Waking up the next morning proved to be incredibly disorienting for the pair of them, neither being sure where they were currently until they could hear the neighing of many horses. Getting up, after disentangling his legs from Zelda's, Link started to do his morning stretches, determined to get the habit back. A couple of easy going mornings had turned into many, and without the ticking clock of destiny in his mind his need to start the day as soon as possible had diminished. Flinging himself out of bed, he started by warming up his legs, heel to the floor and leaning back on one leg to stretch his hamstrings, before switching. As he worked on his leg muscles, he made sure to exercise his shoulders too, placing his arm behind his head and reaching for the center of his back. He was pleased to note, as he looked to the side, that Zelda had thrown the covers back and had started to copy him. She gave him a silent questioning look before explaining.

"I don't intend to use the Slate to go everywhere. Exploring the old fashioned way is fun but requires a certain amount of flexibility and fitness."

It was a fair assessment, and the rest of their stretches were carried out in silence. Properly warmed up and clothed, Link made his way outside with the intent to cook some breakfast with the supplies he had brought in his bag, passing by Tasseren as he went.

"And I thought my wife and I were the shining example of a good marriage," he said, catching their attention just as Zelda went to pass by Link and check on their horses.

"Oh, were not married," she said, but with a smile to show there were no hard feelings with the misunderstanding, and continued on her way. Meanwhile, Link looked a little surprised.

As she left, Link remained behind still caught in the stable master's stare. The man leaned across the counter to speak to him.

"Marry her," he staged whispered, urgently.

"We've only been together for a couple of months," a nervous giggle accompanied the young Hylian's words, suddenly feeling incredibly awkward in his own skin.

The man scoffed, "yeah, pull the other one."

"No, really," Link assured, sounding more than a little confused at this point.

Tasseren paused to gauge whether Link was lying or not and could scarcely believe it when he found that he wasn't. "Blimey. Well, for Goddesses sake, don't fuck it up."

"Believe me, I'm trying not to," Link said, weakly, placing a hand on the counter briefly to support himself. The stable master gave him a pat on the shoulder in solidarity.

Once breakfast was cooked, Link discovered that, as usual, he had made far too much and started to give some of the extra food away to the other people staying at the stable. He was just dishing out the last of the scrambled eggs when he saw someone getting up a few yards away to his left. The man was facing away from him and had just accepted some cooked mushrooms from another stable goer. On the floor next to him was an oddly shaped backpack. Upon recognising the beetle themed bag, Link couldn't help but smile fondly.

Beedle had been a constant source of positivity during his quest and more often than not he ended up trading a large amount of supplies for a beetle or two. He really should take Beedle to Lurelin, he would be right at home surrounded by so many of his carapace friends. It wasn't until he thought about the supplies he had bought from the merchant that Link realised Beedle always had a supply of Tireless Frogs on him. The ones that Link could never seem to catch - alive at any rate - and the ones Zelda had being trying to coax into their pond.

"Beedle?"

Link jogged over to him, greeting a couple of Rito who thanked him for the glazed mushrooms in passing.

"Yeah huh," the beetle enthusiast responded, turning around to see who had spoken to him, "Oh Link! How are you? Thanks for the food, heard it was you doing your usual mass cooking session. Need any more arrows?"

Link gave him a relaxed salute before moving into some more signs [I'm good and you're welcome. I don't need arrows, thank you. Ancient Arrow saved my life]

Beedle beamed as he followed the signals and brought his own hands up to respond [I'm glad the arrow was useful]

When Link had first come across Beedle, back when he was still incredibly wary and flighty, he had been reliant on hand signals the entire time. It was a relief to find that Beedle, being one of the first traders he had met, was in the process of learning Hyrulean sign language. Apparently, it was a useful skill in the trading business. As a communication method that spanned across the Hylian, Sheikah, Gerudo, and Zora populations it enabled him to converse with a wider range of travelers. The Gorons and Rito were incapable of forming the required signs clearly enough to be read correctly due to their lack of dexterous digits, but they could understand the basic gist of simpler signs. As such, even though Link was far more comfortable in his own body now, he tended to converse with Beedle using his hands in order for the other man to practice.

[How do you catch T.I.R.E.L.E.S.S Frogs?]

