Zelda's POV:

The water feels warm on my hands as they pour out of the faucet in Link's tiny kitchen. Despite Links protests, I started to do the dishes, it's only fair! He made us lunch after all…and he made me feel a lot better on what needs to be done…it will take me time to live with everyones death, I know now that I don't want their deaths to be in vain…I was given a second chance at life…just like Link…I won't waste it feeling sorry for myself anymore. I come back to reality and continue washing the dishes, and quickly dry up.

I hear Link grunting outside, he hasn't stopped practicing his swordsmanship after all these years…I walk upstairs and look out the window to see him dancing through the air with such grace and coordination. He is so fast, his movements are on a whole other level, he has a confident and disciplined look when he finishes off his combo with a dashing spin attack cutting down the training logs he had put up. The Master Sword glows brightly in his hand, they are truly at one now…I hear a faint ringing emitting from the sword, my powers are still so weak. I can barely hear anything it says now. The open window lets in a soft breeze that I relish in its coolness. Link pushes his sweaty bangs out of the way, and sighs in relief from the breeze as well he takes in a big breath like he is revitalizing his strength.

"You're still as quick as ever, impressive," I say out loud, he looks up to me and grins, "Gotta keep up with my reputation," he chuckles. "Well so far you're doing a fabulous job at it," I pause…he chuckles slightly and hides his face a little.

"Say Link, there's something I've been wanting to ask you…" he climbs up to the window and leans against it,

"Anything," his bluntness somehow makes me feel a heat in my cheeks. "How much…do you remember?" I ask. There's a brief moment of silence between us, Link looks like he is in thought trying to put his thoughts together, it leaves me in suspense,

"Well…I remember my father, and my little sister, bits and pieces of my childhood, my training, and mainly the photos from the Sheikah slate, everything else…feels hazy,"

"I see…"

Well…that's disappointing…but to be expected. Perhaps some memory reconsolidation is the best way to help unfold his memories. "I'm sorry Zelda…I didn't mean to keep it from you, but I know there's more that I'm missing, I think maybe coming with you will help me with that," he admits, I smile to him and nod, "Well I won't stop you," I giggle. "And I'm not sure how long you'd survive out there without any training," Well that was…"Awfully blunt are we?" Link bursts out in laughter, I've never seen him laugh so much, but who knew his laugh could be so infectious? I can't stop laughing with him.

"Are we still going to Zora's Domain?" he asks, trying to divert the conversation from his sudden jab at me. Now that I've had a moment to calm down, I feel more better about the mission ahead. I nod my head, "Yes, we can head out whenever you're ready," I tell him, "We have nothing waiting on us, we can go whenever we please I suppose,". He looks at me in disbelief and arches his brow. "Are you sure?"

"W-Well yes, why not?" I huff,

"Are you prepared for the trip? It'll take probably take some time to get there," he says,

"Of course, I'd love to stretch my legs out," I begin to extend my limbs out, he looks like he's thinking of something, "Can I see the slate real quick?" he asks suddenly, I hand it over to him, and quickly taps on the slate and out manifests a…bow? I recognize the royal insignia on the golden bow and Link hands it to me. I'm shocked by the weight of it, he makes carrying weapons look effortless, "How's…how's your arm feeling?" he asked concerned, the guilt in his voice breaks my heart. It's not his fault I was reckless. I pick up my sleeve and show my bandage.

"It's feeling much better today, I changed the bandage today, there's some scarring still but—" I'm interrupted as I feel his soft touch on my arm, he applies a slight pressure feeling for any pain, but the injury feels so surface level, I grin to him, "Link," he looks up to me, "I'm fine, really, now tell me what you want me to do with this," He gets up and jumps off the small ledge and looks back to me, waving his hand,

"Come down here for a sec,"

I can't exactly say no to his beckoning, I quickly make it outside and meet up with him, he is undoing a few clips in his belt and unhooks the quiver sitting on his waist, he steps forward and starts wrapping it around my waist, he has such a careful touch and secures it tightly. He steps aside, and lets me get a feel for it.

"If we're going out in the wilderness, you need to be prepared to defend yourself,"

"Are you saying you won't be around to protect me?" I tease, he gives me a flustered look and shakes it off and gives me a serious look. "O-Of course I will, but this is just in case, Hyrules a dangerous place y'know?" he scratches his head nervously.

