Sorry for taking so much time to upload this chapter, but I got the feeling that the long wait will be worth it.

Why, when we want the days to pass quickly, almost always pass slowly? That same question was Zelda asking to herself, as she waited for Link to return to her side. In the letter he sent to her, her loved hero said that he would return to Hyrule in the afternoon, before the sunset, but still, Zelda began to wait for him early in the morning, in case that Link could return earlier than he said before.

The young sovereign was sitting on a bench of Hyrule Castle's courtyard, wearing her casual outfit: her regular dress, her tiara on her head, her white gloves, and the strips that she used to braid her brunette hair. As she waited for Link to return, her face showed nothing more than anxiety, her eyes beamed with the strong desire of seeing her loved one go through the great door of the courtyard's entrance, and the princess couldn't contain the urge of feeling his strong arms wrap her body and hug her tightly. She had spent almost 1 hour sitting in the courtyard, however, she felt like she had spent there the rest of the day, that instead of 1 hour, she spent 10 hours waiting! What a pity for her! Anyone could have said that the goddesses themselves were playing a really cruel joke to her, making the course of time really slow, with the only objective of making fun of her. At this moment, Zelda was feeling the same way as a little child feels when he stays at home alone, waiting for his mother and father to be back home. When she achieved 2 hours sitting in the bench, she decided to stand up and take a walk through the courtyard. She desperately needed to calm her anxiety, before it could make her collapse; after another 2 hours, she returned to her bench and sat back, to wait…

It didn't take too much time for Zelda to return inside the castle. She had never spent so much time in the courtyard, maybe half an hour or an hour… but never 5 hours! Oh, it ends being unbelievable the amount of things that someone can do when he or she is in love. As Zelda took a glass of water at her mouth, she looked through a window that showed the south fields of Hyrule, in hopes that Link was passing by there.

- "It's been a long time, princess." - said a voice, which seemed to belong to an old man. Once Zelda turned to see who was the one that spoke to her, she recognized him immediately.

- "Oh, it's you Auru..." - she said. Auru was not only an old acquaintance of her, but he used to be her tutor, when she was still a child. - "What is the motive of your visit?" - the young sovereign asked.

- "I just came to see my former colleagues. Since my duties as your tutor were no longer needed, I haven't come here to see how things are going, or even say hello." - the old man said, before letting out a rough cough. - "... and how have you been?" - he asked as he crossed his arms.

- "I'm fine, if I can say... the kingdom is almost fully recovered from our war against Ganondorf... It looks like almost all of my people have overcome that crisis" - she said as she took another sip of water from her glass.

Auru sighed with relief; although he still remembered the critical environment that the people of Hyrule had to live, he was thankful that all the war was over... all thanks to the courage of a young man.

- "And it's all thanks to Link..." - said Auru, showing a small smile of gratitude. Zelda nodded at this, and brought her attention back to the window she was looking at before she started to talk with her former mentor.

Auru noticed the sudden attitude of his former protegé, and questioned himself the reason of her change of attitude. But it didn't took him much time to deduce the reason of her current behavior.

- "You are waiting for him, right?" - he suddenly asked, calling Zelda's attention almost immediately. She wouldn't deny it to him, Auru knew her very well, there wasn't a way in which she could fool him, both of them knew who was the person from which Auru was talking about.

- "Is it too noticeable?" - she asked disbelief, as her cheeks gained a slight-reddish hue. The old man laughed at her question.

- "Zelda, even the old eyes of someone like me, can see clearly the effects that Link has on you. I can see how much you long to have him by your side now. You couldn't negate it, even if you tried." - Auru was right, the great love she felt for Link had become really noticeable, it was a relief that she wasn't hiding her feelings to Link anymore, otherwise, her mind and heart wouldn't let her live in peace.

After spending some minutes talking with the young matriarch, Auru bowed to her and prepared to leave the room, but before, the old man shared with her one last thought.

- "You know... Link could be a suitable king for this land." - that last thought made Zelda's blush far more remarkable... luckily for her, Auru had already left the room, otherwise, he would have seen the intense blush, of his former protegé's cheeks.

Once that Auru was out of the room, Zelda refocused her gaze on the room's window, trying to see if an human figure was coming near. But nothing...

- "The afternoon isn't over yet, there's still time left for the sunset to come, so there's still a hope for..."– suddenly her thoughts were abruptly interrupted, by a human figure looming in the fields…

Due to the distance in which the human being was from her gaze, Zelda couldn't see clearly if it was a man or a woman, but she could see that it was riding a horse, and was riding fast. The human figure and the horse came closer and closer, and Zelda could see it better now... It was a man, possibly a young man... and he was wearing green old clothes.

It was him, Link.

