A/N: This is the shortest story I've ever typed. I really mean it.

This is just a short Link x Zelda fic I put together in a few minutes. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: "The Legend of Zelda" and all rights, including the copyrights of the games, scenario, music and program, reserved by Nintendo. TM and (r) are trademarks of Nintendo. All rights reserved.

--The Flower in the Meadow--

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"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were."

-Kahlil Gibran

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Every night, just before I would silently slip into bed and drift into sleep, I would change into my silky nightgown and gaze out the window of my chambers. My elbows would be on the wooden pane below it, and I would shift into a comfortable position as I stared at the darkening sky nicely dotted with stars. I would pull up a chair to sit down upon, but I never left my position until I could see my face of my lover appear through the darkness in the garden below me.

He would always be there as I waited. He would be standing in the exact same spot every night, right in front of some scarlet azaleas and behind another row of ginger lilies. The moon would shine down upon him ever so lovingly, as the silver light reflected upon his blue eyes nicely. Even from afar, I could see him smile at me, the wind brushing through his hair like a soft breeze through grass.

I would smile and wave to him, blowing him a silent kiss as I watched him wave back and begin to walk away gradually. I had never wanted to see him leave, but he did not belong here in the castle with me. His heart was one that longed for the fields, the endless meadows that was righted in my kingdom. He disliked having to sleep in a place where all he would see when he looked up was a blank and ashen-colored ceiling. Instead, what he needed to see was a starry, midnight-blue sky. What he needed to see was the leaves of a tree hanging protectively over him, swaying with the gentle wind.

And so, as he walked away, I would whisper silent wishes to him. Then, when I could no longer see a single trace of my lover, I stood up, moved the chair back to its original position, and climb noiselessly into bed, draping my covers over me.

And so, this continued for years, ever since I had been but a young child.

But, one starless night, I had watched the sky for eternity, waiting for him to appear and stand in the spot between the scarlet azaleas and the ginger lilies. Even as I hoped full heartedly that he would come soon, I failed to detect any trace of him in the garden.

After that, he never appeared to me ever again.

And I didn't know what to do.

Even after years past, and I would find myself standing in the very spot that he had once stood night after night, holding between my hands a single midnight bloom. It was a sign of love between me and him, one that means that one would never forget the other. It had always been my most favorite flower, only blooming in the darkest of night in the shadow of the moon.

I would stand there, waiting patiently for him to come, but my heart would never mend in the process. There was no news of him at all; no one knew where he had disappeared to.

Yet, I never stopped hoping that one day—just, one day—that he would come.

Times after, my hope slowly began to diminish, but never drained completely of its vigor. I would keep him in my heart at all times, whether in light or shadow, day or night. And I would always wait with a midnight bloom.

Then came a night where I had gotten appallingly ill, and I failed to stand in my garden in vigil for him. For weeks, various doctors from all around had come in hopes that they could cure me, but each failed, and every day my skin was tinted paler than it had the day before, and my body was slowly beginning to weaken and turn frail.

I felt as if I would soon pass away, but I had just one last will.

I walked slowly outside, away from my caretakers' views, and stepped into the garden as the veil of night shrouded the sky.

There, standing between the scarlet azaleas and behind the ginger lilies, was an ardent and strong wolf with fierce eyes the color of the morning sky.

And there, in between his jaws, was a midnight bloom, fully flowered and gorged in a deep, forget-me-not blue.

Before I knew it, the wolf had scurried away with devastating speed, leaving the striking flower behind for me to ceaselessly ponder about.

Ever since then, my days became brighter and my nights were filled with dancing stars and dreams of love.

And every time I would gaze over at the midnight bloom positioned stunningly in a stained-glass vase beside my skylighted windowsill, my hope was immediately replenished.

Link… Where are you now?

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--The Eternal Nocturne--

The Flower in the Meadow – Completed February 8, 2009