Torn Between Two Loves

It had been only a few hours since Link had come in my house with all those cuts and that one burn on his chest. He’s recovering, as usual. He never came to me with a SERIOUS injury, and I doubt that he ever will. (His sword skills are AMAZING!!) But the thing that worries me isn’t his injuries. He doesn’t know that I have feelings for Yugi. He does even know Yugi! I’m afraid that he might act a certain way around him. Then again, he seems to like this Princess Zelda even more than me. I mean, look how he risks his life for her! He might do the same for me but…I don’t want to try it. Anyway, I still have feelings for Link, but not the way I feel about Yugi. Yugi’s got that kind of glow around him, you know? I guess I should go check on him. He’s been in bed all day with that burn on his chest. I just wish my feelings were more clear.

<><><><>

I get up from my chair. Yugi’s been staring at me all morning. I wonder if it’s because of what happened or if he likes me. I push the thought away for a minute or so. I open the door and see Link reading a book. I walk in. “How is the burn?” I ask. “Not so bad. I was lucky to even escape Morpha. I almost had it! All I needed was one more blow! One more!” I look out the window ignoring his words. The thought is back. I can’t stop thinking about him. *Sigh* Link looks at me and notices my blank stare. “Hello? Hylia to Victoria, hello?!” “Hmm? Sorry. I uh, got to go uh, do something.” “It’s that kid you met at the ranch, right? The one I saw earlier?” “Yeah. I can’t stop thinking about him. But I barely know him. I can’t just blurt out that I love him all of a sudden.” He looks at me as if to agree. “Maybe you should go take him to you know, that place.” That’s a thought. It’s a place to cool off, it’s sheltered, and it’s got plenty of frogs to keep you company. “Thanks for the advice. Maybe I’ll do it after you leave.”

In a day or so, Link was well enough to leave. He told me if Morpha was defeated soon, I could take Yugi to Lake Hylia. I hoped he could do it. All he needs is a little courage. Yeah, that’s it, a little courage.

<><> ~ <><>

I built my house near Zora’s River. My special place, it’s not as secret as Link is led to believe. The entrance to Zora’s Domain is somewhere around there. He probably already knows that, though. Anyway, I told Yugi that I had a secret place where we could be alone. “Sure. I’d love to go someplace where we could be alone. Do you think we could spend the night there?” “Yeah. There’s this nice little overhang where we can be sheltered. We might need to bring extra clothes. It gets really wet there.” “No problem. I like being wet anyhow.” I smiled. He seems nice. After all, he did bring me those flowers. He seems to be such a gentlemen. I packed a few blankets and some clothes. I led him along the steep and winding trail. There were a few Octorocks, but they don’t do much. I told him to close his eyes just before the last turn. “You got to close your eyes.” “I’ve got no objection whatsoever, young lady.” I giggled. He appears to know how to use extremely good flattery. He covered his eyes and I led him around the corner. The rushing waterfall behind me roared, but still silent. It was as if it were playing along with me. “Open you eyes now.” When he opened them, a look of awe came upon his face. “You like it?” “Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Ah, sweet AND good with flattery. “Where is this overhang you said there was?” I jumped over to another path. I waved to him, “Over here! Jump across!” And with that, he jumped and joined me on the other side. We laid the blankets out and sat beside each other, enjoying the sunset. “It would be even more beautiful at Lake Hylia. I’ll take you there when the waters rise again.” “Hmm. That would be nice.” He leaned on my shoulder and put his arm around me. If I could tell him I had feelings for him, I would do it right now. But we still didn’t know each other as well as lovers should. I hoped that I could know him better soon. He seemed to have a good background and he said he didn’t really have a home, so I told him he could stay with me. But his puzzle-like necklace he had was starting to take some of my attention. So I asked him where he got it and what it was. “Hey, Yugi?” “Hmm?” “Where did you get that puzzle thing?” “Oh, this?” He said, holding the puzzle-necklace up with his other hand. “Yeah, that.” “Well, my grandpa gave this box to me when I was thirteen. It had these pieces inside it. He called it the Millennium Puzzle. So I spent hours working on it. Hours, like nights, whole nights, trying to figure it out. Finally, I did. But when I did, the whole thing glowed and sent me into a trance. Then all of a sudden, I came back, still standing up. Weird.” I was silent for a few minutes. “Hmm. Sounds intriguing.” He sat by my side and watched the sun go down. The moon provided just enough light for me to see the waterfall flowing silently into the river. Yugi stared at the stars. I didn’t know what he was thinking. Probably of me maybe, just maybe. I leaned back, listening to Yugi’s breathing and the soothing melody of the waterfall. As I watched the stars, I slowly fell into a secluded sleep.

