Fan Fiction ❯ Story Of A Girl ❯ Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

For hours I sat with Link on my bed as he told me all about his "Hero of Time" ordeal. And what did I think of this? He'd never had any time to just be a kid! I mean, day and night, doing Zelda's bidding, trying to find and stop this loser, Ganondorf. And he hadn't even killed the guy! The "Sages" just locked him in some other dimension. Yeah, *that'll* keep a homicidal psycho away for a long time.

"Explain to me again how you got stuck with this," I said. "It doesn't seem fair."

"It's not," he said. "But it's this stupid ancient prophecy, and apparently I was chosen to fulfill it from the day I was born." He shook his head and sighed.

"So I take it you didn't apply for the position," I remarked.

"No. And - I've never told anyone this, but - I wish the position weren't mine. Wish it every day of my life. The battles, the killing, the chance of being killed...I never wanted that." I ran my fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him a little.

"And you can't tell anyone that either, can you?"

"Of course not," he said bitterly. "I'm the Hero of Time. I'm not allowed to get angry, confused, scared, or otherwise fuck up in any way, shape, or form. But my God, Millerna, it's scary as hell living like this. And nobody cares, as long as I do what I'm supposed to."

"I care," I said, taking his hand in mine and kissing his fingertips. He gave me a half-smile.

"And you have no idea how grateful I am for that," he replied, his other hand stroking my cheek.

"Helps to vent your frustrations, doesn't it, Pretty Boy?"

"Yes, it does." He leaned in and kissed my forehead. "Thanks for listening to me. I'll let you sleep now." He touched my face one last time, and went back to his room. I fell back on my bed and sighed, enamoured. The fluttering of my heart, the warm feeling... Ayden had told me about this when I was younger.

It was how you felt when you were falling in love. And with that notion, I crawled back under the blankets and fell asleep.

***

***...Our bodies pressed together. I could feel his breath, hear his heartbeat, taste his lips. He kissed my neck and stroked my breasts. It was wonderful. He gently forced his tongue into my mouth, and at the same moment, he entered me-***

"Millerna, get out of bed." I bolted upright.

"Oh...uh...it's you," I said stupidly, with the distinct feeling that I was blushing like crazy. It's not preferable to be woken up by the person you were just dreaming about having sex with. "Why exactly are you waking me up?"

"Because it is almost ten o' clock and time for breakfast."

"Oh. Shit," I mumbled groggily. "Look, do I have to go down there? I don't wanna get all dressed up, and it's too early for me to be around lots of people."

"I could have food brought to you. Being surrounded by servants has its advantages, after all," he said, smiling.

"I just want coffee, man," I said. "Lots and lots of very strong coffee. No offense, but the food here sucks. I need to give the chefs a lesson in cooking properly."

"Yeah, the food definitely could be better, but you get used to it," he said. "At least they cook better where you're going." Huh? Oh, yeah, he was taking me to live with the Gerudos. I'd forgotten that...

"Mmm," I mumbled. "That's a good thing, I guess."

"What do you mean, you guess?" he teased, sitting down beside me and finger-combing my hair. "You still want to live with the Gerudos, don't you?" Actually, I wasn't so sure anymore. I shrugged. He smiled.

"I'll go have someone get your coffee."

***

"Can they make nothing properly around here?" I asked sadly, staring down at the coffee.

"It doesn't seem like it," Pretty Boy replied, looking thoroughly amused. The coffee tasted awful, and it had taken a hell of a lot of sugar to make it palatable. "You see why I don't drink the coffee here?"

"Yes, yes I do," I said. "But when you're a caffeine addict, you can't be picky." I downed the rest of the coffee in one gulp and shuddered. "Okay!"

"Well, now that you're all caffeinated," he said, laughing, "we should get going."

"Get going where?"

"The Princess thinks that I should show you around Hyrule. Let you get used to it here."

"Works for me," I said. "I was getting damn tired of this place," I added, waving my hand around the dark room for emphasis.

"And for the occasion, the Princess had this made for you," he said, handing me something wrapped in brown paper. I opened it, finding brown pants and a tan shirt.

"No more dresses," I sighed, relieved. "Oh, thank God."

"Don't get too happy, she also gave me some girly stuff for you. Not that I expect you to use any of it, but it was nice of her," he added. "Now you get dressed, and I'll saddle up the horses."

***

Needless to say, my new outfit was much more comfortable than those damn dresses. I could move, I could breathe! Life was good!

"Ah, finally, something that doesn't squeeze my hips, cinch my waist, and push up my tits!" I said happily as Pretty Boy and I made our way into the city. "I'm free!"

"Millerna, do you have to discuss this with me?" he asked, looking uncomfortable.

"What? I can't help it if I'm honest," I said indignantly, as once again the townspeople emerged from their houses, to bid farewell to their hero (their reluctant hero. I felt bad for him, just a little, though. I'm not going soft, or anything. No way). This time, however, I seemed to be getting much more attention. Especially from the men. There was a lot of whistling.

