Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda Videogame series or its characters. I also do not own the Christmas songs mentioned in this chapter. This story is a fanfiction written for entertainment purposes only.

Hey, everybody! Thanks so much for reading, following, and reviewing my fanfiction! Keep it up! I love to hear from you all! Here is Chapter 37 for you all! Let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy! ~Opal223

Chapter 37: Christmas Day

A couple of weeks passed, and I woke up this morning and realized what day it was. As soon as I did, I was happy, and then suddenly I got a nervous lump in my throat. I looked at the clock on the wall. 6am?! Why did I wake up so early? I sighed and sat up in bed, yawning wide. I found myself looking at the other side of the bed and wishing that Sally was there, but it was empty. If today goes well though, I may not have to face that reality much longer, and the thought made my heart skip a beat.

It's Christmas Day, which is a happy day for all...but it's also an important day for me. Today I'm going to ask Sally to marry me. At 10am everyone is meeting together for "Christmas Morning" festivities. Eating brunch, singing carols, and opening gifts. I walked over to my dresser and grabbed a change of clothes. "I'll take a bath this morning..." I thought to myself. I laid the change of clothes on my bed and took the box with Sally's rings out of one of the upper dresser drawers. I then grabbed a couple of other boxes, one just a little bit bigger than the ring box, and the other bigger than both. I set them down on the floor of my bedroom and went to grab some scissors, some cotton for packing, and some wrapping paper and ribbon that I bought the other day. I sat cross-legged on my floor with everything, carefully placing the ring box in the next largest box and surrounded it with cotton to protect it. I closed that box and repeated the process with the larger box, and then I wrapped the finished product with wrapping paper and ribbon.

I took a bath and changed into my clothes. As I put on my tunic, I thought about whether I wanted to make some hot coffee or not. I fastened my belts and gave it a bit more thought, and then I combed through my hair and put on my hat. I looked over at Sally's Christmas gift sitting on my bed, noticing that it didn't have a tag on it. I guess I'd better fix that...I tied a tag onto the gift with some twine and wrote her name on it. I groggily walked into the kitchen and started making some coffee, taking a hot kettle from the fireplace and pouring some of the water into a mug with coffee grounds wrapped in a couple layers of cheesecloth inside. I added some cream and sugar after it brewed and sat down to enjoy it while reading a book.

I got lost in the story for a while...it was about a man from Germany who met the princess of an island tribe. He was enchanted by how exotic-looking she was. He figured they wouldn't be able to communicate with each other, though, which pained him. He wanted to get to know her. The assumption of communication issues seems obvious at first in the book. One would conclude it's because she didn't know German, right? No. The German man was deaf. But notice I said assumption. This woman's aunt was also deaf. He found this out when he and his comrades were taken prisoner when they dared to explore the native's land. He saw her signing to her aunt...how strange...she didn't know German, but she knew sign language! He knew exactly what to do to get him and his comrades out of trouble. The princess was shocked at his ability to communicate with her and her aunt. The men were released when it was confirmed that they meant no harm, but simply wanted to explore the land and learn about the tribe. Over time, the German man and the princess got to know each other and fell in love. Soon they were married, and then when asked by his comrades if he'd like to return, he said that he wished to remain on the island with the princess. They went on to have two children. One was born deaf and the other able to hear. They lived the rest of their days in peace with the tribe, although Germany never knew what came of him. According to the book, he wrote one last entry in his journal that he brought from Germany and then sent it back to Germany with one of his comrades before they left after he got married to the princess. The entry read: "Happiness can be found in the most unexpected of places. I have found my happiness. It will take time to adjust to this new life, but I am not afraid. I have never been more in love." That was the last Germany ever heard of him.

It was a fascinating story. A good moral lesson, too...to not be afraid of what is different from what you would consider the norm, for it could be better than what you have presently. I closed the book and took another sip of my coffee, noticing that it was now 9am. Time to head to Kakariko Village and then to the Sanctuary where we are all to meet for brunch. Suddenly I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door and saw Sally's beautiful smile greet me good-morning. "Merry Christmas, Link!" She ran into my arms and hugged me tight.

