She looked radiant as she stood there on the marble floor, her back turned towards them all as she was officially crowned queen. Malon would have lied if she claimed that right then, despite how she would have loved to say that she had gotten used to the thought of having lost Zelda and everything they had once had together in the couple of months since Ganondorf had finally fallen and Zelda had returned to her old life, she felt the pangs of pain deep in her soul as Zelda muttered a soft yes to the questions, the crown being placed on her head moments before she turned around to face the crowd in front of her. She shone, the light that streamed in through the window hitting the metal and stones of the ornament as they neared the end of the ceremony.
If someone had told Malon just a little year ago that Sheik, the traveller who liked to frequent Lon Lon Ranch was actually their princess who had somehow managed to escape the castle during the coup d'état all those years ago, Malon would surely have laughed before offering the person telling her the rumours to stay at the ranch for the night seeing as they must have been exhausted to have been able to make up a story like that. And yet here she was, standing at the back of the crowd as she watched how the girl she had once thrown a bucketful of water at, using her apron to shield herself from her counterattack, became the queen of Hyrule. It felt unreal, like it was all some sort of twisted dream that Malon would soon find herself being shaken awake from by Zelda to find that she had fallen asleep while they had been lying on the field, looking up at the stars.
But no one came to wake her up. This was all real, and although the people around her were constantly pushing past her in an attempt to move around the pillars that blocked part of their view in an attempt to get a better chance to fawn the fabric of their queen's dress, she had never felt as alone as she did right then, faced with the prospect of having to move on and forget just how much Sheik and Zelda had come to mean to her over those last couple of years. Because what else could she really do? If she were to try to find someone to talk with, Malon already knew that no one would ever believe her. Not that she could blame them for that. Saying that the queen had managed to stay hidden from Ganondorf's forces for seven long years, not by leaving the country, but rather by donning the persona of Sheik, was such an outlandish claim that even though Malon was sure of what had happened, she still occasionally found herself doubting if she had perhaps misunderstood something, seen things that weren't there.
At least an advantage to being simply yet another girl from a ranch looking to catch a glimpse of the queen on her coronation day rather than one of the nobles standing right next to Zelda was that Malon could slip away and out of the Temple of Time without anyone stopping her or questioning her about her reasons for leaving so soon. So, sparing only a second to cast one last glance at Zelda and feeling how her stomach dropped at the sight of the carefully rehearsed serene expression on her face, Malon turned around and let her feet decide where to take her.
That plan ended up leading her through the Castle Town Market, towards the path leading towards the castle.
Even as it rose up above her, still only halfway finished and with most of the towers without a roof, resembling a skeleton more than the majestic castle Malon could remember from her childhood, it was an impressive sight. Malon had her doubts that anything would ever be able to trump the sense of silent awe that filled her each time she saw the castle in the distance. Even if it was slowly beginning to resemble the building she remembered sometimes visiting to look for her father more and more with each passing day, and even if she could still not look at it without also being reminded of Zelda, there was something almost comforting about the fact that after everything it had been through, Hyrule Castle would still be there to stand proud above the town below.
Almost like how Zelda was slowly but surely turning into the perfect queen. Malon hated how quick her mind was to provide her with the mental image of how Zelda would return to the castle to continue the celebrations for her coronation, something that would surely last days, but that was what happened. Much like how everyone looked to the castle to find hope for the future, Malon was not blind to the fact that Zelda had also turned into a symbol of hope for everyone.
It was selfish, but Malon could not help but wish that she could go back to the time where Zelda had been her hope, the one who would be able to make her see sense when she was scared, back before Zelda had had to adopt that role for the entirety of the country.
As she continued towards the castle, heading along the hedges, Malon passed more than just a couple of guards, but maybe they were all as excited about their new queen as the people at the coronation itself had been, or perhaps they noticed her red eyes and the way she refused to look at them, keeping her gaze down, firmly fixed on the ground, and decided that they could allow her through just this once seeing as she had just cried. Malon did not know the reasons, and although she knew that as a child, she would have loved to figure out the right combination of expressions and sounds that would allow her to walk around as she pleased, she could not have cared less. All that mattered was that the guards' reluctance to stop her allowed her to continue deeper into the castle, and as she turned around corners and walked along paths, it did not take long until she found herself in an open area deep within the castle walls.
