Tears spew, messily, from the eyes of Hyrule's eldest Princess, Laura.
"You-You...You don't love me!" She stammered, her cries making it very hard for a certain green clad Hero to understand.
Link stared at the woman with very little emotion showing on his face. His lips quirked into a small frown finally after Laura peered up at him. His mouth opened and he strained to speak the only three words he could think of. "I am sorry."
"G-Get O-out!" A perfume bottled was thrown at the youth's head which was simply caught and placed on a small table to his left.
"It is for the best, Princess." Link clicked his heels together and bowed then left, closing the door quickly. The Hero of Time was not used to the kind of attention that women had come to spread upon him, he disliked it because they were often tasteless about their advances...as Laura had been.
The youngest Princess, two years Link's junior, Zelda leaned against a wall outside her bedroom. "You should have been more gentle."
Link glanced at the eighteen year old and clicked his tongue in slight annoyance. "She was being stubborn."
"She is a Princess. Should I explain about how they expect to get their way all the time?"
Annoyance flashed across the Hero's humble features that could often be deciphered as rugged. "You are her sister, Princess, shall I expect the same result from you if I was to deny you something?"
Zelda glared. "What are you implying, Sir?"
"You grouped together women of the same status, Princess, I am only trying to make you aware of your words." Link cracked his knuckles and sighed. "Though I am sure you were very much aware as you do hold the Triforce of Wisdom."
"Must I be so careful with how I speak, Captain, can I not step from this role that I have?" Zelda turned her back to the King's High Knight. "Is there no room for Zelda in this Castle or shall I always be Princess?"
Link stepped forward and placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. "There is room where you make it, Princess, but that is not the issue here."
"I know the issue, Knight."
"Then, Princess, if I may be so bold to ask...what is it?" Link 's hand dropped as Zelda turned to face him. His features held some trace of anger at her...or at something else, one would not know upon looking at him.
"I am a Princess, I spoke ill of women of my stature, and it was of rude nature that I did. You sought to correct me knowing full well that I depise being compared to women such as my sister." The fair and beautiful features of Zelda's face contorted to anger.
"I did nothing of the sort." Link countered, annoyance with the youngest Royal shining through his mask.
"Aye, but you did!"
A nearby maid stopped and watched the two as they engaged themselves within a staring match. Her lips opened up almost like she wanted to call out but her better judgement told her to walk away.
"I mentioned that you were judging Princesses as a whole not as individuals!" Link spewed toward the young woman.
Zelda shoved at his chest. "Than name one Princess who does not fit a description like that of my sister!" Zelda cried out, her voice echoing down the hallway and catching the attention of the many people there.
Link's face softened and his usually cold blue eyes melted. Spectators who were peeking through doors and around corners gasped. "I know of only one and she is called Zelda." He paused. "You, Princess."
Zelda bit her lip, anger flushed out of her. "...Oh." Was all that she could muster.
Link bowed and gave one more glance toward Hyrule's youngest Princess. "Good day." Then left.
Zelda vented her frustration, suddenly, and violently at the people who had watched the spectacle by hurling balls of fire at them. "Leave!"
The Hero of Time entered the Throne Room where King Harkinian sat. The King was the only other person within the room aside from Link and he smiled when approached by the twenty year old.
"Laura told me of your, uh, refusal."
Link nodded, standing at attention. "She should not focus her eyes upon a Knight, Sire, her heart should remain within her own Class."
Harkinian chuckled. "Aye, it should...but I would not be unhappy if a Knight joined my family."
"Sire?" Link was puzzled at the King's addmission.
"Be at ease, Captain, I am in no mood to be tense."
Link relaxed his muscles and stood more comfortably with a sense of uneasiness tingling up his spine. "My Liege, if I may be so forward to ask...What is your reasoning to call me here?"
"Always to the point." Harkinian smirked. The King stood and made his way toward the youth, clasping him on the back when he reached Link. "Did you know, Link, that I was once of the Royal Guard?"
The youth glanced at the King. "Aye, I have heard the rumors..."
"I was never of Royal blood. Madeline choose me with the stubborness only my lovely Zelda possesses. My Queen's Father had enjoyed my company as a Knight and was very happy to acknowledge me as Son." Harkinian winked. "As a Prince so that I may marry his daughter."
Link opened his mouth to speak but his mind was to jumbled to form a sentence so he stood there, open mouthed. He was unsure of the true direction the older man was going in but he had an idea.
The King laughed. "You are a very good man, Link, a true Knight with everything a King could ask for...except one thing."
The Hero regained his composure. "What is that, Millord?"
"A heart."
"A heart, Sire?"
The King nodded. "Aye, a heart." He smiled and led Link through the double doors leading to the Castle Gardens. "When you first came here as a boy of ten, I remember a very passionate fire burning through you. It is still inside...somewhere beyond that plate of metal you wear."
Link rose an eyebrow but did not interupt His Majesty.
"When you fight is now the only time that I see it... I miss seeing it, Link. It reminded me of my son, Regus."
The thought of the Prince who had died in battle made Link's heart sink. Prince Regus had been his tutor for a time, a father figure of sorts. "The Prince was a noble man, Sire, it is an honor to be compared to him."
"He loved you, Link, like a son."
Link smiled. "He was the closest I ever came to having a Father, Sire."
"He was my only son, Link, the one who I had named heir."
The Hero turned to the King. "Your daughters are capable of ruling, My Liege, they possess-"
"Only Zelda is fit and you know it."
Link nodded. "Aye, you speak the truth."
