Zelink: And she wished

Chapter 12 - Princess's champion

The two were standing in front of the huge castle gates.

"This is it then." Zelda exhaled nerviously as she clenched her fists.

Link nodded. He offered her his hand in the means of comfort. As Zelda responded with tightly grisping his hand they walked through the gates all the way to inside the castle. They soon reached the throne room and saw the King, Zelda's father sit at the very end of the room in his huge thronechair. The moment he saw Link and Zelda he jumped up from the chair and almost ran to them.

"Zelda.. My dear Zelda is that really you?" He hugged his daughter and exclaimed as excitment took over his previously depressed face.

"Father.." She smiled fondly responding to the hug of her parent.

"Welcome back home.. I've missed you so much.." The King almost shed a tear, or two.

The two shared a sweet and tender moment together, as Link watched in the back hoping the King would not banish him from the land completely.
After the whole situation was explained and everything was made clear, the King was not mad at Link, however, he thanked him from the bottom of his heart for bringing his daughter, and only family, safely back home. He got his utter respect and promised to make him the knight that was supposed to lead all of the knights in Hyrule but most of all, stay at Zelda's side, just as he had to this point.

Zelda was walking along the long hallways with Link at her side. "I had no idea this place was so big." She admired the beautiful architecture of the castle. They made their way to Zelda's bedchamber. And in there, the center of the room waited the Princess's royal dress. Link waited outside as she changed onto the dress, that seemed so unnatural to her, yet she had been wearing that for the past years almost every day.

She stepped out of the door. "Well?" She laughed.

"Just as beautiful as before, my Princess." Link admired her beauty. "This makes me feel nostalgic, it's been so long since the days we spent together in the castle." He smiled.

Zelda giggled. "I suppose so." She then smiled right back at him.

"Oh, but we should go." Link then remembered as he gazed upon the direction of the old wooden clock that slowly counted seconds. "You promised to be in the throne room exactly at four."

Zelda had her left hand on her hip. "And? How much time do I have now?" She asked with a bit of an bored tone.

"Two minutes and thirteen seconds." He responded.

"Ack!" She startled. She grabbed her appointed knight by his arm and left running downstairs. Link stumbled and almost flew behind Zelda as she rushed through the stairs. "We have no time to waste in that case! Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" She huffed without even looking at Link who was dragging behind her in the ground at this point.

Link then finally managed to correct his steps and was now running behind the Princess without no problem. "I would've, but it's not my fault it took you forty-five minutes to change your clothes!" He then responded smirking but huffing as well.

Zelda looked at him over her shoulder giving him the 'aren't you funny' look as she rolled her eyes.

As they reached the entrance to the throne room five floors lower, Zelda leaned on her knees breathing heavily. "Why... Why did we come to here again?" She asked as her long brown hair drained at her shoulders to covering up her sight.

"Your father wanted to host a ceremony of some sort to celebrate your return... I guess.. They're making me a real knight as well.." Link huffed in response as he sat at the stairs.

As the two catched their breath they were finally ready to enter the room. As the doors opened they saw hundreds of people standing there cheering to celebrate their return. An full orchestra was playing a melody that sounded somehow so familiar to Zelda in the background. "Pst, where do I know that melody from?" She whispered to Link as they walked along the red carpet royally.

"Are you kidding me?" Link whispered back. "That's your lullaby, the most iconic song in the history of Hyrule."

"Ah. I think I remember." She whispered once more as memories of her mother started returned to her. She could almost hear her sweet voice singing the melody to her young daughter before she fell asleep in her head. She also remembered how this same melody was played in the royal funeral of mother. It was a different sounding version though. She remembers it being a much sadder one. It truly had made her heart broke. But father never cried, nor did he alter. He was fine even after Zelda and him were left alone in their grief. She had always wondered why this was. Did father not love mother? Oh, but now was not the time to think about such, sad thoughts.

The two walked all the way through the long, long room with their heads up high looking rather regal. The King was already standing in front of his throne chair welcoming Zelda with open arms. As Zelda reached the pedestal she turned to face the enormous crowd and performed a gentle curtsy. And as Link walked next to her he bowed. The crowd was crazy. It felt so weird to be under the eyes of so many people, bit by bit, she grew anxious. But she tried to hide it behind a smile just for the sake of her father.

"Our dear Princess Zelda has finally arrived back to us!" The King exclaimed as she raised the hand of his daughter to the air, like she had just won an armwrestling competition or something.
After another boring twenty minutes of nothing but talking it was finally Link's turn in the spotlight. But it turned out it had to be Zelda who blessed him with the ritual of becoming a knight. It was no problem actually. The two just did not expect that.

Link knelt down in front of Zelda, the King and the crowd and offered the Princess his hand.
"Hero of Hyrule," Zelda started carefully. She had no idea what to say but Link always said to just 'go with the flow' so that's just what she'll do. "I thank you sincerely of your protection toward me, as well as the kingdom itself. You have proven yourself worthy of the blessings of the ancient goddess Hylia as well as gained the utter trust of the royal family. We pray for your protection for the future, and we hope that... That you will continue to surprise us with your amazing skills in the battlefield." Zelda smiled as she gazed upon her hero who was looking at the ground holding his other hand at his heart. "Thank you, Hylian champion. We truly hope you will accept to be called by that title, we have decided to dub the most skilled individual of Hyrule. So say I, Zelda of Hyrule."