COURAGE.

Vaati was caught off guard by Zelda's next attack. She burst out white light and aimed it directly at him. He was hit full blast and slammed backwards, killing some of his own minions. He slumped to the ground and shook his head. Zelda didn't hesitate. She picked up a sword that one of the dead monsters had dropped and lunged at him. He was ready this time. He grabbed a sword himself and theirs clashed.

All the while, Link was picking off Vaati's minions quite a few at a time. He never hesitated to attack, but whenever he was free of the enemies for even just a second or two, he'd turn to look at Zelda. Then he would quickly destroy a few extra monsters.

Zelda and Vaati slashed their swords at each other, but only hit the other's blade rather than them themselves. And while Zelda thought she could just kill him at any moment he faltered an attack, Vaati had other things in mind, and was laughing in his head as each step and swing they took brought Zelda closer and closer to the edge of the roof.

Dark magic pulsed through Vaati's sword and threw Zelda back a few feet. She was unaware of how dangerously close she was to the edge until she stepped back to block Vaati's next swipe with the blade and her foot missed the ground. She flung her arms forward, desperately trying not to lose her footing, but fell anyway.

"Zelda!" Link cried out when he saw this. "No!"

Vaati laughed and turned to Link. "And, now that she's out of the way, it's time to be rid of you as well!"

Link grabbed a monster from behind him and threw it onto Vaati. He fell, the monster atop him, and Link hurried to the edge of the roof, unaware of the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. "Zelda!" he called. What he saw both relieved and frightened him. Zelda was hanging on for her life to a stone that had slightly pushed itself out of the wall over time. Link thought quickly, then held on to the blade of his sword. "Grab the hilt!" he told her, extending it down to her.

She looked up, fear in her eyes. "Link, look out!"

Link turned and rolled out of the way as Vaati lunged a shot of dark magic at him. He ran behind the dark sorcerer and kicked him off the roof. Knowing that Vaati would soon fly back up, he took this opportunity to go save Zelda. Once again he held the hilt out to her as he grabbed the blade so she would have a more firm grip without worrying about slicing up her hands. She nodded and grabbed it, then Link, with all his strength, pulled her up. She collapsed in a heap onto him, and hugged him tightly.

Suddenly, rain began to fall. It fell lightly at first, and then harder. Zelda looked at Link's hands and gasped; they were sliced from the blade and bleeding. She gripped them in her hands and held them to her heart, and a soft white-green glow formed around their hands. His wounds healed, Link took his hands and cupped her face in them.

"Zelda, I... I want to tell you something," he stammered.

"What is it?" she asked quietly.

He swallowed hard. "Well, I just want to say that... if we don't make it out of this alive, I just want to say that..." He leaned over and kissed Zelda softly on the lips. She was surprised at first, but then she relaxed. He broke away and looked her in the eye. "I love you," he said finally. "I've loved you for a very long time now. And though I am known for my courage, I've never actually had the courage to do one thing, and that was to tell you my true feelings." He blushed. "This sounds like it came out of some romance novel." He laughed, but it was half-heartedly. "And... you probably are angry with me—"

She shook her head and put a finger to his lips. "Never," she said softly, smiling the tiniest of smiles.

He smiled back, and then frowned again. "But... that doesn't have to mean you love me," he said. "It's all right if you don't love me back, but... please just tell me now if you do or don't. I can't go on not knowing."

She paused. Did she love Link? She felt an overwhelming sense of emotion, and it was hardly bearable, but she couldn't find the right words. However, it was the wrong time when she finally spoke.

"I—"

A dark wind cut her off. It swirled down onto the roof and formed Vaati. His look was that of pure anger. Zelda and Link left the comfort of each other's arms and stood. Vaati laughed coldy. "Well, well, well, isn't this something," he said, more as a statement than a question. "So very romantic. And also so very predictable, and so very archaic. I really had expected more from you, Zelda. You could've been original, but no. You chose to fall in love with the first person that everyone expected you to fall for. I didn't have as high of expactations from him because, as you know, he is a young man, and we men typically go for the prettier and wealthier women."

Link took a step toward him, his fists clenched. "You shut your mouth!" he yelled at the sorcerer. "How dare you say I only go for pretty and wealthy women! Yes, Zelda is very pretty—she's beautiful—and I couldn't care less if she was wealthy or poor. The fact that I am in love with her has nothing to do with her wealth! She's beautiful, she's funny, she's brilliant, and just an all-around great person!" Zelda blushed. "But you are an evil monster that made her believe I was dead, causing her to grieve, then you depleted her memories of me, and then you married her, for Goddesses' sake, and now you want to kill her! If she doesn't kill you, then I will!"

Vaati raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?" he asked coolly.

"Yes. Yes it is."

The sorcerer smirked. "In that case..." He held up his hand and shot his dark magic at Link. He became enclosed in a magical cage which began to hover in the sky, leaving room for a battle. Vaati formed a sword in his hand and pointed it at Zelda. "Are you ready to get your hands dirty, my queen?" he asked her.

"I'm plenty dirty," she growled in reply, picking up Link's sword in her hand and getting ready for battle.