She wasted no time; she had to get out of the castle, she needed to see Link, she waited so much time, and now, he finally came back. As she ran down the stairs, her anxiety climbed to levels higher than she could have ever expected, and her heart pounded so strongly, that it seemed like it was going to open a hole through her chest.

The young princess was feeling more calmed now, she was out of the castle, and in front of the door that connected the castle's courtyard with Castle Town. She proceeded to pass through the great door, and entered the town. A lot of people looked in awe as they saw their sovereign pass next to them, and all of them saw her young face expressing a lot of anxiety. Zelda didn't mind if the people saw her in such a shape right now, her mind was focused in just one thing, and nothing could stop her from achieving her objective.

Finally, she was out of the town, and walked through the bridge that was connected with the south fields of Hyrule. She ran down the small stairs that led to the field… and there he was… her loved hero in front of her…

Link took his green hat off from his head, in a sign of respect towards Zelda. Despite he passed to be the hero of her kingdom, to become her beloved partner, Link still treated her as the matriarch of Hyrule, even if she had told him so many times to act normally towards her… a funny attitude, coming from the princess's couple, don't you think?

As he stood there in silence, the dirty-blond haired boy felt that his gaze was frozen, and couldn't take his eyes off from the figure of his beloved lady; the glare of Zelda's blue eyes was mesmerizing, and each time that he found himself at the glance of those two sapphires that Zelda had instead of eyes, his body was wrapped by a strange sensation that he had never been able to define properly. But there was another thing that was as mesmerizing as the bright of Zelda's eyes… it was the glance of her sculpted-like silhouette. Zelda's figure was one of the countless things that he adored from her, but for some reason, he found that it looked more delighting than in any other occasion. He felt that something in her was different, something that made her beauty be highlighted.

- "Is… Is my mind trying to trick me? … She… she's more beautiful than I remembered… I can't believe it…"- he asked to himself.

- "Oh… for Nayru… He has finally returned… My Link… my loved hero…" – she thought as she swam in the sea of emotions that her heart became.

They spent almost a full minute standing still, looking at each other, being the sound of their pounding hearts the only thing that could be heard around them. They only wanted to run toward the other, and embrace the other, but something was stopping them from doing so; perhaps they were paralyzed by the immense feeling of joy that coursed through their bodies, as they saw each other after being separated for a small period of time, which for them felt like a painful eternity. A dense silence enveloped this scene, and Zelda was the first one to break it.

- "Link…"

Just after she said that simple word, the two youths finally decided to cut the small distance that separated one from the other, and ran toward the other with their arms wide open, welcoming the other one in a sweet and caring embrace.

How does a woman feel when she's embraced by the one that has become the meaning of her existence? And how does a man feel when he has in his arms, the woman that has become the inspiration of each and everyone of his days? If someone asked Link or Zelda one of those questions, they would lack words to answer them. But that didn't matter to neither of them; the two youngsters in love were conformed with just feeling the presence of the other in their arms.

Zelda didn't notice it completely, but she was hugging Link very tightly. All the strength of her desire of seeing her loved one again, she was using it to embrace him, as if trying to keep him at her side until the end of the days. Even if she wasn't hugging him with the enough strength to squash him, the young princess was unconsciously using all the strength of her arms… Yes, she really missed him; she missed his presence at her side, the sound of his voice whispering in her ear, the caresses that his hands gave to her face, and the feeling of his lips on hers.

With their arms still around the body of the other, the princess and the hero stared at the eyes of the other in complete silence, as if their eyes were emanating a hypnotic light that made them stay still, and completely mute. But that silence wouldn't last longer, and Zelda made sure of that.

- "I… I missed you… so much."- as Zelda said that, her eyes turned watery, and some tears started to descend through her cheeks. Noticing this, Link moved his two hands toward the face of her beloved princess, and brushed them away with his thumbs.

- "Zelda… please don't cry…" – Link never liked seeing Zelda crying, but he didn't realized that Zelda's tears were product of the great happiness that she was feeling right now, the happiness of being in the arms of her loved one, once again. - "I have missed you too, my love, but please… stop crying. I'm back, and I won't leave you again, so please, give me a smile, ok?"- said Link as he stroked Zelda's cheeks with his thumbs, wishing to see her smiling again. His wish was granted soon, as Zelda's cries ceased, and she gave him a warm and tender smile. – "Much better"- he said before lowering Zelda's head to kiss her forehead.

