Forty-Sixth Entry

I love her. I can't pretend anymore that what I feel for my queen is merely friendship. I want to be the one to marry her. I want to give her children. I want to adore her until the day we both die and then into our next lives. I don't care if I am only a knight. What is social standing to souls that have reincarnated and found each other countless times through countless ages? If there's any chance that she feels the same about me, then I will fight to have us joined. I won't watch Zelda marry a man she does not love.

Forty-Seventh Entry

I have declared my intent to court the queen. It was as though fate itself was on my side today, because Zelda's council chose this afternoon to bring up the matter of marriage and the succession. Impa said that Zelda needed to start thinking seriously about finding a husband and securing an heir to Hyrule's throne. Now, I don't often speak up in these meetings because it is not my place, but I could feel that if I didn't say anything then, I wouldn't get the chance to again, so I stepped forward and said to everyone gathered that I wished to ask for the queen's hand. I'm sure you can imagine the surprise of everyone on the council at my declaration. Zelda most of all. She looked at me as though I had grown seven extra heads in various places all over my body. But the heads must have been sufficiently attractive because her cheeks flushed darker than I have ever seen anyone blush in my life.

Several council members started to protest but Impa shut them down very quickly. She said my request wasn't unreasonable as I was the person who defeated Calamity Ganon and brought Hyrule's princess back to them in the first place. She also said that I was popular with the people and had proved many times over that I was both capable and committed to guarding and caring for the queen. One council member tried to argue, saying that as the queen's consort I would be required to do more than simply protect her majesty, and what did a knight know of politics and running a country? To all our surprise, mine most of all, Zelda stood up and defended me. She reminded him that I had attended every one of these meetings and that I had already been helping her with legislative matters. This, of course, caused a horrified gasp to be issued by most of the old men and women gathered and I almost laughed out loud at how pink councilman Cole's face became upon hearing Zelda's confession.

So that's that. I am to be allowed to court Zelda.

After the meeting, Zelda pulled me into an empty room and asked if I was really serious about asking for her hand. I told her that I was. I said that I wanted to make her happy and protect Hyrule at her side and I wanted to do that as her husband if she would let me. Zelda responded by kissing me soundly. It was a better answer than I could have asked for. She said that she had loved me for ages and the thought of marrying Prince Hubert or Prince Lionel had been tearing her up. I told her I knew the feeling. She kissed me again.

Forty-Eighth Entry

The delegates from Labrynna and Holodrum are going home today. Now that Zelda has officially announced her intent to wait to be wed, there is no more reason for them to stay. I pulled Princess Sophia aside this morning and told her to go to her father and explain herself to him. I told her that thinking you can't do something is often a self-fulfilling prophecy and she shouldn't give up before she's tried. I said that even if her father doesn't listen to her, her brother will. He is a reasonable man. Sophia nodded and thanked me for the advice. She said that she feels a little more confident knowing that I believe in her. I wish her all the best.

Forty-Ninth Entry

Zelda and I have set a date for our wedding. We are going to wait a year to give Hyrule time to accept the idea of their queen marrying the hero who defeated Calamity Ganon. In the meantime, I will be groomed for my future role as King. Prince Sidon and Yunobo are ecstatic about me becoming Hyrule's king and they are looking forward to receiving invitations to the wedding. Chief Riju and Teba both congratulated me and Riju has offered to host Zelda's bachelorette party in Gerudo Town. She's warned me that I am not to sneak in and spy under any circumstances.

I've been back to the catacombs to pay another visit to that painting. I know that my past self had nothing to do with its conception and probably never even knew of its existence, but I feel a connection to him though it, so I thought I'd tell it that I've found the happiness that was denied him. I think he would have been happy to hear it.

I think I will be very busy from here on out. Wish me luck.

Fiftieth Entry

For the record, Link did sneak into Gerudo Town. Riju had him kicked out. It's been ten months since then. Link and I were married in the spring. It was a beautiful wedding. Link has thrown himself into his new duty and he's already demonstrated a knack for leadership. He's not fond of public speaking, but he's become quite vocal in meetings.

Speaking of being vocal, he's currently demanding to know what I'm writing. He's very embarrassed about me reading this journal, though he gave me permission himself. I always wondered what he was scribbling about all the time. He'll probably be all the more embarrassed to hear that I think his journal entries are very sweet. Reading them has been quite enlightening. I am doubly reassured now that I chose the right man to be my husband.

Perhaps someday our children will read this journal. It's quite a good record of the events of the first year and a half following Calamity Ganon's defeat. And who knows? Maybe it will even be seen by a future incarnation of Link or myself. It is my hope, and also Link's, that they find the same happiness that we have.

To you who may someday read this, I pray that your days are full of smiles. Know that there is no adversity that cannot be overcome. Even when it looks like hope is nowhere to be found, a heart that has courage will find its way to the light again. For me, that light is Link. Hand in hand, we will guide Hyrule into an era of peace and prosperity.

And there you have it! We've reached the end. I hope you all enjoyed this fun little story. It's not very long, but I feel like it's been an adventure all the same. I thought about having part of this final chapter take place in realtime rather than journal entries, but I ultimately decided not to for the sake of consistency. Regardless, I hope the ending was satisfactory. I've had a lot of fun writing this and I'm sad that it's over.

That being said, this actually was not the longfic that I mentioned I was going to write in my other Zelda fic. That one is still on the way. However, that one will be a more general Zelda fic and not strictly connected to Breath of the Wild. Still, I think it's going to be a fun one, so be sure to look out for it.

As always, drop me a comment if you enjoyed this story. I love hearing from you.

Peace!