The Legend of Zelda: Wisdom and Courage

Chapter 3: The Sea

The sight of Clock Town took Zelda's breath away the moment she laid eyes on it. The place was a lively, bustling community, bright and colorful and full of life. It had a different feel then the often overbearing Hyrule Castle Town though. Instead of being loud and busy as the town that surrounded the princess' castle home was, Clock Town was festive and glowing warm in the early afternoon sun, giving it an almost holiday feeling.

"Oh Link…" she sighed with wonder as she stepped through the doors of the tower and into the streets of the town, with Link following shortly after her. "It's even more amazing than you said it was…"

Link looked around at the town and smiled, remembering traversing it years ago as a child. "It's hardly changed at all…" he said thoughtfully.

"I can't believe that I'm actually here!" Zelda exclaimed happily. "For so long, this world has only existed in the stories that you told me. I never dreamed that I'd actually be able to step inside of it! Thank you so much Link!" Unable to contain her excitement any longer, she joyously and tightly embraced Link as a showing of her gratitude.

Link's cheeks reddened a bit as he smiled warmly at her. "Well…" he said somewhat bashfully, finding that he was enjoying the princess's close proximity to him. "I'm glad I could bring you. I always wanted to come back here."

"Oh, I want to see everything!" Zelda grinned, looking around the town after the two of them parted. "Where should we go first?"

Link thought for a moment before responded. Indeed, there was much to see and do, not only in Clock Town, but in Termina as a whole. He wasn't sure if three days would be enough to even come close to seeing everything. "Well, we could always-"

"Excuse me!" A loud, high pitched voice called out as a small, bright flash of yellow flashed by the two of them. No more than a second after it passed by them however, it stopped itself and whizzed back around and stopped in front of the hero.

"Wait a minute…" the bright yellow fairy said, carefully examining him. "Green hat… green clothes… could it be? Link… Is that really you?"

Link smiled at the fairy who had been his constant companion the first time he was in Termina. "Hi Tatl," he greeted warmly. "It's been a while."

"Link!" Tatl exclaimed with excitement. "Wow! Look at you! You're all grown up now! Last time you were here, you were just a little kid! What took you so long? You said that you'd come back to visit, but it's been years! Skull Kid, Tael and I even put up that ladder and those bridges so you could get here easier!"

"So that's where they came from…" Link noted to the princess beside him. "Oh right! Tatl, this is Zelda. Zelda, this is Tatl."

"Pleased to meet you, Tatl," Zelda smiled politely at the yellow fairy. "Link's told me a lot about you."

"Zelda?" Tatl said, flying close to the princess' face. "You mean THE Princess Zelda?" The fairy laughed slyly. "Link told me a lot about you too. In fact, he hardly ever shut up about you!" Tatl giggled some more as Zelda smirked at Link.

"Is that true?" she asked, giving a small laugh as Link's cheeks reddened.

"Um…" the hero stammered, trying to hide his nervousness on the subject. Indeed, during his first tenure away from Hyrule, he had thought much about the princess and how much he had missed her company. It was for that reason that, upon saving Termina from its troubles, Link had made his main priority to return home and reunite with Zelda once more.

Thankfully, before the hero could say anything else that might embarrass him further, the energetic fairy cut in once more. "So, what are you two doing here anyway?" Tatl asked curiously. "Have you come to town for the Carnival of Time? It's in three days you know. Isn't that ironic, Link?"