Hello again! Greetings from the sixth installment! Thank you again to all my reviewers!
Reminder: Link and Zelda switched bodies.
Disclaimer: I do not own any portion of the Legend of Zelda series.
Later that night, as Link brushed Zelda's hair, he heard a soft knock on the door. "Who is it?" he called.
"It's Zelda. May I come in?"
"Of course, Your Highness," Link answered, getting up from the chair in front of the vanity to remove the board and open the door. He curtsied as Zelda entered the room.
"No need for formalities, Link."
Link was taken aback by this, wondering if it was some sort of joke. After all, the princess did have a reputation for always adhering to the highest standards of formality.
"I jest not, Link," Zelda said, reading the expression he was making on her face.
"Might I ask why you have come to visit?" Link inquired, changing the subject.
"Oh, that. Please, sit with me," Zelda answered, sitting on a chair near the fireplace, with Link taking a seat across from her, crossing Zelda's ankles in ladylike fashion. "Well, after I had to smite the daira, a few things occurred to me that somehow evaded me many times before."
"Such as..."
Zelda found herself overcome with emotion, and she knelt Link's body before her own, clasping her hands together. "Link, I am so sorry for the way I've been acting. I never had any idea how hard you have things. Here I am complaining about suitors all the time, while you have to drop what you're doing to rush out and save me every time I get into trouble, and never have I even uttered a thank you. When I rescued you earlier, I actually became physically tired. I really don't know how you do it."
Normally Link would've let Zelda carry on, for he could not recall ever seeing her admit being wrong. But he felt he owed her an apology as well, so he arose, took his own hands with Zelda's, and guided his body back to the chair.
"Princess, I am sorry as well. I know I haven't exactly been grateful, either. Of course it stings when you do not acknowledge me, but I thought that having thousands of subjects at your beck and call was easy. Was I ever wrong! And I can certainly understand why you have turned down every suitor. The ones I met tonight are awful! I hope I did a good job of chasing them away."
"Your probably did a better job than even I could have," Zelda giggled, picturing the look on Darrion's face when he came running into the ballroom, a big red welt on his cheek. "Thank you so much."
"You're very welcome. And whatever happened to that young woman that approached you? Impa told me about it after the ball."
"Well, let's just say that she's been eyeing you for a long time. Had I not needed to rescue you, I may have found myself in an extremely compromising position."
Link widened Zelda's eyes. "You mean, she wanted that? Was she attractive?"
"LINK!" Zelda hissed, unable to contain her laughter. She arose from the chair, walked over to the bed, grabbed a pillow, and smacked her own head with it.
"Hey, you aren't supposed to hit girls!" Link commented sarcastically as he put Zelda's hands on her hips, causing Zelda to double over with laughter.
Link picked up a pillow and whacked his body with it, and before they knew it, the two were chasing each other around the room, having a pillow fight and laughing as feathers flew everywhere. After some time, they both collapsed from exhaustion, still giggling as they brushed feathers off hair and clothing.
"That was fun," Zelda said, finally catching Link's breath. "Certainly more fun than trying to keep some girl from seducing me. I wonder how she would've acted if she knew it was me in your body."
"She probably would've have banished herself from the kingdom," Link answered, "For coming on to a member of royalty, particularly one of the opposite sex."
Zelda grinned as she looked at Link in her body. "You know, now that I think about it, that whole law about someone of noble birth being prohibited from marrying a 'normal' person is ludicrous. I mean, my family may make laws in the best interest of the kingdom, but who are we to place restrictions on true love? If someone wants to marry for love, more power to them. Personally I would take a 'regular' person over one of those stuffed-shirt suitors any day."
Link nodded Zelda's head in agreement. "People seem to think that as Hyrule's resident hero, I can have my pick of maidens. And, in the case of other young men, perhaps they would be right. But I am not seeking- forgive my vulgar expression- a bedmate. For even a hero could use true love once in awhile, the all-encompassing love that married people share. Or, at least, married people that did not choose each other out of force or for money or politics."
"Well, Link, once this spell is broken, I'm sure you will find someone to love you. I can see now that deep down, you're just another sixteen-year-old, wanting to marry and raise a family. You're going to make a wonderful husband and father someday."
"And you'll make a wonderful queen someday. You may come across as a little rough-around-the-edges sometimes, but I know now that you genuinely care about the kingdom. But if you want to marry for love, forget tradition. I know you are one to uphold it, but don't do it at the expense of your happiness."
And you'd make a great king, Zelda thought. Maybe it is time that I broke with tradition, if it means having you as my husband. You love this kingdom as much as I do. And I love you. "Well, it's getting late," Zelda said. "I guess I'd better be off to bed. All that rescuing made me sleepy. Good night, Link."
"Good night, Princess."
"Please, it's just the two of us. Call me Zelda."
"Then good night, Zelda."
As Link watched his own body leave the room, he sighed longingly. If only I wasn't a commoner. Then I could finally have the one young woman that at last seems to understand me. The one that I truly love.
Thank you again in advance for reviewing!