Sorry this chapter took so long! I know I said I'd get it up two weeks ago on my birthday, but you know. It was my birthday. :) AND THEN, AP testing came up and I had to kick my studying into high gear and -insert excuses-, but it's here now. Happy Mother's Day, by the way!

2009.06.29 (Mon); 8:32
Hyrule: Light Prefecture—Hyrule Castle Town
Uptown Ward: Naval Base HCT—Pier 3

Link and Sheik’s families, as well as Malon, were were all together, seeing off the two men, both decked out in their uniforms.

“Come back safely,” Sheik’s mother hugged him tightly, her hands cupping his face. He rested his own hand against one of hers and stroked the back of hers in assurance.

“I will, Ma. You take care too.” He glanced to his father, grinning lopsidedly. “You too, Pop.”

“We’ll be just fine, son,” he nodded with somewhat of a knowing smile. His long, aged silver hair was slickly tied back in a short ponytail. “You don’t do anything crazy, you hear?”

“I won’t!”

“You too, Link!” Sheik’s father’s gruff voice called. Link, who was tightly hugging his mother, turned to face the middle aged man. The blond simply nodded, a slight smile on his lips.

“Come back to us in one piece,” Link’s mom said to him. Tears were falling again. They were a strange but familiar mix of sadness and pride. To her, it was like saying goodbye to her husband all over again.

“I will, Mom,” he kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back. Promise.”

“Write regularly,” His father came in, squeezing his shoulder. Link placed his hand on his and he nodded in understanding.

“I will, Dad.”

Aryll jumped in and hugged Link from behind. “Bring me back cute sailors!”

Their mother looked over Link’s shoulder with a joking scoff and playfully swatted her upper arm softly. Their father and Link chuckled at that and pulled her into the hug.

Sheik and his family, along with Malon, watched Link and his exchange their last embraces. What Aryll said to Link struck a small chord inside Sheik then. Ever since Aryll started high school and matured into womanhood, Sheik had a crush on her. Not until recently did it wear off; it was only a few weeks before he met Malon.

“You two better hurry on!” Link’s dad finally said, somewhat reluctantly giving Link his bags. “We don’t want you two getting in trouble for being late.”

“I’ll see you when I get back,” Sheik kissed Malon on her lips softly.

“Don’t make me wait too long,” she returned the kiss and hugged him briefly. When she broke away, she turned to Link and bowed once again. She was probably still intimidated, Link thought in his head.

“Good luck to you too, Link,” she said.

“Thanks. You take care of yourself.”

The two sailors took their luggage in hand and slowly turned to leave, pushing through the crowds of sailors and their own families and friends. As the two disappeared, the ship’s horn went off, signaling the approaching departure.

- - - - - - - - - -

Queen Zelda made her way up a spiraling staircase that pivoted at every corner, surrounded on all sides by her entourage. Impa was at her side, as always. They were making their way up one of the communications towers, where she would be addressing the aircraft carrier HRN King of Red Lions before it left dock.

“Quee—”

“Just ‘Zelda’,” the young ruler cut Impa off. “Twenty-four years, and you still find it awkward to call me by my name?”

Zelda said it with a rather scolding tone, but Impa could hint the slightly amused smile without looking at her. “…Zelda,” she said tentatively, as if the name were some taboo. “Why are you doing this? I know you mean well, but we have more important business to attend—”

“Why bother trying to reason with Termina when they repeatedly rejected us?” Zelda cut her off again, stopping in her tracks to look at Impa. The guards behind her stopped as well, and the ones in front went on before noticing their queen wasn’t; they came to a halt at the pivot of the stairs and turned to Zelda.

“And as far as I’m concerned, there is no more important business than the morale of my sailors and their families,” Zelda finished firmly. She continued up the staircase and her guards followed suit, leaving Impa there. The Sheikah sighed in defeat before continuing upwards, catching up with Zelda.

- - - - - - - - - -

On the starboard promenade, all the officers aboard the King of Red Lions were all assembled, standing at attention, facing the communications tower. Two of them were Link and Sheik. When Zelda arrived, the entire pier and the ship were in uproar with applause.

“Thank you,” Zelda spoke into the microphone in her hand, bowing before the crowd. “Thank you very much.”

