A/N: Slight lime in this chapter.

Chapter Eight

She giggled delicately when he nestled his face against her neck, ruffling his hair a bit with her petite fingers.

Link had pulled the bedsheets over them now, and she had clasped her hand in his, their fingers intertwining, palm against palm. Feeling his sigh on her neck, Zelda allowed her eyes to close slowly, her lashes lightly brushing his head.

"Link."

At the sound of her soft murmur, he raised his body slightly, leaning on his arm to look down at her. He watched as the princess daintily lifted her eye lids, revealing a calming hue of blue, glistening from the dull candlelight. As she reached her hand to stroke his cheek with her knuckles, there was a hint of a smile to her lips.

"Tell me one of your adventures."

He chuckled lightly at her quiet request, pressing his torso gently atop her, feeling the silkiness of her golden blonde locks.

"Which one?"

She thought for a moment, breathing slowly to inhale his pleasant, subtle scent. "Mmm...Your favorite one."

He laughed at that. "The one Impa had called preposterous?"

"No, not that one," she giggled at Link's impersonation of her adviser, resting her eyes and nuzzling her head on the pillow. "Another one. A personal quest."

Laying his cheek to rest against her breast, the young man sighed in concentration, while the princess massaged the back of his neck.

"I think I've told you all of them," he answered. "So, you pick."

"Tell me about...the fairy."

She could feel his jaw clench on her skin. "I never found the fairy."

"But I had always been so touched by it."

Slowly, he lifted himself from the comfort of her body to lay beside her. At the loss of warmth, the girl opened her heavy eyes, now embracing his arm. She gazed at him intently, but his eyes focused upward, a tiny frown at his mouth.

"The fairy had left seven years ago, after we had returned from sealing Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm. I dedicated many months to finding her, had even accidentally found myself mixed up in the woes of a counter-Hyrule whether the moon was falling."

Pausing, Link shifted his neck to look at Zelda, and he noticed a small smile had claimed her lips. With a faint curve to his mouth, he continued.

"I had traveled the Lost Woods, Lake Hylia, the Kokiri Forest. Yet, I had never found my fairy. I would dedicate ample bouts of my time searching for her throughout the years. But, I had always seemed to prove fruitless."

His gaze had never left hers, as he watched her smile transition to a delicate frown. With a sigh, he refocused his stare back towards the ceiling.

"Sometimes I still find myself looking for her, hoping she would show up unexpectedly. I feel like a child at times, searching for a fairy. But I still look. Consciously, unconsciously, subconsciously, I'm always looking."

The princess had lifted her head, leaning on her elbow while her cheek rested against her palm. With her opposing hand, she began to trail her finger along his chest, noticing the gentle rise and fall from his breathing. "Don't feel childish. I wish I had a fairy."

At her statement, Link looked at her immediately, unable to stop himself from smiling. "Do you have an adventure you would like to enlighten me with?"

Zelda only laughed, however, plopping herself back down once more, kicking the bedsheets off of her. "I wouldn't really call them adventures," she mused, placing her palms at her stomach. "Just sleep during daylight and constant training during the night. If you really want a story, I could tell you about the inhumane exercises those women had me endure to get my thighs so bloody monstrous."

Link grinned a little too broadly, suddenly finding it in him to rise and tower himself over the princess.

"I like your thighs."

She scoffed, smacking his arm. "Impa never stops complaining. I am not petite as a princess should be."

"They're beautiful."

She giggled as he repositioned himself on the bed, hovering over her now, pushing her shins so that her legs were bent, as he clutched at her knees and separated them gingerly. A rosy blush tinted her cheeks, yet her back arched instantly when his mouth began to graze along her inner thigh, his tongue tasting the tenderness of her flesh.

The further he traveled, the more flushed she became, feeling as though her head filled with blood. When he reached her groin, her legs squirmed on the bed, her knees wobbling as he began to kiss the smooth, flexible area slowly, leisurely, over and over.

She relished in the movement of his lips, his mouth hot and wet. There was a tremble to her body, sharp feminine gasps fleeing her throat, as he continued to tease her, a passion enveloping her, a longing devouring the center of her body.

"Goddesses," she pleaded quietly. "What are you doing?"

With a smirk to his lips, he raised himself, leaning on his side once more. "Will you tell me about your adventure now?"

She blinked. "What adventure?"

"Your exercises."

With a chuckle, she smiled. "I had to pretend to sit on a chair."

"Well, that's not so bad-"

"For thirty minutes."

The young man froze, some color draining from his eyes. "Thirty minutes?"

"Yes."

"Every night?"

"Every night."

Laying on his back once more, he shook his head lightly. "That sounds...painful."

"Yes, those Gerudo women were very...unfriendly with me."

"Didn't Nabooru train you?"

The princess sighed as her lover played with her dramatically long locks. "Occasionally. But, she is a very busy woman. I was constantly surrounded by her army, and they were not the most kind-hearted women I had the pleasure of knowing."

"They did not treat you well?"

"Not as well as I had been accustomed to. I remembered I cried myself to sleep the first day."

Link frowned at her confession, taking her hand in his. "Why did you go? Train with the Gerudo, that is."

