Forgotten Instincts

by farore-or-less

Having been torn from Hylia and her sealing power, Zelda travels with Link as a companion to appease the corrupted Divine Beasts, but she must hide her identity because his memory is gone & mentality hanging by a thread. She has to live under an alias until his memory of her returns, even if that means he's falling in love with the woman she's pretending to be. (POV Link & Zelda)

12. Reunion

Summary: A reunion caked in sweetness, a night spent in a swaying hammock, and a squawking Champion that judges them when they're caught doing more than hugging.

Content Warning: Mild violence, swearing, and explicit sexual content

Author's Note: I've made a goal for myself to finish this story before Tears of the Kingdom comes out in May. Let's see if I can do it!

---

It's been almost two months since he's seen her.

But it's not like he's obsessively counting or anything. Link has never been very good at keeping track of stuff, especially days. It's hard for him to even tally how many rice cakes he's eaten let alone how many monsters he's battling. His tactics are usually just… crunch down the numbers until there's nothing left—and that goes for food, too.

So a few days may have escaped him. The one that were particularly difficult to keep track of were days spent trying to complete a shrine. It's always hard to determine how long it's been inside one of those things when the lighting doesn't change and it's only the blue glow of the walls and ceiling, forcing his circadian rhythm to falter. Sometimes when he'd exit a shrine, it'd be so long that he'd forget what day it was when he entered. The best way to keep track was to tally the days on the Sheikah slate, and so far… he's counted fifty-eight of them.

So maybe he is obsessively counting.

The first few days were the toughest, not to mention the hottest. The fireproof elixir worked fine, but it didn't stop the excessive sweating and difficulty breathing that stagnant, sulfuric air. Before he was even able to acquire a flamebreaker set, Link's clothes were damp and gross and his sweat was probably the only reason why his tunic and trousers never caught fire.

Emotionally, it had been tough to leave Zel. Link never wanted to split from her and obviously she didn't want to split from him, but kissing her right before he was to go without her for two straight months was probably not the best idea.

See, he had done a few things he wasn't very proud of, things Link will take with him to his grave. The day after he watched Zel descend down the mountain with their horses, Link reached Goron city, but he bypassed everything and all things and made his way straight into the Shae Mo'sah Shrine. Even buying a flamebreaker outfit had to wait for what he needed to do, what was driving him insane.

And he was thankful that the first room in the shrine didn't consist of any dangerous obstacles because his trousers were unbuckled and his hand was in his pants before the moving platform had even lowered him down completely. Link didn't last long with the fresh taste of Zel's tongue on his lips and the sensation of her fingers gripping in his hair. At least he was respectable about it. He cleaned up afterwards and sent Hylia a prayer; promising that he would never, ever desecrate a holy shrine like this again, but… that promise was quickly broken when he entered the next shrine. And the one after that.

And then a few more.

Zel had been right about the Gorons. They kept him busy with work, running errands for Bludo the boss, as Link tried finding the right person to help him reach Vah Rudania. When he had freed Yunobo from the cave, Link got distracted and ended up running around the Eldin region for a few days after that, collecting mineral deposits and hunting Eldin ostriches (in revenge for the trousers incident) and finding shrines—forgetting all about the quest at hand. Half a day was spent trying to build a flying machine out of two rusty black mining carts with the Magnesis rune on the Sheikah slate. Sadly, it yielded little to no results and barely lifted off the ground. Maybe one day he'd get the hang of it.

Truthfully, he didn't mind venturing around the Eldin Region all that much. He thought it would've been unbearably hot and lonely and it was, but not as much as he was expecting. The only two things he truly despised about it was it had been just a little too hot—even in the flamebreaker gear—and any bomb arrows that he tried to use blew up in his face.

That had not been a fun experience.

It was when he almost got squashed by an Igneo Talus, arm injured and badly burned, did Link speak honest words to the scorching air and used the Sheikah slate to travel safely back to Goron City.

"Fuck this," he said.

After that, he went to scour Death Mountain with Yunobo. That was when he heard it. As Link was whistling for his dawdling buddy to avoid detection of the skywatchers, a loud caw shrieked through the air. The noise made both their heads snap up to the sound, searching the skies for the mechanical echo, and it didn't take long to find the source of the commotion.

Link could barely breathe. Between the ember-filled air and the emotions rising in his throat, he blinked to the brink of tears and choked on her name. "Zel. She did it."

"Who?" Yunobo turned back to him with a worried look on his face, cowering at the sound and the entire situation they were in. "Who did what? Oh man, don't tell me that flying beast is coming over here now."

"No," Link smiled at his companion, ardent eyes sparkling with newfound hope and motivation. "No, my partner, Zel, she—she calmed Vah Medoh. She's there, Bo. She made it to Rito Village like she promised."

Unfortunately for Link, without any help from his puzzle-solving partner half a world away, he had spent numerous days inside the corrupted burning beast that was Vah Rudania, trying to activate all the terminals. When he had finally faced the Fireblight Ganon and met the spirit of Daruk, his jaw was badly burned and his shoulder was seared and injured, but Link's victorious battle meant he could finally begin his journey back to Zel.

"Give my regards to the Princess," the spirit of the Champion smiled, that bushy beard twitching down at Link across the way.

There were soft blue flames fluttering around his old friend, just the same as when he saw Mipha. Link nodded, sending a tired smile in return. He could already feel that tingling sensation lifting him off the ground, the same way Mipha helped him leave Vah Ruta—

—and then Daruk's laugh boomed through the air. "I always knew she was counting the cards!"

"What?" But it was too late. Link was gone.

If he was being honest, there were some moments when Link enjoyed being alone. He could be as gross as he wanted, could piss off the side of a cliff and not be reprimanded about it or be called a revolting child. Link could eat as much as his appetite permitted—not that he didn't already do that with Zel, but still. He could make his dishes as spicy as he desired them since she wasn't around to nitpick his cooking methods. She wasn't exactly the biggest fan of spicy food.

But all of that became rather tiring very quickly. He soon discovered that he didn't like being as gross as he could be—he appreciated having some sort of standards when it came to hygiene and manners. Link liked that he always had a little extra food when Zel couldn't finish her own, and on more than one occasion during his days alone, Link put so much spice into his meal that he couldn't even stand to eat it.

It wasn't just these realizations that had him longing for Zel, either. During late nights around a campfire, he'd flipped through their photos on the Sheikah slate, admiring the ones they took together, or ones he'd taken of her when she wasn't paying attention. Like the one of Zel in their home in Hateno, sitting at the sewing machine and hemming his trousers. Her hair was tied up with a blue ribbon from leftover materials, eyes fixed on the fabric in her hands, with a few pins between her lips. The day, he had passed the doorway and saw just how calm she looked in her element, so happy. He had to take a picture.

There were more, like the latest ones in Akkala. One of his favorites was taken that day they'd spent at the South Stable petting sleepy lambs and snoozing dogs—when she told him she'd loved to raise farm animals with him some day. She hadn't been looking at the slate when Link snapped the photo—eyes cast down at the dog laying by her side instead, but she had the softest look on her face that he didn't want to forget. So he snapped the shutter and stole her smile.

Some were action shots, photos where she had her bow in hand, fierce and focused, while in others she'd be in deep thought, experimenting or tinkering, nose buried in a book or her journal. Link would always snap photos whenever he could; from the moment he learned to take them with the slate to the morning of their separation, he has an abundance of memories at the swipe of his fingers, with the person in this world he misses the most.

Every morning that he'd wake up aching to see her, he'd get just a little bit closer.

Without a designated route to follow, Link had taken the most northern path from Eldin to the Hebra region. On the very edge of Hyrule, Link walked from one side to the other, facing hordes of monsters and lone lynels and even more annoying ostriches, but one night he was able to experience the force of Dinraal. Majestic and powerful, Link felt the heat of the dragon's belly gliding through the cool air above, flying low and slow and impossibly magical that it took his breath away. In the last second, he shot an arrow at the beast and out shot a dragon scale, twinkling like a shooting star. It soared through the night sky and landed off in the distance and Link leaped across boulders to collect it. He couldn't wait to show Zel.

On the most northern part of the map, he followed the large rust valley until it ascended and came to one of the strangest landscapes Link could ever remember seeing. A dense woodland island covered in smog and surrounded by putrid air that was eerily humid and silent. Naturally, he just had to explore it, but unfortunately like the shrines, it was another location that he ended up losing track of time in.

Not to mention he almost died being squashed by a hinox that had stumbled onto his feet when it noticed him. Link was never going to tell Azella that he saw his entire life flash before his eyes, standing between the legs of a smelly cyclops.

In fact, he wouldn't tell her about any of his close encounters. About how he had battled a lynel for an entire day, only to be impaled by the beasts' spear and resurrected by Mipha's Grace. He wouldn't tell her about the time he was fighting a camp of monsters, only to be blown up by bomb arrows and set on fire, or about the time he wasn't looking where he was going and just… fell off a cliff.

If it wasn't for Mipha's Grace and Daruk's Protection and Zel's healing elixirs and above all, his consistent longing to see her again, he would have never made it to where he is now.

» . «

The cool breeze nips at Link's rosy cheeks as he stares at the vertical village in front of him. It's rickety and creaky, tall shadows cast over luscious pines and the gravel trail he's walking on produces a satisfactory crunch beneath his sore feet with every step he takes. Despite the chill of the Tabantha region, the morning rays are warm on his skin, the climate changing from the harsh snowstorm he just experienced to the crisp air kissed by the dawning of a dusk sun. He's made it. He's exhausted, but… he's made it.

