A/N: I worked on this for four days straight without ever losing inspiration. And I thought it would be impossible for something like that to happen for me…

Probably very cheesy—as usual. Then again, I dunno; nobody has actually ever said that my stories are cheesy. Ever. XD

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.

-Obedience-

He wasn't like this before, was he?

Princess Zelda walked gracefully along the ivory-colored pathways of her castle, her eyes glistening with the early morning rays. The windows to her right shafted brilliant light down upon her, reflecting off of her golden armor pieces and casting her shadow down upon the decorated floor. For the first time in years, she walked these hallways in the absence of a certain young man she'd come to recognize as her first and only friend. Zelda stroked the fabric of her right glove absentmindedly, deep in thought.

He questions nothing of the orders I give to him. Surely a man who flaunted such free will in the past would at least have some second thoughts about the things I make him do.

She recalled one time—back during the early days of his service—when she wanted to test the limits of his seemingly endless loyalty. Knowing that her father had no patience for lowly commoners such as him (it was a miracle he'd even allowed him to remain in the castle in the first place), she had ordered him to noisily invade the King's chambers during his studies.

"I want you to disrupt my father's study time," she had told him. Zelda had expected some sort of response along the lines of a simple "why"—after all, it seemed like such a foolish and out-of-place order at the time—but what he did was turn around and rushed straight for the King's quarters without another word. No questions, no "why," no complaints.

She caught him right before he could knock on his doors. Zelda regretted it now; if she had not stopped him in time, her father would have undeniably punished him severely. The princess shivered at the thought of having her best friend locked away in the grimy castle dungeons for the rest of his life. Or perhaps even worse.

Zelda arrived at her chamber door, marked specifically to stand out from the rest of the other doors by a golden Royal Crest and fancier designs around its edges. She had no need for a key; she had sealed the door with a special form of magic long ago so that only those who she allows to enter could open it. With a twist of the doorknob, she stepped inside her room and immediately draped all of the windows closed, veiling her quarters with a shroud of darkness. She flicked her wrist, and responsively all of the lavender-scented candles she had placed around the room sparked to life.

With a sigh, Zelda undid her hair and rested on her lavish bed. She gazed up thoughtfully at her darkened ceiling where her ornate chandelier hung above her head. She turned over, reaching for one of her pillows and hugging it.

Link… Why must you be like this?

The reality of it was not clear to her. She did not loathe his obedience, but in the end, it troubled her because—like all of the soldiers in her army—he did not question any orders she gave to him. And she knew that he was much more precious than they could ever be.

She wished that every time she wanted something of him, he would turn to her and ask her meaning, her reasoning, anything. Instead he said nothing at all, but this she did not blame on his silent demeanor. Before he committed to service at the castle, he had openly shared what seemed to be everything with her—his troubles, his accomplishments. She was not the princess, and he was not the hero. They were Zelda and Link.

One day he'd approached her and requested that she allow him to serve her.

Zelda flinched at the memory.

Why did he choose to give up his freedom for… for this?

She noticed that he gradually become more like her emotionless soldiers, and for that she hated herself for ever agreeing to his request that day. What was once friendship eventually turned into a generic master-servant relationship, despite Zelda's earnest attempts to keep it from becoming one.

Now she wondered why he had even chosen this fate for himself to begin with.

Zelda turned around again, burying her face in the pillow. To her surprise, it smelled like him, and then she remembered that this was the pillow that she had taken from his room this morning. His scent comforted her in the oddest way.

To her, he was still Link. But she no longer knew what he thought of her. Did he see her as nothing more than his superior now? One that he must serve without question or face dire penalties? She couldn't stand the thought. Her fondest dreams were, after all, filled with images of him ruling Hyrule by her side.

…That's it.

Zelda filled her lungs with his scent from the pillow one last time before running over to her vanity and re-applying her soiled makeup and fixing her hair. After smoothing out all of the tangles in her locks, she put on a determined face as she looked at herself in the mirror.

I'll sort things out once and for all.

When she finished, she stepped out into the hallway once more and headed to the castle stables, where she mounted her cream-colored horse and rode off into the sun-bathed grasses of Hyrule Field.

Her hero had earned a reputation of himself a few years ago of being notoriously hard to track down, but for her, she would always know where to find him. Zelda rode across the field for a good hour or so before she finally spotted the figure of a familiar chestnut mare and her rider resting under a grand tree.

Smiling to herself, she dismounted her steed and inched quietly towards him, going over her secret plan once more in her mind before sitting down beside him, still unnoticed. He seemed to be thinking (for once, she noted—he had a tendency to be extremely reckless) about something, as the distant look on his face as he stared out through the horizon explained everything about his choice for coming here in the first place. Zelda took a breath and cautiously placed a hand on his arm.