"Goddesses, do they have to do that?" Link grumbled. "Don't do anything you'll regret, Millerna," he added, noticing my expression. I gritted my teeth.

"Stupid peasant folk," I reminded myself, "stupid peasant folk, stupid peasant folk, stupid peasant-"

"I'd love to get her out of those men's clothes and into my bed," some jerk said. I froze. Link gave me a worried look.

"Millerna-!" Too late. I had jumped off Ebony.

"Alright, boys," I said in the low, silky voice I only heard myself use when I was utterly pissed off. "Who wants to confess to that last remark?" The guy stepped forward with a cocky smirk.

"Millerna, I told you not to do anything you'd regret," Link warned.

"I won't regret this, Pretty Boy," I said, sizing up my enemy. He was only a few inches taller than me, heavily muscled. I gave him my sweetest smile. "This I will thoroughly enjoy." Seconds later my fist connected with Asshole's face. Blood now ran freely from his smashed nose. There was a pleasing look of horror on his face. I kicked him in the balls for good measure, gave the rest of the frightened crowd my girliest smile, and climbed back onto Ebony.

"Now we can go," I said happily. I turned back to my bloodied and very pained new friend. "Learn some respect, you sleazy son of a bitch," I advised. There was a hint of a smile on Link's face.

"That was incredibly nasty of you, Millerna," he said. "Nice work."

***

"So, what's the first stop on my tour of Zelda-land?" I asked.

"I'm taking you to meet the tribe of Gorons who live up there," he said, nodding toward a huge mountain. "I'm under the distinct impression that Darunia is going to like you a lot."

"Darunia..." I prompted. "Any important information?"

"He's the head of the tribe, the Sage of Fire, too, by the way. He calls me his 'Sworn Brother' - it's an honor for their race."

"Why are you so special to the Gorons?"

"I...took care of a lizard problem for them," he said. "Two lizard problems, actually. They appreciated the effort. Darunia went as far as naming his son after me." I smirked.

"So now I'll have to deal with Link *and* Goron Link. Splendid."

***

We had to go through a village to get to Death Mountain (ominous, don't you think?). Meaning that we had to go through a crowd of pointy-eared admirers to get to the Gorons.

"I am quickly tiring of being surrounded by all of your fans," I grumbled, watching several teenaged girls swoon at the sight of Pretty Boy. I hated it when women did that. God, the show of weakness!

"Remember, Millerna, pretend to be nice," he replied through a forced smile. At least we were on our horses so we were high above the crowd. "Don't attack, kill, or maim anyone, okay?"

"It will not be easy," I muttered as a few guys started their whistling and catcalling. Link glared at them, and they shut up. He grinned at me.

"Like magic," he said.

"Yeah, so's my PMS," I growled, giving the guys a complementary hand signal as we started on the deserted path up to the mountain.

"Your what?" he asked, looking confused.

"PMS," I replied. "You know, pre-menstrual syndrome? When women get really bitchy around their periods?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about," he said helpfully, "and you are almost always bitchy."

"Yeah, I'll give you that much," I laughed. "But I'm worse when I've got PMS. You seriously don't know what I'm talking about?" He shook his head. "Your innocence amazes me, O pretty one."

"It seems to amuse the castle guards," he informed. "They treat me like a kid, just because I haven't done the things they've done."

"And what have they done?"

"A lot of stuff with women, apparently. They talk about it all the time, but they never explain it to me." Man, he *was* innocent. I didn't know it was *possible* for a nineteen-year-old male to be so innocent.

"So you don't know anything at all about sex?"

"Not really," he replied. "If I ask any questions they just laugh and say something like: 'You'll understand when you become a man'. In what way am I not a man already?" he demanded, looking annoyed.

"You're a virgin," I said simply. "I mean, you're a man in my book, but I know from personal experience that guys have different forms of classification. Even my friend Ayden used to believe that boys and girls became men and women through sex, and he wasn't some dumb ass like your guard buddies, either."

"Your friend *used* to believe that? What changed his mind?" It was an innocent enough question. But the answer was that Ayden hadn't changed his mind, he had died.

"Let's talk about something else," I said quickly. I didn't need pity from Forest Boy because of my dead friend. I didn't need anyone's pity.

***

"Millerna, I present to you: Goron City," Link said. All I could do was stare. An entire, multi-layer city was carved inside the mountain.

"Oh," I breathed. "This is...*amazing*!" I had only a few moments to take in this architectural marvel, however.

"Brother Link!" a voice exclaimed happily. "You've come to visit!" The being speaking looked like a mix between a gorilla and a rock, and had huge, round, purple eyes. It was kind of cute, in a weird sort of way.

"Hello, Koroc," Pretty Boy replied. "How have you been?"

"Oh, we've all been fine, Brother!" Then I was noticed. "Who is this?" Link pushed me forward.

"Koroc, this is Millerna. Millerna, this is Koroc."

"Pleased to meet you," Rocky (I can't help it, I give everyone nicknames) said, holding out a massive hand.

