Twenty-one Questions: A Zelink story

Chapter seven

"Look, I hate this just as much as you do." Link said that night, his arms crossed as his eyes quickly flicked to the one bed and he grimaced again.

I was brushing my hair in the mirror, holding back tears with every movement of my hand. "Then maybe you shouldn't have started that rumour." I responded, my voice already wavering.

"For the love of God, I didn't!" Link said. "I didn't do anything!"

He sighed, holding his forehead in impatience. "I'm leaving." He announced as he walked out of the room, letting the door slam behind him.

I couldn't bring myself to cry. I just had no energy for that anymore.

A knock on the door sounded a couple minutes later, and in came Dalia and Lisa.

"How's it going so far?" Dalia asked, restocking the towels in the bathroom.

Both mine and Link's quarters had been relocated into a new area of the castle which we both had to share; I already missed my room.

"I hate him more than ever." I said.

"I'm sorry, Princess." Lisa suspired, placing her hands on my shoulders as we both looked in the mirror. "One can only hope that Apollo will return, huh." 

"Are they still looking?" I asked, my voice perking upp at the thought of him coming home to me.

"Yes, but they still haven't found him. They got some clues from some local travelers, so they're headed to the Hebra region. That's where they think he is, anyway."

"I hope they find him," Was all I managed to wistfully say.

Dalia returned from the bathroom and began prepping the king-sized bed. "For now, you might just have to make the best out of a bad situation."

"How do you mean?" I asked, turning to face her.

"Well, you two are going to be living together until Apollo returns. Do you really think you're going to manage that if the two of you are wanting to rip each-other's heads off every minute of the day?"

"No. Probably not." I confessed.

"Then you might actually have to try and be friends?" Dalia suggested.

Lisa chimed in then, saying, "That's not such a bad idea. I'm sure there's some good in him, you just have to find it."

I groaned with disgust. "Lord, I don't want to do that at all."

"Oh come on, Zelda. You're not still mad at him for what happened when you were nine, right?" Dalia said.

"Oh, no. We don't talk about that." I stood up, beginning to remove my jewelry.

"Please! It was, what, nine years ago now?" Lisa added.

"Um, only eight for him, thank you. He's seventeen, remember?"

"Right." Lisa raised her eyebrows sarcastically. "Still, you need to get over this anger at him. It's going nowhere."

"Yeah!" Said Dalia. "So what if he pushed you into a puddle of mud nine years ago? Come on, you're both adults now!"

"It was infront of everybody! It was mortifying!" I protested.

"Nobody remembers or cares, Zelda." Lisa admitted. "Now, Dalia, do you have any ideas of how she should be friends with Link?"

Dalia stopped flattening the sheets for a moment and thought. "How about, like, you go out somewhere together?"

I gagged at the thought. "What, a date? Absolutely not. I'd rather jump off a cliff."

"Okay, so, no date." Lisa threw her hands into the air. "How about you go horse-riding together?"

"That's basically the same thing. Still a hard pass." I said.

"Ooh, I know!" Dalia piped up. "How about truth or dare?"

"No, Dalia, that's weird." Lisa said. "But I do like the idea of something, hmm. Conversation based."

Dalia gasped and her and Lisa looked at each other then, both shouting, "Twenty-one questions!"

They both erupted into laughter and began explaining to me. "That's how we became friends on our first day of training." Lisa said.

"It's perfect! It's just an easy way to get to know one another. Trust me, it works like a charm."Dalia reassured.

My shoulders drooped. "Do I really have to do this?"

"Yes!" They both responded.

"I want to see how it goes, for one." Lisa said. "And sweetheart, if you don't want him, I'll take him, just saying."

"Oh, definitely. Me too." Dalia joined in.

"Really, girls? Are your standards that low?"

"Absolutely." Their response was simultaneous, once again.

"Alright, fine." I submitted. "I'll try it. But it won't go well, mark my words." I pointed at Lisa as her and Dalia waved me off, leaving me by myself once more.

I went to bed that night alone, drawing the curtains round my bed for some privacy. I was still hesitant on letting Link even se me asleep. It felt stalker-ish. I hated it.

Either way, I drifted off to sleep whilst wondering that questions to ask tomorrow.

I wondered if we would ever be anything but enemies; probably not. 

I hope.