"We need to talk."

"... Yeah." Wild followed his twin out of the now open door, leaving Junior with the others.

Calm stopped before the bend in the cave. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, staring at the floor like he was trying to figure out what to say.

Wild leaned on the wall opposite him. "You were great in there," he said, trying to break the ice. "I've only ever seen the Captain able to mow down several enemies at once like that."

Calm shrugged. "I've been meaning to ask... How is it that you're comfortable addressing Princess Zelda with such familiarity?"

Wild blinked. "Oh. Um..." He paused. "We've spent a lot of time together. I was appointed to be her personal knight, so I follow her everywhere."

"So was I. But Her Highness is always attended by Impa at the very least, and it's common for the Champions and other knights to travel with us. From the way you describe it... is it really, just, the two of you?"

Wild nodded. "Always has been, ever since I assigned be her guard." A smile lighted in his eyes for a moment. "She tried to lose me at every opportunity at first. She even started sneaking out the back of Gerudo Town so I couldn't follow her. That happened several times, I think."

"You think?"

"I told you, I lost my memories."

"Right. Sorry."

"One time she was being chased by the Yiga after she got away from me. I got to her just in the nick of time, and according to her diary, after that—"

"You've read her diary‽"

"I—I lost my memories, okay? Besides, she told me after we defeated Ganon that I could hang onto it, so I'm sure it was fine." He caught a glimpse of Calm's expression. "D—Don't look at me like that! I was desperate, okay?" The emotions welled up inside him and he lost track of what he was saying. "You don't know what's like to lose everything—your friends, your comrades, every memory of who you used to be, just—gone. I had to work my butt off just to be worthy to pull the Master Sword again!"

Calm looked confused. "Again?"

"Yes, again! Because I failed, because I—" He stopped himself and took a breath. "I had to work so hard. It drained the very life out of me 'cause I wasn't worthy enough—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Calm. "That's got nothing to do with it. The sword tested me too, that's just what it does. And that was in a moment of dire need."

Wild stared at him. "Dire need?"

Calm nodded. "My sword was broken. I couldn't get to Her Highness in time, but then the Master Sword lit up the area, and… I took that as a sign. It took all my strength just to make the thing budge."

"Wait, wait—Zelda was with you?"

"Well, yeah. Or more accurately I was with her. I'm Her Highness' appointed knight, it's my duty to stay by her side."

"But, that—I thought that—hang on." Wild dug around in his bag and pulled out an old book. He flipped through the pages. "Here we go… Yeah, it says right here: I already had the Master Sword by the time I was appointed as Zelda's personal knight. And I—" he sighed. "It's fuzzy, I don't really remember the details, but I know I was around twelve when I first pulled it."

Calm stared at him. "Twelve?"

"Yeah."

"Twelve years old?"

"Yes."

"H—Wh—How did you even find it? That place is a maze! We had to have a guide just to not walk in circles!"

Wild shrugged. "I just followed the wind."

"… what."

"That's how I got through. At least, the second time, that's how I found it. Took some trial and error, but I got there."

Calm was silent for a long time. He would start to open his mouth, then reconsider. Finally, he spoke, his voice quiet. "Why did you have to pull the Master Sword twice?"

Wild was too ashamed to disclose the full truth. "I fell in combat and had to be revived. That's how I lost my memories."

"There's something you're not telling me—"

"Yeah and I'd like to keep it that way."

Calm stepped up to him, staring him dead in the face. Behind the burning severity in his eyes there was a touch of kindness, of sadness. "You're my brother," he said quietly. "You're the only family I have left and, I may never get to talk to you again. So tell me."

"You'd be ashamed of me—"

"Like hell I would."

Wild almost glared at him, then looked away again. "I already told you: I failed. I fell unconscious at Fort Hateno after the rest of central Hyrule had been overrun and destroyed by the Calamity. Zelda is the only reason I'm still alive. Her powers awakened at the last second and she had me sent to the Shrine of Resurrection. She put the Master Sword back in its pedestal and sealed the Calamity away in the castle for a hundred years while I… healed, I guess. When I woke up, I had no memory of who I was, or where I was, or anything. I only knew my name because she called me."

"Well that explains why you needed to work so hard to be able to pull the Master Sword again—"

"Yeah, I know, it's 'cause I failed—"

"No." Calm shook his head. "You lost your memory so I'm going to remind you of something: when a knight is wounded in battle, he's not sent back out onto the battlefield the same day his wounds are healed. He's given time to recover his strength. He's run through the basics all over again, practicing things he's known for years if not decades, because in the time it takes wounds to heal the muscles atrophy. The body weakens and gets out of practice. That is why you had to work so hard—you were recovering your strength from being asleep for, what, a century? You were lucky to be able to walk after that long. There is no shame in that. There is no loss of worthiness in that."

"But I still failed them. I should have defeated Ganon then, when the Calamity first struck, but instead… so many people died."

"What were you doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"When the Calamity struck, at that exact moment, what were you doing? Do you remember?"

Wild nodded. "Zelda and I had… just gotten back from the Spring of Wisdom. The other Champions were waiting for us and… we were discussing what further steps to take."

"So you were with the Princess?"

A tiny smirk tugged at Wild's mouth. "Yeah, both of them."

Calm smiled a little, understanding what he meant. "You were guarding Princess Zelda," he clarified.

Wild nodded.

"Then you were exactly where you should have been."

