Arriving to Hyrule

That night is one Link will always remember. He couldn't stop thinking about it since he got home. He didn't tell his sister, since Aryll would never stop talking about it. Even since he revealed to them that he knew Princess Zelda, Aryll immediately started thinking they were a perfect couple. He can't help it, he had a crush on her since the day he met her and grew to like her with each day he met her.

Link spent that night up, looking at the ceiling. Thinking of Zelda and the lovely look in her eyes as she asked him to kiss her.

The smile on his face wouldn't go away.

Zelda couldn't get her mind of it either, she looked out the window from her bed. She kissed the boy she's liked since she was 15. She's 17 now and he was her first kiss. She never put much thought into romance for years, but Link has been the only one she thought of. He appeared to be the only boy she's ever liked.

She thought of kissing him just then and there. She was 17 now and wanted to make her move then and there. She feared someone who wanted to be her suitor would try it. She decided to make Link, the one young man she trusted and had any feelings for, to be her first kiss. She didn't tell anyone since she came home. She knew there'd be scandal of some kind, even though her father, Impa and Paya knew she had an interest. She wanted to keep this to herself.

Her smile couldn't go away.

That morning, Link came to the castle. His new job since defeating Ganon has been acting as one of Zelda's bodyguards. It was his turn to watch over her. He knocked on her door and she answered.

They both smiled.

"Morning!" They both said.

Realizing they spoke at the same time.

"So-" Link goes.

"I was-" Zelda says.

"Glad you're-"

"I see you-"

They pause.

"Anyway…" Link Speaks up. "What's the plan, today?"

"My father has said we are to spend time out of the castle for the next few days." Zelda says. "Perhaps you and I can find something fun to do?"

Link thinks for a moment.

"We could always go see the beach?" Link suggests.

"That could work." Zelda says.

"So why are we to leave the castle for so long?"

"I do not know. Supposedly, he has something important to do for the day involving a visiting royal family and wants it done in private."

Link's eyebrow rose. He didn't understand why the king would not let his daughter and successor not be involved in something like this. Still, he shrugged.

King Rhoam needed his daughter out of the castle for the entire day. He heard that this Gangrel is arriving soon. He'll likely arrive in the late afternoon, as he heard via messenger bird that he arrived last night. Assuming they left as soon as they came ashore, it would take them all night and mostly the day to arrive the castle. He had been speaking with Impa and telling her of the note he received.

"You believe this Gangrel is what the note says he is?" She asks.

"I can't risk it. After Ganon, I can't afford to take chances." Rhoam says.

"So that is why you choose to have your daughter go out with her new boyfriend?" Impa asks. Rhoam gives Impa a brief disapproving look. "Just saying." She defends herself.

"First off, he's not her boyfriend; one date does not equal a relationship. Second, I'm not risking my daughter coming across someone so potentially dangerous."

"So, where are we to spend our limited vacation together?" Zelda asks Link.

"Well, there's the beaches near Lurelin Village." Link suggests. "I visited them while I was fighting Ganon's monsters."

"We're to go there? It's a day away." Zelda pointed out as the two have been walking to her room.

"I guess we can pack up." Link says. "Trust me, it's a great place."

Zelda smiles and nods.

It would be hours later, Zelda has packed her things and Link carries them to a carriage. Being pulled by two horses from the castle, Link and Zelda stop at his house to take some of his things. After being embarrassed by a nosy Aryll, Link takes Zelda with him. They manage to leave via the carriage by noon. The sit close to each other as Link guides the horses.

"How long will it take by horse carriage?" Zelda asks.

"We make it there by morning if we stop to rest at a stable on the way." Link tells her.

"That's good."

At the port of Lurelin Village, a boat from a foreign land has docked and remained since last night. The people on board haven't left. They remained on board since then. This boat came from Plegia, where Gangrel is from. He chose to take a boat from his country as opposed to one from his wife's to come to Hyrule. After boarding, he decided he'd rather sleep on his bed rather than a room at the inn.

A knock hits his door, waking him up.

"What is it?" He barked.

"It's me." The voice of his brother-in-law answered. "It's already past noon."

Grumbling, Gangrel got out of bed.

"Alright, I'll be getting dressed." Gangrel responded.

Getting his answer, Chrom walked away. He got what he needed to hear, so he walked away. He went to the room where his sisters were staying, but would be interrupted by the only other person he wanted to be around on this boat.

He bumps into her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She said, panicking when she realized who she bumped into after she stepped out of her room. "Forgive me, Prince Chrom!" The green-haired young woman said, blushing hard while her arms were up.

