It was obvious that Sakiko had much to learn about the Sheikah, else she might be aware that he would be more than happy to cheat if such a thing became necessary. He hardly cared about whatever reputation he had gained - heck, he would have gladly lowered his social status if it meant less recognition. But at the moment, the possibility of getting caught cheating and drawing more unwanted attention was a rather hefty deterrent for such a thought.

But she hadn't realized it yet; didn't yet comprehend that Alpha was far from the great and noble hero people always pictured him to be. It wasn't her fault for this, though - very few people had ever gained such an understanding of the man, and the vast majority of them were dead. Some of them by his own hands.

"All yours. You should test it out after you fix it up, though... it just may be my lack of skills for all I know."

"As you wish, then," Alpha replied with a smile. His face twitched a bit as he walked over to stand before the handle, a sign that the illusion magic was starting to wear on him. Constantly having to feed his spell enough magic to alter the light being reflected off his face was no easy task, even for the Sheikah. He grimaced as he looked over the machine; using magic to calm it down would probably result in him needing to take a break from spellcasting for a couple hours. He'd probably have to draw his hood to ensure no one spotted his suddenly returned scar . . .

Sakiko seemed dead-set on getting those herbs, however, and it wasn't like he had anything better to do for the time being. He probably wouldn't need to cast spells anyway; even if magic did become necessary, the silver haired girl was a mage as well.

So he stepped forward, placed a Rupee in the slot as he'd seen Sakiko doing, and grasped the handle. As the machine started up again, he began feeding it some of his magic power, doing what he could to counteract any attempts at shaking the device tried. When he felt satisfied by its calming nature, his hand pushed the handle forward, bringing it over to where the bag of herbs waited . . .

Eyes glued to the machine, Sakiko watched Alpha's hand intently as he maneuvered the handle deftly. I suppose the magic did help... The trembling had instantly stopped the minute the Sheikah had gripped the rubbery material, and the claw smoothly made its way towards the herb. As the metal began to make its way down towards the small pouch, it suddenly jerked, as if the shivering had come back again.

Sakiko jumped to aid in the magic, but it was too late. Instead of latching unto the desired item, the claw had grabbed a firm hold of a large - very large - stuffed animal. The Mage watched in horror as the claw, running silkily again, dragged the fuzzy 'thing' towards the exit. The metal clamp, having done its job, released the despicable fluff and it rolled down towards Sakiko and Alpha. The pale girl stared at the smiling ball of pink, noting that it looked like an awkward cross between a bear and a fairy.

They could try again, but she wasn't sure if Alpha wanted to. Besides, they were wasting too much time here - and all for a bag of herbs. It was unreasonable, and being an annoyance to Alpha was the last thing on her mind. Sakiko also considered leaving the contemptible bear-fairy there for some other child to pick up, but one look at Alpha changed her mind. He already looked tired - or was that her imagination? She was never good at detecting such things - already from the tremendous amount of magic he had used. She knew that to hide such a scar would take effort...lots of it. He was probably even more exhausted by using a spell to stop all the trembling. It would be rude to just leave it there.

Eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed, she picked up the stuffed doll. It was so large that it covered her chest and stomach, and she stood awkwardly with the animal in her arms. Sakiko turned to her fellow Mage, resisting the urge to throw him a frown. She stared at her feet for a moment, wondering what they should do next. The sun was almost about to go down - it was dusk. Feeling urgent to do something before the day was over, she began to walk and look around at the shops.

There had to be something...something entertaining...

Suddenly, a large building came into sight. Its sign read, "Ice Skating". Sakiko stared at it, thinking that it'd be...interesting. She wasn't the most graceful figure in town, but she had never gone ice skating before. Sakiko walked inside, smiling encouragingly at Alpha. She didn't know how he felt about ice skating, but she thought it'd be a rather unique experience.

She leaned over the counter where a bored teenager stared at the two unusual pair with unfocused eyes. Sakiko asked quietly,

"How much for two?"

The teen scribbled something on a piece of paper and droned,

"Do you need skate rentals?"

Considering both she and Alpha didn't have any skates with them, she nodded. The boy held up his fingers.

"Fifteen rupees."

Sakiko dug into her pocket, withdrawing the amount. In return, the boy gave them both two pairs of skates. The Mage couldn't help but wonder how he would know their feet size - perhaps years of staring at customer's feet had trained him to see without asking? All musings aside, Sakiko took them (although she had to fumble clumsily with the two skates, considering she had a large bear-fairy in her possession) and gave the bigger pair to Alpha.

