Zelda leaned against the windowpane, staring out into dirt roads of Pagos Village. The dirt quickly turned to mud as the heavy downpour washed away any measure of solidness the path once offered.

She didn't need to see Link to know he was behind her. And she didn't jump when she felt him drape a blanket over her shoulders before returning to whatever he'd been doing. She figured he'd started the fire in the small hearth of their room, since she could hear the crackling that she hadn't heard before.

Tugging the edges of the blanket tighter around her, she reveled in the warmth. They'd been caught in the storm just before getting into town, and they'd rode Epona hard just to get inside before it could get any worse on them. They were both completely soaked, as they had been when they'd left the pond just days earlier.

But these past few days had dragged on as she thought more and more about their destination and what awaited them when they'd arrive.

"You never talk about your cousin," Link had noted to her.

She'd just laughed it off. "No, Daltus is actually my least favorite. He's older, so it's not like we were ever close. Well, he's not old, just older than I am. I like my mother's side of the family better, if I'm being honest. My cousin Kassia lived with us for a while. She's my favorite, but don't tell Daltus! He'll think it's a coup."

For now, she could make these jokes. She truly hadn't liked Daltus growing up. He'd been the entitled one, the one who knew he'd inherit his kingdom in a way that Zelda had always been carefully taught to avoid. She'd been taught humility.

Daltus was her cousin on her father's side. Their grandparents had been siblings, and the land had been dolled out to the two siblings, each of whom ended up with their own kingdom. It made Daltus her oldest cousin of royal blood, heir to his own kingdom, and—besides his parents—was next in line to take Hyrule if Zelda didn't survive. Her aunt and uncle were older as well, but they'd already signed Hyrule's potential leadership away to their son in a legal treaty with Zelda's father years ago.

How Zelda wished her mother had been royal by blood and not just from the most respected noble family. She'd much rather deal with those aunts, uncles, and cousins. They were far more likable.

But alas, she was stuck with Daltus, and she'd begun to try to formulate a greeting to him. Hello cousin, I'm not dead seemed a bit too on the nose.

She'd tried to explain to Link what Daltus would be like. Though they didn't get together often, she'd met him a few times. When she had, he'd pointedly ignored her as one of the "baby cousins," and she so hoped he wouldn't call her that as he once had.

"Tea?" Link asked, waving a cup in front of her.

She smiled slightly as she took the cup and watched Link sit beside her, staring out the window as well.

"Mmmm. Very interesting stuff out there," he mused at the empty street.

Her eyes drifted to him and she sat back. He also had a blanket draped over his shoulders. "Have we ever had such a normal day? Sure, we started on the road, but here, in the rain, it's almost like being back home, stuck inside because the rain is coming down too hard."

"Oh, royals got to stay indoors in the rain?" He turned to her with an amused expression.

"What in Hyrule could have had you out in weather like this? You can't even see in front of your face."

"Certainly not patrols or keeping monsters at bay. You know, boring things that obviously stop when it rains."

"Shut up," she muttered, taking a sip.

"Is this what you would do? Look out the window and get lost in your thoughts?"

Zelda shrugged. "Sometimes. I love the rain. I feel like it allows you to drown everything else out. Other times, I would run outside and just let it fall on my face."

"Nice visual," he grinned.

She rolled her eyes, ignoring him. "I wonder if it will thunder and lightning? I used to love sleeping through storms."

Almost on cue, there was a loud boom, though it came from the floor below them. Zelda sprung to her feet, and Link was quick to follow. However, they were also just as quick to calm their beating hearts when it came again, followed by tapping and then strumming, and then the sounds of several musicians on their instruments wafted up through the floorboards.

Zelda's hand was on her heart as she fought back a grin. Not everything is an attack, she had to remind herself. Though, at this point, it almost felt like that was the case.

As the music played, her smile grew. Link watched as she began to sway to the exciting melody. "I used to love hearing the bards in the palace. The songs were a little more formal, but it was the same thing essentially."

