Zelda's birthday was coming.

And so Link stood within Beetle's Air Shop, staring at a small music box that you could hold in both hands, only about 8x8 centimeters in size. It was made out of fine hickory with a bamboo finish, as those were two of the more common trees available in the sky. It had a this silver trim about the edges, and on the, which opened from copper hinges, was a small silver crest of a sword surrounded by three-triangle symbol; the triangles of the crest were the only gold on the box, and the hilt of the sword was blue.

What truly made this small box perfect, though, as Link had reasoned, was that when the lid was lifted, the gears and components of a cylinder would begin to roll and play the "Ballad of the Goddess" that Zelda so loved on a small, tin board of keys. As Link lifted the lid for the first time, he noticed that two gold loftwings, both attached, by springs, to a small spinning platform at the floor of the music box, and would fly in circles together as the platform rotated and the music played.

"OHHH!" Beedle said, looking up from his peddling. "What is this? Are you interested?"

"This is perfect," Link said. "How much is it?"

Beedle held up one hand, and Link gasped, nearly dropping the music box.

"That's...how much?"

"600 rupees," Beedle said smugly. "Is that too much?"

"Um...no..." Link said slowly. "Let me just get to the Bazaar...can you hold this for a day?"

"I give no promises," Beedle said with a wag of his finger.

Link frowned and began to walk out. He paused for a moment. "If you pull that trapdoor," he said to Beedle without turning around, "Then you can't expect me to come back."

Beedle's hand fell limply from the rope which activates the trapdoor in his shop.

The Bazaar was alight with people busily running to and fro between shops. Luv was shouting about new deals, better potions, and why aren't more people coming over here, all from her and her husband's potion shop.

Gondo was engrossed in his work, tinkering with a rather obscure metal instrument whilst sitting at his bench, with a long line of people trailing from his counter.

The gear shop was being swarmed by knights as Rupin desperately tried to keep up with their demands.

"That one!" Groose called. "I want that one!"

Rupin moved toward the wooden shield, and held it out with a smile. "That will be only 20 rupees," he said.

"Not that one!" Cawlin said. "He pointed to the shiny one!"

Rupin frowned before unceremoniously explaining that Groose should have been more specific the first time. "This one costs 300 rupees," Rupin said, a small, hopeful smile playing across his lips.

"That's outrageous!" Groose said in shock. "Don't you know that people like me have more important things to spend money on? There's a music box that I need to get for my girl that is more outrageously priced than that!"

Rupin shrugged, and looked rather smug. "I guess the customer isn't always right," he said simply.

Groose shook his head before he smoothed back his hair. Standing up with his shoulders back, Groose proudly walked out of the Bazaar with Cawlin and Stitch by his side.

Link shrugged upon seeing the scene, and got into line by the scrap shop. Poor Gondo had his hands full; he had at least five people waiting for him to finish one final, intricate piece on a particularly fascinating weapon.

"Link! Buddy! I'll help you out in a moment! Just let me finish this one piece..." Gondo began, and the line of people groaned. "Hey! This kid is still a student, and he has to get to the academy on time, so show a little mercy!" Gondo finished the last piece, attaching it the to the metal instument, which vaguely resembled the combination of a sword and axe, and gestured Link forward. Link smiled and laid a small sword and shield down on Gondo's counter.

"What are these?" Gondo asked, examining them closely. "This gear must have cost you quite a bit, Link. The wood work on this shield is so precise...and the sword is high quality! Where did you get these?"

Link smiled. "I found them in what was left of my father's storage. I knew they had to be worth a decent amount, so I figured I could sell them when I needed to...and besides, aren't new graduates usually presented their own swords when they cross into full knighthood?"

Gondo was dumbstruck. "But why sell? What's important?"

"There's something that I want to get Zelda for her birthday," Link said quietly. Gondo smiled.

"How much does it cost?" Gondo asked.

Link winced and drew in a deep breath. "600 rupees. It's at Beedle's Airshop."

"Wow, what stingy...Anyway Link, it looks like this gear could fetch about that much..." Gondo said slowly.

Link perked up immediatly. Gondo smiled. "I'll take it off you hands."

Link jumped for joy as Gondo handed him the money and accepted the gear.

"Thanks Gondo!" Link shouted, heading out the door and for Beedle's Airshop. Gondo smiled. "Worth about that much, anyway," he said with a shrug. "Even with a liberal eye."

Link ran into the airshop, slammed the rupees onto the counter, and looked up at Beedle.

"I want the music box. Here's 600."

Beedle smiled, counted the rupees, and handed the music box over to Link.

