A Hidden Kindness

3248 words

“Daaaaaaaad! DAAAAAAAAAAAD! Where is my hair straightener?” Rabia asked, running downstairs. Saul blinked, looking up from his cereal.

“Oh. Um… Chase and Lance wanted to… use it.” She crossed her arms.

“So, where is it?”

“Uh… broken,” Saul said.

“... You owe me a new one,” she scowled. “I guess I’m not going anywhere today.”

“Your hair looks fine! Besides, didn’t you have plans with Kaikoura?”

“We’re going to hang out at her house and play video games. Basically not going anywhere.”

“Then why does it matter that your hair looks good?”

“Because it just does, Dad,” she scowled.

“... Are you really going to Kaikoura’s house, or are you meeting up with Ganondorf somewhere?”

“I’m really going to Kaikoura’s house. Ugh, fine, I’ll just straighten my hair there. I’m sure Cecil has a straightener I can borrow,” she shrugged. Saul snorted.

“He probably has ten. And some makeup, if you want.” He rolled his eyes.

“He’s very pretty! Don’t be mean. You’re just jealous you can’t be that hot.”

“... I’m gonna tell him you said that,” Saul smirked.

“Go ahead. He’ll take a compliment,” she shrugged and left the house. She knocked on the door of Croft Manor.

“Hellooooo Rabia,” the door opened, and a tall man with blond and black hair greeted her.

“Hey Nasty…” she slid past him. “What’s up?” He looked her up and down.

“You look nice and dressy… you guys going out somewhere?” he asked.

“Nope. We’re going to play video games,” she shrugged. “I just have some more plans a little bit
later.” He nodded in understand.

“With good old Ganondorf?” He grinned at her stupefied look.

“W-wh….?! How did you even know about that?!” she cried. Without another word, he wandered away. She grumbled to herself under her breath and made her way upstairs. “Hey Kaiky,” Rabia said, entering the room. Kaikoura was sitting on her bed, typing away on her computer.

“Oh, hey…” Kaikoura looked her up and down. “Going somewhere?”

“Later,” Rabia shrugged. “Can I commandeer a hair straightener? Mine is broken.” Kaikoura shrugged.

“There’s one in my bathroom. The heat protectant is next to my mirror, just so you know.” She continued to bore Rabia with her talk about hair health. Rabia stared at her blankly.

“Sweet, thanks.” Rabia grabbed it, then they started to play video games. Kaikoura was just about to win Mario Kart when Cecil ran in. Rabia passed her and won in first place. “HAH! I won!” she said excitedly. Kaikoura grumbled.

“I just got a wonderful phone call from your father!” Cecil said pleasantly. Rabia groaned.

“Typical…” she muttered. “He’s so just… no…”

“Thank you for the compliment, by the way,” he said. “So, what do you girls have planned for the rest of the day?”

“Oh, um… nothin’ much. Gonna meet up with Zelda a little later for some… thing,” Rabia shrugged. “I don’t really know.” Cecil shook his head.

“Do we ever really know with her?” he said with a chuckle. “So, no plans to meet up with the boys?”

“Yes, all the boys that chase after me, Dad…” Kaikoura said sarcastically.

“I dunno, Sheik seems to like you,” Rabia said, nudging her. Kaikoura just gave her a look. “No, no boys.” Cecil clapped his hands together with a smile.

“Perfect! I have an errand for you guys then.” The two groaned and rolled their eyes.

“Dad, we already have plans with Zel--” Kaikoura tried.

“Take Val to the doctors, stop by the market and get some milk, and I need some more shampoo in the downstairs bathroom.” He dropped some rupees on nearest surface. “Take Nason with you if you’d like; he’s been in the house nearly all week. He’s driving me crazy.” He turned and left the room, not hearing another sigh from the two.

“As if we needed plans?” Kaikoura sighed. “We’ll leave in an hour.”

“As soon as possible, ladies!” Cecil called from down the hallway. Rabia grumbled and stood up, pulling Kaikoura up as well.

“The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go to the castle,” she muttered. They headed downstairs.

“Nasty! Vallon! Come on, let's go!” Kaikoura called from the hall. Nasty looked at them from the stairwell.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Errands,” Rabia said with a groan.

