No matter how many times she asked, Link wasn't answering her, but she persisted nonetheless, determined to get an answer out of him. "Link, please. Just tell me where we're going." She tried to sound resilient, as though she wouldn't take no for an answer, but even she knew that she had failed. "You'll find out when we get there." He repeated, she groaned with frustration before crossing her arms and silently trodding behind him. As they moved through the village she caught wafts of freshly baked bread, and the smell of home cooking. She smiled a little at that, she often enjoyed smelling the wide array of dishes that were cooked in the castle each time she passed by the kitchen. As far as she could tell, the kitchen was now blocked off, or destroyed completely. She supposed she was grateful for that, if Link had stumbled upon a kitchen stacked with food, she reckoned he never would have left it.
They made their way towards new houses, the architecture was.. questionable to say the least. She wondered if he was taking her into one of these places, just looking at them gave her a headache. She sincerely hoped he wasn't, and she was glad to see that he wasn't, for he had passed by them completely. They came to a bridge, which led to a solitary house. She recalled Link explaining that this house had been gifted to him by the people a century ago.
"Link, is this house yours?" She inquired briefly, perhaps he had recalled some memories to do with this house on his travels. "Indeed it is, it was ready for demolition, and I figured I may as well salvage it and have a base of operations. Or rather just a place to store all my food." She giggled lightly before allowing her hands to fall to her sides. "Do you know who the previous owner was?" She glanced at him, watching as he shook his head. "I can't recall anyone saying. Supposedly they travelled to the castle and were never heard of again." She nodded softly, his statement was correct. His destiny had whisked him away from his home, and he never made it out to return. "That was you, Link. You owned this house a century ago." He gave her a suspicious look as they made it to the other side of the bridge. "You're pulling my leg." He responded before walking up towards the entrance. "I'm afraid not. The people of the village gifted this to you for your hard work and dedication, and for bringing more attention to Hateno." She explained before he unlocked the door.
She noted that there was a sign which had Link's name written on it, and there was a cooking pot underneath a tree. That didn't surprise her, of course he had a cooking pot. She expected the place to be a bit of a mess perhaps, from a combination of Link constantly adventuring and from the fact that she didn't see Link as a home decorator. So she was pleasantly surprised when she was greeted by an organised interior.
The first thing that hit her was a neatly decorated tale. There was a set of flowers as the centrepiece with two sets of cutlery and two chairs. She then directed her eyes to the rest of the room. There were weapon mounts it seemed. From what she could tell, he had collected and kept the weapons which belonged to the Champions long ago. There were also weapons which she was unfamiliar with, they gave of a dull blue glow, signs of ancient technology, which intrigued her.
She approached the frames and carefully removed one of the blades. She examined it closely before glancing at Link. "Is this Sheikah Technology?" She inquired, looking at the intricate designs and watching small sparks of blue flame emit from the short sword. "It is, Robbie actually managed to use knowledge of the ancient technology and began to craft weapons such as that. They're rather powerful, but they work best against Guardians." She gently placed the sword back on its holder before looking around the room some more. There were some kitchen appliances hanging on the wall with a few pots, containers and bottles. Next to that was a bookshelf which seemed to have more drawers attached to it. There were boxes under a stairway it seemed, she wondered what was on the upper layer.
"Your home is rather lovely Link, did you decorate it yourself?" She tilted her head to the side and leaned her hand on the corner of the table. "I didn't actually, the company which wished to demolish it offered to renovate it, to which I agreed. After their work was completed, all I needed to do was keep it in good shape." She nodded thoughtfully, he had certainly kept it in order despite his absence. She yawned softly, her fatigue catching up with her. He appeared to notice as he gestured towards the stairs. "If you want to catch some sleep you're more than free to do so, there's a bed upstairs." She smiled weakly before frowning. "Where will you sleep?" She inquired, she didn't wish to take his bed. "I'll just get a sleeping bag." She shook her head, he couldn't just sleep on the floor, she refused to allow it. "Link-" "Zelda, please. Just take it. I'm not even that tired yet." She rolled her eyes before sighing defeatedly. "Fine, but I won't be too long." She huffed before looking over at him, he had a small smile resting on his lips, which caused her own lips to smile in response. "Thank you." She told him quietly before making her way to the stairs.
She ascended the stairway, watching the upper loft come into view. She stood at the top for a moment, taking in everything. There were two desks, one seemed to be used primarily for studying whilst the other held a few photos of some locations found across Hyrule. Most of them were insignificant, just nice pictures taken of the landscape. But one stood out from the rest and brought some tears to the girl's eyes. She delicately reached out and took the photo from the wall, examining it. She recalled having Purah take this photo many years ago, one with her, Link and the other Champions. Things were much simpler back then, she had her whole life ahead of her. Of course, at that time she was stubborn and despised Link, but things got better from that point on.
