Chapter 11 - The Happy End

Impa and the king walked through Hyrule Gardens, on their way to the meeting room. Suddenly three small girls and a fairy passed them. They suddenly halted and stopped the girls. "Just a minute, ladies," the king said with sternness. Malon, Ruto, Saria, and Navi suddenly halted and gulped. "A guard told me that he saw you-" he pointed to Saria,"-in the spotlight tower yesterday."

Saria gulped. "Yeah," she replied nervously, slowly looking up at the king.

"And," Impa added to the other girls. "Link told me that you were responsible for exposing him and the princess to all of Hyrule."

"Um..." the girls began, backing away.

"So I think you need to be punished," the king began, his mustache twitching.

"NO!!!!!!" the girls cried. "DON'T PUT US IN JAIL!!!!!!!! WE'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT!!!!!!"

* * *

"Grass detail," said Malon, rolling her eyes. The Other Girls Society walked down the path to Hyrule Field with clippers in their hands.

"I can't believe we have to trim all of Hyrule Field by hand," Saria said in disbelief.

"Well, it was either that or a day in prison," Navi reminded, struggling to carry the clippers with her wings.

"I'd rather spend a day in prison," Ruto said. "At least I wouldn't have to work."

At that moment, Link and Zelda passed them. The two friends were holding hands and they had happy smiles on their faces.

"Link!" Malon exclaimed. "Have you decided which one of us you want?" She had an eager expression on her face as she waited for the boy to speak.

At first Link looked confused, but then a grin appeared on his face. He dropped the princess' hand. "Yep," he replied, wrapping his arm around Zelda. "This one." He turned to Zelda and smiled.

"What?!" Ruto exclaimed. "None of us?!"

Link shook his head vigorously. "Nope."

A look of disappointment came on Malon's face, but then she perked up. "Oh, well. My prince will come some day."

"And I'll just marry that Zora my father wanted me to marry. He is kinda cute and nice," Ruto said, a small smile appearing.

"I love Mido!" Saria screamed joyously. "I can't wait to go back to the Kokiri Village and see him!" She fell to the ground and started to vigorously cut the grass.

"I'll always be your friend Link," Navi said kindly. "You too, Princess Zelda."

Link and Zelda beamed. They were so thankful that the turmoil was finally put to an end. The Other Girls Society was now out of existence. They thanked the girls and then started to head for the river bank. As they walked away, they heard the girls cry from a distance, "We wish you luck!"

For the rest of the morning, Link and Zelda played in the sand of the river bank. Link really wanted to go swimming but the water was too chilly to be bearable. So they drew with sticks in the sand.

"Hey, look!" Zelda exclaimed, poking around in the sand with her stick. Link rushed to her and kneeled beside her.

"What is it, Zel?" he asked.

The young princess pointed to the sand with her stick. A little sand crab was hobbling along, carrying a blue shell on its back. "Isn't it cute?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah," Link agreed with a smile. "But I've seen cuter."

Zelda cocked her head. "Really? What?" she inquired curiously.

Link beamed. "You," he replied, gently touching her cheek with the back of his index finger.

Her face suddenly turned bright red. But then she grinned mischievously as she got up on her knees. "Why you little!" she began. Then she pushed against his chest playfully. It wasn't a hard push, but it made Link lose his balance. With a yelp, he plunged into the icy river. Zelda gasped and rushed to the edge. "Link, are you okay?" she asked urgently.

"C-c-cold," Link shivered, trying to stay above water. Zelda reached her hand out for him to grab. Link thought of pulling her in after him, but the water was too cold for someone he cared so much about. So he grabbed her hand and let her pull him up.

"Oh, Link, I'm so sorry!" Zelda apologized. "Well, you did want to go swimming."

Link started to shiver. "Y-y-yeah. Let's go in the sun." Princess Zelda helped him off the ground and the two left the bank. They didn't have to search very far to find a patch of sunlight. Link lay down on the soft grass, brushing his soggy hair out of his eyes. "This is much better," he said, taking a deep breath. The princess sat beside him and stroked his hair.

"You're my best friend, Link," the princess said softly. "But I have something on my mind right now, and it's troubling me. Do you mind if I share it with you?"

Link sat up and gave her a curious stare. "Of course I don't mind. Zel, you're my best friend. You can tell me anything."

"Alright," Zelda said, taking in a deep breath. Her face had suddenly turned red and her heart was beating fast. At length she spoke. "Well...I'm sorry. I don't know how to say this...I hope this won't make you angry...um..." Suddenly she gave up and hung her head.

Link looked at her with a confused look. He gently lifted up her chin with his hand and stared into her sad little eyes. "Zelda," he whispered. "You can tell me anything."

Suddenly the princess burst out with emotions. She wrapped her arms around the wet little boy and squeezed him firmly. Tears streamed down her cheeks and splashed down onto his tunic. "Oh, Link, the truth is I love you!"

Link's heart skipped a beat. No one had ever told him that before and now his best friend was telling him. He had loved her ever since he had met her, but was too afraid to tell her. Now he wasn't. He found himself crying out of joy. "Oh, Zelda, I love you too!" he exclaimed, returning the embrace.

Zelda quickly drew back from the hug. She noticed that Link's face was a brilliant shade of red, as was her's. She was so surprised that she didn't believe it was reality. She thought she had strayed into a dream. "Really?" she asked. "This isn't a dream? You really love me?"

"Mmhm," Link replied, nodding. He was trying to brave and not burst out in tears again.

"I-I-I can't believe it," Zelda exclaimed, burying her face in her hands.

Link gently took Zelda's hands off her eyes. "Believe it," he whispered. Zelda's face was stained with tears but she had a twinkle of joy in her eyes. She was too overjoyed and was crying so hard that she couldn't even talk. So Link just took her in his lap and spoke to her. "I've loved you ever since I met you. I had to leave the only person that was ever nice to me and go out into the big world. You were the first person that showed kindness to me. I guess I became emotionally latched to you." There was a long pause of silence before anyone spoke.

"I love you!" Zelda cried. She wrapped her arms around the boy's neck and kissed his cheek. "I love you! I love you! I love you!"

"And I love you too," Link replied, beaming. He stood up, bringing the princess up with him. Then he faced her and held her hands in his. "I'm going to make you a promise right now. I'm never going to look at another girl again. I've found the one. I'm going to wait for you and stay true to you forever. And when we grow up we can get married."

Zelda's tears finally ceased. She wiped her tear stained cheek on her shoulder. "Me too," she said. "You're my guy, and I'm going to wait until we're old enough to get married. I'll always stay true to you."

A grin appeared on the boy's face. "Want to seal it with a kiss?" he asked.

Zelda looked to the ground, embarrassed. Then she nodded slightly. Link placed his hand under her chin and gently lifted it up. He stared into her gorgeous blue eyes for only a second before he made his move. He brought his face up to her's and firmly enclosed his lips around her's. He felt Zelda's lips pucker up against his and return the sweet kiss.

On top of the hill overlooking the two, the king and Impa watched. They were lying on lawn chairs and sipping lemonade. The meeting that they had attended was adjourned early so they went out there to relax. "It's that cute?" the king asked, stirring his lemonade with his straw.

"Yes," Impa agreed, taking the straw out of her mouth. "There certainly is a link between them."

THE END

Author's Note: Finally finished! Sorry if it was too short! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!