When Zelda finally woke up, Link had already made the pair breakfast and was halfway into his. He grinned as he swallowed, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she yawned and pushed him away. He couldn't help but laugh before he fell silent, remembering Twilight's words about rebuilding and taking their time to do whatever they needed first.

Link shifted. "I was doing some thinking."

Zelda arched a brow. "What about?"

"The repairs," Link answered and watched her face twist into something he didn't recognize and for a split moment, he thought she didn't want to go ahead with them. But that was crazy. It was her Kingdom after all. But still, it was their choice on if this would happen. "Zelda, do you want this to go on?"

Zelda jerked back at the softness of his tone. His eyes shined with understanding if she didn't. But they had already told Sidon and Yunobo that the repairs would happen. "I do," she finally said. "This needs to happen eventually. Everyone is in agreement."

"But in the end, it's your decision."

She knew it was. No one else could have the power if this Kingdom would be rebuilt. It was hers alone. He was asking if this was what she wanted. What she truly wanted and she couldn't answer straight away. Did she really want this to happen?

This could easily be called off. They hadn't started on the repairs. The Champions could easily just protect their races and what was left.

Link watched for a moment, deciding to move away from the topic for now. He didn't want her to think too much of this. She already had a lot on her shoulders from just merely deciding the Kingdom should be rebuilt; because he had suggested it.

His grip tightened slightly before he relaxed.

"How did you sleep?" he asked, ignoring the previous subject.

Zelda smiled, thankful for the subject change. "I slept fine, thank you. What about you?"

"Good," Link replied. "Last night was… good too."

"It was," she said with a bright red color appearing on her cheeks. Link smiled softly as he finished up his food.

"We should be able to get to the Rito Village today," he said. "That is— if we teleport to the Shrine at the village. We can continue on walking, but that'll mean we'll make it there tomorrow."

Zelda nodded, taking in the options. "Let's walk. I want to see what else was damaged along the way."

Link held back a reply about what wasn't damaged but didn't say a word as he nodded in agreement. It was better to walk in his mind. Though teleporting was very helpful between shrines, he liked walking through the Kingdom that he had forgotten for a 100 years, hoping something would trigger everything else that was still forgotten in his mind.

Without any further words being exchanged, the pair continued on with breakfast before getting ready for the day.

…

"How did you even make it up that tower?" Zelda asked as they passed by a tower surrounded by broken guardians. Link shuddered at the memory, hearing the echoes of many lasers being shot at him.

Not a happy memory.

"Pure luck," Link answered. "I think a laser scraped my shoulder." He motioned to his shoulder, wincing as he placed a hand on it. "Yup, definitely think it scraped my shoulder when I did."

She winced, eyeing his shoulder. "Is there a scar?"

"No doubt. It was a guardian's laser that hit me after all," Link joked, not knowing what kind of a memory that brought up for her and Zelda sucked in a sharp breath as she heard a distant echo of her own memories.

( It was raining. Heavily. The echoing sound of Guardians were going off as fires got ablaze, trees going up in flames, everything being torn to shreds. The field was covered in them. His grip was weak from his exhaustion, his eyes desperately looked like they wanted to snap shut for a good few minutes. But he wouldn't let them.

He couldn't let them. This wouldn't go right if he snapped his eyes shut and suddenly one of them was dead.

Zelda's heart was pounding as he pulled her along, her eyes never leaving his back. He looked so tired, so ready to drop down and sleep for a long time. It frightened her. She couldn't lose him. He was the only person she had left. Out of everyone, he was still alive.

That's all that mattered.

Blood was starting to mix with the mud on his tunic. Her throat went dry and she felt like she might vomit at the sight.

So many scars… he would have so many scars in the future if they survived this… if he survived… )

"...lda…? Zelda!" Link said, grabbing her shoulders. "Are you okay? You zoned out."

Zelda jumped back into reality and bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I was thinking about… something. I would rather not discuss it at the moment."

Link nodded. "That's fine. I understand."

She felt bad to keep it from him. But he had already been through so much and she made him remember the moment when he nearly died. She had no idea how he would react when he found she was thinking about that moment. Unlike Link, Zelda could perfectly relive the moment without any flaws and she hated him.

