*I'm re-uploading this, because I read through it and I hated the ending. so I changed it a bit, please enjoy!*
Hey Everyone! This is a little late, but here's my Memorial Day one shot! Please comment on how I did when you're done reading!
M.I.A
The sun shined brightly reflecting off of Zelda's black sunglasses, shielding her eyes as she drove her royal purple mustang towards the cemetery. The Royal Valley Cemetery wasn't far away from her bungalow house which made Zelda feel closer to him. He had gone MIA four years ago to this day, their 25th anniversary. She missed him so much, and still cried over her loss.
His name was Link, her hero, her lover, her husband for the past 25 years. As she turned into the street of the cemetery and made her way towards the back, she allowed a few hot tears to slide down her cheeks. Together they had had three children: Shiek, Hylia, and Tetra who, at the moment, were at school.
He was in the Air Force for 8 years before he had gone MIA after a failed infiltration mission in Gerudo, where the King had said he most likely had become a Prisoner of War. She parked her purple vehicle next to a cluster of graves with Hylian flags sticking out of the wet earth next to them. She sniffled, wiping her hand across her face, and ran her other through her platinum blonde hair. She got out of the car, and opened the back door. She reached in and brought out a beautiful assortment of flowers. Link had always liked flowers; he said they reminded him of her. Zelda smiled slightly at the thought.
They were all his favorites: Ancient flowers, Magic bean flowers, heart flowers, and various types of lilies. It was a rainbow of colors, and Zelda took pride in the fact that she had arranged them herself. He had encouraged her to open her own flower shop, but she never got around to it. Now she wished she had before he had disappeared.
She closed the car doors with a few loud thunks! And turned to walk towards her beloved's grave site. She remembered the faces of her darling children when they realized Daddy wasn't coming home. Poor Tetra, the youngest, had cried for days screaming for her Daddy. The thought made Zelda's heart twist with a pang of sadness. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she had to gulp to stifle a sob from coming from her mouth.
Sheik had been a sage, never complaining, and helping his sisters when Zelda could barely get herself out of bed in the morning.
After two weeks of full on depression, Zelda realized her children hadn't had a decent meal in two days, but had said nothing. Feeling extremely guilty and as if they knew they couldn't depend on her anymore (at the healthy ages of 14, 12, and 9) Zelda had pulled herself together. Link wasn't coming back, but he was still with them, and he was mad at Zelda for not taking care of their pride and joy. From then on, she never cried or relapsed into depression in front of her children and she never neglected them and they eventually healed.
She walked slowly across the green grass around the granite headstones of other veteran's graves, careful not to step on them, until she made it to the back. Zelda had spent the extra hundred rupees to get Link a traditional grave next to a beautiful cherry tree. The tree was in bloom now, and Zelda could see the petals blowing off of its limbs creating a pink hurricane around the gray marble headstone. It was a beautiful, but sepulchral, scene. There were birds sitting and singing in the cherry tree and flowers were springing up around the grave, creating a false sense of tranquility.
Zelda rounded the hill and saw a figure standing by the grave. She didn't recognize the man, though, and thought he must've been an old friend of Link's. He was wearing a green hoodie, with the hood pulled over his head, covering his eyes and hair. He was tall and toned, but that was all Zelda could tell from his features. He was staring at the grave, his body tense. She cautiously walked towards him, and stood next to him.
"Hello, Link." She said sweetly to the grave, but the man next to her tensed even more, but relaxed when he saw she was talking to the grave. She glanced at the man, but he looked away, and she gave a small smile.
"You must know my husband. He served in the Hylian Air Force for eight years. He was highly decorated, and became a well known pilot who was distinguished for his success in infiltration missions. He went missing four years ago in Gerudo Valley after his plane was shot down with ten other soldiers. None of them were found, and it's suspected they became PoWs but no one is sure. I miss him terribly.
He was a great husband, and a loving father. If he could only see his children, they grew up so much! Sheik looks like him already, and matured so nicely. I remember just the other day he was comforting poor Hylia when she came across one of his old Air Force hats. She had bawled, but he just knelt next to her and hugged her and whispered words of encouragement to her. He's doing so well, I'm so proud. Link would be too."
The man nodded, but said nothing. Zelda wasn't sure why she was telling him all of that, but it just flowed out. It felt good to tell someone though, so she continued,
"I got their school pictures in the mail the other day, they are wonderful children and I love them so much. I remember the day Tetra was born, Link was back from a term in Faron, and he had held her tiny figure, and she had grabbed his finger with her tiny little fist." Zelda started to tear up, and remembered the vase in her hands. She put it down slowly, still speaking.
"He smiled so big then, and had kissed her on the forehead, just like when he had proposed to me. We had gone to a production of The Sound of Music and in the proposal scene; he had gotten down on one knee, and said to me. 'Zelda, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you please marry me?' I of course said yes and he jumped up and hugged me and kissed me on the forehead, and the theater had burst into applause. It was so romantic. Whenever I tell the kids about it, they smile widely and reenact the scene. Oh! Do you want to see a picture of the kids?"
She turned to the man, apprehensive. Slowly, he nodded, still saying nothing. She pulled the picture out of her wallet and gave it to him. It depicted three young teens sitting in a circle of flowers and looking up at the camera. They were all blonde, with pointed ears. The two girls had sparkling blue eyes with purple flecks in them and the boy had deep violet eyes. They were all nicely tanned with pointed noses and rosy cheeks. Zelda heard the man chuckle softly, and he handed back the picture, nodding. She smiled and put it back in her wallet. Tears finally betrayed her and they trickled down her face, and she felt embarrassed trying to wipe them away.
"Well, today, Link, happy 25th anniversary." Zelda choked, kissing her hand and placing it on the grave stone. She turned to the man, but he was walking away. A few feet away, he stopped and said, his voice as smooth as silk,
"See you around... Princess." and he kept walking.
Zelda gaped at him, stunned. Her head spun, and the situation seemed so.. cheesy. However,only Link called her Princess, so how did he know? Unless…
"Link!" Zelda yelled, running haphazardly towards the man. He turned, surprised, and Zelda tackled him. She hugged him tightly, crying her eyes out, but she laughing too.
"What took you so long, Knight?" She asked a smile on her face. He looked down on her, and kissed her gently.
"I'm sorry, but I had to finish a mission. It took awhile and I got badly hurt, and Gerudo doesn't have great communication services for a soldier going against them." He chuckled softly, "I thought that by now you would have forgotten about little old me."
"Never! Oh, the kids will be so happy t see you! Oh, Link I missed you!" They kissed again, and hugged. Zelda's tears had soaked his hoodie, and her hair was messed up by Link resting his chin on her head. They pulled away to get a good look at each other's faces, the birds singing louder then ever before on the limbs of the mystical cherry tree...
What did you think? I got this idea when I was attending my town's memorial service for the highschool's marching band. I couldn't write it till now though, (had lots of HW) Please tell me what you thought by pressing that button down there! Again, this was re-edited from it's original ending, it's still the same ending, but slightly different. It's more dramatic I think. Please tell me which version you liked better in the reviews!