"Nabooru had suggested it. I saw myself as a thin, frail girl who seemed helpless without her magic. And plus..." She looked at him now, smiling gently. "I wanted to be just like my hero."

"Maybe even better," he mused.

"Never better. Just less distracted."

Link took the moment to kiss her swollen lips, grazing his hand along her breast gently, stroking the rosy, perky peak. She smiled against his mouth.

"But, I do believe my legs have become more powerful than yours," she whispered.

"I cannot believe that."

As he lightly pressed his body against hers, Zelda smoothed her palms along the thighs, venturing up his body in a tantalizing manner, as she ventured towards his firm back, then traced the delicate curves of his muscles along his arms. He flinched at her touch.

"You're very slender and lean," she remarked with a soft raise of her brow. "And light. I like that."

"Do you?" observed the young man.

"Yes. Burly men are too...overpowering for me.

Rolling over to lay beside her, Link sighed and chuckled simultaneously. "You like to be the overpowering one?"

"Yes. I do."

He smiled at her comment, closing his eyes comfortably as he inhaled the sweet aroma of the candles. "Good. As do I."

Allowing his body to rest for a moment, Link eased when he felt the princess snuggle close to him, her face nuzzled against his chest, her arms around his waist. A light moan had sounded from her, and a momentary stillness engulfed the room.

"I am so grateful that you chose me, and left Malon."

Stopping amid a breath, he froze in place, opening his eyes abruptly, while his whole body tensed. Like a plague, the boy's thoughts returned to the beautiful farm girl who slept soundly at the Lon Lon Ranch.

Malon. His fiance.

Damn.

Zelda immediately became troubled when the gentle rise and fall of his chest had ceased, and his body seemed to grow colder. She lifted herself now, leaning on her elbow once more to gander at the young man who seemed to have quit blinking. There was a grimace to her face, a wrinkle to her nose.

"You did leave Malon...right?"

Hesitating to sit up, Link bit his bottom lip, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. The scowl developing on the princess's face troubled him.

"Well, you see...I did not have the chance to properly-"

"You bastard!"

With a harsh whisper, she grabbed her pillow, instantly smacking his face with it. This act made him feel worse, as Zelda was repeating what Malon had done a few days prior.

"Princess, please! You don't understand-" He was silenced by a hit directly to his mouth.

"Now that I bring her up, you address me as Princess?" she spoke quietly, but harshly. And again, she sent the plush fabric towards his head. "And you have the audacity to come bed me while you are still with her?"

At last, Link was able to take a hold of the pillow, pulling it away from the enraged young woman. He was able to see her fuming face, her cheeks a ferocious, intimidating crimson.

"I can explain this," he stumbled, an unease consuming him at the princess's silence. "I just realized tonight the depth of my feelings for you, and I had not the chance to break my engagement with Malon-"

This time, Zelda had not cut him short, but instead Link stopped himself mid-sentence, smacking his palm against his forehead at the realization at what he just told her. When he carefully and fearfully turned his gaze to Zelda, the uncanny calmness about her frightened him even more.

Her back was straight as she sat, her nipples puckering from her desperate anger. It was apparent her jaw had clenched, while the hue of her irises became more intense, burning a hole through his soul.

"I do not even know where to begin concerning what you just said to me."

"Zelda, please, I must explain-"

"I cannot believe you, Link," she spoke sternly, able to barely maintain her whisper, her eyes narrowing menacingly towards him. "I have loved you for many, many years. I left Hyrule loving you, loved and missed you while in Gerudo Valley...and you just happen to realize that you love me tonight?"

"It's not-"

"And when did you suppose you were going to tell me about your engagement to Malon? After you received your fair share of me in bed?"

He shook his head at her logic, however, grabbing her hand, holding on even as she tried to pull away. "That's not true. I do love you. Ever since you've returned, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

His words only angered her more however, yet seemed to allow her eyes to glisten in sadness as well.

With a sigh, she shifted her gaze away from him, shaking her head gently. "You don't love me," she said softly, biting her lips. "I know you don't."

With a passionate desperateness, he cupped her face, bringing her to look at him. A fearful expression took over his visage, as he shook his head in denial of her words.

"I love you, I really love you."

"Did you love me before I came back? Did you love me when you were with Malon the past year- playing house with her, kissing her, milking damn cows with her?"

He didn't know how to directly respond to her statement, and found it more and more difficult to look in her eyes. "I didn't realize how I felt for you."

She scoffed at his remark, however, pulling her hand from his weak grip. "If I came back looking the same as I had left, you still would not realize. You haven't fallen in love with me, but with my big, plump arse!"

"Zelda-"

"It was infatuation that brought you to my room tonight." A trembling sigh fled through her nostrils, as the princess hunched her back, pulling the bed sheets to conceal her breasts. "I had had been foolish to think that perhaps you really had loved me in more than a friendly manner all this time."

"Zelda."

He spoke her name once more, with more confidence to his gentle voice. Taking her hand again, he gave her palm a gentle squeeze, his focus on her turned head intense.

"Zelda, I gave you my innocence."

