It's summertime, and he is sitting behind his father's barn; back against the rough hewn boards, left arm stretched across her back. She has rested her head in that spot between his neck and shoulder, and he can feel her breath on his skin. He rests his head on hers and intertwines the fingers on his right hand in her left. Her right hand rests on his leg, and she traces slow circles on his knee. It's hot and still. They are both sweating behind the barn, watching the sun slowly dip below the hills. He hopes they can watch fireflies come out before they get called home.
No one calls for them as the sky darkens and when the fireflies come out, she shifts; picking her head up and dropping his hand so she can caress his cheek. When he meets her eyes, he realizes that of course, it's Zelda. He smiles and she leans forward to put her lips on his. He tilts his head to meet her, heart fluttering. She is warm and perfect and in his hands.
Link. LINK! What do you think you are doing with that girl?
That's not his father's bellow.
His eyes snap open and he sees fear in hers before she vanishes from him, leaving him cold and alone in the dark and it's not Hateno and the barn anymore, it's that inn in Tabantha and what he is feeling is fury as he shouts back at the dark–daring it to come for him.
He wakes up still angry and agitated as dawn breaks. He snatches the sword in the blue and gold scabbard and finds a flat spot outside of camp where he works his emotions out until he is sweaty and out of breath. He sheathes the sword and stomps over to the fire, looking for breakfast, feeling warm and damp. Impa sidles up to him as he stares at his second cup of coffee that morning. There's no more cream, and he feels grumpy about drinking it black.
"Hey, stranger," he smiles at her despite his mood. "How are you?"
"Back to work this morning, it seems," she replies. "I have been sent to collect you for debriefing."
He nods and wonders how that might go after yesterday.
Zelda is in her field office, asking questions of the guards who had been with them on the way to Tabantha Village when they arrive. She glances over at them as they enter the tent and Link feels her eyes linger on his a moment as she gives him a ghost of a smile. He gives her a nod back and his face feels a little warm.
Don't be distracted. There's still work to do, Hero.
He has not thought of himself like that before, and he is a little surprised to have done so. He rolls the idea around his mind–hero–and decides it might finally fit.
Zelda dismisses the guards and welcomes Link and Impa to the small table serving as her field desk. "I'm glad you are both okay. That could have ended very badly. Why don't you both take seats? It's a little cramped, I'm sorry."
Link and Impa end up across the table from each other, and it is cramped. He is very aware how close his leg is to hers. She seems oblivious.
Don't be distracted.
"Impa," Zelda spreads out paper before her and readies a quill. "I've heard Link's account of what happened in the Tabantha Village. What happened to you?"
Impa draws a deep breath, folds her hands in front of her and focuses on them. She goes quiet and serious.
"I went back to back with Link when we were attacked. There was a voice at my ears and it said terrible things. I shouldn't be there, he-Link- had no business putting me in danger. It was quite. Specific. About what would happen to me, right to putting images in my head." She closes her eyes and takes several slow, deep, breaths. Link darts his eyes to Zelda and she is already looking to him. They hold each other's gaze in silence, waiting for Impa to come back.
"It was very graphic," she finally whispers. "But in the end it was satisfied with just a laceration instead of removing the top of my skull."
Link closes his eyes and sighs, suddenly very grateful he had not had to go scrambling for the top of Impa's head in Tabantha. Would she have risen as a stal or a redead? He wasn't sure how those worked. It's a terrible thing to think about, and he pushes it away with frown, shifting in his chair. His right knee contacts Zelda's thigh as he does so. He pulls his leg back and flicks another look to her, meets her eyes briefly and turns his attention back to Impa.
Impa is resting her chin on her hand and furrows her brow at him. "I'm glad you're okay." he whispers and reaches out to touch her wrist.
"What do you two believe you encountered out there?"
This he can answer. "Oh, that was Ganondorf." Positive.
Impa shakes her head. "I don't think so."
He cocks his head at her. "Who else could it possibly be?" He has been sure of what has been dogging him since the desert.
"I don't think whatever we encountered in Tabantha was Gerudo," offers Impa. "Nothing says he has to be, either."
"...aren't we all chained together, though?" asks Link, his voice rising. "I thought all three of us were bound?"
