First of all, happy birthday to meeeeeeeeee. April 10 is my birthday. I turn 22 today. And I wanted to update so badly today because it's my birthday and I wanted to give you all a present. See... it's a reversal. Ne? Get it? GET IT? ... Yes, I did this just for a bad joke. YOU SHOULD ALL BE GLAD MY LAME SENSE OF HUMOR EXPEDITED THIS CHAPTER.

So after a year and a half my small 8 chapter story is done... DAFUQ TOOK ME SO LONG?! WHAT? IT WAS ONLY EIGHT CHAPTERS -headdesk- It makes me scared to wonder how long Fly Away will take... because that one's not even close to be done. -shudder- Whatever the case, a bit of this chapter may seem... kind of like a rip-off. But yeah, whatever.

Also, due to the fact that I wrote this in four days, there will be mistakes. Sowwies. But it's my birthday, AND I DUN FEEL LIKE CHECKING FER MISTAKES.

Dénouement

The flight back had been wordless and by the time the mage and the princess had returned to the Palace of Winds, the sun was rising. Even when they'd landed, no conversation passed between them. Vaati simply lead the way, stopping at a door and giving Zelda a stare that said, "Go in and don't complain," before he stalked off to wherever it was he was going. The princess stared at the door for a moment before walking in and finding an airy, open bedroom befitting of the Palace of Winds. She closed the door behind her and then fell face first onto the bed. Sleep came instantaneously.

When she woke up, the sun was high in the sky. Her sense of time was skewed enough so she wasn't sure if it was the same day or not. Sitting up straight, Zelda grimaced as she caught the state of herself. She'd never felt so disgusting in her life – and she was rather certain she'd never been more disgusting in her life either. As soon as she thought that, one of Vaati's little sentry eyes flew in through the large window and squeaked at her. She blinked at it, confused, not sure at all what it was trying to tell her. But as it pulled at a strand of her hair, she scowled at it and decided to follow it.

It led her out of the room and down more of the open air halls that comprised the palace until stopping another door. It squeaked and fluttered around the door, as if urging her to go in. She gave it a suspicious stare before entering and seeing it was a bathing space. She brightened considerably at the sight, glad that she'd be able to get off the guck and grime that was no doubt caked on her. Then again, she imagined that if Link were to come to the palace to see Zelda mud caked and bloody, it'd be kind of hard to conceal the fact that something crazy happened (well, crazier then being kidnapped by a demonic wind mage) and Vaati did have an image to maintain. She snorted, as she could easily see the appalled expression his face if word got out that a dragon had kidnapped the thing he'd kidnapped first.

Bathing was surprisingly a bit painful, given all the cuts and bruises she gained during that "adventure." But she was more than happy when she could actually see her skin's natural complexion and run her fingers through un-matted hair. As she got out of the bathing pool, she noticed that on a stand near one of the sinks was some cloth – new clothes, probably. She doubted the dress she'd worn the past few days was repairable.

She unfolded the dress, a floor length gown of an older fashion than she was used to with long, billowing sleeves. While Zelda wasn't sure why Vaati had such a thing in the palace (she hated the thought that there might be some envy bustling up inside of her) she had to admit the longer sleeves would be excellent for covering up the cuts and bruises on her arms. The dress fitted, and she had to admit… being clean, wearing clean clothes… she was never going to take such luxuries for granted ever again.

She then exited the bathing room and found that the little sentry was still floating around, apparently having waited for her. With another squeak, it began to flit off again. Zelda frowned, not sure if she wanted to follow the little creature… But she did.

As she followed the creature, she let her eyes wander – this time for purely aesthetic purposes. Strangely, she found she had no desire to escape (she didn't want to think too hard about why), allowing her to take in the beauty of the Palace. Everything about it seemed to be built open and airy, with very few completely sealed off structures. She imagined the fully closed in places were the ones that held things that weren't safe to keep open to the elements. And she received her answer as the little sentry eyes bobbed in front of a pair of double doors leading to a sealed off room.