Link's eyes darted to the window, though he had no visual of the sun. "I think it's a bit early for them to even be playing yet. I wonder what's going on."

The music picked up even faster, and Zelda started to clap to the tune. It was so loud in their room that it was almost like they were downstairs with all the others. Perhaps they were trying to drown out the storm.

"Is that supposed to be how you danced at the palace, Princess?"

She scoffed and spun around for show, her skirt flying wildly as she tossed the blanket off her shoulders. "Oh please, dancing at the palace is an art that people will criticize if it looks even the slightest bit off. I can imagine that here it is freer and more exciting."

"It can't be that different, can it? Go ahead. I'll watch," he said, hardly bothering to conceal the way his eyes trailed over her.

But she just laughed. "I'm not drunk enough to dance alone. Get me several glasses of wine and maybe I will. Or," she held out her hand. "I could just use a partner who will embarrass himself with me."

He shook his head with an embarrassed grin. "I'm not a dancer. I'll step on you."

Grabbing his hand, Zelda pouted her lips playfully. "Link, I am asking you to dance with me. Are you actually going to say no?"

With a sigh and a resigned grin, he let her pull him to his feet.

"Okay," she said, far more excited than she should be. "Put your left hand up and follow my lead." She pressed her hand to his and they made a circle. She and Link both fought back wide grins as they stared at each other. "Okay, switch sides."

He followed her instructions but rolled his eyes. "This music is fast. What kind of dance are you doing?"

She scoffed but didn't hide the joking tone to her voice as she tried to maintain a more dignified expression. "Excuse me, but if you knew what you were doing, we could speed it up. It is a fast dance."

Link kept following her moves, but they were sloppy. She couldn't be sure if he wasn't trying, or if he was truly as bad as he claimed.

"I think I'll find you some wine if it gets me out of this," he muttered, looking between her and his feet. "Royals and these seven hundred step dances…"

"When you have to talk politics or learn a seven hundred step dance, it becomes far more enjoyable." She pulled him to a stop and watched him breathe a visible sigh of relief. "If we were downstairs, what would we see? Enlighten me about my people."

"Is that a royal command?"

"I can make it one," she said with a mischievous smile as she began to move her head to the music below.

"I'm not sure you can handle something that's so simple," he joked.

Zelda pulled her hair out of the bun she'd been keeping it in and shook it out with a pleased look on her face.

Link tried to hide his longing expression under a laugh. "What was that for?"

"It means I'm ready. Let's go!"

"Gods," he laughed for real this time, grabbing her hand and pulling her against him. "You going to follow me, or are you going to do whatever you want?"

"Ugh, fine," she said, rolling her eyes.

Link was a liar. That much she learned immediately.

She clung to Link as they flew around the room, his smug, ceaseless chuckling rumbling in her ear as they spun around, stomping with the beat, or light on their toes when they needed to be. He could feel her smiling into his shoulder, rumbling with her own laughter as she held him, determined not to fall in the far more energetic dance than she was used to.

"Is this a real thing, or are you making fun of me?"

He pulled them to a stop but didn't back away from her. "Where do you think I spent my precious free time as a soldier? Taverns. This is real, trust me."

"Oh, so you danced with a lot of girls to learn this?" her tone was playful, but she quickly regretted her comment, preferring blissful ignorance on that count.

Link leaned his forehead against hers. Though it wasn't the first time he'd been this close to her, he'd always been sure to move quickly, to not allow himself to get lost in her. But now, he stayed there, feeling both of their hearts hammering faster with every passing second.

"No. I'd sit in the corner and get drunk, watching my idiot friends embarrass themselves to impress a girl they liked. Now I think I get it. Sometimes it's worth a little embarrassment."

"It worked," she muttered, her breath hitching as she felt his nose brush against hers, her eyes fluttering shut almost involuntarily.

He brought his head down, and his bottom lip had barely even grazed hers when there was a hard slam against the door.

They jerked away from each other, and Link reached for his sword before making his way to the door. There was no other bangs, but he could hear laughter on the other side.

