EPILOGUE.

Queen Zelda of Hyrule, widow of the wind sorcerer Vaati, lover of the Hero of Time, and ruler of the Hyrulian throne, looked through the window. It'd been ten months since that night with Link and Vaati on the roof, and she'd immediately taken the reins on her kingdom after a night of grieving.

Vaati had changed and destroyed a lot of things. For instance, the market was in shambles and the palace had gone dark. She got royal guards and servants back into the castle and spent money on repairing damaged villages and the market.

As for Vaati, his body had been removed from the roof by the new guards and burned on a stake in the middle of Hyrule Field. Many people gathered to watch his body's burning, and they cheered when his ashes were swept away. His ashes were put in a box and buried deep underground in the desert to the west, past the Gerudo Fortress.

Link's body was taken to the Royal Family Tomb by Zelda herself. There was a funeral at the graveyard, and they all watched Zelda venture down into the tomb alone, waiting silently for her return. She took him to a proper burial room, deeper within the tomb and in a room adjacent to where her father and mother slept. The phony Link had vanished in the other room, and so had the marble coffin and the inscriptions on the door. She chiseled new inscriptions into his newer headstone and door.

Zelda had laid Link's body into the coffin and kissed his icy lips one last time before putting the lid over him and leaving the tomb. She'd locked up the room where his casket lay with powerful magic so that nobody but herself could enter. The words on the headstone by his coffin read, "R.I.P. Link, beloved hero and friend," and his door had nothing on it but a tiny L, so that people wouldn't know exactly who was inside.

A wake for Link had been thrown about week after his funeral, and it was held at the castle. Nearly everyone who lived in Hyrule attended, dressed in many colors. Zelda told them to wear what was comfortable. "Link wouldn't want you all to get all dressed and dolled up just for him," she'd told them with a laugh, but it was a sad one.

Ruto, the new Zora queen, who had been in hysterics at the funeral, was happily telling stories of when Link saved her from Jabu-Jabu and proclaimed his love for her, and the story of when he rescued her at the Water Temple. Her tales of his 'declarations of love' for her didn't bother Zelda. She let the Zora queen have her fun.

All the little Kokiri children were there, talking about their times with Link when he lived with them in the forest. Even Mido was a little less grumpy than usual, especially when he sat in deep conversation with a little Gerudo girl his age. Saria, Link's childhood friend and the Forest Sage, hung around with Darunia, the Fire Sage and Link's "Sworn Brother", and Zelda smiled slightly when she saw Saria blush at something Darunia said.

Two other Sages, Impa and Nabooru, muttered to each other by a wall, observing everybody around them as they talked. Rauru, another Sage, only left the snack bar to go to the restroom.

Plenty of colorful people were here, discussing Link and what he'd done for them. Zelda said hello and talked briefly with each of them at least once, except for Malon, the beautiful redheaded ranch keeper who said a quick hello and then kept avoiding her. Zelda didn't care much at the time.

Ten months, all that happened, and now, things were starting to look normal. Zelda was a bit troubled by one though, and that one thing was not a small issue. At first, she'd considered never remarrying and to rule alone, but she knew that was foolish, for she'd leave no heirs to claim the throne if she did so, and she had no siblings to do that for her. So, she'd decided to marry someone and produce heirs strictly for royal duty, knowing she'd never love another man like she did Link. However, something big came up. She was scared by it, and still was.

A month earlier, she'd given birth to triplets. Two were boys and one was a little girl. None of them looked alike. One of the boys had blond hair and dark blue eyes, whom she named Thomas. The other two came with names, names that were imprinted in her mind when she named them Vikter and Vanessa. Vikter, the youngest, didn't live long. He was born very small and scrawny and died ten days after he was born. Vanessa, who was born before all three of them, scared her mother the most. The little girl had red eyes and lavender hair. Vikter had had lavender hair and dark blue eyes, but as already said, he died quickly. They'd been born with little tufts of hair, but enough to judge what the color would probably be.

Zelda knew who's children each child belonged to. The problem was, she didn't know how she gave birth to Link's child and Vaati's children at the same time. She couldn't kill Vanessa. The very thought was horrendous. Odds were she might not even grow up to be anything like Vaati. And she certainly had to hold onto Thomas, for he was the only thing left of Link.

As Zelda stared out her window, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Her moment of peace was over when Thomas began to wail, and she smiled sadly as she went to his aid.

THE END.