Royal birthdays were a grand affair, and 17th birthdays had a special importance. It was the year one became an adult, and there was a bit of pomp to it. Zelda was having a rather large ball and a theme was needing to be decided.
She was in the garden, water coloring while trying to convince Link to try his hand at painting as well. He was sketching, but claimed to have no idea about painting. She didn't have a particularly artistic eye either, but painting was calming, and unlike music she could talk while practicing it.
"So, my birthday is coming up soon," she started, "and my mom wants me to plan it. Apparently that will probably be my most important duty once I'm of age– besides sealing Ganon."
"Party planning?" he asked, looking up.
"Well, technically it's soft negotiations. The idea would be if the party's good enough people will like us and not want to fight us."
"That would be nice, if wars could be solved by dancing."
"They sometimes are," she answered, "But I've always had help before, but now when I ask my mom she just says, 'that's nice, what do you think?' I don't know, that's why I'm asking!"
"I won't be of much help either."
"But you are! You'll tell me if you think something's dumb or not."
"None of your ideas are dumb," he said almost automatically. "What about Paya?"
"Paya is visiting Kakariko so I have Sakha as my guard, and she talks less than you."
"I talk," he said unconvincingly.
"Yeah, when it's just me and you. My brother thought you were a mute for the first two months you were here."
He hid his eyes under his bangs and doubled his efforts on his sketch. She'd embarrassed him. "I would ask Reba, but it would take too long by mail, and she told me she wanted to be surprised."
"I've only been to the one party."
"It's not hard, just listen to my ideas and say if it sounds like something you would want to go to."
He frowned, but nodded his ascent.
Setting her brush down, Zelda took out her notebook. She opened it to the place marked by the ribbon in it and started to read, "Ancient Hyrule, Sheikah Technology, Garden of Lights, Dragons, and Under the Sea."
She looked up at him and he seemed to be thinking hard. Finally he said, "Dragons sound cool."
She smiled. "I figured you would say that."
He turned to look at her again. "You don't want to do it."
"That's not true," she said, "I've just… never seen a dragon. I think it's a nice idea, but I don't know what to do with it."
"Sheikah Technology would be easier for that." He thumbed through his sketchbook. Finding what he looked for, he held it out for her to see. "I saw a dragon once, but it was sort of far away."
The sketch was well done, and Zelda wouldn't have guessed it considering how he guarded his sketchbook so closely. "Oh, it's wonderful, Link. Why would you keep this quiet?"
"Well…" he didn't elaborate.
"Do you remember which one it was?" she asked, "I'm not sure which dragon would be near Hebra…"
He shook his head. "But maybe you could use the party to push the Divine Beasts?"
Divine Beasts? There would be dignitaries from each region of Hyrule, and if it were her birthday party her parents couldn't possibly get mad at her considering she was just following theme. "You're a genius. I can have my gown specially made– Would you want a special outfit? I'm sure we could get something."
She started writing ideas down in her journal, her watercolor half finished and forgotten. "Could you clean this up? I need to get to my study. I was thinking just Guardians and technology already released to the public, but if I had the Divine Beasts incorporated into my dress and accessories. Maybe the Egg Guardian could be my escort, that could be pretty cute, but I would have to drag it away from Impa. Maybe the cake could be made to look like a Guardian too, or would that be too on the nose… Symbolize the Divine Beasts?" She looked up to Link who was actually cleaning up the water color. "Wait, how did you know about the Divine Beasts?"
He dropped something, and she came back to help him. "Oh, there's no time for that, I'll get a maid to do it. C'mon, I have a feeling Impa has some explaining to do."
…
The theme of Sheikah Technology was accepted, and Divine Beasts were a rumored surprise. What that meant was anybody's guess. It ranged from a new type of animal, to, closer to the truth, a new weapon of somesort. The princess' 17th birthday was planned with no delays, and most of her worrying was for nothing.
