Zelda decided that they the field behind the castle would be where the training would begin. She removed the tent that Purlo used to own and put it back there so that Link could use it for whatever he saw fit. She ordered several dummies and after she and Link discussed it, target boards for bow and arrow practice.
Link had been in Castle Town for two weeks and now he finally began training. So on the early spring morning out trudged half of the Hyrule soldiers. For the sake of appearances Zelda had half the army still in the castle parading about, pretending to keep peace, while the other half was at training.
Link stood in front of them, unsure of how to begin. He wasn't much of a talker after all. He signaled to the man at the end of the line and gestured to the one next to him. They both stared at Link blankly.
"You two are going to spar." Talo translated. Link smiled at him and then gestured to all of them.
"Right!" Talo called out. "All you guys, partner up and wait to spar! Commander Link wants to see ya!" He shouted.
"Oi!" One of the soldiers shouted back. "I don't take orders from a kid!"
Link marched over to the soldier and looked him in the eye with a narrowed gaze. He didn't care if they talked badly about him, but he would not tolerate anything thrown at Talo and Colin. The soldier nodded and began to tremble. "R-right away sir." He said.
Link nodded and signaled to the first two men to follow him. They went into the tent and Link sat on one of the platforms in the arena and watched while the two of them began to fight. He winced. They were slow. Their moves were sluggish and wouldn't be very useful against an attack. He found the same with the other men. Talo and Colin sparred against each other, but neither was particularly skilled, since they had never learned this. Link spent extra time with them, teaching them the basics first. Maybe after a couple of weeks he would teach them the Hidden Skills. At the end of the day he told the men quietly that they would begin the basics tomorrow.
"Basics!" A soldier complained. "Didn't we learn this stuff our first time in training? What do we need to do it again for?"
"Because you're terrible at it." Colin stated flatly. " Look, this whole thing was put up by the princess to make us better. So you should listen to Link and do what he says. He's a good fighter and really brave too."
"Yeah! That's why he's the commander! He knows what he's doing! Show'em Link!" Talo cried.
Link hesitated, but then went over to a dummy. Maybe if he showed them what he was capable of they would respect him more. He dropped into his stance and then began to slash away. Vertical slices, horizontal slice, spin attack, and jump attack. These were the basics. He began with these, but as he heard the scoffing behind him he began to bring in the Hidden Skills. He heard the mutterings die and finished off the dummy with a sharp Helm Splitter. He swung the sword side to side before twisting it and placing it in its sheath behind his back. Without even bothering to look at the men he whipped out his Hero's Bow.
He hit the closer targets quickly without even thinking about it, but the farther distance ones he took careful aim before hitting the bulls-eye. After this display he turned and faced the men. They all looked at him with dumfounded expressions.
After a second one of them stuttered out "Well-well, you don't have all the armor on! Yeah! That's what's slowing us down!"
Link raised his eyebrows and went over to his bags. Without batting an eye he changed into the Magic Armor he'd picked up from Malo, sliding the sections over his heavy cloth and chainmail Hero's Clothes. He then went back to the dummy and targets and repeated the moves with the same grace and speed as the first time.
They all stared at him, dumbfounded. This was when Talo chose to speak up. "Ya see? Link's great! And he's gonna teach it all to us! Yeah!" He announced with jubilee.
He looked back at the men. He didn't see respect. He saw jealousy. He sighed. He was about to call it quits when Purlo showed up.
"Well if it isn't the famous winner of the Stars Game. I must admit, that display was most impressive. I guess I should have known, after you won my game with those weird devices of yours. So anyway, I've got an idea. You guys don't like this guy right?" The soldiers looked at each other uncomfortably, unsure of how to answer him.
"Of course you don't. So here's my idea. That girl at the bar said that he could probably fight all of you without batting an eye. So I say we all fight him." Purlo smiled, pleased.
"This is a training for soldiers! You have no place here!" Colin shouted at him bravely.
Purlo grinned and sauntered over to Colin and kneeled down so that he was level with him. "Good point kiddo. I guess from this moment on I'm training to be a soldier huh?" He patted Colin's cheek, a bit roughly, and then straightened up and faced Link.
"What do you say, Commander?" He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Link shook his head and looked up at the setting sun.
"Its getting late. Not today." Colin said, his eyes narrowed at Purlo.
"Ah, okay fair enough." He said. "Coward." He muttered the last bit under his breath, so only Link caught it. "I suppose that's the first thing next time, right?" He smiled, challenging Link. Link gave him a dark look, daring him to say more. This only made Purlo's grin get wider. "Fine, fine, I can see when I need to shut up. I will see you in two days at our next training practice, correct?" His voice was so calm he could have been talking about the weather.
It was late that night when Link was sitting in his room, alone for the first time since arriving. Colin had decided he needed to finally move in with Talo and Malo and their parents, now that training had begun. Link was in the middle of writing a letter to Rusl, telling him all about Colin's progress after only one session, when there was a soft knock on the door.
He looked up, and saw Zelda standing at the doorway. Her hair was loose and down or once, not held up even by ribbons. She wore a nightgown, but she had a cover up over it.
