Twilight began to shroud the town of Hateno as the day began to come to an end. With the setting sun overhead, many shops began to close down in preparation for the weekend coming the following day. One store, however, remained open, with a young, dark-haired woman continuing to sweep its entryway free of snow to make it easy on any last-minute customers that chose to visit. While the woman seemed content with her work, the front door to the store opened to reveal an older man with a scrunched face, a thin mustache, and a receding hairline.
"Alright, Ivee," the man said. "Go ahead and take it easy the rest of the night."
"Are you closin' her down for tonight, Dad?" the woman named Ivee asked.
"Nah, but you might as well get some rest early," the father said. "Tomorrow is the weekend, and you know how your mother gets after visiting the Ton Pu Inn with Nikki."
"Mom looks like she has a great time when she goes to the inn," Ivee said, turning her gaze towards the large building down the road. "When will I be able to go to the inn and have a drink?"
"You know Prima made the drinking age at the inn eighteen, Ivee," the father chuckled. "Actually, now that I think about it, you'll be of age in a few months. Try not to, uh… drink as much as your mother."
"You were worrin' about me, yet you always get the brunt of it when she has a headache the next day," Ivee giggled. "Will you be okay?"
"Now, I've been with your mother for a long time," the man said with a hint of exhaustion in his tone. "I'll be just fine, believe me. Now go inside and call it a day."
"Are you closing up ?" a voice asked. Ivee turned around to see two people standing behind her, with the young man holding a wooden basket in his hands.
"Hullo, Link!" she said. "Oh! I see the princess is with you! Pleased to meet your— I mean— Pleased to make your acquaintance, Princess."
Carefully, she attempted to do a curtsey, yet gave up halfway when she couldn't figure out how it was done. Zelda, however, didn't respond. In fact, her gaze remained on the ground, seemingly lost in thought. Gently, Link nudged her arm, causing her to jolt before looking around.
"W-what? Oh!" she stuttered, meeting Ivee's cheerful eyes. "Hello there, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please, just refer to me as Zelda."
"Sure can do," Ivee said with a smile before turning back to Link, "and to answer your question, I'm off to bed, but the East Wind General Store is still open if you wanna take a look around!"
"She's right," the man chuckled. "We're still stocked and ready to sell. Are you in need of some more arrows, Link?"
"Not today, Pruce," Link answered. "I need some ingredients for dinner tonight."
"Well then, come on in," the shop owner said, stepping back into his building.
All three of those outside stepped in, with Ivee heading up the staircase to the second floor. After Pruce took his place behind the counter, he watched as Link and Zelda looked around his goods on display.
"Hylian rice… Bird eggs… Oh, they've got some fresh milk from the cows today…" Link mumbled as he inspected the counters. "Was this milked from the cows recently?"
"They were bottled up earlier this morning," Pruce answered kindly, "so they're as fresh as can be."
"I see," Link said, taking a bottle of milk in hand before turning to his lover. "You know, I think I've got some goat butter and some drumsticks in the Sheikah Slate. How do you feel about having a poultry pilaf with a glass of warm milk tonight?"
Zelda didn't respond. Her gaze had once again gone downward with her green emeralds glossed over. Raising an eyebrow, Link once again lightly nudged her arm before calling her name. Though less surprised than before, Zelda again jolted before looking up into his eyes.
"I'm sorry, what did you say, Link?" she asked.
"Poultry pilaf and warm milk?" he repeated.
"That sounds nice, thank you," Zelda nodded before looking away, allowing her eyes to gloss over again.
Keeping his gaze on her for a second longer, Link placed the glass of milk into the wooden basket he was holding before putting another inside. Adding a few Hylian rice bundles and some eggs into it, he made his way to the counter.
"Four eggs, two bottles of milk, and two bundles of rice," he listed off to Pruce.
"Twenty-four rupees," the older man responded. "Pleasure doing business with you, Link."
"It's a pleasure paying you a visit," Link replied, handing over a red and blue rupee. "You can keep the extra green. Come on, Zelda."