Link had figured as much. For as much as she claimed she didn't know what to do, the most she did was second guess herself. The main dance hall of the castle was outfitted in Impa's electric lanterns, lighting the room in pale blue light. He was glad the dining hall was lit normally as it made the food on the refreshments table an unappetizing shade. It all still tasted great. The lighting was upstaged by the Guardian at the center of the room, its legs were detached, along with the laser abilities to avoid any accidents (though Impa claimed all accidents up until that point were user error.) A garland of flowers also covered the machine, and offset the mechanical decorations. It was quite well done in LInk's opinion.
Zelda had been beautiful at dinner, her curly blond hair down, a rare sight. Her jewelry and tiara were all made of the same material as a Guardian, set with glowing stones. She'd told him her grand look out did her, but in his opinion she always outshone everything she wore. He didn't tell her that. He'd restrained himself to one compliment, which wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, not because she didn't bring them to mind, but because there were so many people.
Link wasn't shy… exactly. People often described him that way, but shyness usually wasn't the full picture. Before he'd killed that witch and been revealed to be the hero of legend, the only person he'd talk to was his mentor, and he'd never spoken much. Link had inherited that quietness it seemed, because he remembered being a chatterbox when he was younger. Still, it was really only Zelda– Princess Zelda he felt comfortable talking to, but even that would come and go in waves. Mainly ranging from how much of a crush he had on her, not that he ever didn't have a crush on her, but sometimes she felt more like a friend.
The whole 'crush' thing had also taken him a bit to figure out, since he'd never had one before. From what he could glean from the one romance novel he'd picked up (by accident, it'd looked like a historical book from the cover and description), that was probably his affliction. It certainly seemed to match how he felt about her. The diagnosis was only confirmed when he'd accidentally eavesdropped on some maids gossiping. So yeah, he had a crush on the princess of Hyrule. He was pretty sure no one had picked up on it yet, since he'd only known about it for a few weeks now.
Shaking the slightly embarrassing thoughts, he glanced up to where she would make her grand entrance at the top of the stairs.
"Hero," he heard from behind him. He turned to see the crown prince approaching him. "Zelda force you into that?"
He glanced down at the formal clothes Zelda had commissioned for him. They were finer than anything else he owned, and on theme. Hesitantly he answered, "I didn't have anything that would match the theme."
"Few people did. It wasn't very accessible was it?" a second voice said. The Gerudo, who must've been listening into the conversation to hear his comment, walked elegantly towards them.
"Our dear princess did say she had something planned…" the prince said, "You wouldn't happen to know what that is, would you Link?"
The Gerudo, who was now standing next to the prince and dwarfing him, made Link look even shorter in comparison. "Oh, is this the Hero?" she asked, "the princess mentioned you in a few of her letters. I'll admit I was expecting someone a little different."
They always did. For some reason when they found out the fate of their kingdom rested in the hands of a socially awkward teenager it didn't instill them with confidence.
"He's unassuming, but that's just part of his charm," the prince said with a wink. "He's an insanely quick learner too. Apparently, he'd never seen a horse until he came here, but you wouldn't know that from watching him ride."
"Inherited memories?" she asked, "I've heard Zelda say she sometimes dreams about past lives."
He shook his head. "I– uh– used to try to ride the wooly rhinos, so a horse at least has a saddle and no horn…"
"Wooly rhinos?" Reba asked, "those things are pretty big, right?"
Link was saved from the conversation by Zelda's grand entrance. For a moment he forgot how to breathe. It reminded him of the first time they met.
"Presenting her royal highness, Princess Zelda…" The announcer paused, and what he said next explained his reaction, "Accompanied by the Royal Scientist's loyal assistant, the Egg Guardian."
It was then that Link noticed the Egg Guardian scuttering next to her. It had a smart necktie tied around its round body. Link, of course, had wanted to accompany Zelda, and had been hoping she would ask him. He wasn't surprised she didn't, as even if the robot hadn't been perfect for this propaganda, her brother probably would've been the next in line. And even after that, there were many who were more qualified.
