Three Weeks Later

Queen Zelda stared down at the mass crowd assembled before her. She absentmindedly fingered the picture she always seemed to keep in her pocket. She couldn't bear to be rid of it, but she never looked at it either. It was always just kind of there, a lingering reminder of all that she'd lost in that stupid mansion. She would rather be anywhere else than standing up on this stage. The people of Hyrule had demanded to know where their queen had been. And they had a right to know. So, Zelda had told them all to be in front of Hyrule Castle in three weeks time, which was now tonight.

Prince Sidon stood next to her, along with the other three leaders of the races; Kaneli of the Rito, Riju of the Gerudo, and Bludo of the Gorons. She had already explained what had happened to them, and they had all offered their condolences about losing Link. But they had also seemed delighted he'd found happiness.

"Are you ready, Zelda?" Prince Sidon whispered kindly. "Your people are waiting."

The queen took a deep breath. She squared her shoulders and stepped forward. Immediately, the crowd fell silent, awaiting Zelda's announcement. "Thank you all for coming," Zelda began. "I am aware that you all want to know where I've been. It's been a long few weeks for me, trying to decide how to explain all this to you. It is complicated and confusing, and I ask that you all have patience and wait until I've finished to ask questions.

Now…" she began her long, long, long explanation, doing her best to not lose her composure and cry.

…

"Link, can you and Epona deliver this milk to the castle for me?" Malon's father, Talon asked.

Link set down the sack of Cucco feed he was carrying and hurriedly brushed his hands off. "Sure!" He grabbed the bottles of milk from the older man and set them gently into Epona's saddle bags. He then mounted the pony and kicked his heels into her side, urging her forward.

"Don't get captured this time!" Malon commanded jokingly as Link passed her.

"No promises!" Link called as he rode past her.

Since he'd gotten home from the mansion, he'd been working at Lon Lon Ranch with Malon. He didn't earn anything for it, but Talon gave him and Epona a room to stay in and meals three times a day, so Link couldn't really ask for anything more than that. He'd hung the picture from the mansion onto his wall and some nights he'd just look up at it and wonder how everyone else was doing. Most often he forgot about it, too busy with his new life to be thinking about the past, but it was nice to be able to see his other friends from time to time, even if it wouldn't ever be in person.

What's more, he found himself simply enjoying Malon's company more and more. He liked the way her blue eyes twinkled when she smiled and laughed. He liked how her long, red hair was almost always messy. On the rare occasion that she did bathe, Link could hardly keep his eyes off her. It was a weird feeling. One that he wasn't quite sure what to do with. All he did know was that he never wanted the feeling to go away.

Malon and her father weren't the only ones who'd missed Link. Princess Zelda had been excited to see him, and had even hugged him. They hadn't been very close since Link's whole time travel adventure, but it was clear that Zelda had missed Link very much. Saria, Link's childhood best friend, had been overjoyed to learn he was safe. She had scolded him for several straight minutes for leaving for so long, but she'd hardly been able to keep a smile off her face as she talked, so Link didn't take her very seriously. All in all, Link was happy with where he was at in life right now. His childhood might've been pretty messed up. He might've wasted away a few years in that wretched mansion. But at the moment, he was happy. A feeling he thought for a long time he could never hope to obtain. He was surrounded by friends, had a good job and a nice place to stay, and even had a girl to fawn over. Life wasn't so bad for the forgotten Hero of Time.

…

"Link! Pull in the anchor!" Tetra commanded briskly from her spot at her ship's wheel.

Link nodded quickly and began reeling in the heavy, iron anchor. He struggled with the intense weight for just a moment. Then he slipped on his power bracelets and easily finished the job. It'd been a good three weeks since he had escaped the mansion with everyone else. If he was being totally honest, he did miss everyone else. He thought about Zelda, Link, and Young Link all the time. He spent long amounts of time staring at the picture he'd made Tetra hang in his quarters. He just hoped they were doing alright. But, he was more than happy to be home. Since his return, Tetra hadn't let him out of her sight. He wasn't even allowed below decks without one of her crewmates following along behind him. It was kind of irritating, but in a good way. It showed that Tetra did care about Link. She just had an annoying way of showing it.

Tetra and Link had continued their exploration of the Great Sea, searching for a new continent to call home. After informing Link's grandma and sister of his arrival, of course. Aryll had been overjoyed to see her big brother again, and had crushed Link with a backbreaking hug. His grandma had almost cried when she saw him, then had scolded him for being gone for too long, and finally gave him a huge pot of his favorite soup once she was done pretending to be mad.

