OK everyone, another new chapter, not too terribly long after the last one! This one's mostly all dialogue, character development and emotion, since for these next two chapters, we're going to hone in on romance mostly, then go back to a little angst/foreshadowing/ect. :D So anyway, thanks to spyfuttonbutton, MadlyPurple, and Nasakegan for following/favoriting! Now onto the reviews and there were a lot this time! Actually, as of the time i'm posting this, Blood and Spirit and Wisdom and Courage have the same number of reviews and followers which is crazy awesome, since I'm not even done with Blood and Spirit yet! Keep 'em coming!
Connor: Glad you love it! I love it too! :D
Nikrael: Thanks! I strive for beauty in my writing!
Princesszeld450: Hahaha beautifulness... I might just have to use that in my story now... ;D
ShadowNinja1011: Thanks! :D
Vivi-ntvg: Yeah, if u feel bad for Sheik now, this chapter might only make you feel for her more... And the reason why I don't reply to my reviewers directly is cause I actually don't like replying through PMing. Its just kind of annoying to me, so I prefer to do it this way. I hope it doesn't bother you! :O
Lovely girl 10: Actually, since I know what's coming up around the bend in a few chapters, I'm quite nervous for the three of them myself... Weird since I'm the one writing this story lol :D
Alright so with all that out of the way, let's get it on!
Chapter 17: The Goddess and the Hero
"Sometimes, love is so strong that it transcends even lifetimes..."
-Unknown
Sheik frowned as she stood within one of the doorways of Kakariko Village's Healing House, where the Sheikah would receive medical attention if they ever needed it. She had been watching Link for almost a half an hour as he sat by Zelda's bedside attentively keeping her company as she lay unconscious as she had for the past several hours, and paying absolutely no mind to the Sheikah leader despite her intense stare. After the girl and the hero were reunited on the field, the group wasted no time in getting Zelda back to Kakariko Village, where the Sheikah healers immediately got to work on tending to her shoulder wound. The inhabitants of the village, who were normally opposed to accepting outsiders into their village, had welcomed both the goddess and her hero with open arms, especially since their leader had made it clear that they were to be treated as honored guests of the Sheikah tribe.
Leaning casually against the door frame, Sheik let out a quiet breath through her mouth and closed her eyes for a moment in thought before opening them to look at Link once more. Despite the fact that he hadn't moved from Zelda's side since they had made it to the village, he didn't look tired or weary in the slightest. Rather, his expression was contemplative and concentrated, as if he had been focused in deep thought this entire time. Biting her lip, Sheik finally worked the nerve to speak up to him, even though the two of them had hardly said a word to each other since that morning.
"You've been in here all day," Sheik said quietly, letting her slight worry show in her tone. "Don't you think you should go get some fresh air for a few minutes?"
"I'm fine," the hero said succinctly, not even glancing towards the Sheikah leader for a moment.
She sighed, trying to think of something, anything to say. "You don't have to worry so much about her, you know," she said consolingly. "All of best healers said that she's going to be just fine and that no permanent damage was done to her shoulder. She just needs her rest."
"I know," Link said calmly, finally giving Sheik a small glance. "I'm not worried about her."
"Then what's really wrong?" the Sheikah asked, stepping into the room. "And don't say 'nothing' because I know that's a blatant lie."
The hero sighed as he looked to the unconscious girl lying before him once more. "I've been doing some thinking…"
"About what?"
He was silent for a long moment, before fully turning towards her. "Maybe we should go outside for a while…" he said quietly, and Sheik immediately understood what his intentions were. He wanted to speak with her privately, just in case Zelda happened to wake up while they were talking about something that he obviously didn't want her to hear.
And so, the pair stepped out of the Healing House, into the busy streets of Kakariko Village. None of the villagers seemed to pay them any mind as Sheik led Link to a much quieter section of town not too far away, an empty, secluded square that contained a small, flowing fountain, a place known to the Sheikah as Hylia's Fountain, since it was topped off with a statue of the goddess. As soon as they were out of the earshot of anyone else, the Sheikah leader turned to the hero with an inquisitive look on her face.
