Story: Attached (chapter 16)

Authors: Grain

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Chapter 16

Title: Suitor

The cool night breeze rustled the levees of the trees in the blackness of night. Branches swayed, unseen in the darkness, creaking and groaning under the influence of the steadily growing wind. An ordinary wall of rock that hid a rather extraordinary secret slowly deformed and took the shape of a man. As the figure stepped out of the liquid like surface of the rock, his features would have become distinguished, yet for the darkness.

In the distance the spires of a great castle loomed, drawing his contemptuous glare. A place he once laid claim to, but no more. With a leathered glove her reached to his jaw and ripped free the now useless piece of metal. A medical brace had been put in place to allow for the proper healing of a once broken jaw; though, he healed far faster than most, so it was no longer necessary. As the apparatus hit the soft earth with a faint thud, he made a mental note to repay the bitch that made wearing that thing a necessity if he ever saw her again.

He took a deep breath and looked around at his surroundings. "I'm finally back in Hyrule," he said. "Not much has changed."

The other two thought they could be rid of him, but he was back, and he always came back. He was immortal; he was eternal. The leather of his gloved hand creaked as he made a fist and raised it in front of him. The mark of the goddess glowed brightly.

His gaze now drifted towards Death Mountain. The ever-present volcano loomed tall, visible from all parts of Hyrule.

"Perhaps it is time to start anew."

--x--

As Samus' eyes fluttered open, her vision was filled with the sight of Zelda's face; those captivating, deep-blue eyes looking down on her softly. She felt the warm breath on her lips, and before she could speak, Zelda was kissing her. Softly and tenderly, she was kissed. Samus put one arm around Zelda taking the back of her neck in her palm. Moving her lips slowly and deliberately, Zelda made each kiss a moment unto itself. They kissed for what seemed like forever until Samus finally broke away to catch her breath.

"I love you." Zelda whispered warmly.

"That was the nicest wake up call I ever had," said Samus smiling softly. Zelda returned the expression. Samus' face slowly fell as she began to speak. "Zelda... about last night. I wasn't..."

"I love you," Zelda repeated as she kissed her again.

'Hey, I was saying something,' Samus complained, but with her mouth occupied, she could only think it.

Zelda's hand found Samus' arm sprawled out on the bed. Taking her by the forearm just above the elbow, she slowly slid her hands up Samus' arm taking hold of her wrist firmly. She pressed into Samus, kissing her more passionately. Sliding her hands up into Samus' hand, she interlaced their fingers.

They made out passionately for a quite a while longer before Samus pulled a way again, just enough to give her lips room to move. She sighed contentedly. A smile crept across her lips as she nuzzled her nose against Zelda's. "Can we talk?" Samus asked softly.

"No," Zelda said practically into her mouth as she resumed kissing her.

'What is she doing? Why won't she let me talk to her?' Samus pulled away again. "Zelda, it's about what I said last ni--" Zelda kissed her again.

"Zelda!" Samus said pulling away. It was now obvious to her that Zelda didn't want to bring up that particular subject again.

"There's nothing to talk about. I love you," Zelda said and resumed kissing her.

"Damn it!" Samus said now forcibly restraining Zelda.

Zelda huffed, annoyed. "Alright fine! Let's talk."

"I... humph," Samus started with what she was planning to say, but caught herself, the tone in Zelda's voice had set her off. "You know what, just forget it!" Samus said and quickly climbed out from under Zelda and out of her bed. "If you don't want to listen, there's no point in telling you." she said as she headed for the door. "I thought you actually cared..."

"Where are you going?" Zelda demanded to know.

"I have to pee!" Samus said angrily and then was gone.

Zelda sighed. "Of course I care... I was just..." She flopped back down on the bed. "What's wrong with me?"

--x--

After relieving herself, Samus went off in search of a shower to use because, apparently, the bathrooms here weren't actually 'bath' rooms, as they didn't have showers or baths in them. In fact, she wasn't even certain there was any plumbing in the building to speak of. No electricity means no pumps and no running water. If there were running water, it would have to be close to the ground, so these upper floors wouldn't be the place to look. She asked one of the housekeeping staff if there was anything like a shower around here. She told Samus to ask around the guards' barracks on the first floor. Unaware that in Hyrule it was customary for women to take baths, as where men usually took showers, inquiring only got her odd looks and awkward-brush offs. Finally one guard told her that there was something like that...

