Trick or treat!
You get a treat! I wrote a couple scenes for an EOW fic for the Zelink Community this or that challenge, but I'm not going to have time to write it (Two Different Worlds is taking all my writing time). So you get the scenes instead! This is set post rift but Tri's still hanging around - Zelda's a girly girl and Link is a gardener.
Zelda bumped Tri with her elbow, just as Link disappeared out the door. "See? See? I think he likes me."
Tri didn't have eyes, but Zelda could feel them rolling their eyes anyway. "How could you know? He didn't say anything about it. Unless I missed something when he was talking about the monsters in Hyrule Field."
"You need to observe better. Didn't you see how shy he looked?"
"He's Link, he's always shy. Except when monsters are involved, I suppose." Tri says.
"It's okay, I'll teach you how people work. Not your fault you haven't been in Hyrule in …how long? Ever, is that right?"
Tri sighed. "Today, the Goddesses have chosen to teach me patience."
"I should up my flirting game. You know, let him know I'm interested."
"Even I could see that, and I was very deliberately not looking."
Zelda ignored them. "Maybe I can get the soldiers to tell me some pickup lines. Link won't know what hit him."
—
Tri looked at the paper on the vanity in front of Zelda. "What are you doing?"
"Getting ready for the day. Oh, the paper? I'm writing down things to say to Link next time I see him."
"'I'd be be-rift without you? You can pick up my wand anytime? Does your left eye hurt, you've been looking right all day? Do you have a sunburn, or are you always this hot?' Zelda, these are terrible."
"I like the last one, I think I'll use it."
"I heard Minister Lefte use the eye one on General Wright the other day."
"That's where I got the idea! You know, when I was a kid I thought she was a bit of a stick in the mud, but she's actually pretty cool."
Tri examined the jars on Zelda's desk. "Today's a body glitter day, I see."
"Every day is a body glitter day."
"And hair tinsel?"
"I always have hair tinsel. It's part of my look."
"What is a 'look?'"
"You know. How you look every day."
"Then whatever you're wearing is part of your look by default."
Zelda folded the paper neatly and stood up. "Part of my identity, then. It's how I prefer to look."
"Well, my identity is to not look like I rolled in glitter."
"You might like it if you tried it."
Tri hovered in place, and Zelda felt as though Tri was giving her a sardonic look. "No thanks."
"What are you doing today?" Zelda asked, to change the subject.
"Following you and observing, the way I always do."
Zelda stopped at the door, her hand on the knob. "If things go the way I hope they will, I would like it if you didn't observe quite so closely."
"Six inches back. Got it."
"No, farther back than that. And don't look."
"When?"
"I don't know, it'll depend on when I see Link and what he says."
"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"
"That's what I'm going to do. That's why I want privacy."
"Privacy." Tri did the eye-rolling thing again. "You humans make everything so complicated."
—
"Someone's here to see you, Princess," Impa said, poking her head around the door to the throne room.
Zelda left the conversation between her father, Minister Lefte, and General Wright that had started as a discussion on building codes and had somehow devolved into a 'back in my day' anecdote exchange. She rubbed her temples where her crown sat. What she really wanted was a bath, a book, and- "Link?!"
"Um. Hi, Princess."
He didn't seem to be on a mission. Was he here just to see her? Would he travel half a day one way for that?
"Hi. It's nice to see you."
"You too."
Then they smiled awkwardly at each other.
How did the line go? Oh yes. Zelda cleared her throat. "There's the door. Would you like to go out?"
"Sure."
Just like that? It was that easy? She would have asked him out way earlier if she had known it would be that simple. She pointed at Tri, then pointed back at the room, and Tri bobbed back, looking as disappointed as something without eyes or a mouth could look.
They walked to the door, and Link opened it for her, letting them both out into the afternoon sunlight. Zelda smiled up at the sky. Nothing could go wrong now. No rifts, everyone was back to their normal selves, and Link had said yes! Today was a perfect day.
They walked slowly through the garden. Zelda kept waiting for Link to hold her hand, to say something, do anything, but he seemed content to just walk with her, occasionally grabbing some flowers and braiding them together.
If his hands weren't busy she'd grab his hand herself. "What are you making?"
"A flower crown. They were super popular in Suthorn a few years ago." He studied the braid in his hands. "It needs some blue, I think."
"There's some over there," Zelda said, pointing. "What kind are they?"
Link followed her finger. "Hydrangeas. What's interesting about those is that the color of flower depends on the acidity of the dirt. I'm guessing the gardener brings in sulfur to get this color."
Zelda touched a petal with her finger, making it bob. "What other colors do they come in?"
"Pink if the gardener adds limestone. Purple if it's balanced. Other kinds of hydrangeas are white and don't change color."
"That's fascinating. Do other plants do that too?"
"Nope. Just hydrangeas. They're special." He smiled at her in a way that had her smiling back, before carefully slicing the stem of a flower.
Well, he could have said, 'special like you,' but maybe he was focused on making the flower crown. He certainly seemed to be now.
"I'm visiting Hebra for a week," Zelda said.
His hands paused for such a short moment that Zelda wasn't sure she had even seen it. "That's quite the trip."
"Yes, but there's the temple up there that I'd like to examine. And Conde said his brother's back - I want to meet him."
"It sounds like fun," Link said, twisting the ends of his flower braid together into a circle.
On one hand, maybe she was moving too quickly. On the other hand, no time like the present. "Want to come with me?"
Link jerked, dropping the flower crown. "To Hebra?"
"Yeah, it'll be great! You can meet Conde, Impa won't worry about me traveling alone, we can visit the hot springs - it'll be fabulous!"
"Is that okay?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" He didn't seem as enthusiastic as she would hope, but maybe he just needed time to warm up to the idea. "If you need time to think about it-"
"No, no, I want to come," he said hastily.
Love it!! This is such a wonderful Halloween treat, thank you!
