Twenty-one Questions: A Zelink story

Chapter thirteen

I woke up slowly and hazily, my arms still embracing Link. His grasp around me wasn't so tight anymore. I thought I could break free from it without waking him up to go and take a shower, but as I began moving he woke up, his eyes slim with fatigue and confusion.

"Oh", his hoarse voice mumbled, completely wrecked from the night before.

I got up nevertheless, not really knowing what to say. I had never even changed out of my day clothes from yesterday.

I came out of the bathroom around half an hour later, my hair washed, wearing a comfortable, more stay-at-home dress than usual.

"What time is it?" Link was sat up now, his voice evermore husky.

"It doesn't matter," I assured, running a brush through my hair and heading towards the bathroom to continue getting ready in there.

he began to get up from bed before I pushed him back to his sitting position. "You're not going anywhere."

"What?" I heard from the bathroom.

"You're staying here, and I'm staying with you." I brushed my teeth and washed my face, returning to the bedroom. "No training today."

"Are you mad? I can't miss training!" He argued, but I silenced him at once.

"You're staying here, Link," I pointed at the bed. "Right here."

"But I don't want to! I'm fine!" He said. "Fighting helps me...get it out my system."

"No, it doesn't." My voice remained calm but stern as Link gave up his argument.

"Don't you have jobs to do?"

"I can put them on hold." I said, opening the balcony doors for some fresh air. "Incase you've forgotten, I basically run things around this place."

"Oh. Right."

Link got ready about an hour later, but I told him to get straight back into bed and not even think about going anywhere. He had to heal, even if it took me forcing him to do so.

I sat down and handled writing letters as he fell asleep in the backround, his hair covering his face in the puddle of sun.

It had been over two weeks since things had been so peaceful, so quiet. It reminded me of the days before this whole Link thing even began, the days leading up to my birthday.

Everything had been so perfect, so set out. Things between me and Apollo were better than they had ever been and days seemed to get shorter and shorter, the sweet bliss amplifying every day that passed.

And really, I never even thought that I'd get that feeling again. 

But here I was, and things were fine.

I stepped out onto the balcony and gazed across the beautiful morning horizon. He was out there, somewhere...

"Princess!" I heard somebody calling from below.

Two knights were kneeling before me, one of them waving their hands at me. I recognized one of them to be Kyle, a dear friend of Apollo's. He had personally seeked me out after the rumours to ask about them, and was one of the only ones who believed me when I promised him they weren't true.

"Good morning, Kyle!" I waved back, sweetly smiling. 

"Isn't it?" He beamed, standing back up. "Where is Prince Link this morning?"

"He's..." I considered what to say for a moment. "Taking the day off," I shrugged. "As am I, for that matter!"

"A day off?" His eyes widened, as did his smile. "Sounds like a luxury!"