A/N: I'm a little sad to be cutting the strings off of this story; I got quite attached to it. But, one has to be ready to let go at some point, people (although personally, I still can't accept that Harry Potter is over). People who have stuck with this story, I present to you the final installment.

After a long, somewhat distressing talk with Roy, Zelda slowly closed her cell phone. Being a staunch opponent of cell-phone drivers, she'd never started driving away from Telma's bar and was therefore still parked outside it. Leah had looked at her quizzically when Zelda didn't leave, so she'd motioned the teenager to go back to Frankie's so as not to invade her privacy. Although Roy had sounded honest and completely desperate, she still wasn't sure she believed him. Deciding it would be a bad idea to drive in her confused condition, Zelda got out of her car and once again entered Telma's establishment.

Said owner sighed when Zelda came to sit down. "What can I getcha, dearie?"

"Gimme a whiskey," Zelda groaned, putting her face in her hands. "Ginger ale on the side." As an afterthought she added, "and don't be stingy, baby."

Telma laughed. "Sure, Garbo, but I haven't got any whiskey. Ginger ale on the rocks, though, I can sure do that."

"Just as well."

So, it was Roy. Roy was Young Link's father. Did Link know? Or was he afraid that he was the father, and that's why he'd tried to pass off Ilia as his sister, until they could figure it all out? It didn't make sense. Roy was a sweet kid, he didn't seem the type to run out on a pregnant girl. This was all messed up.

"I thought I might find you here."

Zelda looked up and saw Ilia sit down at the stool next to her. "Although really I just came on a whim."

"Figures," Zelda snorted. "Why should you think I'd be here?"

Ilia shrugged. She asked for some tap water when Telma returned with Zelda's gingerale. "Not a bad place to try and lose yourself in when you're confused, is it? Not to mention its location …across the street from work, I mean." She watched Zelda gulp down her fizzy drink. "Have you spoken to Roy?"

Zelda put down her glass and stared straight ahead. "Yes."

"Ah, good," Ilia sighed with relief. "I know that of all people, you certainly wouldn't want me to be the one who explained …things."

"Well, then, you've got a head for logic as well as math, don't you?" Zelda sneered for lack of a better retort.

Restraining from telling her that technically logic fit into the whole math thing, Ilia instead remarked, "it's true, you know. I mean about Roy. It's all—"

"How can that be?" Zelda asked, finally turning to face Ilia with a sad expression. "Young Link looks nothing like Roy, he looks like he could be … Link's … son." She ran a frustrated hand slowly through her hair and groaned. "I feel so stupid."

"Yes, well, it's not our fault who Young Link looks like," Ilia said bracingly. "And you have to believe us—he's mine and … Roy's."

"You know Roy?"

"Not really." At this statement, Zelda rolled her eyes, prompting Ilia to add, "I know, that's great, right? I had met him before. He was a friend of a friend and we were at the same party, and someone spiked the drinks and…" She sighed. "I'm not really making me sound any better, am I?"

"Do you really need me to answer that?" Zelda asked sourly, still hunched over the bar in a huff.

"No, I guess not," Ilia sighed. "Look, I don't know how else to convince you about this." She looked down at her empty glass of tap water, quickly scanned the menu, then waved for Telma's attention. "Zelda, listen to me. There is no way that Link could be my kid's father. Link is a—"

"What can I get for ya, honey?" Telma asked, having just sidled over.

Giving Zelda a furtive glance, Ilia replied, "I'll have a virgin strawberry daiquiri, if you please."

"Sure thing," Telma said, albeit with a suspiciously raised eyebrow.

"Wait…" Zelda straightened slightly and finally turned to face Ilia. "Did your order contain some kind of double meaning?"

Mocking the blonde's earlier remark, Ilia said (not unkindly), "do you really need me to answer that?"

She was amazed at herself for being so insistent, but Zelda had to ask, "how do I know you're not here as Link's benefactor? You're just here because he told you to come and tell me these things and none of them are true!"