There's a slight limp to his walk leftover from when he'd fallen off a stalhorse just the day before—which was totally worth it—and a pain on the side of his abdomen when he recently fought a transient group of bokoblin that chased him on panicked horses and threw spears at him. That was most definitely not worth the pain just to collect a few more monster parts. Aside from his injuries, Link's feet are sore from walking, his body fatigued from enemies fought solo and trekking through hazardous conditions with barely enough elixirs to make it, but he can't even be bothered. He's finally reached Rito village, has walked across the expanse of Hyrule to the next Divine Beast and the village that needs him. But above everything else, he's just so excited to see that smile again—if she's even still here.

The rhythmic crunch of gravel slows as Link suddenly has a terrifying thought. What if she isn't here? What if he took too long and she didn't want to wait for him anymore so she left? It has been two months of non-stop waiting, non-stop hoping that every day he would show, only for the night to settle in and still no sign of him. All his worries begin to loom over him like the Divine Beast soaring high above, except not nearly as peaceful. What if she is here, but she's livid for making her wait so long and she doesn't want to see him anymore?

She has every right to be mad considering the state that he's in. He looks like an absolute mess. Hair tangled by cold winds, cheeks reddened by sheen snow, his Hylian trousers don't fit right anymore because he hadn't had Zel around to tailor them. He's always relied on her when he needs a wardrobe change—your undershirt is getting too tight, I'll buy you a new one, or, you need to adjust your armor, that looks painful. He never really paid attention to himself the way Zel did.

And along with all the time that has passed, would she still want to be with him? Would she still care for him, be his partner, smile at him like she used to? If Link walked up those steps and into the village, would Zel be there waiting to see him? To… to kiss him? He's dreamt of this for months, wondering if she's regretted that kiss they shared on the trail to Death Mountain, and now his feet are coming to a halt on the gravel path and suddenly he's hesitating.

"Link, my good friend!"

With the sound of that familiar voice, Link's tunnel vision dissipates like an eye of malice struck with an arrow. He turns his attention to the stable just up ahead and spots his feathery friend in an instant. Standing outside the tent entrance, Kass is there in a familiar array of colors, accordion between his wings as the wandering Rito beckons for him.

There's several Hylians loitering about, coming in and out of the stables. There's a girl sweeping the hardwood floor in the inn, a couple children running close by, and the cooking pot is being used for something that smells wonderfully delicious—possibly sautéed trout or something fried in butter. And there, just by the long logs of timber, two horses graze lazily side by side, to the point their munching lips are touching. He hasn't seen Sasha and Jassa since they parted ways in Eldin.

A wave of relief washes over him. Attention returning to the traveling bard, the brightest grin breaks upon his lips. "Kass, you made it!"

The crevice of his beak rises slowly in a smirk. "Yes, quite a while ago I should say."

"Right, of course, that's probably uh… old news by now," Link chuckles bashfully and scratches the back of his head.

Deciding to reunite with his companions, Link walks over to the horses and they immediately stop their grazing to greet him. They nudge their soft noses all over his tunic as they sniff him and it makes him chuckle at the tickle of it all.

The steady footfalls of breezy talons walking towards Link interrupts their gentle moment, and Kass speaks easily. "Your horses seem to love it here, by the way. Not too hot for them, I suppose."

Link smiles and scratches Sasha's large face with his blunt fingernails, but the pleasant reunion is cut short by uncertainty. His hand slows and his gaze gets lost somewhere between the space of him and Kass.

"Is…" Link starts but can't seem to form the words, choking between the chill in his bones and his worry, "is she—"

"She is," Kass answers, soft and certain and the reassuring statement pulls Link back to himself.

She's here.

Kass adjusts the accordion a little more comfortably to elaborate. "She spends her days in the village helping the tailor and babysitting my daughters. Some days she'll go foraging around the grounds to sell her finds at the general store, but she never ventures far. I'm sure that might have something to do with you," the Rito narrows his eyes in that all-knowing way of his, and smiles kindly.

With a deep inhale, Kass rests his stare on the village bathed in morning light, then speaks again.

"I believe she said her and Genli are making salmon meunière later. She'll most likely be at the Slippery Falcon gathering ingredients," Kass turns back and smiles at him again, "you should go to her, she's been expecting you."

Link doesn't have the words straight away. She's been expecting him—she hasn't changed her mind. She's made a home for herself here amongst the Rito as she waited for him, and now it's time to make that wait come to an end.

"I will," Link says with a feeble nod. "Thanks Kass." A momentary pause, a final second of hesitation, then Link is turning towards the suspended bridges and finding his way to her.

His heart rate accelerates with every plank he crosses.

Sounds are amplified. Wooden planks creak, cold darners buzz, the intimate little ponds that he passes ripple gently with frigid water. A whistle of wind, a rustle of grass, talons of a guard's feet fall away behind him as Link walks up the wooden stairs and past the Hylia statue decorated with flowers. Friendly laughter in the inn, children's footfalls on the stairs, the village coming to life before him.

And then suddenly there's a calmness. The entrance of the general store is just up ahead and Link can see a Hylian woman holding something in her hands and the most recognizable short golden hair, chatting with the owner. They're sharing soft words of small talk, voices low and friendly and Link finds himself ascending up that final set of steps and into the gazebo.

"Oh," the Rito with burgundy feathers focuses her attention on Link. "I haven't seen you around here before, you must be a new traveler. Welcome! We have the best prices in the west!"

He nods in acknowledgment, but his gaze drags back to the woman with short hair. Her back is to him and there's a wicker basket filled with cane sugar and Tabantha wheat hooked in the nook of her elbow. The outfit she's wearing is plain, but looks warm enough. A dark burgundy coat falls around her hips, insulated to contain body heat, and patchy trousers tucked into familiar riding boots—the same ones he's stared at countless times when he was too shy to look her in the face—but then suddenly she's turning, swiveling on her heels to face him, and all those previous worries are tossed off the edge of the village the second their eyes meet.

The basket tumbles to the ground.

Zel looks so different, yet exactly the same. Her hair is just a tad shorter than the last time Link saw her (she must have trimmed it recently), and that outfit suits her well. Fingerless gloves on her hands and a leather belt pulled taut at her midsection, her thick tan trousers have a few markings around her thighs—a traditional Rito design—but that face. Rosy cheeks and messy hair, long pointed ears and perfectly rounded lips. There's that glint in her clever eyes, one he almost forgot was there, so full of life and passion and then she blinks and chokes on his name.

"Link."

The spell of slowness dispels around them. With the sweetest of chuckles, time rushes forward and she runs into his arms as he catches her. Collapsing, crushing, hearts meeting through tunics and leaping out of chests and Link's hands fall naturally to the curve of her waist and stay there. He pulls her into the tightest hug that he can ever remember giving.

"Zel," he whispers into her hair. "Zel, you're here."

"Of course I am. I promised, didn't I?" Her voice sounds shaky, unable to contain so many emotions all at once.

"Yeah," Link chuckles but it's cut short by his own emotions. "I guess you did."

He nuzzles his nose against her neck, squinting his eyes shut, and breathes her in.

Rose and spice, floral and fragrant, a touch of cinnamon and vanilla—just like he remembers. He takes another breath to capture her scent and Link is laughing again, the crescendoing sound tangling with her own giggles as he lifts her off the ground and twirls her. The agile feet of a stealthy archer sway in the cool breeze, twirling like a fan in the little general store gazebo, and her chuckles turn into high-pitched squeals right before he sets her down on the floor again. Link leans back just enough to take in those green eyes, and basks in his favorite smile.

"You're taller," she says just as her hands begin to explore him. "And—and your hair," her fingers comb through the long strands that he hasn't trimmed in months and he would've purred it if wasn't for her finger getting caught in a tangle. "And this—" she gasps mockingly, both palms rubbing over his cheeks now coated in stubble.

"Yeah," he smiles bashfully and blushes, raising his hands to cover her own. "I have to shave every few days now."

The soft laugh that tumbles from her smile is nothing short of divine, and the expression on her face can only be described as admiration. She's missed him just as much as he's missed her, no matter how much he's changed.

Her eyes have flooded, gone glossy with tears daring to fall, but the rise of her smile keeps them tucked in the crevices and caught on her lashes. Tilting at a whole new angle, Link has to look down now just to meet her eyes and when he does, they take in each other's features that've made the slightest changes. They're lost in the moment entirely as they stand there, holding their entire world in their arms.

Zel's skin is marked by sun spots. Soft freckles blanketing her nose proves to Link she's been out in the sun lately. The Hebra region seems like a place that gets a lot of sun albeit chilly, tanning her cheeks by the sun's reflection on glistening snow. The tan is new and the trim of her hair, but everything else is the same. There's that same sliver still clipped off the tip of her left ear when they fought a hinox around Zora's Domain, same beauty spot that's always been on her right cheekbone, and that same cut through her left eyebrow when they battled a bokoblin camp around Hateno and a piece of explosive barrel came flying through the air and smacked her right in the face. Her lips look a little chapped, but she's smiling—possibly the brightest smile he's ever seen her make—

—along with a jagged scar on her jawbone. That's definitely new. Link hadn't been there for that battle and he feels his heart flinch violently in his chest. Knowing that he wasn't there, that she didn't have the Sheikah slate full of medicinals, didn't have the resurrecting abilities of Mipha's Grace nor the security of fighting alongside someone that could help her, it hurts. All this time they were both focused on Link making it here that the possibility of Zel getting injured on her own wasn't as thoroughly considered. She always carries herself with such confidence, a grace and poise he's been envious of since the day they've met. Nothing could stop her, but he should've known better than to think she was safe with two goofy horses and a traveling bard for company.

He can't shake the feeling that this is his fault. That she got injured because of him.

