It was the Friday after the game and Zelda was starting to feel better. She had missed school on both Wednesday and Thursday, spending the majority of both days secluded to the darkness of her room, not allowed to read, watch TV, do homework, or even text. Actual torture!

Thursday afternoon her father evaluated that she was healed from the concussion and could finally do all the things that used any kind of brain power that she had been banned from for the past forty-some-odd hours.

Today she was going to be returning to school which made her very nervous. At the game on Tuesday, Ike had told her to meet him in their spot on Wednesday night. Of course she hadn't shown since she still felt very nauseous and her father was actually home for once, enforcing her house arrest. When she finally got her phone back after being cleared, she had dozens of missed messages from her friends, teammates, Link, and worst of all, Ike.

The last one had been sent Thursday morning and read: . Zelda had no idea what that meant and she wasn't sure she really wanted to find out. Add that on top of the fact that Samus had most likely tackled her on purpose on Tuesday and school could not be a more appealing place to be right now--not!

The familiar twists of anxiety erupted in her stomach as she entered the school parking lot. It was beginning to be the new norm every time she came to school. Great! She once again waited until a couple minutes before the bell rang so she could go straight to her locker and then class, another part of her new normal.

Zelda sighed aloud as she thought back to just last week before her life had been completely turned upside down and dropped on it's head. She used to get to school early just so she could hang around in the cheerleader locker hall gossiping with her friends or meetup in the commons with Ike and everyone. Now here she was, purposely waiting out the clock in her car instead of heading inside just to avoid all these people she used to cherish spending time with. Not that she didn't still love her friends, but she wasn't in the mood to answer the dozens of questions that she was likely to be bombarded with. She was sick of talking about Ike, Samus, Link or any of the drama that came with that stupid party just last Friday.

The clock finally read 7:43, just two minutes before the bell would ring. She headed inside and went straight for her locker. The hall was already clear of her fellow cheerleaders, just as she hoped it would be. The bell rang shortly after she put her backpack away and pulled out her binder, much to her relief once again.

Once she got to class she was surprised to see Principal Ganondorf talking to Ms. Jigglypuff and even more surprised when he turned to her as she entered. "Ah, Ms. Gaepora, just the young lady I wanted to see."

"Oh?" Zelda asked, her mind racing with possibilities of why the principal would want to speak with her.

"Don't worry, you'll be excused from class." Ms. Jigglypuff assured her as Principal Ganondorf opened the door for her, gesturing her to head out into the hall. Zelda managed a weak smile for both authoritative figures before exiting the class and following the large man to his office.

When the entered the office, Link was already in there, sat in one of the itchy old chairs in front of Ganondorf's desk. Well, this confirms it. This could definitely only be about one thing. "Please, sit." He instructed Zelda.

"It would seem that a student has come forward about some damage caused by you two," Ganondorf began, clasping his hands on his desk and leaning forward to peer down on the two pranksters.

"Da-damage?" Zelda stammered, trying to play it cool, though she was failing miserably.

"Yes. A series of 'pranks' on three students' houses done Monday night." Ganondorf explained grimly.

"Do they have any proof?" Link demanded calmly. "What gives them the idea it was us? Zelda is a great student with a perfect record and I... well I'm a pretty decent one myself."

"Unfortunately, yes. There is proof." The principal said, his stern expression still displayed on his features as he turned his computer monitor so they could see his screen. It showed black and white security footage of a driveway. Zelda immediately recognized Ike's jeep parked to one side.

Her heart began to pound even harder as her and Link's two figures approached the vehicle. The footage didn't have amazing resolution so they weren't obviously identifiable, but it wouldn't be easy to prove it wasn't them either. After they placed the fish in his backseat, you could see them even more clearly as they crossed the driveway to go around the back of his house and to his bedroom window. Uh-oh.

She glanced over at Link who's confident demeanor had all but diminished and his face was beginning to grow very pale. He swallowed hard, "what about the other two students? You mentioned there were three." Zelda was surprised he was still brave enough to try and fight back, all she wanted to do was disappear.

