(Edited 05/02/18: grammar fixed!)

(Updated 30/03/2017)

Hi there everyone, Meiko here!

As promised, here is your Tuesday chapter! This week I've done a backstory chapter. Just a bit of explanation on what happened in the three year gap between Link and Zelda returning and the start of US!

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter seven

(This chapter starts off where UC ends, to save confusion!)

Link, though nervous to return home after the adventure he and Zelda had just been on, decided to stay down on the surface and wait a bit to go up to Skyloft. Groose had gone back up ahead of them; he had let the people of Skyloft know they were safe, and they would be returning after they'd sewn up some 'loose ends' left down on the surface. Groose had not let anyone in on the fact that Link and Zelda would be returning with some, ah, extra baggage.

The truth was, Link was frightened to face Headmaster Gaepora. After all, he had gotten his old headmaster's only precious daughter pregnant, and at the tender age of sixteen. Even Zelda was well over the legal age in Skyloft, it was still highly frowned upon to have kids at this age, especially out of wedlock. Not that that would last for long, as Link planned to ask Zelda to be his bride as soon as they went back to Skyloft. Even so, there was no telling how Gaepora would react to the news.

After setting up a makeshift bed and a crib for the little twins to sleep in in the temple, Link went out foraging whilst Zelda caught up on her sleep for a bit. The babes were only a few weeks old, and already crying like troopers, day and night, almost nonstop. Eric was definitely the quieter of the two, though when Aria kicked off he was sure to follow. Luckily, Link had managed to get them to sleep, allowing Zelda to sleep too.

He was adjusting surprisingly well to this whole fatherhood thing. It had been terrifying, yet exhilarating at the same time. Back up on Skyloft, when a child was born all the ladies pitched in to help the new mother understand how to do things like change baby, feed from the breast properly and even little tricks to help baby sleep better at night. But down here, it was just them. They were figuring it all out on their own.

Zelda seemed to be coping well also, Link thought. She was extremely natural with Aria and Eric, and always seemed to know what they wanted when they cried out, even when Link had no clue. He guessed it wasn't much of a surprise, really. Zelda had always been good with kids. She babysat a lot back up on Skyloft.

As Link travelled through the undergrowth, swinging his old training blade back and forth, he felt a pang in his chest for Fi. She had helped him through a lot of tough times, and helped him keep his head more than once. He had been sad to see her go. But Link was sure that one day, somewhere along the line, someone else would come along and awaken her from her slumber. And he was certain this person would be a much better person than he was.

Collecting up as many somewhat-edible foods as he could (after a bad stomach upset, he knew to avoid the red berries), Link noticed a strange mark in the ground. He moved over to it, curiosity getting the better of him, and inspected. It seemed to be made by the foot of some being, a circular indent pressed into the ground, with a curious triangular shape pointing inwards. Realizing they went on through the mud, Link set to follow the trail.

He walked through the mud, up a hill, and through a heavily wooded area that seemed to have had a path cut through by the being that had moved through here before. He walked a bit further, pushing branches out of his face. He came out of the trees to the other side of the hill, which lead down into a clearing. Down in the clearing he saw a strange, magnificent beast.

It stood on four legs, the feet hooves which pawed at the ground. The body of the beast was strong, and even from this distance Link could see the beads of perspiration that ran down the rippling muscles of the beast's flanks. It had a long face, with two eyes either side that were rolling, showing white. The beast was a beautiful shade of chestnut brown, its coat shining in the sun.

Link watched as the beast snorted through its nostrils and made loud, high pitch noises. It was strange to Link that this animal should make noises, as all the other creatures down here on the surface had spoken his tongue. This beast was slightly similar to a loftwing, Link decided.

As he watched, there was another sound like the one the beast was making, coming from the other side of the clearing. Out of the trees ran more of the beasts, at least twenty of them. Link realized that the one he had been watching must've gotten lost, and strayed too far from the rest of the group. The animal was probably alone and scared before, and Link was happy too it reunited with the rest of its group.

He knew the feeling of being stranded, alone.

As the beasts ran off, Link stood and watched the empty clearing for a while, wondering how far this land actually went. When the sun began to set, Link picked up his bag of foraged goods and headed back to the temple.

Link was surprised, to say the least, that no one from Skyloft had been brave enough to venture down to the surface yet. Especially since the Goddess Statue had fallen from Skyloft, and the cloud barrier had disappeared. Link could see Skyloft, and it made him homesick. Whilst he loved Zelda and spending time with just their little family was nice, he longed to go home and have everything back the way it was.