"Don't worry, Sumia." Chrom answered. He had a smile on his face as he spoke with her, since he always found her rather pleasant to be around. "It's not your fault. How is your steed?"

"She's doing well! I was on my way to see Belfire! It's feeding time." Sumia stated while still blushing.

"I bet she can't wait to fly after being stuck on this boat for so long." Chrom quips.

"Like you wouldn't believe."

The two share a laugh, one that causes her blush to be brighter. After a moment, she quickly bows and runs off for her steed.

Chrom smiles and shakes his head at her flustered behavior.

Of the two women who have obvious crushes on him, Sumia was the one he felt a genuine interest in. The other named Cordelia, though a nice girl, didn't really make that kind of impact on him. Sumia just seemed like a nicer and more energetic girl by comparison. Still, he had to put what just happened out of his mind and went back to his sisters.

He arrives and knocks on Emmeryn's door.

"Sisters? Are you both decent?" He asks. "We'll be leaving in a while."

"Okay!" Lissa calls out. "We'll be ready!"

Once Chrom nods, he leaves. As he does, he passes the door that has two people Gangrel instructed to be left alone. He knew not what they looked like, nor did he care. All he knew is that they were Plegians and apparently knew magic. He figured it was dark magic. Still, he ignored the door and kept going.

Once he left, the door opened. Out came the smiling man named Henry with white hair.

"You sure you're not hungry?" He asked the person inside.

"No." A female voice answered flatly.

"Suit yourself!" Henry answered.

He closed the door and walked down in the same direction as Chrom. He eventually saw the azure haired man and called out to him.

"Hey there!" He said happily.

Turning around, Chrom stopped and took the time to study this man. This man in odd Plegian clothing, white hair, and a smile that seemed impossible to stop doing.

"Hello?" Chrom says. "And you are?"

"I'm Henry!" He said happily. "I'm one of the mages the king ordered to have accompany!"

"Oh…" Chrom said with a dirty look at the mention of his brother-in-law. He stopped when he speaks with Henry again. "What does he need you for?"

"Dunno, I'm just going because he said it'd be fun!"

"I… see…" Chrom said, sounding a bit worried. "So, I heard a female voice from the door? Sister? Girlfriend? Wife?"

"Nope! None of those! She's pretty but also pretty testy!" Henry said. "I called dibs though! Granted I think she only like my hair, but that's enough for me!"

Chrom just rose one eyebrow, confused at this oddly cheerful man.

Still he shrugged and made his way to the mess hall, with Henry following him.

Link and Zelda's carriage rides for hours before they make it to the stable. The Highland Stable was one Link was very familiar with.

"Will they accept us?" Zelda asks.

Link nods. He knows she's never had to sleep in a stable before, but he hoped she was open to the experience.

"Don't worry, I know these guys." Link assures her.

"Are we sleeping on hay?" She asks.

Link chuckles and shakes his head.

"No worries." Link says. "There's beds inside."

Once she looks relieved, Link heads inside. There, he sees the manager, Padok, at the counter.

"Ah, Link!" He says. "Good to see you again. Bed for one again?"

"Nope. I have a companion with me." Link says.

He chooses to keep the identity of his companion a secret, hoping so Zelda can keep a low profile.

"Is that so?" Padok looks and sees a female figure with long, blonde hair. He smiles. "Girlfriend?"

"W-what?!" Link blushes. "N-no! I mean… not… no!" He stutters.

Padok chuckles.

Once Link gives Padok the rupees to pay for their horses to feed and for him and Zelda to sleep, he takes Zelda there. Once in their room, she went into a dressing room to put on her white sleeping robe. Link usually wears just his shorts, though he knew exposing himself that way to Zelda would be inappropriate, so he wore a light shirt to make things less awkward.

Both laid in separate beds next to each other. They waited for their dinner they ordered.

"What do you think so far?" Link asks.

"It's got a lovely rustic charm." She says, smiling at her surroundings.

Link smiles at her relaxed tone. A knock at the door catches his attention.

Getting up, he answers the door.

"Food?" A young woman in a working uniform for the stable hands him two plates.

"Thank you." Link says, taking the plates out of her hands. He places them on a nearby counter and hands her a blue rupee.

"Thank you, sir." She says with a smile.

Once Link closes the door, he brings Zelda her plate.

"Here you go." He says.

"Thank you." She says with a smile. Looking to her grilled fish, she took a whiff and beamed. "It smells delicious." Suddenly, she takes her fork and puts a piece in her mouth. Once the taste hits her, she blushes and hums happily. "So fascinating! The flavor amplified by the sauce is exquisite. I detect a hint of sea salt and tomato! I can also tell-" She realizes she's beginning to ramble and looks embarrassed. "Oh… I'm sorry."