Malon supposed that it was beautiful. With the flowers, grass and trees around her as well as the melodic sound of water gliding past her, Malon could easily imagine how it had been built specifically to ensure that the different guests that would come to visit Hyrule would have somewhere to go in case they wanted a chance to experience just what Hyrule had to offer when it came to nature. But even then, Malon was too busy wallowing in her own sadness to pay much attention to her surroundings, and she sat down in the middle of the courtyard, surely staining her dress, she pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging herself while she lowered her chin to rest on her kneecaps and waited for the tears.
But the tears did not come. It seemed that now she finally had the chance to cry without fearing that anyone would turn around to ask her what was wrong or why she was ruining their queen's big moment with the noise, she was unable to even let herself let go of all of the feelings she had tried so hard to ignore during those couple of months where everything had been chaos.
So rather than crying, Malon sat still, staring directly into the wall in front of her. It was grey. An odd choice, with the height of the walls only adding to the feeling of slowly being suffocated.
To tell the truth, Malon was not sure how Zelda would be able to survive life inside the castle. For as long as Malon had known her, Zelda had always been the first to head out into the field, running as quickly as she possibly could, calling for Malon to hurry up, yelling that she needed to get away from the crowded room they had just left. But then again, that could all have been a lie. After all, the story of Sheik, a traveller who had arrived in Hyrule a couple of years after Ganondorf had seized power, had been a lie, and the story of Zelda, a simple girl from Kakariko Village who had known that she had to seize the opportunity to leave her village behind, had been nothing but another lie, meant to calm Malon and make her stop asking anymore questions that might have led to her discovering what was actually the truth, that Zelda did not only share her name with the princess that had disappeared when Malon had been a child, no she was indeed the very same person.
Malon knew that someone had entered the courtyard, their steps echoing between the tall walls as they crossed the bridge, but she sat still, not even turning her head to acknowledge them. What was the worst that could happen? If it was a guard who had changed his mind and was now coming to ask her to leave, at least Malon had gotten the chance of seeing exactly what was waiting for Zelda.
Even as she entertained the idea, Malon knew that it was not the case. The sounds were not heavy, not rustling enough, to indicate the movements of someone wearing the elaborate armour that was standard for the guards. No, instead it sounded like the person was doing their best to walk as quietly as possible, the sound of their shoes hitting the surface growing fainter as they reached the grass, walking over to stand next to Malon.
"I could not find you anywhere at the feast." Zelda's voice was soft as she brought an end to the silence between them, a silence that had lasted for months.
How Malon would have loved to give in to the urge to turn to look at her, allowed herself that tiny motion, if nothing else, then to see how Zelda was looking, if she would find that Zelda looked as tired and sad as her or if she was rather looking towards the future the same way those around them tried to do, wearing a bright smile as she talked about all of the changes she would have to make to try to mend everything that had happened during those seven long years where she had not been there, having had to flee the castle the moment Ganondorf had first attacked.
Malon was not sure what would have hurt more, to see that their separation had brought Zelda as much pain as it had brought her, or to see that Zelda had already been able to put it behind her, to the point where there might never have been anything for her to mourn. So she kept staring straight ahead, letting Zelda know that if she wanted to talk about it, she would have to do it herself.
It appeared that Zelda understood exactly what she meant, for she let out a short sight. "I tried looking for you, but I could not see you anywhere in the crowd."
It was always like that, had always been like that, even when Malon had known her as a traveller and then a girl from a village. There was never a question, it was always a statement. Always 'I see that you have cows', never 'is that a cow, why do you have it here?' and although Malon had found it endearing, had loved how Zelda had always been so sure in her own observations, right then, she had to ignore the way her entire being begged her to come with some harsh comment about how Zelda did not seem to realise that things had changed between them ever since she had been crowned queen, that things would always be different now that they were both aware of their different positions and that they would never be able to go back to the way things had been before.