I look back down to the bow he handed me, I pull the string and immediately feel the strength that is required to draw and hold the position, I let go. Link is setting up targets for me to hit, and take an arrow from the quiver, how do I hold these again? He looks at me and gets in the correct stance for me to copy. This isn't so bad, I can shoot this! He steps aside and gets behind me, he just stands there observing my form. I draw the arrow back and hit the target, barely missing the center. I turned around excited by a decent first shot, Link's jaw was dropped in pure astonishment. He shook away his expression,

"And when were you going to tell me your secret talent was archery?" He said jokingly, "Beginners luck I'm sure," I shot another arrow, back to the target and this time hit the other side of the target, still no bullseye though. I shoot one more, miss, I stomp my foot in frustration, and begin to pout, "Drats!"

"Getting cocky are we?" he smirks, "Perhaps I did get a bit ahead of myself," I laugh nervously, I am determined to make this shot, mapping out the shot, the thrill of releasing the arrow, the suspense! I can do this, I pull another out and get into position, Link begins to approach me from behind,

"Your aim is good, but your breathing…needs work," he puts his arms over mine and slightly adjusts my form, and inhales and exhales, I feel goosebumps as I feel flustered having him hold me like this. Focus Zelda, you're training right now… I align my breathing with his and release the arrow, it whistles through the air at incredible speed and hits the target.

Bullseye.

"You're a natural archer Zelda,"

"That's an incredible comment coming from you, your quite the archer yourself,"

"It's like you've done it before, many times," he laughs. "Then you'd be surprised to hear this is my first," I say proudly. He smiles and begins to heald towards the horses, "We can train more out in the field, it'll be better practice…just remember to stick close," He turns around with a serious look on his face,

"It's only for emergencies," I roll my eyes,

"You worry to much,"

I notice him slightly looking at my arm, and back to me trying to hide his concern by giving a nervous smile. He then turns around and begins to focus once again on the horses, giving them both pets and sweet treats. The horses respond to his care and kindness by neighing excitedly and push their heads toward him and nuzzle their heads into his palms.

"If we leave now, we can probably make it to the Dueling Peaks Inn, stay there for the night and make some progress tomorrow,"

"You're the expert,"

Link quickly heads into the house and grabs a few essential camping supplies, and secures them onto Epona, he turns around and manifests one more item from the slate…a shield? It looks familiar to the ones the soldiers had, and he places it on my back, as well as giving me an extra quiver, it's incredible he constantly has all of this weight on him at all times. "Better safe than sorry," he said and then offers hands to help hoist me up onto my white steed.

"Ready when you are," I nod, and we begin to head out of the village.

Link's POV:

We're riding out the village and I'm beginning to get restless, it's starting to get late, if what Manny said was true, then I need to get Zelda to safety. I think she already knows I'm uneasy, but I'm trying my best to keep a straight face. I look over to her and she has a small grin on her face, enjoying the breeze that comes our way as she rides on. I remain vigilant, looking for nearby bokoblins that could be hiding behind nearby bushes or trees. We're lucky that we haven't spotted any yet.

We reach the Marblod Plains, Zelda and I both see something in the distance,

"Link, up ahead!"

I see it, a mob of bokoblins, moblins, and lizalfos setting up camp by the Hateno tower. I begin to take out my bow and ready to fire, I see Zelda take her bow out as well "What're you doing?" Does she intend to fight them? She looks over to me with a confident smile, "Well you did suggest we should practice in the field," Yeah but so soon? I would've hoped to at least get one training session before she takes on any enemies. "Don't worry, I'll remember to stick close," she winks, I nod my head, still worried, but I trust her. If it were just me, I would have probably charged in, but having someone to travel with…having her here with me, I have to be more careful. I see one bokoblin standing on a watchpost he turns over and immediately notices us.