"So what are you thinking?" Sheik asked, crossing her arms and frowning at him, trying to avoid the thought that she was alone with him.
"This needs to stop," Link said with firm resolve. "We can't let Veress and the Interlopers hurt Zelda again, or anyone else. We need to end this, soon."
The Sheikah leaded nodded. "I agree. So what's your plan?"
"Well…" the hero said with a somewhat sheepish smile. "I was kind of hoping you had one…"
Sheik raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you think I am? Some kind of master strategist?" she asked sarcastically.
"A little, I guess," Link shrugged with a small laugh.
"Well you're out of luck then," she sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "I'm at as much of a loss about what to do as you are. But for now, I think that's alright. After all, the Interlopers no longer have her grace in their custody. She's safe, and so is the Triforce as long as they don't get that ocarina. So the only thing we can do now, is stay here in the village, and wait for something to happen."
The hero sighed, hating the idea of just giving the Interlopers, or worse yet, another spell of corruption, a chance to strike, but knowing it was their only choice. And so, even though he didn't want to, he nodded in agreement with the Sheikah leader and simply said, "Fine… But if they try to go after Zelda again, then they'll have to go through me first."
Zelda opened her eyes to find herself standing in the middle of the bloodstained field once again in Hylia's memories. Immediately, the girl wished that she was anywhere but here, for she knew what was about to happen. But she was unable to do anything as the goddess started to step forward, getting ever closer to the fallen hero with each slow stride. She could feel her heart beat begin to pick up, but she resolved to remain calm. This is only a dream… Zelda reminded herself firmly. This is one of Hylia's memories… Not mine…
The familiar rush of grief and worry started to come over her as Hylia began to feel them upon approaching her warrior. But Zelda did not let herself experience them too, not even as tears started to stream down the goddess's face. And though she almost broke down as Hylia leaned down beside the dead hero's side, the girl pushed her own tears away to devote her focus to examination rather than emotion.
While Hylia gingerly placed the hero's head into her lap and desperately tried to rouse him with no avail, Zelda allowed herself to get a better look at him and indeed, her suspicions were confirmed. Clearly, this was not her Link, though he did look conspicuously similar. The hero in her arms was clearly a few years older, looking to be a young adult rather than an older teenager. But all the same, he wore the same type of green cap and tunic, though both were war-torn and disheveled, as was his blonde hair, which was so pale that it almost seemed to be white. The golden shoulder mantel and flowing scarlet cape that he wore adding to his heroic look and Zelda knew that he must have been very handsome when he was alive. And though she couldn't tell since his eyes were shut in an almost peaceful expression, she was almost certain that they had been blue, just as her own hero's eyes were. The only thing that marred him was the deep gash in his side, still wet with fresh blood, along with the dirt and blood that marked his face, signs of recent battle. He couldn't have died more than a few hours ago, but despite that, his body was cold and stiff, though strong all the same.
And so instead of shedding tears as Hylia was, Zelda listened and watched what happened next, as the goddess started speaking to her dead hero in a low voice as she kept him close to her. "My valiant hero…" Hylia began, her eyes still wet from crying. "I am sorry for your struggle… Your imprisonment was willed by the heavens. It was meant to make you strong, like a sword hammered and honed so that it would never break… It was necessary to transform you into one fit to wield the Goddess Sword… And it was for that purpose that I chose you to be my hero… Because you deeply love this land and all its people… As do I…" The goddess sighed as she hung her head in grief. "But because of this, your life has been full of suffering. I have watched you… and felt your pain like a knife through my body…"
Zelda listened solemnly as Hylia went on with her final goodbye to her hero and as the goddess spoke, the darkened, bloodstained world around them started to grow brighter, somehow being enshrouded in newfound light. "I will ensure that your gentle, heroic spirit will live on eternally," Hylia said as the light grew, bringing newfound hope along with it. "And I… I shall shed my divinity. The next time we meet, I wish to stand before you as a simple human… And maybe then, centuries from now, perhaps we can create a world where our love will thrive…" She gave the hero a soft kiss on the forehead as the image of the goddess and the hero faded from the girl's sight altogether as Hylia's final words rang out in little more than a gentle whisper. "Whenever this land is in danger… We shall be reborn…"
As the light cleared, Zelda found that she was herself once more, standing high above the field within the sunlit safety of Skyloft. Upon feeling someone gently touch her shoulder, the girl turned and couldn't stop herself from smiling at who stood behind her. "Link…" she sighed contentedly as she fell into the open arms of her own hero, feeling secured and loved. He didn't say anything, but he simply gave her a warm smile as their faces drew closer together, until their lips finally touched and everything else vanished into pure light.
