It wasn't Link's hand Zelda held by morning. It was Paya's soft, gentle fingers laced in her own. The Sheikah looked up, smiling at the Princess, her voice nearly a whisper. "Good morning, Princess. Master Link has begun to prepare Epona and one of the village's horses for your travels. He apologizes for not being here when you awake."

Zelda blinked, slowly retracting her hand from Paya's as her body moved to sit up. Her hand ached, her head felt heavy, but she didn't want to delay her trip. She was eager to see more of Hyrule. She was more eager to be alone with Link once again.

"Thank you, Paya." She smiled, swinging her legs over the bed and picking up her riding clothes. She slipped behind the privacy curtain that separated the bed she was using and the cot Paya had been resting in during Zelda's visit.

The Princess spoke nothing as she dressed. After fighting with her attire for some time, she finally finished by hiking up her riding boots and enclosing the wristband of her gloves. She stepped from behind the curtain, letting Paya brush her hair as she settled in front of the vanity.

"Princess, may I ask something private?"

"You may ask anything, Paya. Whether or not I choose to answer is the true question." She bit back a yawn before glancing in the mirror to watch Paya work.

"Did Master Link return your affections prior to the calamity?"

Zelda went quiet, closing her eyes at the question. The two had spoken of their confused feelings many times. What was duty, what was proper, what was the visions they shared of past lives and what of the future.

They'd shared more than words, she'd remembered. Her lips had pressed to his many times, but the words had never left either of them.

"I'd like to think so, Paya, but we never spoke much of such things. A Princess and her Knight? The Kingdom wouldn't have it. Especially as I was the face of failure and he was the face of hope." She glanced back to Paya in the mirror, smiling timidly. "Your feelings for him run deep. I can see it in your eyes."

"They do," Paya admitted without hesitation, "but they are simply a childish crush." It was a lie, Zelda knew. A lie Paya told herself to feel better. "Grandmother, Aunt Purah, Robbie...they all have told me stories about the two of you together. I think your heart rings true, Princess."

"I only hope he remembers himself." Zelda sighed, "sometimes I can see the Link I knew. The way his face lights up, or a particular way he smiles or laughs. When he makes a stupid pun or an unexpected comment that just…" she shook her head, "but perhaps I shouldn't be banking on the return of the Link I knew, and instead focus on the one who's here now. I'm not the same, either. To expect that of him is selfish and impractical."

"You speak with such knowledge for someone nearly the same age as me. I wish I could be like you, some days, Princess. I truly admire your strength."

Zelda smiled a true smile this time. "Oh, Paya, I have a hundred years on you. And besides," she lifted up her right hand, the marking covered by her riding glove. "If I am to hold the triforce of wisdom, I must at least pretend to have some knowledge." She chuckled.

Paya took her hand as she had the night before, encasing it between her own two in a small prayer. It was brief, and she quickly let go before stepping away with a little bow. "Master Link should be ready downstairs by now. I hope you return soon. I have a feeling I will miss your company in your time away."

"Oh, Paya." Zelda stood, hugging her new found friend. "I'll miss you too. I promise I'll return soon and tell you all about our visit to the Domain. Take care of Impa, as I know you always will, but take care of yourself as well."

"Of course, Princess. Safe travels." She smiled, letting Zelda have her space downstairs with her grandmother, despite wanting to see the Chosen duo off.

Once downstairs, the Princess knelt before Impa, smiling up at the Elder sat upon a heap of pillows as usual. "Stay safe, Impa. I will return with a positive outcome for our Kingdom."

"And if you don't, I must insist you at least come with a tale worth telling." Impa glanced up, her hat falling far enough back to reveal her eyes and smile. She opened her arms for the Princess, an invite to an embrace which Zelda quickly took.

"Stay safe, Child." Impas soft voice rang into her hair, "May the Goddess smile upon you."

—-

It felt like an eternity before they had finally left Kakariko behind. Perhaps introducing herself to every member of the village was a little much, resulting in a large amount of farewell wishes that inevitably pushed back their schedule by several hours.

Despite the delay, they were soon greeted with a sight beyond that of the village. Rolling hills of grass a height that Zelda had never seen before graced her vision as they passed through the last of the rocky walls leading from Kakariko. And for the first time, truly, Zelda felt a sense of freedom.

