With his hands in his pockets, Link had been silently walking through the village and around its perimeter since early morning of that day. Even though the moments slowed with bullet time, the careful observation of people, and watching every possible entrance into the village, he had found absolutely nothing that would convince Zelda that there was anything to worry about. Feeling defeated, Link took a seat on a stool that was placed at the roots of a tree in front of the Great Ton Pu Inn.

Maybe I really am overreacting, Link thought to himself as he watched the village children run through the snowy paths. Is this what she meant by my decisions? I'm out here walking around looking for someone that hasn't shown any hints at being around in weeks because I had a bad dream. Even I can't deny that it sounds bad when put that way…

He exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He watched the cloud of warmth that had escaped his lips swirl into the air before disappearing, blending into the snowfall graced to them by the light gray clouds above the village. He closed his eyes and sat quietly.

Taking it easy may not be such a bad idea, he began to think. This isn't helping anyone.

"Link?" a small voice called out.

Link opened his eyes and brought his gaze back down from the clouds. There standing in front of him were the group of children that had been loudly running around the village, now quiet with worried looks all faced towards him. He raised an eyebrow as he gave each child a glance.

"What? What is it?" he asked.

"W-Well, you've been acting a bit weird," one of the children said. "And you haven't played with us even once since you got back. We thought maybe something was wrong… Like maybe something happened to you?"

Link blinked a few times before furrowing his brow. He folded his arms and looked at the group.

"You know, to be honest, there has been something wrong with me," he said, nodding his head.

The children gasped.

"What's wrong, Link?"

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"Is it because of that girl? The princess?"

"Yes, it is because of the princess," Link said after hearing one of them mention Zelda. "You wanna know what it is about her that's making me like this?"

"Yes!"

"Tell us! We'll help!"

"I'm like this… because she's sad," Link said with a frown. "Now I want to ask you all why you think that is?"

"I-Is it because she doesn't have her big castle?"

"Is it because she can't control us with her weird power?"

"Nope, none of that," Link said, shaking his head. "She's sad because the village children are afraid and don't even play with her."

All the children grew quiet and looked between themselves.

"S-She wants to play with us?" one of the children asked quietly.

"But we were told that she wouldn't want to be bothered with kids like us," another said.

"Our parents said we shouldn't make her angry…"

"Is that so?" Link said as his face became softer.

So the parents weren't telling them horror stories about her, he thought to himself. They just didn't want her harassed.

"Well, it's one thing to make sure you aren't bothering her," Link explained. "But to run away from her in fear is something else entirely."

"But what about her weird power?" one of the kids mentioned.

"That weird power is the reason you guys, your parents, and even grandparents are okay to this day," Link answered.

With a sigh, he stood from his stool and knelt on the ground in front of them.

"I know your parents told you that she's a person of importance, and I don't want you to believe that she's not. She is a princess… but she's also just a girl. A few months younger than me, even. She may not be as loud and crazy as I am, but she has a fun side. She's also shyer than you would think. She was really sad the day you guys ran away from her."

"She was… sad?" one of the children asked.

"We didn't mean to make her sad…"

"She likes kids you know," Link continued with a smile. "You know, she saved three kids from a scary lynel a few months back."

"From a lynel?" one of the kids repeated loudly.

"The scary, musclely, monster you showed us a picture of on your slate thingy?"

"But it's so scary! We thought only you could fight that!"

"Well, it's true," Link said with a chuckle. "She did. She protected them, and you know, she would do the same for you."

All the children grew quiet again with some looking at each other guiltily while others looked at the snow as they played with their scarves or gloves.

"We're sorry…" one kid finally spoke up.

"Don't say sorry to me, I'm not the one who needs it," Link said. "Though, Zelda isn't really good when it comes to getting apologies. She's someone who'd… rather see change."

Link paused for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Look, I'll make you guys a deal. The next time I play with you guys is when Zelda is around. Then we'll all play together. How about that?"

Just as he expected, all the children nodded in agreement. What he hadn't expected was for all of them to immediately dash away afterward. In a matter of seconds, the group had disappeared up the winding road up the path into the higher village area. Link blinked.

