28- She is coming with me

It is early hours in the morning, the sun has just begun to rise over the horizon, the carpenters from Kakariko village where arriving to finish their repair jobs on the Castle, but the all stopped to wave at Link's running figure, one of them actually yelled out the number 3 smiling, he was calling on the number of laps Link had run around the castle. Once he completed his 3rd lap, he stopped to drink some water and cool off a little.

LINK POV

I am glad the carpenters find this entertaining; I wish I could too, but my mind keeps traveling back to the discussion I had with Daphnes. I must admit that I was the one surprised yesterday, he did not even flinch at what I asked, he just produced a sad smile and said NEVER, I still started telling him that I WOULD NOT be taking her with me always, just when the mission is low risk and I can assure she will stay safe and away from harm, he still didn't budge. But he was not screaming either, that only means there is hope, I am sure he noticed how recent violent events affected Zelda, buts not negatively, she matured so much and is glowing because of this, but his fatherly side can't wrap around the idea of putting her in danger's path

A carpenter approaches Link running

"HEYOOO, we finished the doorframe? Or whatever it is… the thing you asked for is done"

"Already? that was fast, thanks" Link says surprised

"We work fast, that is why Mutho doesn't fire us, we just lack motivation" the carpenter says with pride

"What was your motivation this time?" Link asks raising an eyebrow

"You running, we agreed we needed to finish before you finished your third lap or we would die, not really, it's just a game we play" said the carpenter grinning

Link looks at the legs of the structure, he notices them deeply buried to bring more stability, he smiles since it looks sturdy enough, so he decides to test it. Link jumps to grab the top part of the ¨door frame¨ and starts doing pull ups, the carpenter just stares wide-eyed.

"No complains, it is a fine job" Link says gasping

The Carpenter nods and was about to say something but Zelda approaches them, so he leaves. Zelda watches Link do pull ups a few seconds and clears her throat to speak

"Good morning, I… wanted to ask you, how did yesterday's chat with the King went?" the Princess asks with curiosity

Link stops his exercise and drop to answers

"Can't say it went bad, we didn't kill each other" he answers

"So… when are we starting the sword fight training?" she asks hopeful

Gosh, I had forgotten about this, I still have this ace on my hand HAHAHA, if she goes to Daphnes directly and asks him for this, it will further prove what I told him: SHE CRAVES THIS.

"Wait, what? We did not discuss that, I said it before, YOU need to ask him for this" Link tells her

"WHAT? YOU WERE SERIOUS? He will kill me"

"HE WILL NOT, don't be melodramatic, if I bring up the topic, he will suspect I am influencing you, it has to come out of you. You are the princess, and later on you will be the Queen, LEARN TO DEMAND THINGS. Actually… you already know how to do that don't you? Be that princess again, the one who saved me." Link gives her a half smile and jumps up to do more pull ups

"But I… oh damn" Zelda turns to walk back to the castle and immediately does a 180 turn and heads back stomping on the floor

"YOU… DON'T OVER DO THAT; what if you reopen something?" Zelda says in anger and kind of worried

Link drops again, and stares at her furious, lifts his shirt showing he is practically healed

"SWORD wants to reinstate me in a week, I need to restart my routine exercises" Link states

Rolling her eyes "I leave you to it then, just make sure you are not overstepping healing boundaries… I will need to start exercising too, right? NO, don't answer, let me talk to the King first, wish me luck with that" Zelda jogs back

Good luck, but you don't need it, I am sure you will do just fine, hopefully more than just fine. It's sad that she does not realize how much power she has over the King. Makes me feel pity for Daphnes.

The Carpenter approaches Link, he was waiting for the princess to leave before mustering the courage to ask what type of exercise was he doing, and if he could do it too.

ZELDA POV

Zelda runs back to the castle, as much as her shoes allowed her of course

I FUCKING HATE THESE SHOES, yeah… I picked them, they look beautiful, but the man shoes I wore during the attack were SO MUCH BETTER. They were a little big for me, but so comfortable, I could run with those, maybe I should change my footwear. What time is it? It should be early in the morning still, I need talk with the King before he starts his day, I don't want to interrupt important matters…

Zelda starts heading to the north tower, the one used by the King and her mother, but midway stops herself.

I should NOT seek for him in the royal chamber, I think I should wait for him in the throne room, I want him to take me seriously, so I want to make it feel like I am requesting an audition. YES, I should do that.

Zelda heads to the throne room, once there she enters without hesitation, closes the door behind her and hears a man clearing his throat, she turns and finds Daphness already seated in his throne, resting his elbows on his legs looking down at her due to his elevated position. Zelda looks up at him and smiles.

"To what to I owe the pleasure of you visit princess?" the King asks with curiosity

"Good morning for starters" she rolls her eyes "I wanted to make a request"

"GOOD MORNING of course, I was just shocked… what do you need?"

"We just experienced an attack, I am sure our guards may have been able to handle it if they had been here, but they were not… the experience made me realize that as the princess I should not be defenseless, my request is to start sword fighting classes, I need to at least know the basics, I don't want to be a burden if something happens again"

The King stares at her wide eyed, he stands and walks down the steps that elevates him and his throne from ground level. He slowlroaches the princess.