"Uh...this is a way to pass the time, right?"

The Sheikah's magic was obviously being stretched thin - for a split second after he'd pressed the button, his focus wavered, and the shaking began again. He could only arch an eyebrow in disgust as the claw latched onto a pink furry . . . thing . . . and dragged it back over to the drop point, depositing it to where it could be retrieved by the players. He glanced back to Sakiko, noting her reaction mirrored his own.

So he was more than a bit surprised as she bent over and picked up the pink . . . well, he wasn't sure what it was. A bear? A fairy? Something in between? Whatever it was, Sakiko threw him for a loop by picking it up and taking it with her; apparently she had decided to leave the machine and the herbs within it behind, and the Sheikah felt a bit of gratitude towards her because of it - now that he thought about it, it had been foolhardy for him to use any magic at all while trying to maintain the illusion spell, and it was a wonder that he'd not lost control of both spells in the process.

What really bewildered him was why he hadn't thought about that before trying to do it . . .

Still, he felt a smile forming over his lips as Sakiko hugged it against her chest with both arms, putting quite a bit of effort into keeping an item that really . . . didn't seem to fit with the image of her he held in his mind. The pale skin, silver hair, grayed robes, and somber attitude simply did not go with the pink, playful creature now held like a prize.

They walked along like that for several minutes; he continued to feed magic into his illusion, while she kept holding the animal in her arms. He was a bit too burdened with his spellcasting to notice when Sakiko's course subtly shifted towards a new building, and it wasn't until they were right beside it that he looked around. Ice Skating, the sign read. Sakiko glanced his way and smiled, and he returned the look with a wide grin of his own - partially because he would gladly go ice skating - it was quite the test of control and balance, which were always useful skills to have in the adventurers' line of work - and partially because he still found the pink blob in her arms to clash with Sakiko in a humorous manner.

Sakiko seemed willing to pay for the pair to skate, and the teenager behind the desk hardly gave them a second glance; he'd likely seen several odd couples here before, and took care of business with an efficiency that the Sheikah could not belittle. Though he could've probably sounded a bit more enthusiastic . . . but that wasn't something Alpha really cared about.

"Uh...this is a way to pass the time, right?" she asked as he took the skates from her.

"Certainly is," he responded cheerfully, and not only because his answer was the truth. Skating rinks tended to be relatively dark inside, which would mean he'd be able to drop the illusion for a while and allow himself to recover from the long session of focus he'd forced himself down. Assuming that this one was like the rinks Shada had told him about.

He looked up, noting the difficulty she was having trying to juggle all the things she was carrying. "Want me to hold onto that . . . thing while you're changing shoes?"

It was definitely heartening to see Alpha cheerfully accepting the very sudden idea. Sakiko had been concerned about his reaction to this entire situation. She furtively wondered why the Sheikah hadn't abandoned their 'date' – after the hot dog lady had labeled their day in such a way, it would not be shaken off from her mind so easily – after their shabby lunch. Perhaps...?

She didn't get to finish the thought as Alpha offered to carry her 'thing' as he put it. Sakiko smirked, seeing that her fellow companion wasn't so thrilled about the prize. She could have just put it down on the bench right behind her, but for her own amusement, she wanted to see him holding the ridiculous toy. With a small nod of thanks, she handed off the pink bundle.

Sitting on the bench that had been nailed to the wall, she began to peel off her own leather boots. The material of the skates was too shiny and rough for her liking, but there was nothing to be done. After lacing up her rented shoes with some difficulty, she stood up unsteadily. Pushing against the wall for support, she discovered that her robes were in the way. Usually, she found that the cotton robe that brushed against the ground and hid her feet comfortable, but she realized that it was getting caught on the blades.

With a sigh, Sakiko shrugged off her robes to reveal a simple black dress trimmed in white lace. It was what one would expect of the conservative Mage; long sleeved and covering her knees. Carefully folding up her beloved robe and placing it on the side of the bench with her shoes, she hobbled towards the rink.

Still unsure, she tightly gripped onto the metal bars surrounding the perimeter of the ice rink. As Alpha desired, it was pretty dark inside. There were a few, small lights randomly throughout, but not enough to light up the area entirely. She also noticed that it was almost abandoned, save for several couples skating gracefully and laughing. Sakiko called out to Alpha,

“Be sure to take the thing with you!”

By 'thing', she meant the bear-fairy. But she didn't need to elucidate; she was pretty certain that Alpha knew what she was talking about.

