Zelda woke with a start, a light blinding her. Fear filled her chest as she scrambled up, the Triangles faintly glowing on her hand. Her power was dwindling. Ganon would take her. Ganon would destroy Hyrule. She couldn't protect anyone. She couldn't protect Link-

Zelda froze at the sound of birds chirping. She cracked her eyes open just a bit only to be blinded by the same light. She used her other hand, to shield her eyes from the bright light. This wasn't Ganon's pink malice she had grown used to seeing. This was... sunlight?

Zelda lowered her faintly glowing hand, her second hand still raised to shield herself from the sun. She looked up at the top of the stone structure she stood upon. Birds chirped on top of the Sheikah tower, flying around, seemingly playing with each other. Zelda walked to the edge of the tower and peered over the landscape. Hyrule was gleaming, its lush green fields and forest almost glowing in the light. The sunlight shown around the now Ganon free castle, along with the surrounding mountains appearing as if they were gigantic shadows.

Zelda turned back to the interior of the tower.

"Link what are we-"

Zelda stopped and looked around. Link was nowhere to be seen on the tower. Zelda looked behind each pillar of the tower, anxiety rising. Did he leave? Would he just up and leave her? His duty was done, he fulfilled his duty as Hero, he didn't need to be here with her anymore...

Zelda's heart started pounding. She ran to the hole near the center of the tower, about to climb down when suddenly a blue light started glowing on the tower floor. Zelda looked and noticed thin blue lights flying towards the circular pattern on the floor, Link forming in front of her. Link looked over to where Zelda was originally sleeping. Noticing that she wasn't there he started looking around, seemingly panicked, before landing his gaze on her near the tower entrance.

"Thought I had lost you again," Link said laughing, any trace of fear he may have had vanished. "What are you doing? Were you about to climb down the tower?"

"I mean I was until you showed up! Where did you go? I was worried!" Zelda pouted, trying to hide how fearful she actually had been. She apparently had not hid her true feelings very well. Link's face fell.

"Sorry... I just... wanted to catch you some fresh food..." Link said quietly, fresh Prime Meat appearing in his hands after tapping the Sheikah Slate.

"No, no, it's quite alright... Thank you... Can you cook it for us?" Zelda asked, hoping it would lighten his mood. Link's face brightened a bit before starting the fire again and began cooking, mixing in different ingredients as he went. Zelda made her way to the fire and lightly sat down on the opposite side. Zelda took a deep breath.

Why had she panicked the way she did? Of course Link would be fine, he's the Hero of Hyrule, she had given him that title herself, so why? Of course she knew why, it had been on her mind even before the Calamity. She didn't truly understand it until just a few days before the Calamity had arrived.

She looked up at her knight, now adding Rock Salt to the dishes he was making, seemingly debating if he was adding too much or too little, his brow furrowed, his eyes completely focused on the task at hand. Zelda felt a twang of guilt in her chest. Was it fair to have these feelings for him still? Did he even feel the same way back then? And if he did... is this even the same Link she had feelings for? Yet... He was still her comfort.

"Here we go! A Creamy Meat Soup... hopefully salted correctly..." He said, losing confidence as his sentence went on, holding a bowl out for her. Zelda giggles.

"Why thank you my good knight... Or in this case Chef."

Link did a bowing gesture and smiled before digging into his food. Zelda giggled a little bit more before taking a sip of her soup. It was good. Salty for her personal taste... but good nonetheless. Zelda looked up at Link, who was already halfway through his soup. A heavy weight grew in her chest... Would he stick around...?

"Um, Link... Might I ask-" Suddenly there was a loud sound in the distance and a slight vibration the two felt. Zelda held her bowl of food closer to her chest. "Wha-What was that!?"

Link looked unphased as he continued eating his soup.

"There's a Stone Talus in the forest down there. A boar must've disturbed it's slumber. Must've returned from the last Blood Moon. I'll take care of it after this meal."

"'Take care of-' just like that?" Zelda said, bewildered.

Link stopped eating and looked at her confused.

"I mean... yea? Are you okay, Zelda? Even before the Calamity I had been taking on hordes of monsters from what I can remember at least. And you've watched beat hundreds of monsters from... well... you know what I mean. Anyway, defeating a single Talus shouldn't come much of a challenge..."

Zelda was taken aback by Link's statement. He wasn't wrong. Even before the Calamity, it was as he said. This was nothing to him.

Link stared at her for a second, seemingly trying to understand Zelda's outburst before the rumbling happened again. Link sighed and chugged the rest of his soup down. He put his bowl down and stood up.

"Mind if I..." he started, pointing towards the forest down below.

"Yes of course," Zelda said, taking another sip from her soup. Link turned towards the edge of the tower, stretched, and then jumped off the tower, paragliding towards the forest.

Zelda watched as Link flew down until he was lost in the trees. Link has been doing this for basically a hundred years now. Why was she so nervous? Was she not confident in his abilities? That can't be right, she had faith in him that he would beat the Calamity, and he did. He defended her against a ton of guardians... even if he eventually fell in the end...