"Uh...likewise," I said, shaking his hand.

"Come!" Rocky said to us. "I'll take you to Big Brother!" He proceeded to lead us downward.

"Big Brother?" I asked Link under my breath.

"That's what they call Darunia," he informed.

"Ah." After about fifteen minutes going down stairwells, we reached the bottom floor, and Rocky ushered us into what was, self-evidently, Darunia's throneroom.

"BROTHER!" Okay, this guy was much bigger than Rocky. He had lots of hair and what looked like war paint on his face. Despite this, he looked like a pretty nice rock-dude.

"Hey, Darunia!"

"Where have you been all this time? I've been wanting you to visit, but you never come."

"I'm too busy most of the time," Pretty Boy said. "I *am* the Princess's bodyguard."

"Heh! The Princess, all she ever does is get herself into trouble."

"It's what makes my job eventful," Pretty Boy said, laughing. Again, I was noticed several minutes into the conversation. Man, what am I, transparent?

"Who's the girl, Brother Link?" Darunia asked.

"This is Millerna," Link replied. "I'm showing her the kingdom." Darunia gave him a sly look.

"You sure that's all you be showing her, Brother?"

"Darunia!" Pretty Boy exclaimed, blushing.

"Sadly yes," I said. Darunia laughed. It was a very loud, very joyful laugh. The kind you hardly ever hear.

"I like her!" he practically roared. "Come, Brother! You've come in time for our summer festival!"

***

The Goron summer festival was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It ruled for several reasons: 1) I was not forced into any uncomfortable clothes; 2) the Gorons liked you for who you were; and 3) the entire point of the festival was to have fun.

"This is so much better than being in the castle," I remarked. Darunia smiled at me.

"The castle folk try to be proper," he agreed. "The Gorons, we love life!"

"And alcohol," Pretty Boy laughed. There were indeed several huge barrels of wine and various other alcoholic liquids around.

"Ah, but we have only the good stuff," Darunia said proudly, holding up a huge-ass mug. "None of that watered-down garbage the Hylians like. Try it, my Brother!" He passed Link a shot glass, which he eyed suspiciously.

"What is this, Darunia?"

"Drink it," the big guy prompted. Link gave him another look, and downed it. He made a face.

"That's disgusting!" he coughed. Darunia laughed.

"It's about a thousand proof, too," he informed, slapping Link on the back.

"Ewwww," Link shuddered. "That is not something I want to try again, ever. I'll stick with wine, thank you."

"To each his own," Darunia said, chuckling. "I'm rather fond of hard liquor, myself. How about your friend? What does she prefer?"

"I'm good with water," I said. "I'm not really a big fan of alcohol." Darunia smiled.

"You're young," he said. "You may like it someday." I somehow doubted it. All the wine I had tried so far had tasted pretty nasty.

"Miss Millerna!" I turned around to see a group of teenaged-looking Gorons coming toward me. "Would you like to join our game?"

"What game?" I asked.

"Well, we use bombs to see who can-"

"Bombs!?" I asked excitedly. "Count me in!" The young Gorons smiled.

"Millerna-"

"Sorry, Pretty Boy," I said quickly, "but blowing shit up is my life's calling. Seeya!"

***

"She's not bad," Darunia commented, watching Millerna and the young Gorons play their game, the object of which was, indeed, to 'blow shit up'. Link said nothing. "You're quiet tonight, Brother. Is there something on your mind? Or rather, someone?"

"Why do you say that?"

"It's obvious that you have feelings for her," Darunia replied, gesturing toward Millerna. Link sighed.

"Strange feelings," he said, "like I've never had before. I can't stop looking at her, even though I know it's not proper."

"That's quite understandable. She is a beautiful girl."

"Even by Goron standards?"

"Brother, beauty is beauty, no matter what race you come from. There are no standards."

"Hmm." Link gazed absentmindedly at Millerna. Even with explodable objects at her disposal, and a slightly psychotic grin on her face, she was breathtaking. "I don't know what to do, Darunia," the young hero stated. "I keep having impure thoughts about her."

"Like what?"

"I...I want to touch her," he answered, blushing, "in ways that I know are wrong. I feel awful about it later, but..." Darunia smiled at him.

"You're not a child anymore, Brother. You're grown. You're going to feel like that about women, it's normal."

"Then why do I feel so strange?" the boy asked softly. "What do I do, Darunia? I think I'm falling in love with her."

***

"Wake up, big guy," I said into his ear. He moaned and rolled onto his back.

"Whatimeisit?" he mumbled almost incoherently.

"Two in the afternoon," I replied. I was greeted by a pair of pretty blue eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"I didn't feel like it," I said. Honestly, I didn't have the heart to. He'd looked so sweet.

"Ah," he said, sitting up. He clutched his head. "Man, I've got such a headache."

"Yeah, a hangover'll do that to you," I responded. He winced.

"Funny, I don't remember drinking much," he muttered, still holding his head. I laughed.