Ooc: And we shall see soon why it is almost abandoned ^_^

Alpha took the stuffed thing from Sakiko without so much as a second thought; it didn't fit with him any better than it did her, but that didn't bother him too much. It was much the same case as when : reacting in a shocked or disgusted manner would only lead people to believe their beliefs were truth. Shrugging off the difficulty was much more sensible, and the lack of reaction often served to confuse the questioners more than any other type of response could.

But he couldn't help but wonder at how he was going to get his own skates on while holding onto the prize. It took two hands to tie shoes, and one had been effectively taken by the doll thingy . . . with a sigh he grabbed the fairy bear thing and stuffed it under his chin, figuring that he could rely on his sense of touch to feel out how best to tie the laces.

It wasn't too hard, fortunately; Sheikah weren't called Shadow Folk for no reason. Their crimson eyes afforded them the ability to see much better in the dark than many other races, and his training with Master Zaris had only enhanced his extravisual senses. Even so, Alpha had to pause several times throughout the process of slipping off his black boots and strapping on the skates - which he noticed to starkly contrast his normal outfit by being colored snow white. To be honest, that probably bugged him more than anything, if only because it would make him stand out a bit more.

Fortunately, he finally managed to get them on, and slowly stood in order to ensure that he adapted to the altered sense of balance required by the thin blades now stuck beneath his feet. He was about to make his way inside when Sakiko called out behind herself, "Be sure to take the thing with you!"

'Wasn't aware she liked it that much . . .' he thought with a cringe, glancing down at the thing once again. It wasn't like he had been planning to leave it behind, but it still seemed a bit odd for her to care about the item that she had almost left behind in the machine.

Glancing out towards Sakiko, he saw that she had removed her long robes, leaving nothing more than a simple black dress. He looked over his shoulder, wondering if he should do the same thing with his cape; he rarely took it off, but he didn't want to chance it getting caught in his or someone else's skates. Besides, it was dark enough that he wouldn't need his hood, even with the illusion dropped. So he reached up to his neck, unfastening the cloth and placing it beside Sakiko's robes, revealing the clothing he had underneath: more black, as always.

Taking the pink item in hand, he slowly walked out onto the ice, also holding onto one of metal bars as he once again had to adjust his balance to compensate for the slippery surface. With a sigh, he at last relinquished the magic covering up his face, and at once his scar returned to his face, a scabbed streak marring his otherwise pristine features. Fortunately it was indeed dark inside the building, and few people were present, so chances were no one would really notice the mark unless they were looking for it.

And it did wonders for his mood, too; not having the burden of constant spellcasting really helped perk the man up, as reflected by the smile that spread across his lips. After a few moments, he slowly moved over to where Sakiko was standing, still holding tightly on the bar. "Hey," he said with a chuckle, "here's your little fairy bear thing." He held out the stuffed item, then put on an amused expression and jested, "Are you having trouble balancing?"

He looks absolutely absurd carrying it about like that.

Having had her dose of hilarity at the sight of the solemn and serious Alpha hauling around the pink beast, Sakiko accepted the animal with a small grin. She wasn’t surprised at all that he wore such shadowy articles of clothing beneath the sweeping cape. In all such gravity, the light creature contrasted so starkly with his individuality that it became an awkward heap of amusement.

And in this line of thought, she wondered why he was in such an agreeable mood. The smiling must have been a mask of some sort – or was it the lighting? It was certainly hard to see further than a few feet away, and what you could see wasn’t even that clear – because she didn’t notice that Alpha’s scar had come back. And truth be told, after the first shock of seeing his face without such a mar, she wasn’t too concerned about his handsomeness. It was certainly a pleasant surprise to see him looking so stunning, but that wasn’t all the preoccupied her mind. Instead, she was keeping a tab on his mood. The cheerful air about the Sheikah began to rub off on Sakiko; rather than snapping at the quip about her lack of balance as she would’ve done normally, she gave a small laugh.

“Not at all… as a matter of fact…”

With a simple spell that required minimal effort, she levitated the stuffed animal so that it hovered near the ice about two feet away from her. With the bear now out of her way, she pushed off from the metal. She began to walk on the ice, awkwardly at first. As she began to feel the solidity of the ice, she tried bending her knees and pushing herself forward. And ta-da! The skates were moving her quite easily on the icy floor, sliding against the ice smoothly.

With a small chuckle of delight at her own ability, she skated faster. The bear was faithfully following her movement, as if it was skating too. Sakiko flung her strands of hair from her face, glancing over her shoulder to give a smirk at Alpha.