"They see us," I say cautiously to her. That annoying horn, I take aim and make a direct headshot, the sound of the horn being abruptly stopped. Zelda is struggling to make a shot on horseback, but continues to carefully take aim towards the second bokoblin on the other nearby watch tower and manages to shoot it in the knee, crippling it and having it fall down its post. It's not dead yet and is soon joined by the nearby moblins and lizalfos. The lizalfos quickly slither towards us, one of them is heading for Zelda. I quickly jump off Epona and dash toward the incoming enemy and slash at it, distracting it from its pursuit. It stands up in an offensive stance, it begins to twirl its hip like it's about to sweep me under my feet with its tail, but I'm able to dodge it by quickly back flipping and find the opportunity to do a flurry rush. My last hit knocks the lizafols back to the remaining other and loses its footing. Now's my chance to get the one up on it. I run towards and leap in the air, Master Sword in hand about to strike down it, when it unexpectedly shoots its slimy tongue out at me, knocking me back.

"Link!"

I quickly get up and rub my cheek briefly brushing off the fleeting pain. The lizalfos begins to taunt… "Cheap shot," I grunt, how many are remaining? One, two, three, four…two moblins and one other bokoblin quickly begin to march towards us. I can take them, I look back to Zelda and see she has a fierce look on her face, unwaived, she begins to once again take aim.

"Stay back! I got this," I charged toward the mob of enemies, taking revenge on the lizalfos first. It tries to get me again with its tongue, but I slice its head clean off. One of the moblins tried to strike down with its large club, I'm able to side step it but I walked right into the other's strike as it swung the club with sheer force knocking the wind out of me and knocking me down once again. I try to get up but I can't, gasping for air, I can't stop coughing and wheezing.

Shit.

I look up and see them about to swing and brace myself, I've gotta turn this around.

WHOOSH

An arrow lands directly on one moblin, impaling the skull enough to knock him back, I quickly look back and see Zelda, the bow still shaking from the shot, perfect, an opening.

"Now Link!"

I quickly use my spin attack and manage to separate all three of them, now I can take them all on by themselves. I step toward the injured moblin who is now angered and thrashing the large club around mindlessly. It suddenly raises the club with both of its arms and begins to strike down with such force that the club gets stuck briefly in the ground. It begins trying to pull the club up but I side step until I get behind it enough to slash its back enough times for it to fall in defeat. Now to the others, I see the remaining moblin roar in fury and it picks up the bokoblin. The bokoblin looks confused and starts flailing in the moblins grasp. It stretches its arm out and hurls the bokoblin straight at me; but I've learned from my past mistakes and quickly stepped out of the way. The moblin begins lifting its leg up to kick me back, but it's too late, I've already closed in. I take the Master Sword and release another flurry rush onto it. It stands no chance. I look behind me and see the bokoblin becoming increasingly worried about its impending fate. It begins to scramble and sees Zelda and begins to dash for her. I'm not gonna let it get anywhere near her. But before I can finish it off, Zelda has already released another arrow, another direct shot. I scan the area, ensuring there aren't any more enemies nearby, then sheath the Master Sword.

"I had him," I joked, walking back towards Epona. "Are you sure? Because you were getting tossed around like a ragdoll," she laughed, Epona then snorted.

"Are you agreeing with her?" I asked her, she then nodded her head. "Traitor," I laugh and begin to soothe her, petting her mane briefly, then climbing onto her. Zelda giggled at our exchange and we began to gallop away. That entire encounter took too long, it's not long when the sun starts to go down, and we make it to Fort Hateno. There's a familiar house that now looks vacant. I stop abruptly, Zelda looks over to me with some concern for the sudden distraction.

"Is…everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just want to check on something if that's alright…" Dr. Calip should still be here. I open the door to the small cabin and no one is to be seen. No fire that's usually lit, some books missing from the shelves, essential items missing…and a note on his desk.

Dear young travelers,

Thanks to the help of my "assistant" and my research finally completed...I no longer have any use remaining in this stuffy old cabin any longer. Please use this as a resting stop, or whatever, I don't care.

Sincerely,

The GENEROUS Doctor Calip

A.K.A. The Ancient Text Expert

"Assistant" huh? Is that what I was? Well, I guess people have their ways of expressing gratitude. Zelda walks behind me and looks into the cabin, "Does somebody live here? It's awfully musty,"

"Used too, looks like the guy took off," I hand the letter over to Zelda, and she looks it over. "Well this is great!" "Huh?"

