Link was giddy with excitement, though a bit apprehensive, as he strode through the halls toward the kitchen, a large picnic basket in hand. He proceeded to the tray full of small sandwitches for the day's lunch and snatched up a few, wrapping them in napkins and placining them in the basket, along with the bottles of milke he had picked up from the ranch earlier that morning. Then he smoothly ducked behind a counter top as one of the servants came in carrying a tray of cream puffs. He winced at the thought of the cheff's face when he saw that four of his precious deserts would be missing from the table today, but then Zelda's face appeared, warm and delighted at the thoughtful treat. She would be waiting at the gate now, so he hurried off, gently placing the cream puffs on top of the sandwitches.

There by the gate was the princess, her pale pink dress billowing in the spring breeze, back straight and tall, elegant and proud, a true emblem of Hyrule. If anybody was fit to rule the kingdom Zelda was by far top choice. But what nobody expected was the action this strong minded woman had taken after the death of her father. While externally she was still lively and strong, she no loner had any will to lead. Her days were now spent roaming endlessly through Hyrule, picking flowers and letting them wilt away, hours of time gone by alone in thought. It seemed her only joy now was the young hero, by her side always. The people of Hyrule had every expectation of the union of these two young people, to conquer together the tasks of the kingdom.

At the arrival of her friend, a pleasent smile appeared on Zelda's face. She hurried over to Link and embraced him. "You're late!" She said mockingly, grinning.

"The Hero of Time is never late," replied Link, returning the smile. "Everyone else is simply early."

"You may be the Hero of Time, but I can still beat you!" Zelda ran after Link, giggling all the way. Link was obviously faster, and he teased her by running backwards, swinging the basket in front of her. "Oh you!" she shouted, picking up her skirts, shoes falling off behind in the tall grass.

As Link swung the basket in front of him the top came off one one side, but he hardly noticed. Zelda was almost caught up with him when he tripped over a rock in the field, falling over on his back, the basket landing across his face. The princess was there immediately to make sure he was okay. Link lifted the basket from his face to reveal whipped cream splattered all across his nose and cheeks. They both laughed long and hard, Zelda occasionally wiping a smudge of cream off his nose with her index finger and eating it, making them errupt into a new fit of laughter.

They finally lay down in the grass, their sides aching, out of breath, still giggling. Zelda inspected the rest of the basket and found two sandwitches unharmed, and one napkin almost clean. She set up a small lunch, putting the sandwitches on opposite sides of the top of the basket, wiping off the sticky milk bottles with the clean napkin. The sandwitches were good. That is to say that they were not by any means a glorious meal, but the two friends were hardly thinking about the food. They exchanged some light conversation: Malon's cows were doing well this year; an overly dramatic version of Link's pastry theivery; immitations of the cheff's face when he found out. Both thought silently to themselves on the recent death of the beloved King, but neither brought it into the conversation. Zelda hadn't spoken of her father sense the day of the funeral, and she appreciated everybody's attempts to bring her out of her depression. She in turn did her best to keep a cheerful face, and the grief of the townspeople subsided easily.

Link noticed her face sadden and put his arm around her. "Are you alright?" He didn't know what else to say.

Zelda looked up and abruptly tried to smile, but this time it didn't fool anybody. She gave up and bowed her head, embarassed. "Yes, I'm fine," she muttered weakly.

"But you're not fine," said Link, wishing desperately to find a way to help her. "It's okay."

Then Zelda did something so unexpected Link almost fell over backwards again. She leapt into his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably into his shirt. Link put his arms around her awkwardly. He wished he understood, and felt horribly ashamed for making her cry. He sat there for what seemed like hours, hot tears falling down his back, holding his friend as if he would never let go. Eventually Zelda's weeping subsided, and she sat up facing him, her eyes shot with red, wiping off her face with her sleeves. She looked up at Link, feeling incredibly helpless. "I'm sorry... It's just... I miss him so much."

Link realised she was talking about her father and felt a bit of relief that it was not somthing he had said. "I understand," he lied. "He was a good King. WHo better than his daughter to take the head of the kingdom?"

To his dissapointment she started crying again. "I can't do it by myself!" she wailed. "I need him. I can't do it alone."

Link tilted up her chin so that they were eye-to-eye, hardly two inches appart. "You don't need to be alone, because you have... me." Zelda looked into his eyes, putting her arms around him, and kissed him deeply.