It was midday, and the occupants of Hyrule Castle were buzzing around excitedly. They were straightening up the entire palace, from every wall hanging to every tile on the floor.

"Mama, why are they cleaning so much?" A young boy asked, who was standing among the cleaning frenzy with his sister.
"Yeah, why?" The girl next to him echoed, her small fingers tugging at a woman's skirt.

Zelda, who had been walking by, had been caught by the five year old girl, and she kneeled down. "We're expecting guests - some old friends of ours."

The boy piped up. "The ones from Aritia?" He smiled wide, showing a few missing teeth. "Like Roy?"

Zelda smiled, and looked into his blue eyes. "Yes, those friends." Then, she continued walking on.

The girl ran her hand through her long, brown hair, and made a squealing sound. "This is so cool! Aiden, people that had adventures and stuff are coming here!"

The boy sighed. "Erin, you know our parents had a lot of adventures too."

Erin frowned. "But.. they're our parents! These people are different!"

The boy just sighed and put his hand to his face. "Erin, you can't--"

"I can!" She was standing as tall as she could, and put her hands on her hips.

The boy sighed again and walked in the other direction.

"Wait!" The girl called after him. "I'll race you to the courtyard! Look, the maids are going away. Come on!"

She shot out ahead of Aiden, and almost knocked over a vase. "Hurry up!"

He sighed, but then ran ahead to catch up. They sped through the halls, dodging the remaining maids and various vases and tables the aligned the walls. As they ran, the tapestries and paintings that adorned the walls became blurs of color.

As a group of people walked towards them, Aiden slowed down. But Erin kept on running, and ran right into a dark-skinned woman.
Erin gasped and stepped back. "I... I'm sorry!!" She stuttered. The woman just chuckled and said, "Boy, how you've grown!"

Erin looked up at the woman. She had long, sienna hair, and strange magenta eyes. "The last time I saw you, you were just a baby!"

Aiden stepped forward. "I remember you! You're Ma.. Man.. oh great." He slapped his face.

"Manasa," She corrected him, and laughed.

"Kids," Link emerged from the group, "This is Manasa, Marth, Elice, and Roy."

Each of them stopped forward in turn, and Aiden bolted forward at the last name. "Roy!" He ran forward, arms outsteched for a hug.

"Hey, Aiden! Laid any good panks lat-" He was cut off as Elice elbowed him.

"Roy, we don't need you teaching our kids more pranks, you know..." Link joked.

Erin watched in wonder as Aiden approached Marth. "Met any good fairies lately, Uncle Marth?" He winked.
Marth scowled and put his hands on his hips. "Thank heavens I have not."

The whole group laughed.

As they immensed into conversation, Roy pulled the two kids aside and knelt down to their level. "So, how old are you guys now?" He put his hand on Aiden's head, and messed up his golden hair.
"I'm seven!" He proudly announced.
"And I'm five!" Erin added.

"Well then, I think you're old enough now to-"
"Roy..." Manasa had apparently joined them. "You're not going anywhere without me to watch you!"

"I'm not a kid anymore, you know..." He crossed his arms.

The kids laughed, and Erin looked around. "Hey, Uncle Roy, do you want to go play?"
Aiden sighed again, and Roy laughed. "Depends...."
"No fire, Roy. No fire." Manasa chuckled.
"Aww, man!"

The kids laughed again. "Hey, Roy, how about, instead, we go into the village! Then we can come back. They'll never know we were gone!"
Manasa nodded. "I never mind some adventure."
"Hmmmm...." Roy clapped his hands together. "Brilliant! Let's go."

They all got up, and began walking away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Elice crossed her arms.

Roy slouched as he stopped. "Uhhhh... the bathroom!!"
"Yeah! The baffroom." Erin defended her new friend.

Zelda chucked. "Elice, let them go. They have Manasa to watch them."
Elice scowled as Roy happily skipped away.

"So," he asked the kids,"where shall we go first?"

"There's a tasty bakery!" Erin piped up.
"Oh yeah! I know where that is," Aiden told Roy.

"Okay, let's go there, then."