"We can stay here for the night, that'll save us some Rupees…right?" She looks up to me and smiles. Staying the night with Zelda in such a tiny cabin…

"Link…are you alright? You look flushed," Zelda asks, and places a hand on my hot cheek, her hands feel so warm, and her touch so soft. I clear my throat and she pulls away quickly. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, just a little hot is all, I'll go tie the horses up, start a fire in here and get something cookin', you craving anything in particular?" I ask, as I open up the door, stepping outside. She takes a minute to think on it as she opens up the window, "Some stew would be fine, I'll let you surprise me," she winks at me.

Why am I so flustered?

I have a moment to myself, the horses patiently waiting for what's to happen next, I begin to tie them to the nearest tree I can post them to, feeding them some fresh apples I picked from a nearby tree. They eat out of my hand as I stare out into space, preoccupied by my thoughts,

Zelda and I used to be so close…

What did Impa mean by that? I…I want to know what I'm missing here. Even though Zelda is with me now, I still feel so…alone. She looked slightly disappointed when I told her about my memories. I have to know how I uncovered that memory the other night, I'm positive that's what it was. It was like reliving the moment in time all over again. I'd be lying to myself if I said that I don't want to experience that one more time.

Maybe I am a pervert…

I hear the door open and Zelda pokes her head out looking for me, "Link! Are you coming inside?" "Y-Yeah! I'm coming," I can't exactly say "no" to her. I walk inside the cabin and grab a piece of flint from the Sheikah slate and start a fire in the fireplace. I look through the slate and take out some hearty ingredients and throw them in the cauldron sitting in the firepit.

Zelda is sitting at the desk that Calip was so fond of. Looks like she's reading some book she pulled from the bookshelf. I try to take a peek at what she's reading, she must feel my gaze on her because she turns around slightly and looks at me.

Busted.

She leans in close to me with a smirk on her face, "Whatcha doin'?" She asks, I quickly look away from her and pretend to focus on the food laid before me. I sniff the creamy meat soup, do I need to add anything? I feel Zelda's hair fall on my shoulder, her head peaks behind my shoulder and she inhales the aroma from the pot.

"It smells so good Link," she smiles in delight, I gulp, she's so close to me, she's teasing me again. I grab a small spoon from my nearby pack and dip it into the stew, "You…want to try it out for me?" I hand it to Zelda for her to take it, she looks excited, but instead of taking it, she just eats it with me still holding it. Instantly she becomes excited, with a sparkle in her eye.

"Link, this tastes superb! Your culinary skills never cease to amaze me," she says happily, I can't help but slightly blush at her praise,

"One of these days I'm gonna cook something so dubious and you're gonna regret you said that," I laugh nervously, trying to hide the redness from my cheeks, she giggles softly, and goes in for another taste of the soup, "Even if it was the most dubious food, I'd still eat every bite of it, if you made it," she giggles. Damn it, does she know how adorable that sounds?

"You should give it a go, maybe your cooking is better than mine, I mean you're a pro at archery, what else are you hiding from me Zelda Hyrule?" I say slyly. She immediately begins to look flustered, "O-Oh! I mean y-you know…THAT was lucky! I-I'm not hiding anything else…" I can't help but burst out in laughter, what kind of reaction is that? It's not like she would.

Right…?

She looks back at me with a pouting face, and shoves a spoonful of the soup in my mouth. I take this as an opportunity to taste my work,

"Could use a bit more seasoning…"

"W-What?" I begin to chuckle,

"Do you like just shoving food in my mouth?" I laugh, adding more herbs to the pot and marrying the ingredients together. "First, the honey candy, now my soup, you could've burned my tongue you know?" I stick my tongue out at her jokingly. She seemed a bit taken aback by that statement,

"The…honey candy?" she asks.

