Greetings from chapter fifteen! The story is winding down, but I still have plenty in store, so fear not! As always, thanks to my most recent reviewers- Sakurelle; The Tragic Prince; Silvara; Ericketiting; adrian-air-fire; Legend's Legacy; Omega87; Spiritual Stone; Ygfi; Belle89; Futuristic-dudette; TheGoddessKnight; shinsei101 (for two reviews).
Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series, in whole or in part.
----------
I rode up to Lon Lon Ranch, Sir Cullen following me. We tethered our horses to a tree on the grounds, as Malon's father, Talon, approached us.
"Well, Princess Zelda! What a lovely surprise!" he proclaimed, hugging me. "And Cullen!" he said, shaking the knight's hand.
"It's Sir Cullen," I corrected him.
Talon seemed taken aback. "Oh, my sincerest apologies!" he said to Sir Cullen. "But why is it that you never told us before that you were a knight?"
"I was concerned that revealing my status may cause trouble for you and your daughter, should word get around. I trust the two of you, but I feared that somebody else might find out somehow."
"Oh, I see," Talon answered. "Well, I'm glad to know who you are now." He then turned to me. "And to what do I owe this visit?"
"We came to see Malon," I explained. "I believe Sir Cullen has something that he wishes to tell her, as do I. But while I talk to her, I believe that Sir Cullen wants to speak with you first." With that, I made my way to the house.
"Malon!" I called.
"Hi, Zelda!" she answered, hurrying down the stairs. "What are you doing here?"
"Good morning to you, too!" I teased.
"Oh, sorry, good morning," she blushed.
"Mind if we sit at the table?"
"No, not at all."
We each took a seat at a small table in the front room. "I came here to apologize."
"For what?" she asked, clearly puzzled.
"For giving you poor advice."
"About what, dating Cullen?" she chuckled. "What you told me couldn't have been more accurate. In fact, after the feast last night, he took me aside and, well... he told me he loves me!" she said, beaming. "And I told him I love him, too."
"You don't understand," I sighed. "I mean, I'm thrilled for the two of you, but there's something else I did, something awful."
Malon frowned. "Whatever did you do?"
"You see, I thought you and Link loved each other, so I purposely told you not to be yourself, because I was jealous. The gypsy you saw in town-"
"How did you know?" Malon interrupted.
"Because Madame Hexe was really me all along, in disguise," I confessed. Before she could ask any questions, I morphed into my gypsy form.
Malon gasped, and her eyes widened. "Oh, my gosh, Zelda! How could you not tell me?" she proclaimed.
"It was too much of a safety risk. I'm only telling you now because when you came to visit me a couple of days ago, I finally realized how horrible it was for me to mislead you like that. I was going to pay you back, but I figured you wouldn't mind if I donated the money instead. Because I didn't do it for the money. I did it to help Hyrule."
Much to my surprise, she jumped up and hugged me after I changed back to my normal self. "Oh, Zelda, thank you for telling me the truth!"
I gulped. "You're not mad?"
"Of course not! I know you love Link and were just acting to preserve your relationship with him, friendly or not." She lowered her voice. "And don't tell anyone you heard this from me, but word is that he loves you, Zelda. I mean, really loves you."
"Funny you should say that, because I'm going into town to find out for sure, and to apologize to him, too."
"No, Zelda, you didn't-"
"I did," I sighed, looking down at the floor.
"Whatever made you think that we loved each other, anyway?"
"Because the description you gave me of Sir Cullen made him sound just like Link. And the way he described the woman he loves-"
"You mean you," Malon interjected.
"-Sounded like you," I finished.
"Wow, Zelda, you really got yourself into a mess this time."
"Yeah, I know."
"So how exactly do you intend to find out for sure if Link loves you? I mean, I know he does, but I'm curious about your idea of 'solid proof.'"
"Well, I'm hoping that he'll tell me more about this mystery woman. Like maybe he'll talk about what happened yesterday between the two of us. Because unless he somehow managed to sneak away and repeat everything we did, then he must be talking about me."
Malon grinned. "What happened? 'Fess up, Zelda."
"Okay, okay," I actually smiled. "We went fishing, and, well... he kissed me."
"Then how come you're still wondering if he loves you?" Malon squealed.
"Because... well, I don't know! A lot of things, I guess. Anyway, after we kissed, I told him I couldn't do stuff like that, knowing he loved someone else, which almost exposed me as the gypsy. He got upset with me, and has hardly talked to me since."
Malon shook her head. "Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, whatever am I going to do with you?" she teased. "Come on, now, you'd best get to town," she added, giving me a supportive hug.
"Thanks, Malon," I smiled, turning towards the front door. At that moment, I saw Sir Cullen enter.
"Ready to leave so soon, Princess?" he asked, before facing Malon and giving her the look of love, then greeting her with a kiss.
"I'll wait outside with Talon, so you two lovebirds can be alone," I grinned. Those two are going to be so happy together, I mused.
----------
Link entered the tent just a few minutes after I finished setting up.
"Ah, Link, I see how you have returned," I said in my false accent. "I hope you bear good news."
"Well, in a way, yes, I suppose," he answered, taking the seat across from me.
"Please elaborate, young man."
"You see, it's about the girl I spoke of the other day. I finally worked up the courage to invite her fishing yesterday, and she said yes. And everything was great, until..."
My heart leapt into my throat. "Yes..." I prompted him.
"Until after we kissed. She said she couldn't go on like that, knowing I loved someone else. I asked her how she found out that I loved someone, but she wouldn't say. So I got upset with her, and we've hardly spoken since then. Today she went into town with one of the knights, and I'm hoping she'll be back when I return, because I really want to tell her that I love her."
You just did, I thought.
"So can you help me, Madame Hexe?" Link finished.
"Young man, I think I have just the answer," I sighed, standing up.
I moved from behind the table, so I was in full view of Link. With that, I snapped my fingers twice with both hands simultaneously, and my transformation began. Link gasped once I was revealed. "Princess Zelda?"
----------
Please review! Thank you so much!