"But you were able to stop it!" Wild cried. "You succeeded where I failed—"

"I got lucky." Calm took a step back, steadying himself against the wall. "Tell me, brother: does the name 'Terrako' mean anything to you?"

"No."

"Ever seen a Guardian, oh, about this big, shaped like an egg with feet?"

"No."

"Well there you go."

Wild looked confused.

"Terrako was this little egg-shaped Guardian who could travel through time. He—here." Calm picked up his Sheikah Slate and tapped the screen a few times. "These are all images our Sheikah researchers got from Terrako. They got data from him too, specifically they figured out exactly what day the Calamity would strike." He handed the Sheikah Slate to his brother. "King Rhoam was able to evacuate the castle town and surrounding areas. But only because we had that information."

Wild flipped through the images. "So, you… knew. You all knew ahead of time." He handed the Slate back.

Calm nodded. "The thing is…" He hesitated. "Terrako… this isn't the only thing he did. He pulled Champions to our time from the future—actually you might know them, I don't know, but point is—those future Champions appeared in the nick of time, and stayed just long enough to defeat Ganon. Without those Champions, without Terrako…" His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. "I doubt we would have ended up any better off than what you went through."

Wild was trembling. Shaking all over and he didn't know why.

"Honestly, I'm, kind of in awe that you were able to defeat Ganon on your own."

Wild shook his head. "Not entirely on my own. The spirits of the original Champions, they… they remained trapped in the Divine Beasts until I defeated the Blights that infected them. Each time that happened, the spirit of the Champion piloting that Beast would share their special ability with me. In the end, they all helped me fight Ganon—not to mention Zelda as well—I mean the Divine Beasts alone must've sapped at least half his strength."

"I see. I'm glad you didn't have to fight him on your own."

"Hey…"

"Hm?"

"Um… how's Mipha, doing?"

Calm's face softened. "Mipha's fine. She's doing well."

"Did she, um… did she, give you, anything?"

Calm's face flushed. "I take it you're referring to something… specific."

Wild nodded.

"Zora Armor?"

Wild nodded again.

Calm sighed. "Yeah, she—she gave me the Zora Armor."

"And?"

"And what? What was I supposed to say? We were in the middle of fighting the monsters caused by the Calamity. If I'd been honest with her it would've destroyed her morale, it would've put everything in jeopardy."

"Honest?"

"Yes." He gave a frustrated huff. "She's my best friend. She's like a big sister to me; I've known her for as long as I can remember and she will always be dear to me in that sense. But—" He shook his head. "If she feels that way about me, why didn't she tell me? Why hide something like that? It just—I don't know. It makes me uncomfortable. Like what else is she going to keep from me if she can't tell me something that important before dropping such a loaded decision on me? I don't want to lose her as a friend, which is why I still haven't brought it up to her, but—" He sighed. "I don't know. It's a big mess."

"That's… certainly a perspective."

"You disagree?"

"No, it's just… it's so hard for me to remember. I guess I just assumed that we talked about things, that I felt the same way and, that's why she made it."

"I mean it could be. We're different people after all; maybe she did tell you."

"No… hold on." He pulled a different book out of his bag.

"Is that her diary?"

Wild nodded. "The Zora gave it to me after I defeated the Blight in Vah Ruta. Same thing with the other Champions. I even found the King's diary while I was poking around Hyrule castle. Here we go." He read the page. "No, she… she didn't tell me, either. I guess I must've missed that. She never told me how she felt." New, confused emotions spinning in his mind, he put her diary away. "Thank you. This has… definitely given me a lot to think about."

"Thank you for being honest."

Wild's face flushed. "It still stings. Even, knowing what you told me, it still… gets to me. I don't know why. I just—I wish I could've done something, you know? So many innocent, good people died a horrible death, and—I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"That's not your fault."

The twins turned to see the Veteran walking over to join them.

"Unless you actively participated in summoning Ganon, those deaths were all his fault, not yours. Don't go blaming yourself for that." He crossed his arms and glared at Wild. "And it's not like you stood around scratching yourself either. Those scars you have are proof of that."

"They're proof I wasn't good enough," mumbled Wild.

Calm looked visibly annoyed at that. "What were you fighting at Fort Hateno?"

Wild sank to the floor and pulled his hood up. "Guardians."

"Stalkers?"

Wild nodded.

Calm shook his head. He crouched down to Wild's level. "None of us would have been able to last long against an army of those things. I don't care how quick you are with your shield—"

"I didn't have a shield."

"Come again?"

"I never carried anything but the Master Sword. No bow, no shield." He frowned. "I don't know why. Can't remember if there was a reason for it—"

"There had to have been. That's basic equipment—none of our commanders would have let you go without that unless there was some reason."

Wild hid his face in his knees. "Can we just stop talking about this? I don't remember anything, it's not going to go anywhere."

Calm blinked, stunned by Wild's abruptness. His mouth hung slightly open, his gaze scattered about in confusion.

The Veteran offered him a hand up. "Let's leave him for now. Nothing we say is going to help him right now anyway."

Calm wouldn't budge.

"Alright." The Veteran shrugged and walked back into the room, brushing by Junior as he stepped through the doorway.

Junior waited a moment, then stepped up to his dad. "Here. These are all the arrows we found."

Wild looked up just long enough to take the arrows and put them away.

Junior sat next to Wild, snuggled up to him and closed his eyes. Calm watched as father and son drifted off to sleep.

They really were so alike.