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Link stood before the door of the little house at the end of the way. He glanced over his shoulder and up at the moon which shone between intermittent rolling clouds to illuminate quiet Kakariko. Most of its denizens had long settled into their beds to sleep, and the houses lay dark; only the dim firelight at the town gate glew against the serene night. Link turned his eyes back to the dark house — no lantern at the door, he observed — and steeled his nerves as he prepared to knock.
He froze when the loud creak of the stoop reached his ears. He looked over his left shoulder, then his right. Deep breath, he thought to himself. He raised his hand to knock on the sliding door, but before he could, it opened as if under its own power, and a hand reached out and grabbed the front of his tunic. He nearly gasped, but thought better of it and covered his mouth as he was dragged through the door and into the dark house. The door closed behind him, cloaking everything in an inky dark.
A familiar giggle and the creaky bolt of a lantern cover restored a little light to the room. Link turned around to see Lasli with the lantern in one hand and holding her platinum hair away from her eyes with the other. Her eyes trapped some of the light and brought his attention to her smile.
A smile not unlike the sun.
"Link!" she whisper-shouted. "I wasn't expecting to see you! When did you get in?"
"I, er-" Link began, but fell over his words when he noticed what she was wearing — a short cream and scarlet robe hastily tied at the waist, falling off one shoulder. "Well, I-"
"See something you like?" she teased as she pulled the shoulder of her robe back up. "You didn't exactly give me a heads-up that you were coming."
"My apologies," said Link, scratching his head and lowering his face in a bashful smile. "Should I take my shoes off?"
Lasli cocked her head and stared at him blankly for a moment, failing to register what he'd said — then, it dawned upon her: "Oh! Yeah, absolutely, do. I forget sometimes you Hylians don't really do that. Haven't spent much time with people outside of town, you know?"
"Well, maybe it ought to be something we do," said Link, beginning to work one of his boots from his foot with a step on the heel. "I imagine it keeps a cleaner floor."
"It does, but you know, it's kind of cute," said Lasli, walking past him and setting the lantern on the table, opening the cover a bit more to reveal more light. "Hylians are always dressed like they're about to run off into the forest on some grandeuse adventure, you know?"
Link's foot came loose from his boot in an instant, and he lost his balance, tumbling down to the floor. Lasli gasped and covered her mouth, but breathed a sigh of relief which devolved to a giggle when she saw he was unhurt. "Oh, ever so graceful Mister Hero," she cooed. He shuffled about and sat cross-legged as he worked his other boot, and hoped that the dim lighting meant that the fiery blush he felt in his ears wasn't so visible on his face.
Lasli sat and took a flint and striker from beside the firepit and started a little bed of coals burning with a click-clack as Link's other foot came free. He ambled across the room and sheepishly took a seat next to her, sitting cross-legged an arm's length away as she placed a kettle on the bed of now-glowing embers.
"You'll have to tell me all about your latest adventures," said Lasli, brushing back her silky white hair with her fingers. Link caught a glimpse of the top of her chest and had to avert his eyes — his heart nearly burst from its confines and once again he could feel his face burning hot. Her voice continued, but her words rang indistinct as he attempted to change his focus to anything else. The words floated about as if his head were underwater while he focused on a single point in the glowing embers, until he was startled by a hand brushing against his thigh. He jumped and gasped a bit, which in turn startled Lasli, who also recoiled. "Wuh!" she gasped.
"Sorry, I-"
"No, no no, don't apologise," said Lasli, taking one of his hands in both of hers. "I get it, I really do — it's late, you've been travelling all night-"
"I'm not so sure it's that," said Link, looking away at the door and scratching his head once again.
Lasli looked perplexed, then concerned. She released his hand and took two small cups and sat them on the floor between them, as well as a cast-iron teapot. "Are you sure this is okay for you?"
"What?" Link asked, perking up. "Oh, yeah, of course. Why wouldn't it be?"
