Author's Note: Hey everyone! I wanted to say sorry for the long delay. It's finals week and I've been super busy studying and doing homework. But after tomorrow, I'll be out of school till January 14th! Which means plenty of time to write! Anywho, I recently got back into playing Breath of the Wild and it inspired me to write a little one shot. As a side note, the reader is related to the other character mentioned.

Sorry for the longish author's note

Mundie

In a blast of bolts and flying pieces of ancient metal, the Guardian Stalker is no more.

Link peaks out from behind his shield, taking in the pile of metal that used to be the ancient weapon. With a silent breath of relief, Link lowers his guard and immediately looks in your direction. You're just lowering your shield and resheathing your sword as well, wincing as you reach up and dab at a cut on your face. Link quickly approaches you, hand delving into his pouch to pull out a cloth. He manages to stop himself from attending to the cut himself and instead offers it to you, his brows pulled together in concern.

"Thanks, and I'm fine, don't worry," you say as you accept the cloth and clean up the cut. "Damn, I thought for sure I wouldn't get nicked this time."

Link huffs and raises his eyebrows at you.

"I know, I know," you say as you hand him the cloth back. "I didn't get back far enough again."

Link's expression softens and he plants a quick kiss to your forehead before he can convince himself otherwise. He swiftly turns away from you, stuffing the cloth back into his pouch to hide the light flush on his face. Link then looks up at the desolate stone archway before him, his stomach turning as he takes in the now destroyed remnants of his old home. He senses you step up beside him and take his hand, squeezing. You take in the entrance to the once flourishing Castle Town silently. It's moments like these where Link finds himself extremely grateful to have you with him, the only constant thing in his life from pretty much the moment he woke up. You stuck by him, even when you didn't have to, even when his mind felt shattered by the flood of memories he endured. He met you on the Great Plateau, shortly after his awakening.

You were there exploring and looking for ancient materials for your research and Link found you at the base of the Sheikah Tower on his way to awaken it. You were inspecting the module hidden among the rocks, a dead Bokoblin not too far away from you and when Link approached, you'd turned around, just as surprised to see another living Hylian up there as he was. You asked him who he was and he gave you his name. Then you'd seen the Sheikah Slate on his hip and pretty much everything went downhill from there.

At first, you'd only accompanied him because he could get into the ancient Shrines, but once you both reached Kakariko Village and your suspicions on who Link really was was confirmed, you stayed with him because you wanted to help and a little adventure, as you put it.

Now here you both stand, over ninety Shrines strong, almost all of Link's memories restored and with the Master Sword in Link's possession once again.

Taking a breath, Link shakes himself from his brief remembrances and steps forward, bracing himself for the new onslaught of memories.

He looks around at the stone entrance for a moment, allowing his mind to open. Then the world disappears.

Smoke.

Smoke, screams, and explosions. The once peaceful Castle Town erupts in flames, Guardians destroying everything in sight.

There, a group of three runs from the destruction, Princess Zelda and her two appointed knights Link and someone who looks remarkably like you. They are all covered in dirt, bruised and scraped, but there is no time to stop and think of what just happened, only to run, to keep the Princess safe.

The Guardians are coming.

The trio pass through the stone archway leading out of Castle Town and one of the knights skids to a halt. The princess and her companion stop too, his blue eyes bordering on wild when he looks at his fellow knight.

"What are you doing? We must hurry," the princess says, her voice rushed and cracking.

"You guys have to keep going," the knight says with determination. "I'm going to stay behind and buy you some time. They'll catch up otherwise."

The blue eyed knight shakes his head and seizes the other's wrist, dragging his them forward several steps.

The other knight digs in their heels and breaks away. "Link, it's your duty to keep the princess safe! Go, both of you! They are coming!"

Link takes another half step forward before halting. His eyes lock with theirs and everything that had gone unspoken, unpursued passes between them. His expression cracks and, for just a moment, they can see the utter agony in his eyes. Then his face closes like a door and Link turns, takes the princess' wrist and runs away. It's his duty to protect the princess, as her knight and as her friend, but everything screams at him to-

Go back

Go back

Go back

Go back

But he continues to run, even when the sound of Guardian's blasts fills the air behind him and an all too familiar and terrible scream cuts through the night.

Memories of them come flooding back, like a dam shattered by the weight of water. Images flash by of Link and the knight training together, Link and the knight eating together, laughing together, becoming Champions together, traveling with the princess together.

He remembers them, everything about them. They were his best friend and-

He left them here to die.

His knees harshly meets the cold cobblestone, weighed down by the heavy burden of his guilt. He buries his face in his hands, desperately trying to reel in his emotions, to not make a sound. He feels dampness on his palms and himself shaking. He can't do this, he can't break down like this. The fate of Hyrule rests with him, he can't afford to be weak-

A familiar and warm arm wraps around his quivering shoulders, squeezing a little. "Link, Link, it's okay. It's okay."

Link turns into you and buries his face in the crook of your neck, the bottle once sealed tight finally bursting open. You hold him, rub his back, and make comforting sounds and rock him gently.

After several minutes of the two of you crouching on the ground, Link calms down and simply leans into you more, his eyes shut. He feels so drained, yet light at the same time. That was the first time in over a hundred years Link let himself really feel it. And here you are, still by his side even after everything that's happened. Even after his failure to save Hyrule all those years ago. That guilt will stay with him forever, but now he has another chance. He will defeat Calamity Ganon this time.

Because he has you with him, his light, his hope.

Finally, Link pulls away, wiping at the snot and tears with his sleeve. He can't help but turn his face away from you.

You lay a hand on his cheek and gently turn him back, your eyes meeting his. "Do not think for even a second that you're weak. You've been through so much, Link, and remembering everything all at once is hard. I don't know what you remembered, but I assure you, it wasn't your fault."

There's such conviction in your voice, Link can almost believe it. But with the face of his best friend staring back at him, it's hard to believe that. He's known for a while that you must be related to the other knight he saw with him and the princess in his other memories. He just didn't remember how much that knight meant to him. Now, here he is, one hundred years later, with someone who shares the same blood. It must have been fate, this chance to redeem himself.

For Hyrule and for you.

Your voice softens as you run a gentle thumb over his cheekbone. "I can see you don't believe me yet. But that's okay. I'll always be here for you, Link. No matter what."

Warmth rises in Link's chest and he can't help but to draw you back into an embrace, squeezing you. Your unending faith in him is incredible. If you believe in him, than he can do anything.

As the warm feeling in his chest rises further, he allows it to guide him. He murmurs your name and when you look up at him, he can see his feelings reflected back to him. Without really thinking about it, Link cups your face and leans in. Just before your lips meet, he whispers two words to you.

"Thank you."