A/N: CW: Language
Bloodline is a story five years in the making.Its conception in 2018 was as a one-shot, but it quickly evolved into a long-shot. A few years later and suddenly the finished outline was ten chapters and 11k words. I wanted to finish Bloodline before Tears of the Kingdom released, but as it stands, I'm not even halfway done with it so I settled for the next best thing which was making sure it got published before May. Chapter 2 is also done, and it will be up before TotK day.
While I wish I could've finished the entire story on time, I'm still excited that I can share part of it with everyone now. Welcome to Bloodline!
BLOODLINE
Link had a sister.
Zelda lied to him about it.
During a day trip to Zora's Domain, the truth about Link's bloodline is revealed.
Oh, no, Zelda thinks exasperatedly, he's hot.
Link has never managed well in the heat. Even one hundred years ago, he'd end up on the edge of heat stroke or with some new kind of burn that was undocumented in Hyrulean medical records whenever they visited Urbosa or Daruk. It wasn't enough for the Goddesses to curse him with unheeding and unending courage, apparently.
Zelda sighs, rolls her eyes, and quickly calls a fireproof elixir—one that she'd prepared herself—from the Sheikah Slate. She strides to meet the two boys pounding metal for the North Mine restoration. Both Yunobo and Link turn at her approach, but she ignores the Hylian and holds the elfin bottle out for the Goron.
"Yunobo," she addresses him, "please tell Link to apply this elixir, because Hylia knows he's too brainless to listen to his girlfriend."
The young Goron holds the small bottle in his large hands. He offers it to Link beside him and says, "Um…apply this elixir."
"I don't need it," Link replies. He finds Zelda's gaze, and with bangs matted to his forehead by sweat, he repeats, "I don't need it."
"Mm. You're right, you don't need one of your elixirs. Luckily for you, this is one of mine…the slatherable kind. The right kind."
"I–"
He's about to echo his last words, Zelda knows, so she raises her hand to cut him off. "A-ah. Normally, I would never silence you or interrupt your speech, but I draw the line at your horrendous handling of heat and complete lack of burn prevention skills."
Link's eyes soften and his lips quirk. Zelda tells the butterflies in her stomach to calm the fuck down, because her speech isn't over yet. "I won't be hearing any of your words until you put that elixir on the correct way. You're going to give me a heart attack if you swallow one more vial of skin lotion."
His small smile turns into a pout. "It works."
Zelda gives him a look.
Link rolls his eyes as the quirk returns. He relieves Yunobo of the bottle and uncorks it, but makes no other move until Zelda points and says, "Now slather."
He slathers. Zelda smiles fondly and kisses his cheek in thanks. She then asks the two youths if there's any room for a third to help with their efforts, and although Yunobo tries to claim they're fine, the now properly protected Link accepts her offer of assistance.
It is not easy work, and soon Zelda's own bangs are damp with sweat, but somehow the exertion of picking up and tossing hefty gargantuan boulders weighs less on her body and mind than any of her other tasks, because she is with Link.
Before the Calamity, Zelda had taken out all of her frustrations about everything on her knight attendant. She'd huff and scowl and bite out any words aimed at him. He never complained or talked back, even when she'd called him a dog on a particularly bad day. He'd only ever looked at her.
He'd look at her, which Zelda would hate, because she couldn't remember ever being the subject of a gaze like that. What she once considered condescending was now realized to be compassionate. How could she ever have thought those eyes anything but benevolent, especially in comparison to the way her father once saw her? She is safe, in every way a person can be, under Link's careful look.
They have barely been apart since the Calamity's fall — not that she's complaining. Link freed her both from the prison of Ganon and royal expectations. He goes where she goes, and she for him.
Link and Zelda have traversed their ruined kingdom together, going from settlement to settlement and assisting with repair efforts wherever needed. Their journeys brought them to Goron City again, where Bludo asked if they could lend a hand with the cleanups.
Yunobo and Link immediately took on the hardest task, that being of the Abandoned North Mine. Zelda, however, offered to help sweep and clear the roads to the City entrance and volcano base. The lava bombs had ceased when she and Link destroyed Ganon, but the Gorons focused on economic recovery before land, so the roads remained a rubble-filled mess. They've been at it for a few days now, and the only times she's seen Link has been when they're crawling into bed together at the inn.
He usually passes out mere minutes after they settle, after running himself dry yet again. He forgets about dinner, and when Zelda wakes alone, both Tray at the front desk and Aji at the nearby barbecue shop say Link skipped breakfast and ran to his station at dawn. She quickly took to her own chores (after making time for breakfast, thank you very much) but tried to find him during a lunch break to no avail. She had sighed, disappointed and worried, but promised herself she would chew him out at bedtime.
He has always been reckless.
He has always been courageous, always prioritizing the safety and well-being of Hyrule and its people before his own. He ventures into unyielding sandstorms and deadly heights in the name of his kingdom and its princess.
