Zelda decides to position a camp and wait for Link around Proxim Bridge. She's sure he'll have to cross it eventually if he needs to head towards the Dueling Peaks. Thankfully there already seemed to be a make-shift camp built when she arrived and housing no current residents. On the far end of the bridge, a large damaged wooden roof was set up with a fireplace and cooking pot abandoned underneath. Perhaps it was the making's of one vagabond left over for the use of another, she was not sure, but satisfied either way. On the other side of the bridge, closest to the Great Plateau, lay an ancient orange glowing shrine and she was happy that she had decided to shed some rupees for a journal and graphite so she could at least busy herself with research while she waits for the sleeping hero to arrive.

It's surprising how quickly she became comfortable with her new surroundings. She wasted no time to move a couple logs over by the fire so she could lounge next to the cooking pot and write by firelight. Even Jassa seemed to love the meadow across the path along the slow moving river and he never ventured far. She would spend most of the day investigating and sketching the Bosh Kala shrine as much as possible, then scavenge for berries & fungi, sometimes swim laps in the river if it was particularly warm that day, and train with either her bow or just her body. She'd spend hours in a meditative flow, flexing and stretching herself to new lengths and ability. She had never paid attention to how much she loved the agility and feeling of exercise before her confinement with Ganon -never realized how strong her body felt, how focused and clear her mind was.

Zelda told herself that if she was to aid the hero, she'd better increase her fitness level, even though any strength she gained would be mere fractions to what he is capable of. Nevertheless, she created several targets for her to practice archery on but quickly excelled past its worth, so she decided to test her power on some bokoblin camps nearby. She struck every one of them before they could even locate her position.

It had been close to a week and still no sign of him.

She was starting to feel like she had missed him but that was surely impossible. He had to come through here in some way or another. She also had such a great vantage point of seeing all around her plus she could watch the wall of the Plateau for any movement if need be. There was certainly no way he snuck past while she slept because she didn't sleep. The physical activities she'd spend her days doing certainly kept her panic attacks away, but they did nothing for her nightmares. She'd rest an hour here or there but then again, she had never been a heavy sleeper and the terrors from the castle she had just escaped from would creep into her dreams any time she closed her eyes.

» . «

On a sunny afternoon she sits on the edge of Proxim Bridge, one foot dangling over the side as she eats a late lunch of burnt mushrooms and runny eggs; how she managed to do that she had no idea. She's picking over the bad bits of her meal when she hears birds begin to scatter from the woods to the west. Her head snaps up and she sees deer fleeing from the woods, very close to the Outpost Ruins. Her eyes trace the path where the deer had been running from and she witnesses several bokoblin's and a couple moblin's, clubs at the ready, running towards the Great Plateau.

Could it be?

She glances upwards, eyes darting along its wall, frantically scanning for any kind of movement and there he is -descending on a paraglider. He's a mere speck by the distance between them but Zelda's heart flutters like an electric darner at the sight of him. Her smile is so wide she swears if he looked he could probably see it from there -but it quickly fades. All those monsters had spotted him and were quickly collecting to the spot where he's going to land. He's going to be outnumbered.

Oh no.

Without a moments hesitation she rises to her feet, whistling for Jassa and grabbing her bow and quiver. She leaps onto her horse, letting out a loud 'hiyah!' and Jassa goes from a canter to a gallop, heading along the path jutting through the Outpost Ruins.

As she gets closer she watches Link land, already in fighting position and waiting for the first monster to strike at him. She notices on his belt he holds the Sheikah slate -by Goddess she's thrilled to see him carrying it. He must have been using it to activate the shrines atop the Plateau and possibly even as a weapon because when the slate had been in her possession, there was still a few runes missing. Maybe he completed what she couldn't.

In his left hand holds a shield much like the ones the bokoblins were holding, and in his right held a….soup ladle? No, she couldn't be seeing that correctly.

