Fan Fiction ❯ Story Of A Girl ❯ Part One ( Chapter 1 )

"I won't let him do it, Serenity," I said to my sister. Serenity turned her pained blue eyes on me. She knew how I felt. After all, when my sisters and I had first been given to Carlos's band of thieves, she'd been sixteen: the age at which we would each have to become that bastard's personal mistress. Serenity had put up with it for seven years, being forced to give him whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Now it was my turn.

"What can you do to stop it, Millerna?" she asked softly. "It was the agreement Papa made with Carlos-"

"Damn him! Don't you dare call him Papa after what he's done to us! Giving his daughters as whores, and for what? To bend the 'no-sons' curse that was put upon his ancestors by Carlos's own family?! I'll kill Carlos, then I'll make our father sorry!"

"Millerna, please don't speak that way," Serenity begged. "If Lilliana and Dana were to hear you talk of murder..."

"You would keep them ignorant of what's been done to us?" I demanded in outrage. "Carlos has raped you every night since your sixteenth birthday, Serenity! How can you not want him dead?"

"I don't want my little sister becoming a killer, Millerna," Serenity said, tears welling up in her eyes. "Not for Carlos."

"I would chose to be a murderer rather than to be bedded by that filth! I'll slit his throat before I let him have me! I'll slit mine!"

"Millerna, no," she cried. "To take any life is to go against the gods, and to take your own life...Why would you do that to us? To your sisters? What would we do without you? You're the strongest of us all." I felt tears begin to stream down my own face now. I looked away from my sister.

"I'll run away," I said. "I'll escape from here. Just as Ayden told me to."

"I'm sorry about him, Millerna," she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It shouldn't have happened. I'm sure his spirit is watching you." I buried my face in my sister's shoulder.

"He was the one male I trusted, Serenity," I sniffed, trying my hardest not to really cry. "He was my best friend. Why did he have to be-?" What had happened to Ayden those years ago had only made me despise Carlos even more. Ayden was his cousin! How do you justify 'accidentally' firing an arrow through your cousin during a raid?

"Life's not fair," Serenity said. "Especially, it seems, for a woman. But what can we do? Like it or not, it's a man's world." I hated hearing her talk like this. Serenity had always been submissive, like our mother. If she didn't like something, she usually just put up with it because she felt that was what she was supposed to do. 'A lady's job is to do what she is told, nothing more, nothing less,' she had once said to me. I remember slapping her as soon as the words were out of her mouth, and cursing her subservience.

I had always been Serenity's antithesis. I'll admit, I've had a bad attitude all my life. Ayden used to say, jokingly, that I could get downright bitchy at times. He saw that as a good thing, he'd said, as a meek girl would never have learned the things he taught me so well, much less have had the guts to use them: Ayden had taught me how to fight. Not just with daggers and swords and traditional weaponry, though. He had taught me how to fight with whip chains, steel fans, throwing knives, staff weapons, and my own body in martial arts. During my training sessions, we would plan our eventual escape from the thieves.

"When we get out of here, Millerna," he said once, "we'll live as warriors. We'll creep around in the shadows, fighting crime, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. We'll live in a dragon-guarded lair full of our treasures, and we'll bow down to no man! We'll be free to do as we please, until you marry, of course. Then it'll just be me, your poor, lonely confidante, living by myself as you're far off, pleasing your husband." I had then told him, in no uncertain terms, that if I ever hit my head hard enough to actually want to marry, my husband would have the duty of pleasing me, not the other way around. Ayden had laughed and said,

"Just watch, Millerna. You'll marry one day, probably to some charming, heroic outlaw. Me, I've got my eyes on the girl who lives in there," he'd said, pointing to the castle many miles in the distance. "A lot of money in it for me if I pull that deal off."

"You mean Zelda of Hyrule? Forget it. She's probably some spoiled, pompous brat, and not as pretty as they say she is. Most royals aren't, you know, at least the ones where we come from. I'll bet you couldn't win her over if you did manage to meet her."

"You mean, my charm, finesse, and devilish good looks might not do the trick?" he'd asked, feigning shock. True, Ayden was the handsomest man I'd ever met. He'd had curly black hair, black eyes, skin the color of brown sugar, and perfectly chisled features. "Well, I'd better use plan 'B', then," he'd said. His plan 'B'? "I'll climb onto her balcony and seduce her, like the swashbuckling romantic hero I am." I wasted no time in telling him that his plan probably wouldn't work. He'd just laughed.

I missed my friend so much.

***

A bit later that evening, I was instructed to bring refreshments to Carlos and a guest of his. A perfect opportunity to ensure the success of my escape plot, I thought. Being the genius I took myself to be, I used a handy little trick my Aunt Miranda had taught me: I mixed just enough poison into Carlos's wine goblet to render him unconcious for, oh, about twenty-four hours after it had worked its way into his system. He would just assume that he'd gotten incredibly drunk. God, I hoped he'd have a splitting headache for the next week after he woke up. Oh, I suppose I could've just kicked him in the head as soon as he got me into his tent, but poisoning his drink was much more appealing at the time.

"Take that, you son of a bitch," I muttered under my breath, laughing maniacally inside my head. Anyone with half a brain would've noticed that I looked way too cocky under the circumstances, and figured that I was up to something, but since we were talking about Carlos, I wasn't too worried about that. He'd never been much in the way of brains.

As I made my way out of the tent, smirking and marvelling at my brilliance, I noticed my younger sisters spying on Carlos and this guest of his.

"What are you doing?" I demanded of them. They jumped in surprise and stared innocently up at me.

"We were just looking at Carlos's friend," Lilliana said. She was thirteen, and Dana was ten. Both looked like shorter versions of Serenity. Only Aunt Miranda and I had green eyes.

"He's cute," Dana agreed.

"You shouldn't be looking at men, either of you," I snapped. "Especially ones he associates with. Stay in here." I heard Dana mutter something about me being "so mean all the time" as I pushed past them and made my way to where Carlos and his new 'friend' sat. The other man had his back to me.

"Ah, Millerna!" Carlos said upon my arrival. Don't you dare smile at me, you vermin, I'll gut you alive. I walked past his guest and forced an incredibly fake smile as I handed him his goblet. I wanted to make sure the poison hit him as soon as possible.

"Enjoy," I said, the fake smile turning into a very real smirk.

