It's 3 AM when I post this... bear with me if there are any mistakes or typos.
After a quick stop by Hyrule Castle to fetch the white ceremonial dress Princess Zelda used to wear for her prayers and the golden jewelry that went with it, the Princess and her knight were on their way south, past Hylia River and reached after several days on horseback to a village where they could rent two proper beds at the inn. The villagers of Deya Village were thrilled to have someone as important as the Princess of Hyrule staying with them, if only for a night or two. The last time someone from the castle had bothered to come all the way to the village was so long ago that no one seemed to properly remember. Their Princess was very kind and polite and expressed her gratitude for their warm welcomes, and although she got most of the attention, some was directed towards her knight as well. He seemed to hesitate when some of the village children begged him to show them the sword he was carrying, but with an encouraging word from Princess Zelda, he drew the blade and held it up in the faint sunlight that managed to pass through thick gray clouds for anyone to see. His Princess didn't "ooh" or "aah" along with the children, she didn't chuckle warmly at the sight of the children's excited faces but she rather looked slightly pained as she watched them. Link placed the sword back in its sheath when he noticed her solemn expression.
That had been the yesterday evening. In the morning after, Princess Zelda had changed into her white dress, undone the braids in her hair, put on the necklace and arm cuffs made of yellow gold and changed her boots to lighter sandals. She stepped out of the inn and joined her knight who waited outside, gave him a small nod to say that she was ready to leave. She took the lead, as usual, and he followed her as she guided them to the first spring Lady Impa had mentioned. The Spring of Courage wasn't too far away from Deya Village, just on the other side of the hills that surrounded the settlement and after some trekking, the cool morning air of the village was soon substituted with humidity the Faron region was so famed for. Link helped her get down the steep cliffs and kept his eyes open for any monsters in the area but was surprised to see that there were none. The vegetation had completely changed from the open fields and hills of central Hyrule and birds foreign to him sang in exotic melodies. His undershirt soon clung to his back and his face was dewy from the humid air and higher temperatures. He looked at his Princess. If she was feeling bothered by the climate too, she didn't show it. In fact, she looked rather serious and kept her eyes focus on something before them. With a few more steps, he could see what she had expected to show up behind the tall palm trees and abandoned ancient pillars; the Spring of Courage. They found a path that lead up to the spring and followed it but slowed down as they got closer. The building that created a passageway up to the spring was in ruins but it didn't seem like it would break down completely just yet.
Link kept his eyes a bit longer on the high ceiling when Princess Zelda took a deep breath in and went first. The air around them seemed to change the moment they saw a tall, weather-worn goddess statue and Link was suddenly reminded of how important the girl before him was. The Princesses of Hyrule were rumored to have the blood of goddess Hylia in their veins and as he watched her slowly make her way to stand knees-deep in the spring water before the statue, he was ready to believe that. He might have been imagining things, but he was absolutely sure he saw a golden light shrine through a crack in the ceiling above the statue that cast a heavenly shine on Princess Zelda's hair and shoulders just when she came to a stop. His heartbeat stopped and he held his breath. He had seen her pray many, many times before but this felt different. Perhaps had Lady Impa been right when she had told them that there was something special about these springs or perhaps it was just the environment and the seriousness of the business that made him keep his eyes fixed on the Princess before him.
He heard her murmur the same phrase she always said to get the Goddesses' attention and was acutely reminded that he had a job to do which did not involve staring at the Princess' back and that he needed air, badly. He took in a deep breath through his nose, turned around and tip-toed as quietly as he could a few steps away to give her some privacy. She soon went silent and Link stood with his feet in shoulder's width to guard the only entrance to the spring. The tropical birds sang to their heart's content in the trees around them and were the only sound that interrupted the silence apart from gentle breezes through palm trees and the rumbling of thunder somewhere far away.
He didn't look forward to stand guard for several hours in the humid air but figured there were worse places to be at. At least he could entertain himself by observing the strange pillars hiding behind palm trees and watch birds occasionally fly before him to land somewhere else. One even landed less than a foot away from where he stood and skipped around on the tiles before it noticed him observing it and flew away in alarm.
But a new environment could only keep a mind entertained for so long and eventually he began to ponder about the Spring of Courage again. It surely felt different this time compared to all the other times she had prayed and he was sure it wasn't just because of an old statue in water. No, he had sensed a determination and urgency in Princess Zelda when she had stepped into the spring and if he could feel it, he was certain the divine Goddesses could as well. He was convinced they would listen this time. After all, she was one of them… in a way. If the rumors were to believed in.
Link looked over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't passed out from exhaustion or from the humidity and heat. She looked the same from what he could tell; hands still clasped together, head still slightly bent forward, the weight of her unfulfilled destiny on her tense shoulders. But then she looked up at the statue and Link immediately turned his head back around.