The castle guards, previously loud with chatter, became deathly silent as Samus opened the door and walked into the locker room. All were in various states of in dress. Most were either putting on or taking of their armor. They stared at her, confused as to why she was there, and tried not to be too obvious when following her with their eyes as she walked past them to the back of the room.

What she found could hardly be called a shower, though; it was merely an open stall in the corner. Set in the wall about seven feet up, was what looked like a stone channel, part of an aqueduct apparently, with a wooden gate that served as primitive valve.

She shrugged and stripped down leaving her close in a pile. Her armor's storage unit, which she always kept in her pocket, remained with her, though, clutched tightly in her hand. Having been raised by aliens and then living alone most of her life, she never developed a sense of personal modesty, so she saw nothing wrong with showering in a men's locker room in full view of everyone. Though her clothes were unimportant to her, the armor stayed in her possession always; without it, she truly would feel naked. She placed storage unit carefully on the floor and then covered it protectively with her foot.

Standing under the opening, she pulled a thin chain, raising the wooden gate and allowing the water pour out. It was practically freezing. She shivered and tried to bear it.

"Hey!" She called out. "Is there any soap? This world does have soap, doesn't it?"

For a while no one responded, but after about a minute, one timid guy crept over with a bar of soap held at arms length. He practically ran away as she snatched it from him.

--x--

Zelda lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. 'I sure messed that up. How could I have been so inconsiderate...? She just wanted to talk.' She sighed heavily and rolled onto her side. 'How can I make it up to her?'

She lay there and thought for a while. 'I should apologize at least.'

'I was wrong, and you were right and... that's no good.'

'I love you, and it doesn't matter that you can't see that... no, no, too confrontational.'

She paused then thought and chose her words carefully.

'Samus, before you say anything, let me first apologize for this morning. Last night you questioned how I could love you, and all I wanted to do was show you just how very much I do love you. But I suppose I went about it the wrong way. I should have just listened to what you had to say. I'm sorry. Now please, let's talk about it all you want. I'll listen.'

"Mm-hmm, yep," She nodded. "That's what I'll say. I'll tell her as soon as she comes back." Zelda smiled, feeling pleased with herself and her well thought out apology.

--x--

Samus made her way to the kitchen looking for something to eat for breakfast. Though, she was still upset and trying to avoid Zelda for the moment, and she was sure she wouldn't run into her here. The chefs buzzed about obviously annoyed by her presence. She rummaged around looking for food, annoying the head chef even more. He came up behind her and cleared his throat.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" he said with obvious irritation. It wasn't an actual offer to help but rather an indication that she should leave, but she took it as the former.

"Yeah, I'm hungry. What have you got for breakfast?"

Rolling his eyes, he answered her more annoyed than before. "Why don't you just tell me what you want, instead of turning my kitchen upside down?"

"You got bacon and eggs?"

He clapped his hands, and a couple of his subordinates went to work slicing up strips of bacon and cracking eggs as he ushered Samus out and into the adjoining dinning hall, practically pushing her.

"Can I get an apple too?"

He waved her away and left, muttering something she couldn't understand.

"Humph... better get my apple..." she grumbled.

'What was all the commotion about in there? They looked busy for so early in the morning,' Samus thought to herself.

--x--

Zelda was still lying on her bed when the door opened. "Samus? ...oh."

"Good morning Your Highness," Gaebora said cheerfully, happy to not see Samus there. Perhaps she had taken his advice after all, he thought.

"Good morning," She mumbled back; though, there wasn't anything good about it from her perspective.

"I have some wonderful news. We'll be having a visitor this evening."

"Who?" She said cautiously.

"Lord Varren's son, Avelle, from the southern province. He's a wealthy land owner in Ordona."

Zelda narrowed her eyes; she didn't like were this was going. "What business does he have at the castle exactly?" She asked even though she practically knew the answer.

"Why, he's come to see you, of course," Gaebora said cheerfully.

Zelda huffed in annoyance. "I thought we were through with this. I don't feel like seeing him."

"Now, now, I know you hated all the others, but I promise he will be different," he tried to explain.

"Different!? But I'm... I'm not... I don't... Look, I'm just not interested in... him," Zelda said dancing around her words.

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "You haven't even met him yet," he said flatly. Her evasive wordings played right to his suspicions of her.

"I don't have to meet him to know... besides, now really isn't a good time," Zelda said.

That was enough to confirm it for him. "Your Highness, can you for once can you put aside your personal feelings and think of your kingdom?"

"How does... 'having dinner', serve my kingdom?"