You're kidding me! How can Link deal with someone so annoying? Ilia's incredulous expression matched what she was thinking, but when she spoke again, it was with forced calmness. "Link did not ask me to come here, Zelda." After a small hesitation, she reached into her purse and pulled out an opened envelope. "He actually wanted me to give you this. He gave it to me this morning and wanted me to go to the diner to give it to you. He looked so horrible, and—well—actually, Young Link opened it and read it first while I was getting ready. So I kind of came across it by accident, but—"

Before she could finish, Zelda had taken the note out of Ilia's hands and started to read it. Ignoring Ilia's please of "Zelda, wait" and "let me explain" and "stop" and her attempts to snatch it back, Zelda kept it out of her reach until she'd finished reading it. Long after she was done, she continued to stare at the words as if they weren't real, as if looking at them would make them go away.

"He… he wants to end it," she said in a strangled voice. "We're done."

"No, no you're not!" Ilia sighed, taking the letter back. "Don't you see? Zelda, he only wrote this because he thinks it's what you want. He told me that you've refused to take his calls and that you don't want to see him. If he thinks that what you think is best is just to break up whatever you had going on, then he'll do that just to make sure you have what it is you want. Goddesses, you think he wants to break up with you?"

"Well, yeah," Zelda whimpered pathetically, gesturing to the letter.

"Oh, screw this!" Ilia said impatiently, tearing up the note and chucking it into a nearby waste-bin. "Listen to me. The other day after I'd put Young Link to bed, older Link called so we could—you know, discuss this whole situation with my kid. We talked about that for maybe five minutes, and just conversationally I brought up you, because he told me he had a girlfriend. Honestly, I couldn't get him to shut up." She was smiling now, because it had made her so glad to hear him so happy. "He wouldn't, he couldn't stop singing your endless praises. I really think he loves you. But if you're not going to give him a chance to explain everything for himself, then you aren't half the woman he spent so long telling me about."

Slumped over on the bar again, Zelda idly picked up a toothpick and started playing with it. Could Ilia really be trusted? What could possibly be an ulterior motive to telling her all this?

"Okay, I've said everything I can," Ilia muttered, grabbing her purse and preparing to leave. She took a look at the drink Telma had left for her, dropped some bills and said, "just one more thing. If you're stupid enough to give Link up, don't think I'm not going to do anything. I'll take him. He doesn't want me, but he'll have me if he can't have you. Not that I like being anyone's second choice, but … look." Zelda did look, and was surprised to see tears silently making their way down Ilia's face. "Don't walk away just because you got scared. Don't make the same mistake I did."

And with those final words of advice, Ilia got up and exited the bar. Planning to stay and contemplate everything Ilia had just said, Zelda got a rude awakening when Telma poked her and asked, "Hey, hon, don't you work at that diner across the way?"

"Yes."

"Mmm… I see. Don't suppose your shift starts soon?"

"Technically yes, but I've sort of given myself a mental health day… at least, I think I have. I mean I meant to go back over there before I came in here, but, well, it's kind of a complicated—"

"You just might not want to go back there for a little while is all I'm saying," Telma remarked.

"Why's that?"

"Well…I just saw some regular customers of mine saunter on in there."

"Regular? Are they drunks?"

"No," Telma sighed. "But I don't think a place full of cute waitresses is really the best spot for them to be, if you catch my drift." She paused thoughtfully, washing out an old mug. "Nice tips, though."

"Thanks, that's all I needed to hear," Zelda said wearily, getting off her bar stool. "I could use some extra cash. See ya."

"Er…bye."

Shaking her head, Zelda slowly walked out of the bar and stopped on the sidewalk just outside. Did she really feel like going back to Frankie's? I better …there's no reason for me to miss work unless I've been mortally wounded. Mortally? Is that the right word? Oh, whatever. Right now, this whole Link-Ilia-Roy thing was just getting her confused and she still couldn't say how she felt about everything. Wait, Roy. Ilia said that if I didn't take back Link, she would. But what about Roy? Were they going to get together now that they found out they had a son? Or would it just be one of those things where Roy would try to forget but have to end up sending her monthly payments for child care or something? Geez.

Before she realized it, Zelda had crossed the street and walked around to the back of the diner. She saw on the brick wall next to it "LK and ZH" inscribed in a heart that someone seemed to have scratched on. With a small laugh she remembered having done that with Link a couple months previously. Smiling sentimentally, she ran her hand over it, but quickly had to suppress a scream because somebody had come out of nowhere and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Watch it, I have mace!" she shouted.

