“Zel… Zel… wake
up…” Link attempted to gently rouse his wife, rubbing her shoulder a little as
he spoke.
“Ummm… not now
Link… it’s too early,” she finally mumbled in protest, rolling over on her side
away from him.
“It’s our wedding
anniversary today,” he whispered softly. “Come on, I want to give you your
present.” Zelda let out a yawn and finally sat up, blinking sleepily in the dim
candlelight.
“It’s not even
dawn yet…” she protested lightly, rubbing her eyes.
“It’s all part of
the plan,” Link replied with a smile. She looked up at him, surprise flashing
across her green deep eyes.
“Plan?” she
questioned.
“Well, more like
occasion,” the hero answered, leaning in close to kiss her for a moment. With a
blissful sigh, she sank back down upon the bed, pulling Link with her.
“Where’s my
present?” she giggled, when they parted a few moments later.
“So now you’re
feeling more wide awake?” Link replied, grinning.
“Well actually…”
Zelda began, with a smile. “I quite enjoy being in bed for the moment!”
“We can do that
later,” Link smirked, reaching across to the bedside table to retrieve a
carefully wrapped package. He placed it in her hands and smiled. “Well come on,
open it, I want to see you in this right now.”
“You bought me
something to wear?” Zelda asked, looking faintly surprised.
“Like I say it’s
all part of the occasion,” Link affirmed, brushing a hand over hers for a
moment. “You’ll understand more once you get ready.”
“I hate it when
you go all mysterious on me,” Zelda moaned, opening up her gift with interest.
“It’ll be worth it
I promise you,” Link replied with a wink. She shook her head, giving him a wry
smile and then gasped as she unfolded the beautiful garment nestled within the
gift wrap. It was a long, simply cut ivory coloured gown, off the shoulder with
lace trimmed trailing sleeves and a pretty silver belt to cinch it in at the
waist. The bodice was the most detailed part, embroidered with silver thread
and glass beads that flashed in the candlelight as she held it up for
inspection.
“Oh Link… this is
beautiful… I…” she started, two spots of colour in her cheeks as she spoke.
“Please, put it on
for me, I can’t wait to see how stunning you look,” he urged. She got out of
the bed and clutching the delicate gown, disappeared behind her changing
screen.
While he waited
for her to get ready, Link pulled out one of his favourite, smarter tunics; a
nice blue silk one, teaming it with a crisp white shirt and trousers and shiny
brown leather boots and a matching belt. On afterthought he added a purple
cloak, finally running a hand through his unruly hair in a half-hearted attempt
to tame it. As he peered critically at his reflection in the mirror, Zelda
emerged from behind the screen, looking more radiant than he’d ever imagined
she would. Although the light in the room was slightly murky, her long blonde
hair glistened, as did the beads upon the dress as they caught the light. The
gossamer silk fabric of the dress seemed to accentuate every curve of her body,
it fitted her perfectly. Aimee had certainly done a good job in crafting the
gown he thought, as he smiled happily at her.
“Zel, you look
absolutely beautiful… well you always look beautiful anyway but… well you know
what I mean. Do you like it?” he asked hopefully. Zelda glanced down at
herself, luxuriating at the feel of the silken fabric.
“It’s perfect. I
can’t wait to show everyone… did you get Aimee to make this?” she asked. Link
nodded.
“I picked the
material out from the clothiers at Mido, but Aimee did the rest. I told her I
wanted it to be really special,” he smiled. Zelda walked over, pulling him
close for a hug.
“Thank you so
much, I love you, you know that? And not just because of the dress…”
“This isn’t even
the half of it,” Link promised, taking her hand in his own. “I’ve still got
another present for you, but I can only give you it when we get to the special
place.”
“Special place?”
Zelda questioned. “What else have you got planned?” Link retrieved his sword
from its resting place in the corner of the room and slipped it into his belt.
“If you come with
me, you’ll find out,” he smiled.
It was fairly
cool outside, the sun yet to rise, the twilight lit countryside softly coated
in a light blanket of dew. The pair
slipped out of the castle through the old secret passage near the well.
“I hope I haven’t
got this dress too dirty,” Zelda fretted as they climbed out of the disused
passage and out into the open. “And where are we going anyway?”
