Besties || A Nintendo Fanfic || Rewrite

Chapter 9: Dyed

"You're really going on the ski trip?"

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, maybe because you hate the cold?"

"I don't hate the cold, I just find it... inconvenient. Too much snow."

"Snow? In winter?! What a crazy concept."

"It is, actually, what with how the world is right now."

"True, but at least it always snows in Hyrule!"

"You mean rains?"

"That too."

"Hey... Zel... there's something I need to tell you."

"What's up?"

She could hear her brother hesitate from the other end. "Mother and father want us to have dinner... with them... tonight."

Zelda nearly dropped her phone.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was. You don't have to go, you know. I-I'll just tell them you're sick and couldn't make it or-"

"No, no. I managed to ignore them all summer with the summer camp excuse, if I do it again now they might cut me off financially, and you know how hard it is for me to find a job in my current state."

"Still..."

"I'll be fine, Sheik, don't worry. Plus, just because I'm going doesn't mean I'll follow their rules."

"Heh, good, I wasn't planning on it either."

"I'll appeal to them a little just 'cause I want their money but you better bet I'm going in the flashiest clothes possible."

"I don't think you'll out-do me."

"...What do you mean?"

"You'll see. The car's coming to pick us up at five, but you know what to do."

"Be fashionably late, of course."

"Precisely, which is why you shouldn't come out 'till seven."

"Seven?! You do realize the trip from here to Castle Town is like two hours, right? I don't wanna piss them off that badly."

"Can't be helped, that's just how long it'll take me to get ready."

"Just what are you planning?"

"Like I said, you'll see once I come pick you up. Don't come out until I tell you to."

"I know, I know, geez. You're killing me with suspense."

"You'll find out soon, my dear sister. In the meantime, prepare your best insults."

"Oh I have an entire list of them! Completely memorized!"

"Perfect, let's make sure they regret asking us to come back."

"... Hey, Sheik?"

"...Yes?"

"I'm scared."

"I know."

"I don't wanna go, just thinking about it makes me wanna throw up."

"I know, try to use the next couple hours to relax, okay? You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, you don't even have to look at them, I'll handle them. I told you way back when and I'm saying it again now: I will always be by your side; I'll protect you, from anyone, even them. And, if you really start not to feel well, we can just let them see our faces then leave right after, I'll look for a hotel we can stay at for the night and handle whatever comes after."

"...Thank you, Sheik. I really don't know what I'd do without you. I love you."

"I love you too, Zel."

***

She bid her goodbyes to Robin before making her way to the elevator. She was feeling quite embarrassed, given what she was wearing right now. A long, black, sparkly dress with a slit down the side and a low collar, her hair curled and tied up into a ponytail, heels taller than she was comfortable with, and a necklace bright enough to blind someone if a light was shone on it. She didn't like this, in the slightest, but if it meant pissing her parents off, she was willing to suffer through it until the night was over.

As soon as she exited the dorm's lobby, she noticed her brother standing at the bottom of the stairs that led up to it. She also noticed that something was... off about him. Perhaps it was because it was dark, but his hair seemed weirdly darker. Even as she walked down and stood right next to him, his hair didn't change from that same dark shade she had seen when she was further away. "Did you... dye your hair to my shade of brown?"

Sheik smirked. "Now we look more related, don't we?"

Zelda stared at her brother in pure disbelief, before bursting with laughter. Their parents might actually end up killing him on the spot once they saw him, and she knew that he knew that, yet he still did it. For her. Despite having been treated relatively well by their parents, he saw the way they treated her and chose to side with her instead of just... ignoring her. And now he was risking his own share of inheritance just so that the two could piss them off together. The thought that Sheik could've developed a different personality where he would join their parents in their resentment for her was devastating, but thankfully, that wasn't reality. And she could not have asked for a better partner-in-crime.