It was a new dream, yet still as vivid as the memories and nightmares plaguing him upon first waking in the fallen hero's body. The vast expanse of a forest, the Korok Forest, surrounded him in familiar lush greens and warm sunlight. The Children of the Forest peeked and watched from between the trees and grass, waiting eagerly for every move he made. Wild stood on the pedestal before the ever-gentle gaze of the Great Deku Tree, but his attention was not on him.

"Who are you?" The question slipped out from the Champion's tongue before he could stop it. His voice was high-pitched - too young to belong to someone who was a hundred and eighteen years old. "What is your name?"

Even under the midday sun, the sword was about his height and glowed in an ethereal light. However, his eyes did not focus on the weapon but on the floating spirit above its pommel. It took the form of a woman in blue and purple - her face angular and sharp, and her hair flowed past her shoulders. A part of Wild found this appearance strange, as if he was not used to seeing the spirit older than he last saw her. When was the last time he saw her? But at the same time, it felt right. It was a physical testament to the ages she had watched over before his existence.

"My Master Link…" The spirit's voice sounded strange, similar to Cherry's. However, hers was accompanied by a series of chimes that seemed to reflect the intonations of her words. "My name is Fi."

"Fi…" The name rolled easily on Wild's tongue. It was as if he was speaking an old friend's name. "Fi…Fi…"

"Yes, Master Link. That is correct." Fi had remained a steadfast figure amidst the changing times. Even now, her patience had known no bounds. "Master Link must not linger in this place any longer. You must return to the waking world."

"Why?" Wild tilted his head. "I like it here."

"The reason is that they need you, Master Link. Your past lives need you." Fi answered. "The Hero of Time lives. I could sense all of my masters alive in this era. None has perished at the hands of your blackened reflection."

"Huh? I-I don't understand…."

"You must remember, Master Link." The sword spirit urged. "We shall meet again soon."

"W-Wait! Fi-!"

Wild tried to reach for her, but the ground beneath him caved in. His world flipped around as he fell into the sinkhole. He braced himself for the impact, expecting to hear and feel the crunch of his bones as his body finally hit the bottom. Instead, he found himself submerged in darkness. His body was no longer a teen's but the scarred body that once housed the Hero's Spirit. The dream earlier had already fallen away from his grasp.

Ah. This is…

Wild had recently started to dislike waking up. He always felt like he was rising from an ocean's depths, almost eerily similar to the healing waters of the Shrine of Resurrection. His body felt heavy and light simultaneously, just like his soul was there and nowhere. It was a strange sensation, yet something about it felt oddly relieving. The Champion felt exhausted and weakened as if he was living one timeline before being torn into three and abruptly forced into one again. It was his momentary haven from lifetimes of tribulations before he breached the surface of the conscious world.

However, this time, Wild was not alone. There are voices around him - most he could not remember their owners, yet familiar. He struggled to listen to them, but they were jumbled and faint. He could only catch wisps of words that barely made sense to him. Still, broken as they may be, the emotions within them remained raw as the moment they were spoken.

"I have scattered the seeds of the future…."

"What about you, Link? What will you do now?"

"Don't ever forget me... If you do, I'll never forgive you!"

"Link…I…See you later…."

"Farewell, my friend…."

Wild wanted to dive back and search the depths for the voices. They were not part of the real Link's memories, which he is sure of. Then, whose? Who are they? But the surface was a breath away, and when his eyes fluttered open, he saw a blurry world. Fog? Rain? He felt something wet on his cheeks and shakily patted his skin.

Was he…crying? The Champion tried to sit up with difficulty and rubbed his eyes with his sleeves. Why was he crying? He could not remember, but it was not something new. He took a shaky breath and rolled to his side, half-expecting to see Twilight already on his way to check on him. Instead, he was greeted with a pair of red eyes.

Four…no, Red stared at him with wide eyes before abruptly rising from his seat and dashing out of a building suspiciously similar to the inn in Rito Village. Scratch that. Now that Wild had his bearings straight, he could tell he was in the village. When did he get here? How did he get here?

Before Wild could call out and ask someone, Red scrambled back inside and pounced at him. An Oof! escaped his lips as the shorter hero nearly knocked out the air in his lungs. He was about to question what had gotten into the red-eyed hero when the rest of the Colors appeared in his view.

"WILD!"

