2 - Treat

Zelda stood in the Knight Academy library with a leather-bound journal in her hand, staring at all the different textbooks sitting silently in their case. She was in search of a particular recipe to help her bake the perfect dessert for a certain Hero of Time's birthday. It was early in the morning, just after first light, as she wanted to be out before anyone could witness her studies, namely the jock of the academy Groose. She wanted this to be a perfect surprise. The blonde ran her fingertips across the spine of each canvas-bound book, each one embossed with their names in gold.

"But what can I make for him?" she whispered to herself, picking up one book and flicking through the pages. For Christmas, she had presented her lover with a hand-knitted scarf, one he happily wore all winter. But for this special day, she wanted to make something edible and sweet. Because after all, a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Zelda had spent a couple of hours in the library hunting but was struggling to find the perfect dessert to make. She had hoped an older recipe book would hide a simple but delicious treat, but so far she had no such luck. The blonde picked up her seventh book, in hope, this would be the one. As she flicked quickly through the worn pages, she stopped. Her sapphire eyes widened, unable to take her eyes off the title.

"This is perfect!" she squealed but was quickly hushed by the library assistant. She casually held up her hand to apologize then stuck her head back in the book. Zelda smiled, beaming with excitement, "He's going to love this." The recipe she was glued to was for a sweet pumpkin pie. But she knew if she wanted this to be perfect she would have to pay a visit to a particular pumpkin chief. Luckily for her, this pumpkin expert lived in the same skies as her home of Sky Loft. Zelda quickly noted down the recipe inside a small leather-bound journal she had brought with her, before placing the vintage book back into its bed and skipping happily out of the library.

♡

Zelda walked outside the Knights academy, the sunlight strong and bright, "What a beautiful day," she smiled, dancing down the path towards the plaza, south of Sky loft. As she passes the villagers they all smile, and she waves greeting everyone with kindness. As she reached the plaza, her sapphire eyes fixed upon the wooden bridge leading to a straight drop into the clouds. The young blonde placed her journal inside her satchel, removing a sailcloth ready for her big jump. She tied the printed white cloth around her shoulders like a shawl. She angled herself ready, taking a deep breath before running off the edge of the platform. As she fell into the clouds, she whistled. A large purple bird scooped her onto its back, her loftwing – Plum.

Zelda wrapped her arms around her friends' soft neck, "Thank you for picking me up," she smiled, "Now let's head to Pumpkin landing." She pointed towards the North West with her right hand. Her loftwing nodded, ascending to the clouds. She flapped her wings hard, as she climbed the sky, but as she reached the desired height she spread her wing feathers to catch the wind. They glided together watching other riders speed past, but they preferred to take their time enjoying the warm open air. Plum turned slightly to her rider for confirmation of their landing.

"That's the one. Let's head down," Zelda tightened her arms around her friends' neck, as her loftwing plunged through the clouds towards Pumpkin landing. The descent blew her blonde hair across her face, but she didn't care, instead, she smiled it certainly was a rush. Plum fanned out her wing feathers, like a parachute, as they came close to land. Zelda untied her sailcloth, "Thank you for the ride, I won't be long," she nodded to her friend before jumping from her back. The young girl scaled the breeze which lightly carried her to a soft landing. She tucked her sailcloth back into her canvas satchel before entering the Lumpy Pumpkin to meet her expert.

♡

"Oh, welcome Zelda. It's nice to see you again," a large man from behind the counter called, "Don't be shy, make yourself at home".

Zelda walks over to the counter, "Thank you, Pumm. It's good to see you too." She smiled, radiating happiness through the Lumpy Pumpkin.

"So what can I do for you today, Miss? Perhaps I could interest you in so pumpkin soup?" he smiled, holding up a ladle ready to serve, "Made it fresh this morning, and believe me. It's good!" The young girl shook her head.

"Thank you, but actually I came here to ask a question," she twiddled with the ends of her hair.

"Oh!" he replied, a little taken back, he returned the ladle to the pot, "How can I help?".

Zelda fished inside her satchel and produced her leather-bound journal, "Actually I found this recipe for a sweet pumpkin pie. I wondered if I could make it here with assistance". She handed Pumm the book for him to view the recipe.

He studied the page carefully, "Hmm. Yes, of course, that is fine. But you will have to harvest the pumpkins yourself, as I'm holding down the fort here. Kina is outside harvesting should you need any help," he smiled, handed the journal back to his visitor.

"Thank you," Zelda nodded returning the book back in her satchel and heading outside to meet his daughter. She was able to find Kina fairly quickly as her father said, the young girl was on her hands and knees removing lush orange pumpkins from their soil beds, "Hello Kina," the blonde waved smiling.

The young girl looked up from her work, "Oh!" she sounded startled, "Hello Zelda, can I help you?" she asked, curious to have a visitor in her small allotment.

"Actually, I'm here to help you harvest some pumpkins," she replied, removing her canvas satchel from her body and placing it on the grass before kneeling beside Kina herself.

"What's the occasion?" smiled her friend, continuing to remove the vegetables from the soil.

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, picking up some pink gardening gloves.

"What do you need pumpkins for?" Kina queried, placing her prized pickings in a wooden basket beside her.

"Oh! I'm making a sweet pumpkin pie for Link's birthday," she replied, her pale cheeks turning a little pink.