Link lifts a hand to graze his thumb over that scarring skin, and her hand quickly follows.

"A stone talus," she answers, voice dropping low and ghosting fingertips over his fingerless gloves. "I didn't have the proper weapons to fight it with."

His face falls, brows weakening. "I should have been there."

She shakes her head. "No, Link. This isn't your fault."

"It is though." His thumb caresses over the uneven skin, and it makes her lashes flutter.

"You can't… you can't always be there—"

But he will.

In this moment, Link makes a silent promise to himself. No matter what she says or tries to say, he will always be there when she needs his help. Almost half a map covered, two beasts down and two more to go and it's taken him this long to accept who he was when he couldn't remember and who he is becoming. He's been stubborn and unaccepting, completely childish and flat-out wrong, but he knows one thing. Damn the beasts and damn his destiny… he'll be damned if anything ever happens to her while he's around.

And he doesn't plan on letting her go anytime soon.

It's not the right time nor place to be telling her this though. Knowing Zel, it'll only draw more attention to a memory she most likely has tried to forget. He'd rather not spoil this moment by bringing up some hypothetical situation which would inevitably result in a stalemate that he'd just end up losing anyways. Not a topic for a time like this, not when their faces are so fresh in each other's eyes and he's holding her so close and she's looking at him like that. With affection and adoration and a flash of something else that he finds easily in her eyes; an emotion that he still doesn't comprehend just yet, but he feels like maybe he's getting closer to understanding with every passing day.

They're standing there, wrapped in each other's arms and amidst the falling silence, his gaze falls, too. Attention no longer on the newest scar on her face, but on her lips. Wondering. Waiting. Would it be too soon to kiss her? Maybe he should ask her.

She asks instead.

Her fingertips are teasing into his hairline by his ear, thumb grazing over his jaw and their breaths are catching in the cold, wisping her words into a hushed plea.

"Can I…?"

But he's already nodding, a look of longing, and says; "please."

Slowly, he leans in and so does she—one move to coincide with another. Her chin tilts up as his tilts down and with her lips parting and his lashes fluttering, the last thing Link sees is Zel's smile right before he feels it on his own.

This kiss... it was worth the wait.

It feels like everything clicks into place. The wooden structures stop creaking because they've finally settled, the anxious wind stops whistling because the world has stopped spinning—because Zel is in his arms and her lips are against his. They both take a deep inhale through their noses as they breathe each other in and Link pulls her a little closer, strong arms secure around her toned back and they lean into a kiss Link was worried would never come. It was silly to think she wouldn't want to kiss him again or that she wouldn't be here. After all, on that day in Eldin when his adrenaline had spiked on the rocky mountain pass and Link did the most reckless thing he could ever remember doing, she'd kissed him back.

She's wanted this for as long as he has, and it's this thought that has Link's lips beginning to move.

An ardent press, a rush of euphoria he can feel all the way to his past lives, Link's bottom lip cups hers as they start a steady rhythm. It's slow and savoring, barely moving and only feeling with fingers gripping at her waist before they relax again and their smiles melt onto kisses. She hums against his mouth and nothing has ever tasted sweeter.

"Ahem," a mildly annoyed voice cuts through the air, breaking their long awaited reunion.

When Link lifts his head and opens his eyes, he's greeted with the sight of a perturbed Rito, the same one who said hello to him when he first walked in the store. She's standing between two tables neatly organized with items for sale, tapping a talon and looking utterly unamused.

"Right, sorry Misa," Zel steps out of Link's arms to pick up her abandoned basket, so he follows after her. Quickly, they pick up the mess together and when they're standing again, Zel positions herself between Link and the shop owner who's throwing daggers at them with her eyes—or maybe that's just her falcon-like stare.

Zel speaks in a hushed tone so only he can hear. "The Rito, they uh… don't like seeing Hylian public displays of affection. You know with the um…" she gestures around her mouth, "with the whole beak thing. They don't really get it. I watched a couple on their honeymoon get in a lot of trouble with the innkeeper about uh… this topic." She clears her throat and judging by Zel's tone and shy demeanor, there's more to the story she's not sharing, but he thinks he can figure it out.

Recently married. On their honeymoon. Caught doing more than stealing kisses.

"Got it," Link nods and they share a secret smile.

"Misa," Zel turns back to the shop owner and gestures to him. "This is my partner, Link. The one I've been waiting for."

Misa's piercing gaze falls on him, but her expression softens in recognition. "Ah, I've heard a lot about you, the whole village has. Azella doesn't shut up about you."

"She doesn't?" Oh, if his cheeks were pink before, they're crimson now… and it has nothing to do with how brisk the air feels.

He looks at Zel and her cheeks are just as pink as his own. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, of course I told everyone about you. I may have taken its cannons out, but Vah Medoh still has to be tamed. Plus, a lot of villagers wanted to know about who would be coming to help me and… and I wanted to tell them who you were."

Ignoring the heat of his cheeks, Link nods. Right. They still have a corrupted beast to purify. Zel had calmed it so the villagers could live beneath the looming thing in peace, but she didn't have the Sheikah slate when she did that, and if Vah Medoh is anything like Vah Rudania and Vah Ruta, a Champion's spirit is still trapped in there, waiting to be avenged.

"What did you tell them?" Link asks.

She shrugs. "Oh, um… not much. Stuff like how you're a great fisherman and that you once rode a bear through the woods, which is true, but I may have told Kass' daughters that you wanted to be a part of their choir…? And that you tried to fly by jumping off a roof while holding onto a panicked cucco… more than once."

"You… what!?"

But then her whole demeanor changes, as if she's suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of flying," she says, a smirk growing on her lips. Her free hand reaches for his and their fingers entwine and she coaxes him to follow along.

Like a paraglider caught in the breeze, Link is turned around and dragged out of the general store, ascending higher into the village, but they don't make it very far.

As the sun rises behind the gargantuan stone pillar and they're hidden in the shadows, she stops abruptly and turns around. Swiveling on her foot still situated atop the step in front of her, Zel cups his cheek in her hand and plants such a hard kiss on his lips that can only be described as a smooch. A gasp leaves his mouth, cut short by the contact, and it quickly turns into the sweetest moan, as if he's eating a bowl of cold berries drizzled with milk and honey. He doesn't protest the kiss—wouldn't want to even if his lips were freed and he had all the words in the world. Mirroring her movements, he cups her scarred jaw in his palm and tilts his head to deepen it, melting like an ice chuchu pierced by a heated flameblade.

When she pulls away, her eyes are greener than evergreens. Noses brushing, hands caressing, she ghosts her reasoning for the sudden kiss, searing it on his smile.

"I'm so glad you're here," she says.

"Me too," he replies, and kisses her again.

---

Out of all the times she's had to wait for him, this was the sweetest reunion.

He looks so different, yet exactly the same. His hair is a little longer, his shoulders a bit broader, and based on the amount of grass stains his Champion tunic has, Zelda figures he hasn't taken it off since she put it on him. It would've been endearing to see, if it wasn't for all the rips she knows she'll have to mend eventually.

But no amount of holes or muddy grass stains could diminish her excitement, not today. With enthusiasm she hasn't felt in months, Zelda shows him everything.

What she shows him first is her paraglider. Bursting with long awaited anticipation to show him how perfect it glides in the air, Zelda pulled him along to the hammock she usually slept in to grab her paraglider, then took him to the grassy areas just below the village. Ever since Zora's Domain, Zelda has been working on designs to build one, but she didn't have the time nor the materials until she got to Rito village. When she realized she wouldn't be able to reach Vah Medoh without one, she immediately began work on a physical prototype. The tailors Nekk and Huck at the Brazen Beak were kind enough to supply the right amounts of fabric—only after she proved herself worthy as an impressive tailor—and Zelda had whittled the wood from sturdy sticks she found around the Rito Stable herself.

A cream colored cloth decked in a line of green and embroidered with a design of gold, the colors were different from Link's paraglider, but the symbol was the same. Revali's symbol. An ode to her lost friend trapped high above her, Zelda felt it appropriate to keep the same design. The bird for brains would probably appreciate it if he was looking down at them right now.

Testing out the designs came with a lot of trial and errors; a bunch of scraped knees and bruised elbows. For days, she had annoyed the locals with her constant jumping, leaping off the rocks and working her way up the pillars, running to and from the tailor shop to mend or tweak different areas of the paraglider, but in the long run, the final product turned out to be just as sturdy as Link's own, if not a tad better.

"Wow," Link breathed, feet plopping down onto the ground once he tested out her paraglider. He had climbed onto a nearby stone pillar and jumped down to the grass where Zelda was standing, nearly bouncing on her heels and wondering if he was impressed or not. Of course, he'd be impressed. He looked up from the paraglider that he held between his hands and smirked at her. "You want to trade?"

A small, sarcastic laugh escaped her. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you think I'll answer that?"

He chuckled and leaned in, searching for a kiss. "No way in Hylia," he said.

"That's right." She kissed him anyway.

As they walked back up the stairs to the village hand in hand, Zelda introduced him to just about everyone. The guards, the inner keeper, Nekk and Huck, a couple of Rito hatchlings as they ran down the stairs. Teba's son was in the lead, followed quickly by one of Kass' daughters—Kheel perhaps. Sometimes Zelda has to list them in her head in order to remember them all, and when she told Link this, he just smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, and Misa, the shop owner you've met already, she has a kid who wanted to start up his own business, so I sent him to Hudson in Tarrey Town."

"Really? No way!" Link exclaimed. "I met a Goron in the mines that was looking for a new job and I mentioned Tarrey Town!"

"Did his name end in 'son?"

"Yes! Did yours?"

"Yes!" Zelda beamed, words on the brink of laughter. "Next time we visit, it might be a fully functioning town."