Link just smiles while eating his steak.

On the boat, Henry returned after a long day of just messing around and practicing his magic on a nearby forest filled with odd monsters called Moblins. They seemed pretty cool, but their boorish attitude left something to be desired. Once he found out they were creatures of a dark energy called Malice, he realized they were fair game. He found some fun ways to kill the creatures off and, for once, people watching actually praised his violence.

It was a long day, but he made it back. He went through the door and greeted the young woman who was under her covers in bed.

"I'm back!" He says.

"Whatever…" She says, deadpan.

Henry shrugged. He found her cynical attitude to be cute.

"Anything interesting today?" He asked.

"Not really… still thinking about the master's son arriving." She says. "I hear it'll be a while."

"Well…" Henry says. "There's monsters in the forests nearby, they'll let you kill them all you want. They're made of something called malice, so it's okay!"

There was a silence, but then she spoke up, sounding a bit interested.

"Really?"

She even rose a bit. Despite being under covers, it was easy to see she rose her head.

"Yup!" Henry says as he starts undressing for bed. "They're big pig monsters! But if you're hungry, they dissolve once the die, so no bacon. But it's fun since they're not natural creatures and fun to fight with!" He says. He can hear her hum at the idea. "Planning on having some fun with them?"

The young woman in question pulls the covers off.

She's a young woman, roughly around Link and Zelda's age of 17-18. She had long black hair and steely blue eyes. She skin was pale looking, but smooth. She had a smile on her face, one that was both lovely and terrifying.

"I could use some exercise. It's getting boring here anyway."

"Well, alright, Tharja."

Zelda awoke bright and early. The sun hit her face from the window and she rose up. Even though she's barefoot, she walked on the cold, wooden floor and head to window.

She saw a lovely mountain with trees.

She's seen them before, but never this close.

The blue sky and the birds flying on a clear day made her happy to come out with Link.

She looked back and giggled when she saw Link.

He was deeply asleep, though the covers were a mess. He laid down with one leg hanging off the bed and his pillow under his back instead his head. His mouth was also wide open.

She shook her head with amusement.

"Even his oversleeping is adorable."

She walked up to Link and poked his cheek a bit.

"Link?" She asks with a warm smile. She poked again. "Wake up." All her poking did was make Link close his mouth and act as though he chewed. Thinking quickly, Zelda has a mischievous idea. She then lies next to him, holding her arm around Link's chest. This finally gets Link to awaken a bit, looking at her with sleepy eyes. She smiles warmly. "Morning, sweetheart!"

This causes Link to open wider and scream for a moment before getting up and scrambling to the wall.

"W-w-what are you doing in my bed?!" He asked. His face is bright red.

Zelda chuckled.

"Sorry, but that was the only thing I could think of." She admitted.

Link takes a deep breath as his blush tones down.

"Please don't do that again, I actually thought we-" He pauses, his blush returns to him. "N-never mind!"

Zelda chuckles as she gets off the bed.

"I'm going to brush my teeth." She says. She walks to their restroom. "See you at breakfast."

Once she's out the door, Link takes a deep breath.

"I really don't want my head detached from my body right now if that did happen."

He did not want to think of what was going through his mind. If it did happen, he and Zelda were not married and any proof of such a thing would get him in serious trouble.

Once he calmed down, he smiled.

"She's pretty excited to see that beach."

Once it was late morning, someone nobody had seen when the boat left Ylisse came out of the room used by the dark mages. It was the other one, the young woman.

Two male soldiers passing by dropped what they were doing and stared.

She had a fit body and wore a somewhat revealing outfit. It was a typical outfit for Plegian women to wear when they were mages, but most men on the boat weren't familiar with such a fashion sense. Her dark top was on a see-through form-fitting suit. He had a gold belt with a dark loincloth, but no pants. Instead, she had gold straps around her thighs and gold high heels. She also had a cape and a gold crown-like headgear with what looks like a pigtail on each side of her head. She also carried a book with her.

Her eyes drifted to the men gawking at her and expressed an annoyed grunt.

Without a word, she looks away and walked the opposite direction.

They just kept looking.

"Wow…" One of them expressed.

"She's… wow." The other said.

This was Tharja, the Plegian woman from the night before.

And she's going to get some practice for her magic.

Yep, our Hero of Hyrule is meeting Tharja.

Things are going to get grim, especially since Link and Zelda will be meeting the people of Ylisse and Plegia despite the king's hope they don't.

But how will things go for them? Let's find out... next time.