Chapter 5
I woke in a bright room, decorated with flowers, card…and the Hero of Time, kneeling at my bedside.
"You're awake," he said softly. I nodded, and struggled to rise. "Don't, you'll only hurt yourself."
"What happened?" My voice sounded horrible.
"Zelda banished the monster to the same place where Ganondorf is. She now must aide the other sages in guarding that portal."
I smiled weakly. "And she got all worked up about dying…"
Link smiled and took my hand. "Yeah, she got that dream all wrong. I suppose the people falling were actually just bowing and showing reference to Zelda as a sage. And the water symbolized Zora's domain…"
I nodded. "But who will rule?"
"She never said…" Link's voice trailed off. "I guess we can take care of affairs until we find out."
"You're using that 'we' awful freely."
He smiled. "You've got a few weeks bedrest before you're allowed to go home, and since you're here anyway…"
"So I guess I'm stuck with you?"
"Stuck with me?" Link said teasingly. "I certainly don't feel I'm stuck here with you…I'm quite grateful."
I turned three different shades of red right then, not counting my hair color. "You're right…I'm glad to be with you too."
So I guess the adventure would end here, right? Well, that's what I thought. Running a kingdom turned out to be a lot harder than it looks.
You try it sometime.
We soon decided there was no way we could rule. No way at all. That led us to the search of the perfect ruler. Too bad we didn't have a King Arthur running around, I guess that would've been too convenient.
Our only real thought of where to look was the royal family lineage, to see if there were any surviving royal members that could take over this horrendous job. So Link and I were in the library…
"Stop! You're tickling me!"
I ran around the room, trying to avoid the Hero of Time (don't ever try. he's got leg muscles like you wouldn't believe) because apparently he was too hyper to look over faded bits of parchment. "Do you want to rule Hyrule?"
He shook his head.
"Then let's get to work," I said, but I couldn't help but smile. I sat back down in my chair and he came up from behind and wrapped his arms around me.
I was getting used to this sort of thing, and damn, was it nice.
"Here's Zelda," I pointed. I traced my finger up to her parents. "Her father had three brothers…Gaheris, he died a year ago, according to this…Aleron, he was killed in the war…and…" I stopped.
"What?" he asked, nuzzling into my ear.
I'm surprised I was able to concentrate.
"Talon," I whispered. "My dad."
I turned to look at Link, who looked as surprised as I. We both cracked up. "My dad…he'd be sleeping on the throne…it'd never work!"
"Whoa, Malon…" his voice was soft. "You're a princess."
My eyes widened. "…why yes. Yes I am."
No I didn't let it go to my head. In fact, I didn't really think the idea was for me, I'd rather be on the ranch any day.
"But your dad is ruler," he said in awe. "He has to rule."
I thought of my dad. He wouldn't like this at all; he was too happy at home. "No," I whispered. "Link, he can't do this…it's not him. We can't force it on him."
"Well, he could give the responsibility to you."
"No one is going to follow me, or my dad," I reasoned. "We're nobodies. They need someone who they can trust, who they've trusted before." I looked to him with pleading eyes.
"Malon…" his voice was tiny, the first time I'd ever heard it be so. "I don't know if I can."
"You didn't know you could save Hyrule, but you did." I leaned in closer to him. Wow, he's got pretty eyes. "I know you can." He smells so good. "And everyone loves you…" Jeez, I love him.
He leaned in farther this time, and softly kissed me, wrapping his hands in my hair and twirling it slightly. My hands wrapped around his waist and I pulled him closer, as if I never planned to let go.
Which you know, I didn't. If you had something that awesome in your grasp, I don't think you would either.
"I will rule Hyrule," he said in between kisses. "But only if you want me to."
"I do," I said in barely a breath. I do as in that's what I'm going to say when we get married.
You guys probably don't want to hear about how awesome of a kisser he is, so I'll spare you. Just this once.