For the moment, Tetra was following a rumor she had heard from some townspeople on Windfall island. Supposedly, someone had seen a huge island way off the west of the island, but it was so far no one had ever dared try to make it. Fortunately, doing things that no one else dared do were Tetra and Link's specialty, and they had set a course for the rumored continent immediately. It was looking like a dead end right now, but Link didn't care much. He wasn't as worried as Tetra was about finding a new place to build a kingdom. He was just happy to be back with her, enjoying life freely.

…

King Link Hyrule stared out of his window, in his castle, at his kingdom, not even used to the sound of his own name. So much had changed since he and Zelda had returned home. First and foremost, Link was now living in a new world. This new Hyrule's geography wasn't even relatively close to his previous home, and it had taken him weeks to figure out where anything was. He'd also been on bed rest for several days after they had gotten to the castle, of course ordered by Zelda. Link would've rather been doing anything besides sitting around in bed all day, but Zelda had insisted he needed to recover. After Zelda had deemed him healthy, Link had resumed his old job; being the personal knight of the princess of Hyrule. It gave him a good excuse to follow Zelda around every day, and he had enjoyed his work for the first time ever. Zelda had gotten coronated as quickly as possible, giving the people of Hyrule a rightful leader for the first time in years. But, Link and Zelda quickly realized that just being together wasn't quite enough. They wanted to be married.

So, Zelda had at once began preparing a wedding. For a royal one, it was quite bland. The ceremony had been short and sweet, the way Link liked things. There had also been only a few guests. Normally, a royal wedding called for a huge ceremony and the attendance of the entire kingdom, but Zelda knew that many people watching Link would only make him nervous. So, instead, she'd invited only her closest friends. The other Link, her royal advisor, Impa, and the respected elder of the kingdom, Sahasrahla, had been the only attendees. The elder was the one who had administered the whole thing.

Zelda's vows were very long and contained countless words Link wasn't even quite sure what they meant. They were extremely heartfelt and pure, and Link couldn't keep a smile off his face during his queen's entire speech. His own vows were short and to the point, but they were equally as passionate and sincere. Once Sahasrahla had deemed them a wedded couple and they were allowed to kiss, the new king and queen had held onto each other for several long, precious minutes, relishing the feeling of truly being with each other.

Link had become the new King of Hyrule. He had also adopted Zelda's last name, Hyrule, since he didn't have one to give. Zelda had insisted that was alright, but Link still felt ashamed.

He had also begun learning to read and write again. Zelda had insisted he needed to, since he was now in charge of an entire kingdom. It was hard work, and Link wasn't very good at it, but he was trying his best. He just kept hoping for the right thing to trigger his memory so he could remember automatically and without anymore painstaking and long lessons, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"Are you awake already, Link?" Zelda called from their shared bed.

Link whirled around, startled out of his thoughts. He quickly recovered himself, though Zelda giggled at his momentary fright. "I could not sleep. I'm not tired."

"Sure you are," Zelda replied easily. "A king needs to rest. At the very least, just get in bed with me! I'm getting cold!"

Link smiled. "As you wish." He joined his wife in bed and allowed Zelda to nudge her way closer and closer to him. The hero had never been so happy. For his entire life, or at least the life he remembered, he'd believed emotions were a weakness. That even positive things like joy could be exploited, and he'd never allowed himself to feel anything. But now, here with Zelda, everything was different. He knew that Zelda loved him as much as he loved her. He knew that his kingdom was safe. His lost memories didn't matter anymore. Link truly felt like he was where he belonged. It might've required being captured, abused, and almost killed to get here, but it was all worth it. If Link had to do it all over again, including the Great Calamity, he knew he would. He'd do it over and over as many times as he needed to, just to remain with Zelda. His queen. His wife. The love of his life. His happy ending.

The End

Author's Note: I'm afraid I won't be able to write Shulk, Pit, Palutena, Cloud, or Robin's endings. :(

I haven't played Pit, Palutena, Cloud, or Robin's games. I do intend to do so at some point, so I don't want to spoil the plot for myself.

As for Shulk, I haven't finished his game quite yet, and I haven't got even the slightest idea of how it ends. Again, I don't want to spoil it for myself.

Just know that they all lived happily ever after, though I don't know what that looks like for them. I am so, so sorry…I feel like a disappointment. If you want to spend some time thinking up what happens to them next, go for it! That part of this story is beyond my comprehension since I lack the necessary information, so if anyone wants to write their endings, feel free to do so! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!