Author's Note: I guess this is the last official chapter, but I might write a short epilogue chapter after this if you guys think I should. I hope to post more stories in the future because I have had a lot of fun doing this. You guys have been wonderful supporters!
"Your Highness, before we conclude, the matter of the Ceremony must be brought to hand," the nasally voice of a Councilman sent Link's eyebrows up.
"Ceremony?" He frowned at first, but not wanting to appear stupid, cleared his throat and continued. "Ah, yes, the Ceremony." Link let out a little laugh.
"Your Ceremony, my King." the councilman pushed, a hesitant look of skepticism shadowing his pudgy face.
"Yes, of course," Link said, silently cursing himself for his memory blank. "What about it?"
The man then smiled, lifting his rosy cheeks into perfect bulbs. "Will Her Highness Zelda be well enough to attend this year?"
"She should be," Link said. "She's already started walking again. I'll be working with her today to get her stamina back up."
"And you, too, will be at attendance, Your Highness?" another Councilman man asked, this one a thin man with an impressively long mustache.
"Of course," the King answered, allowing a smile to form on his lips. "I have to give a speech, don't I?"
"That's correct, King Link," the chubby man said. "If you're willing, it would be a great honor."
"I'll work on something." Link answered with a firm nod, successfully masking his nervousness. He never was a big talker, and speeches of any kind made him uncomfortable, but if Zelda had to do it, he decided that he would have to do it too.
"That's wonderful, Your Majesty," a different councilman chirped, "now on to the festivities. What is your opinion on the edibles, my King..."
Link frowned at his shoes, intensely racking his brain to remember the next line of his speech.
"and to thank those who.." Zelda prodded, her eyes darting between Link and the written out speech she held.
"and to thank those who," Link mumbled the words, repeating them again before his eyes lit up. "who fought alongside me for the justice and rectification of Hyrule." He grinned proudly, repeating the sentence again for good measure.
"Shall we go through it again?" Zelda asked, peering at him over the paper.
"Not until you do another flight." Link said, pointing to the stairs. The Queen looked at them and sighed. "If you want to be ready by the Ceremony," Link reminded her, tenderly flipping a strand of her hair around his finger, "you've gotta do your exercises."
"I know." Zelda responded, pouting slightly. She grabbed the sides of her dress, pulling it past her ankles as she stepped upon the first stair. Zelda took each step carefully, tenaciously, as she ascended the spiral staircase. Link followed behind her in case she fell, but with this being her third time up and down the stairs this morning, Zelda was confident that she could do one more.
Already, a week had passed since her first steps since the comatose state, the memory still fresh in her mind.
"Thanks for helping me, Link."
With one hand clasped tightly on to his, and her other hand pressured against the wall, Zelda took her first few steps since her comatose state.
"Don't worry," he squeezed her hand, soothing away the look of worry that pulled at her soft eyes and lips. "You won't fall; I've got you." Slowly, the Queen's steps became more confident, less shaky. After a few more, her hand fell from the wall, hanging loosely by her side.
"A few more steps and you can be done for today." Link encouraged her. One finger at a time, he pulled his hand from hers. "You're doing great," he told her, watching as her toes padded gently against the stone tile. He slipped another finger loose.
"Think you can make it to the end of the room?" he asked. Zelda nodded, and Link slid his hand away from hers. For a second, panic filled Zelda's eyes until his calm voice came back, easing away her fear. "You can do it, Zel. Try a few steps on your own."
The Queen nodded and gingerly placed one foot in front of the other. Left, right, left, right...
A brilliant smile erupted from her cherry lips as her hand grazed the wall on the far side of her bedroom. Her eyes glittered as they met Link's, seeing the same pride in her irises reflecting in his.
Link closed the distance between them, scooping Zelda in his arms. "I knew you could do it," he bounced her in his arms, giving her laugh a hiccup effect. She leaned against him, melting into his strength. "That's enough for today," he told her, hearing the fatigued shake of her breath. "Tomorrow, you can go there and back again."
Zelda nodded, smiling despite the wave of weariness that dropped over her. He laid her on her pillow, and despite her efforts to stay at attention, her eyes slid closed.
"We still have some more paperwork to do, if you're up to it," Link said, "but if you're too tired..." He paused, glancing over to see his Queen already fast asleep. Link smiled lovingly, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest. He sat down on the bed, pulling the stack of papers into his lap.
