Link's eyes snapped open as he heard his front door do the same, too scared to move. The princess was still asleep with her head on his shoulder, though he suspected not for very long with the sudden guests.
''Good morning! Are you still in bed, Linky?'' Purah said and Link felt Zelda wake up, holding onto him extra tight as she looked up at his face. ''Aw, I thought the princess might have been with you. I wanted to check you were feeding her okay.''
Zelda sat up as she pushed Link to slip down the side of the bed, the knight only just catching himself before he hit the floor. It didn't stop the banging noise of his arm knocking against the bed frame as he landed, the princess leaning over to check. ''Are you okay?''
Link nodded, holding his arm as it stung. It wasn't serious but it had certainly hurt, almost guaranteed to give him a bruise later. ''Yeah,'' he said as he rested his head back on the could tell there was confusion downstairs.
''Princess?'' Purah asked and Zelda sat up, peering over the railing.
''Good morning,'' she said as she got up. ''We must have slept in.''
''Did Link fall out of bed?'' Purah asked and Zelda shook her head.
''No, he slept beside it and hit his arm into the frame,'' Zelda replied.
Symin was awfully quiet as Purah stood on one of the chairs so she could see the princess better. ''You don't think I'm that gullible, do you?'' Purah asked and Zelda sighed. ''I'm a lot older than I look. I've heard a lot of excuses and that's just... his spare bed is on the floor down here. I don't believe he'd have two of them. I barely believe he has one.''
Link sat up, still holding his arm as he finally spoke. ''Morning, Purah.''
They got up, making an almost shameful walk down the stairs. Zelda sat down at the table as Link started up a pot of water, pulling out the tea Purah had specifically given to him with the instruction of offering it to guests. Even if he had nothing else in the house, at least he could give anyone who came over a cup of tea. It helped that it was Purah's favourite.
''Linky, you're not taking advantage of the princess, are you? I'd report you to the royal guard but... well, you're it,'' Purah said as Link let out a sigh. They were in his house and he couldn't catch a break. He hadn't even done anything to be reprimanded for.
Zelda crossed her legs, resting her hands in her lap. ''I think I'm perfectly capable of telling him to leave me alone if I wanted to,'' she said and Purah laughed.
''Just checking, Princess,'' she replied as she looked at Symin. ''Did you want to tell them about what you worked out?''
Symin cleared his throat, still trying to work out how he felt about the situation. This was the princess and the one who was supposed to be protecting her. ''Yes. It's a special type of ore, found deep under Mount Lanayru. A long time ago, they used to be called Naydra's tears,'' he said as he held out a book. ''There's not a whole lot about them here; the Sheikah used to use it to power some of their older technologies. Eventually, the other races got their hands on it and traded it like jewels. They broke them into smaller and smaller pieces until they just looked like particularly shiny sapphires in their jewellery. That's possibly the last decent sized piece left.''
He handed over the book, Zelda scanning her eyes over the pages. ''Does it say what people saw?'' she asked and Symin nodded.
''The next page, your majesty,'' he said as she turned it over. ''There's a number of different reports. The most common is as you said. But there have been a few that state it was dreams or nightmares.''
Zelda closed it over as she looked at Link bringing over tea cups. He put them on the table before he started up the stove, opening his fridge to work out what he had. ''Are you two eating here?''
Purah put her hands on her hips. ''Fish out of the lake again?''
Link picked up the recipe book on the bench, double checking everything he needed. He put them in a pot, following the instructions as the three scientists spoke about the finer details of the pendant. ''Maybe there'll be more in the royal research lab,'' Zelda suggested. ''There's millions of books there we could look into.''
There was an awkward silence; no one dared to say a word in response to her suggestion. She could feel something was wrong, looking between them all. Link didn't even look up from the pot as he stirred, taking a few long depths before he said the words he knew would bring back guilt and pain. ''The royal lab is gone, Princess.''
''Oh, I know it will be in ruins. But surely there's still something there. There'll still be books, some of the equipment. It will need some work but-''
''Princess, it's flat,'' he said as he turned to look at her. She looked back at him, her eyes wide as she hoped he was joking. ''There's nothing left. I'm sorry but I've been.''
''It must have taken a lot to flatten that hill,'' she said and Link frowned. He looked at Purah who seemed just as confused.
''The hill?'' Symin asked. ''It's on top of the hill. The top of it where the building was is flat.''
''So the basement's in tact?'' Zelda asked, light filling her eyes with hope.
Purah put her hands on her hips. ''What basement?'' she asked. Considering the woman had spent quite a number of her younger years working in the royal research lab, it was quite a surprise that there was something there she didn't know about. The fact there was an entire room she hadn't noticed was particularly strange.
Zelda got up, putting the book on the table. ''How long will it take us to go to the three springs?'' she asked as Link checked the food to see if it was edible. He decided it was, putting some in a bowl to place in front of the princess while he thought about it.
''How long do you want to spend at each one?'' he asked as he watched Purah look into the bowl, looking a mixture of surprised and concerned. ''Do you want some?''