That golden light was still shining on her from above and Link noticed that his heart had stopped for a moment again. It raced to catch up but soon came to a normal pace again. She had looked as if she fit perfectly in the spring, as if she had been born from it and was meant to stay there if it weren't for the ruins around them. And her dedication and will to keep trying when any other person would've given up was admirable to say the least. He might not know her that well, not truly, he was mostly just following her around and observed her after all, but the respect he felt for her… he started to wonder if it was becoming bigger than the respect he felt towards his own late father.
Judging by the faint shadows cast by the palm trees and pillars he saw before him, he guessed it was already early afternoon. His legs were becoming restless and he rolled his feet for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He rolled his shoulders in small circles as well when he finally heard the splash of water from Princess Zelda moving. He turned around and saw her wade through the spring and quickened his steps when he saw her stumble slightly, almost falling on his own heavy feet in the process. He extended an arm to offer support. She didn't want it.
The aura in the spring which had felt divine just a moment ago was tense now. His Princess was clearly not happy and he figured she hadn't gotten any contact with the Goddesses or awakened her powers yet. He felt with her. She had proven herself to be nothing less than worthy of their attention and she had received nothing in return but a soaked dress. He felt like saying something, anything, to cheer his Princess up but he feared that the words would come out wrong and anger her instead. Besides, she didn't look like she wanted to chat right now. So he stayed silent.
"Let's go back" was all she said. The disappointment in her voice was palpable.
It had begun to drizzle on their way back to Deya Village and, by the time they had returned to the inn, the small raindrops had gotten bigger and heavier. Princess Zelda had returned to her room to quickly get the wet dress off of her and step into her usual black tights, white blouse and royal blue bolero. She sat down on the bed in the room and listened to the raindrops smatter against the rooftop. The room felt too small. But it wouldn't be fun to be outside when it rained heavily either. She sat there for several long minutes before she, frustrated, made up her mind. She was already wet so what difference would it make if she was out some more?
She opened her door and was about to leave the inn when she remembered Link. It wouldn't be fair of her to leave without letting him know. She sighed quietly to herself and raised a hand to knock on the door next to hers. She could hear her knight jump to his feet through the walls and a second later, the door opened. He kept one hand on the doorknob and the other on a towel on his head, most likely trying to dry his hair from the rain, and looked back at her in surprise. The look on his face almost made her forget about her troubles and almost made her smile; it was clear that he hadn't expected her to stand outside his door so soon.
He took the towel from his head, folded it quickly and threw it behind him on his bed and then straightened his back when he looked back at her. "I can't stay here" she said. Link tried to understand what she meant and made a move to step back into the room and start packing their things when she interrupted, "no, leave everything. I just need a walk." She watched him nod that he understood after a second or two, and he took a step back to grab the Master Sword he had left next to the bed. He swung the leather straps holding the sheath over his head, closed and locked the door and started to follow Princess Zelda as he secured the straps.
She walked in a moderate pace, probably eager to leave the village behind her he figured when he noticed the direction she was walking in. And he was right, because she slowed down when the village's border was in a safe distance and the lake it was built on was changed for grass and leaf trees.
They walked in silence and Link kept a respectful distance between them, once again to give her a sense of privacy. If she had been so kind to let him know this time that she wished to go somewhere else (unlike that time in Gerudo Desert – he'd rather not think about it), he could be kind back and let her wander where she'd like. He's like to think of it as his way to express his gratefulness that she hadn't run away again.
Princess Zelda came to a large tree growing on the edge of a steep rock and stopped to take shelter from the rain under its branches. She looked around her surroundings – all she saw were her knight standing in a short distance away from her and stone statues of some guardians next to her – and sat down. She could see Link being hesitant on whether he should stay where he was or come and sit next to her, but was in no mood for company and only wished for solitude for the moment. "Please, just pretend I'm not here," she begged and glanced at him. "Or you could go and practice with your sword if you'd like, I promise I won't leave." She knew it was a request he would never agree with, but she wanted to at least try. She could've said it was an order but she knew her word had no power over her father's. Besides, he might not trust her any longer after her previous attempts to run away, although that felt like ages ago.
She watched Link walk to stand in front of her, his back facing her and he just stood there in the rain, silent as ever. He didn't move and she didn't look away at first. But eventually did her gaze turn downwards and she studied the damp ground as her thoughts began to wander.
Link had been so quiet for so long that she had momentarily forgotten about him and she flinched when she heard him draw his sword. The thoughts kept passing through her mind as she absently observed him. She blinked after a few minutes as to bring her back to reality and realized that he had begun to practice his swings just like she had suggested.
