Title: Bold

Summary: Link's not sure what to do. He's challenged Princess Zelda, and now she must show him that she can still be bold.. Which results in a greatly pleased Princess and a flustered Hero. Oneshot, slightly AUish. For my darling Princess Zelda-figure skater!

Genre: Humor/Romance

Couple: ZeLink!

A/N: A story for Princess Zelda-figure skater. :D Sorry it's three months late, doll! Told you I was writing you a Zelink! Did you doubt me? Well, I don't blame you...three months.

Disclaimer: The Triforce of Wisdom is constantly reminding me that I don't own Legend of Zelda. ... stupid talking triangle!

WARNING: The ending never happened...Ganon's sealed and Hyrule isn't lost beneath the waves.

And maybe I kinda used a bit of TV series Link's personality... D; oh well.

And...my use of italics.

NOTE: Probably to be rewritten later. :P And a sequel to follow, I do believe, to clear up this mess Zelda and Link have gotten into.

:) Enjoy, and please review!

"T-That's not true!"

Link smirked, crossing his arms behind his head and turning to face his pink-clad friend. Her face was flushed, as she was obviously annoyed with his words, and her tiny gloved fists were closed tightly, her now perfectly manicured nails digging into her palms.

How precious.

"Is too! C'mon, Zellie." He teased, closing a single eye so he could seem uninterested. "We all know Tetra's gone. In her place is a snooty little princess who can't stand to get dirty and makes everyone do everything for her."

So, maybe it wasn't the brightest idea to tease the most powerful woman in the entire kingdom of Hyrule, who just so happened to be a scary pirate in her free time.

"I do things by myself!" She huffed, taking a step forward to get in his face.

"Can you even run your own bath water?" He replied in a mocking tone. "You know, where I come from, we have to go out and gather water ourselves. And my poor little Aryll is being forced to learn to make her own clothes, while you get fancy jewels at the snap of a finger!"

Of course, he was being overdramatic and they both knew it. Her eyes narrowed, as though she were saying so that's how we're gonna play?

Give it your best shot, Zelda.

She put her hands on her hips.

"So what's it gonna take, Link? How can I prove to you I'm still awesome?"

"Well..." He said, making a thoughtful face and taking a few steps forward. She hurried after him, pulling at her skirt to make sure it didn't trail behind and get dirty. Of course, she caught Link's knowing smirk and dropped them hastily. "Do something bold."

"Something bold?" She questioned, making an adorably confused face. "What do you mean?"

"Do something bold and unexpected." He continued, grinning. "Something that a pretty little princess like yourself could get in trouble for."

"I'm not-!" She hissed, fists ballling up again. Link gave her head an affectionate pat. "Hey, don't touch me!"

"Why, are you going to throw me in the dungeon?" He continued teasing. She scowled, eyes narrowing again.

"Fine, I'll do it, if only to shut you up!"

With that, she turned on her heel (very fancy heeled shoes, he noticed with an amused smile), and stalked off, followed instantly by an attendant with a stack of paperwork in his hands that she'd put off to spend time with the stupid, arrogant jerk behind her.

"Fight me!"

Link sighed, pushing aside his book to look the determined princess in the eyes. She was holding...what was that, anyways? A fancy sort of sword Link had never seen before, seemingly covered with more gems than Link could count on his fingers, even if he had been born with ten hands.

"What?" He decided to say finally, pushing the tip of her blade away from his defenseless neck. "Why, exactly, would I fight you?"

"So I can prove to you how bold I am! Here I am, challenging the strong and handsome Hero of Winds!" She said, and he had to give her credit for buttering him up with the compliment. Still, the guards were already on edge with the exchange, and he knew if he were to even draw his weapon they'd have an arrow in him before he could even think of lifting his shield. In fact, her more personal bodyguard, Sheik, already had twitchy fingers, hand dangerously closer to his dagger.

"Zelda, I can't fight you, are you crazy?" He said, scolding her. "You're a princess, do you want me killed?"

She blinked, tapping her chin as though she had to think about it. His scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, I don't." She said finally, dropping the weapon and sulking. "I just want you to stop treating me like I'm useless."

"Find a use and I'll treat you differently." He said jokingly, picking up the weapon to re-examine it now that it was no longer a threat to him. She was the one to scowl then, shooting him a fiery glare. He acted indifferent, much to her annoyance.