She wondered briefly how things would have turned out if she had unlocked her powers sooner, everyone might have lived if they attacked Ganon fast enough, her and Link would have gotten the life they wanted, a life only she knew of now. With a shaky sigh she placed the photo back up on the wall before looking around the loft once more. There wasn't much else to note so she made her way over to the bed. She removed her boots before laying down on the soft mattress. It was rather nice, it wasn't like her old bed but it was of a better standard than most of the normal beds found in stables. She made herself comfortable before closing her eyes, soon drifting off and falling asleep.
Nightmares, they couldn't be escaped anymore. So many years of torture plagued her still. She was having one of her most frequent nightmares, one where they were back on Blatchery Plain, and Link was fading away in her arms. She was forced to watch him almost die over and over until hours later she woke up with a start. There were arms around her she noticed, Link's arms. He was sitting up and holding her. "Shh.. you're safe now.." He whispered softly. She felt herself calming down somewhat as she swallowed a lump in her throat. "I know.." She told him quietly, gently leaning back into him. He seemed to tense up a little, as usual, but he soon relaxed. She just silently laid against him, trying to sort out her thoughts.
She was grateful for his presence, at least he still cared in some way. She glanced up at him, he seemed tired. His eyes were half open, but a gentle smile rested on his soft lips. "You should get some rest." She offered, sitting up straight and turning around to face him. "I'd love to argue but I don't have the energy." She giggled lightly before standing up. "I'll be fine, and I wont break anything." Link just nodded softly, he seemed to fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. She smiled sadly before looking at his study. Tenaciously, she approached the desk, taking a seat.
She opened one of the drawers and pulled out a book. It was a book which she hadn't recalled reading, it must have been published within the last century. She noted that it was about the various ruins found across Hyrule. She curiously opened the book up and began to read.
Some 400 pages later, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Link had woken up. A small smile appeared on her lips as she closed the book. "Open your eyes." She hummed gently before looking over at him as he sat up. "I am the light." He responded sleepily. "How did you sleep?" She inquired, standing up and making her way over to the bed, sitting down on the end of it. "Quite well, I certainly needed it." He gave her a smile as he spoke, she knew how badly he needed it. "I had a dream actually." She raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what he had dreamt about. "It was about you." She felt a heat rush to her cheeks as she looked away briefly. "What happened?" She asked quietly, trying to hide the joy from her voice. "We were in the desert, back when you were being attacked by the Yiga clan." She looked back up at him, she recalled that day well. He seemed somewhat embarrassed to continue. "Well, after I saved you.. we.." She felt butterflies in her stomach as she waited for him to finish his sentence. "We kissed afterwards." She blushed more, she was unsure if that was a memory resurfacing, or if it was just a figment of his imagination.
"We did.." She whispered softly, nervously fidgeting with her hands. "What do you mean?" He asked softly, she sensed him move closer to her. "I mean, that after you saved me, we did kiss. You just don't remember it." She responded shyly, avoiding his gaze. She felt his hand take hers and she looked at him silently. The conflict in his eyes seemed to have disappeared. "You're not going to back out this time, are you?" She asked softly, she didn't receive an answer, instead she received a kiss. His lips pressed against hers firmly, it was a feeling she had only dreamed of feeling again, but now it was a reality, he was kissing her again. She leaned against him, melting into the kiss.
Suddenly, she felt him stop, she opened her eyes, his were already wide open and looking off to the side. She gently pulled away with confusion. "Is everything alright?" He shook his head. "I need a minute.." He whispered before getting up and walking downstairs, a minute later she heard the door close, leaving her alone. She wondered what had just happened, she couldn't even comprehend what may have been the matter. She decided to wait until he was ready.
They were kissing, it was divine. Her lips were so soft, and the way she leaned against him for support was perfect too. He couldn't help but feel that this had happened before, he didn't remember it, but his body did. They continued to kiss each other, he never wanted it to end, but then something changed. He paused briefly as his mind was overwhelmed, these were memories. A lot of memories. "Is everything alright?" He didn't realise she had pulled away until she spoke. "I need a minute.." He explained quietly before quickly getting up.