"The other two houses didn't have footage, but based on the similarity of the damage and the same spray painted signature in all three locations, it's pretty obvious that it was the same culprits, or should I say, you two." Ganondorf replied in his deep, disappointed tone.

"Now," he continued with a slight smirk--was he enjoying this? "Since you're both almost eighteen, you could easily be in a lot of legal trouble here, but Mr. Emblem, Ike's father, has insisted that we keep this just between the school and your families." Now he sounded almost disappointed that there wouldn't be further consequences. What did they ever do to make him dislike them so much?

"Not only will you be suspended from school today and Monday, but you both will be spending today cleaning up any and all damage inflicted on the property of everyone involved. Zelda, you are also officially on probation from both the cheer squad and volleyball team for the next week. Thanks to Mr. Emblem, none of this will show up on your permanent records other than the suspensions." He added the last part with a hint of annoyance.

"Both of your parents and or guardian have been informed of your suspension and will be in contact with Mr. Emblem to coordinate your consequences. Now, get off of school property, you're officially suspended and therefore trespassing." He said harshly, the slight smirk that had been playing on his lips the entire meeting turning into a fully formed cruel smile.

Neither Zelda nor Link took any time to hesitate as they both rushed from the office, grabbed their things from their lockers, and headed for the parking lot together.

"Wow. I was almost starting to think we were getting away with it, but guess not." Link told her as soon as they were far enough away from the building.

"I know... I mean it's been like four days," Zelda agreed with a sigh. "I think it was my fault though. Look at these."

She opened the text thread between her and Ike on her phone and showed it to Link. "But you leave me no choice..." Link murmured as he read the last one aloud.

"What I wonder is how he kept his parents from pursuing action way sooner if they had that footage this whole time? I mean the spray paint on his wall had to piss them off. And I bet Samus and Roy's parents were not happy with the damage they woke up to either." Link said thoughtfully.

"I mean, Ike is pretty persuasive. He can get his parents to do just about whatever he wants. He must have convinced them that we would end up taking care of it or he would do it himself or something." Zelda said with a shrug.

Just then her phone started to ring. Her stomach dropped as she saw it was her dad. Link's phone started ringing too. "It's my grandma," He said quietly. They exchanged nervous looks before answering their phones.

~*~

Later that afternoon, after a long lecture from her father, Link picked Zelda up and they headed to Ike's house, the first destination of their community service punishment. Principal Ganondorf and Mr. Emblem had both coordinated with Zelda's parents and Link's grandma, instructing them to simply clean up any and all damage they made, which Zelda honestly thought was a fair punishment. The only thing that sucked was the suspension that would leave a mark on her pristine clean record and the fact that she wouldn't be able to play or cheer all of next week, but it could be much worse.

The Emblem's house maid stood on the porch awaiting their arrival. She would supervise them and allow them entry to Ike's car and into his bedroom to clean up the mess they caused just four nights ago.

"Hi," Zelda greeted very awkwardly as they approached the middle aged woman. She was familiar with Jen, since she used to hangout at Ike's house all the time. Jen obviously recognized her as well and she immediately felt a rush of shame and embarrassment at the thought of this woman who had always been so kind to her knowing what she had done. She was glad they would have to do the cleaning and not poor Jen.

"I have left a vacuum, sponges, scrubber brushes, soap, and buckets for water you can get from the hose over by Ike's jeep. You guys can start by scrubbing it inside and out until it smells and looks brand new." She replied stiffly. The two teens nodded somberly and headed over to the jeep while she took a seat on one of the porch chairs and pulled out a magazine.

They had the top down on the jeep and the stench of rotting fish wafted into the air, invading Zelda's senses as soon as they came within a few feet of it.

"Holy shit," Link muttered, immediately reaching up to plug his nose. "I knew this would do a number on it, but WOW!"