“Vallon, come on, you’re slow,” Kaikoura called again. Her brother slowly meandered out of his bedroom, coughing deeply. “Don’t cough on me.” As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, they left, at a slower pace than they would’ve liked due to Vallon’s coughing.

“... My guess is that my dad put Cecil up to this,” Rabia mumbled to Kaikoura.

“One-hundred percent correct,” Nasty interjected. “I overheard them on the phone.”

“What’s he think I’m gonna do? Run off to the desert?” she asked. Nasty nodded. “WOOOOW he’s dumb. And I guess you’re here to make sure we don’t do that.” He nodded once more. She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s just a date. I mean, not a date. I’m going to Zelda’s.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Kaikoura said.

“I know.” They got Vallon to the doctors and sat in the waiting room while he was assessed. “Come on Nastyyyy, can’t you just like… do this FOR us…?” Kaikoura came back from getting Nasty a frozen yogurt and handed it to him.

“Thank yooou!” he said. “See, you’re sucking up the wrong way,” he said to Rabia. She gave him huge puppy dog eyes.

“Pleeeeease?”

“Tell you what, I’ll think about it,” Nasty said. He licked at his frozen yogurt. “Mmm, pistachio!” Vallon came back soon enough with a medicine prescription and some tissues.

“I have bronchitis,” he said miserably.

“Ewwww!” Rabia said.

“Nice, smoke another one, loser!” Kaikoura said. Nasty gave him a sympathetic look.

“I feel for you, kid. Let's get some frozen yogurt while we wait for his prescription to be filled,” he suggested.

“But… you already have frozen yogurt,” Rabia pointed out.

“But heee doesn’t! And he deserves a froyo!” Nasty stated.

“Rabia and I are going to go ahead to the market and get the milk,” Kaikoura said. “We will be back.” They walked away.

“... Are we actually going to come back?” Rabia asked once they were out of earshot.

“By Din, no! And we are NOT getting milk, we are just straight up outta here!” Kaikoura replied.

“Awesome. I just wanted to make sure I was reading that right,” she said.

~ VAATISPURPLEBUTTVAATISPURPLEBUTTVAATISPURPLEBUTT ~

They were let straight into the throne room. Zelda was pacing in front of her throne anxiously.

“Oh, thank the goddesses!” she said, pulling them both into a hug. “I was so worried when you didn’t show up on time!”

“Sorry, Zelda. My dad told Cecil to send us on a bunch of errands. We had to bring Vallon to the doctors,” Rabia said. Kaikoura rolled her eyes.

“The idiot got bronchitis.”

“Oh… I thought something terrible had happened,” she said. Rabia blinked.

“Why would you think something terrible happened?”

“I just… I had this awful dream last night… there was a demon and… and everything was dark,” she shuddered. “I was just worried.”

“Zelda, you have to stop worrying about your dreams,” Rabia frowned. “They aren’t real.”

“I know, I know… it made me so nervous, though...” Zelda bit her lip. “As long as you're okay.... Rabia, Ganondorf will be here any minute so we should go to our meeting place soon.”

“Alright, sounds good,” Rabia said. “I’m pretty sure our dads know what’s going on so if they show up… we’re at Sheik’s house. Okay?” Zelda hesitated.

“Your father doesn’t approve? Neither approve?” She looked at Rabia with worry.

“Um… nope. Not at all. It’s actually kind of a miracle that I even got out of the house this morning,” Rabia said. “But I kinda figured that standing Ganondorf up is probably worse than getting grounded…” Zelda sighed and shook her head.

“Alright, fine...” She took a step closer to her friend and set a hand on her shoulder. “Just... be really careful, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, okaaay,” Rabia said, pulling Zelda into a hug. “You’re such a worrier. Seriously, you’re gonna get wrinkles. I’ll be home before dark, we probably won’t leave Hyrule and I don’t kiss on the second date. It’ll be fiiiine.” She didn’t look convinced.

“Let’s just head to the courtyard,” she sighed. Rabia nodded and followed her outside with the others to wait for Ganondorf. They weren’t waiting long before he arrived on horseback. He smiled grandly down at Rabia before he dismounted, cape billowing behind him. He bowed slightly to the girls.

“Hi, Ganondorf,” Rabia smiled at him. “How was your trip?”

“Not too bad,” he said.

“Good, I’m glad. Um… did you want to go get some ice cream or something?”

“I’ll let you choose what you want to do this time. Ice cream sounds good to me,” he said.