"Thank you, my little beauty," he said. Must be pretty damn drunk already not to notice this big evil grin on my face, I decided. "Now turn around, girl, so our visitor can see you. A terrible crime, not to show off such loveliness." I'm going to kill you, you know that? I thought pleasantly as I obeyed. I'll rip your heart out and leave you for the scavengers.

It was then that I caught my first glance of the other man. He looked about twenty, with long blonde hair and beautiful, dark blue eyes. Dana and Lilliana's proclamation that he was cute was a severe understatement: he was absolutely gorgeous! Somehow, he made me think of my old Spirit Guide, Amara. I hadn't seen her in several years, though, so anyone with blonde hair and an air of innocence probably would have reminded me of her. I shook it off.

I noticed that he was looking at me, too. No need for that. I didn't have an unattractive face, but my favorite features, my muscular legs, were hidden under the tightly corsetted dress I'd been instructed to wear. Worse, the dress was fuschia. I detest fuschia. He was still looking at me, but strangely, I didn't mind much.

"A prize, this one, don't you think?" Carlos prompted, grabbing my hips and pulling me to him.

"You will take your hands off me, Carlos, or I will take them off you," I informed venomously.

"Oh, you would speak to me in such a way, even tonight?" he purred, stroking my hair. The younger man shot Carlos a look that said, quite plainly, "Are you insane?" Carlos took no notice. I was very aware of the dagger I had hidden in the bodice of my dress. There was such a temptation to drive it to the hilt in his chest. "Remember, tonight you become a woman." I yanked myself out of his grasp.

"You contemptable bastard!" I spat. "You will not so much as touch me! Not tonight, not ever! That is a promise!" That insufferable jackass laughed!

"There's some of that spirit!" he crowed. "I do love a fiery young lady, don't you, Link?" Ah, so that was the insanely attractive man's name. Link opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and remained silent. Carlos found this amusing.

"Left you speechless, has she?" he asked, chuckling. "I don't blame you, it takes a while to get used to a girl of her vigor."

"You stupid son of a..." I muttered a long line of obscenities under my breath as I walked away from Carlos. I noticed an amused smile on the handsome young man's face as I passed him. He'd heard what I said, and nodded slightly in agreement.

And despite everything, the fact that he didn't like Carlos either made me smile.

***

I crept out of Carlos's tent at around midnight. Oh, there'd been no fun for him. The poison had kicked in just as he was preparing himself. I love me.

Unfortunately, though, I had to borrow some of his clothes for my escape, as one couldn't very well ride and climb and fight in a dress, could one? His clothes didn't fit me well: my hips were wider than the pants would comfortably allow, and the shirt was much too big, although an oversized shirt made it much easier to conceal weapons.

It had taken me a good twenty minutes to get all my weapons together. I'd strapped my daggers to my thighs, tied my whip chain around my waist, and managed to hide everything else as well. Ayden had always told me never to let on that you're armed, and to keep weapons concealed where no one would think of looking. Hence, hiding a knife in a shoe, or the bodice of a dress, as my case had been.

"Now, for a ride outta here," I muttered, once I'd gotten to the horses. "Choices, choices." There was a nice red mare I hadn't seen before. Probably a recent acquisition of Carlos's. Too bad.

"Hey, honey," I said softly, cutting her free. "You'll let me ride you, won't you? That's a good girl." I patted her on the nose and proceeded to climb onto her back. Apparently she did not want to let me ride her. In a matter of seconds I went flying through the air and landed hard right on my far-to-confident ass.

"Damn wretched beast!" I spat. "Ow!"

"You know, Miss, stealing a man's horse doesn't qualify as a proper introduction," an amused voice said from behind me. I whirled around to give the jerk a piece of my mind - or rather, my fist -, and found that it was not one of Carlos's cronies, but the young man from earlier who was watching me with a cocky sort of amusement. Oh, shit, she's his horse? Millerna, you idiot! I scolded myself.

"I'm Link," he said, his smirk turning into a heart-melting smile as he offered his hand to help me up. He was adorable, but I was not about to let on that I'd screwed up. I gave him my best 'don't-you-dare-try-to-help-me' glare and got to my feet.

"I'm Millerna," I replied, "and if you don't mind, Pretty Boy, I've gotta get out of here, fast."

"So you decided to steal my horse?"

"Dammit, I didn't know she was yours, alright!? I need to get far away before his guys catch me, and yours was the first horse I saw, get it?"

"So, you apologize for being a little thief?"

"I will not waste time with you! I have to get away before that bastard regains consciousness and gets a chance at me!" Link looked confused.

"Get's a chance at you?" he asked. Oh, God, I knew I sensed innocence in this guy. I decided to explain this very clearly.

"If I do not get out of this place, I will become asshole's"- I jerked my head toward Carlos's tent - "little sex toy. Do you understand my motivation, here, cutie?" He looked embarrassed.

"Uh, yeah, now I do..." he mumbled, looking at the ground.

"Good boy."

"Hey," he said, looking back at me, "I could help you get away, if you, you know, want me to. I know some women who'd let you live with them. Have you heard of the Gerudos?" Had I heard of them? They were legendary! And they hated men! Oh, it would be an honor just to be around them!

"Y-you know them? Really?" I asked, my eyes widening with a new respect for the Pretty Boy. If the Gerudos liked him...he must really be something!

"Yeah, no big deal," he said, shrugging. No big deal? The Gerudo women were like deities! "But I can't take you directly to them. I need to report back to the Princess about Carlos and his band first."

"You know her, too?" I asked, amazed.

"I'm technically her advisor-slash-bodyguard," he answered nonchalantly. My jaw dropped. Damn, this guy had friends in high places! How did he manage that?

"You must be a pretty important guy," I remarked, trying to sound less impressed than I was.

"Oh, legendary," he said, grinning. "Literally. I'll tell you about it later. Now kindly select a different horse, and we'll be on our way," he teased. Was it bad of me to notice the way his muscles rippled as he climbed onto the red mare's back? Was it bad of me to wish my outfit were a bit more form fitting in the legs and chest, for reasons other than comfort?

I stopped admiring his body and cut loose Carlos's black mare, appropriately named Ebony. She liked me more than she liked him, anyway.

"And she steals another horse," Link commented.

"Oh shut up, Pretty Boy," I replied as I hoisted myself onto the horse. "Carlos can find a new horse, because Ebony's my baby, aren't you?" She snorted softly and shook her head up and down. "I taught her to do that," I informed, smiling.

