Zelda wasn't sure how long she had slept upon waking up. She felt well rested, but knew that her sleep had been interrupted numerous times by nightmares. She sat up slowly, hugging her legs close to her chest as she did so. She was still getting herself used to the fact that Link didn't remember her, and she had no idea how he saw her currently. She glanced around, seeing him at one of the tables, staring down at the Sheikah Slate. She slowly got out from under the sheets, putting her shoes on before looking at the end of her bed. She saw her old clothing just sitting there, folded neatly. She glanced at the Hylian for a brief moment, at least he still had a thoughtful heart.
She slowly pulled the curtains around the bed before changing her clothing. Her dress was stained with dirt which was now a century old, and she was glad to finally change out of it. She felt warm in her old clothing, she had forgotten how comfortable it was. As she changed she decided that she wanted to meet with Impa. It had been so long since she had spoken to her dear friend, and she wished to talk to someone who actually remembered her. She frowned slightly, it wasn't fair on Link for her to think negatively of him simply because he didn't remember her. But she couldn't help but wish he remembered everything that transpired between them, she figured he was confused, that he was wondering about the past, but she couldn't bring herself to speak to him about the past yet, because she wasn't even sure what to say to him.
She went to head for the door, but she felt as though she at least should inform him where she was going. "Link?" She inquired softly, trying to keep the pain from her voice as she said his name. "Yes, Princess?" She sighed softly and looked down at the ground. "I'm going to meet with Impa, I will be back shortly." He began to shift. "You do not need to accompany me, you are no longer my appointed knight, Link." She thought she saw him wince, but her mind was most likely tricking her. "Of course, Z-" She looked up, hopeful. "Princess.." She quickly turned and left the building, unable to stay around him. She bit her lip before closing her eyes and composing herself. Things would be okay eventually, she hoped.
She made her way to the foot of the stairs leading up to Impa's hut. Two guards stood either side and eyed her carefully. "I'm a friend of Impa's." She said softly, the guards exchanged glances before stepping aside, allowing her to pass. She walked up the steps slowly, nervous to speak to someone from her own time. She stood outside the doors of the building for a moment, it all felt so surreal. After taking a moment, she slowly pushed the doors open and was met with the sight of Impa. She gazed at the older version of her friend, she seemed much smaller now. "Zelda?" Impa smiled brightly before beckoning Zelda over to her. The former princess stepped forward before hugging Impa tightly. "You must be traumatised after everything that happened." Zelda nodded for a moment before walking over to the edge of the room and taking a seat against the wall. "It's quite unbelievable right now.. I was stuck for so long that it's hard to register that I'm okay." She looked over at Impa who was watching her carefully. "And how are things between you and Link?" Zelda looked down, fidgeting with her hands before speaking. "Not good.. he only remembers the memories I know he needed, but there's nothing more he remembers, our relationship never happened to him." She shook her head gently before looking up at Impa. "I don't know what to do, every moment I look at him I want to be in his arms, but I can't have that now.." She sniffled slightly before running her hand through her hair. "Zelda, you must not lose faith in him. He may never recover those memories, but until you can discover how he feels for you, you cannot doubt him." Zelda laughed dryly, feeling tears in her eyes. "I've seen him change each time he remembered something more of your shared past." Zelda focused on Impa. "When he recovered all but one of his memories, he was determined to save you. When he first arrived, his only real motivation to save you and the kingdom was for answers, but when he came back here, telling me that he had found all the locations, his reason for saving you had changed, I just knew it." Zelda figured Impa was just attempting to spark hope inside of her.
"And, I sent him to Blatchery Plain." Zelda's eyes widened, that was the one thing she didn't want Link remembering, she feared he would doubt his ability upon recalling that. "When he returned from the plain, his face was riddled with guilt." Zelda looked down again, that guilt could have been there for many reasons, hoping that it was for her wasn't going to do her any good. "Thank you, Impa.. but I cannot discuss Link right now, I should probably check on him actually." Impa frowned before nodding. "You're always free to return." Zelda got to her feet and left without saying another word. Upon making her way back to the inn, she heard laughter inside. She tilted her head before opening the door. Her eyes landed on Link first, but there was a Sheikah woman sat next to him, he seemed to be showing the girl something on the Sheikah Slate. A million thoughts entered her head, none of them being good ones. She quickly turned and walked out of the inn, she needed to go for a walk and clear her mind.
She had been walking for a half an hour now. She was severely overthinking what she had seen. She didn't recognise ,the Sheikah woman and she didn't know what her relationship with Link was. She couldn't help but feel jealous. The whole way she sensed someone behind her. She knew it wasn't Link, she had no clue who it was though. She was outside the village now, it was late in the afternoon. She glanced over her shoulder briefly, noticing a Hylian following her, staring at her. She shuddered slightly before slowing down to a stop. The footsteps neared closer for a few moments before stopping. She quickly spun around, the man towered over her. "Is there something you need, sir?" She tried to keep the fear out of her voice, she didn't know what he wanted, why he was following her. He smiled wickedly down at her before reaching behind his back. "Revenge.." He replied simply before disappearing into a puff of smoke.