The Hero of the Wild found himself buried under three bodies a second later, nearly suffocating him with their combined hold across his torso. The purple-eyed persona of the Hero of the Four Sword stood back, shaking his head at his brothers' antics. If Wild was confused before, he was more now. He had the opportunity to meet the Colors before when Four shared a secret only he and Time knew. It is the Smith's most kept secret, or at least, that is what he claimed, and the Champion made a promise to keep it close to his heart. So, he did.

The question must be clear on his face when Vio mouthed a Later as he sat down beside the pile of heroes. His brothers let go of the Champion, but not without a punch on the stomach from Blue. Wild flashed him a betrayed look that asks Why? as he instinctively curled to rub and protect his stomach from any more attempts. He did not know what he did, but whatever it was, it was enough to warrant such an affectionate gesture from the blue-eyed hero.

"They've been worried about you," A familiar voice spoke up. "All of us are."

Wild's eyes widened when he saw Zelda walk up to where they were, and an inevitable realization struck him. The events of before and a faraway nightmare flashed in his mind's eye. However, before sorrow, panic, and guilt embedded into his chest like a red-hot blade, a pair of hands slapped against his cheeks. The Champion flinched at the sting of pain and met the burning eyes of the purple-eyed hero.

"It's not your fault." Vio told him sternly. His voice brooked no space for arguments or doubt. It was as if he sensed the storm that the Champion's thoughts had started to brew. "So, stop it and take a breather. Blaming yourself wouldn't save anyone. Much less protect them afterward."

If the other Colors were stunned by the sudden pep talk from their usually aloof brother, they did not comment. Instead, they seemed to fully agree with Vio's statement. "We'll find them, Wild," Green assured him. "And we're going to find them together. No one's going to be left behind. Okay?"

"Like Green said!" Red chirped. "We're going to save our brothers!"

"Of course, any information would be helpful." Blue pointed out. "Like, maybe, I don't know? If you met Time and what happened to him? What happened to you before the evil portal got you? Or -"

"Blue!" Green admonished. "Not now!"

"What? I'm right, though."

Wild barely heard their bickering over the swell of emotions in his chest. He did not know which one to latch on to - each feeling intricately connected with the other. It is strange and confusing, yet he could not find himself hating it. Instead, the Champion focused on the warm palms against his skin to anchor himself. He suddenly felt weary, but it was not the bad kind of exhaustion he had grown accustomed to. It felt nice, like the pleasant sleepiness that settled on your bones during a warm and sunny day. He does not mind it. Not at all.

"...Wild?"

The hero's eyes fluttered open. He could not remember when he had closed them again. "'M fine." He murmured, and it was the truth. "Thank you…."

Vio gently thumbed his cheeks. "Take your time. You don't need to rush yourself. We'll wait."

The Champion nodded mutely, and the purple-eyed hero allowed him to rest his head on his shoulder. He sighed, letting the relief of knowing Four's personas are here flood his chest. The others might still be nowhere to be found, but he consented himself to a moment of peace with the Colors' presence. He must have fallen into a nap at some point, and when he opened his eyes once more, the other heroes were gone. Despite that, the Champion felt no dread at their absence, as if he knew that they were somewhere nearby. They are safe here. No one is going to hurt them here. His hazy focus shifted on the delicate hand carding through his hair, and his eyes landed on the princess sitting by his bedside.

"Zelda…"

A kind smile graced the princess' features - one that made butterflies flutter in Wild's chest. No matter how many times the Champion has seen it, he would never tire of seeing that smile. "Hello, Link. Did you sleep well?"

"Mmm…" Wild leaned into her palm when it rested on his cheek. "'Sorry… I'm sorry for ignoring you earlier."

"It can't be helped. You care for them a lot, don't you?" Zelda told him, but he could easily tell that she was being considerate of him by pushing her questions aside for his sake. "I had spoken with Sir Vio about what had transpired on the Great Plateau weeks ago and what your quest entailed. It seemed the Goddess got you tangled into unwanted trouble again. Remind me to give her a piece of my mind on your behalf the next time we visit any of the springs."

Wild let out a tired sigh. "I know I shouldn't be the one saying this, but…don't do anything rash, Zel."

"I believe we're past that." The princess reminded him. There was a twinkle in her eyes that the Champion knows too well. "I've done my fair share of madness under your tutelage, and I can confirm you've influenced me beyond just shield-surfing in the Hebra Mountains. You can ask Purah for her input if you want."

The Hero of the Wild did not need to confirm with the de-aged Sheikah scientist because he had seen it firsthand. His memories with the princess were not all self-loathing - he had instigated and encouraged many activities that would have given Twilight a heart attack if the Rancher had been there to witness them. Who would have thought that the princess groomed to be prim and proper has a wild side?