***

Okay, so Millerna had a bit of an attitude problem and swore more than a girl was supposed to; Link couldn't help noticing how attractive she was. The glossy black hair that fell to her waist; the cat-like green eyes framed by long black eyelashes; the full red lips; the creamy skin that seemed to glow in the moonlight: the effect was stunning, and he found himself glancing at her more often then he should have. It wasn't proper for a man to admire a girl's looks as much as he was admiring Millerna's, and he felt guilty about it. Every now and then he caught her looking at him, but she would look away as soon as he returned her gaze.

He couldn't help but smile when that happened. He knew he was handsome - he'd been told so many times, and it was all that could be assumed by the way the young women in the kingdom made eyes at him - but he tried not to let it get to his head. To be honest, it embarrassed him when women looked at him that way. He didn't like it when someone undressed him with her eyes.

And yet, Millerna appeared to have done just that more than once, and it hadn't bothered him at all. In fact, it had almost flattered him. Maybe Millerna just wasn't a normal girl.

***

"So," I said, "exactly what kind of a name is Link?" We'd stopped to give the horses a break, and were now sitting under a tree as the sun began to rise.

"What kind of a name is Millerna?" he countered.

"My aunt came up with it, actually," I replied. "Apparently it means something in the Ancient Language, but I'll be damned if I know what. And apparently someone named you after chain maille."

"Can we talk about something else?" I thought about this.

"We could talk about your boss, Zelda," I offered.

"My boss, Zelda?" he repeated. "Kindly refer to her as Princess Zelda, would you?"

"We could talk about your boss, Princess Zelda - is that better? I want to know something about her before I have to meet her. So what's she like? Short, tall; fat, skinny; pretty, ugly; smart, dumb? Gimme a vague description of this broad." Link treated me to a look of utter disbelief, as though lack of respect for the princess was completely unheard of; which, I reminded myself, it probably was. He sighed as if I were draining him of all his patience, then said,

"The Princess is a very kind and beautiful woman. I'm very honored to know her as well as I do."

"Uh-huh," I said, giving him a sly glance. "I see."

"You see what?"

"You're having an affair with the almighty Zelda, aren't you?" I accused, grinning evilly.

"W-what? Me? No way!" Link insisted. "We're good friends, that's all!"

"Sure. I've never known a Pretty Boy to deny his relationships; you must just be special."

"You know, I'm really beginning to wish I'd left you with Carlos," he grumbled.

"I'm not too fond of you, either," I informed. Link groaned and got to his feet.

"Alright, since you and I are most likely going to be stuck together for a while, I need to get some things straight with you: first off, you show me and the Princess a little more respect; secondly, I make the calls if we get into a dangerous situation; and thirdly - and most importantly -, if I need to fight someone or something for any reason, you stay back so you don't get hurt. Do I make myself clear?"

"Wait...I stay back so I don't get hurt?" I repeated indignantly. "Exactly what the hell makes you think I will get hurt?" Link gave a small laugh.

"Well, come on, Millerna," he said. "You're a woman. Women don't know how to fight." Link was soon corrected. In a matter of seconds I had knocked him to his knees, grabbed a handful of his hair, and locked my leg around his throat. I held him there.

"You were saying?" I asked in my sweetest, girliest voice, tightening the grip on his throat.

"Y-you win!" he choked.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, still in feminine character. "I'm sorry; I didn't quite catch that?"

"YOU WIN!" he yelled. I released my hold on him, pushed him onto his back, and pinned him to the ground. I leaned down close to his face.

"Now let me get something straight with you," I purred. "I am not like the girls you know. I am not some helpless little bimbo who needs to be saved on a daily basis by a big, strong man. I do not cry if I break a nail, I do not wither and die if left to my own devices, and I do not break if I have to fight some stupid goon. I prefer to do the breaking." I tangled my fingers into his hair and pulled his face closer. "Do I make myself clear?" This, perhaps, was taking it a little too far. He was still bigger and stronger than me, and managed to flip me onto my back. He gave me a charming grin.

"Don't start with me, Millerna." I threw my legs around his neck in a choker-hold. He may have been stronger, but I had technique, flexibility, and the element of surprise on my side.

"Don't piss me off, Linkie-Boy," I shot back. "I could kill you like this."

"There are worse ways to go," he panted, smiling at me, "than with a woman's legs around your neck."

"H-how dare...? OOOHHH!" I kicked him away from me and scrambled to my feet.

"Aww, did I make you nervous, Millerna?" he teased, still giving me that damn cute smile.

"You," I snarled, pointing at him. "GO TO HELL!"

***

Millerna and I rode in silence for a few hours after that little scuffle. Alright, so it was a rude thing to say, but it had served the intended purpose of allowing me to breathe again. Millerna looked thoroughly embarrassed, shocked, and pissed off at the same time - more pissed than anything -, although she managed somehow to be absolutely beautiful even when she was considering ripping my lungs out. Okay, so she hadn't said she wanted to rip my lungs out, but when a woman yells at you to go to hell first thing in the morning and doesn't speak to you until almost sundown, it's all that can be assumed.

"You're still angry, aren't you?" I asked when I couldn't take the silence anymore.

"You bet your ass I am."

"Ooookay, then." About five minutes of silence. "I don't get how you can stay mad at me for so long over something like that." Millerna looked like she was thinking this over.

"Okay, maybe I over-reacted a little about that 'worse ways to go' thing," she admitted. "But it...it brought back unpleasant memories when you said that. Carlos said things like that."

"Uh, yeah, I figured that may have been what was bothering you. Sorry. But I couldn't breathe, it was a last resort. You have very good moves, by the way. I withdraw the remark about women and fighting."

"Because that was what pissed me off in the first place, and got your neck between my legs. If you hadn't said something so damn cheauvenistic, I wouldn't have felt the need to choke you."

"I have learned my lesson, believe me," I said, massaging my throat.

"I didn't do any permanent damage, did I?" Millerna asked, looking a little embarrassed.

"I'm not sure. But I know that my neck hurts."

"Sorry about that. I was a little overenthusiastic in my murderous rage. We can stop up here and I'll make sure you're okay," she said, nodding toward a stream a few yards ahead. When we got to the stream we let the horses go and do what they wanted, then settled down under a tree.

"Okay, let me see what kind of damage I've inflicted," Millerna said in a much gentler voice than she used normally. She stroked her fingers lightly over my neck. That feels good, a voice in the back of my head stated. That feels very good. Maybe I should let her choke me more often- I tried to erase the thoughts from my head.

