Okay, some disclaimers here.

I have not played Age of Calamity myself. It Isn't really my kind of game. I have, however, watched most of it played, and obviously studied all the cutscenes. I apologize for any inaccuracies this may generate in the finer details.

This is based on something I thought of when watching the cutscenes. Cause... as far as I know, the Master Sword is a bit of a sword in the stone sort of deal; only Link could pull it out of the pedestal. So it felt like they went into the forest to get the sword with an assumption that the knight was with them. Possibly the game has other dialogue that gives another reason they went in there without knowing that Link could use the sword, but this was what my brain decided to dump on me mixed in with some aspects of the franchise I have always wanted to play around with.

SPOILER: This contains references to the ends of previous games in the franchise and the short comic created as a prequel to Skyward Sword.

Zelda felt her heart sink. "Do we really have to do that?" Even her small voice seemed to echo in the large throne room. She, the champions, and Impa were crowded around the throne, upon which sat her father. The sky outside was dark and at her father's proposal, Zelda felt a strong urge to seek her bed and avoid the conversation altogether.

King Rhoam nodded severely. "It's unfortunate, but it is our best option."

Zelda felt a hand rest on her shoulder and she looked up to see Urbosa. "There would be no point in fighting our way through Korok forest unless we have the chosen knight with us," said the gerudo chief. "None of us would even be able to remove the sword from its pedestal."

"How do you know the chosen knight isn't among us pilots?" asked Revali, taking a small step forward with one of his large wings resting upon his chest.

"Well, we should hope not," said Impa with a dull- eyed glare at the rito. "I know you are perpetually eager to prove yourself exceptional, but the chosen knight is meant to wield a sword on the battlefield, not pilot a divine beast above it." Revali rolled his eyes at her.

"And how would one discover the chosen knight?" he asked derisively. "I don't imagine there is a convenient mark on them somewhere."

Zelda's gaze dropped to the floor again. She could feel Urbosa's gaze on her, but she couldn't quite find the words to explain.

She was saved when her father spoke up. "It is… unpleasant, but there is a way." She caught his eye flick briefly down to her, but then back up to the room. "Among Hyrule's royal family, Zelda's birth has been long awaited; each generation wondering if she would arrive to them. For you see, Zelda's soul is one of three that are in a perpetual cycle of reincarnation." She could feel eyes on her again, but she purposefully kept her gaze aimed up at her father. "One of them is the evil soul that is at the core of Calamity Ganon." A dark tension fell over the room. "The other two are the soul of a reincarnated goddess, and her chosen hero."

"G… Goddess?" stuttered Daruk. There was a beat. "Zelda is really the reincarnation of a goddess?"

Urbosa stepped closer to her, and Zelda felt the hand that wasn't on her shoulder rest protectively on her head. "Yes, but she is still, and always has been, Zelda," she insisted.

Impa cut in before he could respond. "It's an old story… a hero who died protecting these lands, and the goddess who loved him. When she realized that the force that would become what we know today as Calamity Ganon would return, she decided to shed her divinity and enter this reincarnation cycle with her chosen hero."

King Rhoam nodded. "All daughters born of Hyrule's royal family and nobility are put through the ritual when they are ten years of age to determine if they are Hylia reborn. The confirmation of Zelda's ritual was the first sign that the Calamity would return within our generation."

Zelda felt Urbosa stroke her hair and took comfort in the gentle motion.

"And what of the hero? Is he not sought out as well? Once you learned of Zelda's divinity, I mean," said Mipha.

King Rhoam sighed. "Ideally we would, yes. And we have done a few sweeps over the years, but the ritual cannot be performed by just anyone, and there is never any indication as to where he might come from. For the goddess, we can be sure to find her within the royalty and nobility of Hyrule. But we would have to perform the ritual on every youth in Hyrule to find the hero, and even we do not have the resources for that. It is generally understood that he will appear when he is needed most."

Impa spoke up again. "But because of the small guardian's arrival, we are doing things earlier than we would have to avoid the reality it has shown us."

Zelda squeezed one hand in the other. She knew Impa would insist otherwise to the goddesses and back, but deep down, she suspected her father's decision to do this had less to do with being proactive, and more to do with his concern that her power had yet to be awakened. Guilt stabbed at her guts; because of her, someone might have to endure what she had. She almost hoped the hero was still at some far away village, and would awaken on his own. Maybe he was already on his way to them…

"But where do we even start looking?" asked Daruk, jarring Zelda from her musings.

She finally stood straight and joined the conversation, but did not leave the comfort of Urbosa's embrace. "We cannot dedicate too much time and resources to the search, and so it will be limited to our army." She looked out the window at her side, which overlooked the gate leading to the training grounds. "Him being a part of the army would be ideal," she mused. She turned back to the room. "Having a second swordsman, and one that will likely match or exceed Link's skill, will most certainly help with strategy."

"And take some pressure off that poor boy," laughed Urbosa. "We need more key boots on the ground."