"That's understandable," I said, pushing several strands of messy hair out of his handsome face, "you were so wasted, we could have had wild sex all night and you wouldn't remember. ....We didn't," I assured quickly, catching sight of his current expression.

"Why is it that I'm none too reassured?" he asked suspiciously. I sat down next to him.

"Think about this for a minute, Pretty Boy," I said. "Why would I have wanted to take advantage of you when you were drunk and wouldn't remember any of it? Personally, I'd rather seduce you when you're dead sober, so I can be sure that you, and not the liqour, find me sexually attractive. And I'd want it to stick in your head for a long time afterwards, so I could have the immense pleasure of watching you beg for more. Does that make sense?"

"Actually, it does," he said, blushing. "Ugh, my head hurts like a moth- nevermind."

"Poor baby," I said. "You wait here, and I'll make you some of my Auntie's headache medicine, okay?" I kissed his forehead. "Lay down. Rest."

***

"Okay, honey," Millerna said as she reentered the room fifteen minutes later with a steaming mug of something that looked - and smelled - incredibly like sewage. "You have to drink this." Link sat up and looked at what she had given him.

"This is nasty," he said, matter-of-factly. Millerna sat next to him and rubbed his back comfortingly.

"Yeah, and it tastes like shit, but it works," she said, grinning.

"Oh well," Link said sadly, gazing into the swirling sludge. "It's gotta be better than this headache." He took a deep breath and downed the whole thing. This led to quite a bit of disgusted coughs and gags, but a moment later his headache was nonexistant.

"See what I mean?" Millerna said, handing him a glass of water, then moving behind him to massage his shoulders. "Tastes bad, but it does what it's supposed to do."

"Mmmm..." He liked the massage. In fact, it made him completely forget about the bad taste in his mouth. Shivers went up and down his spine.

"Feel better?" Millerna asked a few moments later.

"Yes," he sighed. She kissed his earlobe.

"Good," she said. Then she realized, "You sleep naked, don't you?"

***

Damn that sheet. If it hadn't been there I could have seen *everything*. Still, the view of his muscular chest, stomach, and arms wasn't at all unsatisfactory. I couldn't believe I hadn't figured out until now that he was naked. I'd been too busy taking care of him to notice, probably.

But my God, was he gorgeous! Every inch of him was perfectly sculpted; he looked like a statue you'd see of a deity. My heart started beating like crazy. I wouldn't have minded joining him in that bed, and we certainly wouldn't be sleeping, either.

"Oh! I'm- I'm sorry," he said, blushing scarlet. "I...forgot."

"No, that's fine," I breathed, barely able to control my various urges and desires. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, I can tell you that much."

"It's not proper for a man to be naked around a lady," he said quickly, looking incredibly embarrassed.

"Good thing I'm not a lady, then, huh?" I said, studying his beautiful body. I couldn't help it, teenage guys aren't the only ones who get horny. In fact, I probably got horny more than most teenage guys did, I just didn't let on.

"Uh, I should get dressed," he said. I snapped out of it.

"Um, okay."

***

I think it bothered Forest Boy that I had seen him (almost) naked. Hell, the only thing that bothered me was that he'd had something covering his - er - *special equiptment*. I would have liked to see that. I would have liked to have that at my disposal whenever I said "Go", too, but some things just aren't in the cards....Ahem, back to the subject.

"I'm sorry you saw me...like that," he said embarrassedly as he emerged from his room, fully clothed. Damn, I was hoping for another look at that delicious body of his. A girl can dream...naughty, perverted dreams with no shortage of gratuitous sex scenes, but still. Ahhh, nice dreams.

"Don't apologize," I said. *It got me hot,* I added silently, simply because he probably wouldn't have taken it well if I'd said such an improper thing out loud. Knowing him, he'd have run away. *Any time you wanna show me your stuff, sexy, feel free.* Nasty thoughts. I had to shake them out of my head.

"No, I have to apologize," he said. "It was very improper."

"Really, it didn't bother me," I replied. That was the understatement of the year. It seemed to make him feel a little better, though. That was a good thing, I guess. Maybe I'd accidentally-on-purpose see him like that again. One can only hope.

***

I found it strangely depressing to leave the Gorons later that day. They were so cool, and they liked you for who you were, not your social rank. Still, there was a lot more to do.

"So," I said. "Where are we headed now, and how long is it going to take to get there?"

"We are going to visit the forest I grew up in," he replied, "and it will take two days." I made a face.

"Yay, more sleep deprivation," I cheered sarcastically. Pretty Boy smiled.

"Maybe not," he said.

***

"So, what's the deal?" I asked. This warranted a strange look from Pretty Boy.

"Excuse me?" he replied, most likely assuming that I'd lost my mind. I decided to specify.

