A/N: At the moment that I'm writing this, I have no idea what I want to happen in this chapter. Yikes. Update: this chapter gets kinda, uh, oof, down in the feels and really angsty.

I do not own Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Link had fallen asleep unknowingly against a tree the night before. He hadn't even realized just how tired he was until he glanced up at the sky and realized it was almost noon. A pang of guilt hit him hard; Zelda had wanted to leave well before now.

Leaving the comfort of the shaded tree, he trudged towards Impa's house where the princess was, without a doubt, waiting for him to make an appearance. He nodded a silent greeting to Dorian and Cado, who couldn't even meet his eyes and instead exchanged pitiful looks.

He knocked twice before pushing the door open, revealing a distraught Paya and no sign of Impa or Zelda anywhere. His first thought was that Impa had finally died in her old age, but this was debunked when she walked down the stairs and stopped when she noticed him there. Paya held her face in her hands, as she so often did when she was embarrassed or ashamed, and he gave them both confusing looks.

"Well, I suppose this is one way to start off the day," Link said.

Paya looked up at him, panic written all over her face. "M-master Link! I am so, so sorry!" She turned away from him, face once again hidden in her hands.

Figuring that he wouldn't have much luck asking Paya, he turned to Impa. "Where is the princess and what is Paya apologizing for?"

Impa gazed at him sympathetically. "My apologies, Master Link. Princess Zelda left this morning, well before you awoke. We wanted to tell you, but she placed us under strict orders to not disturb you. Paya tried to... stop her." She did not go into any further detail.

Link gritted his teeth, and clenched his fists at his sides. Of course she ran off - he was so stupid. He'd accidentally lashed out at her and she had taken it to heart.

"So it seems," he spoke through a clenched jaw.

"She left a message for you," Impa continued. "'Tell Link that he is formally relieved of his duties, and is no longer needed to aid me in my travels. I will find another person to guard me, and whatever you do, do not tell him I'm going to Gerudo Town instead of Zora's Domain.'" Impa chuckled. "Oh, I suppose I may have let that last part slip."

Gerudo Town? That was ridiculously dangerous and stupid. There were still active Yiga. Wasn't she supposed to be the embodiment of wisdom?

"Well?" the Sheikah said, bringing him back to reality. "Don't just stand there, Sir Knight. Go get your princess."

Taking a deep breath, he turned and stalked out of the house. "Cado," he said. "Where's Epona?"

"Cottla is feeding her apples over by the entrance of the village, Master Link," came the reply.

He gave him a curt nod and left to find them.

True to his word, Cottla was feeding Epona ripe apples by the pathway leading into the village. The horse whinnied happily upon seeing Link, and Cottla turned around in surprise. "I'm sorry, I can't play right now," she said. "I'm busy."

"I know, that's okay," Link told her. "But I need to borrow Epona for a little bit. Do you think you can wait to feed her?"

"Why?" the young Sheikah inquired.

"Princess Zelda left this morning to go someplace very dangerous, and I have to protect her," he said, reaching for Epona's reins.

Cottla gasped, promptly dropping her apples. "How romantic!" she said. "If I were Princess Zelda, I'd be very lucky to have you, Master Link. I've always wanted a handsome knight to come and rescue me."

Much to Link's dismay, he could feel the tips of his pointed ears reddening in embarrassment. He threw his leg over Epona's side and guided her towards the path, not before saying a quiet 'thank you' to Cottla. He kicked Epona's sides softly and she neighed before picking up speed. As he rode, he couldn't help but ponder what Cottla had said.

She was sweet, but she did not know the fierce princess like he did. Zelda would not think it romantic for him to come and 'rescue' her. If anything, she'd return to her cold ways, ignoring and avoiding him whenever possible. He inwardly cursed himself for thinking that there may have been anything special about their previous relationship. Him asking had obviously been what set her off the night before.

But damn it, who was he if not her knight in shining armor? Whether his princess liked it or not, he would always protect her, and he decided that that was not because her father ordered him to do so.

Impatient, he brought Epona to a halt.

"I'm sorry, girl," he said. "But I'm gonna need something a little faster than a horse if I'm going to save her." Patting his steed on the neck, he jumped off and summoned the fifth Divine Beast.

"That's more like it."

Zelda was beginning to regret her decision of leaving Link to his own adventures, where she'd never have to see him again. Not necessarily because she missed him - although she supposed that did play a factor - but because she had no idea how to cook and was going to run out of prepped meals soon.

I swear to the goddesses, she thought to herself, I am taking cooking lessons the minute I am able to do so.

She looked up at the sky, and estimated that she'd been traveling for about six hours now, as it was around noon. She sighed quietly. Her legs hurt, her back ached, and she had been riding non-stop since she left Kakariko that dawn. Link would likely be awake and looking for her, but it wouldn't matter. By the time he reached Zora's Domain and realized she wasn't there, she would already be almost to Gerudo Town and far away from him.

Zelda loved Link. Goddesses, she loved him. But if conflicting feelings were all he felt towards her a hundred years ago, she wasn't going to put him through that again. It broke her heart to leave him with every step Storm took, but it was for the best. She would request a temporary guard when she arrived in Gerudo Town and then when she returned back to the castle, she'd immediately begin to rebuild the royal guard. Of course, her original plans were that Link was going to be the one to train them to become the symbol of protection they once were, but that clearly didn't stick.

Oh, how she missed him.

She thought back to when they first defeated Calamity Ganon, and how she'd heard the Divine Beasts stopped working. Establishing that the monarchy lived on was not the only reason Zelda was traveling Hyrule; she was going to investigate the reason they'd suddenly stopped. She had a couple of theories: the champions' souls had finally been put to rest, the Calamity was gone - for now at least - so they had no reason to keep functioning... It fascinated her, and gave her reason to not think about her knight.

