Prince Hourglass

by eatwithjin

DISCONTINUED. only keeping this up cause i like the writing in this.

14. for me

14

. . .

. .

.

Link was silent, listening to the heavy sobs of his sister and caressing her back in comforting circles, before he was able to whisper, "You're kidding."

"Why would I do that?!" Aryll snapped.

Déjà vu struck Link as though he was in her place, remembering something he was never aware to have happened before. He didn't like this at all. "What…" A pregnant pause filled the end of his statement before he started again, "What did you remember, Aryll?"

"Not just stupid nicknames, Link!" she said into his shoulder, her voice elevating in pitch. "It's, like, real memories! Pictures in my head! A voice that sounds just like him and a place with so many old, old books, and it's like it smells too old!" Link allowed her a moment to mutter curses under her breath. "He said more than seven years ago, right, right, right then it matches up, I don't know, but it looks right—feels right and then that must mean he's…"

She wouldn't dare say it, so she didn't, only succumbing to silence. It appeared to Link that the best course of action was to help his sister back to bed. It took a while but his little sister eventually dried her tears, as if she would tell him it was because of him. After tucking Aryll in, he thought it was okay to leave her bedroom, however she did not allow him.

When he seated on the edge of her bed, she rolled onto her side, her forehead against his lower back. "I don't know why I'm seeing and hearing and feeling these things, but…" There was a low sniffle, before she mumbled, "Maybe they'll prove to some screwed-up images from my imagination. Like they're made up because I saw what Prince Daltus wanted me to see? Right? Isn't that exactly what happened, big brother?"

Honest, he told her, "I don't know about that."

Knots formed in her stomach. Really, she'd prefer that he told her a lie. "Big brother," Aryll mumbled, moving one hand onto his thigh. "Could you stay for a while?"

Link didn't say anything and he didn't need to, because it was answer enough that he intertwined his fingers with hers. Moments passed as he sat there in the dark, calm to her even breathing against his spine, and her hold on his hand never relaxing. There wasn't really anything in his head, not when he worried over Aryll as of now, and he would've slept sitting up in that moment if she hadn't broke the silence.

"Big brother." He responded with a drowsy groan. "Prince Daltus isn't real."

That woke him up a bit. His ears perked, Link rubbed them against his head. "Huh… Why?"

"Whatever images he's putting in my mind," she began, yawning and further curling her profile into his back, "they're too bizarre to be real. There's no such thing." Again, she yawned and brought a hand over her mouth, exhaling into the palm of her hand. With a glance, Link could tell his younger sister was falling into sleep, her eyes conspicuously closed. "He's there… There's towers of old books, I think it's-a-a library, right? It's special, like it's been built in the sky... I don't know why there's a library in the sky, but you can see a lot of birds from here and they're so close by, it's impossible, it's incredible…"

When Link closed his eyes for a moment, he swore he could see it too.

"Big brother." Her voice was so lost that his exhale released in a shuddering gasp. Honestly, Link was relieved that she could not see his bewildered expression when she had repeated, "Big brother, from up here, I can see you too."

His breath held in his throat. "What?"

"I can see you. I have my telescope with me. In the clouds… there's a-a tower in the window and the window's wide open and you're there, the princess is there." Suddenly, her hold on his hand tightened and Link looked down at her white fingers. "Big brother... she's not the princess. But she is. I'm too tired. I don't know."

I do, Link thought, and then it was clear to him that girl was Poppy. Yes, a girl, much younger than the Gerudo girl he knew now, much more expressive than she was now, and it was like he was gaining something he never knew was lost.

It felt like his heart was trying to beat out of his ribcage. "Go to sleep, Aryll."

"No. Like I wouldn't know," she mumbled, all dreamlike that he could swear she was already sleeping. "But he does."

If there was something Zelda had to hide from Daltus, hide from himself, Link knew this was the moment he would know. He asked, "Daltus does?"

"I think so." Shockingly, Aryll did not return that statement, however there must be something off with the way she was sniffling again. "Big brother, what'd you think you're doing?" What was he doing? "He figured it out," she murmured, her fingers finally relaxing in his. "You look so excited and I thought you found something amazing. Someone? He said that you were telling the princess, that, that—" Almost in defense, her lips pressed together as behind, her tongue pushed against her teeth, "—save?"

When Link looked down at her, Aryll slowly opened her eyes, gazing up at him. "Big brother, are you—"

"—real?" Amber eyes blinked up at him. "Sometimes, I think I made you up so I don't feel lonely."

Her words were a vice on his heart.

"I'm real."

Amber eyes did not believe him.

"I'll—" His grandfather's voice resonated in his head—to only make promises he intended to keep, and right then and there, Link knew this was the promise he intended to keep. "—a hero! Like in the fairytales you read and in the legends—reads to me—says my name means hero—never lies! I'm gonna save you and then—and then we can run all day on the surface!"

Her reaction—the childish curve of a sincere smile—

His breath caught between gritted teeth, Link jerked forward.

Onto his feet, he was gasping and he did not realize he was squeezing his shirt so tightly. His head spinning, Link turned his neck to take a look at his younger sister. Thankfully, Aryll was sound asleep, so he had to quiet his raspy breathing, before he left her room with a quiet close to her door. While rubbing his temple, Link had to gain his bearings as he took the stairs listlessly to his bedroom. Quiet enough to keep his wife in slumber, he opened a random notebook, flipped to a clean page, and scrambled to scribble all that he could remember.