The way it would never be again.

When he returned to the temple, Zelda was awake. She was sat by the crib, watching Aria and Eric sleep. When she heard Link come in, she looked up and smiled.

"Hello, sweetheart," she greeted him. "Did you find anything good?"

"I'm not too sure," Link replied. He held out the bag for Zelda to look through and inspect. He grinned. "No red berries though. I did, however, see something you might find interesting."

"Oh?" Zelda asked, taking the bag and starting to look through it.

"Whilst I was foraging, I saw some marks in the ground. I followed them to a clearing, and saw the most magnificent beast I've even seen!"

As Zelda picked out the good stuff and threw away the bad stuff, Link described to her what he had seen. By the end of his description, Zelda had forgotten the food and was looking at him in awe.

"A horse!" She exclaimed, excited. "I'd read about them in my father's books. Apparently, before Skyloft the people here used to use them to get around, much like we do with our Loftwings."

The mention of Loftwings caused both pangs of homesickness. They looked at each other, their eyes silently agreeing with the other's thoughts.

"We should go home soon," Zelda sighed out what they were both thinking. "I miss my room, I miss my dad, and I miss my loftwing."

"I agree." Link walked over to where Zelda was knelt, sat down next to her and gave her a hug.

"Soon, then," Zelda whispered.

After the celebrations of Link, Zelda and the twin's return had died down, Link was promoted to Knight, no questions asked. Upon winning the Wing ceremony he had been allowed to take the tests that would allow Link to become a Knight. However, rescuing Zelda had proved him worthy enough to be awarded his Knighthood without need for them.

The ceremony had been an extravagant one, and nearly everyone who resided on Skyloft had all crushed together into the great hall at the academy; no-one wanted to miss out on seeing Skyloft's new hero knighted.

"You must be so excited!" Karane gushed to Zelda. After the change in rules, she had begun to mingle with society again. Some of the older ladies still gave her dirty looks, but Zelda, though a little bit more reserved in motherhood, retained her feisty nature and glared them down when she saw.

The two had made quite firm friends after coming back. Horii had been slightly disappointed at Karane joining their tight-knit friendship group, and Zelda could tell she felt left out since both her and Karane had children now to talk about and Horii didn't. Not to mention the already stretched relationship due to what had happened with Pipit.

The three of them sat front and centre, Zelda brimming with joy at seeing her beloved knighted. Usually, the ceremony was held nearer the end of the year, with all of the graduates being knighted. For Link to have his own ceremony was a big thing. But then again, he was now a big thing.

Once everyone was settled, Headmaster Gaepora began his speech. He talked about Link, the good he had done, and of course, Zelda. He even mentioned how proud he was that his own children could inspire a positive change towards ideology. At last, Link walked in.

Zelda's breath caught; he was wearing the green knight uniform he'd been wearing throughout his time on the surface. Headmaster Gaepora had eventually decided that green would not be the colour used for the uniforms this past year, as at the time it seemed ill-fitting to knight the other graduates without Link present. He looked just as handsome (If not more) as the first day she'd seen him in the uniform.

He walked down the aisle, careful to keep his footing. All eyes on him made him nervous… Taking down monsters was his thing, not public appearances.

When he saw Zelda looking back at him, his back instantly straightened. She gave him a sense of confidence, and he knew if she was there, he could do anything. He accepted his knighthood, and ceremoniously gave back his wooden training sword in return for one made of steel.

Later on that evening, just after the celebrations from their return had died down, more erupted at the Lumpy Pumpkin. After a few dances, Link managed to pull Zelda away from the crowd. The twins were being looked after by Headmaster Gaepora, who had taken the babies from Zelda when they had arrived and ordered her to have fun. Last they'd seen, the man was fawning over his grandchildren.

Link led Zelda out into the garden, and when they were out of earshot of everyone, he hugged her tight.

"Link?" Zelda asked gently when he broke their embrace "Is everything okay?"

"I've been thinking about this for a long time, Zel. Even before all this, before Aria and Eric, before you got swept away, even before we started dating. I've always known one day I'd have to ask someone to spend their entire life with me. And I guess, ever since we were little kids, just playing make believe, I've always known that I'd like that person to be you."

Link dropped down onto one knee, and Zelda gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as tears pulled at her eyes. He held up a ring.

