Chapter 18: Courage and Wisdom

Link and Zelda walked into the field together, but not too far away from Kakariko Village. They both looked at Hyrule Castle in the distance and stood in silence for a little bit, taking in the scenery, the wind, the sounds, the breath of the wild.

Link chose to break up the silence. "So, uhm… How long has it been since we actually slowed down to talk to each other?"

"A month." Zelda replied.

"Oh really? I thought it was 4 months." Link said sarcastically.

"That's because you can't help it when I'm not near you. The last time we were truly separated, it took us 100 years to reunite." The both of them sat there for a few seconds and then they started laughing together. They laughed so much that they fell to the grass in laughter. They didn't care that their clothes were getting dirty from the grass, it was a part of the fun for them. They both regained themselves and sat in the grass together. They looked at each other and then kissed each other on the lips profusely. They disengaged from the kiss.

"What about those 2 years I spent out at sea?" Link said after some silence.

"I will admit, it was a long time in Hyrule without you." Zelda fell silent. "What was it like?"

"Huh?"

"What was it like finding out that we have a child?"

"Oh. Well uh… it felt-"

"Don't sugarcoat it. Please tell me your honest thoughts on our child."

Link collected his thoughts. "Well in complete honesty, I am really happy to know that we have a child. I would be willing to do anything for our little girl. I will add that I don't like the idea of becoming the King of Hyrule." Link looked at Zelda. "Is that why you chose to keep her a secret from me?"

"Yes, that is why. I didn't want you to feel worse after knowing that Hyrule has you as it's King. I know that you love being out and about, and so do I. But as you know, looking over a kingdom, especially one that is currently at an unrest, is stressful work." Zelda curled up. "If it makes you comfortable, I can keep you as a Knight. That would involve breaking a lot of rules."

"Would rule breaking be a good thing for the people of Hyrule? Let's do it. Hopefully the court will allow it."

"I'm the Queen, so therefore I can overrule the court. And since Chancellor Aghanim has been killed, the only other person in power right now would be Roldi, the General of the soldiers."

"Did Roldi know I was the father?"

"Yes, she knew all along, and kept that fact a secret to everyone else. The soldiers around Hyrule Castle know that Hilda is my daughter, they just don't know that she is also your daughter." Zelda thought about Hilda for a little while and almost had a mini heart attack before knowing that she was safe and sound in Kakariko Village.

"Y'know, it's kinda funny." Link said breaking the silence again.

"What's funny?" Zelda asked.

"Sometimes when I was in Hyrule Castle, I actually saw Hilda. I just didn't know she was my daughter. I just thought she was some fan-girl who happened to live around the Castle."

Zelda looked at Link with a look of major judgement. "So you saw her before… and didn't think she was our daughter?"

"Well she has purple hair, and both of us are blonde. How would she have purple hair?" Link quickly thought of something else to save himself. "Also, we had sex before I went out to the sea and I was gone from Hyrule for two years, so all I saw was just some little girl that was chilling out around the Castle sometimes. I honestly thought she was someone else's daughter."

"Oh Link, you don't need to save your face for me." Zelda replied. "A lot has happened in the kingdom for the last 10 years, so I don't blame you for not knowing." Zelda thought to herself a little bit. "You never met my mother."

"Your mother? True, I never met her. I read that your mother died suddenly when you were 6 years old."

"Yes, that is the truth. I don't remember much about her, however, I do remember one thing about her."

"What was that?"

"She had purple hair."

"Whoa, really?"

"Yes, my father had blonde hair which gave me blonde hair. This meant that there was a gene for purple hair somewhere in my gene pool, which evens out." Zelda went quiet for a moment. "My father always said that my mother died suddenly, but I have a feeling that he was hiding something. I never got to see her body after she died."

"Do you think he just buried her somewhere really well hidden?"

"That is a possibility. I never knew my mother much, so I never had the curiosity to investigate her death any further." Zelda stopped talking for a while. "Let's change the subject please."

"As you wish." Link thought about something else to talk about. "What's your take on Chancellor Aghanim's death?"

"Aghanim… I trusted him so much because of all he did to keep the citizens of Hyrule safe. And he also proved to be useful for dealing with the Yiga Clan, however he was way too paranoid about the Yiga Clan members. He wrongfully executed so many people, and I didn't even know he did all of that. I don't want to think about what Hyrule would be like under his rule. Without him now, we need to gain a new Chancellor, one who isn't so power hungry." Zelda felt her mind drifting. "That special task force, the ones that call themselves the Monster Squad. What do you think about them, Link?"

"Oh yeah, the Monster Squad. I think they're a good bunch of people. Apparently they had a cucco in their team and they say that it turned into that Hylian Girl with the Lynel Horns after they defeated Aghanim. They told me it was malice that was coursing through her that caused her horns to come out, and she can even turn into a Lynel at some points."

"That's strange." Zelda replied.

"Yup. Besides that Hylian Girl, there's also that Sheikah Warrior. I can trust him. That Zora woman, Uten, seems a bit rude, but I know her. She's just really wary about everyone she meets. Then there's Poump."

"What do you think of him?" Zelda asked.

"Poump is a very interesting person because he has no signs of self preservation. When we were dealing with the monster colony in the Hebra Region, he ran straight for the Lynel that was patrolling around the colony. I called him an idiot, but to be frank, that was something I did a lot when I was his age as well. I actually admire his bravery. He seems to be a bit unruly, but I'm pretty sure we can have him be a part of the soldiers of Hyrule. I see a lot of potential in that kid. He's shown me a side of myself that I haven't seen in a long time."