"Merry Christmas, Sally!" I answered, preparing to kiss her. I was disappointed when she pulled back and shook her finger. I cocked my head to the side as she giggled, reaching down to her left side and grabbing a little wooden box that was sitting on top of a larger, neatly wrapped box. She opened it up and grabbed a sprig of mistletoe, setting the wooden box back on top of the larger one.

She held it up over both of our faces. "Gotta follow tradition!" She winked. As she held it up with one hand, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in for a kiss.

I stopped kissing her and laughed as we came out of our embrace. "You're sneaky!"

"Yep!" She agreed, placing the sprig of mistletoe back into the wooden box and shutting it tight, and then giving it to me with both hands. "Your first gift of the day!" She beamed.

I took the box and placed it on the floor next to me. She looked confused when I did this. I hugged her tight and hoisted her over my shoulder. "I've decided YOU'RE my gift!" I bellowed proudly, carrying her inside.

She squealed with delight. "Link!" She lightly kicked her feet, pretending to protest.

I chuckled and took off her shoes and allowed them to drop to the floor, tickling her feet. She snorted in laughter. I then pondered where to put her down. She was laughing like a little girl now, tittering with the sweetest sound as I carried her. I took her to my room and laid her down the width of the bed and took her gift off of the bed, placing it on the floor.

She tried to sit up. "What is-?" She began, regarding the gift.

"Shhhh..." I put my finger to her lips and leaned into her, making her lay back down. I laid on top of her and started kissing her, caressing her cheek as she turned bright red at my boldness. I rose from our kiss and huffed playfully. "I'm just not doing this right! I'll be back, I need to get something to set the mood." I know what everyone's thinking...I'm bluffing, playing around with her! Honest! She just doesn't know that...

"Set the mood?!" She squeaked timidly. I calmly walked away from her, telling her that I'd be right back and to stay where she was. "What do you think you're doing?!" She hollered, for now I was in the kitchen.

"I'll be right back, beautiful." I said sweetly, blushing because I knew what she was thinking. I grabbed something from the kitchen and came back into the room.

"Link...I love you very much," She said earnestly. "but I don't know if we should do this...I-I think it's too soon..." I stopped in front of her to listen to her talk. "It's perfectly acceptable if we were, you know, married, but not now! Think of what my father-"

I dropped an apple next to her on the bed. "Your first gift of the day from me!" I grinned proudly as she sat up, looking at me with embarassment.

"Wha?" She looked at me, then at the apple, and then back at me. "You mean you weren't trying to...?"

"Trying to what?" I shrugged.

She cleared her throat. "...Um..." She looked scared to finish the sentence.

I took her hand and kissed it. "I was just teasing you." She blinked twice, and I squeezed her hand and helped her up from my bed. "I wanted to show you a romantic side of me, but I didn't want to overstep any boundaries...your father would damn me, for sure!" I laughed and kissed her on the forehead.

She laughed in return, kissing me on the cheek. "You're so sweet." She looked into my eyes. "I did feel pleasantly surprised...I will say that..." She kissed me on the lips. "That being said, though, I'm glad you didn't actually...well...do what I thought you were going to do..." She cleared her throat again.

I winked at her and we both laughed. I grabbed her apple from on top of the bed. "Here you go!"

She took it from my hands. "Thank you." She took a bite from it and I left the room momentarily, coming back in with her shoes, the large box from outside, and the small wooden box with the mistletoe inside sitting on top. I set the boxes down, grabbed her shoes, and put them back on her feet as she ate from the apple. She laughed and stood up with the apple. "Should we go to the Sanctuary? Otherwise we'll surely be late for the festivities!"

"Sounds good!" I placed the wooden box with the mistletoe inside on my nightstand and grabbed her gift in my hands. She grabbed the decorated box that she had and we followed each other out the door. I climbed down the ladder first and held both boxes while she climbed down. We mounted our horses and headed to Kakariko Village.