He whipped the door open and held his sword out, though his arm immediately relaxed. Zelda moved behind him to see and snorted when she took in the sight of two men slumped together in a drunken mess on the ground, both trying desperately to stand at the same time.

"S-sorry!" one of them grumbled, unable to open his eyes all the way.

Zelda crossed her arms. "Looks like you the other day."

"Stop," he chuckled. "Alcohol and fairies are not the same."

"Excuses, excuses, Link."

"What's going on down there?" Link asked, gesturing to the stairway. Despite his nonchalant tone, his grip on his sword was still firm and ready.

"What, you outta towners?" one of the men asked, giggling at himself, as if he'd made some highly amusing joke.

The other sat up, using his friend for leverage. "It's K-King Daffffffnisess birthday."

"Huh?" Zelda asked with a strange look. Daphnes was her great-grandfather, and it most definitely wasn't his birthday, nor was that even a celebrated day in Hyrule.

"No," the other said. "It's not his. It's Nohansen Bosfer… uh… Hyrule."

Link's eyes shot to Zelda.

She was staring at the two men with her face entirely devoid of everything from a reaction to emotion. And when she spoke, it was monotone, controlled, stiff. "What's the date?"

"Oh, uh… I dunno…" one of them muttered.

"No, no, it's Dinraal's 34th, right?"

"Right," Zelda whispered.

"Zelda," Link said, reaching for her.

But she jerked away from him, her eyes still blank as they stared at the floorboards. "I need a minute and some air."

"It's a downpour," Link reminded her.

She looked at the window, forgetting. But she reached into their things and pulled out their hooded cloak and secured it around her. "I'll stay in sight of the window," she whispered as she passed Link and stepped over the bodies as they chuckled in absolute ignorant bliss.

Link closed the door on them. They were still struggling to stand, but Link went to the window, watching Zelda as she burst outside and leaned against one of the support columns. She wasn't leaning backwards, but forward, as if it was all that could hold her up.

Tapping his foot, Link had to force himself to stay put. They rarely had a break from each other, so he wanted to respect her need for distance, but he still couldn't let her have total privacy, not after all the attacks they'd been involved in recently. Not when Reese had so loudly proclaimed Zelda's location. And slightly redder hair would do very little to help her if Ganondorf himself came looking for her.

But that didn't seem to be on Zelda's mind at all as Link watched her walk further on, out of sight from the window.

Link cursed and grabbed his sword belt, strapping it on quickly before hurrying outside.

It felt like he was standing underneath a waterfall. The relentless dripping of water pounded him, soaking his hair and straight through all his clothes almost immediately. He could barely see an arm's length in front of him, and the storm's wind had a soft bite to it, but he hugged his arms to himself and followed the direction he'd seen Zelda go, which was not much. He'd only seen her walk straight ahead.

She'd been like a ReDead, so he figured she wouldn't have veered too far off course. And as he headed under an arch that was too difficult to read in the rain, he could finally make out a figure in the distance, just a blurred color, but he could tell it was her.

He was going to stay back, to allow her the space that she wanted, but when he noticed that she was on the ground, he couldn't stop himself from hurrying to her side, practically skidding into the muddy grass beside her.

"Zelda?"

She turned to him, her expressionless eyes betraying nothing. She didn't even seem to notice the rain, even as her eyes blinked, and water dripped down over her long eyelashes thanks to her forgotten hood.

"Whose grave do you suppose this is?" she asked.

Link finally looked around and realized that they'd ended up in the town's cemetery. He peered at the stone, but there was too much age on the stone. Moss and weeds were covering it. "I don't know."

Zelda's hand shook as she reached for her knife and slammed it into the ground with more force than she'd intended. Then, she began to saw at the grass, cutting it away from the stone.

Link wondered if he should say anything, but instead, he took out his own knife and helped her in silence until the name was uncovered.

Peatrice Agatha.

