Chapter 1
Laughing, Link returned Ruto’s enthusiastic hug, tolerated Nabooru’s affectionate ruffling of his hair, nodded to Rauru and Impa, deftly dodged Darunia’s attempt to crush him to death in the name of “Brotherhood”, and finally knelt to embrace Saria and kiss her on the cheek before plopping down on the picnic blanket beside Zelda. The others quickly followed his example, pouring themselves glasses of wine; with the exception of Saria, who poured herself a glass of sparkling juice.
Zelda saw her personal guard ranged around the field; far enough away so as not to impose on the gathering, but close enough to come quickly if something happened. The Princess, soon to be Queen, smiled in amusement; given her current company, the guards truly were redundant. With a soft laugh, Zelda turned back to the gathering.
“It is good to see you all again,” she said. “It has been a while.”
“We should get together more often!” Ruto said, half pouting.
“Rebuilding Hyrule is of primary importance right now,” Zelda said, "as well you know. The six of you must heal the damage Gannondorf caused the world, and it is my job, and Link’s, to heal the damage to the people; that necessitates our being in separate places.”
“Still--” Ruto protested.
“Hey!” Nabooru interjected. “We’re all here to celebrate and be thankful, not fight!”
“That’s right!” Link agreed, getting to his feet, wine-glass in hand. “And I, for one, am thankful to be here celebrating a full year of peace, surrounded by good food and even better friends; and speaking of celebrations, I have an announcement to make.
“About a month ago I asked Zelda to marry me, and she consented--” He was abruptly cut off by cheers from his friends, and was unfortunately not quick enough this time to avoid being squashed by Darunia. Fortunately he was saved from his near-death experience by Nabooru and Ruto, who pulled him away from the well-meaning Sage of Fire, only to infringe on his breathing capabilities themselves, though not with nearly the same intensity; this was quickly followed by demands about wedding plans.
After the ruckus had died down again, Link resumed his speech.
“We haven’t made any official announcements yet; we thought all of you should be the first to know, seeing as you’re pretty much our family.”
“We will be making a formal announcement of our engagement at the Festival of Farore, next week,” Zelda said. “And we have decided to have the wedding on the same day as my Coronation.”
“That’s pretty soon,” Ruto commented. “Your coronation is in less than a month, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that is true,” Zelda said. “But it is inevitable that Link and I will marry; we did not see any advantage in delaying it unnecessarily.”
“Well then!” Darunia’s voice boomed, as he raised his very large wine glass. “A toast! To the union of our dear Brother and Sister! May their lives together be long and filled with happiness!”
~*~
That evening, after a full day of socializing and catching up, everyone, save Impa, had returned to their various temples to continue their efforts in healing the world; a process which, despite Zelda’s attempts to explain, Link did not fully understand. Impa had opted to stay the night because, as she was effectively Zelda’s surrogate mother, she had “the right and obligation to discuss with Zelda the details of her upcoming marriage.”
After Impa had retired to the guest quarters that had been reserved for her, Link escorted Zelda to hers, an action which had little to do with their romance; after the defeat of Gannondorf, Link had become Zelda’s unofficial bodyguard. His bedroom was within her quarters, next to her own; the same room Impa had occupied when she had been Zelda’s attendant.
“Would you like to come in?” Zelda asked, when they got to the door of her bedroom.
“I wouldn’t dare!” Link laughed. “Impa may be halfway across the castle, but I wouldn’t put it past her to descend on me like a carrion bird on a corpse if I did anything ‘less than gentlemanly.’” Zelda giggled at the image Link had painted in her mind.
“Morbid analogies aside, you have a point,” Zelda said. “Well, goodnight, my hero.” She kissed him. “And please do sleep. I would not want you sitting up the whole night watching my door; I have guards to do that.”
“As you command, your Majesty,” he said, jokingly. He pressed another kiss to the princess’s forehead then went to call her guards.
~*~
Link had not quite fallen asleep when he got the unnerving feeling that he was being watched. Slowly, so as not to alert the intruder, Link shifted so that he could reach his sword by the bed. He glanced around the room, spotting a shadow in a corner near the window.
Link jumped up from the bed, sword in hand, and charged the intruder; bringing his sword to rest against the other person’s throat. The person hadn’t moved at all in reaction to the attack; Link knew that, if not for the darkness, the intruder would be meeting his eyes evenly.
Link channeled enough energy into the blade to illuminate the other person’s face, then nearly stepped back in shock.
“Zelda?”
“I am _not_ Zelda!” The masked person growled; spitting the princess’s name like a curse. He reached up, pulled down his mask, and removed the turban, tossing it to the floor. His features were delicate but undeniably male and his hair fell only to his chin. “I am Sheik.”
“There is no Sheik.” Link said flatly, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “What are you? A Phantom? What do you want here?”
Link barely had time to register the stricken expression on “Sheik’s” face before the shorter male, with lightning fast movements, struck the sword from Link’s hand, then grabbed Link by his bare shoulders and pressed him up against the wall to their right before the sword’s light flickered out and sight was lost to darkness once more.
It took a moment for Link to realize that “Sheik” was kissing him, insistently, desperately. Link tried to push the deceptively slighter youth away from him; “Sheik” did stop kissing him but still clung to him, trembling violently.
“I’m real!” the Sheikah gasped out, voice tinged with urgency. “I’m not a lie! I’m not a Phantom! I’m *real*!!!”
A sudden convulsion wracked Sheik’s body. Once it had passed, he reluctantly released Link and stepped away.
A few moments later, Link knew that he was alone in the room.
Feed the Muse!