Giving the little creature another suspicious glare, she opened one of the doors and walked inside to see one of the largest libraries she'd ever seen. She gaped at the sight of it, taking in the fact that there must have been centuries worth of ancient knowledge from the deceased Wind Tribe in this place. But the little sentry gave her no time to look around as it pulled lightly at her hair again, urging her to follow it. She hesitantly did so, and finally saw where the sentry was leading her.

On one of the chairs, softly snoring, was Vaati. He had to have been dead to the world asleep seeing as there was no reaction from him as she neared. Nonetheless, she did take note that he cleaned up nicely, as he looked as pristine as when he'd first kidnapped her. That reputation needs to be maintained, she thought with huff. Still, she couldn't help but look at the mage and think… despite the whole ordeal of the past few days being all his fault… he made up for it. She was back here, safe and sound and very much not in a dragon's digestive system. At the same time, she still wasn't too crazy about being kidnapped or marrying said kidnapper… The scary part was, though, the last prospect didn't bother her as much as it used to.

She pursed her lips in thought. Sure, Vaati looked all cute and innocent sleeping right now, but he wasn't. He was a power obsessed show-off with a temper problem. In fact, he was a huge brat. If he didn't get what he wanted, he threw very destructive tantrums and didn't think. Not to mention the fact that he was, you know… a demon of sorts. And while she knew that he was happy flaunting his power and not taking over Hyrule, she was fairly certain that his obsession with him taking her as a wife had very little to do with actual affection too. Was it even possible for him to feel anything like true affection?

Argh! Why am I even thinking about this?! It's like I'm actually considering- She didn't dare let the thought finish. She scowled, then marched up to the sleeping mage and smacked him.

Vaati awoke with a start, seemingly ready to magically dispose of whoever had just assaulted him. While he didn't drop his scowl when he saw it was Zelda, he made no move to follow through with any malicious magic he had in mind.

"We need to talk." She said irritably.

"So talk." He replied just as irritably.

"I can't marry you."

"If you don't you can be sure that Hyrule won't be as prosperous as it is now."

"See? That's why I can't marry you – this is not how healthy relationships work!"

He forked an eyebrow as he smirked. "It almost sounds like you want a relationship."

"And maybe I do!" She snapped, ignoring her reddening face. "Maybe I've come to the conclusion that you're not as horrible as I initially thought and I might consider – might – that having some sort of relationship with you isn't so hideous a prospect!"

While Vaati's expression seemed relatively unchanged, his thought process couldn't be guessed by Zelda. He simply stayed in that unreadable state for a few moments before finally saying, "Won't your beau in green have an issue with that?"

"He's not my beau!" The princess practically shouted. "Aside from being my best friend, he's my cousin! That would be gross! Of course, that also means I really don't want you killing him either!"

The mage was quiet again, but his expression became serious as he considered this new information. "I don't much like the idea of giving you a choice in this matter." He finally conceded.

Oh how she wanted to scream. "I'm already saying I'll give you a chance, what is so bad about that?!"

"There's the possibility that if I even make the slightest error you may sic your dear cousin on me."

Exasperated, the princess cried, "Oh I won't! And aren't you always saying how you can beat him to a pulp in a second, how there's nothing to fear from him?"

But Vaati still had that thoughtful look. "Fair point. What if you're lying?"

Her mouth hung open for a moment in shock. "What? After everything we have been through the past few days… You'd think I'd lie after all of that – after I gave you the okay for us to be on a first name basis? After I entrusted my life to you, you think I would lie to you about something as serious as this?" The mage's expression never changed, but his eyes said something along the lines of "duh." "Not everyone thinks like you! You see, that's another part of why getting married probably won't work now – it's a two way street! I… I… I can't believe I'm saying this, but I trust you! You asked me to believe in you and I did… And now you have to learn to trust me!"