Zelda shook her head. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. She had been through every fear in her head ever since she woke up. Zelda went to take another sip of her soup before hearing a gigantic boom, a large shockwave blowing her hair back.. She shot up, dropping her soup and looked over the edge of the tower. Smoke billowed from the forest that Link had flown too. Zelda felt the panic arise before seeing the familiar blue lights headed her way. She looked back at the teleport dock, watching Link form in front of her. He was humming a tune as he readjusted his belt. He looked up and saw the soup he had made on the floor.

"Awww. What a waste..."

"What was that!?" Zelda yelled, heart once again beating frantically.

Link pointed to the bomb arrows on his hip. Zelda then noticed a heavy duty bow on his back.

"Lynel bows can shoot three arrows at once, has a lot of impact as well. Took the Talus out in one shot." Link said, continuing his humming, now moving to sit against one of the pillars. He had a couple of jewels in his hands now, counting and weighing them. He noticed Zelda's eyes on him and he looked up.

"What?"

Zelda stared at him and shook her head.

"Nothing-I mean... I guess it's different viewing you from the castle with the power... and then actually seeing you in action. In this case feeling it." She looked back at the cloud of smoke that was now fading away. Link from before was never that tactical. Yes, he was a skilled fighter but he usually just ran in with the Master Sword or whatever weapon. Coming up with a plan like that was definitely... different.

Why did she feel so different? She had watched parts of his journey from her tower. She knows he had changed, of course. But she only saw bits and pieces. How much had Link actually changed? For her it was like the Calamity was yesterday, yet it also felt like so long ago. It was as if she were reverting back to herself a hundred years ago... while Link was now a hundred years ahead of her... Why was she regressing? Was she not fully herself while sitting in that power for so long? It did feel like more of a dream than anything...

"So, Zelda... I think we need to talk," Link said, still inspecting his winnings from the Talus.

Zelda's heart started racing again. Was this it? Where Link tells her that he's done his duty and he's moving on?

"We need to figure out where to go from here. We can't camp on top of this tower forever. So... What do you wanna do?" Link asked, grabbing the Sheikah Slate, allowing the ores to disappear into it.

"Oh... well... um..."

She hadn't thought about that.

"Well, I'm not used to being out here and you are so, what do you think we should do Link?"

"Well I think we should scavenge the castle. See what we can take from there, food, materials, so on to be ready for the road. I've got a lot of stuff we can use for now but there may be things you want from the castle now that it's been released. I'm sure thieves will realize the castle is no longer tainted and they'll make their way there eventually. We have to beat them there." He said almost immediately.

Zelda blinked. She didn't actually expect Link to come up with a plan like that on the fly. Not only that but it was a very thought out plan. The more she thought about it though the more it made sense. He was on his own for months on end. Making his own choices, surviving, carving his own path. Alone.

Before he was just following the Kings orders, or her orders, letting Zelda come up with the plans because it wasn't his place. Now Link had experience. He's been out in the wild, being a real adventurer. Link was more of a Ranger than a Knight at this point. Though it once again fed into Zelda's fears. Link was his own person more so than ever before.

"Zelda!" Link said loudly, snapping Zelda out of her thoughts.

"What, what is it?" She asked, surprised at Links sudden loudness.

"I said will you be okay? Going back to Hyrule Castle? We did almost die there like... yesterday..." Link gave her a look of concern.

"Yes Link, I'll be fine, promise. There's stuff I need to grab from there anyway. Maybe I can get out of this filthy dress..."

Link nodded. "Great sounds like a plan."

He took the Sheikah Slate and opened it up to the map, seemingly making a plan for the castle interior. Zelda sat and watched him. Though the fear of him leaving her was definitely high... she enjoyed this. Link was much more open and up front with her, being himself, making plans, even humming... This was nice. If anything put her at ease, it was that. Even if it also scared her to death.

"Okay," Link started getting up and moving towards the edge of the tower. He looked up at the sun for a second, and then turned back to Zelda.

"It's about 10 in the morning. I'm going to go to the castle first. With Ganon giving one last blood moon, the castle is still full of monsters. I'll clear them out and then come pick you back up."

"What? No! I'm coming too! I can't let you go alone!" Zelda said standing as well. Link frowned.

"Zelda, I've done this multiple times before. Besides, you just sealed the Calamity. You said your power was just about gone when I made my way into the tower to fight Ganon. How much of your power do you have left? "

Zelda didn't answer.

"Exactly."

Zelda furrowed her eyes and frowned. Link was being a bit snarky with her. He was somewhat like that before. After having a talk, Link had turned from the Silent Night to more like her best friend. He started being a bit more snarky with her after she tried to make him eat a frog. Still this time was different. This was serious.

"I'm not a child Link, let me go!"

"Can you shoot?" Link asked suddenly.

"What? I- No, no I can't."

"Use a sword?"

"I mean, not really-"

"Can you climb in that dress?"

"I mean I can try-"

"Zelda."

Link stared at her, stone faced. A stone face Zelda remembered all too well. Zelda looked down. She didn't like feeling like this. Helpless once again without her power. Link sighed.

"Look Zelda, it's different from back then. Monsters are a lot stronger, and before you would be following me in travelling gear. Not a dress. If you had actual clothes then I'd consider it. But with you not being ready, and you just fought the Calamity yesterday after a hundred year battle... I can't take you. Please understand."

Link smiled at her.

"I'll be back soon."

Zelda nodded and watched as Link hit a button on the Sheikah Slate. With that, Link had diffused into nothingness.