"Ah, well now, if I told ya' that, you wouldn't buy them from me any more, now would you?" He said sagely, hands preoccupied as he donned his backpack.

"… I will pay you, a lot to teach me how to catch frogs," Link said, switching to verbal so he could emphasise with his tone just how much he needed this.

"Give a man a fish he eats for a day, give a man a fishing rod and he's set for life," Beedle quoted, and Link knew that the freckled man was in a bargaining mood. He seemed to find it fun, similarly to how Link found bothering Bokoblins fun.

"Please, Beedle. Zelda really loves those lil guys so I wanted to catch her some."

He neglected to mention that the frogs were undoubtedly heading straight into her elixir library once she had established them in the pond. On the other hand, he liked to imagine he could encourage her to host a thriving community he if could learn to catch enough.

"Ah ha!" Beedle exclaimed, "well then, that changes everything. Never let it be said that I get in the way of a plan to gift the person of your affections."

Link wasn't sure where he had mentioned anything about affections but he was now being led towards the nearest water source so he kept his mouth shut.

Ten minutes later and he had caught five frogs, unfortunately without the Slate on hand he had to let them go, watching as their legs propelled them far away from him. Now that he had an effective strategy, he waded back out of the water and waved to Beedle as the other man left.

Sitting on the roadside he pulled his boots towards him to put them back on, cringing as his wet skin rubbed against the insides. Lately, he had been using flame items stored in the Slate to dry himself off before putting his boots back on. Instead, the sensation reminded him of his amnesiac days before Zelda, where he hadn't really given much thought to his physical state, much too preoccupied and focused on getting to his next destination as fast as possible. He could also now recall excursions from his days training to become a knight, where he and the other trainees would walk for days across all kinds of terrain. Including the soggy marshes and wetlands of Lanayru. Link was just thankful he had decided to wear his Hero garb shorts under his Champion's tunic, and hoped his boots wouldn't squeak with the damp.

"Link! Link, where have you gone?"

He waved with both arms to catch Zelda's eye, as she had walked out from behind the stables and had been unable to spot him in the immediate vicinity. He whistled for good measure, watching her jump slightly as her attention was caught and turn to him with a grin of success. She walked over to his location, her large white horse dutifully following behind, while Link's own horse undoubtedly still meandered across the grassy plains behind the stables. Geoffrey answered to no-one but him it seemed.

"I found a very interesting book inside," she said as she came to stand beside him, while he remained sat on the floor. He cocked his head at her questioningly as a prompt for her to continue. "Apparently, items from before the Calamity, our original era and even the ten thousand years before that, are highly sought after. Someone called Traysi?" She phrased it like a question, and Link nodded. He knew of her and was pretty sure he had actually met her before too. "How she has managed to find out about some of these items I do not know. I can't imagine where she is hearing these 'rumours'," physical air-quotes were utilised, "but some of them are true, and I know that for a fact. So, I would hazard a guess that the others may hold some validity too."

There was a pause as Link waited for her to continue but she was looking at him with that expectant expression of hers that always followed on from one her spoken conclusions. She was waiting for his opinion.

"A treasure hunt," he said, simply.

"It's not just a mere treasure hunt-"

"Don't dismiss treasure hunting, it can be quite fun, following clues."

"Ok, alright, but what we're doing isn't 'treasure hunting', it's the restoration of past relics and returning them to their intended states." Link raised a sardonic eyebrow at her to which she sniffed and turned her ahead away in a show of aloofness. "I suppose we can call it treasure hunting if you like. I've made note of the speculated locations to visit and one of them is the Castle."

He grinned and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before dashing off to retrieve his wayward horse. Zelda's own steed snorted behind her as Link rushed past and she couldn't help but privately agree.

"I … I knew it wasn't going to be good but … this..."

"Yeah."

Link had led Zelda across Hyrule Fields, passed all the collapsed and empty Guardian Stalkers, and through the front gate of Castle Town where they now dismounted from their horses. Without all the pools of malice spreading across the ground, the sight before them was somehow even more bleak. Just a stretch of sand and broken stone, from one side to the other, only stopping at the edge of the moat that surrounded the Castle's foundations. The first time Link had come through here, besieged by ambushing Yiga and relentless automatons, the place had held no real significance for him. He could of course, at the time, empathise with the fact that this had once been a thriving town, with many people and their families all residing here. But to Link, it'd had no personal impact. Now, as he and Zelda walked down old cobblestone roads that had crumbled and cracked from age and explosive abuse, the place held so much more significance. He had lived here and he saw his father die here. The smell of baking bread and the distant sounds of everyday chatter swept over him from the east.

