Link's POV:

The sun is slowly rising, the birds are starting to chirp, the wildlife is awake before anyone in the village, except for me and—

"Liiiink,"

"What?"

"Did we have to wake up so early?" Zelda groans, "I told you to sleep in," She huffs, "As if I would let you go alone, when I'm the reason you're doing this," "Purah would have guilted me to do this anyways," I laugh, Zelda yawns and stretches out her body.

"Has Purah always been so…bossy?" Zelda asked, "You're asking the guy who lost his memories?" I say jokingly.

"Well she's always been on the eccentric side, but she's a genius nonetheless, I wonder if her irritable attitude has to do with the age reversal?" she asks herself. "Who's the genius here?" I say jokingly. I laugh as I hear her stuttering through her words. We continue making our way to the hill where the ancient furnace is.

"Incredible…" Zelda stares in awe of the never ending blue flame, she looks…cute. "You got the torch?" I ask, she nods excitedly. She quickly takes a torch out of the slate, still amazed at its storage capacity. She holds onto the now manifested item and carefully places it in front of the fire. She continues to stare into the flame, and reaches her hand close to the fire, I instinctively grab it out of the way,

"What are you doing?" I ask confused.

"I—wanted to know if it was cold," she laughs nervously,

"Zelda,"

"What is it?"

"It's…fire," I accentuated.

Though I guess I…can't get too mad. I probably shouldn't mention that I tried to touch it when I first found it too…I see Zelda playfully roll her eyes as she lifts the torch now fully burning. "Alright, let's get going," she says proudly. "Want me to carry it?" I offer. She keeps the torch out of my reach and we head back into the village. Nebb and Karin notice us immediately and start following us staring in awe of the blue flame.

"Hey Mister," Nebb says, I turn around, "Yeah?" he points to the flame, "Where are you and Miss Lady taking that?" I pointed up to Purahs observatory. "Wow! Are you gonna see that girl that lives up there?" I keep it inconspicuous and shrug my shoulders. Zelda walks to a nearby lantern and lights it for Nebb and Karin. They begin dancing around the fire, no longer paying any attention to us, she smiles at their joy for a moment, and we continue our walk. Heading up and climbing the hill, I see Azu, another one of the village kids, hiding behind a large tree…again, he looks over to us and notices us and yells,

"Hey!"

It startles Zelda, dropping the torch, he rushes to try to stomp out the flame, and I quickly pick it up before he can get to it. "What do you think you're doing?" Zelda argued. Glad I can count on her to get upset on my behalf.

"Listen Lady—" he begins, I glare at the kid, he must feel my stare because he quickly changes his phrasing, "Uh I-I mean Miss, please don't interfere with our plan!" he demands. "Plan?" I ask, annoyed. When another familiar village kid runs down from his post nearby, "Yeah! We're gonna finally catch that Sheikah girl!" he said. I arch a brow in confusion and look over to Zelda who is just as confused.

"Sefaro, why would you want to do that?" I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose in pure annoyance. "We extinguished that blue fire that was sitting outside of her house to see if she would come out, and it was only an older guy!" Azu explained. I sighed, "What made you two think that would work?" I ask, they look at each other and shrug their shoulders, "You two should think about what your actions do to other people! What if you actually hurt that little girl's feelings?" Zelda says sternly.

"We just wanna be friends with her!" Sefaro retorts. "What makes you think she wants to be friends with you now?" I say, they look at each other and have frowns on both of their faces. Azu slightly punches Sefarnos shoulder, "I told you it was a bad idea…"

"Don't tell my dad Mister! Please!" Sefaro begged.

"Do you wish to make things right with her?" Zelda asks sincerely. They both look at each other and nod in defeat. "Then let's get going!" they both nod and run up ahead of us, excited to hopefully meet Purah and have a chance to make things right with her, I lean over to Zelda and whisper to her,

"You think she's gonna talk to them?"

"Perhaps, maybe she'll make them her errand boys and you'll finally be off the hook," she giggles, "Wouldn't that be a happy ending?" I chuckle.

We make it to Purahs observatory, and I place the torch in front of the furnace, still wary of Sefarno and Azu being so nearby, I'm hoping that they aren't just kidding around and are still wanting to extinguish the fire. The furnace lights up and the teleportation medallion on the ground lights up again. I hear Purah cheering from the inside, and immediately the two boys get extremely excited. They start to knock on the door, and Symin comes out extremely annoyed just by seeing their faces.

