While going through a bit of a Legend of Zelda fic binge, I came across a couple of interesting ideas including but not limited to a few homesteading fics involving a post-Calamity Zelda and Link trying to make their way in the world after seemingly banishing Calamity Ganon. And I thought, hey, why not do one in my apparent style of writing?

Summary: "A man's home is his castle." Words that any man lives by. However, for Link, these words become literal after the defeat of Calamity Ganon and Princess Zelda requires temporary housing during the rebuilding of Hyrule. But in the end, will she want to leave?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my copy of MS Word and my desktop. Nintendo owns the Legend of Zelda franchise, I only own things said and the idea. See the foreword for the full disclaimer.

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This was it; this was the moment he was waiting for. Link summoned Revali's Gale and flew into the sky with the assistance of the glider he got from the specter of King of Hyrule. Time slowed for him as he let go of the glider and pulled out the Bow of Light and aimed it at the physical manifestation of Calamity Ganon's boar-like form's head. Or, more specifically, the giant orange angry-looking eye in the middle of its forehead. As the light arrow hit the eye, the Calamity reeled in pain and started to thrash about. Link landed on the ground in a roll. Something definitely got dislocated on impact. As he did, his eye exploded in a bright flash of golden light and that light flew into the sky in an orb before landing on the ground. The orb cleared to reveal a blonde-haired woman wearing a white dress. Link recognized her as Princess Zelda, a young woman that he only saw in his fragmented memories.

She glowed with an otherworldly golden light. He had seen this once before, that being when she had stood in front of him against an onslaught of Guardians and brought forth her Power of the Goddess to completely destroy them. The Calamity roared at her in an attempt to scare her off, but she didn't budge. She didn't even blink twice at him. Link felt a primordial fear but stood firm in his placement. The Calamity roared again and rose into the sky like it had been before Link had activated the first Sheikah Tower, and it charged at Zelda. She started to glow brighter until it was borderline blinding and he had to cover his eyes. In the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw the mythical Triforce appear in front of her. A gold sphere started to grow from it until it encompassed the Calamity in what would be best described as a golden sun. The golden sun then shrank into nothingness. The Calamity was gone.

The red sky that had been influenced by the Calamity's Malice had slowly changed back to the blue sky that he had remembered from his fragmented memories as well as mere hours before he faced the Calamity in the heart of Hyrule Castle. "I've been keeping watch over you all this time…," Zelda began as Link started to approach her, the Master Sword returned to its place on the small of his back. "I've witnessed your struggles to return to us as well as your trials in battle." Her voice was even more melodious in person. "I always thought- no, I always believed- that you would find a way to defeat Ganon." She turned around to face him. "I never lost faith in you over all these many years… Thank you, Link… the Hero of Hyrule."

"Thank you, your highness," Link responded. It was the only thing he could say, her voice matched her physical beauty.

"May I ask, do you really remember me?" she asked hopefully.

"A bit, I went to the places that were shown in the images on the Slate," Link replied as he pulled out the Slate. "I remembered the things and places before all of this. But not everything," he admitted.

The two of them stood in front of Hyrule Castle, its damaged and weathered ramparts leaving a depressing feeling in Zelda. "Perhaps your memories before the Calamity could be recovered just like this castle."

"Yeah, maybe so…" Link muttered, not entirely sure. Anything from before the Calamity was shrouded in shadows. The two of them started to walk away from the castle. Far above them, eyes watched them as they departed. Zelda turned around to look near the central spire of the castle and Link turned to see what she saw, but he saw nothing. "We should probably make our way to Kakariko Village. While Ganon may be gone, that doesn't mean his followers aren't."

"The home of the Sheikah?" Link nodded. "I agree, we would be safe there."

They headed to his horse and rode in tandem together from the Castle Town ruins, the Sacred Grounds, and Hyrule Field. During the slow ride, Zelda didn't say a word, she just took in the destruction and silence. As Link had arrived in the cover of darkness to scale the Castle ruins to reach the throne room, his battle with the Calamity had lasted that morning. At midday, he took a short rest, they were at least half-way to Kakariko as they pulled up to the Riverside Stable. Just over his shoulder, he could see the Great Plateau towering above in the distance.

"You haven't said a word since we left," Link remarked.

"It's just... so much to take in," Zelda replied somberly. "When I approached Ganon all those years ago, my mind was so narrowed that I didn't see the entirety of the destruction he wrought."

"Not even while you were watching over me?"

She shook her head. "I was too preoccupied with keeping Ganon at bay. The moments I spoke to you were moments that either I gained the upper hand momentarily and could rest, or he gained it and gloated." The horse trotted towards the stable itself and Link stopped before the stablemaster. "Why are we stopping?" she asked.