"However, she cannot ascend the thrown because she is my youngest." Harkinian turned to Link with a brillaint grin. "Which is why I would be honored if you would take her hand in marriage."
The Hero gaped and stumbled over his words. "H-Honored, Sire? I cannot marry your daughter!"
The King laughed. "Oh, but you can!" The older man continued on with a happy tone to his voice. "You two used to be very close but because of...obvious reasons, you have grown apart."
"Obvious reasons?"
"Let me finish."
"My apologies, My King."
"The point I am trying to make admist the oddity of this conversation is that you love Zelda, Link, and she will need the kind of support you can provide." Harkinian nodded to himself. "Yes, I have been sure that a partnership between the two of you would bring great happiness to Hyrule..."
"Sire, I..." Link paused, confused. "Does she know of this?"
"There is a probablity that she has figured it out but I have not told her, directly."
Link sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "May I be dismissed, Sire? I need to sort out my mind."
"Of course." The King chuckled. "This is your own decision... if you do not believe you will be a good husband and King than you may decline...however, you will have to guard Zelda's Wedding Day."
Link removed his armor and laid it out upon his bed and shortly after he removed the rest of his clothing and slipped into the bath a maid had brought up.
He closed his eyes and fell deep into his own thoughts. The Hero stirred the contents of the conversation he had with the King about in his mind and dropped every guard he held up. The relief of being completely relaxed eclipsed euphoria. He pondered to himself whether he and Zelda could coexist anymore. The minor argument that had taken place in the hallway earlier was one in the many hundred which occurred almost daily.
Link could not understand why they seemed to annoy each other so much. Just a mere glance at the eighteen year old agaitated him and for no reason!
The feeling of hands runnging through his hair, spooked Link from his thoughts and his blue eyes shot open to find the purple ones of Princess Zelda.
"I am sorry for the intrusion, Sir Link."
He stared at her, expectingly, and made a quick upturn of his lips. "It is fine." Link watched Zelda's eyes roll over his toned chest and arms with growing realization that his agitation may steem from other emotions. "Can I help you, Princess?"
"I wish to speak with you about..." She paused and failed to come up with a suitable word.
"Everything?" Link offered his own and decided that he should removed himself from the tub. "Would you hand me that towel, please, Princess?" The question rolled of his lips, uncomfortably, but he tried to keep it as casual as he could.
Zelda nodded and reached the cloth toward him. "Aye, everything."
Link gave Zelda a warning glare that she should close her eyes but the Princess only smirked.
"Will you not turn away?" He was annoyed, again.
"I have seen men naked before, Captain...though only through paintings."She chuckled, a blush upon her cheeks. "Rise from the water." She bit her lip and blushed deeper then sat on his bed.
"Princess, it would be undecent of me to..." Link stopped, sighed, and acknowledged that the girl would not move from where she was. The Knight stood and wrapped the towel quickly about his male parts with a glare shooting to the Princess' fully crimson face.
She opened her mouth to speak but instead settled for a small squeak which incited a deeper shade of red to grow.
"Did you not say you saw a man unclothed in art?" Link asked, dropping all form of decency and drying himself off. He tired of the "prim and proper" mask he held up for the majority of the day and decided that he would be himself who cared not if a woman saw him nude.
"I..." Zelda smiled. "Um."
Link chuckled. "Well, Princess, I am going to take it that you have never seen a man nude?"
Zelda stammered for a second then regained the control of her lips. "I have...just not one as toned as you." She pointed to Link's bare chest as he was dressed to the waist.
"Hm, art strives for perfection... Did you peep on a Prince?"
"Sir Link! How dare you even think that I would do such a thing!"
The Hero laughed. "You nearly ordered me to get out of the tub. Based off of that, I can think anything I want."
"I liked you better when you were courteous." Zelda glared.
Link sighed, ran his fingers through his damp hair, and sat beside the Princess. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Why do you...dislike me?" Zelda asked without trickery upon her face.
"I do not dislike you, Princess, it is just...difficult to remain calm around you." He answered honestly. "I get agitated because I do not know what to feel."
Zelda looked down at her hands and closed her eyes. "I feel the same way."
"Is that all?" Link asked after a brief pause.
Zelda blushed. "No."
"You know about your Father's apparent plans then?"
"Yes."
Link smirked. "What do you think of it?"
She sighed. "If we could get over...whatever it is...then it would be a good match, we would be a good match for Hyrule."
"Aye, I believe so too." Link nodded and reached out to brush Zelda's hair away from her face. "Would you be happy as my wife?"
She laughed. "If you are as sweet as you were when we were children, yes... I think I would be." Her mood changed, suddenly, to sorrow. "What happened to the boy I knew? Tell him to come back...that I miss him..."
"He learned to grow up." Link answered, sadly. "He misses you too, Zelda."
The Princess gave a small smile and reached up, cuping Link's face in her hands. "That boy kissed me once..."
"He remembers." Link chuckled. "It was under the tree near Lon Lon...you were pouting at him because he took the last piece of chocolate." He grinned. "He kissed you because your lips looked soft."
Zelda felt the long forgotten feeling of butterflies flutter about in her stomache. "Tell him I want him to kiss me, again." Link leaned close to where he could feel the tips of his lips touching hers.
He pressed his lips to Zelda's and felt her fingers tangle in his hair. The agitation, the anger, the near hate evaporated and with each weight lifting off his shoulder, he wrapped his arms tighter about Zelda's waist.
Pulling away, her face flushed, Zelda shuddered. "That was different than before."
Link chuckled. "That's because the boy said I should kiss you."