Sort of a quicker update, I've been writing as I get inspiration and I wrote a oneshot randomly, so you should check it out if you would like to. This chapter may seem quicker paced, but it starts getting into the exciting parts of the story! Be sure to leave a review and I'm excited to get to the next chapter, so be sure to check in soon. Thank you!
_
As we hurried throughout the castle I studied this girl. What was her name... Rosara? She seemed a bit younger than me and was rather short. "Wait here." She told me. She walked into a room and came back out before the door could close behind her.
"Take this." She handed me a large brown cloak and I held it out in front of me. Why did I need this? My face must have given away my curiosity as she rolled her brown eyes and started down the corridor again.
"We're going to be short on time and I don't need people in town stopping us when they see you for the first time."
"So we're actually going out into town?"
"Of course we are! You're not going to the ball dressed like that!"
"What's wrong with this? It's my tunic..." She shook her head and gave me a glance that told me to be quiet and put on the cloak.
Finally we made it outside of the castle where people were already doing tasks. I noticed a few tended to the gardens, some went to the stables, and others appeared to be other inhabitants of the castle. Rosara paid no attention to them as she briskly lead the way to the market.
"Am I going to look suspicious out here in daylight with this cloak on?"
"Don't worry about it, you'll just look like a beggar or someone like that." Oh great, just what I wanted. Then I remembered how I haven't even been to the market for at least a year now. What all could change within a year? Then again, it became a haunted wasteland only in seven years, so I was ready for anything.
As we stepped into the large plaza I was amazed at how... busy it was. People were bustling to and fro, murmuring small apologies. More businesses seemed to have arose, and there were small alleyways on each side of the town center. The castle we came from seemed to be to the north of it all. We faced a large fountain with a Triforce statuette and the whole area was simply beautiful. People were rushing by and I nearly got lost in the haze of it all until Rosara tugged on my cloak.
"Let's go. the shop we should go to is right there." Again, she hurried forward and I followed suit. She opened the door, revealing a large dimly lit shop.
"Hello there Rosara! I hope you find what you want." The man at the counter gave us a friendly smile and Rosara waved, but paid little attention to him. I nodded to him, but he seemed skeptical since I walked in with a cloak on. I gave Rosara a look that said "I told you so" and she rolled her eyes.
"You can take off your cloak now. Besides, you were going to have to sooner or later."
I wasn't sure if I should. I mean the only people in the shop were just a few townspeople and the man at the counter. I cautiously untied the cloak and draped it over my arm, but still ducked my head so no one would notice me that easily. Rosara seemed intrigued with a wide variety of suits and coats while I appeared lost in this store that was surely only for wealthy men and women. I began to wonder if Zelda had ever been to this shop and caught myself smiling by thinking of her.
"What are you smiling at? Well, whatever it is, try this on." She tossed a tailcoat to me and I put it on, not wanting to test her patience for any longer. "That looks nice. Alright, so you look good in black. That's good."
"I prefer green," I told her. She responded by rolling her eyes again.
In the span of the next hour or so, Rosara spent the majority by holding up various clothing to my body, trying to get my measurements. I barely recognised half of the clothes she had me try on. "Put this on," she'd command, and I would do so without a word as she continued to sort through the racks.
"I think we're set..." Her voice didn't sound too sure as her eyes quickly scanned over the store.
"Shoes?" She asked me, since I happened to be carrying the five pounds of fabric.
"Uh, check."
"Coat?"
"You mean various coats and vests? Check." She looked over at the mound of clothing that seemed to swallow me whole and she sighed. "Well I guess we're ready. Let's get going." She paid the guy at the counter a handsome sum of Rupees and I quickly put on the cloak before going back out.
The walk back was swift as Rosara constantly fretted over how much time was left and I'd respond with, "We'll be fine, it's tonight," to which she would exclaim: "Tonight!"
We got back to the castle and hurried up to my room where I threw off the cloak. "Let's get started," she had told me.
_
"I know how to dance." Rosara had her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. "You've never been to a ball before." I simply glared back until she grabbed my hand and put hers on my shoulder. What was she doing?
"Put your hand on my waist." I cleared my throat and followed her orders. She started moving her feet, and I struggled to keep up with the complicated steps. Okay, so apparently I couldn't dance. "Ow!"
Rosara jumped away from me and clutched her foot. "I'm sorry! I-I don't know how to dance." Her face shot up to mine and gave me a look that said "really?"
She continued to try and teach me, but to no avail. "I'll be fine, really." The only reason she decided to let it all slide was because I could tell she was tired of trying at this point. "I just hope you don't make a fool of yourself." I was about to defend myself when there was a sudden knock at the door.
Rosara glanced at me, but I merely shrugged. I didn't think I was expecting anybody. She walked over to the door and opened it wide.
"Hello- Princess?!" She bowed to Zelda, immediately taking a formal posture, but Zelda just looked at me with a smile from the doorway. I returned the smile, only to notice a faint pink blush to her cheeks.
"Thank you Rosara," she was talking to her, but her eyes kept shifting back to me, "I know you're trying to help Link, but do you mind if I take him for a few minutes?" Take me? I gave Zelda a questioning look, but she merely continued smiling.
"Of course your highness." Rosara motioned me to leave without hesitating and I followed, closing the door behind me.
"Nice to see you again, Zelda."
