It had been about five minutes since the last bell had rung. Zelda was leaning against the trunk of the tree she and Link had met under quite often, waiting for him to meet up with her this time.

Both Zelda and Link had texted their parents if they could stay with each other after school, and it took a lot of negotiating to allow them to do this. Zelda was surprised that her parents caved and let her do so.

When she had agreed to visiting the park with him after school, Zelda felt incredibly confident about this. Now, she was a nervous wreck. Her stupid head was conjuring up ten thousand different ways this could end, a majority of them being bad endings. Zelda was hoping that none of them came true.

Someone tapped her shoulder, and the brunette looked up from her feet to meet eyes with Link for the third time today. Her heart started beating faster again, which basically guaranteed that she'd mess something up eventually.

Link gestured for her to follow him, and soon they were walking alongside each other and towards the park.

Zelda was assuming they'd be going to the closest park to the school, which happened to be the biggest one in Hyrule and had lots of people in it everyday. She was nervous for this, and judging by Link's facial expression, so was he.

Inside Link's head, he was pondering over how this evening should go. He didn't want to slip up and do something weird or upset Zelda. This evening needed to go almost near perfect. Needed. Link needed to get closer to Zelda, so this was beneficial to that.

The two reached the park in about five minutes, both of them looking around at the scenery in awe. It was such a beautiful park, Faron Park, and the scenery never ceased to amaze anyone. Including Link and Zelda, of course.

But then there were people, a lot of them, walking around and smiling. Link could hear kids screaming in joy with their friends or their parents, while Zelda watched idly, wondering what they were doing.

Zelda's eyes lit up when she saw the swing set, and she ran over to them, sitting down in an empty swing. Grinning, she patted the swing next to her.

Link didn't really want to be seen playing on the playground (after all, he was in high school!) but, if this would make Zelda happy, then so be it. Hesitantly, he sat down on the swing and began to catch some momentum. Link just hoped that no one else would see him.

Zelda was already airborne, swinging at a moderately high level and smiling the whole while.

When Link swung in sync with her, he just admired her while she happily swung. He really liked her, and a part of himself wished he didn't. He caused her so much pain years ago. She would never like someone like him.

Shaking the thought from his head, he tried to focus on just Zelda, because she was the only reason he was here right now.

Beautiful, he thought, and looked away quickly once Zelda glanced his way.

They stopped their swings, exiting the playground and trying to think of other things to do together.

Link suggested they get ice cream, pointing at the quaint little ice cream stand that stood nearby. Clasping her hands together, Zelda nodded in agreement.

After Link had insisted he buy their ice cream, they were now sitting on a random bench and eating their ice cream cones. Link had just gone with plain vanilla, and Zelda got a cherry flavor that had little bits of chocolate in it.

Things were growing a bit awkward for Link, but Zelda didn't seem to mind.

Link didn't know how to properly speak to people who were deaf like her, not that it was a bad thing. He didn't want to keep writing his words on paper, and he barely knew any sign language. Easily, he could just text her, but... What if he learned sign language? It couldn't be too difficult, right? Nah, it definitely would. But then again—

Grabbing his phone and entering the Notes app, he typed in his words and showed them to Zelda.

Can you teach me how to speak sign language?

Zelda's eyes widened as Link pulled the phone away from her eyes. Tilting her head to face him, she nodded.

Where do I start? Zelda internally thought, placing her index finger on her chin as she thought.

Starting with a simple hello or hi would be good enough for now. Zelda positioned herself so that her body was facing Link now.

Before starting, the two finished off their ice cream and ate the cones. It didn't take too long, actually, and they were already starting.

Zelda laid her hand out, as if she was about to give Link a high five. Link repeated her actions, watching as she placed the tips of her fingers on the side of her head.

Link did the same thing, and Zelda nodded, mentally telling him he was doing a good job.

Extending her hand outwards in a waving fashion, Link followed her actions and finally signed the word hello to Zelda.

She clapped her hands lightly at his accomplishment, watching in amusement as Link continued to sign the word hello, over and over.

Zelda grabbed her phone and typed in the words that told him that he was saying hello in sign language. Link nodded after understanding, still continuing to sign hello a couple of times. Zelda chuckled and typed to him that they were going to learn the word goodbye in sign language now.

Link halted his constant hellos, watching Zelda perform the word goodbye for him.

She laid her hand out in a high five position again, and this time it actually looked like she was trying to give him a high five. Instead, she closed her fingers up, making it look like a fist she was about to punch him with. Link hoped she wouldn't do that. Instead, she unraveled her fingers and waved her hand back and forth.

It seemed simple enough, and once Link tried it out, he realized it actually was fairly simple to say goodbye in sign language. He signed the word goodbye to Zelda, and she clapped once again to reassure him that he was doing wonderful.

One of their phones buzzed against the bench, and Zelda picked up her own phone to see it was the cause of the buzz. Her parents were asking her to return home. Showing Link the text, she frowned once he finished reading it and he frowned himself.

They both stood up and Link offered to walk Zelda home, but she assured him that she would be alright.

Slowly, Zelda lifted her hand up to sign the word goodbye to Link. Then she smiled, and it caused Link's cheeks to burn up.

Why did she have to have this affect on him? And it worked so easily, every time!

He really thought she had a beautiful smile. So many beautiful things about her, and that was just one of them.

Zelda had kissed his cheek earlier, and Link was surprised that she had even done that.

He too wanted to show some sort of affection towards her, but whenever he was about to do it, his anxiety skyrocketed and prevented him from doing anything further.

So, he stood there like an idiot. Zelda signed the word goodbye one more time to try and get Link to return to reality, which he did once she lightly smacked him across the cheek. It didn't hurt at all, it just startled him and brought him back to the real world.

She signed goodbye one more time, which Link finally replied with this time around, signing a goodbye of his own.

The two parted ways after that, and Link regretted not making a move. He would just do what Zelda did earlier at school today, but his anxiety was too much for him to handle.

Rethinking over the whole situation was beginning to make Link lightheaded. He thought about every single part of their departure, trying to figure out everything he had done wrong to make their goodbye so awkward.

Maybe Zelda didn't think it was awkward.

Maybe Zelda thought it was awkward.

?????

The mental debate in his head would not end, and looking over the situation turned into feeling on the brink of having an anxiety attack.

He couldn't have one now—not while he was walking home. Who knows what could happen? Maybe he'd pass out. That'd look kind of dumb. Some kid laying down on the sidewalk, definitely not weird.

But luckily, Link got home safely. He breathed in and out in a certain way, which calmed him down a bit. And then, when he managed to get to his bedroom, he closed the door, flopped onto his bed, and sighed into his pillows.

Link hated who he was, sometimes.

••