When Zelda truly woke up, it was with a faint feeling of dizzy happiness that she didn't want to fade away. But it gradually did when she opened her eyes and saw that she was in an unfamiliar room and that nobody, not even Link, was with her. The feeling of being alone, especially after everything that had happened, filled her with sudden anxiety. Thankfully, there was only a dull ache in her properly bandaged shoulder as she sat up in bed and looked around at the bare, simple room that she found herself it. The only thing that was in it besides the bed was a nightstand nearby on which her now-clean sailcloth was folded upon as well as her bow, and an empty chair sitting quite close to the bed. It took a moment for the girl to properly orient her thoughts, but even after she did, she was confused as to how she got there, since the last thing she remembered before falling into unconsciousness from the pain was that last kiss she had shared with Link. Zelda bit her lip as she thought about the hero. Even though she was still upset with him for lying to her, she still wanted to be near him after all of the time they had been apart nonetheless.
"Your grace," Zelda turned to see the source of the calculated voice that had spoken to her.
"Fi," Zelda nodded in recognition to the sword spirit who stood within the doorway of the room, silently noting her changed appearance and silently wishing that Link was there to greet her instead.
"I understand that you must have quite a few questions," Fi said in her usual stoic tone. "And I have been instructed by my master to answer them for you to the best of my abilities. You are currently within a healing facility within Kakariko Village, the ancestral home of the Sheikah tribe. Though the Sheikah who live here swear fealty to you and claim that they do not ally themselves with the Dark Interlopers whatsoever, I would still advise you to be wary of them, for they are a shadowy, ambiguous group of people."
"But, weren't they the ones who treated my shoulder?" Zelda asked, glancing at the clean bandage wrapped around the wound.
Fi nodded. "Yes," she said, crossing her arms. "But as I told Master Link, their amicability does not necessarily mean they are to be trusted. After all, it is only because of him, and not them, that you are here, out of harm's way in the first place."
The girl shook her head, her thoughts too muddled with other things to dwell too much on thoughts of the sword spirit's apparent disdain for the Sheikah race. "Where is Link?" she asked as emotionlessly as she could, trying not to let her desire and longing for him show in her tone. "He's here too, right?"
"Yes," Fi said with another nod. "And if you will follow me, I will direct you to him, for I estimate a 100% chance that he is as eager to see you as you are to see him."
Zelda suppressed a small blush as she rose to her feet, quickly slipping on her boots and tying her sailcloth around her shoulders once more as she hurried out the door and followed the sword spirit down the narrow hallway in silence. She tried to figure out exactly what she wanted to say to the hero now that her mind was not clouded with pain. She debated with herself on whether or not she wanted to be angry with him, or let it all go in favor of just submitting herself into his arms again.
Fi lead the girl to the still empty section of town where Hylia's Fountain flowed softly, and where Link and Sheik were still conversing in quiet voices. Zelda raised an eyebrow in curiosity and confusion as she watched her hero talking to the unknown girl who stood beside him, wondering why they had come to such a secluded place in the first place. She was about to call out to him, but much to her relief, Fi announced her arrival instead.
"Master Link," the sword spirit said and both the hero and the Sheikah leader were quick to halt their conversation and turn to face them as they approached.
Link smiled with relief when he saw that Zelda was finally awake, but she did not return it, nor did she so much as glance in his direction. Sheik also frowned as she glanced back and forth between the girl and the hero, her heart sinking, but the pain being nowhere near as intense as it had been when she saw them kiss on the field. She had been dreading this though, even though she knew it was a foolish thing to do.
"Thank you, Fi," Link said, giving a gracious nod to the sword spirit, who returned it before reentering her vessel without another word. The three of them stood in an awkward silence for a moment or two, no one really knowing what to say until Sheik finally worked up the nerve to speak up.