"Filled with sons," he joked, and squeezed her hand.

After testing out her paraglider, they had lunch with Genli.

Genli has a knack for cooking, and Zelda connected with her straight away because of it. Zelda has been around the world enough to know that it's wise to find the best chef in the village and suck up to them immediately—her stomach would always thank her later. When Zelda first arrived, the villagers were a bit weary of a Hylian archer with such a wild story; claiming she could calm the beast if only a Rito would volunteer to fly her up there, a lot of the older Ritos ignored her. It was through the children and those she traded with that Zelda started sharing stories which seemed to match perfectly with those heard from the Rito archer scouts. Through the breeze, they'd heard rumors of a Hylian couple traveling across the land, turning the orange shrines blue and stirring promising change within the Divine Beasts.

But as soon as Genli heard about Link and the type of food he cooked, all she cared about were the recipes he'd be able to share once he got here. That's all they really talked about at lunch.

It was hard for Zelda to get a word in because Link and the young Rito were swapping recipes and sharing their favorite meals the entire time. Genli was extremely curious about Link, asking him questions like why is your hair longer than Zel's, and can you sing with me once you defeat the scary beast in the sky?—Which he promised he would. Over plates of steaming salmon meunière, Zelda and Link kept chancing glances at one another like awkward teenagers with a love-sick crush and whenever their eyes met, it'd always end in a smile and a blush that couldn't be hidden into their bowls of cooked fish, no matter how hard they tried. Genli was so oblivious, so lost in a whirlwind of chatting Link's ear off about her sisters and their choir and all the dishes she couldn't wait to make with him, that she didn't even notice how fixated Link was with keeping his eyes on Zelda.

After lunch, however, she had a few things she needed to catch him up on.

When Genli left by the call of her mother, they continued to sit by the cooking pot and Zelda started from the beginning. She told him once she got here, the horses seemed relaxed and happy spending their days grazing by the Rito stables as Zelda dealt with the matters at hand. He was visibly upset when she told him all the villagers had given her the cold shoulder her first few days in the village, but she really didn't blame them. She had a fresh wound on her face, looked tired and weary from the long journey she'd been on, and with all her claims to calm Vah Medoh, she didn't even have a way to make it into the sky. Building that paraglider and sharing stories that matched what the patrolling scouts came back with was how she had convinced them that she wasn't just blowing smoke to the wind.

Once she had gotten the chief's attention—and not just brushing her off his feathers like the first time she tried to speak with him—he agreed to listen. She recited the entire journey they'd been on so far. How her and Link had trekked across Hyrule together, appeasing the Divine Beasts and eventually onward to defeat Ganon.

"I'm sorry," Zelda told him as they walked up the steps of the village, slowly meandering their way to the top in order for Link to meet Kaneli. "I didn't think anyone would believe me if I told them who you really were. The oldest one in the village is Kaneli and he wouldn't have been alive back then for the Calamity. Things were… different in Zora's Domain because the king recognized you and Sidon remembered you and I'm sure the Goron's didn't really care all that much about who you were, just as long as you helped them." She shrugged. "But the Rito are a little different. They value talent over legacy, but it still doesn't go unnoticed to them."

"So what have you told them?" Link asked, keeping his pace as slow as her own.

"I told them that you're the descendant of the hero. That just seemed to make the most sense logically. I'm sorry."

"Zel, I'm not mad," he smiled and grazed his hand over her shoulder, "and I guess, in a way… I could be."

There was a curious smile on her face as she came to a stop just before Revali's landing. She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, stopping on the stairs to face her. "I don't think I'm anything like how I was back then. Sure, I'm burdened with the same task I'd failed at the first time, but the memories that I have, I was just… I was really quiet back then, Zel. I can't even remember talking in my memories, I barely reacted to anything. Now, if a frog looks at me the wrong way, I get upset."

She chuckled softly, and it faded into a smile. "You might be different, but you're still the same person."

"Am I?" Link tilted his head to mirror her, but his smile was still there. His gaze trailed away, attention caught on a Rito soaring high in the sky, and the silence settled between them. She really didn't know how to answer.

Is Zelda the same person? After everything that she'd been through, she definitely doesn't feel like it. Once she had awakened her sealing powers, everything changed. Link was lost to her and her kingdom was in ruin, her father destined to wander the Plateau as a lonely spirit in waiting and everyone she ever loved was trapped in limbo, watching the world crumble through malice infested flames.

The land she walks on now is still Hyrule, but it isn't the same. Not exactly. It still functions without a monarchy, trade routes similar to what she remembers, and there's still an energy of peace amongst the collapsing buildings, but it's almost unrecognizable. Unidentifiable. No, Hyrule isn't the same land she'd left a century ago, and she isn't the same either.

The feet that carry her and push her forward every day aren't the same. Zelda steps with a confidence now, with trust in her instincts and stability in her soul that has long filled the gap of where the Goddess used to be. An emptiness lurking, a feeling that never truly goes away, she lives with the remnants of what she once was, but maybe Link was right to question whether he was the same person with all that has changed, because Zelda has lost everything.

Everything besides him.

When he received a memory of Revali, Link wasn't surprised.

Standing on the steps overlooking Revali's Landing, Link gripped the railing and was lost in a trance. She'd seen him do this several times before—when a memory hits him with brute force and he has to cling to the physical realm of reality as his mind is tossed to the past. She always feels bad for him because it looks painful; his skin drains of color, his brows knit together, and he comes back to her gasping, choking on shattered images that flickered in his head like a Stasis rune. Whether it was in Lanayru Promenade or in their home in Hateno, a lost fragment of his family or a memory of Mipha, Zelda always wanted to hold him, kiss his cheek and wrap her arms around his neck as he breathed the scent of her hair and this time, Zelda got to do just that.

"That guy used a lot of big words," Link noted when he wasn't panting anymore. His arms were around her waist and his head was leaning against her own.

The hum she made was just short of a chuckle, fingers combing through his hair gently in a soothing, rhythmic motion she knew he loved. Zelda stayed quiet as Link began recalling the memory.

"He didn't seem too keen on helping me," Link sighed, pulling away to meet her eyes, "I remember he thought the idea was just…" He scrunched his nose in thought. "What's the word he used? Asinine."

Zelda rolled her eyes. That wasn't the only time he used that word back then. Revali once called her father asinine for coming up with a way to use Vah Medoh to transport large amounts of Hylians across Hyrule. She figured Revali just didn't like the idea of using such a divine piece of technology for a mere ferry boat ride in the clouds, especially since he would've been the captain.

When Link had calmed from the jarring memory and all that lingered was a frustrating headache, they sat down with Teba and his family. They were all lounging in their home; Teba restringing a bow between his feathers as Saki picked up Tulin's toys he wasn't playing with. They welcomed Link kindly, even when Teba hadn't been too convinced about the stories Zelda shared. Teba was one to be shown proof, to have the evidence clear and right in front of him, instead of listening to pretty words and going on just sheer hearsay.

"So you're the descendant with that slate thing. Zel told me about it," Teba stated, sounding entirely unimpressed. "I hope you can use a bow as well as your partner can."

Link glanced at Zelda before he responded. "Almost as good, but not quite."

Teba huffed, but a smirk formed on his beak. "At least you show humility. Zel was pretty stubborn about the whole thing, following me to the Flight Range and not taking no for an answer. Do you know how she got me to fly her up there?" Teba pointed to the sky with a long, white feather.

Link shook his head.

"I told her if she could hit five targets in under three minutes at the Flight Range, then I'd help her." Teba's eyes flickered to Zelda's and her cheeks flushed. Then he leaned towards Link. "That Hylian woman shot ten targets in thirty seconds, all dead center. I've never seen anything like it. Not from a Hylian, at least."

Zelda tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, staring down at the ground as she felt more than one pair of eyes on her. She never really cared too much for praise and attention. Glancing up, Link caught her gaze and held it.

The grin on his face was beaming with pride. "Maybe you're the rightful descendant of the Rito champion."

Zelda let out another sarcastic laugh—the second time today. "Link, that's simply… asinine."

She missed joking around with him so much.

They stayed to chat with the feathered couple for a little while longer, sharing updates about the neighboring regions. Considering he leads a team of trained scouts, Teba is the eyes and ears of the village, sharing any news coming from Vah Naboris. Ever since the first Beast was tamed—sending a huge red beam towards the castle that could be seen by any passing traveler whether they were on the ground or in the sky—scouts were sent out across Hyrule. They were watching for activity, prying for news of what was happening in the other regions, and Gerudo Desert was arguably the closest. News traveled well from south to north, frequent updates of what Vah Naboris was up to.

Zelda's theory about the Divine Beasts being consciously connected seemed more plausible with each passing day. They're almost fully conscious, living beasts with an entity corrupting them from the inside out, though it's still unclear to her just how the Champions had connected with them. Revali had once tried to describe it as another soul living in harmony with his own, but at the time, Zelda didn't understand. It's only now, when her soul has been tampered with by the omnipotent deities of this land, does she know exactly what he meant.

Thankfully, the Gerudo warriors commanded by the young chief were able to coax the sand-storming beast into a designated area. From there, it can be constantly monitored and routinely guided back on a circling track if the gigantic weapon strayed too close to civilization. It's tamed for now, as best as it could be without the assistance of the Sheikah slate, so they don't have to worry about rushing through Tabantha to get there, at least unless the wind changes and Vah Naboris goes on a rampage.

Ever since Zelda had calmed Vah Medoh and Link had appeased Vah Rudania, Vah Naboris has gone extremely quiet. Cut off from major parts of its life force, the beast is now a loner, a frightened soldier, the last one standing on the battlefield. It's weak and helpless, no longer receiving power from anything besides the castle. It's a goner and it knows it.