After a nice stoll across Hyrule field, they entered the busy square. Aiden led them to the shop, where they saw a stand in front.

"Free samples!" The man at the booth yelled. "Free cookies!"

Erin immediately ran forward, followed by Roy, Manasa, and Aiden. "There you go," The man said, handing each of them a cookie.
As they sat down on the edge of a fountain to eat their cookies, Roy stood instead. "Ahhhh," He stretched his arms out, one of his hands grasping his half-eaten cookie.

"Aren't we too old for this?" Manasa chuckled.

All three of them answered, "NO!" at the same time, and she laughed again.

"Hey, Manasa!" Roy looked at her with a devious grin. "Can you chage into Ciara and get us more cookies?!" Roy wiggled his eyebrows.

The kids erupted in a series of "Yeah!"s and "Do it!"s.

"Fine, fine," She laughed, and went behind a wall. She emerged in her white outfit, and walked over to the stand. "Hello," she said to the man, and he handed her a cookie. "Can I get a few for my kids, too?" She was having trouble holding back a laugh, but managed to keep her cool.
"Sure you can," the man said, and he gave her a handful of sugar-coated cookies.

Roy, Aiden, and Erin all hopped up and yelled, "YEAH!" As they all extanged high fives.

Ciara returned and handed them a cookie. "Yes, Roy, you're my third honorary kid now." She laughed as they scarfed down their second round of cookies.

"Now we can get on sugar highs! And we can-" Aiden stopped and looked mischievously into the distance. "Hey, look! A prank shop!"
Roy shot to his feet and grinned. "Oh, boy!" He shot off in that direction, his cape streaming behind him. Aiden grinned as well, and ran faster than Roy. "Hey!" He yelled, and they raced towards the store.

Erin and Ciara stood there and watched, with their arms crossed.

Erin sighed. "Boys,"

Ciara chuckled as they calmly walked away, in persuit of their friends.


When they reached the shop, Roy and Aiden were quite absorbed in their browsing. Roy stopped in front of a package of fake barf. "We'd get a kick out of throwing this at Marth!" Aiden giggled and held up a whoopie cushion. They smiled whith feighned evil as they made their way to the other side of the store. Roy looked up, and saw a toy fairy hanging from the cieling.

"Heeeeey...." He squinted with delight.
"Oh, this is just AWESOME!" Aiden raised his fist in joy. He then gasped and exclaimed, "I HAVE A REALLY COOL IDEA!!"

Roy and Aiden then began discussing their master plan.

Ciara was looking around, and saw a rubber chicken. She laughed, and dropped it onto Erin's head.
"Eew!" She exclaimed, and began dancing around, her hands rubbing her head. "Eew! Get it off!"

Ciara laughed again, then grabbed it off the floor. "It's just rubber," she chuckled, and put it back on the shelf.
"It wasn't funny." Erin crossed her arms in frustration.

"Yeah, it was!" Aiden ran over and gave Ciara a high five.
"That was beautiful!" Roy exlaimed.

Erin, arms crossed, began to lecture the three on proper behavior. "Pranking is wrong. It's mean. You should use your energy on cooler stuff... Like.. I dunno! But you gous should be nicer."

Roy and Aiden frowned. Then they looked at eachother, and went back to searching for supplies.

"Erin, you sound just like Elice." Manasa looked at the little girl.

"I do?"

"Uh-huh."

They watched as Aiden pulled some Rupees out of his pockets and paid the cashier. Then, he and Roy ran over to them with big grins and a bag full of stuff.

"Are you guys quite done?" Erin scoffed.

"Yeah, yeah," Aiden replied, and he and Roy once again began plotting and extanging excited whispers.

"What are you guys planning?" Ciara said, jokingly. "I can hear you whispering from here!"

They abruptly stopped, and Roy snickered. "Oh, nothing," He said in a high pitch voice. "Only the most awesome prank I've ever pulled!" He shuffled around in the bag. "Oh! Look!"

He was holding two pairs of glasses with ruber noses and fake moustaches. He put one on, and handed the other one to Aiden.

"You two look ridiculous!" Ciara burst out laughing.

"Ha! What a waste of rupees!" Erin was also laughing.