King Rhoam spoke up. "We will perform the ritual five times a day for the next week while you all are here at the castle working." Zelda felt Urbosa's hand return to her head when she flinched. "And we have divided up the regiments into clusters that we can gather in the courtyard each time."

"We'respending a week searching for a hero that might not even be here?" asked Revali. "What a waste of time!"

King Rhoam shook his head. "Zelda and Impa had decided to take this week to work on calibrations, research, and prayer," he said pointedly with a quick sideways glance at his daughter (who pretended not to notice his tone), "anyway, and I am lead to understand you each have your own training you can do. Not having to leave finding the chosen hero up to chance would be invaluable." Zelda wrung her hands.

"So… I almost hate to ask, because Zelda seems to really not like the idea, but what specifically does the ritual do?" asked Daruk. He first looked to Rhoam, but then to Zelda when the King averted his gaze.

Zelda met his gaze with soft eyes. "It connects the reincarnated soul with its memories. The hero will receive the memories and knowledge of all his past lives."

"Oh, wow!" said Daruk. "Is that what happened to you? As a scholar, that must be some kind of grand prize! So much information!"

Zelda felt Urbosa's hand squeeze her shoulder and she couldn't help but smile at the combination of her comfort and Daruk's designation of her as a scholar. She could hear a soft grumble come from her father, but she ignored it. "I… suppose it could be seen that way, but it is a terrible thing to go through."

"Is it?" asked Mipha. "Why is it so terrible?"

Zelda thought for a moment, and leaned a little against Urbosa. "The amount of information that is poured into you makes it feel as though your head is being split open. Everything both wonderful and awful that your past lives have experienced is thrust upon you all at once. Every time she enjoyed the company of friends, or mourned the loss of a loved one, or celebrated a birthday, or suffered an injury… suddenly every bit of it was in my head. So many people…" Urbosa's arms wrapped around her now. "For a month after the ritual, I had a recurring nightmare of being on a battlefield, holding the body of a man; the hero, I am sure. I could never really see him… but I could feel what she felt for him." She gave Urbosa a squeeze, but nodded up at her, and stood more firmly on her own.

Rivali's normal cold tone was uncharacteristically soft when he asked, "You remember… everything?"

Zelda shook her head. "Not all the time. I can access their memories at times, but… luckily I can typically limit my mind to my current life's experiences." She smiled weakly at him. "The really minute details of my past lives faded into the more broad strokes after the first day or so. At this point, I could probably tell you what the last incarnation did to assist in Ganon's defeat, but likely not how she celebrated her twentieth birthday."

"But still… what a mass of knowledge," mused Revali. He looked up and fixed Zelda with a confused look. "Wait… But doesn't that mean we know everything about how to fight off the Calamity? If you remember fighting it so many times…"

Zelda gave a wry smirk and shook her head. "Unfortunately the information I recall is essentially useless for that sort of thing."

"Useless? How could it be useless?" asked Daruk. "You remember fighting Ganon so many times!"

Zelda thought for a long moment, trying to put words to the problem. "Because each time Ganon appears, he, myself, the hero... the entire world they exist in, look entirely different. Let me give you an example… When I think back to one of my incarnations, I recall riding on the back of a horse with the hero, shooting shining arrows at a dark man also on horseback. Other than that I should possibly learn archery, what could that tell us about the impending calamity?"

There was a pause before Mipha spoke up for the first time. "Hmmm.. Perhaps Calamity Ganon will arrive in the form of a hylian?"

Zelda nodded. "Maybe… but in another, I can see the hero fighting a great black beast covered in spikes while I am suspended far above a sunken battlefield."

"Wait… is the beast… Ganon?" asked Revali.

"It was sort of a… precursor to Ganon, but yes." Zelda nodded.

"But then…" Daruk scratched at his head. "Is he a big monster… or a person?"

Zelda shrugged. "Perhaps he is both. I have another memory of being in a field and watching a battle between the hero and a man who becomes a massive pig creature. And a lot of the literature we have from other sources describes him as a spirit of sorts. There are other passages that speak of it like a force of nature; a sentient earthquake or cyclone. So you can see how very little applicable information can be gleaned from my own memories."

The room fell silent with thought, as though each occupant was attempting to glean some unifying truth from the information given.

"Most of our useful knowledge of Ganon comes from writings and prophecies," said Zelda with a shrug. "And in all of my memories, I can never see the face of the hero. I can't ever really… see him at all. It's almost like there is a placeholder in my mind… an empty form that anyone could occupy. So even in identifying the hero's reincarnation, my gifted memories are useless."

There was another long silent moment of thought before it was broken by a soft gasp from Mipha. When Zelda looked at her, one of her hands covered her mouth. "But… those are the memories of a princess…"

Zelda nodded sadly. Revali and Daruk looked between the two of them, and when no comprehension came, Daruk scratched the back of his great white head. "Well, yeah. So…?"

