I am prone to long A/Ns and though one may be warranted this time, I'll keep it short. For those of you still with me after my long time abandonment of this fic, thank you. For those who are new, I hope you like it and will continue to motivate me to write more. With that said, I give you the long awaited chapter before you. I may even get another one out within the next day or too. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: If I owned it this wouldn't be a "fan fic" right?

Day Nine

Too Much Drama

It was just weird. Plain weird. He couldn't possibly, ever get over how weird it was. And they were suddenly, so open about it too. Yeah, definitely weird...

Link stared vacantly at his two best friends, his hand supporting his head as he leaned on the table across from the two of them. He absently mashed up the peas that were on his plastic plate, once again trying to figure out where he'd been during any of this. He was glad they weren't fighting anymore, sure, but he still hadn't gotten over the whole... 'couple' thing...

Ike was gay?

It was the question he kept coming back to. It didn't surprise him that Marth had turned out gay after all, even though he still denied it fiercely, but in under twenty four hours, Link's perception on life had been dramatically altered. At least he finally understood all the drama between the two.

"So," he said, clearing his throat and setting his fork down. "You said you were going to tell me what happened before, when I passed out? Uh... Anytime would be great," he said, looking to Ike with a raised eyebrow.

The blunette in question had been busily occupied for the past twenty minutes with the other blunette at his side. Marth was half scowling, half smiling softly as Ike teasingly cut his food up into itty bitty little pieces and then fed them to him off of his fork, occasionally missing his mouth on purpose and then playfully kissing it away.

Link almost puked in his mouth, having to watch this yet again. It was physically sickening, but he had sat through it until now, still eagerly awaiting the explanation he'd been promised. Ike nuzzled Marth's cheek for a moment before smiling at Link.

"Isn't this great?," he sighed.

"Yeah, peachy."

"Man, I didn't know how much I was missing," he hummed.

"We haven't been together for a day. Stop acting like a starved animal," Marth grumbled, not quite able to suppress the pleasure in his tone.

"...Okay... So, like I said... Now would be nice." Ike looked to him a bit concerned, catching on to the impatient and agitated tone. Link raised his eyebrows again. Was it his fault if he didn't want to watch his two best friends acting out a cheesy romance novel before him?

"Right...," Ike said, looking away nervously. Link waited, his foot starting to tap out a beat, like the ticking of a clock. "Well... I guess I'd might as well get this over with," Ike said with a sigh. "Link...I'm gay."

"...Yeah Ike... I noticed that much."

"I'm not finished! I'm gay and... it's all your fault."

"WHAT!" This was news. Link tried to think back to any incident over the course of his entire life that would have altered the delicate fragments of space and time and cause Ike to suddenly become attracted to men.

"...Which brings us to the whole passing out thing...," Ike continued, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Well, you see, you'd pretty much suffocated by the time we got around to saving you and, well, I was the only one who knew any... er..."

"Any...Any what?"

"CPR, so you see-

"CPR?"

"Yeah."

"...So you're gay because you..."

"Yup...Well, no, not because of that, but it sort of dawned on me..."

"...That explains the Frootloops..."

"Just...don't tell Zelda, okay?," Ike pleaded.

"Tell me what?"

They all jumped at her sudden appearance, not that it was all that surprising; she was Zelda after all. Ike laughed nervously and squeezed Marth's hand, which Zelda noted with a cool expression.

"That... erm..." Ike struggled for words as Marth sighed, leaning his elbow on the table, his cheek in hand.

"Don't destroy his face please," the slim blunette said in a bored voice. Ike shot Marth a disbelieving glance. Link was silent, not wanting to get involved if he could help it. Finally, Ike just hung his head, his shoulders slumping under the weight of utter defeat.

"Fine. I admit it. I'm gay because I kissed Link." There was a long silence.

"Obviously," Zelda said flatly. Ike's head shot up in a blur and his shining eyes twinkled with hope, wonder, and confusion.

"You're NOT going to kill me?"

"Ike, sweetie," Zelda said slowly. Marth and Link only regarded her quietly. Yup. They weren't saying a word.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Do you take me for a complete and total idiot with no working brain cells what-so-ever?" Zelda asked with a grin. Ike paused, his jaw going a bit slack as he worked through the question in his mind, trying desperately to discern whether or not this was a trick question.