"Link."

He jerked in the other direction reactively, the dazed look long gone from his face and his left hand nearly to the hilt of his sword. Upon realizing that it was not a random stranger or an enemy but the Crown Princess of Hyrule, his gaze softened and he lowered his head.

"Oh, Prin—"

"Zelda," she hissed, her eyes locking with his. Despite all of the orders she had given him, this was the one that he always seemed to forget. Before, he had called her "Zelda" without any problem; in the past few years, however, it seemed like he had great difficulty calling her by her preferred name.

"…Zelda," he corrected, looking away with a slightly dejected gaze. He let a small bout of silence pass before continuing. "Why are you… here? You ordered me to spend the rest of today alone."

"Yes, but," countered Zelda, "it doesn't seem like you're enjoying it too much."

At this, he leaned back carelessly against the tree again and rested his forehead against the palm of his gloved hand, letting his dirty-blonde hair fall down the side of his face.

"No, I'm doing fine," Link responded. "It's not every day I get time off like this, so… I guess I'm just taking it slow."

"What a horrible excuse," Zelda sighed, moving slightly closer beside him. "You devoted your own free will to serving me. If you ever wanted time to yourself, all you had to do was ask." She paused, waiting for a response from him. When he said nothing, her gaze lowered, and she whispered in a soft tone, "Link, I know you. You're not happy right now. Tell me"—she gently placed her hand over his—"what's wrong."

Link was soundless for a few moments, but when the wind started up and began to blow leaves around in circles and play with his hair, he decided to react.

"Nothing," he said as he looked up at her, a faint smile on his lips. "Like I said, I'm just enjoying my time here." He slowly removed his hand from hers.

"And like I said, Link," pressed Zelda, "I know you. Did you think that I just tossed all of those precious childhood memories with you aside? That every conversation I had with you, both whimsical and serious, had been left to gather dust?" She gave him a nostalgic look. "You've always treasured your freedom. Your free spirit could never be contained. Since you've served at the castle, I've watched your smile fade with every passing day. Now I've forced you out of its walls for once, just to taste this freedom you've so longed to have… and yet you're unhappy."

"Well, maybe I…" He paused. "I-I don't know, Zelda; I guess I'm just so used to serving you constantly that I don't know what to do when I'm not."

"You know that's not true," Zelda replied, stern. "In fact, the very reason why you even chose to serve me in the first place and give up every ounce of your freedom has slipped my mind. Care to remind me, Link?"

His breath caught in his throat, and his eyes shot away for a split second. Pulling his legs a little closer to his chest, he silently replied,

"I just thought that you needed someone… reliable… that you could count on to do things for you." He glanced at her. "Your soldiers aren't exactly the best when it comes to things like that."

"You were already in that position before you began staying at the castle," defied Zelda. "Now you're just…" She stopped, hoping to catch his interest. He turned towards her.

"I'm just?"

"…No, never mind," she dismissed. She looked the other way, counting the seconds in her mind before he would ask her to tell him.

"Zelda, tell me," he pushed. Secretly, she smirked—a few years of tasteless conversation with him and she could still predict his side of the discussion quite well. Feigning a fake sigh of defeat, she steadily turned her head back towards him and laced her fingers together.

"Link, you're just not… you anymore." Her voice was glazed with a morose tone. He paused.

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"You take orders like the soldiers do," explained Zelda.

"With respect?"

"No, like an emotionless rag doll," she stated bluntly. "I was certain that the Link I know would at least question my motives sometimes—especially when he's ordered to do something like slip a spoon of pineapple peel extract into a countess's tea."

"You had a reason to tell me to do so," Link said, "right?"

"I didn't. This is why I say that you are like the soldiers. You assume that every order I give you is backed by some form of heavy reasoning. While that may strike true for people like my father," she explained, "the relationship you and I carry is different." Then she spoke in a softer tone, "I wish you did not see me as nothing more as a future monarch to serve without question."

"W-what?" responded Link, eyes wide with disbelief. Zelda did not return his gaze. He let a few moments pass between them, trying to think of something to say. "I… I never said that I only thought of you as a princess."

"Your actions have not been able to persuade me otherwise," counteracted Zelda. "Years ago, when we were not bound by this master-servant relationship, every request I asked of you would be met with a question. 'Why do you want me to pick flowers with you? Why do I have to be the bad guy? Why do you get to carry the slingshot around?' I remember it all too clearly, Link."

"…Well, maybe I finally accepted the fact that there's no use questioning you, Zelda," Link murmured uncertainly, inching away. Zelda glared at him for half of a moment. She wasn't getting any honest answers from him.