How much he loved to see her smiling, how much joy invaded his heart and soul each time that his eyes saw the lips of her loved maiden, curved in what could easily be the most precious smile of the entire world, which was for him, more valuable than all the treasures of the world, and perhaps ... more valuable than the very Triforce. Although he wished to have spent the past seven days with Zelda at his side, he realized that he really needed to spend those days separated from her. And why, you ask? To realize how much he loved her, how much she meant for him, to understand that his life would have a much less significance without the light that the memory of her loved Zelda gave to his existence each day. Those seven days were really worth, not only because he was able to eradicate the last of Ganondorf''s followers, but he was able to fall in love with his beloved damsel once again.

- "Zelda, did you…" – unfortunately, his question was cut short, due to Zelda's lips pressing tightly against his own lips. The young hero was indeed surprised by Zelda's action, but he didn't complain. In fact, he enjoyed to be able to feel the sweet taste of the lips of his beloved. For Link, the taste of Zelda's kisses was a marvellous elixir which made his soul feel completely blessed, each time that their lips met in that caress. He would have wished to continue that intimate contact, but Zelda put her lips apart from him some seconds later.

- "I… I'm sorry… I… couldn't contain myself."- she said timidly, thinking that Link didn't like her sudden action. Oh Zelda… despite being the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom… you were very, very wrong about that thought…

Not only Link was able to recover his confidence toward Zelda, but he warmly smiled at her, his hands still at each side of her angelic face.

- "Don't feel sorry, my beautiful girl. It's ok... It took me by surprise, but… I liked it… as each and every one of your kisses."- he told her softly, as he moved his hands to let them rest on Zelda's waist. He wanted to convince her about the truthfulness of his words, and so, he asked her to kiss him again. The young matriarch couldn't say "no" to a petition like this if it came from her loved hero, and so, with her hands at each side of his face, she brought her lips to Link's face, but before their mouths could make any kind of contact, she sweetly whispered in his ear:

- "There's nothing more that I would wish, than feel the warm of your lips in mine... during each and everyone of my days... my love…"- and with that said, their lips met in another kiss.

They spent like this a considerable time... but who could blame them? Each time that those two youths shared that intimate caress, the rest of the world ceased its existence, all the other things didn't matter, and they entered in a world in which they were the only living beings. Yes, they loved each other with a great passion, a feeling that was so pure and sincere, that it was worthy of admiration.

Two minutes later, their eyes met again, and a smile was sketched on their faces. They were happy… happy about being able to feel the presence of the other near again, happy of once again being able to express the love for each other. They let their foreheads rest in the forehead of the other, as they retook the embrace that they previously broke apart. They wished that this moment could last forever, they hoped that the course of time got stuck at this very moment, so they could be able to enjoy their embrace for all eternity…

What a beautiful feeling the love between two youths can be…

- "What were you going to ask me?"- asked Zelda, remembering that her loved one wanted to ask her something, before she stole a kiss from him.

- "What? Oh… Zelda… Did you receive my letter?"- he asked.

The letter… how joyful her heart turned when she remembered the words that Link expressed to her in that piece of paper. Instead of answering him with words, she moved her right hand to a small pocket of her dress, and picked up a small, tan envelope, from which, she extracted a white paper, which had a lot of words written on it… it was the letter.

She extended the paper, so she could see all the words that were carefully written on it, and with a smile on her face, she began reading aloud, so Link could listen to her.

My dear Zelda

I'm sorry for not communicating with you during the last days, but my duty here has been really demanding. I didn't think that there could be so many monsters and followers of Ganondorf scattered around the neighbouring lands of Hyrule, but fortunately, our long quest was worth it. The soldiers you sent, and I, travelled through the lands that were victims of the sudden invasion, and we eradicated all of those foul creatures… I think that I can be sure of my words when I say that the nightmare that Ganondorf worked so hard to spread along this world… has finally being stopped.

With telling you that I am fine, that your soldiers will stay here one more day to check that everything is fine, and that I'll return to Hyrule tomorrow in the afternoon, surely before the sunset, I have to tell you two more things.

First… During these six days of hardships and battles, I have learned to value your company much more than I have ever done before… Zelda, you have always meant a lot for me, not only because my heart was left in your hands the first day that our eyes met, but because you are the one that makes my life to be thousands times more worth of living. I understood that I am the luckiest man of this vast world, not only because I have reached accomplishments worthy of a legendary hero, but because I was blessed with the greatest gift that a man can receive… the gift of your love… I have valued our relationship so much, that it has become the greatest treasure that I have kept in my short life… Zelda, saying "I love you" wouldn't be enough to describe the wonderful things that my heart feels when I get to enjoy your presence near me, but still, that's the phrase which gets nearer… You know, I could use the rest of this paper to tell you the great heights that my love for you has reached, but I must tell you the second thing, well, rather ask you something that is rather important for me.