Her horse, who was appropriately named Speckles by one of the young Sheikah girls, sensed the need for freedom too. How long had it been housed in the village, unable to run free?

But her fun came to a halt before it even truly began. Two bokoblin rode in the distance on horses. A sight she'd never seen before. The creatures had advanced enough to learn to ride. Fascinating.

"Princess, I've taken this group out at least three times over. Stay here. It won't be long." Link mused, reaching for the slate on his side. "Watch and learn, Princess. You're about to have your mind blown."

He winked to her, the gesture causing her cheeks to warm. Prior to the Calamity he had never done that and now it seemed to be a habit.

Oh, Goddesses, grant me the strength to tolerate the way this boy makes me forget myself.

Link rode his horse, Epona, straight towards the duos horses. His focus wasn't on either, but on the slate in his hand. In the blink on an eye a small, blue sphere appeared in Link's hand, which he dropped between the two. He'd barely made it far enough away from the mysterious item before he pressed a button on the slate.

A bomb went off, causing the two bokoblin's horses to stir, bucking their riders off as they galloped away from the sound.

Once more, Link produced a sphere bomb, throwing it in the general direction of the two as they regained their footing, igniting the bomb to send them flying in opposite directions.

Heading right, Link focused on the older, stronger of the two. With a press of another button, the creature froze. Link unsheathed the Master Sword for the first time since the battle began, hitting the bokoblin several times, though it didn't move. It didn't react.

Suddenly, unfrozen, it flew several feet in the air, landing on the far side of the field away from both herself and Link.

Her knight adjusted himself on his horse once more, not letting the older bokoblin rest too long. He headed straight for it, using the force of his own strength and the speed of his horse to drive the Master Sword through the creature's stomach.

One down, one to go.

Link seemed to be showing off by now, standing on his horse for fun. If Zelda was going to watch, he may as well give a show. He returned his sword to its home on his back, pulling out his bow and aiming a plain arrow straight through the weaker bokoblin's head. Once down, he switched for a bomb arrow.

The battle was won in mere minutes, her knight returning before her without so much as a scratch.

He jumped from Epona, feeding her an apple as a reward for her efforts from his infinite bag, expecting an applause from his captive audience.

Instead, he felt hands grabbing at his waist. He instinctively took hold of the hands of the Princess, turning to her with a look of confusion, his eyes wide at their position. She'd always checked him after battle, at least, so he thought. But this wasn't the sort of thanks he had come to except.

"That. Was. Incredible!" Zelda exclaimed, letting go of his hands to grab the slate from his hip. "I knew your strengths as a knight were unmatched but the things that you did with the aid of this slate." She stared at the screen, bouncing on her toes as she practically leaned on Link's side. "The yellow, that was amazing! You froze him and all the force you gave broke at once! Link! He went flying! Can such a result only be produced with solid objects, or can it be used on liquids and gases as well?"

She was rambling, her thoughts spilling before he could answer. "And the bombs. An infinite amount of bombs just carried in such a small contraption. How far can the bomb be from the slate? If you throw it does it change the strength of the blast it produces? How much damage does one direct hit cause?"

"Princess," Link chuckled, taking her by the wrists as she stared at the slate. "Breathe. I'm but a single knight. I can't answer everything at once."

"But Link." She took a deep breath, breaking her gaze from the slate to look at the hero before her, "this is unlike anything we had dreamed up back at the ancient tech lab. It's remarkable." She stepped back from his hold, offering the slate back to him. "You're remarkable. To have learned how to use this to your benefit on the battlefield, I would have never seen the possibilities that way. You must tell me everything you know."

"I will, Princess." He took the slate, returning it to his side. "For now, we need to continue if we want to get to the stable by nightfall. The villagers put us behind schedule, remember."

"Yes, yes of course." Zelda returned to her horse, mounting it and holding her reins, but the wheels kept churning in her head. "I cannot wait to meet up with Purah and gush about all the secrets of the Slate. I wonder if, between the two of us, we could figure out a way to warp with more than one person. That way, we could travel with far more ease and reestablish a joined Hyrule far more quickly."