"I see what you mean, Impa. The Incarnation of the Goddess is always from the Hyrulean Royal Line, though there are some who think that could be any Hylian. Nothing specifies where the Spirit of the Hero or the Curse of Demise ends up, Link. There are the usual tropes, but nothing is guaranteed."
Link squints trying to assemble this with the crash course he'd had about the Master Sword with his brother. He wished he could go back and talk to Kagun more. Is that true? He asks the blade on his back.
You have not always been born human, Master, if that is the question–although it is the most common.
He leans back as much as he can. This keeps getting bigger than he imagined. It's already bigger than he is.
"He, or- it, I don't know, keeps calling me an old man. It seemed younger than us, when I hit it. I'm really confused." and more than a little concerned.
Impa softens her look a little. "Nothing about this cycle seems to fit with what was assumed to be a pattern, Link. Wisdom and Courage are contemporaries; and usually really, really young. Power is generally older. Maybe that's flopped."
Link drops his face to his hands. Maybe if he can't see anything he will be able to put it together better. "What is the difference between Ganondorf and the Curse of Demise, though?"
"Ganondorf is just his name when the Curse manifests as a male Gerudo." Impa replies. "There have been other manifestations that cause the cycle to arise. If this one is younger, then that's why you didn't draw the sword as a boy, Link. Literally no need. Then.
"I wonder what happened to push you forward though, you'd taken that hilt a few times, right?"
When did the wheels on his destiny start spinning, without him ever being aware? He can feel himself starting to get stuck in his head when Zelda reaches out to take his hand off his face. He knows it's her. He can feel warmth on the back of his right hand; and even with his eyes shut, he can see flickers of golden light. He opens his eyes and turns to face her.
"We are doing this together, Link. You're not alone."
He smiles and squeezes her hand. "The base of the triangle, together." he whispers.
Perhaps he holds her gaze a little too long.
Impa shifts, giving Zelda a questioning look out of the corner of her eye. Zelda seems to completely not notice as she drops his hand and jots something on the paper before her. Link has seen the interaction though, and when he flicks his eye from Zelda to Impa, he finds that the Sheikah woman has turned her attention to him. He meets her eyes and wishes he had papers to hide behind too.
"What's going on?" She asks.
Link freezes up and swallows as quietly as he can. She knows. Somehow, she knows.
Zelda innocently looks up from her paperwork. "I'm sorry?"
Impa redirects her attention to the queen, allowing Link a second to close his eyes and breathe a small sigh of relief.
"What happened between you two?"
Oh, she doesn't know.
Zelda meets Impa's gaze. "Why do you ask?"
"Something is going on. What is it?"
"Nothing you need to know."
Impa cocks her head and raises an eyebrow before swiveling back to Link. He glances to Zelda for support and guidance. Her face is serene and unreadable, but there's an intense spark to her eyes. He might melt. It would be easier if they were both just moblins.
"Nothing. There's nothing." He manages to pin the end of the sentence with a confident note. Zelda gives him a small smile that Impa misses.
Impa leans back and crosses her arms. "There is definitely something between the two of you. I hope it is nothing."
"Back to business," Zelda taps the desk. "I have a better idea about all those stones you've picked up, Link."
She did have a better idea. The stones did not need a specific location, as she had first thought, they did need to be placed in a specific pattern relative to each other, and they needed magic to work, though Zelda felt she could do that. But together they would open an alternate space, through which they would push whoever held the Curse of Demise.
Link still felt skeptical. "We should make sure this works before we need it. I like that it gives us an advantage of picking where we do this but. What if it doesn't work?"
After some debate, they decided they were close enough to the empty Tabantha snowfields for testing. And the town of Wolfpeak was close enough and large enough to serve as a base. They broke before lunch with plans Impa was to set in motion. Zelda stood and dismissed them.
"Link, can you stay a moment?"
Impa raises her eyebrow at this, but says nothing and exits the tent. Link waits, with no idea of what she is about to ask of him.
"Do you think we could go for a walk? I have something I'd like to talk to you about and our walks have been good for that sort of thing."
It's been a turbulent morning, emotionally, but he feels a surge of something good. "Of course."
"Great," she opens the tent flap and steps outside, and takes his arm once he follows. "Let's go, then."