"I thought that the invitations had said that anyone near to me where invited to stand the closest to me during the ceremony, no matter what their position in society might otherwise have been," Zelda continued, and Malon could feel how she sent her a glance that might have been supposed to be subtle, but really was anything but that.
And that was the thing that made it all too much to take for her, the way Zelda managed to say those words like it was somehow Malon's fault that they could no longer be together the way they had been before, like she should have gone up to all of the nobles, all of the guards positioned around the queen, and told them that she, a girl from a ranch that no one knew, someone who did not hold any titles, should be granted the honour of standing so close to the queen of Hyrule that she could have taken her hand if she had only reached out.
Malon heard herself snap at her even before she had fully realised what had happened, having turned around in an instant to glare up at Zelda. "And I thought that you would already have understood by now that things have changed between us in such a way that I would never have been able to be up there with you."
But maybe Zelda truly had not understood that, or perhaps she was doing all of this in some misguided attempt to spare Malon's feelings. No matter the reason, it felt like falling from Epona the moment she reached the top of her jump as Malon saw the way Zelda looked down at her, the expression on her face full of confusion and hurt. She sat down next to her, seemingly not sparing a thought for the way the grass would no doubt stain the costly fabric of her gown.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I am talking about," Malon said, having to bite back a sob. By some miracle she did not deserve with how she was talking to Zelda, Malon found the strength to supress the urge to cry to instead look straight ahead, doing her best to force herself not to show any signs of just how much she would have given to be able to turn back time and arrive at a point where they truly had just been Zelda and Malon rather than the queen of Hyrule and a commoner who had somehow made her way into the castle.
"I am afraid that I truly have no idea," Zelda said once more.
Despite all of the times she had heard about how Zelda was wise beyond her years, how she had been the one to craft the plan that had ended up saving the kingdom, Malon could not help but wonder how Zelda could really have managed not to realise what was going on and how things had changed the second she had accepted the responsibilities that came with being a queen. She had to know how everyone would now be looking to her, both to find hope for the future, but also to see the picture of strength standing there, ready to repair the country after all of the damage that had been inflicted to it during Ganondorf's rule. How could she not know exactly why things had changed, why things would still have to change between them?
But as Zelda did not continue, it seemed to fall upon Malon to make it crystal clear just what she was talking about, and, with perhaps just a bit too much bitterness in her voice, Malon prepared to do just that. "Look," she began, "you are the queen of Hyrule. In fact, you are more than just that. Not only are you the ruler, you are the symbol of the future. People will look at you when they need hope, so they are expecting for you to be this image of perfection so that you can put on the façade of having everything under control even when it should really be obvious to everyone that it is not and will never be possible for any of us to completely erase the traces of what has happened."
"I know that," Zelda said, taking the opportunity that Malon's pause brought her to lean closer towards her, her long hair falling over, barely brushing past Malon's shoulder, and it took every last bit of strength Malon possessed to not allow herself to fall apart and cling to Zelda as she begged her not to leave her, to just give her another couple of seconds where she could make herself believe that things were able to continue as they had done before, "but I still do not see why that means that things between us will have to change. I mean, if you are here to tell me that you would like for things to change, then I completely understand and accept that, but it does not feel that way when I am looking at you."
A horrified laugh made its way to her tongue, being released as a bubbling sound, so filled with shock that Malon could not believe what she was hearing. Was that really what Zelda was hearing? That Malon for some reason wanted to end things between them, but was struggling to find the words to do so due to how Zelda was now the queen? How Zelda was able to both realise that her position in society had changed since the days where they had been able to look at each other while falling backwards into a pile of hay, the straws flying around them, making a mess of their hair that they did not care about, laughing at each other through it all, able to see how things had changed while still not seeing exactly what Malon was trying to tell her was beyond her. Not even the theory of Zelda merely doing her best to let her down gently was enough to explain it; there was simply no way Zelda was that good at pretending not to know what Malon was talking about. She might have managed to fool her for months, but even during that time, there had been the occasional crack in the façade, showing a glimpse of truth behind the carefully crafted stories. No, Zelda seemed to truly not know what was going on.