Zelda looked to him, a sad smile curling the corners of her mouth. "The hero is a warrior. The portions of his lives in which he fights and defeats Ganon with me are filled with violence and pain. In the hardships of my past lives, I have memories of captivity and loneliness… isolation and hopelessness… even glimpses of my deaths." As she said the words, she could feel them weighing down on her, but with practiced ease, she tossed them off and met Daruk's eyes. "But as awful as that was, the hero's hardship will involve such things as well as violence and great pain… exhaustion and monsters… the creatures of nightmares."

Urbosa stepped closer to her again. "But we will be there for him. He will only withstand that for a short time before he will begin to cope. You will be there for him, Little Bird."

Zelda looked up at her, paused, but nodded. "I will."

~~~ooOoo~~~

"Princess…"

Zelda turned to look at Revali as the champions and she looked out over the regiments of soldiers filing in and out of the courtyard for the next ritual. The thundering of hundreds of pairs of boots rumbled up at them like thunder. "Yes?"

"Well… not to be blunt but… did your receipt of your past lives' memories not inform you of how exactly you are meant to awaken your power?"

Zelda's face fell, and Daruk's massive hand clipped the back of Revali's feathered head at the same moment Urbosa said, "Revali… really?"

Zelda held up a hand. "No, it's alright." She looked at the rito as he rubbed at his sore head. "That is… probably the most discouraging part of my… awakening. In every past life I recall, the powers to seal or fight Ganon have been innate. I was born with them, or came into them before I was old enough to form memories. I was always… familiar with them."

Revali muttered an apology, and Urbosa began gumbling lowly at him.

The princess looked down at the sea of shifting soldiers as the last regiment finished filing out and the next regimen finished arriving. She scanned over the colored dots of the soldier's heads, but couldn't pick out Link. His regiment was meant to be in this batch. It would be nice to have him back with the group after he was cleared. She was finding it increasingly unsettling to be without him.

The presence of the princess and her champions was not at all needed for the commencement of the rituals, but after a particularly frustrating dead end that lead to a disagreement between Purah and Revali, Urbosa had ushered them outside for a walk. The decision was made to attend the upcoming ritual; see the soldiers and meet up with Link afterwards. While Zelda wasn't sure if having a few days to train and spend time with his fellow soldiers could be counted as leave, she was still loathe to pull him back to the group, regardless of her own feelings about his presence. Walking the grounds where she would be seen by the army necessitated wearing her gown, and Urbosa had insisted she use the dressing process to clear her mind. As usual, the gerudo chief had been correct. Chatting with her ladies in waiting was always relaxing and she felt clearer walking outside the confines of the castle. Her mind turned easily from the frustrating dead end to the ritual at hand.

The thought of having a second swordsman was a strange one. Link was often accompanied by other soldiers when they traveled, but there was never any question as to who among them was leading; Link had been appointed as her bodyguard, and the soldiers were assisting him. Would there be friction between Link and the hero when there was a second appointed one?

Surely not. Zelda shook her head as the group made their way down the stairs to the ground level of the courtyard. Link had always been far too humble for her to think he might struggle with the chain of command. And he was easygoing enough to withstand even Revali's jabs without retaliation.

And how might the chosen hero affect the dynamics of the already- established group? Zelda found the thought of him taking a position above Link in the hierarchy to be distasteful, but her father likely would command that to be so. She would have to remain attentive to that; the love between the chosen hero and the goddess was well- documented, but Zelda would be damned if the sudden arrival of a reincarnated soul would determine how she felt about him.

She once again prayed to the goddesses, though they had for her whole life ignored her, that the chosen hero was not among the army of her father.

As she and her champions arrived in the courtyard, Zelda cast her eyes up the wall to where her father presided over the proceedings. She ground her teeth. For the past two evenings, she had attempted to discourage him from continuing the rituals. The most frustrating part of these disagreements was not that he refused to yield to her logic, but that she could not fault his. They could only benefit from finding Hylia's chosen. Zelda's argument came largely from her own empathy tied up in the ritual, and of the time set aside for performing it. But considering the work she and her champions were still doing as the rituals took place, even the timing could not be argued.

The champions arrived in the courtyard as Impa was completing the spells on the small poultice before her. A long stone altar had been placed at the base of the courtyard wall. On its top lay two large poultices, wrapped in crude cloth painted with Sheikah symbols, and bound in fine ribbon that was embroidered with ancient Hylian.