"But, it will work." Aiden rubbed his hands together with a sneaky smile.
"Indeed..." Roy began walking, with Aiden close behind.

"You're not going anywhere with those things on!" Ciara threatened playfully.

They ignored her, and walked up to the cookie stand. "One, please." Roy had his hand outstretched.

"Oh, geez" Ciara sighed, watching from a distance, and slapped her hand to her face.

"Me too," Aiden giggled.

The cookie man just laughed and gave them each a cookie. "But no more," He said knowingly with a chuckle.

"He's on to us..." Aiden whispered to Roy with a mouthful of cookie.
"How could he possibly know?" Roy shrugged as they walked back towards Ciara and Erin.

"Nice one," Ciara laughed.
"You guys are so stupid!" Erin sighed.

"That's nice of you to say," Roy replied, which made the whole group laugh.


The trip back to Hyrule Castle was filled with happy chatter and laughter. Erin, who, in her mind, had never met these people, was definately pleased. She had grown close to Ciara, who she found to be quite an interesting person, which made for intelligent conversation. Aiden, on the other hand, had spent many of his toddler years playing with Roy -- and it showed. It was no wonder why they got along so well.

Once they entered the castle, Ciara disappeared, and Erin became quite irritable. "Whatever you're doing," She said, "I don't want to be a part of it." She then stalked off, in search of Zelda and Link.

Roy and Aiden, however, had 'much work to do', so they found a secluded chamber, and began on their master prank.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Marth took a sip of his tea. "Fine," He said elegantly, "Aritia is faring well. How is Hyrule? The new castle is quite nice, but what of the people? Have they recovered from Vale's destructive reign?"

Link looked down, and Zelda put her hand on his shoulder. "They feel insecure from time to time, but they're a stong people." She paused. "They still haven't fully accepted Link, though."

Marth nodded in understanding. "I see. H-"

"Mama! Papa, we're back!" Erin came dashing into the room.

"Hello, sweetie," Link kissed his daughter on her forehead, and she proceeded to sit in Zelda's lap.

"So, Erin," Elice suggested, "How much trouble did Roy get into today?" Marth chuckled at his sister's question.

"I dunno. Him and Aiden are off doing boy stuff."

"Boy stuff?" Link raised his eyebrows in amusement.

All went quiet for a moment.

"Uncle Marf?"
"Marth..." the prince mumbled quietly as Erin continued her question. "What's Ar.. Ar.. Ar-i-tia like?" Her blue eyes gleamed with curiosity.

Marth, who had an intense love for his kingdom, smiled. He began to decribe it in full detail, from the way the people band together in times of need, or how the snow piles up in the winter. While he was telling of Aritia, the young princess had fallen asleep. When he took notice of this, he stopped.

"Wow, Marth," Link joked, "You haven't lost the ability to put people asleep yet!"

Marth frowned, and Zelda spoke up. "She's had a long day. And, as far as I could tell, she was enjoying it very much." She smiled and stood up, holding the child in her arms. "Good night, everyone. I'm going to put her in bed, and then sleep myself." She then left the room, followed by Elice.
"Me too. 'Night!"

Marth also stood up. "I think I will also retire," He yawned. "Sleep well, Link." With that, he left the room. Link yawned himself, and left the room as well, blowing out the candles as he departed.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Aiden surpressed a giggle of delight. "Are you ready?"

Roy snickered. "Yep,"

"Did you set the whoopie cushion down?"

"Yep!"

"Din's Fire on the ready?"

Roy gave a thumbs up, a flame sparking on his thumb.

"And the rods?"

"Roy snickered again, handing Aiden one of them. "All set."

"Do you have our secret weapon ready?" Roy raised his eyebrows repeatedly.

"Yep!" Aiden said a bit too loudly, and Marth's steady breathing faltered for a minute.

"Oops..." Aiden scratched the back of his head.

"Shh!" Roy put a finger over his lips. "One, two, THREE!" His finger lit with the flame of Din's Fire, lighting up the entire room. Marth started twitching, and opened his eyes. Then he saw a shining circle in front of him.

"...No..." He moaned as he sat up in his bed.