“Alright, awesome,” she smiled again and waved to Zelda and Kaikoura over her shoulder as they walked off. “So there’s a little ice cream shop in Castle Town that makes really good ice cream and it’s pretty warm today…” Ganondorf smiled.

“Lead the way.” Rabia smiled and led him to a small hut at the edge of Castle Town market. It was right in the sun and had a few tables outside nearby. They stood in the sparsely populated line and looked over the large menu board by the order window. “Do you know what you’ll get?” he asked.

“Hmm… I really like the cookie dough,” she said, tilting her head. “Or maybe the mint.” She looked at him. “What about you?” she smiled. He thought for a moment before shrugging.

“I don’t know... what do you suggest?”

“Hmm… the cake batter is good,” she said to him. “Actually… I think you’ll like cotton candy,” she nodded. It was their turn to order. “We’ll have a cotton candy and a cookie dough,” she said to the man running the shop. He emerged a moment later with two cones topped with ice cream, and handed it to them through the window. Rabia suddenly laughed. “Your hand is easily three times the size of that cone.” Ganondorf shrugged with a smile and they walked over to the tables nearby to take a seat. “So… your horse is pretty cute…” she said, licking her ice cream.

“Thank you, I picked him out myself,” he said with a smirk. Rabia just started laughing.

“I’m sorry, I’m so bad at this…” she said.

“Bad at what?” he questioned. “Eating ice cream?” He was nearly done with his cone.

“Yes, exactly,” she nodded. “I’m a terrible ice cream eater,” Rabia said. “Worst one there is. Okay so… I have a question that might be a deal breaker for me,” she said seriously. He waited for her to continue. “Do you… like cats?” she asked. He paused for a moment before he blinked.

“Hm...” He scratched his beard thoughtfully. “I’ve never really considered myself a cat or a dog person. Some of them I like and some of them I don’t.” He shrugged. She eyed him shrewdly.

“... Good answer,” she said after a moment. “Either way, you’re still hot,” she shrugged. “Oh shit did I just say that out loud…” He laughed as she attempted to hide behind her ice cream.

“‘Hot’ you say? Really?” He finished the last bite of the cone. “I’ll take it, sure. Thank you. You’re not too bad either.” He smirked. She blushed darker.

“We’re just going to pretend I did not say that. Okay? That never happened.” She finished her ice cream and threw out their napkins. “So… what’s your favorite book?” she asked curiously. “Or color? Hobbies?”

“My favorite book? Probably The Hollowed Plains by Kalilah Layali. My mothers never let me read it as a child, so it sticks out in my mind now I guess. What about you?”

“Um… my favorite book is Harry Potter,” she said. “Probably the third or the seventh one… but it can alternate between that and The Lord of the Rings.” He shook his head.

“I don’t think I’ve ever read those,” he admitted.

“What? How… how could you…” she blinked. “I don’t understand what you just said. Could you repeat that for me?” He rolled his eyes and laughed.

“I know, I know, I had a very sheltered childhood, okay? I promise I’ll read them.” He smiled. “As for my favorite color, I like black.” He raised an eyebrow. “Can you tell?”

“Okay but… black technically isn’t a color,” Rabia said. “So what’s your second favorite? You seem like a yellow guy.”

“I’m going to have to go with green, actually,” he said. “It reminds me of Hyrule.” He nodded.

“Yeah that’s… actually pretty accurate,” Rabia smiled. “My favorites are purple and gold. Just because,” she shrugged. “And what about hobbies? What do you do in your spare time?”

“I play some instruments, mostly organ. You play the flute, if I remember correctly. How long have you been doing that?”

“Organ? That’s so cool! I’ve played flute for about nine years, I think. I play other things too, just… not as much,” she shrugged. “How long have you been playing organ?” He laughed shortly.

“Oh Din, I’m afraid if I told you, you’d realize how old I really am.” He shook his head. “Can’t share that, sorry.”

“Should I be worried?” Rabia asked, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, if you’re older than my dad I might have to draw a line there…” she laughed. “But you’d definitely look good for your age.” He raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll give you a hint,” he said. “I’ve been playing the organ since before you were born.” Rabia giggled.

“Oh, I see… you must be pretty good at it then, huh?” He shrugged and gave her a small, smug smile.