"Seriously, that's getting annoying." She huffed, dropping herself into her chair in a very unladylike fashion that made her attendant wince.

"Well, excuse me princess. Please don't throw me in the dungeon!" He said dramatically, dropping to his knees as though pleading with her.

"Well of course not, sweetheart, what kind of princess would I be?" She said with a sickly sweetness. "Off with his head." She finished hotly. He pouted, standing again and dusting himself off.

"Ouch, Zel. I'm hurt."

She simply continued to glare at him, making him roll his eyes and pick the book back up.

"Anyways, it didn't work. You're still just a pretty princess with fancy swords." He announced, opening it up to a page so he could seem uninterested in their conversation. She let out a loud groan, shooting up so quickly that her chair flew backwards. She just kicked at it with a huff, storming from the library. The attendant looked to him in annoyance, and Link merely shrugged, shooting him a pitying look.

Everyone knew how difficult the princess was when she was angered.

"Give me a hint, please!"

"No way. If I tell you, how does that make you bold? I gave you the idea, so it would only be proving how bold I am."

"Link!" Truth be told, she looked ready to explode. It was time for him to give in, fall to his knees and beg for her not to kill him. That's how it went when it had been Tetra giving him that same glare, anyways. Things had been different then, however. He hadn't been so thrilled to watch her get angry then.

In fact, he wondered now why he hadn't noticed how cute she looked with reddened cheeks and that adorable pout on her face?

He shook his head rapidly, confusing Zelda.

Now, those were bold thoughts. He crossed his arms, stopping in his tracks and closing his eyes.

"I can't give you an example, so stop asking already!" He said, feeling warmth at his cheeks for thinking such things about Princess Zelda. Thinking of her as Tetra didn't help very much either, in fact it just made his cheeks burn more, and possibly made him feel worse about the whole thing. "You're supposed to have the Triforce of Wisdom, aren't you? Then why can't you figure out something so simple?

"Fine! I'll do it myself! I'll come up with something so bold, it'll give wimpy men like you a freaking heart attack!" She snapped, giving him the coldest glare he'd ever seen. It made him cringe.

Nice job, Link. You've gone too far this time.

She stalked off, fuming.

He didn't see Zelda for another week. He tried to comfort himself by reminding himself she was a princess, much busier now than she was before when they had traveled together, but still, he had the sinking feeling he'd taken it much too far and she was some where plotting his death.

When he finally did see her, he was greatly relieved, thinking she'd had time cool off and was now ready to be his friend again. Of course that were not the case. She was ignoring him, and when she did finally resuming talking to him, it was only to instruct him on what to do.

However, eventually they did speak again. First, it was light conversation - mainly about what things Hyrule needed that only a Hero could help; then they were back to joking in a friendly manner.

And then they were best friends, attached at the hip, and Link's head was spinning from the merry-go-round ride.

It seemed like Zelda had completely forgotten their little bet, and Link finally decided he was okay with that, that things were better like that. He enjoyed his time spent with her, the sweet smiles and how polite she could be; the gentle touches and the kind hand with which she ruled. It was something he never really saw with Tetra, who he had never really connected with as more than a friend. Maybe he ought to stop trying to get her back before he completely pushed her away.

He stepped out into the sunlit castle gardens, peering around for the princess. She had invited him, and by invited he meant practically ordered him to come, to the gardens to join her for an afternoon. Needless to say, he probably would have shown without the threat looming over his head, but Zelda didn't need to know that.

She was seated under a few hanging-trees on a bench engraved with portraits also seen on the tapestry in the throne room. (He was proud to point out a new addition to that collection - a lovely portrait displaying the adventures of the Hero of Winds.)

"Princess," He greeted with a cheeky grin as he sat down beside her. He much preferred to call her Zelda, but Sheik was still unhappy with him and was already eying him.

"Link." She smiled sweetly back, though he could see she looked slightly weary of something. Did she call him out here to bring him bad news? Was it to inform him of the waves of suitors sure to come for his lovely Zelda's hand in marriage?

He pushed those thoughts aside, leaning against the trunk of the tree rather than sit beside her. She turned on the bench so that she was facing him, biting at her lip slightly, as though she did not even know she were doing it. He quirked an eyebrow at her, resting his arms behind his head.