"Your grace," she said, stepping towards Zelda and kneeling down in respect at her feet. "It is an honor to have you in our midst. I am Sheik, the matriarch of the Sheikah tribe."
Zelda gave her a small smile of gratitude as the Sheikah leader rose to her feet. "It's nice to meet you, Sheik," she said politely. "Thank you for welcoming us into your village and for treating my wound."
"Sheik also helped me look for you," Link said in an attempt to get the girl to look at him, but much to his dismay, she still did not.
"Well then, I suppose I should thank you for that too," Zelda said cordially. "Even if I did get out on my own." She attempted to lighten the heavy mood with a short giggle, but it did little except for bring on another long spell of silence, during which the girl finally cast an emotionless glance at the hero. And she found that no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't break it.
"Sheik, could you give us a little privacy?" Link asked the Sheikah leader and the moment he did so, she barely managed to suppress a disappointed sigh.
"Of course…" she said in almost a whisper as she started to walk away without giving him a second glance. But before she left the area entirely, she cast one look behind her at the hero and frowned bitterly, reminded of what she could now never have.
For the longest time, only the sound of the flowing fountain nearby could be heard between the girl and the hero as they stared at each other intently, trying to find the words to say to one another. Their reunion on the field had merely been a prelude to this, and there was so much that they both knew they had to say to one another, especially now that everything was finally out in the open. It was safe to say that nothing would ever be the same between them again now; there was no returning to that night long ago, when they had been wrapped in each other's arms and first professed their love for each other. Whatever had happened that night had been shattered by distance, dread, and deception. And so the only thing that could be done now would be to try and pick up all of the scattered pieces and place them back together again.
"You… look different…" Zelda finally said after several moments of this stated silence as she stepped closer to him to get a better look in the glow of the setting sun. "You have those red and blue markings on your face… and some of your hair has turned white and your eyes… they're red… Does this all have to do with the corruption?"
"Not all of it," Link said with a frown. He hadn't known that some of his hair had started to turn white, like the Fierce Deity's had been, but he wasn't too surprised by it or even that bothered by it at the moment. "Sheik made my eyes red so I could see in the dark, like a Sheikah, to fight the Interlopers better. Why, you don't like it?"
Zelda frowned and shook her head. "No," she said quietly, finally reaching out to take his hand as she stepped closer to him. "I told you. I didn't want you to change… But I guess it's too late for that…"
The hero slowly wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, until their chests were together and their hearts were beating in unison. Though they had both missed being so close to each other, they didn't take much solace in the fact that they finally were again. "I'm so sorry," he whispered in her ear softly, the slightest hints of despair and desperation his voice. "I need you to know that I am so sorry for hurting you, for lying to you and for everything else that I've put you through and that I might put you through. And I-"
"Stop," Zelda cut him off, her voice tight with an oncoming sob. "Please, just… stop… I don't want to hear it… It just… hurts too much…"
Link nodded solemnly, almost on the verge of tears himself upon hearing the pain in her voice, but he quickly stopped them. He had to be strong through all of this now; if for no one else but her. "Okay," he said softly as the two of them touched their foreheads together. "I'll stop." For several long, almost blissful moments, they breathed in total harmony, almost as if they were one and the same instead of separate.
"How long do you think you have left before…?" Zelda trailed off, unable to finish her question as a tear slipped down her cheek.
"I don't know," Link said, shaking his head slightly and closing his eyes. "But I'd give anything just to have a little more time with you…"
Upon hearing this, the girl finally broke down into ragged sobs. "Oh, Link…" she said somewhat incoherently in between hot tears of grief. "I… I can't… You… I… I need you… I won't be able to go on without you…"
"Zelda, don't say that," the hero said firmly as the two of them split apart, though their hands were still intertwined. "The surface needs you. You can't just give up on everything because of me."
"Well it needs you too," Zelda said, looking up at him as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
Link shook his head, even though he knew she was right. "That doesn't matter," he said with a frown. "I need you to promise me something, alright?"
"What?" she said with a sniffle.