"Zelda, what I'm trying to say, is will you marry me?"

Zelda said nothing, for tears choked her, but she nodded her head furiously. She had known as well for a very, very long time that they had simply been made for each other.

Link slipped the ring on her tiny finger, and the two of them shared a kiss.

It was a wedding fest from there-on in. Karane and Groose were the first to marry. Then Link and Zelda held their ceremony. Finally, Horii and Pipit jumped in on the bandwagon and also became man and wife.

There was such cause for the sudden rush to be married; Link had been in discussion with Headmaster Gaepora about the surface, and it had been decided that a team of rangers would be sent down to evaluate the land, and then a settlement would be built. A lot of the residents of Skyloft were very excited to moving down to the surface; Skyloft was just getting too small now for the population. Headmaster Gaepora had firmly stated that no one was going to be forced to move to the surface; If they wanted to stay, they could.

The ranger's trip down to the Surface had been a success. They had only been gone a week before coming back. The space proposed for the new settlement was just past where the goddess statue now stood, and near to it a natural spring had been found, which was perfect. The go-ahead for the move down to the surface was given, and the residents began to pack their belongings. The rangers had also found resources to build houses. It was estimated that the people of Skyloft would be able to live on the surface in the next 6 months.

Zelda and Link returned to the surface much sooner than the rest. The Skyloftians were permitted to fly between the settlement and Skyloft, so it wasn't a difficult move to make. After being reunited with their birds, Link and Zelda were again free to travel wherever they wanted. They had their freedom back, and boy was it exciting.

Once things had quietened down, Zelda resumed her classes at Skyloft Academy and Link began his Knight duties. Zelda stayed in dorms on campus most days, with Aria and Eric. She took the twins to class, and they barely made a fuss. She was able to catch up on most of her missed work, and watch her children grow. Link visited often, but his knight duties included that of exploring the world below. It was lonely, Link missed his wife, his son and his daughter. Zelda would come down to the surface on his days off, and they would sit, the four of them and just talk and hug for hours on end.

Link was surprised as well by how fast the twins were growing; they had gone from sleeping all day to taking interest in things, then teething, speaking in baby talk and then crawling. Link was saddened by the fact that he could not be with them to see their developments every day; but he was happy that Zelda was able to. They savoured every hour they could, every moment was precious. Some may argue that absence makes the heart grow fonder; both could agree with this. The time apart only served to strengthen their bonds together.

Link's free time was about to come to an end though. Not long after the knights had managed to capture some of the 'horses' as Zelda had called them, there was a freak accident and the Knight Commander had been killed. It was tradition among the knights that they choose who leads them. And, as Link had most experience with the Surface, it was only natural they picked him.

Being promoted to Knight Commander was tough. Link now saw even less of his wife and children, and it upset him greatly. He was still young, and not exactly ready for the challenges that stood ahead for him. But, as he realized quickly, these men were willing to put their lives on the line for him. And that was something Link would never dream of toying with. There was no way he could let these men down for his own desires.

Zelda understood of course. His work was important. But though she understood, it didn't make it easy. At night, after putting Aria and Eric to bed, Zelda would often lay in her own bed and cry. She worried for Link; the old Knight Commander had died so suddenly. What if that were to happen to her beloved? What if something went wrong? What if she was left to be a widow, aged only eighteen? It was a cruel harsh world out there.

When Zelda got really bad, Karane would come and stay. Groose was nearly a knight himself, and his training kept him busy. Many nights, Karane would hug Zelda in bed whilst she cried. Their friendship was growing and growing each coming day. Zelda was grateful for what Karane did for her; sometimes when Zelda had lessons Karane would babysit, having both Zelda's twins and her own little son under her care for an afternoon or so. Eventually, Groose had given up on becoming a fully-fledged knight: he found that protecting the village and being able to go home to Karane at night was a lot more rewarding than the idea of being away for extended periods.

The academy did not last up on Skyloft for much longer. Since most students wanted to leave for the surface, there was a cry for the building to be moved. And that cry was answered. Plans were drawn up for a new building to be made, down on the surface, and it went up quickly. Zelda got to see more of Link, for which she was happy for.

Everything seemed to be going all right again for once.

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to Favourite and Follow for more! And if you liked this chapter (Or even if you have some criticisms!) please feel free to leave a Review! They keep me writing :)

Thank you all so much! See you next week!

Meiko x