After Link slipped into bed with his wife, somehow, he did not dream of identical princesses, but of a strong yet soft voice speaking above him, as though pulling him from a deep sleep.

.

Aryll wished it was a normal day.

It was sort of impossible to forget last night's events. There was no difference to her big brother's behavior when the morning started with his wife screaming. While Aryll was coaxing the children to eat their cereal, the couple were having a contest of sorts of who-can-convince-the-neighbors-to-file-a-noise-complaint.

Definitely big brother, Aryll thought as the children finally finished their breakfast and he finally bounded into the dining room.

"Can you—" she started, but Link read her mind, instantly heading for the kitchen sink where the children had already piled their bowls. It appeared that they had somehow reached a consensus not to talk about that and Aryll was okay with this. "C'mon, get ready for school, little ones."

Then while helping the children stuff on their jackets and backpacks, Princess Zelda lingered by the children's' doorway and so was pulled into helping Aryll. For some reason, all Aryll could think of while they conversed casually was a repetitive string of, "Why do I remember your brother? Why do I remember your brother? Why do I—"

"Aryll?" The princess buttoned up the last of them as she asked, "Shall I wait with the children while their ride arrives?

Right, they were talking about the children. "Um," she mumbled, tucking back a stray strand. Still, it took a moment for Aryll to think about her current situation. "I don't wanna bother you."

"It's quite alright," replied Zelda, already locking hands with some of the children. "Link and I have been excused from our studies this week." Little arms pulled at the princess and she couldn't help her demure laugh. "I suppose I don't have a choice."

With that, Aryll waved them away, before getting started on her own morning routine. She took a quick shower before fitting into her school uniform and double-checking her satchels' schoolwork. After sending her goodbyes to her grandmother and big brother, Aryll biked her way to school as always. Luckily for her, the tabloid reporters didn't care much for the Crown Prince's younger sister, but the same couldn't be said for her classmates.

They knew at this point to stay away from Aryll, but it bothered her that they were still there.

As she locked her bike, someone called, "Hey, loser!"

Looking up, Aryll already knew whoever said that would live. A smile even graced her expression as she lifted her satchel onto her shoulder, greeting back, "Yeah, loser?"

"Why do we have'ta call each other that?" another voice piped up, waving a long stick as though it was a sword.

Aryll could stand two people around her age and these two were the loud-mouthed Kukiel and the ever logical Joel. For some reason, their school allowed these two exceptions when Kukiel styled her straight skyward (which was forbidden) and Joel always carried that sword-like stick (which was even more forbidden). Still, everyone had their eccentrics in a nerd school.

"So I heard your brother's staying at home now?" Kukiel was immediate to ask.

As her friends walked on either side of her, Aryll breathed a slow sigh. "For a week, actually."

Also interested, Joel also joined in, "I still can't believe he chose to be a prince. Those writers online are such savages, y'know, they call him Prince Hourglass because—"

"We know."

"— what he should've done wasc stuck with his sword fighting shinding," Joel commented, crossing his arms in thought. Before Aryll could've given him the look, he added on, "I know, Aryll, you said he married to save the orphanage, but man! How could you not see how totally awesome he is at sword fighting? Nationals are coming up real soon and he's going to slay through it!"

"We know."

The first to crack a grin, Aryll was glad that Kukiel was on her side as Joel crossed his arms, one fist still holding his stick. The three were able to make an interesting conversation about schoolwork since all of them had their varied interests. But what bound them together was the fact that they had most of their core classes together, including their first class. It sucked though, at least Aryll thought that they sat in the front of the room while she was alone in the back. Which wasn't terribly bad but all the kiss-asses were in the back and oh gods, she hated how they even opened their mouths in her direction like—

"Class," their teacher interrupted everyone's conversation. Rolling her eyes, Aryll moved her lazy stare to the front. "I want you all to be paying close attention. It appears that we have a sudden addition to our class, so please welcome Prince Royal—"

Everyone gasped at once, but it was Aryll who was the loudest and the closest to a shriek.

It couldn't be true. She refused to believe it. She told her big brother that that brat wasn't real and this just had to prove it. What other moron would be moronic enough to stride coolly into the classroom and stand so impeccably straight with his eyes only on her. They did not leave her when Daltus stood on his toes, whispering into the teacher's ear. Awkward, the teacher tried again, "Please welcome Prince Daltus Nohansen… Uhh, please go ahead and introduce Your Highness?"

His throat cleared, Daltus started, "I bid all of you a good morning. I am well aware that I am younger than all of you, however that difference is only by two years. Do not waste your concern for me when I am certain that I will follow the content for this school. My previous academic institution was Festari Hill Preparatory School located in His Royal Highness' birth country, Picori." A classroom of wide eyes and slackened jaws were Daltus' reaction and he simply bowed. "Please address me as Lark."

If there was something Aryll had learned with her overbearing classmates, it was keeping her cool, but even now, she realized she did not scream internally. Honestly, she knew she showed him her worst the night before, yet here he was walking down the aisle.

It looked like there were no seats next to her—thank the goddesses, Aryll promised she'd pay attention during temple more often—since she was surrounded by idiots, but better them than their prince. Her head down, Aryll clapped herself on the back for not even giving him the satisfaction of one glance. But that was until she heard above her, "Move."

There were two "Excuse me?" One from herself and the other from her shocked seatmate to her right. When they both looked up, Aryll realized Daltus was not talking to her.

She and her seatmate both thought the teacher would intervene, however he did no such thing, only starting the day's lesson. Her stare already on the front, Aryll spotted Kukiel and Joel snickering to themselves and mouthing words that were more or less about her relationship with Prince Daltus. Which there was no such thing, or as Aryll thought to be.

