AUTHOR'S NOTES: I was reading some Legend of Zelda fanfiction recently and was inspired to write this! It's just a simple but sweet one-shot of Zelda and Link when Zelda breaks free of her crystal prison and finally has a chance to speak to Link. In the game, she just says the "good morning" line after fading to white and there's no further dialogue. I thought that would be a good place to include some more dialogue that could give more insight on their personal relationship with each other.

This is the first fanfiction I've posted in the Legend of Zelda section, so I apologize if it's not high enough quality of what you may be used to! I'm still not terribly experienced with writing, so it could suck. I don't know, you have to tell me that.

This fanfiction has three separate endings now, so make sure to check them out! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda doesn't belong to me; if it did, Link would NOT be Link. Like, at all. That's why Nintendo's in charge of him. Oh, and I don't own Nintendo, either.

EDIT: Added another paragraph to provide more insight to Link's feelings. Also changed around a couple of lines.

EDIT 2: Looked over this chapter again and made a couple more edits, but haven't done that for the endings yet. And when you read over your own writing, sometimes you realize just how cheesy it can get. I swear I'm going to give myself a concussion with all of these facepalms.

The sound of shattering crystal echoed inside the Sealed Temple.

Link slowly stepped forward to welcome the Spirit Maiden, or rather, his cherished and beloved childhood friend; Zelda. She slowly took stepped down the small staircase in her elegant goddess dress and long, blond hair. Her sleepy blue eyes looked around and stopped when they saw Link, and she began to approach him. He ran in alarm as Zelda leaned forward and Link managed to catch her in time.

"Good morning… sleepyhead," Zelda teased, groggily. Link could only chuckle at this as if his friend wasn't trapped in a crystal for a thousand years.

"Good morning to you," Link responded. "Kind of funny how I was the one who came to wake you up." Zelda managed to get off of Link's arms and steady herself. With that, she put on her best (the most she could manage) annoyed face, although Link could easily tell she was happy to see him again.

"Of course! Didn't you remember the promise we made? About how you were going to wake me up?"

"Well, I'm surprised you remember. A thousand-year long nap doesn't help you remember things," He joked.

The old lady in the temple watched from far away, chuckling at their bantering. This was what the goddess was like when she was with her closest friend.

"Hey Impa…" Zelda gently nudged her friend and addressed her by her name, even though she insisted on just being referred to as a Servant of the Goddess. Zelda didn't like names like that. They seemed condescending to her, and she didn't want to talk down to a person who had helped her so much.

"Hm? Is there something you need, My Grace?" Impa stopped walking. They were in the Lanayru Desert, approaching the fabled Gate of Time.

"Back in the Eldin Spring…" She winced, reminiscing something unpleasant. "Remember what you said to Link?"

"The supposed 'chosen one,' you mean? Yes, I remember vividly." She nodded to herself and sighed. "'It took you far too long to get here. Looking at you, I fear the goddess is mistaken in her choice of agents. If this failure is any indication, you have no hope of defending Her Grace from those who seek to assail her.' Impa's face remained impassive. 'Do my words anger you, boy? Do my words sting? Let them. If I had not come when I did, your Zelda would have already fallen into the hands of the enemy.'" She finished, remembering it perfectly.

Zelda clenched her fist tightly until they became white. "But… but, why, Impa? Why did you have to be so harsh?" Zelda said, tears threatening to fall. "He was just trying to help! He must have wanted to see me again after so long, and you just chased him away and discouraged him!" She lashed out. Impa cringed at the veracity of her words. She was right, but it was a necessary evil, wasn't it?

"…"

"I suppose you thought of it as a way to encourage him, huh?" Zelda offered, calming down. Impa reluctantly looked at Zelda's face and nodded slightly. "Maybe that was just the thing he needed to get back up on his feet; try even harder to reach me." She shook her head and looked at her feet. "I…I'm sorry, Impa. When I learned about what you said to Link, I got angry. I thought that he didn't deserve to be put down like that, let alone have his friend taken away from him even longer."

"…" Impa remained silent. She didn't know what it was like to have that happen to her. As a being whose sole purpose is to aid the Goddess in times of need, the idea of a friend seemed mad to her. Wouldn't having friends stir your emotions and cause you to make irrational decisions?