Nevertheless, when she has an opening, Zelda lets several of her arrows fly, critically striking two bokoblins crouching in around him. She gives away her position and Link snaps his head towards her, bracing for the huge black horse and its rider heading straight at him. His body tenses as she lets another arrow strike at a monster that has turned its attention on her. Her arrow lodges into the monsters temple before it even had a chance.

When she's within shouting distance and Jassa tramples a bokoblin in their way, she yells to him.

"Grab on!"

She holds out her hand but doesn't slow her steed down. In response, he grips her whole arm as she pulls him up to sit behind her. Zelda directs her horse to turn back towards camp as a moblin tries to swing at them and misses. As she pulls Link behind her, she can't help but notice how extremely light he is to lift onto the back of a speeding horse. Was she really that strong? She figures it may be by her adrenaline or maybe even the physics of her speed compared to his, that must be it. Link's arms automatically wrap around her stomach and the contact of another person, even him, stiffens her. Jassa tramples over another monster as their path straightens back towards safety and she figures now is a great time to ask.

"Can that be used as a weapon?" She says over the loud pounding of Jassa's gallop and grunts of monsters.

She feels his hands pull against her stomach and his hair grazes against her neck. He turns an ear to her shoulder, indicating he didn't hear what she said. She starts again.

"That thing on your belt!" She yells louder and twists her head over her shoulder, his face is inches from her own and she can feel his choppy breath with every gallop. "Can you use it to hit them somehow?"

He takes a second to process her question but then reaches for the Sheikah slate. He removes his hands around her waist and Zelda can feel the device against her back as he taps his fingers into it. Quickly, she hears something materialize and he throws whatever it was behind them -seconds later, a loud explosion. Horrified, she glances over her shoulder as best she can.

He was able to throw a bomb at them.

"Woah!" She yells with a smile. "Throw another one!" And he does.

On the second detonation, a bokoblin goes hurtling in the air above their heads and they both start laughing in response. She's happy to see he wasn't completely weaponless during his time on the Great Plateau.

She slows Jassa from a gallop down to a trot as they come upon Proxim Bridge. A few bokoblin's chased after them for awhile, but gave up quickly once Link started throwing the bombs. They were adjacent to the shrine when Zelda stops her steed completely and she waits for Link to hop off first before her. She jumps down and walks over to her horse to smooth her hand along his large face.

"Good boy." She whispers and Jassa whinnies in response. She spends a few moments soothing her horse but in all likelihood, it's more to calm her nerves before she attempts to even face Link.

Eventually, Zelda exhales and steps away from her horse to put the fallen hero in her eyesight and only then was she finally able to take in the new physicality of the Hyrulean Hero.

He's the most under dressed she's ever seen him in the daylight -wearing a white shirt with ripped sleeves around his elbows and worn trousers that look a little too snug for him. His hip bones are slightly visible above his belt and it manages to make her eyes linger at the spot. He has a damaged shield on his back and a ladle…yep. Definitely a soup ladle. He was once a knight, a Champion, the stuff of legend; and he looks like he could do with a good meal -or seven.

He had lost so much muscle mass as well, surely weakened by the state he was in for one hundred years -that at least helps explains why she may have been able to pull him onto a moving horse so easily. He's nothing but skin and bones now. She can't help but feel a little guilty by how strong she feels when he looks so weak. The curved muscles of Link's shoulders and thighs that she once glanced at when she knew he wasn't looking are now gone. However, that seems to be the only thing physically different of him. His stance is the same, chest held high and hands attentive. She's relieved to see his astuteness still intact. His hairstyle is the same as well, tied low at the base of his neck and choppy bangs that fall messy across his forehead. His hair is now longer than hers but that is her own undoing. Link's earrings still jingle when he moves his head and his ice blue eyes are…wandering over her chest.

Well at least she knows that if she didn't have to rescue him from a band of monsters she'd get his attention some other way.