“Just the forest,”
Link replied, helping her stand as they emerged from the hole. Leading her by
the hand they strolled across the grass, fallen autumn leaves crunching
underfoot. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders to protect her from the chill
of the night time air and using the light of the moon they found their way
along one of the many paths that led into the nearby Ruto Forest.
“You know, it’s
been such a long time since we walked under the stars,” Zelda said wistfully,
glancing up at the indigo skies as they walked along together.
“It’s been too
long,” Link agreed, caressing her shoulder affectionately.
“So long as you
don’t think we’ve been married too long,” the princess joked weakly. Link
stopped, looking at her squarely.
“Too long wouldn’t
be enough for me,” he said softly, bringing up one hand to caress her cheek.
“We’ve been married for nine years and I want it to be forever.”
“Link…”
“I know you might
think otherwise, but it’s true,” he interrupted. He was about to lean forward
to kiss her when a tinkling laugh sounded nearby. They both turned to see
Sprite hovering nearby, as she flung a handful of faerie dust at them.
“I was wondering
what was taking you two so long!” she exclaimed, still giggling.
“So long for
what?” Zelda questioned curiously.
“Didn’t Link tell
you?” Sprite asked.
“Tell me what?”
Zelda shrugged. “Alls I know is he’s dragging me into the forest for some
crazy, unknown reason…”
“Hey, I wasn’t
dragging you in the slightest!” Link protested, looking a little offended.
“Well no, it’s
just you’ve got me up at this hour and we’re going for a walk but you won’t
tell me where we’re going or what we’re doing!” Zelda replied, grinning a
little at the hurt expression on her husbands face.
“I was trying to be
romantic and mysterious Zel,” the hero
muttered, folding his arms in mock anger.
“And believe me,
it’s working,” the princess replied, leaning in close to kiss him.
“Hey, you can do
that later!! We need to hurry up to the clearing, everyone’s waiting!” Sprite
interrupted.
“For what???”
Zelda questioned, looking extremely frustrated.
“Just get moving
and you’ll find out!” Sprite retorted, flying ahead into the forest.
“She’s right,”
Link shrugged, grinning at his wife.
“This just better
be good,” Zelda replied wryly. Link took her by the hand again and they
followed their faerie friend deeper into the trees.
Everything was
perfect. Sprite flew ahead quickly to the Pool of the Moon, a specially blessed
clearing sacred to the fey.
“Here they come,”
she whispered over to her friends, who had gathered in the forest glade,
awaiting the arrival of the royal couple. Link walked into the vicinity first,
leading Zelda close behind. Sprite flew down towards them again, Felicity,
Tiffany and Carrie behind, a hold of something that sparkled in the ethereal
light of the clearing.
“Close your eyes,”
Link instructed Zelda. The faeries handed him the item they were carrying; a
slim band of gold set at intervals with
tiny, sparkling diamonds. Link smiled to himself as he looked at the ring,
feeling happy that he’d had the idea for it. While he’d been in Mido choosing the material for Zelda’s
gown he’d passed by the jewellers and decided to get her a little something
extra. However nothing in the shop had caught his eye and he’d asked the
jeweller if he had anymore unusual pieces.
“If there’s
nothing here that takes your fancy Sir Link, perhaps you could commission us to
create an individual piece, something extremely special for her royal
highness?” the jeweller had suggested hopefully. “We have some very skilled
artisans who could make you something personal and unique in a matter of days.”
Right there and then, he’d decided on the ring. Of course Zelda had the ring
that he’d given her to confirm their engagement, and her wedding ring. But he
felt like he wanted to add to those tokens, something to completely seal their
love for eternity. Explaining this to the jeweller, they’d come up with the
simple design of an inscribed band set with gems all around it. His eternity
ring. Taking a deep breath he knelt down on the ground before Zelda, taking her
left hand as he did so.
“Zel, you know
that I’m never going to stop loving you. But I want to prove it to you,” he
began earnestly. As he slipped the ring upon her finger she opened her eyes,
looking a little shocked.
“Link, what are…”
“I know you should
never forgive me for the things I’ve said and done, but you have, and I love
you all the more for it. You’re so good to me Zel, you’re more special and
you’ve always deserved better. But I guess you’re stuck with me for now, and I
promise this time it’s forever,” the hero interrupted, rising up as he did so.
