Zelda sat in the carriage, staring out the window into the light blue sky. The weather was nearly perfect, like the Goddess had stopped suffocating everyone with unbearable heat for just this one day.
To the entire kingdom, the Queen was simply on an excursion to the Sacred Grove for a few days. She was to be offered privacy, and her guards were on the edges of the forest, ensuring she was not disturbed.
In truth, she, Seres, Finn, and Link were all arriving to the Sacred Grove all at once for something the kingdom didn't know about.
Link's head was on Zelda's shoulder, his eyes closed as he breathed loudly, still tired from several duties he'd had to take care of before venturing out from the castle. He'd had to settle people into new roles. He and Finn had also been working on rebuilding Viscen's spymaster network for Zelda, and it had proven more tedious than they'd expected. Good spies didn't announce their trade. Link, Finn, and Zelda were determined to get people into Maud and Cole's households, just in case they retaliated following Zelda's turn of power.
It had taken some convincing, but the Council had agreed to Zelda's decision to marry Link. That wasn't surprising. But what was surprising was that she learned just how many lies her council had been feeding her and why.
The gossip she'd been hearing about her and Link hadn't been started by the average citizens of Hyrule. The whispers in taverns were rare, and the pointed looks cast her and Link's way were twisted by the nobles reporting it.
Link was loved by the people, and her relationship with him was only looked down on by those who'd had the opportunity to raise the status of their families by marrying the Queen themselves.
After she'd announced it to the public, she'd heard more rumors, but they had been overwhelmingly in favor of their marriage. Perhaps some of it had to do with their unhidden affections for the other, but she suspected that a larger part was because Link was a commoner who'd managed to rise from imprisoned soldier, to Knighted Commander, to future King Consort. He had the fairytale that many dreamed of, though most dreams didn't involve quite the struggle they'd faced to get Link to this position.
Thanks to their union's massive popularity, they'd be holding an outdoor wedding to share with Hyrule at the end of the month, and preparations were well under way.
But it wasn't to either of their styles.
Zelda had pulled Link aside. "Do you remember what you said to me when I was dying?"
"Yes?" he said, confused. She'd given him no context to her sudden question. "I'm honestly a little surprised you do."
"I remember every word. You said we ran off and had a private wedding with us and our cat. Well, she's not coming… but is that something you'd consider? Sneaking away and getting married with just a few people—Seres and Finn—and then having the public ceremony be the showy one?"
It was how they ended up travelling to the Sacred Grove.
There was a small cabin in the woods that Seres had prepared with some clothes and food, and she'd secretly brought Zelda and Link's more formal clothing as well, though it was nothing nearly as spectacular as they'd wear for the public wedding.
Finn had taken care of the legal documents, and he'd arranged for Impa to arrive at the grove shortly after they did. She'd be performing both the real and the fake ceremonies, and judging by her response to Finn's request, she'd been more excited than scandalized by their actions.
"Link," Zelda murmured, shaking her shoulder for good measure, though she knew he'd wake to just his name.
His eyes snapped open, blinking several times before wiping the sleep from his eyes. But when he saw the trees outside the window, he smirked. "Oh, I'm awake now."
"You still snore like a baby," Finn snorted, though it wasn't entirely true. Link breathed loudly, but he was just short of snoring.
"At least I don't snore like a moblin."
Seres rolled her eyes and gestured to Link. "You're sure you want to marry him?"
"King of Poor Comebacks," Finn mused.
With a sly grin, Zelda leaned her elbow on Link's shoulder, and he scooted down to make it easier for her. "You do sound like a moblin, Finn. I shared a room with you for a while. Perhaps that's why it took me so long to heal from my wound: a lack of rest."
"Sure, defend him," Finn laughed.
Zelda offered a halfhearted shrug, turning to Link to offer him a small high-five, which he returned with a smug grin to Finn. "We're on the same team."
"Except when we play that game with Ellie. You're horrible. I don't want you on my team for that."
Link made a playfully offended face and placed his hand over his heart. "Zelda, you wound me."
"I can if you want me to," she grinned.
"No!" Finn balked. "Save any of that for when Seres and I aren't here."
The carriage jerked to a halt, and Link slid out first to help Finn. Though he had his fake leg and his crutch—which he'd made great progress with—he still struggled with inclines and stairs.
Link helped Seres and Zelda out as well while the carriage driver steered the horses out of sight. They were in front of the cabin, still no sign of Impa, and took in the sights.
The trees were so tall, it hurt to try to look at the tops. The canopy was wide enough that sun still managed to reach them, but there were more shadows than anything, casting intricate patterns across the grass and rocks.
There was a steady hum of a waterfall in the distance, the sound of small lapping waves where the water crashed down and tried to escape to shore.
"This place is beautiful," Zelda said, bending down to examine a blue and white flower. "How did you find it?"