"Come on," Link said, walking faster to pass Zelda, who was still looking around at the dilapidated buildings and lagging behind.

"Link, do you want to-"

"No."

She turned to stare at his back, the distance between them growing larger as she stood still in her surprise. She had never before experienced Link being short with her, always infuriatingly patient, and it unsettled her. Link...

The sound of her boots crunching against pebbles and ground stone caused Link's ears to flick back and he slowed his agitated pace so that she could catch up. Soft hands enclosed his left elbow as she came to walk beside him, their sides brushing up against each other. Zelda said nothing, allowing him to work out his own emotions before he tried to voice them, for which he was thankful.

All of the memories and associated feelings that had been trickling in steadily since his visit to Fort Hateno, would often collect in the back of his mind. A an event needed to be focused on specifically for him to be able to recall it in great detail. As his eyes roamed over the desolation, they had gotten caught in one particular area. Sensations had bloomed in the forefront of his mind quickly and vividly, but they were overshadowed by what Link could physically see before him. Knowing that those times had once existed and now he would not be able to go back and experience them ever again, left a cold and detached feeling in his heart. This detachment that was a touch too familiar, and the readiness with which it returned, scared him a little. An inquisitive squeeze on his arm reminded him that he need not withhold these emotions any more. There was no-one to hide them from after all.

"My father … he became a baker after he retired, it's why we moved to Castle Town... also probably why I like pastries so much."

Zelda gave a sad smile, gripping his arm tightly to encourage him to keep going and Link responded by nudging his head against hers. When their walking became unbalanced he had to stop, but he did not pull away from her.

"We lived above the Bakery, and sometimes when I wasn't training or running errands I would help out in the kitchen. My sister tended to create more mess than help. After we moved we knew we couldn't keep the Master Sword hidden any longer, so that's when I was brought to the Castle." Link took a single deep breath and let it back out again, swallowing audibly, "despite now knowing what the Master Sword represented, I still felt secure and safe whenever I went back to my home in Castle Town. Inevitably, my silence carried over to my home life too. I could tell my parents were upset but they still understood. I don't remember being a particularly chatty person."

"You're still not," Zelda commented, with a wry grin.

"No," he agreed with a snort, "but I'm not as bad as I was before. Back then I couldn't express some of my thoughts whilst supressing others. It was easier to just say nothing and keep everything locked away; focus on a single goal," Link sighed.

"So," a small voice beside him spoke, "my Father was right. I couldn't focus on my duties if I had side hobbies."

"No," he answered, fiercely, taking her by surprise by the urgency in his voice. "It's not good, and it is not healthy. Even at the time I remember not knowing what I would do with myself once the Calamity was gone. My purpose would have been fulfilled and with that level of focus it made me believe that I had no other reason to exist. It was terrifying. Zelda, it was the friendship I had with you that stopped me from becoming a completely mindless drone... and the presence of my family."

"Link?"

"Back there, seeing Castle Town as it is now, actually means something to me rather than just the concept of it being destroyed. I know where we used to live, and I know exactly where my Father died trying to lead people out through the gates. And I felt myself trying to shut it out. I don't want to slip back into that habit."

"Link..." Zelda grabbed his hand, and ran her thumbs over the back of it, unsure of how to proceed but unwilling to abandon him with this mindset. "There's nobody here to judge you. I certainly won't, you know that, and if anybody does have some petty opinions of you then they're not the kind of person you should bother with. Once we're done in the Castle, and we come back through the town, we can go slow and take our time. Ok?"

He nodded, still looking at the path they walked on, but a tentative smile was growing on his face. His ears had also tucked down and started to colour a deep red, so Zelda gave his hand one last squeeze and returned her grip to his elbow. He gets flustered with such little effort on my part, goodness me, she thought giddily.

