"It's an odd feeling, Link."
"What is sweetheart?" The male stared up at Zelda with his curious blue orbs peeking out from underneath his blonde hair.
"I don't know. Nevermind."
"No, please tell me." He grabbed her hand and interlocked their fingers. He traced her thumb down to his own, and smiled to himself.
"No, really, it's nothing. I don't even know what I'm saying." She leaned back on the stone and overlooked the ocean view hoping he'd drop the subject. This boulder had always been their special spot where they'd always go together to just sit and talk. It was set right on the top of the cliff and overlooked the entire village. You could stare over the oceans for miles.
"Babe." He looked up at her and furrowed his eyebrows. "Our wedding is tomorrow. For heaven's sake, I thought we were way past keeping secrets from each other." He frowned. Zelda stayed quiet for a moment, and turned back to meet his eyes. She hesitated, but took in a deep breath.
"Uh, holding hands with you. It's odd, in a good way. You should do it more often." She forced a small smile on her face and squeezed his hand hoping he'd buy it. His mouth straightened into a firm line and he squinted his eyes. Zelda kept the smile plastered onto her face and waited. Link's attention stayed on her. She was smiling with her mouth, but he could see distress in her eyes. Eventually, his eyes softened, and the corners of his mouth curved up, and he smiled.
"Sure thing, whatever you'd like." A sigh of relief escaped her lips as Link leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. She smiled for a second, and proceeded to gaze over the cliff. She could feel her long blonde locks blowing across her face. The seagulls were always flying around the area. They looked so free, as if they hadn't a worry in the world. Nothing to hold them down, no commitment to anything whatsoever. She wished that somehow she could be like them and just forget about everything. Just get away from her life for a little while. She looked down and stared at her feet.
"I think we should go. It's getting chilly." She slid off the boulder, brushed out the wrinkles in her dress, and walked over to the path that led back to the village. Link raised his eyebrow.
"Oh, alright. Here you can take my coat if you're cold." He slid off the rock onto his feet and trotted until he caught up with her. She quickened her pace.
"No, I'm fine. Let's just hurry." She answered, and pushed his jacket away. He frowned at her gesture.
"Tell me what's wrong." He begged. Zelda stopped for a moment. She turned around to look at him.
"There's nothing wrong, really. I promise." She gave him a quick smooch on the lips and smiled. "Okay?" She looked deep into his eyes for a moment, then continued to briskly walk back towards the village. Link sighed and followed after her.
"Women." He muttered.
Later that evening after a nice hot bath, Zelda headed straight upstairs and into bed.
"Sweetie, aren't you going to have some dinner? I cooked up some of your favorite mushroom noodle soup!" Link's grandmother cooed.
"No thankyou, I don't feel very hungry tonight. I'm sorry." Zelda replied, and turned around to face the wall. Link's grandmother raised an eyebrow at him. His face scrunched in frustration.
"Are you sick?" He asked, as made his way up the wooden ladders.
"What? Oh, no, I'm just not hungry tonight that's all. And I'm really tired. Long day today." She rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes. Link sat down beside her on the bed and gently placed his hand on her forehead.
"You don't feel warm…" He said, and took his hand off. He pulled the sheets open and lay down beside her. Zelda nudged his side.
"Can I sleep alone tonight? Do you mind?" She asked. She noticed the confusion on his face, she added, "It's sort of hot. Two bodies in this tiny bed might get a little toasty." Link stared at her with disbelief. Just earlier today she had confessed that the weather was getting cold. Something was wrong. Zelda never acted like this. But Link was too tired to argue at this point. He bit his lip, and let out a sigh.
"Sure, I guess I'll sleep on the floor with Aryll then." He muttered as he climbed down the stairs and made his way to the door. "I'm going for a little walk. Go ahead and eat dinner without me Aryll." He yelled back, and with that, he slammed the door shut.
The instant Link felt the cool breeze linger on his skin, he was relaxed. By now it was already dark out, but he still managed to make out the path way from the light beams shining down from the moon. His boots dug into the gravel of the pathway and made a nice crunching sound. With each step, he began to wander farther and farther away from his grandma's old hut.
Eventually his feet lead him up the spiraling path and he found himself resting atop the boulder that Zelda and he had been sitting on earlier that day. He leaned back onto his arms and sighed as he reminisced of the past events today.
Zelda was never a girl to cause a fuss over anything. In fact, she was the exact opposite. She made a point to stay out of drama and go with the flow of everything for the better of everyone else. Perhaps it was just her nerves. After all, the wedding was only a couple hours away… Link couldn't help but feel a little jittery himself. Just the thought of being committed to someone even after so many years was still unfathomable. Maybe that was it. Maybe Zelda wasn't ready for all this commitment. After countless times of always being there to rescue her, it was almost obvious that they were destined to be together. He was the Hero of Time and she was the Princess of Hyrule, which inevitably meant they shared a bond that was unbreakable. But whether it was true love or not was the question. Link knew that he was in love with her, and he felt like he had made the right choice when proposing. But whether the feelings were mutual was what caused him to be uneasy. Worry floated in the air.
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. It was probably best to just forget about it. He leaned back onto his hands and gazed up at the sky. The stars above Outset Island were shining brighter than usual, perhaps trying to reflect the exciting events to come the next day. The midnight sky was set as a canvas and contrasted against the stars. He wished Zelda were there beside him to admire the view. He remembered the old days when they'd always sneak out and come up here at night to just gaze up at the sky. After a couple minutes, Link's breathing slowed to an still pace, and he felt his eyes begin to droop.
"Hey there, mister!" A cheery young female voice rang in his ears. Startled, Link sat up immediately and rubbed his eyes, still dazed from his nap. He could barely make out anything; His eyes had not yet adjusted to the night time. He pulled out his sword and looked around to find the source of the noise. "Behind you, sweetheart." He felt a poke in his side and whipped his body around. There behind the boulder stood a girl dressed in a light blue blouse, a disheveled brown skirt, and a pair of ragged old boots. On her back was a bag of arrows and in her hand was a bow. She stood a couple inches shorter than him, but he couldn't decide what her age was. She had the features of a child; soft skin and a round little nose, but her eyes were a deep piercing violet color, and her eyebrows were raised in amusement. Her chin was sharp and her stark cheekbones were curved upwards in a smirk.
"Who… Who are you?" He stammered.