"Impa suggested it," Finn admitted, hobbling towards the cabin.
Seres followed behind him, but Link grabbed Zelda's wrist to stop her. "Give us one second. We'll be in."
Waiting for the sound of the door closing, Zelda felt herself giggle. "We're really here, aren't we?"
"Yes we are," Link said, kissing her forehead before stepping away. He was fiddling with something in his pocket. "I wanted to get you something for today, but I've still been foregoing getting paid rupees, so I don't really have much."
"You don't need to…"
"Wait, I did get you something. So, with my old stash of rupees, I got you this for today." He held out a ring, but it was made of some type of plastic or rubber, certainly not metal. "So this," he continued, "is what a lot of soldiers will wear when they know they're going to fight so they don't lose their personal jewelry. It's meant to be a replacement for a real ring, so it seemed fitting."
Zelda was blushing as she looked at the ring. But when she went to take it, he tucked it into his palm.
"But," he said again, smiling as her hand attempted to chase his, "Seres saw it and had a different idea. Since our rings are still being worked on, she found us two others."
Zelda gasped, her hand covering her mouth as she stared at the two new rings in his hand. "These were my parents' rings."
He nodded and let her take them, looking closely at the designs etched into it. "They were in the room with your parents' things. I know you wish they were here."
Zelda pulled him down to her, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly against her. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear before kissing his cheek, unwilling to unwrap her arms from him just yet.
He hummed a response into her before picking her up with ease, carrying her along with him towards the cabin where Seres and Finn were waiting.
"Hey, wait!" she laughed, tapping his arm until he put her back down. "I want my ring."
"You don't want to wait?"
"Not that one, the one you got me."
"The fake one?"
"It's not fake," she said, reaching into his pocket.
"Hey!" he laughed, grabbing her wrist as her hand aggressively fumbled around his pockets for the ring.
When she felt it, she pulled it out with a triumphant expression and slid it onto her finger, admiring it with a genuine expression. She wasn't enjoying it for his sake. "This is staying on. And by the way, why haven't you told me no one is paying you? You're the Commander."
"You need the rupees for other, more urgent things, and I can mooch off you for a little while anyway, right? If I need some new boots, you'll foot the bill?"
"Was that a pun?"
"I would never joke about boots."
"Right," she chuckled, but the sound of an approaching wagon had them both alert.
Link knew it was Impa, but on instinct, his hand went to the knife in his belt where it stayed until the older woman was helped out of her own carriage. His fingers only relaxed when he could see that it wasn't a trick, and that it was only Impa.
"Lovely. You're here already. Let's get this moving then! I'm sure you're both anxious for us to all leave you alone for a few days."
Link's eyebrows shot up and his face turned so red in a way that usually only Zelda's teasing was able to accomplish. But from the looks of the seemingly innocent and unimposing old woman, he hadn't expected any implied comment like that to come from her mouth.
Zelda bit her lip and pulled Link with her into the cabin as they followed Impa.
Seres took note of Zelda's expression and then down to her hand, where she could see the little band. "You gave them to her?"
"I showed her. She wanted mine now," Link said, looking where Finn had already laid out most of the pieces of parchment, drawn up and only in need of a signature.
"Ah," Impa sighed, settling down. "The most romantic part of a wedding: paperwork." She signed her name to something and then pushed it towards everyone else.
Link snorted, still not recovered from her earlier comment. But his eyes trailed down the agreement to see what he was about to sign his name to.
His name.
He stopped.
"Zelda, someone misprinted this."
Zelda hovered beside him while he pointed to their names. "Actually," she said, leaning into him. "This is my surprise for you. We started this journey together one way, and we're starting a new one another way. I thought it might be appropriate to keep both." She lifted the parchment to reveal a second page. "I also have it the way we discussed, just in case, so no pressure to accept."
"Is this like your great-grandparents?" he asked, looking at the words again.
Zelda nodded, watching him carefully. "What do you think?"
"You know I'm more than happy to take just your name, right?"
And Zelda appreciated that because she knew it was also legally forced on him even if he were, for some reason, vehemently opposed. "Yes, but I want this to be our name, not just yours or just mine."
"Be honest," he laughed, and Zelda was glad to see genuine his excitement from her surprise change. "You just wanted to have a longer name."
"Honestly? You just needed a longer one."
He dipped the quill into the ink, shaking his head. "Your Council is going to try and murder us in our sleep once they see this."
"Oh absolutely. I can't wait to see their reactions."
Link chuckled and handed her the quill before he stepped to the side. She signed her name.
Zelda Aravis Thaisa Forrester-Hyrule
Link Forrester-Hyrule
"Witnesses," Impa said, urging Finn and Seres to sign.
While they were preoccupied, Zelda tugged Link down to her for a quick kiss. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too."