Zelda ran her mud-caked hands along the stone. "I wonder who she was. Her life." She turned to Link, her eyes finally displaying some emotion, some life. Though, it wasn't necessarily ideal as she watched him with hopelessness written all over her.

"It's been nearly a month and a half. I didn't even know. I didn't know the date, or how long we'd been imprisoned. I never even thought to ask. Goddess, we'd be having a celebratory feast tonight. And… I wonder…" she took a steadying breath as she felt her throat close to choke back a sob. "My sister and I commissioned a quilt for him that had elements of our family on each patch. Mine had been the Hylian Army Field Medical symbol because I'd just come back. Could it have been delivered? If I went home right now, would it be outside my door?"

Zelda grabbed her hair, pulling her head down into her lap with a gasp. "I want to bury them! I want them to rest with the Goddess! But no, their bodies are on display for the birds and ghosts of Castle Town, and there's an empty cage waiting for me. All I want is to for my mother to sing me a song at night like I was a child. I want my father to join in and ruin it with his horrible singing voice. I want to hear my sister laugh after I hip-bump her into in the hall. I want to tell my mother that I met a handsome soldier. I want to see my father light up when I bring him roasted chestnuts after a trip south."

She sat up, struggling to catch her breath. Link could see her eyes were red and darting around wildly, searching for something that would never appear. "The things I want are the small moments that I'd taken for granted for so long! I don't want a kingdom, or rupees, or long life. I just want them! I want my family! I want to see the surprise on my father's face when he sees a gift and immediately puts it down to hug us because we were more important than any trinket."

Her body rocked forward with a powerful sob, and she felt the tears mixing with raindrops down her cheeks.

Link moved closer, testing her to see where she was at. He put his hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't so much as flinch away, he tugged her lightly, and she moved into his arms, collapsing down into him with a thud. He adjusted his leg so she could move closer, which she did, sinking into his soaked shirt.

He could feel a mix of her shaking, and her warm breath against him. Her arms snaked around his back, clutching the back collar of his shirt as she let the harsh rain pour down against them, keeping her cheeks free of any proof of her tears.

He'd never heard her like this. She'd cried briefly, but it was always controlled and fought back nearly as quickly as the urge came on. But not this. This was over a month's worth of pain and sorrow breaking through a crack that grew against the pressure. And all he could do was to hold her.

"Gods!" she sobbed, bringing her hands back to herself, clutching at her chest. "It hurts!"

Link bit his lip and practically crushed her against him, placing a soft kiss against her damp hair that he was almost positive she couldn't feel.

"Zelda," Link whispered. "Goddess, what can I do?"

"Just…" she could feel her body twitching involuntarily, but for the most part, she could feel herself calming down. Nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck, she shook her head. "…stay."

His grip tightened and he nodded, pressing another kiss against her forehead, blinking away the rain as it landed aggressively over his eyes.

They knelt like that for some time, heedless of the rain, of the dirt, of the mud, of the grass.

Time passed in another world, and Zelda finally brought herself back to it. Her breathing had evened out. Her heart had steadied. Yet she didn't want to move.

Finally, she seemed to realize that she was soaked through to her very bones. Her skirt was a mess, puddles forming where her skirt dipped. The small but loose pockets were holding water. Her shirt stuck to her so closely that it was as if she'd developed a second skin. Her long hair had been worse off than if she'd dipped her head in a wash basin. Strands stuck to her face and her lips, and she brought a hand up to try to pull the tiny locks out of her mouth.

Link didn't look much better. His hair was matted down as well, and his constant blinking betrayed just how much rain was still falling. His loose shirt clung to his muscles thanks to the water, the revealing material acting like he wasn't even wearing something. Zelda imagined hers would look similar, but she had the modesty of the cloak over her shoulders that she'd tugged tight, though it didn't stop the rain. In truth, they both looked like they'd just escaped the castle all over again.