"What? Relax, it's me!"

Zelda wheeled around and saw that her would-be attacker was none other than Saria's grandmother, Impa. "Oh—oh, it's you, Impa. Sorry, I mistook you for … um, not you, obviously."

Impa chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to give you a fright my dear."

"What're you doing behind the diner?"

"Oh, is that where we are?" Impa asked, looking up and around them. "I'm afraid I must have gotten lost. I'm supposed to meet Saria somewhere—the Starry Night café, I think? Even though it's the middle of the day, ha, ha, ha!"

"Oh, the Starry Night café is on 37th, this is 31st," Zelda explained. "So your confusion is understandable!"

"Ah, I see!" Impa exclaimed, taking out a small sheet of directions from her pocket. "Saria needs to make her numbers a little more obvious, can you see how that might have been misread? Anyway, I do wish we could have come here, instead! Your little diner is so nice."

"Thank y—"

"Of course we would have left together, Saria and I, and avoided this whole directions catastrophe, but she had to go before me because she needed to see someone about getting her car fixed or something like that. Ah!" She seemed to have just noticed the engraving Zelda had been looking at. Squinting at the initials, Impa's face broke into a smile. "Oh-ho, that must be you and your boyfriend, is that right?"

"Oh—well—yes, but we've… you see, we're kind of—"

"That Link, never seen one quite like him!" Impa laughed. "If only my Saria could meet one like that, you know? I'm afraid she may have rather liked him for a while, you know, they live so close together. But honestly, Link has been so nice. Before he moved to a different place, he used to come over all the time and help us. You know, do man things like move heavy furniture, fix the computer, one time he even got Saria's cat out of a tree it was stuck in! Saved us the mess of having to call the fire department, or whoever you're really supposed to call when that sort of thing comes up, you know—oh I'm sorry, dear, were you going to say something?"

"I…" Floored by this old woman's glowing review of Link, Zelda had been somewhat stuck for words. "We're… kind of going through an odd time right now."

The smile on Impa's face faded. "Oh, my poor dear. Have you—that is, are you going to—?"

"I don't know, I'm not sure," Zelda replied in a high-pitched voice. "Just something weird came up, you know? I guess we just have some things to talk about."

"Speaking of which, I'd better go," Impa said, folding Saria's instructions and putting them back. "My granddaughter does hate to be kept waiting! I'll see you around, then, Zelda dear."

"Yes, goodbye…" Impa had barely left sight and Zelda had barely moved when the back door to Frankie's swung open unexpectedly and bashed the blonde so hard that she was sent reeling back into the back wall. Whoever had opened the door seemed unaware of the damage they'd done, because they just stalked on without so much as a glance backwards. "Yo!" Zelda called, the tears of pain that welled up in her eyes obstructing her view. The person turned around and gasped.

"Oh, Zelda!" It was Leah, and she quickly walked over to help her friend up. "I'm so sorry, did I do that?"

"Yeah, but it's fine," Zelda groaned, wiping her face with her sleeve. "You just kind of caught me by surprise there. What's got you marching out in a huff?"

Blushing, Leah said, "it's some of our customers. Normally I wouldn't mind, because there's a suspiciously large amount, but—"

"Oh." Zelda remembered the people Telma had warned her about. "Pervs?"

"Only in the slightest meaning of the word," Leah answered sarcastically. "They haven't actually said anything or done anything to me yet, but there's two of them that won't stop staring at me and it's really creeping me out! Malon told me I should leave and not come back 'til they do, because she's concerned about me being underage and everything. And they won't order; every time someone starts to go over to take it, they just wave us off and say they're not ready yet and—"

"And watch you walk away," Zelda sighed. "Yeah, I know the type. Hmm, yes, it's probably better you don't stay."

"Yeah, seriously. I think I'll go over to CVS now and announce my resignation. If I'm going back to school, I can't continue with my crazy late-night shifts. Finally, I can stop selling drugs to people!"

"I can imagine how that might have plagued your conscience," Zelda laughed, patting Leah on the back. "I'll see you when you get back; I'm going in."

