CHAPTER 3 - Acceptance

Link

We continued to take it easy for the next few days. Zelda slept late into the mornings which gave me ample time to keep up my routine training exercises. I was on alert constantly for stray monsters or even Yiga Clan members who had found our location, but fortunately, all had been peaceful since our arrival. The villagers had suspected nothing of Zelda's presence either.

In the meantime, I tried to cook the best meals possible for us—fresh meats, eggs, and healthy fruits and vegetables—to get both of our strength back. I hunted in the mornings and evenings to keep a supply of fresh meat on hand.

Zelda's body soon acclimated to fully portioned meals and her physical strength began to return. It turned out that she wasn't much of a cook since she was used to castle staff preparing all of meals for her, so I decided to keep the honor of making her meals. She liked to watch me prepare things for some reason, as if she was fascinated with how I could concoct certain flavors together. Maybe it was her interest in science that made her want to observe. I didn't mind since I did enjoy cooking anyways.

My shoulder injury from Calamity Ganon still needed to be carefully tended. Guardian technology always inflicted the weirdest wounds. Otherwise, I'd regained most of my physical strength that had drained from the last, most difficult leg of my quest. However, dreams hindered my attempts to sleep at night. Some of them were fuzzy memories of my past but others were nightmares that spooked me awake for hours and left me tired the rest of the day. Zelda seemed to notice I hadn't been sleeping but I didn't want to worry her by telling her.

A few days later, I suggested a beach day to Zelda. She excitedly agreed as she had never had time to relax on a beach before the calamity. She bought a simple dress in Hateno just for the occasion, and we took Epona down the hillside to Hateno Beach the very next morning. We were the only ones there as it was far past the end of the peak of summer's warmth, but we did not mind. I spent much of the afternoon napping on the beach, grateful for the chance to lay out in the sun, though the Master Sword was just within my reach in case anything threatened us.

Zelda stepped through the shallow waves looking for fish and crabs to study. I waded out when she called me over to look at a really big razor shell crab, and I leaned over the tide pool where it hid. She tried to pick it up but it scurried down under the sand before she could grab it. She sighed in disappointment.

I decided to tease her, and flicked my hand across the water to splash her. She squealed, and the skirt of her new dress darkened with the water droplets. For a moment I panicked, thinking she was genuinely angry with me. Then she growled as she struck her hand across the surface and sent water flying back at me. This incited a splash fight.

"You goof! You would have never dared to do this a hundred years ago!" She said between laughs as she scooped her arms down to send arcs of water at me.

I grinned, not minding the revenge she splashed onto my chest. "How do you know? We just didn't have any time to splash around back then."

She poked her tongue out at me. It was such an unexpected cute gesture that I froze as it took me off guard. When she kicked a splash at me, it caused me to topple over into the water. I yelped when my bare back hit the cold surface of the water and chilly bubbles fizzled around my body. Saltwater punctured into my shoulder wound with a fresh sting. Zelda cackled as I shook droplets from my hair.

I looked down into the clear water and the glint of a white scallop shell in the sand below caught my eye. I cupped my hand around it, shook the grainy sand away, and brought it up to my face. The pain in my wound subsided.

Zelda stepped through the water towards me when her giggles calmed. She held out a hand. "I'm sorry… I forgot about your injury... Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said. I accepted her hand, stood, and then clasped the scallop shell into it. "For you, my Princess," I said.

She looked down at the seashell. Her lips tightened into a gleaming smile. "Thank you, Link."

The ocean sparkled in the afternoon light around us, but to me, she was even more radiant.

After a few more days of resting in Hateno, Zelda expressed she was beginning to feel antsy. She suggested going out for an all day ride. We rode all the way to the Dueling Peaks stable, where I picked up another horse for Zelda to ride. Zelda happily snapped photos in the mountainside while we rode. We traveled quite far from Hateno, through the highlands to the north and west, almost making it all the way back to Kakariko—though Zelda didn't wish to stop by the village again just yet. I knew she wanted to avoid the mob of questioning villagers.

When we crested Mable Ridge, we could see the castle for the first time since the calamity. Zelda gasped when the tallest tower appeared over the hill. I was about to ask if she wanted to turn back when she hopped off the horse and ran forward, down the slope, as if being on her own feet could ground her more in what she was seeing. I dismounted and followed her until I reached her side.

We stood for a long time, taking in the sight of the castle, no longer shrouded in malice but now an empty shell surrounded by the ruins of a town we both once knew well. Zelda sniffled as she gazed over the barren landscape of Central Hyrule that once held lively towns, outposts, and markets filled with her faithful subjects. Now, the charred landscape had regrown into a wild grassland, but the tattered old kingdom banners still waved in the distance. I clasped my hand to her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, though I knew there was nothing I could do to heal the pain. She made no effort to shrug me off.

"I think… I am ready to go to see the leaders of each race. Our citizens need to know we've been victorious after all the destruction they endured, and it's time to restart. They need to see our faces, personally."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She nodded. "News of our victory will spread even as far as Hateno soon, and I'm sure our anonymity and unbothered days of rest there are numbered. We may as well begin by visiting each race in Hyrule. We'll make each visit brief, just to speak with the chiefs and your friends. But where to begin..." Zelda trailed off. She looked solemnly at the castle. A wind blew through her hair, sending golden waves around her face. The Sheikah Slate beeped at her hip and I removed my hand from her shoulder. She clasped the slate and looked down, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand as she studied the notification.

"What is it?" I asked.

"That answers that question... We'll make our way to Zora's Domain," she said, swiping her finger around the display on the slate. "Divine Beast Vah Ruta… looks like it stopped working."

"Stopped entirely? That can't be good."

"Let's investigate the situation," she said with a light nod. Then her tone quieted. "Mipha's father… I believe he would like to hear more about her. The least we can do is visit him and offer him some closure."

I frowned as I recalled the elder zoras blaming me for her death upon my initial arrival to their domain. "The Zoras were heartbroken over Mipha's death," I said. "They will appreciate your visit."

Zelda turned her gaze back to the castle. "Although Ganon is gone for now, there is still so much more for us to do... And so many painful memories that we must bear." She paused as she looked down again at the map of Hyrule on her slate as she zoomed out to our current location. "I believe in my heart, that if all of us work together… we can restore Hyrule to its former glory. Perhaps… even beyond," she added quietly.

I nodded, and looked back at the castle. I knew there were Sheikah stationed there but we could not see them from this distance.

"But it all must start with us," said Zelda, her voice trailing off a bit. She furrowed her brow in thought for a moment before turning on her toes to our horses. "Let's be off."

I started to follow her but she halted in place. "Something wrong?" I asked, feeling my muscles tense as I assumed she'd heard a monster.

She did not turn to face me but shook her head. "I can no longer hear the voice inside the sword. I suppose it would make sense if my power had dwindled over the past 100 years…"

I frowned, and stepped forward in case I needed to comfort her again. But then she faced me, and for only a moment, gloom shrouded her face. Then, her mouth formed into a small grin which made me freeze in place. "I'm surprised to admit it… But I can accept that." She said.

In her mind, the long journey to unlock her powers was finally complete. She could now begin to move on. The emotions manifested on her face with a smile—a true smile—and it shone upon me like the sun. Her burdens lifted from her. I felt the overwhelming urge once again to hug her, and my feet carried me forward on their own. My logical mind reminded me to stop just before reaching her, so I gave her a reassuring nod instead, and we returned to the horses.