Link slowly opened his eyes, only for him to wince in discomfort. His eyes burned as if they had been underwater. After blinking a few times, his vision began to clear, revealing a large bulbous machine above him. Its vine-like paths that hang from the ceiling glowed a dull blue aura, something that kept his eyes entertained until he found the strength to push himself up. The room that surrounded him was dark, with the only light available to him being the machine above and the occasional dim orange circle that dotted the walls. Even the bed he was in didn't seem normal; it was almost like a tub, one that was made of a strange stone.

He tried to remember where he was, yet his mind was filled with so much fog, trying to find his way through felt impossible. Thanks to his grogginess, it didn't take much effort for him to quit trying to piece together his past. Instead, he opted to simply climb from the tub he was in to start whatever it was he would choose to do next, at least, whenever his brain had decided to catch up with his body.

Though he couldn't remember anything, the space and even his next actions felt vaguely familiar. He took the slate that suddenly propped itself up from the pedestal in the corner. The strange door opened to reveal a hallway. From inside the chests that decorated the corridor, he dressed himself in a set of old and faded clothes that he found before opening another large door at the end of the hall. He held up his arm, instinctively ready to be blinded by the radiating light of the sun, yet this light never appeared. Instead, the stairs that were revealed to be behind the door remained dark. Confused thanks to his weird sense of familiarity, he proceeded up the staircase, having to climb up the middle of the destroyed part of it, before finally stepping out into the outside world.

Instead of being greeted with the bright morning sun, the dim rays of the moon that broke through the dark and cloudy sky illuminated the wilderness just enough to be visible. The sound of crickets echoed through the wind that rustled the leaves and tall grass. Link took a step forward, listening to the small creatures skidding away from him in response. He looked over the edge, observing the dark landscape before noticing a small flicker of light. Following the cliff, he stood on a downward path that hugged the mountainside, where it led down to the rolling fields below. Near the end of the path, carved into the side of the cliff was a little campsite, where a fire could be seen brightening the small cliffside divot.

Curious, Link followed the path down until he found himself peering into the site. It wasn't anything grand, just a small makeshift fire with a torch leaning against the wall, along with a man. He was an older man, dressed in dark clothes with a hood that covered most of his face, though a large white beard was clearly visible. In hand was a large walking stick, with a lantern hanging from the top. He didn't say anything upon Link's arrival, in fact, the man didn't seem to notice his presence. He continued to stare out into the forest, seemingly unaware of anyone else near him.

Unsure of what to do with himself, Link looked around before noticing a darkened apple on the ground, illuminated with an orange glow from the fire it sat next to. He crouched down and took the apple in hand before sitting down next to the man. For whatever reason, he knew the old guy wasn't dangerous. After getting comfortable in the grass, he raised the apple to his mouth, yet before he could take a bite, the old man spoke.

"How are you, Link?"

"I'm… fine?" Link answered, still holding the apple up.

"I see," the old man replied. Again, he went silent. Link opened his mouth, ready to take a bite of the apple, but before he could, the man spoke again. "How is Zelda?"

"Z-Zelda?" he repeated. At the mention of the name, he could feel the fog in his mind beginning to clear away. "She's… I guess she's fine too…"

"You guess?" the man repeated. Link slowly lowered the apple.

"There's just… There's a lot going on right now," he explained. "I'm trying to keep her safe, but it's getting in the way of… us."

"You two are together?" the man asked. "Romantically?"

"Y-yes…" he answered.

"Then I must be honest and say that I am disappointed," the man said simply. Link's heart sank.

"I deeply apologize, your Highness," he said quickly. He dropped the apple and he adjusted himself to face the old man's large body. Getting onto one knee, he lowered his head in shame. "As a member of the Royal Guard, I understand how immoral it is for someone of my status to—"

"You misunderstand me," the old man cut in. He barely turned his head to look down upon the bowing knight, though his eyes remained concealed by his hood. "I am disappointed that the one my daughter chose to bare her heart to, can only guess how happy she is."

Link didn't know it was possible for his heart to hurt as much as it did in that very moment. He opened his mouth, and yet words would not come from it. Unable to contain himself, he looked up in order to meet the man's gaze. He needed to be punished, and forcing himself to look into the eyes of the man he let down was the only pain he could think of to put himself through at that very moment. The man, however, had vanished. Link looked around, but even the fire that had been burning suddenly went dark.

...

