Chapter 4: A Strange Celebration

It had been a year and six months since I had been allowed to stay at the castle, and I had started to ease into a peaceful life once again… I was now spending much of my time off from squirehood with either Zelda or Gauron. I normally woke up, went to train, and then ate, soon after being welcomed by Zelda. But, something was different today…

As I opened my eyes in the morning, I noticed a sparkle of blue right above me, with a warm breath coming down and gently caressing my face, and strawberry blond hair dangling all around my head…

"Good morning, Link!" Zelda stated as she stood up straight as rapidly as she could. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good, I'd say." I replied. I had gotten used to the sudden close-ups that Zelda and Ruto tended to give me every now and then, letting them pass as a statement that some girls just like to surprise you. "So… Why are you in here?"

"Well, honestly, this morning, a little birdie told me what day it is…" Zelda said. I pondered for a moment about her "birdie" comment, then realized what she must have been talking about. "He told me it was your eleventh birthday! He also said… Strangely enough, hoot, a lot…"

"I see…" I started. I was right… Kaepora Gaebora had actually decided to stop guiding me after I had received the Silver Gauntlets from the Spirit Temple, but he still dropped by every once in a while to check up on me. "That 'little birdie' has actually told me a lot of stuff, before…"

"Hmm… Hey Link…" began Zelda, starting to turn red. "Why are you still under the covers?" Hearing this, I quickly looked in the direction I thought to be down, and noticed… I was still in bed… Then I remembered why, and turned about the same shade of red as the Goron Ruby.

"Umm… It's because… Well… I did just wake up… And…"

"And…" Zelda repeated.

"And it's a little embarassing under here…" I finished, Zelda then started to look around, noticing that my Kokiri tunic and hat were both hanging up on the other end of the room…

"Are you…?" Zelda asked, unable to finish her sentence.

"No, I have something covering that." I told her.

"Oh, good!" Zelda exclaimed. "That means it's safe to look, right?"

I froze… "Uh…"

"I mean… As long as that… is covered, right?" she asked.

"I… I… I g… guess so… As long as… Yeah…" I said as Zelda started to giggle. Without warning, she suddenly reached over and yanked the blanket out from over me. "AAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I jolted into the corner just beside my pillow, curling up…

"It's OK, as long as that cloth doesn't come off, right?" the Princess inquired. "It's not like I haven't seen shirtless guys before, right?" With that, I eased up a little, and sat on the edge of the bed, baring the scars of many battles for the Princess of Hyrule to view. Zelda gawked at my rather worn-out appearance.

"Link…" she started, with tears welling up in her eyes. "I had no idea… You must have been through so much since I…"

"It's all right, Zelda… It's all right for me to call you by name, right?" I said. She nodded. "Either way, I started those travels on my own, and I did all of those things for you because I wanted to… It's not your fault."

"OK…" Zelda replied.

"Now… Could you do me a favor and grab my clothes for me?" I asked.

Upon complying, Zelda walked over to pick up my tunic and hat, and then eyed them carefully as she walked back over to me.

"You know, I really think you need some new clothes, Link." Zelda stated. "These look rather small."

"But… I've had these clothes forever! I can't just go and replace them like that!" I exclaimed. "Besides, they fit perfectly…" I took the tunic and put it on, no matter how tight the fit. Despite my words, I had grown, and my clothes were a bit tight on me. But I had just said the opposite to Zelda, so I wasn't about to tell her that I was wrong.

"Fine, then. Prove it." she said. "Make yourself as broad as you can. I mean hold your breath, flex your muscles, and make yourself all around big. If your clothes rip, then we're going shopping before I take you where I'm planning on going today, if they don't rip… Well, you'll have to find out."

I responded by breathing in as much as I possibly could, wondering where Zelda was planning on taking me… My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the tearing sound made in the back of my tunic.

"HA!" Zelda screamed. She turned to walk towards the door. "I was right! We're going shopping as soon as you've gotten your boots on!"

