"Heros et eius Filia Reginae" means "The Hero and his Princess" in Latin.

001. The Hero and his Princess

"Thank you, Link. Thanks to you, Ganondorf has now been sealed inside the Evil Realm! Thus, peace will once again reign in this world…for a time."

He said nothing, but his eyes made up for his silence. With a single nod, she can feel his selflessness seep through his expression, which causes a tiny smile to tug at my lips. But Princess Zelda knew she could not delay any longer, despite his kindness. She sighed; opening her mouth to speak the words she knew would only break his heart. "All this tragedy that has befallen Hyrule was my doing. I was so young; I could not comprehend the consequences of trying to control the Sacred Realm." It was no excuse, Zelda knew. It was her fault, no matter what reason she had for doing it.

Link frowned, his eyebrows pulling together in disagreement. He tried to speak, to try to deviate her from her belief, but she continued before he got the chance. Her stomach rumbled with guilt for interrupting him, but she knew that if she did not, his words would get to her. And then he would not receive what he should of in the first place.

"I dragged you into it, too. Now it's time to make up for my mistakes. You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time. However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed." With a long, shaky breath, she continued her speech. "Link, give the Ocarina to me. As a Sage, I can return you to your original time with it. When peace returns to Hyrule, it will be time for us to say good-bye." Zelda cursed myself for letting the last word to break.

Just as she predicted, her attempts to ignore his heartbroken expression were in vain. He said nothing; she doubted he could. Once again, she managed to destroy his hopes and dreams with her selfish orders. Her heart begged her to take all of the words back, to apologize and beg for his forgiveness. But she didn't. She couldn't. Even with his eyes protruding despair, Link was still as beautiful as he always had been. The sunset's rays, which shone over the mountains beyond us, lit up his face so his cheeks gave off a warm, heavenly glow.

Something dropped into her hand, with a warm sensation covering her fingers. When she finally let herself look down, the cerulean Ocarina of Time was sitting in her hand, Link's fingers over her own. Zelda's eyes viewed his hand dropping from hers like a reel replaying continuously in her head, but she knew it only happened in a matter of seconds.

Cautiously, she looked back up, and her heart dropped into my stomach with extreme guilt—again—when a melancholy smile appeared on his face. He was obviously pained, and the knowledge that she was the one that caused that pain—all she could do was flicker her eyes to the instrument she had just received. She knew that if she continued to look—to gaze upon that beautiful, grieved face—she wouldn't be capable of sending him back, to give him what he deserved. And she wouldn't do that to him. Not again.

"Now, go home, Link," she shook. In all honesty, she was amazed that she was able to say anything at all. "Regain your lost time! Home…where you are supposed to be…the way you are supposed to be." Tears started to form in the princess' eyes, but she ignored them to the best of her ability. She lifted the Ocarina to her lips. The melody that she had known since she was only five years old filled her ears, and almost immediately did a crystal encase Link, lifting him up into the clouds. The tears succeeded in descending down her cheeks, but Zelda didn't touch them. She only stared up into the sky, watching the Hero—her Hero—ascend up, growing farther away with each passing moment.

"…Thank you… Link…good-bye…" she barely whispered, if only to herself. It was extremely unlikely that he could hear anymore. She could see his lips move, but she couldn't hear him. In only a few short seconds, she couldn't see him at all. He had traveled back through time.

Gone.

She held the Ocarina close to her chest, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to engrave his face perfectly into her mind. She wouldn't forget. She couldn't forget.

It was then, not even a minute after…he was gone, she let herself drown under the waves of my excessive lamentations.

Zelda Althea Harkinian did not resurface.