Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

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Chapter 8

Selphie, Raven and Mable were still out on the island. The sun was starting to set. Mable and Raven had given up trying to comfort Selphie a while ago, and she was sitting against the tree, still sobbing. "Do you think Uncle Kage's coming back?" Mable asked from where she was sitting by the lake's edge.

"I don't know," Raven answered as he bent down and picked up a smooth, flat stone. "I wish he hadn't left. I don't like seeing Aunt Selphie so sad." At his last statement he threw the stone across the lake, making it skip over the water.

Suddenly Kage appeared on the warp platform. He took two steps in the direction of the bridge with the intention of finding the kids and Selphie at the house. Then he stopped short and looked over to the edge of the island, realizing he wasn't alone. "Raven? Mable?" he said turning to look at them.

"Uncle Kage!" Mable exclaimed when she saw him. She leapt up off the ground and ran over to him. He scooped her up and held her.

"what are you two still doing here?" Kage asked as Raven walked over and stood next to him. "Shouldn't you have gone back to the house by now?"

"We would have, but Mommy said to keep an eye on Aunt Selphie," Raven answered.

"Selphie?" Kage repeated, looking around nervously. "Is she here too?" Mable nodded her head and pointed over to the tree, where Selphie was oblivious to the scene on the other side of the island. "Oh, no. I wasn't expecting her to be right here! I was hoping I'd have time to think about what I was going to say while I walked to the house! Now I'm unprepared. Should I leave and come back again…? No, the others would find me again for sure."

"Aunt Selphie missed you, Uncle Kage," Mable said. "She was crying and everything."

Kage nodded and lowered his head so that his hair hid his face. "That makes me feel better, that I made her cry… I remember how I cried when she went through the time gate, how I felt when I thought I'd never see her again…" He looked up suddenly, realizing something. "I was devastated last time I lost her. Wouldn't running away mean losing her again…? I'd never get to see her again… or her, me…"

He looked over at Selphie. He still loved her, no matter what. That's why he left her to begin with: he loved her so much he didn't want to see her hurt. But leaving would probably hurt her a lot more… not to mention him. He watched her longingly.

"Uncle Kage?" Mable's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Kage looked down at the little girl.

"Why did you leave? Don't you love Aunt Selphie anymore?" she asked.

Kage smiled at her innocence. "Of course I still love her. Very, very much in fact," he answered.

Raven's eyes lit up and he ran over to the tree, where he picked something up and ran back over to Kage. Kage looked at the boy curiously, but smiled when Raven held up the pillow with the rings on it. He set Mable down and bent down to eye level with Raven. "Does that mean you still want to marry her?" the little boy asked.

Kage took one of the rings and smiled. "Yes, I still want to marry her," he said standing. A few seconds later he was kneeling over Selphie. She jumped slightly when she realized he was there.

"Kage…?" she said, looking up confusedly through the veil that she was still wearing. She reached underneath and wiped her face a bit.

"I would like to marry her… if she'll still have me…" Kage said, holding up her ring to her. She watched him confusedly for a moment, then looked down at the ring. Then she looked away and started sobbing again. She leaned in on his shoulder and made his kimono wet in that spot. Mable and Raven watched in silence.

Kage stood himself and Selphie up. Then he looked into her eyes and reached up to the veil. He pulled it back from her face and smiled at her. "Wow was I an idiot for leaving… You make a very beautiful bride," he said. "Only one thing mars the sight…" He reached up to her face and wiped away the tears trickling down her cheek. When he took his hand away, he smiled and said, "That's better."

Selphie looked up at him with an unreadable expression for a moment. Then, without warning, her arms were around his neck. Kage put his arms around her waist, returning the embrace. "I'll still have you…" she whispered in his ear. He rubbed her back gently. When they pulled away from each other, Raven was standing next to them with the other ring. Selphie reached down and picked up the other ring. They walked over to the warp platform where they would have performed the nuptials.

"Shall we exchange our vows?" Kage asked when they'd climbed onto the dais.

"Do we really need to?" Selphie asked him, looking into his eyes. "Vows are not needed for those who trust one another, are they? Do you need to make a promise to enforce your word or can we not trust each other without them?" she said.

He raised his eyebrow and half smirked at her. "Where did you hear a line like that?" he asked.

"I read a lot," she smiled. "But you have to admit-."

"It is very true," Kage conceded. "All right, then. This will do." He took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. Then she took his hand and slipped the other ring on his finger.

"Tee hee!" Mable giggled, throwing flowers at them. "You may now kiss the bride!" The couple smiled down at Mable. Then Kage took Selphie's face in his hands and moved it to his own. Selphie wrapped her arms around his waist as they kissed, long and lovingly. Mable tittered nearby and Raven looked pretty happy.

"Well, I'll be…" Farore said, smiling as she watched the scene across the lake. She and her sisters were across the lake in front of Link and Yugi's house, the place they figured they'd find Kage.

"She's still marrying him?" Nayru asked disbelievingly, but smiling nonetheless. "Even after he ran out on her?"

"Did he at least say he was sorry?" Din asked, almost agitatedly, but definitely trying to hide a smile.

"Have you ever heard the saying, 'Love is never having to say you're sorry?'" Farore asked, turning to her sister. "I think Selphie has allowed them to demonstrate that principle quite clearly."