Noticing her glossy eyes, he took Zelda's hand and waved back at the general store owner as he guided her out of the building.
"Zelda… Zelda, " Link repeated as they walked down the road, keeping a firm grip on her. Finally, her ears perked up.
"W-what is it?" she asked, meeting his eyes before blushing slightly, feeling the warmth of his hand wrapped around her own.
"Well, you seem just a tad bit out of it," he said. "I guess I'm not one to talk these days, but is everything alright?"
"O-oh, yes, I'm fine," she answered. "I apologize, I'm just… I'm a little nervous about tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Link asked. "Oh yeah, you'll be working over the weekend. I guess you'll really be put to work then, knowing how the villagers get when they drink."
"Have you drank with them before?" Zelda asked, but Link shook his head.
"I haven't," he answered. "I'm not old enough, but maybe after my birthday, I will. After seeing what it did to you, it looks like an… experience that I'd like to try at least once."
"Please don't remind me of that day," Zelda groaned. "I'm still embarrassed with how I acted…"
"It was Jules's fault for giving you so much," Link chuckled. "I'm sure if you had less you would've been alright."
"Still," she mumbled. "From the little I remember, I know I gave you quite a hard time."
"In the moment it was, but looking back, it was pretty fun. You were cute—" Zelda groaned even more, "—and I got a nice kiss out of it."
"I hate that even more," she sulked. "That was my first kiss— our first kiss— and I was drunk . I can't even remember it…"
"Well, you remember the one after that, right?" Link asked with a raised eyebrow. Zelda's cheeks burned even more.
"I… I do…" she said quietly. "It's… it's one of my favorite memories…"
"Even though we smelled like the inside of a molduga?"
" Please , why must you always make our nice moments sound so awful?" Zelda huffed. Suddenly, she tried pulling away from his hand. "Let me go, I don't want to hold your hand anymore."
"Yeah, sure," Link answered teasingly, yet his grip on her hand remained firm.
"You still haven't let go," she huffed again.
"I'm doing what you want me to do," he claimed, "not what you're telling me to do."
"I… I…" Zelda fumed with reddened cheeks, yet, she adjusted her hand to entwine her fingers with his. "I hate that you know that… but, it's only because it's cold out here, and that's the only reason."
"Right, right," Link mumbled.
As they were passing the fork in the road near the village entrance, his eyes started to wander. Ever since his trip to the desert, he hadn't seen the Yiga at all, regardless of if he was real or just a mind trick. While this would have put him at ease before, this now only worried Link more. He furrowed his brow as they walked up the hill and passed the Bolson Construction houses, allowing his thoughts to wander before they were soon interrupted.
"So, what do you do at the inn on the weekends?" Zelda asked. As they began to cross the bridge.
"What do you mean?" Link asked, pushing the thought of the Yiga to the back of his mind.
"Well, you said you can't drink yet," she continued, "so what do you do instead?"
"Oh, well, I play a few games from time to time," he answered coolly. "Not often though. Once they get too wasted, no one can focus."
"What kind of games?" Zelda asked, moving closer to Link as her interest began to grow.
"Gambling, arm wrestling, pretty much anything you can imagine," he listed off. "Usually it ends with them singing and dancing before they all knock out."
"Singing and dancing…" Zelda muttered. "Link, do you know how to dance?"
"Not at all," he chuckled. "At least, not properly. Maybe in drinking terms, I do. Do you know how to dance?"
"Well, I was given a few lessons back in the castle when I was little," Zelda said nostalgically, "but that all changed once the Calamity had been prophesied. After that, anything that didn't remotely have to do with my sealing powers was pretty much cut out of my life, including dance."
"I see…" Link said. "Well, maybe you'll be able to dance at the inn."
"While working?" Zelda asked. "Nonsense. I have a job to do. I can't afford to slack off during my responsibilities."
Suddenly, she grew quiet as the two reached the door to the house, having been reminded of her duties the next day. Noticing this, Link opened the door to the house before giving her hand a squeeze.
"Let's go in and eat, alright?" he said. "I'll make you a good meal, promise."
