Nayru sat on Saria's stump, calm, but still stunned from her encounter with the Goddess. She looked down at the ring on her finger. It would not fail. She shut her eyes and pictured Karzad instead in her mind's eye. She saw him, his strong handsome face. His friendly smile. His happy laughter. His blunt, but fun sense of humor. His love of life. She loved him, she realized quite plainly. It was not a matter of maybe or perhaps, She loved him, more than she could imagine. He was loved. "Hold on Karzad, I love you."
***
Nayru sat for a long time it seemed, there on the stump. She wanted them to know. All of them. From every child of the Kokiri to every cruel Gerudo guard. She loved them. She loved her life, and all life. She loved Hyrule, and all who were in it. She could not let love fail. She could not let Hyrule sink into the shadows that darkened the hearts in Gerudo Valley. She loved them all, every Kokiri, Goron, Zora, and Hyrulian out there. All of them deserved love. She pictured the sweeping majestic cliffs of Death Mountain. The pure waters of Zora River, the green fresh grass of Hyrule field, the lush forests of the Kokiri, the sandy valleys of the Gerudo. They were all in Hyrule. She knew them all—and they all deserved love. "Let them know," Nayru thought, as she sat upon that little stump in the depths of the forest. "Let them all know, no matter how bleak it all may seem, no matter if they think that no one could possibly love them. Let them know I love them…" She then thought of Ganondorf. The murderer of hundreds. The sorcerer, and conjurer of all darkness. Yet, once a man, perhaps he too once felt love… She had to let him know, she loved him too, a man, like her father once, perhaps… She sat there in utter silence, while the rosy glow of the sun streaked across the sky. She opened her eyes and saw a flash of green light. Saria appeared by her side. "Come with me," She said, taking Nayru by the arm, and they warped far from the forest.
****
They reappeared in the courtyard of Zelda's palace. "How is he?" asked Nayru calmly. "They don't know, he's very weak and his chances of pulling through are slim. If he makes it through tonight he should be on the mend, but he lost so much blood it's too soon to tell." Nayru nodded in quiet understanding. "Are you alright?" Asked Saria, "Yes," Said Nayru. "May I see him?" "I suppose so." Said Saria. "Allow me to lead you to him." She walked from the courtyard with Nayru close behind and went through many rooms and corridors until at last they reached a silent and secluded corner of the enormous infirmary. They entered the room. Karzad lay in a small white bed. He was very pale and still and a nurse stood by his side, keeping his pulse in check. "I will leave you two alone," Saria said, motioning for the nurse to follow her. Nayru sat down on a chair next to Karzad. Seeing his face brought the warm feeling back to Nayru, she did truly love him. But it was a bittersweet feeling, because she did not know if he would live to hear her tell him ever again. She took the Nayru's ring from her finger and lifted his hand from below the sheets. She slid it onto his finger. "I love you." She said. These three little words, that were tossed around so loosely, but from her lips were the purest, truest things ever said. She bent over and kissed his forehead gently, and then whispered a soft farewell, leaving the room.
***
That night, Nayru slept soundly, for the first time in weeks. She felt a strong warm love bubbling up inside her chest like nothing she could ever explain, and nothing she had ever felt before. She wanted to laugh out loud, or sing, or just smile forever and never be able to stop. Her heart was light and her sleep was restful. She woke up the next morning and lay between the silken sheets. She looked up at the woodwork on the ceiling tracing the designs with her finger. She smiled inwardly; she was madly, truly, purely, deeply in love. She felt a twinge in the back of her mind. "He might die!" It said. "He may be dead now!" …Death? What was death? Nothing could keep Nayru from loving Karzad any less than she did at that moment. Death was irrelevant. True love lived forever. She stood up and dressed herself wandering down the sweeping stairs into the scullery kitchen. She grabbed a slice of bread and an apple and went to the courtyard. She lounged in the grass, her heart warm and light and absolutely purely joyful, beating strongly in her chest. She loved. She loved this person so much, death was no boundary, life was no boundary, and she knew, as she saw Saria stride across the lawn towards her, that whatever news she had to say was good news.