She instinctively crosses her arms over her front and his eyes snap up to meet hers. His cheeks and ears tint pink and he smiles nervously. That's when it sinks in; Hylia's words, her own warning, the mental build up she's been practicing for -it still hits her like a brick wall. He doesn't recognize her. Not at all. He has no recollection of his fall, their shared past, the heavy burdens he carried, they were all gone. What was leftover was just a cheeky lost boy; a little wild and a little out of sorts, reckless with abandon, and clinging to nothing else but forgotten instincts.

They stand facing one another, blinking awkwardly without speaking, perhaps waiting for the other to break the silence first. Zelda feels a bubble begin to rise from her stomach. She's unaware of what it might contain -maybe anxiety, buried emotions, a flurry of tears, or even nausea, oh Goddess she hopes she does't get sick all over his weathered shoes, it's probably the only pair he has.

Then for the dumbest reason, she starts to laugh.

Softly at first then all at once, she loses hold of the reins of her laughter. It's released in a flurry of gaggles, making her hinge at the knees and fold over her waist, clutching her stomach in an attempt to contain any small amount of humility she has left in her, but it feels absolutely exhilarating and it's easing so much built tension that she can barely care about manners anymore.

Link just stands there, watching and confused, with a face not much different than an octoroks and it only makes her laugh more. Maybe he was considering she was crazy, perhaps herself a little reckless and unhinged -but he just cocks his head, waiting for her to explain herself.

Zelda eventually releases a long and botchy exhale between her lips, runs her fingers through her hair, then looks at Link and smiles.

"You tried to take on a horde of bokoblin with a soup ladle." And she coughs out a few more belly laughs that can't be held back. It's not even that funny, she thinks. She should have expected nothing less from the last remaining knight of Hyrule to scavenge for weapons if need be, but it just feels so good to laugh again. Gods, to see him again. She's so happy she can't care less if he doesn't remember her. Link is here. He's alive and standing, healthy for the most part, safe and unharmed. She could've reached out to him right then, kissed him the way they did back then, but she has to remind herself…..he has no idea who she is.

He still doesn't speak but a bashful smile forms across his lips as his face unfolds from his confusion. He goes to scratch the nape of his neck, something Zelda knows he always does when he's embarrassed or nervous. He must have realized how funny he probably looked; ready to battle with nothing but a badly built shield and a kitchen utensil.

"I'm sorry I laughed at you" She says, inhaling through her nose in a poor excuse to prove she has some sort of dignity and composure. "I've just never seen such….resilience?"

He doesn't speak but his face is still soft and blushing. He removes his hand from his neck and looks at her under his lashes.

"Are you alright then?" She asks, voice calm but desperate to receive any response from him at this point.

He looks down at the ground next to her, averting his gaze and he nods shyly.

Soon the air around them blankets with silence and it makes her uneasy. She always had a hard time coping with the quiet between them. She so desperately wants to hear his voice -why won't he just speak to her? Did her presence make him anxious? Was he not ready to trust somebody just yet? Did his century long slumber remove more than just his memories? Her imagination is running wild, stirring her anxiety because it could be all of those or maybe it's something much simpler; maybe he just feels lost and confused. So Zelda does something Link had taught her a century ago.

She uses her hands to speak to him.

Can you sign? She asks him with her hands.

A joyful sound escapes his throat and Link's face lights up like a child's on the morning of the winter solstice. He signs to her over and over. YesYesYes.

Good. She replies. She's happy to see he still remembers how to sign -just like how he remembers to use a sword and shield and battle enemies -all forgotten instincts. So far, he hasn't changed too much, though it saddens her to think he must have forgotten why he knows how to sign.