Link stared at her as she continued, lost in his own train of thought. The whole situation seemed to ring a bell, like they'd been here before, in this exact moment. But the conversation, it was about guardians, not the slate. Had they been testing them so close to Kakariko? Link couldn't imagine that would have been allowed. Maybe they'd visited Robbie or Purah in the village and had been heading back to the castle. But the two had already moved to the castle prior to Link becoming the Princess' appointed knight. Whatever it was, it caused an ache to flame in Link's chest. Of all the memories to forget, this one seemed rather important.

"Link?" Zelda looked back at him from her settled spot on her horse. Her rambling ceased, the light in her eyes cooling as her whole body seemed to soften. "You're trying to remember something, aren't you?"

"Y-Yeah." He sighed, starting his horse off, waiting for Zelda's to join Epona's pace at his side. He didn't elaborate, and she didn't press with any further questions. Instead, the two continued their journey in relative silence.

Trotting down the slope wasn't the most ideal form of travel, Zelda had decided, but it did provide some lovely views. Most importantly, not a soul was around. No one to stop them, question them, prevent them from making their journey.

Near the end, there was another camp, but Link ended the fight with a single arrow through the rope of a lantern. It fell, igniting the explosive barrels stored there, and killing any enemies without the need of a true fight.

By the time they met up with the road again, Zelda's body begged for rest. It was still rather weak, despite how much she tried to argue it wasn't.

Link helped her down, the two settling under a small tree as their horses took the chance to eat from the endless tall grass.

"How much further to the stable?" Zelda took off one of her boots, rubbing the sole of her foot to rid it of a painful cramp.

"Two or three hours. We could probably make it there in less than one. Depends on how hard we push the horses." Link pulled out a few more apples from his pouch, tossing one to Zelda, who quickly abandoned her sore foot for the snack.

"Is there a reason you've avoided the road thus far?"

"Yiga." Link looked at her, "they usually pop up near ruins. It's not often they travel into the fields since there's not much for them to find there. At least, they haven't been as often. Not since I exposed their hideout."

"Do you think they're truly around at the moment? I can see them regrouping in a few years, but right after their God has fallen?"

"They're persistent. I met a bunch only a day or so following the fall of their leader. Ever since they've been following me around," he shrugged, almost relaxed at the idea. "It's like a fan club."

"One that wants you dead." She snorted.

"Yeah, but they still want me. I think that's pretty cool. Prince Sidon has an actual fan club, though."

"You're lying," Zelda giggled, "like, girls who follow him around and ask for autographs?"

"Yes. Some are downright creepy, looking for old tissues and used forks. I don't get those ones, but I befriended most of them simply by being someone the Prince wants to be around."

"Ridiculous." She snorted again, shaking her head at the obscenity of it all. "And to think, I thought it strange for the girls in the castle to have a fan club for you."

"It was only a few maids," he waved his hand, "and I never even spoke to them."

"That's what made you interesting. Sir Link. The Chosen One. The Knight who carries the Sword that Seals the Darkness. So mysterious and quiet. Always keeping his cool. Oh, what it must be like to have your name said from his lips. I wonder how the muscles look under that dashing tunic of his."

Link rolled his eyes but smiled.

As a result, Zelda pretended to be swooned, falling back into the field as she held her hands above her heart. "Sir Link smiled at me. Oh, I'll never forget this day. How will I ever go on, knowing I was the one who made him smile?"

"Oh, haha. It's not like I didn't have to deal with any of the words spoken of you by my comrades."

"The difference is they were just like the gossipers. I heard more than enough of my failures and how knights found my lack of power to result in practically a suicide mission for them all."

"Those are only the ones you listened to. The amount of teasing I got once my placement was announced. I had to deal with-"

"Link." Zelda stared at him, "you remember all of this?"

"I…" he thought for a while, nodding, "yeah, I remember. Being appointed meant being teased. They asked me all sorts of questions. Did you ever smile? Or what did your hair smell like." He looked at her, "I remember when they first found out. I'll save you those comments."

"You remember." She breathed, hope blooming once more. "Perhaps it's because you weren't searching for the memory that it came with such ease."

"It's happened a few times before." He admitted. "But still, I couldn't tell you who said what or when. They're all nameless, faceless blobs."

"Like chuchus?"

He chuckled, "yeah, chuchus that are actually dangerous."

"So, like electric chuchus."

"Your comparison is odd, but it's accurate, yeah."

Zelda seemed pleased with herself, standing up and returning her boot to her foot. "Well, it's best we get going, don't you think? I haven't stayed at a stable in one hundred years."