“Well, Alfonso, why do you stand there? Don’t you want to skate with me?”

When she steadily gained speed, Sakiko reminded herself that if she was to stop abruptly out of fear or uncertainty, she’d break her momentum and send her crashing into the ice. And so, she continued her circling about the rink, making sure she was at arm’s reach with the metal bars at all times.

Alpha could not be deterred from his good mood, despite her calling him that stupid name again. Even as the thought of, 'She really needs to think of a better cover name for me . . .' ran through his mind, the Sheikah watched her skating coming around for yet another pass around the edge of the rink. Her silver hair was fairly easy to spot, but what really made her stand out was the pink creature following her every movement, as though it itself were skating alongside the mage.

He had to nod in respect to her skills; the levitation spell was executed flawlessly, and with a remarkable amount of precision in the stuffed animal's movements. It was rather impressive, and had been quite the surprise; the fact that Sakiko was also a mage had slipped his mind for a little while now, since he'd been the one casting all the spells thus far.

And now she was skating around as though she hadn't a care in the world; even Alpha had to sit back and feel a bit relaxed in this kind of situation. Oh, he knew that he really shouldn't relax - he, of all people, could hardly afford to - but something about where he was, what he was doing, and who he was doing it with all reverberated in his soul in a way he'd not felt for quite some time.

For the moment, at least, he was at peace.

So when Sakiko called back over her shoulder, taunting him for not having joined her on the ice yet, he could only smirk at her audacity and propel himself forward, away from the metal. Like the silver haired mage had before him, he needed to take a few steps to get used to the motion of skating, but once he had adapted his movements he quickly sped forward.

Sakiko was already moving speedily, so it took the Sheikah a few extra seconds to catch up with and overtake her. Now it was his turn to look back over his shoulder, saying with a grin, "You'll have to forgive me, my lady," he said with a touch of sarcasm in his voice. "I didn't know that you were willing to allow me the honor of escorting you."

He slowly lowered his speed, allowing Sakiko to catch up with him again. Staying close to her side in case she fell, he continued circling around the ice . . .

When she had thought that she had left Alpha far behind her - in speed, of course, as the area was circular - she heard the Sheikah's voice right beside her.

"I didn't know that you were willing to allow me the honor of escorting you."

Sakiko put out her hand, a genuine smile on her lips. Goddesses, she couldn't remember the last time she truly felt the emotion welling up inside her to bring forth such a smile. All she had shown to the world was a fleeting twitch of the lips, the flash of her teeth; but standing before Alpha, she even felt a bubble of laughter coming from her throat. She was forgetting herself; she was forgetting that she was Sakiko, the girl who had vowed to never see the good in the bad or even good itself in fear of getting in too deep.

And so, extending her small, pale hand towards the man she barely knew, she showed him the side of her that no one was allowed to see - even herself. As the slight wind caressed her face...the pink bear danced around her ankles...the comforting semi-dark enveloping her, she felt...almost like a child.

Already getting breathless from the effort, she breathed,

"Well, I suppose I'll give you the honor since I feel generous."

"Well, I suppose I'll give you the honor since I feel generous."

Alpha's smile turned slightly humble - had he been consciously thinking about his reaction to her words he'd have likely responded with a simple nod and a grin, but no . . . he was being driven further and further into full fledged chivalry mode. His many years of acting to get what was necessary was subtly carrying itself over into this situation, taking his past words and using it to reforge his attitude and reactions to better suit the circumstances.

All in all, it boiled down quite simply to one of the classic roles of storytelling: he was the knight sent to guard and look after the princess, one's whose legendary beauty was his to protect until the journey was done. He could almost see the royal robes on Sakiko as he smiled at her, not even needing to force it as his subconsciously erected masquerade practically bonded itself with his subconscious to result in him giving her a genuine smile of his own.

Still skating along beside her, he could only slightly bow, lest he trip and fall. But all the same, he softly took her hand in his own, raising it to his lips and brushing her fingers with a soft kiss. Just like any good knight would to a princess.

"You are far too kind, my lady," he said softly, sincerely, and had he been thinking about it he would have had to wonder whether the words were a part of an act or if they were truly genuine. Then he lowered their hands, loosening his grip on her hand but not releasing it from his grasp, letting the abrupt warmth each one was feeling pass between their fingertips from one to the other as they continued skating around their frozen kingdom.

It had to be her imagination – or at least the trick of the light, which was scant.

