~34~
Nayru woke about an hour later to a soft rustling noise. It was her father, pacing about in the moonlight. The Gerudos had fixed him up well. They healed his wounds and cleaned him up a bit. They broke the curse on the master sword too. As Link stood in the moonlight, his silhouette was all Nayru could see as she watched him pace. she stood after a moment, clearing her throat to make her presence known. Link broke out of a sort of trance.
"Oh, hello my dearest, what are you doing up?" he said kindly as she came over to meet him.
"I heard you and I woke up." She said, sitting down on the grass.
"Well I'm sorry to wake you," he said, sitting down beside her.
"It's alright," she said, looking up at the full golden moon. "Daddy…" she said after a moment. "Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, turning her gaze to him instead. Link sighed. He had been expecting this.
"Well Nayru…I was afraid if I told you that—then you'd think it was alright for young children to go on dangerous adventures…that you'd get in trouble…go on some kind of dangerous journey, if you had known my past. I suppose that was just destined to happen anyway. All I wanted to do was protect you, there were so many times that I came dangerously close to dying on my journeys, I suppose I felt I was protecting you…but it was wrong of me to keep it from you. I was planning to tell you soon and I understand that what I did was wrong, and there's no excuse for lying to you for so long. Will you forgive me?"
"Of course Daddy," she said, putting an arm around him, "I'm alright now…. But…. I was so mad when I found out you'd kept your past from me… It made me feel like such a child…I thought you trusted me as an adult. It made me feel like I was somehow different—separate from you and Mom." Link looked down at her daughter lovingly.
"Oh my little Ru, you must never think that! Ever! You will always, always be a part of our family, and a piece of our hearts. And you have certainly proved to me that you are no longer a little girl. You are a strong young woman and the pride I have in you cannot be put in words." He embraced Nayru in a strong hug, and she felt a strong, warm glow come up from inside her. Her father was finally home.
*****
They went on the next day, traveling towards the town. At last they reached the drawbridge, and found it to be closed.
"Who goes there?" a guard called from the battlements above the moat.
"It is your King," called Karzad in a commanding voice, holding his staff to the sun. And the guard saw his face, and the boldness and strength on his brow and knew the king had returned to rule. "I have come to proclaim the death of Ganondorf and the restoration of peace to Hyrule." He called.
The guard let out a cheer of unrestrainable joy and opened the drawbridge immediately. The guards lined up on the little stone bridge, saluting him as he strode by. Karzad bowed to them and then proceeded across the bridge. What he saw shocked him when he came to the town. It was empty. Barren and silent. Several buildings were burned shells and an iron gate closed the castle road from all. A guard approached them from behind. "Your majesty, everyone has gone…After the destruction of Kakariko, the defilation of Zora River, the explosion of Death Mountain, the loss of the castle, and the bleeding of the sky…well…all flew. They flew to the north the south the east and the west, trying to escape the terror. We stayed to guard, but we are only a few dozen of the scores of men before." There was a pause.
"You shall be rewarded for your bravery," said Karzad softly. "Your names shall not be forgotten." Then without another word he walked back over the drawbridge and out onto the field with a heavy heart, and a troubled mind. They decided to go to Lon Lon Ranch, figuring that perhaps some of the Hylian families may have gone there to seek shelter. They entered the gates and found that they were right, there were many people milling about around the barn, in the racetrack and horse paddock, setting up makeshift lean-tos and tents. Malon greeted them absentmindedly.
"Terrible sorry," she said, not looking at them but after the fair-headed child that tugged at her gingham skirt. "There's not a specka room left here! I had to give up my house and barn just for all these folks here."
"Oh we won't stay long," said Link softly, looking kindly at Malon. At the sound of Link's voice her face snapped up in surprise and as she looked at Link her eyes filled with tears.
"Oh Link!" she cried, grabbing him in a bone-breaking hug, "I thought for sure you were a goner! I'm so glad that you and the young'ns are alright!" She then grabbed Nayru, Zarij, Londaris and Karzad in hugs as well. She then came to Ruto, Ruto looked away uncomfortably. "Now darlin…" said Malon "I know we didn't exactly get along in the past, but Link was sort of a childhood crush, you know, your first love as a kid. I moved on, and I don't have any bitterness towards ya, I married and had my own son and daughter, and I love them very much. I know Link; he'll always be my friend. And I hope you can be too." Ruto looked hesitant for a moment then smiled kindly, and Malon grabbed her in a strong hug as well.
"So…what y'all doin' here?"
"We are here," said Karzad, coming forward, "To announce the destruction of Ganondorf, and the return of Hyrule's King." He smiled kindly at Malon, and a light came on in her eyes.
"You're the—" and then she blushed, curtsying low. "Well your majesty, I'm afraid we don't have any thrones but a stray hay bale may seat y'all if you'd like to catch me up on things a bit." So they spent the rest of the evening retelling their adventures and eating a bit of food. After darkness fell Malon said,
"So when are you gonna tell 'em?" She asked softly, motioning to the tents and shacks around them. "I think I'll wait till morning, let them rest a little bit," said Karzad thoughtfully, munching on a piece of bread.
"Did I tell you?" said Ruto, "Karzad and our Nayru are engaged to be married." She said, beaming. Malon looked at Nayru grinning.
"I knew there was somethin' between the two of em'," she said, "May I see your ring?" Malon asked kindly. Nayru nodded, and held out her hand to Malon. She gasped as she took her hand in hers to admire it. "It's beautiful," she whispered. Nayru twined her fingers around Karzad's and blushed, smiling at him softly as he looked away, embarrassed. After a bit longer they went to bed, sleeping on their bedrolls under the clear sky.
That night however, as many before, Nayru couldn't sleep. She got up and went into the center of the empty horse paddock and tucked her knees beneath her, staring up at the starry sky. After a while she heard footsteps behind her. It was Karzad.
"Well, well, well," said Karzad softly, "Doesn't this look familiar?" as Nayru stood to greet him.
"Yes it does," she said softly, staring into his smiling grey eyes. They went hand in hand, striding around the paddock, enjoying one another's company, until without warning Karzad pulled Nayru into a strong embrace.
"I love you." He muttered. Nayru laughed.
"I know, I know silly, I could never forget…especially not here."
"Why not here?" asked Karzad, pulling her away and staring into her sparkling eyes.
"Because on a night just like this, in this very place, I knew that I was in love with you, Karzad. And I knew that I was not in love with prince Karzad, not royal physician Karzad. Just Karzad. And I still love you, just you. Forever and ever." And then they kissed passionately in the moonlight, in perfection.
They sat down in the grass and bathed in the moonlight. It was perfectly still all around until they heard a soft rustling near their campsite. Both strained their eyes in the dark to see what was happening. Zarij and Londaris were sitting off to the side hand in hand, staring up at the silver moon. Londaris looked over at Zarij tenderly and smiled.
"Looks like love flourishes here. Another romance is blooming already." Nayru smiled. After a while Londaris and Zarij went back to bed, and Nayru and Karzad didn't stay up much longer, they went to bed and slept through the rest of the night.