Link's horse moved forward purely out of habit and for the need to keep up with the others, no longer being commanded by her rider. Link paid no mind to the caravan as they moved forward once more, and without realizing it, he trailed behind, taking up the rear. His mind was on Zelda, her words echoing through his ears painfully. He had given her such a hard time about the damn shrine, seeing it as nothing more but the source of all his problems. He realized, then, that that was not the case. Zelda had not put him in there merely to fix a vital tool in the war. Whether he was dragged into this or not, Zelda only wanted him to live. She put her own life in danger simply to give him a chance.
Up until then, Link found himself wishing he had died that day. He thought it would have been a far better fate than the onslaught of memories that would follow when he woke. He stared out into Blatchery Plains, not realizing that his horse no longer moved forward. She grazed on the tall grass, moving between the inactive Guardians. He watched the scene play out before his eyes. The Guardians that surrounded them, his last stand, Zelda's awakened power. It all flooded back once more, and he watched himself give up in her arms as she called to him. He remembered the feeling of the darkness closing in around him, and how calm he felt in that moment, his pain washing away. He took his last breath, welcoming the darkness.
"Link."
He turned to the voice. The caravan was just moving beyond the walls of the fort, but Zelda and her horse stood before him. Her eyes were soft, her brows knit together in concern. She hesitated as she looked out over the plains, presumably seeing the same thing he saw.
"I'm sorry." His voice was barely a whisper. He averted his gaze in shame.
Zelda's brows knit together. "For what?"
"For giving up," he said. "For failing you."
"Link." She was quiet for a moment, watching him carefully.
He hesitated, then met her gaze.
"I know you think I don't understand," she started. She turned her gaze to the ground, hesitating, choosing her words carefully. "Maybe I don't," she continued, taking in a breath. "But I was there. I remember." She met his gaze. "I don't want you to look at me and see failure. I want you to see who I've become because of you. Someone a little more empathetic." She smiled. "Someone a little braver. A person who doesn't feel like they're against the world." She hesitated. "I want you to know... When I look at you, I see hope. I see safety. I see home. And if it takes you the rest of your life, I'll be here. Always. I will wait." She turned her gaze back out over the plains. "I may not understand how you feel, or the internal battle you face, but I'm here because of you. And now it's my turn to help you."
Link turned his gaze to Fort Hateno where the Sheikah soldiers waited. He didn't know how to respond to Zelda, but her words were comforting. And with her at his side, the world felt a little less dark. He hadn't seen it before, perhaps too engrossed in his own pain and fears, but he saw the light she offered to him now. Perhaps it wasn't too late for him to climb out of the hole he found himself in. And he didn't have to do it alone.
"How can you help me?" he asked softly.
"I don't know," Zelda said. "However I can. You tell me what I can do."
Link took up his reins once more and nudged his heels against his horse's sides. The mare's ears flicked back towards her rider and she stepped forward. Link smiled at Zelda over his shoulder as they passed. "Don't get killed by the Yiga Clan."
Zelda encouraged her horse into a trot until they were alongside Link. She smiled, but did not turn her gaze to him. "I don't plan on it."
"Thanks," he muttered. He meant it in response to what she had said before, and he had a feeling she understood.
Zelda moved her horse ahead slightly, turning him around and stopping Link for a moment. She narrowed her gaze on him. "And don't you for a second think you've failed." Her voice softened. "You could never fail me."
Link navigated his horse around Zelda and let a small smile tug at the corner of his lips. "Okay," he said simply. "I'll hold you to that."
Zelda let out a sigh through her nose and rolled her eyes. Together, they trotted through Fort Hateno's walls, catching up with the Sheikah army that accompanied them, and finished the trip into Hateno Village.
"You could have taken better care of it." Purah eyed the Sheikah slate carefully, turning it over in her hands. She peered up at Zelda and Link from behind the screen and a smile split her face.
Zelda raised her hands defensively. "Don't look at me," she said. She narrowed her eyes playfully at Link. "I got it that way."
Link smirked and shrugged. "I may have dropped it a few times."
Purah rolled her eyes, fitting for her still child-like form. "You best hope it still works as well as it did a hundred years ago," she said. "As much as I'd hate to look like my sister, I do need to figure out a way to reverse this aging process." She put the slate carefully on the table and turned her gaze to Link. "I hope you've taken better care of the sword than you have the slate."
"It cuts."
Purah let out a snort and rolled her eyes once more. She turned her gaze to Zelda. "Thank you for returning it. I hate to have to travel too far like this."
"Of course," Zelda said with an understanding smile, but Purah was focused on Link once more and already pestering him with questions.
"I'm sure you have a very busy schedule," she started. "But, should time allow it, would you consider returning to the shrine with me?"
