Disclaimer: I do not own the legend of Zelda game series or the characters.

Hello, everyone! Thanks again for reading! Sorry this update's been so long, but I hope that you'll find it entertaining! :DDDD

As always, thank you so much to those who have reviewed/favorited my story! I really appreciate it!

Where we last left off, Link and Sally went from Castle Town to Lake Hylia in search of information about the monsters. Now they are in Lake Hylia. :) What'll happen next? Read on! :DDDD

Chapter 13: Dealing with "Monsters"

We took down the tent and put all of our belongings away. I shrunk all of our items with my communication orb so we could carry them easily again. We put the items into our pockets and trudged on. We went over to Fyer's Cannonball ride to ask Fyer about any monster sightings.

"Yeah. I've seen some strange things lately." He replied, placing his hands on his hips. "What's it to ya?"

"Nothing." I said to him. "We were just curious."

He studied Sally for a minute. Sally laughed nervously. "What?"

He looked back at me. "Why are you with a lady?"

I sighed. "This is my girlfriend." I looked away and snickered.

She slapped me on the back of the head. "What the heck?!" She screamed.

I yelped. "Ouch! That hurt!"

"No kidding! Why on earth are you saying that I'm your girlfriend?" She grabbed my ear and pinched it tightly with her thumb and index finger, the pain throbbing against my head.

"Owowowowowowow!" I screamed. "Can you please stop, Sally!?"

"Wow, Link…you're real smooth with the ladies!" Fyer commented sarcastically.

"Ain't that the truth!" Sally exclaimed with contempt while looking at Fyer. She looked back at me and rolled her eyes, pinching my ear harder as she grit her teeth. "You still haven't answered me, Link!"

"If you'd quit hurting me, I'll tell you!" I shouted. She finally let go of my ear, the sting from her fingernails still strongly felt, and very prominent as a red mark near the tip of my ear. "Ahhhck!" I complained breathily as I rubbed my mark instinctively with the tips of my fingers.

"You'd better explain yourself!" She yelled, glaring at me like I had committed a terrible crime.

"I thought it would be funny! That's all it entailed!"

She grabbed me by the shirt collar and shook me. "Well, here's a newsflash, bucko! It isn't funny!"

"Wow! Stop getting violent! It was just a joke!" I pleaded.

She pulled my shirt collar so our faces were close, our noses almost touching. "You're really starting to tick me off!"

I blushed. "Dang it! Why am I thinking that she's cute when she's mad?! Get a grip, Link!" I did my best to regain my composure, taking a deep breath and letting it out."Okay! I get it! I made a mistake!" I raised my hands in front of her and backed myself up a little bit.

She scowled and got in my face again. "I don't think you do!"

"God, you two argue like a married couple!" Fyer hollered, using his hands to push us back from one another.

Sally's eyes widened as she shot a quick glare at Fyer. Fast as lightning she grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Take that back!"

"AAAAHHHH! Let go of me!" He panicked. "Don't harm me; it's him you're angry with!" He pointed at me.

"That's where you're wrong, pudgy!" She shook her fist in intense irritation. "I'm angry with both of you!"

"Spare him!" I got in front of her. "He doesn't think about what he says!"

"You don't either, Mr. Hero, so I wouldn't be talking!" She turned to face me. I backed up in fear as Fyer ran to the door of the cannonball ride, clutching the handle for comfort while trembling. She clenched her fists again. "You men are so pathetic!" She scoffed. "Did I say men? I meant boys!" She looked at Fyer again. "Are you going to take back what you said?!"

"No! I-it's the tru—"

"It is not the truth!" She shrieked.

He got down on his knees and clasped his hands together. "Please don't hurt me! You're pretty! You're an angel! A goddess! Please! I'll do anything!" He begged.

She stared at him with rile. "Take…back…those…words!"

"Fine! I take them back!" His body shook with cowardice.

"Satisfied, ice queen?" I huffed.

She leered at me. "No." She put her hands on her hips. "…If I'm an 'ice queen' like you say then I'm going to act like one!"

"Wow!" I looked at Fyer. "She put her hands on her hips! She means business!" I teased. "Watch out, Fyer! Little Miss Attitude is in our presence!"

"Excuse me?" Sally said angrily, forming a fist in her right hand (her dominant one).

"I'm scared to death now!" I said in jest, trying to tick her off.

She leaned towards me. "Take back your words, and then I'll be happy."

I put my hands on her shoulders and stifled a chuckle. "Tell me now; what would be the fun in that?"

"Don't beat around the bush!" She shouted. "And let go of me!" She slapped my arms off her shoulders.

"Ow! That kind of hurt!" I whined.

She frowned, the right side of her nose and lips twitching. "You don't even know what pain feels like!" She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Now, are you going to take your words back?"

I smiled wickedly while lacing my hands behind my head. "Nah! I'm good!"

"You've made a big mistake, 'hero'!" As she shook her fist, I swore I could see the muscle and bulging veins. Not going to lie, I was a little nervous. "Perhaps you've carried this too far, Link…" She smiled with pride. "Allow me to show you what pain feels like!"

As she pulled her arm back and started to fling it at me I put my hands in front of my face for protection and screamed….like a girl! When I didn't feel her hit my hands I slowly lowered my hands. I looked at her face, noticing that her anger was wavering. For a millisecond a small, amused smile came on her face. She tried to hide it by forcing herself to frown. "Ha!" I laughed. "You can't hide it from me. You thought it was funny how I yelled like a lady!" I smirked. "C'mon, smile! Giggle! I DARE YOU!"

She shook her head as she still struggled not to smile, her mouth trembling. "I can't. I have to stay mad at you, otherwise the effect would be ruined and the effort would be pointless."