"...No?"

"No?"

"No."

"Very good," Zelda said as if Ike just said his first word. "So then you do realize that we've known this since chapter ten, correct?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah dumbass. Remember you came barging in on us?" Marth reminded Ike with an elbow to the ribs.

"Hey! But you... and I... And then..."

"Sorry Ike, we don't speak Unintelligible-sentence-fragments here," Link said with a smirk, amused by his friend's lack of what most would refer to as a brain. He had to admit, even after what he'd just found out, he wasn't all that shaken up. Hell, if anyone was going to make his best friend gay it was him. No wait, okay, thinking about it like that was creepy. And no wonder Ike was so afraid of Zelda finding out, but if Zelda already knew...

"You already admitted this to me before, remember?" Zelda asked wearing an expression alike to the one that would be used when feeling both pity and amusement. Hold on, she was wearing it.

"Yeah, but then you went all psycho and tried to claw my brains out, so I had to say I was in love with Marth so you wouldn't kill me an' stuff," Ike blurted.

"W-What!" Link spluttered. This was news to him.

"Yeah, 'cause I totally had to avoid letting her think I had the hots for you man. 'Cause you turned me gay."

"Waitwaitwait! H-how is this my fault again!" Link demanded, very much disturbed by the silence of his girlfriend and the horrified expression on Marth's face. It seemed the swordsman had just realized something no one else had yet.

"It's your fault, 'cause when I kissed you I realized it was better than kissing a chick."

"Dude, I was practically comatose!"

"My point is, it took your lips to make me realize I'm gay."

"Ike, quit acting like this is a casual conversation!"

"Ike..," Marth said in a weak, barely audible voice. He went unheard.

"What? What do you want me to do, flip out? It's not that big of a deal."

"Then why did you want to hide it from Zelda? If she already knew, what's this all about?"

"Well I guess I DID tell her that you were the reason for my epiphany, but I mean, I stealthily avoided putting the blame on you. I thought that if you happened to mention it, then you'd say something weird and get maimed or something. I was being secretive for your own protection.

"Ike," Marth repeated more urgently. Link meanwhile was getting more annoyed and sidetracked by his friend.

"Secretive? I was the only one who didn't know that I'd freed your inner homo! Everyone else has been snickering behind my back for the past three days!"

"That's not nice man. It's homosexual."

"Wha-I'm not fucking making fun of you Ike!"

"I'm just saying. It's somewhat offensive. It puts up a figurative barrier... when you use language like that."

"Ike."

"I... I have no idea what you're even talking about anymore." Link was running a hand down his face, half leaning on the table, looking confused and weary. Look, let's just-"

"IKE!" The terror in Marth's voice caught Link's attention. When he glanced up towards his two blue haired friends, he was horrified to see Zelda standing behind the oblivious swordsman with a gleaming blade raised high over her head and a crazed flash of loathing in her icy eyes.

Ike cried out, noticing her at the same time and was just able to tumble out of the way before the girl brought her dagger down, causing the table to emit a hair-raising crack before splitting clean in two. Ike, having thrown himself into Marth, therefore knocking both of them onto the floor, was clinging fearfully onto the smaller boy, his eyes as big around as a beer barrel and his hands clutching to Marth's tunic as if he could fused the two together.

"You had to say you were in love with Marth? SAY? As in, you LIED?" The grating growl of Zelda's tone sent a tremor through Link's body. He still wasn't sure just what was going on; but, whatever had triggered it, Zelda was really pissed. "You. BOTH. LIED... to me?" Marth and Ike were gaping now, looking like two fish out of water.

"I-I'm not gay," Marth whined, his voice barely above a whisper. Zelda's head turned like a robot who's neck had rusted out. Link was sure he could even hear creaking...

"If I ever hear you say that again...," Zelda began, eerily quiet. Link couldn't take this anymore. He let out an agitated sigh. Without another word, he stood, shaking his head and turned around. All eyes whipped over towards him, the evil glint fading instantly from Zelda's gaze.

Link marched out of the cafeteria, his hands fisted by his sides. He may have been acting a bit melodramatic, but it wasn't hard to blame him. His day hadn't been the best so far. First there had been the non-stop suffering through his two friend's constant make-out sessions, then the begging and pleading to FINALLY get the truth out of Ike, then that whole ordeal with Ike rambling on about absolutely nothing, and now Zelda was spazzing out again after they'd just started acting like normal, like they used to. He was just tired of all the damn drama.

