Title: The Nutcracker
Author: vanillavinegar
Rating: K+ overall, K for this chapter
Summary: For Winternight, a young girl named Zelda receives a most unusual nutcracker, and adventure soon follows…
Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda and all associated characters, settings, etc., belong to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. The Nutcracker is from the book by E. T. A. Hoffman and the ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The only profit I make from this work of fiction is my own satisfaction and, possibly, the enjoyment of others.
Author's Notes: Can you believe there are no LoZ/Nutcracker crossovers? At least, none that I could find. I intend to rectify this situation – here's the first of five chapters, to be posted regularly until the end of the month. All are rated K except the third, which is T, so I've upped the overall rating to K+ for safety's sake. This is sort of an amalgamation of the book and the ballet, with a big hunk of LoZ mixed in for flavor. Do enjoy.

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DRAMATIS PERSONAE

-Mr. and Mrs. Daphnes Nohansen, a middle-class gentleman and his wife
-Ralph, their son (aged 13)
-Zelda, their daughter (newly 12)
-Malon Lon, niece to the Nohansens (12)
-Ruto Zora, daughter to a friend of the Nohansens (12)
-Raura Light, mysterious friend of the Nohansens and godfather to their daughter

-the Nutcracker
-the evil Mouse King
-assorted partygoers, mice, toys, and inhabitants of the Fairy Realm

Recitative

"Ralph! Zelda! Why aren't you children ready?" Mama scolded when she entered the nursery. Truth be told, her entrance had interrupted what would have been a tantrum on Ralph's part, as his younger sister had been using one of his wooden soldiers for a tea party, and the young lad had only just found out. In fact, he had been in the process of snatching away the soldier in question when their mother unexpectedly arrived.

He dropped the toy immediately upon seeing her, not wishing to be seen a child. "She's taking my things, Mama," he said, doing his best to sound mature and reasonable, like a grown-up who has been unfairly put upon.

"I am not!" Zelda objected without any such compunction. She was more than a year Ralph's junior, and thus felt no need to behave like an adult. "He said he had no use for them, did he not, Mama?"

Their good mother cut off Ralph's response. "That does not matter at the moment, my dears. Our guests will be arriving soon and who shall greet them if you are not dressed?"

She hurried them into their own rooms and then into their nicest outfits, a pretty new dress Zelda had received from her parents for Winternight and Ralph's first adult suit. The Nohansens were by no means wealthy, but they had given a Winternight party for their friends and family for as long as Zelda could remember (and for a twelve-year-old, that was quite long indeed). Zelda was most looking forward to seeing her cousin Malon and their mutual friend Ruto. Ralph, though still burning with quiet resentment for his sister's appropriation of the toys he believed himself too old for, felt proud that this was to be his first Winternight party spent out of the nursery. Soon enough (though perhaps not as quickly as their mother would have wished), the two children were dressed and stood beside the front door, cheeks pink with excitement and haste. Their father emerged to survey them, giving their mother a kiss on the cheek and proclaiming her as lovely as the day they met, before turning to his children.

"Well, well, m'boy, you do fill that suit out nicely," he boomed in his comfortingly loud voice. Ralph puffed out his chest and stood as tall as he could, throwing his head back and giving his sister an arch look. "And my little Zelda. You'll be as pretty as your mother very soon, and I shall have to bar the door against your beaux," he added, smiling down at his daughter. Zelda giggled, because after all boys were far too silly to be of much interest to her then. "Now. How are you going to greet our guests this evening?" their father asked with good humor.

Ralph bowed deeply, one hand on his stomach and the other at the small of his back as he had seen his father do a number of times before. Zelda dropped into her best curtsy, wobbling only a little as she jumped back up.

"Very good! And just in time as well," their father said as a knock was heard at the door. "Shall I see to supper while you help welcome our guests, m'dear?"

"Oh no, Mr. Nohansen, I shall check on our food so that we will stay have some left for our guests," Mama replied laughingly.

Father's eyes twinkled as he watched her leave the room before waving Ralph to the door. "Go on, my boy, don't leave them out in the cold!"

Before long, Zelda's knees were creaking in protest, but fortunately all of the guests had arrived and she and Ralph had been, according to their father, "a pair of capital door-greeters." Mama released them from their duties when they had hung up the last guests' coats and Zelda leapt to join Malon and Ruto in the nursery, where Mama would come fetch them for supper later. Ruto had brought the new dolls she had received for Winternight with her, and between them, Malon's favorite stuffed horseman, and Zelda's stately ladies, the three girls had a most charming tea party, even with the absence of Ralph's soldiers.

"But why is Ralph not with us, Zellie?" Malon asked, pouring a cup of 'tea' for Ruto's guests.

Zelda sighed. "He is thirteen now and must stay with the other adults."

Malon's eyebrows shot up and she and Ruto exchanged glances. "Well, he is welcome to it," Ruto said after a moment. "Grown-up talk is terribly boring, you know. Isn't that right, Lady Shadow?" she asked of one doll, and then nodded gravely at the answer. "She says dolls are uninvited, as well," she informed her two companions, who laughed.

Poor Ralph, meanwhile, was finding out the truth of Ruto's words at that moment, as he listened to dull speeches on the government and the economy, sometimes punctuated by jokes that went over his head. He was just beginning to wish to return to the nursery, undignified tea parties and all, when Mama announced that dinner was ready. His relief was short-lived, however, when the conversation immediately returned to politics after the soup course. He readied himself for a very long dinner indeed as he glanced jealously at Zelda and her friends, who were giggling and speaking to one another at the smaller table for children.

Fortunately for Ralph, even the longest and dullest of dinners must eventually end; unfortunately for Zelda, even time spent with good friends must eventually come to a close. As the guests slowly departed, with hugs from Ruto and promises from Malon that she would visit soon, with many handshakes given by Father and kisses by Mama, Zelda thought to herself that it had been a most grand party indeed. She covered a yawn with the back of her hand, curtsying to the last guest. She could hardly wait for bed.

Father shut the door and turned to the children with a smile. Mama hurried away to see to the last remaining bit of food. "A story before bedtime, m'dears?" he asked, but even as Zelda nodded eagerly a solid knock was heard at the door. "Now who could that be?" Father asked, glancing back at the door with a slight furrow in his brow. Mama peeked around the corner, a bowl in her hand. Father opened the door, and Zelda's mouth opened in surprise.

TO BE CONTINUED...