In some shape or form, she felt envious of his memory loss.

He was able to forget painful memories while she had to keep them in her mind forever.

But he can't remember anything about himself, Zelda thought, biting her lip. It wasn't fair to him. He should be able to remember his childhood and journey up until he had claimed the Master Sword for the first time, but he couldn't.

None of this was fair to him.

Zelda swallowed as she slipped her hand into his own, squeezing it gently and noted how he slightly froze up until he squeezed right back. A smile laced his features and she smiled softly; Hylia above, she loved him.

"Can you tell me something?" Link asked as they continued on.

"Of course," Zelda replied.

Link hesitated for a split second. "You said we were childhood friends thanks to our parents knowing each other," he said, "do you think you could tell me about our childhood together?"

Instantly she nearly stumbled back at the question. Why now? Why did he ask that now of all times? Her stomach twisted and turning as she remembered that fateful day when she told him to leave her alone.

( The day had been pouring rain as she kept her eyes on the grave marked ' Lady Julia Hyrule,' with the usual loving statement underneath explaining how Julia was a loving daughter, mother, and wife. Her eyes stung from the moment of tears swelling up and unable to blink them away.

Zelda didn't feel too good. No one bothered to glance her away as they passed by to give their respects. Her father had stormed off, unable to get through the funeral and left her alone by herself.

It hurt too much.

So many things that didn't happen between them. So many promises that couldn't be fulfilled because her mother was dead. Zelda's heart broke into a million pieces.

"...Zelda…?" a voice came behind her and she jumped before locking gazes with Larkin's boy. His eyes full of worry as he clutched his shorts in his fists. "... are you okay…? Do you wanna talk…?"

Zelda felt an unknown emotion. No, she realized, she did recognize it. Anger. She felt like lashing out because how dare he ask her if she was okay? Her mother died and he asked her if she was okay!

Did he not know she wasn't?

"No," she hissed, closing her eyes, flinching when they burned. "I'm not. It should've been obvious!"

Link flinched. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Wanna a hug?"

She shook her head. "No. I don't." She didn't do hugs anymore. Her last one had been from Julia. The last thing she ever got from her mother; her father barely hugged her as he was too busy with work.

It was clear he was running out of ideas as he moved to sit next to her on his knees and she watched as he glanced at Julia's grave. He looked like he might cry.

"I miss her," he whispered. Her anger slightly increased. "I really do."

Zelda's hand clutched. "As do I," she hissed out.

Link sniffled, wiping his eyes. "Are you sure you don't want a hug? 'Cause I really do right now."

"I'm sure."

She knew he was taken aback by the sudden tone, but she didn't care. How could she? Her mother was dead and everything hurt. Grief struck her hard as she listened to him try and convince her everything would be okay because they had each other.

Zelda lasted as long as she could before she snapped.

"Enough!" she yelled and Link jumped. "I don't want to speak to you about this! I don't want to hear how everything will be fine! Because it won't! I know it won't, why can't you understand that?"

"Z-Zelda," Link stuttered out, swallowing.

She shook her head. "No! Never again," she whimpered. "Leave me alone! Just leave me alone!"

Hurt flashed in his eyes. She felt bad, but rage overpowered it, swallowing it whole.

"Z-Zelda," Link stuttered again.

She pushed him away. "Go away. I don't ever want to see you again. Ever."

Link's heart dropped and she knew it. His eyes filled with tears but he blinked them away. He swallowed hard, nodding as he stood up, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Okay," he mumbled, turning on his heels before stopping. "Bye, Zelda."

Zelda didn't care as she turned her gaze back to the grave, hoping everything would settle down eventually and she could put this behind her.

Hopefully. )

Coming back into reality, Zelda breathed in heavily before exhaling. She couldn't do this. Not right now.

"Link…" she said slowly. "I can't…"

He squeezed her hand again. "It's okay. It must be a lot for you," he gave her a charming smile, "— I understand, songbird."

"Thank you."

As they continued, her heart shattered slightly. How many times would she push him back until she told her about the events? How she had pushed him away when he tried to help her through her mother's death?

She had no idea how she would be able to tell him.