Chapter Text
Rebuilding Hyrule
“Hey Zel, you awake yet?” A blonde man whispered into his fiancée’s ear who lay beside him in their three-bedroom house in a small village in the hillside. The blonde woman he was speaking to rolled over and looked at him between sleepy eyelids. Her response was that between something intelligible in the affirmative and a prolonged grunt. Link planted a kiss on the bridge of her nose and received a sleepy giggle in reply.
“Yes, my darling. I’m awake.” The flaxen-haired princess drew out in a near whisper. The sun peeked through the upstairs window at the two lovebirds as they cuddled beneath the robins egg bed sheets and cover.
“It’s time to get up, love. We said we’d meet with the leaders of each village this week about the future of the kingdom. We gotta go to Lurelin today.” Link surrendered Zelda’s form from his embrace and placed one more kiss between her ears. His retreat was met with a groan of reluctance.
“But I don’t wanna get up Link…” The royal pouted and attempted to hide from the day under the pillow.
“We can take some time to study the shrines in the area if you want. What if I let you choose what kind of seafood dish I make tonight after the talks?” Link stroked Zelda’s hair that spilled out from beneath the linen of the pillow. A pause of silence followed a muffled huff.
“Porgy Meuniere?” A muffled hope from underneath the pillow.
“Of course.” Link tangled his fingers in Zelda’s hair absently.
“With extra butter?” Link simply chuckled in response. Zelda took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Alright…I’m getting up. Late nights studying ancient technology and methods coupled with early mornings rife with responsibility just do not mix at all.” She sat up and shook out her hair before performing morning stretches with her fiancé. “Link, I’ve got something weighing on my mind. Would you care to listen?”
“Of course. What’s eating at you, Zel?” Link sat on the foot of the bed with his bride-to-be.
“I’m just, I don’t know. I don’t know about this. About our role as the future of Hyrule. We’re supposed to go to Lurelin and tell them that we’re rebuilding the castle and the rest of the kingdom but…what are we even going to do after that? Lurelin, Hateno, Kakariko, even the stables. They all seem to be completely autonomous. They all seem to have been able to survive all on their own. There’s not a great big population that really needs a king and queen to tell them how to live or what to do. A ruler’s duty is to help the people they are charged with. But how do I even do that? Do they even need a royal family?” Link squeezed Zelda’s hand on the footboard of the bed.
“I don’t know anything other than cooking and killing. I don’t know anything about ruling over anyone. I’m just a guy who is as good with the sword as he is with cooking over a fire. But I will say this. The only way I ever knew that someone needed help was when I asked them. The only way I’ve ever been made aware of anyone’s problems is by talking to them face to face. So I think that to find out what the people need us to do, we should just go ask them.” “Link stood up and started down the staircase.
“I think you are absolutely right, Link. Thank you so much for that.” Zelda stood, grabbed her clothes from the dresser, and began changing into her traveling garb. As soon as both of them had made ready to leave, they set out down the winding trail through Hateno down to Hateno Beach.
“Darling, I know you told me last night, but remind me, why are we visiting the beach before we go to Lurelin Village?” The wind blew through her hair as they walked down the trail outside of Hateno Village.
“It’s because last time I was there, I promised one of the children that I would bring some amazing seashells for a necklace for his mother. Seashells far prettier than the ones in Lurelin. I picked up a few while I was over in Akkala a few weeks ago but I just needed that one shell that brings it all together.” Link pulled a handful of small white, yellow, blue, and pink shells in varying shades from his pouch.
“I think…maybe a bright blue one would do? Maybe dark blue? I’m not sure.” Link walked down the shoreline poking through the sand.
“Oh, what about this one?” Zelda showed a vermillion seashell with a spiral pattern on it.
“Yes! Much better than what I was expecting to find. Thank you.” Link placed all the shells back into his pack and stretched his hand out for Zelda to take. “Ready to go?”
“I can already smell the fish frying in the pan.” The shorter of the two blondes placed her arm around her fiancé as he punched in the warp location just above Lurelin Village before they both ascended as luminous strands of light.
“Link, could you hand me the slate for a second?” Zelda looked out over the coast to the horizon and snapped a picture of the bay. “There we go. Okay. Ready to go down now?”
“Yeah.” Link smiled softly as she did so. “Looks like they’ve got a welcome party for us. We should probably go in through the front gate. Official business and all, right?”
“Yes, Link.” Zelda took a deep breath and exhaled. “Let’s head down.” The pair paraglided down to the trail and passed through the front gate to the warm welcome of the village inhabitants.
