A month passed for Zelda, a busy month of peace talks and benefits, keeping her busy and her mind off of Ike and what happened. She strolled down the hallway of the castle, Rosalina next to her, rattling off her schedule for the day. "...for dinner, and if we can squeeze it in I believe a certain princess is demanding you two go on a shopping trip this weekend."

"Oh goddesses," Zelda scowled and looked at her secretary and friend, "not Peach."

"Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom," Rosalina smiled and Zelda groaned. "She has been calling nonstop. Apparently it's a new season and she needs a new... Princess?" Rosalina froze as Zelda bent over, hands on her knees. "Princess? Are you alright? What do you need?"

"I feel sick," Zelda put the back of her hand against her lips, pushing as if holding back sickness. "Oh..." she shut her eyes and fell to her knees, her breakfast and coffee fighting to be the first on the ancient rug covering the cold stone floor.

"Oh star bits!" Rosalina jumped behind Zelda and held her hair back. "You're alright honey, just get it out of your system... Are you sick? Did you eat anything odd?" Zelda let out a little whine as her stomach was done emptying itself, heart speeding up as a night a month ago came rushing back to her.

"What's today's date?" she asked weakly and Rosalina stared at her. "The date dammit."

"The nineteenth," she answered and Zelda paled. "Princess, let me call the doctor, you look ill." Zelda nodded once, staggering slightly. "Princess!" Rosalina caught her with worried eyes. "Why was the date important?"

"Because I'm... I'm late," Zelda mumbled and Rosalina stared at her.

"Late for what? We're actually ahead on your schedule for the week I don't oh..." Rosalina's eyes widened as a thought hit her. "You're late late?" Zelda nodded. "Oh sweet lumas, let's get you to bed. I'll call the doctor."

XxX

"Hmm," the doctor stared at her as he took her blood pressure. "Why are you stressed?"

"Because Doctor Mario," she felt like biting his head off, but all she managed was a tight voiced snarl, "I think I might be pregnant."

"Well, that is a different story than I was told on the phone then huh?" He smiled at her over his mustache and Zelda felt a twinge of guilt.

"Rosalina is just trying to protect my image," she said and he nodded as he rolled on the metal stool to the drawer housing the flu test strips. "As you well know doctor, I'm not in a relationship and rumors of a child would be-"

"Let's rule out the flu and being overworked first," Mario warned. "No need to jump straight to the drastic." Zelda sighed, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. "How late are you?" He asked as he popped the swab out of the packaging.

"A few days... but I'm never late."

"Hmm, first time for everything," he said in his happy calm voice. Zelda really liked the doctor, he was so informal, and he reminded her of an uncle she never had. "And besides, we both know the royal family has never had an easy time of getting pregnant. So open," he commanded and she opened her mouth, letting him take the swab, "and relax." He began the swab test, letting the fluid's color change slowly.

"Been busy?" Zelda asked and he chuckled.

"Always," he said with an eye crinkling smile. "Apparently being the royal family's go to doctor makes a man in high demand," Zelda smiled and he stared at the strip. "Hmm not the flu. How busy have you been lately?"

"Just the normal amount of work," Zelda responded carefully.

"Alright... I don't want you to panic, but we're going to get a sample," he rolled back to his drawers in the exam room, Zelda trying to keep breathing normally as he pulled out a small plastic sample cup. "Just fill to the line," he tapped the small mark, and we'll see what that says."

"If it says yes?" Zelda asked nervously and he smiled at her.

"We'll do an ultrasound."

XxX

Not ten minutes later, Zelda was laying in a dark room, her shirt pulled up, a radiologist squeezing a warm jelly on her stomach. "Now, I'm just going to press this gently to your abdomen," she held up the little sensor, "and we'll see." Zelda felt her gut twisting in absolute fear as the lady pressed against her stomach, a grey mass filling the computer screen. "Hmm," she hummed to herself as she moved it around.

"And?" Zelda felt her breath coming in short bursts, her panic rising.

"Okay," the radiologist pointed to the screen, "see that teensy tiny little dot right there?" She double clicked on her mouse, bringing the image up closer. A tiny blob in the rough shape of an oval terrified Zelda.

"Yes..." Zelda was pretty sure she forgot how to breath in that moment.

"That tiny little dot is a four week old fetus. It's less than three millimeters... Just a tiny bunch of cells at this point..." Zelda felt her world fall away. Pregnant. She was pregnant. "I'll print this out for you if you want, add it to the baby book." 'Baby book?!' Zelda looked at her as the woman printed the image. "Now then, you'll go back to your doctor, and he'll get you all set up with a prescription prenatal vitamin, things like that." Numbly, Zelda nodded and let the woman hand her the small black and white photo of a small dot.

XxX

"PREGNANT?!" Zelda tensed up at her father's surprised yell. "How in all things holy are you pregnant?"

"Well," Link chirped up, "when two people-"

"Not now Link!" her father slammed a fist into the desk of his office. Zelda stared at her father, a spitting image of what Link would look like when he turned fifty-five. Except for the brown hair streaked professionally with grey, every facial feature was identical. His usually neutral expression was twisted into one of absolute anger. "Is the child Ganondorf's?"

"No," Zelda managed to whisper and Link's eyes widened.

"No fucking way," he said and she looked up at him. "No. Fucking. Way."

