March winds and April showers
Make way for sweet May flowers,
And then comes June, a moon and you.

There was something beautiful about the rain. The light showers that had begun to fall in increasing frequency indicated that spring was coming. Although they made traveling a little more inconvenient, Zelda took pleasure in watching the gray clouds dart in and out of the sky above her. The soft pitter-patter of raindrops, the sensation of moisture falling on her face. After a century inside Ganon's cocoon of dark magic in a non corporeal state, the princess approached even small things with childlike amazement. Link, on the other hand, seemed to feel uncomfortable whenever it rained. Zelda noted he took care to stuff his rucksack with extra oilskin in case his weapons and ever precious food supplies might be soaked through. Not that he would share his opinion over something as trivial as rain with Zelda verbally. "It's just wet," he would say with a shrug, Zelda imagined him saying. She amused herself by imagining Link attempting to shelter an entire rucksack of baked apples from the rain.

Now that she thought about it, Link always seemed to have at least one on hand whenever he was hungry. And that seemed to be rather often, now that he seemed to care less about staying "proper" after the Calamity. How did he store so many supplies without ever having to resupply? The past night, Link had prepared their evening meal while she had been resting, so she hadn't had a chance to see him cook. Yet somehow, he had managed to have an entire feast ready when she awoke; roast fowl of some sort that she did not recognize, juicy Hylian mushrooms, and steamed rice. Did he pull the entire meal from his pack? Perhaps his backpack was enchanted in some manner. Zelda resolved to ask him if he was ever in one of his talkative moods.

The pair were traveling towards Zora's Domain, though their progress was slow; Link often ensured the princess was well-rested before moving on. Although she complained that Link was coddling her and that she was more than capable enough to make the journey faster, Zelda secretly enjoyed the luxury the slow pace gave them. Though Divine Beast Ruta did indeed require inspection, there was no true sense of urgency that demanded their immediate presence. And traveling with Link once again brought back memories of a time before the Calamity. Memories of research, of nature, and of Link himself.

As the pair sat under a great oak tree, waiting for the rain to stop, Zelda rested her back against the massive trunk. Link, of course, remained standing. He never seemed to let his guard down, never seemed to rest. The princess noted his eyes were ever moving, scanning the horizon for any potential threats. Some things never changed. Unlike Link, however, Zelda could feel her eyelids beginning to droop. They had been traveling since morning, and now that she finally had control of her body again, Zelda could feel the toll the past century had taken on her physically. Zelda had been fit enough before the Calamity, but now it felt as though she was always out of breath. She had even been more than a competent rider, but the past day of riding since they had left Hyrule Castle had caused a dull ache in her lower back and buttocks. Dismounting from Storm had been an awkward affair of attempting to swing her legs over the saddle, and Link had stared and raised an eyebrow at her.

As she began to doze off, Zelda thought that she saw Link looking at her with his unblinking eyes. Curious. She thought to question him, but couldn't bring herself to raise her voice. Maybe...maybe in a couple minutes. Just a couple minutes…

When Zelda opened her eyes again, the first thing she noticed was silence. The rain had stopped, then. She yawned , taking her time to bring her arms together lazily her head. As Zelda stretched, the princess gazed at the afternoon sun, attempting to ascertain the time of day. She thought for a few seconds; her outdoorsman skills had deteriorated as well. A tap on her left shoulder interrupted her thoughts. Link stood over her, staring at her again.

"Yes?"

"Are you well?"

"Much better now. My body feels weaker than before, for some reason. Perhaps a side effect of the magic I used with…" Zelda's voice trailed off as she noticed his eyes darken in concern. "Although I am still very much able to travel!" she hurriedly blurted out, lest Link force her to stay put for the rest of the day and continue to rest. The hero seemingly had no reaction to her last statement, and only continued to burn a hole into her with his eyes.

"How long was I asleep for?" she queried, attempting to bring Link's mind onto other subjects.

"Maybe an hour and a half." His voice was low, almost whispered, and Zelda had to strain to hear his words.

"And when did the rain stop?" she continued.

"About half an hour ago."

"Well, let's be off then." Zelda sprang to her feet casually. Or, rather, attempted to. Her legs under her wobbled slightly as she got up, and threatened to betray her balance. Link seized her elbow, steadying her. Zelda gaped at his hand. He had never been so forward as to touch her directly of his own accord.

Link continued on as if he were unaware of her sudden shock. "Are you should you should be traveling, Zelda?"

"Link, your concern is admirable, but I'm simply getting used to a physical body again. I'm fine. Really." Zelda stood up as straight as she could to prove her point. She was ready to have to continue arguing when Link surprised her.