Though nerves remained lodged behind her irises, Zelda looked up and nodded with a tiny smile.
...
Link fell back onto the bed with his hands behind his head. He looked up at the wooden beams of the ceiling as his thoughts began to return to the Yiga. Though he hadn't seen him recently, he refused to become lax. He listened to the sound of clanking used dishes from the dinner he had made, waiting for Zelda—who had promised to clean up as thanks for the meal— to finish putting them away.
When she comes up and falls asleep, I can practice, he thought to himself, closing his eyes as the mental image of the burned windcleaver appeared in his mind. Zelda, however, hadn't come upstairs. In fact, every few seconds or so, Link could hear the clank of a mug or a plate from downstairs. As the minutes passed, he soon pushed himself up and walked to the edge of the loft. Folding his arms and placing them onto the railing, he looked down to see the one he was waiting for.
Still standing near the dining table, Zelda had a large wooden plate in her hand, one that he could only assume that she had borrowed from the inn. Using their used dishes, she carefully tried balancing them on the plate with one palm. Slowly, she turned around, and though she managed not to drop them, it was clear that just keeping them up was a massive struggle. Quietly, Link pulled away from the railing and silently began to head downstairs. Creeping up behind her, he began to speak.
"You won't be able to walk if you're trying to balance it like that."
Zelda jolted, causing her to lose balance over the plate entirely. With great speed, Link reached from behind and grabbed the plate before it could completely fall from her hands.
"Link! You scared me!" she said, trying to ignore the fact that she could feel his chest pressing against her back as he kept a grip on the oversized wooden plate. After taking a deep breath, she looked back at him. "I know I can't balance like this, but I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I can at least hold it up, but you're right: I can't serve like this. I don't know what to do…"
"Well, actually, I know what you're doing wrong," Link said, taking a step back from her.
"You do?" she asked. He nodded.
"You're trying to balance with your hands," he said, "when you need to be using your entire body."
"My entire body?" Zelda repeated. "But, I'm not the one falling over, the plate is—"
"But your body is what allows you to balance things," he said. "Your entire body. The plates fall over because you're having trouble adjusting to the new weight and how it's distributed. If you aren't balanced, the tray won't be either."
Carefully, he moved his hand under the tray before taking it away from Zelda's. She watched as he moved around her, easily keeping the mugs that were placed on top of the plate's surface upright. After a few moments, she sat down on one of the chairs around the dining room table.
"Of course, you can do it," she said, completely defeated. "I'm not surprised whatsoever."
"You can do it too," Link said, placing the tray onto the table. "You just need to be able to adjust."
"How, Link?" she asked, pushing golden strands of hair behind her ears. " I need to be able to do this tomorrow . Even if I am able to learn, how am I supposed to figure it out by then?"
With a sigh, Zelda placed her elbows onto her knees and lowered her face into her hands. Frowning, Link racked his brain, trying to come up with any kind of solution. Suddenly, something clicked. Choosing to leave her alone in her thoughts for a moment, he hurried back up the stairs and to the writing desk, where the Sheikah Slate lay on its surface. He took the slate and rushed back down from the loft. As he walked back to the table, where Zelda hadn't moved, he tapped on the screen before one of the milk bottles from earlier appeared in his free hand.
"Good thing the Sheikah Slate keeps things fresh," he said, placing the bottle and the slate on the table. Zelda looked up at him before looking over at the table.
"Link, I've had enough warm milk for tonight," she said dully. "Besides, I thought we were going to save that one for tomorrow?"
"I didn't bring this down for drinking," Link said, shaking his head. "We're gonna use it for balance practice."
" Balance practice? " she repeated skeptically. "What are you planning?"
"To teach you," he said, before holding a hand out to her. "Come on."
Zelda stared suspiciously at his palm. With a sigh, she took his hand and allowed him to pull her up to her feet.
"Okay, now stay still," he said as he reached down and grabbed the bottle from the table, "and don't drop it."
"What do you mean don't–?" Zelda began before noticing Link raise the bottle high. She felt the faintest thump on her head. " Link , what are you doing?"