When they spoke with Kaneli, he was more than happy to see Link.

"We've been waiting for you and that slate there," Kaneli said jovially, gesturing an entire wing to the device hanging off Link's belt. "Your partner did a great job in destroying its cannons. At least now we can fly without the worry of getting shot down, but there's fear in the village that it might find a different way to attack us. Will you be flying up there now?"

Link was about to answer, nodding as his lips parted, but Zelda's voice rang out instead.

"We will first thing tomorrow," she answered and Link glanced at her, a disgruntled look on his face. "He just got here, chief. As much as we'd like to appease Vah Medoh and have it rest from the sky, Link needs to rest, too."

"I'm fine, Zel."

Already with the bickering. She almost missed it while he was away. "I'm sure you are, but you're not prepared just yet. You need to get an insulated coat fitted if you're going to be flying up there. What I'm wearing now was barely enough as it was when I took out its cannons," Zelda lifted the end of her warm burgundy coat for emphasis. It was insulated and warm, but she was shivering when she finished the job.

He just shrugged. "The cold doesn't really bother me."

"I know, but please…?" She turned to him completely, trying to keep her next words hidden from the chief like she had done with the shop owner earlier. "I just… I just got you back and I'd like to have one night where we can just… can just be together before we literally enter the belly of another beast." She put on her best imitation of Link's puppy dog pleading face. "Do this for me?"

She really didn't want to ask, but she couldn't resist her selfish desires and there was no way he could refuse her.

"Alright," he smiled, shoulders relaxing as he gave in, "first thing tomorrow."

» . «

Their hammock sways in the gentle breeze.

There's the slightest chill in the air, one that seems like a comfort more than a shiver—soft chatter floating around them as the village winds down for the evening. Lanterns are lit, bringing the warmest light to the darkening sky and tricking the eyes into thinking they could be passing fireflies. It's calm and voices are getting quieter and all the children have been put to bed.

After meeting with the chief, Zelda got him fitted with a snowquill set she'd been slowly working on for him. The shoulder pads and thick, sturdy gloves fit well, only the coat and trousers needed to be altered considering Link had grown since the last time she saw him. They spent the remainder of the sunlight hours working within the armor shop, getting in the way of Nekk and Huck and bickering almost as much as the Rito's were.

Once they cooked a hearty dinner that filled their stomachs up completely, Zelda made Link sit in front of her hammock on the floor as she brushed his hair, untangling several knots that were probably weeks old and styling it into traditional Rito braids. He must have enjoyed it for he hadn't said a peep the entire time her fingers were in his hair.

Settling down for the evening, Link crawls into the hammock with Zelda to share the photos he'd taken while they were separated, catching her up on his last fifty-eight days alone. They're lounging in the hammock she's been sleeping in, hips and shoulders smushed together, but it's not uncomfortable—far from it. The Sheikah slate is placed between them, resting on the tops of both their thighs as they flip through the photos, and Link explains each one in vivid detail. She couldn't be more entertained.

He's taken a lot of what Link calls 'selfies' for her—the term first coined while he was trying to take a picture of himself while gliding in the air. Self fly… shortened down to selfie and used now to refer to any photo he takes of himself. She always rolls her eyes when he says it.

Flipping through what feels like a hundred photos, a story follows with every swipe of his finger. There's a photo of him in the hot springs to the north of Eldin, pointing up at a tall plateau where he explained to her that a Goron wouldn't move from the entrance unless he beat his rupee race. There's a few he took of the abandoned metal rail tracks built all around Death Mountain, but one in particular made her uneasy. In the picture, he's standing on a rusty cart used to travel to a shrine hidden within a large dragon skull and it makes her nervous to know he was pretty much dangling over a pool of flaming hot lava.

So many ways he could have died, and Mipha bringing him back to life every time. Zelda will never be able to thank her enough.

She's grateful for the other pictures Link shares, ones that don't involve deathly falls or selfies with monsters rushing straight at him, posing like he's in front of a Hyrulean wonder of the world instead of a raging lynel or manic bokoblin. She especially enjoys pictures he took within the shrines he found and completed along the way, parts of a puzzle he figured she'd be intrigued with the most, and he was right to think so. Zelda would zoom in on all the details, fascinated with the complicated designs and asking every question she could think of.

One of her favorite photos he's shared so far was of the large carcass Link discovered just on the edge of the map. It had a large, flat head and a wonderfully preserved ribcage with an exceedingly long tail that must've stretched at least the same length as their property back in Hateno.

"It's gigantic," Zelda says, absolutely fascinated, and shakes her head weakly. "Out of all the places I've been, I can't believe I've never explored that area before. I didn't even know it was there." She's trekked across all of Hyrule and has heard the rumors of leviathan bones, she just… never had the opportunity to visit them.

He looks at her, gaze pulling away from the Sheikah slate. Their faces are merely inches apart when he replies. "We can go whenever you want. We've got this," he jostles the slate just a little between them. "Just pick the time and place."

A smile breaks upon her lips. Over the past couple months, she had forgotten the advantages of having the slate; being able to transport out of a sticky situation in only a few seconds, or traveling back home just to eat lunch. It's a remarkable feature and he's right—what's stopping them from exploring this world together? That's all she ever truly wanted; a life of adventure and freedom and maybe, if the Goddesses are willing, someone to share it with.

And that look he's giving her right now—a smile filled with aim and opportunity, eyes glazed with wonder and hope—it seems as if he wants that, too.

Mirrored faces cast golden by the light of flickering lanterns, Zelda drops her gaze to his lips. Rustling fabric and the stretch of ropes, leaning in to seal an unspoken promise, the privacy of their hammock keeps their ghosting lips hidden from view, though the other residents in their gazebo are already snoozing soundly. With their lips barely touching, Zelda can feel the quiver of his breath when it hitches on an inhale.

"I'd like that," she says, and kisses him.

Languid and gentle, Link pushes into their kiss with a sigh that Zelda can taste on her tongue. Sweet like Necluda brandy, sharp like a whistling secret, he takes her lower lip between his own and holds her, basking in her scent and touch, feeling the warm ambiance all around them.

She's tried mead and she's sipped on plum wine, lost nights to the taste of barrel-aged rum, but this. Nothing compares to an evening kiss of sunsets and reunions.

And then he's pulling away all too quickly, face flushing red and gaze growing shy, but his tired smile is the sweetest thing she's ever seen.

"Um, I have more pictures I'd like to show you."

"Alright," she answers, and snuggles against his side a little more.

Swiping through photos, Zelda listens to his stories though her mind is a little distracted. Every night, she has dreamt of kissing him again, wondering if Link would walk into the village with confidence or with cowardice, whether he'd want to kiss her like he had on the Ternio trail—gripping her waist and pressing his lips on hers as if it was his very last life line—or else tell her that it's over. Link had given her the answer she was hoping for when he wandered into the general store this morning; looking as though he was lost until his blue eyes found hers and decided he was home again.

Out of respect for the Rito, Zelda tried to keep the kissing to a minimum and out of respect for Link, she is trying not to make her desires so obvious. He can only remember that kiss in Eldin, only has that to learn from memorable experience, but she knows how much more he's willing to give and Goddess, she wants it so badly. She's waited for a hundred years but she's not sure how much longer her patience will hold, especially when he looks at her like that.

It's hidden just underneath all that softness. The shy knight that pulls away before a kiss can get too heated, there's a crack in his armor and a glint in his eye Zelda almost forgot was there. A look of wanting, a grip of needing, a simple push over that ledge and they'd give into each other wholeheartedly, but she only wants to push him when he's ready.

Wafting away all thoughts and cravings, Zelda soon notices that he's doing more yawning than talking. Link still hasn't updated her about his last twenty-four hours, hasn't told her why he was limping when he first entered the village or why he occasionally holds his side as if he's in pain. He's keeping little things from her so she doesn't worry more than she is already, but she'll find out eventually. She always does.

With his next violent yawn, Zelda pries the Sheikah slate from his hands and leans over the edge to drop it gently onto her travel bag. He must be ridiculously tired because he doesn't even protest, doesn't even try to argue that it might be more comfortable to sleep in separate hammocks, but they're completely touch-starved for one another. When she sits back, she pulls him with her, leaning and leaning until they're lying together—his chest squished against her side—and he automatically drapes an arm over her torso to pull her closer. Maybe he's just that tired or maybe he's just as needy as she is because the possessive grip amongst such sleepy movements is making Zelda smile.

Indulgence as satisfying as the position she's lying in, Zelda drags her gaze all over his body. Warm socks pulled halfway up his shins and thick trousers wrinkled around his bent knees, he looks rather like a plain Hylian than a hero. His leather armor and belts are off and dangling from the side of the wooden railing behind them, proving that he's just like any other man without the exquisite trinkets or battle gear. Soft and sweet and simple. No unique gifts, no special abilities, only a body he's trained vigorously and an unbreakable spirit.

Nuzzling his nose into her collar bone, Link settles at her side a bit more comfortably. His hair is pulled back by the blue tie as his shaggy bangs and the braids she styled into his hair fall on his forehead and cheeks like goodnight kisses. With the heat that radiates off him, they don't even need a quilt to sleep under, especially when they're snuggling this close and he's cuddling her the way she's always imagined he would. To get up would be an absolute blasphemy.

She's lying on her back as Link lays on his side, and curls into her. Amongst the final shifting, Zelda rests the back of her legs atop his stacked thighs and snakes an arm behind his head to grant him a makeshift pillow. When they're perfectly settled with his chin resting on the hills of her breasts and his arm pulling her just a tad bit closer, Link takes a sated inhale, then sighs. He hasn't opened his eyes since the slate was taken out of his hands.

