A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 10: Shopping Day

After their celebratory breakfast, the morning had been fairly uneventful. Clouds had built up over the last few hours in the sky, and though Link wished to do a little bit more of his snooping around the village (after admitting to himself that old habits die hard), even he had been a bit less eager to venture into the outdoors now that a light snowfall had begun to dance from above. With his last-minute plans now canceled, he had decided to condone his itching feeling of worry by sitting on the bed, watching the gentle swaying of branches from the window to ease his mind. A simple, yet still relaxing pastime, at least to Zelda's view.

Though he had laid on the bed in order to look relaxed in Zelda's eyes, surprisingly she hadn't paid him much mind the entirety of the morning she was around. In fact, she seemed to be in a wonderful mood thanks to the result of her meeting with Prima a few hours earlier. From the loft, Link could hear her humming a sweet tune, dancing around downstairs as she busied herself with the hand-me-down clothing she had gotten from her new workplace. Thinking she would be in such a trance-like state for hours more, Link began to escape deeper into his mind, carefully watching the branches of the trees outside for any unordinary shake, one that might not have been caused by the breeze. What he hadn't expected was for Zelda to dance her way up the stairs before stopping next to the bed with an unusually cheerful smile, even for someone who had heard such great news of success.

"I have a favor to ask," she said the moment she came to a stop, wearing her royal winter gear again.

Link hummed without looking away from the window, a sign that he was listening.

"I want you to come with me into the village," Zelda said simply. Perplexed, Link turned away from the window to meet her eyes.

"You want me to come with you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I do," Zelda said sweetly with an even larger smile. " I don't believe it's that strange of a request. Why do you seem so put off by it?"

"Well, for a little over a week, you've been wanting me to stay home," Link said, sitting up. "To be honest, it's kinda rare you choose not to go into the village or to Purah's alone."

"You make me sound like a guard watching over a jail cell..." Zelda said frowning. "I'm just asking if you would accompany me. Is that so wrong?"

Link stared at her from head to toe before furrowing his brow.

"What are you trying to pull?" he asked.

"Nothing!" Zelda stressed. "Why are you making this so difficult?"

"Because I do this all the time," Link explained, gesturing to her. "I'm just better at it than you... You need me for something, don't you? Something you know I won't like..."

"I... Maybe..." Zelda admitted reluctantly. "But it's not much, I promise!"

"Zelda, I'm not drinking your-"

"It's not potions!" she said quickly, waving her hands in the air. "It's not, I swear. Can you just come with me?"

She clasped her hands together in front of her chest and scrunched her brow. Her large, emerald-green eyes began to sparkle as they pleaded desperately with him.

"Please?"

Link frowned. He wanted to fight it. He wanted nothing more than to resist the urge to give in. He knew that if he accepted, he was going to be tasked with something he knew he wouldn't usually approve of. She was being much too secretive for it not to be, otherwise, she would have plainly asked. Despite the obvious signs, Link sighed and lowered his head. It was a losing battle. It was impossible to say no to those eyes.