"Promise me that even after I'm gone, you'll find a way to go on with your life and be happy, okay?"
"After you're gone, I'll never be happy again and you know that," Zelda said in misery. "But for you, I'll try… On one condition."
"What?" Link asked as the girl wrapped her arms around him tightly, refusing to let go.
"You have to promise me that you'll fight this… this corruption as much as you can," she said with both coldness and pleading in her tone. "I want to have you for as long as I can, for however long we have left…"
The hero sighed, knowing how difficult what she had asked of him would be. The corruption was already pressing upon him hard and with each spell of it that he fell into, the physical, emotional and mental pain would only get worse. He knew that eventually it would get to the point where he would be in constant pain, but for her, he would fight even then. For her, he would do anything. "Alright," he said, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead. "I'll fight until I can't fight anymore…"
"Thank you…" she said, finally giving him a small smile. A long moment of silence lingered between the two of them as they leaned on one another once more, watching as the sun slipped behind the nearby hills. This was the most at peace either one of them had been for days, as they finally let all of their dread and angst slip away with the sinking sun.
"I missed you," Zelda whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder. "So much…"
"I missed you too…" Link said with a faint smile, wanting nothing more than to hold onto her forever, to keep her safe and close.
"This just isn't fair…" Zelda said in sudden sorrow as more tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "After all you've done for this land and for me… You're just going to lose yourself like this? It's so cruel… You don't deserve this…"
"Zelda," Link began, trying to come up with something to say to console her but finding nothing. And so instead he sighed and agreed with her, hopelessness entering his tone as he spoke. "No, I guess it's not very fair…"
"And I used to think that we would be able to spend the rest of our lives together," the girl said as she began to sob again. "That we would get married and start a family… I guess it was just never meant to be… I couldn't imagine being with anyone else but you…"
As Zelda buried her face into his chest and began to weep softly, Link looked down at her with a frown, placing one of his hands on the back of her head gently and weaving his fingers through her long silken hair. He shared all of those desires with her: to marry and have a family with her. But he knew that they could never happen now or ever. Or could they…? "I want to have you as long as I can…" the words that Zelda had just spoken to him moments ago rang out inside his head, twisting and turning as a sudden idea came into being. "For however long we have left…" He knew that they didn't have much time left. Maybe only a few weeks at the most, if that. But if he was going to lose his life and everything he was, then he absolutely could not leave her with any doubt at all that he loved her, in the strongest, deepest way anyone could love someone.
"Zelda," the hero said in a gentle tone as he took her by the chin and made her look him in the eyes. Her cheeks were stained with tears but she gave him a look of confusion, mixed with sadness. "I know that for however long I have left, I need you more than anything else. And for however long that is, I don't want us to be apart ever again."
The girl sniffled, sucking in a shaky breath. "So… What are you saying, Link?" she asked anxiously, searching his newly crimson eyes for an answer.
Link didn't answer her right away. Instead, he pulled her into a long, warm kiss that made both of their hearts flutter with passion and emotion. And then, when the hero pulled away, he kissed her briefly on the cheek until he was able to whisper into her ear so quietly that she barely heard it: "Marry me."
Zelda's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Her heart skipped a beat, before it started to pound with millions of emotions all at once. "What?" she asked breathlessly, blinking her tears away.
"You heard me," he said with a small, daring smile, his eyes shining with excitement and courage. "If I'm going to die, I want to at least die happy. And the only way to do that is if I'm married to the girl I've loved my whole life."
The girl choked out a sob and she covered her mouth to suppress it. But unlike her previous sobs, which were full of grief and heartache, this one was full of joy and elation. This time, she did not hesitate to give him an enthusiastic, whole-hearted answer, one that she was absolutely certain of. "Of course," she said with a wide smile and a nod. "Of course I'll marry you."
Without another word, the hero lifted the girl up into his strong arms and spun her around in a circle, both of them laughing with complete jubilation and levity. Neither one of them could recall a time when they had been happier and that was just fine with them. As Link finally set Zelda down, he didn't waste another moment keeping their lips apart and drew her into a warm and loving kiss. They both clung onto each other for as long as they were able to, savoring the sheer bliss of the moment and the love that was flowing between them.