The sigh turns into a hum, and when he speaks again, Link's voice is barely audible.

"I'm never letting you go again," he whispers, and Zelda has never wanted other words to be more true.

She smiles and brushes her fingers through his bangs, exposing a small spot on his forehead to place a kiss there.

"Promise?" she whispers back, but he's already asleep.

» . «

Zelda has never been one to sleep heavily. The lightest brush over her skin, the softest sound, it'll jolt her from sleep almost instantaneously. So it came as no surprise that when Link's steady breathing grew to frantic puffs of hot air hitting her ear, her eyes sprang open immediately.

It's hours later, jostled awake to witness the world in the midst of midnight. Link is still in the same position he was in when he fell asleep; laying on his side and cuddling close, arm wrapped tightly around Zelda's waist like the last sleepy words he whispered to her was a physical promise. In her sleep, Zelda moved just slightly to be the small spoon in this swaying hammock, lying on her side with her back to him. This is possibly the most comfortable sleep Link has gotten in ages—who knows what springy mattresses he's slept on and which rocks he's slept under while they were apart. With their bodies spooning close and his nose brushing against her ear, it's a little surprising to hear he's having a nightmare.

Twisting awkwardly in his arms and the dangling hammock, Zelda manages to face him better just as Link's rapid breath evolves into desperate whines and his head shakes back and forth as if he's trying to ward off the dream that's invading his sleep. She claws a hand through his hair and with a panicked whisper, tries to wake him.

"Link—Link, open your eyes."

He does.

With a choking inhale, Link wakes suddenly and it takes only a second to find her eyes in the moonlight, and his grip around her waist tightens. For a frozen moment, his whole body is tense, face tight with worry until his senses return and realizes where he is and who he's with. The most relieved sigh escapes him and the sound finds its way down Zelda's neck in the form of goosebumps. His terrified face changes to that of a puppy; big blue ovals reflecting the light of the full moon and his long hair all disheveled and shaggy, casting shadows on his softened face and it reminds Zelda of the first time they ever met. The face of a lost boy, scared and alone and looking for a home, but as soon as those roaming eyes met hers, he knew that he found what he was looking for.

"I'm sorry," he exhales. "I… I was having a nightmare."

"I know," she smiles fondly and combs just the tips of her fingers through his hair, gently brushing away the strands, and it makes his lashes flutter. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

He shakes his head, body relaxing back on the hammock as he blinks slowly and takes another deep breath. "No. It was stupid."

"Are you sure? You're usually a deep sleeper. It must've been terrible if it scared you that badly."

He looks at her then, admiration replacing the dwindling panic in his eyes, and takes a long moment to collect his words. She never stops combing her fingers through his hair.

"I… dreamt I was being chased down Death Mountain by rock roasts."

Honestly, Zelda does try not to react, but she can't help it. She folds her lips between her teeth like she's trying to contain the laugh bubbling up her throat and Link huffs, mildly annoyed.

"See? I told you it was stupid."

"No," she whispers through her chuckles. "No, it's not stupid Link. I just wasn't expecting… that."

"Me neither," he answers in a monotone voice, but then his eyes wander away from Zelda's and his brows weaken. "In the dream I was yelling for you, but you weren't there and I couldn't remember why. I got… I got scared."

And just like that, Zelda's not laughing anymore. This new Link; revived knight turned feral wild child, never fails to make her melt, to make her heart ooze out of its cage like warm honey, to turn her into a complete and utterly foolish sap and it was a Goddess bearing miracle Zelda has held out from kissing him for so long, but she doesn't hold back now.

Leaning in wholeheartedly, Zelda closes her eyes and brushes her nose against his own, indulging in the way his breath catches on her lips, the way his hand flattens on her back, right before she kisses him. It's soft and sleepy, guiding his lips with a tenderness that aims to be the antidote for his midnight restlessness, finding perfect solitude in kissing and cuddling, hidden in their intimate hammock. He sighs sweetly, hand trailing up her spine slowly, and presses back into her mouth with a fervent longing that has Zelda's other senses failing.

She's always prided herself to have excellent hearing, to pick up every whisper and rumor and comment that occurred behind the Princess' back. She always had a keen sense of her surroundings; vision like a hawk determining every detail, but as Link showers her with languid kisses and holds her close, Zelda's other senses give out completely.

She can't hear anything.

The sounds from the loud crickets hiding in the grass go silent, loose pebbles seem to pause mid-air falling into Lake Totori, the sound of the breeze whistling through the vertical village has all but succumbed to fingertips grazing over fabric and his soft, raspy breath caught between her lips. She can't feel the bite of the Tabantha cold nipping at her cheeks, nor the gentle rocking of their hammock. It's only Link—the scent of summer wheat and forest pine, with wet lips trailing down her neck and the warmth radiating off him.

Zelda's breath slices through clenched teeth as she holds herself back, restraints clamped on her movements to let Link lead. He's lost in a trance and exploring her, gifting kiss after lazy kiss upon sensitive skin and Zelda tilts her head just to give him more room. Instinctively, she grips the fabric of Link's coat just for clarity, just so she doesn't lose herself to the pulse pounding in her neck and the lips trailing all over her.

Suddenly, Link takes a sharp inhale and pulls away and Zelda finds herself chasing after him, reaching out and wanting more kisses, but it doesn't take long to realize why he retracted. There's anxiety peeking out behind tired eyes and his parted lips say it all. He's timid, nervous and afraid of what typically follows a kiss, what had taken over him just now when his lips left hers and his own restraints were loosening—giving in to what they've wanted for so long. She wants to tell him that it's okay, that he has nothing to worry about, but maybe tonight—freckled skin bathed in moonlight and voices cocooned within their hammock… maybe it's not the right time to tell him just how much she wants him.

"Goodnight, sweetie," she says instead. Zelda's voice sounds as soft as the ending of a children's tale.

He blinks slowly, allowing the gentleness of her words to lull him back to sleep, but before he falls completely, he leans back in and kisses her. Always ardent. Always a little wild, but the sway of feathers in a breeze or the ripples of water in a creek are nothing compared to how serene he kisses her. His eyes stay closed when their lips part and he drops the weight of his head onto her shoulder.

"My lady," he whispers, and they both fall asleep again.

---

There's a morning bird chirping, and it's so annoying.

However sweet, it's still a little too early for noises. Any kind of noises. Link's other senses haven't woken up yet, his mind still lost somewhere in the twilight realm of snoozing, but he can hear the steady footfalls of a guard walking past and the innocent giggles of children, which fade away as they run somewhere his hearing can't reach—thank Hylia for that. It's still too early for anything, for birds or soldiers or kids despite how much he enjoys being around them. There's relaxed chatter somewhere off in the distance and the wind seems to whistle through whatever building he's sleeping in, but he's so comfortable that he doesn't bother to get up and figure it out.

With the deepest sleep he's gotten in ages and all the lonely days blurring into one, he's having a hard time remembering what happened yesterday.

Shifting slightly, Link's strong arms pull the large pillow that he's cradling closer to his chest, and instinctively tilts his hips to press his erection against it. Over the past couple months, he's gotten used to morning wood, doesn't get all nervous or worried that Zel might see it now that they've been separated for so long. Eventually, it'll go away on its own as he gets ready for the day or if he's feeling particularly lonely, he might nock an arrow in his hand just to relieve the tension, but today is a little different. The position he's resting in is the comfiest he's felt in months, and it's all because of this seemingly enchanted pillow. Where did he get this? Had he asked one of the Great Fairies to upgrade his sleeping gear? He could only imagine how that conversation went with how affectionate the fairies are, but it's not as if he's complaining because whatever he had to do to get this was completely worth it.

His erection is getting harder and the air is getting humid and his restless shifting will be his ultimate downfall.

Link tilts his hips again, pelvis pressing forward, and groans. He's still sleepy, still not fully awake just yet—senses lost somewhere in a fantasy dreamland that involves nothing but him and the secret sins he makes against satin, or maybe it's silk. It's soft, but not too soft, curvy and positioned perfectly against his chest and thighs, keeping him warm and forming the same shape he's lying in. Link rocks his hips into the pillow again, and the pillow pushes back.

It rubs against him in a slow, lazy hold and through parted lips, he sighs.

Wandering hands move of their own volition as Link's fingers smooth over soft fabric, feeling the shape and outline of such a magnificent cushion. It feels like a woman's figure; a rounded hip thick enough to grab and squeeze and it even moans when he does it. The pleasing sound hypnotic, the feminine whines so captivating, it holds his sleepy attention as a grind forms between them. The gentle rocking gets harder, his breath gets heavier as it puffs steadily against soft hair, and he grips a hip for leverage to slide the length of his erection from the tip to the base of his shaft, over and over again. Goddess, what he wouldn't give to have this be Zel, to have her on her side as he fucks her. Indents on her hip by possessive fingertips, whispering words to coax her towards a climax just to hear what it sounds like when she comes.

The steady stroking motion makes his body taut with carnality and his thoughts fogged with a daring delusion that the pillow isn't a pillow, but Zel instead, grinding her ass the way she does when he dreams of her. It happens so often now that it almost feels real. Like muscle memory.

And then a warm hand is placed on his own, gently guiding him away from the hip he's gripping to slip beneath clothing and guides him higher and higher, until his cold fingers are brushing over the softest skin and the hardest nipple and she's moaning.

She's twisting, hair moving, back arching to grind her ass against him even better than before, and Zel says the hottest demand he's ever heard her say.

"Link, don't stop."

He stops.