"Link," said Lasli, placing a hand on his thigh and looking him in the eyes. He lowered his eyes and leaned away a bit. Withdrawing her hand with a sigh, she continued. "If you're not comfortable-"
"It's not that either, Lasli," Link interrupted. "I'm comfortable with you-" he began, but stumbled: "With our friendship, I mean-"
"Friendship," she said with a scoff, turning her head to look down at the kettle now aboil upon the embers. "Is that what this is?"
Link was struck dumb by the question. It didn't simply land in his mind and conjure an answer as most do, but it struck the walls and made great, raucous, imperfect echoes. What is friendship? Was this friendship? Was it something less? Was it something else? What was going on inside his head? Inside his heart? What were these overwhelming feelings of-
"Link?"
He looked back up at her and saw pleading in her eyes. "I hope I haven't offended you; I'm just not really sure what to call it myself," she trailed off as she pushed her hair out of her eyes again. "You know?"
"Yeah," said Link. He turned to sit facing her directly. "To tell you the truth, I don't know what I'm doing in this world. It's like-" he halted a moment to choose his words with care. "I just wouldn't say my breadth of experience with friends has been particularly- well, broad."
Lasli poured the boiling water into the teapot. "I get it," she said, nodding. "Well, maybe I don't really get it, but I think I get something similar to what you mean." She brushed her hair back once again, tucking it behind her ear where it would hopefully stay put. "I've always been kind of a homebody even out of my own volition, and Nanna doesn't really like me wandering these days anyway." She shook her head gently and scoffed: "The Yiga, you know?"
"I'm surprised Nanna isn't on your case right now," said Link, looking towards the door. "I noticed the lantern isn't by the door."
"She's watching the East Road tonight — you must have come up from the West if you didn't run into her?" Lasli asked.
"Exactly," said Link. Lasli beamed that she remembered the orientations correctly.
"So," said Link.
Lasli perked up. "So," she repeated.
"Are you sure your Nanna won't drop in on us?" asked Link, once again eyeing the door.
"She won't be back until morning," Lasli reassured him. "Although — I agree — having Nanna walk in on me and a shifty Hylian hedge knight, alone, wouldn't be the best thing in the world."
"Right? It'd be mad," chuckled Link. Lasli giggled and once more her smile lit up both her face and his heart. "So, remember last time I was coming through here, and you told me about how you used to go out at night and look for fireflies?"
"Yeah!" exclaimed Lasli, grabbing his shoulder. "Oh my gosh, it's been ages!"
"So," said Link, unclasping the satchel on his belt. "I went out, and I nicked a few," he added, producing a glass jar with a perforate lid. A look of wonder crept onto her face as he offered up the jar, within which little flashes of light began to appear. She took the jar in her hands and held it up close to her face, watching closely as a handful of little fireflies within began to stir. A big smile grew to fill her face and the lights in her eyes danced like fires.
"I thought you might like to have them."
Lasli looked at Link. "Link, this is- wow," she fumbled with the jar as she sought the words. "Honestly? This is wonderful," she said, eyes fixated on the glowing bugs inside.
"You think so?"
"I do," she said, hugging the jar to her chest. "I absolutely love it. Thank you." She held it up to look into it once more, slowly rotating it as she carefully counted each flash. "I know they're not really your style, but would you mind — could I offer you at least a hug in return?" She placed the jar on the floor beside them and held out her arms. "Something for your trouble, Mister Hero?" she teased.
He chuckled a bit at the thought of it. "Of course. I don't mind," he said.
Her eyes lit up like candelabria. "Really?!"
"Go for it," he said, smiling warmly.
Lasli wrapped her arms around him, though a bit of shuffling was in order before a truly worthy hug was achieved. Resting her cheek on his collar, she let out a contented sigh and closed her eyes for a moment — and in that moment, the sum of all his woe left his body. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her gently closer, allowing her to melt into his embrace.