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Thank you gumptiousGriffin and Ultimate blazer for your reviews - I'm really glad I got you thinking!

So unfortunately, I'm going to have to end the series here for now. As you may have been able to tell he the abrupt break in updates, life had got in•sane recently, so I just don't have too much time for writing right now! So I'm really sorry about all the delays, but I will be back!

Again, if you've got requests in the interim then please just leave it in a review/PM me!

I'd like to say a massive thank you to all my reviewers, favouriters, followers and all my silent readers. I've had a lot of support so far and I can't thank you all enough!

Enjoy!

102. Twilight

The summons came in the morning. A few simple lines, scrawled onto yellowed, curled parchment.

War has broken out on the Southern Border. Requesting the main army force for backup.

The words were hurried, and Link took them immediately to heart.

"Won't you at least consider alternative scenarios?" Zelda begged him, following him in his frantic exercise in packing belongings from around their room. "It could have been forced, or coerced; they could have mistaken the situation - perhaps a scouting team may be better—"

Link stopped suddenly, and Zelda almost crashed into him. He looked at her, affectionately and tiredly. "I am the bearer of the Triforce of Courage. You are the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom. That is where the two of us differ."

"And as the bearer of wisdom, I'm making suggestions! Sensible ones!"

"And as the bearer of courage," he said, his tone conveying that he did not want to get into this argument again, "I'm telling you that I feel it. I feel that I'm needed there, as surely as you're needed here."

Zelda did not like the reply. She crossed her arms and huffed girlishly, retreating to a corner to skulk around as she watched him. He was just beyond arm's reach now, but she knew that he'd already gone to the front lines, mentally. It was as though an entirely different soul inhabited his body when the lust for battle rose in him. He was a handsome king, but a handsomer soldier after all; it was as though the goddesses had explicitly created him for such a purpose.

The pair were stiff at breakfast, but cordial during their morning meetings. It wouldn't do to signal how divided the couple were over this new war, and as they debated its worth with the Council, Zelda felt as though she were watching her body agree, hearing someone else use her voice to say the things that she so hated.

"I agree, Minister. War is indeed the correct course of action."

The words didn't even fall from her tongue unnaturally; it was as though she never felt them fall at all. But she watched her husband fiddle uneasily, and all too soon he was whisked from her into preparations.

"If we are fast, we should be gone at twilight."

The news was unwelcome to an already upset Zelda. She was pushed away for most of that day; she always was, in times of battle preparation. It only ever added ire to the pile of unpleasant emotions - she was the Queen, she had the Royal Bloodline, and she was the ultimate power in the land! She realised that they thought her weakened by her sex and her station in life, but they were more wrong than they could possibly imagine.

Zelda was left to occupy herself however she saw fit for the hours she was unneeded, and she chose to retire to their chambers, so she could act as freely as she wished. She could pace in anger until the floorboards wore thin for how much anyone cared. That was precisely what she did to while away the anxious hours.

The door clicked open and closed quietly. Zelda did not stop pacing.

"Zel, it's time."

She brought herself to a halt and took in as much of a breath as she dared. She felt as though her entire body had been filled with the anxiety that she daren't let slip out. She looked at him, dressed in all his fine armour and that famed green hat. She couldn't bring herself to smile at the embellished design that she first met him in. She couldn't even bring herself to acknowledge the emotions it brought up.

He sighed and shifted his weight. "Zel, I'll— I'll be fine. I always am! I'm the Hero of this era, and the goddesses watch over me.

Zelda pursed her lips. "That does not make it any easier."

He nodded. "I know."

"Every time you leave, I can barely function. What if this time is the last time you leave? If you're captured, or injured and then disabled? What if the war goes on for years - decades, even - and we're forced to live apart for all that time?"

He brought her into a hug that would usually be warm; this, however, was entirely metallic and cold. Her face pressed uncomfortably against his shoulder pauldrons. "You know I love you Zel, but that was a perfect instance of you being stupid."

Zelda recoiled with a sharp gasp, affronted.

His roughish smile spread across his face, infecting the gleaming blue eyes that lay beneath fair lashes. "I'll be perfectly fine. And I'll probably see you in a few weeks - a couple of months at the most. So I know it's a lot to ask, but do try and carry on as normal, okay?"

Zelda turned away, sulking like a little girl again, but nodded.

"See?" Even he was talking to her as though she were a child now. "And I'll be back soon."

"Alright." She gave him a stern nod and put her arms as far around him as she could again. "I'll come to the gates and see you all off."

With a deep kiss that reflected how much they both yearned for more, they parted. She saw him on his beautiful (if temperamental) mare at the head of the army while she waved them all off.

As Link rode out over Hyrule plane, disappearing into the twilight, she wasn't sure if she'd ever see him again. Something in her heart told her she wouldn't.

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