We arrived at about the same time as everyone else. Everyone was carrying at least one gift. I had other gifts for other people besides just Sally, and I dropped those off at the Sanctuary the other day, so those were already inside. Everyone was wrapped in thick layers of sheep's wool and goat hair. We walked in to join everyone and were greeted by the Shaman. Ilia, Curtis, Rusl, Colin, Talo, Malo, Beth, Uli, Amy, and many others were there! A newly pregnant Midna and her husband Jeremy were there too. The large room had a warm glow to it as usual with the firepit in the middle, but the warm glow was enhanced by the shimmering of tinsel and glass bulbs decorating the large Christmas tree. Most of the gifts were already under the tree, and more were being added by the minute. I placed my gift for Sally underneath the tree and Sally placed her decorated box underneath the tree as well.

We all ate some brunch together, complete with porridge, ham, eggs, fruit, and various pastries. After that we sang some Christmas Carols, including "Coventry Carol," "Sleigh Ride," and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."

Then came the part everyone was looking forward to; opening the Christmas gifts. We all were scattered about throughout the Sanctuary, sitting and chatting with each other. Sally and I were sitting with Midna and Jeremy, and those two girls were chatting up a storm! "So Midna, do you know when the baby is due?" Sally asked.

Midna rubbed her stomach with her hand. "The doctors are guessing that I'm about 4 months pregnant, so only about five more to go!"

"Yay!" Sally beamed. "I'm excited to meet the baby!"

The two of them droned on with talk about what Midna and Jeremy's baby may be like. Boy or girl, nice or sassy, tough or gentle, etc, etc, etc. It was fun to see them be such good friends, but Jeremy and I just kind of sat there chuckling, not sure if we should even attempt to get a word in edge-wise. Jeremy sighed, running his own hands through his short, red spiky hair. His skin and eyes were very similar to Midna's, which makes sense because they are both Twili. He had a decent amount of muscle, though. He wasn't the type of guy that would back down from something. "Hey Link..." He smiled mischiveously. "You know, once my kid's born, they're going to need a playmate..."

I blinked twice in confusion with his random comment. "Well, yeah. All kids do, right? That's how they make friends."

He punched me in the arm. "When are you and Sally going to...you know...?!" He wiggled his eyebrows.

I blushed brilliantly. I thought my head was going to explode! "Hey!" I hissed. "You know Sally and I are no where close to that, right?!" I practically shouted.

"Close to what, Link?" Sally looked at me, looking a little concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine!" I replied hastily, the mere thought of the conversation making me feel flustered.

"He's just being shy, Sally." Jeremy cackled. "I asked him when you two were planning on..." He cleared his throat and whispered to her and Midna. "Having a kid." Sally was so embarrassed that she had no words, just sat there with her mouth agape, and then closed her mouth and turned away shyly, her face bright crimson.

"Jeremy!" Midna put her hand on his knee. "Don't you think that's a little ambitious to be asking about now?!"

"Well, some people do that before marriage...just saying..." He shrugged.

"Can we please change the subject?" I asked, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

"Okay." Jeremy replied.

"Thank the Goddesses..." Sally muttered.

"I need to talk to my husband a moment..." Midna stood up and grabbed Jeremy's hand. "C'mon, my love." He stood up and they walked away.

Sally and I sat next to each other and looked at everyone else talking and having fun. I thought about what Jeremy said...yeah, some people do make love before marriage, but that wasn't my plan. Do I want to get that intimate with Sally? Yes, absolutely! That is, when the time is right. It's just...neither one of us are ready. Sally was the first to grab my arm and bring me back to reality. "Sorry if I was ignoring you and making you feel awkward." She kissed me on the cheek. "I just didn't know how to react to Jeremy's comments. They were so blunt. I was shocked, I guess."

"I was, too." I leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Let's not worry about it. He's probably just too comfortable with the subject because of being married and expecting a baby."

"True...I suppose that would change one's perspective." She said.

We both looked up when the Shaman began to speak. "All of the children and teenagers will be the 'elves' today." He used air quotes. "You will each grab a gift from underneath the tree and hand it to whoever it is addressed to." He raised up his arms. "I hope everyone has a wonderful time!" Everyone clapped after he bellowed, "Let's get started!"