"You're almost twenty years old now, you're not getting younger. It's time you start thinking about the future, about marriage, and that way you can finally take the crown as queen."

"What makes you think I'll marry him? I'm... I don't even know him."

"All the more reason to have dinner with him. And I'm not saying you need to wed this particular suitor, but you definitely need to start thinking in those terms and taking actions towards that ultimate goal."

"So you want me to attend even more arranged dinners with people I don't even know?" She said, whining a bit more than she would have liked, which obviously struck a nerve with Gaebora.

"Listen... Your Highness... with all due respect, you need to stop being a selfish brat for once and behave like an adult. Act like the ruler of a nation that you are."

This deflated Zelda's resolve significantly. She did feel like she neglected Hyrule more than just a little. She hated being royalty, but she did love Hyrule and did want to see it prosper. All too often she was aware that those two feelings were in conflict with each other.

"It's just dinner, that's all I'm asking of you. You don't have to like him, just have dinner and at least give him a chance. We sent word yesterday, so he's already on his way; would you have me to turn him away at the gate after he came all this way?"

Zelda sighed and hung her head. "Very well."

--x--

Several of the housekeeping staff sat in the courtyard around large tubs of soapy water with a pile of cloths behind them doing the castle's laundry, while a couple others hung the freshly washed clothes up to dry. The old women watched their new guest going through a strange routine a few yards away on the grass.

"...fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty" Samus counted as she finished a set of one-armed push-up and then switched to her other arm. "One, two, three..."

Working out was how she relived stress, and she was still quite stressed from her squabble with Zelda. 'What was wrong with her? It's like she didn't eve care at all how I was feeling,' Samus thought.

"...ninety-eight, ninety-nine, a hundred" She said finishing her set of crunches and then began a stretching routine.

'I mean isn't she the one always trying to get me to talk more about that stuff. Damn, make up your mind already.'

She stood at one end of the courtyard, took a long running start, and then planted her hands on the ground, breaking into a series of acrobatic flips and spins looking like a gymnastics routine. She incorporated some of the courtyards structure into her workout, jumping over short dividing walls, flipping into a stature and kicking off in the opposite direction.

Her antics earned her stares and murmurs from the launderers. "This is no way for a proper young lady to behave," one of the old women confronted her.

"Good thing I'm not proper," Samus shot back, not in the best of moods.

She found a low branch of one of the decorative trees and used it to do pull-ups.

Samus sighed as she thought about what had happened. 'Why am I upset? She just wanted to get physical with me... nothing wrong with that...and I was the one who wanted to talk about our relationship... how backwards is that? I must be changing.'

Samus finished her pull-ups and left the courtyard lost in thought. 'She did agree to talk... eventually... but then I walked off. I guess I screwed up as well. I was just too angry by then, why do I have to be so dammed stubborn sometimes?'

--x--

"Where could she be?" Zelda whined worriedly.

She strolled down the hall asking one person after another if they'd seen Samus.

'I need to settle things from this morning... And I need tell her about tonight. She really shouldn't find out from someone else.' There was a lot of tension between them recently, and these two issues weighed on her heavily.

She wasn't in the any of the corridors, the dining hall, or the kitchen, but she was seen there hours ago by some of the kitchen staff.

'She's been gone all day. She can't be that upset about this morning. All I did was... No... This is about the night before...' She sighed

Zelda poked her head in to guest room Gaebora had prepared for Samus, which she never used. Nothing.

'She's had such a difficult life... It must be so hard for her to cope with it all. She has some very deep issues to get through... every time I think I've gotten past one problem with her, there's something else beneath it... It's like pealing an onion; layers upon layers of bitterness. It's honestly a little tiring. Especially when I try so hard and she remains so unresponsive...'

Zelda stopped walking as she lingered on that last thought, and she felt a small amount of animosity develop. She quickly put it away as soon as she realized what she was feeling and resumed walking.

'I can't blame her, all the turmoil she's been through... right from the start of her life. I can't imagine what that does to a person, what she's really feeling on the inside...or what it would have done to a lesser person. If I had her life... I'd be a complete wreck... I probably would have wound up dead already.'

Zelda didn't find her in the gardens, either. She even checked in a couple of the guard towers and learned from one of the guards about an odd showering incident in the guards' locker room. She would have to have a word with Samus about that as well.

She thought for a bit and remembered that Samus had asked about a place to do her training the other night, so maybe she was in the courtyard.