"I mean, in every single fairy tale concerning a helpless princess, a vicious psychopath bent on world domination, and a stupidly brave teenaged hero, it turns out the exact same way: The bad guy kidnaps the princess as bait; the loyal hero-boy goes in, kills the bad guy, saves the world, and marries the princess. Just about all of this coincides with your naive existence, Forest Boy, except for killing the bad guy and marrying the princess. Now, I get that the bad dude is currently unkillable because he has the Triforce of Insanity-"

"Power," Link corrected. "But close."

"-But why aren't you married to the Almighty Zelda? I mean, you do whatever she says, anyway. Why not marry her so being her pawn would make a little more sense?"

"I am not her pawn," he said sulkily. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, you are SO her pawn. You're her little chess piece, riding around on your little horse, thinking you're in control of your own life, when, in actuality, Zelda is your puppetmaster. I mean, have you ever NOT done exactly what she told you to do?"

"No," he grumbled. "My entire life's been pre-ordained, remember? My place in life is to follow orders. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh. Right." I thought for a moment. To have no say in what you did with your own life...Man, it must have sucked. I'd been forced into slavery myself, but I had never actually followed orders. Well, with the exception of Ayden's commands of "Jump higher! and "LOOK at your target!" Even then I'd been stubborn as hell, especially if I was tired or in pain (which was pretty common after hours of training). But Link... He was more of a slave than I'd been. And he knew it. I couldn't help feeling kinda bad for him.

***

The sky was almost pitch-black. I yawned, and blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to rehydrate them. That's the only thing I hate about staying up later than I should - my eyes dry out.

"Tired?" Link asked.

"No," I lied. I felt like I needed to prove my toughness to him. I'm not even sure toughness is a word, but I was tired at the time, so I really didn't care. Link gave me a skeptical look.

"Yes, you are," he said.

"No, I'm not," I yawned. "I'm w-wide awake." He smiled slightly.

"Come on, we'll sleep over there." He indicated an area surrounded by a circle of trees, with a slow-moving river nearby. You had to give the boy credit for his choice of location, I decided, as we dismounted our horses.

"You sure can pick the spots," I commented, examining our surroundings.

"Catch," he called, before tossing me a canvas bag that he'd untied from Epona's saddle (she was a workhorse, after all, and could carry more weight than Ebony). I gave him a look.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Stuff for you, from the Princess," he replied. I examined the contents of the bag, and found a brush and comb, a white nightgown, a change of clothes (a skirt and blouse, but I'd take what I could get if the situation got bad enough), and various other things a girl might need (hence, underwear and...er...well, stuff). I was suddenly very ashamed of my intitial impression of Zelda. She wasn't bad, really.

"Why would she do anything for me?" I asked. "She hardly knows me. Hell, the people who DO know me hardly ever go to any trouble for me."

"Not all people are bad, Millerna," he said simply, laying out bed-like stuff.

"Not all people are good either," I said softly, gazing up at the night sky. It was a warm night, but I felt a chill as I began to count all of the bad people in my life. My father, for giving me as a whore; my mother, for not doing anything to stop him; Carlos and his minions; a certain ex-friend I didn't care to even think about. Just picturing that fakey-sweet smile, those rosy cheeks, those coniving blue eyes...it made me sick, how she'd betrayed me. Pretending to be my friend, when in reality she was spreading rumors behind my back. That evil slut, Genevieve...

I sighed, and counted the good people. My sisters; my Aunt Miranda, whom I loved more dearly than any relative, who had given me the small silver ring I treasured, as well as the knowledge to use plants and flowers to heal - or to cause harm; the Zora princess who'd been my friend as a child, who had tried so hard to help me escape from my fate, but failed nonetheless; Malon, who had given me coffee and a place to sleep (you give me good coffee, you're automatically on my "Good" list); Link, who, though I hated to admit it, I owed a hell of a lot to; Zelda, who had been generous to a girl she didn't even know.

And Ayden. I stared straight up into the blackness, trying to blink back the tears. Ayden. The man who had taught me how to protect myself, to survive. The best and truest friend I had ever had. The first man I had ever trusted. The one I couldn't help, even with my knowledge of healing, as he lay dying from the arrow wound. I could still see the blood in my mind. Hear his labored breathing. I still had nightmares.

"Millerna," Link said, sounding shocked, "you're crying." I wiped my eyes violently.

"I am not crying," I snapped. A lie is no good if your voice is shaking and tears are still streaming down your face.

"Yes, you are," he said, taking my face in his hands. God, he was so gentle. He looked at me with concerned blue eyes. "What's wrong?"

"You wouldn't understand," I said, jerking away from him. His hands were comforting, and I wasn't in the mood to be comforted.

"No, I won't, not if you don't tell me," he said logically. I wasn't in the mood for logic, either.

"And I don't intend to tell you," I said, grabbing the nightgown out of my bag. "I intend to get changed, and go to sleep. That's it."

***

Link was laying on his back with his arms behind his head when Millerna returned, wearing her new nightgown. And, as Link noticed soon afterwards, it was a very thin, very white nightgown that really didn't conceal much, despite its length. And he really didn't mind... Millerna, however, was a little dissapointed that the only clothing he'd taken off was his baggy green tunic, hat, and boots. She'd been rather looking forward to him wearing much less.