"Move," repeated Daltus, his hands tucked into his pockets. Obviously, he was well accustomed to bossing people around and them listening. This time, it might the tiniest of complications when he had to explain, "I will sit next to Gully."

"This is my seat," she argued.

"Move."

"Um, teacher! Prince—umm—Lark is trying to steal my seat!"

Their teacher only ducked his head as Daltus leaned forward to demand again, "Move."

She moved.

"Hello, Gully!" greeted the prince, tossing his bag over his chair. Her teeth gritting together, Aryll stared daggers into her textbook as he continued to talk, "I thought a lot about what you said last night and I believe you're right! Let's start over! Oh, is that the textbook for this class?" To her disbelief, the persistent prince pushed his desk directly beside Aryll's, and peered over her shoulder, as though they were already close and not having to 'start over'. "You don't mind sharing with me, don't you?"

They said that when the administrators dragged the normally stoic Aryll Forria out of class, she was still screaming.

.

Link was sorry, not sorry.

There were paragraphs of terrible texts, detailing how much his little sister hated Prince Daltus. Honestly, a part of Link thought the younger prince wasn't the type to give up so easily, even when he kinda cried in front of Link. Another part of him thought it was kinda psychotic of the younger prince to transfer so quickly into Aryll's school. Well, Aryll said no to him, so it wasn't much of Link's concern to 'help' Daltus, however he was totally interested in Aryll's messages.

"What are you smiling about?"

A grin in his wife's direction, Link looked back down at his phone. "Am I not allowed to smile?"

Without missing a beat, Zelda flipped through her electronic reading device. "Not around me, you're not."

He laughed and hoped to the goddesses that she wouldn't press further than that. For some reason, Link had to agree with Daltus not to tell his wife anything, and he had a feeling she'd know in due time anyway, but for now, her younger brother's peculiar plan to woo Aryll was going to stay low key.

After sending a frowny face to his sister, Link switched over to the girls' group chat. Of course, they were furious that Link got the week off just because he was spending time at home, but they were happy that Link had to go to school anyway. Sword Fighting Nationals were catching up to them real soon, therefore as their captain, Link needed to instill some last-week training, before the big day. The group chat went on without him for a while since Link was thinking carefully about what strategies he needed to present to his team, now that the participating teams were all revealed.

Silence occupied Link's room for the most part. He sat at his desk with his sword fighting notebook and the hourglass in front of him, occasionally texting back the girls, while his wife reclined in the tiny alcove of his only window. The curtains were down so that she could read with minimum sunlight, and Link had already asked what she was reading, which she had replied, "Why does it matter to you?"

Link had a feeling it wasn't the Hyrulean Civil War.

As soon as the last grain of sand passed through, Link closed his notebook, tucked it in his bookshelf, sat up from his desk, and quietly made his way over to Zelda. It was amusing to him that his wife was sound asleep with her reader dimmed in her lap. He thought that she was just going to sleep her way through the break, which he knew damn well that they both couldn't get enough of that back at the palace. Sympathy told him to lay his wife back against the alcove cushions and he even stacked her WINWAR pillows on top of her. Laughing to himself, Link was about to join his grandmother downstairs when he realized he should shut down her electronic device. And he was going to when he honestly thought it wasn't his fault for impulsively reading whatever was on the screen.

"I already know who you are," the bearer of Power laughed, his voice darker than the shadows around them. "Just a spoiled, little princess, pampered pretty all your little life."

"Huh," breathed Link, scratching the side of his hair. "Bearer of Power? She reading some Hyrulean Hero novel?"

"I'm a prince," corrected the other, bearer of Wisdom. There was no way around the truth. His kingdom had fallen and he was afraid but there was some way to outsmart him, somehow. "I am Prince Neri of Hyrule and I will not take any goatshit from the likes of you, King of Evil."

Fear was a feeling Neri was not accustoming to and he especially did not like the way it spiked when the King of Evil ran his teeth over the shell of his ear—

Eyebrows raised, Link thought, I do not like where this is going, as he kept on going,

—"Could've fooled me," he murmured, husky and heavy in Neri's ear. "If we're introducing ourselves, than I shall add onto one specific detail you've missed terribly." The prince did not ask what that was as he was occupied with his body pressed flush against his enemy. Instead, his baby blue eyes darkened to a glower as the King of Evil took in his effeminately attractive appearance. "King of Evil is empowering and dreadful and all, but do call me Leaf," he chuckled, just a breath's away from the prince, "you'll be screaming it plenty tonight."

"Ohhh, pffffffffftt, shoot me," giggled Link, before he clamped a hand over his mouth. Then another peal of laughter slipped between his fingers, and it wasn't long before he was fetal upon the floor, two hands against his mouth and doing a terrible job to muffle his amazed amusement.

The more he thought about Crown Princess Zelda of Hyrule reading such licentious work of sin, Link had already thrown his head back, and was roaring with laughter. Honest to goddesses, he tried not to express how especially humorous the situation was to him, but even if his wife slept like she really was dead, his grandmother was not deaf to his noisiness.

"Sweetie?" Leilana interrupted, finding her grandson clutching his middle with one hand, and banging the floor with the other. Worried, she knelt over him as he was no longer laughing, but gasping and groaning with a squinted stare. Her hand in his hair, Link's grandmother whispered, "Are you alright?"

