^
~Epilogue~
v

Zelda sighed and paced a bit, looking out over the white expanse of the cloud barrier below Skyloft. She wished she had an air patrol instead of her ground guard she had now. At least in the air she could move and entertain herself with flying. Nearby, Sapphire huffed a sigh. "I know," Zelda said, glancing at her Loftwing. "But the shift's almost over, then we can soar. Maybe tomorrow, since we don't have to patrol, we can visit Aunt, Uncle, Sheik, and Tetra. How does that sound?"

Sapphire made a noise of contentment at the idea, and, as if begging her partner, leaped into the air, making lazy circles in the air above her. Zelda sighed and pulled on her blue tunic to straighten it.

It had been three years since the incident with Ghirahim, and a year since officially finishing at the Knight Academy. While it seemed weird for someone with such a noble background (and spirit) to take on guard duty, that is what Zelda had wanted to do, at least until she found something to better her time with. It was why she had chosen to attend the Academy, and what she had aimed for when she graduated. She wanted to protect her home.

She smiled, thinking about graduation day. Sheik and Tetra had come from the Surface with their parents to see her graduate, and even Midna had made an appearance.

But of course, thinking about graduation, also made her think of Link. The young Hero hadn't been seen in Skyloft since a week after graduation, saying he wanted to see the world. That had been the last sign of him for a year now.

True, he had sent letters, always saying he was safe, that he would come home soon, but weeks turned into months and still he wasn't home.

She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her until the intruder covered her eyes with his gloved hands. "You must not be a very good guard if I can sneak up on you, your Grace," he said in her ear, his voice deep.

Zelda didn't give the man a second more. She elbowed him sharply in the stomach, and he let go, stumbling back. Zelda quickly drew her sword, turning to face the man, her eyes widening at the familiar green-clad figure on the ground, holding his side.

"Goddesses, Zel," Link gasped. "If I had known you'd do that I'd never have snuck up on you."

Zelda dropped her sword and hugged him, catching him further by surprise. "I missed you," she said.

"Missed you, too," Link replied. Zelda let him go and he sat up.

"Sorry," the young woman replied. "I thought you were someone coming to capture me." Link waved off the apology. "Tell me about your adventures."

"Shouldn't you be on guard duty?"

"Only for another five minutes."

"Then you'll just have to wait. I'll tell you over dinner."

"Fine."

Half an hour later, Link was treating Zelda to dinner. He told her of all his adventures over the past year.

At first he had been spending his time flying around Hyrule and ridding the land of the monsters that were still hanging around from Ghirahim's reign of terror. That took up a good five months. Finally, when the monsters were eradicated, Link began travelling the kingdom. He made friends with the different races of the land, and visited his friends he made during his journey to find the Master Sword. He even spent a couple weeks learning hand-to-hand combat from a warrior in a little village he called Spirita.

Two weeks prior to his return, he went with Sheik and Tetra to visit Midna in the Twilight Realm. "You should see it, Zel," he said, his voice full of awe. "It's like a sunset after a stormy day here, only the oranges and reds and purples, and even a bit of pink, are all much more exaggerated. And it's perpetual. There's only a slight change in light."

"We should go visit sometime," Zelda said.

"Yeah. You'd love it."

They ate in silence for a moment. "What did you do then?" Zelda asked after a few minutes.

"This past week I was catching up with my family in Kokiri. I hadn't seen them in a while, so I thought a visit was in order."

"Neither your dad nor your uncle mentioned you were staying with them."

"Yeah, I kind of said I wanted to surprise you all up here." He twisted his glass, watching the water inside swirl. He glanced up, meeting Zelda's eyes. "You done? You want to go for a walk or something?"

Zelda nodded. Link quickly paid for their meal and they headed out, walking toward the stature of the Hero of the Sky. The young Hero recalled his first time on the sky island. Oh, how he enjoyed the sights of the floating earth!

He and Zelda stood side by side, watching the Loftwings fly overhead.

"I missed you," Zelda said after a long pause.

"I missed you, too." Link turned to face her. He took her hands. "Sometimes I regret leaving. I missed you so much that I would lie awake at night, wondering about how you were, and if you missed me, too. But I loved traveling, and I still want to see more of the world. I couldn't keep going without coming back and telling you…"

"What, Link?"

"I love you. I think I always have, since the day we met, and you dragged me all around Skyloft to give me the grand tour."

Zelda's face grew red. "I…I love you, too. You're like my knight in shining armor, but please, don't leave me again."

Link slowly released a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and pulled Zelda into a hug, which she returned. "I promise, Zel, I won't leave unless you're by my side. Never again will you be alone."

Zelda smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, and together they watched the sun set on Skyloft.

^
~Fin~
v

Author's note: And it's (finally) done! *flops on the ground* Quick thanks to you all who stuck with this story. You all are awesome and wonderful and deserve a cookie.

Also (shameless advertising is shameless) if any of you are into Fire Emblem: Awakening, I've got a fic of one shots going on and a multi-chapter story to come soon (and will hopefully not take as long as this story.) Don't be shy, come on by!

Did I really just...? Anyway, thanks again to all who read, favorited, followed, and/or reviewed!

~TwiliRupee~