2nd attempt to upload because apparently some couldn't see this chapter for whatever reason…

Hey! I apologize for the longer-than-usual wait. I am currently attending a convention and it's taking up most of my time. I think it's safe to expect the next update on Sunday.

Chapter 21

Zelda

She couldn't feel her legs. She barely even felt her hands where he was holding her. It was as if she was floating in pure, white, fluff… The only things that existed were his lips on hers. She felt his tender first touch, shy and cautious. Then his next, hungrier, more secure, nibbling slightly on her lip. It sent jolts of lightning right through her brain.

Her initial shock passed and her heart started beating again.

He was about to draw back again, she felt, but he could forget about that! She squeezed his hands that were still interlocked and pulled herself closer to him. She kissed him fiercely, breathing in his wonderful scent deeply. He responded immediately, pressing back, kissing her with all the more vigour now that she had awoken from her stupor and hungered for more.

Zelda opened her mouth slightly so she could gently nibble on his lips. A tiny, involuntary squeak escaped her throat.

Her head felt so light. Nothing mattered. Nothing in the whole world mattered but the sweet feeling of this one moment, this one kiss.

It was paradise!

She could feel his heartbeat; it seemed to be at the same pace as hers.

He pulled away a tiny bit, allowing them both a moment of air. She felt his nose gently fencing with her own. She gave a small, squeaky giggle and they both went in for more. More of that wonderful, soft feeling. More of his smell that sent exciting shivers down her spine. More of that perfect, blissful, eternal moment.

She felt his left hand leave her hand and gently, carefully wander up towards her shoulder. He did it so slowly, almost hesitantly, as if he was asking her permission for each centimetre.

She felt his thoughts, racing and, at the same time, numb, just like hers. She was mentally connected to him in a way she never thought possible. It was the most exhilarating feeling… It was as if their two conjoined minds egged each other on. It took almost all of his self-restraint to proceed so painfully gingerly. She wanted to give him the permission he sought. Almost everything in her wanted him to continue… almost. If she didn't stop now, she wouldn't be able to.

Stop.

He reacted immediately, as if she had said it aloud. He slowly, tentatively pulled away, allowing her enjoy every last moment of their touching lips and the bitter-sweet feeling when it ended.

Goddesses above, it was hard not to just make another step forward and start anew… but if he could resist, so must she.

Zelda was extremely thankful that she didn't have to even lightly push him. Then again, she strangely hadn't expected anything else from him.

He still had his hand lightly on her shoulder. She didn't mind. She didn't want to lose contact all together. Slowly the sounds of the tiny forest were able to pierce her consciousness again. His clean, electrifying scent mixed the smell of the living wood around. It fit so wonderfully, she doubted she could ever come here again, without thinking of him at once. Smiling softly, she found that she didn't mind that at all…

Slowly, reluctantly, she opened her eyes, unwilling to dispel the perfect illusion they were sharing.

Her vision was blurry at first, but cleared up quickly. She saw him standing in front of her, completely relaxed, his face turned upwards as if enjoying the sun with a little smile.

What could she say?

With a pang of unease she realized she had absolutely no idea what to do or say now that… they had kissed! It had been such a wonderful, earth-shattering experience… what could be said now? What would change? How would they treat each other now? She didn't want to give anything of their rapport up!

She shuffled around, wringing her hands, opening her mouth a few times. Nothing wanted to come out! Goddess, she didn't want to ruin this with something mindless! What would he think of her? Nayru help her, he couldn't make him think that this hadn't meant much to her! It was just so untrue!

Damn it! What could she say?!

Before a wave of panic could engulf her, she heard a tiny, guttural hum escape his throat.

"That was beautiful…" he murmured, apparently still lost in his delight.

Zelda blinked a few times. 'That was beautiful…'?!

That had to be the most moronic thing he could have said after such an event… The sheer stupidity combined with the imbecilic look he had on his face…

… started a low giggle. 'That was beautiful…' The giggle grew to a hearty chuckle.

And she thought, she would say something inadequate!

Zelda took another look at his stupid face and exploded with laughing.

Of all the lame things he could have said… but, she could tell, it came straight from his heart… which for some reason made it even funnier.

By now her stomach muscles cramped from laughter.

'That was beautiful…'

Well it was, she had to give him that. And, as she had pondered, what could you say?