"I don't think I've wounded you fatally," Millerna said, after she'd finished examining me. "I guess it's time for my dear Aunt Miranda's old standby of 'kiss it and make it better'." She leaned over and kissed my throat. That feels even better, the little voice in my head informed. I could get used to this. No, no it wasn't proper to have thoughts like that. A second kiss on my neck. I love this. This is heaven. I wasn't supposed to feel like this. What was happening to me?

"I didn't kill you, did I?" Millerna laughed. I had closed my eyes, half in sheer terror, half in ecstasy.

"Uh, no," I said, coming back to my senses. "I guess I zoned out for a minute. We should get going."

***

"You know what?" I announced at around midnight. "I'm tired."

"So am I," Link replied. "But you don't see me complaining."

"Yeah," I said, "but you're the big, strong, hero guy. I'm the sweet, innocent, damsel in distress, remember?"

"Innocent? I beg to differ." He rubbed his throat. Maybe I'd gone a little overboard with the leg chokes today.

"Sorry about the choking thing," I said, feeling a little guilty.

"Uh, I wasn't really referring to the choking..." he mumbled.

"Then what were you-? Oh." Had the kisses on his neck bothered him? Strange, when I was little it comforted me to have my mother or my Auntie kiss the various wounds I got. "Sorry," I said. "When I got hurt as a kid, that always made me feel better, so I figured..." I shrugged.

"You kissing me didn't bother me," he said. "My reaction to it is what bothered me."

"What was your reaction?" I asked, curious about this odd proclamation.

"Nevermind," he said quickly, looking embarrassed. "It's not important."

"Okay," I said. If he didn't want to talk about it, I wasn't going to make him. I hated it when people tried to make me talk about things I didn't want to talk about, so it would have been hypocritical of me to do so to him. I may be a bitter, self-righteous bitch, but I am not a hypocrite. "I can take a hint." I yawned and leaned on Ebony, closing my eyes.

"Wait," Link said. "Get on with me. I don't want you falling off your horse." I gave him a look.

"Why do you care if I fall off?" I challenged.

"Because I'm a gentleman," he replied in an equally challenging tone. I shrugged.

"I'll buy that," I said. We stopped, and I climbed on with him. Ebony followed us obediently like a little puppy. I'm so loved. I yawned again, and rested my head against Pretty Boy's chest (he'd had me get on in front of him, so I didn't fall off the back of the horse).

"Don't let this go to your head," I said. "This doesn't mean I like you."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. You mean nothing to me."

***

I woke up in the morning in a bed, wearing a white nightgown. I could smell fresh bread and bacon from somewhere, probably downstairs. I could see a dozen horses outside the window, fourteen if you included Ebony and Link's red mare. This had to be a farm or something.

"Millerna?" Pretty Boy knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" I decided to be obnoxious: it was, after all, my strong suit.

"I don't know, can you?" I asked. Link sighed loudly and came in.

"You know, you really need to work on that attitude of yours," he informed. I gave him my best 'sweet-and-innocent' look.

"Me? Surely you jest. And exactly where are we?"

"We are at my friend Malon's ranch. She'll be up in a few minutes to...help you with all that girl stuff. After that's over with, you can come down and have breakfast. I'd guess that you're hungry; you've been asleep for more than a day straight."

"Seriously?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah. Although I had a marvelous time, not listening to you talk."

"Bite me, Forest Boy," I yawned. The red-headed woman who had appeared in the doorway laughed. She looked a few years older than me, probably Link's age (which I had not been far off on: he was a few months away from his twentieth birthday), and much thinner than me, although she still managed to have bigger breasts than I had. I hated that.

"Okay, Link," she said. "Out. We have female matters to attend to."

"Dear goddesses, I hope you can handle her," he muttered.

"She's only giving you a hard time because you're a boy, now go somewhere else," she commanded, sitting down on the foot of the bed as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. "I'm Malon."

"Millerna. Hi."

"Link seems to be having a bit of trouble with you, but that's just because he's inept at understanding women," she said, smiling. I smirked back.

"Oh yeah, he is. Thinks we're all weaklings who need men to take care of us. Well, screw that." Malon looked as though she didn't approve of my language, but didn't say anything about it.

She said, maintaining her almost unnervingly pleasant demeanor, "I'll run you a bath. While you bathe, I'll look for some clothes for you to wear."

"What's wrong with the ones I was wearing?" I asked.

"Well, they needed washing, not to mention that they were mens' clothes, and didn't fit you very well. I'll find you some proper clothes to wear." As much as I hated dresses, I figured it would be exceedingly rude of me to refuse Malon's hospitality, so I didn't voice my opinion.

***

I can't even begin to express how grateful I was to take a bath. I had always been a very clean person, and it really bothered me when I was unable to bathe.

I felt considerably better once I had gotten out of the bathtub. I wrang out and braided my wet hair, and wrapped a towel around myself to go out into the bedroom. Malon had left me several outfit choices. I decided on a plain brown skirt over a gauzy white dress (this was, believe it or not, the least girly combination) that looked like it really couldn't be worn without and overskirt, unless one wanted to look slutty, since it was almost transparent. Then again, I had no breasts to speak of, anyway, so I figured: What the hell? Why not wear something see-through? There's nothing to see.

"For the love of all things sacred, Malon, please tell me there's coffee," I begged the moment I was downstairs. I had quite an addiction to coffee: if I didn't have it, I got a headache. That's how it had been since I was thirteen years old. I loved coffee, I needed coffee!

"There is plenty of coffee, don't panic," Link said, lounging at the kitchen table with his own cup of coffee.

"Oooohhh, thank you, all things sacred!" I sighed, relieved.

"How do you like your coffee?" Malon asked, laughing at me.

"Cream and sugar," I replied. "Caffeine and sugar just go sooooo well together."

"You're going to be hyper as hell," Link commented.

"No, actually coffee with sugar is what makes me normal. You don't want to see me when I can't have coffee with sugar. I even scare myself on such occasions." I gratefully took my cup of coffee from Malon and sat down across from Link with it. I took a sip. "Aaahhh, coffee! I love you, coffee!"

"Millerna? I've established something," Link said.

"What would that be, O Pretty Boy?"

"You are downright insane."

"Yeah, so don't piss me off."

***

"Come on, up, up, up!" A perky little voice chirped in my ear. Ugh, it was too early!

"Go 'way," I mumbled into my pillow. "Lemme sleep."

"Now really, you need to get up," the voice said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Geez, would you go awa- AH!" Hovering near my face was what looked like an incredibly small woman with blue wings and hair, surrounded by a blue light. "What are you!?"