Midna's POV

I stepped outside with Jeremy for a moment and shut the door so no one would hear. "Jeremy!" I cried. "Please don't do that again! You made them both uncomfortable!"

He could tell that I was truly upset. "I'm sorry, dear...it wasn't appropriate." He kissed me on the lips. We kissed for a good long minute and then he pulled back. "I, just like you, want them to be together and have a future together like we do...and...I guess I thought if I got them thinking more, it would help progress things..."

I nodded. "Not everyone works on the same timeframe as us though, love." I grinned. "Besides...Link's got it figured out...he's proposing to her today!"

"Today?!" He said with shock. "I knew he was planning on it, but today?!" I nodded and he smiled big. "That's awesome! Good for him!"

"I didn't tell you sooner because Link wanted to keep it all really secretive." I told him.

"How's he going to do it?" He questioned.

"He has a gift under the tree for her that has the engagement ring in it, along with the rest of the wedding set tied to it."

"His ring too?"

"No, he's waiting to get his until after he proposes to her. He thought it would be fun for her to help him pick out his." I took his hand. "So let's keep it a secret. Okay, love?" I batted my eyelashes and made a pouty face.

He caressed my hair and the side of my face. "My lips are sealed, dear!" He hugged me close and kissed my neck.

I giggled. "Let's go back inside, okay, baby?" I kissed him on the lips. We held hands and walked back in and sat next to Link and Sally.

Sally's POV

Midna and Jeremy walked back inside and sat down next to us. Just in time for the kids to start passing out gifts to everyone. Amy was so cute, running happily to the tree and looking at all of the gifts with wonder. "This one's pretty, so I'm picking this one!" She shouted, looking at the label. "It says to Talo from Rusl, Uli, Colin, and me!"

She skipped over to him with the present in her hands. He took it from her and opened it. It was a bow and some arrows, and he looked excited to get it. "Woah, this is awesome! Thanks!" He looked at Rusl and grinned. "You will have to teach me how to use it!"

"Will do, Talo." Rusl smiled with his lips.

Beth picked the next gift. "This is to Sally from Midna and Jeremy!"

Beth handed me my gift and I opened it. Inside was a lovely new leather satchel with brass buckles. I held it up so everyone could see. "Thank you, Midna and Jeremy! This will come in handy when I start giving music lessons in the spring! I'll carry my music in it!" I set it down and watched as Colin picked out another gift.

"This one's to Link from Midna and Jeremy!" Colin shouted, running the gift over to the two of us.

Link took it from him and opened it up. Inside was a brand new leather quiver for his arrows. "Thank you very much, you guys! My old quiver's on its last legs, so this will be very useful!"

We continued to pass out gifts and soon my gift to Link was picked. I was anxious for him to get it! He opened it and found the beautiful custom-made shield I had made for him by a blacksmith. It was all metal with music notes, bass clefs, and treble clefs etched into it. In the middle of the shield was a bar from "Epona's Song." Etched on the handle side of the sheild is "To My Hero. Love, Sally."

He gently placed it down and wrapped me in his arms. "Thank you, Sally. This is such a wonderful gift." He stopped hugging me and kissed me on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you, too." I replied.

He picked it back up in his hands and looked at all of the details. "This is amazing. I love all of the details you put into it."

"I had it custom-made by a blacksmith." I grinned. "I wish I was that skilled with metalwork. It's beautiful."

"It is..." He looked at me sweetly. "You went through all that trouble for me?"

"Well, of course!" I took my hands and playfully pinched his ears. We both laughed as I let go of his ears. "You're my hero, after all! It even says so!"

"It's official now, I guess!" He kissed me on the cheek.

"Blech!" Talo grunted jokingly. "Kissy-face!"

"Did you want to see kissy-face?" Link asked him in jest, to which Talo shouted, "No!" Link looked around for a second. "Anybody got any mistletoe?" We all laughed. Link kissed me again. "Nevermind, I don't need it!" All of the other couples started kissing to tease Talo.

"EWWWW!" He yelled, putting his hands over his eyes and chuckling.