With a gasp lodged in his throat, Link tries to scramble out of bed, but quickly realizes how difficult that is to do in a hammock. The entire swaying contraption moves with him as he rolls over her, trying to get his feet on the ground and fails miserably. He drops almost head first onto the hardwood floor, sweaty palms catching his fall at the last second, and somewhere in his addled mind, he can hear her words of protest, but they're not processing. Not when he was just dry humping her ass with a hard on and she was guiding him to cup her breasts in his hand.

Once his feet are planted on the ground and he's standing, Link claws a hand through his hair and tries to stutter out an apology—though he's not entirely sure why he feels like he needs to. "I—I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," she answers quickly, still laying in the hammock with terrible bed hair. "I was—it was reactionary."

"Right, right," he says, completely distracted. He stands over her with a hand shoved into his trousers, trying to find a position that makes his erection less obvious. "Should we get going? I need to eat and we gotta get going and—and the Divine Beast is still up there and—"

With no idea where he's heading, Link turns to leave the hut, but she grabs for him.

"Wait—wait, Link."

Soft fingers curl around his forearm and hold him firmly in place so he doesn't run away. His heart is pounding and he really doesn't understand why.

He should've expected this, but he was too exhausted last night to think about anything other than how wholesome the moment was when they were looking at pictures on the Sheikah slate. It's not like he doesn't want her, hasn't stopped wondering what she tastes like or imagining how she'd feel if he was ever given the chance to be alone with her—to have their clothes off and bodies pressed exactly how they just were. Why is he so scared to move forward? They've kissed and held promises, shared beds and expressed how much they mean to one another. He's dreamt of this for so long, it's all he's ever wanted, and he's still trying to run away.

…Why? Why is he like this?

"Link?"

As if her voice could break any spell, Link turns his head to look down at her. Zel's face is utterly vulnerable, beautiful, but shy. Feet dangling off the hammock, blouse fallen off one bare shoulder, she must have taken her brassiere off sometime in the night when he was too tired to notice and Goddess, that turns him on even more. He should've let himself feel her, should've stayed in the hammock and kissed her neck, obeyed what she wanted. He could be cupping her breasts in the palm of his hands, could be hearing moans of pleasure and more whines as she begged him not to stop. He didn't want to stop. She deserves to be sighing sweetly and panting harshly instead of trying to keep a sheepish man from running away. He should'veshould'veshould've, but didn't.

When she doesn't speak again, he answers her in sign. "Yeah?"

She bites her bottom lip.

"Are you okay?" She asks, then swallows. "Are we okay?"

Honestly, he's not sure, but he answers anyway. "Everything's fine," he signs, then clears his throat to ward off this entire conversation. He can't think about this right now, not when they have a Divine Beast to deal with today.

"I'm going to make breakfast," Link states as if it's the only thing he's really sure of, then finally walks away from her.

» . «

Zel's been biting her lip all damn day.

It's her bottom one; plump lip pinned in place between her teeth as she stares off into the distance, thinking about Hylia knows what. Neck kisses, chest cupped by Link's calloused hands, maybe even how close his erection was to her perfect skin. It's probably all the same tempting thoughts that's been plaguing his mind ever since he scrambled out of the hammock this morning.

That sinful woman is going to drive him over the edge—quite literally.

If he's not careful, that's exactly what could happen. Thinking about her moaning almost made him lose his balance on the uneven ground of Vah Medoh, and slide right through the doorway. Remembering how she guided him to touch her breast and how perfect she felt in the palm of his hand had Link almost walking straight into a cobweb of putrid malice. Multiple times throughout the beast, he's been more attuned to his salacious desires than wondering what will emerge from the main control unit.

After breakfast, Teba and Saki flew them onto the platform of Vah Medoh and the sound of propellers filled their ears. It's been difficult to communicate up here amongst the misty clouds, when the cold seeps under their insulated clothing, but it's not as if they've been trying to talk anyway. In addition to the awkward energy between them, there's also a shroud of dread in the air, just like in the other beasts. Although they can't hear or see Revali, they know he's close by, cut off from the physical realm. The Champions' souls are trapped by the infestation that devoured their weapons, corrupting them from the inside out, though the scowl on Link's face probably perfectly matches that of the archer Champion as he watches them foolishly find every terminal.

Link's brow line has been permanently wrinkled in a knot, pretending as if he's taking this Beast stuff serious for the first time ever. If he recalls correctly, the last time he was in a Divine Beast with Zel, she was the one that was taking things a bit too seriously for his liking. His mind is completely elsewhere, stuck on the events that unfolded this morning—churning them over and over in his head like a glob of dubious food being pushed around on a plate.

All the terminals are activated, and Link deemed the puzzles fairly easy to solve considering he figured out a few of them without any help from Zel, at all. Three knobs on the map that shift the beast to angle in the sky is a simple concept to understand when one has to either move a metal ball to press a button or create the perfect angle to fly across the beast and access a wing. The eyes of malice were more difficult to locate than actually accessing the terminals, and if he's being honest, Revali had the easiest beast to tame.

Link won't say that out loud though.

In fact, a verbal word hasn't been spoken in over ten minutes.

They're walking towards the large, bulbous structure at the top of the beast, glowing orange and pulsating weakly, containing an entity they'll have to defeat in order to free Revali. They're standing on a flat platform with large grey pillars of stone that look as if they'll crumble by a single measly nudge—maybe a hundred years of constant wind has eroded them away. It's blusterous up here, no railings on the edges to hold onto or earth to stay grounded on. All it takes is just one jump and he's free falling.

Slicing through the silence, Link pushes past his personal problems and focuses on the task at hand.

"I'm going to transport you to the shrine in the village while I face the blight alone. I'll be right behind you when I'm done." He unclips the Sheikah slate off his belt and starts tapping the screen.

"Link, wait."

He looks up. She's not biting her lip anymore.

With a blink and a clear of her throat, Zel huffs in determination. "You've told me all about the Water- and the Fireblight, so whatever life form that's in this beast must be influenced by the Champion that's trapped inside. Knowing Revali, it has to be wind and archer related and… and I'm the better archer between us. Let me do this."

"What, are you crazy? No way."

"At least let me help."

"Not a chance, Zel. This is my battle to fight."

"Is it?"

Caught off guard, Link meets her eyes and she holds his gaze. She's clever, always able to make Link question his morals and what he's stubbornly determined to be true. Is it really his fight, or has he been finishing everyone else's?

"Link, would you just—"

"You don't get it, Zel, you weren't there," Link says before he can take it back. "A hundred years ago, you weren't—you didn't exist back then, but I did. I can remember it. I have all these memories that just… they don't even feel like they're mine, but… the burden rests on me to finish this, so I have to. Not you."

When he looks at her again, Link catches the quickest glimpse of sadness flickering across her features. They both know that there's always going to be that gap between them—a century long void that can never be filled. No matter how close they get, Link will always have a foot in the past where Zel can't seem to step.

There's the slightest quiver in her lip, the way her long ears droop down for the briefest second before she blinks quickly and recovers from her emotions even quicker. Her brows form the equivalent of checkmarks and she takes a step towards him. He takes a step back.

"You've never pulled that card on me before, Link, so why are you doing it now?"

"I don't know—"

"Is something else bothering you?"

"What? No—"

"Is it about this morning?"

"I—" He drags a hand down his face and sighs. When he speaks again, his voice falls—cooling the heated air between them. "No, it's not about this morning."

But it is.

"Okay," she responds timidly, and crosses her arms over her waist to hug herself. She doesn't seem entirely convinced. "You'd tell me if it was though, right?"

He nods but looks away, needing a second to mull things over. He can't put his finger on it—on why he's so upset. He should be grateful, should be riding on that high of reuniting with Zel, should be happy that he was able to kiss her right away and not have to worry about whether their relationship was tarnished by time or separation. They're progressing, moving forward and growing, heading exactly where he wants to go… so why is he holding himself back?

Things are very different from when they were months ago, back in Zora's Domain. Zel doesn't coddle him anymore, doesn't act like he's frail or weak because she's been there since day one, guiding him and helping him, pulling him into tomorrow to shape him into the man he is today. She's grown with him, has let him follow his destiny as she carved one for herself and through it all, they've found their way back to each other—

—but Link has never trusted tomorrow. It has always brought him pain and confusion, given him more burdens, stretching his thoughts and memories further and further apart every day to the point it's almost unbearable… but maybe it's simpler than that. Maybe he ran away from his feelings this morning because he's holding himself back, depriving himself because he doesn't feel like he deserves tomorrow.

For a knight in snowquill armor, he's awfully afraid.

Zel is right though; she's the better archer. She's well-trained, has been living amongst the Rito for months, and has already battled the beast they're walking on now—and she did it alone. She'll most definitely be an asset in this fight rather than a liability, and Link knows this.

Choosing his battles wisely, Link gives in. Tapping at the Sheikah slate again, he can feel her anxiety rising by only a step away. Fingers on edge, feet moving forward, she thinks he's going to transport her down to the ground, but he pulls out twenty bomb arrows instead—as much as she can fit into her quiver—and hands them to her.

"If you're going to be fighting this Blight Ganon, I want you geared up and in the air at all times. The last two Blights had a single eye like a Guardian does so if you see an opening, fire straight at it. That's your target. If it gets too close to you, I want you to fly high and out of its range, do you understand me?"

Her expression is set, attention already focused on the battle that hasn't even started yet, and he can tell she's trying to hold back a smile. Out of all the monstrosities they fought together this should be a breeze, but they'll both be damned if they enter this battle without a serious attitude and a clear understanding of each other.

"Yes, sir," she says firmly, but he can hear that teasing, flirtatious tone just underneath the seriousness of their situation. It makes him smirk.

