I awoke the next morning a while after the sun rose. I turned over a few times in bed, still drowsy. After about five minutes, I heard the barrack door open and someone walk in. I turned over to see Zelda walking over to her own bed. There was a catch in her step as she saw me with my eyes open. "You're a bit of a sleepyhead today," she said innocently. "Link sleeps in a lot too."
I smiled tiredly. "Had a heck of a time getting to sleep last night," I replied, my voice gravelly with fatigue. "I finally got to sleep after a couple hours of riding around the ranch."
Zelda's brows shot up. "By chance, it wasn't our conversation last night that kept you awake, was it?"
I nodded. "I've gotten over the shock. You may be right about destiny. I guess I'll just have to see what mine is."
She smiled. Then she started rummaging through her saddle pack for something. She found whatever it was just as I was slowly raising myself out of bed. Then I realized, with some panic, that I was clothed only in my underwear. I hurriedly covered myself with the blankets again, my face going as red as a stop sign. I heard Zelda laughing nearby – not a flirtatious giggle, but a genuinely amused bout of laughter – as I rolled to the other side of the bed and began to grab clothes for the day. I dressed under the covers while Zelda took some time to get over her laughter.
Finally, I rose again from the bed, fully garbed. Zelda's laughter was finally winding down, but I stood there for a second, before striking a pose and saying, "Ta-da!"
That got her laughing even harder, and I joined in. She walked over and put an arm around me, clapping me on the shoulder as she laughed. I did the same, and we had our laugh together, leaning drunkenly on each other.
Once we got over our laughter, I said, "I might as well head out and do some training. Maybe I'll feel more awake then."
Zelda cracked a grin at that. We parted and I left the barrack. As I walked into the training ground, I could see some of our new recruits were going through archery training. One young soldier – I suspected he was around fifteen years old – was having his stance corrected by a young Gerudo warrior. As I watched, I realized this was the girl who I had noticed firing that Parthian shot into pursuing monsters a little over a week before.
The girl pressed her palm on her charge's stomach, forcing him to pull it in. Then she went around behind him and pulled on his shoulders, which caused him to pull his shoulder blades back. The recruit froze afterwards and looked at his trainer, who still had her hands on his shoulders.
I cracked a grin from afar. Most militaries would have frowned at a budding trainer-trainee relationship, but I decided not to intervene. After all, the success of these horse archers would depend partially on building a rapport between the Hylian recruits and their Gerudo instructors, despite any ancient enmity they may have had for each other. Military professionalism could wait another day; I could see that this particular pair were beginning to warm up to each other, and any resulting relationship would only strengthen the comradeship between their two peoples.
I looked away and found one of the knights sitting alone, a pair of wooden swords in his hand. I walked over to him. He looked up, tossed me one of the wooden weapons, and we faced off for a sparring session.
…
As I went on with my training for that day, I began to notice how much my endurance had been increasing since I'd arrived in Hyrule, and particularly since the mission to the Ganon's fortress. Link had once told me the Triforce of Courage had helped him to endure long missions with little food or rest. It was certainly showing in how hard I was able to train without tiring. Even I had to admit, there were definite advantages to carrying it around inside me.
My early-morning ride had helped me to accept the possibility of staying in this land, and marrying someone I had known for less than a month (at that time). But Link proved to be quite encouraging as well. During one of my rest periods that day, I sat next to him and told him all that had happened the previous night and in the wee hours of that morning.
He listened to my tale for a while, before saying, "It's good that you're at least open to staying here. I've never had a real companion on my adventures. Zelda only saw me a few times the last time Ganon was causing trouble, and even then only in disguise. The other Sages I didn't see much of at all. My fairy companion, Navi, was faithful to the very end, but she couldn't really share the dangers of my quest with me. Now I have someone who I can share victories with. Someone I can relate to. You have no idea how relieving that feels."
I considered his words. "I'm glad my presence here has made you feel that way," I said in reply. He was beginning to feel like a brother to me. I sometimes could feel the shared spirit between us; it caused a wonderful, peaceful feeling, like I could trust him with my life. Of course, we also looked very much alike. Had I not known, I would have mistaken us for brothers.
But maybe we actually were brothers, at least, in spirit.
After we reminisced for a while about the kinship we were sharing more and more, Link asked me, "What's it like where you come from?"
I looked back at him and smiled. "Beyond your wildest dreams," I replied. "Very little, if anything, is impossible. We can talk to people thousands of miles away. We can access any information we wish at the twitch of a finger and use great, complex machines to accomplish any task set before us. The big city – Portland – has buildings that are taller than any castle, and when the sun sets, we have our own lights to see in the dark."
Link's eyes got big at my descriptions of modern technology. "I should like to visit your home sometime," he said at length.
My smile got wider. "If I can convince Zelda," I responded, "maybe I can show you around there."
Link grinned widely. I could tell I had made his day. And talking to him had made mine.