Vaati seemed to have the look of someone who had a bad smell put directly underneath their nose. And when she thought about it, the whole idea of trust was probably something foreign to him. All he believed in was power – trust was just something that an enemy could exploit. It was a weakness.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself down a bit before saying, "Listen, Vaati… that's… that's all I'm asking. I'm asking you to trust me. When you learn to do that… then maybe… you won't have to force me into anything and you won't have to kill anyone to do it either."

Again there was silence as he considered this. The cogs in his head turned as he weighed the pros and cons of this. Truthfully, he would just rather speed up the whole process and marry her, regardless of her objections. Yet at the same time, to have the princess willingly be his… it would take longer, but there was the extra satisfaction of knowing that she wanted his company. There was just one thing he needed to get across to the girl. "… As I'm sure you are aware, I'm very possessive. If I fail this little test of yours, it simply means we shall be repeating the actions of when I'd first taken you from the castle." He told her matter-of-factly.

The fact that he was even considering it, however, was enough to have Zelda inwardly grinning. "I know; but… but I'd like to think you won't fail."

He was confused, not understanding why this girl would put herself in an inescapable situation… But he shrugged, and finally said, "Very well then. Either way you're mine."

Zelda gave him a small scowl that didn't quite hide a smile, "I'm not a possession, I'll have you know." Oh goddesses what did I just start?

He smirked as if he'd read those thoughts, but did not answer.

With a poof, another little sentry eye appeared besides Vaati, squeaking something quickly to its master. Vaati frowned at the squeaks, but seemed unconcerned and more curious than anything. It made Zelda wonder what was going on, but the little sentry kept squeaking away for what seemed like forever before stopping, leaving the mage only saying, "Interesting…"

"What?" She asked.

"It seems your cousin, his clones, and the two cronies they have following them found themselves in an interesting situation at Lake Hylia."

"Lake Hylia?" Zelda asked, paling a bit. "That's where my father is right now…"

"Yes; apparently, the guards were distracting the king while your cousin went and attempted to free the Great Fairy residing in the Lake; the plan was ruined by some sort of mole man or something, which caught your father's attention. Needless to say, there was great confusion as to why there were four of your cousin wandering about, as well as the Helmaroc King – rebellious sod, that bird – causing your father some worry. Of course the whole situation just became worse when the giant skullfish I had guarding the Great Fairy's cavern acted up and… Well, simply put it was utter and complete chaos – probably a battle worth mentioning in history books if any particular writer got off of their lazy behind to pen it. The point is, your infuriating cousin and cohorts won and they're all happily making their way here, with the exception of those guards who your father insisted on keeping around for 'added protection.'" He explained nonchalantly.

The princess's expression hardened, "Don't kill them."

"I never said I would; it should be noted, however, that I would very much like to." He said indifferently as he stood from his chair and offered her a polite hand and smile. "Shall we greet them, dear?"

Her face reddened, but she said nothing and took his hand. After all, she'd been the one to propose a relationship, him calling her 'dear' was perfectly justifiable since they were… well, since he was technically courting her… What am I doing? She thought hopelessly, still not quite believing that she'd set herself up in this situation. And again, Vaati only smirked at her as if he'd read her thoughts.

Vaati had led her back to the courtyard that he'd landed them on the first time they had arrived at the Palace, just in time to see the four Links rushing forwards from out of a hall. The green tuniced one was the first spot her. "Zelda!" He cried out rushing towards her but then suddenly pausing and getting into a defensive stance upon seeing the man holding Zelda's hand. The mage put on his best "better-than-thou" face and pulled Zelda closer to himself, eyeing the Links, who were now all in formation and prepared to attack, with no hidden amount of distaste.

"Whoever you are, let go of Zelda." The green Link said dangerously.

"Wait, Link," Zelda began, letting go of Vaati and stepping forward a little bit, an action the mage seemed to disapprove of but did nothing to stop. "Link, it's… it's all right."

"Who is that guy? How do we know it's really all right?" The Link in blue asked angrily.