"You two! You better—"

"We're very sorry Mister!" they interrupted, and bowed their heads apologetically.

"We just really wanted—"

"To be friends with—"

"The Sheikah girl!" they said together.

Symin looked like he didn't know what to say, and was even more confused to see that they were accompanied by us. "M-Master Link or uh, P-Princess what do you suggest we do—"

"Friends you say?" a familiar voice said, the door opened up slowly and out walked Purah still in her child form.

"Weell if you wanna be friends…you can start… by NOT VANDALIZING MY PROPERTY!" she yelled nearly scaring Azu and Sefaro off. But they hold their ground.

"Wow!" Azu shouted excitedly.

"It's really her!" Sefaro says in awe.

"In the flesh yah HAPPY NOW?!" she pouts, "Do you maybe wanna play a game with us?" Azu asked, "Sure, how about hide and seek? I'll hide, and you DON'T seek," Purah said coldly. "We're really sorry we extinguished your flame!"

"Please don't be mad at us!"

"Director, do we have time for thi–"

"That sounds like a cool game!" Sefaro cheers, Azu looks to him in confusion, "What would the game 'Director' even be? Don't be stupid!"

"I'm not playing ANY games!" Purah says, she looks down to her feet and rolls her eyes, looking at me and Zelda, and sighs. "But I GUESS I'll go ahead and forgive you THIS time. Since Linky and Zeldy brought me the flame back," she said. "R-Really!?" they both ask. "DON'T GET ANY IDEAS!" Purah defends.

"Can we come by tomorrow and play?" Azu asks,

Purah and Symin look at each other, and she has an unsure look on her face, "We'll see…" she says.

"I can't wait to tell my dad about this!" Sefaro says as they both wave and walk back down to the village. With their curiosity now satisfied.

Purah huffs, "Now that THAT'S out of the way, lets get inside!" she bosses. Zelda looks over to me, a bit concerned. "Guess I'm not off the hook yet," I joke with her, it seems to lighten her mood and I open the door for her and the rest of us.

Inside, the guidance stone is glowing bright blue, the giant ancient core is attached to the guidance stone. It doesn't look secured at all, but still attached with ancient screws and bolts, it's making a loud vibrating noise that I feel under my boots. Purah jumps in excitement. "Don't look so worried Linky! With this giant core, I'll be able to stabilize the ruins rays, and HOPEFULLY get my age right this time! Symin!" she snaps her fingers and Symin responds to her attentively. "Yes Director!"

"Is everything ready? We're about to put on a show for the Princess and Linky!" "Purah, are you sure this is safe? This looks a bit…rushed," Zelda interjects. Purah does a twirl and snaps her fingers, "Don't worry Princess! Once I'm back to my adult self, I have just the answer to your woes!" Zelda looked a bit taken aback, had Purah already figured out what was going on with the Divine Beasts? Symin places Purahs Sheikah slate on the guidance stone and accepts it. Purah stands directly in front of the guidance stone. Zelda begins to step forward but I hold out my arm deterring her from getting anywhere close to where the rays could land, putting myself in front of her for good measure.

Guidance Stone Updating…

Object Rewind+ Initiating…

Point Sheikah Slate to the object for time rewind…

Please do not stare directly into rays…

The vibrating from the guidance stone intensified, it felt like the whole house was shaking. Zelda holds on my shoulder for leverage, or nervousness. We both couldn't take our eyes away from Purah, were we the only ones slightly concerned? Symin looks just as giddy as Purah, the guidance stone and the Sheikah slate change from a calming blue to a bright yellow, Symin picks up the slate off the stone, the ancient core beside the stone is shaking violently, I can only guess its energy is now being used as an amplifier maybe? Purah begins to cheer happily.

"Alright! That's the stuff!" Purah says excitedly. "Are you ready Director?"

"Hit me! Snaap!" she snaps,

"Snaap!" Symin follows,

Well…at least they're confident, I hear a small nervous whisper behind me, "Snaap…" I turn my head to look towards Zelda, she covers her mouth in embarrassment and I chuckle, "Try it again," I whisper, she smiles and nods.

"Snaap!" We say in unison.

Purah and Symin look towards us with a big grin, and Symin points the glowing Slate towards Purah and taps on the screen and two bright rays exit out the top of the Slate and engulfs Purah. As he holds the slate steady, the vibration gets increasingly louder and a ringing sound begins to emit from the giant core. I see that it's beginning to shake even more than before and looks like it's about to come loose as smoke begins to form around the core. "Symin I think the core is—" I begin to say, as I walk towards the core.

