Hello to all. This is a romantic Link/Zelda fic that I've decided to write. It's a romance/drama/smidgen of comedy. It takes place in the Ocarina of Time setting, after Zelda sent Link back and they grew up to be 18. There personalities are a little unlikable in the beginning but that's only because I wanted to make believable strife between them. There wouldn't be much conflict if they were both wonderfully pleasant and perfect people, now would there? No adult themes or swearing in this story. Good for the whole family! ^_^
OK, with that out of the way, please read ~ review ~ and enjoy!
It's Love; Now Or Never
By *Jasmine*
Part One: The Destiny Of Two
Zelda's nanny, Impa, stood impatiently by her charge's dressing room door and her arms were crossed about her ample chest. The silver haired Sheikah woman called, "Just come out, Zelda. I'm sure you don't look that bad..."
The young woman behind the door chortled, "No, I do! I'm never coming out!"
Impa shook her head and sighed. The nursemaid was use to the Princess's stubbornness by now and she sighed, "O please, Zelda, just get your fanny out here."
There was an audible humph from the other side of the door and then they swung open. A petite blonde girl came walking out dressed in a pink pouffy dress and a big bow was sown on the rear end. The sleeves looked like two massive puffs that swallowed up her arms and her skirt bellowed out all around her. A scowl was stamped on her pretty pail face as she stood in front of the mirror and grumbled, "I look like a girl's play doll."
Impa had to stifle a chuckle as she replied, "Well, I think it looks nice..."
"Don't lie to me. You know I look like a pink mutant," the girl pouted and crossed her arms about her chest, her long flaxen hair flowing down her back.
Impa took the girl's hair in her hands and began to braid it. "The tailor in the market made it just for your eighteenth birthday. He will be crushed if you don't wear it," the old Sheikah woman said and then she took the long braid and coiled it up on the girl's head, pinning it in place.
Zelda peered into the mirror and muttered, "You'd think he made this for my tenth birthday instead."
The Sheikah woman gave her a stern look and sighed, "O come now, Zelda. He had good intentions."
"Yes, maybe so. But there is no way I am wearing this disaster. Write him a letter and say it was ripped to shreds by a squad of angry fashion police or something. I'm sure he'll understand," the young woman retorted and pulled at the huge bow dominating the seat of the dress in annoyance.
Suddenly there was a knock at Zelda's bedroom door and a man's voice called, "Zelda dear, it's daddy."
Impa went and opened the door to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered blonde man standing there. His mature handsome face was dusted with a sandy beard and his eyes were an intense blue. He smiled at his daughter and said, "You look beautiful, Zelda."
Zelda pouted her lips and replied, "No, I don't. I'm not wearing this thing."
The tall man nodded, knowing how his daughter can be sometimes, and responded, "You can go out tomorrow and buy a dress then. Make sure you get one before Wednesday..."
"Sure, daddy," the young woman said but then asked him, her face a mask of puzzlement, "But why before Wednesday? I thought my party was on Friday."
The King of Hyrule looked at his daughter and said, "There has been something I have been meaning to tell you, Zelda..."
The girl could sense sadness and anxiety in her father's voice and she said softly, "What is it, daddy?"
"Well, you see, Zel," the man began and his eyes cast downward. "You will still have your party on Friday... Just not here in the Castle..."
Zelda asked, "Where then? Are we going to Lake Hylia?" She remembered having a party at the Lake when she turned six but that was a pool-party of sorts, she didn't say anything but she felt too old to go splashing around in the water for her birthday.
Her father shook his head and said, "No... In Fawaee..."
The young woman flushed of color and gasped, "But that's the neighboring kingdom father!"
"Yes, I know, dear," he replied, "Remember how two years ago, on your sixteenth birthday, I told you its law that the Princess must be married by her eighteenth birthday..."
Zelda's pail icy blue eyes went wide with disbelief as she spluttered, "Yes, but I thought you were joking because you never mentioned it after."
"I wasn't joking, I wish I was. The Prince of Fawaee has offered to become your husband..." began the King but he was interrupted by his daughter's outburst.
Zelda cried out, "Gaelith? That arrogant, pompous, self-centered snob!"
The King of Hyrule sighed, "Now Zelda, he's really quite a nice young man. He's intelligent and a good provider. You will be safe and well taken care of."
The young woman rolled her eyes and grumbled, "He's a jerk! I'd rather marry the stable boy and live in poverty then be that snot's wife."
Zelda's father had had enough of his daughter's disobedience and he snapped, "Well, it's your own fault, Zel, you dug your own grave on this one. You rejected every young man in our kingdom..."