He helps Yunobo clear and smash boulders in volcanic heat without protecting himself.
Zelda loves Hyrule, despite what it has taken from her. During their travels, Zelda's realized and admired how resilient, brave, and optimistic Hyruleans are when faced with calamity. She is happy and hopeful for the future as she helps restore the kingdom.
Zelda loves Hyrule. She also never wants to be its princess ever again.
Another thing she has realized is just how much she loves the boy she is traveling with. She is happy when helping with repairs, but happier when next to him in bed. When they finish the day's work and start the walk back to the Rollin' Inn, Zelda reaches for Link's hand. He takes it.
"So, did it go okay with Yunobo before I showed up?" Zelda asks.
He answers with a nod. "He's a good boy…man…Goron…?"
Zelda laughs, and it earns her a rare Link smirk. He says, "He's a good helper, but he doesn't think so. Never thinks he does enough to live up to Daruk's legacy. Works himself dry trying to."
"Hm. Reminds me of someone else I know." Zelda squeezes his hand. The smirk morphs into a sad smile. The sad smile morphs into a pleased grin when Link tugs her toward the Protein Palace and exchanges a silver rupee for two roasted bass. Fish — she can't say she loves them, but with her newfound freedom she's trying to be more open to trying new things.
Link finishes his skewer before they even walk through the inn doorway, and lets go of her hand while they walk to their quarters. He's already started sorting through the materials from the Mine, because Zelda needs an extra minute to force the foul thing down.
Sleeping next to someone is also something new.
She lays on her side on their bed watching Link remove the ribbon from his hair, quickly comb it through with his hands, and take off his sweat-soaked shirt. His body is a sight to see, to be sure, and in their travels she has met girls who swoon and pine over his muscle-toned and scar-covered chest.
The scars on his chest and arms that she is currently staring at are the same scars she kissed when in a different bed, during their first time the last time they were in Hateno. They are symbols of courage and victory over evil, but also a permanent reminder of what he has suffered on her behalf. She no longer wants to be a princess, but Hyrule is and will always be an extension of her.
Yunobo agonizes over his family legacy and tries to prove to Hyrule that he is worthy of the Champion blue he wears by overworking himself. The kingdom itself would no longer exist had it not been for Link's heroism, yet even after vanquishing evil, all he thinks about is who and where he needs to help next. Zelda can't remember, even in her time watching over him as Hylia, the last time he did something selfish.
No more, she decides. She cannot spend another day watching him work himself to exhaustion.
Link turns at the sound of Zelda jumping from the bed, then promptly has his neck wrapped by her arms. They look in each others' eyes, and past the bone–dry exhaustion he works himself to every night, there is love in them.
"The one-year anniversary is coming up," she says.
Link seems to deflate; Zelda almost regrets bringing it up at all because even Death Mountain is cold without the warmth of his gaze.
Almost. They need it. He needs it, so Zelda pushes through the chill. "We need to get away," she continues in a whisper. These words are meant for him alone. "I can't stop thinking about us sitting by the sea, my head on your shoulder or yours on my lap. One week where we can do nothing but relax and love each other. Would you come with me?"
Outside of his incessant need to help every person he meets, oftentimes Link's eyes are not full of love, but clouded. He used to wake up screaming himself hoarse from nightmares every morning, and though they've waned as the months passed, he still struggles to cope even with Zelda's support. What the anniversary reminder took from him is returned by Zelda's vacation request; his eyes are as blue and clear as good weather's sky as he agrees with her sentiment and accepts the proposal — he would love to come.
Link told her once that the Great Deku Tree said she had a smile like the sun, but Link's smile shines even brighter. She would do anything to protect and prolong his happiness.
"I would love to come with you," he says again, though he averts his eyes after. "...After a few more days here. There's still rubble that needs to be cleared and new metal to be forged before we leave Yunobo alone with it.
"I'm sorry," he breathed an apology, reaching for her wrists still around his neck, evidently seeing the disappointment that Zelda apparently wasn't hiding as well as she thought she was.
She shakes it off, both figuratively and literally, her short hair barely moving like her head and shoulders were. "It's not a worry," she assures him with a smile. "The beach can wait a couple of days, as long as you use my elixirs until then."
"And what if I don't?" He teases. He pushes in closer, moving their bodies toward the bed.
She bites her lip, stifling a laugh. "Well then, I may just have to put it on you myself."
"Oh?"
Her ankle hits the foot of the bed. She looks over the boy she loves for the thousandth time, at his scars, but this time all she thinks about is the Lurelin sun burning the skin around them. She breathes him in, breathes deep, and states the fact, "I love you."
"I love you too."
Zelda takes back her hands, sliding them through his grasp. She gives a quick kiss on his elbow then falls back onto the bed, scooting over to the far side. "Come," she asks, craving the safety and solace of his arms. He does.
They sleep.