"Is there anything else you need or want right now?"

"There is one thing, actually," I say, my eyes hinting at the air mattress in the corner. "But only if you're okay with it."

Link follows my eyes to the bed and smiles. "What is it?"

"Would it be okay if we swap beds with Malice?"

He tilts his head, not following. "Why?"

"It's hard to put it into words... But... I think it would make things a little easier for her. At least until her bed frame arrives."

I'm being extremely vague. Link must know there is more to it, but thankfully he doesn't ask questions.

"If you're okay sharing a twin-sized mattress with me, then I'm okay with giving the big mattress to Malice." His smile turns to a little smirk. "That just means I get to be even closer to you."

I ignore his last remark with a roll of the eyes and a smile that doesn't want to stay hidden. "Thank you," I say, hugging him gratefully.

While I do believe that this house will eventually feel like home, there will never be a place that feels as home as in his arms. Overwhelmed with emotions of excitement, appreciation, love, homesickness, grief, and everything else, words seem to fail me. Instead of a verbal response, I share a series of heartfelt kisses with him until the timer on his phone interrupts us.

"Cookies are ready," he informs me, slipping the phone back into his pocket. "Wanna come downstairs with me? You haven't seen the kitchen yet. We got a decent sized pantry!"

I smile. "Would it be alright if I talk to Malice first and then meet you downstairs?"

Link nods, kisses my cheek, turns on his heels, and heads back to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, I check up on Malice on the second floor. I tap my knuckles against her open door to let her know I'm entering.

"How are you holding up?"I ask, though I don't expect an answer. Her back is still turned toward me, hood drawn up like a shield, her eyes fixed on the dark window. Outside, the daylight has vanished completely, and the only light comes faintly from downstairs, barely reaching her room.

"I wanted to run something past you," I say. "If you're okay with it, I'll take that mattress of yours and trade it for an air mattress. It's queen-sized, and will elevate you a little more from the ground. It's one of those big air mattresses, you know? Nothing fancy, but about this tall." I gesture at my upper thigh as if she was paying any attention to me. "I just figured that... Well..." I take a nervous breath. "It's just that... I remember the way your old room looked..." I perceive a slight twitch in her posture, a sign that she is listening to me after all. "The one at Ganondorf's house."

I give her a moment to process my words. I wonder how much that memory hurts her. Am I overstepping her boundaries? I need her to understand why I'm doing this, why I care.

"Without furniture, this room just looks way too much like that room," I go on. "I hope that the air mattress can make a difference for you. But if you want to keep this mattress, then that's perfectly fine as well."

I stop myself from saying more, having noticed a slight tremble in her shoulders.

My heart tightens. "Malice?"

I hear her breath hitch, then a sob escapes her, sudden and harsh. She crumples, sliding to the floor.

I'm frozen for a moment, unsure what to do or say when her whole body starts shaking. But then instinct takes over and I lean the door against its frame for privacy and a sense of safe shelter. I don't fully close it, knowing how claustrophobic she is. Then, without second-guessing myself, I cross the room and kneel beside her.

I don't touch her... I'm not even sure if she wants me here... but I sit close enough to let her know I'm here if she does. She's curled in on herself, sobbing like she's been holding it in for months. Years maybe.

I'm not sure if it's something I said that caused her breakdown, or if she feels overwhelmed with the whole situation of moving in with us, or if it has to do with Pik, or if it's something else entirely. But even if I don't know all the details, I understand enough to stay.

"You don't have to talk," I say softly, my face tight with concern. "You don't have to say anything."

She gasps for air as more tears fall. Part of me wants to get up to grab some tissues for her, but 1) I don't know where the tissues are–if we even have any here at the house–and 2) I don't want to leave her side right now.

Unless she tells me to go, I will not abandon her. That is what Link said to me when I was letting out my grief. Whether or not this is grief Malice feels, I can sense just how much pain she is in. It kills me to see her like this.

"It's okay," I murmur. "You're okay. You're safe."

With her back against the wall and her forehead pressed against her knees, she's hugging herself in fetal position. There is nothing gentle about it. It's violent; nails digging into her arms and shoulders as if trying to rip something out that doesn't belong inside her body.

We stay like that for a few minutes, sitting together in the growing dark with the cold air slipping in through the cracks of the balcony door behind us.