And very slowly, at his words, she turned her neck, her eyes narrowed, lips stiff. She had not pulled her hand away from his, but tilted her head slightly as she gawked at the boy.

A thick breath fled her nostrils. "And I am glad you haven't taken mine."

She watched as every ounce of color drained from his skin, his body motionless, eyes ample and alert. He could only glare at her, face emotionless, yet eyes glittering in the candlelight.

"W...What?"

Quickly, she yanked her palm from his grasp, turning her body so that her back faced him. "Are you hurt now, hmm?" she remarked rather coldly. "That you had not given yourself to a virgin? That I am not a clean, proper little thing like Malon?"

Link wasn't thinking of his reaction, hadn't taken the moment to plan it. Impulsively, he had grabbed her shoulder, his hold on her rather tight.

"How can you be so blunt, so crude? I thought you said you had loved me. But you've whored yourself to other men."

With his statement, he forced her to face him, and the sight of her broke his heart.

She was crying.

Trembling within the sheets, the girl gripped onto them securely, her face scrunched as she wept, two distressed dimples pressed by her eyebrows. The tears fell from her eyes too quickly for him to count, her cheeks drenched with the the warm, bitter droplets.

Immediately, Link's expression softened, a subtle panic taking over him as he instantaneously embraced her face with his palms, attempting to dry her face.

"Zelda, please forgive me. I should have never spoken that way to you."

Hugging her tenderly, she whimpered against his shoulders, as he felt her tears smear along his skin. She felt so delicate within his hold, the young princess quivering in his embrace, while his fingers affectionately caressed the thick, lengthy strands of her hair.

"Zelda, please don't cry. I'm so sorry-"

"You don't know anything, Link! You don't know what they made me do!"

The more she spoke, with her cracking, whispering voice, the more bewildered he became. As she took a moment to cough from her intense sobbing, he carefully detached her from himself, his palms holding her shoulders delicately.

It was almost torturous looking at her in this state, heart wrenching to see her appear so sad and vulnerable. She seemed like a child, attempting to hold back her tears, yet failing miserably, while she wiped at her wet face with her forearm, sniffling warily.

There was an eerie, foreboding feeling that had captured his chest, and Link inhaled deeply before he asked his dreaded inquiry of the princess.

"Zelda...what exactly happened at Gerudo Valley?"

With trembling eyes, she had built the strength to look up at him, biting the inside of her cheeks nervously. It took her a moment to speak, for her to control her crying, and he massaged her arms during this silence, hoping to ease her.

"I, I am too ashamed," she murmured, closing her eyes. "I didn't want to do it. But, the Gerudo...they are very fierce women. They told me I had to...and Nabooru, she was not there. There was nothing I could do...But I still..."

A distress had taken over her speech, and Link caressed her head. "Whatever it is, it was not your fault."

However, with a painful sigh, she shook her head, tears burning her eyes.

"I had been with so many...I don't even know how many..."

"It's alright, please. I won't judge you."

The pattern of her breathing frightened him, almost as much as the scratchy sound of her voice.

"Every few weeks...the Hylian soldiers would bid company with, with the Gerudo, in private. And, the women would have the leathers ready for them...and I refused. I did refuse. But, they told me, they said I would not be a a warrior- a true woman- if I did not attend. And they mocked me. And...I gave in."

At her confession, a discreet moan discharged from her throat, his fingers moist as she wiped away more tears.

"And those men...they didn't even know that they had violated...their own princess."

Link didn't know how to initially feel towards her account. Her words startled him, tore at his heart. He wanted to inquire more of her, but knew that he had learned enough of the delicate subject. And thus, all he could do was hold her, pulling the girl into his arms, and allowing her to cry on his shoulder.

"I had wanted to be proper, like your Malon," she whimpered. "I had wanted to cherish my maidenhead. But I..."

"Zelda, it's alright," he spoke gently. Yet, she carried on.

"I wanted once, at least once, to perform with someone I cared deeply for, someone of my own choice. I wanted you to touch me with your love, not your lust..."

Carefully, he let her go, only to cup her chin and raise her gaze to meet his.

"How can I prove to you my affections?"

The princess blinked, taking his wrist and removing his hold from her. For a moment, she sat there and stared at him, rather blankly, almost without emotion. Then, she slapped him across his cheek.

Instantly he embraced his face, his lips parting from startlement, while his cheek burned from her harshness, briskly turning red.

Before he could respond, she slapped his other cheek.

Her hit was strong, forceful, and even painful. Link felt both his cheeks sting from the contact, and he could only gawk at the collective girl in bewilderment.

"You must leave Malon," she directed him, her voice controlled, the tears on her face drying. "You must leave her properly, respectfully. I will not let you play the both of us."

Silently and with ample eyes, he nodded.

"If you love me like you say, then you will confess to her and break the engagement. And if that is too difficult for you, then you do not deserve either of us." Stopping for a moment, she fluttered her eyelashes tauntingly. "Is that clear?"

"It is."

Deeply, Zelda sighed, rubbing her forehead with her palm, her body continuing to tremble from that night's discussion. She kept her eyes towards the bed.

"You should leave now, before the sun rises. And I shall see you tomorrow."