“Good morning, everyone,” Zelda said as soon as the cheering died out. “Thank you everyone for supporting our proud Navy men and women as the HRN King of Red Lions departs… We all know we sending off our loved ones into battle; I sympathize greatly with the hardship of having to let your husbands and wives, and your sons and daughters go into uncertainty.”

“But so help me, I believe…” Zelda paused for a moment. She took it to get a glance of all the tearing eyes of the parents, children and friends. Some were holding up banners with the sailors’ names on them. Others had massive bundles of balloons in hand. “I know that every single man and woman on that ship will return to us safely and soundly!”

As the pier erupted in applause again, she looked across the sea of people, waving at those she made eye contact with. The starboard side of the ship was a wall of sailors, waving to their loved ones. Some were on their cell phones, covering their free ear, trying to say goodbye one last time. She turned to the officers on the promenade. The men and women saluted her, and she returned the gesture as best she could. She had spent some time in the car ride to the base learning how to salute properly.

The officers quickly stood back at attention and fell out, preparing to undock. Link stayed behind, scanning the crowd for his family.

“Cute, huh?” He heard Sheik say to him over the commotion.

Link turned to him, raising an eyebrow. “Who?”

“The Princess… Queen, I should say.”

Link took his eyes off his friend to glance at Zelda, who was still waving to the crowd and the sailors. “May the Goddesses be with you!”

“Yeah, I guess,” Link shrugged indifferently. He had to admit though, that Zelda really was attractive. He hadn’t really noticed or paid attention to Zelda, or the royal family in general, for that matter. Politics didn’t really interest him, and Zelda herself wasn’t really in the spotlight until Daphnes Nohansen’s assassination.

Sheik just chuckled at his response. “Best looking leader I’ve ever seen, anyway.” He pat Link’s shoulder softly before running off to the lower decks.

Link stared at Zelda for a few more seconds before going back to the crowd, finally spotting his and Sheik’s family. As they waved exuberantly, he smiled slightly, raising his hand in acknowledgement.

- - - - - - - - - -

2009.06.29 (Mon); 11:36
Labrynna: Lynna Province—Lynna City
Lynna Castle—Conference Room

Ambassador Keeta sat in his Maku wood armchair. His entourage stood on either side of one of the doors that led to the exit. The room was minimally designed, though tastefully done. The only furniture in the room were two armchairs, one of which he occupied, and a side table between them.

Keeta was a descendant of the Ikanian tribe. The men in his family served under the country’s military as the generals, and one of his great grandmothers was a concubine to the king, Igos du Ikana. Through this relation he was most likely a distant relative of the Ikanian royal bloodline.

One of the room’s doors opened, and in came Ambi, the Queen of Labrynna, with her group of guards. Keeta stood up, hands to his side, and bowed as she approached him.

“Ambassador Keeta,” she said in acknowledgement. He stood up straight again and gestured for her to sit, taking his own seat after she did so.

“What brings you all the way here on such abrupt notice?” She asked. She crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap formally. Her attire, while elegant and accented her beauty, was rather informal: the midnight purple accents of her simple white dress and her matching purple pumps were in stark contrast with her skin. Her hair was down; her crown wasn’t even on her head. It was reflective of the fact that she was notified when Keeta arrived at the airport.

“My greatest apologies,” he bowed his head again. “But I hope the short notice of my being here would allow you to hear what I have to say on the behalf of Termina.”

Ambi tilted her head to the side slightly, her curiosity piqued. “Very well then.”

“As we all know, Termina, the Great Sea Republic and Holodrum are currently warring with Hyrule and Koholint Island,” Keeta explained. “We believe that it would be in both your and your people’s best interest if you joined in our cause.”

The queen was taken aback by his bold, almost arrogant statement. “Ambassador Keeta, may I ask just what this cause you speak of is?”

“A restoration of the balance of power!” Keeta exclaimed zealously. His eyes lit up as he grabbed the armrest of his chair as he leaned into her a bit. “Your Highness, neither of us were alive then—none of us were, but before the rise of Hyrule our two great countries along with Holodrum prospered beyond recognition! Since they came to power, Hyrule has dominated this world in every respect; the utter downfall of the Hylian Kingdom would surely return this world to the golden ages! Redistribution of the resource-rich prefectures of Hyrule to the victors would surely mean incomprehensible wealth! I respect your original decision on neutrality, but I swear, Your Highness, if you joined us, Labrynna would know economic stability like never before!”