“I’m alright, I suppose. You’ll have to come see my music room sometime. I don’t play the flute myself, but I’d love to hear you play again.”

“I just might have to,” Rabia smiled at him softly. They conversed for long time before Ganondorf stood from his seat and held out his hand. It was late afternoon by now.

“Come on,” he said. She stayed rooted to where she was.

“Where are we going?” she questioned. He grabbed her hand anyway and led them away from the ice cream shop. Rabia was glad he was looking where he was going and not at her because she was sure he would see how red she was. They waded through crowds of people and made their way across town until they reached the elaborate fountain at the center of the square. The water was blue and clear, and small rupees of many colors littered the floor. Ganondorf dug into his vest pocket and handed her a red rupee.

“You go first,” he said.

“Oh… okay,” she said. She thought about it for a minute, then made her wish silently and tossed the rupee. “... did I get it in?” she asked, turning back around. He quickly pushed it off the edge where it had landed into the water.

“Yep, it made it. What’d you wish for?”

“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true!” she said to him. He narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“Right, stick to that excuse then.” He drew another rupee out from his pocket and closed his eyes. After a second, he tossed the jewel into the water as well.

“What did you wish for?” she asked with a mischievous smile. He took a step closer to her.

“I can only tell you if you promise it’ll come true,” he said. He glanced at her. Rabia blushed.

“Okay. I promise,” she smiled. He smiled back at her before he leaned in and kissed her. Rabia stood unmoved and in shock. After a moment, she closed her eyes and kissed back. Ganondorf wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer before he pulled back.

“Good thing I made you promise,” he said.

“Y-Yeah…” she stuttered. “And all I wished for was hand holding…” she laughed.

“I guess that’s only fair since my wish came true.” He stepped away and held his hand out to her. Rabia smiled and took his hand, walking back towards the castle with him. They crossed through the castle gates and into the courtyard where Zelda and Kaikoura were still waiting. Neither smiled as the two approached. Ganondorf turned to Rabia. “I’d like to see you again.”

“Yeah, okay,” she said to him quietly, still holding his hands. “That’d be nice.”

“I’ll come by for you next week.” He kissed the back of her hand before he mounted his horse again. He nodded to the other two girls before he set off. Once he was out of sight, Rabia slowly turned to her friends. They looked unimpressed.

“He kissed your hand, I saw that,” Kaikoura said. Zelda sighed and shook her head.

“Rabia... you’re really just encouraging him. You need to just be honest and polite about it and tell him no.”

“But… he’s so charming! I can’t help it!” Rabia said. “It’s really hard to say no to that!” Both frowned.

“You’re blushing, Rabia,” Zelda sighed. She motioned for Rabia to follow her. “I guess I should show you something.” She led them wordlessly into the castle and down its many winding halls. She stopped at a large set of double doors and pulled a large key from her sleeve. She unlocked the doors and gently pushed them open. They were inside a large, dark bedroom. On the far side of the room was a fireplace, and above that was a portrait of the royal family. Zelda looked over the painting sadly and then sat on the bed in the room. She remained quiet for a moment. “This is where my father was sitting when Ganondorf killed him,” she said quietly. “Many others were probably awoken by him too late in the night, only to be slain a second later.” She clenched her fists. “Do you understand why you can’t trust him? He is an evil man, Rabia. My father trusted him too, but it was all just a lie.” She looked up at Rabia. “He only cares about himself and what he wants. It could be a matter of time before he does the same to you.”

“You think he’s planning on killing me?” Rabia asked. “Wouldn’t be the worst date I’ve ever been on,” she muttered. “You’re right, you’re right…” she sighed. “I’m falling for his tricks the same way everyone else does. I’ll break it off with him.” Zelda breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad... if you need someone to break the news to him with you, Link and I will certainly be happy to help.” She stood from the bed and hugged her friend. “I’m sorry...”

“Is it sad that those two dates were probably the best ones I’ve ever been on? Seriously, he’s killed people and he was better at relationship-type stuff than Finn,” Rabia sighed. “Ugh, whatever. I’ll just get a dozen more cats.” Kaikoura gave her a thumbs up.

“Cats are always good!” she cheered. Zelda smiled at Rabia.

“Trust me, there’s a good guy out there that’s interested in you. You just had to go through the bad ones first.” She patted her on the back and led them out of the room.