What you recognize I don't own and this is an AU scene of an upcoming story
Link's captors had just killed him and then talked about what they were going to do
"We return him home, we give him clothes worthy of his honor as a soldier, repair the clothes he's currently wearing and then return his clothes, weapons and body back to his people once this war is over through our surrender"
"If we surrender too soon though they'll be suspicious because they haven't made any formal demands to that affect yet"
"True, then send this to our front line people, put up a fight but don't fight as strong as normal, start making the enemy think that we're being weakened and will need to accept surrender terms, we shouldn't let them suspect that this is what we want"
"Yes sir"
And so the group gets the clothes ready and once they return they dress their prisoner in the new clothes and prepare his body for burial after a waiting period. Two months later and it was time to go to Hyrule and so with an honor guard for Link's body (which there had been a fight over since so many soldiers had wanted to do the honor) the group heads to Hyrule. At the castle Zelda saw the group and noticed the honor guard
"Dad the representatives are here...but there's more than what their should be, in fact...is it just me or do some of those soldiers look like they're actually part of an honor guard?"
Zelda's father heads to the window to take a look
"That's exactly what they are, I told them that there was to be no honor guard with their representatives"
"It also looks like that honor guard has an escort with them"
"You're right Zelda, they do"
Soon though they noticed something about the honor guard and escort that was noticeably odd
"Dad...are they..."
"Yes they are, not only are they carrying multiple white banners in an obvious sign of peaceful coming but it looks like some of the banners are painted with...with a symbol that is recognized by multiple countries as those members being part of a very rare escort"
"Then...does that mean that they might have a reason for breaking the rules?"
"Yes, but it might also be a trick"
"Let's go find out why they've broken the rules then, and punish them if it is a trick regarding something that apparently only you know about dad"
And so five minutes later the representatives were in front of the Princess and King
"Your Majesty, your Highness, as ordered we're here to formally surrender and sign a peace treaty with Hyrule"
"You've broken the rules Captain, you were not supposed to have an honor guard with you, and yet you have, if that symbol on the flag is a trick..."
The Captain shakes their head
"It's no trick your Majesty, this honor guard is not for me or my second in command, rather it is for one who we deemed worthy of such an honor guard for their final journey home"
And with that the two in the front step aside and with two soldiers in front and six right behind them they bring forth a casket. The two in the front kneel down first and reveal what they had hidden underneath pieces of cloth, Link's clothes repaired as much as possible in one person's arms and his weapons in the other. Once the articles of clothing and the weapons were accepted the six soldiers behind them came forward and reverently put the casket down and then kneeld in front of the two Royals as well, and while most of the casket was closed the top part wasn't so as to allow the two the chance to identify the soldier properly which Zelda did
"Oh Link...you're finally...you're finally home...at least...at least we'll be able to give you a proper funeral"
She turns to the Captain
"Thank you for returning our soldier's body to us, though I wish you hadn't killed him I do understand that he was your captive during a time of war"
"While I'm certain this won't be much comfort for you, you should know that he never broke under our questioning and as such he was given a quick death"
"I see...in any case the meeting for the signing and other things regarding the surrender will be delayed for two days"
"We understand your highness, you deserve the chance to bury your soldier and begin the process of mourning"
"Zelda, two days won't be enough for..."
"It will father, I promise"
"Very well, I trust you"
Two days later and all of the Sages were at the meeting regarding the surrender and peace treaty signing and the ones that were forced to surrender could tell that those people in particular were struggling with the death of their friend, but they could also tell that they were more relieved than anyone else to have true closure regarding his death
"Now that we're ready let's finish this war once and for all"
And so that's exactly what happens, four days after Link's funeral the treaty was formally signed and the war over. The people who returned Link's body home for a funeral were allowed to visit his grave before going home and a couple of them did so. What no one knew though was that Link wasn't actually buried, instead his body had been stolen and a body double was in his place, but that discovery would take time to be discovered, time and pain to several people, in the meantime though at the grave one of the soldiers suddenly laughed and Zelda was indignant as was Nabooru
"This grave isn't funny soldier considering you were the ones who put him here"
"Sorry, it's nothing to do with what we did it's what brought us here with the honor guard in the first place, how the honor guard was chosen"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, you see after we gave him a quick death worthy of his status as a captured soldier it was immediately decided that we would return his body with an honor guard. Now then the one's who had captured him in the first place had spread the story of his honor and strength and so as word spread about our surrender plans and that we were returning his body home fights began to break out with a lot of people wanting to do the honor. As such we held multiple tournaments as we rotated soldiers off the battlefield as a fair way to decide who would be the ones to make up the honor guard, five rounds amongst the normal soldiers and two rounds amongst those who had taken him prisoner in the first place since the first round didn't exactly give us a clear winner because we always intended one of his captors to be part of the honor guard"
"I see...I've been wondering something, why didn't you simply return him with him wearing his original clothes?, why did you return his body with your clothes on him?"
"Oh Princess...that too was our way of honoring him, you can't know this but those clothes are only worn by our country's leader or high ranking and well respected General for their funeral and they are buried in those clothes"
"I see"
"In any case before we go I think you six have the right to hear the full story about the fighting to be part of the honor guard to return a soldier home"
"Why do you say that?"
"You Princess Zelda, the way you acted about his funeral, the fact that somehow you six were all there even though I'm pretty sure that there should have been distance that prevented such a thing, plus...I didn't mean to overhear your private conversation right before the service but I heard you calling yourselves Sages and the person being buried the Hero of Time, and I can tell that the name is capitalized"
"I see...I guess we were a little careless"
"In any case I quickly realized that he was important to you and as such also realized that you deserved to know how the honor guard was chosen"
"What about my father?"
"You can tell him if you so wish but we don't want this information generally known"
"I understand"
"In any case overhearing that conversation let me get a feel of your dynamic and thus like I said let me know you have a right to know the story behind the honor guard, because you would have been his honor guard had he died on the battlefield and been recovered"
"You're right we would have been his honor guard"
"I thought so, now then what happened to pick the honor guard was..."