Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda Series or its characters. I also do not own "Beauty and the Beast", "Les Miserables", or any other musical or piece of music mentioned in this story. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Hello, everyone! Thank you again for your continued support! As always, please leave a review! I'd love to hear what you think! Enjoy chapter 38! ~Opal

Chapter 38: First Dress Rehearsal

Link's POV

The next couple of days zipped by...but they were pure bliss. I still can't believe that she said yes! I get to marry the love of my life and spend the rest of my days with her. It is a humbling and euphoric feeling. I am beyond excited for our future together; these past couple of nights have been filled with the kind of joy that makes one feel light-headed. I don't care what the future brings; so long as I can journey through life with her. She is the light of my life; the song in my head...forever enduring and endearing.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Fiyero!" A voice sang from the other side. "Fiyero, it's time for rehearsal. Come on and get up, sleepy head!" She sang again; making up her own song.

Silly girl...I couldn't help but smirk. "Five more minutes, Elphaba!" I screamed, pretending that I just woke up, even though I was already ready for the day.

The front door suddenly unlocked and in came Sally, swinging keys on a keyring around her finger. "Forgot a little detail, dear Fiyero. Don't give the wicked witch a copy of your house keys!" She winked.

I snorted. "I suppose 'No Good Deed goes unpunished'?"

"That will be my line, thank you." She curtsied. I got up and approached her, wrapping my arms around her and bringing her into an embrace. I kissed her tenderly, squeezing her to bring her closer to me. She exhaled through her nose and chuckled softly.

We came out of our embrace and I looked at my calendar on the wall. "So it is the 28th?" I looked at her.

"Yes. Fast couple of days, huh?" She smiled as she put her hands on my shoulders.

"Fast, but incredible!" I gazed into her eyes as she brought her hands down to my chest, her ring shining out of the corner of my eye. I blushed as she leaned towards me and kissed me again.

She stepped back and reached into her satchel, bringing out the music and script for "Wicked". She glanced at it, and then at me. "You ready?"

I nodded and grabbed my copies from my coffee table. We sat down for a half an hour on the couch going over some of our lines and then it was time to leave to join the other cast members for our first group rehearsal. I grabbed my bag and we both mounted Epona to head to Castle Town. When we arrived to the Hyrule House of the Arts, it was already apparent that everyone knew of our engagement. We opened the door and everyone whooped and hollered as soon as they saw us. "If it isn't the lovebirds!" Mr. Cathbird crowed proudly. "Congratulations!"

"Finally, Sir Link's getting hitched!" Another male cast member bellowed with delight.

They surrounded us both and a flood of congratulatory remarks ensued, followed by girls young and old admiring Sally's ring. "Ahem!" A woman cleared her throat loudly. "Best friend of the bride-to-be coming through!" Tilanya burst through the crowd and hugged Sally, grabbed her left hand to look at her ring, and then jumped up and down. It was a fun sight! She then took my right hand in her left and Sally's left hand in her right hand so we formed a circle. She squeezed our hands and took us both into a group hug as she squealed. Sally and I laughed as she nearly lost it in her excitement. "Okay...I think I have my composure back." She winked. "So when's the big day?"

"We actually haven't decided yet." Sally answered, grabbing my arm and looking up at me. "I want it to be when we're both ready."

I kissed the top of her head. "I'm ready when you are."

"We should talk about that sometime soon." We both laughed.

"Hmm..." Tilanya put her finger to her chin. "Springtime would be lovely with the flowers blooming...but that increases the risk for rain if you want an outdoor wedding...but too late in the summer might be too hot..."

"I agree, you make a valid point, Til." Sally beamed. "So perhaps late May or early June?" She looked at me. "What do you think?"

I laid my hand on Sally's shoulder. "Sounds perfect to me!"

"So the general time of year is planned!" Tilanya raised her arms and cheered. She and Sally hugged each other again.

"Hey, Sally!" Martha came up to us. "Hi, Link!"

"Hello!" I replied.

"Hey, Martha!" Sally said.

I noticed the basket in Martha's arms. As I thought about what it could be, she reached in and pulled out a set of hand-sewn potholders and mitts. "I made these for the two of you as an engagement gift."

She gave them to Sally and they embraced. "They are lovely. Thank you so much, Martha!"

They broke out of their embrace. I looked at Martha and grinned. "Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you." We all smiled at each other.

"All right, everyone, let's start from the beginning and do a read-through." Mr. Cathbird announced. "Miss Petersen is very busy today, and so she will not be here for the rehearsal." We all sat down in the theatre seats with our scripts. "She is, however, insisting that we all have a dress rehearsal today so everyone can get acclimated to the costumes and makeup. Before that, I need the choir to come onstage so I can give you a few directions regarding your placements. After that we'll all get ready." The choir members all stood up and headed onstage while the rest of us got to talking again for a while.