She finally got a grip on her hysterical giggling. What could you say?! 'Might as well be something monumentally idiotic!' she thought, grinning like a happy idiot herself.

He was now looking at her, his expression somewhere between great amusement and wondering if she'd completely lost her mind.

She smiled impishly, made a step forward, turned and tucked her arm into Link's.

"It was!" she said, barely controlling another fit. "It truly was…"

He smiled down at her, sideways. By the look on his face, she suspected he knew that she thought him a complete fool. She gave him a grin back that said 'yes, you are! But I like it when you are a complete fool!"

His expression changed ever so slightly and she knew that he'd understood even though not a single word had been uttered. This wordless communication between them fascinated her. When he wanted, she could almost read his mind just by looking into his deep blue eyes. And, apparently, it worked the other way round as well.

Thinking back to the very… carnal thoughts she had almost had when they had kissed… Zelda looked down and away, feeling a furious blush creep onto her face… She would have to be a bit careful with her thoughts, then…

"What are you blushing about, all of a sudden?" he asked with a chuckle.

Of course he'd bloody noticed, him and his bloody sharp eyes!

"Nothing." she mumbled. 'Very convincing!' she chided herself.

"Must be a pretty good nothing, then." he concluded cheekily. But he didn't press her further, for which she was very grateful.

She cleared her throat and tugged lightly on his arm. "Come! I err… actually wanted to show you something else. Before we were interrupted…" she added coyly.

He followed her lead. She was directing them further along the overgrown path. Occasionally it was difficult to fit through the narrow way with them holding on to each other. But right now, letting go simply was not an option.

"There is a distinct possibility that I might cause such an interruption again…" he said, half flirtatious, half shy.

She nodded gravely. "That is disturbing news indeed. What can we possibly do to prevent such a break down in morale?" she asked, shaking her head in mock disappointment.

Link nodded, put his right hand over his heart and lowered his head. "I solemnly swear, on my honour as not-quite-yet-knight that I shall forever abstain!" he intoned seriously.

Zelda's eyes widened at hearing that. She stopped and turned to face him. That had sounded so serious that she truly could not tell whether he was being sincere! He did have a very sober expression. Goddess, had he misunderstood? Had her acted rejection been to forceful? She was about to open her mouth, her face almost fearful, when a devious smile broke through his sternness.

"Why, princess! Why that face? Could it possibly be that it is actually not my honour you want?" he asked mockingly.

For an instant Zelda was speechless. Then her ire rose with the force of a thousand righteous valkyries at his outrageous, teasingly raised eyebrow.

"You… you…!" she hissed. This unbelievable knave! She had worried that she had lead him to misunderstand but he had just wound her up! She was so angry that she boxed him in his ribs.

She might as well have hit a wall for all his reaction, but that only made her angrier!

He quickly dislodged himself from her grip and fled a couple of metres away, still that scum-eating grin on his face.

"Why, how positively scandalous, your highness!" he spluttered, emulating an old chaperone of hers with frightening accuracy.

That mocking eyebrow! She wanted to claw at them in her powerless rage!

She knew he could dance around her and she would never catch him.

With a malicious grin of her own she picked up a handful of the soft dirt and in one swift motion threw it at him. Her accuracy surprised even herself.

Apparently he hadn't expected such heavy artillery. For one immensely delightful moment she saw his face turn from teasing glee to surprise to shock.

He dodged, but not quite. A good portion of earth hit him right in the face. The force of the moist hit actually spun him around.

For a split second Zelda's ravishment turned to fright. Din's fire, hopefully nothing hit him in the eyes!

But after a moment she could already hear him laughing between spitting out her projectile and she could return to her wicked delight.

"Thou hast been smitten, cur. Rescind thy evil ways, or I shall bury thee 'neath yon good earth!" she intoned majestically.

He turned to face her, still bent down from spitting. His face had an almost scarily tickled determination, which even the copious amounts of dirt couldn't cover.

He gently wiped his face once, lowered his hands and slowly, almost gently picked up a large handful of earth himself. His expression now was pure, profound peace.

"The problem with this good earth, my dear…" he uttered carefully. "… is that it cares nought whom it is thrown at, be it cur or royalty." He finished, now finally looking at her again with wild, excited eyes.

With a pang of panic she looked at her white dress, already smudged at the hem.

He wouldn't dare!

"You wouldn't dare!" she breathed.

'Splat' went the dirt against her chest.

He dared.

