They had sought out somewhere to camp for the night— the whole run-in with the Yiga had set them back and Link really didn't feel like walking around in the middle of the night. Both were feeling exhausted, both wanted to find a place for the night.

"There. All finished. You shouldn't scar now," Zelda said as she finished up bandaging Link's cheek.

Link winced as he touched his cheek. "I'm sorry," he mumbled softly, watching as she placed the medical supply away in Outlaw's saddle bags. "I didn't mean to… but I had to protect you. I can't lose you."

"It's okay. It's just your natural instinct to protect."

"But I should've been more in control."

Zelda gave him a look as she sat next to him. "What's that supposed to mean? Your instincts are just fine."

Link sighed. "I saw red."

"You saw red?" asked Zelda, almost seemingly scared to know what he meant by those words. He didn't respond for a while until he nodded sheepishly, biting his lip nervously as he racked a hand through his hair.

"I saw red," he repeated, this time going into depth. "Red like blood and it fueled my anger up as I saw that Yiga— all I could remember was what Urbosa had said about their goals; they want you dead, me too, but you're more important and I couldn't have you dying. You're too important to me."

"Link, calm down," Zelda said. "I'm perfectly fine. I won't die."

"You don't know that for sure," Link noted. "What if I suddenly fail in my duty and lower my guard enough that anything can get past me? You'll be hurt and I won't forgive myself for that happening."

Zelda swallowed as she heard the tone in his voice. It sounded so defeat and unsure; it wasn't the Link she had known to be confident in his skills. This one sounded like a newcomer into the ways of the sword and had no clue if anything was being done right; what was happening was another side of the boy she had known to be confident and she could visibly see all his insecurities coming up because he had lost control of his natural instinct.

There wasn't anything that could be said in the moment to make him believe everything would be okay in the end because he had won the battle. But now that she thought about it; it was the first real battle they had ever experienced since getting their titles as Champions— Hyrule was relatively peaceful otherwise and she swallowed. He needed to become confident again before anything else happened.

But how could she convince him?

She didn't even know if there was a way to convince Link that he would be fine in future battles to come. Who knew what could happen in the future while they awaited Calamity's return?

Her own insecurities were boiling up inside, but she never released them to anyone. From someone else's point of view, she looked to be so confident that she never doubted herself but deep down; it was the pure opposite. For a slight moment, Zelda found herself envious of Link's ability to easily show his insecurities. How was it fair?

Wincing, she shook her head, telling herself she shouldn't be feeling this at the moment when he clearly needed her help in thinking otherwise.

She placed her hands on Link's shoulders, making him look her directly into her own eyes, and she took a deep breath. She had never done this before; she never had to help someone think better of themselves because they simply had no problems thinking highly of themselves. This was different. This was Link, who didn't think he could pull through with his duties.

There were no second chances with this one.

"You'll be fine," she whispered to him, pulling him into her embrace, feeling him wound his arms around her tightly, burying his head into her neck. "I won't get hurt because you'll be able to stop anything— you're tougher than you think you are."

Link gave off a sound to indicate he was listening, but he didn't reply. He didn't know how to reply to those words.

"I know you'll be able to do it," she continued on saying, kissing his head. "You're the one who can do anything."

The Hylian Champion pulled away slightly to wipe his eyes. "I still don't know, princess. Anything can happen and you know it."

Zelda sucked in a sharp breath as she tried thinking of something else to say to make him believe otherwise. "You trust me, right?" she whispered out softly, closing her eyes tightly.

"Of course," Link replied, wincing when he realized how quickly he said it.

"I feel possibly maybe even more worried than you are about the abilities to get through this entire thing," Zelda said. "I don't know how I manage to get through without collapsing, telling everyone I just can't do it— but somehow I do… you're okay to feel like this but I know you can do it. I don't think I can, and yet, here I am being able to do just this."

Link sucked in a sharp breath. "You honestly feel like that?"

"Sometimes, yeah," Zelda nodded, biting her own lip.