Why don't you just tell me the truth, Link? What happened to our friendship?

She closed her eyes, ready to take desperate measures. In the next second she had forcefully pressed her hand on his chest, glaring at him in the eyes. He couldn't react.

"Link," she said, her voice ruled with sternness, "I've had enough of this."

"…Enough of—"

"Your unwillingness to tell me things that you would have had no problem to tell me back when we were children. Your blatant excuses to my questions." She grasped the thick fabric of his tunic with her fingers. "You're quite fond of dancing around the point." Zelda looked away for only a moment before gazing at him again with the same fierce determination. "Now tell me everything. Your explanation for giving up your freedom; your choice to end every potentially carefree conversation we have with an unemotional servant's leave. The reason why you never question any order I give you."

Link stared at her, his blue eyes begging her for a way out. But she'd made up her mind—this time, there was no escape. He remained silent for a few moments, undoubtedly all too wary of her death stare.

"…Umm," he started, trying to slowly back away. She held onto his tunic, her fingers grasping the rings of his chain mail, and pulled him closer again. Upon finally realizing that Zelda would not let him have his peace without a proper answer, he sighed and placed his hands on her arms. "Well… I thought that if I ever wanted to look like a proper knight, I would have to serve your every whim without question."

Zelda became slightly amused.

"So you thought that in order to uphold your dignity, you had to behave like a mindless soldier?"

"No, not my dignity, Zelda," said Link, shaking his head. "I wanted to… be a good knight. Your knight. I was afraid that if others saw me questioning you or speaking to you in the manner that I used to—back before this—they would judge you unfairly." He hesitated. "I didn't want that to happen."

"Then why did you want to serve me as a knight in the first place and give up your freedom?"

He winced.

"Uhh…"

She waited for an answer, but eventually it become clear that he just could not find the words.

"Link," she pressured, "tell me."

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"It'll sound stupid."

She scoffed.

"After all of the crazy things I've heard in my lifetime, Link? Please."

"In that case, it'll sound stupid and lame," he said. He muttered something else as well, he she didn't catch it. Zelda's patience was thinning.

"Alright then. Since up until now you've been so intent on following my every command—Link, I order you to tell me your reason for serving me in the castle."

He froze, eventually letting his hands slip down from Zelda's arms. His head hung limply downwards, and his hair covered his face.

"…Why do you hate me?"

Zelda blinked, not sure how to respond to his sudden out-of-place comment.

"What?" she asked. "…Hate you? Why would I hate you?"

"You're making me do this," he muttered in return. "It's almost like… you don't care about me."

Zelda drew her hands back, distraught from his words.

"Link, if I didn't care about you, I wouldn't even be here!"

"But listen to the things you're making me admit!" he countered, looking back up at her.

"The things I'm making you admit?" she repeated, scoffing. "Your reason for serving at the castle?"

"Yes!" he replied. "At least give me—I don't know, time to tell you things like this!"

Zelda fought back a bout of anger that bubbled in the back of her throat. Why was he being so childish? At such a simple question, even! She stood up, flicking her hair off to the side and looking down upon Link, sick of the game she was playing with him.

"Fine! I'll give you time! I'll give you even more time than the three years you've already had!" She turned around and started walking away. Link got up, surprised at her sudden outburst. "In fact, I'll give you all the time in the world, because I've finally realized that you're never going to come back to the way you were back before you became some sort of emotionless servant!"

She ran up to her horse, ready to mount it to return to the castle.

"Zelda, wait!"

He appeared behind her and grabbed her hand before she could do anything else. She refused to look at him.

"Link, let me go," she said under her breath. "Let me go now!"

"No, Zelda!" he refused, grasping her tighter and twisting her around so that they were face-to-face. She immediately looked at the ground, but he placed his hand her under her chin and lifted her head up. "Listen, please! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what?" she seethed. "For being a liar? For becoming the worst friend in the history of Hyrule?"

"For not telling you that I…" he paused, shutting his eyes. "…that I was… afraid…"

At this, the princess seemed to calm down just a little.

"You? …Afraid?" she mused. "You're the rightful bearer of the Triforce of Courage… That's almost like saying that Ganondorf lost in a match of strength with a rabbit." Then she shook her head. "Don't play this with me again, Link. You weren't afraid of anything."

She heard a bitter laugh from deep within his throat.

"No, Zelda," he admitted, "I really was afraid." He paused. "I was afraid that you'd… leave me." At this, he turned himself away with a cheerless stance. She spoke nothing for the following moments, pondering his words with careful thoughts.

Leave him?

"Link, ignoring the fact that I am Hyrule's princess and simply can not just leave at my whim, I doubt I would want to run away from this place anyway. It's my home." She spoke her last words with an airy voice. She saw him shake his head.