I stepped closer to her and grinned. "You can't stay mad at me! Admit it!"

"Why do you think I couldn't stay—" She started.

"Because!" She jumped from the rising volume in my voice. "I'm the hero!"

"Oh, don't flatter yourself! That doesn't intimidate me!" She hummed in thought. "Guess mother was right, 'men are dense and naïve. It's no use trying to reason with them.'"

I was shocked. "You're actually taking that crazy woman's advice? I thought you hated her! Didn't you say she had a 'black hole' for a heart?" She shot another glare at me. "Wow, you're really indecisive! Maybe this woman isn't as bad as you've been leading on? Maybe I just caught her at a bad time?"

She shut her eyes and shook her head slowly, a hurt look on her face. "I was talking about my real mother…who was an angel; especially compared to that vile woman my father's married to…" She turned away from me and started walking away towards the back of the building.

I realized I did something wrong. "Sal—" I spoke up.

"I don't want to talk to you." She sat down at the edge of the dock and took off her boots, dipping her feet into the water and staring in the distance.

I started to walk towards her. "Stop." Fyer said suddenly. I stopped and looked towards him. "Let her clear her mind. She obviously has some inner struggles she needs to conquer."

My mouth dropped. "I think that's the wisest thing I've ever heard you say."

"Wise?" He laughed. "Nah!" He rejected the compliment with a wave of his hand. "When you get to my age, you'll understand all the more that women are complicated, plain and simple..."

I went over to one of the railings at the side and leaned against it, keeping a good distance from Sally. I didn't mean to upset her…I didn't even think about the possibility of her mentioning her real mother…she hasn't up until this point! I sighed out of discomfiture. "What kind of 'inner struggles' might she be having troubles with?" I thought. "Besides the fact that her father's married to a woman who seems to be the epitome of an enraged snake that orders her around all the time and the man she cared about the most being dead?" I slapped myself in the face. "God, anyone with a heart could understand that all of those things are hard to swallow! Why couldn't I have just thought about what words I said, instead of allowing those words to casually fly out of my mouth?!" I gazed at Fyer. "I'm a jerk." I sighed. "A complete jerk."

"And you just realized this now?" He raised a brow.

"Yes!" I grunted. "Mock me if you'd like!"

He looked offended. "I wasn't going to." He replied as he shuffled his feet.

I softened my expression as I looked down at the dock and then back at him. "I need to apologize to her."

"Link, why don't you give her some time to think?" He questioned.

"Because what I did was wrong. I was insensitive, 'dense and naïve…'" I responded calmly.

"Whoa, you're having an epiphany!" He said, pointing a finger at me. "Don't allow a lady to think she's always right! She'll walk all over you!"

"You're talking as if I'm interested in her!" I hissed. "I am not!"

"I'd have to disagree…" He wiggled his eyebrows.

"You're not being any help." I said bluntly. "I'm taking matters into my own hands." I walked over towards Sally and stood about three feet from her. She knew I was there but she didn't say anything. "Sally." I said. She didn't look at me. Instead she continued to stare in the distance; whatever her gaze lied on was far more interesting. "Okay." I let out a breath. "I'm going to try again…" I paused. "Sally?" She didn't flinch, not for anything. She was like a beautiful but frail statue, hurt from her imperfections. Demons, those imperfections seemed to be, making her mute and unresponsive. I almost thought she had been or was going to start crying but she just sat there. "Look…" I muttered. "I…" I spoke louder. "I'm sorry." She didn't react. "I was being dumb and immature. I didn't think about what I was saying to you, and I should have." Her hands rested at her sides, gently touching the edge of the dock as her feet kicked under the water, making a sloshing noise. But she didn't do or say anything more. "I'm sorry. I can't fathom what you are feeling…all I can do is give you my condolences." She once again didn't say anything. "If we're going to take care of this monster we have to get along and work together. We don't even have to be friends." She lowered her head slightly, crystal clear tears dripping on her lap. I put my hand on her shoulder. "I'll leave you alone now. I've said what I needed to say."

I began walking away, expecting not to hear a peep. "…Wait…" She said timidly. I turned towards her and could see that her eyes were very red and her cheeks soaked with tears. "Who says that we can't be friends?" She patted an empty spot on the dock next to her. I took off my boots and sat next to her, both of our feet drawing lines in the water. She looked at me. "I'm not perfect…I have some blame in this." She looked at her feet as she swayed them forwards and backwards. "I was too sensitive and didn't control my anger very well." She smiled bitter sweetly at me. "Thank you for your kind apology." I nodded as she looked away again, using her fingers to wipe away tears.

I took off my hat and held it out in front of her. She looked confused. "Take it." I said. "It's the closest thing to a handkerchief I have."

She shook her head. "No, it's alright. It's just a couple of tears. Thank you, though…"

I let my hat drop onto her lap. "It's okay. Use it. I don't have a problem with washing it in the lake. I've done that before…"

She took it in her hands and gently wiped her eyes. "So…" She said, taking the hat away from her face and placing it in my lap. "You're saying that you cry?"

"Well, yeah…" I responded while I shrugged. "Everybody does, right?"

"That they do…" She replied.

I began to wash my hat in the water. "Can't let these lady germs stay on my hat!" I chuckled to lighten the mood.

She giggled. "That's right!" I took my hat out of the water and started to wring it dry with my hands. "That would mess with your reputation, wouldn't it, tough guy?" She elbowed my arm.

"Yes." I laughed again. "And I can't let that happen!"

Sorry this chapter's kind of slow. I like developing the characters. :) What did you think? Let me know in a review! More to come soon! :)