With the way information moved through groups of people, Zelda was certain that the exact nature of what they were doing could likely not be withheld from the soldiers. Even if they had managed to keep the first group or two in the dark about the ritual's purpose, it likely would have spread to the entire army by the time they tested the third. But she certainly wished they could have done.

Tell a group of rowdy men that one of them is possibly the reincarnation of a hero chosen by the past life of their princess, and it is bound to prompt a range of reactions. Unfortunately, a strange confidence that they were indeed the chosen hero, and would soon be in constant proximity to the princess was one she saw far too frequently for her taste. They would smirk expectantly at her as she walked before them, sometimes "accidentally" whacked by one of the champions for their leering. The looks her champions received were often far more preferable. She could see in the eyes of several soldiers that they sought the chance to fight so closely alongside the impressive figures of the pilots. In some, she could certainly see arrogance; a desire to best them, or prove themselves above them. But there were some she saw whose gaze was similar to Link's; a genuine desire to help, and eager to find out if this was a way they could.

She still hadn't seen Link.

"All set?" asked Impa.

Zelda took a breath and nodded. "Let's go."

Impa nodded back and grabbed the completed poultice. She muttered a few words, and with a heave, she threw the small bag into the air above the heads of the soldiers. The instant it left her hand, it glowed with golden light, and as it reached the peak of her throw, was grabbed by an unseen force, and hurled higher above the crowd and into the center of the courtyard. The light intensified for a moment before there was a small explosion, and there was a torrential downpour of golden light that shone across the sea of armor.

An utter stillness followed the explosion, as though there were invisible eyes darting through the soldiers, eyeing their souls to ferret out the one on whom the goddess had laid her favor.

She wasn't sure what she had expected the reaction to be were the hero to be actually discovered within the army. After all, she had only been ten during her own ritual, and her memories of the two days after the golden light were a hazy mess. But she was shocked by the scream that erupted from the crowd.

All the champions stood alert, and the heads of the soldiers swiveled in colorful waves in an attempt to pinpoint the source of the scream. More screams followed, all from a single voice. Was it familiar to her? Possibly… though that could be the memories of her past lives affording her that bit of familiarity.

"Who is screaming?" demanded King Rhoam from atop the wall above them, his eyes shining eagerly. "There!" he pointed off to Zelda's right. "Is he there?"

She heard another voice rise from the crowd of soldiers. "He has lost his mind, I think, my king!"

"Bring him forward!" commanded Rhoam.

As the yelling continued, Zelda's stomach flipped over; and she found it was not really because she realized that the hero had likely been found. That voice… she had heard it before. She knew it was probably best to stay at the front until the hero was presented to her, but before she had even made the conscious decision to move into the crowd, she found herself shuffling forward as the forest of armor parted for her. She could hear the heavy footfalls of the champions behind her.

Her heart nearly stopped when the parting armor revealed a tall pale soldier with Link slung over his shoulders. Link's blue eyes were wide, wild, and unseeing. His hands were tangled in his blonde hair, and he writhed on the man's shoulders.

Her father was shouting, but a ringing had begun in her ears. There was a fuss behind her, and she was vaguely aware that Urbosa had stepped up to her side and was helping pull Link off the man's pauldrons and resting him on the ground as he continued to writhe and scream. Her eyes were fixated on him, and she hurried to kneel at his side, paying no mind to the dirt that ground itself into the fine silks of her dress. Link's breath came in shallow gasps, and he continued to tear at his hair; his face shifting between wide- eyed horror and squinted shut in pain. His body jerked as though the strikes from his past lives were falling upon him in the present.

"Zelda, is it him?" roared her father, his frustration echoing off the walls. The circle of soldiers around her flinched and took a collective step away from them.

Zelda looked over Link again as though she could discover a different reason for his agony. But there was none, and she quickly received her father's answer. Link curled onto his side, his hands pressed against his temples as though he was attempting to stop the memories from spilling out of his head, and curled into the fetal position. Somewhere deep in his torso there was a soft green light, nearly imperceptible in the midday sun at first. She heard a murmuring around her. The green light pulsed once, and then traveled to his shoulder, down his arm, and resolved itself into a set of three triangles on the back of his hand, the bottom right one glowing a bit more brightly than the others.

Though her father was plainly too far to see it, she nodded her head. Urbosa shouted from behind her, "It is him, your highness!"

"Then get him inside!" shouted her father.

Urbosa's strong arms wrapped around her. "Little Bird, come on. We have to go."

Daruk shouldered past them, scooped Link into his massive hands, and as one the champions turned back to the castle. Urbosa pulled her up, and she was led numbly back inside.