Ambi listened intently to the man before her. What most of he said held true: the countries around Hyrule prior to its unification did enjoy much more political and economic power than they currently were. But still, it was not enough to fully persuade her. Labrynnian neutrality went far deeper than what portrayed itself to the media.

“Ambassador Keeta, your words truly have moved me,” she started. “But Daphnes Nohansen was a dear friend of mine. As we all know, he was killed so abruptly and tragically by who were later found to be Terminian spies. It is an insult to my intelligence to say that his death was not linked to your country’s declaration of war just hours later.”

Keeta was caught off guard by that.

“Are you about to tell me the Terminian government had nothing to do with Daphnes Nohansen’s assassination?”

“Your Hi—”

“Termina, if I am not mistaken, also once invaded these lands, slaughtered my people and, if Hyrule had not intervened, would have overthrown our government and my ancestors. And while your assertion that our countries did have at least more control in world affairs before the Hylian Civil War, there is no denying that Termina held the same position Hyrule is in now.”

“Qu—”

“I say this not out of spite for Termina’s past aggression towards Labrynna,” she shook her head. “I say these things out of objectiveness—just like our neutrality.”

Her voice was still unbelievably calm. Ambi was known the world over as slow to anger and rich in her benevolence.

“Ambassador Keeta, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that this war you are waging has little to do with your ideals of ‘to the victors belong the spoils equally doled’ and the ‘restoration of the golden age’. It is nothing more than a crusade for personal gain.”

He struggled for words in Termina’s defense, but he could find none.

“Ambassador, I think it would be in your best interest if you returned to Termina and focused less on persuading me and more on your war.”

Keeta glared her down, his brow furrowing on its own. Ambi’s, on the other hand, remained calm. Neither her eyes hardened nor her lips scowled. Finally, he stood up, bowed silently, and headed for the exit where his followers waited for him. It wasn’t until Ambi spoke up again that he stopped.

“Please do not misconstrue my words for taking Hyrule’s side,” Ambi shook her head. “We are neutral simply because I do not believe in taking sides in matters such as this.”

Keeta looked around over his shoulder to her. His cold green eyes met her brown ones.

“I promise that we will not assist either Hyrule or Koholint Island in anyway; I just maintain that my land remain unscathed.” For the first time during their meeting, her eyes darkened, staring him down threateningly. “The second a single Waker, Holodrant or Terminian soldier, aircraft or vessel traverses into my territory, there will be war.”

He said nothing. He just continued towards the door before one of his men opened it for him. He pushed his way through, his entourage shuffling behind him, and the door closed shut.

- - - - - - - - - -

2009.06.29 (Mon); 12:45
500 mi off Koholint Island Coast
GSN Windfall

Fleet Admiral Tetra Helmaroc watched the several fighter jets fly off into the distance. They had taken off from her aircraft carrier, the Windfall, and the other two carriers of her fleet, the Phantom and Outset. Her long hair was slicked back and tied in a tight bun hidden under her royal blue combination hat.

“This is safe, right, ma’am?” One of her men, Ensign Gonzo asked from the radar monitors. “We’re still a bit too close to Koholint. What if their radars detect us?”

“The Hylian Air Force is makin’ routine rounds between Ordon Airfield and Martha Bay,” Tetra said, turning to her subordinate. “Our planes’ll be flyin’ a route similar to what they’ll be usin’ as a cover.”

Gonzo nodded slowly before returning to the radar. Tetra turned forward, watching the last of the jets take off from the Phantom with a knowing smirk.

“They’ll never know what hit ‘em.”

There's chapter seven for you. Feedback is appreciated.

Oh yeah, I have a Twitter! Well, I've been having one, but I forgot to mention it when I made it some seven months ago. I update regularly and the link's in my profile, so feel free to follow. Because you care about me that much to know what I'm doing at any given moment.

I actually don't know what kind of chapter eight will turn out to be. Let's both be surprised. :)

Enjoy Life and Smile.