LOSS.

She'd never forget the last words he ever spoke to her. "Don't worry, Zelda. It's just a small battle against Vaati. Nothing is going to happen. How could it? I saved Hyrule from Ganondorf and he had a piece of the Triforce. Vaati can't be much harder when he's accomplishing the same goal without it."

"You will be back, right?" she'd asked, forcing tears to stay in her eyes. She had not been able to hide the worry in her voice, however, or the quiver of her bottom lip as she had asked this.

"Yes. I will be back."

"Promise?" She'd bitten her lip so hard to keep it from quivering that it began to bleed, but she had not cared in the least.

He had smiled at her and held her hands up. "I promise."

Those were the last words she ever heard from him. She whispered a quiet, "Goodbye, Link..." but was not sure he heard her. She'd let the silent tears fall right then and there, knowing that something was going wrong, that he was not coming back...

And she was right. He never came back. Days passed and there was no word from him. On a dull, gloomy Friday afternoon, three weeks after Link left, the life of Princess Zelda would change forever.

The princess was sitting on the courtyard steps, staring over at the spot where she'd first and last met Link, when a tall man with a bushy mustache entered. "Princess Zelda, might I have a word?" he asked.

"Of course, sir," she said, turning to him. "What is it?"

"I have a bit of news about the legendary Hero," the man said.

Zelda's face brightened. "Is he all right? Is he coming back? He's coming today, isn't he? Is he—"

"Please, Princess, settle down," the man said. "I'm afraid what I'm about to tell you certainly won't brighten up your day." Her expression melted into a concerned frown. "I am terribly sorry, Princess, but the legendary Hero has failed in his attempt to save Hyrule again."

"What?" She stood up straight. "Is he badly hurt? I wish to see him right away! Tell me of his current whereabouts immediately, sir!"

"His current whereabouts, you ask for? My dear Princess, if you wish to see him, visit the cemetery in Kakariko Village. His body lies inside the Royal Family's Tomb, as he was such a courageous and strong young lad that we just had to put him in with the bodies of the dead royals."

Zelda took off and ran out of the castle and through the Market toward Hyrule Field, where she crossed the bridge and went inside the village of Kakariko. No... she thought. No, this can't be true... Link can't be dead, he just can't be... She felt as if her heart was tearing in half, a feeling she had never before experienced.

Once she reached the graveyard, she entered the Royal Family Tomb and looked around. She walked through two doors to where the Composer Brothers' Song was inscribed. The ReDeads that had once lingered in the room between the entrance and the inscription had vanished after Link saved Hyrule, and thus she had none of them to worry about. She closed her eyes and after a few moments, the inscribed stone moved aside, revealing a stairway down to where the bodies were kept, and hurried down.

She looked around and found another door. On the door were the words: Here lies the body of the Legendary Hero of Time. May he rest in peace though we might not. Infuriated at the door's words, she grabbed a chisel on the ground nearby and crossed out the words 'though we may not'. She also wrote the name 'Link' above the words 'of' and 'the' and put an arrow down. She read the new door's words, which, if counting only the words not crossed out, said: Here lies the body of Link, the Legendary Hero of Time. May he rest in peace.

She smiled sadly at the words and opened the door. Inside was a coffin made of pure marble, just as the royal coffins were. The words RIP: The Hero of Time were inscribed in the marble. Once again using the chisel, Zelda wrote Link's name under the words. She threw the chisel aside, took a deep breath and opened the coffin lid. Gasping at the sight inside, she let loose all her tears and broke into a heavy sob. There, in the coffin, was Link's cold, dead body. Zelda ran her fingers over the many cuts on him that he must have gotten while fighting against Vaati. Her tears fell onto his lifeless corpse and she cried and cried for hours, maybe days, it didn't matter to her. She just wanted, for some reason, to die and be with him. A reason, she didn't know, that was not because he was her savior and, most importantly, best friend.