"I'll take care of it today," he whispered to her sleeping form. "I have a lot to make up for anyway.."
The memory reminded the Queen of how far she had come from that day. She could climb one measly set out stairs. She could run up them if she wanted to.
Zelda took a large breath, summoned her courage, and bound up the steps as fast as she could. Her mind flitted back to the day, months earlier, when she had ascended the steps with the same speed. Back then, her motivation had been a stolen buffet, and now, it was Link's constant jabs and pesters.
"Almost...there.." she gasped between breaths. "Ten left.." her heart beat even faster than the smack of her feet against stone. "Five left..."
Faintly, she heard Link's cheers behind her. "three...two..."
Zelda held her sides as her chest heaved up and down, but the exhaustion didn't faze her radiant grin. She stared down at the cold stairs in triumph, the cheers of her husband resonating off the stone slabs and high walls.
Once her breath had steadied, she raced back down the stairs, flying past Link as he chased after her. She didn't stop at the bottom of the stairs, but continued running through the walls, dashing past servants until her legs wouldn't go any further. By the time Link had finally caught her, both were breathing heavily and grinning wildly. He tried to speak to her, but his words were drowned out by the pounding of her heart, beating like drums against her ears. She knew he was saying some kind of joke because of the way his mouth slid into a half-smile. She laughed, not because of the unheard joke, but at the mere sight of his grin.
Zelda was no stranger to the saying "laughter is the best medicine," and as she stood there, laughing in response to her love's crooked smile, she finally grasped the truth of the phrase. She felt as if her whole body was made of light, and his lopsided smile and echoing laugh only made her world that much brighter.
She sat behind him, smiling as he recited each line perfectly. Zelda had gone over the speech with him countless times, showing him when to pause, when to smile, what word to put emphasis on. Silently, she mouthed the words behind him, delighted as he flowed over each one without a single stutter or sentence break. Her heart flooded with pride as the she listened to his flawless delivery of the last sentence.
"I give this speech to thank the citizens of Castle Town for supporting me as King, and to thank those who fought alongside me for the justice and rectification of Hyrule."
Zelda prepared herself for the deafening roar of the crowd, but instead, only Link's voice continued.
"A friend once told me that if we bury our heads in the past, we will never be able to forge a better future."
The Queen remembered Renado saying those exact words after she had caved upon seeing the destruction of Kakariko.
"Well, actually," Link continued, pulling Zelda even deeper into confusion and curiosity. "he said it to Zelda, but I was with her, so it still counts." Zelda, along with the rest of Hyrule's citizens, chuckled quietly. Link paused a second, waiting for the chuckle to die off before he continued. Then his voice returned, a more serious tone in place.
"During and after the Twilight Invasion, we all lost someone dear to us," the crowd mumbled in agreement. "but just because that part of our lives has been taken away, does not mean we have to spend the rest of our lives in grief." Zelda felt her breath grow ragged.
"In even the darkest times, when great love is lost, an even greater love can blossom." The crowd silently nodded their heads, watching their King with inspired eyes. "Don't waste your time dreading over the loss of your past, because each second you spend looking behind you, you lose your chance at a better future." Link bowed his head, ending his speech with a "thank you" that was swallowed up in the thunder of the audience.
For the next few hours, Zelda watched after him curiously as he shook hands and chatted with the citizens, only half-mindedly following her own duty to do the same. Music wafted throughout the whole city, but they never reached the Queen's ears. All she heard was his speech, repeating over and over in an endless loop.
A few times, Zelda caught his eye, and Link would smile at her and angle his head to the side, pointing at something that the Queen couldn't see. She followed his eyes to the South Gate, and finally, the message clicked. Several minutes later, Link was gone.
Zelda shook a few more hands before excusing herself, claiming the need to check with the kitchen staff on the food arrangements. She followed a similar pattern as she had a year before, dipping behind columns, sneaking through shadows until she disappeared behind the towering doors of the South Gate.
There he sat, resting upon the pale stone steps as he had a year before. The fading glow of the sun fell upon his hair, making it glitter like the warm sand of Gerudo Desert. Zelda smiled at the scene, watching his inky shadow diminish as the light died.
"Link," Zelda said, sitting beside him on the marble stairs. "think of all the handshakes you're missing out on right now."