"That is not what I am trying to say," Malon hurried to assure her. Even though she could already tell how this was going to end, there was no need for both of them to end up with a broken heart. Although Malon could see how Zelda would be better off without her in the future, there was no power in the universe that would have been enough to make her lie and claim that she had planned to end the fragile thing that had bloomed between them over the months, "I just—you are the queen now. It will not be possible for us to continue on like nothing has happened, people would talk if we did, and right now that is the last thing they need. And although I suppose I can be selfish enough to admit that I would not be sitting here, having this exact conversation with you if this would only affect the rest of the country, I know that it will also be better for you to end things now, before it will give people something to gossip about."
And it seemed that those words were finally enough for Zelda to realise the reality around her, how things had changed, and how they would have to change with them if they wanted a chance to survive.
"Wait, are you telling me that—" Zelda began, her voice breaking halfway through the sentence.
Farore, how Malon wished that Zelda had realised this beforehand, had taken the time to come to terms with it the way she had done. It was hard enough to continue to remind Zelda of just how much was hinging on her now, rather than to attempt to convince her that the world did not need her even half as much as Malon needed her to stay with her and attempt to convince her that there was no need to bring the sacrifice that Malon knew was necessary.
"Yes," Malon snapped, pouring perhaps a bit too much anger into her voice, "I am telling you that it will not be possible for us to continue the way we have done before."
In the silence that followed her outburst, Malon could have sworn that even the sound of the wind brushing past her grew in volume until it felt like it was the only thing around her that mattered. In a way, it was nice, to let herself forget how Zelda was still sitting next to her, how a guard would surely come looking for her any moment now, searching for the queen to demand for her to return to the festivities inside the castle.
Zelda was the first to break the silence. She reached out, placing her hand on top of Malon's, and although Malon knew that she was risking so much by not immediately shaking it off, that brushing Zelda's gesture aside would be the wisest choice, she let it be.
"Is that what you want to happen, or is it what you think needs to happen?"
"What do you think?" Malon laughed, unable to hide the shocked tone. "Of course I would love if things had not had to change. But it has, so there is no reason to even wonder what I would have preferred."
"Why not?" finally, Malon could not take it anymore. She turned to look at Zelda. Although she had done her best to mentally prepare herself for the moment where she would no longer be strong enough to keep staring directly ahead, the sight of Zelda sitting there, the sunrays hitting her hair, her crown, and creating the illusion that Zelda herself shone like the sun, was enough to render her speechless, giving Zelda time to continue. "This," she pointed first towards Malon, and then at herself, tapping at the point just above her heart, "is between us and no one else."
"No." Malon shook her head. "It was only between the two of us when you were just another person in the crowd. You just became the queen of Hyrule, how can you not see that things have changed?"
In response to Malon's question, Zelda's expression turned sombre, the determined tuck at the corners of her mouth giving way to instead turn the smile she had worn like armour at the ceremony into a slight frown. "I know." she took Malon's hand in hers, squeezing it slightly. "I know that things have changed. I guess I had just hoped that what we had would not have to change as well."
"How could it not have?"
Zelda shrugged. "Because it was between us and no one else. Why would the fact that I am the queen now have to change that? I was a princess before as well, you know. Even when I was not at the castle, Impa still made sure to raise me so that I would one day be able to claim the throne. I have not turned into an entirely different person just because I have to rule over a kingdom now. I am still Zelda."
Her short speech left Malon speechless for a moment. Somehow, it seemed that Zelda had both understood at least a little of the problems that had appeared the moment she had accepted the responsibilities that came with the crown on her head, while completely failing to realise the reasons why Malon would have to leave the castle as quickly as possible, making sure that the guards would not catch her on her way out, and why this would most likely be the only time she ever got the chance to take in the beauty of both Zelda and the courtyard around them.