"I took you to one right after Hyrule Field," Link reminded her, whistling for Epona's attention afterwards.

"I don't remember so it doesn't count."

"Right, it doesn't count unless it's in your book of notes."

"Exactly." She concluded, watching as Speckles followed Epona's lead. The horse approached, nudging her shoulder, in which she rubbed its strong neck in return. "So an hour?"

"More like two." Link reminded her, hoisting her up onto her horse once more.

"An hour and a half."

"For a healing Princess you sure have a lot of spunk." Link boarded his horse, starting off down the marked road.

"Always."

—-

Link had said the stables of Hyrule were far more thrown together in appearance, and he hadn't been kidding.

What was once a large building, with a royal suite upstairs and a dining hall fit for even the largest of wedding parties was merely a round circle with a handful of beds.

The outside, unsurprisingly, looked like the head of a horse. Easy to spot for any oncoming travellers. Link had told her that the chain of stables all looked the same, with a few colour changes here and there, but all featuring the strange head of the horse at the top.

In some ways, the whole thing was rather charming. Simple, almost silly even. Most impressive of it all was the amount Link had visited. There was a whole system, working together to allow travel and trade despite the threats of doing so.

The Hylians were surviving the best they could.

Zelda couldn't help but admire their perseverance.

Link paid for two soft beds, whatever that meant, gesturing Zelda towards the two he'd chosen for the night.

She slid off her boots, sitting cross legged in the centre of her chosen bed, looking around the stable to take it in, in its entirety.

There wasn't much to see. A few more beds, a traveling salesman, a painter and some man who thought he was going to claim the Master Torch, of all things.

The walls were boring as well. A recipe here, a sign there. Nothing of note, really. This wasn't a place to boost trade or tourism. It was simply a place for the tired wanderer to sleep.

Zelda looked back to Link, who was settling in quite well. He'd removed his Champion's tunic, favouring a plain shirt to sleep. His hair was freed from his ponytail, bangs falling into his eyes.

The Princess giggled. His hair was longer than her own.

A few men waved at Link. Her knight waved back, a kind smile on his lips, though he chose not to engage in conversation with any of them. Still, they all seemed acquainted.

"Did you visit this stable often?" Zelda asked, running her fingers through her hair. She'd forgotten to ask for a hairbrush before leaving Kakariko, but with her new cut she had little hair to brush as it was.

"This one? Not really. It was the first I visited, though. Most of the people here," he nodded to those who had waved upon their arrival, "travel even more than me. I think I've seen Beedle at every edge of Hyrule."

"I see," she pulled her knees to her chest now, continuing to take in the little sights there were to see. Soon enough, the room filled with the pleasant sound of an accordion, her eyes lighting up. "I know that song." She whispered.

Yet Link had heard her, leaning back on his elbows on his own bed. "Yeah? Kass said his teacher knew you. He was a court poet or something."

"Reed." Zelda rubbed the back of her hand somberly, "You knew him, too. I doubt you'd remember him. He avoided you like the plague."

"Because he was in love with you," Link sighed, "Kass mentioned it. Hated me. Loved you. Seems to be a common story, honestly."

"I think it's usually the other way around, though I'm surprised Reed had any feelings for me. If I'm being truthful, I often forgot he was there." Her hand burned, and she involuntarily pulled it to her chest, cradling it against herself. "He'd follow me around the castle, behind you usually. His job was to record all he could of the Hero and the Princess." She looked to him, "He was our shadow."

Link listened, but seemed emotionless. To forget someone who was dragged along for the ride, always by their side, always there? He was beginning to question the decisions of the Goddesses and their involvement in his memories.

"Would you like to meet his student, then? Kass has been helping me a lot through all of," he gestured around himself, "this."

Zelda pondered for a moment before shaking her head, staring at her gloved hand. "I think I need time to process another life lost due to my powers delayed awakening."

"He survived the fall, Princess. He died long after of an illness unrelated to the Calamity."

She looked to him, her smile so small, so...broken. "That is reassuring. Thank you, Link."

"Of course, Princess. If time and space is what you need, I think I'll speak with Kass myself."

She watched Link stand. Watched his hand hover above the Master Sword before deciding to leave it where it rested for the time being. He was soon outside, out of view.

And Zelda was alone with nothing but the thoughts of another lost friend.