"Technically," Zelda grinned, "we're already married. All we had to do was sign to make it legal."
"Oh," he cooed, "Yes we are."
But Impa clapped her hands, snapping them out of it. "You two should change, or whatever you want to do before we begin. I must be back home tonight if you want this to remain private, otherwise, my people will look for me. Elders wandering through Hyrule at night without a reasonable excuse will spark a vigorous search."
"Right," Link muttered as Impa, Seres, and Finn left them.
They didn't wear anything fancy; woods and dirt and grass and the privacy of the situation allowed for simple clothes. Link wore a nice shirt and pants, unlike the Knight-Commander armor he'd been instructed to wear for the public ceremony, or the expensive fabrics he'd have to change into after. Zelda was in a loosely flowing dress that flared out when she spun, the sleeves loose and ending before her elbow. For the public ceremony, she'd be in a ballgown, jeweled and glittering, embroidered with the royal family's symbol stitched with golden threads. She'd have tight sleeves that hooked around her finger, and a crown under a long veil that denoted her status with its length, fabric, and meticulous detail. Today, however, was for them. They didn't have to dress for the public.
"Zelda," Link called, turning around.
She spun to look at him, taking her time as her eyes roved over him. When she finally made it up to his face, she saw him doing the same, his train of thought completely gone as he looked her over.
"Link?"
His eyes snapped up and he cleared his throat, blinking a few times. "You look beautiful."
Zelda grinned as she slid into her flat shoes. "You're looking pretty handsome yourself. But I don't think that's why you called me?"
"I… what?"
"You said my name?"
Link shook his head, his eyes moving over her again. "No… I… oh! Can I have my sword?"
Zelda chuckled and grabbed the sheathed sword and belt that were against the wall. "Catch," she said, tossing it lightly to him.
He caught it with ease and started securing it around him and readjusted his knife. "Thanks." Of everyone present, he was the only one able to fight unless Finn could get himself onto a horse first, so he was still technically on duty, despite the circumstances.
A muffled voice outside the door broke their spell and gently reminded them that they needed to get outside soon for her sake and for theirs.
They hurried and followed Impa as she walked away from everyone, Seres staying beside Finn as they struggled to hustle to match the older woman's speed.
Impa stopped just by the water and waited. "Please take each other's hands as we ask the Goddess for her blessing."
"Ew," Link joked, taking one of Zelda's hands.
She made a face and rubbed her hand aggressively over his cheek, giggling as she did.
He turned into her and pushed her hand away with his nose, laughing.
Impa cleared her throat, not uncomfortable or annoyed, but clearly on a timer to return home.
"Sorry," Link muttered sheepishly, grabbing Zelda with both hands and keeping a straight, attentive posture.
Impa smirked and held her hands out to her sides.
"We are sent into this world with the Goddess Hylia's blessing and love. She gives us shelter on her land, food from her gardens, and life from her spirit. But even the Goddess herself did not traverse this world alone. She has intended for us to find those we call family—through spirit or by blood—and spend our precious time in her world with those we find along the way.
"When we come together to celebrate two of her people finding one another, we witness a manifestation of the Goddess' blessing. The Goddess brings people together in many ways. If two souls are fated to be together, they will find one another in countless lifetimes. Memories of that love are not stored in the brain, but in the heart and soul. And when those wandering spirits reunite, the bond that has formed throughout many lifetimes remains unbroken.
"Tonight, we celebrate the union of two of these souls whom the Goddess has blessed, and we unite them once again with a promise that is not easily fractured between bound souls. It is not the first time nor the last time that these two will find each other, and a great comfort should be taken in that knowledge. Your souls are bound for an eternity, and may your reunion be quick in the next life so you will never come to fear leaving one another alone in this one."
Impa opened her eyes and looked between them. "Please, would you both repeat after me: In life and death, in soul and spirit, I exchange pieces of myself with you until there is no distinguishing where I end, and you begin. We become one soul who has found its other half. I place my trust in you."
Link and Zelda held the other's hand a little tighter as they repeated the words together. Both found their grins growing bigger with every word until their teeth were showing wide in their mouths.
When they'd finished, Impa looked at both of them. "Do you have anything to exchange, or will you wait until the public ceremony?"
Fishing in his pocket for Zelda's parents' rings, he handed her one and slid hers onto her finger, lowering his voice, though he didn't even realize there was an audience of three. To him, the world had faded so it was just the two of them. "When we first spoke, the circumstances weren't ideal, me being bound to the wall and everything. I remember hearing you with Ganondorf before we actually met, and you just… you sounded like someone I knew. Not because you were the Princess, but because it felt like I'd known you. Then I saw him going to hit you, and something snapped in me that I've never wanted to fix. When I first saw you, you were being held against a wall by some bokoblins. It happened again. I didn't know who you were, but I knew you. Maybe it's because we were meant to meet again in this life. Maybe it's because a part of me knew we'd end up here. Maybe I honestly just thought you were beautiful and strong standing up to Ganondorf. I don't know. I did some dangerous things for a stranger. Now I get to do some dangerous things for my wife."