Zelda crinkled her nose and challenged weakly, "Because they were all too... unrefined..."
"I've had enough, Zelda. You are my daughter and as such you must do as I say. I have chosen Gaelith as a suitable man for you to marry and that's that. Pack your things, buy a nice dress, and say your good-byes for you leave tomorrow morn," the King trumpeted angrily and then stormed off.
The beautiful Princess stood in her expensive, oversized bubblegum colored dress and her pink lips trembled. She tried to hold back the tears that threatened to overcome her as the reality of her trapped fate crushed down on her. The old nursemaid, Impa, stepped foreword and whispered, "O Zelda," before enveloping the girl in a comforting hug. Zelda buried her face in Impa's strong shoulder and finally let the tears spill forth.
~*~
O that's just horrible!" Nayru gasped to herself. The enchanting Goddess of Wisdom looked down into a rock pool at the scene within the Palace that glistened against the rippled surface of the clear sparkling water. She had watched the exchange between the King and his daughter with prying eyes as she often did for amusement. Her long blue hair swept around her and down her back in long loose waving curls and she wore a thin pail blue shimmering shift that barely brushed the tops of her creamy thighs. Her naked feet sunk into the wet sand of the pond's coastline and tiny pebbles rolled over her toes.
Farore, the Goddess of Courage, stood up atop an outcropping of rocks, peering down at a small softly roaring waterfall with intense emerald eyes. She wore a short dress of green fabric and a blooming pink flower was tucked behind her ear. Her shoulder length, straight, dark green hair glistened in the sun and her beautiful face was adorned with a dazzling and challenging grin. With a whoop, she suddenly leaped off the rock; head first, her body forming a sleek arrow shape. Farore disappeared beneath the surface of the pond and after a moment, bobbed upwards, her hair plastered to her wet forehead. She smiled brightly in triumph and pleasure and turned to her blue-haired sister as she swam towards the shore. "What's the matter, Nay?" she asked.
The Goddess of Wisdom looked over at Farore and answered, "I was watching the mortals again."
The tall and powerfully built Goddess of Power, Din, was a bit farther away from her two sisters and she stood alone. Her long scarlet hair was tied back in a sweeping ponytail and she wore a dress of red satin and brown boots that reached mid-calf. "Why do you always concern yourself with those Hylians, sister? They are so simple and common, " the beautiful Goddess asked snidely and concentrated her powers so that her hands began to glow red. Suddenly a crackling fireball appeared within her palms and she shot it foreword, searing away at the bark of a nearby tree.
"But they are not simple. Their lives are so full of anxiety and drama," Nayru retorted and then added with a sigh, "And I wish you wouldn't do that, Din, you'll harm the trees."
Din rolled her scarlet eyes and snorted, "O please, Far will just heal them after I'm through like always." She throttled another ball of blazing flames and it hit another tree.
By now, the green haired Goddess of Courage had made her way to shore and she wrung out the hemline of her sopping dress, little drops of water beading on the sand. She looked to her sister and inquired curiously, "What did you see, Nayru?"
The slender Nayru replied, "It was the Princess of Destiny. Her father is making her marry a man who she does not love."
"You are right, sister, that is dreadful!" the brave-hearted Farore gasped.
Din again interjected with a stinging jab, "Will you two stop entertaining yourselves with the petty lives of those humans? It's shameful."
"No, it's not, Din. The mortals may be of weaker life forms but their lives are more perplex then even ours!" the Goddess of Wisdom countered.
The short petite Goddess of Courage chimed in, "We can't let this happen. We must help the girl."
Nayru nodded her head and furrowed her slender blue eyebrows. "Yes, but how?" she thought quietly. Then an idea struck her and she cried out, "Ah ha, I know now. Remember the Hero of Time?"
Farore smiled at his memory yet still looked confused. "Yes, I do. He was very true and brave of heart... I always thought he and the Princess would be a perfect couple yet they never seemed to quite hit it off right..."
The blue haired Goddess returned the grin with a beautiful one of her own and said, "Yes, as did I. I think that perhaps if they had more time they would see they are destined for one another. That is why we must get them together!"
"O now I see! But how, Nayru?" the Goddess of Courage asked.
Nayru's deep crystal eyes turned thoughtful as she said softly, "I'm not quite sure but we will have to figure out a way."
Din watched the two Goddesses plotting from far off and shook her head. She called to them, "Just remember that I had nothing to do with this, sisters!"
~*~
Closing Notes:
So what did you think? Good? Not good? I hope it was the first one since I did try to make it enjoyable! Please review and check for my next chapter! I promise that one will be longer. Thanks and you all rock! ^_^