✧ The Light Between Us ✧ ☆•° Chapter 4 °•☆ I dragged myself through the door of my house and tumbled onto a couch in the living room. Maybe "house" was an understatement. It was more like a mansion. Or palace. The door I had come through was a tiny, barely-used side entrance that I much preferred to the ornate gates and stern oak doors. And the living room? It was really an extension of my room I had begged for. It was probably the dinkiest room in the whole palace. And I loved it because I didn't have to pretend in it. I reached over for a bag of Rock Roast Puffs and my laptop. Might as well do my school shopping. There were a few perks with being from the royal family, and free shipping was one of them. I crammed a handful of Puffs into my mouth, chewing slowly as I looked into my account. My thoughts whizzed by, each begging for attention. I settled on thinking about what Purah had said about the Calamity. That couldn't have been true, right? I knew Purah sometimes over-exaggerated things, and her technical mind found connections where there were none. I pushed away my anxiety, forcing myself to relax. Purah was just making stuff up. I pulled up my RitoShopping catalog and scrolled through the list of supplies I needed for my junior year at Hyrule Field Academy. Pencils, paper, calculator, compass, protractor, four notebooks for core classes... the list went on for a long time. I shrugged. It was time to test the limits of my unlimited credit card. The little number on the items-in-bag icon steadily grew as I fought my way through the never-ending shopping list. After I was done, I'd put on some clean clothes and go hang out by my pool. I sighed happily at the thought of a few hours by myself, in the sun, reading some sort of adventure book. Yea, right. "Zelda?" A knock sounded at the door and I heard the deep voice of my father. I groaned. Not another problem to worry about. Father- known as King Rhoam to everyone else- came into the room. He grimaced as he navigated through the erratically placed furniture, clothes, and occasional snack bag. He made his way to the couch and sat down next to me. Almost right away, I slouched and put up my hood. "Zelda, we need to talk about this," Father said, gesturing at the mess. "Matches my mood," I mumbled. "You should really keep it clean," he reprimanded. "You have to set a good example. And- you know why I came here, right?" I hunched over. Here it comes, I thought. "You haven't practiced at all," Father said. "You're supposed to be working towards activating your power. As a princess of Hyrule, you have a duty to fulfill- and you're not taking the initiative." I silently willed him to stop. I already felt like a pile of trash. Now, the tears I thought I had washed off stung my eyes. "You must-" Father stopped abruptly, apparently noticing my wet cheeks. "I- I'm sorry, Zelda," he apologized. "There's so much responsibility on you already- and you're only sixteen. I guess I'm not helping right now?" I nodded and added under my breath, "Almost seventeen." "Every time I step back, I'm amazed at how much you do," Father continued. "Helping Purah, excelling in sports, and on top of all that, handling your job as a princess..." he gave a short laugh. "I can't really complain." A small, hopeful smile grew on my face and I looked up. Father's blue eyes twinkled. "A week off from everything," he said gently. "We can go down to Lurelin for an impromptu vacation. Relax for a bit before you head back to school." My smile widened. I'd get away from royal mumbo-jumbo, the threat of IRL school- and the memory of the boy, Link. "Of course," I whispered. "Thanks... Dad." He seemed slightly taken aback by the informal reference but quickly regained his composure. He patted my shoulder and said, "Go pack your stuff. I'll cancel all my meetings. We can leave tomorrow morning." He left, and I stretched out on the couch, grinning. No worries for a week... A tiny thought nagged at me from the back of my head. What had I just done earlier today..? I shot up, my smile vanishing. I had given Link my number. ☆•° Chapter 3 °•☆ ☆•° Chapter 5 °•☆ ✧ Note ✧ I feel like King Rhoam gets a bad rap in BotW because of how he pressures Zelda, and a lot of people hate him for that. I really think he was trying to do what was best for Hyrule, so I'm trying to make him seem nice in this series.
