The new King of Hyrule straightened his crown.
For the thousandth time.
Link sighed at his regal figure in the mirror. He'd only been king for a day or two and he already felt pressured. The pressure when saving Hyrule was completely different. At least then he had a good few years in between to relax and do whatever in Din's name he wanted without being judged. Now that he was the most important man in the country, he would constantly be judged on what he did, how he looked... Link shuddered, even though he knew that Hyrule was a kind and encouraging country.
He absently moved the tail of his new cap onto his shoulder. It was the same style, but the cloth was too soft, the golden stitching too perfect. He then glared irritatingly at his crown. What good was it if he didn't know how to be a king? He would have to abandon the hero inside of him- nay, that had BECOME him- to step up to this new level of responsibility.
With a sigh, Link took off his cap and set it on the vanity. He then realized what a mop of gold his hair was: messy and long without a care for style or image. Gonna have to get a haircut 'Your Highness', Link bitterly mocked himself. He didn't know where it came from, just that the thought was there. He leaned forward, placing his hands on the smooth wood, feeling lonely and inadequate.
You were just raised as a simple Kokiri, how the hell can you even match Hyrule's flimsiest king? There were countless others who were RASIED for this and yet he picked YOU. The young man who acted like a newborn on his first visit to Castle Town.
A gentle hand stirred Link from his thoughts.
"Link, are you okay?"
Link flinched a little. He found it hard to accept that he and Zelda were married now. It seemed like a wonderful reality that couldn't be real, and yet it was.
She then wrapped his arms around him saying "Please Link, just say something..."
Link grasped Zelda's arm just as gently "I'm fine." Zelda softly chuckled and kissed his cheek "Even when you're lying you can make it sound true."
Link winced at that remark. Dark- no that mysterious boy Vanitas- had only been defeated in the same span of time he'd had been crowned. While masquerading as his darker half, he had forced Link to do things he knew he would regret for the rest of his life. Link closed his eyes in silent thanks to Sora, the wielder of a mysterious thing called the 'Keyblade', who had defeated him.
Zelda pulled Link to a straighter posture, smoothing out the wrinkles in his tunic "Come now, you'll be the best King Hyrule has ever known." She saw Link's abandoned hat, and picked it up "Well this doesn't have as much value anyways." Zelda carefully folded the hat and stored it away, bringing out a much more familiar one.
Link's older hat was worn, frayed, handmade, had-me-down-
And yet it had so much more... 'character' as Link liked to say. The color seemed richer to him, the fabric so much warmer, every small stitch he had made with his own hand, and he knew the story behind each one.
Zelda tucked it underneath his crown, ensuring to scoop up any longer bits of hair inside the cap as well. "There, you look perfect." Link glanced in the mirror.
"The hat makes me look stupid..." he grumbled. Zelda laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder "I don't think so. The hat works perfectly."
Link smiled back, leaning his head on hers. He then frowned, giving into Zelda's worry "Zelda, I really don't think I'll be a great king... let alone a mediocre one-'
"Link, don't say that!" Zelda snapped, pulling herself away from him. "The only thing that holds you back right now is you okay?" She then bit her lip with a little regret for raising her voice, then added softly "I've known you since you were 13, Link. I know that you've been ready for this since then, that we've loved each other since then, and that there is no way you can do less than a fantastic job."
Link grinned, and held Zelda close "Thank you, Zelda." they kissed.
A knock interrupted them. "Yes?" Zelda asked.
The door opened, Ciara peeping in "Hey, um..." she paused when she saw how intimate Link and Zelda were. "Am I interrupting something? I'm sorry-"
"No, no you're fine, Ciara. What is it?"
She smiled meekly, and continued "There's someone who needs to see you, Zelda, Link. It's a dignitary from Termina coming to seek counsel about country relations."
Link and Zelda separated. Link raised himself taller and beamed "We'll be right there."
weee for Zelink!(- that will become a meme one day: weee for X!) a sort of mini sequel to Looming Darkness, just figured I'd write it to go back to my TLoZ roots(I wasn't always a KH nutter) hope you liked!