In utter disbelief, she looked down again. Her dress was considerably less white. She felt her mouth open widely.

"You swine!" she yelled. Lost in the confusing gap between fury and great amusement, she scraped the sticky mud off of her and made to throw it right back. This mudlark had the gall to step closer, expose his face with a mocking bow and smile blissfully.

"I'm sure the good earth from your bosom, highness, is as sweet as a lover's kiss." he twittered.

Fighting a losing battle against the rising laughing fit, and now thoroughly reddened, she thought through her options.

Drop the dirt and act dignified? Far, far too late for that nonsense… and too predictable.

Throw it at his face? Give him what he wants? Hmm…

She nonchalantly sauntered over to him. With wet earth in both hands Zelda towered over his bowed body like the goddess of justice, Nayru, herself. And she waited.

She knew he was aware that she stood close enough to slap everything right at his face. Let's see how long you can keep up that infuriating smile without worrying what I'll do next…

The seconds passed. Seeing his face turn slowly from glee to uncertainty to tortured apprehension was quite a delight!

Link opened one eye.

And she struck. One hand on his cheek, one right into his hair. He gave a pressed yelp and tried to jerk back, but she held his head right between her dirty hands and rubbed them all over.

"Get me dirty, will you?!" she hissed.

"Bwuuaaappl!"

"Make my dress muddy, will you?!" she thundered.

"I yield! I yieaarghl!" he yelled, getting another mouthful of earth, courtesy of Zelda's avenging hands of muckiness.

She released him with a pleased grin and enjoyed watching him try to process what on earth had just happened. She wiped her hands off at her dress. It really didn't matter anymore.

When he had finally spat out the entire healthy dose of humility she had administered he stood with his hands on his knees, panting.

He looked up at her with sparkling eyes and a fascinated smile. "Why princess! How utterly wicked you can be!"

His face was caked in mud, so his glinting eyes and flawless teeth shone all the brighter. The carefully fashioned expression of righteous harshness melted from Zelda's face and an unbidden smile broke through.

"I hope you've learned your lesson! Or I might have to show you just how terrible I can be if it strikes my fancy." she threatened, attempting to put as much sincerity into her words as possible.

He stood up straight once again, combed his fingers through his hair, pulled out half a garden full of dirt, inspected it in his hand and made a dissatisfied face.

Then he smiled clever little smile in her direction. "Could it be that, in my endeavour to pull you down into 'whatever pit filth like me calls his home', as it were, I am starting to be successful?"

She reddened slightly. This time mostly from embarrassment. She had said that, hadn't she? That really sounded nasty… way beyond any good taste. This wonder of a boy didn't seem to care though. He had just taken it in stride, knowing her harmless intention behind the crude words. Thank the goddess. She certainly, definitely did not want to insult him with something as utterly offensive as social class. Still, in the future she would wanted to better control her sharp tongue… a bit.

"A disquieting thought." she said, smiling softly again. She stepped closer, reached up and pulled a particularly large lump from his hair. He lowered his head and just looked at her amusedly as she dislodged a few more clots and threw them to the ground. "But I'm afraid you are not too far from the truth." she concluded. His eyes still sparkled in this enchanting way…

'Don't get weak now, he's got dirt all over!' one part of her said.

'Who cares? Look at your dress!' another answered.

"Come." She said aloud. "And no more interruptions!" she added slyly.

After another 3 minutes of fighting through near-jungle they emerged onto a little clearing. The cobbles were less under- and overgrown and right in the middle stood a round stone basin. In the middle, on a pedestal, stood Nayru, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, her hands presented to the sky. From her metal palms welled water, streamed through her fingers and fell into the basin. Even though everything around seemed so old that nature had claimed it back, the fountain and especially the man-high depiction of the goddess looked untouched by time. The water in the basin was crystal clear. It reflected the pink and orange clouds of the evening sky. The soft murmur of the falling water was dampened by the close plant life, creating a calming, quiet serenity around the whole place. The air smelled of spring water with the aromatic scent of the forest as basis.

Zelda watched Link look around, fascinated. He looked at the bluish statue from all sides, reached forward to touch the water she gave with open hands. He cupped his hand, brought it to his mouth and closed his eyes. He clearly enjoyed the taste, she could see it.

"What is this place? It's so… tranquil…" he said, still looking around with a wistful smile playing on his lips.

