The Legend of Zelda: Blood and Spirit

Chapter 18: Sunshine at Midnight

Chapter 18: Sunshine at Midnight

"You… you want to have a… what?" Sheik asked Link and Zelda as calmly as she could, despite the fact that the request that they had just made to her made her want to scream.

"An elopement," Zelda beamed insistently.

"You do know what that is, don't you Sheik?" Link asked, remembering that she had told him her tribe did not celebrate marriages whatsoever.

The Sheikah leader glared at him, knowing that being bitter and angry was the only thing that could keep her from breaking down into tears of heartache. "Of course I know what an elopement is," she snapped. "And I'm sorry to tell both of you this, but my tribe is ill-equipped to perform such rites. We haven't held a marriage ceremony in this village in decades, centuries even."

"Oh, well we could show you how we hold weddings up in Skyloft," Zelda offered. "And it doesn't have to be anything too extravagant. It can be small and simple, and we'd be just fine with that."

"Why?" Sheik asked with genuine confusion. Though she didn't know much about weddings, she knew that they were normally large, fancy affairs: elaborate ceremonies put on by hundreds of spectators, elegant outfits and decorations, songs and dances. But the kind of event that Link and Zelda were asking the Sheikah tribe to hold for them was a far cry from that sort of fantastical imagination and Sheik didn't really understand why they would want something so unimpressive and commonplace.

"Because we love each other," the hero said plainly as he took the girl's hands and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

Sheik took in a deep breath as she tried to glance away from them, but she found that she was unable to. With a sad frown, she watched every tiny move that implied romance shared between the two of them but as she did, she realized something. They really did love each other, in the truest sense of the word if they were both so willing to make a commitment to each other as serious as marriage without a moment's hesitation or doubt. And it was for that reason that she knew she had to do this for the hero and the girl, even if it would hurt her on a level that they would never know.

"Alright, fine," Sheik finally said, crossing her arms and sighing. "I'll talk to the village elders and see if they can get the people assembled to put something together for the two of you… When do you want it to happen?"

"Tonight," Link and Zelda both said in immediate unison.

Sheik raised an eyebrow at the two of them. "Tonight?" she asked incredulously. "What's the rush…?" Her question trailed off as she answered her own question just by glancing at the hero. She closed her mouth and bit her lip as she realized why both of them wanted this to happen as soon as possible. Though it was undesirable thought, all three of them understood well that Link was going to be gone sometime in the near future due to the corruption that was only currently being held at bay thanks to the Master Sword. Which meant that there wasn't much time left for the girl and the hero to be in love and thoroughly explained why they didn't want to put this off any longer. Both of them were still quite young, perhaps a bit too young to be getting married by most social customs, but in an extenuating circumstance such as the one they were in, an exception to the norm had to be made.

And so, realizing that anything that she could possibly say to try and diffuse their plans would be useless, Sheik shrugged and turned away from them to get to work but not before muttering under her breath: "I'll do my best…"

The stars shined bright and numerous in the dark heavens above Kakariko Village as Link and Zelda stood outside of the meeting hall of the Sheikah elders, folded in each other's arms as they gazed into the sparkling night sky. They had not been permitted to go into the council meeting with Sheik, since neither of them were Sheikah, and so they had to wait outside for the ultimate decision over whether or not they could have their elopement within the village. Both of them were somewhat anxious as they silently hoped that, within a few hours, they would finally be married, like they had always dreamed.