Thanks to everyone who has been reading! I've been excited about the readers I've gotten-I apologize for this chapter being a little short. I'm going to try and have a second update this week, it just didn't really seem to fit in with the flash backs and what not.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

He didn't want to go into details. He didn't even know where to begin-after all, he didn't have the context to understand the dreams and flashbacks himself. A few times he would ask the princess, hoping she would have some kind of clarity.

"The woman," Link asked, his chest tightening, "The woman with the braided hair. When I was a child, I think...I think I remember her. Was she…"

"Your mother, I suppose," Zelda said solemnly, "I can't say for sure. I never met her-she never came to the castle. I didn't know you then, I only knew your father."

"But why not?" Link said, "Why wouldn't they want to be near? It seems unbearable. To be severed from the one you love, well, it seems like a cursed existence."

"I think she was going to come to Castle Town at one point," the princess replied. "I think she wanted to move your family when you got old enough. That's what your father said, anyways." The princess gripped the reins tighter.

"Your father had already taken an oath to protect the Royal...to protect my family. Duty always, until my last breath. He took an oath, one he took very seriously."

For a moment, the only sounds heard were the meeting of hooves against earth and stone.

"He was building a house for your family to live in," the princess blurted out, feeling far too uncomfortable in the silence surrounding them. "He had worked so hard-a knight of the royal guard gets so little of their own time, but he would spend his carving out a space for you."

A puzzled look caught Link's face as Zelda continued the story.

"He was building it right outside of town, right near the western wall. I was very young then, but I remember I could see the house grow taller from my window. Your father was the knight who was responsible for escorting me to the temple to pray. He was so excited, planning for everything."

"He talked to you about me?"

"Of course," the princess responded, "You and your mother were nearly all he spoke of. 'It's dangerous for the soul to go through life alone, princess." He was excited about teaching you to use a sword, and for your mother to finally have a large enough space to make home for you. When your mother died, for a long time, it was like he became a different man."

"What do you mean?"

"When word got to him of her passing...I looked out my window and saw the flames. The fire towered over the walls of Castle Town, his body caught in the umbra of his own making. He stood there for three days, not eating, not sleeping, not moving, just staring at the ashes of the house his family could never live in. Something changed in him that night. He was never quite the same."

As they reached Inogo Bridge, the horses slowed down to a slow trot. An opalescent sheen cast over them as the sun started to dip below the mountains. Zelda swung her leg over her horse and hopped down, tying her mare to the luminous bridge. She fumbled in her horse's saddle bag before pausing.

Link shrugged his sword off his shoulder, and carefully set it on the ground. He watched the princess as she removed her pack from her mare. He smiled to himself.

"I'll take care of the fire tonight, princess," Link said with a smile. He then left to gather some wood as well as his thoughts.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Thanks for reading! Please review!