Record number of reviews last chapter! (I knew blackmail would work. Tehehe) I'm sorry for the delay. I've been sick. Like, I can't get out of bed without collapsing sick, for the last three weeks. It turned out I had an ear infection, and then that ruptured (ew) and I had to get reconstructive surgery on my ear drum, and that left me bedridden for another week. Needless to say I was not in the mood to write. But I'm better now! (Mostly) So we should be good. The next chapter is already halfway written, too! (It has been for months, but shh, let's be positive, it'll come out sooner this way) I hope the coming chapters live up to your expectations!

Hope you guys enjoy,

~Alyssa

(To be clear, this takes place after the Water Temple)

"What the Hell do you mean, you said yes?!"

"Link, please, don't do th—"

I turned around, abruptly stopping in my pacing, throwing my hands up in frustration. "I'll do what I damn well want to do, Princess!" I snarled, spitting out the last word like an explicative. "You said you would marry him?!"

She flinched. "My father—"

"To HELL with your father!" I interrupted again, grabbing my head, fists full of hair. "You know just as well as I do that as long as I'm alive, you don't even need the Noamatians!"

"Link, it's not just about—"

"Then what is it about, Zelda?!" I demanded, taking a step closer. "Enlighten me. If it's not about his army, then what is it? Because I would damn well like to know."

A part of me wasn't sure why I was this angry. It wasn't like we were serious; we had been 'together', for lack of a better word, for less than two weeks, and more than half of that had been spent with me in the Water Temple. I had kissed her, what, two, three, maybe four times? And now I suddenly had a better claim to her than the Prince who had a name and money and a kingdom and an army, all things I didn't have a prayer of competing with?

She claimed it didn't matter. She had the audacity to say that she was mine, that the fact that I could give her nothing didn't mean a thing, to build up my hopes that perhaps I was good enough for her, only to crush them as mercilessly as a bug underfoot.

And she didn't even have the courage to tell me the truth, something I knew all along anyway.

That I wasn't.

Behind her disguise, she was unreadable. The only part of her I could really see was her eyes, but I couldn't see past the red like I could her blue. They were steel, hard and bleak and unforgiving. There was no fear, there. No regret. No remorse. No nothing but a shimmery something, like tears unshed, but she was too stubborn and stupid to even considering crying.

So she stared instead.

But I couldn't handle that.

"Answer me!"

"I…" She took a shaky breath, opening her mouth and closing it again. "Link, you have to understand. If it were up to me, this wouldn't be happening. But my father—" She cut herself off, eyes falling to the ground as she shook her head. "Not even him. He's only reminding me of what has to be done. I've known from the day I was old enough to understand that my life would be just like this. Putting what I want aside and thinking of Hyrule first. And Hyrule's hurt, Link, if you haven't noticed. She's almost dead. And there's no hope. No hope besides you. But they can't know about you, because if they do, so does Ganondorf. That's the big problem now. The people, they see Lucien and Noamas and his army as their hope. They've latched onto it. It gives them the will to keep fighting." She looked up then, eyes burning, molten metal instead of cold steel. "And Goddesses above, if saying 'I Do' and staying with a man as wretched as Lucien for the rest of my life will get my people through this war alive, I'll do it. I'd do it a thousand times over if I could. Because that's my duty, Link. That's what it's about."

I let my hands drop to my sides.

"So that's it, then?" I asked. "It doesn't matter that I'm going to save Hyrule? You're just going to roll over like a dog and give into your father and marry a man you hate anyway?"

Her eyebrows knit together. "It's the only wa—"

"It is NOT the only way!" I yelled, furious again, because I had finally realized why I was angry.

It wasn't just that I wasn't good enough for her.

It wasn't just that she was leading me on.

It wasn't even the fact that Lucien would marry her, taking her away from me forever.

It was that…her father, this Prince, they were treating her like some kind of object. Like a form of currency. A bargaining chip to seal a trade. I'll give you a boundary treaty and a few thousand men to secure your kingdom and you give me your daughter to do as I please with?

How could any man make that trade? How could any father agree to it?

And how could Zelda let herself be a part of it?

"What do you want me to do?!" She shouted back. "Just let them be slaughtered while I sit around twiddling my thumbs?"

I shook my head, spitting out a laugh. "You could give me some trust. There's only two more medallions left. Two weeks, Zelda. That's all I'm asking for. Can you wait that long? Or do you have that little faith in me?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose through her shawl, closing her eyes for a long moment. Then, she walked forward, closing the distance between us and placing her hands on my shoulders. "Of course I have faith in you." She whispered. "Link, you're all that Hyrule has left. I trust you with my life, with all of our lives. I believe in you more than I've ever believed in anything, can—"

I cut her off then, though, sliding her hands away from my shoulders, only to place mine on hers. "Then prove it," I said in an equally gentle voice, leaning in close to her ear. "Prove to me that you believe in me. Go to your father and to this Prince and tell them no. Tell them that this is your life, that you're not a sack of coins and that you won't be traded for an army. Because you're not, Zelda, but if you're going to let yourself be, Hyrule is going to have a lot of hope and no Hero to save them, because I won't want any part of it, or of you, do you understand me?"

"I—" She tried, but I stopped her again, patting her shoulder and kissing her on the cheek.

"I'll be in Kakiriko." I said, turning around and heading towards Epona, waiting patiently just a few yards away. "You can let me know then."

I climbed onto her saddle, grabbing the reins and digging my heels into her flank. She took off towards Hyrule Field as fast as always, but the wind gave me no exhilaration like it always did before.

I could feel Zelda's eyes on me as I rounded the bend. I could picture her shoulders slumping, sliding against the trunk of our tree and curling in on herself, knees pressed tightly to her chest, her red eyes watering as she begins to cry. She wants to do what's right, but now she's not so sure what is.

I knew I was causing her pain.

But I didn't care.

Because I am selfish. I am weak.

And I didn't look back.