With a relieved grin, Link pulled one of the strands of hair along Zelda's cheek before looking at her, really looking at her. She could practically hear their silent conversation through his eyes. He'd been scared, or at least nervous. She didn't know if he could be scared by anything, as she'd never actually seen it. Here was Link: Mr. Perfect Soldier. He'd taken a knife for her, he'd risked his freedom for her and with her. He'd been there through everything, burning as the light in the darkness.

She nodded to him, a confirmation that she was okay, or at least that she'd calmed down. "Does it ever get easier?" she breathed.

Link held out his hand with the scar across the palm for her to see. "It will heal, but there will always be a scar you can feel."

"I miss them so much."

He ran his hand through her hair, nodding. "I'm sorry."

"I know."

Hoisting himself to his feet, he held out his hand for her. "I'll do your silly dance if it will make you smile."

Despite herself, she found herself grinning as she took his hand. "You don't have to dance to make me smile, Link."

She felt his thumb swipe her skin in response.

Zelda was on her feet and found them closing the gap between them fairly quickly, intertwining her fingers with his. "Thank you. For being here."

"Always."

His eyes didn't waver, and there was no sign of joking in them.

"Link…" Zelda started, but she wasn't sure how that sentence was meant to end. Her mouth kept moving, but no words formed, just a soft squeak of breath.

And then, she was pulling him down to her and found his lips on hers, responding immediately to her, as if he'd been the one who'd moved first.

At first, it was tender and slow. Not hesitant, but also not rushed. Link's hands were cupping her behind the neck as soon as her hand had let go of his to rest on his waist.

But the faster their hearts raced, their kiss began to match the beats. Link had to move his arms behind her back to keep her steady as she leaned too forcefully into him, and she felt him smile broadly against her.

They pulled away just long enough to breathe before finding themselves drawn back together, like magnets unable to resist the pull of the other.

It was only the sharp crack of thunder and lightening that had them break apart in surprise.

They turned back to each other with barely concealed joy. Neither of them had denied their feelings for the other, but there was danger that came along with everything else.

Link feared the royals, and he was much more anxious at the thought of reaching her cousin than he wanted to admit. If they cast him out for his status and replace him. If she forgot about him, little more than a distraction. And Zelda feared what would happen to Link if Ganondorf should find them. At one time, she might have been able to endure the torture he'd go through, but now, the very thought of it made her sick, and she'd do anything to keep that from happening to him.

And both these thoughts weren't lost on either of them as they stared at each other, processing what had just happened.

There was another boom in the sky, and Link brushed his lips pressed lightly against Zelda's, unable to resist. When he pulled back, he sucked in a hard breath as he found her lips chasing his, wanting more, though they were already swollen, as he imagined his were as well.

"We're already playing with fire," Link said, looking up at the sky as another bolt crackled behind some clouds. "Let's not risk the Goddess's sick sense of humor out here."

"Yeah," Zelda managed, trying to slow her heart as they hurried back the way they'd come from the inn.

Link shook out his hair, and Zelda wrung hers, grateful that all the color hadn't come out, before going inside, still sopping wet. Several people turned to stare at them, as it was obvious that they'd been absolutely soaked.

Clearing his throat at the attention, Link leaned closer to Zelda. "You might catch a chill in those wet clothes. You, uh, might want to get out of them."

"Link!" she chastised with a laugh, smacking him in the arm as she watched him.

His mischievous eyes narrowed playfully, pulling her with him away from the door. "You can't even pretend you weren't thinking that, too. I almost forgot I had a face; you've barely looked at it."

"Shut up!" she laughed again. But she melted under his soft, yet fierce gaze. "Fine, yes I was. But that's not the point! I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to," he mused, pressing her into the wall as he kissed her again.

But when they broke apart and Zelda's eyes opened again, she tapped Link's shoulder rapidly. He turned and froze beside her. It was everything they'd been waiting for, yet the thought of its arrival brought apprehension.

Several unremarkable guards were sitting in uniform at a table, laughing with ale in their hands. But that wasn't what made them special. It was the colors they wore. The insignia.

They were Daltus' soldiers. His soldiers were close enough that they could come to this little tavern-inn to drink.

Everything was about to change.