"And…It hurt me, too. Even though those words may have been directed to Link, I couldn't help but cry after hearing them. Even after I was teleported, I could hear what you said to him. You knew that, didn't you?" Zelda looked up to Impa's face with sorrowful eyes, and Impa's expression softened at them.

"Yes… At the time, I believed it to be a valuable lesson for the both of you, but… it appears I was mistaken. Will you ever forgive me, Your Grace?" Impa went down on her knee and looked down to show she was serious.

Despite the situation, Zelda couldn't help but giggle. Impa looked up to the now-mortal Goddess confusedly. "Of course, Impa. I can't stay mad at you forever knowing your good intentions. And you don't have to keep calling me 'Your Grace.' I already told you didn't like that!"

"But-" Zelda shook her head disapprovingly, to which Impa chuckled. "My apologies, Zelda."

The blond-haired girl nodded her head and smiled. "Much better. Now we can talk like equals!"

"I… Yes, I suppose." Impa began, but furiously smothered the thought before she could voice it. She figured there was no reason to insist by this point.

"And just wondering…" Zelda looked away shyly, her hair whipping around with her head.

"Hm?"

"Do you… know why I got upset when you said those things to Link?"

Impa paused, and thought long about it. She knew that Zelda got mad at that, but she didn't know why she got mad. She racked her brains for an answer, but came up empty and shook her head.

Zelda sighed heavily, as if she were about to get a huge burden off her shoulders. "It's… because I love him. I love Link, and I couldn't stand seeing him like that. Do… you understand what love is, Impa?"

"…Love, Your- Zelda? I'm afraid I don't completely understand its significance." Impa replied, sadly.

"Well… It's sort of like when you know someone, and… you can't stop thinking about them." Zelda began. She knew it would be difficult to explain such a complicated and complex emotion. "You want to spend as much time as you can with them, because you enjoy your time with them very much." Impa nodded, allowing her to continue. "And… there are times when you want to be more than just friends. There is an empty hole in your heart, and you need them to fill it up. Otherwise, you might never feel… complete."

"…" Had Impa ever experienced love before? That feeling of companionship with someone, that sort of connection you feel you'll never have with anyone else. Zelda understood it and fell under its spell- fell for Link, it seemed, and from what Impa understood, it was just a powerful emotion. And it was nothing more than something that served to distract individuals from more important tasks. "Well-" She began to say something, but caught herself. Was it that simple? Or was there more to it?

"That kind of feeling I have with Link… will never disappear. No matter if he shares my feeling for him, I just want him to know…" Impa's eyes widened slightly. So 'true' love is something that can only be achieved when the feeling is mutual? A small chuckle coming from Zelda snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked like she was recalling a happier moment in her life. "You know, I was about to tell him, knowing that I had finally summoned up the courage to confess. But then a black twister separated myself and Link from each other… I don't think I could find that courage again." Impa frowned slightly at 'black twister.' She knew the one responsible for that, and to think that it would Zelda even more suffering than she initially thought...

She frowned. Impa still didn't completely understand the meaning behind this emotion, or why it was something to be desired so strongly by her. Regardless, she felt it was an obligation to encourage her, whatever the circumstances or case. "Nonsense. He may wield the Triforce of Courage, but you will definitely find it within yourself to tell him. If it was truly this important to you, wouldn't you be willing to do anything to accomplish what you've been longing for?"

Zelda's eyes widened and she nodded. With a new spark of determination in her eyes, the two took confident strides towards the Gate of Time…

Impa, now in her old age, remembered the events that transpired that day at the Gate of Time. She found it amusing how, soon after they spoke, Link happened to save the day and stop Ghirahim. Zelda gave Link the sacred Goddess' harp, and he had been playing it in order to unlock the sacred trials, which he then would proceed to strengthen his blade. Without that gift, the two would surely have never seen each other again.

Impa glanced over to the two intertwined in fate. Zelda had stepped closer to Link, and she could just barely make out a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"Link… Do you remember on the day of the Wing Ceremony, how I, um, invited you out to fly with me?" She smiled bashfully. Link's eyes widened slightly.

Their days spent together in Skyloft couldn't be spent without some stronger emotions being shared between the two, or at least by one of them. What was it about Link that made his childhood friend fall in love with him? Was it his dashing smile and face, or that respectable personality that complemented her own? Perhaps it could have been after seeing Link's many talents at just about everything, or Zelda's romance fantasies of two childhood friends making a promise to spend the rest of their lives together. It was probably one of those things, he was sure.