He chuckled, tilting his head to look at her. "If I shake one more hand, my hand is gonna fall off." Zelda laughed. "This is kind of a deja vu, isn't it?" she asked, watching the last ray of sun slip behind the fields. The whole sky turned rosy, reminding Zelda of Kakariko fairies and Dr. Borville's healing concoctions.
"Yeah," Link said. The last remainders of sunlight swirled in his eyes like amber puddles.
"Great job on your speech, by the way," Zelda's heart pounded as he smiled at her. It wasn't his usual lazy smile-it was different somehow. "Even your improvisation was amazing."
Link shrugged. "It wasn't exactly improv." he confessed. "It's something I've been thinking about since we visited Kakariko together." Zelda grinned fondly at the memory. His voice came back, stopping her before the memory took over.
"When Renado said that, it got me thinking," he sat up straighter and turned to her, his eyes focused on hers like she was the only thing that existed. "I've been wasting my time, crying over something that I can't change. And, even if I had the chance to change it now, I wouldn't want to."
Zelda strained to hear him over the pounding in her ears.
"I loved Midna," he said, and though she had told herself that fact for years, it still shattered her heart like the Twilight Mirror. "But I've been so hung up on her that I didn't realize how much I was throwing away."
Zelda wanted to speak, but found herself empty of thought, only a lingering consciousness stuck on his words.
"Midna's gone, and I've been too stupid to see who has been here for me this whole time." he blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "My own wife is kind of a no-brainer, huh?"
Zelda found herself laughing, almost hysterically. With each word, she felt her shattered pieces of heart click together, slowly building into a whole. Link blushed deeper.
"Look, Zelda, if it's not too late, will you give me another chance?"
Zelda's dumbstruck silence urged the King into more persuasive begging, though it was really unnecessary.
"This time I've spent with you has been the happiest time I can remember, and even though I love being with you as a friend, I can't help but think of what it could have been like if I wasn't so clueless. I love you, Zelda, and I'm sorry it took me this long to figure that out."
Zelda's jaw went slack, opening and closing on its own freewill. Her eyes clouded and drops fell on her lap, but she didn't even notice them.
"Zelda?" Link asked worriedly. His eyebrows scrunched into the familiar expression that Zelda adored. "You're crying," he said nervously, gripping her hand. Zelda absent-mindedly noted that she had never seen him so distressed. "I don't know if that's good or bad." His brow furrowed even deeper.
Queen Zelda became conscious of her own laugh echoing off the walls as she searched for the right words, still rendered speechless.
"Are you mad?" Link asked, biting his lip. Zelda shook her head.
"Are you happy?" he tried again, this time the Queen nodded. A huge grin broke over his face as he wrapped her in a hug "You just gave me a heartattack!" he cried into her shoulder. "I thought you were gonna say no."
Zelda wound her hands through his hair and pulled him back, their noses nearly touching.
"Why would I say no?" the Queen finally managed to find her words. "I love you, Link," she brushed his hair back, grinning at his startled look. "I thought I made that pretty obvious."
Link stared at her a moment before releasing a shaky breath. "You're talking to the guy who carries a vocab list around in his belt pouch." Zelda shook her head, laughing quietly.
"That dorky list is another reason why I love you." She smiled as Link's eyes lit up at the words.
"I love you too." He said, needing to say the words just one more time. Zelda felt her cheeks glow and her eyes fill with a whole new round of tears. They never got the chance to fall.
Link closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against hers, removing the cold bite of nightfall. Warmth flooding through Zelda's entire being as if she had just drank a whole gallon of steamy Pumpkin Soup. She held him close, her fingers getting lost in his tangle of golden hair. The last piece of her heart clicked into place, and she felt it beat in time with his.
Zelda didn't know how long it was until they separated, but she met his eyes and felt another rush of warmth overwhelm her. The first time they had kissed, on her wedding day years ago, his eyes had been consumed with despair, emptiness. But looking into them now, Zelda saw the love that she had only dreamed of seeing. The love that she had harbored for years now shone back at her through his cerulean eyes.
Author's Ending Note: I know, I'm not that great at writing kissy scenes. Despite that, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. All the support you gave me really boosted my confidence as a writer, and all the advice you shared helped me improve a lot. Thank you a million times over for the reviews, follows, favorites, and even author favorites. I don't know when my next story will be, but this won't be my last one. With all the encouragement I get from all of you, I don't think I could put down the pen if I wanted to!