The Champion could only imagine the reaction of King Rhoam from a century ago if he were to learn about his daughter's future antics. He will probably put a bounty over his head, and Wild would have tried offering the princess a chance to escape from the gilded cage she was locked in. If Zelda agrees, they will run far away, maybe to another continent outside the king's reach. Of course, that would be impossible since he would not have existed at that time, but still…

"What are you thinking?"

Wild hesitated and gingerly pried her hand away. He sat up, ignoring the soreness in his muscles that he failed to register earlier, and cradled her delicate hand between his rough palms. If she wished to pull away, he would not stop her. "I'm thinking of…of how I should apologize to you. I've dragged you into my mess again, even though I'm not the Link you know one hundred years ago. Zelda, I -"

"I think you should stop there."

The hero flinched when he saw the look Zelda was giving him and promptly shut his mouth. The princess did not feel a bit guilty about it. If anything, she was more exasperated than ever. She was accustomed to Link being dense at times, but to think he could be this oblivious to the obvious. She just wanted to smack him sometimes and tell him up front what he was missing. However, that would be too easy, and well, she admits she finds it cute whenever he was thinking too hard on things right in front of him. Plus, Zelda knows him well enough to tell he was lying. It seems being a terrible liar is a common trait among the heroes.

The princess placed her other hand over his and held his reluctant gaze. "Link, I think you're mistaken. I think you've been mistaken since you woke up in the Shrine of Resurrection." She said. "You're the same Link that I know one hundred years ago. Sure, you're different now, but that's because you're free to be yourself than when you were still my personal knight. My stand on the matter hasn't wavered and, instead, strengthened in the light of new evidence on hand. I can confidently tell you that even the other heroes agree with me on this."

The Hero of the Wild frowned at that. "Who? Four? But I already told him -"

"You told him, but it doesn't mean that he fully believes in it," Zelda said. "Not when that happened."

The Champion grew only more confused. "What what happened?"

The princess shook her head. "I think you should ask him instead of me. He, or rather, they are the ones directly involved with it. The least I did was watch from the sidelines as it happened. It isn't within my capacity to stop it, no matter how much I try."

"So, you must ask them, Link." Zelda urged. "This is something that only you could settle. Maybe not now, but perhaps, soon. I simply ask for you to be open to the possibility. To the possibility that your assumption about your real identity was wrong and that you really do have the Hero's Spirit. The very same spirit that the heroes of the old share." She squeezed his hand - an action that spoke louder than her own words. "But know that whatever happens, whatever the conclusion you draw at the end, I'll be there. I'll stay by your side no matter what happens. That I can promise you."

Wild felt his throat close up at that. Why is she doing this? What part of him not being the real hero difficult to understand? Why does everyone, even Dark Link, insists he has the Hero's Spirit? He does not understand. Does he even want to understand? His head hurt just thinking about it, and there was a faint desperation to try remembering the dream he had before waking up. Zelda must have noticed his distress and gently withdrew her hands from his.

"You should rest some more, Link." The princess told him as she ushered him to lay down again. "I'll wake you up later to eat something more solid. You haven't had any proper meal since you collapsed."

"How long…?"

"A week."

Zelda did not elaborate as she tucked him with a blanket. She brushed his bangs away and pressed a kiss on his forehead - a gesture that would have him blushing if he were any stronger than he is right now. His soul felt tired and heavy, as if he had worn himself down in some spiritual activity that he inadvertently initiated but could not remember. Before sleep could completely overtake the hero, he reached out to weakly grasped the princess' wrist. He had failed to notice her wide eyes as if she had witnessed something he could not see.

"Zelda…Hyrule, Epona," Wild yawned. "A lake...Faron. Tell Four and…and find them."

Despite the slight waver in her voice, Zelda managed a smile. She tried not to stare at the dim green-gold glow in his eyes. "...A-Alright. I will tell him." She promised. "So, sleep. You'll need your energy."

The Champion hummed quietly in response. The princess quietly watched over him as he quickly drifted back to a fitful sleep. She could only pray that he would not have any nightmares. Otherwise…well, that was something she would keep to herself. For now. She had enough of fate and divine bullshit for a lifetime, and if it came to that point, she would fight tooth and nail for what she, Link, and everyone else in these lands deserve. Zelda will protect everything she holds dear this time. She will not fail the second time in a new duty that she chose for herself.

Consequences be damned.