When I hear a loud boom and white flash floods the room,

"LINK!" Zela shouts, I can't see a thing, there's a piercing ringing in my ears. Am I dead? No…I've died once, I don't think this is it. I feel a tug on my shoulders pull me away from the guidance stone and hear coughing sounds that are coming through the overwhelming ringing. I brush my hand through my hair holding my head, trying to concentrate on getting my senses back.

"Well, well, well! Would you look at that!"

"Director! The experiment…"

"Was a SUCCESS!"

"Purah…you're…" I hear Zelda's voice near me. My vision begins to come back to me slightly blurred. "It worked…?" I rub my head, still a bit dazed from the flash. When I begin to come too, I feel Zelda holding me securely, tugging on my tunic. I'm about to look up to see what's going on with Purah but Zelda quickly covers my eyes. It makes me take a step back instinctively, almost tripping on her.

"W-What's going on?" I ask as I reach for her hand to gently remove it, but she doesn't budge.

"T-Trust me…" she whispers, wait…if Purah was a child…and if it worked then that means she probably needs—

"Symin, get my old lab coat, CHOP CHOP!" a familiar voice says, paired with snapping. "R-Right away Director!" Symin sounds nervous and begins to rummage through some boxes. "Wow! I look amazing! With this, Hyrule has a chance to advance its knowledge in Sheikah technology!"

"Purah, your prowess…is undeniable," Zelda says nervously. "Thank you Princess for your contribution to science!" Purah says pridefully.

"Found your lab coat Director! I'll go find your other clo—"

"Ah thank you Symin! Couldn't have done this without you!" she says cheekily, followed by some shuffling sounds, "Linky you can look now, you pervert,"

Pervert? "I am not—" when suddenly when my vision is granted back to me, and I see an adult Purah with just a long lab coat covering most of her bare body, I feel embarrassed instantly and turn away this time willingly placing my hand over my eyes.

"…congratulations…" I want to leave immediately.

Zelda's POV:

Link stepped out of the laboratory he said he needed to, "get some air" the embarrassed look on face was—admittedly entertaining to see. Symin comes from a separate room with folded clothes. Purah happily takes the clothes and unapologetically begins changing in front of us two. Symin begins to pick up the now destroyed screws and bolts, completely unbothered. I look over to see the now dimly lit giant core that was attached to the guidance stone.

"Ah SNAP! Looks like it's still got a little bit of juice left!" Purah says excitedly. "How're you feeling?" I ask, "Like a million Rupees!" she boasted. "Now that I'm back to 'normal' let me honor my end of the deal, lets see that Sheikah slate," she finishes and extends her hand towards me, I hand it over to her and begin to wait in suspense. She places the Slate on the guidance stone, and it glows a normal blue color,

"It's incredible that it still works after such a…draining mechanism being used," I hear the door open and see Link entering the laboratory once again,

"You may already know this, but the Sheikah technology was meant to stand against the test of time, and the most powerful of powerful blows," Purah said passionately, "Which brings me to my answer on the mysterious signals on the Divine Beasts," she says leaving us in suspense.

"To put it simply, the Divine Beasts are a-raring to go again!" Link looks over to me for clarification, "C-Come again?" I ask as the stalactite-like stone has ancient Sheikah text slowly dropping down to the bottom with a tear drop form and suddenly all the concentrated information drips onto the Slate instantly being absorbed.

Installing Divine Key…

Please have the desired pilot place the Sheikah slate on the preferred Divine Beasts guidance stone to begin synchronization…

Installation Complete!

"W-Wait…desired pilot?" I ask, as I am trying to piece this together but if I'm correct does this mean—?

"The Divine Beasts are waiting for their new pilots!" Purah says bluntly, "W-What?! But since the Calamity has been defeated, they still remain operable?" Purah nods her head, "These god-like machines were meant to protect Hyrule from ALL evil, not just the Calamity Princess!" Purah boasted. "It looks like they were sending out signals to all Sheikah slates to hopefully retrieve a new pilot from somewhere, since you have essentially a key to enter them now, all you have to do is just—"

"Find new pilots…"

"Snaap! You got it!" Purah hands me back to the Sheikah slate, and all points are now gone from the map, to the side are icons for each Beast that are slightly faded, each with an error message hovering over them. Hyrule needs new Champions…it feels wrong to have the Champions replaced so quickly after their passing. But everyone has had time to grieve and move on but for me…everyone's sacrifice it still feels so fresh. How can I put a new generation of Champions lives on the line when I feel this way?