But now was not the time to mull over his own lackings, not when the princess was right in front of him and also walking towards him–
She smiled widely, and he couldn't help but smile back.
"17 already," her brother teased, "How'd you get so old?"
Princess Zelda laughed. "Well, I take it one year at a time." She turned to Reba. "You made it! When I heard you were going to be late I worried you would miss it."
"Nothing short of Ganon's return would keep me from your 17th birthday. You know, there used to be an ancient Gerudo blood rite where you had to steal something important on your 17th birthday. Well, that, or just get something like a wild sand seal or berries. It was pretty flexible."
"I know, you told me about it on your 17th birthday."
"Is Reba being a bad influence on my dear baby sister?" the prince asked.
Reba laughed loudly. Well, she seemed to do everything in a sort of loud way. Not in a bad way, Link supposed, but in an inviting way. "Zelda was the one who convinced me we had to do it."
"Reba, we promised to take it to the grave."
"I know for a fact Paya told at least one person," Reba countered.
"Now Paya's in on it?" the prince asked.
Zelda waved her brother off. "Well, that was last year, ancient history." It was then that she finally noticed Link. "Link! Are you having fun at your first royal birthday party?"
Link still was a bit fuzzy on what a birthday party was. He figured a birthday must've been the day one was born on, but why would that need celebration? Well... he could understand celebrating Princess Zelda's birth… Maybe he did understand it more than he thought.
"It's very lively," he said, trying to find a more neutral way to describe how the crowd was making him feel. Lively indeed. He wondered if crowds would get easier with time. He hoped they did.
"Just wait until the dances start," Reba said, then to Princess Zelda she asked, "You did request some good music, right?"
"A Gerudo music troupe was a bit too short notice, but I was able to find a few more upbeat songs."
"Do you dance much, Hero?" the prince asked.
Hesitantly, Link shook his head. Zelda had signed him up for a few dance lessons, but it wasn't enough to make him confident in his abilities yet.
The prince placed a casual hand on Reba's forearm. "Then Reba's the dance partner you want. She's incredible at leading from the women's position."
Reba playfully pushed him, though there was a little bit of stiffness in her that hadn't been there before. "I didn't grow up with any partner dances, not the same way Hylians have them."
"I didn't mean it as an insult, you've saved my butt a few times."
"My brother is infamously bad at dancing," Princess Zelda whispered to Link conspiratorially. She giggled again, and denied saying anything embarrassing when the prince questioned her. When her brother finally turned away, she placed a finger to her lips. "I need to greet everyone else. Reba, could you make sure Link doesn't remain a wallflower for the entirety of the party?"
"You can count on me Princess." Reba said, saluting with the wrong hand.
And with that, the princess was away in a swirl of skirts and lights. He tried to hide the way his shoulders dropped slightly at Princess Zelda's absence, but Reba's raised eyebrow in his direction showed his failure. She thankfully said nothing about that and instead said to both the prince and Link, "You both know that that means you have to dance with me at least once."
"Save your first dance for me," the prince requested, "I don't intend to stay up that late, as birthday or not, I still have a meeting at the crack of dawn for some unholy reason."
"So responsible," Reba said with an almost silky undertone.
"Link, I know you generally are up at dawn to practice, you doing the same?" the prince asked.
"Going to bed early?" Link asked, "I don't know. That's just sort of when I wake up."
"Oh I envy you," the prince lamented, "it's a constant struggle to be a morning person. Now staying up late, I'm great at."
"Unfortunately, I've had the pleasure of going to bed late and waking up early," Reba said, "The desert forces us to. It's really only habitable when the sun is just up, or going down. Though you've all disallowed the great practice of midday naps."
They talked a bit more until the dances started, and the prince was pulled into the first dance by Reba, leaving Link to stand by a window. Zelda was dancing with a young man, probably a noble's son. The Egg Guardian scurried to Link's side, even more frustrated at being looked over than Link was.
