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What poor luck! What poor, poor luck! Not only did poor Mipha need to stay overtime for an emergency surgery, but poor Zelda, already most exhausted from classes, had to go on public transport during rush hour to pick up Mipha’s brother, and then spend her precious alone time caring for him. She couldn't even catch the egg sale at the market! What poor luck!
That's what Zelda would think if she was a bad friend. But she was not. She's standing on the metro, staring at the underground lights flickering by, utterly ignoring the many people in her personal bubble, and being a very, very good friend.
Zelda had to drop a chapter about sulfates halfway through to get here in time, and not being allowed to finish her reading routine and take some notes was proving more bothersome than she expected. She kept running formulas and vocabulary through her mind without the privilege of getting it out on paper. Leaving the train and pushing through the crowd to the ticketing station only proved worse for her building frustration.
And poor Zelda then had to walk through the rain to get to the daycare, with no umbrella. A whole ten minutes walk, with rush-hour honking filling her ears. She wanted to wear her headphones, but it was raining. And she had no umbrella. What poor luck!
When Zelda finally walked into the daycare — a dingy little place stuffed to the brim with decor — she barely even felt relief. She heard footsteps coming towards her as she grabbed Sidon’s coat from the wall.
“Are you Zelda?”
She looked up and-
Oh my goodness. Perhaps luck was on her side, after all.
In front of her stood what could only be described as an fairy. Shoulder length brown (or dark blonde?) hair framed a round face. But the roundness contrasted with the strong set of the eyebrows and nose. And the eyes. Hylia, the eyes! Blue, bright eyes. Blue, like copper sulfate. She was just reading about it, and suddenly what she learned came to life.
Her eyes flicked to the apron the fairy was wearing. Mr. Hero, he/him. The kids called him Mr. Hero? How much cuter could he be?
But he had asked a question, hadn't he? Oh goodness, what horrid manners. She cleared her throat. “Yes, I'm here for Sidon on Mipha’s behalf.” Was that stiff? Was that normal? Goddess, she hasn’t talked to a cute boy in years.
Mr. Hero cracked a smile, his whole face seeming to bloom. “I'm glad,” he said. It was deep, and somehow quiet. “Sidon’s been waiting.”
Right on queue, the kid burst out from the doorway behind Mr. Hero. “Ms. Zelda!” he yelled. “Listen, listen, today Riju and I figured out that we can jump higher than Yunobo, which we then-”
“Yes, yes,” she said, already getting him in his jacket. She pulled his backpack on too, grabbing his umbrella from the side-
Wait. Umbrella. She walked without one, which meant that, right now, in front of the fairy, she looked like a drowned rat. Oh Hylia.
What poor luck!
For the first time in what felt like years, Zelda flushed. “We should get going, Sidon. It’s almost sundown.” She didn’t quite look up to Mr. Hero as she said, “We’ll get going now. Erm, thank you very much. Apologies.” Darn, why did she apologize! She was floundering! She couldn’t even look to see his reaction! She was making it worse!
Completely over. It was completely over. She had to cut her losses, and quick.
But with her luck, as she ushered Sidon out, the kid just had to say, “Ms. Zelda, why are you wet?”
Zelda closed the door behind her, breathing a sigh of relief from being done with that horror. She opened the umbrella and handed it to Sidon. She was already wet, after all — better keep him as dry as possible.
“I didn’t bring an umbrella, that’s all,” she said. At his small look of concern, she smiled a bit. “I’ll be fine.” Steeling herself, she started their precession to the metro.
Sidon, obviously, moved on very quick; he continued his ramble about... something to do with jumping. Zelda, the bad friend she was, wasn’t really paying attention. Her eyes were filled with copper sulfate.
But, suddenly, there was the sound of someone running towards them. She turned around and-
It was Mr. Hero. Holding an umbrella. Being a hero. Oh, Hylia.
With a smile that parted the clouds, he handed her the umbrella. She took it, dumbfounded.
“Don’t worry about returning it,” he said. His smile faltered. “But, if, um.”
Zelda wasn’t much better herself. “Erm?”
“Yeah, uh, here,” he said, sticking out his hand. She couldn’t even process grabbing the little piece of paper before he ran off, quickly becoming drenched himself.
“Ms. Zelda, Ms. Zelda, what is that?” Sidon asked.
“Erm,” she said intelligently, fumbling to open the little note.
Link, XXX-XXX-XXXX. Let's chat sometime :)
Hylia. Hylia! With a quickened heart, Zelda knew that Lady Luck really was on her side all along.
“Just… something about copper sulfate.”