Maybe it began when they were kids. Zelda would always tackle him in a hug whenever she saw him. He began to expect it, when he slept in, when she came to sit next to him at lunch, when they left the academy to go fly. She even tackled him off a ledge once, laughing as they fell through the sky together.
"You don't need to keep tackling me like this," he huffed one time, straightening his shirt. "We aren't kids anymore."
"Don't be such a grump," she ruffled his hair as she sat next to him. "You know you like it."
"No, I don't," he frowned at his food. "You're hugs are just so aggressive."
"You say that," she smiled despite his mood. "But deep down you know you'll put up with it anyway because you love it."
Link rolled his eyes, "No, I don't."
"Yes, you do," she poked his cheek. "I'm your best friend."
Link was always annoyed by it. Being ambushed with a hug that knocked the wind from his chest was not a great way to start the day. But now that she wasn't there to hug him whenever she pleased, Link actually missed it. He had been many places here on the surface now, but as cheesy as it was to think, his favorite was in Zelda's arms. Past the immense forest of Faron, far better than the hypnotic beauty of the Eldin volcano, even greater than the mystical shine of timeshift stones in the Lanayru desert. Link's favorite was a hug from his best friend. It was a paradise he could only imagine now, and he missed it all the more now that he couldn't have it.
There were many times on his adventure when he thought she would run up and hug him like she normally would. But at the Earth Temple, Impa stopped her. And Ghirahim ambushed them at the Temple of Time. And the Sealed Temple in the past, well, Link didn't really want to think about that.
And after it was all over and they decided to stay on the surface, the first thing Link did was hug Zelda.
"I missed you," he whispered. "I missed this."
"What?" she asked, voice muffled in his shoulder.
"I missed your hugs," he admitted.
"I thought you hated my hugs," she laughed.
"No," he squeezed her tighter. "I love your hugs. You're my best friend."
In the end, all of it was worth it. All the monsters he had to fight, desperately chasing Zelda across this unknown land, having to fight Ghirahim enough times to make him want to chop the sword being's head off. It was all worth it to be in this paradise again, this sweet paradise of his Zelda's arms wrapped around him.