“Welcome to our humble village, Prince Link, Princess Zelda! Here, please accept this gift of our freshest fish we caught just a little while ago as congratulations on your engagement! We are all so happy for you both.” Rozel, chief of Lurelin, presented them both with baskets of freshly caught fish of every variety found in the bay. “Again, on behalf of the village, congratulations!”
“Thank you so much, Chief Rozel. The fish here is always delicious. Now, the purpose of our meeting. If we could gather the villagers up, I would like to address everyone directly.” Zelda looked out over the welcome party.
“Yes, Princess. I’ll gather everyone up at the pier momentarily.” Rozel sent one of the children to gather the few villagers who hadn’t made it out to welcome the visitors.
“Thank you, Chief Rozel.” Zelda and Link walked with Rozel down the waterline to the open area by the pier.
“Looks like everyone is here, Princess Zelda.” Rozel and the villagers had all gathered in front of the open campfire by the water.
“Very well. People of Lurelin Village, both I and Link come to you today not as rulers or someone with authority over anyone. We come as people who simply wish to help in any way that we can. I may be a princess, but I am powerless to help anyone without knowing what their problems are. So today, I want you all to tell us what sort of problems you have and if we are able to do anything about them, then we will. So, if you please, speak one at a time.” Zelda stood shoulder to shoulder with Link as she spoke. The fisherman named Armes walked out of the crowd towards them.
“Good morning, Princess Zelda. Thank you for doing all of this for us. My name is Armes and like just about everyone else, I’m a fisherman here. I’m one of the ones who tend to fish beyond just this little bay. I fish along Cape Cresia and along Clarnet Coast. Past the bay you see here, there are so many monsters that harass anyone who ventures out. They either chip away at my boat with their attacks or scare the local fish population so far out to see that there’s scarcely any left. If there is anything you can do to drive those monsters out of the area, I’m sure we’d all be very grateful.” Armes stepped back as he finished.
“Thank you Armes. Link, did you get all that?” Zelda turned to Link who had been taking notes.
“’Drive away monsters outside the bay and the surrounding waters.’ Got it.” Link punctuated his sentence with a final scribble.
“Who’s next?” Zelda looked around at the crowd.
“I am. My name is Mubs and I run the local market behind us. Recently, it seems that not as many people are buying what I offer, and I was thinking about expanding the type of fish I sell to freshwater fish that can be found more inland. But without any nearby rivers or tributaries, I’m in a bit of a pickle. Thank you for hearing me out, Princess.” Mubs walked back to where she had been standing.
“’Help expand product variety for Mubs.’ Okay.” Link jotted down his notes.
“Princess Zelda, Prince Link, if you two would hear out an old man’s request as I know you, Link, have done for me and many of the rest of us before, I would like to tell you a story that has been passed down since my father’s time in this village. Long ago, during the Age of Burning Fields, this village was plagued by a monstrous Giant Water Octorok the size of a mountain. There was nothing anyone could do. All the heroes who sailed against it were swallowed up. The fish disappeared, nearly causing famine in our village. But then, Prince Sidon of the Zoras came and fought valiantly before being swallowed. But he did not meet his demise there. He attacked it from the inside and killed it, ridding the world of that disaster. Afterwards, the Zora Domain and our village began to trade often. We gave saltwater fish, they gave freshwater fish. But these days, with monsters still lurking about just by the wayside of the roads and in Atun Valley, it’s hard for any of us or the Zora to make the trek. The Zora saved us a hundred years ago and are our friends. I can’t bear the thought of stopping trade with them. Please, I beg of you to help us secure trade with them again.” Rozel bowed before the royal pair.
“Chief Rozel, please lift your head. I know Prince Sidon. He and I have known each other for a long time. I know that we can find a solution to this dilemma.” Link placed a hand on the chief’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Prince Link.” Rozel stood and bowed his head before going back to the crowd.
“Lurelinians, thank you for bringing your problems to me. If there is nothing else you wish to bring up, Link and I will begin to work on these problems. Also, I come to you to talk about trade routes between Lurelin and Hateno. As I understand it, it is fairly difficult for you and Hateno to trade is it not? There are no short or easy paths by land on the map that I can discern. By marked roads, it would easily take someone three days or more by horseback to get to Hateno. Therefore, I propose a trade route over water. There is space on Hateno Beach for a trade port. Would you all be in favor of building a trade port somewhere here in Lurelin?” Zelda was met with raucous applause and cheer.
