Had Tchaikovsky in mind while I wrote this one.

Apologies for the abrupt ending - this fic was short and sweet and fun to write! Hope you guys enjoyed the ride. :)

When Zelda woke in the morning, it took her a moment to remember what had happened the day before. Seeing Link laying across from her, barely a foot away, had been a shocker at first - but then yesterday's events came flooding back. Of course. She stayed still, studying his features as the sunlight filtered through the window and played on his cheeks. His hair tie had come undone; blonde hair fell around his face and shoulders, tangled in the collar of his white dress shirt, which was quite wrinkled now and had a few buttons undone for comfort's sake. He had longer eyelashes than she remembered, and in the moment, looked entirely vulnerable. She took a moment to remember when he had first saved her; he knew his archery, not to mention how to navigate a battlefield… she smiled. It didn't seem like the same person, now that he was here.

Carefully, she let go of his hand, and rolled over onto her back. The sun was already quite high, so they must have slept in, but… it was so quiet. No one had come to knock on her door yet. Surely by this hour, her father would be bugging her to get up and asking why she'd disappeared during the ball? Of course it was good that he hadn't, seeing as Link was still in bed with her, but…

He groaned a little from beside her, and she turned her head sideways to watch his blue eyes slowly blink open. He looked surprised for a moment, like he had also forgotten the circumstances that brought him here; his cheeks were rosier than usual, and he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"I forgot to say thank-you, for taking that kick for me," he said, voice dry. Zelda hadn't been expecting that to be the first thing he said upon waking. "I'm sorry you got hurt."

"…you're welcome," she replied, hopeless in his blue eyes. Clouds passed outside, ensconcing them in grey for a moment before the sun came back out. Link looked like he wanted to talk a couple times, but stopped himself. Zelda waited until finally, that word passed his lips.

"Princess… I-"

"Stoooooop," Zelda drawled, sighing and turning her body on its side to face him. "I don't want to hear it."

He looked shocked, for just a moment, that she would cut him off like that, but Zelda only smiled at him and rested a hand on his cheek. Link could do nothing but stare back at her.

"I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but I really don't want to hear any more apologies or formalities from you," she admitted. "You've already done so much for me. And you've stayed overnight with me, so just consider yourself… above the usual civilities."

She could see the gears whirring behind Link's eyes, like he was trying to decipher what she'd said.

"Are you trying to say we're friends?"

It caught Zelda off guard. At first, she wanted to correct him and say no, that's not what she meant - but then again, she'd never had any real friends, not since she was little. The other noblewomen were less friends and more… necessary acquaintances. A friend was something different. Was this how it felt to be friends with someone? For your heart to jump when you saw them, and your cheeks to get warm when they looked at you or said something nice, and to want to be close to them - closer…

Zelda swallowed, quickly pulling her hand back from his cheek.

"Yes," she lied.

Link, thankfully, was more honest than her.

"I think my feelings for you… moved a bit past friendship," he said, "I'm sorry. I'll stop."

Zelda's mouth dropped open, and she promptly turned to bury her face in her pillow. Link sat up, frantic, trying to comfort her and figure out what was going on all at once.

"What - oh - I'm sorry, I apologized again - shit - Zelda, I mean - Princess - I mean, Zelda-"

"This is torture," Zelda mumbled into the pillow, and finally peeked back up at Link from the fabric. He looked confused as ever. Same.

"Link, I've never… had a crush or anything before," she admitted, sitting up and sighing. "I just don't know what to do about how you make me feel, it's… bound to be inappropriate in some way…"

"Inappropriate," he repeated with a little bit of a scoff, "right. I forgot my place."

As he went to stand, and as Zelda realised how wrongly he had interpreted what she'd said, she jumped up to grab his hand and pull him back. As he turned back to face her, she lifted up on her knees, and in a split second decision, pressed her lips against his. Maybe that could show him everything she couldn't say with words. She was grateful for his company, and how he'd saved her… envious of his skills in battle, and having someone she could relate to was a lifesaver. Whether or not he felt the same was beyond her. But she had to get it across, somehow.