"I'm Navi," she said. "I've been Link's partner since he was a little boy."

"Link's partner is...a bug?" I asked skeptically. The little woman gave me a very irritated look.

"I'm a fairy," she said, as though I was some kind of idiot for not knowing that.

"Ah. Charming," I replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to sleep."

"No! You and Link are going to the castle today! You have to get up and get dressed like a proper lady!"

This did not sound good.

***

This was not at all good. A while later I was wearing a very ugly, ruffled, pink-and-purple dress. I looked like the biggest loser imaginable. I was going to murder that fairy.

"Oh, Millerna!" Malon cried. "You look so pretty!" I forced a smile. It was more of a snarl, actually, but who's going to critique me?

"Can I please wear something else?" I asked through my gritted teeth. "I feel like a complete ass." Malon again gave me her *I-don't-approve-of-your-language-but-I'll-pretend-I-didn't-hear-that* look.

"No, it's best to dress properly for an audience with the Princess."

"Ah." I didn't feel like challenging her again. Her tone had stated quite clearly that the conversation was over. Then she got perky again.

"Come on! Let's see what Link thinks of you!" she chirped, practically dragging me out of the room and down to the kitchen. It was going to take a lot of coffee to make me feel okay with this. In fact, it would probably take a lot of coffee *and* a lot of chocolate. If the situation got even worse, ice cream would be in order.

"What do you think?" Malon asked with a huge smile. Pretty Boy studied me, looking like he would burst out laughing any moment.

"She looks, uh, great," he said, trying to hide his amusement (and failing miserably).

"I look like a damn ornament," I muttered. Malon gave me that look again, and I decided to shut up.

***

And so it was that after breakfast (and not nearly as much coffee as I needed), the Forest Boy and I made our way into the wonderful, magical Princess's little city. The fairy was drilling me on behavior the entire time.

"-And absolutely *no cursing*," she finished.

"In other words," I translated, "act nothing like myself."

"That'd do it," Link said, grinning. "Girls like you...well, they're not respected."

"I personally don't give a damn," I said. "All these little Hylian bastards can bite me, because I am not a conformist."

"I said no cursing!" Navi screeched. "Don't you listen to anything?" That pissed me off.

"Back off, buggie. Don't make me get a fly-swatter."

"LINK! She's doing it again! She's calling me a bug!" the annoying little fairy accused.

"Millerna, don't do that," Pretty Boy said, laughing. "And please, no attacking me in front of these people. It wouldn't look right." Yeah, it might upset his admirers, who were now coming out of their little houses to greet him.

"You're a regular celebrity, Pretty Boy," I grumbled, though I doubt that he heard me through the noise the townsfolk were making. Yes, it seemed they all knew and loved him. I was, of course, invisible to his adoring fans - well, unless you count quite a few girls giving me dirty looks. But other than that I was just there. In the shadow of a man. How did other women live like that their whole lives?

I pondered that as we rode up to the castle. It felt like a very long ride, though it was probably because we kept having to stop so people could come up and greet their big hero. I felt like punching someone, and the sooner I got out of that damn ugly dress, the better. Then I reminded myself that in the castle I would probably be supplied with many more damn ugly dresses to suffer in. Why couldn't women just wear pants? What was so unholy about that?

"Here we are," Link said, after what seemed like forever. "Welcome to Hyrule Castle."

"Oh. Wow." I said dully. "How fu-"

"Millerna," he warned.

"How *freaking* wonderful," I said. "Is that better, O proper one?"

"Not much, but it'll have to do," he muttered, climbing off the red mare. He then came over to me.

"Helping little old me off my horse?" I asked. "How chivalrous." Of course, I then jumped off Ebony from the other side.

"Fine then," he grumbled. "Forgive me for trying to be a gentleman. I should have guessed that you would never accept such a gesture."

"HAH!" the bug crowed. "See what you insisted on saving, Link?"

"Hey, Navi, watch out! There may be frogs around!" I snapped. "The world's a dangerous place for little buzzy things."

"Did you hear that, Link? She's insinuating that I'm a bug!"

"Navi, you started it," Forest Boy said. Wait a minute, he was defending me? Odd. Very odd. I made my way up to the castle door.

"Outta the way, muscle head," I said to the guard, who was looking at me like I was some sort of lower life form.

"Excuse me? And just who do you think you are, little girl?" he sneered. "Would you like to spend some time in the dungeon?"

"She's with me." The guard instantly changed his tune upon seeing Link.

"Oh, uh, forgive me, Sir," the armored dick head stammered. "I was not aware that this...er...this...*person* was accompanying you. My sincerest apologies to you, madam."

"Bullsh-"

"We are here to meet with Princess Zelda," Link interrupted. "As soon as possible."

"Oh, she's been expecting you, yes, I'll take you to her now." With that, Bastard opened the door and led us inside. Link pulled me back.

"Are you insane?" he hissed. "You don't just go up and provoke a guy with a huge spear!"

"He's only got a big ass spear to compensate for his tiny-"

"Do you have a death wish?" he demanded. "Would it hurt you to pretend to be a nice, normal girl around these people?"

"Define 'normal'. Being subservient and meek? I'll pass. They don't like me, that's their problem. I change for no one."

***

The guard, whom I had silently nicknamed Bastard, led us through the castle. And man, that place was huge! Despite the impressive size and decorations, however, it wasn't very pleasant inside the castle. It was the middle of the day, but the corridors were dark and the air was stale. No amount of windows would have helped. I shifted uncomfortably in URPD (Ugly Ruffled Pink Dress), and wondered just how nobles put up with this all the time. True, I wasn't a big fan of sunlight, but fresh air was something I enjoyed.

And another thing: the place smelled awful. Without air circulation, the heavy scents of perfumes, colognes, and oils mixed together and positively reeked. Another reason was that I doubted if these people bathed every day. Bastard smelled like he hadn't in a few weeks. This was, then again, probably why so many oils and perfumes were used. Forest Boy, however, smelled pretty nice. He probably figured like I did: if you're outside all the time, you may as well bathe in a lake or something. Cleanliness was good. Being neurotically clean myself, I quite admired cleanliness.

To take my mind off of how much I wanted fresh air, I decided to instead study the wall decorations and the scenery outside the few windows there were. Hell, Bastard was walking slow enough for me to examine stuff. I wondered if being taken to the princess was some kind of ritual, or if he was just a slow, bored son of a bitch who had nothing better to do. Nevertheless, I followed like a good little girl behind the two men (the pain was unimaginable) and took my time checking out wall hangings and other interesting things.

