Chapter Six

A Truly Special Fourth of July

July had just started and the fourth was only a few days away. I was nervous, why you ask? Well, it was…it's just that I had something in mind. Something I truly wanted to put into motion for a while now, but I felt doubtful if it was really something wise. In the end, I decided to go for it, thanks to my recent conversation with my mother. I went down to the forge and found, to my good luck, the head counselor for the Hephaestus cabin there, I pulled him aside and made my request. That is, after I'd asked him not to tell anyone yet, I didn't want anyone else to know yet, that way it could be a surprise.

To my surprise he totally went along with it, smiling and saying it would be ready before I knew it. I sighed in relief, thanked him, and walked out back to the Athena cabin, to write down my journal entry for the day. That evening after dinner, Zelda walked over to me and rested her hands on my shoulders.

"Looking forward to the fourth?" She asked, smiling at me softly.

"Yeah…you bet!" I quickly stammered, looking away slightly as my face heated slightly as she unknowingly reminded me of my plan.

"Are you ill?" She asked me, "you're looking flushed."

"No, Zelda. I'm fine, don't worry about it." I said, only just managing to meet her gaze.

She gave me a scrutinizing look before letting it go, "Well alright then…"

As we walked our own separate ways, I sighed in relief. Zelda was usually very perceptive and knew when things weren't adding up, but ah never mind that. The next day, after the morning's swordsmanship class and I had dismissed my cadets to go about their other duties, I took a stroll down to the lake and sat on the dock looking out over the water.

"Drachma for your thoughts?" I heard someone say behind me.

I turned and saw Austin walking up.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said before lapsing into silence.

For about ten minutes we simply sat there quietly, me trying to sort through my thoughts, while Austin just waited for me to speak when I was ready. That's one of things about him that made him such a good friend, he knew when I wanted to say something but also to wait for me if it was difficult to say.

"It…it's just that I don't…" I stammered, then sighed and continued, "I ask myself, am I really making the right choice with this? Maybe I'm being too…whatever, my mind tells me one thing, my heart tells me another. I don't know which I should listen to." I finished.

Austin didn't say anything for a minute, considering how to respond.

"I think…" he started, "that you need to bear in mind that it's ultimately up to you. It's your life after all, no one can or should tell you how to live it. But, if you ask my advice, I would say you should do what would bring you happiness."

"But what if…—?" I started to say but he cut me off.

"Doubt will only make sure it goes wrong, counterintuitive that that is" he stated.

"So, if it will make me happy, as my heart is telling me, then it's the right choice?" I asked.

"You're the only one who can answer that, I'm not you, I'm just giving advice to a close friend." He paused, standing before turning back to me to say one last thing, "But I'm sure you will make the right choice, I have full confidence in that."

Then he walked off, leaving me there to parse through his words. I sat there for another twenty minutes probably before I made up my mind. I had decided to go through with this and by the goddesses I would!

Later that day I stopped by the forge to pick up my special request. I inspected it carefully, seeing the flawlessness in its craftsmanship, and thanked the head counselor for Hephaestus profusely. He simply shrugged it off, saying it was nothing. I put it in my pocket for safe keeping, then walked out again. 'Another step of the way to the goal', I told myself.

A couple days later, it was finally the fourth and my nerves returned, but I kept them concealed. No point worrying my love sick about my wellbeing if she thought something was wrong, Hylia knows she would never relent until she knew the whole story if she suspected something was off.

As the day wore on, my pocket seemed unusually heavy. I thought, at times, that it was about to tear out through it and blow my cover. Fortunately, the fabric of my tunic held, keeping the secret safe. I barely paid attention throughout my duties, too busy focusing on tonight. No matter how many times I tried to turn my thoughts away, they stubbornly stayed.

As dinner resolved and everyone began migrating down to the beach to wait for the fireworks, I approached Zelda and had her follow me to a seldom used wooden tower a little way off from where everyone else was. Indeed, the last time this structure was used was five years ago, during the search for the mosasaur, whose skeleton was still mounted in the camp. I had already checked it out, and the little space at the top would be just what I needed. It was open to the sky so we would be able to see the fireworks just fine, but ringed by a moderately high wall, putting us out of easy view.

When the fireworks eventually started we lay on our backs on the wood, Zelda with her hands behind her head, while I rested one hand behind my head and the other in my pocket, gripping the object in there. I was now honestly just waiting for the right moment, barely focusing on the display above us. They had probably been going for about a half hour when Zelda broke the silence.

"It's so beautiful" she said softly, a peaceful smile almost audible in her words.

"Yeah…I…suppose it is" I said, distractedly.

She turned her head to look at me, "Link, is something wrong?" She asked me, gentle concern in her tone.