"Alright then," he shrugged. He turned his back on her and walked over to where the two horses were grazing. That was odd, Zelda thought. Perhaps his time in the overworld had loosened his once-strict sense of decorum around the princess. Or, maybe Link's century of slumber in the Shrine of Restoration had taken even those memories away from him. Zelda shook her head. Link assured her that he again knew who she was, that he had found brief glimpses into their past together. But still, he had also rather cryptically noted that not everything was right with his head. The Shrine of Resurrection was an ancient Sheikah medical facility, and its technology far surpassed anything Zelda had seen in Hyrule. But even the Shrine had its limits; Zelda and fellow Sheikah researchers had theorized that it was used to restore the physical body of ancient Sheikah warriors. But the mind? The mind was an anomaly, even to the Sheikah that had constructed the Shrine of Resurrection. The only person who could even guess at the effects of such a long slumber was Link, and his talkative side revealed itself about as frequently as a Blood Moon in a lightning storm.

As she remained sitting, deep in grim thoughts about Link's possible mental state, the sound of splashing water roused her out of her trance. Looking up, Zelda saw Link trudging through the dampened grass, leading the horses back towards them. His feet would find the occasional puddle hidden in the fields and splatter flecks of mud across the polished leather of his boots.

An idea began to spring into mind. It was childish to be sure, but perhaps after a century of being enveloped inside of...well, Zelda didn't prefer to dwell on it. Still, maybe with Link's own barriers down a little, she could also loosen up a little. Link walked closer. Zelda scooted around on her knees and patted around her, trying to find a puddle. Using two hands to cup the rainwater, Zelda shivered at the cool touch. Sensations, even those as basic as the touch of water in her hands, were still foreign to her. Link was coming closer, closer...

"Catch!"

Link stared at her again, as water splashed against his green tunic. He tilted his head as if he were baffled by her behavior. She giggled at his response, and threw another handful of water up at him. Zelda was getting her own traveling tunic wet, as droplets of water flew through the air, but she couldn't mind less. Link stood still, seemingly growing more nonplussed by the second. Zelda stood up and kicked the puddle with her foot towards Link. She could feel her wool foot bindings growing damp as more water splashed up all around them.

Looking up, Zelda froze as she noticed Link still hadn't moved from his initial position. The water in her boots suddenly felt so much colder against her skin. Had she annoyed him? Perhaps the hero had seen too much to deal with her childish antics. He still wasn't moving, not saying anything. Zelda stared downwards, burning a hole into her boots. Just before she made up her mind to apologize and squirm over attempting to explain what had even overtaken her sense of propriety, Zelda looked back up and couldn't believe what she was seeing.

The corners of Link's mouth had begun to lift, and his eyes crinkled. Was...was he smiling? She didn't have time to admire the rare sight, as Link ran forward and threw both of his hands into the water, and lifted them up at Zelda's face. She recoiled, then sputtered as she wiped the water away from her face.

"Why, you-!"

Link laughed. Oh, it had been too long since she had that sound. The worry in her mind came crashing down as the relief that Link wasn't judging her for her juvenile outburst poured in. Zelda couldn't contain her laughter, and kicked the puddle at him again. Link retaliated in kind, jumping into the puddle and stomping around in it. As Zelda ran backwards to avoid the spray, Link followed her and darted towards her. His body was low, and his arms were outstretched like some sort of grotesque green-clad crab.

As Link's shoulder met her knees, Zelda could feel her legs give way underneath her and she began to fall backwards. She gave a surprised cry, but before she could hit the ground, Zelda felt a dull thud. As the princess regained her bearings, she found herself face to face with a rather wide eyed Link. A thousand thoughts shot through her mind in an instant. His eyes were insanely blue. Wet blond hair left streaks across his forehead, leaving small trails of water droplets. How did they end up in this position? He must've rolled his body as they fell so that he landed first. Classic hero. With a start, she realized that the pressure she felt on her torso was from his arms still wrapped around her, though they were now behind her back. Her heart pounded a little faster, and she had to swallow hard to clear the lump in her throat. Feeling the heat burn in her cheeks, Zelda attempted to stand quickly to hide the fact that she was blushing like a schoolgirl. She had thought him reaching out to steady her earlier had been forward!

Link propped himself up on his elbows before standing, and he turned away from her as well. His bashful smile stayed on his face though, as he rubbed the back of his head. Clearing his throat, he suggested, "Maybe we should be off?" She took his invitation gratefully and moved to mount Storm. As he steadied her foot in her stirrup so that she could get both legs around the saddle, Zelda still couldn't believe what had just happened. Heart pounding away in her chest like cannon fire, she was grateful that Link was riding in front of her so that he couldn't make out Zelda's face. She could feel her cheeks still flushed as she thought about being on top of Link, remembering what it had felt like to have his arms tight around her. Even the chill of her now-damp Sheikah tunic couldn't cool her down.

March winds and April showers
Romance will soon be ours
An outdoor paradise for two

-"April Showers", ProleteR

A/N: We back, lol. Took me 5 days to get this chapter out once I thought of the idea. Repping the most inconsistent update times since college apps. BoTW ZeLink is too cute to not write fics for. The way she's so into him, but then he had that thing with Mipha and was almost going to get married to her but then she ended up dying... Oh man, so many spicy romance points for Link in this game.