Link slowly opened his eyes to see the usual wooden beams of the roof. He stared up at them, though his eyes were dull and unfocused. Though they were fixed on what was above, illuminated by the morning sunlight, all that he could see was the darkness of the night that he had been left alone in. He brought his hand from under the sheets and placed it on his bare chest. Though the interaction hadn't been real, the pain that came with it certainly was. Even though he was now awake, the words of the old man still haunted him, continuously repeating in his head.

Realizing that the pain wouldn't be going away any time soon, he looked over at the one sleeping next to him. Though she usually clung to him as they slept, this time her back was faced toward him as she rested on her side. Though the light that showed through the window beamed down upon her face, she showed no sign of waking up, though even in her sleep, frustration remained in her features.

He couldn't blame Zelda for being so distant, for the moment the two returned home the day prior, both refused to say anything to each other. While he did feel guilt for how unhappy she seemed, he could feel that his own frustration hadn't left him. Though she didn't exactly say it, she had pretty much made it clear to him that she didn't believe him at all. To her, the Yiga was nothing but a drawn-out fantasy to keep him in a state of stress. Without realizing it, he balled his hands into fists. She really didn't trust his instinct.

Noticing that he was only making himself upset, he pushed himself up and climbed out of the bed. After grabbing a random tunic from the nightstand, he made his way downstairs, stopping only to grab the Sheikah Slate from the desk to take out a jar of milk before setting it back down. After heating the milk up, he poured it into a mug before sitting down at the table, doing his best to calm every emotion that swirled inside of him. About halfway through his morning drink, he heard a rustle from above, and after a few more minutes, Zelda, dressed in nothing but a towel, had come down from the loft.

"I'm going to take a bath," she said simply as she headed to the door, unable to look him in the eye.

"A morning one?" Link asked.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" she asked with a furrowed brow. Link barely shook his head before returning his focus back to his warm milk.

"Can you make the bed for me while I'm out there?"

Link simply nodded. Accepting his answer, she reached for the door handle.

"It's cloudy again," he said quietly, making her pause. "You drank a spicy elixir, right?"

"Of course, I did," Zelda answered.

With another nod from Link, she opened the door and stepped out into the snow. He brought the mug to his lips, but sighed and set it back down. He didn't like this, and yet he didn't know how to go about fixing it. The words of the old man continued to bounce around his skull, refusing to let his mind breathe. It wasn't until he heard a scream did he snap completely back to reality. He practically jumped from his chair and ran to the door. Flinging it open, he ran out into the snow, ignoring the painful freeze under the soles of his bare feet. He looked around before spotting Zelda, still dressed in just her towel, running back towards the front door.

"Zelda!" he shouted as he booked it towards her. "Zelda, what's wrong?"

"I-i-it's—" she stammered as she ran into his arms.

"It's what? It's what?" Link questioned. "What is it?"

"I-I went to the cooking pot to make me a warm drink for the bath, a-and…" she began to explain, "and…"

"And?" he repeated in suspense, however, he received an answer before Zelda could finish.

"Sorry!" a flamboyant voice suddenly called. Furrowing his brow, Link looked around before seeing a familiar, older face sitting by the large tree near the cooking pot. "That was probably my fault!"

"Bolson?" Link called as he wrapped his arms around Zelda's body. Even with the cooking pot somewhat blocking the view, the colorful shades of pink and blue were an obvious giveaway. "What are you doing here?"

"Come now, Link, you know how much I love the view up here!" Bolson practically sang. "Besides, I actually have some business I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"Business? What business—?" Link began to question, yet he felt a tug on his tunic. He looked down at the girl in his arms, whose face had turned apple red.

"Link, can I speak to you in private, please?" she growled, now that her initial shock seemed to have worn off.

"Wha–? Oh, y-yeah," he answered, realizing that his girlfriend was still very much indecent in his arms. With a stern face, he looked back at the extravagant carpenter. "You stay there for a second!"

The designer waved his fingers and hummed a tune in response, allowing Link and Zelda to scurry back into their house.

"Link, what is he doing out there?" Zelda fumed the moment the door closed behind them.

"I don't know, I just asked him the same thing!" Link answered. "I guess he needs to talk to me about something. He also just… likes the view."

"That's not a good enough reason," she asked, "and besides, what is there to talk about this early in the morning?"

"Again, I don't know!" he reiterated.

"Well, he can't be out there in front of our house like this!" Zelda said loudly. "We've had this conversation before! I thought you talked to him!"

"I did talk to him," Link argued. "Multiple times! Even before you came to live here. He's really hard to convince! Why did you go out knowing that he could appear anyway? I thought that was the whole reason we started bathing at night."