"Grandma," he laughed, then grunted. "I cn't, I cann't, bwahhhahahahhaa—"

It was like some strange contagious disease overtook over her grandson with the one symptom of painful, consistent laughter. The ever doting grandmother she was, Leilana fussed over Link onto his feet and bumped her small fist over his back. That appeared to work as his snickering was diminishing, which brought on the thought of how this happened? Looking around, Leilana spotted the princess still sleeping—the pillows she scolded Link for topping them all over his wife and arranged them comfortably—, and then the reading device on the floor. Link's room was already a sort of constant state of mess, but the device must belong to Zelda, therefore Link's grandmother was about to pick it up before he abruptly snatched it himself.

Hiding it behind his back, Link grinned up at Leilana, but this was already suspicious.

"Grandma, it's such a nice day out! How about we go see those prize-winning hibiscuses you were telling to me about?" Link knew exactly what to distract his grandmother with, so he lead her out of his room, and he would have left as well, if he didn't leave behind one little thing for his wife.

When Zelda woke up, the first thing she looked for was her reading device. Strange enough, it was laying right beside her along with a sticky note upon the screen. After peeling it off, she rubbed one hand into her eye, before reading with half-lidded eyes;

GROSS YOU MANIAC

Before, Zelda's awakened state was at five percent but after, she was at one hundred and ten as she yanked off her blanket and rushed out of the room as though it was on fire. Which it felt like her face was when she finally found her husband outside with his grandmother. Unfortunately, she did not know about that when she turned the corner into the garden, yelling, "How dare you call me the gross one as though you've never seen por—"

By the startled look on Leilana's face, there was no way in Hyrule that Zelda was going to finish that sentence like she originally thought. "Seen… Seen…" she coughed, fiddling with her fingers sheepishly, "Seen, uhhh…"

"Seen what, dear?" prompted Link's grandmother while he was behind her, silently guffawing.

Oh, how the princess wished she could've popped her fist into his gut. Her hand clenching by her hip, Zelda laughed and improvised, "Por-portraits!" 'Good save,' her husband's expression seemed to say and he thought it was best not read hers. "I told him that the Hyrulean Royal Family has our tradition of sitting down for portraits, and Link said he's never seen a real portrait before!" This was good, Leilana looked smitten at the idea of a painting of her grandson. "That sounded strange to me since we have them all over the palace, since they did like to keep things old-fashioned from then to now."

"How wonderful!" Leilana gasped, grasping her son's arm. "A painting of you, sweetie! You would look absolutely spiffy."

As Link just laughed, it was somewhat cute to Zelda how his grandmother used such an outdated term, so that didn't fail to lighten her mood just a bit. Regardless, her irritation was still there when Link caught the double-edged glare in her smiling stare. Definitely catching on, he excused himself from his grandmother, before lazily making his way to his wife. This was different to him, he never really caught her in a state of embarrassment before, so he was totally going to enjoy this as much as he could.

"Let's walk and talk," she hissed, grabbing his arm, but he allowed it. For some reason, he thought it was a walk around the house, but Zelda pulled him into the neighborhood where, thankfully, no tabloid reporters were waiting for them. "Your grandmother didn't…"

Link shrugged. At once, his wife blanched, but then he said, "Nah."

A dainty hand to her temple, Zelda breathed a slow sigh of relief. "Thank the goddesses." Her voice took on a harsh edge when she spoke lowly, "This is simply a small pastime of mine, I have no affiliation with whatever, ahem, graphic content is demonstrated in my readings."

"Whatever floats ya boat," yawned Link. White fingers dug into his elbow, but in Link's head, it was kinda cute how they were going for a walk in the neighborhood, like old couples do. Kinda felt like a date, if you look far away enough, Link thought when he really said, "What were you reading, anyway?"

"I didn't write it," was Zelda's immediate response.

She was so quick to say that, Link didn't know if that was a defense to what she was reading or that meant she actually wrote it, but whatever interpretation it really was, he patted her tight hold and whispered, "I believe you, dear."

Ugh, patronizing was not a befitting tone for him, Zelda thought, but she said, "Don't act like you're foreign to this sort of thing."

He was piqued. "What sort of thing?"

"You know."

"You know I wanna hear you say it."

"There's no reason that I should!"

"Yeah, but," Link snickered, "I'm the one that caught you and I want you to."

This wasn't a thinly veiled threat, was it? Zelda didn't think her husband was capable of making threats. "Returning to the topic at hand," she retorted, yanking his arm almost out of its socket, "I believe I could easily catch you with one look around your tiny quarters."

Surprisingly, this was not a threat to him. "Uhh, okay." Uninterested in whatever else she had to say, Link rubbed his temple as he laughed, "Go ahead."

"What?"

"C'mon, Zel, I'm not a moron," he sighed. "I live in an orphanage. Most of the occupants here are aged from four to fourteen. They're innocent, little children and some of really nosey and sneaky little squirts. If I was dumb enough to hide, ahem," he mirrored her with a great grin, "graphic content in my room, those buggers will find a way in and the graphic content and know one way or another exactly why I had to hide it, and the face of disappointment my grandma'll have, no, never do I wanna see that."

He had a point, which he never seemed to have. Still, Zelda always liked a challenge. "You are certain about that?"

"Babe," called Link, almost flinching when he said that in front of her, "you can bet your sweet ass that there's nothing as embarrassing as gay fanfiction."

While Zelda was yanking at Link's ear, his phone suddenly rang. Not because somebody actually wanted to talk to him, but Zelda checked that was an alarm. There was no label for it so Link, as he rubbed his right ear with a wince, clarified for her, "I gotta go."

