The grass shuffled in the breeze like a river of gold in the fading light. The ruins, too, shimmered like a gilded city blessed by the Goddess and showered with her holy light rather than a mess of stones coated with pitch and the scorching aftermath of an army that had consumed itself.
Zelda stood there, finally, after so many years and yet what felt like hours at the same time, smiling at the boy in bright blue standing in the center of the field, watching her watch him. She knew him. For a hundred years and one, she had known him. He was quiet, stalwart, loyal, strong, and courageous, and everything she wished for herself. The light danced off his long hair as it fell from the tie holding it back and blew in the wind, like he was made from threads of gold and silver and breathed to life for the love of Hyrule, and of the Goddess who lived inside of her.
"Thank you," Zelda said. It was not enough. It would never be enough. More gratitude filled her heart as she strode forward and held out her hand, and so she said more and more, so eager to tell him about her hopes, and to learn about his adventures. They would travel side by side, properly, this time.
Link smiled blithely at her sentiments, and Zelda realized- she had been stupid not to- that while she had been watching him from places unseen, she didn't know his thoughts. "Do you," Zelda said, creeping forward one step at a time through the golden fields of her home- finally, home! She was here; she was home- "remember me?" A smile played at her face. Link had always been so shy, so gentle. Even if he had forgotten her, forgotten why she was there, he had surely remembered his love of this land and the people in it, and rushed to Hyrule's aid by a voice in his heart. They were bound by destiny, the two of them, and for the first time Zelda could truly see how lucky she was, that this boy would walk with her into the darkest of depths and follow her into the mouth of the devil if only to save-
"Huh? Did you say something?" Link stepped forward, grinned, and stuck out his right hand. "Sorry! I wasn't listening. It's nice to meet you, sweetheart!" He chuckled and plopped his hands on his waist when Zelda was too dumbfounded to offer hers to shake. "So! That black pig-thing was crazy, huh? What even was he? Cannon, did you say? Mannon…?" He looked off into the distance and scratched at his head like he could pull the answer from his uncovered head. "Dannon? Oh, well! Guess it doesn't matter now! Would've really sucked without that bow, though. Which," he plucked the bow of light off his back and held it out to Zelda, "thanks for letting me borrow this! Shoots like a dream. I didn't know I could shoot a bow at all, actually! Think it was actually shooting for me?"
Zelda took the bow, her hands suddenly numb. "You," she started, "you didn't know about Ganon? You don't," she swallowed, "remember anything?"
He smiled. "Nope. It's kinda frightening, but also kind of cool." He winked at Zelda. "People've been throwing the name Link around me like you wouldn't believe, though, and honestly I'm kind of glad I don't have to deal with his responsibilities," he said. "I mean, I think my name was maybe Link, but frankly I don't remember enough about the poor bastard to know what sort of troublesome stuff everyone wanted of him, and it wasn't like I could just ask. What if I was never actually Link? What if I was just another amnesiatic boy lost in the Wild?" He giggled, and then the smile dropped from his face in an abrupt change of mood. "What if that's what's in the other shrines?! Amnesiac guys and gals?!" He covered his mouth and paced from side to side in the tall grass until he had a significant path trampled beneath his feet. "Should I go wake them up? But then what th' heck am I gonna do with an army of people who don't know anything about anything?"
Zelda watched him with huge eyes. "You really don't remember anything?"
Link's blue eyes found her again. "Huh? Wha? Oh, no. Nope! Don't remember a thing. Should I?" He got back to pacing, chin in hand. "Now, would it matter if they knew anything? I could potentially have an entire army at my disposal! I could tell them anything! I could tell them I was their commander! We could take this place!" He spun around and grabbed Zelda's shoulders. "Hey! Since I just killed that big weird sludge thing and nobody's in that castle, do you wanna take this place over with me?"
Zelda's eyes bugged out. She wanted to cry. "What?"
"Yeah! I mean, I don't want to do anything bad with it- it's kind of in shambles, anyway- but like, wouldn't it be cool to have our own kingdom? Just in name?! It would be like having a really, really high maintenance dog!" He shook her, gently. "We could tell people we're royalty!"
"But I am royalty," Zelda said weakly.
Link grinned wider and slapped her on the back. "That's the spirit! Now you're gettin' it!" He held two fingers up to his mouth and whistled. A whinny sounded in the distance. "Let's take this place! I hereby rename this kingdom," he spread his arms out wide, "Er, what's your name, again? Zelda? Yeah!" He giggled. "Link-and-Zeldaland!"
Zelda fainted in the arms of Hyrule's newest tyrant, and asked herself where exactly she had gone wrong.