A Pirate's Life For Me; Zelink, Pirate AU (The Legend Of Zelda)

Chapter Twenty

The reception was a delicious affair, but it was also enormously difficult; eating with a nondominant hand was something she never thought would be so hard.

Link wasn't any better off than she was because he was left handed. As they struggled to get the food into their mouths instead of just on the table, they watched the menagerie of people spread out before them. So many foreign faces had come to their wedding. So many people she didn't know.

Because of the happiness of her day, she had forgotten about her animosity. However, as she surveyed the multitude before her, the worry inside of her stomach stirred again. Her fingers tightened around Link's as she tried to take solace from their connection.

"Zelda? Are you alright," he asked in a worried tone.

She slowly shook her head. "I feel it again."

"You're worried? Now?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, now," she said as she stared at him. "I don't choose when it hits me." As she was speaking, the pit in her stomach exploded into full blown panic. Her hands tightened still further and she looked frantically through the crowd for something. Anything that could have produced this feeling. She felt a darkness, a horrible influence over her mind, and she was fighting the urge to scream and run away.

"Zelda, Zelda, there's nothing here. Everything is fine. It's all alright, look," he said. "Take a good look. The sun is shining. The war is finished. We've just gotten married. It's a good day... You don't have to be afraid."

As he spoke she melted into his one armed embrace and closed her eyes. He started to hum the song she had been singing only a day before.

She relaxed slightly, and as the influence passed she let out a long breath. "It's gone..."

Link smiled. "I'm glad. See? Nothing has happened."

Zelda smiled and then nodded. "Nothing has happened," she repeated to herself. She didn't know they were wrong.

_-:-_

The reception was over. Their guests were gone. The castle was silent once more, and the newly wedded pair had retired to their room.

Impa had assured them they would get their privacy while still having suitable security.

So there they were, alone in a room, Zelda in her wedding dress and Link in formal attire; their hands tied together as a symbol of their union.

She looked down at the silk cord and then finally raised her other hand to try to untie the firm knots.

Link tried as well but that old priest had tied some very nice knots. Zelda could have untied it easily if she'd had both of her hands available to her. She had a lot of experience with knots.

She stared as Link lifted their joined hands and used his teeth to work at the knot. It didn't seem to be working.

He stopped and considered something, lowering their joined hands, and then Zelda felt his eyes wander over her body.

She didn't feel uncomfortable because she had an idea of what he was looking for.

His right hand reached out and slipped into a hidden fold of her dress.

She shivered as his hand pressed against her waist through the pocket as he found what he was looking for. He pulled it free, and the silk cord that tied their hands together was sliced cleanly through.

Zelda pressed her lips together but she couldn't stop herself from laughing outright. "You knew."

Link smiled as he used her knife to cut the rest of the tie off of his hand. "Of course you had a knife hidden somewhere in your dress." He paused. "...I know my wife well enough to expect that."

My wife. Zelda's lips curled into a smile as he said those words. They were mere sounds in the air but they meant so much. She held out her hand for him to cut the rest of the cord.

Instead, he set the knife aside, and gently grasped her hand. He lifted it to his teeth again, and after a few moments he successfully worked the tie undone, and the silk dropped to the floor.

"I still think this has to be a dream," Link said as he raised his freed hand to caress the side of her face.

"Me too," she said, smiling as she replied. "To think we were this lucky..." Leaning into his hand, she closed her eyes as she hummed that same forgotten song. When she opened them again she saw Link was just looking at her with an expression of complete adoration. Zelda smiled as she turned away from him.

His hand that rested on her jaw slid around her neck, leaving a trail of electricity coursing on its path.

"Help me with this... would you?" she said softly. "I'd like to be able to breathe now..."

He smiled at the reminiscent words from the first time they had met in the castle.

"Of course," he said as he leaned past her shoulder and kissed her lightly behind her ear, and that alone was enough to make her blush, but then he added in a whisper, "captain."

She shivered at the word, and she felt as though fire were eating through her.

He worked agonizing slowly on the ties of her corset. The dress itself was open in the back, and the main purpose of her restrictive garment was to cover up her inconveniently placed scars.

She took her first deep breath as the last tie was removed, and the corset fell to her feet. She let the breath out, and then immediately sucked it back in when she felt the electrifying touch of his fingers on her ridged back.

"I only saw them for a second, before," he said softly, and then he leaned forwards and slowly pressed his lips to the scars.

Zelda caught her breath as she felt the unfamiliar pressure on her back as he kissed it. "You turned away really quickly," she said in a laughing, breathless voice. "You got so red," she chuckled, her face a similar shade.

"I was afraid you were about to kill me," he admitted.

She slowly turned her head to look back at him. "I thought about it..." she replied with a soft smirk.

"Ah, but you didn't. Why was that?" he asked playfully.

"Your embarrassment was... charming. And you didn't say anything about it... If you had, I may just have done it."

"Was that the only reason you didn't?"

Zelda turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to hear that I fancied you back then?"

He didn't respond.

"Well... I don't know if I did or not."

"And now?"

She started to laugh. "I think I hate you."

"You wound me," he said and then pulled her close to him. "Regardless... I love you."