"So, where'd you bug get to?" Millerna asked, noting the complete absence of the annoying fairy.

"She has gone to tell the Kokiri of our arrival tomorrow and, apparently, to meet up with some old friends," he answered. Millerna rolled her eyes.

"Ah, an insect convention," she said, laying down in the makeshift bed next to him. "How charming." He laughed.

"Goodnight, Millerna." There were about three minutes of silence, before,

"Uh, Forest Boy?"

"Mmm?"

"There aren't, like, any...*things* that come out at night here in Zelda-Land, are there?"

"Probably not," he said nonchalantly.

"But...but if there ARE, are they dangerous? Will they attack us?" Link smirked and looked over at her.

"Are you afraid of the dark, Millerna?" he teased.

"NO!" she insisted defensively. "I'm just a little nervous about sleeping outside...on the ground...with no protection against whatever creepy Hyrulian monsters come out at night. With...big teeth and...glowing red eyes." She gasped as a howl rang through the air. Looking at her now, Link was reminded that, as dangerous, sarcastic, and reckless as Millerna was, she was still just a young girl.

"Millerna? Would you feel safer if you were closer to me?"

"Maybe."

"Get in with me then," he said. She did so, not sure how well he could protect her, but grateful nonetheless. She jumped as another howl sounded.

"Y-you're sure you can fight those things off if you have to?"

"Millerna, it's okay. I'll take care of you," he said softly, wrapping an arm around her to emphasize this. "Just get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay," she said. She cuddled up to him, lay her head on his chest, and was asleep within seconds. Link smiled and stroked her silky hair.

"Right now," he whispered, "you could almost be mistaken as sweet." As much as he wanted to go to sleep, he couldn't seem to stop looking at her. And he wanted desperately to see what was under that thin nightgown. Wanted desperately to explore her. It was wrong to have such thoughts, though, and he tried to push them out of his mind, but they didn't go away.

After a few minutes, curiosity got the better of him. He pulled the blanket off of her slightly, and admired her. Her breasts weren't at all concealed by the paper-thin, white fabric. He'd never seen any woman's chest so exposed before, and he was (being a fairly pure, but teenaged male) captivated by what he was now seeing.

"You're so beautiful," he breathed, slowly sliding his hand from her shoulder to her hips, feeling all of her pleasant curves. "And paranoid," he added, as his hand struck the knife she'd fastened to her thigh. Assuring himself that it couldn't possibly be comfortable to sleep with a hard metal object strapped to one's leg, he removed the knife. His hand lingered between her thighs for longer than it should have, though, and he felt guilty for enjoying the feel of her soft flesh so much. He felt guiltier still for the intense longing to move his hand further up. To taste her, and to hear her moans of desire and rapture as he did so.

*No,* he told himself firmly. *Stop thinking like the castle guards!* He (reluctantly) covered her with the blanket again. He couldn't resist kissing her face and neck a few times before going to sleep.

***

I woke up in the middle of the night, and was initially freaked out by the fact that I was sleeping with a man. The reason behind my sleeping with him soon came back to me, though, and I calmed down. I liked having his strong arms around me; feeling the warmth of his body against mine. It was nice. Beyond nice. I loved it.

Knowing that he was asleep, I slipped my hand under his shirt. My fingers found his belly button, his perfect stomach muscles, his nipples. I was getting somewhat less than composed at the moment. That, of course, being a ferocious understatement. I wanted him so badly. I had the crazy urge to wake him up right then and beg him to have me.

*He would panic,* I decided, pushing his shirt aside, and bending to place a long kiss on his belly button. I smiled, wondering if he'd feel it in his dreams. I'd had very...explicit dreams that night. Mostly about him. I smoothed the his shirt back down, and kissed his nipples through the fabric. Don't even ask me why. I explained before that I get really, really...yeah. I'll stop there. I snuggled up to him, and went back to sleep.

***

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Link and I bolted upright at the same time to face a very pissed off Navi. I wondered what she could possibly be so bitchy about, before realizing that she had just seen her partner - whom she had been with since he was ten years old - cuddled up with me.

"Navi, it's not what it looks like," Link said quickly, sounding remarkably like a little boy whose mother had caught him doing something very naughty. Navi ignored him and ranted on,

"Ooh, I should have known better than to leave you alone with this...this little tramp!" I felt my cheeks burn.

"Watch your language, you filthy mosquito," I snapped. "If I had a flyswatter with me you'd be dead by now."

"You've been on my list from day one, sister; don't push your luck!" the bug replied.

"Oh, you want a piece of me, little gnat? I'm right here, come and get me!"

"WOULD YOU BOTH SHUT UP!" Link yelled. I had never heard him yell, nor, apparently, had Navi. We both got real quiet, real fast, and just kinda stared at him. He took a few deep breaths and continued, "Navi, stop jumping to conclusions, and Millerna, stop being so hostile." Me? Hostile? But the bug had started it! He knew that!