"Oh, wait, one more thing," Leah called after her. "Roy talked to you, right?"

"Yes, yes he did." Zelda heaved a great sigh. "He told me everything. And then Ilia tracked me down and she told me everything."

"Have you spoken to Link yet?"

"No, not yet. I'm going to call him after work."

"Promise?"

"Pinky swear." With a final wave goodbye, Zelda walked into the diner at last. She spotted Malon brooding over by the cash register and said. "Hey there, Mal, why the long face?"

If Malon was surprised to see her, she didn't show it. "Oh, this just hasn't really been my day is all. Roy told us about him and Ilia. I think he's going to try and start seeing her again. Feels guilty about having missed the first seven years of the kid's life, although it's not really like it's his fault if Ilia wasn't trying."

"I think she tried."

"Yeah, well, anyway… this means he can't date me!"

"Oh, sorry, that does kind of suck."

"Just a bit. And now we have all these people here who aren't ordering!" Malon said loudly, gesturing to the relatively large party of men Zelda could only assume was the one Leah had been telling her about. "Or that guy, over there!" And she pointed to a lone man sitting at a booth right next to the large group, staring (presumably, because he was wearing sunglasses) at the His Girl Friday poster by him. He was dressed in a trench coat with the collar turned up and was also wearing a baseball cap that clashed brilliantly with the rest of his outfit. "And he's not ordering anything except Iced Tea. It's driving me nuts."

"There's something familiar about that Fedora," Zelda muttered.

"Anyway, I told Leah to high-tail it out of here because these maniacs are getting out of hand," Malon finished. "Or they will, at any rate, and I didn't want her to be here when they did."

"Well, that was very nice of you," Zelda said lightly, putting on her apron. "Are Frankie and Roy back yet?"

"Obviously Roy is," Malon said, pointing as the boy went to go take the order of some old people. "I mean, how could he have explained Young Link's life story if he hadn't been here? But Frankie left again a little while ago because he discovered a Blockbuster coupon that expires tomorrow and he needs to use. So we have no idea, really, when he'll be back."

"Uh-huh… well, I'm going to go ask those guy what they want or tell them to leave, because we need to have, like, a policy or something on how much time you can sit there without ordering something," Zelda said in one breath. "So if you'll excuse me…" She ducked under the counter and walked as placidly as possible to the table the men were all congregated around. In a loud voice she announced, "Listen, guys, we're getting a little tired of waiting around back there, so if you don't mind, could you please tell me what you want?"

As soon as she said it, she knew she should have worded it differently because one of the man answered, "I know what I what, but I don't think it's on the menu." This elicited a tidal wave of laughs from his friends and an impatient sigh from the waitress.

"We retain the right to refuse service to anyone," Zelda said to the outspoken fellow. "I'm going to have to ask you lot to leave if you don't shut up and order."

"Yeah? You going to take me out, Blondie?" he sneered, leering at her. A friend of his muttered something into his ear, making them both laugh. The disguised man sitting in the booth directly behind them, however, did not seem amused.

Zelda gave out a little yelp of shock when the trench-coated man yelled "How dare you talk about her that way!", swerved out of his seat and grabbed the guy who had made the lecherous comment. In an instant they were engaged in a terrific fist-fight, successfully up-ending one of the tables within seconds. The snarky guy's friends were all cheering him on, but only when the hat of the chivalrous guy fighting for her honor fall off that Zelda recognized him.

Of course. Could she really be surprised?

"Link! What are you doing?"

He didn't answer, he was too busy sinking his fist repeatedly into the stomach of the perverted man. Malon, Ruto, and Roy all rushed over and stared at the spectacle, not really sure how to handle it. Then, Malon turned towards her fellow red-head and bellowed over all the noise, "Roy, make them stop!"

"ME! What do expect me to do?"

"I don't know, you're a guy! Get in there and break it up!"

Breaking it up wasn't necessary, however, because just then the front door of the diner banged open. This diverted the attention of the men (except the two still scuffling on the floor), who paled when they saw Telma march in after Frankie. The rather large woman grabbed both Link and the man he was fighting by the scruffs of their neck and yanked them apart. "All right, you good-for-nothings!" she said to the group she called her regulars. "You leave this place at once, or you'll never be tolerated at my bar again, do we have an understanding?"