'Even so, she shouldn't have questioned my feelings for her! Telling me I don't love her, I should be the one who's upset. It's like she's not listening when I tell her I...' again Zelda stopped herself from following that line of thinking. 'But I suppose I wasn't listening either...'

She wasn't in the courtyard, either; though, according to the servants she'd asked, Samus had been there recently.

"Maybe I'll find her in the library."

'I think I need to be more sensitive with her and not push so hard... All along I had been dismissing her doubts as insignificant or something she's imagined and put on herself needlessly... But they're real to her, very real, and I wasn't very understanding at all... she must really hate me for that... this last thing was just the final straw before she snapped... I really need to find her and apologize.'

Of course she wasn't in the library either. "What could she possibly be doing there?"

'I just wouldn't have figured her to be so concerned and bothered about having to use lethal force in combat... Goddesses! What an awful thing to think. Of course it bothered her! Had I really dehumanized her so; thought her so cold that she wouldn't care about having to kill? And I here I'd been telling her not to think such things about herself... what a hypocrite I am. I need to talk to her.'

"Your Highness!" Gaebora called to her from down the hall.

"Oh Gaebora... have you seen--"

"Your Highness, where have you been? You must start preparing for dinner. Just look at you, you're not at all ready," said Gaebora cutting her off.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I completely forgot... I'll be right along. I just need to find Samus," Zelda said.

"There's no time for that... come along now," Gaebora said insistently.

"Uh... al-alright," she said uncertainly, still wanting to search for Samus.

--x--

"Zelda..." Samus sighed as she stared up at the clouds passing overhead. She lay on her back with her hands behind her head, high up on the slanted roof of the castle where no one was sure to bother her.

'This is stupid. Why am I avoiding her? Though... we have been spending a lot of time together... maybe some space is a good thing'

She took a deep breath and watched as the clouds passed by; they had thickened significantly over the several hours she'd been lying up there, and the sky had almost become overcast.

'Shit, I told her there was no way she could love me... is that why this morning that's all she would say... damn I'm stupid. How could I ever say something like that? This is exactly like when I ran off.'

She sat up and looked off into the distance, noticing the active volcano looming over the horizon. She was certain the ring of smoke around the summit wasn't there the other day. She shrugged and dismissed the thought as another came to mind.

'And I completely forgot to tell her about what Gaebora said yesterday.'

"Damn it!" She stood and leapt straight off the roof, plummeting over a hundred feet.

'I really need to go talk to her.' She thought as she fell.

Her armor came on half way down and she landed gracefully, barely bending her knees as she hit the ground.

--x--

In a room just adjacent her bedchambers, Zelda sat half submerged in a tub full of soapy water as several attendants fussed over her. One scrubbed her back while another washed her hair. Periodically a third would pour water over her, rinsing the away the soapy lather. The processes then repeated.

Normally, she hated this and would have preferred to bathe herself, and she did long for the showers she got to use when she was at the arena. But now, she just appreciated that it gave her the opportunity to think things over.

How would she explain this whole situation to Samus? How could she explain having a dinner, of which the expressed purpose was to form a romantic attachment to someone else... The thought made her shudder; it sounded really bad put like that. The truth is best; just say why she's going through with it... Why was she doing it again? "Ugh..." she sighed as another bucket of water was dumped over her head. If she couldn't answer that for herself, then how was she going to tell Samus?

'I should apologize for earlier at least...' she thought, deciding to focus on something else.

'Am I trying to change her... I mean I am aren't I? She's so just gloomy all the time; that can't be good for her.'

'It's not good for me, either...I certainly could use more cheer in my life... Is she right then... does that mean I don't love the person she is? '

Where was she already? Zelda wished Samus hadn't run for the entire day. They really needed to talk. Things would be alright again if Zelda could just talk to her.

--x--

A while later, Samus found her way back after relaxing on the roof for most of the day.

"Hey, Zelda, listen. I... huh?" Samus entered Zelda's room to find it buzzing with attendants.

Zelda was standing on a stool wearing a very eloquent dress, one that was slightly more revealing than usual, with a low–cut, wide neck, exposing a small amount of cleavage and most of her shoulders. A couple of attendants were making adjustments to her dress. Her hair had been put up; woven into elaborate interleaving patterns. Samus noticed she was also wearing more make up than usual.

"You- You look nice," she said a bit stunned.

"Oh, thank you... Uh... Samus, listen--"

"What um... what is all this?" Samus asked a little perplexed.

Zelda suddenly felt about two inches tall as she tried to think of a way to explain the situation.

