Author note: I don't own The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Yakitate! Japan.
This is another oneshot in the "Trials Of The Wild" fanfic series! If you haven't read the previous fics in this series, you may want to do so. I hope that all of you enjoy reading this!
Warning: Yakitate! Japan and Breath of the Wild spoilers, canon-typical violence, canon-divergence due to resurrected Champions post-defeating Ganon, takes place post-Breath of the Wild
Repairing Your Wings
Summary: Azuma, while at Rito Village with Teba, Revali and Link, takes time to explore and remembers a bit more.
Azuma knew it probably wasn't the best idea to straight-up ditch Hyrule Castle after it all got too much for him back then, but what else could he do? How else could he just have time for himself?
"You okay?"
Azuma looked up to see Link sit beside him, legs dangling off the edge of the wooden landing.
"Kind-of." Azuma admitted. He looked towards skies ahead of them, watching the sun set. If there was something Azuma liked about Rito Village, it was the lack of hustle and bustle that the village had compared to, say, Hyrule Castle. There were certainly times of busyness, especially first thing in the morning when everyone was getting up for the day and all, but there were times of quietness, too. For once, he felt like he could think clearly, being here.
He definitely was thankful that Link brought him here. The swordsman also enjoyed coming here, or to Hateno Village for the sake of someplace quiet. Same went for places like Lurelin, when it wasn't being attacked by monsters.
He heard a soft buzz behind him, and he turned to see two familiar Rito appear – Teba and Revali.
Teba looked like Teba; calm for the most part, but he had some concern traced into his gaze. Revali, meanwhile, looked straight-up annoyed.
This couldn't end well.
"H-hi."
That was all Azuma got out, before Revali spoke up.
"You know, the next time you run off from Hyrule Castle like that, try to at least give me a warning." The Rito Champion huffed, shaking his head. "You had everyone in the castle panicking for the entire rest of the week!"
"Sorry." Azuma swallowed lightly at that. "It won't happen again."
"You could give him some slack, Master Revali." Teba muttered, glancing towards Revali briefly. "It's your and Kawachi's fault that he ran off in the first place."
Revali simply sighed. Link looked between both Rito quietly, before speaking up.
"How is…everyone? At Hyrule Castle?"
"Oh, they all split up by now." Revali muttered with a wave of his wings. "They're off grabbing ingredients in their little groups. Apparently there are issues with some of said places."
"Issues?" Azuma frowned. "Like what?"
"Oh, let's see: Zora's Domain being under attack from growing Bokoblin camps, and Gerudo Town nearly being squished by five-to-six Moldugas at once."
Azuma noticed Link's jaw visibly clench at the latter half of that statement. "Will they be okay?" He breathed. One of his hands twitched as he spoke, as if he were about to run off and go save the day. Azuma knew that Link did a lot of fighting; after all, he was the Chosen One meant to save Hyrule from Calamity Ganon, as well as Zelda being the one to awaken her powers to seal Ganon away as is as well.
Just because Ganon was done with didn't mean that the fighting was over.
"They'll be fine. The Champions are at their respective places. They know how to handle this." Teba looked towards Link. "In the meantime, has anything happened here in Rito Village?"
"No." Link shook his head. "Nothing close to increased monsters. Didn't talk much to the Elder, though."
"Hm." Teba looked between Link and Azuma, and then towards Revali. "I'll speak to the Elder to see if there is anything of note."
"I'll go speak to him." Revali insisted, raising a brow. "You should head straight to Saki and let her know that you're still alive. She's probably worried about you."
"Right."
Teba and Revali both left to do their two respective tasks, and Link looked towards Azuma, who got up.
"I'm going to look for some potential ingredients to use in bread, since we're here." Azuma paused, before looking towards Link. "You've been here before, right? What kind of ingredients are commonly found here?"
Link paused, a soft hum leaving him. His eyes then lit up, before he pointed in one direction.
"Shop's this way. Let's go."
"It's all just there?" They didn't have to run into the mountains? That was convenient, he supposed.
Link knew all the general stores in every town in Hyrule. It was hard not to know about them, considering how often he cooked during his time trying to save all of Hyrule from Ganon, on top of restoring his own memories.
Goat Butter, Sunshrooms…Cane Sugar, Tabantha Wheat… Link eagerly paid for the ingredients in the store before presenting them to Azuma.
"Goat Butter?" Azuma picked up a stick of butter, sniffing it. He paused, before a gasp left him.
Link stared at him. "Do you…not like it?"