Regardless, Link knew what was coming. "Yes, I do..."

The moment Link's hand grasped the Bird Statuette, he raised it above his head and cheered. He endured painfully boring classes, painful swordplay sessions and the most painful of all, Groose's bullying. He was covered in eggs (he didn't know how Groose and his cronies managed to carry so many eggs, or how they were such good shots) but it was nothing a quick bath wouldn't fix.

His trusty Crimson Loftwing glided around Skyloft, where Link was met with the prospect that Zelda was suicidal and decided to jump off without calling her own Loftwing.

Of course, she probably expected for Link to catch her, but he always wondered what her reaction would be if he pretended he didn't notice her plummeting to her doom. But Link, almost regrettably, caught his best friend safely and his Loftwing flew the two up to the top of the Goddess Statue.

There, Link and Zelda completed the Wing Ceremony, not before Zelda temporarily lost control of her inhibitions and nearly kissed Link. Instead, she decided to wait the few agonizing minutes (at least to her) and settled for shoving him off the Statue of the Goddess instead.

Finally, now came the time where she would confess to her childhood friend all of the feelings that had built up over the years. It was unbearable not being able to tell him, and almost made her break down into tears when she thought of being rejected. All of her love, thrown down to the Surface, never to be seen again.

She couldn't bear to have that happen. She hoped he also secretly harboured feeling towards her too, and they would get their happy ending she wanted.

The two glided awfully close to each other, where Link could clearly tell she was stressed and nervous. It only increased his suspicions of what would happen when she blushed every time their eyes met. She never had any trouble making eye contact with him before.

"…Link. Hey Link!" Zelda shouted over the rushing wind.

"What is it, Zelda?" He didn't even need to ask about it; he'd read too many romance novels to really wonder about it. The surprising part was that someone; let alone his best friend might fall in love with him.

"Today was amazing. Watching you win the race and performing the ritual together…" She paused as she tried to recompose herself from the blush quickly creeping onto her face. "…I'll always remember this."

"Me too, Zelda. I will, too." He gave her a smile that was a little too charming, and Zelda blushed even redder and had to look away.

"You know… Link…" She began. "There's something that I've been meaning to tell you for the longest time…" She breathed deeply. "I..." Suddenly, a bright flash of light cut her off and she was swept away in a black twister, and disappeared into the sea of clouds below.

Zelda sighed sadly as she remembered Link's desperate voice calling out to her, and his devastated face. The sensation of falling through the cloud barrier terrified Zelda, and she knew Link wished he never took up her offer of flying around in the clouds, lest that happened to her.

"I tried to tell you, but…" She chuckled slightly. "I guess it was bad timing, huh?"

Link didn't know what it was that drove him on in his quest to find Zelda. Was it a sense of duty to protect the goddess? Or did he simply just long to see his best friend again and return to a simple life with his head in the clouds? Could it truly have been… love? Something must have gotten him this far, but could it have been love?

"What I wanted to tell you was that… that…"

Love was a strange emotion. All of those days spent playing with Zelda in their childhood, all those moments they constantly got distracted from studying, or the laughable times when Zelda woke him up from sleep and saw his over-the-top reaction. He supposed she had to fall in love eventually, and it hurt him knowing that he would have to reject her, since he still wasn't entirely sure about his feelings towards her. Link certainly wouldn't deny that she was a wonderful girl; beautiful, smart, kind and a personality that also complemented his were definitely times where the idea of a romantic relationship crossed his mind, but it never really stuck; what he really dreamt of was being a revered adventurer and exploring the great unknown; he didn't care about the "knight-gets-princess" part. But now that he's had his fill of excitement, what now?

When Zelda looked over his shoulder, he could sense Impa, who seemed to give Zelda a nod of the head.

Zelda took one final deep breath before finally saying: "…that I love you, Link." She breathed slowly. Her face burned bright red.

Link winced. Had he really zoned out just as Zelda was about to confess her love? He certainly didn't mean to recoil, lest he give Zelda the wrong idea. Then again, would it really matter in the end?

"Ah… Well…" Link scratched the back of his head, desperately trying to force himself into a blush to make his reaction more genuine. He let out a big sigh. "Zelda… I…"

AUTHOR'S NOTES: What will Link say to Zelda? Find out in the ending(s)!