get some coffee from the little café downstairs, while Midna waited upstairs for any sign of Zelda, then they switched. By that time, another half an hour had passed, and Midna was getting especially antsy.
"At least I won't be hungover," she muttered into her Styrofoam cup. "Was not looking forward to that tomorrow."
Before he could think of a retort, Link spotted a familiar silhouette out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Zelda, her eyes locked onto her two friends as she shuffled towards them from the doors leading to the hospital proper. As she got closer, he could see that her face was sheet-white, and Link noticed that her hands were trembling at her sides.
"Oh no," Midna muttered. Putting her cup of coffee down, she stood up and approached her friend carefully. "Zel, what's the news?"
Zelda didn't even seem to see that Midna had moved closer to her. Her eyes were miles away, focused somewhere on the dirty yellow walls of the waiting room. She stopped abruptly in front of Midna, and she seemed to come back into her body then. Her hands curled into fists to try and stop them from shaking.
She shook her head once, then twice – slowly, like she was underwater. She blinked several times and swallowed before stammering out her answer.
"He's… He's gone… He's gone."
Howdy – I'm LEva114, and this is my rewrite of a story I started but never completed when I was a sophomore in high school. I'm now a super-senior in college, so it's been quite a while, but this story without fail always came back to bounce around in my head. I'm beyond happy it gets a second chance at life with some new layers and an actual outline!
For those readers who loved the old Sleep No More, I'm sorry, but I'm taking it down after this goes up. The main reason is that I literally can't read it without cringing so hard I turn inside out (ew) – so many dropped plot threads… We're just going to start fresh, and that's that!
Thanks to LocalTalent53 for being my official beta, to zelda3469 for being my FF dot net buddy (and for giving me some fabulous ideas for later), and shout-out to LeilaEditer for helping me back in my brainstorming days. Y'all are awesome :)
Please drop a review if you liked it - the second chapter is already in progress as I type this.