He's a 500 piece puzzle, and all his pieces are missing.
A voice that's warm and gentle gives him the first piece when it calls, "Open your eyes. Link!"
He listens, blinking blearily as he pulls himself out of the water. He recognizes it as his name, even though he doesn't know who gave it to him or who calls for him now with that ethereal voice. But he has a name and that name is Link.
The second piece comes when he scales the rocky wall out of the shrine with ease. His long unused muscles relish in the effort, and he knows he is strong.
He quickly learns he is brave. With no more than a few sturdy tree branches, he takes down a... What was it? It's on the tip of his tongue but he can't think of the monster's species. Not yet.
The old man on the hill waves him over, and Link doesn't know why he trusts the man but he does. His stomach growls when he spies the baked apple beside the fire. He grabs it without thinking and sinks his teeth into it, ignoring the old man's protests. It tastes like heaven in his mouth and another piece falls into place like a cornerstone of his being: he loves to eat.
He wanders the fields of the Great Plateau and finds more pieces: he's skilled with a bow and can hunt, he's sneaky, he's fast, and he's a little bit reckless. He has a propensity for playing with fire that burns more than a few patches of grass and skin.
He's sneaking around a monster hideout tucked into an old giant skull, launching bombs and exploding bokoblins. (Bokoblins! That was the name!) He raids the hideout and feels grateful he fought only a handful of bokoblins instead of whatever left the massive skull behind.
The next piece falls into place when the old man reveals himself to be the deceased king. Link's knees pull him to the ground out of a habit he isn't aware of and he bows before the specter. Another piece fills when he learns the voice that calls him is Zelda. The name stirs something inside him and he's overwhelmed with the need to protect her - to save her - since he's already failed to protect her once.
He doesn't look back when he takes his first leap off the Great Plateau. His eyes are fixed on the castle.
He remembers more as he travels. A favorite meal made in the cooking pot at the Dueling Peaks stable. A wild horse wrangled and registered in the same spot. In Kakariko with Impa. At the tech lab with a woman-child named Purah.
At an old house on a hill in Hateno that Link buys with every rupee he has to his name.
He's at 84 pieces when he frees Mipha's spirit. He's at 134 when he reaches Daruk.
He finds the day the calamity struck. He finds Zelda taking pictures of the Silent Princess and him training in the rain. His clothes are full of sand and his legs are aching when he stumbles into Kara Kara Bazaar and remembers saving Zelda from the Yiga.
At 247 pieces, he finds Urbosa. At 293 he gets to Revali.
Link revels in Revali's Gale, because now he can fight with sword and shield, use a bow, and fly, and though he doesn't remember everything, he does know Revali would be upset by that.
He finds Zelda's plea to stop following her, but now it seems all he can do is follow the clues she has left behind for him in an attempt to piece himself back together and be whole once again.
He finds piece 312 at the ruins of Sanidin Park while riding a white horse that he's named Fruitcake, and now he knows why the horse seemed familiar. He tries to remember if he gave her a gift for her birthday.
At 367 pieces, Link learns about his fall near Fort Hateno.
At 368 pieces, he pulls the Master Sword from its resting place, but he decides it's not strong enough - that he's not strong enough - and he thrusts it back into the pedestal to face its trial.
He finds the Champions' trials and faces each one with a steady hand and hopeful heart, earning him even more pieces to his puzzle, making him stronger.
It's been months since Zelda gave him that first piece of himself, but the picture has slowly taken form. A self portrait of his own style. The edges are formed, straight and unyielding. The middle is still a mess and pieces are occasionally put in the wrong spot, but he makes it work. Slowly, he builds toward his center, looking for the pieces that are still scattered among Hyrule.
Link's at 490 pieces when he heads for the castle, hoping for more clues.
He wonders if he had a bed in the soldiers' barracks and if he trained in the courtyards. He reads a cookbook in the library and it's suddenly clear why he named his horse Fruitcake.
He finds a research journal and a diary.
There are no more pieces for him to find. There's no more time. Zelda's spirit calls to him from deep within the castle.
With 499 pieces, he leaves Zelda's rooms and heads for the Sanctum.
The battle is brief, but intense. The Champions fire their lasers, Ganon wails in pain, and Link slices a final blow, but it's not over yet. He's in Hyrule Field and Ganon has transformed into a dark bubbling mass. Pure, raw energy condensed into the shape of a boar, like the ones he hunted on the Great Plateau.
Zelda gifts him the Bow of Light and he takes it. He mounts his horse and trusts wholeheartedly in Zelda's instructions. His aim is as sharp as ever, with only one near miss fired from his bow. Then the time has come for the final shot. He leaps from his horse and pulls the string tight to his cheek, then lets the arrow fly.
Blinding light shoots from Ganon's eye and he watches Zelda land in the field beside him. She seals Ganon away and turns to face him. All 499 pieces of him, and suddenly he's worried she'll be disappointed he couldn't put himself back together again before coming to save her, but he couldn't wait any longer.
"May I ask," she says as their eyes meet, "do you really remember me?"
The 500th piece crashes into place, right in the center of his self portrait, right into his heart. He steps forward and crushes Zelda in a fierce hug. Tears prick at his eyes, because of course! Of course he remembers her! He wants to tell her, let her know that she has completed him, but his words fail him as they often do. Instead, he holds her in his arms.
When her arms snake around his middle and she holds him just as tight, when he feels her tears drip onto his shoulder, mixing with his sweat and his blood, when he hears her whisper "I knew you would come" with a wavering voice, he knows she understands.
He's a 500 piece puzzle, and he's finally whole.