Link woke up with a gasp, each breath ragged and and dry. His knuckles were staunch and white, his hands wrapped tightly like vines around the hilt of his sword. He threw the wool blanket up to his face, frantic to muffle the sounds of his nervous breath. "Don't wake the princess," his mind screamed, "Don't wake the princess…"

His entire journey had not been an easy one for him to traverse. When he had first awoken in the Shrine of Resurrection, he had been desperate for any clue to who he was, where he was…anything that had linked him to his identity. His understanding of himself and the world had been built predominantly on second hand sources. People who had known him before, strangers who had heard of him in legend; tall tales and myths passed down from a generation who had forced themselves to forget the horrors they had lived through. In whole, he had had maybe two score of actual things he remembered about himself from his life before the big sleep. He remembered praying to the goddess that he remember more. Something, anything to connect him back to this world.

He had been wrong.

It had been unsettling to remember so much. Ever since Gannon was defeated, the memories swept over him in waves. In his dreams. In his waking hours, usually at the most inconvenient times. With every memory cam a barrage of questions from the princess. "What did you remember? Who did you remember?" Every memory seemed to disappoint her. Yet he did not know why.

He looked over across the smouldering embers of the dying fire and saw the princess, still asleep. He slowly pulled back the blankets and folded them on his bed roll. He looked around, sweeping the perimeter. She should be safe for a moment, and in any case, he wouldn't wander so far that he couldn't hear her should she need him.

He quietly rifled through his saddle bag, looking for a clean tunic, and a small vial. He glanced over his shoulder quickly to reassure himself that the princess was still asleep. The gentle rise and fall of her shoulders beneath the soft blue blanket reassured him, before he carefully made his way from the trail.

Link followed the river a hundred meters up stream before he found a small embankment of rocks that would provide him with the privacy he needed. After checking to make sure he was alone, he stripped down to his small clothes, and hung his trousers and tunic from a dry tree nearby, and waded out into the water.

Gods, this water is cold, he thought to himself, before plunging in chest deep. He could feel the light current sweep around him, as he anchored himself to the smooth bed stones at the river's floor. He poured out some liquid from the vial, and formed a rich lather in his hands. It felt good to get the grime off of him. Traveling with the princess left him with little time to afford himself with these common pleasures, and as such, Link had become glazed with road dust, pine resin, and goddess knows what else. How can she stand to travel with me, he thought as he scrubbed what he decided to pretend wasn't moblin blood out of his hair. I seem like more of a monster than Kilton.

He plunged himself head-under to cleanse the rest of the froth and bubbles from his head, and he could hear the water whip around him…

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He emerged from the large tub of water gasping, and frustrated.

"I don't understand what bathing has to do with being a knight," Link said angrily, wiping the soap from his eyes.

"Bathing," Arn said with a sigh, trying to hide the frustration he was feeling, "has everything to do with being a knight. It has to do with putting other's needs before yourself. For example," Arn poured more of the purple elixir onto his son's head, "right now I NEED you to not smell like a Bobokin's loincloth."

Link's face was a illustration of displeasure as he melodramatically lathered the soap into his hair. He wanted to make it abundantly clear that while he knew his father could make him take a bath, Arn couldn't make him like it.

"I'm only going to get dirty again," Link said, quickly silenced by the pitcher of water being poured on his head.

"That might be true," Arn said, "But it's just one of those things. I don't make the rules, son. The royal family doesn't expect much from their protectors, but the expect them to be clean, quiet, respectful, and then...well, hmm…" Arn pretended to think for a minute, "After all those things, I guess they'd probably want them to be kind of good with a sword or something. But honesty, son, that part is probably secondary."

Link continued to grumble. He had no desire to leave the castle. His father had gone on missions without him before, he didn't see why this would be any different. He didn't like the idea of the duo having to travel with anyone, much less the princess.

The next morning, Link woke at dawn and put on his tunic, and slipped down the stone stairs to the stable. His father stood there in his green tunic and traveling cloak, testing the sturdy buckles of his saddle bags on the black horse. Link tiredly munched on a piece of stale bread, and scratched at his ribs, trying to chase away the deep feeling of drowsiness.

"I thank you, Sir Arn, for your accompaniment to Necluda," a small, clear voice rang out behind them.