"Good afternoon Link. Would you mind accompanying me on a short walk around the castle?"
"Not at all." And so we started walking through the castle making idle small talk. She told me about how suitors were already arriving, and she wasn't sure if she would even have time to get ready for this evening. I assured her that everything would turn out, to which she agreed. "I just feel like these suitors won't leave me alone now that I am of age."
She was right. We had walked outside of the castle and I saw a young man with raven black hair smiling at us. I could only assume he must be a suitor due to his formal attire. He nodded his head in my direction, and I nodded back only to be polite.
We continued walking until we came upon a beautiful garden filled with the aroma of a mixed bouquet and wild flowers. Zelda stopped walking and looked around us at the various butterflies floating around. One landed on her shoulder and we both laughed, but I tried to hide my blush as I took in the princess radiating in this garden with the sun shining on her exquisite features...
"I've actually been meaning to ask you something, Link." Her words snapped me out of my focus and I tried even harder to hide my red face.
"W-What is it Zel?"
She fidgeted with her hands, folding and unfolding them in front of her as she curled her lip trying to concentrate. She was just... beautiful.
"Link, as I'm sure you know there will be many suitors at the ball tonight and you see, I'm not really up for dealing with them. If I go to the ball alone I will be forced to dance with them all and they'll practically fight over me, as much as I hate to admit it." It didn't take me long to realize the princess had been rambling the whole time.
"What are you getting at Zelda? I don't seem to understand." This wouldn't be the first time I didn't understand one of her more official issues, and I grew frustrated that I was so left out.
"What I'm getting at is... I was wondering if you would like to be my escort this evening to the ball." She practically blurted this out of her mouth all at once as all frustration left me.
"Your... Escort?" I asked her, almost to see if what I heard had been correct.
"Yes. My escort. Someone to take me to the ball. I mean, it would simply be so that I have someone to go with and no suitor will try and go with me. Of course, I would love to just be in your company for the night if you don't mind. It's all up to you however, whatever you wish I will comply with." Escort... I would be the princess of Hyrule's escort to the royal ball. But most importantly, I would be Zelda's partner at the ball.
I reached for her gloved hand and brought her knuckles to my lips gently. "I'd be honored to be your escort." I told her. She smiled and I released her hand reluctantly.
"Thank you Link. And this will be a great opportunity for Hyrule to welcome your return!" I smiled as well, but inside I felt a strange feeling in my stomach I wasn't used to. I'd be princess Zelda's escort in front of the largest crowd I've probably ever seen, and they don't even know that the hero has returned... This night just took a turn down a winding path.
_
"Her escort?" Rosara exclaimed, looking at me as though I had just grown six heads.
"I believe that's what she called it." Rosara seemed more dazed by this whole situation than even I was at the moment.
"We barely have any time! We have to get ready!" She bolted across the room to where my clothes laid on the bed. "Well come on, don't just stand there! You are to be the princess's escort and we don't even have you properly dressed yet!"
It took me quite a while for me to dress into the various layers of clothing after assuring Rosara that I was perfectly capable of dressing myself. To tell the truth, I almost gave up with the collar, but I told myself that I was not going to step to that level. I walked out of the bathroom where she stood impatiently worried. Her eyes actually appeared to light up as she took in how I looked.
"Wow... You actually look good."
"Thanks..." I wasn't sure what type of complement that was, but I turned to the side, trying to see myself in the vanity mirror. "But is it good enough?" For her, I wanted to add. Rosara gave me a caring smile that was actually new to me and it lit up her eyes.
"She'll love it." She said, and in that moment I didn't care that I didn't have my sword and hat on me, or that I still wasn't sure how to dance or act properly. Instead I just smiled at the idea of seeing her because I realized that I hadn't seen her in nearly a year, and before that we were too busy trying to defeat Ganondorf. So tonight was our night for once.
_
I promised her I would meet her in "our spot," I called it. I carried a rose that I had picked myself along the way and carefully removed each thorn because a woman such as her didn't deserve any of their torment. The grass along the meadow was freshly cut, filling the air with its pure scent. I stepped into the courtyard only to almost drop the rose in my grasp.
There once was a little girl I saw with her back to me and her legs bent in anticipation. As she turned, her whole figure lit up with excitement as our worlds intertwined in that second.
Then there was a young woman I saw, staring at me with wide eyes as I told her I was embarking on another journey. We both had that fear in us that perhaps our worlds would return to themselves, leaving the other as they almost did when she wished to send me back in time.
Earlier I saw a beautiful woman with elegance that poured into her within the year I was absent. When we locked eyes I nearly fell to my knees from the reassurance of seeing her again after so long.
Now I see a woman who is the princess, who is my best friend after so much, standing ahead of me with a ruby gown and braided hair of gold. Her eyes have that glitter in them when I catch sight of her and her red lips give a timid smile.
I was once that little boy, so innocent and naive to what the world was offering me, but now I stood as the hero of Hyrule who had been through so much. All of it only to return to his princess and hand her the rose with shaking hands.
"You look very nice this evening, Link." She said with a faint blush to her cheeks. She made it hard for me to catch my breath in the setting sunlight.
"Why thank you, I-You, you look absolutely stunning." Her lips curled into a smile and before she could say anything else, I took her gloved hand in mine. "Shall we?"