“No Link… I never
deserved someone like you,” Zelda said softly, looking down at the ground. He
stepped closer, bringing his free hand under to chin, lifting it gently so that
he could gaze into her eyes.
“Fourteen years
ago I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined you’d want to be with someone like
me,” he murmured.
“But I did. I knew
as soon as I met you,” Zelda replied, tears shinning in her eyes as she spoke.
“I was just too frightened to admit it to myself.”
“I’m glad that we
got there in the end,” Link said, giving her a small smile. Zelda looked down
at the ring again, an emotional tear running down her cheek as she gazed at the
token.
“Oh Link… the
dress… the ring… this is so perfect, so romantic, I feel like you’ve asked me
to marry me all over again,” she said. He pulled her closer, into an embrace.
“I am asking you
all over again,” he murmured. “I want to pledge my love to you for the rest of
eternity. That’s why I got you the ring… and I don’t want you to ever take it
off. That’s how I love you… forever,” he said, leaning over to kiss her softly
on the lips. “I want us to be together always, no matter what happens. I’m
never letting you go, ever. I’ll always be by your side, for better for worse.
I’ll never stop loving you, not even
till the end of time Zel. I love you always,” he proclaimed passionately.
“Oh Link, I love
you too always!” Zelda responded, meeting him in another kiss. Somewhere in the
far distance, a cucco began to crow, marking that dawn was about to arrive.
Already shafts of pale light were entering the clearing. Taking out his sword,
Link pointed over to a nearby tree.
“All those years
ago I used to do this,” he grinned.
“Do what?” Zelda
asked. The hero smiled and ran the tip of the blade across the bark of the
tree, carving it into a heart shape. Then inside he carved the letters ‘L and
Z. 4540-forever’. “Is that what you used to write before?” Zelda asked, smiling
prettily at the gesture.
“Wouldn’t you like
to know?” the hero smirked, before pulling her close for another kiss.
“Right where they
belong,” Tiffany said softly as she glanced down at the couple.
“It looks like
some things won’t ever change,” Sprite added with a smile. “No matter what.”
***
As the early
morning autumn sunlight filtered through the filmed drapes that hung at the North Tower’s
windows, Link let out a contented sigh as he opened his eyes. Warm sun fell on his cheek, provoking another
happy smile, before the hero turned over to face his wife, who was sleeping
peacefully beside him. He raised a hand,
fingers outstretched and slowly stroked a strand of golden hair from Zelda’s
face, and he smiled again, wondering what he had ever done to deserve such a
beautiful wife. At his touch, despite
his gentleness, Zelda awoke, at first with a look of surprise in her green
eyes. Seconds later, however, and she
saw Link, and a soft smile graced her pleasant pink lips.
“Morning,”
greeted Zelda cordially, smiling as Link leaned in to deliver a tender kiss.
“So it is,”
he replied cheerfully, lying back down and staring up at the thick canopy that
hung above their bed. Zelda turned to
face Link and followed his gaze, before returning her eyes to him.
“So how does
it feel?” she began. Link turned his eyes to her.
“Feel?”
“You
know? To be a year older…don’t tell me
you forgot!” She was half laughing as
she finished, as she knew by her husband’s blank expression that he had indeed
forgotten, either that, or he had suddenly become exceptionally good at amateur
dramatics.
“Uh…” Zelda leaned over to kiss him again, before
looking into his eyes and speaking again.
“I love
you,” she murmured. Link grinned.
“And don’t I
know it?” They kissed again, and then
embraced, happy to be together again and their past troubles behind them.
As they lay
in each others arms, Zelda spoke again, a faint smile curling her lips.
“So what
would you like to do today?” she inquired.
Link shrugged.
“I want to
spend it with you, Ewan and Brianna.
Like a family.” There was no
hesitation in his answer, and Zelda couldn’t help but smile. He was the ideal husband, the perfect
father.
“That sounds
nice,” she commented, “Perhaps we could take a picnic and take a walk through
the grounds…or perhaps go to the beach?” she suggested.
“Yeah…the
beach would be nice.”