"Oh, wow!" I whispered, stopping. I had spotted a courtyard outside one of the windows: there were several trees and flowers, and a crystal pond in the center dotted with waterlillies. This was, without a doubt, the best thing I'd seen so far in the castle. I felt a hand grab mine.

"Come on," Forest Boy said quietly, pulling me away from my view of the beautiful courtyard. I couldn't help noticing how gentle his grip on my hand was. I wouldn't have expected that from a warrior. I would have expected roughness. I was proven wrong.

After about five more minutes (the walk would have been faster had Bastard not been leading us) we arrived at an elaborately decorated door. This was, undoubtedly, the door to Princess Zelda. Bastard opened the door and Link went inside. I would have followed, but Bastard held me back and insisted that I wait outside the room until invited in.

"Asshole," I muttered under my breath.

"What did you say?" Bastard demanded.

"I said, 'That's cool'," I replied quickly.

"Hmph!" Bastard then left, and I was free to disobey his orders and eavesdrop to my heart's content.

"Link! You're back!" The girl who had spoken was tall, skinny, and had light blonde hair. Her dress was made of pale pink silk, and she wore what must have been a crown of some sort. I automatically did not like her for three reasons: 1) her clothing was ridiculously ornate, 2) she deliberately wore pink, and 3) although she looked like she probably weighed less than a hundred pounds, she still managed to have breasts about three sizes larger than mine. Yes, that was the kicker. If bony girls could have huge breasts, why couldn't a I have normal-sized ones? That was so damn unfair. I scowled as Link bowed to the princess. I now knew why so many men spread rumors of her beauty: she had a big chest, and that's all men cared about.

There was apparently a hushed conversation going on, but I couldn't hear any of it clearly enough to take a guess, until,

"Who is *she*?" Zelda asked, just noticing me. I was partially invisible, after all, having stood there for five minutes without being seen.

"So you've noticed her?" He went on, saying something to only Zelda. Whatever it was, she looked slightly amused. Pretty Boy then turned to me. "Millerna, would you like to come in and meet the Princess?"

"No."

"That was not a request, Millerna," he said, with obvious annoyance. "Please. Get. Over. Here."

"Bite me, Forest Boy," I scoffed. There were a few moments of silence before Zelda burst out laughing. Oh, now I was here for her amusement?

"I believe, Link," she giggled, "that you have your work cut out for you!" I wasn't sure what that meant, but Pretty Boy apparently knew.

"Don't I just," he said through gritted teeth. "Don't I just."

***

*God, someone shoot me right now,* I thought. It was evening now, and Zelda had invited Pretty Boy and I to dinner. Well, she'd invited him, and he insisted that I come. Sadistic son of a bitch wanted to watch me suffer, no doubt.

"Hold still, milady," the servant girl ordered, annoyed with my attempts to break free of the stiff undergarments she was trying to bind me into.

"Is this *really* necessary?" I demanded, trying desperately to breathe as she cinched a boned torture device around me from my hips to just below my breasts. This was affectionately called a corset, but Squeezing Apparatus From Hell seemed SO much more fitting.

"Yes," she said calmly. "All ladies wear one." The temptation to scream 'I ain't a lady, you stupid bitch!' was overwhelming, but I kept my big mouth shut as my waist came to approximately sixteen inches in circumference. One's waist is not supposed to match one's age. It is cruel, unusual, and just freaking wrong.

"Thanks for breaking all my damn ribs," I muttered, as she scurried off to get something else to burden me with. I was already laden with a very uncomfortable garter belt, a full underskirt, and that God forsaken corset. How much more could she possibly need to put on me? In answer to this, moments later stockings were clipped to the garter belt and a gown was pulled on over my head. The gown was the color of champagne, embroidered with gold phoenixes. It was pretty, and at least it wasn't pink.

As the girl ran off to get something else, I examined myself in the mirror. The dress was very low-cut, and, thanks to the corset, showed much more cleavage than I was comfortable with. Still, aside from my unnaturally small waist, I had to admit that I looked pretty good in it. My near-contentment ended when SG (Servant Girl) came back and insisted that I 1) let her put my beautiful hair (the one thing I truly loved about myself) into a very tight bun, and 2) wear these huge-ass, high-heeled shoes. That ruined my mood from then on.

***

"Why is this happening to me?" I asked my reflection. "What have I done to deserve this?" I could not breathe, my head hurt because of that damn bun, I could not stand in these shoes, much less walk, and makeup had been piled onto my face. At least SG had refrained from putting perfume on me after I threatened to beat her to death with my shoe.

"Millerna...wow."

"Don't start, Pretty Boy," I snapped. "I hate this."

"Why?" he asked. I turned to face him.

"Okay, one: there is no way in hell that I could ever hope to walk in these shoes; two: this bun is yanking my scalp in all the directions it is NOT supposed to be yanked in; and three: this dress-slash-corset is doing double-duty of breaking my ribs AND cutting off circulation to my breasts."

"Uh...I can see why that would be...not good," he said. "So, do you think you can manage to sit through dinner tonight?"

"Assuming I can figure out how to sit in this damn thing?" I grumbled. "Oh, SCREW IT!" I yelled, kicking off the huge shoes and trying desperately to get my hair out of the bun. It wasn't working.

"Stop, let me do it," he said. "You'll end up pulling all your hair out like that. Turn around." I sulkily did as he said, and he began to undo my hair. "I really don't see the point of all this," he stated.

"Join the club, Pretty Boy," I muttered. "I'm fine with a clean face and men's clothes."

"No, I mean...your hair's so beautiful, it's a shame to put it up," he said, gently combing his fingers through my waist-length hair. "I don't see the point of squeezing you into a corset, either."

"Something we agree on. I don't know about these Hylian broads, but I happen to like breathing."

"Millerna, promise me that you will behave properly during dinner," he said. "No swearing, no sarcasm, no attacking me, no provoking the guards...you catch my drift?"

"In other words, if I keep my mouth shut, I'll do just fine," I nodded.

"That's about right," he said, smiling. He took a gold hair clip off the dresser and pulled my hair back with it. "So everyone can see your pretty face," he explained. My heart fluttered. He thought I was pretty?

"So, do I pass inspection?" I asked, turning to him. He looked me over. Was it my imagination, or did his eyes linger on my bust? I dismissed it as my imagination. He was too pure for that.

