Ok, Wow. Now THAT is procrastination!! Enjoy :D

Chapter Two: Adrift And At Peace

The grass felt cool against her back. The sun was gentle and the warmth exuded from its resplendent depths lingered around her with such a placid comfort that she thought she would be reduced to closing her eyes and letting herself drift away without notice nor care. It seemed like it had been such an ineffably long time since she had last felt she could truly let everything else around her suspend while she just took time for herself to do absolutely nothing. It was an amazing feeling- knowing that you can put you whole life- and in affect, everyone else's- on hold; it was almost like stopping time.

The previous few days had been hectic, what with her father away on important business and leaving her to pick up the pieces left in his wake. Not only did she have to take care of her own routines and responsibilities, but now also the King's too. This and the inevitable mishaps which always seem to occur only once she was in sole control and already burdened with a court's worth of responsibilities. But it wasn't as if she was incompetent with what she did because the problems which arose like clockwork in her father's absence never seemed to revolve around her lack of judgement; as conceited as it sounds, more than ninety-nine percent of the time the problems were the fault of someone else. Sometimes she swore they were doing it on purpose. She was not ignorant to the fact that there were those who did not agree with her forthcoming reign. There would be a day when her father became too old to rule effectively and she would take over control. But there are some people with power who have too much invested with her father to lose it when she makes the necessary changes to the way the land is currently been governed; changes to the most fundamental laws which are lacking morality and justice.

She watched as the clouds floated across the midday sky; adrift and at peace. There was one in particular though which her interest lingered on for longer than the rest. It was the most unusual shape; a convolution of obscure wafting white.

"I'm sorry April, but I honestly don't see how you are getting a horse out of that mess of a cloud," she finally concluded in light-hearted irritation. "If anything it looks more like a spider with long spindly legs, and that's if you squint your eyes until they are almost closed… or maybe if you are looking at the wrong cloud." She could hear April sigh in defeat from behind her and May- her twin sister- laugh with more amusement than April would have liked.

"Seriously Zelda, you have no imagination," she stated candidly.

"And you have way too much." She looked back up at the cloud to double check just in case it happened to have morphed into something even vaguely resembling a horse in the past few seconds. Nope, it was still as indistinct as it was before.

She craned her head back to see if April was even looking at the same one as she was or if their different perspectives were only caused by a misunderstanding over which cloud they were trying to identify. April was no longer looking up at the sky. She appeared to have given up and closed her eyes in passive defeat, as if she was a teacher who had finally had enough of trying to teach a student that just couldn't understand. She was lying back with her head on her sister's lap as May preoccupied herself with constructing delicate daisy chains from the dainty white flowers growing all around them.

For twins, the two sisters had two of the most opposite personalities possible. April was always the one in control, the loud one, the one who always voiced her opinion- regardless of where she was and who was in her presence- even if sometimes it got her into more trouble that Zelda could poke a stick at. She was always the more out-going one and, over the years Zelda had come to accept that she was always right. Her sister May was the complete opposite, not so much in appearance of course, but in temperament. She was the quiet, reserved, and passive-attentive sister. Nine times out of ten she was the right one in a typical recurrent argument with her sister, but neither May nor Zelda would ever admit that to April for fear of the explosive wrath of emotions it would unleash. Besides that, the two of them were so physically alike that often Zelda would find herself addressing May only to find out that it was actually April. April could never understand why it was so impossible to tell the two of them apart, she for one would always point out the most miniscule differences, which to the untrained eye would usually go by undetected, followed by a look of disbelief as if Zelda had just admitted she didn't even realise the world was round. "Seriously Zelda," she would scold, "you really need to get your eyes checked."

Zelda would always joke that the stars were out of balance when they were born; and when she thought about it, they probably were. April was only five minutes older that May but they both managed to be born in different months; can you guess which ones they were?

"Seriously May, stop moving! I am trying to rest and you are making it almost impossible with your constant squirming", she chided irritably and tried to get comfortable again as if she was having trouble sleeping on a lumpy pillow.

"I am sorry to cause you such an inconvenience", May began in a calm, withering voice, "but you are cutting off the circulation in my legs" She kept her eyes fixed intently on her work as she tried to thread a stubborn flower through another one. Zelda could tell she was fighting back the urge to push her away, but she was smarter than to lead herself into such a situation; only the goddesses knew how long that argument could be dragged out into.

"If you object so much to my unaccommodating reception then may I suggest you maybe find someone else to lean all over. You are not as light as you think you are", she stated indifferently with not even an undertone of provocation.

"What?!" April spat, sitting up with a jolt and looking back at her sister with aghast. "What did you just call me?!" Her words were coming out viciously, like a snake's hiss. May didn't even glance at her.

"Zelda, you heard what she said to me. Didn't you?", she said turning, her gaze penetrating as she began to try and herd support and back-up.