"I know you are still Zelda," she said, speaking slowly. Truth to be told, Malon was unsure just how much more of this she could take before she would find herself powerless to stop the tears, "and in a way, I guess that you will always be the person I am in love with."
"And so are you. Why is that not enough?"
"Because!" Malon tore her hand away from Zelda, hitting the palm of her hand against her knee in frustration. "What do you want me to say that will make you understand that things have changed? Because the kingdom needs stability? Because I have seen how people are looking at you when they find themselves doubting whether or not they will be able to continue on after everything that has happened, and that they are now expecting you to be the perfect ruler for them. Because I know that, although I would love to change it, I am only one person, and that, just a couple of hours ago, you swore to protect everyone within the kingdom. Are any of those explanations good enough for you?"
She stared directly at Zelda, doing her best to force her to answer. Malon was not sure what exactly she was hoping for, but she knew that she would not have been able to endure another second of Zelda asking her what she was talking about.
Zelda was silent for far longer than Malon had ever experienced before. Even when Zelda had fallen from the top of the ranch building, landing directly on her back with the result that all of the air had been pushed out of her lungs, she had only required a couple of seconds of lying on the ground, squirming from the pain, before she had accepted Malon's help and gotten back up to let her see if any of her bones had broken during the fall.
When she finally spoke, her voice was tiny, far quieter than Malon had ever heard before. "Is that really how you see it?"
"It is how it is right now." Malon said, doing her best to banish any kind of hopeful tone that might have found its way into her voice, "you are a queen and even if you were also the princess before, you did not have a kingdom to rule over during that time." forcing a smile onto her face that would have been bright enough to secure her and her father enough money to last them for an entire year if she had used it while attempting to convince people to buy their milk from their cart, Malon reached out to pat Zelda's shoulder. Although the ceremonial armour blocked her way, she knew from the way Zelda nodded her head, instinctively leaning towards her, that she had noticed it. "It might not feel like it is the right thing to do, and trust me, I would much rather close my eyes and pretend that everything is still the same as it was only a year ago, but this will be better for both you and Hyrule."
"And what about you?" Zelda asked.
And although Malon had spent so much of her time pondering that exact question, wondering how she would ever be able to look at the castle much less listen to the declarations Zelda would make without also being reminded of the times Zelda had made her laugh until her stomach hurt, or how her stomach had turned into a swarm of butterflies the first time Zelda had leant over to press a kiss to her lips, she found that she did not have an honest answer to the question.
"Compared to the kingdom and you, I doubt that my fate matters all that much."
"It does to me." Zelda reached out to place her arm around Malon's shoulders, the movement slow as she maintained eye contact with her through it all, silently asking her for permission to continue. "You matter, Malon. And to me, you are more important than the kingdom."
"Then I suppose you should not have accepted the responsibilities that came with being a queen," Malon mumbled in a subdued voice.
"What do you want me to do?" if the frustrated tone took Malon by surprise, the way Zelda suddenly stood up, glaring down at her shocked her. "I am the only one who was able to do it. Is that what is wrong? Are you angry that I lied to you about Sheik and about the village, is that why you have barely bothered to even look at me all of the times I have gone to Lon Lon Ranch while preparing for the coronation? Did you want me to say no, to let Hyrule descend into chaos as the court would begin fighting with each other over who should sit on the throne?"
"No! But you aren't thinking rationally about this."
"Then tell me what is really going on! Because Nayru knows that I still do not know what you are talking about when you say that it would be impossible for us to continue on like we have done before." Zelda finished speaking, placing her hands at her sides.
From her spot on the grass, Malon was suddenly all too aware of the fact that she was sitting here, not even a metre away from the queen, and that so far, the only thing she had done during their conversation had been to insult her.