"But-" I started to protest, but he cut me off.

"Navi, would you please allow Millerna and I to speak privately?"

"WHAT?! After what happened the last time I left you alone with her? Do you think I'm crazy?!" the bug raged.

"Stop treating me like a child, Navi," he said calmly. "I'm not one anymore." The insect sputtered in shock and anger, before zooming away, looking incredibly pissed off.

"Inch-high annoyance," I muttered.

"She doesn't like you either, Millerna," Link pointed out. I snarled.

"Yeah, well the next time she calls me a little tramp, I'm trapping her in a bottle and finding a frog to feed her to," I grumbled. He put his hand on my shoulder.

"I know. She shouldn't have called you that. I was the one who invited you to sleep with me."

"Well, damn, it's not like we did anything," I said. *That you knew of*, I added silently. He looked embarrassed.

"Still...we shouldn't do that again. Sleep together, I mean. There are certain...temptations that might arise." He was blushing. Why the hell would *he* be blushing? He was the picture of purity! I was the one who had considered...nevermind.

"We should...get going," he said, breaking the rather uncomfortable silence.

"Uh...yeah," I said. No sooner had I gotten to my feet than,

"Millerna! You're bleeding!" And indeed, there was a bloodstain on my semi-transparent nightgown. And I knew exactly why.

"Fuck!" I hissed. "Excuse me a minute, would you?"

***

(A/N- Ah, a scene long-awaited: It is explained to Link the...erm...workings of nature. No sleazy stuff, though. Just a sex-ed lesson. I think.)

I hate having my period. It is the bane of my existance. But even worse, once I'd washed the blood off of myself, taken care of blood-catching supplies (which had graciously been given to me by the Princess. I now officially almost liked her), and gotten dressed, I found that I would have to explain what was going on. The first thing out of Link's mouth when I got back was,

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I assured.

"But...but you were bleeding. What happened? Did you get hurt?"

"No. The bleeding thing...it's natural for girls. It's supposed to happen. I hate it, but it's normal." This made Link look even more confused, if that was possible.

"Why does it happen?" he asked. I felt myself start to blush. Hoo boy, this was going to be embarrassing.

"Well, um...it...it means that a girl...can have children."

"Oh. Does it happened all a girl's life?"

"No. It starts when she...well, I had it for the first time when I was almost thirteen. And," I held up my left hand, "my Aunt, she gave me my ring to celebrate that I'd become a woman. It's kind of silly, making a celebration out of me being able to get pregnant, but...I don't know. It made me feel pretty special. And I love my ring," I added, mostly to myself, as I admired my beautiful silver ring, made up of a pattern of swirls.

"Um, Millerna?"

"Yeah?"

"H-how would you get pregnant? I mean, does it just happen?"

"Uh...no...not...exactly," I said nervously. "Um...maybe we should sit down, this may take a while." I sat down on a patch of very soft grass under a tree, and motioned for him to join me. And I explained in very gentle terms exactly what had to happen for a girl to become pregnant (I was quite proud of myself, actually. I winded up making it sound...kind of romantic. Then again, I had simply explained to him the way Ayden had explained to me, and Ayden had always been a romantic).

"Oh," he said, looking even more embarrassed. "That explains a lot..."

"What?

"Nothing."

"Ah. Any further questions?"

"Not at the moment, no," he replied, still blushing.

"In that case, shall we pack up our horses and get outta here? We'll make it to the forest by nightfall, right?"

Yeah," he said. Thus, we gathered our stuff and got our furry friends ready for a long day of walking on their part. I noticed him glancing at me from time to time. Then finally, after having ridden for about an hour (with the bug still nowhere in sight), he voiced what he'd been thinking.

"Why do you have those?" he blurted.

"Why do I have what?" I asked. He blushed again, then motioned quickly toward my chest, and repeated,

"Why? I mean, I know about a million terms for them - from the guards - but I don't know what they're for."

"I...I...God, Forest Boy, isn't this something you could have asked Zelda about?"

"Are you kidding? She'd either think I was a pervert, or think I was coming on to her. Either way, the option isn't very attractive. The only women I can ask about things like this are the Gerudos and you." Okay, that made me feel kinda special, in a weird way.

"Okay then," I said. "See, if, strictly hypothetically, you and I had a baby, my body would make milk to feed it and...yeah, it's the same thing as with cows, only instead of udders I have very small breasts."

"Ah."

"...Why do you ask?"

"No reason. And...don't complain about your breasts. They're pretty." Unbelievable. The boy could say something that would make any other guy sound like a jerk, and he could make it sound sweet, and strangely innocent. I blushed.

"Thanks."

***

Navi seemed to have taken personal offense at Link's request for privacy, because I didn't see her all the rest of the day. Not that I was complaining. It was quite nice not to have her around, squeaking out orders. We reached the forest by midnight without fairyish intervention.

