Voe & You & Also Another Vai

Part II

Zelda glanced over to the clock on the wall. She had arrived at the school twenty minutes early. Mipha had arrived 15 minutes early. Urbosa had not arrived early at all.

Two minutes past seven, Mipha looked over to Zelda. "Did we come to the right place?"

"I believe so. This is the school. Though... the mannequins are, as Daruk would say, throwing me off my rhythm. Perhaps there are two schools?"

The school was one large room, separated into two sections and built into the side of a building, as most places in Gerudo town were. Lined against one wall were dummies, similar to training dummies. These dummies were stranger, though. Their heads were covered by veils with crudely drawn faces on them. One had lipstick marks around its mouth for reasons Zelda did not wish to think about.

Mipha seemed similarly disturbed. "Why in the world would children learn in a classroom with such odd... um... furnishing choices?"

Before Zelda could answer that she hadn't a clue, Urbosa strode through the door. "I apologize for my lateness. I lost track of time while feeding my sand seal."

"It's quite alright," Mipha said.

"How is she doing?" Zelda asked. "I haven't seen her in quite some time."

"She's doing well. She recently had pups."

"Oh, wow!"

The three of them spent several minutes chatting about the pups. Eventually, Zelda remembered that there were apparently 'important matters to discuss'. "So, Urbosa, did you say you had urgent news?"

"Ah, yes," Urbosa walked to the front of the room and pulled down a screen, on which was written 'VOE AND YOU'. There were many words written below it, but Zelda did not know enough about Gerudo letters to read it.

"Voe and you?" Mipha tilted her head in confusion. "That means man, right? Voe, I mean."

"It does indeed," Urbosa confirmed. "This is a class about dating and interacting with men."

Zelda looked around the room again. She noted the dummies with lipstick, the map of a heart shaped lake on the chalkboard, and the strong scent of perfume in the air. It was obvious now, but really, who could blame her for not realising it sooner? It was a school after all, and most schools didn't have 'how to date guys' classes. It seemed a bit predatory that they were teaching children anything about how to date. "Why are children learning this in school?"

Urbosa's face took on an expression of confusion. "Children? Oh!" She looked at the board. "No, no. It didn't occur to me that you would think that. No, this is a school for adults. It's an 8-week nightly class for vai about to set out to find love. The children learn outside. It's better for them to have the sunshine and fresh air."

Zelda felt relieved. "Thank goodness. Wait... why did you bring us here?"

Urbosa pointed to the board with a pointer stick. "I thought that you two could use the lessons. It's clear that neither of you know how to deal with voe."

"Well, that's a bit harsh," Zelda said. "Mipha and I get along with them just fine."

"You misunderstand. I am referring to Link."

Zelda felt her ears turn pink. She felt a bit miffed that Urbosa would just air her private business like that, but she remembered that crushes weren't typically a secret to other vai in Gerudo culture. It probably hadn't occurred to her that Zelda's crush wasn't common knowledge. Of course, she was partially right, Zelda had to admit. Mipha and Zelda had talked to each other about their feelings before. At great length, in fact. It was a good bonding opportunity, and Zelda refused to be the kind of person who let a friendship die because of a man.