Zelda pursed her lips, but didn't think too long. If she didn't answer quickly, Vaati would – and bad things would happen if Vaati answered. "This is Vaati-" All four Links's eyes widened and started forward, but Zelda held out her hands quickly, "No!"

"What are you doing, Zelda? Why are you defending him?!" The Link in green asked incredulously, a chorus of agreement coming from the other three Links.

"Just shut up and listen would you?!" She snapped, her cousin and his clones reluctantly doing so. "A lot happened the past few days and… And, well, I've agreed to-"

The purple Link was the first to ask in pure horror, "You didn't agree to marry him, did you?!"

"Of course not!"

"Actually, she essentially did." Vaati put in carelessly.

"Oh, shut up, you!" Zelda hissed over her shoulder at him before turning back to the Links and saying, "I've agreed to allow him to court me."

"But why?!" The Red Link asked.

Zelda really wasn't sure what to say. She was fairly certain Vaati would stop his "I don't care either way act" if she mentioned anything about Onox and promptly go on and kill her cousin and his clones. She didn't have to answer, though, as Vaati went and said in a drawl, "You weren't the only one playing hero over the past few days."

"What? What's he mean by that?" One of the Links asked – she didn't catch which since she was looking at Vaati with eyes as wide as saucers. Granted, that was probably the most information he would give regarding the subject, but she still hadn't expected it.

But Zelda looked back to Link and his clones and said with a slight stutter, "Ah, it-it doesn't matter! Listen, the point is… you all don't need to kill each other."

"Though I'd very much like to." Vaati snarled.

"Behave!"

All of the Links save the one were still in battle position. The Red one pursed his lips and shyly stepped forward to Zelda. "Ummm… Zelda… Are you… Are you absolutely sure this is all right? I mean… is he really going to let you go?"

"Oh I'll never let her go," Vaati said as he walked forward and draped an arm over Zelda's shoulder. He glanced down at her, giving her a knowing smile that caused her to blush slightly, "She already knows that…" Then he looked back to the Links, his expression going back to the bored one he'd been putting on in front of them, "But I am willing to let her out of my sight occasionally."

This time, the Blue Link stepped forward, sword pointing accusingly at the mage and looking beyond angry. "I don't like this; I don't believe a goddess-damned word that comes out of that creep's mouth!"

Vaati's casually slung arm suddenly became possessive on Zelda, clutching her tightly besides him. But the princess put her hand over his, getting his attention. Zelda was giving him a serious look, the kind that read, This is my first test for you. Trust me. And she could tell that, despite the nonchalant mask, there was some internal struggle in the mage. Eventually, with some measure of disapproval, his grip lessened. Zelda stepped away, though she still faced the mage and held his hand lightly. "Next time you want to see me, please don't break the windows." She said.

The mage's lips twitched upwards slightly. "I'll try to remember that."

And with that, she stepped away from the mage, her hand slipping from his grasp, and she walked right up to the Blue Link. However, while her expression towards Vaati had been warm, she looked up at the blue garbed Link with displeasure. "There. Are you happy?"

"No." Said the Blue Link flatly.

"Oh shut up, Blue." The Green Link said, shoving his counterpart out of the way. He gave Vaati a wary look but focused his attentions on Zelda. "So… that's it?"

"For right now." Zelda said simply. "Now, let's go home. I'm sure you're tired of seeing more than one of you walking around."

"You have no idea…"

Link was all too happy to have the Four Sword back in the Shrine with the comfort of knowing that he was the only Link around. At the same time, it was so strange. Only a few days and he'd already been so used to seeing the other three versions of himself that sometimes he'd speak aloud, expecting an answer only to receive none. The only one that didn't look at him like he was insane had to have been Zelda, who he did worry about. The day after she had returned to Hyrule Castle and was in her normal dress, he noticed that she seemed to be bruised just about everywhere, not to mention her steps were so light he'd have thought she might have been walking on hot coals. At first he'd thought Vaati had harmed her, but she assured him otherwise; though never clarified what exactly happened, only offering an enigmatic smile.