“Princess, I believe that would be a wonderful idea that we all agree would benefit Lurelin well. We’ve always wanted a water route to and from Hateno as it is just around the cape. We simply didn’t have the resources or expertise to build and operate a trade port. We cannot express our gratitude enough for what you have done for this village.” Rozel bowed to the pair.
“It has been our pleasure. For right now, we’ll start trying to get together the people for the trade ports and have them come meet you sometime this week to talk about it.” Zelda waved to the crowd and left for the inn with Link in tow.
“Well, I think that went pretty well.” Link plopped down on one of the beds and reclined.
“Yes. I think that it went as well as it could have. I am so glad that it is over now though.” Zelda let herself collapse onto the bed adjacent Link’s and exhaled a great sigh of relief.
“I’m so not used to public speaking. When’s the next village?”
“Hmmm. I think we said we would go to Kakariko village next. We should stop at Hateno on the way though. Gotta make sure their troubles are addressed too. We could leave in a couple of days if this wears you out that much.” Link stood and crossed the narrow room to sit on the floor beside Zelda’s bed with his back to her.
“That’s right. We do need to talk to them before we get the rest of the region.” Zelda played with Link’s hair absentmindedly as she spoke. “What do you think the solution is to Mubs’s problem? I know you could probably always just take out the monsters yourself. And I’m still working on the logistics problems between the Zora and Lurelin. Any ideas on Mubs?”
“Yeah, I had just thought about that a little bit. I’m sure there are a few travelling merchants here and there who sell freshwater fish. Maybe we could send them this way with their wares.” Link reached up and intertwined his fingers with his bride’s-to-be.
“And you said you were only good for killing and cooking.” Zelda giggled as she reached down and kissed her lover’s hand.
“I was wrong. What can you do?” Link shrugged and chuckled with her.
“Okay so that’s one problem. Care to take a swing at the trade problem?” Zelda rolled over to face him.
“Well, from the looks of it on the map, a water trade route wouldn’t be very easy. And by land is already an arduous task at best. Depending on how much fish they’re trading each trip, I would say it would likely be several days between here and there by land. I wonder if the Zora are simply that fast in the water. Either way, on land, it’s simply too long a trip to be travelling the roads if the problem is monster attacks. Wait. If the roads are too dangerous right now…” Link trailed off in thought.
“Then the waterways would be more preferable.” Zelda chimed in, her demeanor brightening as she followed Link’s train of thought.
“And with the construction of the new trade ports giving better access to Hateno,” Link held up the map for her to see where he was pointing.
“The Zoras could pick up and drop off the fish….in Lake Jarrah! There’s very little monster presence in those woods! Link!” Zelda wrapped her arms tightly around Link’s head in glee.
“I am the mastermind of all things! Evil beware! With my genius intellect in both the culinary and the problem solving, I can defeat evil with but a ladle! Speaking of which, lunch time. Let’s change out of these formal clothes and into something we can actually eat in.” Link pulled out a blue lobster pattern shirt and a pair of trousers and tossed Zelda her hylian tunic and trousers before changing.
“Much better.” Zelda looked down at her normal casual attire and nodded in approval.
“Absolutely. Let’s get cooking. Looks like I’m out of butter. Do you have any?” Link rifled around his pack as he retrieved the necessary ingredients for the exquisite dish they would have for lunch.
“Yes, here you go. Could you hand me the pot so I can start the fire outside?” Zelda traded Link for the cooking pot and headed outside while he gathered enough ingredients for several different dishes.
“This is going to be so good!” Zelda wiped the drool forming on the corner of her mouth as the ingredients cooked in the pot.
“Oh yeah. And you know what else I brought along?” Link pulled out a small jar with a red label and red powder.
“You didn’t!” Zelda squealed as she swiped the bottle of Goron Spice from Link. “Oh this is going to be a good lunch today.”
“I got it yesterday while we were studying that shrine near Goron City. I wanted to surprise you with it.” Link wore a self-satisfied grin on his face as his future wife added a gracious amount of spice to the pot. Link prepared the plates as soon as the food had cooked properly and passed Zelda a fork and knife before digging in himself.
“Heavenly.” The beautiful blonde said through a mouthful of fish.