<><> ~ <><>

I awoke suddenly. I saw Yugi by my side, again slightly drooling in his sleep. Then I heard a sound coming from below the ledge. It was a man that looked like Yugi, only his yellow streaks followed the black pattern in his hair. He was definitely taller, but only by a few hairs. I slipped and fell to his level. I was lucky I had cat-like reflexes and could land on my feet. “Who are you?” I demanded. He stared at me, as if he was delaying his reply. His eyes were also different. His eyes were not midnight blue, but purely jet-black. “I do not know myself by name. All I know is that I was once king of another land.” It almost made me pity him, but when I looked at his face, it did make me pity him. “I am Victoria. I live just down the river. Why are you here and what is your purpose?” He thought a long time before answering back. “I was brought here for a reason. I do not know the exact details of why I am here. How I got here…I am a resident of the puzzle that young man carries around his neck.” “Does he know that you, uh live in his puzzle?” “Yes.” “Hmm.” If this person lived in his puzzle, and Yugi knew he did, why didn’t he tell me? Then again, I don’t know if he thought I would believe him. True, I barely believed his story about how he got the puzzle, but it seems that he was telling me the truth. I have something in my drawer that is kind of like his puzzle. It’s a golden key that I can put around my neck. I keep it in my drawer for safe keeping because I don’t know what it is or what it does, if it does anything. “Are you okay? You’ve been silent for awhile now.” “Huh?” I looked up at him. “Sorry. I was thinking about…things.” “Hmm. I understand. Yugi should have told you about me. I did ask him to, you know. And when you asked when he got the puzzle, I told him to tell you. He did tell you how he got it, but he didn’t tell you about me.” “Hmm. Uh…yeah.” I mumbled distantly. Poor guy. He doesn’t understand. Does he even know that I have feelings for Yugi? If I knew that this guy told me Yugi had feelings for me, I’d tell him, but I don’t so I can’t really tell him. I wish I could, though. Suddenly the sun starts to rise and the scene around me starts to fade. I hear the man call out to me, “Two evils will become one. You need his and my help.” Then the scene fades away completely from view.

<><> ~ <><>

I sit up from my dream, trying to figure out it’s meaning. I figure that I should tell Yugi about it, so I could try to coax some information out of him about this person that I had seen. Yugi sits up slowly. “Hey.” He mumbles to me. “Morning sleepyhead. I see you are finally awake. I want to show you the sunrise here. Here, the sunrise is more beautiful than the sunrise at Lake Hylia. You have to be at the base of the waterfall to see it. Come on!” “I’m coming, I’m coming!” We were at the base of the waterfall looking at the sunrise. It was very pretty. The ledges made a rough circle around our heads as we watched the sun flow into the closed area. It was beautiful. Yeah, sure I’d done this many times, but this time I had someone to share it with. “Wow. It is pretty!” “Yeah. It is. If you want some breakfast we got to go back to my house. Unless you want to skip it and go goofing off?” His stomach gurgled. Mine did too. “I guess skipping breakfast is out of the question.” He laughed at my joke and I couldn’t help laughing as well. We went home, I cooked up some breakfast, and we headed to the village to go spend the day together.