"Good talk," he said curiously as he stood.

"Wow, the kids actually ran away from you," a woman's voice said from behind him. "I never thought you'd lose your touch with kids, Link."

"And I never thought I'd ever see you outside the inn, Prima," Link responded with a smile, turning around to greet the innkeeper. "Also, they didn't run away from me, the conversation simply ended."

"Whatever you say," Prima shrugged. "How have you been, Link? I spoke to Zelda and I got the hint that maybe something isn't alright?"

"Oh, you met Zelda, huh?" Link said with a smile. "Yeah, I'm alright, just a bit stressed is all. Nothing I can't deal with. If you can handle Manny's constant flirting, then I can handle just about anything."

"You know, he hasn't bothered me much in the past few days," Prima said, folding her arms. "I wonder what's been up with him. Ever since he informed the town of Zelda's true identity, he's been awfully quiet."

"Interesting," Link said, raising his eyebrows. "Maybe I should talk some sense into him… Can I ask what Zelda wanted? I can't imagine she went into the inn just for fun."

"Actually, that's what I've come to talk to you about," Prima said. "I was going to speak to Zelda herself, but lucky for me, you were sitting in front of the inn, so I'm sure you can help. She came in earlier today to pick up a delivery for Purah and even earlier than that, she mentioned that she was looking for a… job."

"Yeah, that's been a goal of hers lately," Link said with a sigh. "She's been having a lot of trouble thanks to that old status of hers. She's really trying hard though. Why? What about it?"

"Well… This is a bit hard for me to admit… But… I could.. use… some… help…" Prima managed to admit out loud. "And I think Zelda may be able to be of use."

"Really?" Link said loudly as his eyes grew wide. "You really think so?"

"I hope so, though I'm sure even if she isn't, I can whip her into shape," Prima said nonchalantly. "From what I saw earlier, I think she'd be up for the challenge."

"Yeah! Yeah, she would!" Link continued just as before. "So does that mean-?"

"Ah ah ah!" Prima said quickly, raising a finger in the air. "I just met Zelda. What I came to ask you was if you could pass along a message. I want to see her at daybreak tomorrow. We'll talk a bit more and I'll see if she's worthy of working at the inn. I can't just have anyone running around claiming to be a part of my family's inn. Princess or not, I need to make sure she can do this. Can you let her know?"

"Yeah! Yes! Absolutely!" Link said enthusiastically with a bright smile, putting his hands on both of Prima's shoulders without realizing it. "She'll be so excited! Thank you! She'll be there! For sure!"

"Okay, okay!" Prima said as she gently pushed Link's arms away, unable to contain the smile Link had infected her with. "I'd better get back to work. Again, I want to see her by daybreak, right at the crack of dawn, alright?"

"Got it!" Link said.

Trying to hold in a chuckle at Link's excitement, Prima shook her head before heading towards the steps of her inn. Link stood in silence for a moment, grinning to himself before spinning in the snow with his arms stretched out. He cheered as loudly as he could, causing many of the few passing villagers to pause and look at him with their own smiles.

"She's going to be so happy," Link told himself as he stopped spinning and looked down the road towards their house. "I told her she had nothing to—"

Link's smile faded. Time began to slow as he squinted his eyes, trying to see as far down the road near Hateno's entrance as possible. He could just barely see it through the snow and thin fog: the silhouette of a tall, lanky figure similar to that of the one in his dream. He could feel the slow, yet strong beat of his heart beginning to increase. His brow furrowed as he made to take a step forward, but a light touch against his shoulder caused a shock to pulse through his body. Time sped up to its usual rate as Link snapped his head around and glanced at his shoulder before looking up at the person who tapped him.

"Also," said Prima, who had come back down the stairs. "If you do really go see Manny, tell him I do not need more crickets. You're to blame for that, so I believe you should be the one to tell him."