One Hundred Years Earlier

Zelda remembers once they had passed a merchant along the road and Link had asked her if they could stop to see if the Hylian had arrows to trade as he was getting low after their encounter with several monsters that morning. She simply nodded in approval, a great excuse for her to stretch her legs for a moment, and to elongate their travel if only for a few extra minutes. They had been traveling on horseback for hours without a break, returning to the Castle from the Spring of Courage. It had been direct orders from her father for them to visit so she could pray, hoping her sealing power will awaken there. It had been just another failed trip.

The sun was close to setting and she remembers it as a beautiful evening of orange hues and pink skies but she watched Link instead, completely fascinated when he began to use his hands and fingers to interact with the merchant. No voices could be heard from their conversation and yet Link handed a few rupees to them anyways in exchange for some arrows in their bag.

He waved goodbye to the vendor then trotted back, helped her onto her horse, then climbed onto his own, but she was still enthralled by him. There had been a time when Zelda thought she had Link completely figured out, but in that moment she felt like she barely knew him at all, and his silent conversation he just had only encouraged her curiosities.

"I never knew you could sign." She said when they started trotting along the path back to the castle. He nodded to her respectfully.

"Yes Princess, I learned when I was a child." He had recently promised he would speak more openly with her, and she had to admit he was doing a really great job so far -their silence didn't linger like it used to between them.

"It's a very valiant trait to know, why did you decide to learn it so young?"

Zelda watched as he shifted a little in his saddle and cleared his throat before he spoke.

"I didn't really have a choice."

"Oh?" She couldn't be more on the edge of her saddle.

"My mother is deaf." He said.

"That's so interesting!" She blurted but then her face immediately went red. "I mean -not that your mother lacks hearing capabilities, that is…unfortunate. It is, however, interesting that you possess the technique to interact with those who cannot hear or speak. I never knew that about you." She tried to swallow down her humiliation. "Did you know, hearing loss is typically caused by a dysfunction within the inner ear or -or damage to the cochlea…" She trailed off.

She felt like a snob and a little embarrassed, but speaking so relaxed with Link was still very new to her that sometimes her own words would throw her off. Why was she so nervous? It's just Link. She told herself but didn't feel any better about the subject. She huffed and rolled her eyes at herself.

He nodded a little uncomfortably but his smile was still light and casual. He was unsure how to properly address her sometimes. It had been hard for both of them to conjure conversations that didn't involve their duties or the inevitable Calamity. After all, she was still the Princess and he was still her appointed knight -but Zelda remembers this memory vividly for it was a delicate turning point in their relationship.

"I apologize Link. My head spins when I see something new I can learn about."

"I know you well enough to know that, Princess."

She smiled and a soft warmth teased at her cheeks. They were silent for a spell before she began again.

"Can you tell me about your mother? What is she like?"

"Well, umm." He seemed a little flustered by her question, maybe because he hadn't been home since he was appointed but they were trying to become friends and opening up this way seemed innocent enough. "She has brownish, red hair -I guess auburn is the word, maybe? It was long...like yours, but she cut it before I left home. It's at her shoulders now." He looked down in front of him as his horse continued along the path, smiling humbly at the memory of his mother. "She's the reason why I would visit Zora's Domain as a kid, she has many friends there and so I'm friends with her friends kids."

Zelda smiled, trying to imagine the woman and what kind of mother she was to Link. She conjured an image in her head of a little blonde haired boy smiling up at his mother as she taught him words to speak on his hands. Then her own mother's face popped into her head and she tried to push the minuscule memories of her mother away, not wanting to linger on the past.

"Do you look more like your mother, or father?" Zelda asked, attempting to remove the ghosts distracting her.

"I'm not sure." He stated, rubbing his chin with his gloved hand. "I definitely have her pointy nose because my father has this funny button nose, but it looks cute on my little sister -hopefully it won't grow to the size of his though." They shared a soft laugh and he continued. "I probably look more like my father to be honest but he's very tall and I'm...well.." He looked up to the flock of birds flying over head.

"Not?" She answered and he chuckled.