"I said don't drop it," he answered, taking a step back.
Immediately, she could feel the bottle begin to slide off her head. She moved her body around as best she could, but the bottle inevitably fell, forcing Link to quickly bend down and catch it before it could hit the ground.
"Why would you place a bottle on my head?" Zelda asked loudly. "How does that help? Is this a joke to you?"
"You're supposed to adjust your center of balance," Link explained as he straightened up. "It's like balancing yourself on the top of a tall pole after climbing up it, or a tree, or—"
"That doesn't help me, Link," she said sourly. "I've never done any of that! I don't know what that means!"
"It's like… um…" he tried to explain, but Zelda only shook her head.
"I'm going to bed," she said, beginning to walk past him. "I'll just have to do my best not to make myself look like a fool tomorrow—"
"Teach me how to dance," Link said suddenly. Zelda turned around to face him with a furrowed brow.
"You want me to do what ?" she asked.
"I want you to teach me how to dance," he repeated, placing the bottle back on the table.
" Now ? I haven't danced since I was a little girl, I don't know if I even remember how to do it right. Is this another one of your games? I'm really not in the mood for any more of your teasing right now—"
"I'm not teasing you," Link said sternly, "and knowing you, I know you remember. You just… you have to trust me, okay?"
He held his hand out to her again before giving a gentle, "please?"
After a pause, and with an almost agitated sigh, Zelda stepped forward, stopping just before her chest could touch his.
"Your posture needs to be completely straight," she said, placing a hand on his chest in order to feel him correct his stance. "Now raise your left hand and hold mine, then place your other hand behind my shoulder"
Link silently did as he was told, following her movements. Soon, one pair of hands were clasped and held up, while Link's right hand was placed exactly where she instructed him to. Placing her own hand on the top of his shoulder, Zelda slightly stepped to the side.
"It's so our feet don't run into each other," she said simply, noticing the questioning look in her partner's eye. "Now, we'll start slow. You will carefully watch our steps while I count to our rhythm. It'll be as though we're walking in a square, alright?"
"Okay, you take the lead," Link said with a tiny smile. Slightly raising an eyebrow, Zelda began by stepping back.
"One, two, three. One, two, three," she mumbled as they began dancing in a square. After only a minute, Link had perfectly synchronized with her, forcing her to comment. "Of course , you're a natural. Why am I not surprised?"
"Is that a hint of jealousy I hear?' he asked as they continued.
Frowning in frustration, Zelda began to take a larger step back, while also beginning to turn. Noticing her change in pattern, Link furrowed his brow and focused back on the ground in order to follow as best he could. The two spun around the open area of the house, circling past the kitchen counter, the stairs, and the dining table.
"Come on, there has to be more to it," Link teased with a grin. "This is simple."
"Alright then," Zelda said, irritably. " Spin me ."
"Uh, what?" he asked, losing his grin.
"Release my shoulder, raise your hand, and spin me ," she repeated with a sly grin of her own.
Noticing the challenge she was giving him, Link squinted his eyes. To Zelda's surprise, he released her shoulder and raised his hand just as he was told. Following through, she let him twirl her a few times before allowing him to place his hands back where they belong.
"I give up," Zelda said with a sigh as they continued to waltz. "You are just talented at whatever you put your mind to, aren't you?"
"I guess you could say that," Link answered, deciding to give Zelda another twirl. "But, that also means I must be like that when it comes to teaching, right?"
"Aren't I the one teaching you right now?" she asked as they continued to spin around the room. "Though, I'm not sure this counts as me teaching, seeing how fast you picked it up."
"Or, maybe you're just that good of a teacher," Link said, choosing again to twirl her, "but you aren't the only one teaching right now, you know."
"And what is it you're teaching?" Zelda asked. As they continued to dance, with a grin, Link removed his hand from her shoulder and suddenly, she felt a weight disappear from her head. Bringing his hand back down, she could see the Sheikah Slate in his hand." What the - When did you put that there?"