“Good thing
I asked Milora to prepare us a picnic already then,” said Zelda with a
giggle. Link stared at her.
“Am I that
predictable?” Zelda nodded.
“Sometimes.” She rose from the
bed and walked across the stone floor to the wardrobe.
“Are we
going already?” asked Link. Zelda nodded
without turning as she looked through the contents of her wardrobe before
selecting a pale lilac dress to wear.
“The sooner
we leave, the more time we can spend at the beach…” She turned to look out of
the window. “And it looks like it’s
going to be nice too…why waste any more time in bed?”
“Because
it’s warm, comfy and nice?” Zelda
wrinkled her nose.
“I swear
Link, I’d never have thought Hyrule’s destined hero could be so lazy!” she
exclaimed, walking behind the dressing screen and throwing her night dress over
it.
“And we’ve
been married…years and you still use that dressing screen!” retorted Link,
sliding out of the bed. “I mean, it’s
not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before!”
He walked over to his own wardrobe, and pulled the doors open, only to
be met with a small avalanche of crumpled up tunics, shirts, pants and
boots. Reddening slightly, Link
attempted to push the mess back into the wardrobe, with limited success. He quickly grabbed the first tunic he saw
that was hung up and then slammed the wardrobe door with a bang. Smiling to himself, he walked back over to
the bed and sat down, pulling off his nightshirt and letting it fall to the
floor. As he began to dress, Zelda
emerged from behind the dressing screen and smiled at the view.
“I’ll go and
wake Ewan and Brianna,” she began.
“No…wait,”
began Link, pulling on his tunic over a fresh shirt he had found in a
drawer. “I want to come with you. You aren’t leaving my sight today,” he
finished. Zelda smiled as he spoke, and
walked over to the door, waiting for him.
He quickly pulled on his boots, discarded by the bed from the night
before, and then joined her.
“Ready?” he
asked. Zelda gave Link a once over,
straightening his collar and giving him a quick kiss.
“I think
so,” she answered. With a nod, Link
opened the door to the tower, and the two stepped beyond the threshold
together, before making their way down to the bottom of the tower.
Hours later,
and the family were sat on the sands on the eastern coast of Western
Hyrule, not far from Mido. Zelda was sat with Brianna in her arms,
and Link was assisting his son in the building of a rather ambitious sand
castle. Granted, it was little more than
a heap of sand, but it mattered to neither of them. Link was just happy to be with his son, and
Ewan was just happy to be with his father.
“Say, are
you two ready for some lunch yet?” asked Zelda, addressing her husband and son,
but looking down at Brianna as she spoke.
The baby was sleeping peacefully, and Zelda couldn’t help but marvel how
beautiful her daughter was. She would
break hearts, that was for sure.
“Yeah! I’m hungry! ” replied Ewan enthusiastically
as he poked a stick into the top of the mound.
“That’s the flagpole,” he told Link sincerely. Link nodded with a smile. The two stood, and Link brushed the sand from
his knees, Ewan following his father’s actions with open admiration. Zelda smiled to herself as the two
approached, and motioned to the picnic basket.
“Help
yourselves…I don’t want to wake Brianna.”
Link smiled and nodded, opening the basket and carefully pulling out some crockery to set
the food on.
“Milona’s
excelled herself this time,” commented the hero as he pulled out packages of
cheese, meat, bread and butter. There
was also two fruit pies, scones, hard boiled cuckoo eggs, sweet deku berries, a
jar of jam, an egg, ham and cheese pie, and some iced fairy cakes. “Did she think we were going away for a
month?” he asked with a grin.
“Well, it is
your birthday…which reminds me,” she looked to Ewan. “Ewan, haven’t you got something to give your
father? From you and Brianna?” Ewan, who was close to drooling at the sight
of the picnic food snapped his attention to his mother and nodded quickly.
“Oh
uh-huh! I didn’t forget,” he turned to
his father, “It was just mother said it’d be best to give it you later!” Link smiled at his son and waved his hand
dismissively with a laugh.
“Okay, okay
I believe you!” Ewan brightened
considerably at his father’s words, then ran to pick up a small cloth bag near
by his mother. He began to look inside
before finding what he was looking for.