"...so you remember that huh…" she whispers

My ears perk up trying to hear her barely audible statement, she shakes her head and covers her emotion with another rebuttal. "Y-You're the Hero…I'm sure your tongue is steeled for any kind of heat…"

"Oh really? Any heat?" I smirk, I look at the stew once more. It looks perfect, "Here, I'll let you be the judge," I gently hand over the spoon to her once again. She shuffles around, and looks at me with a more serious look and leans in close, and once again tries the soup with me holding it for her. She never breaks eye contact with me, even after she's finished, she looks like she's leaning in a little closer to me. Like she's not even concerned about the food anymore. Why does she have to tease me like this? She looks at me longingly, if she stares at me like this any longer, I'll be under her spell. She brings her hand up to my chest never looking away from me, her touch gives me goosebumps, I feel the hair on my neck standing. She looks like she wants to tell me something but—

"Link…I–"

I don't know why but I feel so flustered I let go of the utensil and it drops onto the ground. Breaking the deafening silence between us. "S-Sorry I don't know why I did that," I scratch my head nervously, I break away from her gaze. Her face softens when I turn around and see her serving herself to the stew, she looks at me with such kindness, she's biting her lip, holding back what she wants to say and instead just starts shoving the soup in her face.

"It…tastes really good Link…" she says quietly. She hands me a serving and I begin to quietly help myself.

"What was she trying to do just now…?"

We're both sitting next to each other in silence, the moon is out, so is the nocturnal wildlife, the crickets are chirping so loudly outside, the crackling fire, she finally exhales.

"L-Lets sleep together,"

I nearly spit out my food from her bluntness, "W-What?" she pokes my forehead, "Get your mind out of the gutter," then lightly flicks her fingers at my face.

"Z-Zelda I-I can't do that to you, y-you'd be super uncomfortable, I'm sure I'm a crazy sleeper,"

"I'm not letting you sleep on the floor Link," she says sternly, "B-Besides, it's not like we're doing anything,"

"B-But I-I…"

"Do you…not want to…?" she asks sadly,

"W-What do you mean?"

"Do you not want to sleep next to me?" she asks with a red face,

Just say it, yes you do. You want nothing more than that.

"O-Of course I don't mind…o-only if you're comfortable with it…" I begin to scratch my head,

"O-Of course I am! I-I wouldn't have suggested it if I was…b-besides…I–I think I'll sleep better with you anyways," she tries to hide her nervousness with a small pout, "O-Okay," I can barely breathe. She quickly finishes her meal, and gets up and walks past me, I hear a shuffling sound,

"I'm gonna change, so…no peeking," she said quietly.

"I value my life, thank you," I nervously chuckle, trying not to picture what's going on directly behind me, but it doesn't stop my cheeks from burning. I hear the sound of fabric shuffling around and falling down,

"Okay…I'm done…" I purposely don't look immediately, in the corner of my eye, I see she changed into a normal hylian tunic and some comfy looking pants, she's climbing in the bed, I take off my boots and take off my tunic with only my under shirt remaining on my torso.

"Eep,"

I turn around and I see Zelda covering her face with her fingers only barely covering her eyes, I shake my finger to her, "No peeking," I chuckle. She quickly turns around. I put out the fire and covered the pot with the remaining stew. It's so dark in the cabin now, I approach the bed with Zelda's back turned to me, I slowly unfold the sheets and let myself in. I try not to touch her and give her as much space as possible.

"You're going to fall off if you get any further,"

"W-Well I just want to give you space,"

She grabs my arm and pulls me closer to her,

"I don't need it," she said, maybe it's a good thing it's so dark in here now, because she can't see how nervous and beet red I look, how can I play it cool when she's being like this? "So bossy," I whispered. She chuckles, I remain motionless and realize that there's only one pillow. I carefully begin to move my arm over her head and pull her closer to me, letting her head rest on my chest, I hear her breathing beginning to quicken, is she nervous? I start to pull away.

"S-Sorry, I just thought that—"

"It's okay, I like this…I'm…comfortable," she said quietly. She rests her hand on my chest and whispers, "Please don't leave this…" she begins to start slowly breathing, she must be drifting away. I pulled away a lone strand of hair in her face out of the way and tucked it behind her ear. I can't help but look at her face with only the moonlight illuminating the cabin, her face looks so peaceful, so beautiful. I gently hold her hand to my chest as she sleeps. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it takes everything in me to resist planting a soft kiss on her forehead, I wish I could just…just…

I can't wish for something that I don't deserve…I'll be happy just to be by her side…anything more and I would just be selfish…but for now…

"As you wish,"