Marth flipped his hair as he saw a few more. It was unmistakeable to him now.

Fairies.

Marth hopped out of his bed and dodged left and right, avoiding the choppily-moving fairies. As Marth became more and more agitated, the fairies became more agressive. He ran out of his room, out into the hallway.

"Fairies! Fairies! They're after me!"

He hastily turned a corner in the dark corridor, the balls of light following him intensely. As Marth was running, a lone banana peel somehow found its way under his foot. As he slipped, he landed on a large whoopie cushion.

PLLTHHHEEETGHTHHHFFFF!


"Pfffft!" Marth heard a voice holding back its laughter. He started scooting backwards on the floor, away from the fairies. "No... No!"

The fairies burst out laughing, sending a wave of fear through Marth. "Wait... Wait! Don't laugh at me!" He scooted backwards more, avoiding them. "Don't laugh at me!"

This only made them laugh harder. "Stop la-"

A light rounded the corner, which turned out to be Erin holding a candle. She was followed by everyone else, as well; Link, Zelda, Elice, and Manasa.

Marth turned his gaze back to the fairies. The light revealed it to be none other than Roy, and Aiden, holding rods with fake fairies attached.
"Aw, man! Foiled again." Roy snapped his fingers, dropping his rods.

Marth's expression of fear turned to one of anger as he stood up. He brushed off his pale blue pajamas, and frowned. "That was dispicable," He scowled at the two pranksters.

"Aw, c'mon, Marth! That was hilarious!" Roy blurted as Aiden wiped away a tear.

Marth stared at the fake fairies, which were suspended from rods. "Toy fairies?!" Marth put his hands on his hips.

Aiden fell on the floor laughing. "Brilliant, isn't it?!"

A playful scowl appeared on Marth's face. "Oh, come on."

"It gets better!" Aiden laughed as he popped one of the fairies open. They have candles inside!"
"And," Roy added, "We used Din's Fire to make it brighter!"

Link sighed. "That's why I told you not to teach him that, Zel." He elbowed her playfully, and she just sighed helplessly.

"ROY!" Elice's voice was loud and clear. "How many times have I told you to stop playing pranks on my brother?" Her gaze softened as Roy shrugged.

"Aiden! I'm mad at you!" Erin had her hands on her hips. "That was a mean prank! Uncle Marf didn't do anyfing wrong," Aiden shrugged as she continued. "How come you don't get it? You should act more like me! Be good an' stuff! That's it, Aiden, I'm going to keep an eye on you!"

Link looked at his daughter with a shiver. "You.. you sound just like Navi..." Zelda winced at the comment. "Aiden," She said calmy, "You are a good person. You have so many of Link's qualities, yet you rely on Roy's teachings. Why?" She cocked her head with curiosity.

Aiden and Roy extanged glances. "Uhhhhhhhhh..." The boy shuffled his feet. "GOTTA GO!" At that moment, Roy released a ball of Din's Fire in Marth's direction, and they both shot off down the hallway. It exploded by Marth's head, setting his hair on fire.

"Auuugh!" He panicked and began to run in circles.

Despite her amusement, Manasa had teleported to the well and brought back a bucket of water, which she promply dumped on Marth. He winced as the cold water rushed through his hair, sending shivers down his spine. A puddle appeared on the carpet below his feet as the water rushed out of the pail.

He stood there for a moment, seething. "THANKS." He said through clenched teeth. As he stomped away, Manasa called after him. "You're welcome, Sunshine!"
He visibly tensed as he walked away, but said nothing as he stormed off.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

The next morning, Erin found Aiden and Roy leaning on eachother against a wall, fast asleep. Roy's cape was draped over them, as though it were a blanket. She smiled as she guessed what had happened.

They must've been running, and rested for just a minute. She giggled to herself. But it was more than a minute!

Roy's eyes began twitching, and he opened his mouth in a big yawn. He opened his eyes and immediately shot up straight, sending Aiden's head falling to the floor.

"The little devil found us!"

Aiden also quickly stood up, and they wearily ran away. But Erin was faster than the tired boys, and caught them by the backs of their shirts. They tried to break free, but she had an iron grip on them.