Strange, it was usually her with stuff to do. "To where?"

One hand covering his ear, and the other holding her wrist, Link answered, "School. Nationals coming and I gotta whip the team in shape."

"So you're just going to leave me alone?"

His eyebrow quirked as he replied, "You got Grandma. 'Sides, that wasn't a problem with you before." Within another moment, Link realized and a toothy grin brightened his already exuberant expression. "Why? You gonna miss me or something?"

Her retort was instant. "I thought it was somewhat foolish of you to leave your wife alone so suddenly after she is intent on uncovering your lies."

He snickered. "Right, right, well, good luck with that."

She scoffed. "I do not need your word on that."

Stranger, Link ran ahead to the orphanage and opened the gates, only to turn effortlessly as the metal bars spread before him. As it squeaked and sputtered behind him, he said to Princess Zelda, "Believe me, you're gonna need it."

She would have to see about that.

.

After leaving his wife absolutely fuming, Link was on his way to school. Under any other circumstance, he would have dreaded to go to such a place, but since it was for sword fighting, he was totally okay with this. Moments passed as he made small talk with Rinku in the driver's seat, before they arrived in the parking lot near the gymnasiums.

"Hey!" called Link, shouldering a green duffle bag. "You coming with?"

The guard frowned. "I had always accompanied Your Highness."

His memory was as great as ever. "Right," realized Link, waiting for his guard to check the vehicle, before they left side-by-side. A thousand-year-old question popped up in his mind and he thought it was appropriate to ask, "Hey, Rinku, I heard from Ezlo that to be an official guard of the Crown Prince, you gotta know how to sword fight."

It was like he anticipated this question before as he replied, "Swordsmanship is a requirement because it is not only Hyrule's national sport, but because it is a traditional skill that has been down for generations." While his explanation was sinking in for Link, he clarified, "As palace guards of Hyrule, we must use sword fighting for the way it is intended for."

"Sweet Farore." Just to be a hundred percent sure, the prince asked, "So you've, like, slayed down people before?"

Just as they stopped before the gymnasium doors, the guard met his superior's inquisitive stare and said, "Would Your Highness believe it?"

"Captain! Captain! Heyo, Captain!"

The repetitive calls for him were a much more overwhelming matter than his answer to Rinku, so Link bobbed his head just a slight, before he turned toward the bunch of overexcited high schoolers. But then again, he turned around his guard who called out, "Practice at your best, Your Highness. The King of Hyrule will not expect anything less."

When Link thought those numbskulls couldn't hear for naught, they had surrounded their leader, wondering aloud about the king. Since that was none of their concern, Link had shifted to his sword-fighting-captain voice and ordered, just once, to move their asses to the outside field. Out there, it was a slight tangent off the original schedule: the team had to run, perfect both their offensive and defensive moves, run, try out some old strategies that Link decided to bring back, run, and from there, it was just random one-on-one in order for the members to accustom to fighters of different strength and stature. Oh, and a last minute run.

Just an average practice, really.

Afterward, their captain turned back into nice approachable Link as he congratulated them for an afternoon turned pre-evening well spent. Most members were dying to head home, but Link had to stay behind to help out their slowest member as he ran an extra mile with him.

"C'mon, Bubby!" yelled Link, jogging easily beside him. "Run like you're out of formation and your enemies are hot on your heels! The farther they are from you, the more time you have to regroup! There's no thinking for now, so run, run, run!" Gasping for breath, he was already greener in the face than he usually was, but Link sprinted ahead, intending to push him. It worked in some way as Bubby barely lifted his head to see the distance between him and his captain expand, and he forced his stubby legs faster. "There you go! C'mon, c'mon!"

A moment later, Bubby lunged over the starting line, immediately collapsing on the field. Honestly, Link was sweating from the day's earlier practice and he itched for another run, but instead he kneeled over his teammate and extended a hand. Bubby accepted.

It turned out his slowest member had shaved off several seconds for his mile time, so they both were feeling rather accomplished. Link had wanted to go for another mile, but Bubby was quick to say no, just thanking his captain, before scampering away to the locker rooms.

Even though Link would rather go back to the track field, he decided he shouldn't keep his lovely wife waiting at home. There was no sign of Bubby or anyone else in the locker rooms, so Link grabbed his duffle bag and called Rinku for pickup. The guard had actually wanted to meet the prince out at the field, but just missed him. Still on call, they decided to meet at the gym parking lot for convenience and it was the original plan, Rinku reminded him.

Just as Link turned the corner away from the lockers, he heard voices he could catch anywhere.

"Ljunmira-yeda—"

"Hush, aleang." He listened, which was strange to Link since that dude didn't take no crap from anybody. "There is no good to those who worry as much you do." A low laugh sounded and, perking up, Link finally walked within their peripheral visions. "Oh, it's Link!"

Honestly, before today, he hadn't seen either of them ever since his coronation. "Hey, Poppy," he greeted. As always, a sunny smile lit up those exact facial features as his wife. It was a nice sight he wished was more frequent upon his actual wife. Then with those guy nods, Link said, "Yo, Darek. Thanks for pulling some of my weight today." The co-captain nodded back. "You guys busy right now?" Darek and Poppy shared a glance, a whole conversation expressed through raised eyebrows and narrowed eyes. Since Link didn't speak facial expressions, he suggested, "But if you're busy, I'm fine if you just wanna walk with me to the parking lot?"

"Yes! Let's that!" Poppy pulled them on either side of her, but Darek mentions that she was pulling them in the wrong direction.