Had she seen the gentleness in Alpha’s eyes? She lowered her own, surprised to see a new air surround him. She was almost certain of his mocking tone just a few moments before; was this all a part of his jest? She quivered slightly as his lips touched the tip of her fingers – the sensation of his warm breath lingered with her even after he raised his face to continue skating.

Her hands wrapped inside Alpha’s, everything felt so surreal. The ice itself seemed almost liquid, so dreamlike everything felt. Sakiko tightened her hold on his fingers as soon as he loosened them. The touch of his skin on hers, the heat of his hand, the strength that it carried…everything set her head spinning.

Suddenly, the teenage boy came out of his little hiding hole and cleared his throat. He held a loud cup-like item to his mouth, and Sakiko soon found out why. His voice was magnified as he called out that the next song was a “lady’s choice”, whatever that meant. Sakiko watched as the singles – or, what singles there were, as the skating rink was nearly empty – got into couples. She couldn’t resist a smile as she mused if she and Alpha counted as a ‘couple’.

These happy thoughts were soon interrupted by a pair of young women, who were on the opposite side of the ice. They continued to whisper amongst themselves, giggling and tittering in between their murmured words. Sakiko glanced at them, concerned – had they identified Alpha’s identity? She gave a quick glimpse at the Sheikah – he still was keeping up that illusion magic, somehow. Or she thought he was – the scarce light played upon his face so that she could only dimly see the basic features.

As they skated at the same speed, the girls began to slow down. When they passed by the two suspicious skaters, Sakiko heard a small whisper of “so cute.” The Mage blinked, the smile wiped away from her face instantaneously. Turning her neck, her gray eyes swept over Alpha’s tall figure. She silently admitted that he did make a graceful and mysterious stature. Dressed in all black, he resembled a shadow gracefully gliding against the ice.

The pale girl gave another look at the women. She wondered how she was different from them in their attractions. Was her heart fluttering just because he was the admirable idol that everyone was crazed about? Was it because she felt special in some way that she was the girl who had the privilege of spending the day with him? What did she know about him that the two women did not? Diffidence and doubt began to attack her fiercely, parading around in her mind and conquering the previously joyous thoughts.

Sakiko abruptly let go of Alpha’s hand, stopping herself safely by grabbing hold of the metal bars.

“I…”

She paused wondering what excuse she should give.

“…will go get some drinks.”

Sakiko dashed off, skating as if she was being chased by an invisible force. Her concentration broken, she had forgotten about the pink beast, which had ceased to follow her. Instead, it lay lifelessly by Alpha’s feet, its blanks eyes staring at the ceiling.

The Mage began to pull at the laces, biting her lips. Her eyes stung for some reason – it must have been the cold. Throwing off the skates quickly and replacing them with her boots, she began her search blankly for the drinks.

The girls, meanwhile, looked at each other incredulously. Girl #1 pushed Girl #2 away, whispering encouragingly with a repeated, “go, go, go!”

Girl #2, her black irises cast down, shyly skated towards Alpha and the pink beast.

“Would you…erm, like to skate with me?”

Ooc: because drama is so much fun

Alpha was starting to wonder if Sakiko was bipolar or something.

One moment the pair had been gliding along the ice, and at least by all appearances his companion had seemed to be enjoying herself. He had been, he knew, though he couldn't really put a finger on what he found so nice about the time spent on a relatively meaningless excursion like this one.

The next moment, however, her expression and mannerisms had shifted quite severely. He had no idea what was going on, but abruptly Sakiko's cheerfulness had vanished and been replaced by a wave of doubt and darker thoughts - he could tell that much from just being close to her and feeling the shift in her aura, but he couldn't read minds, couldn't decipher the cause of the sudden change. Her excuse of wanting something to drink, while plausible, left him unconvinced, and she skated away to the side of the rink he kept his eyes trained on her. Who knew why he did so; perhaps he was hoping for a clue as to why the change had taken place.

"Would you…erm, like to skate with me?"

The voice came out of nowhere, and had the Sheikah not already dropped his guard around Sakiko he may well have ended up smacking the new person in the side of the head. As it was, he quickly turned about to see who it was who was addressing him, not even having processed her rather odd request yet.

It was just some girl . . . he had no idea who she was, nor had he even been aware of her existence before she approached and spoke to him. In fact, he realized abruptly, he hadn't been paying hardly any attention to the people in the area, a dangerous thing to forget about given his status among certain malicious organizations . . .

The girl was a bit pretty, but the Sheikah hardly noticed; she wasn't someone known to him, and at the moment he had no reason to get to know her. "Sorry," he said, the kindness that had filled his voice just a few minutes before having vanished completely. Instead it was replaced by his standard tone: a dry, indifferent one that bordered somewhat on harsh. "I'm waiting for my friend to get back. Please excuse me."