As the girl and the hero were declaring their love for each other in the empty square, a set of saddened scarlet eyes watched them from a nearby rooftop. Sheik sat with her knees pulled to her chest as she trained her eyes on the scene below, though she couldn't really hear what either of them was saying from her high position. But that was fine with her; she had a feeling that if she could hear them, it would only make her feel worse. She bit her lip hard to keep herself from breaking out into tears every time she saw the two of them embrace or kiss, since the pain of having to see that hurt her worse than a hard blow to the chest.
Stop it, Sheik commanded herself as she felt her eyes grow wet with tears once more. You are the leader of the Sheikahs; you don't cry. Especially not over something to stupid… Like the rest of her peers, Sheik had been brought up learning that emotions, especially those that were of passion and desire, should have been avoided at all costs, since they often blocked out common sense and duty. And for the most part, even despite the sadness she had first felt when her friendship with Veress fell apart, Sheik had done well to follow that certain standard of her tribe. That is, until now. And though she tried hard to suppress the emotion flowing through her, threatening to overflow at any second, she knew it was a completely futile. Despite her best efforts to, she knew that there was no denying it to herself: she had fallen in love, and in her case, it was the most dangerous place she could be.
She wanted to be free from the wrenching feeling that tore through her every time she saw the couple embrace in passionate romance, and she never wanted to feel it again. At the same time though, she savored the small, fleeting sensation of bright warmth and exhilaration that she experienced whenever she was near him. She simply couldn't help herself. Even though they had only known each other for a few days, she knew that she loved him, and she knew exactly why. She had never met anyone like the hero before. He was strong, courageous and unyielding, but at the same time, he was selfless and kind, traits that Sheik not only admired, but wished she had more of herself. She closed her eyes for a moment and let her mind wander to wistful thoughts of what it would be like if she were folded into his firm arms in the place of who currently was.
But as soon as the image came to her, it vanished away as she remembered the four reasons why it could never happen. First of all, it would be blatant disregard for the time-honored traditions and laws of her tribe. As the leader of the Sheikahs, Sheik had a position of influence and honor to uphold. She had to be an example for all of those who looked to her for leadership, especially during these uncertain times. And that was an issue in and of itself. The Sheikah leader had a feeling that Veress and the Interlopers were far from finished with their conquest to claim the Triforce and to destroy the goddess and the hero. Sheik had promised Impa that her sole focus would be devoted to protecting her tribe and the goddess, and nothing more. She couldn't let anything, not even her feelings, impair her judgment now, when so much was at stake. And even still, was the matter of the corruption that was going to put an end to the hero's life eventually. The very thought that Link was going to be gone soon filled Sheik with thick sadness, even though she knew it was still too early to be grieving him. She was frustrated with herself for not having so much as a single clue about how to help him in this regard, though she was completely willing to do anything she could to support him in any way at all. And it was for that reason that she knew she would fight at his side no matter what, even if the love that she had for him would never be returned.
However, the final reason why her desire could never come to fruition was by far the biggest. Even if none of the other obstacles stood in her way, it still would have been plain to see based on what the Sheikah leader had been observing for the past half hour alone. The hero that she was infatuated with had already given his heart to another, and not just anyone, but the goddess's reincarnation herself. That simple fact made things infinitely more complicated. It was true that Sheik loved Link, but she had no intentions of ever trying to get between him and Zelda. Yet she bore no malice towards the girl; in anything, the Sheikah leader respected her and swore loyalty to her because of who she was, and Sheik could not find it in herself to hate Zelda at all because of that. But she was certainly envious of her for what she was lucky enough to have. But that was all she could do. She knew that Link and Zelda had years of close friendship behind them, a friendship that had logically developed into a passionate romance. And there was no way that Sheik, with the only casual camaraderie that she had formed with the hero over the past few days, could ever hope to change that.