I won't lie; I felt intimidated as I looked at the confident and practiced faces surrounding me. I practiced too, but knowing how much more experience everyone around me had made me feel inadequate. I could hide these feelings from most, but not Sally. She grabbed my hand and kissed it as she sat next to me. "You've got this."

I nodded. "You're right." I looked up in reaction to Mr. Cathbird tapping his fingers against a music stand in front of him.

After getting ready backstage, we began a run-through of the entire musical. Things were going pretty smoothly, until I messed up on my part in the song "Dancing Through Life." I felt like a complete idiot, stopping mid-phrase as soon as I realized that I messed up on the lyrics. Honestly, I was surprised I hadn't messed up earlier; I wasn't used to singing in front of people.

Sally, who was dressed as Elphaba; complete with green-painted skin, came right up to me and put my hands in hers. "Hey, don't be so down on yourself."

I tried to hide my shame. "I'm not acting down."

"Liar." She replied bluntly.

"Miss Elphaba. This isn't in the script." Mr. Cathbird spoke out.

"Mr. Cathbird; if you would please give us a minute? I only want to help." Sally looked at him earnestly. "We all need support sometimes."

Mr. Cathbird nodded. "Go on."

Sally turned back to me. "You are doing so well."

"It's my turn to call you the liar." I frowned. "You're so good at this; so calm and collected..." I shook my head. "I can't compare. I mean, it's my first dress rehearsal and I fell apart."

She placed her hand on my cheek and held it there. "You can't expect perfection without practice." She kissed me lightly on the lips. "I've lost count of all of the times I've messed up on lines or notes over the years."

I put my hand over hers that was still on my cheek. "Thank you, I needed that. I have been so nervous."

"Can we quit with the love-fest?!" Shouted the gentleman playing Boq. Neither Sally nor I know him that well. He is a grumpy and arrogant man; seemingly content with going about his life bringing others down while admiring himself and his "Chiseled arms." I definitely am not impressed with the guy.

"Give it a rest, Nikolay!" Sally rolled her eyes.

"OOooooo!" He teased her. "Now that our leading lady has the Hero of Twilight by her side, she likes to act invincible!" He huffed and glared at her. "It would be in your best interest to understand your role in society as a woman..."

"Hmph!" Sally protested. "And what is my supposed role in society?"

"To cater to the whims of your man, clean the house, and raise children, of course!" He spat at the ground and cackled. "That's all you'll ever amount to!"

"That wasn't polite, Niko-" Mr. Cathbird began.

I was already grabbing Niko-whatever-the-hell-his-name's shirt collar before Mr. Cathbird could finish his sentence. "How dare you!? I WON'T let you speak to her like that!"

"DAMN IT DUDE! COOL IT!" He shouted. I released my grip on his shirt. "You don't have to go parading around that you're her man!"

"He was PROTECTING her, dumbass." Martha put her hands to her hips. "Like a good man should."

"While it is admirable of you to stand up for your fiance I won't tolerate violence in the theatre unless it is necessary for the staged production, sir Link." Mr. Cathbird said coolly, pushing his glasses up his nose.

I took a breath and nodded. "My apologies, Mr. Cathbird."

We ran through the rest of the script and took a break around 1 for lunch. Sally and I packed some sandwiches and apples and were eating them while sitting in the second row in front of the stage. Everything was fine, except for the fact that because I was in my scarecrow outfit, the sleeves and torso of my costume were stuffed with straw, and it was itchy! It wasn't too bad during the run-through but now that we were sitting and I had nothing to distract me from the discomfort, it was driving me crazy. Tilanya was next to Sally and I, with me on the left of Sally and her on Sally's right. She was going on and on about wedding ideas with Sally while we ate; thinking that I was still engaged, she asked "So what do you think of that, Link?"

"Huh, what?" I replied stupidly, rubbing my back using the back of the seat.

"The baguettes that we were talking about...with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top before they're baked?" She looked at me with bewilderment.

"Oh! Yeah! Um...sure! Sounds great..." I struggled with producing a natural-sounding response.

Tilanya raised a brow. "You weren't listening to us at all, were you?"

Sally noticed me trying to casually scratch my shoulder. God, I was hot and itchy! "Link...is something about the costume bothering you?"

"No, not at all!" I insisted as she reached into the collar of my shirt and pulled out some of the straw. I heaved a sigh of relief. "Much better. Thank you, Sally."

"Of course!" She smiled.

After lunch we rehearsed for a couple more hours and then changed out of our costumes and back into our regular clothing. I finished changing before Sally and waited for her in one of the rows of the theater. About 20 minutes later she and Tilanya came out. "Goodness gracious!" Tilanya chuckled. "It sure took a while to get Sally's green makeup off!"