“If only those royal chefs could taste this. They would weep with joy.” Link sighed contentedly before his countenance fell. “If only we could do this kind of thing for the rest of our lives. This past year or so with you has been the best time of my life. Running from one corner of the map to the other and everywhere in between, exploring and studying shrines with you, cooking with you, falling in love with you again every day, I don’t ever want that to end. I’m just wondering how much time we’ll have once we start having all the duties that come with the crown, you know? Just wondering how many more days we’ll have to lay on the beach or climb mountains.” Zelda rested her head on his shoulder while she took another bite in the silence that followed.
“I think we’ll have as many days like this as we want to. Hyrule has been reduced to a fledgling kingdom. There’s only so many people to take care of these days since so many were lost while we were away. Yes, we have a lot of work to do. Yes, we are going to be very busy in the coming days. But I don’t think we’ll have as much to do as you remember my father doing. Besides, rebuilding the castle is going to take a very long time. But figuring out the logistics for that is a problem for a later time. Until that time comes, we’ll live in Hateno, tend to the garden, keep traveling over field and mountain together, live as we have been this past couple of years. You don’t have to worry about a thing, my dear knight.” Zelda plucked the last bite of fish from Link’s plate with her fork. “In the meantime, you should cook some more. It’s a beautiful day. It would be such a shame not to enjoy ourselves on a day like this.” Link simply chuckled and prepared more ingredients as they spent the rest of their day eating and laughing with the villagers until the sun set over the mountains.
“Looks like it’s about time to head home now. Today has been great.” Zelda rested her head on Link’s shoulder, who in turn rested his head on hers.
“It certainly has, hasn’t it?” Link intertwined his fingers with those of his beloved. “The sound of the water gently breaking against the shore, the birds in the air, the sound of children all around this small village. Hey, do you remember that one time, I actually think it was here, way back then. Yeah, it was right over there on down the shore past the raft dock. We were, ah what was it? I forget what we were doing now. But you were looking for something to study. Hylia knows what. But you were standing over there and a kid came up to you with this-“ Link nearly had to recompose himself for laughter. “He had this little bug in his hands all closed up and when you went to look closely, he opened his hands up and you screamed and fell backwards. Obviously, I couldn’t show any signs of laughing at the princess of Hyrule at the time, but I thought that was just…the funniest thing and I wanted to bring that back up.” Link chuckled to himself with what could only be described as smugness on his face.
“No! Agh Link! I thought you had forgotten that! You, you…meanie!” Zelda firmly pushed Link off the log they had been sitting on.
“Ow. Have I done something that would truly upset Her Majesty so?” Link grinned up at Zelda from the dirt.
“Hm. I do wonder about that. Maybe I’ll have one of these little ones come throw a bug at your face when you’re not expecting it, hm? Indeed.” The longer haired blonde huffed and crossed her arms. Link, still laying in the dirt, began laughing to the point he held his sides. “What is so funny, Link?”
“Oh, sweet Hylia.” Link managed. “Oh man. Ah. I’m sorry, my love. You’re just…you’re cute when you’re happy, you’re cute when you’re angry, and I just realized that you uh, your way of speaking changes from informal to formal when you get flustered enough. It’s like a switch flips and you turn into this fiery princess who kicks butt and takes names and it is just the most amazing thing. Not that you don’t or can’t already kick butt, especially mine, but, I don’t know, it’s just really interesting to see. Maybe I should get you like that a little more often.”
“You may test that hypothesis at your earliest convenience but be warned, not all experiments end in the desired outcome. You would be wise to remember this next time you decide to play with fire, my love.” Zelda smirked down at him before helping him to his feet. One of the many children in the village ran up to the couple with pieces of a small wooden toy in his hand.
“Um, Mister uh, Sir? Wait, Prince Link? Um, this is, um..” The boy named Kinov struggled for the words he wanted to say.
“Kinov, Link is just fine. I’m still just the guy who helped your mom out a couple of times. What’s this you got here?” Link sat up and brushed the dirt off his clothes and closely inspected the wooden doll in the boy’s hand.
“Looks like a wooden knight of some kind, is that right? Uh oh, but it looks like his leg popped off.” Link turned the leg over in his hand.
“Yeah, uh, Link. This is Kino, the invincible knight! No sea monster or anything could ever hurt him! Or, well maybe a tree could.” Kinov gingerly manipulated the joints as he spoke.
“What did the tree do to Kino?” Link met Kinov with a puzzled yet amused smile.
“Oh, nothing. It just stood there. Kino flew at it. After I accidentally let go of him when I was playing around.” Kinov kicked a pebble around with his toe.
“Ah. I see. Well, can I see the rest of Kino? I’m not gonna make you any promises, but I think I might be able to fix him. In the meantime, how about you tell me all about Kino?” Link sat on the log with Kinov sitting beside him while he tinkered around with the joints of Kino.