"No, we started bathing at night because I'm usually busy in the mornings," she corrected, "and I thought you had taken care of him because I haven't seen him around recently!"

"Maybe that's because of the snow," Link said, now thinking about it, "or, maybe it's because you've been working, as you said. I haven't been home enough either to notice when he is or isn't here, though."

"What do you mean? Where have you been?" Zelda asked.

"Just around the village," he answered, but after seeing her glare, he added, "what? Do you really expect me to just sit in this house all day? Or are you still letting the statue said get to you?"

"I thought we weren't talking about that," she responded. The two stared at each other for a moment before she sighed and brought a hand up to the fold of her towel. "Look, back to Bolson, I don't need him or anyone else from the village seeing me like this! I would assume you wouldn't want that either?"

"Of course not," Link answered immediately.

"Then please go talk to him," Zelda commanded.

"Okay, okay. I was going to, anyway," he said, though instead of the door, he began heading to the staircase.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To put boots on," Link replied, trying to keep a normal tone. "I'm pretty sure I have frostbite on the bottom of my feet now, and I'd rather not make it worse."

After putting on his boots a bit more aggressively than he had planned to, he hurried back down the stairs before heading out into the snow. Still sitting next to the tree and cooking pot, Bolson waited for him while he watched the sunrise from over the mountain peaks in the distance. That was until he noticed Link walking towards him.

"There he is," Bolson said, pushing himself to his feet when he was within earshot. "My, you love to keep a man waiting, don't you?"

"Bolson, what are you doing here?" Link asked tiredly. "I told you that you can't just relax here anymore. I know you gave me a great deal on the house, and you even furnished it, but I don't live alone anymore."

"I know, I know, I sincerely apologize, but I told you I'm here for business, not to have leisurely time," Bolson said. "Besides, my business is with you, not her, baby."

"I'm flattered, but that doesn't change how she—or myself— feels about her accidentally being seen like that," Link said with a sigh. "What business did you have with me, anyway?"

"I wanted to give this to you," the flamboyant carpenter replied. He reached into the pocket of his bright pink pants before pulling out a small key. Confused, Link took it from him.

"What does this go to?" he asked as inspected the key now clenched in his fingers. It was old and rusted over. "Do you know?"

"That, I couldn't tell ya," Bolson answered. "I was cleaning out some old things I don't need anymore, now that I'm retired and I found this among the plans we had to destroy this old place. I'm sure I could figure it out, but it's your place now, so whatcha plan to do with it is your business. I just thought it would be right to give it to ya, just in case it was important."

"T-thanks… I guess," Link responded, choosing to simply shove the key into his pocket.

"Okey-doo! That's all I needed to give ya," Bolson said, spinning on his heel. "It's now time for me to go give my hammer a few early morning swings to start the day."

"Your hammer?" Link questioned. "I thought you just said you were retired."

"I may have retired from construction, but I still have to grace the world with my dance moves, baby, and that means I have to keep this body here in tip-top shape! I'm also still on that journey to find that spouse, as well," Bolson said with a grin.

"You should take a trip to Lover's Pond," Link said. "I've seen true love meet there before."

"That, there, isn't a bad idea," the carpenter said. "Time waits for no one, and that includes me, which means I should head out. See you around, little lovebird."

"Yeah, see you," Link said with an awkward smile.

Twiddling his fingers, the older fellow turned and disappeared across the bridge, leaving Link to contemplate the nature of the key in his pocket. Unable to come up with any ideas, he simply turned back and entered the house once more, where Zelda was sitting at the table, still dressed in her towel, with his mug of warm milk in her hands.

"There you are," she said, looking over as he closed the door behind him. "I got worried that maybe you got into an argument. Did he leave?"

"Yeah, he's gone," Link said, "He just wanted to give me something; some key to… Well, neither of us actually knows."

"Strange," Zelda said thoughtfully. "Did he really need to bring it so early?"

"Well, according to him, time waits for no one, and I can't exactly disagree with him," he said as he walked closer to the table. "I see you took ownership of my milk."

"S-sorry," she said as she looked at the cup in her hand. "I had originally gone to make myself something warm to keep next to the pond, but then—well, you know what happened. When you went back out there, I saw this and you were taking so long, I figured it would get cold, so—"

"It's fine," Link said, holding his hand out to stop her rant. "Really, it is. I can always make more."

"Really? Thank you, then," Zelda said before bringing the mug to her lips.