"You mean she didn't want to go around town looking sick?" I laughed. "What would be the fun in that?"

"Didn't want to give the public too much of a shock!" Sally giggled.

"I for one am glad to be rid of all the straw!" I sighed. "At least I don't have to wear the straw for the whole musical."

Sally nodded. "I think we should check and see if Miss Petersen and Mr. Cathbird are okay with you wearing an extra long-sleeved shirt underneath to help keep it from making you itchy."

"Wonderful idea!" I rubbed her arm. We beamed at each other and the room seemed to freeze and it was just us for a second. It brought me such peace being with her; like a warm and gentle breeze kissing your face.

The daydream was interrupted when Tilanya exclaimed "Awwww! I love how much you two love each other! It's the cutest thing I have ever seen!" She squealed. "I still can't believe you two are getting married! Ahhhhhh!"

We all chuckled. Sally and I said goodbye to the rest of the group and started to head home on Epona. Sally squeezed me tightly from behind as I led Epona, rubbing her face against my back. "You did a great job today, Link. I'm so proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone like this."

I looked back at her. "Thank you, Sally…" My voice trailed off as she rested her head on my back. "Do you really think I did a good job?"

"Absolutely!" She exclaimed. She reached over and gently took Epona's reins from me. "Epona, let's stop for a second, girl." Epona obeyed. She got off Epona and looked up at me. "Come on down for a second."

I looked at her with confusion as I got off of Epona. "Is everything alright?"

She held her right hand up and gently cradled my face. "You did well, my love. You really did." She smiled gently and slightly tilted her face in adoration. "Thank you for being willing to take this on with me. I have always wanted to play as Elphaba and I am beyond excited that my fiance gets to play as my Fiyero." She lifted her hand and ran her fingers through my hair. "My incredibly handsome and selfless Fiyero." We both giggled.

"Always." I whispered, taking her hand and kissing it. "I am happy to help you realize that dream, my love."

She stood closer and laid her head on my chest. "But this life is even better than a dream." She lifted her head and looked at me earnestly. "A dream could never amount to the pure joy that I feel being loved by you and getting to enjoy a future with you."

"You are my future, Sally." I whispered intensely and sincerely. "I would never want a future that doesn't have you in it." I rubbed her cheek with my thumb. "My beautiful and sweet Sally…I love you so much…words can't even describe how much of an impact you've had on my life. I was so lost without you, and I don't have to be lost anymore. You're my soulmate."

"As you are my soulmate, Link." She rubbed noses with me. "You have done so much for me and yet you continue to do more. You have saved me in so many ways."

"Sally…" I looked at her eyes longingly. I then moved my face and pressed my cheek to hers.

"Kiss me…" She whispered in my ear. I wrapped her up tightly in my arms and kissed her passionately as she kissed back with just as much passion. After a couple of minutes and coming up for air, she sighed. "Link…"

Her calling my name convinced me to hold her even tighter as my slightly open mouth came closer to hers. She opened her mouth hungrily. I had a feeling she wanted to feel closer to me. We started to French kiss and it felt so intoxicating as we touched tongues for the first time. She whimpered happily as we continued. I guess I was right, and I'm so glad I was. After a couple more minutes we both started to get breathless. "God, I can't wait to marry you!" I whispered in her ear.

"Me, neither!" She grinned. "Can it be tomorrow?" We both chortled and embraced.

"Let's get going before we get too cold out here." I held out my hand to help her get on Epona.

"I don't think I'm going to get too cold." She teased. "With how hot you are and how heated you just made things, I'm not sure it would be possible!"

My cheeks were hot, but I laughed it off. "Well, you know! I just have that effect!" She tittered and took my hand. I hoisted her onto Epona before getting on as well and riding back to Eldinaire Village. When I dropped her off at her house that evening I delayed goodbye as long as I could, holding her close and slowly swaying us both back-and-forth. After a minute I stopped swaying and playfully licked her cheek. "A little parting gift." I said as she giggled. I kissed her lips gently. "I'll definitely come back for more later, beautiful."

She blushed immensely. "I can't wait!" We kissed again. I pulled back as she blew me one more kiss. "Goodnight, handsome."

"Goodnight, gorgeous." I blew her back a kiss and watched her walk inside before getting back on Epona and heading back home. When I got inside and locked the door, I couldn't stop thinking about today, especially how romantic we got together. My heart fluttered at the thought as I laid in bed. Like her, I want to be married now. I just want her here so badly. I want to fully show her how much I love her and how much she means to me. I will have to settle on dreaming for now, knowing that it won't be long until we're husband and wife.