"Thank you for your custom," Beedle said calmly, still peddling. Link coolly walked out of the shop.

"Ohh...look at the jewelry box Link bought!" Cawlin said, walking up beside Link.

"But Cawlin, didn't Groose want to buy that too?" Stitch asked, and received an elbow to the rib cage from Groose.

Groose stepped in front of Link, blocking him from the steps that led up to the Knight Academy student rooms.

"What a pretty box," Groose mocked. "Mind if I look at it?"

"No, Groose, don't..." Link began, but Groose yanked it from Link's hands.

Pretending to examine it closely, Groose said, "Yup. This one is just like the one I had in reserve." His head swerved to the side, and Groose began to glare down at Link. "You little thief. Do you know how long I have been waiting for this music box?"

Groose smirked, took the box in one hand, and smashed it into the ground. There was a small shattering noise that came from the inside, but the outside of the box itself remained intact.

Link's face was aligned with absolute horror.

Groose walked beside Link without looking down, keeping his head facing straight forward. "And just so you know," Groose said quietly. "If I can't have her, nobody can." He, Stitch, and Cawlin walked up to the Knight Academy.

Link sank to his knees and picked up the music box, looking inside to see all of the gears smashed out of place. He felt anger, and cold terror sink through him, and face became a mask of misery.

"How can I fix this?" he mourned. "She'll be so upset."

As the sun began to set, the Bazaar closed. Gondo had just closed up his shop and was heading up to the academy to visit his friend, Eagus, who trained academy swordsmen. As he headed toward the stairs, he noticed Link was on his knees outside the stair gate, his head hung low.

"Link? Are you praying or something?" Gondo asked, leaning forward and putting one arm on Link's shoulder. Link shuddered, and looked up. His eyes were brimmed in tears. "What's wrong?" Gondo asked, looking down. Link held up the music box. Gondo opened it to hear no music, but to see a small heap of metal parts.

"Groose smashed it. I've spent the entire afternoon trying to pick up every piece," Link said quietly, his voice broken. Gondo nodded, and smiled.

"I'll see what I can do."

Gondo smiled at his work. After finding Link outside the academy, he had brought the boy back to the Bazaar, and began to work on the box in his shop. Link helped in every way he could; he fetched spare parts, tools, and even went out to buy food for the both of them at Gondo's request when he handed Link a few rupees. The sun was just coming up over the horizon, and small wisps of sunlight were beginning to filter through the skylights of the Bazaar. The two of them had been working all night.

"Link, come look at this," he called out to the empty Bazaar. Link hurried over, and looked down at Gondo's bench.

"Wow..." he whispered quietly, looking enraptured by the artisan's work. "It's perfect..."

Gondo grinned. "Take this to Zelda, and don't worry about the cost. I can always to talk to Groose about it later."

Link grinned back and cheerfully ran out of the Bazaar and up toward the Knight Academy.

Zelda ran a fine brush through her long hair, smiling at the mirror in front of her. The sun was visible outside the window, and she had only awoken a few moments ago. No doubt, Zelda wanted as much time to herself before the day truly began as could be allowed; her father was rather prone to making a big deal of any student's birthday, especially her own.

There was a sharp rap on Zelda's door, and she looked up, enthralled when she heard Link call her name.

"You can come in!" Zelda said excitedly.

Link opened the door, with a small, beautiful wooden box in his hand.

"This is for you," Link said quietly, holding it out to Zelda.

Zelda tentatively took the box in her hands, examining it with wide eyes.

"Link...it's beautiful..."

Link allowed his mouth to stretch into a toothy grin. "That's not even the best part!" he declared. "Open it up!"

Zelda gently lifted the lid of her music box and listened as a small tune played, closing her eyes and smiling. "That's such a pretty song..." she said quietly, and began to hum the theme.

Link stared at the box, shock evident on his face. The box wasn't playing the ballad of the goddess song.

"Um, Zelda, can I see it for a moment?" Link asked.

Zelda nodded and passed the box to Link. Link looked inside the box (Gondo had done a really fine job), and noticed that the only difference from the condition that it had been when it had come out of Beedle's shop was the song-playing cylinder and keyboard...Gondo had put them in backwards!

"Wow..." Link said with a shrug. "Do you really think this song is pretty?"

"Link! It's perfect! Don't be dumb!" Zelda shouted joyfully, a large smile painted across her face. "It's like a lullaby..."

Link stared at Zelda for a moment before a smile broke onto his face. "It suits you," he said quietly.

At Gaepora's call, both Link and Zelda headed off toward the Knight Academy before classes began.

Thanks for all the great reviews! =D