Their way up to the main part of the Castle was free of all traces of Ganon and it's infectious swathes of malice. The Guardian turrets had all powered down, and their singular eyes were vacant and cast down at the floor. Skywatchers had seemingly fallen out of the sky, their husks and components littered across the floor. If they'd had the Slate with them, Zelda would have been meticulously hoarding all the pieces they found on their way up the path. Unfortunately, they did not have the Slate, nor did they have the space to carry much and Link had to occasionally retrieve her as she veered over towards another downed Skywatcher to salvage it's pieces.

However, now that he was no longer being targeted every five minutes, or having to backtrack because of a malice roadblock, he could actually appreciate the scenery. Despite the state of the Castle grounds being a far cry from the days of his active service, he could still feel joy at the banks of grass that grew within the courtyards and the wild flowers growing in-between the crags of broken stone. Insects could be heard from their hiding places in the foliage, and butterflies fluttered from flower to flower. There was even a bird nest perched on the edge of one of the gate houses; a small Rainbow Pigeon dutifully maintained his roost as it cautiously eyed the Hylians that walked below him.

The path ended at the bottom of the short set of stone stairs that led up to the corridor of pillars before the Sanctum. They stood there and stared down the walkway to the open entrance of the old throne room. Neither took a step forward to start the ascent up, and their hesitance seemed to manifest into a physically uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Where do you want to go first?" Link asked, breaking the fragile silence.

Zelda almost folded with relief, "Library first, I think, please."

So, they turned away from the beckoning archway of the Sanctum and went back down the path the way they had come as it curved round to the east.

Forgoing the intended path, Link strode on ahead and removed his paraglider from his back, shaking it at her cheerily. She responded by unclipping her own glider from her back, snapping the two halves apart, as her ex-knight took off in an elated run to leap through a gap of a nearby dilapidated rampart. He jumped clear to suspend in space for a couple of seconds before the sail of his glider caught the wind and he drifted down and out of sight. For a change, she decided that she would jump before looking. She trusted him.

Once she was in the air she spotted Link landing below her on a damaged blue shale roof that was built into the stone cliffs around it that, if memory served her well, belonged to the Library. She looked back to the central Castle spire, noting where it was in relation to her destination, and her heart sank a little as she confirmed that it was in fact the Library that Link had just landed on. Coming down on top of the roof herself, running a little to dispel her momentum, she peered down through the damage done to her favourite part of the Castle. Describing it as a hole would be doing it a disservice, as it was more of a gaping breach into the Library's upper level.

"Looks like the Lizalfos are still gone. Good," he announced, jumping down and slowing his descent with the paraglider one more time before he stowed it away. "Come on, Zelda. There's a fruitcake recipe in here you know."

While his comment was meant to cheer her up, she knew, it only seemed to remind her of all the knowledge that must have been lost from the room below her. With such damage to the wall structure, the books inside must have suffered all sorts of abuse; from the weather to other beasties and critters that came in from the hostile environment outside. Still, she braced herself and dropped down, trying to catch herself with her paraglider as Link had done but doing so a touch too late.

Thankfully, Link had been ready below her, anxiously waiting for her to make the jump. He'd only realised after he had made it down that he had not instructed Zelda on how to make the jump safely. So, when he saw her pull her glider a fraction late, he was already reaching up with his arms to catch her. He stumbled a little with the force of her fall, but maintained a tight hold on her the entire time as he regained his balance. Coming back to himself to check her over and ensure she wasn't hurt he suddenly took notice of how he was holding her and his face started to heat up.

When he had caught her around her waist, she had also grabbed onto him; her arms going around his shoulders and her legs gripping his hips. He quickly cast his gaze upwards to look at her face and away from her chest which was directly in front of him. An attempt was also made to notthink about the placement of her thighs, but that was turning out to be quite difficult.

"You can look you know," Zelda mock whispered, good naturedly, as she caught sight of his slightly panicked expression. She proceeded to slide down his whole frame as she came to stand on her feet with a grin, completely shameless as she felt practically every inch of him during her descent. Making him blush turned out to be a favourite hobby of hers and she dearly hoped that he didn't truly mind.

"Goddesses, I'm glad this place isn't haunted," Link breathed, causing her to stumble away from him with the force of her giggles.