"They keep mocking me about when my growth spurt will happen, telling me things like 'we were both twice your size at your age!' Or 'your sister's going to pass you up soon!' Like that'll help me grow." Zelda watched as he rolled his eyes.

She smiled a little. "And your sister? Does she have the same sandy blonde hair as you, or like your mother?"

"Is my hair color sandy blonde?" He grabbed a long strand of his hair which dangled in front of his pointy ears and tried to look at it. It was clear he never really paid much attention to his appearance, but his movement made his jaw dip towards his neck, causing a double chin to appear on his face which only made Zelda smile wider.

"Well, I think so. What would you call the color of my hair? Yellow or blonde?" She asked.

"No." He shook his head immediately and gazed at her. "Golden."

Zelda felt her ears grow hot and it was her turn to clear her throat. "You were going to tell me about your sister?" She asked, trying to stay on topic.

"Yes, she's blonde like me, but it's more red -like a strawberry. It's funny because my father hasn't had hair on his head for most of his life, but his stubble across his chin is red. My sister and I have always wondered where our own hair colors come from, maybe a mix of my father's and mother's."

"It can be from your grandparents, actually." Zelda stated. "Sometimes physical traits skip a generation."

"Hmm." He pondered her words. "My mother's parents are both brown haired like her, but I never met my fathers parents, maybe one of them was blonde?"

"That must be it!" She said with new found enthusiasm and he smiled.

"Now the mystery of my father's ginger beard begins." He said, looking over to her and he smiled sweetly. In that moment, he wasn't the chosen hero, a knight, a fighter and she wasn't a princess, an heir, or part of a sacred bloodline. They were two kids getting to know one another.

They said nothing for a moment as their horses clomped and although the silence was part of a new kind between them -warm and comfortable, she was determined to continue building their relationship.

"Link…?" She said shyly.

"Yes, Princess?"

He looked at her and a spark ran between them.

"Can you teach me to sign?"

"If you wish." He said.

"I do."

She remembers his signing lessons would fill the empty spaces along the road. He seemed so happy to finally be able to help her in a way he knew how and she could actually see some progress with sign language as opposed to her stunted Royal duty. It had helped them connect in such a healthy way, an innocent way, with no burdens or anxieties.

One Hundred Years Later
Present Day

He's signing to her again with a light in his eyes and a wide smile, bringing his fingers to his chin. Thank you.

Don't mention it. She signs, half waving away her memory as well. It's the most action I've gotten in several days.

He signs. I hope I was worth your arrows.

She signs back. I tend to think so. Then blatantly casts her eyes down his body as he watches her. She can almost see the wave of warmth shiver down his body and it flatters her to see the effect she has on him.

He signs again. You should see me with a real weapon then.

She doesn't skip a beat and signs back. I'll take you up on that.

They smile bashfully at each other, their words making one another excited with the tease of flirtatious banter. It's then that Zelda notes she likes this new freedom, this new control. The ability to make him feel good -to bring a little spark and confidence back to his eyes. She can be who she wants in front of him. They can flirt unconditionally, unrestrained without consequence if they so desired.

"May I ask you a question?" She says.

He signs. Sure.

"How in the Goddess did you get atop the Great Plateau?"

Of course she knew how, it was under her orders that placed him there a century ago -but she's clever and she wants to know what he knows.

He looks hesitant for a moment, the smile disappearing from his face, then signs. I woke up there.

"Hm, must have been some nap." She says but notices his attention starting to fall elsewhere.

He smirks at her comment but makes a gesture for her to follow and starts heading for the Bosh Kala shrine, taking the Sheikah slate from his belt.

He skips onto the platform, his shoes making a satisfying sound on the smooth surface, and places the slate on its pedestal. Then the whole shrine starts to vibrate. The glowing orange designs change blue, except for the top -like it's unfinished in its transformation. What was once just a black wall on top of the steps dissolve into an entrance with a glowing blue design on the floor.