Though he didn't want to admit it, especially with how things were currently between them, the view alone was more than enough to make up for a mug of warm milk that he could easily remake. With just her towel on, it was much easier to make her curves than usual, and the cold had brought out a blush on her shoulders, knees, and even her fingertips. Suddenly, Link looked away. He had gotten quite used to Zelda's growing relaxation around him and had even begun to enjoy it. This time, however, this only caused the words of her father to start ringing in his mind again. With this, it felt wrong to look. As if noticing the change in atmosphere, Zelda looked back up at him.

"Hey, is everything all right?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Link said simply, still unable to look at her. "Sorry for what happened this morning. I don't think he'll do it again."

"Thank you for talking to him… I'm sorry for how angry I was. It wasn't your fault, and yet, I took it out on you as if it were," she said quietly.

"No, I understand," he responded. "Don't worry about it."

Silence grew between them as Zelda slowly finished the mug of milk. With the echo of the old man's words in his head, Link simply couldn't bring himself to look at her, even if just in the eyes. Finally, he forced himself to glance at her, only to feel the pain from his dream return when he noticed her dejected eyes.

"Do you need me to make breakfast today?" he asked suddenly. With her brow furrowed in confusion, she looked up at him.

"I-I mean, I don't mind cooking today if you don't want to," she answered. "It's just a bit of a surprise that you don't."

"I'm actually not gonna eat," he said. "In fact… I'm gonna head out for a bit."

"Y-you're leaving?" Zelda asked. "But, where to?"

"Just to collect firewood, maybe some other stuff we need," Link replied. "I might even hunt a bit.

"B-but—" she began to argue, but with a stern look from Link, she silenced herself.

"I promise, I'm just getting stuff we need, nothing more," he said as he turned his back to her.

"But, why now?" she whispered.

"I… have to think through some things," he said after taking a deep breath. He then headed up the stairs and stayed up there for a moment before coming back down with a quiver of arrows hanging on the back of his hip. To surprise Zelda even more, he passed the table and took the Great Eagle Bow down from the wall before heading towards the door. He placed his hand on the handle before adding, "I… hope you understand."

With that, Link disappeared, leaving Zelda alone at the table.

...

The house had been awfully quiet since Link had left earlier that day. After he disappeared through the door, though saddened by their conversation, Zelda did go out to finally take her bath. She had hoped that a calming bath in the sunrise would take her mind off of what had happened the day before, and now what had transpired only a few minutes ago, and yet, this only made the memories more prominent in her mind. While in the water, words that the strange statue had spoken from yesterday kept popping in her mind, and it didn't help that she kept looking over at their stable house to unwillingly remind herself that Epona wasn't there in her usual spot. It didn't take long for her to give up and head back into the quiet indoors.

As the hours continued to pass, Zelda found herself unable to avoid the ever-growing sense of loneliness in the place. She had attempted to cook for herself, and while the food wasn't necessarily bad, she couldn't find taste in any of the bites she took as she sat at the table alone. From there, she tried to continue her days as she usually would have, mimicking the schedule she went by when she had her own room back in the castle one hundred years ago. She studied and experimented with elixir preparation before moving over to guardian parts, taking note of the different kinds of gears and screws that she couldn't get ahold of before. After a while, this soon became dull, though she couldn't admit to herself that it had felt bland from the moment she started.

Choosing to stop her studies for the day, she began preparing her laundry. She cleaned each and every dress she had worn over the course of the previous week, taking special care to clean the one with the wine spilled all over it. It wasn't easy to get the stains out and she didn't know if she was having a hard time because of the isolated atmosphere, or whether it was because it brought back harsh memories of the two Hateno gossip mongers. It could have simply been that wine was a difficult liquid to get out of threading, yet with her skill in clothing, this didn't seem true. Despite this, that was the excuse she had chosen to accept.

After organizing her clothes into what set she would wear on each day of the upcoming work week, Zelda headed downstairs, where she found herself standing in the center of the room for longer than she realized. Though she had tried her hardest to take her mind off of everything, the statue and Link's weird and distant moments still plagued her mind, and it didn't help that the loneliness hadn't subsided even a little. Groaning, she looked around the room she stood in.

Is this place a lot larger than I recall? She thought to herself as her eyes traveled across each wall. I know it's supposed to be my day off, but a little bit of cleaning wouldn't hurt, would it? I mean… who knows when this place was last cleaned properly, right? Besides, a little bit of practice would prepare me for tomorrow after not cleaning for a day. Right, I'll do that; I'll clean and have this place just as spotless as the inn.

