Author's Note 1: It's been FOREVER since I last wrote a fanfic! I'm going through a Zelda-obsessed phase, so yeah. You get the picture. Anyway, I know! The title and the summary probably sucks! I couldn't think of what to call it! I may change the title, but for now, that's how it is.

Author's Note 2: Also, for this fanfic, at the end of each chapter, I'll be writing one trivia fact about the fanfic.

Summary: 17-year-old Princess Zelda is supposed to be married to an already chosen man, but after meeting a certain ranch boy who her father doesn't approve of, Zelda decides to take matters into her own hands.

Chapter 1: Royal Pain

A beautiful spring afternoon greeted a beautiful 17-year-old girl as she stepped outside in her pale pink dress. The cherry blossoms were just being born, baby birds were just hatching, and the wind was blowing so peacefully you could almost say that the winds were singing. The girl allowed a blue baby bird, who was trying to learn how to fly, fall into her hands. She stroked the baby bird on its head and lifted her hands up so he can try flying again.

The wind blew through her long blonde hair that grew down to her waist. Strands flew about in front of her face. She shut her blue eyes and took in the beautiful springtime weather. Just as she turned around to move to another area of the castle courtyard, she heard the trotting of a horse. Turning around, she was greeted with a young man about her age sitting on top of the horse.

"Princess…Zelda…" The young man had an angelic voice.

"Y-Yes?" Zelda walked up to him obviously shy of his charms.

"I've come to take you."

"Where?"

"Anywhere…far…from here." The young man said.

Zelda's questioning look turned into a wide grin. The young man held out his hand and she grabbed it. He pulled her onto his horse and the began to ride off together. Not caring about not being able to see his face, she leaned in to kiss him.

"Zelda!"

The wonderful dream that Zelda was having had to be interrupted by the most obnoxious knock on her door. Realizing that she was about to kiss her pillow, Zelda sighed out of frustration and humiliation.

"What, Impa?" She called back.

"Time for archery competition!" Impa replied knocking on the door again. "You know how your father likes it when you attend these things."

"Yes, Impa, I know." Zelda said annoyed.

Not wanting to go to the competition, Zelda reluctantly got out of bed, slipped into her bathroom to take a shower, and put on her outdoor dress. It was light blue with pink under dress. She hated having to wear specific dresses for specific reasons to specific events. Who cares if she wanted to wear her white dress? Why does anybody care? Well, it's not like she could've done anything about it anyway.

Zelda walked out of her room all cleaned up and ready to go. She greeted Impa, her attendant and main guardian, outside in the hallway. Impa and Zelda walked together out to the castle courtyard where her father, King Harkinian was waiting with a few of the castle soldiers. Like always, Zelda and the king had to walk this procession walk before the competition.

"Good to see you're finally awake." King Harkinian greeted his daughter.

"Just a question, dad, is kissing the winner really necessary?"

"Of course! The prize of the golden arrow, worth 10,000 rupees, and a kiss from the princess herself is sure to be ideal!"

"I know, dad!" Zelda argued. "But, some of these guys are either perverts, too young for my taste, or just plain disgusting."

"Zelda!" King Harkinian scolded. "Where's that kind of talk coming from? These are your people! If you want to make a good queen one day, you have to appreciate every last Kokiri, Goron, Zora, Gerudo, and Hylian! No matter who they are!"

"Your majesty." One of the soldiers approached the king. "The archers are ready, it's time to start the procession."

"Perfect!"

"Yeah, just plain perfect." Zelda muttered.

"It's like I always say, 'this too shall pass'." Impa said to Zelda.

"That's what you said the last time and I'm still being haunted by the kiss I had to give to that Kokiri."

Reluctantly, Zelda joined her father at the start of the procession route. Some horse riders started walking down the line playing the Song of Time on their trumpets. The trumpet players were followed by a group of castle soldiers, who were then followed by King Harkinian, Zelda, and Impa. The procession ended with the archers, eight of them, walking behind the Royal Family. At the end of the procession, Zelda and her father took their seats on two throne seats that had a perfect view of both the targets and the archers. The archers awaited for the competition to start by the thrones. One in particular tried to flirt with Zelda.

"Hey Zelda, you tired?" He asked her.