"I-", Zelda stuttered then paused. She had to handle this delicately otherwise risk facing a war between them, and possibly her too if she didn't quickly declare herself neutral.

But to Zelda's immense relief, a second was too long a time for April- who had a very short attention span and patience- to wait. She whipped her head quickly to the side.

"Fynn!", she demanded. "You heard her insult me! She called me fat! Tell her!". She yelled, her anger escalating exponentially. Her shoulder-length auburn hair sticking up at the back in a way that made it hard for Zelda not to laugh, but if she valued her life she had to at least try.

Hearing his name yelled at such a decibel caused the daydreaming soldier to rouse with a start. "No, I was just-", his rehearsed excuse broke off when he realised the caller of his name was indeed not someone who would report him to the King's wife, and instead reclined back against the soft grass and muttered a long string of profanities under his breath. "I swear to the goddesses themselves, if you EVER do that again…", his threat became muffled as he ran his hands over his face and returned them to behind his head and closed his eyes as if nothing had happened to disturb him in the first place.

"Fyyyynn", April whined, feeling helpless that her argument was waning.

"April seriously", he criticized without opening his eyes to engage with her, "grow up".

Two simple words which- had anyone else uttered them- would send her into a characteristic tempestuous anger and a violent whirlwind of cusses and perpetual verbal retaliations, but instead she fell silent and began to pout like a child more than half her age. For one reason or another, Fynn was the only one who was ever able to subdue her ire; he was like a well-trained bomb disarmer with a steady hand and cool composure.

Fynn was one of Zelda and the twins' best friends, of who was also the only soldier and- as she only really noticed after May pointed out the other day- the only male. He had dead straight shoulder-length brown hair, which in the rare occasions that he didn't have it tied back at the nape of his neck, it flanked his face and fell before his eyes mysteriously.

His unusual reaction to April's outburst was actually justified. She guessed it now would be wise to mention the truth that the twins and herself were in fact stepsisters. A very long story paraphrased for convenience would explain that when Zelda's mother died all those years ago from an unfortunate, plague-like disease, her father was left a widow. For years he mourned her death before finally coming to accept what had happened and moving on with his life. A few years ago he married a young, rich noble who he had fancied for apparently quite a while; Zelda believed it was just because her appearance reminded him of her mother, except her face was more angular than the late Queen's who instead had a soft, heart-shaped face.

The King's new wife- who Zelda had only just become comfortable calling Marie- had two daughters from a previous failed marriage who went on to become her best friends, even despite their unusual quirks. However, in spite of Marie's blatant socially different status from Zelda's father, she had come to believe herself superior to those around her- except Zelda, who she seemed to have a soft spot for. She refused to let her daughters socialise with anyone of a lower class than strictly gentility, and if she came to find out that they had been fraternizing with one of the castle's soldiers- let alone a boy- she would have him discharged before either one of them could say 'unfair'.

He had deep brown chocolate eyes which allowed him to most of the time get what he wanted; there was something about them which portended to strangers that he was trustworthy and honest, which was one of the main reasons why he could make friends so easily, that and the fact that he was quite an attractive eighteen year old. She saw the looks he received from the maids as they fluttered past him, suspiciously always taking the longer path past the soldier's quarters to get to their required destination.

Zelda had her suspicions that May secretly fancied him. She was probably unaware that she was blatantly staring at him right now.

Zelda rolled over onto her stomach and propped herself up onto her elbows. The thrill of extracting animal shapes from clouds was starting to wear thin. She watched April- who now sat with her back to her sister- pluck angrily at the white flowers around her and throwing them away with disgust. She had obviously been reduced to sabotaging her sister's chances at completing her daisy chain. She would probably be there for a while though, considering the entire field was blanketed with them.

May suddenly woke from her reverie with a start, blushing profusely and quickly diverting her gaze. "Zelda", she said hastily before anyone could notice her unusual behaviour, "how have you been feeling lately? I was surprised Impa let you even leave the castle today with your hay fever playing up."

Zelda smiled gently at her friend. "She was able to concoct some foul-tasting potion which did the trick of rendering my allergies harmless, which, thankfully now allows me to properly breathe again without bursting into sporadic coughing fits." Fynn opened his eyes again and languorously sat up to listen to her speak. "Thank goddess; if I had to endure another day pent up inside that castle I think I would have gone insane!" She let out an exhausted breath and rested her chin on her folded arms.

Impa, her caretaker and closest maternal figure in her life, was also a brilliant apothecary. There wasn't an illness or a fever out there that she couldn't brew up a batch of mysterious potion to cure. Zelda couldn't remember the last time she had endured more that a few days with the flu for quite some time now.

"Speak of the devil." May began to laugh as Zelda's meticulously prudent caretaker hurried along the flowery field towards their little gathering. Zelda felt an ominous shiver roll down her spine when she noticed her expression though. It was not welcoming- it was frustrated.

She was barely five meters away before she started yelling.