"I um... sort of have this dinner," she spoke timidly.

"Huh?"

"Uhh, well... Avelle Varren from Ordona Province is coming here tonight... I... I'm supposed to have dinner with him."

"Oh, this one of that official royal functions where you talk affairs of state, or like a formal banquet? I guess that's why the kitchen was so busy... should I wear that dress you bought me, or--"

"No. Samus, it's... nothing like that," Zelda interjected. "I... It's just supposed to be only me and him. He's... well he's a suitor."

"A what... a suitor? A guy? I... I don't understand... I thought you didn't even..." she didn't want to say anything further in front of the attendants. However, unnoticed by either of them, Mireille had already begun discretely clearing the room.

"Samus... ugh..." Zelda felt absolutely horrible.

Samus was caught completely off guard by a strange sensation, entirely new to her. "Is this because we fought before... I didn't expect that you would... not..." It wasn't a pleasant sensation at all. "I mean I thought we still... that we were..." she said frantically. This is what she imagined drowning would feel like. The rush of panic that swept over her was completely unexpected. She didn't get it, did Zelda really hold that much sway over her. Had she really become so pathetically dependent?

"Of course we still are!" Zelda said just as frantically. She just knew Samus would feel hurt when she learned about this, she had to reassure her. "Nothing has changed."

"Nothing?" She looked unsure.

"No. Samus... this has nothing to do with that fight... I just... I have to attend... It doesn't mean anything, though. I don't actually want to do this."

Her panic was quickly replaced by a different feeling, one that was far more familiar; irritation. "Then why... why are you doing it?"

"Because I have to," Zelda responded flatly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Zelda couldn't think of a valid reason so she just repeated the one she was given "I... I have to be more responsible and think of my kingdom for once."

"Where'd you get that line form, as if I didn't know?" Samus said, even more irritated now.

"Now come on. I told you it doesn't mean anything. There is no reason to--" Zelda began, but Samus cut her off.

"If it doesn't mean anything, then it won't matter if you don't do it!"

"I already said, I have to." By this point all the attendants had long since made a quiet retreat from the room.

"No! He's forcing you," Samus said referring to Gaebora.

"He doesn't control me! As much as I don't like it, I am actually in charge here."

"Tch... I wonder sometimes," Samus said under her breath.

"What was that?" Zelda asked.

Samus didn't respond to that and just changed the subject. "Are you going to have to sleep with him as well!?"

"You're being ridiculous," Zelda said flatly.

"This whole thing is ridiculous! What's the point if you're not interested in guys!? ...waste of time," Samus shouted angrily.

"Ughh... Samus, I don't have time for this right now. I have to finish getting ready, and I don't need you yelling in my ear. And you've frightened off my attendants. You are completely overreacting... just... just come back once you've calmed down," Zelda said, managing to stay calm despite her growing irritation.

"Come back-- ...I... I don't believe you! You're dismissing me like one of you servants? I... Arrggh!" Samus stormed out in a huff, causing the attendants standing in the hall to recoil as she marched past.

"I... Samus... I'm sorry." Zelda said sadly.

--x--

This was his doing. Samus was furious and she intended to take it all out on him. Not physically, of course, but he was the cause for her anger and she fully intended to direct it at him.

She tracked Gaebora down in the hallway and began yelling at him before he even saw her. "You have to call this thing off!" She bellowed at him "You can't make her do this. I know she wouldn't have agreed without you pressuring her. I mean it's obvious she doesn't want to... so... Why are you forcing her?"

"Calm yourself, would you."

"No, I won't calm down! This is-- it's wrong... it's wrong to force this on her!"

"Wrong? It's just dinner."

"It's not just dinner! You're expecting her to... to like this guy, and he's expecting the same... Do you know how uncomfortable that will make her?"

"You make it sound to be a bad thing."

"For someone like her it is! You know that as well as me!"

"This is a pointless discussion. She will have to court men in this way if she is ever to wed in the near future," Gaebora said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Wed? You expect her to marry this guy? You know very well she doesn't want that," Samus responded angrily.

"Well she will have to; whether she likes it or not. If she doesn't wed she cannot be coroneted as the queen. That is the law."

"A stupid law... Humph," Samus huffed, now a bit calmer than before.

"It's an ancient law; it's is how we've done things for nearly eight hundred years."

"So what? Can't she just change it? She is in charge, isn't she?"

"No. Actually she can't. Only the king or queen can make changes to the law."