"No, um," Azuma shook his head, before looking him in the eye, "It happened again. Remembering something."
Oh. Link nodded in understanding. Azuma was remembering things? That was good. "What…did you remember? If you don't mind me asking?"
Azuma scratched the back of his head briefly. "I had to make bread for a horse to secure my employment."
What?
Okay, that hadn't been what Link expected anyone to remember, let alone Azuma, but then again, all of the bakers were odd folks. It made sense that they had equally odd experiences.
A soft laugh left Azuma as he stared at Link's bewildered expression. "It's a long story, I think…Kawachi was there too. He had to make the same bread as me so we could both stay employed."
That sounded like a strange qualification test, but at least it involved baking in some form, right? "Did you pass?"
"We both did. The horse didn't like mine, but the Manager still approved." A hum left Azuma as he tilted his head to the side. "He had an afro, for some reason…."
"Afro?" Link was not familiar with that style of hair, so Azuma did his best to use his hands to describe it as he spoke.
"Think of it like having a giant ball for hair."
Link frowned. "That doesn't sound convenient for wearing hats."
Azuma shook his head. He couldn't remember if he'd ever seen Ken Matsushiro wear a hat at all. "Probably not."
Azuma was thrilled that he remembered something. It seemed like he and Kawachi got along generally well, as far as he remembered so far during his stay at Rito Village.
And eating good food helped, too. He hadn't tried much cooking other than necessary meals, like dinner and lunch. And the Rito were usually nice enough to give Link and Azuma some spare food if needed, or Link would take out a ton of meals he premade and stored in his Shiekah Slate (how they didn't rot in there, Azuma had no clue) and so they just ate those.
Actual baking in a pot was hard, but Azuma figured that he could steam up a savoury bread, right? He and Link took over one of the cooking pots so they could try to make some bread together. They eventually made Sunshroom Steamed Buns, or at least that was what Azuma wanted to call it.
It could be a "Ja-Pan," in Azuma's opinion. He vaguely recalled naming a lot of his breads as "Ja-Pan number something" for some reason. Why was that?
At least he knew how to bake. And he knew that he worked for a bakery and that he used to know all those other coworkers of his, even if they went through some strange trials together (like baking for a horse, or people having wild reactions to eating bread).
But why did he start baking in the first place?
Azuma pondered this as he took a bite of his Sunshroom Steamed Bun…
And then another memory came.
A young woman, about his age, maybe slightly older, placing a pink headband into his hair. He blinked once, and the memory changed, with him giving a ring to her.
Wait, a ring?
Did that mean…?
A gasp tore from Azuma's throat, nearly dropping the Steamed Bun in his hands, but he caught it before it could hit the ground.
"Are you okay!?" Link's eyes widened as his gaze snapped towards him. "Choking?"
"Not choking!" Azuma quickly yelped. (He'd choked once on his food the other night and Link proceeded to give him the Heimlich Maneuver that time). Link's shoulders dropped as he relaxed, a 'phew' leaving him at that. "I just remembered something, that's all!"
"You did?" Link didn't always ask questions about his memories, but sometimes he did and this was one of those times. "What did you learn?"
"I'm engaged!"
"What!?"
Revali had been on the way to check in on Azuma and Link when he heard Link's loud "What!?" echo through the entire village.
That…was uncharacteristic of Link. What the hell did those two get into while he was gone for only a couple minutes? He flew down to where the cooking area was, noticing Link and Azuma both freaking out, pacing about on the spot as they were processing…whatever they were processing.
Either way, it was probably asinine. "What did you two get into now?"
"I'm engaged." Azuma blurted out, and Revali took a moment to just let that sink in.
Engaged? As in…marriage?
"Is your significant other in this world with you somewhere?" Revali asked.
Azuma shook his head. "She's not."
Uh oh. Revali did his best to suppress a groan. Not only did the genius baker have to be an amnesiac, but he also had a fiancé waiting for him back home? "Does she even know you're here!?"
"No." Both Link and Azuma said that at the same time, but Azuma's nose wrinkled a bit as he shook his head.
"I mean, I don't know if she knows that I'm here. Or what if she is here, and we haven't found her!?"
"There are a couple places that none of you have been to." Revali noted. "Like Korok Forest, for example. She could be there."
Azuma stared at him. "Korok Forest?"
"It's full of tiny leaf beings called Koroks. All of them are ridiculous, but helpful."