Link swallowed thickly as he took in Zelda's words. He felt bad for not knowing this, but then again, she had always been so confident showing that it never crossed his mind that she would be feeling like she couldn't do her duties as the Commander as the Champions. She could have spoken to him about it, and now that he thought about; they weren't exactly that close when they had gotten their duties.

It was understandable that she didn't speak to him about it.

"Oh," he breathed. "I'm sorry for not knowing."

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. You didn't know— no one did. I never told a single soul about it."

"Why?" asked Link, arching his eyebrow. "Why didn't you tell anyone about it? We would have understood what you were feeling; I'm sure we all feel those same doubts about it— our Champion duties, I mean."

Zelda shrugged, rubbing her arms. "I don't know... I just felt like I shouldn't. I felt like I would have been a bother."

"You wouldn't have."

The rest of the night was spent silent. The only thing that made sound was the crackling of the fire.

When they finally went to sleep, Link stayed up for a split second longer as he tried to think of a way to greet Zelda in the morning. He felt a bit better knowing she believed in him, but he couldn't help but feel horrible with the way she thought about her own abilities to be the Commander the Champions needed— she was already the Commander they needed because she was simply being herself and he was more than happy to be under her leadership.

He looked over to see Zelda fast asleep and he swallowed before crawling over to her, planting a kiss on her head. He watched as she whimpered slightly before nuzzling into the pillow, tugging on the blanket before smiling softly and his heart jumped into his throat at how cute she looked. With a slight blush, he crawled back and nuzzled into his own sleeping bag.

Maybe someday he could tell her how he felt, and hopefully it would be before Calamity Ganon awoke.

He really wanted to have a life with her.

Maybe, perhaps, even a family to call their own without having to worry about everyone breathing down their necks about whether or not they would get married or start dating— though it would be very much like the tales of the Heroes with their own princesses during their eras.

Though some heroes didn't marry their princesses.

As the run rose over the mountains hours later, Zelda awoke to see Link sprawled over his sleeping bag. The blanket was hardly covering him as he slept. One arm over his stomach and the other near his head. He looked like a child and she couldn't help but laugh at the sight; this was cute to see— the mighty Hylian Champion looked like a mere child when sleeping.

Then it hit her.

Link's birthday was today.

He was finally seventeen and here she was, still at age sixteen and had the weight of everything on her shoulders. She shuddered before moving to get ready for the day, hoping to get breakfast done before he woke up.

In fact it was the smell of food being cooked that awoke the swordsman. Zelda heard a grunt behind her and smiled when she heard the shifting of the sleeping bag; Link was finally up and it had only been a few minutes after she woke up; he was finally learning to wake up early— even if it was the smell of food waking him up— it was still a starting point that they needed to have at one point or another.

"Good morning," Zelda greeted.

"Hey," yawned Link, rubbing his eyes. "I smell my favorite."

Zelda smiled shyly. "Erm, yes. It's the least I could do for you today."

Link arched an eyebrow at the sentence. "For what reason?" he asked, standing up to grab a drink she had poured for them. "There's nothing going on today, I think. Just another day of traveling."

"You forgot?" Zelda laughed at him. He had forgotten his own birthday!

Immediately, Link froze up. "Forgot? What did I forget?"

Once again, she laughed as she shook her head, turning to face him. "Link, it's your birthday," she reminded him. "You're seventeen now."

"Oh shit!" he yelped, shocked. "You're right! It slipped my mind… man, forgot my own birthday— that's a new one. I should keep a list of what I forget these days, huh? What's next?"

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Breakfast is almost done."

"Thanks, princess."

She sucked in a sharp breath at the title and watched as he took a sip of the drink again before Outlaw came over to nuzzle him in greeting. How long had it been since he called her by her first name again? In her mind, it had been too long. It was his birthday and they were on better terms…

If there was any good time to risk something— it would be now.

"Link?" she said, biting her lip.

"Hmm?"

With a deep breath, she said the words before she could stop them, "You can just call me 'Zelda' from now on."

If she had been looking, she would have seen the biggest grin imaginable on Link's face as he took in those words. He was over the moon; he could finally call her by her name again! He didn't have to use her title anymore and it was a relief.

Best birthday ever.