"What's up, then?" He asked, looking upwards at the leafy branches. "Didn't just call me out here for nothing, right?"

She sighed quietly before cracking another grin. "It's hardly nothing, honestly, it's just..." Her eyes flickered with something unfamiliar to him, and he tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Do you...recall the bet we made a while back? On my being bold?"

Sheik scoffed a tiny bit and was immediately glared at by Zelda, who proceeded to wave at him and shoo him off a few feet away. He was definitely annoyed with this. Link frowned, dropping his arms to cross them over his chest almost defensively.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well... What's the reward?"

"...What?" That was definitely not what he expected. No rash actions or threats to his life? She stared at him expectantly, and he thought for a moment. Finally, he was left to shrug.

"We never really specified. If you can get me to admit that you're bold, you can have whatever you want."

"Anything?" She pressed.

"Yes, Zelda." He rolled his eyes. "Why, what do you want?"

"Go to my coronation ball with me." She said much too quickly, before blushing and dropping her gaze to her skirts. "I know, you always tell me how much you hate dancing, but...If you don't go with me, who will? Some strange man I don't exactly know...I'd rather go with you."

Simple enough explanation, and enough to raise his hopes and quickly destroy them again.

"Okay then, sure."

"Deal?" She dropped to her knees before him, holding out her pinky. A goofy grin flashed on his face and he held out his own.

"Deal." He nodded his agreement. "But I hardly doubt that you ca-"

He was interrupted by a surprisingly quick movement from the princess that astounded him.

...

...

Oh Nayru. Could Zelda get any closer?

Link knew he should react, that he should somehow take control of this situation, but he found it kind of hard to think with her arms wrapped around his neck. He could smell her perfume, something flowery, and it was further hindering his thought process.

The most fearsome pirate in all the seven seas had just kissed him.

Well, technically, she isn't a pirate anymore, she's the Princess of Hyrule, and guardian of the Triforce of Wisdom...

Which definitely wasn't helping his case.

She drew back with a tiny shy smile on her face, though it was obvious that she was pleased with herself. Her cheeks were burning brightly, and he could feel his own glowing.

"W-what...I... you... what?" He stuttered, cheeks darkening as he embarrassed himself by attempting to speak...attempting being the key word here. She giggled a bit nervously, falling back on her lower legs.

"I...That was pretty bold, right?"

Oh.

Oh.

The bet, of course. Who was he kidding, entertaining the short-lived thoughts of a romance blossoming between himself and the princess?

"Yeah, I guess so. You got me." He said with unintentional gruffness. Her smile flickered a bit before fading completely.

"Link, I'm sorry." She muttered, looking down. "I, uh...Guess I crossed the line... A princess kissing her hero... Who could possibly...?"

"For a bet." He huffed, his lips curling into a pout.

"Partly..." She mumbled, before squeaking as his eyes turned back to her in surprise. "I mean, it was only supposed to be a kiss to prove I'm bold originally, but then I thought about it, and well...I didn't think it would be so bad kissing you after all, Link...because you're you...my best friend, right?"

Dammit Zelda.

How many more times was she planning to do that? Make his heart soar and then put an arrow through it...

"Right, best friends." He managed a small smile anyways, watching her smooth her skirt before standing up.

"The very best."

"The greatest there ever was."

"A pair throughout the ages!"

"The dynamic duo!"

He pushed himself to his feet beside her, watching her eyes sparkle as she giggled at him. He was left with an unsettling feeling in his stomach. Like... this had ended wrong or something...

He could feel the eyes of the Hero of Time burning onto him disapprovingly as they passed his statue (surprisingly, he was also named Link, and had also rescued a princess named Zelda! The statue here served to cover his resting place, where he lay with his wife, Zelda. They had wanted nothing more than this - to lay in each other's arms here with this garden as their final resting place - the garden where they had met and shared many tender moments.), and stared back, confused.

What was I supposed to do? He asked it, frowning bitterly. My Zelda was Queen of the Seas long before she was Princess of Hyrule. She's seen a lot more than your Zelda had, met so many other guys! How could she settle for me, a guy from an unknown island at the very border of our Great Seas?

There was no answer of course, but he could still feel the statue's glare - he resigned himself to ignoring it, walking with Zelda instead.

Best friends.

He could be okay with that, he decided. As long as she didn't try to prove she was bold again.

to be continued eventually

in a sequel