When she finally speaks, her voice is hoarse, fractured, less than a whisper.

"I'm sorry..."

I scoot closer, slowly, our knees almost touching. "Hey..." My voice is calm, hiding all its worries behind a layer of care. "It's not your fault, Malice."

Her fragile frame is caught in a severe tremor. My heart bleeds for her. I truly understand why she wants to blame herself for things that are out of her control, just to have something or someone on this earth to anchor her feelings to, but I don't want her to suffocate from the burden of guilt the way I have. I don't want her to feel heavy with sadness—heavy like an anchor tied to nothing...

"It is okay to be sad." I reach out to touch her hand. She doesn't pull away, just cries more as I hold her hand gently between my palms. She is ice cold and thin and small, and alive and safe in my arms. "It's okay to be sad," I repeat gently. "But... it is also okay to be happy."

Her breathing suddenly slows, chest finally finding rhythm as she sniffles and swallows. I shift my body slightly, lowering my shoulder just enough to make it comfortable for her to lean on.

"I might not fully understand your pain, but I do know one thing: happiness cannot find those who hide from it... Take your time processing things, but eventually you'll have to stop clinging to sadness as punishment..." I let out a quiet sigh, realizing how much of myself I see in her. "Rejecting happiness willingly is perhaps the greatest tragedy of humanity."

She just shakes her head and tightens her arms around herself. A second wave of sorrow overcomes her and she starts crying again.

"I promise it'll get easier. You just... have to eventually allow yourself to embrace happiness again. Once you find the courage to do that, you'll see that joy can be found in all the smallest moments in life."

Link's POV

Once the cookies have cooled off on the grid, I place them in a Tupperware on the counter. Then I do the dishes.

Which cardboard box has the paper towels again? Shoot. I don't even know where the dishes go. Haven't figured out the cabinet space yet. I guess I could just place them in any one of the empty ones, but I don't have anything to dry them off. I'll just leave them next to the sink for now.

I wipe my wet hands on my sweatpants and walk over to the living room. It still feels so foreign and new. A fresh start.

Hopefully we can put all the fighting behind us now. Me fighting the Boars, Malice fighting to survive, Mipha fighting her feelings, Ravioli fighting me, and Zelda fighting a world that never seems to appreciate how amazing she is.

While I wait for Zelda, I look through one of the boxes on the floor, see what I can store in the limited cabinet space we have.

The house is quiet. It's been a long day moving furniture and whatnot. Still kinda weird to think of Mipha as my roommate. I've lived with Ravioli for two years, and with Zelda for at least half a year on and off. And Malice is just temporary, so I don't really think of her as a roommate at all. But Mipha—it'll take some getting used to for sure.

An hour later, I'm done with two more boxes. I tear the empty cardboard into smaller pieces and stuff them into a trash bag. That's all for today.

Apart from the glowing Christmas tree the house is dark and dead silent. Should I check up on Zelda and Malice? I haven't heard anyone screaming for help yet, so I assume they're just talking.

I take a seat on the couch and scroll on my phone for a while.

When I hear the stairs creaking behind me, I look over my shoulder to see who it is.

In the dim lighting, I see a small and slender person standing by the bottom of the stairs. It's not Zelda. And it's not Malice.

"You're still up," Mipha says in such a soft tone that it almost sounds like a whisper.

"I was waiting for Zelda. She's with Malice."

"Malice's room is quiet. Maybe they fell asleep?"

"Oh. Maybe."

Mipha walks up to the couch. I scoot over to make room for her and she sits down next to me. She brings her legs up, comfortably leaning against the corner of the L. She looks really cozy in her oversized Christmas sweater, black leggings, and chunky fuzzy Christmas socks. I need to get myself some of those.

My legs are up on a cardboard box. I lean back, arms crossed, head resting on the couch's spine to look up at the wooden beams that hold the ceiling.

We sit like this for a minute or so, neither of us saying a word.

I shut my eyes for a moment. It's been such an exhausting week. Had to sell my car so I could afford the first month of rent. Moving my stuff from Kafei's place here without a car was a hassle. Should've thought about it before selling that old piece of junk. Of course Ravioli didn't want to help me out when I called him up. He was moving his own stuff from the frat house, and he was helping Mipha too, so I guess I understand why he didn't wanna help me. Took him a while to agree. Can't believe he's making me do his chores for a whole month.