And now, to make matters even better...

"You'll never defeat me brat." Link didn't have the energy to get offended. He rolled his eyes with a sigh and turned to face Prof. Ganon, who was seated at one of the smaller, outdoor tables, a creampuff in one hand, and a hidden object in the other. He took a careful bite of his pastry, accidentally smearing some of it on his elongated nose, his narrowed eyes never leaving Link's none-to-impressed face. "For you see," he continued, wiping the cream away without a change of expression. " I have finally obtained it, once and for all..." Link waited, his eyes disinterested. Just what he needed. More drama. ":The triforce!" Professor Ganondorf exclaimed victoriously, his claws springing open to reveal a small, triangular object, nestled in his palm.

Link blinked, recognizing the symbol as one that was very well known to the inhabitants of his homeland. Ganon grinned cruelly at the student, leaning forward to show it off more. "With this, I will finally prevail in vanquishing the light from all of Hyrule!" he cried out with a mighty guffaw.

"It's a keychain," Link stated bluntly.

"...Ugh..."

"You can get them at any local gaming or accessories store."

"Erk..."

"Did I piss you off in a past life or something?"

"Hek..." Prof. G was at a loss for words, obviously thrown off by the elf's indifference.

"Whatever. Look, if it makes you happy, you win this time, okay? I'll take a rain check on this great battle, or whatever, but you're the winner. Go Ganon!" He cheered in a monotone. Prof. Ganon looked dumbfounded.

"Y-You think this is a mere GAME!" he finally roared.

"Yes. It is. You can buy that too." Link felt he'd done a good deed, clearing the waters for his poor, lost, potentially-evil-villain of a teacher.

Without another word, he strode onwards, looking for somewhere he could just friggin' be alone. When he got to the usual tree he sighed and continued on, looking for a more private place to mope. He found himself on the hanging branch once more. It wasn't night, but the place still had a somewhat calming effect.

It was times like these he missed his trusted companion, his noble steed. Literally. Epona, his horse, was a great companion and a perfect listener. The school didn't allow pets though, unless they could be used as weapons, or you were one. A pet that is. It was a bloody shame because right now, there was no one Link would rather talk to.

"Talk to me."

From his position, laying on his back and staring into the leafy canopy, his arms folded behind his head, he could still detect the unmistakable presence of his girlfriend, even before she spoke.

"You're upset."

Well no shit he was. A blind person could tell. He glanced over and by the look on her face, Zelda had sensed the sarcasm in his thoughts. She looked murderous for a moment before taking a deep breath and cooling off. She had to shake herself a bit to do so, but after this she looked completely docile. She looked like the Zelda he used to know.

"Do you want to break up?" she asked. He could sense pain in her voice, rather than anger for once. He was also surprised by her question though. He sat up straight, his eyes wide with confusion.

"What? No! Why?" Zelda was quiet, her hands folded in front of her and her eyes nervously scanning the ground.

"I've been acting mean huh?"

"Kinda yeah..."

"Kinda?"

"Well, yeah. You have been... I guess."

"You guess?"

"Yeah..."

"Yeah?"

"W-Why are you questioning everything I say?" he asked, leaning back uncomfortably. Zelda sighed, climbing up next to him with a melancholy expression.

"Do you hate me?"

"No. Of course not... Why?"

"Why?"

"Yes why!"

"I don't know why I get so defensive! I don't know why I can't trust anyone! I've even seen that damn goodie-goodie Peach looking at you from the corner of-No... I mean... I imagine I have, but she has a thing for older guys, like way older, doesn't she?"

"...I gueeeessss...?" Link had no clue what he was supposed to say here.

"I suppose it's just because," and here she sighed deeply, "I love you so much. You've always been my hero. Even when we were kids and you were fetching stupid flowers and berries out of the trees for me... I don't have anything else in the world that I care about so much. I feel like... something more than just a stupid princess when I'm with you Link... I'm so afraid of finding out that you've gone away and left me behind for good. When Samus... When she told me that you..."

Link was devastated when the tears started to come. Zelda had her face buried in her hands and her shoulders shook with the gargling, pitiful sobs that scraped his eardrums like an out-of-tune violin. Dammit. Again! Zelda NEVER cried! Dammit!