He had seen the princess before, when he had wandered the castle. She spent a good deal of time in the castle library, and Link often saw her with some of the same books as his father, books written in Old Hylian, High Hylian, and other kinds of Hylian Link didn't understand. He had seen the princess in Castle Town, escorted by the castle guards, speaking to the townsfolk. He had seen her many times, and she had always seemed so far away, so out of reach, untouchable. Yet here she was. Standing in front of him. He was dumbfounded

"Link, help the princess onto Demon,"

Link silently knelt, before lifting the princess up onto the dark steed. Zelda's eyes changed from a calm green to wide and frantic, as she clung to Demon's neck. Her arms flailed as the stallion jerked left and right. The young boy looked at the scene, confused.

"You don't know how to ride, do you?" The words slipped out of the boy's mouth before he could stop himself. Arn gritted his teeth nervously, as his son, who was usually so quiet, kept talking to royalty as if he were talking to Henya in the castle kitchen. Rather than intervene, the old knight instead chose to watch the scene play out apprehensively.

The princess was not pleased.

But she was more frightened of the beast beneath her than she was of the impropriety or the the boy in green standing before her, holding the reins of the monstrosity of black sinew in one hand, while gently soothing the animal with the other. Link calmed the animal, and in doing so, calmed the princess. Link carefully led the horse out the gate of the castle, when they reached a small grove of trees. Once they were away from prying eyes, Link turned looked up at the princess.

Blue eyes met with green, and Link awkwardly stumbled for words.

"I'm fine," The princess said, sounding determined before the horse gave a sharp buck. Zelda let out a shrill scream, and grabbed the saddle quickly in an attempt to stay mounted. "I'm not fine, I'm not fine, I'M NOT FINE!"

Instinctively, Link leapt on the the saddle and grabbed the reigns and soothed the horse into a slow trot. He felt a rush of adrenaline as he became suddenly aware of everything around him at once: The horse, tense and annoyed not only by its inexperienced rider, but the fact that he now would have to carry an extra body on this journey. The princess still quivered against his arms with a nervous fear, masked by the tenseness of her body. His Father's dumbfounded look of shock, that appeared to be mixed with the slightest amount of fear. Link saw Arn's face immediately shoot to the castle wall, checking for gossiping eyes.

"I'm sorry," Link said in a low voice, "I didn't mean to overstep. You were afraid, and it was spooking Demon," Link explained. "I was worried he would throw you off. I'm not wise enough to know duties you have as a princess, but I imagine they'd be much harder with a broken leg, your highness. If you want," he apologized, already afraid of what wrath his actions might bring, "I can get down-give you the reins and go back-"

"-No, no," The princess gasped, in an attempt to sound calm and collected, "I insist. We have too far a ride ahead of us, and I'm as likely to steer this creature effectively as you are to teach a Moblin to read."

The three rode in a hushed silence along the east road of Hyrule Field. Link felt the her golden hair brush gently against his face. He could feel the soft satin of her blue gown. He could feel the heavy weight of shame gather in his princess's chest.

"No one's good at riding when they first start," Link said, still apologizing. "And you started with Demon! That's quite the challenge, since he's a bit of an ass-" Link froze. "I didn't mean to say ass," he stumbled, "One should never say things like ass in front of royalty, and I just…"

"Link, in goddess's name, shut up!" Arn yelled, as he led the horses to get a drink in the river, "You're the one making an ass of yourself."

The boy blushed, and quickly became silent. The princess laughed so hard she jarred Link off the saddle, and he fell into the water with a splash.

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Link ripped through the surface of the water with a gasp. Another memory. That was unexpected. He dragged his fingers through the hair that hung wet in his face, scraping the water from his eyes, and trudged out of the water, being careful to avoid the patches of wet earth. He let out a gentle sigh. Despite the exhaustion of dealing with flashbacks, he could at least finally relax for the first time since he awoke from his 100 year sleep. When he was dry enough, he stepped into his trousers, and carefully pulled up and buckled the soft tanned leather of his boots.

It was then, in his moment of peace, that he heard a scream from the princess.

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Thank you for reading! I appreciate your patience and feedback! If you enjoy, review. If you don't enjoy, review anyways!