“Want to go to the Archery Gallery?” He looked at me as if to say no. “I don’t want to shoot anything. I think I’ll watch you do it.” It was okay to me. We opened the door and I saw Link up at the stand practicing his skills. Link’s turn was done. “Hey, Link!” He looked up, surprised I was there. “Uh, hey Victoria. Nice to meet you…uh…” “Yugi.” “Yugi, yeah, that’s it.” “My turn!” She handed the man 20 rupees. She got up to the stand and posed her bow at the center of the rig. The man called to her, “You ready?” “Always am.” She replied. The man pulled a switch and a green rupee shot in the air. She released her shot just after it started to drop. SMASH! Direct hit! Two red rupees slowly went by on the rope. SMASH! SMASH! Again, a direct hit! This kept on going while Yugi and Link both watched. “Wow, she’s good.” Yugi mumbled in awe. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been tryin’ to beat her record for the last few weeks. It’s just she’s too darn good.” There was silence for a while. “Anyway, how does she know you again?” Link explained the long, detailed story of how they met, leaving out a few parts. “Then she ran off back to her village and I ran after her. She found her father in a pile of rubble but she couldn’t make him come. He could have come, but I guess that he wanted to die with his wife. Then I saw that a falling beam had hit her. I uncovered her and stayed with her till’ she woke up. So, how do you know her?” “I just met her at Lon Lon Ranch is all.” “Hmm.” “You guys want to come to the ranch with me this afternoon?” Yugi thought for a bit. “Yeah, that would be nice.” Victoria chimed in, “I’d go too.” It’d be nice to ride Sapphire again.” “Sapphire?” They both asked, looking at me quizzically. “Yeah, you know, Sapphire, the pretty palomino?” “Oh, that one. Malon always liked that one just as much as Epona.” We rode over to the ranch just as Malon had finished making lunch. “Hi you guys! You want some lunch?” “Boy, do we ever, Malon!” Link yelled back. We went inside and had some of Malon’s cooking, which is very good I might add. Link finished his first. When he left the sink without rinsing, I cleared my throat in a gesture. When he didn’t get the message, I cleared my throat even louder. He got the message that time and went back to rinse. Yugi and I got up in unison. We bumped into each other on the way out of our seats, on our way to the sink, and rinsing the dishes. “Sorry, Yugi.” I mumbled shyly. “Tis’ alright my good lady, would you like to join me outside?” “Oh, you handsome rascal!” We walked out the door and over to the corral. I saddled Sapphire while Yugi saddled Moonshine, a handsome jet-black stallion. He rode around the track with me a few times, and then after the fifth or sixth lap he asked me, “Let’s have a race. Want to?” I nodded, not sure what the stakes would be. “If I win, you play a song for me in front of Malon and Link.” “And if I win, I get a kiss.” “What?!” “You heard me. I get a kiss.” “Kay…I guess I don’t lose then.” “Don’t count on me losing, Yugi.” I secretly wanted that kiss. Sapphire lined up next to Moonshine. Link yelled at us, “Get ready…” My eyes shone with determination. “Get set…” Yugi’s face showed no fear. “Go!!” We both sped off at lightning speed. Moonshine was in the lead, but I knew Sapphire was faster. As we headed around the last red flag, I kicked at Sapphire’s side and zoomed past Yugi across the finish line.

“No!!” “Kissy, kissy, pucker up, Lucy.” I sat on the fence and he jumped up. “Hey, Link? Could you give us some privacy?” “Yeah, sure.” Link left and I sat watching the sunset with Yugi. “You aren’t going to kiss me, are you?” “Yeah, I am, now come on, you promised!” He sighed. I leaned in on him and he leaned in on me. I slowly closed my eyes as I kissed him for the first time. Suddenly I realized Yugi didn’t want to let go. We playfully fell off the fence as we made love that night. When we stopped, it was near nightfall. We unsaddled our horses and left for my house. Link followed us to my house and said he could sleep outside. We went to bed and fell asleep smiling at each other. We were true lovers at last.