They certainly did. Within three seconds the whole lot and swiftly left the place, save, of course, for Link. He stood up, and brushed his sunglasses (broken and now dangling from one ear) impatiently to the floor. Everybody looked shocked to see him there, but he only cared to see one. Zelda stared back with an expression that was frustratingly unreadable.

"I only wanted to see you." With that he turned on his heel, made for the door, then heavily pushed it open and disappeared shortly from view.

"Nice one, mom," Roy said, patting Telma on the shoulder.

"MOM?" Malon gasped. "The barmaid across the way is your mom?"

"Yeah," he said casually, surprised by her surprise.

"Frankie, I didn't know you were married!" Ruto cried.

"Of course I am! Sheesh, what's the matter with you kids?" Frankie barked.

"Sorry about the mess, dahlin," Telma said to her husband. "Don't worry, I'll have someone come by in a jiff to clean it up for ya."

"Thank you, dearest, that will be most appreciated."

"I honestly think this has been the weirdest day of my entire life," Malon said after Telma also made her exit.

"You can say that again!" Frankie snorted. "I would have been in sooner, but some little kid had been throwing eggs at my car and so naturally I had to go berate him."

"Little kid, huh?" Roy asked. "About how old would you say?"

"I don't know, six or seven."

"Blonde? Wearing green?"

"Yes, why? Do you know that little devil?"

Roy sighed, put his arm around his dad, and said, "if all goes well, I'll know him a lot better in the not-too-distant future. As will you." Beginning to explain about Young Link, he kindly led his dad out of the restaurant to talk.

Zelda stared down at the rubble by her feet. "I can't believe Link would do that for me," she murmured.

"Seriously? I can," Malon snorted.

The blonde turned to stare at her. "What? Weren't you the one saying what a dirty slime-ball he was and that I shouldn't go back to him and that he treated me wrong?"

"Ah, whatever," Malon said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I was just in the heat of the—moment, or action, or whatever. Let us not be too quick to judge. Him. Link, I mean. He screwed up and he knows he screwed up, but hey…" She nodded out the window to Roy. "At least he didn't screw up as bad as we thought."

"You're right," Zelda said. "You're so right." Without another word, she stepped over the table no one had bothered to put upright again, and walked resolutely out of the somewhat messy diner.

"Hey, you forgot your purse!" Malon called pointlessly after her. "And… you're still wearing your apron."

"I don't think it really matters to her now," Ruto said with a little smile.

Passing Roy and a dumbfounded Frankie in the parking lot, Zelda made a beeline for her car which was still outside of Telma's. She got in, shut off the radio, and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, trying to decide which of two places she wanted to go. After a few more moments of serious consideration, she sped off down the street. In fact she was going so recklessly fast, she managed to shave at least fifteen minutes off of her normal route. Had there been any cops waiting in the wings to spring someone with a lead foot like hers, they'd have been after her in a second, but she was lucky—even if she hadn't been, she wouldn't have cared. Nothing was going to make her stop driving now.

When she arrived at her destination, she'd barely shut off the engine when she hopped out of the car, kicked the door shut, and walked up the drive. Doorbells were for sissies, she decided, so she banged hard on the door with her fist. When Link opened it, he barely had time to acknowledge the fact that she was standing there, on his doorstep, when Zelda had thrown her arms around him and was kissing him like she'd never kissed him before.

He staggered backwards, mostly from shock, and Zelda once more kicked a door shut behind her. By then Link had regained his motor skills and was kissing her back with equal vigor. He lifted her up so that her feet were no longer touching the floor; she wrapped her legs around his and entwined her fingers in his wonderful, gorgeous, messy hair—she'd forgotten the power of his kiss, how it could make her go a little insane on the inside. She needed him like she needed oxygen, but although she was breathing deeply, at the moment she felt like she wasn't getting enough…

A salty taste had entered her mouth, and initially she wondered if Link had just been eating something with salt, but then realized with a start that both of them were crying. This realization jarred her so, that with a startled little gasp, she let go of Link. He looked up at her, then gently put her down in a chair they'd been standing by. Her eyes moved around distractedly, and Link, for lack of something better to do, sat himself down in a chair opposite.