They split up to search the shelves for the books that had weathered the least and what subjects they depicted on their spines. The books on the lower level had survived the best, even after a century, but hardly any of them could be removed from the shelves. The books could not be taken from their homes without falling apart or, in one particular case, releasing a nest of spiders. Link had made an horrendous gurgling noise of disgust and dropped the book he had been holding on a table as if it burned him. He was nonchalantly walking around in a circle when Zelda came over to inspect the source of his despair. After giving him an odd look, she had gently blown air over the small arachnids to make them retreat and give her space to put the book back. Then she had approached him.

"I wasn't aware that you didn't like spiders."

"I don't like things crawling on me, that's all."

"Oh. I'll bare that in mind."

After that, he had taken it upon himself to search the place for any abandoned weapons or materials that he could collect when they next came here. If Zelda did decide to carry out her proposal to turn this place into a place of research and learning, then he expected to return here many times. He knew one of the main issues with this proposal was how to fund it. The Castle was a huge place and a lot of ground needed to be covered to get this place tidied up, before reconstruction could begin. He had so far neglected to mention that his hoard of gemstones and other rare materials was not kept entirely within the Sheikah Slate. If the contents of the Slate was considered a lot then he dared to think how much his amassed fortune was actually worth. Initial funding would not be a problem in his humble opinion, it was sustaining the place in the long term that concerned him. If the balance between taking from the institute was not equaled by what was put into it then the place would not be able to grow into a self sufficient system.

Link sighed as he watched Zelda dash from one bookshelf to another, noting down all the titles that were worth saving to be transcribed at a later date. As items stored within the Sheikah Slate were kept in stasis, the books could be carefully taken from here and kept safe for a long period of time without their condition worsening. He worried that all this effort she was pouring into her idea would end up failing simply because the people of Hyrule were unwilling to give things without the prospect of an immediate reward. Still, he knew that the improved network of trade and the creation of a central hub would appeal to many of the isolated villages. The task of travelling from one village to another was incredibly arduous when one was laden down by perishables, but if two trading parties could meet somewhere in the middle...

Thinking of various points and counter points, Link didn't notice that Zelda had approached him until she cleared her throat. Catching her eye as he looked up he could see that she was a lot more cheerful than she had looked on the roof. Evidently, seeing that there were still quite a lot of books left intact, albeit very fragile, had lifted her spirits and she now held a notebook filled with various titles.

"Shall we move on? I'd like to see the state of my room. I'm feeling a tad sentimental," she admitted, looking wistfully about her.

"Ok, but I'll warn you, it was a bit of a mess the last time I was there," he cautioned.

"You were in my room?" She had become very still and her voice was measured.

"Well … I didn't realise it was your room until the … Slate ... told me ..."

Link's words petered off as he watched Zelda's face become more and more flushed.

"And what- what did you find in my room, exactly?"

He knew immediately what she was talking about and opened his mouth to defend himself; I didn't know what it was until too late, I was curious, I was trying to remember who I was to you, I wanted to know what you were like. He'd already started to care for her deeply by that point, but instead he could only look sheepishly at her as he spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, no!" She wailed, hiding her face in her hands. A tea kettle whine escaped her, before she removed her hands from her face, "gosh, you must have seen all the horrible, bitter things I wrote about you. I hope none of it was too bad!"

"Oh! I thought you were getting embarrassed about the later stuff."

Zelda gave him a bemused look before she gently took a hold of his face and kissed him. "I think the cat's out of the bag on that one."

"I still shouldn't have read it though," he muttered, even as he started to look less ashamed of himself.

"Well, no, but I can appreciate that you must have been desperate for any clues about your previous life, and I shouldn't have left the damn thing open on my desk before I left the castle." She patted him against his side, "now, shall we?"

The rest of their day was spent retracing the halls of the Castle, inspecting the stone work foundations and the stability of certain structures. Zelda kept notes on all the areas that had become closed off due to cave ins, and stairs that had collapsed. She'd been given a very quick crash course on free climbing by Link, who made sure to follow her up the destroyed staircases in case she lost her grip or became nervous. The trip to her room was postponed once they realised that the corridor leading to it was blocked by rubble and without the help of the Sheikah Slate, there was no way they could get through it. Zelda also didn't like the idea of climbing up the tower to reach her room either.

"I only just got the basics of climbing today, I think I'd like a bit more practice before I try something so open and … high."

Once they had inspected all the other major areas of the Castle, that they could reach, the sun was starting to lower towards the horizon and they only had one place left to visit.