We left our horses outside the entrance to the forest (the Kokiri had a thing about horses, Link had explained), and...well...entered. One note: the Kokiri Forest is absolutely gorgeous. I instantly liked it, not only for the clear, shallow ponds, soft green grass, and cute houses, but for the overall sense of peace in the air. I know I'm not usually a 'peace' person, but still, it was cool.

"This is where you grew up, huh?" I said. Forest Boy smiled.

"Yep."

"It's nice."

"So are the inhabitants," he informed, pointing to a few children dressed in green clothing.

"They're little kids!" I said, shocked.

"Yeah. You see, the Kokiri are immortal, they never grow up," Link explained. "Never die, either, to the extent of my knowledge." Immortal. God, what I'd give to be immortal.

"Link!" a little boy yelled, running up to him. "We missed you!" Then, of course, he saw me. Stated again: What am I, transparent?

"Who's the lady, Link?" the boy asked, eyeing me suspiciously. For a second I thought of doing something to scare the little guy, but reminded myself that it was time to start acting like an adult. Still, it would've been a hell of a lot of fun. Yeah, so I'm a bitch, who cares?

"This is my friend Millerna, Jacob," Link said, subconciously bending down to the boy's level. Jacob nodded.

"She's pretty," he said. I smiled, mainly at Link's expression.

"Pretty frightening is more like it," Link muttered. "Well, anyway, it's getting late. The pretty psychopath and I should get some sleep." Jacob's face lit up.

"Oh! We've fixed your house up, too!" he informed proudly, leading us over to a house that couldn't be seen from the entrance of the little village.

***

The Kokiri had, indeed, fixed up Link's house. The original thing was now a sort of loft, with a bigger house built onto the bottom.

"This is great, Jacob!" Link exclaimed. "I'll have to thank everyone tomorrow." Jacob smiled.

"My idea," he said, looking very pleased with himself.

"You're a talented architect," Millerna complimented, looking around the house. Now Jacob was positively beaming.

"Thank you, milady!" he chirped. "Ah! I should get to bed, too. Remember, Link? Tomorrow night's the Moon Festival!"

"I remember, Jacob. Thank you."

"Goodnight then," the boy said, backing out into the moonlit forest. He bowed to Millerna, blushed, and ran off. Link found this very amusing.

"Looks like you have an admirer, Millerna," he teased as he laid back on the new bed, testing it.

"He's cute, but he's way too young for me," she replied, flopping down next to him. "Oooh, comfy. Then again, anything's comfy when your ass has been in a saddle all day." Link groaned.

"Not that I don't agree whole-heartedly, but try to use language that's a little less harsh around here. The Kokiri are very innocent."

"Gotcha," she sighed, closing her eyes. "Mmmmm, so tired..."

"Millerna?"

"Yeah?"

"We can't sleep in the same bed."

"God, Forest Boy, screw the damn fairy, I really don't care if she gets bitchy about it again. I just want to go to sleep." Link shook his head.

"No. There's still a bed upstairs. You can sleep there."

"Geez, fine then," Millerna grumbled, picking herself up and grudgingly climbing into the loft. "And I WILL remember this if YOU ever need a favor from ME!" she called down.

***

"Why must we wait so long?! Can we not just kill him now?!" Ganondorf rolled his eyes at this outburst.

"I truly cannot believe I'm working with you, Mr. Carlos," he said. "You are quite a stupid son of a bitch. I wouldn't do that, if I were you," he added, as the other man's hand flew to the machete tied at his waist. "You don't want me as your enemy." Carlos paled and withdrew his hand.

"Then answer me, King of Evil," he said. "Why do we wait to kill the boy?!"

"I'll have you know, I find the boy's escapades to be quite amusing," Ganondorf admitted. "Though he is my enemy, I do find him fascinating to observe."

"You watch him? How?"

"Like this." Ganondorf produced a large sword (A/N- the sword he has in Super Smash Brothers Melee, by the way), and cut a slash into the very air. The slash began to glow, and at the same time spread apart to show clearly a handsome young man.

***

"No....." he mumbled. Link had been talking in his sleep and thrashing around wildly for a while.

"Hey," I whispered, taking him by the shoulders and gently shaking him. He gasped and sat upright, breathing hard.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked. Then, "Oh, I was just...dreaming." I sat down next to him and put my arm around him.

"You were having another nightmare?"

"Yeah," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Ugh, not good to dream about getting hacked to pieces."

"I guess not," I said as gently as I could. Then I realized he was shaking. I hugged him.

"Millerna?" he said.

"Hmm?"

"Can...can you stay with me?"

"Oh, sweetie, of course I can." I lay down with him and propped myself up with a few pillows behind my back. Then he surprised me by wrapping his arms around my belly and, like a small child, laying his head on my breast. I let him.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Shh," I said, stroking his hair. "Just go to sleep, baby, okay?" I bent and kissed his head. He was so sweet. I couldn't help adoring him when he was like this. Maybe I have some deep-rooted maternal instinct after all...

Then again, maybe I just liked holding him.