A/N: You guys are so sweet when you review! Thanks so much! Also, Link is... kind of a jerk in this chapter? He is justified later, but you have to get through the jerkiness first, sorry.

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

When she finally looked at him, his brows were furrowed with concern with a frown set on his face. She half-expected him to yell at her, tell her how stupid she was being. But he said nothing, and that was when she knew he was really upset. This Link would have told her what was wrong, but the past Link would have stayed silent, just as he was now.

Did he remember something? If so, what was it?

"I'm sorry," she said finally, her voice hoarse. "I understand it was stupid of me to set off without any protection. My father would be disappointed." She turned away from him to look at the path.

It was silent once again.

"Yes," he agreed. "That was incredibly stupid. However, as your knight, I am glad to hear that you're safe, Princess."

"You are not my knight," she corrected. "You are relieved of your duties."

"Overruled."

"You cannot overrule my decision," she retorted. "I am the future queen of Hyrule."

"Your father told me to follow you to the ends of the Earth," he said. "I have no choice. Scary man, he was."

She laughed bitterly in return. She supposed he was rather frightening to the soldiers of Hyrule, if even the great Hero had something to be scared about. Although, she wondered...

"When did my father tell you that?" she inquired, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes. It was late, and she'd been crying for hours, but not once did she ask him to stop so they could set up camp.

Link thought for a moment. "I really don't remember," he answered. "I just thought of it."

"So, do you how do differentiate between imagination and what you truly know to be memory?"

"If I'm already thinking of a topic, I can tell when I'm just daydreaming. It's not like a flashback where I lose complete control over my senses," he said. "And if it just randomly comes to me for no reason, then it's a minor detail I remembered."

The gears began to shift in Zelda's head, as they so often did when she wanted to experiment.

"Do you think that if I asked you a series of questions that you had to answer within a few seconds, you'd be able to remember?" she asked, excited.

The frown that had been so set on his face dimmed a little. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "But I'd like to try."

"Alright!" she said. "You have, let's say, three seconds to answer each."

He grimaced. "Three seconds? That's not very long."

"Well, five seconds is too long. Are you ready?" She slowed Storm a bit so they could concentrate. Link nodded. "What is your full name?"

She could see the slight panic written on his face for a split-second before he answered, "Link Merek Castellan."

"What was your sister's?"

"I had a sister?"

"Answer."

"Aryll. I had a sister?" he asked again.

Zelda nodded. "You got her name right."

Link looked troubled. "I- tell me about her," he said.

Zelda smiled softly. "She was sweet, and very loud. Not obnoxious or anything, just... not quite like you. And she-"

"-Had my eyes, but her hair was a little lighter, more like our father's," he finished, his eyes flashing with recognition.

Zelda swallowed. "I'm sorry, Link."

He looked away, his gaze distant. "Is there... a chance she's still alive?"

"No," she said quietly. "Probably not. Not only has it been a century, but she lived in Castle Town, with your parents."

"And they were the first ones to go," he said, his tone bitter.

She didn't ask anymore questions after that.

"Ugh, I can't believe you're leaving me for the princess!"

Link chuckled. "Aryll, you'll still have me. I'll just be home a little less."

Aryll scoffed. "Puh-lease. You're moving to the barracks, too, I hear. Some big brother you are."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Why are twelve-year-olds so mean?" he asked to no one in particular.

She laughed then, as the wind ruffled her bangs. "So you're her personal knight, right?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Link rolled his eyes. "Aryll-"

"Bring her around some time, big bro! She can try our signature fruitcake!" she said, popping some of the said food in her mouth. "P'ush, I'gd meet a weal prinshesh!"

"You've met Princess Mipha before," he said, wrapping up some bread for the road.

She made a face, and swallowed the food. "She's not the one."

He glanced up at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she's not the one you're supposed to be with forever and ever," she clarified, smirking when he blushed. "Besides, King Link of Hyrule is way cooler than King Link of Fish."

He frowned sternly. "Don't be rude. I don't even know what you mean."

Aryll sighed. "Boys."

"Urbosa told me," he said abruptly, a little while later, after they'd stopped to set up camp, "to take care of Hyrule."