"Seriously," Zelda replied, also reaching up to plug her nose.

They filled up the buckets with water from the hose that had been attached to the faucet on the side of the house for them. One bucket was mixed with soap and the other was left for rinsing.

Link checked under the backseat first thing. "Well, looks like they found our little gift already at least. I can only imagine what he would look like after four days of baking in the sun."

Zelda shuddered at the thought of that. She definitely did not want to know what that would look or smell like. Ike's jeep already reeked as it was, she wondered how soon after they had found it.

She dipped a scrubby brush into the soapy water and got to work scrubbing the carpet of the jeep, focusing mainly on the spot under the backseat where the fish had been. Link got a sponge and got to work wiping down the leather seats.

"This is definitely not how I would picture spending my Friday night." Zelda commented with a grunt as she lathered the carpet with layer after layer of soapy water.

"You know what they say, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime." Link retorted with his signature smug smirk.

"Hey, this was all your idea in the first place!" She replied with a sarcastic glare.

"Maybe you should think twice next time before agreeing to the schemes of a man you had just met a couple of days before." He pointed out, his smug smirk growing into a grin.

"I won't make that mistake again, trust me." The blonde girl assured him, matching his grin.

After almost an hour and five rounds of soaping and rinsing the jeep down inside and out, the fishy stench finally was replaced with a lemony fresh one and it was shining like brand new. Link pulled a couple of car freshener trees out of a plastic bag in his pocket and hung them on the rearview window. "I had a feeling we might need these," he said with a wink.

Next, Jen lead them down to Ike's room, this time through the house rather than the window they had used Monday night. The spray painted purple 'Z' with the green 'L' layered over it still remained on his wall, a vibrant symbol of Zelda's anger and hurt.

This time they were provided with a spray on cleaning solution and rags to use. Jen went over and sat in the big armchair Ike had in front of his TV where he played video games. She once again pulled out a magazine, but she was in such close proximity this time that neither Link nor Zelda dared to speak. And so they worked in awkward silence, scrubbing away at the wall.

It took about half an hour before it finally disappeared into the dark gray color of his wall. Zelda was starting to worry that it would never come off since the color hardly budged within the first ten minutes, but at last, it was gone.

"Alright, next stop, Mr. Eliwood's house." Jen said, rising from the gaming chair.

"You mean.. you're coming with us?" Link asked with a confused glance directed Zelda's way.

"Of course. You think after all the trouble you two have caused we would trust you to clean up unsupervised?" Jen asked rhetorically, scolding both the guilty teens. And so commenced another awkward silence, this time in Link's truck. The truck had no back row, but had a middle seat option that could pop up from the center console. Zelda perched on top of the seat uncomfortably while Jen took the passenger side.

All of the toilet paper had already been cleaned from Roy's yard and the graffiti symbol they had sprayed on the white garage door was very faded as if it had been washed off, but the stain was ultimately impossible to remove completely.

Here they would have to scrub the eggs they threw at the house off the brick and repaint the garage door. Jen once again found herself a porch chair to perch on while they got to work scrubbing the bricks with more brushes and soapy water.

"So...do you still think this night was worth it?" Link asked since they were once again far enough away from their supervisor to resume conversation.

"Honestly...I do feel kind of embarrassed about it. Seeing Jen's face when we first pulled up really made the guilt set in, but I'm glad she wasn't the one who had to clean up after our immaturity." Zelda said, looking over to the woman reading from her stack of magazines peacefully.

"Oh..." Link trailed off, a hint of hurt resonating in his voice.

"I still had fun," Zelda added quickly, sensing that she had offended him. "I just wish there was a way it would have only affected them instead of getting the adults involved you know? That's the part that makes me feel kind of ashamed and childish."

"Yeah that makes sense." Link said with a nod. "But overall...?"

"Overall, I don't regret it. We made our point and that was honestly one of the most fun nights I think I've ever had. Plus...that was the first day since it all happened that I really did kind of forget the hurt, ya know?"