Zelda looked around, trying to find where her attacker had gone, She yelped as she was pushed down to the ground from behind. She quickly turned and looked up into the eye of the Yiga, how could she be so stupid? Of course they were going to be focused on killing her and Link now that they had destroyed everything this clan believed in. She scurried away from the large foot soldier before he disappeared, she heard him behind her. She lunged forward but felt something scratch the back of her neck.
She yelped in pain as she fell forward. Her neck must've been cut, it felt horrible. She scrambled to her feet before being pushed down yet again. She stared up at her attacker. "No hero to save you this time, eh?" She gazed up at him still, frozen now with fear. She turned her head away, she knew that this time she wasn't going to be as lucky. Although, her thoughts soon began to fade as she heard frantic footsteps somewhere off to the right. She glanced up, the member of the Yiga was staring in the direction of the sound. She quickly kicked out, her leg landing a blow on the male's shin. He doubled over in pain before something jumped into him, tackling the large man to the ground.
She gasped as she saw Link, struggling to gain control of the weapon. He didn't have his sword, a century ago he wouldn't have left anywhere without putting it on his back. Link was pushed off before a cloud of smoke appeared behind him. Before Zelda could warn him, he pulled his Sheikah Slate out and turned quickly, pulling the metal weapon into his hand before plunging it into his attacker as they ran towards him, they slowly collapsed to the ground and Link placed the Slate back on his hip. Zelda nervously went to run her hand through her hair, but when she tried to do so, no hair was present, instead she pulled her hand away, finding it stained with blood.
Link quickly turned around, examining Zelda from a distance before making his way over to her. She looked shaken up, and her hand was covered in her own blood, he saw that a lot of her hair had been cut off during the attack. He knelt down in front of her, trying not to look at her hand. He didn't want to see evidence of her injury, he didn't want to see her injured. "Are you alright, Zel- Princ-" She had placed her hand over his mouth to prevent him from talking, he gave her a quizzical look before she sighed softly. "Call me Zelda, please." He hadn't realised that she was hurt by him calling her Princess, he didn't think it was that much of a deal. She slowly removed her hand and he moved around her to get a better look at the wound.
It wasn't anything major, it was only the very tip of the blade which had caught her skin. He reckoned it hurt badly, he figured in the long run she'd be more worried about her hair though. "Hold still.." He said softly, moving his hand up towards her neck. It began to glow a dull blue as he channelled Mipha's grace to heal the wound. She seemed to tense up, most likely because the healing magic was quite cold. It felt odd, being this close to her, he struggled with how he felt towards her, the memories offered little help to how either of them felt about each other. He sensed at times there was a spark between them, but he had no idea what transpired back then. He didn't think anything would've occurred. Back then, he was her knight and she was the Princess, anything past that was forbidden. He didn't know if she still saw such boundaries. He didn't know what to think about her, she was everything to him now, she was the person he had spent so long trying to locate, the only person who could tell him who he was.
He slowly took his hand away as the wound disappeared and Zelda sighed softly with relief. "How bad is it? The hair I mean." He glanced at her hair momentarily before she turned around to face him. "It's much shorter now, but it isn't terrible. You might want someone to even it out though." He watched her nod softly before looking down at the ground. "What's wrong?" He prompted softly, when she looked up there were tears in her eyes. She shook her head before wiping her eyes with the back of her head. She moved towards him, throwing her arms around him. He tensed up, they shouldn't be so close to each other. He sighed, there were no longer rules in place preventing such things, though he knew that it was likely best to keep some boundaries between them. He sighed softly, he shouldn't even be thinking about that. He slowly put his arms around her, something about this felt familiar, yet foreign. Just how everything felt.
"Sorry.. I just- I'm finding it hard to cope with everything.." He knew it would all be tough on her after everything she had been through, and seeing the result of their failure surely wasn't easy on her. She quietly laid against him for a moment. "I've lost so much, in ways I've lost you too.." He frowned, he wondered how much she had lost in losing him. He never seemed very expressive from what he could tell in the memories, but if she missed parts of him, he hoped someday he could find those pieces. "I'm sorry that you've lost all that you have, and I'm sorry that I'm not the same person that you knew, but at least you are alive now. At least you can focus on improving Hyrule." He felt her nod before she slowly pulled away from him. "Thank you, Link.." She looked into her eyes, he could see a burning intensity in her emerald orbs, one he felt he'd seen before. He watched as her face neared closer towards his, once he realised what she was doing he instinctively turned his head away.
"We should be heading back.." He said softly, he wasn't sure what had just happened. He didn't know why he had turned away or why she had tried to kiss him in the first place. When he looked at her again he felt saddened by what he saw, she looked so betrayed, so hurt. He gently took her hand in his and looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry.. I'm just confused right now, I don't know what to feel or how to react, my mind is just a mess." He squeezed her hand gently. "But I'm not saying that nothing can happen in the future." She seemed to brighten up a little with that. She nodded softly and got up to her feet. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that anyway." She replied, her tone still sounded hurt but she seemed a little better. "Let's be off." She sounded tired, he stood up before she took his hand, he wasn't sure if it was the best idea, but if it would comfort her then he supposed there wouldn't be anything wrong with that. And together they made their way back to the village in silence.