''It's not poisonous?'' she asked and Link rolled his eyes.
''Yes, I'm poisoning the princess with witnesses in my own house. No, It's not poisonous,'' he said as he grabbed a bowl, putting food in it before he put it in front of her. He made up another bowl for Symin before grabbing some for himself, leaning against the wall while he ate.
Purah still seemed dubious, though her expression let up after she tasted it. ''I didn't know you could actually cook, Linky.''
''I can't, I can just follow instructions,'' he said as he ate, looking at Zelda again. ''A day? Two?''
Zelda thought about it for a few moments. ''I'd like a full day at each. Dawn to dusk.''
Link did the calculations in his head. ''Three weeks, give or take a day or two. We should be back to the castle with a few days to spare,'' he said and Zelda looked at Purah.
''Are you coming to the coronation?'' she asked and Purah looked uncertain.
Symin looked at the elderly woman in a child's body, speaking exactly what was on her mind. ''Lady Impa will be there.''
''Yes, thank you Symin,'' she said as she looked at him, clearly displeased with him letting out her concerns.
Zelda frowned. ''Have you still not told her?''
Purah let out a sigh. ''No. I haven't worked out how to tell her yet,'' she said as she looked disappointed.
Zelda wasn't sure how she'd face telling a younger family member that she'd accidentally made herself over a hundred years younger. ''What have you got so far?''
Purah thought about it for a minute or so. ''Oops,'' she said with a shrug.
Symin tried his best not to sigh. ''Then I'll explain the fault in the rune, I guess.''
Purah put her hands on her hips as she twirled around like a child. ''I'm hoping to have that age-boosting rune finished by then. I think I would be happy back in my forties or fifties. People will take me seriously again and I will still be young enough to move like this,'' she said as she tried to pull off some sort of pose. The chair wasn't quite stable enough, Symin catching it before it fell. He looked a little too used to doing it.
''We want to make sure it's right. We don't want another case of extreme ageing again,'' he said as Purah got her balance back, brushing it off like it had never happened. ''Making you two hundred or so will just make things worse.''
''I wouldn't complain if we dulled the effects too much I got stuck in my twenties or thirties,'' she said as she looked at her bowl that was empty on the table. ''Lollies? I want lollies.''
''I don't have any,'' Link said as he finished off his bowl. He picked up the empty ones from the table, putting them in the sink. ''I'm going to go feed the horses.''
He felt less awkward as soon as he got outside, silently praying to the goddess that Purah would have enough sense to not say anything until the relationship was public. He had no doubts she was more than reasonable and would agree silence made sense, but she was also technically six and they were prone to saying things in their temper tantrums.
He let the horses loose in some of the land next to his house, watching them enjoy their freedom. They didn't travel far; just happy to be able to eat some of the grass and feed he'd gotten from the little shed attached to the back of his house. He looked at the long grass, sighing as he thought of all the work he'd need to do to cut it. Maybe he should have just fixed the fences and bought some goats. It actually didn't sound like a bad idea, particularly if he offered the produce to anyone interested in town who would be happy just to check in on them every so often when he was away. Or even better, he could just offer his land to one of the local farmers to use and then they weren't his responsibility at all. It wasn't as if he really was using it anyway.
He got out an axe, cutting down a couple of trees to turn into new fence posts. He wiped his brow as he found some nails and a hammer, quickly working out he needed a shovel to secure the posts into the ground. He turned as he heard the front door open, watching as Zelda emerged in her normal clothes, Purah and Symin not far behind.
''Linky, we're leaving!'' Purah called out and Link dusted off his hands, walking back over. ''Take care of the princess. She isn't one of your Kakariko girls.''
Link's mouth opened slightly as he couldn't even think of a retort, the princess looking between them. ''Can somebody please fill me on on what this Kakariko girl thing is?'' she said as she put her hands on her hips.
Symin followed as Purah skipped off, giggling into the distance. Zelda looked at him, walking over as she grabbed his shirt, pulling him aside. ''Tell me what is with those rumours,'' she said as she made him stand up straight, looking into his eyes. ''Is there something I need to know?''
Link tried to break away from her eyes but couldn't bring himself to do it. ''It's nothing you need to worry about Princess,'' he said and he could see the look on her face change. It was disappointed that he wouldn't tell her something, like there was a lack of trust that he still had with her.
''Do you think it's going to change something if I know?'' she asked and Link couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth; he was scared it really would.
He took a deep breath, trying to think of the right words to explain the situation. ''All of the relationships I've had in the past a very short lived. A lot are about the length of an evening,'' he said, trying to be subtle. ''But that's a consequence of constantly being on call, I guess. I couldn't commit to anyone because I wanted to be with you, but that didn't mean I wanted to be alone.''
Zelda looked into his eyes, reading into him. ''Okay. If that's it,'' she said and Link waited to see what else she said. ''You shouldn't have had to be alone. I'm sorry you felt you couldn't have anything real.''