"Well, I'm glad it was worthwhile for you because this cleanup sucks!" Link exclaimed jokingly, lightening up the mood once again, as he always managed to do somehow.

"Yeah...if I never have to scrub something again it'll be too soon." Zelda added, shaking her head but smiling all the same. How was it that Link could make something as awful as cleaning for almost three hours now fun? Everything felt like such an adventure and she was so grateful to have his friendship right now. Without him, she probably would be spending the night crying in her room for the eighth night in a row. Not that cleaning was much of an improvement, but at least she was smiling.

Finally, once there was not a single drop of egg left in sight, they got to work on the garage door. Luckily it only took one layer of paint to completely mask what was left of the stained symbol and didn't take long to complete between the two of them and a set of roller paint brushes.

The last stop would be Samus Aran's house and now that the afternoon was fading into evening, Zelda worried they might actually run into her there, after all, school had been out for a couple hours now. Link seemed to sense her anxiousness as he kept glancing over at her on the drive over.

When they pulled up to the house, there was nobody outside, much to Zelda's relief. Just Samus' car awaiting the same pampering they had to do for Ike's and a hose for them to fill the buckets they had brought from Ike's house.

The rotting fish stench was ten times worse than Ike's since Samus' car didn't have a removable top like Ike's jeep did. The gut wrenching scent practically oozed from all four open windows in a visible green-yellow fog like you would see in cartoons.

"I think I'm losing my vision," Link gasped, rubbing his eyes. Zelda nodded in agreement, trying to contain her lunch. She too almost felt like her eyes were burning in their sockets. Once again, Link checked the backseat and found that they had already removed the source of the putrid smell: the fish they had planted. Surely whomever found the fish in their vehicle first tipped off the other one where to find it.

Neither exchanged a word as they got to work on her car since neither could barely even breathe. Both gasped air through their mouths rather than their noses, though Zelda could practically taste it.

The spray painted 'Z' and 'L' was much easier to remove this time since it was on her back windshield rather than a wall or garage door. It only took a few minutes with the scrubby brush and soapy water. Zelda felt a little sad as the last of the symbol disappeared forever, the last physical thing remaining from that memorable night.

The inside on the other hand, was an impossible challenge. The outside of the car was sparkling like new, probably cleaner than it had been in a long time based on the layers of grime they scrubbed off, but the inside still had an odor after rounds and rounds of scrubbing down with soap and rinsing. It didn't help that the entire interior was cloth, unlike Ike's jeep who had leather seats, so everything seemed to have absorbed the fishy scent.

"Alright, that's it," Link said, emerging from the car gasping for air for the fifth time. "I think we're just going to have to burn it."

Zelda couldn't help but giggle, watching him try to catch his breath, bent over with his hands on his knees and everything. As if he had just ran a mile or something.

"Hey! It's not funny!" He shouted, pointing a finger at her and still breathing hard.

"It kind of is though," she said with a wide smile. His faux serious expression broke into a smile as he chuckled with her. "I guess you're right."

"On a more serious note, how the hell are we gonna get the smell out?" Zelda asked.

"I think dousing it in gasoline will really help." Link replied, his faux serious face returning. "I mean there's no stronger smell than gasoline and smoke."

"If only it were that easy." Zelda giggled.

"Hey, stop goofing off you two! It's getting late!" Jen called over to them from her usual supervising perch.

"We can't get the smell out no matter how many times we wash this thing! Any ideas?" Link called back.

Jen rolled her eyes and slammed her latest magazine down and walked over to the car to examine it herself. "Well, it's much better than when we first got here." She noted, peering inside the car. "I think I have just the thing."

She returned to the bed of Link's truck and rummaged through the box of cleaning supplies they had brought along. She returned with an orange box of baking soda.

"Baking soda is great for absorbing odors," she told them as she opened the box and placed it on the floor of the back seat. "Within a day or so hopefully it'll get rid of whatever's left."