"What don't I know?" Their father was about to really start yelling, something Zelda hadn't heard since Link was busted with a veritable mix of drugs in his suitcase.

"A month ago I..." Zelda trailed off and cleared her throat to start again. 'I fucked a total stranger.' She just wanted to say it, but it was stuck on her tongue. "I..."

"Father," Link interjected, "it's my fault I-"

"You!?" her father looked horrified and Link made a disgusted face.

"Fucking hell? No shut up, look I took her out to party and I-"

"I slept with a total stranger," Zelda finished and her father turned an icy glare to her. Zelda held her head up proudly, not wanting to show weakness to him.

"And do we know this man's name?" his voice had become a deadly low tone.

"Ike."

"Ike what?"

"I... Don't know," she admitted and her father laughed coldly.

"You slept with a man and didn't even get his whole name?"

"He didn't have mine either," she pointed out and he slapped his desk.

"How foolish can you be?! You're supposed to be the smart one! I expect this from him," he pointed at Link who scowled, "not you."

"Fuck you," Link snapped and Zelda felt nausea sweep over her again. She put a hand over her mouth and her father pointed to the door.

"Get out if you're going to be sick, I'll have none of that on my desk."

"I," Zelda fought off her nausea, "have a picture of him."

"We're running a background check, don't argue with me," he snapped at her before she could open her mouth. "I want to know what kind of a fool you really are. And you're going to be there, so you can see too."

XxX

"Here we are," Samus Aran, the best of the best when it came to computers and technology in, arguably, the world smiled triumphantly as a match popped up, "facial recognition has a hit." She clicked and on the screen before the royals an image of Ike came up, along with his passport and driver's license.

"Ike Greil," her father read the name out loud. "A Crimean? Ugh," he shook his head in disgust. "Any criminal record?"

"Uh," Samus clicked some more, "one sealed juvenile crime... It's locked-"

"I want to know."

"Yes my king," Samus typed for a minute and Zelda stared at a picture of a teenaged Ike, blue hair a bit crazier, lip busted and eye blackened.

"'Parents of a boy named Shinon filed charges against him for beating up Shinon and his friends...'" Link stared at the screen, reading aloud. "'Charges dropped when school officials checked with the foreign exchange student...' Nice, he got into a fight to stop the kids from killing the other for being gay. Not exactly a serious crime." Zelda smiled slightly, happy that he wasn't trouble.

"Family?" Her father wasn't impressed and Zelda sighed. Racist and prejudiced against anything new, she wasn't surprised.

"Here," Samus pulled up a file. "Father... I can't pronounce the first name is deceased, mother Elena and sister Mist alive and living in Crimea. Sister attending college, mother works part time at the library in town..."

"Financial records," her father snapped and Zelda scoffed.

"That's not our concern," she said and he gave her a stern look.

"He made it my concern," he growled and Samus looked to Link who gave her an apologetic look.

"Here," she pulled up the screen. "Banks with National Crimean Bank, his account currently has fifty dollars in it."

"Spends all his money then," her father declared and Samus cleared her throat.

"Actually sir he has it set up where over seventy percent of his paycheck goes to his mother's account. He makes payments for his sister's education... He gets very little of what he makes." Zelda felt a touch of pride at that, as if he had done it specifically to upset her father.

"So..." Link set his face in a smug sneer, "he's kinda a saint Pops."

"We'll see about that," the King growled and gave Samus his best King glare. "I want everything on him you can find. If he jaywalked ten years ago, I want to know."

"Yes my king," Samus said and Zelda scowled.

XxX

"He's Crimean," her father said and Zelda smiled triumphantly to herself.

"That's the only thing wrong with him, isn't it?" she asked and his eyes darkened.

"You're not keeping it. We'll make an appointment and take care of it and-"

"Not keeping it? Take care of it?!" Zelda leapt to her feet, anger boiling over at her father's words. "This is not some dog I brought home from the playground! This is a child, MY child, I'll do no such thing."

"Zelda, there has never been, and there will never be, a drop of that disgustingly tainted Crimean blood in this royal family bloodline. Do I make myself clear?"

"You want me to give up my child? To get an abortion so your precious 'image' is safe, that's what this is about! You're not thinking this through-"

"I don't have to!" He roared and she tensed. "This is a disaster! First you can't keep the one decent man I approve of-"

"He cheated on me!"

"That happens in life! You get over it!"

"I shouldn't have to!" She stalked out of the office, hurt and rage twisting her stomach into knots.

"Zel!" Link ran towards her as she stumbled. "What the fuck happened?!" He pulled her into his arms and she shut her eyes, hot tears pouring down her cheeks.

"He wants me to give up the baby."

"That's against everything we supposedly stand for," Link said in shock and Zelda nodded.

"I know... He doesn't like that the baby is half Crimean... Link I don't know what to do."

"Aw my little sister," he said and she didn't stop crying into his chest. "This is the part where you remind me that it's only by two minutes..."

"Not now," she sobbed and he tightened his grip. "I'm sorry," she wiped her eyes and looked up at him, "I'm not supposed to be the one-"

"Come on," Link stood up and pulled her with him, "let's get you to bed." Zelda nodded and off they went, her feeling more lost than ever before.

XXX

thanks for reading! And a big thank you as always to concisponci for reviewing!