"I see…" I grip onto the Sheikah slate, no way.

No way.

I absolutely refuse.

"I know who we can go to," Link says, he places his hand on my shoulder, displacing me from my thoughts. "Ah yes, it's only natural Master Link that you've met the perfect candidates on your journey!" Symin says. I look over to Link, I feel like I can't breathe. He looks like he knows that something is wrong, "What do you want to do?" he asks.

I don't know, we've come this far already, Purah has gone through the trouble of figuring this out for us. But I just…I can't…

"We should go prepare…" Purah looked a bit taken aback by that response, "W-Well if you need anything, I'm a SNAP away!" she said cheerfully. "Thank you for figuring this out Purah, you too Symin,"

"We're just glad to have you back Princess, please feel free to call on us for any assistance," Symin says. I nod, and practically rush out the door. Link following close behind.

We begin walking down the hill, I walk ahead of Link deep in thought, still holding onto the Sheikah slate.

What should I do? If we go, then...the lives of new Champions will be forever changed. They're fate could be the same as the ones from before…There are already too many losses for me to bear…I fear that I don't have the strength to—

"Hey beautiful lady," a large Hylian with dark parted hair, and a sketchy look in his eye stops me, at the staples near the inn. "Oh uh…can I help you?" a bit put off by his brazen attitude.

"You know, I've been checkin this village for quite some time, but you are one of the most beautiful ladies I've ever seen," I remain silent, who is this guy? "You've been traveling with Link right?" he says, I look up to him hearing Link's name. "He's a really great guy right? He tried to help me get with this girl but you're just as beautiful as her…say what's your na—"

I feel a hand gently pull me back and I hit someone, I turn my head around and I see a serious look on Link's face as he glares at the Hylian, "Manny, what are you doing?" he asks, as his brows furrow. The Hylian started to stutter and immediately became nervous by Link's scowl

"Oh you know, just checkin!"

"Uh-huh, how's that cricket search going?" Link asks snidely, as he stands in between me and Manny. Seeing Link like this…leaves me so bewildered to see such a side to him. "GOOD! Really good! Prima will be my girlfriend before you know it!" He begins to laugh nervously. "I-I was just saying to this lady was incredibly beautiful! Y-You sure are lucky to travel with someone like her! I–I wasn't trying to flirt with her or anything!" He is just digging his grave deeper and deeper huh…? I roll my eyes towards his pathetic attempts to save face and begin to walk away from him, leaving Link's slight grasp. Link lets go and follows behind me, I hear the Hylian call out to us in one last attempt of good faith. "W-Watch out while traveling! I've heard that there are Bokoblins ambushing travelers!" Link looks back to the Hylian and seems to take that mental note, but doesn't have time to ask any questions as he'd rather follow me instead. I head straight to Links home, our home…

I cross the bridge and I see two Hylian men sitting in front of the house. One older looking than the other, the younger Hylian had a buzzed haircut, and average clothing, the older one had a pink and white woven headband, a strange red pouch hanging from his neck, unique pink pants, and both were wearing a deep blue vest. The older Hylian man looks excited to see us arriving,

"Oh my goddess…Karson, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" he said, "Sure do boss!" Link walks to the older Hylian, "Thanks for watching the place while we're gone and also thanks for the—" "Shhh shhh, don't mention it," he holds a finger over his lips, and looks straight over to me, "I've been waiting all day to finally make your acquaintance Miss…?" he ends the sentence for me to finish, "It's Zelda…" his eyes grow wide, his jaw nearly drops. "Zelda? You mean Princess Zelda?" he asks. "W-Well yes…but please just call me Zelda," he squeals in excitement, "You can call me Bolson, your Majesty," he says proudly and shakes my hand. "I hope the lodging was comfortable for your royal tastes, it was me and Karson that made every single bit of furniture in that home,"

"Incredible…well, it was very comfortable, thank you so much for the hard work," I say to them. "The pleasure is all ours," he winks over to Link, "You can always rely on Bolson Construction for all your homie needs, Karson!"

"Yeah boss?"

"It's time to get to work!"

"Right on!"