The presents that remained underneath the tree became fewer and fewer. Soon there were only a couple left. Amy went to pick up the gift that Link brought, and Colin went up to her and whispered in her ear. She placed it back down underneath the tree and grabbed the other gift. This puzzled me. Wait, why did she put it down? The other gift was was a lovely gold chain necklace meant for Uli from Rusl. It was very sweet. "Who's going to have the honor of presenting the last gift?" The Shaman answered.

Colin smiled warmly. "Let's have Amy present it."

"Okay!" People were chatting as she skipped playfully back over to the tree. She read it and checked with Rusl to make sure she was reading it right, and then triumphantly announced, "This gift is to Sally from Link."

So it was for me? I smiled with my lips and put my hand on Link's back, he looked at me and smiled back. Amy placed the package in my lap. I took a moment to observe it, and looked back at Link, who was blushing brightly. I tilted my head to the side in wonder. "What is it, Link?"

"Um..." He bit his lip, seeming nervous. He chuckled. "Open it and find out, silly!" He grinned.

Why does he seem nervous? I couldn't help but feel confused, but I shook the thought, assuming that he's just anticipating me opening my gift. I decided to not make him wait any longer. I started to take off the wrapping paper and opened the box. My befuddlement only grew more when I saw a smaller box inside of the one I just opened. It was surrounded with cotton. I looked at Link with furrowed brows. "Another box?" I said. He smiled and shrugged, encouraging me to finish opening it. I opened the smaller box and found an even smaller green box inside, also surrounded by cotton, and tied with a red ribbon. I took it from the box and Link offered to take the other two out of the way for me. He placed them next to where he was sitting. I examined the box for a moment...what could it be? It's only about the size of my palm. I didn't want to wait any longer, so I began to untie the ribbon and carefully lifted the lid. Inside was a gorgeous silver-plated diamond engagement ring and two diamond-studded bands that went with it, but weren't soldered together yet. I was so awestruck that I didn't even notice Link get up from where he was and kneel on one knee in front of me, gently placing his hands on my knee. As soon as my eyes met his, I started to cry. I was surprised and elated!

"Sally, I love you more than anything. You make my life wonderful, and I want nothing more than to share my life with you." I could hear "Awes" all around me, but they were irrelevant. I was hanging on to every word he said. "Will you marry me?"

I nodded in between tears. "Yes! I would love to!" He took his hat off and wiped the tears from my eyes, making me giggle. I could tell by his grin that he was overjoyed. He took the engagement ring out of the box and closed it back up to protect the other bands that went with it. I held out my left hand and he slipped the ring onto my ring finger. We both stood up and kissed tenderly. Everyone cheered as we embraced, sharing in our jubilation.

"I'm going to have a son-in-law!" My father came up and gave us both a big bear-hug, and then took a moment to admire my ring. He looked at Link. "Great choice, Link! It's stunning!" Link nodded.

"I love it!" I beamed, looking at my father and then back at Link. "I'm so excited to marry you!" I ran into his arms and we held each other close.

"I'm excited to marry you!" He kissed the top of my head.

Amy jumped up and down. "You two are going to get married?!"

Link and I came out of our embrace and I crouched down and placed my hands on my knees to get at eye-level with her. "Yes, we are getting married!"

"That's good!" She smiled. "So you're married now?"

I tittered. "No, we have to have a wedding first."

"Oh." She thought to herself for a second. "That's right! Weddings need a ring-bearer and a flower-girl! Can I be your flower-girl?"

I picked her up in my arms. "Yes! I would love for you to be my flower-girl!" I spun her around as she laughed and cheered. I set her down and she ran off to play with a new doll that she got. I looked at my father. "When did Link ask for your blessing?"

He and Link laughed. "When he and I went fishing." He put his hand on Link's shoulder. "He was so timorous, but determined to tell me how much he loved you. His words and conviction assured me all the more that he's the right man for you."

I hugged him. "Thank you, Papa...I love you."

"I love you too, Pumpkin." He replied.

I stopped hugging my father and grabbed Link's hand, squeezing it gently. "I love you."

"I love you too." He gave my hand a squeeze too.