AN: Post Ocarina of Time. But I must say, I've never actually played it, but I've read the manga. I know. I know, at least 90% of you fans out there are probably gasping and screaming. My mom's a Nazi (no offense) when it comes to that sorta thing, but I have read the manga, so that should at least count for something!! Please forgive me!!! This one-shot is pretty short; I'll warn you ahead of time. And odd. I wrote it at around eight last night. Disclaimers, I own nothing, etc.

Sometimes, Zelda wishes for war.

Every time she peers at the sky, she can't help but think of him. Link, the Hero of Time with the sun-kissed hair and blue eyes as deep and vast as the ocean. She misses him more than she should. But it was she who bade him leave in the first place. She's regretted it ever since.

Oh, that day! The battles fought, the victories one, the paths of destinies forged. She relishes each moment like the air she breathes, bad times included. Because in the times of pain and suffering, the Hero was there to battle for justice, to be by her side…

To love me, she thinks bitterly to herself. She turns her head away from the window, stone floor now black ice under her thin shoes. She can't bear to look at her kingdom, the glorious sunlight, the hush of her citizens, the gentle wind making the tall grass sway to the tune of baking bread.

She can't look because the Queen of Hyrule can't stand the thought of everlasting peace if Link is not by her side.

Sometimes, Zelda hates how she wishes for war.

She is disgusted by herself. The want to plunge her kingdom into darkness both maddens and sickens her at the same time. When it's quiet, she closes her eyes and finds herself back in that era, when shadows covered the world and demons ravaged the hillsides. Blood and rotting corpses littered Hyrule Field like the flowers that covered it now. And when she imagines that such a thing befell the world, the thought makes her cry.

She wishes the Hero were here to dry her tears.

He isn't, though, so pressed against the wall, the lady weeps alone, wondering if her sobbing would somehow erase her sins.

Her fists clench, her eyes fall shut, her ivory teeth grind together. Her blood leaps through her veins in gigantic strides, flying within her body.

Sometimes, Zelda wishes she had never played the ocarina.

That's when the though occurs to her.

Her eyelids slam open, irises glowing sapphire from under a curl of ebony eyelashes. She is so shocked she doesn't bother to wipe the lingering tears from her face.

The ocarina. It was so simple.

It sits not even ten feet away from where she stands. It has been sitting there for the last year, cold from abandonment and embalmed by glittering specks of dust. With carelessness, she brushes the dust away using ivory-gloved fingers. In severe plainness, the Hyrulean Royal Crest pushes itself through the dust and holds her gaze.

She smiles.

Hands trembling, she raises the ocarina to her lips.