A man of few words, Link was not used to having to speak his mind, much less confess his attraction to a person who he wasn't even sure thought of him as more than an occasional advisor.
'I can do this, I need to do this.' He thought to himself. 'Surely after slaying all those monsters, it should be no problem.'
He shook his head and started towards the table where Zelda was sorting through her state of the kingdom speech. She sighed in frustration; Kakariko and the castle town were nearly finished rebuilding after having been decimated by Ganon and his minions a year ago. Relations with the Zoras and Gorons, however, had been touch and go at best ever since the incident because of the royal family's part in helping Ganon to rise to power.
"Goddesses damn it!" Zelda shouted as she slammed her hands down on the table. "You were such an idiot, Father!"
'Perhaps this isn't the proper time to do this... I suppose I could come back after the speech is over with.' Link tilted his head back and closed his eyes before sighing and turning around to leave. He was stopped just short of the door handle.
"Who's th- Link! What are you doing here? And what are those for?" Zelda pointed toward the flowers in Link's hands. He raised them up a bit, almost seeming to examine them himself.
"They're for you." He said as he walked up to her and set them on the table next to the papers. "For good luck!" He smiled half heartedly. "I knew that the speech was troubling you, so I thought I'd surprise you. They're freshly picked from The Lost Woods!"
"You shouldn't have, Link." She said as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, much to his surprise. "I can't take a break though, this has to get done."
"I don't think that you should worry." Link said as he sat down in one of the chairs next to the table. "Why don't you read it to me?"
Zelda shook her head, "I'd love to, but, as you can see..." She showed him what turned out to be blank pieces of paper. "I haven't written a single thing."
Link chuckled as he stood up and closed the distance between himself and the princess. "What in Hyrule are you doing?" Zelda asked, stepping away from Link.
"I... was going to help..." Link stopped himself. He didn't know where his response was going, but he did know that it made absolutely no sense. He shrugged and decided it was better to just tell the truth, "I was going to kiss you, and if you wouldn't mind, I would still like to."
Zelda had always suspected that Link had feelings for her, but she never assumed that he would be so forward about them; and while it pained her to reject his advances, she knew she had to. "Link, I can't. You know that I'm to be married within the month."
"Well, yes... I do." Link admitted quietly. "Princess, I'm apologize if I am out of line, but I feel that you're making a mistake. I know you feel the way that I do!"
"This isn't going to happen." Zelda turned her back to Link. "My people need king that knows how to rule their country... You're a fine hero, no one would say otherwise, but you aren't a king."
"I am not proposing that I be made king, I understand that you must marry nobility."
"Then what are you proposing?" Zelda said softly, unsure of Link's true intentions.
The hero stepped close enough to Zelda that she could feel his breath on the nape of her neck. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't crave your touch, I need to be close to you, Zelda. I don't want to be king, all I want is your skin against mine, your lips on my own. We need not speak of it afterwards."
Zelda's heart was racing, she wanted to give into his advances so badly; she took a deep breath, what she had to do was obvious.
"I want you to leave." She said sternly. "Right now."
"Are you sure?" Link asked as he moved away from the princess, "Zelda, I-"
"Go."
The hero nodded slowly, he didn't understand why he'd been rejected. Her feelings for him were always so obvious. He walked quickly out of the room, he felt both embarrassed and defeated at the same time. What was unknown to him was the pain Zelda felt for having rejected him. She had always loved Link, even from day one when he snuck into the garden to deliver the Great Deku's message. Her first priority was the kingdom though, and as she looked out at castle town through her balcony window, she knew that she had made the right choice for it.