Disclaimer: I don't own Nintendo or anything involving Legend of Zelda, but I am attempting to write a story about things that involve them for entertainment purposes only. Not for the money thing. That's bad.
It Won't Stop Running Down My Hand
In a forest, freshly born from the long winter, which had just occurred, stood a large cabin. Nearly as beautiful as a castle in a kingdom, this log cabin was surrounded by beautiful and well taken care of trees, which were almost glowing with a green lushness. Stepping around from the back of the gorgeous looking building, a tall old man came out, wearing a green tunic which seemed to blend into the woods that surrounded him. Short silver hair, which was perhaps once thick and long, was now thin and came out from under a green cap that matched the man's tunic. A very small smile was on the corner of his lips, but the only other emotion that he showed on his chiseled face was his vibrant blue eyes, which sparkled with the youth the man once had. In his right hand was a small axe, most likely used for chopping wood, and the other was wrapped up in a leather gauntlet. Walking up to a long since dead tree stump, he eyed it for a moment with a reflective expression and then cleaved his axe into the top of it, where it seems to have been placed before, time after time. Walking to the front door, he stepped inside, and let out a sigh as he kicked his leather boots off in the front walkway. Walking through the building, which appeared to be a house due to its 'lived in' nature, he went into a living room, which had a few pieces of assorted furniture, and an old rocking chair that sat in front of a large window, which overlooked the backyard of the house. Outside, in a small shed, was a large pile of freshly cut wood.
"Tired, dear?" a feminine voice from the rocking chair asked in a kind and tired voice, which seemed to be weathered by age.
"Not really. Would you like me to make you lunch, now that I'm done with that?" the old man answered in yet another mature voice, which had a tone of compassion to it. The old woman in the rocking chair wore a very lightly colored pink dress, with a shawl wrapped around her, which had embroidered yellow triangles all over it. Her snow hair had a tinge of yellow to it, suggesting that the hair could have once been blonde. Brilliant emerald colored eyes seemed to draw a large amount of attention to her, despite her wrinkled body, which seemed quite content to sit in the rocking chair.
"Lunch sounds very nice." she said with a smile as she continued looking out the window in front of her.
"We'll be getting another visit today," the old man said from the nearby kitchen, as he reached into a large closet, which suddenly poured out cold air on him.
"That's good, we haven't seen her in days." she grinned, rocking herself back and forth.
"By the way," the old man began as he pulled out a large pot from the closet, "this spell seems to be wearing off." he finished as he placed the pot over a fireplace.
"I'll prepare for the spell tomorrow morning and get everything ready by the afternoon." she spoke with closed eyes, as if trying to get some rest. The old man, noticeably concentrating his thoughts, watched as a fire suddenly sprung forth from the hearth and began to cook what was in the pot. Walking into the kitchen and receiving a wooden spoon, he went up to the pot and began to stir what seemed to be beef stew.
"Taking a nap, dear?" he spoke with a soft smile while still facing the pot of food he was slowly cooking. A muffled reply came from behind as he glanced back to see her drifting into sleep. He spoke no more words but walked into a bedroom and pulled out a quilt that had golden triangles knitted into it and placed it over the elderly woman and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"You've always treated me so well…" she trailed off with a sigh as he smiled.
"Only the best for you, my wife."
After going back to the pot of beef stew, and warming it up even further, the old man heard something rumbling in the distance. He then waved his hand into the air, and the fire in the hearth seemed to magically disappear. Going into the kitchen and retrieving three bowls with spoons and some cloth napkins, he placed them on the table and went to his wife.
"Honey, she's here..." the old man said to the sagely old woman who was napping, and her eyes began to flutter open.
"Alright, go bring her inside." she instructed with a small smile.
"Yes dear," the old man smirked with a patronizing voice as he walked outside to where a figure on a horse was approaching. The fresh spring air filled the old man's lungs, and for a moment he felt that it was the surroundings that were keeping him alive for so long. Finally, the horseman slowed down and trotted the horse closely to the old man.
"Nice to see ya," an upbeat, but very feminine voice shouted as the slender figure slid off the horse.
"Good to see you too Arielle," the old man smiled to the woman who was just showing her first signs of late aging. Long brown hair and deep brown eyes set the two apart, along with her being much shorter then even the old man, who had probably shrunk over the years.