She knew he'd like it, at least since she saw his adorable reaction to her little forest. "I love it here. This is truly my sanctuary, the one place where I can come and simply be. No doubting, no worrying… no thinking."

Even now, with him here, Zelda did not feel the peace disturbed, not even slightly. She closed her eyes, breathing in, opening herself to the magic of the location. She could sense that he enjoyed the same feeling of comfort that she had experienced when she first discovered this place. She grew assured that her decision to show all this to him was the right one. When relief flooded her and seemed to lift her off the ground, she realized how nervous about this choice she had really been.

She felt his gaze on her. Even with her eyes closed, she conceived so much warmth, so much affection from him.

Zelda opened her eyes and looked back at him. She frowned. The grubby state of his entire head rather spoiled the mood…

'And whose fault is that?' she asked herself, grumbling.

Sighing slightly, she sat down on the rim of the basin and began to wash her hands. After an inviting look, he joined her.

He wiped his face clean of dirt, then stopped as if he just thought of something. He looked at her with a rather lost expression.

"Errr… may I, you know… wash my hair also?" he asked bashfully.

The helpless look on his appealing features was irresistibly cute. She giggled at how this scoundrel of a boy, so incredibly cheeky just minutes ago, was now almost timid since he realized what this place meant to her. She leaned over, placed her hand on his cheek and gave him a short but sweet kiss. Zelda thoroughly enjoyed the look of bafflement on his handsome face. "I'll help you, silly!"

Her hand still holding his cheek she gently steered him lower above the water. He knelt down in front of the basin and she got to work. The first splash of cold water she splashed over his head made him splutter. Strand for strand she cleaned his hair of mud, taking care not to tear too hard and making sure to sprinkle a few caresses into the process.

"I like your hair…" she said absentmindedly.

Link gave a soft grunt, as if he had been close to falling asleep. "Sir Alistair advised to cut it short. Said it might get in the way."

"Absolutely not! Your hair stays!" she said forcefully. He looked good with longish hair. She couldn't imagine him having a soldier's haircut. She enjoyed the way it swayed slightly in the wind and the little movements he did to comb it back out of his face were adorable. No chance that's coming off!

He gave a soft chuckle. Once again he seemed to understand more than he had any right to.

"Don't you laugh! You are a knight now. You belong to me and so does your hair. You don't get to decide its length!" she growled.

"I belong to you, do I?" he asked, turning his head slightly so he could focus on her with one eye and grinning teasingly.

'Of course he would choose to only hear that.' she thought with an internal grin. 'Which is good, because that's why I said it.'

Outward she made an impatient face and poked his cheek with her fingers until he turned back. She was done anyway, but, she admitted to herself, she rather liked playing with his head and giving him a bit of a massage as the same time.

"Of course! I made you a knight, so you are bound to me." she teased, keeping her expression and voice deliberately serious.

A few moments passed. Long enough that she, once more, wasn't entirely sure that her playful intention hadn't been lost in her acting.

He turned again and raised his head a little. "Hmmm. I'm afraid I have to disappoint you on that front." He stated, his face thoughtful.

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, taking her hands from his hair, worried slightly.

He sat up completely and with a swift motion stroked his hair backwards. "You see… I previously swore on my honour that I would forever abstain from causing another… interruption." A sly grin broke through his ponderous features.

Her face mimicked his, unbidden. She had a suspicion where this was going.

"Well, I have to admit that I fully intend to break that immensely stupid oath into a million tiny pieces. So, it would seem my honour is forfeit." he concluded.

"So it would seem." she muttered in mock reflectiveness. "I certainly see the problem. And it is a grave one indeed! There can be no chivalry without honour!" she looked up, wide eyed, as if in sudden, startled realization.

"Who needs chivalry?" he said and acted dismissively. Then he looked back at her eyes and she could see a bit of colour rising on his cheeks. "I believe I have something far more important than chivalry." Link said softly. She looked into those big blue eyes. There was no deviousness in them now. Only honesty and trust.

And hope. Even though it was such a corny line, at the sight of this true light shining in these eyes, all the mocking answers she had withered away in a flood of emotion.

She could lose herself in those eyes… and found that she wouldn't really mind doing so. His small, heartfelt, innocent smile made her feel all soft and mushy.

She took his left hand in both of hers and smiled back at him with the same open trust.

"Do you want to know the craziest part?" she whispered. She giggled slightly and closed her eyes. "I believe so too."