"You look wonderful," he said. "How about me? Do I look stupid?" His outfit looked like something a prince would wear: blue velvet with a silver cape.

"Without the green hat you're almost unrecognizable, but otherwise you look fine," I assured. *The velvet matches your eyes,* I thought. He flashed his charming smile.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

***

Dinner with the almighty Zelda taught me a very important lesson: Hylians talk too damn much. All night I was being asked things like,

"Where are you from?"

"How did you meet Link?"

"How long will you be staying here?"

Many of these came from Zelda, actually. Aside from asking me things, I had a feeling that her and Forest Boy's hushed conversations were about me. I wondered what he was telling her. If it had anything to do with Carlos, I would be kicking his ass shortly; my background was none of Zelda's business.

The food was no good. I mean, apparently these poor schmucks liked it, but to me it was near-impalatable. The meat was dry, the vegetables were bland, and there was no salt anywhere to try to make up for it. Not to mention that whatever they served for dessert was damn close to being pure sugar: disgusting. I would have given anything for Aunt Miranda's cooking. Practically the only things that were digestable were the bread and the wine - I don't like wine, but the water tasted...well, not good. *I have seen Hell,* I thought. *It is big, fancy, and belongs to Princess Zelda.* Not to mention that the women sitting on either side of me were just scary.

"Do you like it here?" the blonde on my right asked in a sugary voice, smiling. God, she was so freaking cutesy. She had curly hair, huge blue eyes, and was, of course, stick-skinny.

"Uh, well," I replied. "It's...er...big." Okay, what was I supposed to say? 'No, actually I'd boil my head in acid rather than sit here with you imbeciles'?

"What's your name?" Cutesy asked, still giving me that sickly sweet smile. I wanted to knock all her teeth out.

"Millerna," I said, trying my best to force a convincing smile.

"I'm Marisol," she chirped. "It's really so nice to meet someone from another place, I mean, you must have so many interesting stories about your homeland. It really does get quite dull around the castle, all this luxury-" Oh, she went on and on, not even checking to see if I was listening, which I wasn't. Someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned to the woman on my left.

"I am Brunhilde," she said. The woman was, by the looks of it, at least a foot taller than I and outweighed me by about a hundred pounds. She looked mannish, and certainly did not belong in her pink satin gown. "How are you?" she asked in a heavily accented voice.

"Um...I'm fine, thank you," I replied in a very small voice. Cutesy I could take if she pissed me off. This woman I could not. I may be reckless, but I'm not stupid enough to provoke someone who could crush me.

"Vas ze food to your liking?" she continued.

"It's...it's different than what I'm used to," I said.

"Ja, it is not what I am used to, either," she agreed. "Vat my mother cooked ven I vas a little girl vas much better zan zis." I dared not ask what her mother cooked. I instead caught Pretty Boy's eye and gave him a pleading look. He slowly shook his head. I would have to sit this one out. Oh, he was getting his ass kicked.

***

"Do you have any inkling of how excruciating that was!?" I hissed at him once we'd been allowed to go. "I was sitting next to a ditz and a giant!" The terrible food had left me hungrier than I was before, and I was not in a good mood with Pretty Boy for making me go.

"Millerna, sometimes you just have to deal with things," he said, leading me into my room and closing the door behind us. "You can't always have your way."

"YOU'RE ACTING AS THOUGH I'M BEING SELFISH!" I yelled. "I FOLLOWED YOUR STUPID INSTRUCTIONS, SO WHAT THE HELL MORE DO YOU WANT?!?"

"Would you be quiet?"

"I'LL BE AS LOUD AS I WANT TO BE, YOU SADISTIC BASTARD! YOU KNEW DAMN WELL THAT I'D HATE IT THERE, BUT YOU MADE ME GO ANYWAY! DO YOU *ENJOY* SEEING ME MISERABLE? DOES IT *AMUSE* YOU?"

"Millerna, calm down."

"OH, FUCK OFF!" I bellowed. He stared at me in shock. I took a few deep breaths, then continued. "You know what I'm going to do? I am going to get out of these clothes, I'm going to take a nice, long bath, and maybe once I've done that, I will not feel the need to dissect you alive. Excuse me." I shoved him out the door, then attempted to get out of my dress. It did not work. I opened the door again.

"Help," I commanded.

"Whatever you say," he said quietly, coming back in. There was complete silence as he unbuttoned my dress (what kind of idiot puts buttons down the back of a dress?) and untied the knots in my corset (again, what kind of dismally brainless person makes clothes with fastenings in back?). He took the clip out of my hair and laid it back on the dresser and picked up a silver brush.

"I'm sorry I made you come," he said, slowly brushing my hair. "And I'm sorry they put you in all this...ridiculous underwear. I didn't know it would be so bad for you." He rubbed my back. My eyes closed. That was making me feel better. I sighed.

"Can you forgive me?" he asked softly. I shook myself out of it.

"I'll think about it," I snapped. "Now get out while I take a bath."

***

The bathroom in my room surprised me. It actually smelled better than the hallways, probably because not many people used it. The whole room was impeccably clean, and there were several plants in ceramic pots around the bathtub in the center of the room (which was quite large and circular, and was surrounded by a gauzy white curtain). I was suddenly struck with a burning question: if these people could take baths, why didn't they? Wasn't that totally defeating the purpose of having bathtubs?

"Well, whatever suits them," I said to myself, starting the water in the tub. It was good to be able to control your water temperature. Malon's idea of a comfortable bath had required me to refill half the tub with cold water just to make it bearable. Hot water was not good unless it was freezing cold outside, and even then , warm water was just fine for me.

***

Relaxing in the bathtub was improving my mood, at least. I no longer wanted to rip Link's lungs out of his chest. I could settle for simply kicking him in the balls. Yep, that would work. I wouldn't kill him, I'd just make him incapable of reproducing.

"...a strong and hansome hero from afar...make you a wife and a mother..." Amara's words entered my mind. What had she meant by that? Why had she deserted me?

"...the man they spoke of, Millerna, is my son. The Goddesses have selected you to marry my son..." What had she said his name was, again? God, I couldn't remember, it was so long ago.

"What was it?" I muttered. "What was her son's name? Come on, Millerna, you *know* this...What was his name?" I closed my eyes and tried to remember. What letter did it begin with?

"...You know, Miss, stealing a man's horse doesn't qualify as a proper introduction..." Why was *that* coming back to me? I mean, memories of things Link had said were a little off-topic.