Link couldn't help but smile. Impa's assistant had so much personality he would sometimes forget it was a machine. It whistled short and angry.
"Come now," Link tried to reason with it, "You're too small to dance with her. You don't even have enough limbs to do it properly."
This only angered the Egg Guardian more.
"Just be happy you were able to escort her in."
He glanced back up to see Reba and the prince dancing. Could Reba dance. She moved with such powerful grace– leading the dance from the following place. He swallowed. The prince seemed to have fun with it, and even Link who knew only the rudimentaries of dancing could tell it was not his strength. The dance ended soon enough, leading into another one, and by the third the prince excused himself. Reba then approached Link.
"Don't think I've forgotten my duty," she told him, "I'm pretty sure this next one will be a bit slower."
Awesome. It would be easier to see when he messed up. Still, he took her hand. When they got to the dance floor he couldn't help but think they must look a bit silly with their height difference. Reba was a fully grown Gerudo and well over 8 feet tall, while Link… he'd never actually measured his height, but considering he came up only to her stomach, much shorter.
He focused on the footsteps. Honestly, he probably could've gotten better at dancing if given more time, it wasn't much different from dueling.
"So… about Zelda," Reba started. "Someone's got a crush."
If he wasn't thinking so hard about dancing, he would've blushed a deep crimson.
"You aren't even denying it. That's so cute. I wish I could find a voe like you."
Voe? He'd never heard that term before.
She smiled, as if reading his mind. "Voe means male. The voe I have eyes on has no eyes for me, isn't that sad?"
He nodded, and remembered to do the spin just barely in time.
"Is this the proper time to talk of such things?" Link asked earnestly.
"When is a better time to gossip than on a dance floor?"
He didn't have time to respond, as the next part required weaving between other dancers.
"You're a bit young for Zelda tastes, but that's just because her and I are at the age where we're so much more mature than 15 and 14 year olds, so I wouldn't take it to heart. I'm sure there are a lot of things we'll all grow out of."
Before he could say something the lights flickered. The candles in one breath all flickered out, and for a few seconds the room was near pitch black. A sudden scream from the party goers, and the silence of the music nearly let the room spill into chaos. Were it not for the still glowing princess' dress and the golden light emitting from her hand. Link's hand also began to glow, even through the gloves he wore. The back up lights kicked on, leaving the room in a red glow.
A sheikah guard fell to his knees, eyes glowing gold. Out of his mouth came an ancient sounding tongue that Link somehow understood.
"Straining at his chains, Ganon will rise again. Heed my words, children of destiny! Prepare! Prepare!"
The guard's powerful cry quieted to a whispered muttering, and Link turned to make eye contact with Princess Zelda through the crowd. She stared back, fear in her eyes. Reba was frozen by Link's side. He'd heard of the Sheikah sages being chosen this way, and while it would always be shocking, it didn't petrify him as he thought it would. He tried to pour his support into his stare at Zelda.
"Someone help him," Zelda commanded, her voice clear and strong. When the man stopped speaking, he fell into convulsions. They were able to stop him from hurting himself, and get him on a stretcher to receive medical treatment. Rarely were the sages ever hurt by their awakening fits. But it seemed gaining the knowledge of the Goddess was anything but easy on the body.
All eyes turned to Zelda and she once more stood straight and delivered an abridged version of the speech she'd been planning to give later in the night. "With the Sheikah technology we are trying something that could save Hyrule from unnecessary destruction. The Guardians and Towers are not enough. And why should the technology be limited to central Hyrule? You see these designs on my dress, well, each one is potentially for a people of Hyrule. To aid the Hero and I in our battle with Ganon. I wish to present, the Divine Beasts!"
She held out her arms and for a second the room held its breath. A nearly imperceptible amount of worry started to fill Princess Zelda's eyes, and Link knew this was a critical time. He started clapping. Loudly.
That was the trigger for the entire room to fill with applause. Shortly after her birthday, work on the Divine Beasts started in earnest and Hyrule for once faced its future with both eyes open.