"Dakota!" Laurel and Ningan exclaim simultaneously. Dakota was once the Royal Diplomat of Princess Zelda, who would travel with them when they were once a band of explorers seeking to make Hyrule's mark on other neighbouring lands. Somehow, she had wound up here, in a paradise beyond imagination, baking cookies.
She places her tray carelessly on the desk and runs to greet her old friends. "What are you doing out here? How did you find me?"
"I guess it was fate." Ningan says as he graciously accepts her embrace. "What are you doing here?"
"I think you four have a lot of catching-up to do." the woman in camouflage says kindly. "My Lieutenant and I will excuse you for a short while. Seth?"
Seth stutters in bewilderment. "But…Ma'am…trespassers…"
"Come now." she takes him by the shoulder and ushers him towards the door. "We have other more important business to discuss."
As the door closes, the travellers burst into chatter, telling each other tales of their adventures since their disbandment. Ningan introduces Dakota to Imogen and boasts his accomplishment of finding a long-lost member of the Sheikah tribe to bring home to Hyrule. Laurel tells of his reconciliation with Ningan after meeting in Engrove Gardens to put their differences aside.
Dakota explains how after the Royal Council of Hyrule had disbanded as a result of their disillusionment with the Royal Family's mission, she met a suitor at a dinner party in Anther who was a member of the Zinzuri Wildlife Protection Agency. They dated for a few weeks before he announced his urgent return to Zinzuri. She chose to go with him and became a resident housewife at the lodge under the care of Jet, the agency's commander.
"So much has happened in two years!" she beams with delight. "Can you believe fate has brought us all together again?"
"I can't help but think that Imogen's spells are more than simply magic…" Ningan suggests.
"Now we're reunited, you have to join us and return to Hyrule!" Laurel grins excitedly.
Dakota's smile wavers. "Oh Laurel…I can't…"
"Why not?" Ningan asks, puzzled.
"I live here now…I have duties to serve Commander Jet…I have a boyfriend."
"So?" Ningan snorts.
"Hyrule is your home, Dakota!" Laurel protests. "You can't abandon us again!"
"I'm not abandoning you!" she insists, and picks up her baking tray. "Look, I have a life here. I can't just give that up so easily. You're welcome to stay here for a while to take a break from your journey. But I'm staying right here."
She takes her baking tray back into the kitchen and begins to lay out the cookies on a plate. Ningan and Laurel watch in disbelief: once a fierce, adventurous woman whose initiative trumped all of them was now content with baking cookies to serve to her man.
"What in the world happened to her?" Ningan mutters to the other two.
"Love." Imogen states simply. "It does strange things to people."
"Give her a little time to think." Laurel concludes. "Maybe we can convince her to come with us over the course of our stay."