Prologue
The Rose is passions and fire in all its delicate form; the shadow is a passing of nothingness in a form of what is real. What would happen if a rose managed to become the heart of a shadow? – Anonymous
She missed him.
Far more than her eager heart could stand.
I didn't mean it when I said I didn't love you so…
She didn't understand herself or why she had sent him away like she had done. Was it necessary to return him to a child?
I should have held on tight I never should have let you go…
She hoisted her hood over her shimmering flaxen head to avoid being recognized. It wouldn't take her long to get to Kokiri Forest. Not by the way she was going.
It hurt how much she ached for him. Sleepless nights and starving days went by as she wandered the castle like some strange phantom that didn't want to be seen or heard. She lied to herself, attempting to justify that she had to send him back to childhood. It was for his own good. But she knew that it wasn't true. She knew he was more of an aid as an adult. She knew if something were to go wrong…
But most of all, she wanted him for herself. She wanted to love him.
She reached into a satchel that she had tied onto her belt and pulled a handful of perfumed blue forget-me-not petals.
The enchanted petals would be a doorway
With a hopeful smile, Princess Zelda of Hyrule eagerly threw the handful into the air to shower on top of herself. She closed her eyes.
The petals swirled on an imaginary wind that enveloped the princess in a velvety embrace. Rather than falling on the hard marble floor of her massive bedroom, the petals landed on the soft dewy blades of grass in Kokiri Forest.
She could hear the merry flutes and cheery ocarinas play as little circles of children danced in their fields. Some were playing her favorite game as a child: Catch Me if you Can.
A smile lit up her face as she watched. Their little pixie companions haloed their sweet heads with their natural light. One little girl had frozen for she had spotted the princess.
A boy crashed right into her. "Aw Kiki!" he complained. "No fair."
But that's when he noticed the princess too. She was even more beautiful then any of them could have ever imagined. Her golden hair rivaled the sun as did the eyes that shown brighter than the moonbeams at night. So many of them could only gasp in awe that she, the mighty princess of Hyrule, could really be here.
Kiki stepped forward. Zelda knew her. Saria had appointed her as their leader when she had left the Kokiri to become the Sage of the Forrest.
Zelda bent down to reach her height. "I bet you know why I'm here don't you?"
Kiki nodded her head, her brown curls bounced with her. "He went to the Great Deku Tree to find you."
Zelda was confused. Why would he go to-?
That's when it dawned on her. She nodded, gave Kiki a thankful caress on the cheek, and stood. Hurriedly she began to head in the direction pointed out to her as the Kokiri parted for her to pass.
She didn't have a chance.
By the time she reached the Deku Tree, she was too late to stop him.
A whirring of light circled him before Zelda's distraught eyes.
No! No! Why couldn't he wait?
However, the figure inside the column of light wasn't disappearing. It was changing.
She could see legs and arms growing longer, waist thicker, torso thicker. It seemed like eons had gone by before finally the light started fading.
Before the tearing eyes of his beloved, Link stood tall.
Zelda's mouth dropped open as the tears fell from her eyes.
"Look who's back," said the deep masculine voice of the most beautiful man who Zelda felt her eyes were unworthy to behold.
Zelda couldn't say another word. She took a running leap straight into the waiting arms of him. He swung her slight weight around and around.
"How did you know?" she asked, her fingers questing through his hair to make sure she wasn't dreaming again. "How did you know I was coming to change you back?"
Link had never lost the boyish mischief in his grin. "Let's just say I know you a lot better than I should."
Zelda mockingly slapped his shoulder. "Are you calling me predictable?"
"No," he teased. "Just a woman who knows a good egg when she sees one."
Zelda let a cross breed of a chuckle and a sob out when she heard the humor in his voice. She roughly grabbed his head and she kissed him. Never in a million years did anything feel as right as it did then. When she released him from her lips, she held him tight.
"Don't ever go away again!" She knew she was being childish but right now she didn't care, "Stay with me for the rest of our lives."
Link loosened his hug on her to look her at her sweet, beautiful face. He said, in a voice that stomped all the air out of Zelda, "That was my plan."
Zelda's face broke. She knew what he was saying and eagerly claimed his mouth with hers kissing him with all she had.
"Yes," she cried, "Yes!"
The music of the cheers of the Kokiri lit into her ears. Her soul took flight. As finally the long awaited sun rose in the East in Hyrule.