"I see you don't really have our supplies…" the old man trailed off as he brought the horse to the side of the house and tied it up, before giving it some food to eat.
"Hey, I'll be back tomorrow or maybe the day after, no big deal…" she laughed, trying to avoid any kind of blame.
"I suppose so, and we have plenty to last us…" he smiled as he gave her a light hug and led her into the house.
"Make yourself comfortable, we'll be in there in just a second," he said as he rounded the corner and went into the living room, and with a slight groan that could be heard by Arielle, he came walking back in with his wife in his arms. Setting her into a kitchen chair, he then slid the chair closer to the table and walked towards the hearth with a bowl and poured some stew into it.
"So how are you?" Arielle asked with a smile as some beef stew was placed before her and she began to eat.
"I'm doing very well out here. As long as my husband is here everything will be fine." she smiled and let out a soft 'thank you' to her husband who placed some stew in front of her.
"So how is Hyrule doing?" the old man said as he sat down in his own chair next to his wife with a stew filled bowl of his own.
"The King and Queen are doing a fine job…" Arielle trailed off.
"That's good." both the old man and woman said at once.
"They aren't doing as fine a job as the old Queen and General, but that's to be expected…" she trailed off again, this time with a large smile.
"Now now dear, those days are long since over. The wars following…" the old woman trailed off with a reflective expression on her face.
"The wars following THAT incident are long since gone." the old man softly spoke as he placed a hand on his wife's leg. Arielle, feeling slightly awkward, finished up the last of her stew and stood up.
"Sorry to eat and run, but I'm in a hurry, just thought I'd swing by for a bit." she spoke a little too quickly and began to leave.
"Arielle." the old man's voice called out. She turned around to see him stand up and give her a smile.
"Thank you for everything," he said as he sat back down to finish his lunch. From the smile Arielle gave them, it was obvious the old man rarely opened up with his feelings. She left with a wave, and left the elderly couple to themselves once again. They ate in relative silence, having spoken all the words that could have been said long ago, but still enjoying the other's company.
"You know…" the old man trailed off and his wife looked at him.
"Yes?" she asked, seeing how nervous he was.
"You never answered my question back then…" he sighed with a slight frown as he finished up his lunch.
"Question?" she asked, almost sure what the question would be.
"Yeah. Why?" he asked while looking down at the table.
"Honey…" she spoke in such a way that demanded his attention, but when his face wouldn't lift away from looking at the table, she look her hand and raised his chin towards her so that both pairs of eyes would meet.
"Do I really need to answer? Are you sure you don't already have the answer yourself?" she asked with a slight smile, causing him to give a smile himself.
"I suppose I do already know the answer," he said as he took all three bowls away from the table and began to wash them in a large basin.
"My dearest husband Link… For all these years you've been caring for me, even when I was Queen of Hyrule, you would never allow anyone but yourself care for me…" she trailed off with tears coming down her eyes. Link turned around and stared at her, wide eyed.
"Since you are so sweet and caring, strong and compassionate, I love you with all my heart." she finished up with a very sincere smile.
"I love you too Zelda…" he trailed off with blush on his face, having a hard time putting into words why he loved her as much as he did.
"Don't worry my tongue-tied knight-general, I know what you want to say…" she smiled as he blushed some more, seemingly having a hard time breaking old habits. Link then looked down at his left hand and smiled.
"It's been so long since I've seen blood, and I'd like to keep it that way…" he looked up at his wife with a smile and she smiled back. The day would continue on as it had the day before, with Link carrying his wife around the house to keep him company as he did chores, and eventually he would place her in bed and he would join her, and the next day would come and would go on just as the day before did, and the day before that, and frankly, Link and Zelda couldn't be happier for that...
The End.
Author's Notes: I hope this brought about a better conclusion for you all, and sorry it took so long to finish. I had about half of it done, but couldn't find the time to finish it up completely. I hope you all enjoyed my story, and maybe sometime in the distant future (and I do mean distant,) I'll write up some kind of side story. What it would be about, I'm not exactly sure… But I feel that this story has given me a pretty decent amount of experience when it comes to writing. Thank you all for reviewing, despite the fact that I'm not sure if I deserved so many reviews… If you have any questions, just e-mail me at EmperorKrieg69@aol.com with the words ZELDA FANFIC in the subject bar so I don't delete it, thinking its Spam. Thanks, and Seeya next time!