Mipha shuffles next to me. "How did your finals go?" She asks.

I shrug. "I think I did alright. Might have failed astronomy though."

"Oh."

"It's alright. I can retake it in the spring semester. Zelda said she knows a good tutor. Hopefully a better one than Kohga and Sooga."

"Well, hopefully you passed the class so you don't have to retake it at all."

"Would be ideal."

A short paise. Then she says, "Yes," as if she didn't know what else to say.

It's weird to think of her as my roommate. But at the same time, it's not. We've known each other for so long. Just never thought I'd end up living with her. I open my eyes to look at her. She smiles at me. I smile back.

Somehow it all makes me think of Ruto. She's probably the only person I ever pictured living with. Other than Zelda of course. And only because Ruto wanted to get married and forced the thought into my head.

I wonder if Ruto would be upset if she knew I moved in with her cousin. Maybe she already knows.

"Are you excited for Christmas?" Mipha asks next.

I shrug. "Yea."

"Me too."

"We usually celebrate on the 24th though," I say. "Not this year..."

Mipha's smile turns to a frown.

"Which is okay," I quickly add to cheer her up.

"Would you like me to give you your gift right now?"

"You have a gift for me?"

"Of course." Her smile returns. "You're my best friend, Link. That hasn't changed."

I nod. "I'm happy about that."

I'm not sure who my best friend is, to be honest. Haven't really thought about it. Would it be Zelda or Mipha? Or one of the guys?

"Let's open gifts together tomorrow morning," I suggest. "I mean—we kinda did that last year too."

She giggles lightly. "The circumstances were different."

"Yeah," I say with a short chuckle. It's good that we can laugh about last year. What a shit show. Hopefully this Christmas will be better.

Our conversation sort of ends there. Back to silence. It's not necessarily awkward, but I wish we had something more to talk about. We haven't spent one on one time together like this in forever.

"Are you planning on snowboarding this winter?" she asks her next question.

I shrug. "Probably not. Don't have the money, and I don't want to leave Zelda while she's still mourning her dad."

"Maybe she could go with you? She seems in desperate need of a break."

"I agree. But she's in the middle of helping the vice president of the school transition to the president position. And she said she's looking for an internship or something like that on the side. So I doubt she'd want to go somewhere this winter. She keeps saying she's too busy with work and school and whatnot to even take a 10 minute break. Can't imagine her going somewhere for a day, let alone a week."

Mipha nods along. "I understand. It must be a challenging time for her..."

"Yeah... Not sure how I can help her."

"I'm sure she appreciates you being there for her. That's really all we can do."

I nod again. Maybe she's right. Maybe I have to accept that instead of fighting this battle for her, I can fight it with her.

"Hey Link?" Mipha's voice has suddenly dropped to a whisper. She moves a little closer, head lowered, searching for the words.

I look over to her. "Yeah?"

She straightens her back, tenses her shoulder. "There is something you should know..."

The stairs creak again and we both instinctively turn our attention to the stairs. It's Ravioli. With one hand on the railing, he's standing on the third step, looking at us like a hunter would at two startled deer. Unmoving. As if he didn't want to be noticed.

"Sorry," he says, not a hint of regret in his voice. He looks at me with narrowed eyes, then at Mipha. Neither of us says anything. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," I say.

Ravioli hesitates. Then he looks back at Mipha. "Ready for bed?" He asks her.

Mipha's eyes return to me for a second. It's hard to read her face. Looks like she wanted to tell me something important. I guess it's something she doesn't want to say in front of Ravioli.

Her attention shifts back to him. "Yes, I will be there in just a moment," she says with an innocent smile. But Ravioli doesn't leave. He's waiting for her, and I can't tell if it's nice of him  to wait or if he's being a dick. No way he's still protective when it comes to Mipha and me, right?

She gets up, still smiling slightly, and says, "Good night, Link."

"Good night Mipha." I look over at the stairs. "Night, Ravioli."

Mipha walks past him up the stairs. He stays behind for a moment, just to stare me down suspiciously. Definitely being a dick now.

"What?" I ask. I hold eye contact, thinking he'll say something to me, but he doesn't. He turns back without a word and follows Mipha upstairs.

—————
As promised, here's a drawing of Pik all natural without his dyed hair and piercings!! And of course, Navi, his loyal companion!