He made his way downstairs before exiting the house, taking a deep breath. He sat down and dangled his legs over the edge of the small cliff face, resting his head in his hands as so many memories flooded his mind. He remembered everything. Everything from when he was a young boy, all the way up to his final moments. And he realised now how much he had lost. However, his low mood was quickly picked up by memories of Zelda. He didn't even know that such an intense love could exist, and he had shared that with none other than the girl he fell in love with once again. He felt peaceful, he felt whole again. Everything he had been searching for since waking up had finally come back to him, and it was better than he ever could have imagined.
He heard the door open behind him, he turned his head, seeing Zelda leaning against the frame of the door. "I've given you many minutes now." She explained softly, he nodded, knowing she was probably wondering why he had left all of a sudden. "I've had enough now." He patted the ground next to him and she made her way over to him, settling down on the grass next to him. "I remember." He began, noticing her glance at him out of the corner of his eye. "What do you remember?" He smiled shyly as he looked down at the water below them. "Everything." He responded, he heard a small gasp escape her mouth, he turned to look at her, her face had lit up with joy. "Link, that's wonderful!" She thrust her arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly. He returned the embrace and rested his hands on her back. "I love you, Zelda." He whispered into her ear, she giggled at that. He was unsure if she found it surreal or if his breath had tickled her ear. "I love you too, Link." She responded, also whispering.
They held onto each other for a few more moments before they pulled away and gazed into each other's eyes. "There's something I wish to show you." He broke the silence between them. "And what's that?" She inquired, tilting her head. "You'll have to wait and see." He teased before getting to his feet. He took out his Sheikah Slate as she stood up. He frowned slightly, all the travel gates had been shut off. He assumed that the disappearance of Ganon had caused them to shut off, for their purpose was complete. He instead selected a rune, one which would prove quite useful for traversing the land. He pointed the Slate where he wished to summon the vehicle before tapping on the screen.
"Link, what in the name of Hylia is that?" He glanced at her, a grin playing on his lips. "It's called the Master Cycle Zero." He responded nonchalantly before making his way over to the bike. "Hop on." He stated simply before seating himself on the saddle. She took her time walking over to the foreign vehicle. He certainly knew that she would be curious, there was no information which spoke of such a creation. She carefully sat down behind him, placing her hands around his waist and holding onto him. He twisted the handle, hearing the motor purr gently. "Hold on tightly!" He exclaimed before pulling on the handle and allowing the machine to move forwards.
They had been travelling for a little over an hour now, they had just passed Fort Hateno. "Link, where are you taking me?" She was giggling constantly, clearly enjoying the speed at which they were travelling. Her grip on him had weakened after some time as she became more comfortable. "Right up there." He pointed at the top of the mountain which was positioned in front of him, Dueling Peaks. "Seriously?" She inquired, he nodded at that. He was aware that she may be apprehensive of climbing, but he knew that it would be worthwhile. "I've heard and seen that the sunset up there is rather stunning." He explained, he recalled the first time he had travelled up the Mountain. He had stayed at the stables the day beforehand after leaving Kakariko. He was trying to determine which Divine Beast would be best to free first. He decided a vantage point would have been useful, so he scaled the steep mountain.
The view that had met him was incredible, and he wished to share that experience with Zelda. "You'd better not be lying." Some time later they arrived at the foot of the climb. Zelda was looking up at the peak, seemingly worried about the climb. "Just trust me. I'll stay below you so that if you fall I'll catch you." He wished to convince her, it would be nice for them just to relax and enjoy themselves. Eventually they would need to return to Purah and discover why the moon continued to be affected by malice, and they would need to sort out the mess that this kingdom was. "Very well then." She huffed before making her way towards the rock. She carefully began to scale the wall. Her progress was slow, but steady. She seemed quite capable of climbing the entire thing as long as she spared her energy and took her time.
They were climbing for the next hour, Zelda seemed to be struggling as they neared the top, but she also seemed determined. A few minutes later they arrived at the summit, Zelda seemed rather out of breath as she began to catch her breath, leaning against the dull exterior of the shrine with rested there. "Link.. why would you.. do this..?" He smiled softly as she walked over to her, taking her hand gently. "We're not done just yet." She glared at him, clearly unsatisfied with such a statement. He led her over to another small cliff face, she sighed with disgust. "Trust me, it will be worth it." She shook her head before beginning to climb the small incline. He scaled it alongside her, waiting to see her reaction. They made their way to the very top and he heard her gasp. "Oh Link.. it's beautiful.." He watched her pained expression turn into one of wonder as she gazed at the sunset as well as the kingdom which belonged to them. He placed his arm around her and she leaned into him. "It really is." He whispered quietly before kissing the top of her head. They stood together and watched as the sun faded in the horizon. And for the first time in their entire lives, everything felt okay.