"I have been looking everywhere for you three! Do you not think it wise to tell someone before you go wandering off, you know these lands are not safe for three unaccompanied girls!" As she came to an abrupt halt she folded her arms with an air of authority and overruling superiority and turned her full attention- and ire- towards Zelda. "You are so lucky your father does not know of your wayward strolling, he would have you locked up in your room until you are thirty! And you! " -she said, turning to the young soldier- "you of all people know better than to allow this! If the king- if his wife were to discover half of the things you four get up to…" She shook her head portentously and left her threat hanging, looking overly jaded. Fynn barely had a second to compose any kind of defensive response before the princess intervened.

Zelda clambered to her feet and mentally prepared herself for the inevitable confrontation to follow, and she had been in this situation too many times to not know how it would transpire.

"Why are you getting so upset, I have only been gone a few hours and I haven't even left the castle grounds!" She took a step back and pointed at Fynn without breaking eye contact with Impa. "And what do you think Fynn is doing here if not accompanying us?", she spoke scathingly, which in hindsight always seemed to be the wrong approach. Zelda didn't want to push her luck and above all, certainly didn't want to draw more attention to Fynn's presence than she had to; she was just lucky that Impa chose to overlook their friendship.

"Zelda," –Impa's tone turned almost pleading- "you are barely eighteen, you have the tendencies of a rebellious teenager." Impa sighed and flopped down her hands in resignation that her warning would probably fall on deaf ears. "And I hate to tell you this but despite what you think you do not always know best." She closed her eyes in passive frustration and ran her hand over her furrowed brow; her usually prim and kempt silver hair was in uncharacteristic disarray. Wisps of hair fell before her eyes and she looked tired. Zelda could feel an eerie heaviness quelling in the pit of her stomach; a feeling she hated above the rest- guilt. She despised it so much because no matter how hard she tried she could never shake or ignore the feeling. She comforted herself by acknowledging that it meant that deep down she was a good person, even despite her rebellious tendencies.

Zelda swept some wayward strands of blond hair away from her eyes and folded her arms. "Ok fine, we're coming," she sighed in defeat. She would never make a good job of being a ruthless dictator at this rate she thought, laughing inwardly; she just doesn't have it in her to be callous.

Impa's expression lightened slightly and she turned to Fynn who was already getting to his feet. "And you better get back to your post, young man before someone realises you're gone. I may overlook certain rules on your behalf but there are other people who I know will not." Zelda could hear the derision hinting at the edges of her words. Zelda wasn't the only one who didn't jump up and down in joy whenever her father's wife walked into the room, but in her case it was only petty annoyances and disagreements over moral values. In Impa's case it transcended the trivial scruples; she for one did not fall into her exclusive ring of people Marie considered 'equal' to her, and on numerous occasions she has voiced her opinions of the 'inappropriateness' of the sheikah's involvement with Zelda as her caretaker. Even her own daughters knew when to draw the line with their mother's prejudice nature. She thanked the goddesses they didn't turn out anything like her.

"You two, come with me," she said pointing to the twins. May acquiesced quietly, but like always April tried to push her luck by skating over very thin ice.

"Oh come on Impa, we have barely seen each other all week. Can't you give us this little leeway just this once?" She tried her best at looking innocent and noble- a charade, which usually worked on a content mind but considering Impa's current mood, April really never stood a chance.

Impa ignored her shrewd pleas and ran her hands along her hair in an attempt to tidy it back into her bun. "And Zelda, I am so sick of taking care of Pilot. I am your caretaker not your dog's" she scolded exasperatedly.

Decidedly, Zelda nimbly got to her feet, determined not to let Impa's uncharacteristically petulant mood exacerbate any more. She hoped her action would catalyse a similar response in her twin friends. Reliably, May followed her lead, and reliably her sister did not. She folded her arms and routed herself to the ground in a 'you're going to have to drag me' fashion. Acting embarrassingly less than half her age seemed to be one of her strong and defining features.

Impa's eyes narrowed in appraisal. "You can pout and sulk and mope to your obstinate heart's content, but your little baby fit will not work on me young lady." Her words were not patronising but their intent was still blatant.

April looked as though she was about to burst into tantramatic tears, when suddenly the first drop hit her face and streaked lazily down her cheek. It was not a tear, but it was just as upsetting to herself, especially if she wanted to last the night out here stubbornly to prove some childish point to the Sheikah.

The next drop fell, then the next, until a mocking rhythm was set up. As if summoned from Impa herself, the rain began to fall copiously over the field. If Zelda didn't know any better she would have laughed at the turn of events, but she knew it would definitely come back to haunt her later.

A meaningful look was all she gave before turning on her heal and hurrying back towards the castle, she didn't need to doubt if the four rouges would follow surely behind her.

Ok, so now that the scene is set for both characters the story will probably gain a little more impetus in the following chapters. I just hate rushing into a story. :D