Link was clearly surprised at first, unmoving, but only for a brief moment. Relief washed over Zelda as he returned the kiss, hesitant at first but then more passionate, one of his hands lifting to cup the side of her face. When he pulled away, he looked confused - and almost offended.

"I thought it was inappropriate for a Princess to be with someone like me," he muttered, scratching the back of his neck, looking embarrassed.

"That's not what I meant," Zelda protested, watching him earnestly, "I mean for me to have had you overnight, and to have feelings for you when I shouldn't be distracted from my duties and prayer, it's… I'd get in so much trouble, Link, if my father knew."

"Oh."

Link's expression was hard to decipher. A mixture of happiness and nervousness, Zelda figured - a feeling she understood well, especially now.

"Speaking of my father," Zelda remembered, "no one has come to check on me this morning, which is… a little strange. By now, at least one of the maids would have been by…" She frowned, and Link lifted his eyes to the ceiling, thinking to himself. They spent a couple moments in thought, but the more Zelda mused on it, the worse she felt. Something in her gut told her it wasn't right.

"I think something's wrong," she said quietly, not wanting to admit it to herself. What could have happened? Was it during the ball last night? Security had been tight, since they were worried about Link… but then again, that meant the outside of the castle was relatively undefended - she remembered not running into any trouble while she headed down to the dungeons. That's it!

"The dungeons! Link! There were yiga down there with you, weren't there?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, there were," he realised, but still looked a little confused. "Why?"

"I'm afraid they might have escaped, since the guards there were taken out… not that it's really your fault, but… or else, it's possible I was followed when I snuck in…"

"You snuck in?" Link repeated, cocking his head.

"To find you," Zelda replied with a nod - "my father still thinks you're a fraud, actually," she added, smiling sheepishly at Link, whose face fell.

"Seriously? That's great," he sighed, voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Either way, something isn't right," Zelda replied, standing up from the bed and peering out the window. "Usually I can see patrols… down below…"

There were no knights down below, even as she watched. By now, a patrol would have gone by… instead, as she watched, a man in red and black walking past glanced up at the windows.

"A yiga!" Zelda exclaimed, and as she looked, her blonde hair whipped out the window in the wind. No!

Even from so far away, she could tell she'd been seen. The yiga broke into a run as Zelda ducked back into her room, looking at Link in a panic.

"We have to leave - now. The yiga must have taken over the castle. They must not have found this room… we need to find my dad."

After Zelda had changed into more comfortable, agile clothes, they left immediately. Navigating Hyrule Castle while it was crawling with yiga was not an easy task, and what's worse, the yiga had been alerted to their presence too. At first, they had no troubles - it was clear the winding and maze-like hallways that led to Zelda's room had stumped the yiga, but they were everywhere else. Thankfully, there were more than a few secret pathways in the old building, and Zelda and Link were able to duck in and out of rooms and halls as the yiga passed.

As they got closer to the ballroom, Link and Zelda exchanged confused glances; was that music? Sure enough, when they reached the small cavern behind the bookshelf that would then lead them into the ballroom, the band was still playing. Link took the lead in peeking out from behind the shelves to see what was going on. The curses that immediately followed didn't give Zelda any high hopes.

"What?" she asked, frowning at him as she stayed crouched in the darkness.

"It must have happened last night. Everyone is threre… and the King. They're hostages. And the... they're making the band keep playing... I think some of them got drunk..."

In the firelight spilling in between the bookshelf and the wall, Zelda could see Link's blue eyes widen.

"They're waiting for us. It's a trap."

"So… what do we do?"

Link stood back from the wall, and looked down at Zelda only briefly before it seemed he'd made up his mind. He drew his sword, holding it tightly and staring down the bookshelf ahead of him. Zelda didn't have time to think or react. He just said it was a trap, and he's going to barge in?!

"Your father is tied up to the left. You're fast. Get to him right away and free him if you can."

"What- Link!"