The first item he drew out was a small card in an envelope, the second
item was a neatly packaged gift. Ewan
walked back over to Link, who was beginning to cut the bread, and stood
patiently for his father to finish his task.
As he finished, Link glanced up and smiled then took the two items from
his son’s grip, ruffling his son’s hair with one hand as he did so. Ewan smiled and sat down to watch his father
open his card, which Ewan had made himself, with a little help from Impa. On it was a drawing of a sword and a shield,
and written along the top in Ewan’s neatest handwriting was ‘Happy Birthday
Dad.’ Link smiled as he saw the picture
and the neat writing, and then he opened the card, to read what his son had
painstakingly written inside. As he
finished reading, he leaned over to give Ewan a hug, and then planted a kiss on
Brianna’s sleeping head.
“Thanks,”
murmured the hero, his words suddenly uncomfortably thick, tears stinging the
corner of his eyes. To think he had been
so close to losing all of this, his wife, his son, his daughter…Link quickly
wiped his face with his hand, replacing his tears with a bright smile.
“Impa helped
me make the card,” piped up Ewan, who had failed to notice his father’s
emotional reaction to the simple words he had written inside the card.
“She
did? Well it’s great…” answered Link,
looking down fondly at the card, turning it over in his hands.
“Yeah but
wait til you see the present! It’s the
best!” enthused Ewan, pushing the small package into his father’s hands.
“Hold on,
hold on!” exclaimed Link with a laugh, his attentions turning to the neatly
wrapped gift. It had been wrapped in
thick parchment cloth, decorated with blue and green ink, and finally wrapped
perfectly with a length of dark blue ribbon.
“Impa
wrapped it,” admitted Ewan sheepishly, looking down at his hands. “Can I have a deku berry please?” he added.
“Go for it,”
began Link, helping himself to a dark red berry. He offered one to Zelda, who declined.
“Go on, open
it!” pushed Ewan, popping one of the cherries into his mouth. Link smiled at his son, then began to unwrap
the gift. It felt surprisingly heavy in
his hands despite fitting neatly into his palm, and when the gift was opened he
could see why. An elaborately decorated
steel cloak pin lay in the packaging, it was a fine piece of work, polished
steel and etched with a hundred different designs. On the head of the pin was the unmistakable
image of the Triforce, which had been brushed with gold plating.
“Have you
seen this, Zel?” asked Link, showing the gift to his wife. Zelda nodded.
“Yes, Ewan
helped make it you know, didn’t you?” Ewan nodded and took another deku berry.
“Well kind
of…it was mother’s idea because she said you could do with one…and then Master
Insequi let me watch him make it. I told
him to put the Triforce on it though, and I chose the etchings too…it’s in
ancient Hylian – some of the stuff Impa taught me!” replied Ewan coyly. Link smiled as Ewan spoke and looked closer
at the etchings that decorated the pin.
He recognised the characters, and the phrase it spelt almost
immediately, for it was from a book of poems Impa had told him to learn from
long ago. He guessed that now his own
son was learning the same things. The
writing read, ‘I shall uphold my father’s name, with dignity and
honour. His blood runs deep in my
veins…I can do no less.’ Link could do little but embrace his son
once more, he could not find the words to tell his son how much he loved him at
that moment. After a moment, Ewan, being
a typical eight year old boy, disentangled himself from his father’s hug and
grinned.
“You liked
it, huh?” he asked. Link nodded as he
turned the pin in his hands.
“I do.” And then he removed the plain cloak pin he
had been using, and replaced it with his son’s.
“It looks
nice,” complimented Zelda, smiling softly.
Her and Link’s eyes met, and the hero returned the smile, his heart
suddenly warm and feeling fit to burst.
“Can we eat
now please?” asked Ewan, a tad impatiently.
“I don’t see
why not,” said Link with a shrug. Ewan
let out a whoop of delight then picked up a plate, piling it high with an
assortment of foods provided by Milona.
“You want to get your mother’s lunch first Ewan? Her hands are kind of full,” pointed out
Link. Ewan gave a nervous smile and then
nodded, taking another plate and beginning to fill it for his mother. Link and Zelda exchanged warm smiles once
more, both of them happy and content in the company of their children. The
future looked truly rosy for them all.