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“Do you really remember me?”
Link almost laughs at the absurdity of her question. Immediately, he opens his mouth to tell her that of course he remembers her - how could he not? How, even after a century, could he forget her? He opens his mouth to tell her that he is so relieved to see that she is truly standing in front of him in her white dress, completely unharmed. To tell her that he’s been waiting for this ever since she spoke to him in the Shrine of Resurrection.
As much as he tries to put everything into words - nothing comes out. Instead, his arms go limp and his legs give way. Slowly, he collapses, his head bouncing a little once it smacks on the ground. As if he isn’t already injured enough.
He hears Zelda call his name and rush towards him, and then he sees her kneel down beside him, lifting his head off the ground. “Link, are you okay?”
He can only manage a groan. His arms and legs are sore from the fight, he’s sure he has at least five open wounds - he can feel one on his right cheek, which is most definitely gushing blood. Zelda mutters something else before taking part of her dress to wipe the blood clean off his face. He tries to protest - it’s a white dress, and a sacred one, too, but he doesn’t have the energy.
“I will take you to Kakariko village,” Zelda tells him. “Impa will have someone who can fix you up, Link. Can you hold on a little longer?”
He gives her a slight nod. Then, she picks him up and carries him to his horse, Epona. She helps him get on the saddle and she mounts Epona in front of him. Link tries to stay awake, but as soon as they begin to move, his head pounds and he buries it in Zelda’s shoulder.
He can hear her telling him to try and stay awake, that Kakariko isn’t far and they’ll be there soon, but her voice slowly fades into nothingness as his eyes finally close.
They make it to Kakariko in an hour. Link’s horse is exhausted from the journey - Zelda makes a mental note to give it lots and lots of apples later on - but right now, her focus is on her knight.
He lost consciousness moments after mounting the horse. Zelda desperately tries to ignore the pit in her stomach as she slows the horse down, nearing the entrance of the village.
People are staring the moment she strides in. She can hear their whispers of, “is that who I think it is?” and “it isn’t possible.” She’ll deal with them later.
She stops the horse in front of what she hopes is still Impa’s house, takes Link into her arms, and as she’s about to rush up the stairs, she is stopped by a guard. “Who are you?”
“That is not important right now,” Zelda says hurriedly. “Please, I need to see Impa. I need her to help him,” she nods to Link. “He carries the sword that seals the darkness. Please, sir.”
The guard doesn’t seem to buy it - but another comes to her rescue, vouching for Link. She thanks him and runs up the stairs, bursting the door open. An old woman, wrinkly and tiny, is sitting right in front of her. Impa. There is another girl on the floor, wiping it clean with a cloth. “Impa!”
Impa stares, her mouth agape. “P-Princess?”
The girl looks up and shrieks. “Sir Link?”
“Impa, I will explain everything, I promise. But first, I need a doctor,” Zelda pleads. “He’s hurt. He’s been unconscious for an hour. I can’t lose him, not again, Impa. Please.”
Impa tells the girl on the floor - Paya - to go and fetch Ollie. Zelda holds Link close to her as Paya runs out the door, returning moments later with three men - one older and two younger, close to Paya’s age. They take Link from Zelda’s arms and disappear through the doors.
Zelda opens the door and watches as they carry him into another building. “Where are they taking him, Impa?”
“Ollie’s inn,” Impa tells her. “He practices healthcare for any travellers that arrive with injuries. Do not worry, Princess. He will take care of the boy.”
Still shaken, Zelda lets out a sigh of relief. She closes the door and turns to face Impa. She is nothing like what Zelda remembers. In her memory, Impa is larger. Less wrinkly. She has been gone one hundred years, though - of course Impa has aged. She takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry for barging in. That is no way to reunite with my dear friend after a century.”
Impa lets out a laugh. “Do not worry, Princess. I understand you care for him.”
Zelda hopes Impa doesn’t notice the colour in her cheeks deepen. She looks to Paya, who is visibly shaking next to Impa. “Hello. You’re.. Paya?”