~~~ooOoo~~~

It took nearly an hour for Link to stop screaming initially, even after the servants had fought his armor off, and laid him in a plush bed in some guest chambers. His voice and energy spent, he slept fitfully, his head jerking this way and that, and the covers punched with the movements of his limbs. With the exception of Daruk, the champions were assembled in the room, and Zelda had pulled a chair up to Link's bedside, watching his pinched face.

"Well, this is unfortunate." Revali's voice broke through her thoughts.

"How so?" asked Daruk from the doorway. He stood in the hall outside the room, being a little too big to comfortably fit through the, admittedly, sizable door. "Isn't it good that we are already familiar with the chosen hero?"

"He means strategically," said Urbosa. "We were hoping for a second swordsman, remember? We wanted Link to be able to share the burden of his duty, but…" She let a motion of her hand toward the writhing form in the bed finish her sentence.

Zelda stood, drawing the room's attention, but she said nothing. She gingerly climbed onto the bed near Link's head and settled herself on the pillows beside him. She shifted them around to create for herself a nest, and then bent over to grip Link's shoulders. She made a couple attempts to move him, but he was not only sunk into the mattress, but he was also continuously moving. Urbosa was suddenly beside her, grabbed Link's middle, and shifted him upward to rest his shoulders against Zelda's legs, laying his head in her lap. There was an almost immediate release of tension in his face; not much, but enough for her to know her presence was impactful.

She raised her eyes to the champions and focused on Mipha. "You have known him since childhood, yes?" Mipha nodded. "He needs that comfort."

She moved like a spring released, as though she had been waiting for such permission. The zora hurried to the opposite side of the bed and sat down on the lush mattress, reaching out, and taking his burning hand in her own. Once more, a bit of tension leaked from his body. His eyelashes shimmered with gathered tears, and they made streaks down the dust that had gathered on his face in the courtyard.

"Could one of you-" she cut herself off as Urbosa appeared with a damp cloth in her hand like she had summoned it with magic. She smiled gratefully up at her and began wiping gently at the mesh of dust, sweat, and tears that lay thick on his skin.

"Bring a bowl in," commanded Urbosa. Zelda could hear a few servants answer.

Mipha moved further onto the bed, and ran her fingers through his hair, pulling the hair tie from it after a moment. Silence fell over the room, broken only when a large bronze bowl was set on the table beside the bed. She smiled gratefully up at the servant, and with the sort of pat on the head that this man had given her almost every morning since she could remember, he slid back out the door.

"So… what do we do?" asked Revali. She looked up to see him with his wings folded over one another, and his talon clicking on the floor in agitation. "Link was not only meant to be working with someone new, but we also need him to be in the kind of shape to both retrieve the sword and fight his way through whatever waits in the Korok forest."

"We will have to play it by ear," said Zelda with a weak smile at him. "We will leave the moment he is well enough."

"In the morning," corrected a stern voice. Zelda looked up to see Daruk's massive form shift to the side of the doorway to permit King Rhoam to stride into the room. Urbosa and Revali both took steps away from him and took a knee. "We had settled on a week to spend seeking the chosen hero, and fortune has smiled on us, for we found him in three days. We must not lose the lead this has provided to us."

"But…" Zelda rested her hand with the cloth on Link's brow. When Rhoam's gaze settled on her, she could see distaste scrunch his face as he examined where she sat. "If we push Link too hard… Protecting me and acting among the champions was already burdensome enough for a simple soldier."

"But we know he has never been a simple soldier," asserted the king. "He has never described or given me any indication that his work was burdensome at all."

"Of course he would not to you, Father. But we worked with him. I think all of us could see the weariness building in his eyes." She did her best to keep her words clear of her own frustration, but even she could hear the quiver in her voice. She looked to Revali and then Urbosa, but it was Daruk's voice from the hall that spoke next.

"Link is the kind of person to put on a brave front to make others feel safe. But to those of us who saw him every day through his work… we could see it starting to weigh on him."

Rhoam waved a hand that Daruk could not see. "Even so, weariness does not excuse him from his duties." He sent a pointed look at his daughter. "You know this well."

Zelda dropped her eyes to Link's heaving chest, and the sweat that covered his neck and had begun to soak the collar of his thick gambeson. She once again ground her teeth, and couldn't stop herself from grumbling, "We've put him through this torture needlessly."

There was a tense silence that fell over the room, and she could vaguely hear the clicks of Revali's talons and Urbosa's heels as they hurried out the door to join Daruk in the hall.

"What did you say, Zelda?" Her father's voice was full of thinly- contained anger, the kind that had always terrified her as a child.

Her eyes stung with tears when she looked back up at him. "He is suffering through this for nothing, Father!" Beside her, Mipha gripped Link's hand tighter, and focused sad eyes on Zelda.

"It is not for nothing," growled the king. "We have found the chosen hero meant to fight at your side against the forces of the Calamity! And sooner than we would have!"

"By what, a day?" Zelda demanded. Never before had she spoken to her father in such a way. Even in the disagreements they had the previous evenings about the appropriateness of the rituals, decorum had tempered her tone. But Link was laid before her, writhing and whimpering and sobbing, and she felt each sound he made stoked the anger within her. "Had we just gone to Korok forest a few days ago, he would have awakened upon touching the sword, and he wouldn't have had all the memories thrust upon him at once like this!"

King Rhoam scoffed and waved a hand dismissively. "We had no way of knowing that. And we do not know what effect touching the sword would have on him. For all we know, it could have opened his mind exactly as it is now."

"Even so, if we had just gone-"

"Enough, Zelda!" roared the king. Mipha sighed softly at his outburst and lowered her eyes to the mattress. "We have gained a lead. Let us not mourn over the temporary suffering of someone we know for a fact is strong enough to withstand it. You let your emotions drive you too much. Do not let them cloud your ability to strategize."