Revali hoped that Link and Azuma didn't start running off to Korok Forest. At least, not now. It was hard enough to keep track of them, considering their previous running off from Hyrule Castle with little warning. The last thing the Rito Champion wanted was the two of them running off elsewhere.
"Maybe we can go to Korok Forest briefly." Link held up his Shiekah Slate. "I still have it with me."
Revali immediately shut down the suggestion with a shake of his head. "Not until we finish figuring out what ingredients we need to bring back to the castle. Isn't that the reason we're out here in the first place?"
Both Link and Azuma looked towards each other sheepishly, and Revali could only sigh. Of course those two forgot about that part…
The group eventually managed to speak with the elder Rito about transporting food. Link could easily just store endless amounts of food into his Shiekah Slate, so the plan was to stock up on as much Sunshrooms, Goat Butter, etc. as possible in the Shiekah Slate without buying out the entirety of the general store's worth in exchange for Rupees. After all, it would be somewhat-rude to take any and all edible goods from Rito Village without doing something in exchange.
The good news was: Link had enough Rupees to pay for the food.
The bad news? Link was absolutely broke afterwards.
Azuma offered Link a sheepish grin. "I'll…pay you back at some point."
"No need." Link shook his head. "I do have tons of ores I can sell elsewhere."
"No," Revali insisted, glaring at the two of them, "Azuma will pay for all of these. Maybe his fellow bakers can share the debt to make it easier."
"That was a lot of Rupees." Teba noted, looking mildly disturbed as he looked between Link, Azuma and Revali. "Though I understand your point, Master Revali, none of the bakers have Rupees anywhere close to paying this off."
"Then they should earn more Rupees, then." Revali simply replied. "Shouldn't be hard for them compared to putting themselves into an entirely different world due to a bread-eating reaction."
"How about they just pay half?" Link tried compromising. "It's a lot of Rupees, and I don't want them to be indebted to me forever."
Azuma winced lightly. "How many, exactly?"
"In total?" Link looked towards Azuma, a low chuckle leaving him. "One-thousand Rupees."
"What!?" Azuma's jaw dropped, and Link immediately felt bad for him.
"If you only pay half," The Hero quickly interjected, "You only have to pay five-hundred Rupees. And that's easily paid off after you sell a couple ores."
"Then that's settled." Revali managed. "Pay back Link half before you leave Hyrule."
Azuma wished that he didn't have to owe anyone Rupees, but he figured that it was a small price to pay for getting back home. The problem was, he didn't have any ores on his person. As he wandered Rito Village, he noticed Teba leaving one of the buildings; likely his own house given the small smile on his face.
Azuma wondered where his own family was. Sure, they were back in Japan, but did they know he was missing? Would they be okay?
What if he never got home?
"Hey, kid. Where are you going?"
He looked up to see Teba, looking him in the eyes. "You were about to wander out of town. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just thinking to omuch, I guess."
A sigh left him at that. "And here I thought that Sylvan was the only one with that problem."
"Sylvan?"
"You know him better as Meister Kirisaki. Or, at least, I hope you remember him as Meister Kirisaki."
"Ohhh." Azuma recalled the first time he met Meister at Pantasia; the man staring over his shoulder as he cooked a pot of what was it? Oh! Sauce! But then another memory came to mind; feathers falling through the air as everyone stared up at the entrance to an arena; Meister standing there as he requested St. Pierre to give prices for their newest bread.
Wait, why was Azuma himself there at the time? He frowned. "I..think I just remembered a little more?"
"About him?" Teba asked. Azuma nodded.
"What else do you know about him?" Azuma asked. "Maybe I'm remembering more while I hear others talk about him. Could it be the same for the others?"
"Maybe." Teba paused, before looking around. "Since you've got that Rupee debt to pay, and I'm on the way to the training grounds…how about we head there together? I can point out some ores for you. And we can talk on the way there about your friends."
It sounded like a good plan to Azuma. Kill two birds with one stone (figuratively), right?
Link wasn't sure where Azuma went until he noticed Teba flying into the distance, towards the mountains, with Azuma himself riding on his back. Link couldn't help but smile at the sight. He recalled the time when he flew on Teba's back, trying to appease Vah Medoh.
A soft sigh left him. Sure, it had been terrifying at the time, but it was worth it. Hyrule was at peace…or so he hoped.
With the Blood Moon reappearing for the first time in a while, Link wasn't entirely sure. Hopefully it was just a one-off thing.