With that, he pushed himself forward, circling slowly around the rink until he arrived at the point nearest the entrance. Leaving the ice, he made his way up to a bench right beside the doorway, calmly lowering himself down to the seat as he waited for Sakiko's return.

After several minutes of apathetic searching for the drinks, Sakiko inadvertently found the lady’s room. She pushed the heavy wooden doors with her shoulder, not even paying attention to why she was going there – after all, Alpha was probably waiting…no. He couldn’t possibly be waiting for her; knowing him, he was most likely skating…with…

Sakiko turned the faucet, watching the heavy stream of water crashing against the basin. Who was she kidding? He didn’t mind who he skated with…held hands with…To him, she was a mere companion, a friend…could she even claim herself to be in such an intimate relationship with him? She thought of Arrika and Zeze – they were her friends. She could say anything to them without feeling overly cautious. But Alpha? Sakiko cupped her hands beneath the flowing water, wondering what exactly he was to her.

Alpha was toying with her emotions – not consciously, of course. Whenever she was near him, she always felt alert of every little thing that had to do with him. She didn’t try to think about it too much, but some things, like the incident with the two women, just brought her down. Sakiko closed the faucet, a frustrated sigh escaping her lips. Why?! She never allowed herself to act this stupid. That running away just a few moments ago – that was pure idiocy. Nothing had even happened, and she jumped away like that as if someone shocked her.

It was getting tiring, emotionally and physically. And so, she did the one thing that she was best at; thinking logically and dispassionately. Sakiko recalled all the memories that contained Alpha, from the moment she had first seen him, to the party, to the dance, to the lunch, and now this… there had to be something. No one could make her this fanatical and foolish; even at the sight of someone getting gutted alive, she had kept her cool.

There had to be something else.

The Mage slowly went out from the bathroom, and walked towards the counter where the bored teenager had again taken residence. She tapped on the glass to get his attention, and when she did, she asked,

“Do you sell drinks?”

The boy shrugged, raising his eyebrows. His voice was taunting as he drawled,

“Yes, ma’am.”

Sakiko controlled her annoyance and ordered two cups of hot chocolate. The boy disappeared behind a back door, and she calmly waited for him to reappear. He was obviously taking a longer time than she had expected, and the Mage naturally drifted towards the previous thoughts. She didn’t exactly know what to say or do when she had to face Alpha again, but she made a resolution that she wasn’t going to dash off like that again.

“Here you are.”

The teen held out two paper cups filled with the aforementioned drinks. The pale girl took them, quickly fishing out the right amount of money. The two steaming hot chocolates in her hands, she carefully walked towards the ice. Instead, she found him sitting alone – no tittering women – and looking like he was waiting…for her?!

She nearly dropped the cups, surprise washing over her. The split moment she saw him there, she decided. Sakiko walked towards Alpha slowly, handing him one of the drinks and settled next to him. She wanted to ask him so many things, tell him many things. But instead, she sipped at the thick liquid silently, wondering how she was going to start off. Truth be told, she didn’t even know what to say exactly, but just a vague feeling that things should be summed up and cleanly solved.

So, unsure and hesitant, Sakiko asked the simplest question – one which she had asked herself when she had seen him.

“Why aren’t you skating?”

The skating area was a surprisingly calm locale, and not just because of the poor lighting and few people. There just seemed to be an air of peace about the place, something that the Sheikah found himself basking in as he waited for Sakiko to return.

It only took him a few moments to study the faces of all those present and skating, including the features of the girl who had approached him before and the friend who accompanied her. Like everyone else in the building, he simply filed the knowledge away for future, though likely unnecessary, reference, and returned his attention to the doorway, always keeping an eye out for anyone else who might enter the premises.

Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any undercover operatives among the people, and no one came through the doors again until Sakiko finally strolled through carrying a pair of cups. He saw her look first to the rink, and only when she failed to find him there did she glance around the rest of the chamber and find the Sheikah sitting right there beside the entrance. He felt a smirk forming on his lips as he noticed surprise suddenly appear in her body language.

He killed the smirk but left a smile on his face as she handed him the cup - if anything, it was because the hot chocolate lived up to its name in terms of temperature, and he had always enjoyed heat like a desert more than cold like a . . . a skating rink, actually, he thought with a touch of humor. Interesting how he hadn't even noticed the temperature in this place until that thought had hit him.