"That's… That's not what I meant, Zelda," he sighed. "I wasn't saying that you'd leave me physically," he explained, glancing over his shoulder to look at her once, "…but more like leaving me… spiritually."

At this, he gave him a haplessly confused look.

"As in, you were afraid that I'd die?"

"N-No, not that either!" corrected Link, scolding himself on the inside for his poor communication skills. "I-I mean, I'm always worried for your life—I guess that just comes with being a hero—but that's not what I was trying to say."

"Then what are you trying to say?" Zelda crossed her arms, trying to forgive him for not being able to freely express himself while also growing tired of his constant fumbling for words. "If you can't find a way to explain it to me in softer terms, Link, then just tell me bluntly. I can handle it."

"I… was afraid that you'd leave me for someone else."

Zelda's breath froze, and she used the silence of the moment to allow for his words' meaning to fully become clear to her. She uncrossed her arms and let them hang limply to her sides, and her eyes did not leave his immobile figure—still turned away from her—even once.

He was afraid that our friendship would break if I had found a man to love?

Or… Perhaps he couldn't stand at the sight of me being with a man… that wasn't him?

The wind tossed leaves around in circles again.

It couldn't be.

Her horse neighed beside her, and she was startled out of her thoughts. She paid attention to her sense of sight again and saw Link slowly walking away from her.

"I guess I'll be leaving now, since you don't have anything else to say."

His voice was stained with bitterness. Zelda stood in place, still trying to sort things out in her head. She saw him stroke Epona's mane lovingly, and that's when she realized that if she did not react now he would be gone—

"Link, stop," she ordered, and obediently he froze and let Epona's reigns fall out of his hands. Realizing that her words came out much more direct than she'd intended them to be, she rushed over to his side and took his hand in hers, causing him to look at her. "I was just in thought. I forgot that you needed a response…" She complemented this with a sheepish smile. He blinked, gazing down at his hand that she caressed.

"It's fine, Zelda," Link dismissed, withdrawing his hand and looking at Epona for a quick moment. "I shouldn't bother you anymore. You're probably already disgusted at me for saying that—"

"Disgusted?" Zelda interrupted. "Why would I be? You told the truth."

"Yes, but," Link sighed, "the truth told you that I'm a selfish guy who doesn't want you to have any other guys in your life. And I finally admit it." He turned away, but Zelda promptly commanded his attention, finally deciding to resolve things once and for all. It was either now or never.

"Well, what if I don't want any other guys in my life?"

Link stopped, his breath catching in his throat.

"…Was that a hypothetical question?"

"Do you want it to be?" Zelda daringly looked straight at him, her eyes glittering with emotion. She stepped forward, her fingertips barely grazing the fabric of his tunic. He stood there, almost in disbelief. Zelda put on a bold façade, but on the inside, her heart was trembling, and her mind was telling her to turn back.

But she was so close.

She moved her left arm up the side of his neck, slowly weaving her fingers through his dirty-blonde hair. He was incredibly tense; she could feel it—but Zelda was certain that she's change that soon.

"Link, listen. I… I have something to admit to you, too," she whispered, glancing away. "The truth is… I like you. A lot." She scolded herself mentally just then.

You can do better than that.

"You… do?" came Link's breathless reply. She steadily nodded, unsure of his response.

"And I would never leave you, Link," Zelda promised. "Not even if the world ends."

Silence. Link was as tense as ever, and Zelda was losing her already-thin confidence. Her heart pounded in her ears; the tension of the moment was too much for her to bear. Suddenly, she felt him move, and before she knew it, he had her locked in a tight embrace, her head pressed tenderly against his chest.

"I like you a lot too, Zelda," he said, his voice soft. "…Actually, more than a lot. You could even say that… I love you."

Zelda shut her eyes and wrapped her right arm around his waist. Being this close to him made her feel warm and protected, like nothing could ever even touch her. She smiled the brightest smile she could give.

"I think you already know what I'm going to say next," she joked, moving her head up so that she could feel his neck.

"Say it anyway. It completes the moment."

Zelda laughed—it was a pleasant, lighthearted laugh that he hadn't heard for years. It made him smile, and she moved her hand up to caress his cheek.

"I love you too," she replied, "and I'm very glad that I have my old Link back."

"So I'm not an obedient, emotionless solider anymore?"

She giggled.

"Emotionless, no. But obedient… Well, let's see." She lifted her head up so that she could see him. "Kiss me."

He smiled and said nothing—no questions, no "why," no complaints.

And he did what he was told.

~x~X~x~

-Eternal Nocturne-

Obedience – Completed January 6, 2012