AN:

Okay, another one. Basically, I haven't seen any fanfiction exploring what may have happened had Link not died and they defeated Gannon when he first arrived. So, that's what I'm going to do. I might do another one of these going more in-depth with future Hyrule had Ganon been defeated when he was supposed to be, but I just want to write some dance fluff right now. I do not own The Legend of Zeda, or Zelink would be cannon. This one is told from Zelda's point of view.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO READ BEFORE YOU READ THE STORY

I AM STILL HAVING THE PRAYER FAIL ZELDA, WHAT UNLOCKS HER POWER IS STILL SAVING LINK, JUST HE DOES NOT DIE, AND IT HAPPENS IN CASTLE TOWN INSTEAD. HER LOVE FOR HIM IS STILL WHAT UNLOCKS HER POWER, ALSO NO ONE ELSE DIES!

It's over, he's gone. Calamity Gannon is gone, Beast Gannon is gone, it's all gone. I look over at my knight, burned and battered, but still strong. "Is it over?"

"I hope so." He pants. His part in this is much harder than mine.

"We should get back to the castle, before you give out." I look, hoping to see a horse or something that could help us.

"I'll be fine, I'm tough." He promises.

"You're still not immortal, Link."

"No, but I am stubborn."

"That you are." I agree. And I am so grateful that he is. We make our way back to the castle, my appointed knight leaning heavily on me, and are met about 2/3 of the way by several guards and my father.

"Zelda!" He calls, rushing over to us.

"Father." I reply.

"You're alive." He places a hand on each of my cheeks and I see tears leaking from his eyes. "You did it."

"Yes, we did." I reply.

"Sir Link! What happened to your arm?" A voice behind my father asks. The King steps aside and I see that it is General Dalt, leader of the Hyrule Army.

"Guardian." My knight replies.

"How did you survive that?" One of the other guards asks, flabbergasted.

"I just beat Calamity Gannon and that Beast thing, and you wonder how I survived a simple Guardian blast?" Link raises his eyebrows. It's odd to see my knight speaking so…sarcastically.

"Sorry, sir." The man bows his head and steps back.

"We must get you to a healer." My father states.

"I will call the Champions to the castle, Lady Mipha should be able to heal him rather quickly." She has every time before.

"Still, need to make sure that he doesn't bleed out before she can get here." My father nods. "Guards, take Sir Link to the castle, quickly. I need to speak with my daughter…alone."

"But sir, the danger-" General Dalt begins.

"Any danger that may try to harm us, my daughter can quite obviously face herself." The other men leave us alone in the middle of Hyrule field, it seems the civilians have not been told that it is safe to come out yet. "My dear Zelda, you and Link saved us all. You just needed to pray at the Spring of Wisdom. That seems appropriate for you."

"Actually, it did not."

"What?" Father takes a step back. "Then what did it? What unlocked your power?"

"I am not sure the reason that this came to be, but…Link was protecting me from a swarm of Guardians. He took most of them down, but one caught him by surprise, the one that burned his arm. He was knocked over by the force and…and the Guardian was getting ready to shoot again. I panicked and jumped between them, and the next thing I knew there was this blinding light around me and then it died down and the Guardian was destroyed."

My father remains silent for a long time after this. "You care very much for your knight."

"Of course I do, he's saved my life several times, helped me with my…with my research, he's become a good friend." I hesitate to admit he helped me with my research, since my father banned me from conducting it.

"A friend you were willing to die for."

"Yes." I agree, oh father, please don't make any assumptions. "At that point, I had no use in fighting Calamity Ganon. He could still go defeat him, even without me. I was only holding him-"

"You need not make excuses to me, Zelda. Despite what you may believe, I am not blind." He breaks eye contact with me and looks around the field, which somehow looks barely damaged despite the giant fire boar which stood in it. "It seems that the Goddesses have graced us. Come, we have a lot of work to do."

We walk for some time before either of us say anything again. "I am proud of you, my dear. I know that I have not been a good father as of late, but I could not be more proud of you."

"Clearly your worry had reason. The Calamity struck at a time when I was not ready, a place we were not prepared for. We were so focused on defending the castle from the outside world, that we were not prepared for an assault from the inside."

"No, we were not. I cannot believe that his chamber was beneath our castle without us knowing. Oh, the damages to the castle are so immense, it is going to take quite some time to repair it all." I had not payed attention to the damages that much when we were in the castle, Link and I had one focus, Gannon.

When we finally make it to the castle, my father adds, "Oh, and happy birthday."

-oOo-

Late that night, the Champions, my father, and myself all gathered for a meal. Mipha had successfully healed Link's wounds, as well as any the rest of us had. We are all so at ease. The Champions told us stories about Gannon Blights which infected the Divine Beasts: wind for Revali, thunder for Urbosa, fire for Daruk, and water for Mipha.

"We are sorry that we were not of more use to you, Zelda and Link." Urbosa smiles sadly. "In fact, you were probably of more use to us. The moment you sealed Ganon away, my blight vanished."

"Mine did as well." Mipha admits.

"Same here." Daruk agrees.

"As painful as it is to admit it, I do not believe that I would have been able to defeat that thing had it not been for the two of you." Revali sighs.

"It does not matter now." Father insists. "Ganon is gone, and you are all safe. Hyrule is once again safe."

"A toast to that." Urbosa raises her glass and we all follow suit.

"And a toast to the Princess's birthday." Daruk raises his enormous goblet once again.

"And to many more." Revali adds.

"Thank you." I grin sadly.

"Speaking of, I propose we have a celebration, to celebrate Zelda's birthday as well as the defeat of Calamity Gannon." Father suggests. "It will be a little late, and thank the Goddesses that somehow restored the castle, but we must have time to plan."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, your Grace." Urbosa smiles.

"Of course members of each race shall be invited, your families and friends. It will be a day to celebrate you all." Father adds.

"I fear it would be quite impossible for my father to fit in here. It is difficult for him to fit anywhere outside of his throne room." Mipha says.

"Yes, he has lamented this to me several times now. I fear that we cannot accommodate his size without rebuilding the entire castle, and holding it outside would not work."

"How about, we just go visit with your father instead." I suggest.

"I am sure he will be thrilled by that." Mipha smiles.

"But you should still bring your brother to the ball." Her little brother, Sidon, is so cute and happy. He's still very young for a Zora, and only goes up to about my waist.

"He would never forgive me if I did not."

"When do you believe we will be having this ball?" Daruk asks.

"Probably two weeks from Saturday, it is not much time, but we should be able to do it." Father thinks.

"Well, it is getting late, and it looks like the hero might fall asleep in his food if he stays here much longer." Urbosa laughs. She's right, Link's eyes are half-closed and he's somehow even quieter than usual.

"Then let us all go to bed, you all deserve as much sleep as you can get." Father rises.

AN:

I wanted the ball to be soon, and didn't want to write about reconstruction stuff, so I just had the goddesses fix it. It's easier this way.