For goddesses' sake, her knight, who was not of royal blood, who was born to a lowly guard, who's mother was a baker, who was well-deserving of the title Captain of the Imperial Guard, who had saved her life on numerous occasions, who'd kissed her and told her she was beautiful, who'd stolen her heart and refused to give it back.

She shook her head. No, that was enough. Link had made it very clear that he did not reciprocate her feelings when he turned away from her, and refused to call her by her name. After all, he had girls throwing themselves wherever he went. It only made sense that he wouldn't want her.

It made perfect sense that Link would want the princess. She was smart, beautiful, kind, and not his to want.

But Link had always wanted things he couldn't have.

He didn't know how he felt about her a hundred years ago, and he didn't know how he felt about Mipha, but there was something there, an emotion he couldn't place. He felt some way about her, something that was not appropriate for a knight to feel about his princess-

He laughed bitterly, going faster on the cycle. She was not his princess, she'd never been his anything. He had a duty, and that was to protect her, and that was it. Hell, he'd taken an oath saying she was royalty to him and nothing more. He couldn't let his emotions get in the way anymore. He was going after her because he swore to protect her, he told himself. He did not love her, he did not care about how breathtaking she was when she prayed, or when the sun hit her face just so her turquoise eyes glowed when she gazed at him.

Link needed to let go, and maybe she did, too. Perhaps that was why she'd relieved him of his duties. Was it for him, he wondered, or did she feel the same magnetic pull?

The knight shook his head. I do not love her.

Zelda had rode through the night, eager to greet the new chief of Gerudo Town. From what Link had told her, she took after Urbosa in more ways than one. She smiled softly at the thought of her old friend.

Little bird, she used to call her.

Zelda, tired and distraught, let out a choked sob. Her mother and father were dead, her friends were all dead, and now she didn't have Link, either. She cursed herself. He was the only constant in her life, the only thing she could rely on to never change. She'd finally had him, her whole world, in her hands after a hundred years and she up and left him.

She was an idiot, she decided. A worthless idiot who did not deserve the wonderful man who'd stuck by her side even through her anger and tears. The wonderful man who was probably still looking for her, who she knew would not stop looking for her until he had found her again.

And what then? Would she shun him as she did before? She couldn't avoid him forever. She could banish him, but the people would riot, and that was just selfish.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I-I'm so sorry..."

Foolish girl, she thought to herself. He couldn't hear her now.

She slumped against Storm, who had stopped galloping at full speed along the path, and had to come to a complete stop. The sobs came out of her before she could even think about pulling herself together. She cried for the kingdom who she'd failed to protect, she cried for her mother who she could hardly remember, she cried for her father who only wanted her to succeed, she cried for Revali, Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa who she'd let die while she ran away. Most of all, she cried for Link who had never once doubted her, while all she did was doubt him.

Some crowned princess she was. There was no way she could rebuild an entire kingdom. Was she going to be too late for that, just like her sealing powers, too? How many more people were going to suffer because of her?

She could hear the distinct laughter behind her, that was all too familiar to her, but she couldn't bring herself to stop crying, much less move. She could hear the Yiga clan member drawing his sword, rising it above his head, and yet she told herself that this was the fate she deserved. She couldn't fight anymore. It was over- no, it had never begun in the first place.

It was time to join her old friends.

No, no, no, NO! Link's mind screamed. I can't be too late, not when I was so close!

But the Yiga had not yet struck and seemed to hesitate. He was one of the more powerful ones, using a two-handed windcleaver. It gave Link just enough time to ram into him from his left side using the Master Cycle Zero. The Yiga clan member fell to the ground and was momentarily winded, and Link hopped off the cycle, Master Sword in hand. He went in for the kill, furious because how dare he try to assassinate the princess, but the Yiga wheezed and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind two bunches of mighty bananas, four blue rupies, and three red ones.

Link turned his attention to Zelda, not giving the disappearance another thought - it wasn't often he could kill one before they got away - and found her slumped over the saddle and crying, her hands gripping the Storm's reins so tight that her knuckles seemed to get paler with every second that passed. Hesitantly, he reached for her hand, and when he made contact, she sobbed louder and he flinched.

"Your Highness," he said softly. "We need to get you somewhere safe, all right?" When she said nothing, he sighed and dismissed the Master Cycle Zero.

The saddle and horse were both much larger than Zelda, and so he had no trouble throwing himself on top of Storm as well. He reached around the princess and without much effort, pried her hands loose from the reins. They were beet red when she let go and her palms were bleeding from where her nails had dug into her skin. Panic rose in his chest, despite himself. He tried to tell himself that it was just a little blood and that she'd be okay, but Link couldn't help but think it was his fault she was so broken in the first place.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and felt her stomach heaving up and down with every sob that left her. He held her close, to let her know she was not alone. Link allowed himself to feel her warmth just this once, because this was the last time he'd ever hold her like this.

He thought back to Blatchery Plain, where Zelda had also cried in his arms. He told himself then that if they survived all of this, he'd marry her.

Wait - what?

Link's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't remembered that the first time around. Could it have been possible that they were together? When Zelda had said he needed to remember it himself-

Oh, he was an idiot.

As he felt the familiar rush to his head, he shut his eyes and let the memories take over.

He kissed her once, then twice, then another time, and she giggled, green eyes looking up at him through thick lashes.

"What?" he asked. "I love you."

She pulled away slightly and frowned then. "You don't care what my father thinks?"

"Not if you don't." And he kissed her again.

A/N: Uh oh spaghetti-o's. It took me so long to figure out what I wanted in this chapter, and I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with it, so y'all let me know what you think.

Kisses,

Cherry