Zelda sighed, "I guess we can't put it off any longer."

With that sentiment in mind, they returned to the Sanctum and observed just how utterly wrecked the place had become.

"I forgot about the floor," Link said.

The sheer lack of floor in the room made investigating the place very difficult, and they both gave the opening to the void below a wide birth. With nothing of note to be found on the first floor, Zelda suggested that they begin to search the upper levels, and began to shuffle along the walls to reach the staircases on either side of the room.

The upper landings yielded a couple of chests with arrows in them and some suits of armour, but other than that there wasn't much to find. Zelda was pleased to note, however, that the main stained glass window behind the thrones had actually survived. Well, the one throne remaining; the Queen's Throne.

She stood before it, remembering a time when her own mother had sat upon it, looking regal and calm with that silent power of hers. The memories were dim, but they were still there. She wondered what her mother would think of her now, as she turned her back to the red cushioned, high backed seat and made her way to the spiralling staircase that led further up.

"Come on, Link. I know Father tended to keep some important items upstairs, and the rumours indicate that there is something up here too."

About halfway up the stairs, Link stopped and scowled at the carpet they trod on, announcing that he had grown to utterly despise these stairs one hundred years ago. They did go up a long way and the curvature made trying to orientate yourself at the top very difficult. No doubt, with the amount of time he had gone up and down them during his guarding duty, the staircase had become a nuisance. Withholding her mirth, Zelda walked back down a couple steps to push Link up the rest of the way, his frown still set in place.

Reaching the second level of the Sanctum, they could see that even though the malice had disappeared, the tubing that acted as a poor imitation of the Sheikah resurrection constructs still remained. However, instead of pulsing with a vicious red glow, it now lay lifeless and dark on the floor, gathered in the center of the room. The coils of tubing obscured the hole in the floor that once allowed stationed guards to observe the throne room below. A lone statue of such a guardsman remained in the room, made of stone, watching over a solitary chest at it's feet. Intrigued, Link strode over to break into it but Zelda became distracted by a fractal of light as she made to follow.

Turning her head to the side she caught sight of a pedestal, which housed a small red cushion on top. Sitting there, unblemished by time and as dazzling as it had been all those years ago, sat the Queen's crown. Coming to stand in front of the pedestal, the memories associated with this heirloom became clearer, along with the item's features. It was a circlet, made of pale gold with five leaf shapes displayed in an arch across the front and each leaf housed an inset diamond. Vines of gold curled and spiralled along the bottom of the band that comprised the main body of the circlet. It was truly beautiful.

The snap of a padlock made Zelda jump, and she tore her eyes away from the crown to see Link kneeling in front of the open chest and retrieve a soft blue cap from inside. He turned it around in his hand, before looking back into the chest and pulling out the rest of the contents. She recognised the outfit instantly and couldn't help but wonder why her father had kept it hidden up here. Then she saw Link hold up the red shirt along with the dark blue tabard, that bore the gold trim and Royal insignia of her family, against himself and she knew. Father had intended to have Link become a part of the Royal Guard once his duty with her against Calamity Ganon was done.

"You should put it on. You remember what that is, don't you?" Zelda asked.

Link held the outfit away from him as he stared at the floor, his mind far away from here. When he came back to himself he looked from the clothes in his hands to his partner in surprise.

"I wasn't a part of the Royal Guard, not yet. I didn't get to take on the Stalnox or earn my shield before," Link insisted, but Zelda merely gestured at the chest next to him.

"That outfit looks suspiciously close to your size. I think my father intended to offer you a place in the Royal Guard and had that already made for you. Technically speaking, it's yours." Her eyes drifted off over to the pedestal again and an idea formed in her head; an anticipatory smile spreading across her face. "Before I dedicate myself fully to becoming a scholar, I have one last Royal duty to perform. Hurry, get dressed."

Link didn't need any further encouragement and he started to undo his many belts before removing his weapons and shoulder bag. While he was busy doing that, he didn't see Zelda skip back across the room. Gently taking the circlet into her hands, she hid it behind her back as she turned around to see Link taking the Champions Tunic off.

Finally freeing himself of the blue garment and folding it neatly to perch on the statue's hands, he noticed his partner facing him but with her eyes diverted off to the side. He felt his mouth twitch up.

