Link froze as the sound of Tetra laughing rang out dangerously close. For the last couple of minutes he had stood in front of a large vanity mirror, shirtless, flexing his newly aching muscles in ridiculous poses. He had marveled at the slight increase in definition he saw before him, although in reality much of it was due to the nature of the candle light illuminating the room. Now, in a terrified sprint he lunged for the door, but, realizing that it was too late, turned instead to a mad roll and found himself under Tetra's bed just as the door swung open.
Several breathless seconds in the dark gave Link ample time to regret the actions that had led up to that point. He regretted leaving the cargo hold at the time he did, regretted not sticking around to listen to the Zareps tell dirty jokes and curse. He also regretted noticing as he walked that the door to Tetra's quarters was slightly ajar. More than that, he regretted the feelings of loneliness, desperation and, ultimately, reconciliation that drove him to open the door in the first place; he resented how the mere thought of speaking a complete setence to Tetra—"I'm so sorry"—gave him a lump in his throat and a gnat in his gut. Most of all, however, he regretted not leaving the moment he saw that the room was empty, opting instead to utilize the only non-filthy seeing-glass on the whole boat to check out his "manly" physique.
Link's body clenched as he heard several steps approach the bed. The boy glanced out of the corner of his eyes to see a pair of familiar boots stand less than a foot away. They remained there silently for a split-second. When they disappeared suddenly, Link nearly gasped as the bed groaned above him.
A few seconds later, the boots returned with a thud as Tetra tossed them over the side of the bed. Link clenched his teeth as a tired yawn escaped the girl's lips. There was another groan as, above him, Tetra laid down. Then silence.
Trapped beneath the bed, Link close his eyes and focused on breathing as quietly as possible. Above him, resting perpendicular to his body, Tetra laid with her arm draped across her eyes. For a moment, she felt herself descend into a deep sleep but caught herself just in time. She needed to prepare…
Summoning all of her strength, Tetra lurched forward, planting her bare feet on the ground. Beneath her, Link stared at the feet and quietly willed them to move to the door. Another yawn from above and Tetra's feet began to walk toward the mirror where, Link now noticed, mere inches away laid his under-shirt and tunic stuffed messily inside his green hood. Sitting precariously in the shadow of the vanity mirror, Link eyeballed the green package like a pig does a butcher's knife; it was the instrument of his destruction.
Link inched slowly towards the edge of the bed to get a better look. As soon as she sees it, he thought to himself, I'll roll out of here, run out the door, jump on the Lions and be on my way to Windfall before she can say, 'Pervert!' Link watched as Tetra looked into the mirror, turning her head and body from side to side to examine every angle. Link allowed himself a short-lived smile. Guess I'm not the only one…
His smile quickly turned into an awed "O" as he watched Tetra remove her vest and toss it neatly on top of his hat, concealing it even more. Link failed to notice this because no sooner had the vest fallen than Tetra's head emerged from the mouth of her under-shirt which now dangled above her for a moment before being tossed aside with its companion. Link thought he saw a blur of tanned flesh as he quickly spun his head to the left. He stared at the wall trying desperately to control his breathing, but it was no good. I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be here…
Slowly, he turned back to the sight of Tetra's bare back as the girl continued to look into the mirror. In the small time that Link had looked away she had unfurled her tight bun of hair and it now hung draped over her skin like a golden mane. It swayed gently with each movement of her head, glittering softly in the flickering light and casting ribbon shadows over her body. Link watched, transfixed, at the sight, his mind torn by guilt and fascination. He watched as Tetra watched herself, watched as she draped her hair over each shoulder to brush it, watched as she posed—was she practicing?—in several stately positions. A courtsy here, a bow there and, most repeated of all, a dignfied handshake for all.
After several minutes of this, Link once again turned away as Tetra reached for her pants. This time, he saw nothing and unlike before he did not want to see anything. He knew, without fully comprehending, that was he was doing was wrong. That, if he continued, something awful would happen—he would never be able to look Tetra in the face again. Something inside him was standing at the threshold of some dark place and he could feel it. He stared at the wall, teeth clenched, brow furrowed, and listened to the sound of foosteps, the opening and closing of a drawer, the slight russle of fabric, then silence. Once he figured she was dressed, Link allowed himself to turn again.
Tetra stood with her back against the mirror. She now wore a pair of purple sleeping pants. In her right hand, clung the shirt. It was too late to look away now. Mercifully, Tetra's hair was slung over both shoulders, covering that which Link had no right to see. All that was left was her face. He looked up.
Her face was tilted slightly to the right, her gaze transfixed on the spot where, Link knew, hung the picture of her dead mother. Her blue eyes*—black in the orange light*—were locked in an expression of determination. It was a familiar expression to Link; when the two had battled against Ganon above the fields of Hyrule, he had seen that same look in her eyes the first time she drew back a light arrow in his bow. But now it was different. Back then, the expression was pure in its fierce tenacity. The eyes Link now saw seemed clouded by another emotion. Link could not describe it—was it sorrow, fear, resignation?—but for some reason, when he looked into her eyes, he thought of that night they had shared in Windfall, when a single tear had slid down that determined cheek.
Link emerged from beneath the bed later that night. Quietly, he tip-toed to his hat and as he bent over to pick it up, he caught a flash of gold and purple in the mirror. Putting his clothes back on, he gave one quick look at Tetra as she slept peacefully, her back turned to him. He thought back to earlier that night when she had stood towering above him, a tanned image of grace, power, and… beauty.
His eyes then turned to the image of Tetra's mother, Daphnes. She too towered above Link, sitting regally, like a queen, and her gaze seemed to sift through his being as if he were nothing—like a sword through sand.
*Yeah, I know, they're black in the game. Ever hear of poetic license?
*There. Happy? (Oh snaps, P4P's coverin' all his bases now…)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, before anyone cries foul—"Sweet Jesus, what have you done with Nintendo's characters?!"—know this: I'm writing a coming of age story (well, I'm trying to write one, anyway) and as such I would be amiss to omit an element of sexuality from the procedings. I mean, that's what coming of age is all about, right? Yeah, I know, not quite, but it's a major part. Just know that my intentions with writing this chapter weren't to inspire the pencils of aspiring doujinshi artists. This chapter is meant to be more than a scene from "Porky's" starring Link. To say anymore would suck (funny how one's vocabulary dwindles with fatigue, huh?).
'Till the next chapter.