Ever since the Twilight Incident, Princess Zelda and the hero Link began to grow closer. It was primarily professional, with Link mostly helping her to rebuild much of the castle that was destroyed. However, on one night, that changed.
They both sat quietly in her parlour, never once making a sound themselves. There were noises being made, but they were the crackling of the fire and the shouts of the Ordon kids playing outside in the halls with some of the staff. They could also hear them singing something about blunting knives and bending forks, which is what Mistress Impa, the head of the servants, hated.
Link's focus was on Zelda, reading a book in the chair across from him. He had his own book in his lap that he'd barely touched. Being a country bumpkin, reading wasn't at the height of his priorities. However, thanks to the Princess–her coronation had ben put on hold while Hyrule recovered–that was changing.
He knew his staring was rude, so he looked back to his book, covering his face with it. A chuckle escaped her throat, which told him that she wasn't buying his sudden movement.
"Is there anything that fascinates you?" she asked.
"Um, yes ma'am," he said. "The book."
She rolled her eyes again. It was more amusing than actual annoyance, which was a relief for him. Although, those piercing, yet soft eyes kept boring into his very being.
Not that one could blame the Princess, after all. She wondered how he could be so popular among the populace as a stoic hero, yet she saw him, he was… not quite like that. She believed the term on the street was "adorkable". It was a feature of the very first Link, the first Hero of Hyrule
It appears he inherited that from that Link.
"Are you sure you are alright?" she asked.
"I am," he said in his country bumpkin accent, which made her giggle like a girl.
"I apologize," she said. She was aware that Link thought he did not have a chance in all the realms with her. After all, all the silly "forbidden love" stories had permeated Hyrulean culture so much that no one really knew that there was no law nor taboo amongst the royalty against marrying common folk.
And because no one was pressuring her to marry, that was the furthest thing from her mind. Rebuilding her kingdom was.
Still, neither of them could truly deny the mutual admiration they had for each other.
Whether such a relationship could work was up in the air. But Zelda wanted to try. "You know…" she said, "I… happen to be fond of you, Link."
He dropped the book so fast she swore it sounded like Death Mountain erupting. "I… apologize," she said.
"Um, what?" he asked. "Am I hearin' things right?"
"Yes, I happen to be fond of you, Link." She blushed and looked away, but she could see that he was also blushing.
"Well, um… I think you're a mighty fine woman," he said in his southern drawl. "Are you sure we can do this, though?"
"We can make this work," Zelda said, standing up, walking over to him and taking his hand. "I accept it may not be easy, but there is a chance we can succeed. Are you willing to try?"
"Aye, Your Highness, er–Zelda."