Link blinked at her. Before he could answer, she was speaking again.
"I'd like to investigate it further, and you make a rather good test subject considering the circumstances. I bet now that the situation isn't so dire, we could -"
"Perhaps something to discuss when times allows us," Zelda interrupted, bringing relief for Link. "Rebuilding Hyrule is my number one priority."
"Right, right, of course," Purah said with a wave of her hand. "But should you find yourself feeling bored -"
"I don't think I'll have to worry about that," Link muttered.
Zelda pulled at Link's wrist. "We have a lot on our plate as it is."
Purah put her hands on her hips as Zelda dragged Link towards the door. "Leaving so soon?"
Zelda smiled apologetically to Purah. "Duty calls."
Purah rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Safe travels, Your Highness."
The Sheikah army waited for them outside the lab with their horses. Link muttered a quiet thanks to Zelda as they mounted their horses once more. They made their way through Hateno Village, into a trot through the fort, and finally back into Hyrule where they pushed their horses into a gallop.
It would take them two days before they reached the castle, stopping only when night fell to rest and eat. They eagerly set up camp for the night, the Sheikah talking and laughing amongst themselves while others stayed alert and on guard.
Link stayed loyally at Zelda's side through the night. To Zelda's relief, he seemed more eager to talk with her, and they chatted about nothing in particular. From time to time, he would share a story with her of his time in Hyrule after coming out of the Shrine of Resurrection. He told her about the mysterious shrines he had encountered, revealing to her that they would only open for him. He described the mysterious dragons that would fly high in the sky and of the Korok that resided in the Great Forest.
Zelda listened intently as he spoke, amazed by the secrets that the kingdom held. She realized, then, how little she truly knew of her own kingdom, and it only made her more anxious to study and explore as much as she could. Of course, her new role as Hyrule's Queen surely would not allow for such scholarly studies, as her father liked to say. But surely she could continue to question Link and learn everything she could learn from his own adventures.
At dawn, they were back in their saddles, making their way through Hyrule once more. They reached what was left of the outer walls of town and moved slowly through the front gates. Zelda was only realizing now how rough the town was, completely destroyed and in shambles. Inactive guardians were strewn throughout the torn up roads and scattered amongst destroyed shops and homes. The flags around the central square were torn and tattered, flapping sadly in the breeze. The once elegant fountain with Hyrule's crest was no more. Their world was utterly lifeless, and a sense of anxiety washed over Zelda.
Rebuilding Hyrule would have to start there, but the task seemed so daunting. Even more so, it was terrifying. Sickening. Countless lives were lost in these very walls, and though their corpses were long gone, the town was nothing more but a graveyard, now. Zelda couldn't fathom how she would be able to rebuild the town over the very lives that were lost there. But she couldn't let it succumb to being a graveyard, either.
Her face was pale as she looked over the remains of the town. She turned her gaze to Link as their horses picked their way over the rubble. She was now aware that he was watching her, concern written deep in his forehead.
"How can I possibly rebuild a kingdom that is nothing more than a graveyard?" she whispered. "So many lives were lost. I cannot simply build over them."
Link pulled his gaze away and said nothing. He didn't have an answer for her.
Zelda felt her anxiety spike as they neared the castle. She had been avoiding her return and she found herself wishing she didn't have to return at all. She had spent one hundred years locked away in a castle that was no longer her home. One hundred years keeping Calamity Ganon at bay, preventing him from further destroying Hyrule until Link returned. The castle was nothing more than a ghost that haunted her. She couldn't possibly take up the throne in the very place that almost killed her. It was all too surreal. A nightmare. None of it felt familiar, and she wanted desperately to turn around and return to Kakariko where it was safe and bright and comforting.
The horses continued to move forward, following the path up the hill and towards the castle. They didn't stop until they were beyond the castle gates and stood before the large steps that would bring them into the castle. Zelda looked up at the once elegant, stone structure, and her stomach knotted sickeningly.
She looked around her as the Sheikah soldiers dismounted their horses. Dorian was already barking orders at his men. The first order of business was to clear the inactive guardians and as much of the rubble as possible. He wasn't about to waste a second bringing Hyrule back to it's former glory.
Zelda felt a hand on her leg and looked down, meeting Link's gaze. He offered a hand to her and smiled softly. She let him guide her down onto the ground, realizing then that she was shaking, terrified to go into her own home. She turned her gaze back to the castle as the Sheikah soldiers moved about behind her. Link's strong hand grasped at hers, their fingers intertwining together, and she immediately felt at ease once more. She had been running from her duty for so long that it seemed impossible. But with Link at her side, the future seemed a little more possible.