Oddly enough, however, he'd found that he had developed a rather healthy fascination with Great Fairies, though he decided it was best to keep it secret lest that guardsman Poe had found out.

Speaking of, it ended up Poe had quit his job as a Royal Guardsman and instead devoted himself wholly to the Great Fairies and their protection. His older brother, Gibdo, however, happily returned to his post. In fact, Gibdo was even on guard at the Four Sword Shrine again, guarding more vigilantly than he'd ever done in his life. He claimed that the mage's release was an "eye opening" experience and that there was heroic work to be done in even the simplest of tasks.

The King of Hyrule ended his vacation early, claiming that having the Helmaroc King so nearby was unsettling, even if the bird didn't seem to be doing any harm. It was then that Zelda had to come to her father with the awkward news. Granted, the King had already put most of it together. After all, one couldn't hide the giant, broken window in the hall and the many guards who'd been injured during Vaati's first initial attack. Still, she was fairly surprised at how well he'd taken the news of Vaati having been released from the Four Sword.

"Oh, I'm not taking it well." The king had said calmly, almost cheerily. "But if I don't maintain calm in front of the kingdom then what kind of monarch would I be? Truthfully, I'm blinded with rage right now."

And that was where Zelda had clammed up. It seemed her father was using all of his willpower not to flip tables. But again, her father surprised her.

"And by the by, I don't at all approve of you and the mage."

"Huh?" She gaped, eyes wide.

The king kept his cheery smile and said, "Oh yes, I know. The real reason I came back from vacation early was because the mage came and told me the whole story himself. He made me promise on pain of death that I couldn't tell a soul except for you. I can't say I approve of a man who let my daughter get kidnapped by a dragon but there's little I can do about it; especially if you really want to spend any time with that mage."

She was taken aback, feeling a strange mixture of guilt and - dare she say it - happiness. Of course, that only made Zelda feel all the stranger about this whole situation. She was still having a hard time believing that she had arranged a civil relationship with Vaati, an evil demon that terrorized Hyrule… Though I suppose he's not really evil so much as he is amoral… She thought, not sure if that was better or worse.

And on one particular day she had found herself conflicted about it all over again. It had been a week since she'd returned to the castle, yet there had been no signs of Vaati. She'd gone to the garden to think, her face twisted up in puzzlement. A part of had her thinking, Maybe it's for the best if he doesn't show up while another part of her was huffing, Well I hope he's not thinking I'm going to go to see him! As the man it's his responsibility to come to me. It was frustrating to have such a back and forth in her mind.

"Having second thoughts?"

Her gaze followed the voice to the roof, and sure enough, the mage was standing on the edge of the roof, a wry smile upon his handsome features. She scowled, "You and your high places."

He chuckled as he glided over to her carelessly, "If you really are having second thoughts, I don't mind. It just means I'll have to steal you again."

She gave him a flat look, again wondering when her common sense would get the better of her. It didn't. "You kept me waiting." The princess replied stiffly.

"You told me not to break any windows." He said mockingly.

She halfheartedly slapped his arm. "You made me wait on purpose!"

"I wanted to make sure you were true to your word." He said seriously.

Of course, she thought as rolled her eyes. "As you can see, I am true to it. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have brought up my proposition in the first place," she began angrily, now pointing an accusing finger at him, "You're too paranoid, you know that? I mean, I don't expect you to learn how to trust overnight but st-"

Vaati kissed her.

It really should have been déjà vu moment, Zelda had told herself. When he backed away, he had a very satisfied look on his face, while Zelda flushed angrily. "You're still too chatty for your own good, dear Zelda."

"You're incorrigible." She muttered angrily.

He gave her a smug smile, "Get used to it."

"Would you just shut up and give me a proper kiss?" She snapped with a furious blush.

With a satisfied smirk, he happily obliged.