"I know you can do it," he interrupted, and he leaned down to her then, brushing his nose against hers. "You're stronger than you think, Zelda."

A quick peck on the lips and a grin flashed her way as all she got before the bookshelf was shoved forward with a kick. Tomes scattered to the floor as Link clambered to the top of it, sword drawn, glowing blue in the dim light of the ballroom.

"You want me? Come get me," he yelled, and that was all it took. Straight up panic. The knights were yelling, the common nobility shrieking in surprise. The yiga were scrambling for their weapons, trying to decide who had to stay and guard the hostages and who was to go after Link. Zelda ran for it, turning swiftly to the left once she entered and sticking close to the wall, her eyes stuck on King Rhoam, who was also staring at Link, distracted. Immediately, she threw herself behind the chair he'd been tied to; from here she could untie him and, well, hopefully not be seen. But she didn't have much time. Rhoam didn't even seem to notice that the ropes around his wrists were being untied - he was too busy watching the spectacle not ten feet away, and Zelda couldn't blame him.

As she glanced up to see what was going on, Link was deflecting blows from atop the bookshelf like he was dancing. She couldn't help that the first thought in her mind was woah, nice footwork. But it wouldn't last long. The yiga toppled the bookshelf, trapping a few of their own underneath it. Link jumped at the last moment, kicking off of the head of one of the yiga and then hitting the ground with a roll. He was quick, but at some point, the sheer number of yiga would be far too overwhelming...

Rhoam's wrists came free, and still without realising Zelda had even been there, he began to work on his ankles. Zelda looked towards the knights; their swords were hoarded not too far away from where she was, but they were only being guarded by a few yiga. Surely if they had their armor or weapons - and weren't wearing dress suits - they'd be more confident than this?

Hopefully…

Finally, Rhoam was free. He stood, clearly ready to speak - but Zelda beat him to it. She had ran and dove for a sword, lifting it above her head with surprising strength (it must be the adrenaline, she thought to herself) and yelling out in such a way that the entire room paused. It was an order, after all:

"You will fight for your kingdom!"

Both Link and Rhoam's mouths were dropped open. It was impossible to tell for the yiga, due to their masks - the knights, meanwhile, had varied expressions, but all of them let out a roar of a yell in response. While some dealt with the yiga guarding them, the rest charged for their swords; Zelda's eyes widened and she had to duck out of the way of the hoard of suited men grabbing weapons off of the floor with no care for what they picked up.

What followed was a ridiculous scene. Masquerade masks and hor'dourves littered the floor. The band, having paused to see what was going on, resumed playing. The knights, usually in full suits of armor, were instead in tight-fitting suits and bowties, but fought as if they were on a battlefield. Link's white dress shirt was stained with blood, but he didn't seem injured himself, and as Zelda looked and saw him fighting in between two yiga, she was shocked to see the etchings of a smile on his lips. Was he… enjoying himself?

Rhoam swiveled to meet her, and immediately swept her up in his arms as knights and yiga toppled over each other nearby.

"Zelda - dear Zelda, I was so worried."

"It's quite alright - now help me, will you?"

She held the sword out to her father, and the man responded eagerly, turning and yelling into the crowd. His deep voice caught more than a few of them off guard, but instead of diving into the fray, he stayed put to protect Zelda from the few yiga that had noticed she was there.

By the time the song ended, the battle was won. Their gorgeous ballroom was doused in blood, alcohol, food, and clothes. At first, no one spoke, and no one moved - until Zelda broke the silence, tripping over a couple plates as she broke into a run for the middle of the room. Link, on the other side of the room, followed suit; sheathing the master sword as he went, he met her in the middle of the ballroom and the two of them embraced. He hugged her and lifted her up off the floor, spinning her once - and then as she landed, without a second thought, kissed her.

Rhoam had no time to object. Their audience erupted into cheers, and both Link and Zelda were accosted by nobility and knights alike, lifting them into the air in celebration. Amidst the chaos, the dim light of a triangle shone upon Zelda's right hand, unnoticed.