"On the second twirl," Link laughed, placing the slate back on the table as they passed by it. "You said you've never done things like balance on the top of a castle roof or stuff like that, but you have danced, and dancing requires—"
"Balance…" Zelda finished with a breath. Her partner nodded.
"When dancing, you have to adjust your center of balance," Link said. "You automatically did that when I placed the slate on your head. I'm kind of surprised you didn't notice, but you were so focused on outdoing me. I was planning on placing the milk bottle there, with it open too…"
"You would've had it open ?" she asked. "You're insane! I would've been furious."
"I had faith in you," Link chuckled. "On the next pass, grab the tray."
"Are you sure I can do it?" she asked as they danced.
"Of course," he answered. "I wouldn't have put a precious ancient relic on your head if I didn't think so. I'll help, so just trust me."
Bringing their dance to a slow pace, the two stopped in front of the dining room table, where Link reached over and took the tray with the mug on top of it. With a deep breath, Zelda allowed him to place the tray in her hand. After gaining balance over it, he let go before placing his hand under hers.
"And now… we step," he said quietly.
With a nod from his partner, the two began to continue their waltz slowly. As they spun, Zelda's gaze began to turn from Link's eyes to the tray.
"Don't," Link said, forcing her focus back onto him. "Focus on me. Not the tray."
Following his instruction, she kept her eyes locked on his as they continued. It wasn't long before he released her hand, allowing her to hold the tray on her own. Instead of replacing it back behind her shoulder, he chose to place it on her hip, along with his other hand. Their waltz slowed down even more, with Zelda choosing to place the tray back onto the table as soon as they passed it, easily setting it down without the mug tilting at all. Following Link's lead, she adjusted her arms in order for them to wrap around his neck. The two grew closer, slowly spinning in the middle of the room, refusing to break eye contact.
"See, I told you that you could do it," Link said soothingly.
"Only thanks to you," she replied. "I didn't do anything."
"You trusted me," he continued.
"I did, and I always will," Zelda whispered quietly. "It's been a while since we've been close like this…"
"Yeah… Yeah, I guess that's kind of my fault isn't it?" Link said. "Sorry that I've been so—"
"It's fine…" she mumbled. "You know, this would have been blasphemous a hundred years ago…"
"Which part?" Link asked.
"All of it," she answered, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "A knight and a princess… Living together… Dancing together… Being together…"
"Yeah, who knows what would've happened if anyone saw us back then…" he thought out loud.
"Is it bad that I… that I prefer this…?" Zelda asked.
"No… I don't think so," Link answered, wrapping his arms around her waist entirely. "What's got you thinking like that?"
"I told Prima a few days ago, but… after working at the inn and doing all this work, I have a greater appreciation for those who worked in the castle," she explained quietly. "They did so much for us, and I took it for granted. I never realized… and now I sit here preferring to be here with you…"
"Well, if you're bad for enjoying this, then I'm downright evil," Link chuckled. "You have nothing to worry about, I promise."
"I see… Still… I wish my father were here. I wonder if… seeing how we are now… If he'd approve…" she said quietly before pulling her head away from his shoulder to look him in the eye. "You'll always stay with me, right?"
"Always," he answered just as quietly.
The two paused their spin, keeping their gaze strong as they slowly grew closer. Their lips met, and they remained locked for what felt like an eternity. Slowly, and somewhat reluctantly, Zelda pulled away.
"I think I'm perfectly set for tomorrow," she said, keeping her quiet tone. "Will you… come to bed with me?"
"I…" Link stuttered. "I… can't. I have to… clean and take care of a few things…"
"Oh… Alright then," Zelda said. "Then… Good night, Link. I love you."
"I love you too, Zel," Link said quietly.
After another silent pause, the two pulled back from each other. Slowly, Zelda took a few backward steps, keeping her eyes locked onto his own before she turned and went up the stairs. Link stood silently in place, allowing the guilt to flood him as punishment for his own hypocrisy. With a sigh, Link took the bottle of fresh milk he had left on the dining table and downed it in a few gulps before beginning to clean the table, waiting for Zelda to fall asleep in order to continue his evening training.