"Who told you that you needed this?" The King asks narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"wha- nobody, I am doing this out of guilt. Link was almost killed trying to defend me, and I could not do anything, I don't want to feel like that again… in fact, I am sure he can teach me, just order him to and he will" Zelda asks adding a cute smile at the end.

"I am not sure you want LINK to teach you, he is… unstable. He disguises it very good but it's clear he is not right in the head; I am not sure I can trust you with him" the King admits

[but if what you want now is for me to never lie or hide anything from you, I will tell you exactly what to say to me, and yes, YOU have to say it to my face] the King shakes his head at the memory of Link's eyes somehow glowing as he said that, and his voice… it sounded so unnatural.

Zelda stares at the King a little confused and then breaks in a fit of laughter, she soon composes herself though and continues with the discussion

"I know he is crazy, almost psychotic, but you kind of have to be in order to perform in his work line, right?" the Princess asks not really expecting an answer so she continues.

"Besides it's not like you DIDN'T KNOW before making him a Nohansen right? what changed?"

"One thing is adding him to the family, another is allowing my daughter to fight that beast… but I guess you are right, crazy is a must to work for SWORD" The King admits, but he still feels uneasy about this.

"He is dangerous, but crazy enough to follow a code, and the code is his word, if he says he will do something consider it DONE, so far he has not failed to fulfill his word, so I trust him." Zelda admits

"You… raise a very good point, I was failing to see the whole picture and only focusing in not scaring my family any further. The training will be harsh… bruises and cuts, is that really what you want?" Daphness still insist on his daughter, they are not blood related, but she is his girl, he really does not want to even imagine her bruised, but if she really wants this he will agree.

"YES. I don't mind the bruises and cuts, what bothers me is being defenseless. Does… this means-" Zelda asks eyes glistening with tears of happiness and hope.

The king returns to his throne and draws a sheet of paper from under it and a pen, gets back to Zelda and signals for her to turn around, she immediately does, he uses her back to write on the sheet of paper, he folds the paper and gives it to Zelda.

"Give this to Link, it states how and when your sword training begins… you will NOT learn to attack, it will be defense and maybe how to disarm an opponent, I stand firm on that."

Zelda produces a high pitch scream and jumps on Daphnes to hug him, the King stumbles back a little but recovers and hugs her back spinning her. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and rushes out of the throne room.

LINK POV

"Yes, I am strictly following the exercise plan Carla send me"

"GOOD, as I am sure she told you, we want to reinstate you in a week approximately"

"That much I gathered, who am I murdering?"

"NOBODY… I am sure you know about the potential donor project we started with you 2 years ago"

Oh yeah, the project that is doomed to failure. 80% of DNA and 100% HLA match is demanded by SWORD to guarantee reception of whatever is being donated, that percentage is most likely meet by direct family members, which I don't have. Still, they are trying to find me possible donors and I did not stop them, I would love the idea of there being somebody that can donate me blood or an organ if ever necessary, but let's be real here, THEY WON'T FIND ANYONE.

"It took us long but we have revised all existing medical records around the globe, and we found 2. We think it would be GOOD for you to reach out to them, that is your mission" the Generals says this giggling at the idea of Kid trying to be friendly with strangers.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! HOW? [I wish for all realities to be destroyed except the one I am heading to]

My wish… it only included the loops that came after me, and guarantied eternal rest for the loops before me… but I forgot about the other timeline, a future where I died but my spirit respawned spontaneously, generating guys that are NOT even related to me but still ME. If I remember correctly there were 2, the pirate boy and the engineer. The Triforce didn't destroy them because they ARE ME, but since their original reality disappeared, they were placed here with me, just not in Hyrule. How could I have made such a terrible mistake

*Dude calm down and breathe, SWORD only suspect they may be a match because of a medical record, you have to verify if they are still around, and if they really are a match, it can still NOT be them.

"I… will hang now, have a nice evening General Zalatoris"

Link ends the call with the General in mental distress, he sits on his bed and breathes trying to compose himself, then the sound of Zelda's shoes approaching is heard. He suddenly realizes she is coming to hell; he begins to open the door but Zelda opened it first and hugs him doing small jumps. Then hands him the sheet of paper, Link reads it quickly and gives Zelda a half smile and ruffles her hair with his right hand.

"The King insist on me just learning defense and to disarm, but that is better than nothing right?"

"It's perfect" Link says and leans close to Zelda "defense is a psychological attack, its demoralizing, it kills them here first" he taps on his temple and winks at Zelda "then you can really kill them if you get a shot"

Zelda beams and can't contain her excitement, Link reaches behind Zelda to reopen the door

"Are you throwing me out" Zelda asks daring him to answer

"Of course not my princess, you can stay if you want but I need to meet with the King" Link says rushing out of his room.

Link pulls out the sheet of paper and reads it again, to make sure he understood before making a fool of himself. He quickly arrives at the doors of the throne room, breaths in and opens them. Inside is Daphnes speaking with Sebastian, they both stare at Link upon his arrival. Link glances at Sebastian who seems to be engrossed writing something, and holding his adoption papers for some reason.

He is the lawyer, isn't he? Why would he be here… DAMN! How did she do it?

"She is coming with me, isn't she?" Link asks a little nervous

Daphnes stares at Link squinting, then raises his index finger and brings it to his lips demanding silence.