Convincing herself that this was the best thing for her to do, Zelda got to work. Choosing to focus on the downstairs, she immediately fell into her now ingrained cleaning system. She immediately started with the kitchen counters, cleaning any dishes that remained dirty before wiping down the counter until there wasn't a speck of dust that remained. Choosing to continue her dusting, since she couldn't start sweeping until that was done, she moved across the walls to do the bookshelves and decorative tables before reaching the wall racks.

I never realized how dirty they got just sitting up here, Zelda thought as she brushed her fingers across the colorful. ornamental shield. She watched as they left marks against the shield's surface, where dust had been moved. I'm sorry for our negligence, but I'll get you shining like before.

With a tiny smile to herself, with a rag in hand, she wiped the circular shield down, allowing its gems to sparkle in the light once more before moving along to the rest of the shields on the wall, only stopping once she arrived at the elegant, trident that hung on the next wall. Slowly, Zelda's smile faded as, similar to the shield, she gently ran her fingers down its red-strapped handle.

If one doesn't rest, and they continuously fight… If they don't take the time to heal… What do you believe would happen?

Slowly, Zelda's hand fell from the handle and back down at her side.

I'm counting on you. Please make him happy, Princess.

"I'm trying," she whispered quietly to the trident, now playing with the rag in her hands. "I told you that I would, and I believed that I could, but… would it be cruel of me to ask what you would do if you were in my place?"

Unable to look at the weapon any longer, she took a step to the side and turned on her heel. With a sigh, she leaned her back against the wall next to the weapon rack. Closing her eyes, she rested her head back and tried to relax as best she could, yet, now she had become excruciatingly aware of just how silent the house truly was. It was so quiet that she could hear the whispers of the wind from outside, even though the door and the windows were closed. Once the silence had become too much to bear, she opened her eyes, only for them to be greeted by the dining room table that sat in the center of the room. Soon, she noticed the empty mug that sat on its surface.

I missed one… Zelda thought.

She pushed herself off the wall and slowly circled the table. She took the empty mug into her fingers and looked inside of it, remembering the warm liquid that had once filled its volume that she had stolen from Link. A smile crept onto her face.

He's so kind, she thought with a tiny giggle. He technically had every right to be upset with me for taking his drink, and yet he let me have it. I know it isn't that big of a deal, but… Well, he really does like his milk, doesn't he?

At the thought of milk, a memory appeared in her mind from just a few days ago. Though she knew no one was around, she still glanced over her shoulder. After ensuring no one would see her, carefully she placed the mug on top of her head, where she kept it balanced. She kept it there for a few moments before giggling to herself and taking it off. With the tiny smile remaining on her lips, she began to step, first to the side, and then a step back, before another one to the side. With the cup as her partner, she waltzed her way over to the cooking counter, where she washed and put it away.

I guess I'd better finish the rest of the cleaning down here, and then I can start on the upstairs, she told herself as she closed the cabinet door.

She picked up where she left off on the wall, managing to finish wiping down the trident despite her ever-growing guilt and somehow finding a way to ignore the fact that the large Eagle Bow wasn't in its usual place. Once all the weapons, racks, counters, and the table had been wiped down, she finally took a broom in hand before beginning to sweep the floor. The moment a small pile of dirt had been swept up though, Zelda paused.

"Is this… sand?"

Her eyes remained fixated on the ground where her pile sat. Slowly, she lowered herself onto her knees to get a better look. She knew Link had lived here long before she had arrived, but it was still strange. It was more than just a grain or two here and there, it was multiple, and whereas the rest of the grime was darkened by the time spent between the crevices of the floorboards, the sand still looked fairly recent. Suddenly, the words she had overheard the statue speak from the day before began to ring in her head:

I've tampered with your essence enough for me to sense when it's near. I can also tell. When. It. Is. Not.

While its words in that instance weren't for her, they had been repeating constantly in her mind ever since. The statue was clearly antagonizing Link, something that unusually angered him, even in his anxious state. She didn't want to believe it, but as more of the statue's provocative words filled her thoughts, the more one thought she hated appeared in the forefront of her mind: Link was hiding something.

"He's been so anxious about this Yiga…" Zelda reluctantly thought out loud. "He… He wouldn't have gone to the desert… Not without telling me… He… wouldn't… He wouldn't."