He turns around to shy a smile at Zelda but she's already beaming at him. Amazed, enchanted, bewildered, and honestly proud of him for understanding the slate and its multiple functions.

They stare at each other for a moment before she speaks. "You sir, are no ordinary man with a soup ladle."

He allows his voice to travel to her, a soft chuckle escaping his throat and it sounds like a song. He's beginning to enjoy her company.

Link turns his back to her, about to enter the shrine and she panics briefly, not wanting him to leave so soon -but he stops.

"Hey um. Listen…" He turns back around. She's so shocked and fixated by the sound of his voice that she's frozen on the spot. "I have to…take care of something in here…but are you -will you be around when I'm done?" He fiddles with his fingers until they steady on his belt and waits for her reaction.

She could only nod.

"I'd like to maybe do something for you?…y'know -in thanks for saving me back there." He tilts his head towards the Plateau.

"There's a cooking pot on the other side of the bridge." She says and points haphazardly, barely registering her words. She clears her throat. "And I like roasted bass." The thought of his cooking makes her hungry -she'd been eating mushrooms and eggs for a week because she doesn't know how to debone a fish.

His smile brightens at the mention of food. "I can cook."

"Good because I can't."

"Good. Well, not because you can't-" He begins gesturing with his hands a little awkwardly.

She interrupts him with a laugh. "No, it's definitely good."

He smiles briefly before he swivels to leave but then turns to her again. He's clearly a little flustered, but in the best possible way.

"What's your name?" He asks.

"My name?"

He nods slowly, a little apprehensive because of her response.

"Oh, my name's uhh…Z-" She trails off.

Fuck.

This whole time she never thought to come up with a pseudo-name. Would she even need one? How many people are named after the last princess of Hyrule in today's time? But Hylia told her not to provoke his memory so she had to think of something quick because he was still staring at her.

"Uhh-zel-luh." Clearly making it up as she goes along. "My name's Azella, but I just...go by...Zel." Was that far enough away from the name Zelda? She seriously hopes this is the only lie she would need to say to him for it felt foul and unnatural against her lips.

"Link." He points to himself.

"It suits you." She smiles weakly.

"Azella's a pretty name." He says walking backwards into the shrine's blue pedestal on the floor. "But Zel suits you." He's clearly aware of how suave he's acting, flashing a sly smile at her, even if he's wearing the equivalent of rags. Although he can't remember, he's used to people swooning over him, only now he had someone to match his charm, to challenge him -that was not so common and it drew them together.

"I'm glad you think so." She matched his smile.

He signs. See you soon Zel.

She signs back. See you soon.

He's still smiling until he descends into the ground, no longer in her eyesight and she's left in silence once again.

Now that Zelda -now Zel -was alone, she couldn't control another bubble rising from the pit of her stomach -only this time in the form a of panic attack that eventually engulfs her. Sweating and trembling but chilled to the bone, with heart pounding and tears falling, she has to clutch herself and sit on the steps of the shrine. She rocks back and forth hoping he's underground far enough to mute her wails. Between containing her excitement, questions, and wonder on his experiences with the shrine and slate, the memory of his family haunting her, and how her heart breaks that he can no longer remember them, that he was never given the chance to even grieve for them -and seeing him again after a century was all just too much to bare.

Her panic attack lasts for a good twenty minutes until she's hoarse in the throat and eyes blood shot. She takes her time standing and trudges across the bridge to her campsite, doing away with her shoes and socks, corset and blouse, leaving her bow & quiver resting against a log. She walks over to the river's edge and stands in knee high waters, feeling the pebbles beneath her feet and the icy bite of the Hyrule river in spring. She folds her body over and splashes water onto her face, washing away the anxiety, sweat, and tears. With prayers sent to the Goddess, the first time she has done so since they were torn apart, she prays to gain the bravery Link contains within him to continue with the rest of their journey.

They had finally met, the worst part was over, or had it only just begun?