Zelda's posture collapsed, and she let her head fall a little toward Link's, placing her forearms across his collarbone. "This is not strategy," she muttered. "This is because you doubt me."

King Rhoam was silent, and she needed no further confirmation. "Zelda…" his voice was far softer now. "We are working with the cards we have been dealt. Again… do not allow your emotions to cloud your mind about this. Get him to Korok forest, and get the sword into his hands, whether or not Daruk has to carry him to it."

"I will prepare a carriage and escort, your highness," said Urbosa from the hall.

"See that you leave no later than tomorrow morning," commanded the King as he spun and left the room.

Zelda's eyes returned to Link's face. Urbosa appeared at her side and placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "Like your father said, have faith in his strength, Little Bird. He was born the chosen of the goddess, and even before any of us knew that, he has always been strong."

Zelda sighed and nodded.

"Plus, we're unlikely to convince your father otherwise. When he says we've been given a lead, he's not wrong," said Revali, poking his head in the doorway. There was a strange tone in his voice that made Urbosa chuckle.

"Revali… are you put out because Link's status will now demand your respect?" she asked.

Revali rolled his eyes. "Far from it; chosen or not, he still must earn it. He was an unimpressive knight yesterday, and this will not change that."

Zelda was surprised to hear Mipha chuckle. "With this upending our dynamic, it's sort of nice that something won't change."

"Well, either way, we don't need your sulk filling up the room. Help me appoint a contingent for the trip," ordered Urbosa. Revali rolled his eyes again and shuffled out into the hall.

The princess looked up at the gerudo. "Thank you Urbosa. You have an uncanny way of anticipating my needs."

Urbosa tucked a bit of golden hair behind her ear. "Your mother trained me well." A moan from Link pulled her attention downward, and Urbosa placed a hand over his eyes. "Rest well, Link. We will see you soon." With that, she swept out of the room and Zelda and Mipha were left in silence.

Zelda found her mind wandering as she used the cloth to first clear the dirt from his face and neck, and then dab at the sweat that repeatedly coated his brow. Mipha sat completely still save for the soft caress of her fingers against his hand. A few times, a soft pale light would emanate from her hands and surround his arm, but it would fade as quickly as it had come. When she did it for a third time, Zelda looked over where Link's hand was clutched in hers. "Mipha?" she said, leaving the curiosity in her tone to ask the question for her.

Mipha smiled sadly. "There is… Nothing to heal, unfortunately." Zelda felt her heart ache. "I keep hoping I will find some malady to repair, but…" She trailed off and shook her head.

They lapsed into a silence only broken by the occasional noises generated by Link's fitful sleep. Not too long after, the servant bustled back in, replaced the water, gave Zelda another pat on the head, and quickly headed back out.

"He's so hot," muttered Mipha, both of her hands clasped around his.

Zelda smirked weakly. "That could be taken a couple of ways, Mipha."

There was something a little strange about the flush that came to the zora's stark white cheeks. "No, I mean… I mean his temperature."

The princess nodded and couldn't help the soft chuckle that bubbled out of her. "I know." She pulled the rag away and placed a hand over his brow. "and I agree. He is a little too hot for my comfort."

Even as she spoke, a thin layer of water coated Mipha's hand, and she pressed it against Link's thick gambeson. The fabric swelled with the introduced liquid, and she began moving her hand back and forth across his torso, thoroughly soaking the garment. Even when his torso was entirely wrapped in a heavy layer of cooling water, Mipha looked dissatisfied. She looked to Zelda. "This is too insulating," she said.

Zelda seemed to need no more explanation. She looked at her fellow princess and nodded. "Rensee!" she called. The servant from earlier hurried into the room as though he had been waiting just outside the door. Zelda had never quite figured out how he was within earshot no matter where she was in the castle. "We need to get this off of him," she said, pulling at the now heavy gambeson.

"We should replace it with rags," said Mipha.

Rensee nodded and wasted no time. He pulled off the bed the blankets that Link had partially kicked away from his body, and grabbed the soldier around the middle. With practiced motions, he popped the fastens on the gambeson and began wrestling him out of it. Zelda watched Rensee fight with the sodden fabric held in place by Link's weight for a moment before slipping her hands under Link's shoulders and pushing him into a sitting position. It was an awkward motion from where she sat, but almost as soon as she began moving him, Mipha appeared and assisted. Neither the zora princess nor the royal servant needed instruction once Link's torso was upright. They each took one arm and pulled the gambeson's sleeves off of them and laid them back on the bed beneath him. They lowered Link back to Zelda's lap, not bothering to try and shift his entire body to pull the garment out from under him.

Rensee placed a hand against Link's sternum. "If he gets much hotter, I will have Alliah draw an ice bath. But rags will do for now," he affirmed with a nod to Mipha.

He slipped into a side chamber, and Zelda could hear him shuffling through a cabinet. He returned with a pile of rags in his arms. One by one, he dipped them in the recently replaced water, and dropped them on Link's heaving chest. One by one, Mipha took them and lay them flat against his skin, creating a single layer across the whole of his torso.

