notes 1: pLOT? what's a PLOT?!

notes 2: no, but seriously, I promise this fic has an actual storyline. actual things will happen. they're coming.

disclaimer: not mine.


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Zelda had never liked wearing black.

It is such a drab color, she reflected dully as she stared at her expression in the mirror. Her handmaidens fussed around her, straightening her clothes and hair or dabbing at her makeup. Her mourning dress was soft black velvet embroidered with silver thread over a silk undergown. Pearls adorned her neck and ears; black velvet gloves stretched to her elbows. Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders in waves the color of wheat.

Zelda felt nearly naked without the familiar weight of the princess's tiara on her head. It was locked away in the vault now, where no one would touch it but the occasional dusting servant until Zelda had a daughter. Today, she would receive a new crown.

Her handmaidens stepped away, finally done, and admired their work with hushed awe. They were twin sisters in their mid-twenties, dark-haired and dark-eyed, who had been with Zelda since she was young. "It is a shame you must be crowned in so soon after the king's death," one said, patting her arm sympathetically.

"All the same, you look like a true queen now, Your Majesty," the other said with wonder.

"Oh, don't call me that," Zelda said, braving a smile. "I know it's my official title, just—please. You two changed my diapers and dried my tears. At least call me 'my lady' if you won't use my name."

Before either sister could respond, there was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," Zelda called, and Impa stepped in quietly as the handmaidens gathered their things and left.

"You've been groomed for this for sixteen years," Impa said in her usual blunt manner. "Are you ready?"

Zelda let out a breath and finally turned from the mirror to face her guardian. "Is there a right answer to that?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself in hopes that it would warm her. There seemed to be a chill deep in her bones, one that had not left since her father's death three days ago. They had buried him yesterday morning, and Zelda had watched the dirt pile up on his coffin with a blank stare. She had only cried for him once; now it seemed all her tears were dried up. She wondered if that was because she was strong or because she was empty.

"I am as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," she said.

Impa smiled. Her smiles were always brief and rare, disappearing almost as soon as they arrived. "Then you are already wiser than most."

Zelda gave up on trying to warm herself and let her arms dangle by her sides. She crossed the room to look out the window—at the green meadow scattered with trees, at Castle Town bustling with repairs from the earthquake, and beyond it, the long stretch of Hyrule Field.

"He was a horrible father," she heard herself saying. "He spent my whole life letting other people raise me for him. Yet…he was happier, I think, before my mother died. And he was a good king. I loved him." She looked back at Impa, blue eyes hard and bright. "The…the thing that controlled those monsters and started the earthquake…I want it stopped, Impa. And I want to find a way to turn our people back to normal."

Impa stepped forward and took her princess's hand. "I will see it done," she said fiercely. She hesitated, then said, "Sixteen years I have raised you, protected you, watched you grow up. You will be a good queen, Zelda. And I will follow you, always."

Zelda gave her a wordless smile of gratitude, and squeezed her hand.

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"From this day until the end of her days she shall serve as the rightful queen of Hyrule, hand of the Golden Goddesses and protector of the nation. She will serve the people and the land, enforce the justice of the crown…"

Link hardly listened to the steward's long speech—his mind was far away, with Majora's Mask and the man who was supposed to be its guardian. Termina was supposed to be the end of it, the mask salesman had promised

He bit the inside of his cheek and shoved those thoughts away. Now was not the time. He turned his gaze to Zelda as she knelt before the steward. The nobles were spread beneath the dais, and beyond them the people of Castle Town. Royal coronations were usually held inside the palace hall, but the damage dealt by the earthquake caused the ceremony to be moved outside.

At last, the steward placed the crown on Zelda's head. It was a delicate, beautiful thing of golden vines, decorated with the likeness of each Spiritual Stone. Zelda rose, chin high and shoulders strong, and turned to look upon her people. One by one, they fell to their knees.

"I now name you Queen Zelda of Hyrule," the steward announced. "Long may you reign!"

The crowds rose up and cheered, joyously greeting their new queen.

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He found his way to her quarters after the coronation feast. It was not exactly proper for the unmarried queen to allow a man into her rooms after dark, but neither of them were much in the habit of following customs.

Zelda opened the door herself at his knock. Dressed in a plain cotton gown, bereft of a crown or jewelry or makeup, she looked very little like a queen and very much like a scared young girl. Her skin was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, and Link wanted little more than to whisk her away on Epona and show her the beauty of the world.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," Zelda said softly, and opened the door wider to let him in. She sat in one of the armchairs by the fireplace, Link taking the seat opposite her.

"We haven't really gotten the chance to talk," he said, voice low. "The king…I should have saved him. I'm sorry."

Zelda shook her head, drawing her legs up to her chest and looking at the flickering flames. "It's not your fault." She fixed him with her gaze. "You knew what that thing at the council meeting was. I saw it in your face. Tell me everything you know, Link. We have to stop it."

Link drew in a deep breath and let it out. He had known this was coming. He had told no one of what had transpired in Termina; he simply didn't know where to start.

"After y—after the princess sent me back in time and we stopped Ganondorf, I…left. For a long time. Do you remember?"

She nodded, and the memory passed between them. He had been a strange combination of ten years old and sixteen, angry and confused. He had run away from her—the girl who he remembered that did not remember him. They had stood outside the gates of Hyrule Castle, where she had placed the Ocarina of Time in his hands and told him to come home safely.

And so the whole story came tumbling past his lips, sudden and unstoppable. His journey to the depths of the Lost Woods to find his lost guardian fairy. The Skull Kid wearing strange mask who had stolen Epona; his fairy companions, including the bad-tempered one who joined him. Meeting the Happy Mask Salesman and hearing the true nature of Majora's Mask. Finding a town on the doorstep of apocalypse that was still intent on living. Embarking on a journey and living the same three days over and over and over—three days that lasted an eternity full of death and hope. Freeing Skull Kid and returning Majora's Mask to its owner. And finally, stumbling back into his own world only to find that months had passed since he had fallen through that portal, and he still could not find Navi.

Zelda never looked away from him, though his eyes darted around the room the whole time—to the fire, the window, his lap, her face. His hands were trembling by the time he finished; Termina was not a part of his life that he liked to remember. He could not speak.

"It sounds like it was hell," Zelda said bleakly. Link nodded his agreement mutely. She stood and crossed to his chair, kneeling before him and lacing her fingers through his.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered at last. "Majora is back. I have no idea where the mask salesman is. I saved two worlds once, but that was a long time ago and I…I don't know if I can do it again, Zelda."

She said nothing in response; perhaps there were no words to fix what he had been through. Instead, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, threading gentle fingers through his hair.

Finally, her words came. "I know you can do it. Because you won't be alone. I'm coming with you."

This time, Link did not push her away.

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