Love's Eloquence (Modern|AU)

Chapter Ten: Poetry Slam

Link couldn't help but feel a kind of sadness that Zelda had brought with her to the library. The library had become kind of their favorite hideaway from the world. It was quiet and tranquil. It only just Link and Zelda. That's how they liked it.

"Are you feeling alright?" Link finally asked.

Zelda avoided eye contact and sighed. "I had a fight with my dad last night."

Link sat straighter in his seat and leaned across the table where they sat, ready to listen to what Zelda had to say. "What about?"

"He found out that I was tutoring you."

"What's so bad about that?"

"I've been ignoring my studies and trying to enjoy this last summer vacation I have to enjoy."

Zelda finally made eye contact with a concerned Link. "It's really not all that bad now. After our fight, my dad and I were able to forgive ourselves. He still isn't all on board with the whole tutoring deal. He said: 'do something for yourself for once,' or something like that."

"Then maybe I'll have to prove it to him," Link said stubbornly.

"Prove what?"

Link got up from the table and sent his chair tumbling to the ground. "To prove that your time spent tutoring me was not wasted!"

"You should probably pick up that chair," Zelda noted, trying desperatly to change the subject.

Refusing to let Zelda change the subject, Link pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket and set it on the table for Zelda to read. "I was going to show this to you later, but now is a better time."

Zelda picked up the paper and examined the contents. It was some sort of flyer. "A poetry slam?"

"Yeah," Link nodded enthusiastically. "What if I enter and show your dad that I've improved, that you've improved. You were the one who taught me how to express my feelings on paper. Now I'll express them on silence."

"Link, you're afraid of crowds and talking in front of people," Zelda argued. "I'm not asking you to do this."

"I'm not asking for permission, I'm doing this," Link said with determination.

"Okay," Zelda sighed. "But how would we get my dad to come to something like this?"

Link thought for a moment. She had a point and her father seemed like a very busy man. He doesn't have much time to come to these sort of things, but if it evolved Zelda maybe he'd come.

"You could enter yourself."

***

That night Zelda stayed up later than usual waiting for her father to get home. With all honesty she didn't think that Link's plan would work, but it was worth a try.

Just when Zelda was about to give up and go to bed. She saw a car drive through the gates and stopped in front of the manor. It was none other than her Rhoam Hyrule.

Zelda raced the down the stairs and practically crashed into her father as he came through the front door.

"Dad!" Zelda yelled with enthusiasm and handed her father the flyer for the poetry slam. "Look what I found!"

Rhoam glanced at the flyer and then back at Zelda. "A poetry slam?"

"I want to enter!"

"If that's the case, I'll support you anyway I can."

"Do you think you can make it to the actual event?" Zelda inquired.

Rhoam looked down at the paper again. "It's a week from now?"

"That's what it said on the paper."

"If I pull a few strings at work, I bet I can make it!"

"Really?" Zelda said in disbelief. "You think you can make it?"

"My dear Zelda," Rhoam smiled, "We are Hyrules. Which means we can do much more than pulling strings."

So far Link's plan was going smoothly.