"What's the big deal anyway? So what if she doesn't become the queen? Just for that you force her to endure this charade and expect her to marry one of these men. Why is it so important that you would force that on her? That's just cruel," Samus said, now sounding annoyed.

"Why is it important!? We have - no - monarch. Not a proper one at least. It's been nearly four years since the king went into exile. We can't exist in this intolerable state of limbo for such a period."

"Why? What'll happen? Is society going to collapse? Where I'm from we haven't had a monarch of any kind for over fifteen hundred years," she said smugly.

Unable to form a logical response, Gaebora merely clenched his jaw and turned his nose up at her.

"Jeez, if it's that important I'll just marry her myself," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Y-You speak nonsense," Gaebora said quite taken aback.

"Did you ever think that Zelda doesn't want to be a queen, or a princess for that matter?"

"That's preposterous. What person in their right mind would not want to be ruler of a kingdom?"

"Lots, actually. Though I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand that."

"What is the meaning of that comment?" Gaebora said perplexed.

"Humph." Samus folded her arms. "I know your type well. I see them all throughout the Federation. Politicians, bureaucrats, public administrators, sniveling, little pukes with no actual power. The only influence they have is in convincing others to do what they want."

"I don't have to take such insults. I have affairs to attend to," he said and started to walk off.

"Call it off!" She shot angrily at him.

"Why? What is you're concern in this matter? What business is it of yours?"

"Because I don't want her in that situation where she's leered at by some guy she doesn't like and is made uncomfortable and certain things might be expected of her," Samus said.

"I meant; why is it you care so much?"

"Because... Because I..." Should she say it or not? She saw no point in hiding it any longer. Fine then, she would! "Because I'm sleeping with her."

"You're... what!?"

"That's right..." She wanted to rub it in now. "We have sex. She's in love with me. She tells me so all the time," she said with a smirk, emphasizing the important words for effect.

Gaebora looked around nervously to see if anyone was overhearing this conversation.

"She's not interested in men at all..."

"Keep your voice down."

"...but you knew that already. You knew, yet you're still making her go through with this."

"I knew you were trouble the moment I laid eyes on you." He began to scowl at her.

"Most do."

"I want you out of here... one way or another, sooner or later, I'll see you removed from this castle and from the princess' life."

"You're welcome to try."

"For now, I expect you not to interfere with them. There will be guards near by, and they will stop you."

"Ha!" She laughed, before walking off. If only he knew how feeble his threat sounded to her.

--x--

"Damn it," Samus muttered as she stormed down the hall, pissed-off at Gaebora. Talking to him accomplished nothing, and she would have realized that before hand had she not been so angry.

She had to talk to Zelda again. She then remembered that she never told Zelda about what Gaebora said the other day.

"I have to find her."

Crossing over from the east to the west wing of the castle, she passed by the main hall. Down below she saw a small party of travelers being greeted by Gaebora. Damn, she was too late.

From the balcony in Zelda's room she could see the dining terrace. At least she could keep an eye on them from there. When she stepped out on the balcony she could see Zelda sitting at the single small table. She was still alone.

'Ah... this is perfect; I'll just jump down there.'

She grabbed her armor's storage unit from her pocket as she jumped up on to the balconies railing. She was about to leap, but something held her back.

"Come back once you've calmed down." Though it had felt like a slap in the face, Zelda was right.

She wasn't furious anymore, but she was anything but calm right now. It wouldn't be a good idea to talk to Zelda when she was upset like this. It would probably just make things worse. Hurting Zelda was the absolute last thing she wanted, and she just couldn't trust herself not to say something she didn't mean.

What was that about? Just because she was upset and angry, she couldn't control her actions any longer? When did that happen? She was the definition of cool-under-fire. It was ridiculous that she didn't feel like she would be able to control her behavior.

'Zelda, what are you doing to me?'

Then she realized it had already happened without her even realizing. "Damn it." She just hoped she didn't cause problems for Zelda by blowing up at Gaebora like that and revealing certain truths. 'Think next time, you moron.'

Zelda really was changing her, even if she wasn't doing it consciously. Though it was brief, the feeling of utter panic she had when she thought Zelda was tossing her aside almost made her physically sick. How could she allow herself to be come so weakened?

Just then she saw someone else walkout on to the balcony. He greeted Zelda, and then both sat at opposite sides of the table.

Samus' shoulders slumped, and her armor went away in her pocket.

"Damn..." she sighed sadly.

End Part Sixteen

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