"Just a pitstop to resupply," he answered. He looked to the stablemaster, "Is Beedle in?"

The stablemaster adjusted his glasses and saw the young woman on the back of the horse and noticed one of his patrons. He also noticed that she was remarkably beautiful and wearing a white gown. Something that everyone noticed, but most paid no heed. "Master Link, you returned," he remarked. "I knew you headed towards the castle last night and thought you done for, with that giant boar and all that light over the hill. And you appear to have returned with a young maiden, did get married?" he laughed.

Zelda blushed at this comment. Now that she looked at it, her attire was… maidenly, something that one may wear on their wedding day. Although she saw her mother's dress, that ensemble was elaborate. "No, just an old friend I met on the way back," Link fibbed with an uncharacteristic smile she hadn't seen before. "Just stopping into resupply before hitting the road again."

The stablemaster waved him off and Link hitched his horse and helped Zelda down. While she normally didn't need assistance, the simple white gown and the looming exhaustion she was feeling were adding up, so she didn't fight it. "Why did he think we were married?" Zelda asked as they entered the stable's human living quarters.

"I attended a wedding not too long ago; they keep the attire simple. It's not like there's a booming textile industry to supply large swaths of material. Must've thought that was the case."

"You brushed it off so easily."

"Old Terrance is like that, he likes to mess with people in ways it doesn't hurt them," he waved in dismissal. "You can take a seat if you want," he said as he spotted the traveling merchant Beedle, "this won't take long."

She took a seat as she saw Link do business with the abnormally large-nosed man carrying a bag that looked way to massive for someone of his frame to carry. Link put forward a lot of monster parts, which the man happily handed over Rupees. Link then asked for things that the man set on his little table. There were a few things and they appeared to be arrows, cooking materials, and what looked like animal parts. He proceeded to look at her and eyed her up and down before asking for one more thing. She blushed in embarrassment as the man that she had an eye for eyed her in return. The traveling merchant reached into his pack and pulled out a set of clothing that had a blue hue to it. This seemed to be insufficient as a direct trade and Link pulled out more Rupees to pay it off. Once the merchant was satisfied with the amount of payment, he nodded and Link left with a pile of folded clothing.

He set the clothing on the table Zelda was sitting at. "What's this?" she asked. She knew what it was, more or less why he was giving it to her.

"Travelling clothes," he answered. She took them and saw that there was a pair of leggings, a shirt, and a cloak. "There's a changing room over there." He pointed towards a set of stalls near the entrance of the stable. She was about to ask why but Link continued. "What you're currently wearing isn't suitable for long distances. Plus, traveling clothes will make you more inconspicuous."

"Inconspicuous?" She knew what the word meant, but not what he was getting at.

He proceeded to talk in a hushed tone that only she could hear. "While the Calamity may be defeated, his minions, like the Yiga, are still out there and if they saw you defeat him in the gown you wear now, they may make an attempt on your life well before we can reach safe haven in Kakariko."

She nodded and went to the private booth where she proceeded to strip down and redress herself in the newly acquired clothing. The first thing that she noticed about it was that it was definitely not like the old clothing she used to wear, where it was luxurious yet durable. This was relatively comfortable but the primary purpose was for durability and utility, meant to last a long time before you were forced to replace it. 'Are things really that desperate?' she asked herself as she placed the hooded cloak on her shoulders.

She proceeded to fold her white gown, a possession that her mother once owned if what Impa had told her was correct, and exited the booth. She handed it to Link who placed it in his travel pack. They didn't dawdle there much longer, except to eat a small meal that Link procured from some of the ingredients he procured along his journey. It was like being back in the castle's kitchens once more with the Master Chef that she had watched when she was younger. It appeared that Link's skill in cooking was part survival and part learned skill that she suspected that he knew from before the Calamity. Not many words were said, mostly just her taking in the surroundings and how peaceful it was, and uncomfortably eerie. They climbed back upon Link's horse and continued to Kakariko.

Keeping a regular pace and keeping an eye on everything and nothing at the same time, they rode on. The countryside blew by in a litany of silence and nature. As they got closer to Kakariko, there were a few Sheikah tribesmen that waved to Link. He politely waved in return. It was almost sundown when they arrived in the village proper. The village itself had changed little in the one hundred years she was in the Sacred Realm fighting Ganon. It was almost like it was untouched by the Calamity itself. Either the Sheikah that were here a hundred years ago were proficient enough fighters to prevent damage to their village, or they were able to rebuild in such a way that anyone who was there during its destruction would have seen the current state as indistinguishable from the old one.

