Well, guys, here's another practice kiss scene! Finally managed to figure this one out!
Before I get started, as always, I must credit Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and everyone at Nintendo for breathing life into the wonderful world of The Legend of Zelda.
Also, as always, please leave a review and let me know how I can make these kiss scenes better! Your feedback is crucial!
So, without further ado, I hope y'all enjoy!
Link gulped as he walked the steps up to a raised platform before the Gate of Time. He was in somewhat of a daze, the reality of his adventure finally being over not having quite sunk in yet. No longer did he have to deal with the hardship of his mission. The incessant traipsing through the uncharted Surface, the frustrating trail that seemed to keep him perpetually one step behind Zelda, the constant encounters with that creep Ghirahim, were all behind him now. And yet, minutes after Demise had disappeared, there remained some sense that there must be more to follow.
But here they all were - himself, Impa, Zelda, Fi, Groose - all together in the Sealed Grounds. Fi had just asked to speak privately with him on this platform; he had been about to ask her the same, so this, he figured, worked out well. Still, he wondered what the spirit wished to say to him (and if it was the same as what he wished to tell her).
As he cleared the final step, Link was confronted with a rather confusing sight: in the middle of the platform sat a stone pedestal, about shin-height, with a slot carved into it. His mind picked up that the slot was thick and wide enough to accommodate the Master Sword's blade, and in that moment, he knew the purpose of the pedestal.
"Master Link…" said Fi from just to his left, but he looked at her and shook his head slowly.
"Please, Fi," he told her, as he had so often on their journey, "no one could ever master you. You're too wonderful for that."
And as she had done every time he'd said that, she sighed, a smile gracing her angular face. "Link," she went on, "you have protected the goddess reborn and defeated Demise, fulfilling your role as the Hero. Now my purpose here is complete."
Link looked at her, eyes glimmering. "You're free, then?" he asked with hope.
His companion had never been one to show an abundance of emotion, but Link was sure that he detected a hint of regret cross Fi's features. "My powers are still needed," she explained, "to keep Demise sealed in that blade. The Demon King must never be allowed to return, lest he take the Triforce for his own." She looked to the pedestal before them as she continued, "Drive the sword into the pedestal before you, and I will return to the sword to enter a sleep without end."
Link felt his spirit sink at that moment. A sleep without end? Though he understood the need for Fi's power, and he knew all too well of the sense of duty she must be feeling, he could scarcely imagine a more dismal fate than an eternal sleep, than oblivion. His gaze, which had briefly been cast on the pedestal, was now fully on Fi. "But…" he stammered, "but surely, there's power in every inch of this place. Can the pedestal not hold him in? Is there nothing else that could hold him in?"
Fi sighed again. "Link," she replied, her voice softer now as she floated towards him a little, "there is no cause to worry. I have accepted this fate; it is my duty, as your quest has been yours." Within herself, she wondered what had brought on the tone of desperation that had taken over his voice, why he looked like his heart was slowly cracking.
She was even more puzzled when he closed the remaining space between them and caught her by the waist. "But Fi," he argued, moisture beginning to form at the corners of his eyes, "I don't think I want to go without you. With everything we've been through...do you know how much you've come to mean to me?" It was with those words, and her ability to sense Link's emotion, that she finally understood what lay behind his reluctance to put the sword in.
A few seconds passed. Then Link felt something come to rest on either shoulder. Looking down at his right, he saw a hand coming from the folds of Fi's mantle. It was blue and long and slender, like the rest of her. Then, after another second, he realized something. Fi's hands, resting on his shoulders, and her waist, which he held, were soft, like flesh and blood, and not at all like the timeshift stones she resembled. Could she be a fairy, then? he wondered. The moment was brief, however, before he remembered that his brilliant, wonderful friend, whom he adored, was now preparing to enter an endless sleep.
And then her soothing voice came again: "Link, I now understand the...affection you feel towards me. Our time together has introduced me to so many experiences and feelings, and, were it not for my duty, you know I would gladly accept it. But this is the nature of my task. All things must end, in time. That is the way of things, much as I wish otherwise."
The Hero couldn't hold himself together any longer. He threw his arms around his companion, his head coming to rest on her shoulder as he let out a few choking sobs. Fi blinked, unsure of herself for a second, before remembering something she'd seen in Skyloft, something she'd seen a mother do to console a crying child. She returned Link's embrace, her own head resting on Link's own, knowing the contact would be of some comfort to him. At the bottom of the steps, she saw Zelda briefly make as if to walk up and provide her own comfort to the lad, then stop herself, watching forlornly as Link gave vent to his pain.
The two held each other for some time (Fi, for once, wasn't counting the minutes) until she finally said, "Link, look at me." And he did, his eyes rimmed red, face bearing a few trails of moisture. He sorely wanted to know what she had to say. He felt one of her hands - one of her hands that she'd only just now revealed - brush his cheek, wiping one of those damp tracks. Her expression was warmer than he'd ever seen before.
"I can only follow you in spirit now," Fi said. "But if it will give you strength, then I leave you with this." A second later, her lips pressed gently against his own. Link shut his eyes, tears coming out again as he leaned into the kiss. Ten seconds later, it was over; Fi had pulled her face back a few inches and they now stood, still in each other's arms, looking deeply into each other's eyes.
Link's hand slid up Fi's back and buried itself in her hair (the feeling under his fingers confirmed it was hair). "I promise you," he told her brokenly, "I promise I'll find another way to keep him sealed so you can leave here. I swear we'll see each other again." As he finished saying this, he pulled her in for a kiss of his own. This he held for far longer - despite his promise, he wasn't sure if he'd ever manage to free her from her duty, so he couldn't bear now to separate his lips from hers.
It was another forty seconds before they finally pulled back. Fi was smiling calmly as she said, "If you succeed, then I eagerly await the day we do. May the Three be with you, my Link."
Link finally smiled back. Fi would never weep as he had; he knew her strength would keep him going, keep him from ever giving up, just as Zelda's had during their adventure.
And just like that, Fi was gone, once more inside the Master Sword. He pulled it from its scabbard now. Fi had seemed confident he would find a way to bring her out, now it was time to prove that confidence right. There was a pulse of light as the blade entered the slot in the pedestal, and it was done. Link gazed at the sword for a moment, then turned and walked back down the steps.
As he reached the bottom, Groose, who had seen the whole exchange, swept him into a sympathetic embrace, followed by Impa, then Zelda.
As this last separated from Link she said to him, "Come on. I feel a pull towards the goddess statue back on Skyloft. I feel like it's the place to be right now." Then she stepped through the Gate of Time, with Groose in tow.
Link smiled. He, too, felt the pull Zelda had described. So, a new mission set in his mind, he followed his friends' example, and strode on through the Gate.