A/N: very recently, I uploaded what I had thought would be the first chapter of my new story, The Legend of Zelda: Secrets of the Wild, to fanfiction. When writing the chapter, I was in this weird sort of rush to complete it, no matter the quality. What resulted was a jumbled, terribly paced 1376 word mess that I have since deleted from the internet. So, here I am, with a rewritten (and hopefully better) first chapter.

"May I ask: do you really remember me?" She said, her voice still soft and calm, despite all she had been through.

Being honest with himself, Link had no idea how to answer. Sure, he remembered her- bits and pieces he had collected during his many quests, but did he truly remember her? No, he didn't. Not in the way she wished he did. But looking at her, the way her eyes sparkled with one last glimmer of hope, it would've been so easy for him to lie. To let her believe. But he couldn't.

Zelda observed Link's silence, and sighed. Of course he hadn't remembered everything. After all, he had barely woken up a month ago. But a part of her was hopeful that he would've remembered everything- well, almost everything. A part of her was hopeful that maybe after 100 years she'd actually have a friend, someone from her old life who knew her, who she could talk to. But she didn't. Curse the goddesses, she thought. She had spent a century alone. Why did it need to stay that way?

"Oh." Everything on her mind came out as just the one word.

Link understood. He wanted to say more, to comfort her. He didn't remember much, but he knew he cared for her, memories or not. Since the first time he heard her call his name, something had told him to trust the voice. He didn't just save her, she saved him. He was in her debt. So it pained him to be unable to do anything to make her feel better.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Link and Zelda had been walking for some time. With seemingly no destination, no plan, no end goal in mind, Link was essentially just escorting Zelda on horseback around her old kingdom. They had stopped before the ruins of castle town when Zelda turned to him with a sad face.

"It's hard to believe that this was once a place I- we called home." There it was. She let it slip. Forgetting for a moment that, though they shared the same face, she was not talking to the Link she knew.

"I'm sorry. Truly." Link broke the silence. "I- I don't know much about you, princess. I don't even remember much about myself. Please don't think of it as something personal." As he spoke, he refused to meet her eyes.

Silence fell again, with the two of them left to only their thoughts, until Link remembered.

"We need to go to Impa's." Maybe it wasn't what he'd thought he would remember, being in front of the castle with Zelda, but it was important nevertheless. "You don't need to come if you don't want."

It took Zelda a few moments to fully comprehend what he just said. Link - the one chosen by the sword, her appointed knight, the one person who stayed by her side, even when she made it clear she didn't want him - had just told her to stay alone if she wanted? That was… strange, to say the least. What happened to the old Link?

Zelda was dragged out of her thoughts by the loud beeping. One she had become very familiar with 100 years ago.

"Guardian!" Link yelled, pushing the princess behind himself.

There he is.

Link quickly picked up an old heavily rusted shield - no doubt one used by a soldier during the original stand against the calamity - and perfectly timed a parry. In a flash of blue light, the guardian was knocked over, but still functioning. Readying it's next blast, Link raised his shield again, waiting for the guardian beam and-

The shield broke.

Quickly improvising, Link practically dragged the princess onto his horse, and kicked off, with the guardian in tow. With each shot the guardian took, the warm-up time became shorter and shorter.

"What's happening with the guardian?" Link muttered, now racing through a forested area. They ran past some ancient ruins, and the Guardian entered into what looked to be an "overdrive" mode, with it now easily overtaking them. Just before reaching a flimsy wooden bridge, Link barely noticed the Guardian about to destroy it, stopping his steed just in time. Drawing his bow. Link fired two bomb arrows at the robot, and launched himself into the air. Despite the cloud of wood, water, and rock particles, he still managed to draw an ancient arrow and hit the guardian right in the eye.

Zelda watched in awe as the once powerful machine was reduced to nothing but green lines, forming odd shapes as they faded. Link, on the other hand, almost immediately grabbed the Sheikah Slate from his belt and started taking pictures of the guardian - or, what remained of it, anyways - before placing it back where he got it and starting to ride to Kakariko.

"Link?" Zelda asked, quietly.

No response.

"Link?" She said, louder this time.

"Oh, p-princess! Sorry I dragged you this way with me, you can get off if you want-"

"No, no. It's fine." Something's off about him, she thought.

They stayed in silence for the rest of the trip, all the way to Kakariko. Upon entering the town, they were greeted with cheers and applause from all the sheikah. Zelda was rather happy to be back, but she couldn't help but notice the look of uneasiness on her knight's face. That, however, was something she'd need to worry about later, as she was now at the doorstep of Impa's home. Link opened the doors, and they were greeted by a young woman with white hair. Directly in front of them sat a short, old woman.

It took Zelda a moment to realize that the woman she was staring at was Impa.

"I see you've returned, Princess Zelda. It's good to see you again."

"As it is to see you, Lady Impa." Zelda was clearly taken aback by Impa. This was the first time the reality of the situation truly got to her. It had been 100 years. People were different now.

"And you, Link," Impa said. "You've completed your task. The last piece of advice I can give you is to return the Master Sword, when you feel it is time."

Link stayed silent.

"You may leave now, Link."

He left without a word.

"To think, after all these years, even without his memories, he still chooses to remain as silent as possible." Zelda said, staring at the door.

"He seems to have developed a habit of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders," Impa stated. "He has always had a heavy burden to carry."

Zelda signed. "Why is he still this way now, then?"

"He's never known anything else. The few memories he has from before his slumber are of his time in your service. Years ago, you told me to let you know how you can help him recover after the calamity. Help him recover his memories. In doing so, you will not just save him, you'll save yourself."

"What-" Zelda started.

"Night has almost fallen. I suggest you go to the Inn, and spend the night."

"But what about-"

"I'll save the explanation for another time."

As stubborn as she was, Zelda reluctantly spun around and walked out the doors. Surprisingly, Link wasn't waiting outside the doors for her. Wondering where her knight was, she called after him.

"Link! LIIIIINK!" Before calling a third time, she saw a man gliding down a mountain on some sort of paraglider of sorts. Then she saw the sword, and realized who it was.

"Link! Where were you going?" Zelda asked, but got no response. "Link, please, tell me. I can come with you, so you're not alone."

Link paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "I was about to travel to Hateno when I heard your call."

"Why?"

"I- I need to talk to Purah, at the Laboratory."

"And why's that?"

"Th-there was something- wrong with the guardian that attacked us near the castle."

Yes, I did recreate the fight from the 2014 Zelda Wii U teaser. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Please leave a review, I would love to improve my story and writing as it goes on with feedback from the FFNet community.