He looked at the Shiekah Slate in his hands, reading the messages from the others. Apparently, Monica and Meister got Molduga guts, and Kai and Kawachi both looted the now-dead Bokoblin camps around Zora's Domain. At least Rito Village didn't have any trouble, and he hadn't heard anything from Goron City yet (he just hoped Kuroyanagi and Shachioko were okay).
"You're talking more than I remember."
Link looked towards Revali approaching him, shrugging lightly. "I know." He managed. "You haven't talked any less than I remember."
A soft laugh left Revali at that. The Rito Champion looked out towards the mountains, and then towards Link. "Of course I haven't. If anything, I think I'm talking more. Mainly because of those bakers." A scoff left him as he shook his head. "They're ridiculous, every single one of them. A few of them have more sense than others, though."
"Good." Link smiled. "Then they fit right in with all of us."
"You're not seriously suggesting that we're as ridiculous as they are, are you?" He frowned, and then sighed. "Then again, this is coming from the hero who blasted himself over a cliff with a bomb once, in the mountains. I could see you all the way from Vah Medoh."
Link's face flushed at that. "My paraglider broke, and I had to get over there to find some more ore. How else was I supposed to do that?"
"By buying another paraglider, obviously."
A sigh left Link, but he noticed Revali's bemused gaze. "Well…"
Sudden screaming came from the direction of the mountains, and both of them froze, before Revali audibly groaned.
"What did Azuma get himself into now?"
Teba talked with Azuma all the way to the Flight Range. Azuma managed to buy a paraglider between the time he ran away from Hyrule Castle and before Revali and Teba themselves came to Rito Village, so at least he had an idea of how to use it, unlike Meister.
And at least he hadn't flown into any trees or cliffs. Yet.
At least, none that Teba was aware of.
It seemed that with every bit that he told Azuma about the bakers, Azuma seemed to remember more. Maybe it just took time, Teba figured. Time for the memories to come back. He recalled Link once telling him that he remembered Mipha upon hearing the other Zora talk about her, as well as seeing her statue. Maybe just talking about the bakers would do the same for Azuma.
Even if it didn't recover all of Azuma's memories, at least it helped recover some of them. Some was better than none, in Teba's opinion.
"Teba?"
He looked back briefly towards Azuma, who pointed. "What are those?"
He looked down to see small boulders walking around on the ground. "Pebblits. They're not much a nuisance unless you're on the same ground as them, though. Do you have a bow and a bomb arrow on you?"
"Er, yeah." Azuma took out the bow and arrow carefully. "I managed to get a spare one off one of the craftsmen in the village."
"They explode easily with a bomb arrow." Teba explained, keeping a steady distance above the Pebblits as he circled them, Azuma still on his back. "Try shooting at them."
He felt Azuma try to stay balanced on him as he adjusted the bow and arrow, maneuvering them so he could actually shoot as the Pebblits.
Azuma fired.
The arrow hit. Pebblits exploded, and in their places were small ores. Teba swooped down after giving Azuma a warning to hang on, and they soon made it to the ground.
"You can keep 'em."
"Really?" Azuma stared at the glittering ores as he got off Teba's back, before looking towards the Rito. "What about you?"
Teba shrugged lightly. "I think you need 'em more than I do."
He saw Azuma smile, and it reminded him of Tulin, just a tad. How old was Azuma, anyway? He was young, but it was hard to tell exactly how young. Old enough to be working in Japan, considering he was a baker, but still. It was hard for Teba to tell.
As Azuma went to pick up the ores, Teba took a quick look around. There didn't seem to be any immediate dangers yet, besides the Pebblits just now. He was about to call to Azuma that he coast was clear when he heard a rumbling noise. He turned, facing the source, and…
Ah.
A Frost Talus appeared.
How lovely.
"What is that!?" He heard Azuma screaming as the Talus lifted a huge rock, ready to throw it at them.
"Frost Talus!" Teba called back. "Dodge the rocks! Think of it as a larger Pebblit but it can throw things!"
The Talus threw a boulder at Azuma, who screamed and ducked out of the way. As the boulder hit a cliffside behind Azuma, Teba used the chance to hit the Talus at its weak spot – the ore on top of its head – with a bomb arrow.
The explosion reverberated through the area, and the Talus fell over. Teba fired several more arrows, and booming noises echoed afterwards. The Frost Talus still wasn't down entirely despite taking all the damage, getting up and hauling another boulder to throw at Teba. Teba dodged, before another arrow, then another.
