AN – Hello everyone and happy Zelink Week 2024! I shall be posting seven separate works every day for the next week and you can find them on AO3, here on FFN, and Tumblr in celebration of Zelink and its many forms.

Anyways, let's get started! :)

Homesick

"Gonzo, hurry up with that food! We're starving over here!"

"R-Right away, Miss Tetra!"

It took a couple more minutes, but the hungry crew was finally satisfied when the curry was finished.

In all honesty, it didn't look that appealing, looking like it was made with sludge rather than ingredients. But the pirates were used to this kind of food and so there weren't any complaints as the curry was handed out. Soon enough, all of them were seated and began to eat, talking jovially amongst themselves.

All except for Link, who was tucked away in the corner.

He wasn't upset or anything. He just wanted some privacy to finish his own meal first before joining the others.

He smiled as he brought out his favorite soup, which his grandmother had filled all four of his bottles to the brim with. He'd been trying to spread out how often he ate it, but it was difficult sometimes since he loved it so much.

As such, he only had one full bottle left.

He felt a bit sad at this realization as he poured out half of the soup into a bowl and began to eat, smiling at the taste.

As he neared the end of his meal, a bittersweet lump formed in his throat. It made it a bit difficult to swallow at times, but this little taste of home was well worth it.

After he was done, he sighed, feeling full and mostly content.

The only thing that was bothering him was that he only had one serving of soup left. He frowned slightly at that, knowing that it would be a long while before he could have this soup again. And then he would have to eat what the pirates ate, which he knew wouldn't taste as good.

It wasn't necessarily because of them and their cooking skills. It just wouldn't taste the same as his grandmother's cooking…

"Link?"

He looked up, seeing Tetra in front of him. "Hey Tetra. What's up?"

"I just wanted to know what you were doing. I mean, you're in this corner all by yourself. Don't you want to come hang out with us?"

Link smiled at her concern. "Yeah. Sorry, I was just taking a moment to myself first. I'll come over now."

She nodded before they both got up and went over to where the rest of the crew was.

He spent the rest of the night talking and joking around with the others. However, Tetra could tell that something was bothering him. None of the other pirates really seemed to notice, but she did.

That night, Link tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, but being unable to. All he could think about were his family and friends that he'd left behind on Outset. He could still hear his grandmother's farewell to him and see Aryll's tear filled eyes as she waved goodbye to him.

An uncomfortable pit formed in his stomach at these bittersweet memories. He had no idea how long he'd be away from home in this search for a new land to call their own. And yet, more often than not, Link felt insecure about whether or not they would be able to. He knew it was ridiculous since he'd proven himself to the Gods, became the Hero of the Winds and defeated Ganondorf – all of which happened after he saved his sister which had initially been his only goal – but Link still couldn't help but be unsure of himself and their journey.

Groaning, he sat up and rubbed at his eyes, deciding to try to get up and see what he could do to make himself relax.

He carefully crept out of his cabin and went upstairs to the deck, past the snoring pirates in the belly of the ship and past Tetra's cabin, emerging onto the deck.

He glanced up and noticed the thousands of stars in the clear night sky as well as the beautiful half moon.

Sighing, he settled down on the deck and crossed his arms behind his head, gazing up at them.

He could make out a few of the constellations, but he wasn't the most well-versed in reading the heavens. He just liked the view.

Stargazing worked for him and he could feel himself calming down at the magnificent view after the bittersweet memories had kept him from falling asleep.

Then he suddenly heard the door leading below deck open.

Startled, he looked and was surprised to see Tetra approaching him.

"Link? What are you doing up?"

It took him a moment to answer. "Um, I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep and so I thought doing some stargazing might help."

He then asked her, "But what are you doing awake? I hope it wasn't because of me…"

"Not really." She shrugged. "I was still awake and noticed you heading up the stairs."

"Couldn't sleep either?"

She sighed and shook her head. "No and it's really annoying…"

He smiled a bit. "Yeah, I get that."

Then, he was surprised to see her lying down beside him.

"Um… What are you doing?"

"I told you already that I can't sleep. And since you can't either, we may as well keep each other company until we can finally relax."

"I see. Sorry, I guess that I just wasn't sure what you would do or say. I mean, you prefer your crew to be well-rested and in good health to keep bumps on the road to a minimum."

She smiled. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. But my point still stands about our respective sleeplessness."

He smiled back. "Yeah."

After that, they both went silent and admired the stars.

After a few moments of this, Tetra asked him, "What constellations are you familiar with?"

"Hm? Oh, mainly Orion, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. I'm… not too well-versed in the stars beyond that."

Tetra made a thoughtful sound before smiling at him while doing her signature wink. "Would you be interested in learning at all?"

He smiled. "Yes, I am interested!"

She chuckled before standing up. "Alright. Let me go fetch something."

It took a few minutes until she returned and when she did, she was carrying a chart in her hands.

"What is that? Is it a star chart?"

"Yep!"

"Awesome!" He grinned, sitting up.

After that, they spent some time studying the chart and figuring out where things were in the sky. Tetra wasn't an expert either but she still knew more than Link did and the two of them had a lot of fun reading the chart and helping each other out.

"…and that constellation is Taurus."

"Oh, so he's the bull?"

"Yeah. And the archer, Sagittarius is right… there."

"Nice!"

She smiled at him. "I'm glad you're enjoying this."

"Well, the stars and constellations have always interested me. I just didn't have the time nor the resources to properly learn how to read them."

She nodded before smiling mischievously. "Something tells me that you snuck out of bed in order to stargaze though, right?"

At this, Link blushed. "W-Well… it wasn't often… And, uh…"

Tetra laughed. "Don't worry. No judgement from me. I often stayed up late, too."

He smiled sheepishly. "Heh… yeah."

He went quiet, worrying Tetra. "Are you alright? I hope my joke didn't upset you."

"No, it's not that." He quickly reassured her. "It's just…"

It took a few seconds for Tetra to realize why Link was upset. "Oooh… You're homesick, aren't you?"

He sighed and nodded. "I know it seems ridiculous but… I really, really miss my family and friends back on Outset. I miss Aryll being at her lookout, I miss the seagulls and I miss my bed… And to make matters worse, I only have one serving of my grandma's soup left to eat!"

He sighed again. "I feel like such a little kid sometimes for wanting to be back home despite everything I've done and still have to do, you know?"

She made a thoughtful sound before telling him, "You know, I actually kind of envy you for that."

Surprised, he looked at her which prompted her to explain with, "I've never really had a home. Sure, you could argue that this ship is my home but… It's not an island or a house. The only family I've ever had was my crew and my mother…"

Link stayed silent, listening intently.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. And even though we've both done some incredible things for our age, we are still kids. So it's only natural that we'd mess up or act our age on occasion. I'm sure the Goddesses would understand."

Link stared at her before smiling. "Thanks… I really needed to hear that."

Tetra smiled back before yawning. "Wow, I think I'm finally tired. Are you?"

Link nodded. "A bit."

"So, do you want to go to bed now?"

"Yeah. We don't want to be up all night, after all."

They both softly chuckled before venturing over to the door and walking down the stairs.

"Um… good night, Tetra. And thanks again."

"Good night, Link. Let's stargaze another night, okay?"

He smiled and nodded before they both went their separate ways.

As Link lied in bed, he felt calmer than before. He couldn't help but smile as he thought about Tetra and her words to him. And even though he still felt homesick, at least he knew that he wasn't in this alone.

With those thoughts, he finally drifted off to sleep.

AN – I hope you enjoyed! I'll be posting the other six stories in the days to come.