Instead of saying something right away, he pulled her close and stroked her hair, resting his cheek on her head so that she could cry into his chest. "I'm sorry. I've been a moron, I know. I really don't mean the stuff I say. I could never see myself with anyone besides you. Not in the long run. Sure I might stray from the path, but as long as you're there, waiting at the end, I'll always come back,' he said gently, his lips brushing her soft locks. She'd gone very still.

"So... You're basically saying that you're going to cheat and I'm supposed to wait for you to get over your little flings as you "stray" and be okay with it, ready and waiting when you get back to home base?" She spoke into his chest, the scene looking just as intimate as before, but a frigid atmosphere now hanging over the couple. Link's eyes were wide. That's not what he'd meant at all, but the worst part was, Zelda didn't need to tweak that one at all to make it sound bad. He'd just dug his own hole there.

)0o0(

"Yeah, how' ya like that Feather-Face!" Ike cried excitedly, throwing his sword up over his shoulder and laughing at the bird who lay sprawled at his feet.

"I must admit, that wasn't too bad Ike," Marth commented, trying to look like he couldn't care less, but his slightly upturned lips giving away his pleasure. Fox was knelt down by his friend who had, not five seconds ago, been taunting the blunette couple, once again. This time, he'd caught them in the act of holding hands as they strolled through the grounds, both worried about Link and too distracted to notice him at first. When it got to the point where Falco was physically walking backwards in front of them, pointing with his wing about three inches from Marth's face, Ike had just lost it. The result was a bird with clipped wings and a half peeved, half guilty, foxy friend.

"Look guys," Fox said, raising a hand as a gesture to stop. "Let's just quit this now before it goes any farther."

"Try telling that to your buddy there," Ike said, swinging his hand to indicate the unconscious being before him. "He's the one screwing around. It's lame man. Really lame." Fox looked conflicted for a moment before he huffed, shrugging in defeat.

"You're right. I'm sorry. We've been dicks. I'll tell him to cut it out. We should never have bothered you guys. So we're cool then?" He asked, extending a paw towards Ike. The latter smiled, seeming pleased at having done a good deed for the day. Friendship points acquired.

When he reached down to accept the other's apology though, Fox quickly twisted Ike's arm around in a painful position before throwing the human to the ground and pinning him, whipping out a little gun in the process.

Marth gaped as Ike let out a moan of surprise and confusion. "No hard feelings, but you did beat my friend up. Just returning the favour," Fox smirked, removing the safety on the ray-laser-like-thing-gun.

"Oh yes. Act like I'm not standing right here idiot," Marth growled, marching up behind Fox and stomping on his head. Fox gargled in surprise as he was pushed forwards, then thrust off of Ike, who stood up beside Marth and cracked his neck, then his knuckles, then some of his toes, making a show of it all. Marth sneered in disgust before jamming the hilt of his sword into the side of Fox's head, knocking him out as well.

"A+!" came a cry from a high up window of the school. Both blunettes looked over to see Snake giving them a grin and a thumbs up before the tinted window slid shut again. Ike grinned at Marth as if expecting a treat and Marth only rolled his eyes and started to stalk off.

Ike deadpanned. "NOT AGAIN! What was it THIS TIME!"

Marth didn't answer, instead, opting to storm off towards his and Sheik's room with no explanation to Ike. And so the drama seemed to be starting all over again.

"Shit," Ike muttered.

Over the past few months, I've gotten more acquainted with some of the Brawl characters I formaly knew very little about. And shit. This piece of crap is so OOC, it could be an original novel. I'm shocked and deliriously happy that some of you hardcore fans out there haven't torn me apart yet. I guess though if Link and Zelda really acted the way they normally do, half the story would be shot, right?

I've been obsessed-er-than-usual with Legend Of Zelda lately, and I just HAD to put Ganon in this chap. Anyways, I don't expect too many reviews since I abandoned you guys for so long, but slowly and surely, I hope to pull my fan base out of the ashes, like a pheonix...

...in other words, I HOPE TO KEEP WRITING... It really does depend on my inspiration and the amount of shit on the go in my life though... Gah. Rambling. Well, I'll stop myself here. See ya again soon, I hope.