“Well, my dad made him to keep me company while he was away during the day. Monsters live just up the hill from what he says. They don’t normally come down here, but they’re just outside the village a ways down the road. But my dad says that as long as I have Kino, nothing bad will happen! So that’s why I need you to fix his leg.” Link had taken his skinning knife out and begun to whittle a little bit of wood from the inside socket where the leg joint went.
“Well, I think your dad is a wise man. You said they’re just up the hill outside of the village, right? Here, try and see if his leg doesn’t go back in now.” Link handed him the doll and its leg back. Kinov pressed the spherical leg joint back into the socket with a pop.
“Link, it worked! You’re amazing! Thank you!” Kinov squeezed the breath out of the champion before answering his previous question. “Yeah, my dad says you can actually see their watchtower if you climb up our watchtower. But I’m not allowed up there yet.”
“Alright then. Well, it looks like Kino is all set to go, squirt. As long as you don’t throw him against any other trees or rocks or anything, I think you’re gonna be safe from monsters for a long time.” Link gave him a toothy smile and sent him on his way.
“Link, that was very impressive. Where did you learn how to do that?” Zelda turned to Link on the log again.
“I mean, it just, I…I don’t know. Kinda felt instinctual you know? Ball doesn’t fit in space, make space bigger. It didn’t take much. Just a little bit of shaving off the edges I guess.” Link shrugged.
“No, I mean, where did you learn to be so good with kids? I know you had Mila, but you were appointed to me at a fairly young age were you not? You can’t have had very much experience with them, or at least not nearly enough to be that good with them.” Zelda’s eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement with a hint of awe.
“What can I say? I like kids. It kinda comes natural.” Link shrugged again. “One day, I think it’ll come natural to you, too.”
“Oh, I hardly think so. I don’t think I could ever do what you just did. I’ve, well I’ve never really had many dealings with children before. Or at all in any meaningful capacity. It’s embarrassing to say, but I don’t think I would make for a good mother either. I’m just not really uh, I have no idea how to oh!” Zelda’s words were silenced by Link’s lips.
“You think too much, Zelda. No one really knows how to be a mother or a father until they become one. It’s all a learning process. My father told me that when my mother was pregnant with me, they were scared to death about how in the world they were going to raise me. My father was a knight. He knew only how to kill and to protect people. He didn’t know how to take care of a child. And my mom, well she was an only child. It’s not like she had any experience with a younger sibling growing up either. But they managed to do it. I’m sure it was the same with your parents, too. All things considered, I think you’d make a great mother.” Link pressed the side of his head against hers.
“Thank you for your comforting words, Link.” Zelda cupped the far side of his face in her hand and stroked his cheek gently. “I’m not exactly sure what to say at this point honestly. Though, are you saying that you do want children…?”
“Yeah, Zel. I want kids. That is, if you want kids. I’m open to discuss it if you’d like.” Link snaked his arm around her side.
“Yeah. I want kids too. Enough for a bigger house in Hateno. Let’s face it. The castle won’t be getting anywhere near completed for probably ten years or so. And since we plan on kids eventually, I want to finally have our wedding. I want to turn the next page of our life starting with the wedding. I know we still have our duties to tend to, but I believe we can finish things up in a few months or so if we work hard, right? I want to start planning the wedding, celebrate that with all our friends, and then, um, I guess start a family?” Zelda turned her face away to hide her crimson complexion with Link doing similarly.
“That, uh, sounds nice. Yeah. I’ve been thinking that I was ready to have the wedding soon. Anyways, uh, I think it’s time we headed home, right? Oh, wait. First, I have to do something so wait here for a bit please? I’ll be right back.” Link sprinted off up the canyon trail and minutes later, the sound of explosions could be heard echoing off the mountains with a pillar of smoke rising from afar. Link returned paragliding down from the mountains and landed where Zelda was still waiting patiently.
“Link, did you cause those explosions a few minutes ago?” Zelda squinted at her beloved’s now soiled clothes.
“You could say that. You could definitely say that. Or, you could say that Kino is doing an excellent job at keeping the village safe for a pretty long time.” Link smiled facetiously at Zelda who giggled and rolled her eyes.
“Let’s go home you little gremlin.” Zelda teased. “Gonna burn the whole mountain if I don’t keep an eye on you.” The pair disappeared into the evening sky as luminescent beams of light.
To Be Continued