Princess Zelda's discomfort with Link's presence was evident to anyone who paid the slightest bit of attention to her – which was to say, of course, nearly the entire kingdom. The hottest gossip in every town always tended to be about the princess and her knight, speculating on reasons they didn't get along – I believe my favorite was one I heard from Purah herself.

What was it?

Evidently, the residents of Mabe Village had become convinced the princess's hatred towards Link was actually a façade, to disguise their passionate love affair.

What?!

It was, of course, complete fiction. But it was an entertaining thought.

There was also always the question of how Link felt about the princess. He, of course, served her and the king's every whim without a second thought. But due to his constant silence and stoic expression, it was hard to say if he was even aware of Zelda's feelings towards him, much less if he shared them.

The closest I ever came to finding out, it came from Zelda herself.

"Impa," she said one late night. After she had snuck off to study the shrines near Rito Village, King Rhoam had sent several Sheikah to accompany her to Gerudo. His claim was that Lady Urbosa required assistance with Vah Naboris, but we all understood that the true reason was that he trusted Lady Urbosa to keep the princess in check.

"Yes, Your Highness?" I asked. We were the only two awake, so I imagine that's the only reason she elected to come to me with this issue, but it was still a great honor.

"Your tribe… the Sheikah… have many traditions, isn't that right?"

It took me some time to realize where she was going with this. "Yes, that's true."

"If it weren't for the Divine Beasts… What would you be doing right now?"

I frowned. I hadn't even thought about my duties to the tribe ever since I left Kakariko Village to join Purah in Central Hyrule. "My grandmother is the elder," I stated. "I suppose it would be my duty to take over."

"Does it not fall to Purah?"

"It would, usually," I stated, slowly forgetting that I was speaking to the princess of Hyrule and not to an ordinary friend. "But Purah has clearly stated that she has no interest in taking the mantle. She left Kakariko Village to live in Mabe Village even before the King asked us to help research the Guardians."

"I see…" She was quiet for some time, but eventually spoke again. "Being the chief must require a lot of training, yes?"

"Yes. I'd be expected to lead many traditional ceremonies, and to memorize many ancient proverbs. The people would come to me with their issues and I would be expected to solve them."

"Then you and I are much alike."

That comment completely threw me off guard. I was nothing like the princess. Fortunately, she didn't seem to expect me to respond.

"If you had the choice… would you rather be the chief, or continue to be a scientist?"

Another question I had never considered, which earned another frown. "I do not know. I love to help people and to serve my tribe. But the ancient technology is quite fascinating. I would never want to give up discovering more about it."

But you did.

Not exactly. I receive constant updates from Purah's research, so my curiosity is constantly sated. And though I have spent very little of my life as chief relative to those who came before me, I am very content with how I have spent my life. I have been able to enjoy the best of both of my heart's deepest desires. I hope the princess is equally content with how her life turned out, even now as she waits within Hyrule Castle for the hero to return.

"I was awful to Link today," Zelda eventually said after another long period of silence. She sat up after saying this and, although I wasn't entirely certain if she was speaking to me still, I sat up as well. "I was so cruel to him, when it's not even his fault. He was merely following orders… if he refused, he would likely be imprisoned. Or worse, killed! And yet I told him not to. It's as if I wished death upon him."

Although there was no way I could think of that felt properly respectful, I felt obligated to attempt to comfort her. "I'm certain he understood that you would never wish death upon him."

"Except I have," she confessed. "Never aloud, but this horrid part of me wishes something terrible would happen to him." There was little I could say in response to this. "I look into his eyes, and… he's so young, Impa. Is he even my age yet? And he seems so sad and confused when I treat him so terribly, but I can't stop myself. He's so young! How could he already be so skilled with a blade? He's unbelievably, unhumanly, unforgivably perfect at everything he does!" She was lucky none of the rest of our party stirred before she realized at this point just how loud she was getting. "And I'm…"

A million unspoken words filled the air between us.

"He must despise me. Why wouldn't he? I treat him like dirt, when I'm the one who can't live up to my destiny."

"Have you asked him?" I wasn't sure what else I could say.