"Well, I woke up about an hour ago, but no, I'm not tired." Zelda answered. "Why?"

"'Cause you've been runnin' through my mind all day." He answered smoothly.

"Sorry, you're not my type." Zelda said.

"Well, excuuuuuuuuse me. I didn't know the fair Princess Zelda had a type."

"Well, excuse me. I didn't know you used cheesy pickup lines."

"Zelda, that's enough." King Harkinian interrupted them. "This young man is up first."

"I'll be back for my kiss." The obnoxious archer growled before moving up to the target.

"Kiss my ass." Zelda muttered to herself.

As much as she enjoyed archery, Zelda absolutely hated attending the tournament. One of the biggest rewards that any young man could get is a kiss from the princess, so Zelda didn't have a choice but to be there. She always dreaded the kiss at the end. At the last competition the month before, Zelda had to kiss a 10-year-old Kokiri. As impressed as she was by his skill, she would've much rather kissed a young man closer to her age. However, at least she only had to peck the Kokiri on the cheek.

The archery competition was close this month. The obnoxious archer that flirted with Zelda before the competition kept keeping a lead. Zelda actually found herself praying to the Goddesses that one of the other young fellows won the competition. There was one young archer that she found particularly interesting. He happened to enter the competition at the very last minute, in fact, just as the competition was starting. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and worse a green tunic and cap with white under armor. This young man and the obnoxious archer were the two that kept leading on. Zelda found the green tunic boy quite attractive and hoped that of all people, he be the winner.

"Looks like we have a close competition." King Harkinian pointed out. He noticed Zelda watching the green tunic boy. "I see you're interested in that young lad."

"Well, he is quite handsome and a good archer." Zelda admitted.

"If you two are lucky, he'll win the competition. He'll get his 10,000 rupee arrow and a kiss from you and you will kiss him as well."

"Y-Yeah." Zelda blushed. Her father was right.

The competition was nearing the end. The obnoxious archer and the green tunic boy were the only two left for the final round. The final round included the archer having the target moved back an amount of yards of their choice and then they have to shoot the target from that distance. The score of that round is determined by where you hit the target like usual. If both archers hit a bullseye, then the archer whose target was further back gets a higher score. So far, both archers were, amazingly, tied with identical scores. The obnoxious archer seemed confident and was readying himself for his kiss from Zelda while the other archer just seemed calm and waited patiently for the start. The obnoxious archer was called up first.

"Good luck, you'll need it." The obnoxious archer smirked. "After all, it takes a true man to win a kiss from the princess of Hyrule."

"It takes a true man to respect a lady." The green tunic boy added on.

Zelda watched as the obnoxious archer nearly shoved the green tunic boy out of his way. She felt the urge to go up and smack him, but due to being the princess of Hyrule, she had to keep it professional. She watched as one of the castle soldiers picked up the target ready to move it.

"300 yards." The obnoxious archer said. The soldier moved the target back three hundred yards. He shot the arrow and got a bullseye.

"Dammit!" Zelda cursed.

"What?" King Harkinian asked swearing he heard his daughter curse.

"I mean…darn it." Zelda wasn't allowed to curse.

Up next was the green tunic boy. He watched as the obnoxious archer brushed past him calling him a "fairy boy" because of the way his clothes looked similar to that of the Kokiri clothing. He brushed off the insult and stepped up to the boundary line. The castle soldier brought the target back up and asked the archer how many yards he wanted.

"500 yards." He simply answered.

"What?" Zelda asked in shock.

"No…" Impa said in disbelief.

"That's impossible! Nobody can shoot a perfect bullseye that far!" King Harkinian watched with interest.

"Looks like I'll be kissing Mr. Pickup." Zelda groaned.

Ready to take his position, the green tunic boy took out his last arrow and put it to the bow. The crowd silenced. He drew back the arrow and aimed. While he was aiming, he shut his eyes and took in a few deep breaths. As soon as he felt ready, he let go of the arrow not even bothering to open his eyes. Zelda, Impa, and the king all watched with anticipation wondering how this shot was going to go down. Within a few seconds of being shot, the arrow hit the target.

"Ha! Looks like I'm getting the kiss from the princess!" The obnoxious archer laughed at his opponent's face.