"But what about breakfast?" I asked. I was, after all, extremely hungry. Zelda turned around to face me again, and I finally got a good look at her. She looked stunning, even though she was in her everyday clothing, which consisted of a lavender gown that flowed effortlessly with every step she took, as well as long, white gloves to cover the majority of her arms. Her hair was without braid, or any kind of distinct styling, and merely shined in the sunlight, accompanied by a gold tiara-like headpiece with dazzling sapphires imbedded into key places to make it shine magnificantly. Upon looking at the stones, I realized that they were pieces of the very sapphire I had won for her a year beforehand, which caused me to wonder what she did with the rest of it.

"All right, you can have a quick breakfast," Zelda stated. "then we go shopping, and then, your surprise!"

After breakfast and the dreaded shopping trip, during which Zelda ended up buying me a teen-sized green tunic, and a one-size-fits-all hat, I ended up being led to the stables where my horse, Epona, was eating. As I walked up to her, she made a soft whinny stating how bored she had been.

"All right, this time, I'm the one who's going to be pulling the reins." Zelda stated.

I shook my head in surprise. "What?! Why? Why can't I guide my own horse?" I asked.

"This is why!" the Princess exclaimed as she took hold of a large cloth and tied it in front of my eyes. "You're not to take that off until we reach our destination!"

The two of us mounted Epona and began riding. I had my doubts that Zelda knew the way to our so-called "destination" until I heard the familiar flapping of owl wings above us. Kaepora Gaebora seemed to be serving as a guide to wherever it was we were going.

"Can I take off this thing yet?" I asked as we dismounted and Zelda took me by the arm, we slowly began walking.

"Not until we're there!" Zelda stated, shushing me. We walked through what sounded like a wooden cave, and I immediately knew exactly where we were.

"OK, you can take it off, now." Zelda said, reassuringly. I romoved the covering from my eyes to see all of my lifelong friends, the Kokiri, standing around Zelda and me.

"SURPRISE!" the Kokiri yelled. This had obviously been planned. Mido and Saria came up to greet me. Saria gave me the biggest hug she could possibly offer, and Mido merely looked at me, straight forward… Then he found out that I was suddenly taller than him. He looked up and offered his hand. I quickly took it and we shook, like men. I was immediately surrounded by a barage of questions. "How did you grow? What's it like outside the forest? Were you lonely? Who is she? Is that pretty girl your girlfriend?"

"Hold it!" I exclaimed. "OK, I grew because…" there was a pause. I had never told this to any of the Kokiri before. "I'm… not a Kokiri, I'm a Hylian, which, yes, can explain why I didn't have a fairy to start with. Also, Outside the forest is great, but you shouldn't go there, because you would all die the moment you left. And another thing! Princess Zelda is not, I repeat, not, my girlfriend! She's just a good friend that happened to invite me to the castle to stay with her!"

The Kokiri all gasped at my response. As I looked at them, I could tell what they were thinking about. After all, I'd just told them that I was a Hylian, and I admitted to the fact that Zelda was the Princess.

"Well…" Saria started as she walked up to me. "Happy birthday!" She looked over at Zelda and they both nodded. "Zelda and I have been working on these for quite a while."

With that, Zelda pulled out a golden decoration lined with pure sapphire for to go with my new hat, and Saria pulled something from behind her back… It was an ocarina… It was made entirely of pure sapphire. Suddenly I realized where the rest of that sapphire went.

"Wow…" I said, totally amazed by the wonderul gifts… I took the hat decoration and put it on immediately, and then I reached for the ocarina…

"You still remember my song, right?" Saria asked. I responded by grasping the Ocarina and putting it to my lips. I suddenly started playing Saria's Song as loudly as possible. It was amazing, the notes were so clear when I played them on this ocarina. After playing Saria's Song, I decided to honor the person who had taken me in by playing Zelda's Lullaby.

Saria once again looked at Zelda, smiling. They both nodded, and suddenly, I felt the tenderness of Zelda and Saria simultaniously kissing my cheeks… I turned bright red and fainted… It was a good birthday…