"So." Zelda folded her hands together, and adopted a very business-like way of sitting, as if what had just happened was a daily circumstance they should both be accustomed to. "Oh, you've um… you've got some, uh…" She pointed at him and smudged around her mouth to get him to do the same. Jungle Red lipstick, pshh. Once he'd managed to get the most of it off (and she had as well), she continued: "Just for the record, that… was not my intention in coming here."

"Mm…kay," he said gingerly, not wanting to smile too broadly for fear of coming off as obnoxious. Or, for that matter, saying too much in case he messed up again.

"So. So, um. Yeah. Yes." This is horrible. I have no idea what I'm doing. Why didn't I make a plan before I came? Well, that was obvious. She did most things spur-of-the-moment, which would explain what had happened the second Link had opened the door. "So… what've you been up to the last few days? Oh my Goddesses. I did not just ask that.

"Uh…" He raised an eyebrow, knowing that she didn't really want the answer and knowing that she knew he knew. "Well… I've been thinking what an idiot I was not to confide in you who Ilia really was, and that I should have been honest right from the start. I was so stupid."

"I got angry too quickly," Zelda chimed in. "I should've let you explain yourself, I was so horrible to y—" A stack of DVDs resting on the coffee table in front of her diverted her attention. "Those look like a bunch of chick flicks, Link."

Relaxing a little, Link let out a small chuckle. "Yes. I've only watched like, two. I was hoping to be able to pick up some tips on how to—er, get you back."

She melted. "That stunt you pulled in the diner may have been just enough."

He blushed. "I'm sorry if that embarrassed you. I didn't mean to make such a scene, but—well, I won't repeat it, but I didn't like the way those guys were talking about you. All of you, really. I was just going to endure it though, but when he got started on you that just … kind of made me lose it."

"I don't think I've ever met someone quite like you, Link." Feeling a little flustered by his gaze, she looked away again and her focused on the DVD on the top of the stack. "Ah, The Princess Bride. So you've been learning from the best."

"Maybe," he said with a gentle shrug. "But I don't think that Wesley ever would have lied to Buttercup."

"Fair statement. But… I'd put it this way. You were really trying to protect me when you told me Ilia was your sister, right? Because you didn't want me to feel weird around her."

"Right."

"But when I found out, I freaked. I should've been calm enough to hear accept your apology instead of deciding that, contrary to the proof of all the time we've been together, you were a good-for-nothing louse." She looked up at him, admiring his eyes that looked like 'the sea after a storm.' "Link, 'I will never doubt again.'"

"'There will never be a need.'"

He stood up and gestured to the back yard swing. An outside excursion seemed indicated, during which—if they had the time—they might discuss the situation of Ilia and Roy. ;)

Six Months Later

Frankie's was closed for the night to the general public. But as it was Christmas Eve, Frankie had decided to hold a little party for his devoted employees and their significant others.

"This was real nice of you, boss," Leah said, accepting a turkey leg from him. "Especially now that I can't even work for you part time." With all the school-catching up she had to do (not to mention driver's ed, SAT prep, babysitting her sisters while her mom went to AA meetings, and a seminary class she'd gotten interested in), Leah had been forced to quit at the diner as well. However, she was it's most frequent customer, coming practically every day for a half an hour or so.

"Nonsense, Laquisha!" Frankie laughed (now that she didn't work for him anymore, he had an even harder time remembering her name). "You will always have a job waiting for you when you choose to come back."

"And I will, too," she vowed. "By the summer, I hope. Oh by the way, everyone," she announced to the table at large. "This is my boyfriend, Shad."

"Hi, Shad!" everyone said.

"I think I know you," Shad said to Zelda.

"Really? I'm sorry, where did we meet?"

"Um… never mind."

"How old are you, Shad?" Frankie asked.

"I'm just about to finish up my sophomore year of college," he said. "I'm majoring in history, particularly that of the sky beings!"

"Fascinating," said Link, as he and Zelda tried not to laugh.

