Triforce of Essence | Legend of Zelda Fan Fiction

Bonus Chapter

Twenty Years Later

He gently stroked her cheek with a shuddering hand, taking in a deep breath. He'd always loved her, he knew that much. Nothing could change that.

When Link thought hard, he could still remember the feeling of her heart pounding against him on the day he first met her, and her ragged breaths echoing in his ears. The feeling of her smaller hands clasped in his the day they were married and the beautiful white gown that she wore. No one could have worn it better in his mind. Her smile beamed up at him and happy tears streaked down her cheeks as she said "I do."

"Dad? Are you here?" Kera walked into the large room, her voice resounding off the walls.

Link peered up from his sleeping wife to look at his darling daughter. She wore the same dress that Neri wore that day. Kera looked almost exactly like her mother, with her slightly squared jaw and blue-gray-gold eyes. The only difference was her dirty blonde hair that flowed down her back. It was tucked into a thick braid that was pulled over her shoulder.

Kera briskly walked down the aisle to her father, her white dress flowing wildly around her feet. She looked down at her mother with a melancholic gaze. "Are you sure you don't want to move the date? Tristan would be more than willing to—"

"No," Link sighed, "it will continue. I couldn't force my beautiful daughter to move such an important date that she's been planning for over a year."

"But dad, after what happened—"

Link stood and embraced his daughter. "We will continue with this wedding. It's what your mother would have wanted."

Kera couldn't hold it back anymore. Despite the fact that this day was meant to be her happiest, so far it was anything but. Kera returned the hug, but her sobs shook her body. Link sat down and pulled her into his lap like he used to do when she was little.

It was obvious that she was trying to stop herself. After all, she couldn't be crying on the happiest day of her life. Link took in another big breath. Neri was crying on their wedding day—but it was because she was overjoyed. Kera was distraught.

"Mom's going to miss it," she gasped, her voice breaking. "She a-always teased me about this d-day. S-she said she w-wouldn't miss it for the world."

Link rubbed her back and held her tight. "She isn't going to miss it. Your mom is always with you."

Right then, the heavy oak doors of the church opened again. Light flooded through the cracks as Ryer stepped in. He wore a soldier's uniform, the standard for any aristocrat wedding. His thick brown hair stuck up in small tufts like always.

"Dad, everything is set—" Ryer stopped and his bright blue eyes dulled when he saw his older sister crying.

He silently walked down the aisle to them and patted Kera's back. Eventually the grief took over in him as he tried to console his sister, and soon he was sniffling and breathing heavily as well. He sat down next to Link, holding his head in his hands and took off his green cap. Ryer ran a hand through his hair and twisted the cap.

Link gave him a sympathetic glance. It made him miserable to see his children cry. Right next to him laid Neri, who wore a thin blue silk gown that barely touched her bare toes. A silver-embroidered veil hung around her shoulders and fell to her knees and bouquet of white roses was held by her pale stiff hands. Link studied her face.

She looked so peaceful and relaxed, like she was in a pleasant dream. Her skin was the palest white, like the snow that fell in early autumn. Her brown hair had begun to curl near the tips the way Neri had always hated it—Link remember the countless mornings that she would constantly comb through her hair in an attempt to straighten it. Her chocolate brown hair framed her face perfectly. To him, she was perfection. The only word she could ever use to describe her was perfect, even as the roots of her hair began to show silver and the crows' feet defined themselves after the infinite hours she spent smiling. Whenever he thought about her, she was always smiling or joking around. Her porcelain skin made her look like nothing more than a doll in its box.