"You can look you know."

Using the same hushed tone that she had spoken with earlier in the day caused her eyes to flicker back over to him and fix him with a withering expression. It soon turned into one of contemplation though as she observed the way his scars stretched and moved while he bent over to put the dark leggings of the Royal Guard on. The shirts then followed, with some fidgeting as the fabric caught on the plating of his right arm, and her view of his patterned skin was then obscured. This left her to delicately place the circlet that had belonged to her mother – and was now therefore hers, she supposed – upon her head. Making sure it was balanced properly she caught sight of Link fastening a belt around his waist, securing the tabard in place and straightening up.

If they ignored the scattered remains of Ganon's last attempt to revive himself and the lack of noise or clinking of armour from nearby guards, this could have been life from a century before. The gloves he wore even obscured the glow from his prosthetic completely, adding to the illusion. There they stood; Zelda poised proudly, with her deep blue coat harking back to the Royal blue, and the crown upon her head aflame with the light of the setting sun; Link standing before her, his countenance steady and confident in his line of duty, the hilt of the Master Sword still prominent on his back. But something still wasn't quite right.

Zelda walked gracefully over to the chest and procured the cap that Link had dropped back inside it.

"Sir Link, if you would kneel," she said, voice high and strong in her request. A command didn't seem right.

He obeyed immediately, however.

"Due to your unwavering courage and loyalty in the face of all adversity and peril, I welcome you into the Royal Guard. May your spirit forever shed it's light upon this Kingdom," she punctuated her speech by placing the cap onto his head. "Please rise, Sir Link, defender of Hyrule."

He did as he was bid, standing to attention in front of her and noticing that he was still a couple of inches shorter than her. His height made it easy for Zelda to lean in and give him a kiss on the cheek and whisper into his ear.

"Thank you."

"Thank you, your highness."

Her composure crumpled a little at that, and her eyes crinkled with humour at the situation, while Link nuzzled against her face.

Standing there for a couple of minutes more, her expression of contentment started to become a little distant, and she stepped away. Zelda took the crown off of her head and looked at it with a faraway glaze to her eyes. The setting sun streamed in through the open windows, casting fractured shapes of warm light across her face. Her eyes seemed to glitter with fire despite how empty her expression appeared.

"It really is very pretty," she commented, "but I have no need of this."

Walking back over to the pedestal she had taken it from and she placed it back on its cushion where it would remain for the foreseeable future. She stood back to gaze up at the empty windows surrounding them before turning around to see Link looking down at his own outfit. He was switching his attention from the clothes he was wearing to his folded tunic, and then back again.

"I kind of like it," he said, slowly.

"It really does look good on you, it's a pity you never got to wear it." She paused, looking him up and down for a while before adding, "you are definitely keeping those boots, regardless."

The Hylian pair eventually made their way back into Castle Town, Link decided to keep the Royal Guard outfit on, and walked with Zelda's hand upon his arm the whole time. The original plan had been to take their time going through the ruins, but with the pair of them leaving in such a good mood, feeling light in both mind and soul, they decided to approach it on another day. They continued through the old town to the front gate where both Geoffrey and Ophelia – whose name was slowly turning into Phillip – were munching on tufts of grass, completely oblivious to the destruction around them.

The ride back to Hateno was uneventful, besides the detour to regather some supplies and the rest stop halfway in the Stables again where Link changed back into his Champion's tunic. He liked the Royal Guard uniform, but it was a bit extravagant and he'd noticed it garnered more than just one pair of amorous eyes, watching his form appreciatively. The outfit was for Zelda's eyes only he decided.

The sun was high above them, approaching noon, as they ambled up the sandy path into Hateno. The steady beat of their horses hooves alerted the watchman at the entrance archway and they both nodded to him as they passed, turning their horses up towards the bridge leading to their home. Just as they were discussing when to arrange another trip into the Castle, with the Sheikah Slate this time, they spotted a small white-haired child pacing about in front of their front door. The figure was instantly recognisable as Purah.

"Oh, hello Purah. You know we found- What's wrong?"

Purah had turned around to fix them with a very troubled expression before Zelda could even finish.

"Vah Ruta. There's a problem with Vah Ruta."

I feel like the bonus ending scene of BotW could merge perfectly into the Champions Ballad, so here we are.