Endless War

XXIX

"Love conquers all."

-Unknown

To avoid provoking her, Link placed the Silent Princess in her hair. Unlike Zelda, who did her hair every morning, he wasn't a skilled hairstyler, but he was creative.

Her hair was loose and not done in any way, but it was tangle-free. So he placed the stem in her hair before getting a length of her red hair and wrapping it around it, securely keeping the flower in a loop. Then he did some final touches to her hair, which looked halfway decent.

All during this process, Link wondered why she wasn't attacking. She had been thirsting for his blood moments earlier and was now gently breathing.

Whatever. If he died, he died. But he would die looking at the thing he wanted to see most.

Once he was sure her hair was fine, and the Silent Princess was displayed prominently, he knelt to one knee, carefully avoiding looking at her face. Not yet. Not now. He had to finish the preparations.

Still on his knee, he pulled the silver ring out. This was the ring his mother had once worn before she had perished. His father's soldiers had found it and given it to their commander. In return, his father had given it to him.

"For your future wife," he had said while looking slyly at a princess deep in her studies.

Link examined it once more. It was pure silver, with a small diamond set in it. It was simple, the way beautiful things were.

The way Zelda was.

Gently, he placed it on her left ring finger. He admired its place on her hand before slowly letting it down.

Concentrating on what to do next, he pulled out his father's silver ring, an exact copy of his mother's.

"King Rhaom," Link had asked one day, "why would my father give me his ring?"

Only a royal grin. "He has no wife anymore. He might as well give it to his son so he can give it to his future wife."

He put this one on his left ring finger and slowly stood up.

This time, he looked at Zelda's face. It seemed to be frozen in time, uncomprehending what was going on.

To hell with it, he thought.

He leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

Something in the back of his mind told him that he ought not to kiss a monster, that this was dangerous territory. But another part told him that kissing the one you love was natural. He chose to listen to his heart and kissed her ever deeper, his tongue exploring her mouth, his hands pressing her body closer to his.

And slowly, Zelda responded. Her tongue began to move, and Link graciously let her have her way.

When the two finally pulled away, they breathed hard, sweat running down their faces. But most important, Zelda was no longer the same.

Her hair turned back into a luscious blonde. Her lined skin turned flawless pale once again. The black drained out of her ceremonial robes and back into pure white. The Triforce clasp was flipped back to its proper position, and the red mini-Triforces were snuffed out mid-air.

Best of all, her green eyes were crying.

"I love you. I love you with all my heart, Link.

"Thank you, my love."

....................................................................................................

The blood moon ceased, but the monsters were still running rampant. Link and Zelda ran down the stairs holding hands, with Yuri looking questioningly at the two. But they ignored him, though Zelda paused momentarily to coo over the baby before Link gently reminded her they needed to hurry. She asked about Hilda, but Link wasn't ready to explain how the princess died. Yuri looked even less enthusiastic about spilling the beans, looking down at the bundled baby.

Outside, it was a losing battle. Only a dozen or so men were still fighting, and they were weakening. Shepherd had several new cuts on his face, and his iconic mustache had been burned off.

"Father!" Link cried.

Shepherd looked back and spotted his son. He dodged a moblin swing and landed next to his son.

"Ahoy! You did a great job, Link. And welcome back, Princess Zelda. I think it's time we get out of here. What say you?"

"I agree, Father. But how?"

The princess was back to normal but still exhausted from being the Empress.

"I might be able to get us out of here...by opening a portal to Hyrule."

Yuri nodded, stroking the baby's face. "Good. Get us out of here, and I'll bake you all the fruitcake you could want."

She smiled weakly and gently slapped his arm. Her knees wobbled, but she still nodded her head. "OK. Get - General, look out!"

At that moment, a black moblin swung its heavy club, sending the older man flying. It then turned its hungry eyes on the trio.

"Princess!" Yuri shouted or screamed; it was hard to tell. "Now!"

Despite being stripped of her strength, Zelda could open the promised portal. But almost immediately, the portal started shrinking.

Yuri was the first to jump, taking the child with him. Zelda jumped next, landing in the soft green fields of Hyrule. She was home.

Link hadn't jumped yet. He was fighting to save his father, who was roaring in pain.

"Link! Jump already, for Hylia's sake!"

"No man left behind. Especially not an old man!"

"You think you're being funny? Your girlfriend is on the other side."

"NO! I can't! I-I refuse! You're the only family I have left!"

"Don't worry about me! I can handle myself; besides, I still need to find Ghost and Soap. Leave me. That's an order!"

Time seemed to slow down.

Why was the world so cruel? He had saved Zelda, but why did his father pay the price? Was he cursed to bring doom and suffering to all who knew him?

Link stared at him longer than he thought because he suddenly smelled Zelda behind him.

"Link? Link, we have to go!"

He felt himself being dragged backward, watching as his father jumped off a wall and onto a barrel before using that barrel to sail over the castle wall.

And then the portal closed.

His father. Gone.

He started crying yet again. 

This time, Zelda came to comfort him, just like she did in his dreams.