She repeated those last two words out loud, trying to convince herself; to free herself from the statue's vexing tone. Yet, when she pushed herself to her feet, she found herself unconsciously heading up the stairs. She stepped onto the loft and stopped in front of the desk, where she stared down at the darkened screen of the Sheikah Slate. Without thinking, she took the slate in hand and tapped on its screen. She slid her finger across, swiping through the inventory before tapping on two sets of clothes: a silky female outfit decorated in blue, green, and purple, and a set of green and burgundy gold-plated armor.

The set of women's clothes didn't seem all too out of the ordinary, and though initially this slightly put Zelda's mind at ease, her remaining faith all but shrank at the sight of the armor. It was dirty, stained with sand and dust. Even as she placed the silk clothing down to hold the armor higher up, sand fell from between the plates and the grooves, more than what should have since their time in the desert almost a month back during their visit to Vah Naboris.

Zelda's heart grew heavy. It wasn't until her eyes started to burn did she realize she hadn't blinked. She didn't know what to do. She felt lost. If he had truly gone elsewhere without her knowledge, then he had blatantly gone against the one thing she had wished him not to do. At this, the statue's comment about the goddess's will was crystal clear: Link had gone against her. Suddenly, she shook her head as she tightened her grip on the armor. She refused to believe it; it couldn't have been true. Before another thought could come to mind, the door downstairs opened, and Zelda's breathing froze.

"Zelda?" Link called out. She could hear the tapping of his boots against the floor, seemingly knocking the snow from them so as to not dirty the floor. "Were you cleaning? There's a pile of dust on the floor."

She couldn't bring herself to answer. She looked down at the clothing in her hands before the ones sitting on the desk. She made to grab the Sheikah Slate as the urge to put the clothes away filled her chest, yet as soon as it had arrived, it vanished. Retracting her hand, she silently listened to the sound of Link's footsteps coming upstairs.

"I got a few deer, so we've got food for a while," Link said as he stepped onto the loft, looking down at the meat in his hands. "I'll cook some of this for dinner and the rest we can save for later in the… slate…"

He looked up to see Zelda holding the desert armor in her hands.

"Zelda… What are you doing?"

"I…" Zelda murmured, keeping her gaze on the armor. Tightening her grip on the gold-accented painted plates, she took a deep breath and turned to look him in the eyes. "Link… Did you go anywhere when I wasn't around?"

"What… do you mean?" Link asked in a low tone. Zelda furrowed her brow.

"You very well know what I mean," she said. "Link, you're not supposed to go anywhere!"

"I haven't even said if I did or didn't yet!" he said loudly. "And what does it matter if I did?"

"It matters because I told you that you're supposed to be resting, not… investigating!" Zelda said, matching his tone. "How could you go against me like that? And without saying anything?"

"Go against you?" Link repeated. "What am I right now?"

"Right now, you're someone that can't be trusted!" Zelda said. "I can't believe you lied to me—"

"I still haven't said if I actually left or not yet!" he argued.

"Link, what kind of fool do you take me for?" she argued back. "The evidence is right here! Look at all this sand—"

"You're holding desert armor! Of course, there's going to be sand in it!" Link said, pointing at the armor with his free hand. "Besides, what does it matter? You don't seem to listen to me when I tell the truth, regardless."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zelda asked.

"It means, if you didn't think I was crazy when it comes to this Yiga, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation!"

"I never said I thought you were crazy!" she argued, but Link frowned.

"And yet all you want me to do is sit in this house," he said. "Zelda, I keep saying that I think there's someone after us—!"

"And you're the only person who can see him!" Zelda screamed at the top of her lungs.

Immediately, she dropped the armor to the floor as she covered her hands with her mouth, ignoring the grains of sand she could taste on her fingers. She hadn't meant to say what she thought out loud, and she wanted nothing more than to take it back, but the damage was already done. Link took a step back. For less than half a second, Zelda could see the pain in his features before his face became stoic.

"I… I didn't…" she stammered. "I just… T-there isn't enough evidence… You've been different ever since the trials, a-and—"

"I told you," he cut in quietly. "It doesn't matter whether I'm honest or not, because when I tell the truth… I only look worse. I'm going to make lunch, and I'm using all the deer."

With that, he turned and began heading back down the stairs. Before he could reach the door, he heard Zelda squeak out a final plea.

"Please, Link… Stop doing this to yourself… Please… Let the Yiga go until he actually arrives… I beg of you…."

He glanced up the stairs to see her standing at the top, looking down at him with her now watery eyes. Link pursed his lips and gave the slightest nod before opening the door.

"Yes… Princess."