Zelda dunked her own rag into the water and dabbed at Link's forehead.

"This shouldn't last long," said Rensee, standing and looking over the three. "Zelda's fever broke within a few hours."

Zelda looked up at him with wide eyes. "Were you there when I did this?"

Rensee smiled and once again patted her blonde head. "Of course, Princess." He stood straight again. "His fever seems to be a bit higher than I recall yours being, but not by much. He's young, strong, and apparently a reincarnated hero, so I am certain he will pull through this as long as he gets the proper care."

Zelda smiled. "Thank you Rensee."

The servant smiled and gave a shallow bow. "I am only a shout away, princess." And he slipped back out the door.

With slow motions, Mipha moved her water- gloved hand across the rags, sapping the warmth from them by cycling the liquid. "With the way he was jerking, I almost expected to see bruises and cuts on him," she mused sadly.

Zelda nodded. "Me too. I can't imagine what his mind is seeing right now."

Another silence fell over them, broken only by the groans and whimpers as Link continued to make his way through his past lives. Zelda caught Mipha glancing up at her a few times, but the zora princess would always return her eyes to her work if she was caught.

Finally, Zelda said, "Is everything okay, Mipha?"

The flush returned to Mipha's cheeks. "As much as it can be considering the circumstances, Princess."

Zelda smiled. "You keep looking up at me. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Mipha sighed and took a long moment before, keeping what Zelda suddenly realized were terribly sad eyes on her work, she asked, "How… how do you feel about Link now? Before, he was just a soldier to you. But now, we know he is this… reincarnated hero."

Zelda was pensive for a moment before looking down at Link's pinched face. "Well… I don't think he has necessarily been 'just a soldier' to me. The loyalty and attentiveness he has always shown me has been particular." Mipha's face fell a fraction. "Why do you ask?"

Mipha shrugged. "I know a little of the story of the goddess and the hero. I know my father knew the story, but… he never put much stock into their veracity." Zelda smiled and shrugged. "One thing I do know is that the goddess loved the hero. She wept at his death, and put them in this cycle that they would always meet in their new lives." She looked up at Zelda again. "Do you… feel any of that?"

Zelda felt her own face flush, and she returned her eyes to her sleeping knight. "I… I don't know. I can tell you I don't really want to," she said with a frown.

Mipha's voice held a strange energy when she spoke again. "You don't?"

Zelda shook her head. "No. I've known I was this… reincarnated goddess for most of my life. And… I sort of hate it," she said with a smile that held no mirth.

"You hate it?" Mipha's eyes widened. "Why would you hate it?"

Zelda shifted Link's head in her lap and looked up to the zora again. "Well, for one thing, I seem to be the first incarnation to struggle with awakening my power. If this goddess… if I was so powerful, why would I put myself in this situation?"

Mipha shrugged. "You shouldn't blame yourself. After all, I doubt a goddess, shed divinity or no, would be able to account for every possible problem her incarnations would face."

Zelda sighed. "Still… doesn't make me feel much like a goddess."

"Is she the reason you don't want to feel anything for Link?" asked Mipha.

"Well, I wouldn't say I don't want to feel anything for him," she said, placing her hand on the side of his face and caressing his cheek with her thumb. "But… I don't want the goddess to be the reason I feel something."

Understanding dawned in Mipha's eyes. "You want your feelings to be your own." Zelda nodded. Mipha pondered for a brief moment. "Well… what did you feel about him before today?"

Zelda smiled. "It's hard to say. We've been through a lot in such a short amount of time." She met Mipha's eyes. "Are you asking me in order to gauge your own feelings?" she asked suddenly.

Mipha smiled bashfully and looked down. "I figured you had caught on."

Zelda chuckled. "Mipha, I think even Daruk has caught on to how you feel about Link."

The white portion of Mipha's face nearly matched the red of her scales. "Well… I mean… I guess there was a limit to how well I could hide it once I began spending so much time with both him and all of you." The anatomy of the zora princess's face made it difficult to determine if what Zelda thought she saw were truly tears in her eyes, but there was certainly no way to conceal the utter sadness in them. "But… it seems he is beyond my reach now."

Zelda's smile faded and her heart ached. "Mipha… I don't know… really, anything about Link's thoughts or feelings; he keeps such things to himself. But I do know that whatever he feels for you is warm and affectionate." She let her hand rest the cloth on one of Link's shoulders. "The feelings I had for my family and friends, and even a crush I had on the gardener's son..." She was relieved to see a weak smile curve Mipha's mouth. "... was not at all affected by my awakening.

Mipha smiled and ran her hands over the rags on his chest again. "Yes, I know." She took a breath and looked back to Zelda, her gaze steady. "Even so, the reason I asked… is when I figured out that you had discovered my feelings I wanted to say… well, I want Link to be happy more than anything. And, regardless of my own feelings…" She seemed to struggle to wrest the words from her throat. "If you want to pursue something with him and he feels the same, I will bear no ill will."

