Friends; Zelink, Modern (The Legend Of Zelda)

Crisp

The air was amazing that morning.

It was how she had always enjoyed it... Yet when she was walking home, like today, it was actually pretty cold.

Zelda didn't really mind though; she got to watch her breath make little clouds in the air in front of her, and she had nice company.

She turned around to glance at Link, who she walked home with every day. That made the cold trip a little more worthwhile. She could spend some time out of school with her friend. Well, she thought of him as one, even though they rarely hung out.

She was the popular one. She 'had it all' beauty, smarts, and - the most important thing to her classmates - money.

Link wasn't all that popular. Okay, understatement. He was shy and he didn't talk much. It wasn't that he didn't look good - he did - but most of the time he went unnoticed in class. He rarely answered questions and stayed to himself.

Gym was where he found his place though; Link was incredibly athletic. Their school had held a mock sword competition, and he had beaten everyone he came up against. Even the teacher was floored.

Zelda hadn't been quite sure how she felt about Link. He was definitely attractive, but she had barely known him. After all, he didn't hang with the popular guys. In fact, he seemed to despise the in crowd.

Well, except for her.

It was about a month or two before when their friendship started. Zelda's backpack had completely torn down the side, and all of her many textbooks had fallen out onto the ground. The only one around was Link because it was after school hours. She'd gotten out of a very advanced math class, and he was doing some sporting thing, she didn't know which; probably archery.

Link had wasted no time in helping her collect her books. After that he offered to walk her home. And, discovering that they lived on the same street, they walked home together almost every day after.

Zelda tugged her scarf a little tighter around her neck, the cold air was resilient in finding a way past her warm defenses.

She had started to like Link.

He really opened up to her when they walked home. He must really not like school.

As she let her hand fall she once again cursed that she forgot her gloves that day. She shoved her hands into her pockets, but she still shivered. She took her hands out and breathed warm air onto them as they walked.

Link, who was beside her, noticed her pink fingers. "Did you forget your gloves again?"

Zelda nodded, and then she frowned. "What do you mean again?"

Link chuckled. "You know what I mean."

"No..." she replied, but even as she did she started to remember.

"Out of twenty days, eight of them you forgot your gloves."

"That's less than half, so all in all..."

"'All in all' doesn't help the fact that your hands are turning pink," he pointed out, and then he slipped off his gloves and handed them to her.

"But now-"

"I'll be fine, seriously, just put them on."

Zelda nodded slowly, and then she slipped the gloves on her hands; her fingers were instantly toasty. Link must be really hot. Then she flushed, warm. I meant warm... Right? She looked at Link, and she was surprised to see him looking at her already. His face looked thoughtful, or maybe it was conflicted... No, it was indecisive. Then her eyes trailed down onto his hands, which were starting to turn pink themselves.

Link tucked his left hand into his pocket and then turned to Zelda. "Now my hand is cold."

"Do you want them back?" she offered as she held out her hand.

"I'll take warmth where I can get it," he said as he slipped his hand into hers.

Zelda nodded. They'd each have one glove, that sounded alright to her. She tried to slip her hand out while he held onto it.

Link tightened his fingers around hers. "That's not what I meant."

"Then..."

"Two hands together are warmer than if they are alone."

Zelda blushed, but the flush the cold air gifted her face disguised it. "Okay."