Oh hey, remember in chapter 1 when I asked what the relationship between Link and Zelda was in the story and how it would be revealed in chapter 2? I totes forgot to answer that question. It was planned for them to be cousins throughout the whole story but I forgot to add that in Act II, mentioning only that they were BFFs and never really had the excuse to mention the actual blood relation until now. So, now you know for realz.

Yup. I totally skipped the Lake Hylia segment because I just plain didn't want to do it. I've always said this was a story that I never took seriously, so I'm sure some of you feel jipped but... Well... too bad. That being said, if you guys really want to, I certainly encourage you to write your own interpretation of what happened at Lake Hylia. And if you actually do go through with it, please send it to me - I'll read it very happily. :3 In a more introspective light, I personally think Vaati is incapable of love. I sat down and thought about it really seriously the other day and I really, really, really cannot imagine him truly loving anyone or anything. He's so obsessed with power and simply being the top dog, he kind of reminds me of a Zelda-styled Tommy M. Riddle. However, I do think he is very possessive and that would be his own strange way of showing affection. That's probably as fluffy as I think I could ever imagine him, honestly. That's just me though.

Anyways, TIME FOR SOME SHAMELESS ADVERTISING BEFORE DOING MY FINAL REVIEW RESPONSES AND THEN PUTTING A TRUE CLOSE TO THIS. Fly Away. Go. Go read it, now. It's not that hard. It's literally two clicks away. Just click my username. Then look for Fly Away. It's an awesome story. I'm 23 chapters in right now, but it'll be going on for at least 75 or so, possibly more... And yes, folks, it has VaatiZelda... Though it also has LinkZelda. IT'S A LOVE TRIANGLE, KAY. It also has an amoral, uber smexy shirtless thief, many references to characters and easter eggs from all the Zelda games, a pretty epic story if you ask me, and all kinds of goodies. It shall only get more epic as I continue to write it. Please guys. Fly Away is the story. It's my best work - and if you thought Reversal, this thing I put so little effort in, was good, then Fly Away will blow you away.

Oh yeah, I'm also working on a reading for Reversal. They'll be posted up chapter by chapter on YouTube. Act 1's already done, I just need to make a video out of it and whatnot, so it should be up soonish... Whatever the case, if you're interested, my YT's Rei96. There's nothing there atm so... don't expect much until the readings pop up. XD

One last note (sorry!), but if you would like me to respond to a review, please know that I can only do so if you have an FFN and have your PMs enabled! So if you have any questions, either PM me or ask in a review and I'll answer as soon as I get the chance.

Aerois, that makes two of us, except in my case, it's not that I'm not intrested so much as I can't get a very good mental picture for fight scenes at all. My brain gets jumbled and confused and to avoid confusion I tend to skip them because halfway through I realize the mental image I had is like... totally wrong. D: And pfft, no. Vaati... honest. Funny. I take pride in keeping characters in-character. Nothing kills a story for me more than having characters act OOC. As for a sequel... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - no. Nooooooo, nonononono. No. Again, if anyone wants to do it themselves, I won't object but me... I put my foot gingerly into writing a romcom, ended up being really good at it and learning a lot from it, but it's not my thing, honestly. For the sake of my sanity, however, my headcanon for this story is that Onox learned his lessons and stays nice and comfy in Holodrum till Oracle of Seasons. Anyways, better late than never, ne? And I'm glad you came around to reading regardless of when you found it. X3 Thanks for reading!

MaroonAngel of Darkness, I am so more than ready to be done. Romcom is not my thing. XD Thanks for reading!

Tinsel, ohohoho, I can be a bit of a tease, it's true. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Kate499, hahaha, fangirl on! Because we all know VaatiZelda is best pairing. Well, one of them anyways. Thanks for reading!

Mirria1, was there ever a doubt in your mind that he wouldn't be? XD Thanks for reading, dear!

H-Bomber, um... thank you, I guess? Honestly, I think that might've been a bit TMI for me, nonetheless, glad you enjoyed the fight because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing! :D justliketherestofthefic Thanks for reading!