"By the way," Leah said to Zelda, who was sitting across from her. She waved her hand, particularly her ring finger, at them.

"OH MY GODDESSES, ARE YOU ENGAGED?" shouted Malon. "TO SHAD?"

"Whoa, of course not," Leah said. "Still in high school, remember?"

"Six months of being sober, huh?" Zelda asked with a smile. "Way to go, Foxworthy."

"Thanks."

A few minutes later, Zelda started drumming her fingers on the table. Most thought she was just impatiently waiting for the mashed potatoes getting passed around to reach her, but this was not it: she was trying to get something noticed. She wouldn't stop.

Geez, that's getting annoying, Malon thought to herself, taking a sip of her water. She glanced down at Zelda's restless fingers. That's a really annoying habit she's—but the next second she screamed loudly, spewing the water in her mouth (unintentionally, of course) on Ruto, who was sitting across from her. She kept screaming loudly, causing Zelda to shake with laughter.

Then Ruto saw it, and she started screaming. Leah leaned over the table and looked as well, and also started to shriek with excitement.

"WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?" they yelled in unison.

The rest of the table (meaning Frankie, Telma, Roy, Ilia, and Young Link—but not older Link) were still completely in the dark, until they saw the hand Zelda was now proudly raising up. "Oh, just an hour or two ago," she said with an impish grin.

"That ring is gorgeous!" Leah said. "Definitely beats mine."

"Oooh, it's so pretty!" Ruto gushed, accidentally sticking her elbow in the bowl of mashed potatoes as she leaned over to get a closer look.

"I want one," Malon said, looking around at the table. She frowned.

"What, did you just realize that there's no one here you can wink at to give you one?" Ruto laughed.

"NO."

"Mmkay. Just don't be bitter, we need to be happy!"

"Of course I'm happy!" Malon said sincerely with a smile she could not contain. "I'll just chill with you, and Saria and Impa at the wedding."

"Mmm, we'll all have dates," Ruto said. "My bf apologizes for not being here, by the way. Bit busy."

"Impa. Impa will have a date? Okay, now I'm bitter."

Everybody laughed. Roy and Ilia, who had just had their own wedding a few weeks previously said, "We ought to have had a double one!" ("Aw man," Young Link moaned. "Does this mean I have to go to another wedding?")

"No, certainly not!" Telma said in response to Roy's statement. "That takes all the fun out of having your own! My dears, you must have the bachelorette party at my place."

"Link, I want you to have your wedding dinner here!" Frankie insisted.

"Only on one condition, old man," Ruto said. "You have to let us decorate it."

"Of course!"

"SWEET!" yelled Malon. "Let's do something weird! Some wacky theme for your guys' wedding dinner!"

"Like what?" Zelda laughed.

"I don't know, like…"

"Like Zebras out for tea?" Leah suggested. "They do so love stripes."

Malon stared at her. "No, I was going to say, like, Harry Potter or something."

"I don't know, Zebras out for tea is kind of working for me," Zelda said with a grin, nodding approvingly at Leah. "Although Frankie here would have to add tea to the menu to make it plausible."

"Pshh, tea is too British," Malon scoffed.

"What, so Harry Potter isn't?" Leah asked. "Speaking of which—a toast, everyone!" They all raised the glasses of butter beer that Telma had made them. "To Link and Zelda, our very own… zebras out for tea!"

"That's pretty quirky," Link said to Zelda as they all raised their glasses.

"And I say, old chap, we're about as quirky as they come!"

"I'll drink to that!"

The End.

An Author's Farewell:

Fanfiction readers and writers, it's been a swell four years. However, I think the time has come for me to stop writing for a while. I envision a very busy year ahead of me, and unfortunately, that means limited time for writing stories. Thank you for the reviews, they've helped a lot. I've still got some story ideas floating around in my head, so hopefully someday I'll come back.

I don't think anyone is really going to miss me, but in case you do, you should check out the author JoBethMegAmy. my homegirls., and yes I'm recommending her because she's a friend of mine (haha), but we have similar writing styles-ish, I think. At the moment, she hasn't got anything up, but it's only a matter of transferring from notebook to computer. Ought to have something in a week or so. Anyway, have a lovely rest of the summer, everyone!