And then…
Then…
Teba realized he no longer had any bomb arrows on him. He cursed himself for not gathering more before heading to the Flight Range in the first place. He initially wanted to mostly practice with the other types of arrows today, and hadn't expected a Talus, but at this point, he knew that there was only one main good option:
Get Azuma and get him out of here.
"Kid! Get on my back, now!"
"What!?" Azuma jumped as Teba flew down to his side. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now!"
Azuma didn't hesitate to get on Teba's back, and Teba quickly got into the air. And it was a good thing he did so, too, because that was when the Talus threw another boulder at them.
"Is it still up!?" Azuma yelped, watching the boulder break against the ground where he once stood.
"Yeah." Teba breathed. Stronger than usual, too…did the Blood Moon having lingering effects here, after all? "Usually a couple of bomb arrows should take it down. But I'm all out. Do you have any?"
"Er…maybe one or two more?"
"Shoot the Talus. Can you aim for the ore on top of its head?"
Azuma squinted a bit. "The black, glittery bits?"
"Yes."
"I-I'll try!"
Teba felt Azuma squirm a bit as he took out his bow and arrow, and Teba kept circling around the Talus to both keep a close eye on it and also be able to keep the Talus from hitting them with boulders. He then heard the familiar hiss of a bomb arrow igniting, before Azuma fired.
The Talus roared as the explosive impacted echoed through the mountains. It collapsed, before vanishing into purple mist, leaving behind several glittering ores.
"Yeah!" He heard Azuma cheer. "We did it!"
Teba couldn't help but grin.
By the time Link and Revali made it to the clearing, Teba and Azuma looked utterly exhausted, a little worn out, but at least they were alive.
"What did you two get yourselves into?"
Teba sighed as he let Azuma off his back. "Frost Talus. It was much stronger than the usual one, and I ran out of bomb arrows. Azuma used up all of his finishing it off."
"Really?" Revali looked between Azuma and Teba. Azuma chuckled, a sheepish grin on his face.
"Yeah…"
"Well," Revali sighed, "Good to see you didn't do anything too stupid."
"And I got the ores!" Azuma held up some of the ores he gathered from the Frost Talus.
Link nodded in approval. "That's good to know."
"Wait, what? Already?" revali's gaze snapped towards Teba, glaring. "You helped him, didn't you?"
"You never specified that he couldn't get help." Teba gently pointed out.
Revali scoffed, but didn't bother arguing back. "At least it saves him the trouble of relying on his other baker friends, I suppose."
"And," Azuma looked between the two Rito and the Hylian Champion, "I remembered."
"Remember what?" Link asked, looking towards him. "Is it more about the person you're engaged to?"
"No, but more about everyone else in general, though." Azuma scratched the back of his head after he put the ores away. "Like Kawachi, or Suwabara. Teba talked to me about what he knew about them, and I remembered more from there."
"Is that so?" Revali raised a brow. "That makes sense."
"The same happened with me, when remembering you and the other Champions." Link spoke up, looking towards Revali. "Maybe what Azuma needs to remember isn't food, but just getting to learn more about his fellow bakers?"
"Maybe." Teba mused.
Azuma paused, frowning. "But baking was involved, too. I fought a lot of them in bread-baking battles, Kawachi included."
Link's eyes widened, before a gasp left him. "What if we challenge all of them to a bread baking battle!?"
"What!?" Both Revali and Teba let loose their exclamations at about the same time, but Link insistently nodded.
"It could work. If Azuma re-experiences baking bread with them in a competition setting, he could regain memories faster."
"That could work. But we'll need lots of ingredients." Teba noted with a nod.
"I suppose if a ridiculous bread baking contest will help Azuma's memories come back faster, it could work." Revali sighed. "Just don't make me get involved in this, will you?"
Azuma looked between Teba and Revali. "How much can either of you bake, anyway?"
Both of the Rito did not answer that question, and Link did his best to suppress a laugh.
Azuma smiled. At least they found another potential way to bring his memories back…and it seemed to be working, so far.
The tasting of bread. The wild reactions; Kuroyanagi making strange shapes, flying above his head like Gamera. The peacock emerging from Meister Kirisaki's mask. Monica's rose-shaped bread versus Kai's crown-shaped one. Kawachi making his unique French bread, and Shachioko's noodles…they were coming back to him in bits and pieces.
And yet something felt missing. That girl…
What was her name? She seemed to be significant if he was, supposingly, engaged to her.
Who are you?
Her smile. Her belief in him to bake with all his might.
There had to be a name for her. Maybe the others would know.