"That's a lovely idea, here," the young girl picked up another lush pumpkin from the soil, offering it to her friend, "Instead of sitting here with me, take this and get started!" Her eyes sparkled with joy.

"Are you sure?" Zelda replied, taking hold of the pumpkin.

"Please, I enjoy being outside. Plus it beats making pumpkin soup all day every day," Kina groaned. The girls broke out in laughter. Zelda got to her feet, handing the pink gloves back to her friend.

"Thank you," she bowed, picking up her satchel before leaving Kina to her work. The young girl waved goodbye to the blonde, as she walked back into the Lumpy pumpkin.

♡

Zelda rolled up her pink dress sleeves and tied an apron around her waist. Next, she collected up her equipment and ingredients to create her sweet treat.

"Let's see now," she began to talk to herself, reading from her open journal, propped up against a small box, "Seven hundred and fifty grams of pumpkin," her sapphire eyes sat upon the fresh orange vegetable from the field, "Needs to be peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks." She began prepping her cubes of pumpkin, following the recipe according; peeling the skin of the pumpkin before deseeding and cutting it carefully into medium-sized chunks. She placed the cubes in a large saucepan, adding some water and placing a lid on top, allowing it to simmer for fifteen minutes. After the cooking time, Zelda drained the vegetable from the water and left to cool while she worked on her pasty.

She began by dicing one hundred grams of butter and placing it in a bowl with two hundred and twenty-five grams of flour, "Now to add a pinch of salt, and rub the flour into the butter with fingertips." Zelda looked down, "I'm not looking forward to this," she squeaked, her hands covered in a paste before it thinned into breadcrumbs. She continued adding two tablespoons of water and mixed again into a firm dough before kneading into a ball.

Zelda sprinkled a little flour on the wooden work surface, then placed her ball of shortcrust pastry on top. She grabbed her rolling pin and began to roll the dough flat before lining a clay tart tins with the thinned pastry. The blonde decided to make three just in case anything was to go wrong and placed the spare pastry in the fridge. Zelda blind baked the tins in the oven for ten minutes to ensure the pastry cooks to a beautiful golden brown. She turned up the heat of the oven and continued to sieve her pureed pumpkin into a bowl.

"Next I need to combine one hundred and forty grams of sugar, one teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of nutmeg, but grated," she grated the fresh nutmeg onto a spoon before adding to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients, "Now, I need to add one teaspoon of cinnamon." She splashed the spice to the bowl of dry ingredients. She quickly removed the baked tins from the oven and allowed them to cold while she moved onto the pumpkin bowl.

"Beat two eggs," she continued to read the recipe aloud beating the fresh eggs with a whisk. Zelda melted twenty-five grams of butter adding it to the eggs with one hundred and seventy-five milliliters of milk, "Now add to the pumpkin puree," she smiled folding her fresh orange vegetable with the rest of the ingredients. Zelda poured the mix into one baked tart shell and placed it in the oven to cook for ten minutes. She reduced the temperature and continued to bake for forty-five minutes, but as she waited for the pie to cook, she began to smell smoke and hastily ran to check the oven.

"It's burning," Zelda cried, removing the tin from the oven, "Oh no," she looked down at the pie, which had burnt almost black. She sighed, "Best try again." She smiled through the issue, pouring more mix into another pastry base. As she went to place the second attempt in the oven she tripped, throwing the pie onto the floor.

"Oh dear," she cried again, witnessing the mess around her. Zelda picked herself up, and cleaned up the mess before adding the last of the mix in her third and final tart shell, and put in the oven on high heat for ten minutes. She reduced the heat again and continued to bake for thirty-five minutes. During the cooking time, she tidied the kitchen space she borrowed and washed all the equipment. After cooking time, she removed her pie from the oven, it smelt beautiful. She sat it on the side to cool before removing the pie from the tin. To finish she added a mix of cinnamon and icing sugar on top. Zelda had borrowed a small strongbox from Pumm, which she lovingly placed her creation inside, tying it several times over with twine.

"There, all done," Zelda beamed with pride, "I can't wait to give it to Link." She thanked the pumpkin expert and waved goodbye, before jumping on the back of Plum for a smooth ride back to Skyloft.

♡

"You're awake," she smiled. Her lover nodded, a little confused, "It's not like you to be up this early." The boy shrugged and gestured for Zelda to come into his small bedroom. She walked inside with the box in her arms. Link closed his door and sat down at his desk, he had a smile on his lips. Zelda wondered what he was smiling about but looked down and remembered the box.

"Happy birthday, Link!" she beamed, handing him the box. He pointed at himself as if to say, 'for me?' Zelda nodded, "Open it." The blonde opened the box careful, his sapphire eyes widened as they fell upon the delicious-looking pumpkin pie. He outstretched his left hand to his girl.

"I remembered, you love pumpkins. I thought you might like a special sweet treat for your birthday," Zelda continued accepting his hand. Link set the pie upon his desk and pulled her in close. They exchanged loving gazes. He placed his right hand up to her cheek smiling. With a kind snigger, he rubbed away the flour that dusted her cheek.

"Oh, did I have something on my face?" she squeaked, worried she didn't look her best. Link shook his head, she looked more beautiful than ever, "Thank you," she kissed his cheek in return. Link's pale cheeks flushed pink and he turned away embarrassed. Zelda dug deep in her satchel and produced two folks. The couple sat together sharing the homemade pumpkin pie, all the while holding hands.