''I have the real relationship I wanted now,'' Link said and Zelda smiled a little, still looking uncomfortable. ''But that's it. They've been from all over the place, just depending on where I was at the time. I don't know why everybody thinks I've been through all the girls in Kakariko Village.''
Zelda folded her arms. ''How many have you?'' she asked.
''From Kakariko or everywhere?'' he asked in reply. It was a bit of a loaded question.
''Do I want to know the total number?'' she replied. Link hesitated. ''Is it in the single digits?'' Link very slowly shook his head. ''Triple?''
''No. Not even close,'' he said quickly. ''It's barely in the double digits. Very barely. And they're almost always just villagers, not other soldiers or people I'd interact with when I'm with you. So don't worry about me talking to any of them regularly. I can't even think of the last time I said more than small talk to any of them. Not to make it sound like- I do care, but-''
He was really struggling to find words. Zelda took his hand, putting a hand on his face to make him look at her again. ''I was pretty much ready to do the same thing to try and find a husband before I worked out I was missing the obvious person in front of me,'' she said and Link frowned, a little confused by her statement. He was fairly certain she'd thought he meant something else.
''I don't think you understood what I just said entirely,'' he said and Zelda frowned. ''There was no intention of staying with any of them, Princess. There wasn't much getting to know them or any thoughts further than what we were doing. They knew I was only in town for a day or two.'' He hesitated for a moment as he watched her frown disappear. ''Okay, there may have been one or two that I might have thought a bit more about but-''
Link stopped, unable to work out how he wanted to end that sentence. Zelda's eyes got a bit wider as she felt stupid for not putting it together faster. ''Oh.''
''Yeah…'' he said and Zelda took another few seconds.
She looked confused most of all, still trying to work out how she was meant to feel about it all. She finally kissed him, taking a deep breath as she took a step back. ''I don't particularly like it but I can't really judge you for trying to have something when I haven't given you the opportunity. And it's not-'' she said as she stopped to think. She was starting to get a bit of an embarrassed pink flush across her face as she couldn't bring herself to say the right words. ''You having… you doing that wasn't the problem. It was the fact you did it specifically because you're too dedicated to me that is. The fact you thought it was your best choice.''
He didn't quite believe she was okay with it. He supposed it could have been much worse. ''You don't have to be, Princess.''
''Well, I am. And I've made some… interesting decisions in the past just so I could get by, you should have yours too,'' she said as she stepped back. She held his hand, still trying to reassure him she was alright with the news. Surprised and a little uncomfortable, but she was at least going to be okay with it. She rathered knowing than the alternative; she could only imagine how much worse it would have been if she found out much further in their future. ''I'm going to go read the book from Symin. We should get moving soon so we can have a look at the research lab before they get to the castle so we don't waste their time looking for it.''
Link nodded, watching her go back inside. He gathered the horses, tying them up again so they wouldn't escape. He got inside, confused not to see her at the table. He walked up the stairs, the princess lying on his bed with the book in her hands, flicking through the pages with that same beautiful look of intrigue on her face. ''Is there anything you'd like for dinner, Princess? I'm going to go into the village for a bit to pick up some more food.''
Zelda sat up, closing the book over. ''No, whatever you're getting is fine,'' she said as she awkwardly put her hand out, Link raising an eyebrow as he took it. She pulled him closer, getting up on her knees as she kissed him. He could feel her pulling him onto the bed as he used his knees against the sides to steady himself.
He stood up straight, pulling away with just the strength in his thighs. ''That's not what I want, Princess.''
''It's what you wanted from all the others,'' she said as she sat on her feet, looking up at him. Why hadn't he expected this? She looked nervous and uncomfortable as she waited for his response.
Link sighed as he sat down on the edge. ''I don't want to rush this,'' he said as he looked into her eyes. ''When it happens, I'm good but it can wait. Not until you're ready.''
There was a look of relief in Zelda's face; all of the nerves had disappeared as she took his hand again. ''If you're sure.''
''I have never been so sure of anything, Princess,'' he said as Zelda leaned over to kiss him again. The warmth of her lips made everything feel better, all of his worries washing away if only for the moments they were together. How could ask more from her than that?
Hello! I have a question to ask you all and would love to hear your feedback. I've planned out 3 ways to write out the rest of this story with their relationship, and I can't decide which one to go for. Please keep in mind, this doesn't really affect anything much in the long run and still isn't relevant for a few more chapters at least. This will probably only really affect one scene.
The options are 1. just hint at the lemon (none written) and keep the same subtle tone, 2. change the rating to M and write it in, or 3. write the lemons as side stories and leave this as T with just references to where they'd be placed so you can ignore them if you want. I'd release the 'side stories' the same day as the chapter they are relevant to.
Let me know what you think! I'll also put a poll on my profile for anybody who doesn't want to leave it in a review. I'll leave it up over the weekend and let you know the results next week.
Thanks for your support so far and I hope you continue to enjoy going forward!