This time with Link leading, he started saying, "So, Poppy, the girls told me you've been replacing me?"

"Oh, that was not my intention," she realized. "I have been watching their practice performances, which they tell me you do not do much of. And I make an observation." Link didn't think people would make observations, unless they were in a scientific atmosphere, and he couldn't help smirking at Darek. He shrugged. "Their professional dancing is different from how they will dance in the night."

Link knew exactly what she was talking about. "Well, yeah, they're not majoring in, uhhhh, what you say night dancing?" This was confusing to Poppy and Darek wanted to explain to her, as he's been doing, but he couldn't. Listing off his fingers, Link explained, "From what I think, Proxi is a ballroom dancer so she usually dances with a partner. Ciela's ballet, so that's obviously different than club dancing, but Navi and Tatl are all over the place. I've known them forever so I've seen them start with ballet, but then they got into jazz and and all that modern stuff. That's kinda similar to their night dancing, but not entirely."

"How is that so?" she piped.

Standing still, he took a moment. "The intentions, I guess?" After another moment, he was walking in tune with them again, although slowly. "When they dance before an audience, it's to, uhh, like make the audience feel something, you know? But when they're dancing with an audience, the night dancing, it's because they feel something… like, you know what Tatl said."

Somehow Poppy had interpreted Tatl's exclamation for a man for something else. "Because she's lonely?"

–so I don't feel lonely?

"Not really…" muttered Link, raising a hand against his temple. There was an itch inside his head he couldn't scratch. "You'll see what I mean at Fairy Fountains. There's all sorts of pro dancers, so it's gonna be lit."

A dainty hand to her lips, the Gerudo girl tilted her head and commented, "You know much about the dancing?"

It sounded like a question, but Link thought it was a statement of surprise. "Well, yeah. The girls love it so I can't help learning a thing or two. Plus, it helps with sword fighting." Now her expression was definitely one of surprise. "Oh, yeah, right, Dar—" If Link was wondering why Darek wasn't saying anything, it was because he had picked up a phone call in the middle of the conversation. Letting him speak inaudibly to the caller, Link lowered his voice and continued, "When it comes down to it, dancing is about footwork and knowing your space, see? Sword fighting is exactly that too. You trip up in dancing, you're done and the same's for sword fighting, except you got a sword to your throat."

Her head bobbed once. "I see."

"And I guess dancing makes you aware of all your body and the type Navi and Tatl are into, it really helps moving all around." A slight snicker emitted from Link and he clapped a hand onto his mouth. "I might have taught a few dancing exercises to my team, just so they're a little more flexible on the field."

Laughing, they stopped in the gymnasium parking lot. Ahead, Rinku waved one arm and Link waved back. Still waving, he noticed Darek a few feet away, mid-call, and he turned to Poppy. "Hey, let's hang out again. You free this week? Check for that dude too. I don't get to talk with him much outside of practice." It only took a minute to decide on a date and time, which was on the last day of Link's homestay, but it was just something to look forward to. As he wrote down the information on his hand, he grinned up at Poppy. "Great! I'll see you later then!"

As she waved at him, Link upped and left with a hand to his head.

His phone within a white fist, Darek raised his eyes on Link's back as he whispered to Poppy. "Ljunmira-yeda, I have a feeling, like those of the sinking sands."

"Ajullae aleang, do not forgot so quickly." When she looked at him, it was like looking into the sun. Her excitement practically blinding him, Darek winced when she mused, "Do not worry for there will come no good, aleang."

.

There had to be at least something.

Whenever Link was off to the academy for his daily dose of team testosterone, Zelda was furiously searching through his room. Honestly, she thought he would be lying and his personality rubbed off the wrong at times, but Link was good as gold. The closest item she could find to graphic content was photographs of what appeared to be Link and the girls during a spring or summer break. But even with the girls in bikinis, Zelda knew if she would present this to her husband as her comeback, he'd just howl with laughter at her and she knew damn right she deserved it.

"Ugh," groaned the princess, and pulled her long hair into a ponytail. The sixth day was as exhausting as the first. "This would be a lot easier if his bedroom wasn't used as storage for that old office."

Fatigued, she leaned against one of the cabinets, but it wasn't as strong as she thought. Her arm only slightly leaned against the top, still, the first drawer popped out and toppled onto Link's carpet. With another groan, Zelda leaned down to collect the papers that fell, until she saw a notebook that immediately caught her eye.

It was a sort of bulky notebook with a faded green cover. Upon the front, someone had written in fading permanent marker, Look at MY son! My amazing son ! Her eyebrows knitting together, Zelda was certain she wouldn't find any incriminating evidence against Link, but she had a feeling she would find something.

Sitting crisscrossed, she flipped to the first page.

Eyes widened, then closed as she sighed. "I didn't know what I was expecting."

Taped to the page was a CD disk cover and inside of that, an actual CD. Honestly, Zelda didn't expect this technology to be real, yet here they were in shiny, reflective surface. From what she knew, one can insert a compact disc into a computer, so she did exactly that. Settled into her signature alcove seat, the princess sat with her legs crossed and her laptop balanced on her knees and a WINWAR, Quill's face actually, pillow.

"Alright," she breathed, the CD now whirring into her computer. "There has to be something to reveal Link's foolish antics. Not that hard."

Once the CD loaded, her expectation was photographs, but what she got was a single video file. Curious, she clicked on the video and it opened full-screen. At first, the video was just black for a few minutes, before it appeared a camera was lifted from a dark area.

