Title: The Gallant Hero
Author: vanillavinegar
Rating: K+ (for minor implied violence)
Summary: Link's day takes a strange turn when he rushes to the rescue of a stranger. Modern AU. Zelink.
Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda and all associated characters, settings, etc., belong to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. The only profit I make from this work of fiction is my own satisfaction and, possibly, the enjoyment of others.
Author's Notes: This was intended to be PitFTW's reward drabble for winning the contest from my fic The Nutcracker. It, uh… became a bit more than a drabble, as you can see. Her prompt was a Zelink fic beginning with "Link is walking about in the streets of Castle Town. Suddenly, a scream is heard in a dark alley nearby..." Hope you like it, PitFTW! :D

Write a review, get a response from the author – promise. :)

Link hummed to himself as he walked down one of the sidewalks of Castle Town, feeling the ache in his muscles – the good kind, the kind you got after a decent workout. The kids must be getting better if they made him tired, he mused, grinning slightly. Now, for the next lesson, maybe he should have them practice –

A scream issuing from an alley in front of him cut off his train of thought. He paused for the merest instant before running forward – that had been a woman's scream, and the street was empty but for him. When he heard the next scream – this time, in a man's voice – he didn't even consider that he was completely unarmed. He bolted around the corner of the alley anyway before stopping short, his eyes widening.

No less than three beefy men lay on the dirty floor of the alley, two of them clearly unconscious, the last clutching his arm and groaning softly. A purse rested next to him, close by Link's feet. He distantly recognized the third man's voice as the last one that had shouted, but most of his attention was focused on the only other person standing. She faced away from him, so he could not see her face, only the long golden hair that fell almost to her waist. Her shoulders moved up and down rapidly and he could hear her heavy breathing.

"Um," he said, intelligently.

The woman whirled around, clenched fists rising in a defensive pose. Blue eyes flashed at him suspiciously as he backed away. Thinking quickly, he scooped up the fallen purse and held it out to her.

"I guess this must be yours?"

She stared at him for a moment, then reached out and grabbed the purse, clutching it to her chest protectively. He lifted up his own empty hands and tried to look nonthreatening.

"I heard screams, so I came to see what was going on, but, uh…" He nodded towards the unsuccessful thieves. "Looks like you've got everything under control here."

The woman finally relaxed, a bit of color tingeing her cheeks. "I do." She shrugged. "Nice of you to come to help, though. Most people wouldn't have bothered."

Link smiled in a self-deprecating sort of way. "Yeah, well, I've always had a kind of rescuing people complex. You can ask my roommates, they're always making fun of it. My name's Link, by the way." He held out his hand. She stepped around the three insensible bodies and approached him, putting her hand into his own and returning his handshake.

"Zelda." She peered up at him. "Wait, I know you – you were in my Ancient Studies class last term, weren't you? At Hyrule U?"

"With Professor Gaebora? Yeah, that was me." He followed her out of the alleyway, admiring the way her hair shone in the sunlight. He shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, um, but I don't really remember you. Sorry."

Zelda glanced over at him and looked away quickly. "It's okay. I have a knack for faces."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither really looking at the other. Finally Link sighed. "Okay, this is going to sound kind of weird and stalker-ish, but would you be offended if I offered to walk you home? The rescuing people thing, you know." Zelda looked back up at him, and he added hastily, "Besides, if anybody tries to mug me you can knock them out before I do anything again."

She laughed slightly. "Well, when you put it that way…" He grinned encouragingly and she went on, "I live in the Heights. It's not too far."

They walked up the street side-by-side, Link occasionally stealing a look at her. He must have slept through Gaebora's class, or paid less attention than usual to his classmates not to have noticed her for a whole semester. He cleared his throat, and she gave him an inquisitive look. To cover his embarrassment, he said, "So where'd you learn that anyway?"

"Oh, my aunt teaches wushu professionally. It's hard not to pick up some things when she's been doing that all your life. And I did tai chi in high school for a while."

"Wow," Link replied, genuinely impressed.

"And what style of fencing do you take?" she said. When he looked at her in surprise, she smiled. "You've got a sword on your back, or hadn't you noticed?"

He scratched his head sheepishly. "To tell the truth, I'm so used to it being there I sometimes just forget about it." She chuckled. "And I, uh, teach saber, actually, at the fitness center downtown."

"You teach it?"

"Yeah. To pre-teens, mostly, but the occasional high schooler will come in now and then. It's only twice a week, because I'm in my last year at the U, but I'm hoping I'll be able to pick up a couple more nights over the summer."

"You're a senior?"

He nodded. "Are you?"

"No, I'm only a sophomore."

"But you were in Gaebora's class this year? You must be really smart, he usually doesn't let underclassmen in."

She blushed slightly and they walked in silence for a few moments. He gnawed at his lip, wondering if he'd embarrassed her and feeling like smacking himself in the face. Just as he was deciding he had managed to kill the conversation completely she spoke again. "Won't you be starting a job after you graduate? Or are you going to grad school?" He raised an eyebrow and she continued, "You said you'd still be teaching the kids over the summer, so I was just curious…"

"Oh! No, um, I'm an archaeology major, and I'll be interning at a dig after graduation, but it doesn't start until autumn. So I'll have some free time before that gets going."

She brightened. "Archaeology is so fascinating, isn't it?"

"Are you in the major?"

"No, I'm poli sci and religion, but I like the history of things, you know? Archaeology and anthropology and just normal history."

"Yeah, I know." He grinned, mentally adding not just really smart, but a high achiever too if she's doubling majors to his assessment of Zelda.

It was one of the failings of his personality, compounded by his love of archaeology and other subjects that required strict categorization, that he tended to create little mental descriptions of people he knew. Zelda's so far, included hot, beautiful (he counted them as two separate things), ridiculously smart, and able to tear me limb from limb without breaking a nail. Probably.

Would it be even more weird and stalker-ish if I asked her out after knowing her for about five minutes?

"I live in that tower," Zelda said, pointing to an impressive (and expensive) looking high-rise, complete with glass windows so shiny they could be used as mirrors and a doorman whose uniform looked incredibly uncomfortable.

And also rich, which I should have realized before since she lives in the Heights. Brilliant as ever, Link.

They slowed down as they reached the building. She paused at the steps leading up to the doorman and turned to face him. He looked past her, at their reflection in the glass, noting his frayed jeans and beaten up tennis shoes, not to mention the hair that was still messy from practice. By comparison, she looked as if she had just stepped out of one of those girly fashion magazines, not a bit of her appearance speaking to the encounter she had had with three would-be robbers. Way out of your league. He saw her mouth open from the corner of his eye and quickly cut her off, hoping to make this as not awkward as possible for both of them.

"Thanks for protecting me, Zelda," he said with a smirk, and amusement flickered in her eyes as she smiled back. And she has a sense of humor. Why do the gods do this to me?

"Anytime," she said.

He nodded, grin faltering, and turned to leave. He had actually gone only two paces when he heard his name. He looked back with surprise, watching her dart after him, pulling a pen from her purse. She grabbed his left hand and held it steady as she wrote a set of numbers across his palm before releasing it. He stared from his hand to her blushing, smiling face to his hand and back to her. "I mean that," she said, when he didn't say anything, "if you ever need a bodyguard again… Feel free to call me. Anytime."

He blinked, then felt his lips twitching into a smile to answer hers. "I will," he said, and she beamed before running back to her building. He could still see the blush on her reflection's cheeks as she greeted the doorman. He looked down at the phone number she had scrawled onto his palm and his smile grew.

He certainly would.

END