Her eyes wandered from his back, drenched by the rain, to the sword in his hands. It still pained her to see it and she wished that it didn't. If only there was an object for her to hold in her hands to use to save her kingdom from doom too. She watched her knight quickly spin in a wide circle, attack some imaginary enemies in a certain pattern and then repeat it all again. Then he resumed to simply swing the sword in powerful blows and with precision. It almost looked like he was dancing.
She thought of the advice Lady Impa had given her. And she thought to herself that if she had learned anything today, it was that she shouldn't have any hope left for her to find her powers and that deciding to give Lady Impa's advice about opening up wouldn't do anything for her either. But she must have had a spark of hope left that not even the rain could put down.
Princess Zelda thought carefully what she wanted to say before she opened her mouth.
Link continued practicing even when she commented the weather. She had told him to pretend that she wasn't there and he intended to do just that. He didn't stop when she mentioned that he had chosen to follow his father's footsteps to become a knight either. But he did lose his focus and came to a stop when she complimented his dedication to become an even more skilled knight for the sake of Hyrule's future. And how she could understand why the Goddesses had chosen him. It was clear that she was trying to tell him something and didn't wish for him to ignore her any longer, so he stopped practicing completely and listened to her over his shoulder. And he realized that that might have been the first time Princess Zelda had complimented him. He couldn't help but feel a bit proud to get praise from the Princess.
But he held the Master Sword before him, as if it could him any answers on why it had chosen him, because he really didn't know. Perhaps it was like Princess Zelda just had said, that he was simply the most skilled person and it thought of him as worthy. If he continued to prove himself to be worthy, would it let him feel that thrill again? Had previous heroes felt the same thrill through their bodies?
… Why did he think of the sword as a living being with its own will?
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard her voice again. The tone in her voice had changed slightly, she sounded anxious. And when she spoke about what he would've done if he one day would realize that he wasn't meant to be a knight, a fighter, wasn't meant to defend Hyrule, he couldn't pretend he was ignoring her anymore and turned around. Her body language told him she was anxious, worried, and she continued her monologue without meeting his gaze. He watched her as she went on, saying that perhaps he would only believe that was his fate if that was what everyone around him told him, that he simply had to become a knight because he came from a family of royal guards, because his father had been a knight. If that was what people told him, he would surely believe it to be the truth, wouldn't he? Or would he rebel instead and do the opposite and choose his own path?
These were thoughts which had never entered Link's mind before. Her words had already begun a river of new thoughts and what-ifs but he stilled them because he had a feeling that it wasn't about him. Not really. He was almost completely sure that she had spoken about her situation but tried to mask it by asking if he had ever thought of something similar.
Link didn't know how to reply, or if Princess Zelda even expected an answer from him. Considering how he was silent most of the time, she probably didn't. She squirmed slightly under his gaze and he realized that he had been staring. He blinked his eyes away from her and stood still in the rain for a long moment as he tried to think of what he could do. Going back to practicing with the sword would only be considered to be rude and, if he was being honest, he probably wouldn't be able to focus properly after those questions she had voiced.
He slowly, hesitantly, took a step forward, then another, waiting for her to tell him to stay where he was, to go back ignoring her, but she didn't. He sheathed the sword and went to sit next to her under the tree. She could probably smell his sweat but he hoped she didn't mind. She didn't seem to. She relaxed for a moment but then became tense again when neither of them spoke. He thought desperately at something to say to make her feel less anxious but his tongue felt thick in his mouth and he still didn't trust himself to say anything intelligent or comforting.
He considered for a moment to reach out his hand to offer her physical comfort but immediately changed his mind. She wouldn't want to hold his sweaty palms and besides, it would probably be inappropriate if they did.
He tried to think of something else he could do. He was her knight. His job was to protect the Princess and save the kingdom. She didn't need protecting at the moment… except from her own thoughts. He could try to make her happy. But how?
He sighed and her eyes automatically landed on him as if she had been surprised to hear a noise coming from him. She began to apologize.
"I'm sorry, don't think too much on what I said. It was nonsense really, please forget everything I…" Link shook his head and her apology faded. She felt a blush color her cheeks and she bit her lips together as she looked away. She had made a fool of herself. Why did she ever think it was a good thing to open up to her knight?
She heard him move and saw him stand up again when she shyly looked over her shoulder. He didn't go very far and crouched down to pick up a flower and then returned with it in his hand. He sat down again and stretched the hand out and offered a pink flower to her.
"For me?" He didn't nod but simply kept his hand in front of her. She took the flower from him and twirled it in between her fingers. She looked shyly in his blue eyes but found nothing but kindness in them. "Thank you" she said with a small smile and placed the flower in her braids around her head. His eyes followed it and she began to fidget with the fabric covering her knees. Suddenly, her knight stood up again and looked around him for a second before he found what he was looking for and returned again, this time with common blue flower. He kneeled before Princess Zelda and held it out for her to take. She did, with a bigger smile this time, and their fingers touched briefly before she put the second flower in her braids. Hers felt like icicles compared to his. Link hadn't thought how cold she must be; his body and fingers were still warm from the training. Maybe he could get her to return to the inn before she would catch a cold.