"Dang, she's STRONG!" Roy's mouth opened wide in astonishment.
Aiden just dropped his head and sighed.

"You two are the worst troublemakers ever! If you can't behave, then I'm going to make you stay outside!"

"Hey, I'm not going to be pushed around by a smartie brat like y- OOUUW!!"
Erin had kicked her brother in the shin. "Shut up, Aiden!"

Roy laughed sheepishly as Erin raised her voice. "That's it! You two are going outside! You're too annoying."

She dragged them to the door, and flung them out. "You can only come back in when you behave!" She then closed and locked the door.

"Greeeeat." Roy moaned as he sat on the ground. "We just got owned by a five year old!"

Aiden slapped his palm to his face.
"What else can she do?" Roy mumbled as he laid down on the dewy morning grass.

Aiden sighed as he layed down beside Roy. "You don't want to know." Roy looked over at his friend with a look of curiosity. "Really, you don't."

He turned his gaze to the sky. "Hey! That cloud looks like... a cloud!"

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. Roy and Aiden had been kicked outside multiple times by Erin, who was fed up with their constant joking and foolishness. She had spent the entire time with the adults, and tried to act more adult-like every day.

"Is everything ready to go?" Zelda asked as Elice snapped a bedroll onto a horse's saddle.

"Almost," She replied.

"It was great having you all here," Zelda drew her friend into a hug.

"It was! It's been far too long." Elice sighed. "We should visit each other more often."

Just then, Marth approached the stables. Zelda covered her mouth, holding back a laugh. Elice, on the other hand, burst out laughing.

"M.. Marth!" She breathed between laughs. "What... happened... to... your hair?!" She rolled in another fit of laughter.

Marth, with an unwavering frown on his face, gestured with a finger begind himself. His finger pointed to Roy and Aiden, who were making small explosions in the firepit.

"Oh..." Elice snickered as Link walked over. "Are y-" He cut himself off, and let out a chuckle. "Whoa, Marth! Nice hair."

Marth scowled as he walked away. His black, singed hair bounced as he made his way to his horse. It was only burned on one side, which made for an interesting hair style... to say the least.

"Hey, it looks li-- OOF!" Before he knew it, Link's joke had gotten him a bedroll thrown at his face. "Ow!" He yelled as he threw it back.

Manasa chuckled. "C'mon, Roy! We're going."

Roy stood up, followed by Aiden, who was holding a stick, purged in flames. Erin shrieked as he chased her with it. "Put that out! Ah! Stop!"
"But Erin, you and Marth can have matching hair!" Aiden snickered as he broke off his attack. Roy laughed as he tied his belongings onto his horse.

"Come on, you two, cut it out." Link scolded his children.

"Bye, Uncle Marf!" Erin ran up to the prince and hugged his legs. He winced, but then straightened up and patted her on the back.

"Next time," the girl said as she let go of his legs, "We're coming to visit YOU!" A smile spread across Marth's face as he bent down to her level. "An we can lock those airheads in a dungeon too! Right?"

Marth chuckled as he stood up. "I wouldn't mind that," he said, touching his scorched hair with a frown.

"Roylie, hurry up!" Elice called from atop her horse. "We're leaving!"

Roy nodded and knelt down in front of his partner in crime, who's merry giggles had now turned to tears. "Don't go!" The boy cried as he threw his arms around Roy. "Can't you stay for just a bit longer?"

Roy put his hand atop Aiden's head, and tussled his hair. "Hey, Aiden, don't cry. You'll see me again sooner than you know." The child sobbed on Roy's shoulder. "Say," The redhead whispered to his friend, "Did you put the worms in Marth's bedroll?"

They looked over at the Prince, who was now on his horse and starting to ride away.
"Yeah," The boy smiled, a tear running down his cheek.
"Good!" Roy snickered and stood up. "Next time I see you, I'll tell you how it went!" He smiled and hugged his friend one last time before hopping on his horse.


"Bye!!" Erin and Aiden yelled in unison as they watched their friends depart. They sat on the ground and watched the group ride away, all the way until they disappeard along the hazy horizon.