Determination (Legend of Zelda)
Title: Determination
Author: must_fear_harpy
Prompt: Midwinter #3: resolution
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda, Spirit Tracks
Characters & Pairings: Link and Zelda
Rating & Warnings: G
Word Count: 557
Summary: Link's working on saying "no."
Link crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a blank stare.
“Come on!” Zelda begged, “It'll be an adventure!”
“That's what you said last time.”
“And I was right!” She gave him her most winning smile.
“You nearly drowned.”
“But I didn't. You saved me. You're very good at that. What would I do without you?”
He raised an eyebrow.
Okay, so maybe flattery was the wrong track.
“You had fun,” she said.
“When? When I was hauling you out of the ocean, or when I was explaining to your council how you just happened to end up in pirate infested waters when you decided to see if you could jump from a moving train to land on a floating barrel?”
She shifted and mumbled, “Before that.”
He rolled his eyes and turned back to his train to tinker with something. Against her better judgment, and out of sheer, irrepressible curiosity, she bent over his shoulder to watch him.
“I still say it was fun,” she sulked, not wanting him to think she would be sidetracked by how terribly interesting all the pipes in the dragon head engine were.
“I still say you're a nut,” he said.
She peered back towards the castle as the sound of shouting guards eased its way into the town.
“What about when we caught all those rabbits? You liked that,” she urged.
“No,” he corrected. “You liked that.”
“You went along with it.”
“Yeah, and I'm taking a firmer stand when it comes to going along with you now a days.”
She frowned. “What's that mean?”
“It means I'm practicing saying 'no.' So... No.”
“But Liiiiink.”
“No.”
“Who else is going to help me?”
He shrugged. “My guess is no one. And that means you shouldn't do it.”
“But it's terribly important!"
“No. It's not.”
“You don't even know what I want.”
“That's true. But I can guess.”
She scowled, straightening her back to her full height to glare regally down at him. “How dare you defy your monarch in her hour of need. One of your oldest and dearest friends. We've been through so much and yet this is how I'm treated.”
He paused in his tinkering to look up at her through squinted eyes, unfazed by her demands. That was one of the things she liked about him. It was also one of the things she hated. “The spoiled princess act? Really? You think that's going to work?”
She slumped, the sounds of the guards' frantic search drawing ever closer. As happened so frequently these days, her adventure was over before it even began.
“Please, Link?”
She tried. But a positive outcome seemed bleak. Everything looked bleak. Even her best friend wouldn't help her.
He stood slowly, kicking the engine hatch closed and wiping his hands on his pants, looking over her shoulder at the oncoming guards with the most sour expression he could muster.
She gave him one last pleading look, hoping beyond hope that a pitiable expression could crack through his resolution when monsters and pain and fear and near endless quests could not.
He threw his head back with a groan.
“Fine. Get in.”
Author: must_fear_harpy
Prompt: Midwinter #3: resolution
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda, Spirit Tracks
Characters & Pairings: Link and Zelda
Rating & Warnings: G
Word Count: 557
Summary: Link's working on saying "no."
Link crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a blank stare.
“Come on!” Zelda begged, “It'll be an adventure!”
“That's what you said last time.”
“And I was right!” She gave him her most winning smile.
“You nearly drowned.”
“But I didn't. You saved me. You're very good at that. What would I do without you?”
He raised an eyebrow.
Okay, so maybe flattery was the wrong track.
“You had fun,” she said.
“When? When I was hauling you out of the ocean, or when I was explaining to your council how you just happened to end up in pirate infested waters when you decided to see if you could jump from a moving train to land on a floating barrel?”
She shifted and mumbled, “Before that.”
He rolled his eyes and turned back to his train to tinker with something. Against her better judgment, and out of sheer, irrepressible curiosity, she bent over his shoulder to watch him.
“I still say it was fun,” she sulked, not wanting him to think she would be sidetracked by how terribly interesting all the pipes in the dragon head engine were.
“I still say you're a nut,” he said.
She peered back towards the castle as the sound of shouting guards eased its way into the town.
“What about when we caught all those rabbits? You liked that,” she urged.
“No,” he corrected. “You liked that.”
“You went along with it.”
“Yeah, and I'm taking a firmer stand when it comes to going along with you now a days.”
She frowned. “What's that mean?”
“It means I'm practicing saying 'no.' So... No.”
“But Liiiiink.”
“No.”
“Who else is going to help me?”
He shrugged. “My guess is no one. And that means you shouldn't do it.”
“But it's terribly important!"
“No. It's not.”
“You don't even know what I want.”
“That's true. But I can guess.”
She scowled, straightening her back to her full height to glare regally down at him. “How dare you defy your monarch in her hour of need. One of your oldest and dearest friends. We've been through so much and yet this is how I'm treated.”
He paused in his tinkering to look up at her through squinted eyes, unfazed by her demands. That was one of the things she liked about him. It was also one of the things she hated. “The spoiled princess act? Really? You think that's going to work?”
She slumped, the sounds of the guards' frantic search drawing ever closer. As happened so frequently these days, her adventure was over before it even began.
“Please, Link?”
She tried. But a positive outcome seemed bleak. Everything looked bleak. Even her best friend wouldn't help her.
He stood slowly, kicking the engine hatch closed and wiping his hands on his pants, looking over her shoulder at the oncoming guards with the most sour expression he could muster.
She gave him one last pleading look, hoping beyond hope that a pitiable expression could crack through his resolution when monsters and pain and fear and near endless quests could not.
He threw his head back with a groan.
“Fine. Get in.”