She got up, trying her best to pat the dirt off her skirt before she pointed towards Zelda. "This is what I am talking about. Let us pretend for even a second that there are not hundreds of people waiting for you to return to the feast and that they would not tear you apart if they ever heard about me. Even if we could ignore all of that, there is still the fact that I am no one, just a girl from a ranch, and that you are the queen." a laugh, completely devoid of any joy, escaped her as she took a deep breath. "I mean, just look at us now. I can count how many times I have ever seen you lose your composure on one hand, but all of those times, it was due to me continuing to push even when I knew I should have stopped a long time ago. And that is not what you need. You need someone who will be able to understand you and to help you rule. You need someone who can relate to what you will have to go through when you have to figure out what the best way to rule will be. And although I would love to pretend that I could be that kind of person, we both know that I cannot change myself and become what you need." she paused, breathing heavily, and just like that, it proved to be too much. The tears felt warm as they rolled down her cheeks, staining her blouse with an almost blue colour as it hit the fabric. Despite the warmth of the summer air around them, Malon found herself shaking like she had gone outside in the winter without any means of staying warm.
"Malon!" even before Zelda had exclaimed her name, she had moved closer, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her in for a hug. Maybe it was simply the fact that she had grown tired while trying to make Zelda realise the reality of the situation they had found themselves in, or perhaps Malon had simply not come to terms with what she would have to do. No matter what the reason, fact was that she found herself leaning into the hug, letting Zelda run her fingers through her hair as she hummed low, comforting words to her. "Is that why? You think that now, after everything that has happened, the most important thing for me is to find someone I can marry who will be able to tell me how a queen has to act?"
Even though she knew in her heart that the answer to that question was yes, Malon stayed silent. There was something about the way Zelda was able to say things, how she seemed to have a talent for making even the most rational plans appear senseless as she repeated the thoughts that had gone through Malon's head when she had realised that now that Zelda had become the queen, it would also mean that she would have to make that sacrifice.
Thankfully, Zelda did not demand an answer from her, instead continuing to let her stay close to her as she spoke. "I promise you that that is the last thing I need. Someone who would try to make me fit their idea for how the perfect princess should act? No, I would never voluntarily bind myself to someone who will only be there to tell me what to do. Because I love you, do you understand?"
In a way, Malon did understand. After all, she had already gone through the process of having to compare the way Zelda could make her feel like the world was just a bit brighter simply by being near her to how the kingdom needed their princess to become their queen more than ever before. Seeing as Zelda did not appear to have given any of that a thought before just now, Malon could see why she would cling to the idea of love the way Malon could still not keep herself from doing as well.
"But Hyrule needs you," she tried weakly.
"I have already given Hyrule more than enough." the iciness seeping through the words caused Malon to look up at Zelda. She found her looking towards the far end of the courtyard, a look in her eyes that told Malon that she was not seeing the same thing as her. "Both I, the other Sages, and Link have already given so much that if anyone were to attempt to claim yet another part of our lives, I am sure that would be the thing that would make me tell them to leave and not to bother to return." gradually, the distant expression on her face lessened, and when Zelda looked down at her, Malon was relieved to see a smile on her face. It was a small, unsure expression, but a smile nonetheless. "So if you are thinking that you have to leave me to save Hyrule, I am begging you not to. I love Hyrule, but I love you even more, and if you asked me to, I would choose you over my titles in a heartbeat." she reached over to pull Malon closer to her, and Malon let her, for once completely unable to do anything else than to sit still and listen as Zelda continued. "So if this is really about you wanting to leave but not knowing what to say, I will not try to argue with you about it. But if all of this talk about how I need someone other than you actually stems from some kind of idea that it is what you have to do now that I have been crowned queen, I am begging you not to allow that thought to decide for us." slowly, but still with a barely concealed desperation hidden right behind the carefully rehearsed look of the motion, Zelda lowered her head, pressing a soft kiss to her temple before her gaze flickered over to Malon's eyes once more. "Will you please say something? Anything, I just need to hear which explanation was correct."
"The second," Malon whispered, "it was the second. It always was the second."
"Then will you allow me to tell you that to me, you are more important than any kingdom, more important than any title or any ball you might ever try to compare yourself with?"
