Day 4 Morning

[Belle]

Belle eyed the hylian suspiciously. Despite how cordial everyone was being, the pain in her arm was a sharp reminder of what could happen on the island if you let your guard down.

Now that she got a good look at him, he did seem distressingly familiar. She had a hard time pinning it. Those eyes, that nose, the ears... That green cap... She had seen it before, she knew she had.

It wasn't until the warrior said his name that it hit her. The memories came flooding back - memories of warm, lazy summer afternoons, an old projection television, and a small, curvy black box.

Link.

Link.

Mickey turned to look at her. "Uhm, Belle?" he started to ask. "What's wro-"

But the mouse never got to finish. Belle leapt forward, bumping into Protoman. "Are you really," she breathed, "THE Link?" Now that she got a closer look, it was obvious. She must have been too distracted by her own peril during the fight to realize it.

The hylian eyed her with some trepidation. "Y-... yes?" he answered.

"Belle?" Blues asked. "Do you know him?"

"Know him?" Belle gasped. "Who doesn't?"

She looked at them. They stared at her. "It's Link!" she said. This should be obvious, she thought. She gestured to him. "Link, the Hero of Time!"

The mouse and not-quite robot boy exchanged looks.

"Come on, don't tell me you guys don't know the story?" Belle insisted. "The boy who was gifted a magic ocarina, and travels through the ages to save the land of Hyrule! Link!"

They continued to stare at her like she was a mental case. Given what had happened over the last couple of days, she supposed they might have reason, but she didn't care.

"Do I know you?" Link finally asked, looking leery.

"Oh, no. No. Haha," Belle laughed, putting a hand to her cheek and waving off the ridiculous suggestion with the other. All of the cares and worries of the last few days had fallen away. "But I've played your game backwards and forwards!"

"My... game?"

"Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time!" Back when they were still close, her cousin had had a Nintendo 64 laying around his house. Belle supposed she must have been a pest, because one day he set it up for her and let her play. She didn't consider herself a 'gamer', but something about that game had entranced her like nothing else. "You're a hero! The hero of heroes!"

Link looked to her, then behind her to the others, the word 'help?' etched across his confused, elf-like features. "I don't, uh, know what you're talking about-"

"Can you do the thing?!" Belle blurted. "You know. The spin slash?" She stuck out her arm and spun. "Hyaaaaaa!"

Her head wound chose that time to remind her that it existed. The ground lurched beneath her as she lost her balance, toppling over. Large hands caught her before she racked up another injury, and Mickey helped her back to her feet. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Is this like you were telling me before?" the mouse asked. "How you were watching my 'show'?"

Belle nodded.

"Strange," Blues mused. "I wonder if your world somehow is connected to all of ours?"

"Maybe!" Belle agreed. Whatever. It was an interesting thought, one to file away for later. For now, however, she had something much more important to attend to. "Can... Can I get your autograph?"

"Hey!" Blues blurted. "That's my scarf!"