"He could have said something," Malon argued.

"I…I barely gave him a chance," Zelda admitted. "I was trying so hard to give him his life back. How could I not see that by not giving him a choice…I…I've taken it away all over again. I can't believe I was foolish enough to not give him a choice. How could I assume…?"

"You can't do that to yourself," Malon insisted. "For all you know, it was what he wanted. It wasn't your responsibility."

Zelda shook her head before burying her face in her hands.

"But it was," Zelda stated, a silence shared between the both of them.

Malon had observed how stubborn the Princess was in needing to blame herself. She knew she couldn't help her. She was just a farm girl after all.

"I trust you'll be discrete about all this," Zelda said as she lifted her head up. "The crying…the truth of what happened and why…I can't appear weak, especially now."

"Of course, Princess," Malon said, her expression softening.

Zelda laughed at herself just a bit and said,

"Not everyday you comfort the estranged Princess of Hyrule on condemning the hero she's in love with, huh?"

"Nope," Malon said. "But I'm not really surprised about you and the swordsman. I hope it won't bother you too much for me to say that the pair of you would have been well matched. After all, he wasn't bad to look at and, from what I hear, he left quite the string of hearts along his journey. Unrequited love, as far as I know, but I spend most of my time at the ranch, so…"

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked as she furrowed her brow.

Zelda took a deep breath as she walked up the inclining walkway, her anxiety building greatly.

"Princess Zelda?" she heard as soon as she turned the corner, stepping to stand just before the Zoran King. "It really is you! What a great pleasure it is to see you alive and well. We all mourned greatly for your father's death. But seeing you alive gives me great hope for the future of Hyrule!"

Zelda gave a curt nod, the King's eyes narrowing at the odd apathy he saw in her.

"I wish to speak to Princess Ruto," Zelda said, getting to the point of her visit rather directly. "Is she here?"

"She is seeing to Jabu-Jabu at the moment," the Zora King responded. "If you'd like, I can fetch her for you."

"No, that's okay," Zelda said in reply. "The matter should be discussed in private anyway."

The clear water splashed around Zelda's ankles as she walked through the tunnel, soon finding herself outside. It was a large lake with the guardian deity Jabu-Jabu in the center.

The grown Zora before it was unmistakably the Princess of the Zoras, Ruto, Zelda stalling just a bit before she continued.

An anxious feeling churned into her stomach as she stared, knowing that what would follow could make her feel even more guilty.

If Link had romantic ties to someone he was in love with, for instance Princess Ruto, Zelda would know for sure that she went against his wishes, that she had truly ruined his life and his hopes. If he loved someone in the life he led here, surely he would be suffering in the life she forced him to accept.

And it would be her fault.

"Princess Ruto?" Zelda asked as she ascended the steps to the platform.

The Zora turned around at the inquiry, her eyes widening when she saw Zelda before her.

"Your Highness!" she exclaimed before kneeling, bowing her head. "I apologize, I had no knowledge of your arrival. I must not have heard when father mentioned it."

"I'm afraid it is I who must apologize, Ruto," Zelda said in reply. "My visit is unprecedented and rather informal. In fact, it would make me more comfortable if you stood up, there is no need to bow to me."

"But there is," Ruto insisted as she stood up. "You survived for seven years out of Ganondorf's grasp until Link saved Hyrule and now you are ready and willing to take your father's place at the throne. If that is not worthy of celebration, I'm not sure what is."

Zelda surely didn't feel like celebrating. Perhaps she never would.

"Speaking of which," Ruto said as she glanced behind Zelda. "Where's Link? Did he come with you?"

Goddesses it was hard to hear his name like that, mentioned casually, as if he were in wait just around the corner. Zelda could longer deny that he had a life here too, that people knew him, expected him. Why couldn't she see that until it was too late?

"He's…" she started hesitantly.

"He's not here," Zelda finished quickly, averting her glance.

"Actually, Ruto…I," she said, her head kept down. What a thing to ask out of the blue. "I wanted to ask…"

"Yes?"

"You and Link…were you…?"

"Engaged?" Ruto asked rhetorically, eliciting Zelda to lift her head back up and meet her glance. "Yes. Has Link been talking about me?"

Zelda's heartbeat began to pound in her ears at the word 'engaged'.

Engaged.

He was engaged.

"No need to worry your little heart, Your Highness," Ruto continued, noting her panic. "I've accepted by now that he only desired the sapphire to save Hyrule, and not for my hand in marriage. Besides, I could tell he had feelings for you anyway."

"What?" Zelda asked breathlessly as she felt the color wash away from her face, her body completely frozen as her lips parted. She felt panic truly setting within her now.

This was so unexpected, so unfathomable as she shook her head, a horror in her eyes.

"Oh please, he blushed profusely at the mere mention of your name. It was so obvious. And then of course the warm smile he gave when I acknowledged that my eternal love was not appropriate because he was searching for you. I remember thinking to myself that I'd be lucky to find someone who smiles like that at the thought of me."

"I…I think I need to sit down," Zelda stammered as she felt herself staggering backwards.

"Are you ill, your highness?" Ruto asked with a tip of her head, watching Zelda's hand looking for something, anything behind her.

"I'm…fine," Zelda said breathlessly as her hands found a sturdy column, sliding down it until she sat down. Even her legs had lost their composure.

"You are quite pale," Ruto said with concern as she approached Zelda. "Even for your species. I'll go fetch the doctor. Stay right here."

Zelda barely noticed Ruto's absence, her vision blurring as she stared at the rippling water in the distance.

Not only did Link love someone, he loved her, of all people. Of course he wouldn't say anything. If he thought it was the right thing to do, if he thought it was what Zelda wanted, he wouldn't have objected to being sent back in time.

And it wasn't just that she now knew that her love for him was requited, that all this time they were falling in love with each other, but she was consumed by the thought that she truly had caused his pain, the she was the sole reason for all of it.