Link stood up again and Princess Zelda expected him to go and get her another flower but his outstretched hand was empty this time. He wanted her to stand up too. Princess Zelda placed her hand in his and felt his warm fingers grasp around hers tightly and helped her get up on her feet. She felt so cold and he had been so warm, she didn't want to let go and already missed his hand in hers when he did. He had already begun to walk back in the direction where Deya Village was and she followed. He reached down every now and then to pluck a new flower from the ground to give her –once it was a Hyrule herb and she teased him for mistaking it for a flower, which he took as a sign that she was becoming herself again – and she occasionally bent down to pick up a flower herself and place it in her braids. She was certain that she must look awful with her wet hair and flowers heavy with raindrops on her head but she pretended for the moment that she was looking prettier than a summer day. She realized that Link had managed to brighten her mood, if only slightly, and she figured she should express her thanks to him to let him know she appreciated his efforts.
She picked a blue flower before they reached the village and held it out for him to take. She could see in his eyes that he hadn't expected this small gesture. "Thanks for cheering me up, Link" she said and urged him to take it. She briefly felt the heat from his fingertips again as he accepted the flower. He held it, not sure what to do with it, so she took it back from him and placed it behind his ear. "There" she said, smiled, and continued to walk to the village.
It took him a small moment to process what had just happened and then jogged after his Princess.
Princess Zelda returned to her room at the inn while Link prepared dinner for them. Cutting all the ingredients to smaller pieces had kept his mind occupied but now that he watched them simmer, he thought back to what she had said earlier. Had she meant that she didn't believe that she was destined to seal Ganon away with powers she didn't have (yet?) or had she just been genuinely curious what he would've done if he hadn't been a knight?
… What would he had done if he didn't become a knight at the royal guard? Like his father had told him, letting all the tricks he had been taught since childhood go to waste would be… unfortunate. Could he have gone on living if he had chosen a different path when he knew he could serve the kingdom with the skills he had? He didn't think he would've stayed at the horse ranch, but then again, perhaps he would've if things had been different. Castle Town would be too expensive to find housing in, and besides, no one would've rent a room to a minor, and work might've been difficult to find too. Maybe he could've become an apprentice at the mail office – maybe he could've learned all the streets and corners of Castle Town and deliver express letters. But would he have liked it? He thought about it. He hadn't wanted to stay in Hateno Village, not with all the memories of his father being there but… He had chosen to follow his footsteps. Had he done it because that was what his father had told him to do and repeatedly wished for him to do? Had he thought that was the only thing he was destined to do, would he have thought differently if someone had convinced him that knighthood wasn't right for him? But then again, hadn't the sword and the Goddesses chosen this life for him? So would it have mattered if he had decided to ignore his father's wish of him becoming a knight or would divine powers have made sure he would become a knight no matter what?
Link turned the thoughts inside and out in his mind and he wasn't sure he had an answer by the time the meal was done. He let them be as he stood up and made his way to Princess Zelda's door and knocked on it to let her know dinner was ready. No answer. He knocked again, a bit louder this time. Still no answer. He hoped she hadn't chosen to lock herself in and ignore the world outside and that she had only fallen asleep. She was surely frozen to the core and exhausted after spending almost all of her time in water.
Link let her be and returned to the open fire with the meal he had prepared. He waited for an hour longer before he served himself a bowl and another one for Princess Zelda, in case she would open her door. He finished his first bowl and scraped the rest from the pot for a second serving, brought it with him and the Princess' as he sat down outside her door, still hoping she would come out. He ate in silence and ignored the inn keeper's questioning look and leaned back against the wall when he was done.
He waited.
And then waited some more.
And then sleep eventually took over when he closed his eyes and let his chin rest against his chest.
When he opened them again, his neck felt sore from the uncomfortable position and he tried to stretch it back up. He blinked once and rubbed his eyes and noticed that it was early morning. And that Princess Zelda was sitting next to him, on the floor and with the bowl of last night's dinner in her hands. Link breathed in sharply when he recognized her and struggled to stand up but slid back down to the floor when she raised a hand to signal to him to stay.
"I'm sorry, I was just so tired when we got back last night and fell asleep immediately" she apologized. He accepted it, glad to hear she hadn't been sulking. "Why did you sleep outside my door and not in the bed in your room?" She didn't expect him to answer and continued. "But I have to say, it was sweet of you. You guarded it and my supper from last night like a cute puppy." She smirked and Link felt his cheeks become warm. She took another bite from her bowl.
"Come on," she said once she finished, "let's get you some breakfast too."
When she stood up to leave, Link noticed some remaining petals in her blonde hair from yesterday.