He's Mine

It was more of a battle than a fight. Fight implies there are winners, and Link knew no one could win this.

When Zelda and Mipha fought over love, it never ended well.

"He's mine!" Zelda screamed, her voice shrill as she waved her arms in the air. "You could never love him the way I do! If he had to choose between us, he'd choose me! Every single time!"

Mipha held back a scathing remark. She didn't want to be difficult, but Zelda was making it hard. It was like she didn't understand what love was. It wasn't something one could control; it was given freely and received despite the difficulties. She took a deep breath and spoke in the most tactful manner possible. "Princess, we can both love him. It doesn't mean-"

"Don't you have enough love in your life?"

Mipha snapped. The hours of arguing had built up inside her, and she couldn't hold it back any longer. She felt as if she was a bottle of fizzy water, shaken and shaken until it burst. "I knew him first! I love him more than you could even imagine."

Zelda gasped. "How dare you?"

Link stepped into the room. "What's happening?"

"You stay out of this!" Zelda yelled.

"Don't you talk to Link that way!" Mipha shouted back. Her throat felt scratchy and rough. She wasn't used to shouting so much, and it was taking its toll. She would have to gargle some salt water after this, once she had proven her love was greater than Zelda's. "He's only trying to help."

"Yeah. I'm trying to help."

"You just want him to butt in because you think he'll be on your side!"

"Of course he'll be on my side! Link knows that I-"

"Enough!" Link shouted, his voice an authoritative one, commanding respect. They both looked at him. They weren't used to him using this tone with them. He had a sheepish look on his face, like he regretted said tone. "Sorry. Tone was overkill. Loves... you can both love him."

Zelda looked over to him, sitting on her, Link, and Mipha's bed. Jellybean the chuchu, despite being stuffed, seemed alarmed by the shouting. He had never seen his moms act this way.

"Yes, we can," Zelda insisted, "But I love him more."

"You do not!" Mipha clenched her fists. "He'd choose me over you!"

Link rubbed his temples. Like Jellybean, he hated when Mipha and Zelda fought. Unlike Jellybean, he felt an urge to mend things. Jellybean wasn't against mending things, per se, it was more that he didn't have any feelings or desires. Maybe he would, one day. But not unless one of them gained the power to animate him, and they chose to do so despite the risks that came with owning a pet chuchu. They'd need a tank, for one, and since chuchus lived mostly in packs of three (a group of chuchus is called a grangle), they'd need two more. Their house was too small for a tank that size, not to mention the amount of meat and exercise chuchus needed every day.

Bringing Jellybean to life just didn't seem like a smart thing to do.

Link grimaced. "Mipha, Jellybean will always have a special connection to you. You brought him home from the store, after all."

Zelda gasped. "What? Link, I can't believe this. I thought..."

"And Zelda, Jellybean will always have a special connection to you, too. He sleeps on your side of the bed and you fluff him every morning with your pillow."

Zelda and Mipha looked at each other. "I suppose so. Mipha, I apologise. My words were hurtful."

"I'm sorry, too. This fight was silly. Link is right. He can love both of us equally."

"Exactly," Link said, "You're both tied for his second favourite person."

"What?"

He grinned. "Well, he obviously loves me the most."