"That's really thoughtful. This squad has fared a lot better than the previous squads." Zelda said.

"Previous squads?" Link asked.

"I've been trying to find a good group of fighters to help us with escorting the monsters off of Hyrule for a long time. There were 3 previous squads before them. They only wanted to do it because I promised them that they would be fighting monsters and could harvest their expensive monster parts. I tried finding different ways to tell them that they needed to escort them out instead of fighting them, but sadly each squad failed to understand my plan."

"What happened to each of them?"

"The first squad tried fighting the monsters themselves but 2 of them were killed and the other 3 fleed out into the snow, where they died of hypothermia. I tried meeting them at the monster colony myself to tell them not to kill the monsters, but it was already too late. I feel terrible for leading them to their demise. They just wanted some rupees and went into the mission under prepared. The second squad prepared themselves more and ended up killing a few of the monsters, which caused the Lynel in the colony to kill all of them. The third squad was on their way to the colony and then they were attacked by Yiga Assassins along the way there."

Link was feeling a little bit angered with Zelda. "You lead all of those people to their deaths? Promised them money and with a lack of communication, inadvertently caused their deaths?"

"Link…"

"No way, I can't believe this. What if those outcomes happened to the current squad?"

"It wouldn't have happened because I finally figured out a way to call via the Sheikah Slate. Once researchers found out the way to communicate over long distances with Sheikah Slates, I knew that my plan would turn out much better." Zelda looked down. "I know that those deaths were mostly my fault, and I feel absolutely terrible for allowing them to go into such a mission with such limited information."

"Zelda… after all we've been through, you could've easily told me to join those other squads, maybe they wouldn't be dead."

"I sent them to the monster colonies during the time you were away at sea searching for an island for the monsters. I wanted the monsters out of their colonies here on Hyrule as soon as possible, so I wanted to get the mission done quickly."

Link walked around frustratedly. "Should I keep this a secret to the others?"

"Please do. We can tell the current squad about them after the mission is done. They have already successfully dealt with the monsters in the Hebra and Akkala Regions. I hope they can deal with the monster colony in the Gerudo Region. You will help them, right?"

"Yes, I will." Link closed his eyes.

"I hate myself for doing it. Leading those people to their deaths. I was way too optimistic with my mission that I didn't stop to think about the consequences. Please forgive me, Link."

"I forgive you, my Queen." Link said with honesty. "Let's just not mess this up with the current squad." Link hugged Zelda, and she hugged him back.

"Do you want to drink this away?" Zelda said to Link.

"Sure, let's do that." Link and Zelda started walking towards Kakariko Village when they saw Amo the Cat running towards them really fast. Hilda was chasing Amo for fun. The cat ran up Link's body and Link held the cat in his arms. Hilda noticed both of her parents looking at her with stern faces.

"I'm sorry." Hilda said looking down feeling guilty. "I just wanted to pet the cat but it kept running away from me."

"Don't be sorry." Link and Zelda said in unison to Hilda.

"I would do the same if I was 8 years old as well." Link added. "Just don't try to scare it too much again."

"Come here, Hilda." Zelda said to Hilda. Hilda walked up to her and Zelda picked Hilda up. "We will all go back to the village and play a game together."

"Why don't we ride on horseback?" Hilda asked. Link and Zelda looked at each other.

"We can do that too." Link put Amo down and whistled with his fingers. A brown furred horse with a white mane ran up to them. Link climbed onto the horse and Zelda propped Hilda up onto the horse.

"Are you ready?" Link said to Hilda.

"I'm always ready." Hilda replied with a smug smile on her face.

"HYAH!" Link caused the horse to start running across the fields that overlooked most of Hyrule Field. To Hilda, this was extremely magical. The wind on her face always felt good to her. She felt like she would never tire from this. Zelda held the cat in her hands and smiled happily at the sight of seeing Link interacting with their daughter. To her, this was the ideal life. Zelda thought to herself that once the monster colonies are done and the Yiga Clan was done for, they could finally live a life like this peacefully. Link brought the horse back up to Zelda and stopped it.

"Let's do that again!" Hilda said.

"We'll do that again, Princess. But first." Link got off of the horse and carried Hilda off of it. Zelda brought out her Sheikah Slate and turned on the camera function. "Smile!" Zelda positioned the slate in a way that took a picture of all three of them and the cat. They all looked at the camera and smiled.

"This is going on our wall back at the castle." Zelda said. "A good reminder of what the future holds for us once this is all over."

"Mom, join us!" Hilda exclaimed to Zelda as she walked back towards the horse with Link. Zelda blew on her fingers and a horse with white fur and a white mane ran up to her. She got onto her horse and rode beside Link's horse. Amo the Cat looked at the two horses riding around the field and then turned around to go back to Kakariko Village.

A few hours later and Link, Zelda, and Hilda made it back to Kakariko Village. They got off of their horses. "That was a lot better than drinking, right Zelda?"

"Yes. We should do this a lot more often. That was the most fun I've had in a long time." Zelda replied to Link.

"Will we ride on our horses some more?" Hilda asked.

"We will, sweety. But first, we must speak to Paya." Zelda replied.

"Okay."

Zelda and Link walked up to Paya, who was sitting in the place next to where Impa once sat. "Hello Paya. How are you doing?" Link asked her.

"I'm doing great, Link." Paya said. She was looking at the painting of Impa in the room.

"We miss her too." Zelda said. Her and Link walked up to Paya and hugged her together.