Sakiko slowly settled down next to him, obviously still feeling a bit nervous and withdrawn, just as she had been when she'd left. He didn't know why she seemed that way . . . but it was her business; unless she started the conversation, he had no right to try and push in on her personal thoughts -

"Why aren't you skating?"

He blinked as her voice slowly slipped into his ear and the question registered in his mind, subconsciously noting her hesitation and uncertainty. Mentally, he shrugged; the answer was quite obvious: he wasn't skating because -

. . .
. . .
. . .

. . . wait, why wasn't he still out there skating?

A dozen answers flashed through his head at once; he had always had a mind that excelled at rationalization. And yet . . . somehow everything he thought of to explain this one action of his seemed . . . empty. Devoid of the real reason behind all this. It made him stop and think even further on the matter - rarely did he question his rationales, and when he did it was normally only because he was forced to. And yet here he sat, pondering the true reason behind his stopping, and unwilling to accept anything less than the actual cause.

'I stopped because a needed a rest.' No he hadn't; he could've skated for a few more hours before needing to take a break.

'I was a bit thirsty too.' Also untrue, and even if it had been he could've just drawn water from the air itself to nourish himself.

'I didn't want to be bugged by those girls again.' This one seemed a bit more on the money - more plausible, more accurate. And yet it lacked a crucial detail: the answer to a second question that naturally followed this answer if it was given. Why would he consider those girls to be a bother . . . and yet he had so thoroughly enjoyed skating with Sakiko?

'I know Sakiko, and didn't feel comfortable around other people.' HA! That was a laugh. He hardly ever felt comfortable around anyone, be they total strangers or battle-tested allies. And really, he didn't know Sakiko that much better than either of those two girls - he had fought beside her before, and danced with her at the party a while back, but their first real conversation had occurred this afternoon. And it had only been the tip of the iceberg in terms of discussion topics; there was a lot more to learn about her before he should have been able to feel like he knew her . . . before he should have been able to feel comfortable around her.

And yet an element of truth rang through that last one . . . because he did feel comfortable around Sakiko.

Memories of the commonalities they had discussed and explored earlier, outside the shop, came flooding back into his mind. Similar outlooks on the world, on people, on everything really - it was something he had been searching for. He wanted to meet someone who, like him, persevered onward even after confronting the darkest aspects of the world they lived in. Someone who was willing to look the truth in the eye, and not try to cover it up with false hopes and lies like so many other people he had met - even his fellow adventurers often battled under a delusion that evil was an anomaly that the world needed to be rid of. They didn't see . . . didn't understand that if they removed the present evil, another would simply rise up to replace it later on. Evil would never die.

And Sakiko was the first person who seemed to agree with that.

Why aren't you skating?

Such a simple question . . . and yet suddenly he realized that its simple answer was not nearly so simple as he had expected it to be.

After several moments of silence between the pair, he looked up at Sakiko and replied in a voice that, try as he might to avoid it, couldn't help but betray his surprise at the revelation. "I . . . I was waiting for you."

The silence was nerve racking, but Sakiko was determined not to show it. She had been too off guard, too relaxed, too 'happy' - if one could call it so - and therefore when things happened, it hit her hard. Therefore, it was only reasonable that she rebuild the barriers about her and try not to think too much. Sakiko swished around the contents of her cup silently, raising it up to her lips to drink. Well, if Alpha didn't wish to answer to her question, he must have his reasons -

"I . . . I was waiting for you."

The hot liquid scorched her throat, as Sakiko had swallowed much too fast. She turned her head slightly - only a few centimeters or so - to see the expression on his face. If she only could see the sarcasm, the gentlemanly attitude...she could go back to putting up her guard again - and yet, she saw sincerity. Her heart leaped, but she didn't know if that was a good thing or not - as a matter of fact, she didn't even know why her heart was beating irregularly in the first place.

After the momentary shock, she began to feel regret. Here he was, waiting for her, while she ran away and acted like a child. They had been having a good time, and she had to get so filled up in her own anxiety. Sakiko lowered her eyes and whispered,

"Sorry."

She wanted to ask him why he made her feel this way. She wanted them to reason out this whole situation together, arrive at a conclusion, and pretend nothing had ever happened. But that was..impossible. Her heart was beating, her cheeks were flushing...and there was an ache - an indescribable ache in her chest. Had it been anyone else who told her that they were waiting for her, she would've brushed it off and consider it a trivial occasion. However, when Alpha told her with such truthful surprise in his voice, that he had been waiting for her, she felt like she had done something horribly wrong in abruptly leaving him.