"BULLSEYE!" Shouted the castle soldier from the 500 yards.

"WHAT?" The obnoxious archer cried.

"YES!" Zelda cheered. She had never cheered at an archery competition like this before. So happy, she hugged Impa. "Looks like some obnoxious brat isn't getting their kiss today."

"Looks like you've learned a lesson here." The winner of the competition said as he passed the obnoxious archer. "You can't get what you want by being a jerk."

The winner of the competition walked up to King Harkinian and Zelda. The king stood up from his throne and applauded for the winner along with Zelda and Impa. The whole crowd started to applaud as well.

"Young man, you have shown great skill." The king complimented.

"Thank you, your majesty." The winner bowed out of respect. "It was an honor to enter this competition, even if it was at the last minute."

"Well, it was an honor to have you compete in this month's competition." Zelda said.

"And now, for your prize, we'd like to reward you with this: the golden arrow." King Harkinian said as Impa handed him the arrow. The king held the arrow out to the winner of the competition. "In addition to the golden arrow, which is worth 10,000 rupees, you also win the opportunity to receive a kiss from my lovely daughter, Zelda."

Zelda's eyes sparkled at the words kiss. She couldn't believe it. She was actually going to kiss a handsome young man who was polite and had complete respect for her and her father. She smiled at the winner and he cracked a slight crooked smile in her direction before turning his attention back to the king.

"Thank you, your highness, but that won't be necessary." He said.

"WHAT?" Zelda asked in shock.

"Princess Zelda, you are a princess and a princess is not a prize to be won." The winner said to her. "I have no need for the golden arrow either. Give it to someone who needs the rupees more than I do. As for you, Princess…" The winner took her hand in his and he kissed it. "…it was an honor to meet you."

The winner of the competition walked over to where his horse was parked and he climbed on top of her. Within seconds, he got the horse going and they went dashing out into Hyrule Field. His sudden disperse left Zelda, the king, and Impa all in shock. Did he really just refuse the prize like that? What was the point of entering the competition then? As handsome and polite as he was, Zelda almost felt like wanting to smack him for keeping her waiting and then to just ditch her like that. She groaned out of frustration and then stood up assuming the it was over and time to return to the castle.

"Well, that was interesting." Zelda said as she began to leave.

"Not so fast, Zelda." Her father stopped her.

"What?" She asked annoyed.

"In the event that the winner, for some reason, cannot accept the prize, then the prize will go to the second place winner, which means…"

"OH YES!" The obnoxious archer cried out. "Pucker up, Princess!"

"Ugh…" Zelda groaned.

Zelda sat outside on her balcony during the late afternoon. She felt sick and disgusted after giving that one obnoxious archer the kiss. He completely went overboard with it. Even her father agreed. As terrible as the competition turned out at the end, Zelda actually enjoyed it for the first time. She wondered about that one archer, the one who wore the green tunic. He seemed so mysterious the way he just took off afterwards. He didn't accept any of the rewards. He refused the golden arrow, which is highly rare for someone who is not of royal status, and the kiss from the princess, which is supposedly every young man's dream. She wished she could've at least gotten his name or at least knew where to find him so she could meet him one more time.

Impa came into Zelda's room to let her know that her father needed her down in the dining hall within the next half hour. She saw the princess sitting and gazing away outside the balcony. Curious as to what she was thinking, Impa walked outside the balcony and joined the princess. Impa always served as a motherly figure to Zelda since the queen passed away when the princess was at a very young age.

"Still disgusted from that kiss?" Impa asked.

"Yes." Zelda wiped her lips for what seemed like the twentieth time that afternoon. "Gross, I never want to kiss someone like that again. I'd rather kiss a Goron."

"Well, good to know that you now have a wide variety of taste."

"Yeah." Zelda mumbled.

"Let me guess, you're thinking about that one boy?"

"How'd you guess?"

"I was your age once. I know how it is. You see a boy, you become interested in him, and he suddenly disappears."

"But, I thought the Sheikah couldn't fall in love?" Zelda asked.

"They can't, which is why I never told anybody."

"Wow, sneaky." Zelda said playfully

"I never was all serious business." Impa chuckled.

"You don't say."