"We'll see you two around,"

They two Hylians begin to walk off when Bolson whispers something into Link's ear that makes his face go beet red, and he places his palm on his face, Bolson chuckles and pats him on the shoulder and continues to walk away. "What'd he say to you?" Link just chuckles nervously, "Nothing important," he smiles. I shrug my shoulders and look back to the Sheikah slate, overwhelmed with the enormous task ahead of me. I take a seat underneath the large tree close to the stables, perhaps the warm breeze will help me with my thoughts…I look out to the distance, the Divine Beasts are out there waiting…

"Hey, you…want me to make you some food?" Link asks suddenly, I look up and he's looking away from me scratching his head nervously. I feel my stomach growl as he mentions it, we had a small breakfast this morning, I am absolutely famished. "Yes please…" He nods his head and heads inside his home, and quickly comes out with a handful of ingredients, setting them near the firepit with a cooking pan ready. He sits down and I can't help but smile when I see him in such deep thought, I wish I could share his enthusiasm. He begins to throw some ingredients into the pan, it looks like a hearty meal of some kind.

He didn't hesitate to suggest a candidate for the Divine Beasts…did he do that maybe perhaps because he thought I wanted to know? I look down at my reflection in the clear pond. I don't know what I want…I want to protect the people of Hyrule, but not at the cost of any more innocent lives…I just can't. So is this it? Is this where my journey to rebuild my lost kingdom ends? I'm so angry at myself. Father was right to be disappointed in me…I'm just…

A failure…

I see a bowl of rice and prime meat appear in front of me, I hold it and look up to see Link with a warm smile on his face, "Lunch is served," he sits next to me and begins eating his delicious smelling cooking. I look down to the meal that he put so much love, care, and time into. I feel so hollow, so unworthy, of any of this…unworthy of him…I hold the chopsticks and grab a deliciously marinated piece of beef with enough rice to accompany it. I blow on it to cool it slightly then hastily bite into it. The juiciness of the meat seeped into my mouth and the rice that absorbed its sauce tasted equally as amazing and seasoned. I don't know why but…I feel so overwhelmed by the flavorful meal…should I even be enjoying something this great on such a beautiful day with the person I care most about…? I begin to tear up as I continue eating, Link looks over to me, a bit surprised to see me so emotional over a bowl of meat and rice, he looks ready to listen to whatever I'll say to him.

"Link thank you…for everything…" is all I manage to let out, he nods his head and remains silent, he stares until the truth begins to seep out, "Link…is this really alright…? Do you think the Champions…would be upset if we were to replace them so hastily…?"

"Zelda,"

"Yes?"

"What was the purpose of the Champions?" I look down at the bowl of food, "To defeat Calamity Ganon…" I say,

"And to save Hyrule…to protect their people,"

"Yes but…,"

"But what?"

"It's because of me…they're all dead…because I couldn't harness the power I needed to save everyone…how can I lead when I get my own people killed? If I can't protect them, then what am I supposed to do? Now that I am powerless, I fear that…that I'll be leading Hyrule down a path to ruin once again…I don't have the right to be the one to lead Hyrule, I should be dead with them!" the tears just won't stop, "What do I do Link?" I push my head into his chest,

"This guilt is unbearable…"

I wish it was me instead.

"Zelda…" I feel Link's arms wrap around me and hold me tightly, he's so warm…

"What is the point of fighting for something, if you are not going to lay your life down for it?" They didn't even have a chance…after all the preparation we had done…it all meant nothing…

"They died because they wanted to protect everyone, no warrior goes into battle knowing for sure they'll make it back alive, they knew the cost of piloting those Beasts were their lives, they all had their own reasons…their own things they wanted to protect…that's what made them Champions," I just hold onto his tunic, hearing everything…

"Mipha, Daruk, Urbosa, and Revali… There's a reason they were the best of the best, and the best candidates, they earned their titles, and they succeeded in their duty in the end…" he pulls me back and looks me in the eye, his calm blue eyes bring me such relief…his words soothe my soul…"But Link I should be…" he silences me by pulling my head back into his chest. Like he doesn't want to hear any more of my dark thoughts of myself…

"They…would want you to keep living on…you can't blame yourself for the way things are…you can't compare yourself to everyone else's expectations…you did what could…and Hyrule is safe because of all of us in the end, everyone's sacrifices were not in vain, not if we keep fighting,"

Is it really okay?

For me to continue living? To live life…with Link by my side?

To entrust the Divine Beasts with new pilots…is it okay for me to ask someone to lay down their life with me to restore Hyrule? I would fight till the very end for my reasons,

I want to protect everyone…I want to protect Link.

I want to protect our future.