"But people will talk—"
"People will always talk," Zelda interrupted her, "they talked when I was a child, and they continued to talk even when Ganondorf did his best to keep his plans close to himself. No matter what I do, people will always talk about those who possess power. And I, for one, would be honoured if you would give them the opportunity to gossip about how they have spotted you and me together, and that they have reason to believe that we have formed a romantic relationship." Zelda shifted slightly so that she was sitting with her head leaning against Malon's shoulder, a position that seemed uncomfortable to Malon with the way Zelda was only a few centimetres away from hitting herself with her armour, but she did not seem to mind, her voice growing lower as she added. "Please, if there is anything I can do to convince you to stay, I will do it. I just need your help to let me figure out exactly what it is that you need."
"I only need you," Malon heard herself admit. For a second, she did her best not to look at Zelda, at once both scared and excited to find out what her reaction would be, but then the butterflies in her stomach all but demanded that she looked, and Malon was quick to comply.
But the moment she turned to look, she found herself almost knocked backwards as Zelda moved to throw her arms around her, leaning over towards her, so much force behind the movement that she almost managed to make them both fall over. Still, Malon reacted instinctively, leaning back as she brought her hands up to catch Zelda before she would have continued her path towards the floor.
Laughing and seemingly not caring about how she had just managed to not only ruin the intricate hairstyle but also made the armour move slightly out of place, Zelda did not hesitate to lean in even closer. "If that is the case, I can promise you right now that I will be here for you for as long as you need me to."
"What about the feast?" Malon asked, her attempt of being funny sounding incredibly forced the moment the question had left her mouth.
But despite that, Zelda still let out a laugh, the sound of it being the most melodic and beautiful thing Malon had heard in ages.
"I am sure they will figure out something to do without me for a little while longer," Zelda said, amusement twinkling in her eyes, "besides, as you have said, I am the queen now. They are not in a position where they will tell me what to do, at least not on my coronation day. And right now, I want to stay out here with you."
"So do I."
"Then why should we not stay?" Zelda tilted her head slightly, but did not otherwise give her a chance to answer, as she took her hand and began to walk towards the far end of the courtyard, gesturing towards a window in the wall. "Come, I want to show you around. Hopefully, this will not be the last time we are able to sneak away from boring celebrations to instead walk around in the gardens, and the next time, I would like for you to be able to find your way around. Where the guards able to help you find this place?"
"Should they have helped?" Malon asked, and she was almost sure that the puzzled expression that surely appeared on her face would have been able to rival even that of her father when he had just woken up after a nap. "I thought that they were supposed to keep me from wandering around in here."
That made Zelda pause long enough to twirl around. "Oh, no, not at all. I instructed them to let you go wherever you would want to, but to help you in case you looked lost. I suppose I should have made it clear what exactly lost meant." clicking her tongue, Zelda shook her head, and a smile tugged at her lips, a real smile this time rather than the fake one she had worn during her coronation. "But that does not matter now. Really, if anything, I should be grateful that they did not show you around since that means that I still have the chance to do so. Now, follow me, there is something you have to see!"
Her enthusiasm was infectious, and Malon found herself following along, the feeling of dread and loss that had filled her for those past months soon giving away to make space for the much warmer sense of love that only grew each time Zelda would throw open a door to show her another corridor, having already begun to tell her about the stories behind the paintings that lined almost every wall in the castle before the door had closed behind them.
Although the castle, with the rooms filled to the brim with splendour and luxury, was so different from anything Malon had ever experienced growing up, when Zelda held her hand, it was easy to remember that, queen or not, Zelda was still the same person as she had been when Malon had first opened the door in the middle of the night to find a traveller standing outside, completely drenched from the rain and asking for permission to spend the night at the ranch. And even as Zelda reached up to readjust the armour hanging on her shoulders, looking a bit more like the queen she was, Malon could see the way she had reached out to tickle her, how it had felt the first time they had kissed, the way Zelda had stood, looking down at the floor, when she had admitted that she had lied about who she was hidden in the way Zelda held herself.
She was still Zelda, just like Malon was still the girl who had grown to realise that no one could make her smile like Zelda.
And even as Hyrule changed around them, the truth of those years they had spent in each other's company would never change.