"Pardon my dress Link, I know it is late. It was only late this evening that I realized that I had not even come by to ask you how your first day as their commander went."
He blinked in surprise, but nodded and gestured for her to have a seat. She did so, crossing the room in confident strides and sitting on the edge of his bed, next to him.
"Well? How good are their skills? Did they treat you well?" She asked. Link looked away. She sighed. "That bad is it? I must apologize, with so much going on I hadn't realized how far behind my soldiers have fallen, and now I put the responsibility of fixing this on your shoulders."
Link shook his head rapidly, showing he didn't mind. Zelda smiled. "You are sweet." She paused and looked down at her clasped hands. "Link, do you miss Midna terribly?" She asked.
Link was taken aback by the sudden question. However, the moment when she said Midna's name, the familiar ache in is heart came back. He nodded miserably, his eyes more sad than anyone had ever seen them. His expression was so forlorn that it broke Zelda's heart.
"I miss her as well. She certainly was erratic wasn't she?" Link smiled at all the memories of her snapping at him and then a few minutes later thanking him for being such a good friend. Zelda caught the smile. "She suffered so much, and yet, she still had the purest of hearts." Zelda smiled. Link looked at her in surprise, then remembered that she had been apart of Midna for some time, that she had known everything about her.
He looked at her pleadingly. Zelda smiled and took his hand. " It is difficult to lose a friend, to lose anyone who was so dear to you." She looked at the floor, her eyes wet.
"She was truly a amazing person. I will never forget her." She wiped her eyes. "I am deeply sorry Link, it is inconsiderate of me to bring up such sad memories." She looked him in the eye, her green eyes meeting his blue ones. Then her eyes dropped to his lips for a brief second before quickly coming back up to his eyes. He didn't break her gaze, just watched. She leaned forward, ever so slightly, her eyes falling back to his lips. Her own lips twitched a little.
She was less than an inch away from him when she realized what she was doing and quickly backed away.
"I-I am sorry Link. That was completely improper of me and I must apologize for my lack of propriety, I-I…" Link had never seen Zelda stutter before. She was very, very flustered and embarrassed.
"I-I…excuse me." She stood quickly. Link looked up at her with surprise. He didn't want her to leave. He winced when he realized why. He didn't want her company for the reasons she clearly wanted his, but she was the only person who could possibly understand what he felt right now. He missed Midna more than he cared to admit, his heart was hurting, and he wanted comfort. It wasn't fair to seek out Zelda for company, but this was what he did. Before he even realized what he was doing, he wrapped his arms around Zelda's waist and pulled her onto his lap.
Zelda squeaked, and they looked at each other, both surprised by the way they were acting. It was very uncharacteristic of Link to be so forward, and very unlike Zelda to squeak.
Zelda looked at him, twisting around so that she was sitting sideways on his lap. She searched his face. "Link…" she murmured. "I really care about you. You saved my life and my kingdom. You are the most selfless person I've ever met. You are extremely brave and don't even think twice about it. I… I love you Link."
This time, now that she had the reassurance that she wouldn't be rejected or thought poorly of because of lack of propriety, she didn't pull back. She leaned in just as slowly as the first time, still a little hesitant. She pressed her lips lightly on his. Link was more in shock to react. But after a minute, while Zelda continued to hesitantly kiss him, her lips barely brushing his, Link finally responded. He kissed her back. His kiss was just as tender, just as hesitant, as if stroking a butterfly. However, just the slightest response that Zelda needed. She kissed him more passionately, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled herself closer to him, pressing against him.
Eventually they broke apart, both gasping. Zelda climbed off his lap and sat next to him. Link had to brace himself. He'd never done anything, anything like that. It wasn't unpleasant, but he wasn't certain that it was the strongest feeling he'd ever had.
Zelda laid her head on his shoulder and murmured "Thank you Link. I didn't want to act on my feelings with the war but… now… now it is truly so wonderful to know that they are reciprocated." Link tensed ever so slightly, realizing what he had just done.
He looked at Zelda and saw the joy on her face and he couldn't bear to tell her the truth. For now, it was okay to let he be happy. He didn't mind. Kissing her was not unpleasant, but it just didn't bring him the type of feelings he was certain were suppose to come with such a strong display of affection.
He hadn't realized what was happening but suddenly Zelda was tilting his chin towards her and she was kissing him again. She had meant for it to just be a quick goodbye kiss but something raged inside her. She wasn't expecting such strong emotions from the simply swordsman. She pressed her lips against him more firmly, pulling him into her and molding herself to his body. Was it proper for a princess to act like this? She knew it wasn't. But there was no one to see, and for once, she felt like she could drop all the necessities that came with being a princess, and just let herself have this one moment to be Link's. With great willpower, she pulled away.
"I must retire to my bedroom for the night. I will see you tomorrow. "Pressing a whisper of a kiss on his lips, she found the strength to leave his bedroom and flee to her own. Link watched her go, wondering how in the world this all happened. The shock was overwhelming. He shook his head, looking wildly around. How was he going to fix this? Looking around wasn't going to help. The only thing he could think about was that he needed to finish his letter.