Family

Chapter 3

Dinner that night was uneventful, as usual. Paya had made Pumpkin Stew, which was a little watery, but otherwise fine. When she apologized for it, Impa went so far as to insist it helped make it easier for her to swallow, seeing that she was getting on in years.

The three siblings had grown up with Paya, viewing her as if she was their actual sister, despite the fact that she was a Sheikah and they were Hylians. Impa's house had been their home for as long as they could remember, the old grandmother having helped raise them among the rest of the village members. It had been a bit strange at the beginning, but Bella, Will, and Lily had soon settled into a certain rhythm after their first few months of living here, and were accepted almost immediately.

That night, Bella had a serious talk with Will and Lily concerning their disobedience in going to Rabia Plain by themselves and lying to her about helping Steen harvesting carrots, but that wasn't completely out of the normal at this point, and she had been a little lenient with them if anything, their only punishment being them having to actually help Steen harvest carrots the next day.

"So, how'd your day go?" Bella questioned Paya, both of them being tasked with dish duty as Will and Lily had done it the night before, and Impa was old enough that everyone insisted she leave it to them, for fear that she would pass out half way through and end up hurting herself.

The white-haired youth shrugged before answering, "Um, fine. The usual, you know: wash the artifact, scrub the floors, pray to the statues. Oh, but I did get something called Goron spice from a merchant today! I was thinking about trying to cook a meal with it!"

At this, Bella immediately jumped at the opportunity to tease her friend. "Ooh, was this the same good-looking young man that you bought three gourmet meats from the other day? Paya, if I didn't know better, I would think that you're flirting with him."

At this, the young Sheikah's usually pale face absolutely flourished red, and she dropped one plate she was previously holding in a hopeless attempt to cover her flustered face, the dish rattling to the floor in an erratic motion.

"N-no! Well, yes, but I-i am not trying to flirt with him!" she stuttered, obviously caught off guard by her companion's remark, crouching to the floor to examine the fallen dish. "A-and look at this! Now you made me drop a plate."

Laughing at Paya antics, the brunette crouched down to the floor as well, picking it up when she was sure it hadn't broken and rising to her feet. "It's still in one piece, no harm done!" she said, still laughing somewhat.

Jumping to her feet, the young girl snatched the plate from out of her friend's hand, stuck out her tongue, and turned back to the sink in order to continue their task.

Bella, following her lead, dunked a cup beneath the surface of the water within the basin and started to scrub, a smile still spread on her lips. After a moment of silence, the young girl glanced at her Sheikah friend and continued the conversation.

"You know, all joking aside, if you like him, you should ask him out..." Bella gave a sideways glance to her companion, catching a glimpse of the small smile, blush, and especially the eye-roll that graced her face.

"Oh yes, can you imagine how that would go? It would be a complete disaster, and you know it!" she admitted, a large sigh escaping her mouth. "I'm just hopeless around boys! With rarely any around here, I have no practice."

With a small chuckle, the brunette reached a hand up to pat Paya's shoulder, amused at how flustered her somewhat-sister could get when around any boy their age.

"Don't worry," she comforted, drying her hands as the last of the dishes had now been washed and dried, "You'll get it someday! Till then, you'll just have to keep trying. Now, I'm headed for bed. Loading those pumpkins today was not easy, and I am ready to hit the hay."