It was all a terrible mess. And it had to be cleaned up - sooner or later. It couldn't drag on - it'd ruin her.

"You are different, somehow. Being with you, I mean."

Sakiko stared at her drink as if it contained the solution to life. Refusing to look at Alpha - because if she did, she knew that she'd never be able to carry on this conversation - she continued,

"I hate being in places like this. I really despise being in another's company and trying to match their moods and accommodate them. But you...I don't know why, but today was rather..."

She trailed off, knowing that if she said anything that revealed her emotions, she would expose herself and leave her heart to become vulnerable. But she had to say it...or else she would become tired and frustrated.

"...enjoyable. I don't know how you feel about all this, and I don't know either..."

Sakiko rambled on, so many thoughts being blurted out at once. She couldn't organize what she had to say, because matter like these were so abstract and vague, that she herself didn't even know the point of having this conversation.

"So what I'm saying is that I'm not used to things like this, so if I act strangely, you need to understand. I'll try not to do something so abrupt again."

She finished, feeling stupid. This was not what she was trying to say. There was so much more to tell him! And yet, she had not the courage to lay out the map of all her feelings - her previous experience already told her that it was not wise.

"Sorry."

The word probably would have evicted more of a reaction from the Sheikah, had his mind not still been puzzling over the revelation that he'd been waiting for Sakiko. No other reason, no other explanation - that was all there was to it, and he couldn't for the life of him understand why. Was there something he felt needed to be said to her, or something that needed to be done with her? He couldn't put his finger on it, but he somehow knew that he was on the right track by thinking those thoughts.

Still, her apology did strike a chord in his body - though he couldn't react with any more surprise than he already felt, he still glanced over to see her suddenly melancholy expression. Immediately he wanted to reach out and place a warm hand on her shoulder - was it not the job of a knight to comfort the princess and ease the burdens she felt? And yet before his hand could move she was speaking once more.

"You are different, somehow. Being with you, I mean." A pause. "I hate being in places like this. I really despise being in another's company and trying to match their moods and accommodate them. But you...I don't know why, but today was rather......enjoyable. I don't know how you feel about all this, and I don't know either... So what I'm saying is that I'm not used to things like this, so if I act strangely, you need to understand. I'll try not to do something so abrupt again."

. . . he wasn't sure how to react to that one.

What she had just said amazed him, because it sounded so similar to what often went through his own mind . . . and yet was different enough that he began to understand where they diverged in certain areas. Just like her, he preferred to be alone, and found others to, more often than not, be a burden and an annoyance not worth the effort of putting up with. There were notable exceptions, of course, but few were they who he was really willing to put up with without an ulterior motive. And just like she, he had found the time they had spent together to be . . . enjoyable? No, that was too soft a term. He thought for a long moment before finally settling on . . . 'enrapturing'.

And all of that put together had led the man to act in a strange manner, being oddly accommodating and pleasant towards his companion.

Yet there was a difference that she had mentioned, one which he immediately picked up on: and trying to match their moods and accommodate them. From her words, it sounded as though Sakiko tried to conform and please others, even though it made everything terribly difficult for her. Alpha, on the other hand, refused to conform in even the simplest of situations - always he stood as a loner, setting himself apart from others in word and deed, and not caring whether those words and deeds were orderly, chaotic, or neutral in nature. He did what he did for whatever reason he chose, and refused to allow anyone to affect these choices.

And yet here he sat, finding himself and his actions thoroughly affected by Sakiko.

"You too, then . . ."

The word suddenly left his mouth, without him ever considering to ask the question or how it should be done. For some reason, he wasn't able to stop himself from continuing, even though he normally tried to think through the words he would say before he spoke them aloud. "I feel able to relax when I'm around you . . . a feeling I've not known in so long." He gazed at his cup, unable to bring himself to look at her. "It's odd . . . I'm at ease around you, I don't feel pressured or anxious . . . I'm not sure why that is. I haven't been able to do such things in years, so it's . . . I'm a bit bewildered by this all myself."

He looked up again, trying to meet her gaze with his own. His hand reached out of its own accord, gripping her own tightly. "Feel free to act however comes naturally to you, Sakiko. Do whatever feels most comfortable to you - whatever it is you want to do." He smiled - not a majestic smile like the ones he had given her before; there was nothing here meant to seduce or confuse her. He just smiled. "I'd like to spend some more time with you, though - so if something is bothering or confusing you, please . . ." at last he did feel surprised again - surprised that he was saying this. "Let me know."