A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 22: The Great Snowball Fight

The chirping of birds rang through Zelda's ears. She rolled over in the softness of her sheets and pressed her face into her pillow, wanting nothing more than for the sounds to disappear. She wanted to sleep, to remain deep in the darkness that allowed her to dream. She knew that she would have to be at work soon, and every second of sleep mattered, especially after the rough weekend she had previously. As soon as her job appeared in her mind, Zelda pushed herself up from the pillows and looked out the window against the wall.

"What?" Zelda said loudly as she watched the sun rays dance through the windowpane. "Why is it so late? Link? Link, where are you?"

With her lover nowhere to be seen, she jumped from the bed and hurried to the Sheikah Slate that sat on the writing desk. She grabbed it and quickly began swiping through the screens before settling on a green dress. After a tap and allowing the blue strings of light to form, she threw the outfit on before dropping the slate back onto the desk. She dashed down the staircase, ignoring the frazzle of hair she didn't bother to fix before opening the door, only to find Link standing there in the snow.

"Link, why didn't you wake me up?" Zelda asked quickly, ignoring the fact that he had been a bit surprised at the sudden opening of the door. "I'm late for work! You know I have to be up before the sun rises!"

"I'm... sorry?" Link said questioningly. "I guess I didn't think about it because you usually get up on your own..."

"Well, if I oversleep, then I would assume that I could count on you to wake me," Zelda responded sourly.

"But, Zelda, you didn't oversleep," Link said. "You said you have today off, didn't you?"

Zelda blinked.

"What?" she asked.

"You have today off, and tomorrow too, in fact," he continued to explain. "At least, that's what you told me on the way home yesterday."

"I did?" she asked. Suddenly, her shoulders relaxed. "I... I do. I do have today off... Prima told me."

"See?" Link said, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to sleep in since you worked hard last week, especially with how the weekend went. I also made some breakfast for today."

After hearing this, Zelda finally looked down to see two bowls of food sitting in his hands. She sighed before backing up to let him into the house.

"I'm sorry, Link," she said as Link stepped inside and allowed the door to close behind him. "I guess... I guess I've just gotten—"

"Used to the chaos?" he asked, setting the bowls on the table. With a tired smile, she nodded, causing Link to chuckle. "I understand. Come on, come eat."

"Thank you," Zelda said, moving to take a seat on the opposite end of the table where her bowl sat. "Well... We have the whole day to ourselves. I think I mentioned this last night, but I want to spend some time with you today."

"Last night, huh," Link repeated quietly, looking down at his food. His eyes glossed over as he stirred his breakfast with his spoon. The vivid image of the traveler he hadn't recognized flashed through his mind.

"D-do you not want to?" Zelda asked shyly.

"Huh?" he responded, snapping out of his thoughts. He looked up to see that her cheeks had flushed, though she didn't dare break eye contact with him. "Of course, I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"F-for a moment, it looked as though you didn't approve of the idea..." she said, averting her gaze.

Link mentally kicked himself. He hadn't meant to let his frustration show. What he had said was the truth: he did want to spend time with her. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to lay in bed and simply hold her close, something he hadn't been able to bring himself to do for the past few days. Despite these urges, he simply couldn't shake the feeling of worry and guilt, and today was no exception. Overpowering his desires for Zelda was the need to search; to act and ensure that traveler from the night before was just that, and nothing more. Still, this was a truth he knew Zelda wouldn't accept, and one that he honestly didn't want to give her, especially when he saw just how disheartened her eyes had become.