"What dangerous things are you planning?" she asked, her hand tightening around his.
"Life. Living. It's filled with danger."
She slid the ring onto his finger and looked back up to him. "I like a little bit of danger. You can't get rid of me that easily, husband. I'm here to stay."
He smirked at the words he'd often said to her. "Good. So am I."
Seres and Finn stayed for a while after Impa left, drinking a glass of wine they'd brought and sharing stories, much like a small party. But they finally left, leaving the sound of Seres and Finn's carriage departing, rolling along the rocks until it faded into nothingness, leaving only the sound of birds, rustling trees, and running water, the remaining sounds created a sort of song of the forest.
Zelda turned to Link. She sat on the bed inside the cabin, while Link was staring out the wide-open windows.
"We can go outside if you want. You don't have to look from the window."
"I'm sure we'll make it out there eventually," he said with a sly grin in her direction. But he turned wholly to face her, leaning casually against the windowsill. "I'm just taking this all in. Until the Council agreed, I never thought this would actually happen. We joked about it, I dreamed about it, but I never believed."
"No," Zelda agreed, moving to stand beside him. "I never thought they'd say yes to us. I was happy to live a scandalous life with you as my 'male mistress' as you called yourself."
"Now you can live a scandalous life with me as your husband. We've been married, what, two hours? We've already done three things against everyone's wishes: snuck away like teenagers, changed our name, and got married early so no one could bother us."
"Oh, I can't wait to hear how people react. The Council will find out everything when they see our paperwork. Impa might even get in trouble for helping us. I wonder if they'll let our secret trip slip out to the public, or if they'll keep it to themselves."
Link pulled her by the elbow until she was against him, "They'll keep it to themselves. They'll look like fools otherwise because they didn't know."
"I might leak it just for fun, then," Zelda mused.
Link hummed out a laugh and bent to kiss her, caught up in the way the light from outside was teasing her face. She didn't resist, despite being in the middle of a conversation. Instead, she fisted his shirt and pushed him backwards until they bounced back against the wall. She didn't know which of them had gotten his shirt off in the process, but she let her hands drag down over his exposed torso, occasionally bumping over a raised scar. She watched his muscles bunch and play at her touch, loving what she could do to him with very little effort.
But that got her thinking, and Zelda pulled away, already breathless as she looked up at him, her brows crinkling as she thought harder. "I'm nowhere near strong enough to push you that far. Why do you always just let me throw you around the room?"
Link threw his head back and laughed before running his hand down her side. "Because I like when you push me around."
"I know you do, but I'm not really, am I?" Her expression changed from passionate hunger to comical and determined. "Let me try. Come on, let me try to push you against the wall! I want to know if I can actually do it. You're already weak-kneed around me."
He snorted and rolled his eyes playfully. "You are the only person who could make this sound highly amusing and incredibly desirable at the same time." He shook his head in disbelief but found himself nodding in agreement. "Go ahead, Warrior Queen." His grin was fixed on hers, though he was unabashedly blushing as he watched her adorably determined expression while she pulled him away from the wall a bit—which he also let her do.
Link had to bite his lip to keep more laughter from escaping him as she threw her body weight onto him. He braced himself and barely stumbled. It reminded him of her trying to take the chess piece from his tucked arms. He'd had to unclench his muscles for her move him then too.
So he, at least, was unsurprised by her many failed attempts. After too many tries, Link's composure broke, and he was cackling as she pushed against him.
His hands snaked out and grabbed her hips, not hard but enough to stop her from rearing back again. He took a step forward and lifted her up before spinning them both, and she found herself pinned by him, her legs wrapped around his waist.
"That's not the game," she tried, but it didn't come out with half as much force as she'd wanted.
"I was demonstrating for you," he muttered, though his words were muffled as he kissed her easily accessible collarbone.
"Fine," she breathed. "But only because I also like it when you have me against a wall."
"I know you do," he smirked into her before he nipped the skin and his tongue brushed over the spot, leaving her breathlessly arching into him as she made a soft noise, very much not one of pain. In fact, when he did it again, holding her tighter with one arm so his other hand was free against her skin, she made the same sound again, only this time he was sure it was the broken sound of his name. "I'm your husband. I know these things about you."
She pushed him back a bit so she could reach his lips, devouring them before pulling away with a light bite on his bottom lip with her nails tightly gripping his shoulders, returning the favor as he groaned into her. "If you know so much, get me out of this bodice then, husband."
And that was something he wasn't about to argue with.
"As my wife commands."
A/N: One left!