"Would he respond if I did?" An equally good question. With both of these questions left hanging in the air, she eventually tucked herself back into her mat and fell asleep. I was left alone with the owls and crickets to ponder our conversation.

"I feel terrible for Princess Zelda," Paya whispered.

Impa nodded sagely. "So did I. It drove me insane that there was nothing I could do to help her. The only person who could, it seemed, was her mother, and it was much too late for that. All the rest of us could do was pick up the pieces left behind. That is, until Link broke through."

It had only been a few moments. A few careless moments, all of distracted deciphering ancient Sheikah text. And when we turned back around, she was gone. The eery silence let us know why: the Yiga Clan. It was foolish, to come so close to their base with only a single knight to guard her. Curiosity kills the Bokoblin.

Link leapt into action immediately. Gripping his sword, he ran in the direction of her footprints. All the rest of us could do was follow and pray to the goddess that we weren't too late.

We almost were. If we had been another five seconds – less? It's hard to say – we would have found her sliced to bits, left in the sand. But Link managed to block what would have been the killing blow.

It was that moment that changed everything. After all Zelda had done to him, Link would still risk his life for her. No words were needed to express his feelings stronger.

Did he…?

Love her? Ahaha. How am I to know? All I can say with certainty was that he was devoted to her – to the kingdom – despite everything else. The rest is mere speculation.

What isn't speculation is how that changed Zelda's view of Link. She had lost all ability to hate him and, left confused at the absence of this feeling, became deeply curious about his past. She made several attempts to get him to answer her questions, but he, frustratingly, remained quiet for some time before she made a breakthrough.

"Hello, Link," she said one seemingly ordinary day. After so many failed attempts to get him to open up to her, it was a wonder she hadn't given up. He immediately kneeled when she entered his quarters, which never ceased to fluster her. "Please, you may stand."

He moved for his sword. "No, no, you don't need that. We're not going anywhere. I just, um…" She pulled a small pie out from behind her back. "The cook was testing recipes, and… well, there were a lot of extras, and I'm positively stuffed. I thought you might want one."

Perhaps Link was suspicious of how nicely the princess was treating him as of late. I know I would have been. But he could never say no to food, and eagerly accepted the pie.

"Thank you," he said once it was gone. This was the most he had said to Zelda since he became her knight. I imagine her jaw nearly hit the floor upon learning how simple it was to get him to speak.

So the next morning, she asked him to join her for a picnic. It was then that she learned about his adoptive parents, Tarin and Marin, who were back home in Hateno Village. Marin had recently become pregnant at the time. Zelda had the royal seamstress send her endless amounts of baby clothes.

Several picnics later, Zelda had finally worked up the nerve to ask Link the big question.

"So… I hope you don't mind me asking," she opened sheepishly. "But is there a reason you've been so quiet all this time?"

Link's eyebrows furrowed as he processed this inquiry.

"You needn't answer if it makes you uncomfortable," Zelda quickly added, sensing the tension.

Link cleared his throat. "It's fine. I'm…" A hard swallow. "You know my family have always been knights. So it was assumed I would be one, too. I had no say in the matter."

"Is there something else you'd rather be doing?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm lucky in that way."

Was this expressing awareness at Zelda's situation? Hard to say.

"They named me after the hero… I don't know if it was because they knew I would… get the sword. I'm sure there are kids all over the kingdom whose parents named them 'Link' hoping they could be someone someday. I'm just the unlucky one that actually got stuck with the job." He laughed at his own harshly accurate joke. This was all new territory for Zelda – his past record for sentences spoken in one sitting was three – and she couldn't determine what response, if any, was proper, and so remained silent. "It's terrifying. My destiny was laid before me long before I could even say my own name. I'm sure you get that."

Zelda nodded grimly.

"I'm the hero. I'm courageous. I'm talented. I'm going to save everyone. And… I'm also me. I'm also the scared little boy from Hateno Village whose parents shoved a sword in his hands before he could walk. That me? That me isn't a hero. That me isn't courageous. He's scared out of his mind."

Zelda swallowed a lump. She could have recited the next words long before he said them.

"It's easier to not be me. That way, I don't let anyone down."