She blushed. Her old friend had always thought Link would make a fine husband for her, often voicing that opinion aloud. "Was that something you recently remembered?"

He shook his head. "She said it the last time I saw... her ghost."

Zelda cast her eyes down. Link was able to put their spirits at rest and say his final goodbyes. He'd been very fortunate to have met them again. "So?" she said softly. "Why did you tell me that, Hero?"

He was at her side before she realized what was happening, his mouth near her ear, but unlike the times before, he didn't move away.

"Because I remembered something else."

She nearly jumped at the whisper so close to her, but she didn't dare lose her composure.

"What did you remember?" Her hands were shaking now - the hands that had once run through his hair and cupped his face.

He kissed the flesh below her ear softly, just once. If she weren't so terrified that he'd move away and start acting like they were nothing more than princess and knight again, she would have melted.

"I remembered that you're an idiot for setting off without my protection, first of all," he said. Ah, there's the anger. "And I also remembered that you were nice to kiss."

She didn't say anything for a moment before pushing him away and putting her hands on her hips, her blood boiling. Oh, she was livid.

"Tell me," she said. "How would you feel, Sir Knight? How would you feel if one day your father told you that you needed to be protected, and he put Hyrule's best swordsman by your side? And what if that swordsman happened to be a handsome young man, only a few years older than yourself? What if you hated him because he made you feel like a failure?"

Link opened his mouth to say something, but she kept going.

"What if, one day, you were absolutely fed up with him and his stupid silence but then he saved your life and opened up to you and... and..." Tears bubbled up in Zelda's eyes, even though she'd thought she couldn't cry anymore. "And you fell in love with him, and you believed he fell in love with you, and you did things you were only supposed to do with the man you marry-"

"Zelda."

"-And what if you even made love, but then all of a sudden this stupid Calamity Ganon strikes and you have to watch him die-"

"Zelda." He was in front of her now, staring down at her with cool blue eyes.

"-And so you bring the man you love to the shrine of resurrection where you know he may never remember you again, but you do it because you love your kingdom and you love him. How would you feel if you didn't see him for a hundred years but then you got him back because he is the boy who wields the sword that seals the darkness, after all, but he scarcely remembers you-"

"Zelda, you need to listen to me," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"-And you really honestly believe that with time he will remember how much you meant to each other, all for him to say it was nice to fucking kiss you. I mean, honestly, Link, talk about mixed signals!"

"Shut up."

She blinked a few times and took a step back.

That... was not what she was expecting.

She thought he might kiss her or give her a logical explanation or apologize, or... do literally anything except be incredibly disrespectful.

"Excuse me," she said. "I am the Goddess Blood Princess, you have no right-"

"And see," he said. "You like to do that." When she only looked at him in confusion, Link sighed and turned away. "You were wanting to go to Gerudo Town by when?"

"I- this conversation isn't over!" she stammered.

"I think we should get there by tomorrow afternoon if we rest here," he said, ignoring her.

She groaned in defeat. He was just so damn stubborn.

And she says I'm the one giving mixed signals.

He'd leave her after Gerudo Town. Evidently, they'd tried to make things work but things would never be the same as they were a century ago. They were too different now, what once would have been an argument turning into a feverish kiss and apologies was now just an argument.

He shifted on the sleeping mat. She wanted to be equals, she wanted him to kiss her, love her, and yet she still pulled out the princess card when something didn't go her way.

Link wanted this to work. He wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.

Ugh. Maybe it was actually just him.

It's nice to kiss you.

Who says that? He didn't blame her being upset. Aryll had once upon a time asked if he needed help with learning how to talk to girls, and he'd been very adamant that no, he could talk to girls just fine, but clearly, he was not a smooth talker.

Or perhaps he was, and just lost the ability along with his memory?

...Or he was just destined to be a sad loser the rest of his life.

A/N: This was a shorter chapter, and I got second-hand embarrassment on Link's behalf, so... I do realize that they didn't talk about her literally ditching him a whole lot but that'll be addressed later. Next chapter, Riju!

Kisses,

Cherry