Zelda stared at her for a moment, sadness clinging to her gaze. She was struck by the kindness and the purity of the adoration that required such a statement, and the pain she could feel embedded in it. "Mipha, you are so kind…" she said with a soft smile. She spoke as though she had more to say, but couldn't quite find the words.

There was a long beat, and then Mipha smirked. "I noticed you didn't deny anything there."

Zelda's breath caught in her throat, and her face burned again. She seemed to have entirely forgotten to include a firm denial. She looked down at Link's face again. "I… I mean…"

Mipha chuckled. "Zelda, don't get bashful on me now. Not after the conversation we just had." Zelda smiled and the tension drained from her shoulders. "Although… I feel like I should apologize."

"Why's that?" asked Zelda, looking up from Link's face again.

"Well, this feels like a conversation that you should be having with Urbosa."

Zelda looked toward the doorway and shrugged. "I probably will talk to her about it, but…" She smiled at her. "But I feel like you have a lot more insight in this… strange situation."

Mipha nodded and looked down at Link's face, which had become tense again. "I suppose. There is something in his eyes when he looks at you that I've never seen in them before."

She could almost hear the "and that I wished he would direct at me" that she felt was implied. "Maybe it is just that I am a princess?"

Mipha laughed softly. "He grew up with one."

Zelda straightened. "Yes, sorry." She waved a hand. "But what I mean is… he's in the Hylian army. Maybe he's just having some weird feelings about being so close to the royal family he serves."

Mipha poked her chin. "True, but his father was also a knight. It can't be overtly strange that he would have previous encounters with that kind of closeness with you."

"He was, but I can tell you that there has never been a knight so close to me for so long. The longest I have ever spent with a knight before him was when I was being escorted by a party." She carded her fingers through his bangs, brushing them to one side. "I've never had an appointed knight before."

Mipha gave another soft laugh. "I suppose it is fitting that the hero came close to the goddess again even before anyone knew."

"I suppose." Again, a shard of guilt stabbed at her heart. Despite Mipha's efforts at levity, she could not banish the pain that clung to her words.

Silence fell over the room again.

When the sunlight streaming through the windows in the hall and in through the doorway began to dim, Mipha leaned over and placed a hand first to Link's cheek, and then to his brow. She gave a relieved sigh. "His fever has broken." She stood and began peeling the rags off of Link's torso. "I should go speak to the others. Do you have any messages I should deliver?"

"Only that he is recovering and we should prepare to keep him comfortable for the journey," said the princess.

Mipha nodded, gave a shallow bow, and slipped out the door.

Zelda looked down at Link, whose pinched face and furrowed brow shifted in time with the weak jerks of his limbs.

She took some time to examine Link and her stomach erupted into butterflies, even as her jaw tightened in frustration. Was it because of her conversation with Mipha that she suddenly noticed just how handsome his face was? Or was it her own goddess soul that drew her eyes to the lines in his chiseled torso as it heaved with his breaths. She placed a palm against one side of his chest and rubbed his skin gently with her thumb. Surely, Hylia was the reason; stubbornly insisting that the goddess was a separate entity. She was the reason her heart skipped a beat at the memory of his strong shoulders before her as he shielded her from Sooga's kunai. She was the reason she had wanted to throw her arms around him afterward.

When he groaned and his shoulders and head pressed against her legs, she put a hand on the side of his face and once again traced small circles on his cheek with her thumb. "You'll be alright. Those lives… they are not this one. They are only memories and… they can't hurt you now." She tried to remember more of the soft things her mother- and apparently Rensee- had whispered in her ears through the worst of her recovery time.

As though her words had spurred it, Link's back suddenly arched, and his head swung back and forth in her lap. He let out a sob, and his limbs thrashed against the mattress. His grip on the sheets beneath him was white knuckled as he fought the new nightmare that suddenly gripped him. Her thighs aching from her time sitting amongst the pillows and from his head now pressing against them, Zelda slipped out from under him and back into the chair beside the bed. She put a hand on his shoulder, and kept the other on his brow. "Link, Link, it's alright! Link, you're safe!" she cried. He was deaf to her voice, and continued flailing in whatever new memories plagued him.

Impulsively, she grabbed the sides of his face and gently pressed her forehead to his, as though she could send the peace she wished directly through the contact. The place where their flesh touched was warm, and to her surprise, he did seem to calm a bit. His limbs still writhed, and whimpers and cries continued to flow from his throat, but his thrashing had ceased.

"It's okay. I'm here, Link…" she said softly. Without thinking, she followed with, "Hylia is still with you, hero. You'll beat this as you have so many times before."

For the briefest of moments, his weary eyes opened just a sliver, comprehended nothing, and slipped closed again.

I have written a second chapter (it would end with that), but I am wavering on whether or not to post it and how. It would necessitate an upping of the rating because it got kind of intense out of nowhere. Let me know if you think it is worth the second chapter, or if this is left well enough alone.