A man was on the center screen and a gratified grin played accrossZelda's lips. "Nice," she mused to herself, the tips of her fingers tapping her lower lip. "Am I looking into the future?"

Zelda wasn't dumb. If the man on the screen looked exactly like Link, but sort of cuter and long-haired, then he must be either Link's grandfather, Smith, or Link's father. The latter was more formidable, but she watched the video moments longer just to see. Link's cuter look-alike brought the camera down to his chest where he held a close-eyed newborn with one arm.

"Link," Zelda called as though a game show when the man said, "Welcome to the world, Linika."

"What the fuck," she responded as off-screen, a deep, yet certainly a woman's, voice piped up, "I'm still against this, Lee."

The camera shifted quickly, over to a woman in a hospital bed. If Zelda was caught off-guard by the man, she was even more taken aback by the mother. Even drained in bed, she appeared to bear strength when her body's build had more muscle than a normal woman's, from what Zelda could see. Still, there was a particular catch to one's eye as well, like that of a sleek lioness as she raked an olive-tanned hand into her unusually short pixie cut. Honestly, Zelda could not tell this woman just had a baby.

"She's kinda hot," she murmured as Lee rambled, "How can you say that, Penny? It makes sense to you, right? Both of our names together 'cause—"

"Link is the both of us," finished Penny with a sigh. Zelda had a feeling she could relate to that. "You may write whatever you wish on his birth document, Lee, but I will call our son, Link. I suppose until he does not agree with Link, but I doubt it." Her blue eyes fluttered, as though exhausted from this conversation. "Agreed?"

"Agreed!"

So this is Link. Link's real name is Linika Forria. Oh my gods, Zelda thought in hidden laughter. She would had ended the video right then and there, to go search for the birth certificate, but this was extraordinarily interesting to watch. She clicked play.

As Lee took a seat on his wife's bed, Link still sleeping in his arm, he said, "Penny, you don't really think he'll grow up fighting monsters and all that, do ya?"

It was an unspoken rumor if the Hyrulean Hero that transpired generations was really named Link. Even Zelda wasn't certain, but there was some truth when it came to the hero. Meanwhile, Link's mother answered, "I don't know." Gingerly, her hand rested in Link's tuft of straw-like hair and she smiled. "I certainly don't want him to suffer those hardships trying to save Hyrule. I guess I just want our Link to grow with a pure heart, just like the hero did."

The video cuts off then. Not taking any crap from technology, Zelda checked the length of the video, which had a few more minutes on it. There was nothing else to do, but wait as the video continued, screening a black screen, before the camera slowly eased onto Link, a few years on him now, and Lee. It appeared to be during Link's feeding time and, of course, baby Link had some sort of green vomit all over himself and his father as well.

Whoever was filming was snorting low laughter from their throat as Lee cooed, "C'mon, Link! Say Dada!"

He really didn't know what he was doing, or at least that was the impression Zelda was getting. The camera panned closer to baby Link who spurt, what, digested green beans onto his father as he said with bared teeth, "Reeeeeee ,reeereeee, Reeeeeeeeeee."

With no attention to his green-splattered appearance, Lee banged his head onto the table, groaning, "C'mon, kiddo! Please, Link, I promise I won't name any more of your brothers or sisters in my lifetime, so please…"

"Please don't," laughed Zelda as the filmer revealed herself, setting the camera where she could be seen.

Lee looked up as his wife sat in his chair across from their son, Link automatically stretching his arms to her. "Penny, where did I go wrong?" She and Zelda both erupted with laughter. A pout played her husband's mouth as he turned back to Link, "Link! Here's Penny! Can you say Penny?"

Almost instantly, Link was leaning out of his baby chair as he yelled, "Maaaaaamm! Maaaaammmmaaa! Mammaaaa!"

It was hard not to laugh, even though Zelda felt some sort of sympathy for Lee. Still, his wife was cackling as well, and she lifted Link, as dirty as he was, into her lap and sifted through his half-green, half-blonde hair. From his mother's actions, he mewled and Zelda just realized how adorable he was then. What happened? she thought. "Lee, I'll be the one to name our children, is that agreed?"

A hand rubbing green vomit food out of his hair, Lee sighed. "Agreed."

Again, the video blacked out immediately after that. Again, Zelda checked the video length and it appeared there was time for one more clip. She was right when there were clicking noises, before the disorientated camera panned on a hallway, before stopping before a door.

Disbelief leaked in his voice as Lee whispered to the door, "Can you believe this?"

"Believe what?" inquired Zelda, before she realized she was talking to a video. It wasn't long before the door opened, and focused on a bed. There was a dimmed light upon those who rested inside, but it wasn't until Lee tiptoed closer that Zelda saw for herself.

Of course, there was Link who was now ages older. This Link was very familiar to Zelda as the edges of boyishness was a feature of his she could never erase. Still, he appeared to be a momma's boy as he buried closer to his mother's side as her hand was brushing his hair on its own. Zelda thought because of that, Penny was somehow awake but her even breathing and closed eyes would say otherwise. It was then that Zelda noticed another child, another straw-haired newborn, curled upon her mother's breast.

"So we have Penny, right," Lee spoke from within the darkness. Her eyebrows knitted, the princess leaned closer to her computer's screen, attempting to scrutinize the slumbering trio. "Then we have Link and our newest addition, Aryll. And, yes, Penny decided on the name after my mother suggested it. Oh my goddesses, they're so cute, they're napping without their dad, but I don't care, this is the cutest family, hahaahahaaa—"

The video cut off from there. Ended.