As she miserably mulled over this, she finally let a stray tear slip down her cheek, which fell upon the white teardrop tattoo she bore on her cheek. She hadn't cried since Impa died, and then it had been understandable, since the former Sheikah matriarch had raised her from birth. But now, Sheik's sorrow was a million times worse. And so, as she watched the hero and the girl embrace and kiss passionately once more, she buried her head in her knees and wept softly, pouring out all of her pain through tears, one of the only ways she knew how to get it all out. And, once she had finally spent all of her tears, the Sheikah leader let them dry on their own as she looked out across her village with a cold expression, her wet ruby eyes reflecting brighter in the glow of the emerging moon. She knew that the pain would probably never truly go away, but she knew that she had to go on with her life despite that. She wasn't going to let her broken heart stop her from serving her people, and living up to her dead mentor's expectations. And though it was going to be hard, she was still going to give her whole-hearted support to both the hero and the goddess, no matter what.
When they finally did break apart from their long kiss, Link and Zelda were both still smiling at each other with so much warmth that despite the fact the sun had set, it felt like pure light was bearing down upon both of them. They continued to hold onto one another for several moments, simply staring into each other's eyes and not breaking that loving gaze for a long time.
"So what now?" Zelda asked dreamily, her voice light and lofty.
"I don't want to wait any longer," Link said, his eyes alight with impulse and excitement. "Let's get married right now, tonight."
"What?" the girl laughed, though she didn't protest with him at all. "Tonight? How in the world are we going to do that?"
"We could ask the Sheikah to hold the ceremony for us," the hero said with a wide smile. "I'm sure they'd be happy to do it. Come on, Zel. Who knows how much time we have left?"
"I don't," Zelda admitted with a smirk. "But Link, what about my father and all of our friends up in Skyloft? When I imagined our wedding, I pictured us being surrounded by all of them, not a bunch of strangers…"
"We can do it all over again up there later," Link said. "I've never been so sure about something before in my whole life. And I don't want to wait until something else happens to keep us from doing this when we can now. This might be our only chance."
"I know…" Zelda said as her smile grew warmer. "And I have been dreaming of this ever since I was a little girl… Alright, fine… We'll get eloped… After all, it is more romantic."
The girl gave the hero a flirtatious kiss on the cheek as they both laughed in joyous unison. They pressed into each other once more as they wrapped their arms around each other in a tender embrace, watching as the stars started to appear in the sky.
"You know this is crazy, right?" Zelda asked Link as she leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes and sighing contentedly.
"Yeah," the hero nodded with a grin. "I know."
"So then why are we still going to do it?" the girl asked with a knowing smile, already anticipating his answer.
"Because," Link said after giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. "We're absolutely certain that we're in love…"
Zelda smiled as she let all of her final reservations fade away into the rush of excitement and happiness she was feeling as she gave him a small nod. "Yes…" she said, her voice soft and blissful as they started to move together for another kiss. "We are…"
AWWWWWWW! THEY GETTING MARRIED! Well, eloped, which as Zelda said, IS more romantic! XD I am so excited for the next chapter! And for everything else afterwards! I might just die from the excitement of it all! But I can't die yet for there is still so much to discuss! First of all, I finally discovered the joys of Tumblr, so I took the liberty of creating a tumblr blog for the Bound Destinies trilogy as a whole, where I plan on posting all sorts of stuff like quotes, art, thoughts, and even sneak peaks of upcoming chapters for B&S and eventual details about Light and Shadow as I get closer to finishing this story, as well as reflecting back on Wisdom and Courage! So if you wanna go to the place where I will pour my heart out for this trilogy, then go to bounddestines . tumblr .com (had to seperate it cause won't allow me to put it in, but when u go to the URL its all together with no spaces!) and follow it as well as promote it if you want! That would make me SUPER happy!
Next up, I just wanted to say a brief word about why this week is going to be so amazing (and subsequently the week after). First of all, who here is a Hunger Games fan? If you are, then you can understand why I say that I am super excited for Catching Fire, coming out this friday! I'm not sure what that really has to do with anything, I just wanted to mention it cause its all I can really think about! XD
And finally, also coming out this friday (which is more pertianing to the Zelda series) is A Link Between Worlds! I already have it preordered and I can't wait to get my hands on it! Anyone else here ready for some fresh Zelda action? I know I am!
So now that I'm done rambling, please feel free to leave your comments, thoughts, REVIEWS for me cause I LOVE them! Until next time!