"What? Oh, yeah, okay," Link responded before quickly looking back down the road. The figure, however, had disappeared. "I-I will, just… um… T-Thank you, I… I gotta…"

Without finishing his sentence, or even giving Prima a second glance, Link hurried down the road, avoiding what few villagers stood in his way before stopping right where he had seen the figure. He looked in every direction he could: the road that led to his house, the small farms that lead to the wooden gateway, and even back up from where he had come. No matter where he looked, the silhouette was nowhere in sight. With his brow still furrowed, he turned back and stared out into the forest trees that littered the mountainsides, losing himself to the image of the barely visible person. It wasn't until he heard the sound of children did he begin to return to reality.

"Link! Link! Link!" the children chanted.

Slowly, Link turned around to see the group of children that had run off before, now heading towards him, though now a much larger person was among them, being dragged by her hands.

"We found her!" one of the children said cheerfully.

"We found her, so now we can play!" another child laughed.

"You promised!"

After meeting the eyes of many of the children, Link looked up into the sparkling green emeralds that he hadn't seen since the night before.

"Link!" Zelda giggled, visibly confused but smiling nonetheless. "What is going on? I was leaving Purah's and the children were waiting at the door! They said they had a talk with you and that I needed to come with them right away! What did you… Link? Is everything alright?"

"Zelda… Hey…" Link said in a monotone voice as they all approached him.

The children let go of Zelda's hands, allowing her to straighten herself. Still somewhat giggling, she took Link's hands into her own. Though she was still smiling, worry had begun to fill her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked as the children surrounded them.

"Wrong…? What…?" Link said slowly. "N-Nothings wrong… I guess I'm just a sore loser is all."

"A sore loser?" Zelda repeated curiously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't like admitting when you're right," Link said, putting on somewhat of a smile. "Maybe I am stressing out too much. To the point that I'm… seeing things."

"Well, I liked the first part of that sentence," Zelda said with a brighter smile before becoming serious again. "Honestly though, are you sure you're okay? I know our talk last night wasn't the best—"

"I'm fine," Link said quickly. "I am, promise. I'm actually really excited to tell you something."

"Tell me something? And what would that be?" Zelda asked.

"Prima wants to speak to you at the break of dawn tomorrow," Link said with a slight grin, giving Zelda's hands a bit of pressure. "She wants to discuss… maybe getting a job at the inn?"

"Getting a job at the inn?" Zelda repeated with a blank face. Suddenly her eyes lit up with surprise. "A job at the inn? A job at the inn!"

She jumped for joy before wrapping her arms around her messenger's neck. Link chuckled, placing his hands on her hips before she pulled away.

"Hey, you don't have it yet," he said. "She wants to make sure you can handle it first."

"Do you think I can handle it?" Zelda asked. Link took a moment to stare into her large eyes before snorting.

"What kind of question is that?" he asked in return. "Of course you can't."

"Link!"

"I'm teasing! I'm teasing," Link laughed, tightening his grip on her waist as Zelda tried to pull away from him. He pulled her close, forcing her front against his before pressing his forehead to hers. "Of course you can. If you can deal with Ganon for a hundred years—heck, if you can deal with me— then you have nothing to worry about."

"I swear…" Zelda said, giving in to Link's grip as she rested her arms on his shoulders. "At this rate, I'm starting to believe that holding Ganon was easier than dating you."

"Would you rather not be dating me?" Link asked.

"Please," Zelda said. After half a second of hesitation, she pressed her lips to his own for a split second before pulling away with a deep blush. "Stop asking dumb questions…"

"Link and Zelda are flirrrrrtiiiiing…" a child's voice suddenly came from below.

Blushing furiously, both Link and Zelda looked down and glanced around at all the children that had remained surrounding them. Somehow, they had completely forgotten about their little audience.

"Right, um…" Link began, turning his attention back to Zelda. "I told them that the next time I would play with them is only when you joined in."

"You are such a hero," Zelda said with a sigh. "But… you're my hero, right?"

"Only if you conceded to being my princess," Link grinned.

Zelda smiled before pulling away, jogging a little bit up the path as a few children followed her. She then turned around a few paces away before smiling even wider with rosy cheeks.

"I'll always be your princess."

"And I'll always be your hero," Link said before glancing back at the forest behind them. "Always."

With his smile faltering for only a moment, Link turned back and ran after the children and Zelda, who laughed at the sight of him barrelling after them.