Romance at Hyrule University

Chapter 6: Football Magic

It was Saturday afternoon at Hyrule University, and today was the big football match with the Hateno Huskies. Link had to be at the field early for warmups, but Mipha wanted to accompany him to wish him good luck.

"Have a great game!" said Mipha. "I'll be cheering for you and the team."

"Knowing you're here is sure to help me," said Link. "Love you!"

"Love you, too," said Mipha.

They kissed twice, and then Link left for the locker room to change while Mipha found a seat close to the team bench. After a while, all the players came out on the field to warm up, and Mipha's friend Alicia arrived, taking a seat next to Mipha.

"You're here early!" laughed Alicia. "I guess you came with Link, right?"

"Yes," said Mipha, blushing slightly. "I wanted to wish him good luck."

Soon it was game time, and Mipha noticed something.

"Why are there only eleven players today? Where are the bench players?" Mipha asked.

"Haven't you heard? It's this flu that has been going around. The other three players on the team all came down with the flu," said Alicia.

"Oh! I didn't know that! That's terrible. That means Link's backup Brandon is sick too."

Soon the game began, and the home team was not doing well. Hateno College was not as strong a school as Hyrule University academically. But many of the students were farmers' sons and daughters and grew up working in the fields. They were muscular and athletic. As half-time approached, Hyrule University was losing 1 to 0.

Suddenly Link intercepted a pass and began running for the Hateno goal.

"Go Link!" shouted everyone.

But before Link could reach the goal, a Hateno player tripped him, and Link went down hard.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Mipha as she put her hands to her mouth.

The referee gave the Hateno player who tripped Link a red card and ordered him off the field. And Hyrule University was given a free kick. But Link was limping and had to be helped off the field. Then, Mipha overheard the coach saying to take Link to the locker room for the doctor to examine him. And Hyrule U could not score. So, the halftime ended with Hyrule U losing 1-0.

"Uh oh," said Alicia. "Now we're down to 10 players. There is no way we can win with ten against eleven."

"I need to see if Link is okay," said Mipha, getting up from her seat and making her way to the locker room.

When she arrived at the locker room entrance, Mipha knocked on the door. The assistant coach answered.

"Yes?"

"I'm Link's girlfriend, and I wanted to see if he is okay," said Mipha. "Can I see him?"

"Okay," said the assistant coach. "There's nobody else here, and I need to check on the doctor. Can you watch Link while I'm gone?"

"Of course," said Mipha.

The assistant coach left, and Mipha entered, finding Link sitting on the bench holding his left ankle.

"Mipha, sweetheart! What are you doing here?"

"Seeing how you are, of course. How is your ankle?"

"It feels sprained but not broken," said Link. "But I guess we won't be doing any dancing for a while. And it doesn't look good for the game."

"Hold still," said Mipha as she glanced around to ensure they were alone. "There is something you don't know about me yet, Link. My father told me I must keep it secret for now or else evil people would try to kidnap me to use for themselves."

"What do you mean?"

"Just hold still and stay calm."

Mipha held her hand over Link's ankle, and her hand began to glow blue. Link stared in amazement as he slowly felt the pain in his ankle lessen. After another minute, his ankle felt fine.

"I don't understand," said Link.

"I can explain when there is more time, sweetheart," said Mipha as she heard the assistant coach returning with the doctor. "Good luck!"

Then Mipha and Link kissed.

"I'm sorry, Miss, you need to leave now," said the assistant coach to Mipha.

"I was just going," said Mipha.

Mipha made her way back to her seat and joined Alicia.

"How is Link? It looked like a bad injury," said Alicia.

"I have a feeling that Link will be fine," said Mipha with a smile.

Meanwhile, back in the locker room, the doctor and assistant coach were amazed,

"You called me here for no reason?" the doctor asked as he bent Link's foot in different directions, and Link confirmed he felt fine.

"It's the most miraculous recovery I've ever seen," said the coach. "He could barely walk when he arrived here. So, he's fit to play, doctor?"

"Yes, perfectly fit," said the doctor.

When Link came back onto the field, all the Hyrule University fans cheered.

"See?" said Mipha as she waved to Link and cheered with everyone else.

And Link's return paid off because, with four minutes left in the game, Link scored a goal, making the score 1 to 1.

"Yay! Hooray! Yay!" everyone cheered.

The score remained tied as the clock wound down until there was less than a minute left. Hateno College got off a strong kick at the Hyrule University goal, but the goalie stopped it and then put the ball back into play.

"Come on Link! You're the star of the team! You can do it!" shouted Mipha as the ball was passed to Link.

The crowd was hushed as the clock wound down, and Link evaded one defender after another. Finally, link passed the ball to Alson, then ran to his left past a defender, and Alson passed the ball back to Link. With just ten seconds remaining, Link kicked the ball to the left side of the net. The Hateno goalie lunged for the ball, but it was too late.

"GOAL! GOAL!" everyone screamed and jumped up and down, clapping their hands.

Hyrule University won, and they could all celebrate.

After Link showered and dressed, he found Mipha waiting for him. They at once hugged and kissed.

"You were wonderful! Great game!" said Mipha.

"Thanks to you," said Link. "You will have to explain to me what you did."

"I will be happy to," said Mipha with a smile. "At the victory celebration dance tonight. Besides football, you can still dance now too."

Link laughed, then they kissed once more as they held hands and made their way back to the dorms.