"No, nothing's wrong per say…" I started, putting emphasis on the word wrong.

"Then what is it?" She asked me.

I sighed, then said, "Zelda there's something I have to tell you."

I stood, much to Zelda's surprise, though she stood up as well.

"What is it?" She asked again, in a whisper this time as she gazed back into my eyes.

She was so beautiful right now, the way the lights from the still going fireworks above gleamed on her long golden tresses, the way her hair accentuated the shape of her face and was tucked behind her pointed ears, and of course those big, green, doe eyes of hers.

I took her hands in mine, and began to speak, and goddesses, I was terrified.

"Zel—my Zelda" I stammered, then resumed "we've been through so much together, both in this lifetime and others. No one else can ever truly understand how it is for us." I took a deep breath, seeing her eyes shining at me, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Together, we've gotten through all the pain, all the loss, grief, and sadness that we could ever endure. However, despite that I need to tell you that I'm being completely honest with you when I say that there's no other person in this world who I would rather go through it with than you, Zelda." I admitted.

"Link…" she started, almost murmuring.

I continued, "and that's why I now have to ask you what is undoubtedly the most important question I will ever ask in my life."

Then her eyes widened when I took her left hand in mine, as I reached my other hand into my pocket, while going down on one knee. Her free hand rose to cover her mouth as her now wide open eyes began to shimmer with unshed tears.

"Zelda" I said, opening the little box, revealing a beautiful gold ring adorned with a ruby, sapphire, and an emerald, all in a triangle. Each of the gems were also engraved with a small symbol. My heart was beating so hard and fast I thought it was about to explode.

I looked back up at her, a hopeful smile on my face as I spoke again, asking her the question that I had been wanting to ask her for weeks now.

"Zelda, will you marry me?"

"Yes! Yes, Link! Yes of course I will marry you! I've been waiting for this for so long!" She said, nodding frantically, her words muffled a little by her hand.

I removed the ring from the box and gently, tenderly slid it onto her left ring finger. Once it was in place and the box stowed away in my pocket again, I stood and took her face in my hands. I caressed her cheeks with my palms, the pads of my thumbs brushing away the tears that had started falling from her eyes. My eyes were leaking a few tears as well, I couldn't help it. Not now that I'd gotten the answer I had desperately wanted to hear.

Then I leaned forward, as did she, as her hands grabbed fistfuls of my tunic. Our lips met and our awareness narrowed to just each other. Our lips opened and deepened the kiss as her hands came up to bury her fingers in my hair. My cap was shifted out of position in her doing so, but neither of us really cared. She whimpered softly, a whimper of happiness if that makes sense. After a minute we separated, staring into each other's eyes, foreheads touching.

"Zelda, I swear on the goddesses that I will never allow anything to take me from your side. I swear that if death takes me from you before my time, I will somehow find a way to return to you, that I swear." I murmur.

She gives me a watery smile.

"I swear that on the goddesses too, love." She said quietly, voice shaking with emotion, as her hands gently gripped my wrists and moved them to her chest, just over her heart. "I would literally die for you! You mean the world to me Link!" She gasped, echoing her words after I freed from her from Ganon in an age past.

I pulled back slightly and cupped her cheek again, after gently pulling a hand away from hers, she tilted her head into my hand slightly.

"I know" I told her softly, my own voice thick with emotion and eyes still leaking tears. "You mean the world to me too."

I then reached for her face again and pulled her into another kiss, as we both finally gave in and started shedding the tears of joy from our eyes without restraint. Above us the fireworks continued, but we couldn't hear them anymore.

Then a thought occurred to me and I turned my head slightly to the side, "Fi?" I called softly for the spirit of the sword.

"Master, how can I be of assistance?" She asked, nodding to us, before adding, "Although I do not have emotions, I still offer my congratulations to the two of you."

I take a deep breath and then ask my question, "Fi? Does the goddess approve of our decision? Do the golden goddesses approve as well?" I inquire, as I have to know.

"Master, and Spirit Maiden" she nods to Zelda, "the goddesses and Hylia have always approved of your choice." She adds before disappearing.

Well that was reassuring, at least we weren't going to get blasted to ashes by the gods and goddesses or have death brought down upon us.

Once the fireworks were over, we walked back to the cabins with everyone else, holding hands the whole way. Just before we separated to go to our own cabins we smiled at each other and I whispered to her, "Tomorrow morning let's tell Chiron about this so we can work something out."

She nodded and said yes in response.

This chapter borrowed elements from A Sword's Sheath by GregMikels, Breath of the Wild: Rewritten by Italicized, and Spacebeyonce's let's wear rings of the same color! While elements were borrowed, I combined them to make something unique. I still felt it best to credit the originators though.