You see, tomorrow night will be a special date in my home province, Ordon, as the called "Night of the Wishes" will be celebrated in the Ordon Spring. It consist in that the people can bring a small candle to the spring, light it up, put it on a tree leaf, and let it float in the surface of the water, as they make a wish; it is said that, if the candle remains lit once the first ray of the morning sun shows up, your wish could possibly come true. And so, I was wondering if you… wished to accompany me. As the celebration will take place tomorrow night, I'll need your answer once I return… Oh, and if you wish to accompany me, you'll need to bring some clothes that doesn't matter if they get wet or dirty, as we'll have to get inside the spring.

I would wish to be able to tell all those things to you personally, but this great distance between us doesn't allow me…Fortunately, it will vanish tomorrow, and I will be able to do all the things that I had wished to do: like protect you, support you, and love you.

This is all what I wanted you to know, and I hope that your desire to see me again is as strong as mine…

I love you, and can't wait to see you again…

Yours truly,

Link

Zelda's face showed a broad smile of happiness and lovingness, and her cheeks were slightly blushed as she finished reading the letter of her loved couple. Never, ever, has a man referred to her with such words, words that were so open-heartedness, and so full of affection. Not only she was happy of reading all of those phrases, but principally, she was glad that they came from him… from Link. Her inner happiness was suddenly interrupted by the feeling of Link's hand caressing her face; she gently took it in her hand and kissed it, a small giggle came from one another by this action.

- "So… " – he stammered.

- "So?... " – she stammered in response.

- "Will you make me the honour of accompanying me to Ordon?" – he asked, suddenly kneeling in front of Zelda, as he took her right hand between his own hands– "Please?" – he asked again, this time with a childish tone in his voice.

For Zelda, this situation was really funny to see, but at the same time, really tender. Seeing the way in which her loved hero was asking her to spend some little time with him in his hometown, her heart was completely captivated, as she let a giggle escape from her. She couldn't negate that she loved when Link took this attitude with her, it always made her smile, and this time it wasn't the exception. Once her laugh ceased, she signalled Link to stand up, and to look at her, so she could answer his petition. But before she could issue any kind of word, she put her arms around Link's neck, so he could be closer to her.

- "Of course I will accompany you. Spending some time with you is what I most desire now." – she answered to Link, giving him a small kiss as a way to reassure her answer.

Zelda's answer couldn't have made Link feel more grateful than how he felt now. How much he longed to feel her near him, and at last, his longed wish will be finally granted.

- "… Thank you, my princess…" – was all he could utter, before bringing her body closer to him in a hug.

- "You're welcome, my dear hero." – she answered sweetly as she hugged him back. – "You're hungry?" – he suddenly asked.

- "Mhh? – was the sound he issued, due to his lack of attention at the moment in which Zelda asked him.

- "I asked if you're hungry." - she repeated with a calmed tone of voice.

- "Me? Well… I made my way back here early in the morning, and… I haven't eaten properly since then." – was his answer, Zelda giggled slightly at this.

- "In that case, come with me …" – she told him, taking his hand and guiding him towards the entrance to Castle Town.

- "Where are you taking me?" – he asked, showing a surprised smile in his face.

- "To the castle, I will ask the cooks to make you something." – Zelda answered, as they were about to climb up the stairs towards Castle Town's entrance.

- "I- I don't want to be a bother Zelda, seriously." – said Link, afraid that he could be any kind of bother for the people in the castle.

Hearing him say that last sentence, Zelda looked at him. She still couldn't believe how Link's personality could turn sometimes… He… be a bother? ... How he could think something like that? He was not only the one who saved the destiny of this kingdom, but also, he was the princess's current couple; the people of Hyrule not only venerated him as their hero, but also saw him as their future king... Zelda didn't like that Link thought things like this, but... at the same time, they were proof of the noble heart he possessed.

- "Link… you'll never be a bother… " – she gave him a kiss before continuing to speak – "… on the contrary, everyone in this kingdom would feel honoured to please you… but I am the one that has the most right to do it." – she told him with a sympathetic smile, as she moved her face closer to Link's, and kissed him.

Her words made Link feel surer. After all, she was right, the majority of the people of Hyrule, to don't say everyone, showed him a great respect and admiration. It was then than he realized the ridiculousness of his thought… and what a better person to correct his sometimes silly ideas… than his loved Zelda.

- "Thank you again…" – he whispered to her in her ear.

- "Just remember one thing…" – he told him.

- "What?" – he asked.

- "I love you." – was her answer.

- "I love you too." – he told her, as he tasted her lips once again.

Once they broke their kiss, the dirty-blond haired boy offered his left arm to Zelda, which she took gratefully. And so, they made their way to the castle.

It will be a special day for them, to be sure.

That was the second chapter, expect a third one to come soon. It would be nice if you leave a review, that way, I can see what things I need to improve, and see what you think about it.