A vision of Amara's spectral face flashed into my mind. Sparkling blue-gray eyes, blonde hair, and a warm smile. She'd been patient with me, a sarcastic little child. Nevertheless, I was often reminded to improve my disposition.

"...You know, you really need to work on that attitude of yours..." His face replaced Amara's. Deep blue eyes and long blonde hair...that charming smile... "...No cursing, no sarcasm, no attacking me, no provoking the guards...you catch my drift?..." Why the hell was this relevant to the subject at hand? Why did thoughts of Link invade my mind when I was thinking of Amara? There was no connection between them.

Was there?

***

My thoughts were still all jumbled once I'd gotten out of the bathtub and slipped on a nightgown that had been put into the closet, among other articles of clothing, for my benefit. Most of these I wouldn't wear if I could help it, but there were a few things that looked semi-wearable.

With the notion that spending some time outside in the courtyard I'd spotted earlier mights help to get my thoughts in order, I rooted through the closet for shoes of some sort (I found white slippers. They were heavily embroidered, but at least they didn't have heels) and managed to find my courtyard quite easily. The moonlight glittered on the pond. This place was even more breathtaking at night. I stared up into the sky.

***

She was looking up at the stars, didn't know he was there. Her long black hair blew in the breeze. *She's so beautiful,* he thought. *How can anyone so mean be so beautiful?*

He'd never felt this way before, not ever. He wanted to go up to her, slip his hands around her waist, and - actually, he'd wanted to do that earlier when he was helping her get undressed, but wasn't quite sure how she would take it. It was entirely possible that he would have ended up in another of her leg-chokes. Which, honestly, could have been worse... *Why am I thinking like this?* he demanded of himself. *What's wrong with me?"

***

I was being watched. I could feel it. Whoever - whatever - it was was in for more than they'd bargained for. I removed the knife I'd hidden in the bodice of my nightgown and spun around.

"Damn it, Pretty Boy," I sighed, greatly relieved that I wouldn't have to get blood on my pretty knife just yet. "You just about gave me a fucking heart attack!" He groaned.

"Was it really necessary to add 'fucking' to that?"

"I can't help it," I said. "I've spent most of my life around bad language. But damn, don't sneak up on me like that. I could have killed you," I added, displaying my knife.

"Millerna, it's midnight, everyone in their right mind is asleep. Why do you have a knife?"

"Actually, I have two more on me," I informed, returning my knife to its hiding place. Forest Boy stared at me like I was insane, or paranoid, or both.

"One knife in the cleavage of your bodice; where, may I ask, are the other two?" I gave him my best evil grin.

I showed him the small knife in my slipper, and pulled the skirt of my gown up to reveal the dagger strapped to my right thigh. "What do you think?" I asked.

"Nice legs - NO! That's not what I meant! I meant that - uh -" He was blushing bright red. I had a feeling I probably was, too, but I was very pleased nonetheless. He looked like he wanted to disappear.

"Goodnight," he said in a small voice, before running like hell back into the castle.

***

How was it that this was happening? He was the great Hero of Time, destined to protect his land and his Princess. He wasn't supposed to feel this way about anyone. Especially not Millerna. It made no sense why it had to be her: a sixteen-year-old girl with a bad background and a worse attitude.

*I'm losing my mind,* he thought, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling above his bed. *I'm just losing my mind. Otherwise I'd have feelings for someone normal. Malon, maybe, or Zelda. Not Millerna. Definitely not her.* But the way she'd looked in the moonlit courtyard...the way the strands of shiny hair blew around her pretty face, the way her skin seemed to glow even brighter than the full moon above...those long, shapely legs...

"I am so messed up," Link muttered, covering his face with his hands. "Goddesses, why can't I just go back to feeling the way I did before? Why do I feel so strange?"

***

The bed in my room was huge. Two people could have fit in it, maybe three. It was fancy, too, with a lacy canopy above it. Everything was white and lacy, the quilt had gold embroidery as well. I really couldn't see why everything had to be so decorative with these people, but at least the bed was nicer than the food had been.

"Sleep is good," I said to myself, slipping under the covers.

***

***Trapped! Trapped in nothingness by that royal bimbo and those damn Sages. And that boy. The boy needed to die! He had tried to escape, but his attempts had been futile.

"RELEASE ME!" he bellowed into the emptiness. "RELEASE ME FROM MY PRISON!" And for the first time, there came a reply.

"What would be in it for me if I did?" a voice asked. The voice came from a man who had appeared beside him. He was tan skinned and black haired, in all the regality of an accomplished thief.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me: what do I get if I free you?" the man said, smirking. "I demand payment for my services, Mr. Ganondorf..."***

Link suddenly bolted upright. Had that been a dream? It had felt so real! Was it possible for someone to break Ganondorf out of the evil realm?

"Take it easy," he said to himself, taking a few deep breaths. "You were dreaming. It was just a nightmare." He lay back down and eventually fell asleep again.

***"What sort of payment?" Gandondorf snarled. "What services?"

"You want him dead, the boy Link? I want him dead, too. I'm willing to help you kill the little bastard."

"Enlighten me, why do *you* want him dead?"

"He stole my whore! And once we kill him, I. Want. Her. Back. That is the payment I want."

"A tempting offer. What is your name, again?"***

***

"Millerna!" I sat up in bed and gave Pretty Boy my best glare. Why was he waking me up so damn early? It must have been two in the morning!

"What?" I snapped. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a morning person. He ran a hand through messy blonde hair and started off on a long explanation of the dream he'd had.

"Pretty Boy," I groaned. "You had a nightmare. Didn't your parents explain to you that nightmares aren't real?"

"I never knew my parents." Complete and total silence. Me and my big mouth.

"I...I'm sorry about that," I said. "I didn't know..."

"No. It's fine. It doesn't matter." Yes it did. His eyes showed as much pain as Serenity's always had. I stepped out of bed onto a rug made of the long, white fur of some animal.

"Come here," I said gently. He hesitated, then obeyed. I wrapped my arms around him. He stood rigid. "I'm sorry, honey," I said. "I guess I don't think before I speak." A few seconds of silence. "The idea is generally to hug back," I teased. He did so rather timidly.

"You're right, this is nice," he said softly, his body relaxing slightly. I couldn't have agreed more. I pulled away a couple minutes later and gently took his face in my hands.

"Maybe you should tell me about all this stuff, sweetheart," I said. "So I don't say something stupid again."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," he agreed.