When the arrows are packed into her quiver and their most durable bow is strapped on her back, Zel turns away from him and doesn't look back. He watches as she gets into position—standing on a platform over the ground with a fan gusting wind to create an updraft—then Link places the Sheikah slate on the pedestal.

Ghastly black clouds of malice swirl around him instantly, just like with the other blights that he's challenged in the past, and Zel holds onto her paraglider as her feet take off the ground. The entire beast quakes beneath his feet, stepping back from the control unit as he draws his sword and waits for the blight to show itself. Blue streams of corrupted technology whirl past his ears, collecting into a swirling ball that grows and grows and grows until what floats above is a large body of collected evil and a deadly cannon for a hand. It stares him down with a single beaming eye and when Link clenches the hilt of his sword and starts charging, something beats him to the punch.

It's a bomb arrow, struck directly in the eye of the cyclops. The scourge wails and falls to the ground in a cluster of pooling malice and infested Sheikah tech.

"Go!" Zel shouts from the air, soaring easily with her paraglider. "Hit it now!"

Sprinting forward, he gets several strikes of his sword into the churning plasma before it lifts off the ground and collects itself again, and the cycle repeats. Zel shoots and Link strikes.

If only battling the blights were that simple.

The scourge of Vah Medoh is large and flighty, with a cannon for a hand and unpredictable tactics. It doesn't care so much for Link, a puny target running around on the ground, as compared to Zel gliding and dodging, zigzagging through crumbling pillars and nocking arrows at its eyes every time it'd fly into the air. In an attempt to rid of Link, the Windblight Ganon whips up a tornado that has him sprinting over uneven ground. So when it's distracted like that, Zel takes the opportunity to fire and within five perfect bullseyes of bomb arrows, it rages and screeches, a loud shriek cracking through the air, and Zel has to land on top of a wobbly pillar just to cover her ears.

It flies to the center of the platform and produces four flying beacons that bloom like flowers. They ignite and rupture into deadly shards, becoming even more dangerous when blue flaming lasers connect in the sky and soar through the air, and Link has only one thought.

"Zel! Get on the ground!"

She pulls her attention away from the beacons to glance at him. "What? No, I can do this!"

Jumping off the pillar, it's like he watches her in slow motion. Almost like the way time stands still between memories and the present, when his mind is trying to decipher the difference between the two. As if she's levitating, Zel shoots arrow after arrow, bombs exploding over and over as the lasers fire all around them. Sounds clashing, pillars crashing, a vital archer trained to only accept perfection, Zel pulls back the string of her bow as diligently as a musician playing a harp and before Zel's feet even touch the ground, the monster falls first.

"Now Link! Go!"

Running at full speed, Link pries the Knight's Claymore off his back and starts swinging. He attacks with might and agility; a graceful spin, a deadly blow and the monster twitches with every hit he sends at it. The stench of it is vile and rusty, stinging his ears and watering his eyes, but upon heaving a thunderous exhale, Link drives the steel of his blade one last time into the seeping liquid and watches it die.

Back hunching in his stance, grip loosening on the Claymore, Link tries to catch his breath when he hears the distinct sounds of a paraglider folding and being strapped on a belt. The next second, he's being pulled away, guided to a safe distance as the Windblight rises back into the air and starts erupting.

Purple beams of light explode from the blight in all directions, tearing it apart from the inside out, and Link holds Zel close to his chest. This is a sight he's witnessed a couple times before, but she hasn't. The way the blight fights for life, how malice is broken and released, cast across the air and blown to the wind, her expression is laced in fear until the monster ruptures and disappears.

With a heavy sigh, Zel slowly wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him close. He winces slightly by the sudden contact, feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen like he felt yesterday, but any irritating injury is irrevocably worth it to hug her right now. She doesn't even notice, too relieved that they've won and there's only one beast left, that a laugh bubbles up her throat as she pulls away to meet his eyes. She speaks first.

"Let's activate the control unit, I bet Revali is waiting."

He rolls his eyes, but he's entirely joking. "Fine," he huffs and it makes her laugh harder.

With every step to the orange glowing terminal, the pain eases more and more. He's grown used to battle wounds—though he isn't sure if that's necessarily a good thing, but he's not really thinking about that right now. He's thinking about how Zel is so sure of everything, how when she has her heart set on something, she does it. From each meticulous shot with her bow to every decision she's made since he's known her, Zel doesn't give two flying fucks about tomorrow, about whether or not she deserves something. She only cares about today, and it's an absolute tragedy, at least in Link's eyes, that he hasn't kissed her yet today.

"Come here," Link says, after placing the slate on the cleansed platform and grabs her bicep to twirl her into him.

Surprised hands fall flat on his chest as their lips meet and he kisses her frivolously. Greedily. Emotions rising, fingers trailing, her gasp turns into a moan as she tilts her head and he does the same, angling into each other with honest ardency. His lips part and he rims her upper lip with his tongue, asking for permission that she gives him immediately. Yeah, they may have just purged one of the four beasts they need in order to defeat Ganon, but nothing compares to the rush he gets when Zel claws a hand through his hair and her breathy sighs are catching on his tongue.

She tries to speak, words interlaced with kisses. "There's… there's a friend I met in the village a while back," Zel stops their incessant kissing to meet his eyes. "She's a Hylian that owns a cabin not far from here, in the mountains of Hebra. She told me that I could um…" her fingers tap on his chest, gaze breaking momentarily, "that I could use it while she's away and right now she's currently shield surfing in the Gerudo region. Would you maybe… want to visit it?"

"Sure," he answers quickly, too distracted by her lips to truly care about where they go after this.

She must've liked the way Link said that judging by how hard her kisses come afterwards. Her hands wander up his neck and into his hair and the sounds Zel hums against his mouth finds its way down his spine like a rustle of leaves—rhythmic and satisfying. Her tongue teases into his mouth and she nips at his lower lip, making her next words the hottest he's ever heard. "Good, because I'd really like to be alone with you."

"Gross."

Steamy kiss broken by a single verb, Link and Zel turn their heads and see blue flames. As mystical as the glow of a calm spirit is to witness, it's the only enchanting aspect about him. The Rito Champion has his beak tilt down and a face in scorn, repugnance shown clear on his features.

"What is with you Hylians and your constant need to peck each other's faces?"

He's severely judging them, but then suddenly his eyes go wide.

"What?" Revali says, long and drawn out like a squawking bird, and bends his neck down to get a closer look at Zel. He must not have expected Link to have company, if he ever made it here at all. Maybe he wasn't supposed to have any? No, that was silly, maybe Revali was just that judgy. "Why are you here?" He asks Zel directly.

Zel squints her eyes right back, like she's trying to beat him in some kind of strange staring contest. "I'm helping Link. I'm an archer."

"Hmph," the Rito straightens again and crosses his wings over his chest. "Well, I'll be plucked. Aren't you lucky then, to be able to witness the great Vah Medoh return to its rightful owner? But don't preen yourself just for doing your job."

When Link turns to see the reaction on Zel's face, he's surprised to find she's actually smirking. Link was almost expecting her to have a hand extended out to him, gripping onto her bow and arrow set and saying hold my quiver.

"I do suppose you've proven your value as a warrior. A warrior worthy of my ability. The sacred skill that I have dubbed Revali's Gale!" Revali says, tone changing to something less of a mockery and more of a light praise. "Now… who wants it? I'd rather give it to the girl." He nudges his head towards Zel.

They share a glance.

"You take it," Link says with a reassuring smile, "you're the archer."

"Me? I—I couldn't."

Link nods. "You can."

She shakes her head.

Revali huffs. "Time's wasting."

Link takes a sidestep back as he holds his smile wide. If anyone deserves this, it's her. The special abilities of the Champions should be cherished and didn't need to be passed along to anyone. Of course, he's thankful for Mipha's Grace every single day, cherishes Daruk's Protection because now he doesn't take as many injuries as he used to, but their skills should be seen as gifts, and Zel has a gift of archery if he's ever seen one. It should go to her.

Before he can turn to watch Revali, the Champion is already creating an elaborate show of things. Wings splayed wide, posing with every new move, the Rito raises feathers to the sky and conjures up an energy ball. Gracefully, it flies its way over to Zel and Link watches the moment her feet pick up off the ground. She's wobbly and unstable, arms raised to keep her balance, but the fear quickly flashes over her features before it all turns into a grin.

The updraft rockets her into the sky, propelling her into a backflip that's as elegant as the way she strings a bow. Her feet land safely on the ground and she smiles at Revali.

"Thank you," she breathes.

"Don't thank me yet," Revali turns away and raises a wing, then looks over his shoulder at her. Seems like a dramatic guy, Link thinks. "Your job is far from finished, you know."

Maybe she thought about responding for her lips part briefly before closing again. She decides to nod instead, whatever words she had to say feeling no longer relevant. They both watch as the gentle blue flames go out one by one and the Rito Champion fades away. Beneath their feet, they can feel the Beast changing course and heading towards Rito village to move into position—possibly the spirit of Revali directing his final contribution to defeating the Calamity. So Link takes her hand and guides her towards the edge of the wing, overlooking the beautiful mountain range of Hebra, cast golden by the setting sun.

"So," he says in a sing-song voice, "where's the cabin?"

"Somewhere over there," Zel points off towards the north, slightly east of where they're flying, then meets his eyes with a smirk. "Want to shield surf down the mountain? Last one there has to sleep on the springy side of the mattress."

"Springy side? You never said anything about a springy side—"

But she's already jumped, and the sounds of her laughter get cut off, carried swiftly in the breeze. With nothing but instincts lodged in his heart and a woman he'd follow off the ledge of the world, Link pulls out his paraglider and jumps.