For some reason, there was a warmth Zelda expected, but there was something else in her chest. Or nothing at all. Emptiness, possibly. Tears pricked at her eyes, and Zelda brushed it off, reasoning it was because how touching Link's family was. Or maybe something else about his family. She couldn't quite place her finger on it. Her laptop moved to the side, the princess was about to search for that birth certificate when she also dropped the notebook from beside her. Picking it up, the notebook was open to a page Zelda never knew was there.

Amber eyes, she read. She doesn't believe I'm real. I think she's been alone for too long. I have to prove to her I'm real. I want to save her like my namesake, so I promise her I will. She believes in me but I don't know if I ever carried out my promise to her. I don't blame her if she never forgave me.

I'm pretty sure she's Poppy.

.

At the same time, Link was wondering which notebook he had written in. Honestly, he wanted to bring up the fact that he remembered Poppy from when she was a child. Not only that, he felt déjà vu strike him hard when he swore he told her exactly that. But how could he slide that into their conversation? It wasn't like he pop from nowhere, "Hey, so like I have this memory of you and me when we were kids and you told me you were lonely and I wanted to help you, but I'm so sorry where in Hyrule am I going with—"

"Link!"

"Poppy!" he called back.

Whoa, he thought and this time he didn't say it aloud. Poppy was dressed in her casual wear, which Link had never seen before and he had known her for several months now. The warm weather was on the rise, so she had opted for a shawl, a sleeveless shirt, and shorts. His forehead furrowing, Link thought the girls might be behind this.

As she ran up to him, Link noticed aloud, "Where's Darek?"

Her go-to response, she smiled sadly. "He had the stuff to do."

Well, the two of them was nothing Link couldn't handle. "Alrighty. You said you're fine walking around the Center Fountains Gardens?" Since she never been, it was a proud sight of Hyrule's capital and Link thought it might be that the Gerudo Desert didn't have that much flora anyway. It's a pretty cool tourist location, although Poppy told him she visited Castle Town tons before. But not with Link, this was their first. "Leggo."

At first, Link just pointed out every single flower and some kind of fun fact, thanks to his grandmother's love of gardening. Since Poppy was giving him her undivided attention, he couldn't help telling her about the Sea Flower which was native to the sea where his grandmother grew up.

"You're very close to your grandmother," Poppy replied when he was done talking. It might not seem like it but Link could be a talker at times. "I heard you were very close to your grandfather as well."

"Yeah." Rubbing his neck, Link laughed to the side. "It was my grandfather that kinda got me into marrying Zelda and all. I mean," he started again, raising his hands in defense, "I don't have anything against my grandpa, he was a great guy, but I kinda wish I knew about this earlier. Prepare myself a little, you know, since Zelda and her little brat of a brother had their entire lives to learn about Royal Education and here I am, clueless with a few years to learn everything."

"I think you are appearing well," said Poppy.

Link snorted. "That's what you get from seeing me, but believe me, underneath all this is a mess, just like my life."

Accordingly, the Gerudo girl laughed with a hand to her parted lips. Chuckling as well, Link clasped his hands behind his neck and stared straight ahead when he brought up an interesting question, "Hey, Poppy, you ever feel like we met before?"

"Like in another life?"

He shook his head. "Like when we were younger?"

Her index finger pressed against her lower lip, Poppy thought about it. "Why would you say that?"

This was now or never. "I remember you." She said nothing, but Link didn't interpreted that for good or bad just yet. "Like maybe when we were kids. My sister remembers you too. You were sad, and you looked like you might cry, but..."

Again, her voice was almost inaudible as she questioned, "Why did the child Poppy look as though she might cry?"

"Because she'd been hurting for a long while."

Poppy didn't have to press any further than that. The realization that had overtaken his expression was answer enough. In the middle of this, Link had stopped and stilled on the pathway, his eyes as lost as his position in the gardens. Smiling, she walked her way in front of him and placed one hand on his cheek. He did not move. Still, she raised onto her toes and tilted her head downward so he could barely register that she had said, "Link." I know, he wanted to say, I know. "Link, wake up."

.

There were three things Link remembered.

1. Not only did he remember Poppy, but that memory of Zelda in the moonlight, asking for something he did and still does not know to agree to, Link knew he had met both of them before all this.

2. His wife, Crown Princess Zelda, had lied to him with a blue, potato-like flute.

3. A memory:

"Link." His bed was much more comforting so Link fought against the gentle hand ruffling his hair. Above him, a strong and soft voice laughed lightly. "C'mon, Link. Your sister's already up. Mom's waiting for you, alright?" He was right. He could hear her deep articulation wrapping his hearing with Aryll's name, soft, soft. Almost as soft as the voice above him. "C'mon, kiddo. Wake up."

.

. .

. . .

[tbc]

---

a/n: i know this is plot reveal overload but a sneak peek at domestic life shouldn't be all peace and quiet for zelink. i have plans for them. do u know how much i didn't want to write this. compared to how much i wanna finish this monstrosity i have to haveto i'll try to update in december so don't say i don't do anything for u guys like ohhhh my goodness thank god no one the authros notes

next chapter previews: SWORD IS LIFE

thanks for reviewing i love you:

Skydragon74193: yeah zelda wants him B) ❤

Hyrulean Queen Zelda: forria is a last name i made up for link in an older story, kinda made up of Forest & Hylia, and i didn't know this but floria was also a location in SS haha ❤

tpzelink: u don't want them to marry, u got it ;) (in the distance… daltus is screaming) ❤

Grim77: aight ❤

~ saraven