The two women had a good laugh together. As annoying as Impa could be sometimes due to her maternal nature, Zelda enjoyed having these moments. She never really had a mother, and she couldn't go to her father to talk about this kind of stuff, so having these kinds of talks with Impa really did her good.

"By the way, your father wants you down in the dining hall in the next half an hour. He has someone he wants you to meet." Impa pointed out.

"Okay, sounds good." Zelda said as Impa walked out. "Uh…Impa?"

"Yes?"

"Could I talk to you about something?" Zelda asked. "It's about a dream I keep on having."

"Okay, let's hear it." Impa said as she sat back down.

"Well, it's weird, but it's always springtime. I stroke a baby bird and I send him flying his way. And as I turn to walk away, I hear these horse steps. I turn back around and I see a young man on top of the horse saying that he has come to take me far away."

"Hmm…interesting. Do you recognize the young man?"

"No, he's nothing but a shadow."

"Well Zelda," Impa chuckled. "I'd say you're dreaming about love."

"Since when? I never really cared about love." Zelda asked. "I was always the type who thought anything romantic was gross."

"Zelda, you're a mature young woman. As women mature, so does their perspective on certain things. You're of the age where you can marry. It's natural to think about those things. Soon enough, once you're married, you'll start thinking about children."

"Whoa Impa! I'm not even seeing anyone right now!" Zelda interrupted her.

"Don't worry about it Zelda." Impa advised. "It's only a dream."

"Right…only a dream." Zelda repeated to herself.

Just as her father requested, Zelda went down to the dining hall within the half hour. She could see that her father was talking with a very tall man in the dining hall. The tall man threw her off a little considering he didn't look that much the friendliest. His skin was a pale green and he golden orange eyes. His long hair was also a reddish orange and pulled into a low ponytail. Zelda made her way inside and then cut in on their conversation.

"Mind if I cut in?" She asked.

"Oh! Zelda! Perfect timing!" The king greeted Zelda happily. Just as King Harkinian made his way over to the princess, the strange man caught Zelda's eyes. "Zelda, I'd like you to meet Ganondorf. He hails far from the west."

"My lady." Ganondorf bowed. "It is an honor." He kissed her hand.

"Um…thank you." Zelda turned to her father. "What brings Ganondorf here?"

"Oh I'll tell you at dinner!"

Dinner came twenty minutes later. Zelda and Impa were silent all through the meal while Ganondorf and the king were chatting it up like good friends who hadn't seen each other in years. There was a point in the meal where Zelda just grew too awkward and had to ask her father what he needed to tell her. As much as she wanted to, she always hated interrupting conversations. She had seen people get interrupted in the town market and they're not very happy when they're interrupted. Still, Zelda couldn't bear to feel awkward anymore.

"Um…Dad?" Zelda cut in. "What was it you needed to tell me?"

"Right!" The king remembered. "Well Zelda, you know you're of age where you need to start considering a suitor to marry."

"Right, the "m" word." Zelda said.

As much as she wanted to find the right guy, Zelda didn't want to get married. She felt marriage was too complicated. She had seen unmarried couples all the time, so she felt she could survive without marriage as well. The only problem Zelda had with that was that the king wants grandchildren. Zelda didn't want to have kids either. So, you could say that the princess was in kind of a bad situation at this time in her life. Zelda didn't even know what she wanted out of life yet. She just turned 17 not too long ago and came of age at 16. It was all moving too quick for her.

"Well," King Harkinian started. "I'm proud to say this. Ganondorf has asked to seek your hand in marriage."

Out of shock, Impa, who was drinking, spit out her beverage and Zelda started choking on a piece of chicken. Impa helped Zelda out and got rid of the chicken. It took Zelda a minute to recuperate and remember what her father said.

"Did you just say that Ganondorf wants to marry me?" Zelda asked.

"We'll be the happiest couple in Hyrule." Ganondorf replied.

'More like the most bizarre.' Zelda thought to herself.

Author's Note: Wow! Didn't expect that coming! Thanks for reading and hope you guys can leave a review! Reviews keep me motivated!

And now, here's the first trivia fact of the fanfic!

Trivia: The personality of the obnoxious archer from the archery competition was based on Link's personality from 80s The Legend of Zelda cartoon. I felt that Link's personality from that show was PERFECT for that character!