Link wasn't sure whether it was going to be the best day of his life or the worst.

"No, no, no you idiot, put the ice sculpture over there."

He was getting married to a sweet (when she got her way), kind (most of the time), clever (and sometimes sassy), and talented (she was a Sage for Farore's sake) girl. And a royal girl nonetheless.

"We need to alternate the place settings between the blue, navy, and white. Check the diagram I made for reference."

And while he adored Ruto, his sweet, busybody, ever-talkative Ruto, the fact that it was their wedding day was more than a little bit overwhelming.

"Dear Nayru, is that supposed to be a flower arrangement?! Not at my wedding!"

Zelda stood in the corner of the room, staring at him with a knowing smile on her face. She knew he was freaking out just as much as Ruto, even if he didn't show it the way the Zora princess did.

"Keep this sort of music up and I'm calling the Indie Go-Gos for the reception. I know you're our budget band but can you please keep yourselves from sounding like a bunch of dying babies?"

The Princess had footed the wedding bill for them. Zora's Domain still wasn't quite up to snuff for a wedding ceremony, nor did they really have the resources to use Hylian traditions alongside their normal ones, so Zelda had offered Hyrule's funds. The bride and groom had both been instrumental in getting rid of Ganondorf. It was the least she could do to pay for a piece of their happiness.

"You know I love the Gorons, Link, especially Darunia, but did this really have to be on land? All the waiters are clutzes out of water."

Since nowhere in Hyrule Castle Town was completely repaired even four years after its demolition, they'd decided to hold the ceremony and reception on the banks of Lake Hylia. Fitting, since Link of the land was marrying into a world of water.

"I need a breather. Don't destroy anything while I'm gone."

He had originally wanted it in the Temple of Time. That place was so important to him for so many reasons. For all intents and purposes, it was there that his life had begun when he was ten years old and there that his life had ended seven years later when he put the Master Sword back where it belonged.

He flinched at the sound of a shattering plate and a curse word.

But today he was beginning a new life. Today was a day for Link to be reborn. He wasn't Kokiri. He had never felt Hylian. But maybe he could make it as a Zora. The Zora Prince.

It was like she'd been summoned. "Did I hear what I thought I heard?"

They scattered out of her range of vision, and for some reason he was reminded of when they'd met. He'd liked her spunk then, even if he thought she was an annoying little prat for making him carry her everywhere. He still wondered about the Zora worship of Jabu-Jabu. He'd gone once with Ruto to feed him. Literally the only thing it did was consume fish and pass gas.

"Link, can you please handle this?"

No, no he couldn't. Truth be told, he could barely handle himself. Instead, Zelda stepped forward. She was probably worse than Ruto, because she held all of the Zora's pride and arrogance without her energy and laugh. Zelda never smiled any more. She had smiled as a child. Why didn't she smile now?

"Thank the gods. Maybe they'll listen to Hyrule's princess better than they listen to their own."

He supposed that Zelda had seen more of Ganondorf's destruction than he had. Link had gotten up close and personal with the evil, but Zelda had seen its effects across the whole country as Sheik. He could only imagine the pain it must have caused her. Another plate shattered.

"You're worse than they are! Shoo."

Once he had thought he could make her smile again. She was stressed from juggling the numbers for repairs on Kakariko, and he was stressed from being flirted at by nearly everyone he knew. Malon, a handful of girls in Castle Town, a few from Kakariko, Nabooru who suddenly found him far more attractive than he'd been as a child, and especially Ruto. Everyone except Zelda wanted him to kiss her, and everyone except Link was begging for Zelda's attention. He had always felt like she was one of the handful of people that had understood what he went through. It had seemed like a good idea to ask her out.

"LINK, you have responsibilities too, you know."

When she said no—accompanying it with one of the coldest looks he'd ever seen—he had come crying to Ruto. She had soothed him and tried to explain why Zelda was so icy (he didn't remember a word), and then playfully reminded him that they were still technically engaged. At first he had balked, but slowly, slowly, he drew closer to her.

"Oh goddesses, there are guests arriving. Link, go to that tent. I'll be in this other one. You know how it goes, we've rehearsed. Places everyone!"

Her playful teasing. Her constant energy. Always so enthusiastic. Always finding the oddest things hilarious.

He could hear the murmur of guests outside as they started taking their seats. It was taking far too long.

Ruto could always make him laugh. They came from completely different worlds, but she valued the same things he did—friendship, loyalty, honesty, and affection.

Finally the music came on. He was stunned and still for a moment before one of the assistant coordinators prodded the back of his shoulder sharply and hissed at him to move.

The Zora people had acted so differently from the Hylians. They didn't comment on how he looked different or couldn't swim as well as him. They upgraded his water tunic and taught him tricks, gave him false fins to wear on his feet so that he would have a chance at beating Ruto in tag.

Ruto was beautiful, draped in gauzy sheer fabrics from head to toe and loaded with gleaming pearls and sparkling water diamonds.

She had never held his child-like attitudes against him. Even when he had acted like he was thirteen and wallowed in his own angst she made it a point to drag him outside and do something. For a while she had been the only person that perked him up.

"Do you, Link of the Kokiri, take Princess Ruto of the Zora Tribe to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

They were an odd pairing, that was for sure. No Hylian or Zora had ever married in the past. As far as he knew, no Zora scales had ever touched Hylian skin in a moment of love, no lips had ever touched one another. They were the first.

But they were soulmates.

"I do."