Link stopped the horse near a staircase that led to a building in the center of a lake that had waterfalls flowing behind it; she recognized it as being the main home of the clan head, the de facto mayor of Kakariko. He disembarked and Zelda followed. He handed the horse's reigns towards another Sheikah and he approached the two guardsmen. "We're here to see Impa," Link announced. The two looked to each other before shrugging and letting Link and Zelda pass. Zelda did raise an eyebrow at Impa's name being mentioned.

The duo climbed the stairs towards the building and a small gathering of Sheikah gathered to watch. They knew something was going on but didn't know what. Link opened the door and allowed Zelda to enter first. "Princess Zelda, it's been a long time since we last saw each other," Impa greeted. "After all these years, you've returned," she said with a smile.

"Impa?" Zelda asked as she approached her former handmaiden and bodyguard. "You're so…"

"Old?" she barked out in laughter. "That tends to happen as the sands of time fall. But time has been kind to you." She gestured towards one of the padded cushions in front of her current seat. "Come, we have much to discuss."

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Before I close this out, there was one scene that I wanted to cover as something to look forward to if I do decide to really cover this more in-depth; that being when Zelda is presented with duty versus personal happiness, what does she choose?

Zelda yawned as the golden rays of sunlight hit her face through the curtains in the bedroom's window. She slinked out of bed and felt the current chill in the air as she was only wearing sheer sleepwear. Finding her robe, she put it on as she walked down the set of stairs into the common room and saw that Link wasn't there. She slowly made her way to the house's door and moved along the relatively newly installed porch until she was in the back of Link's property where he was currently tending to his garden.

It had been two years since they had defeated Calamity Ganon, but only a year since she went campaigning around Hyrule to get the scattered bands of Hylians to unite under a single banner once more. Since then many things had changed, and other things were still in motion to still change. She looked across Hateno's overlook and saw even from this distance the fledgling new Castle Town was starting to wake up as business owners and new residents went about their business in the early morning. There were others busy preparing the arrival of their Queen and the official seat of government returning to Hyrule Castle. The way that this was performed was representatives from each race having a say in how the kingdom was run and then a central head who was more of a tiebreaker and figurehead, the royal family, would intervene. The council members knew that protecting the royal line was important and paramount for the continued survival of Hyrule and her citizens, but they also wanted to preserve the independence that the people had come to enjoy for all their lives, mainly the younger generation. It would have been extremely difficult for them to hand over the perceived freedoms that they had currently and to hand it over to an unknown monarch.

At that time, she came clean to Link, admitting that she loved him. And his response? He knew, he knew all along. He had read her diary and looked at his recovered memories in hindsight. And from that point forward they started to court each other, what the kids in this era started calling dating. As she watched Link work, she thought more about how peaceful this life was. No politics, no power plays, no Ganon. She knew that her bloodline, the bloodline of Hylia, had a responsibility to keep Ganon sealed away because of the Curse of Demise. She learned about this when she was in the Sacred Realm. Until the curse is broken, a reincarnation of the Goddess and Farore's chosen Hero of Courage will rise to fight against the reincarnation of Demise's hatred. And she only banished the Calamity, not break the curse. But at the same time, she wanted to live the simple life, that being one without world-ending responsibilities pushed on her. She wanted to stay here and enjoy what peace was here.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that Link was standing on the other side of the porch's railing. "Like what you see?" he teased with a smirk.

She blushed and formed a pout before she answered, "No, just lost in thought."

"What are you thinking about?"

"The future."

"That's vague," Link said as he leaned on the railing.

"Well…" she trailed, trying to find the words. "I don't know if I want to leave this life, but I know that my family has the responsibility to protect the Triforce and the land of Hyrule by relation. But I also want to pursue my own life goals."

"Follow your heart then."

"That's all?"

"Well, it's not like you like me telling you what to do." She raised an eyebrow. "Ok, outside of certain circumstances you don't like it." He returned to the point at hand. "Whenever you've set your mind on something, you go out to accomplish it."

To be continued…?

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That's all I have for now. I really wanted to get that second scene in as a potential scene to cover if I continue it. If I were to place it anywhere, it would be near the end of the story. The intent is that I would make the ending compliant with the eventual starting cutscene of Breath of the Wild 2. Of course, this would be a Zelda x Link story (ZeLink). The big series of events would be Zelda and Link trying to convince the rest of the people to unite once more after being their own city-states for a century. But this is just a short summary of what I would want to accomplish. That's all I really have for now. Let me know what you thought in the usual places. See you all next time in whatever I do next.