Meanwhile, the sun had finally set, and Selphie and Kage had finished their kiss and were now standing there hugging each other. Kage had his back to the bridge, and from behind him, one would never have known he was hugging Selphie. "Now I gotcha!" Darunia had appeared behind Kage and lifted him up by the back of his kimono practically strangling him.

"What the hell!" Kage managed to gasp out, grabbing for the collar.

"Jiji, that was brilliant!" Ravick said as he made it across the bridge as well.

"Now let's get him!" Iggy said.

"Guys, don't!" Kage protested, struggling to free himself from Darunia. "I'm done running!"

"Mommy! Daddy!" Mable exclaimed as she and Raven ran over to their parents. "You missed it!"

"Missed what?" Yugi asked.

"Aunt Selphie and Uncle Kage getting married!" Raven piped up. The two children smiled at Uncle Kage until they realized that Darunia had him by the shirt. "Uh, what's Uncle Daru doing to Uncle Kage?"

"He's making sure Uncle Kage can't run away," Link answered.

"But I told you! I'm not gonna run away anymore!" Kage implored.

"Y'know, that's a damn shame, because without running there's no way you can get out of this one," Jiji said.

"Number one: watch your language around the kids, Jiji," Selphie said. Everyone jumped as they noticed her there for the first time. "Number two: if you guys make me a widow before I've even been married a whole day, heads will roll, and I by heads I do mean yours."

"You've forgiven him that easy!" Darunia exclaimed.

"Shut it, Darunia. Remember you're standing on an island in the middle of a lake," Selphie reminded him. She stared them all down for a moment and then turned specifically to Darunia. "Now put my husband down before you garrote him."

"What do you mean husband?" Darunia asked, eyes widening and dropping Kage roughly to the ground.

"We got married right before you guys got here!" Kage explained.

"I don't believe it!" Darunia said. In response, the new couple each held up their left hand, revealing the recently exchanged rings. Darunia grabbed Kage's wrist and pulled it closer to get a better look. "It's true!"

The others gathered around and looked at the rings until Kage finally said, "Ah! That would be my wrist Darunia!" Darunia quickly let go.

"So you guys tied the knot?" Yugi asked incredulously.

"Yes," Selphie answered exasperatedly as Kage rejoined her side.

The others stared at them for a moment in amazement for a moment before Link's face split into a smile, "Without us here!" Kage and Selphie beamed.

"'Twas your own fault. If you hadn't been off chasing Kage around Hyrule, you would have been here when he got back and married me," Selphie grinned at all of her friends finally smiling again.

"Gosh! That means only Raven and Mable got to see it!" Ravick griped playfully.

"Guess again, mage!" The goddesses were flying across the water toward them. "We happened to see the whole thing," Farore said, smiling down at her new sister-in-law.

"We didn't even know you were here!" Kage said. "Where were you?"

"Oh, we were looking for you, just in the wrong place," Din said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder back toward the house.

"Quite fortunately because that mistake is probably what bought you enough time to actually get the job done," Nayru added.

"If not Selphie probably wouldn't have had the time to make an honest man out of Kage," Farore winked at her.

"Is that to say I wasn't honest before?" Kage half smirked. Selphie opened her mouth to respond, but Kage cut her off, "You stay quiet!"

"Make me!" she said slyly. He pulled her closer and kissed her. That most certainly kept her quiet. The other two couples giggled and followed suit for the heck of it. The remainder of those present either rolled their eyes or laughed silently.

"So, do you think it's time for the reception?" Ravick asked.

"The what?" Selphie and Kage asked, genuinely confused.

"Oops…" Ravick said.

"Good job, Ravick! That was supposed to be a surprise!" Jiji said.

"Oh, that's sweet you guys," Selphie said.

"I say we go ahead and have the party anyway," Link proclaimed, turning around and starting across the bridge.

"Sounds good to me," Darunia added, picking up the two children and setting them on his shoulders. Everyone else followed as well, except for the goddesses who went back to… well, wherever it is they are when they're not bugging their family.

Back at Link and Yugi's house, the group of friends made merry and celebrated the wedding. At one point Darunia and Ravick walked into the living room, where everyone was, carrying a large case. "What's that?" Iggy asked.

"Special import from Termina!" Ravick grinned.

"Just for the wedding!" Darunia added, opening the crate and revealing several bottles of-.

"NO!" Selphie, Kage, Link, and Yugi all shouted when they saw the Chateau Romani within. (a/n: See Legend of Zelda: Children of the Gods; Chapter 14, by Kearra)

When the evening had finally wound down- about two in the morning, as it were- Kage and Selphie left Link and Yugi's house to head back to the forest for one evening before their honeymoon.

"So, we're married now," Kage said as they entered their neck of the forest. "Is anything going to change other than the rings and the titles?"

"Not tonight," Selphie answered, yawning as they approached the door to their house. She gave a small yelp as Kage scooped her up in his arms.

"Not tonight?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow playfully. "Does that mean something will change but not till another night?"

"Maybe," Selphie grinned mischievously at him. Kage kissed her as he carried across the threshold and closed the door behind them. He would then carry her upstairs to their bedroom and spend their first night as husband and wife.

Happy end

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Okay, sothat's Tying the Knot. How'd ya like? I hope it wasn't too confusing. Soon to be posted is the sequel: Making it Happen. Look out for it. R&R, KIT & KIR.

Goddesses, Daru, and Tingle: Bai-bai!