“My granddaughter,” Impa informs.
Paya bows. “It is an honour, Princess Zelda.”
Zelda cringes. “Oh, please, you don’t have to bow. It’s all right.”
Paya stands awkwardly. Impa suggests that she tend to their garden outside, and Paya gratefully accepts this before leaving the two alone. Impa looks back at Zelda. “Tell me, Princess. Tell me everything, please.”
And Zelda does. There isn’t much to tell for the hundred years she was gone - she doesn’t remember most of it. She only remembers the bits where she needed to guide Link. So, instead, she tells Impa of what happened moments before the calamity. After they lost control of the divine beasts. After they lost the champions. After she ordered two Sheikah soldiers to take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection.
Then, she tells her what happened just an hour before. How Link defeated the calamity and freed her. How he collapsed in front of her. “...And then I brought him here. How… how have things been, Impa?”
Impa sighs. “Waiting for the swordsman to awake was agonizing. So many years with nothing but destruction… they all blur together now. Despite that, though, things have been… steady. I settled, we had children, my children had children. My husband passed away a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Zelda says. She feels immense guilt about missing every important event in her closest friend’s life. “For everything. I should have been here with you.”
Impa waves this idea off. “Don’t be absurd, Princess. You were keeping the calamity from destroying all of Hyrule. Speaking of, would you like a change of clothes? You’ve been wearing the same thing for a century now.”
Zelda giggles. “Yes, actually, I would love that.”
Link’s eyes shoot open.
He is in a slightly uncomfortable bed in a large room, surrounded by other empty beds. He can feel that his cheek has been bandaged and his other wounds stitched up. His head still throbs, and his limbs still ache.
He’s not wearing his champion’s tunic - instead he has been put in a simple beige shirt and grey trousers. He looks over and sees that his tunic and trousers have been folded neatly on the edge of the bed for him.
He recognizes this place as the inn in Kakariko Village - meaning Zelda successfully transported the two of them here on Epona.
Zelda.
Link gets out of the bed. He ignores the immediate pain he feels everywhere and makes way for the door. He needs to see her. He needs to make sure that she’s all right, after what happened. He’s been waiting to see her for a hundred years.
Just as he’s about to reach the door, it swings open, and Zelda is on the other end, a tray in her hands. She’s not wearing the dress anymore - she’s instead changed into an old blue shirt and brown trousers. He recognizes these clothes to be Paya’s. “You’re awake,” she stares.
Instinctively, he kneels in front of her. “Princess.”
Zelda sighs. “Please, stand. There’s no need for this formality, Link. And I told you to stop calling me ‘Princess.’ Just Zelda is perfectly fine. Perhaps it slipped your mind?”
He doesn’t remember. When he says nothing, she continues. “Well, I’m telling you now, so that’s that.”
He doesn’t move.
Zelda groans and sets the tray on a table, kneeling down to meet his eyes. “Link, I can see you struggling to keep still. Please, get back to your bed. You need to rest.”
This, he gives in to. He lets Zelda take hold of his arms and lead him to his bed, helping him sit up against the pillow. Bringing a chair over, she pulls the blanket over him and lets her hand rest over top where his would be if not for the blanket separating them. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you, Link.”
“I always knew you had it in you,” she continues. “I… the relief I felt when you finally woke. I watched you free each divine beast. I watched you during every battle. I’ve missed you so, so much, Link. You saved me. You saved all of us.”
Link watches her. He removes his hand from underneath the blanket and reaches out to grip Zelda’s. He rubs his thumb against hers. She looks at him. “Goodness, where are my manners? How are you feeling, Link? Better? Ollie said you must stay resting for the next few days. Oh - and Paya and I made some tea for you,” she reaches over to the tray.
She pours some tea in a wooden cup and hands it to Link. “It’s hot, be careful. Have you had tea before? I haven’t for a while. Paya’s tea is absolutely delicious.”
Link stares at the golden drink in the cup. It smells of honey, and tastes of it too. He gives Zelda a slight smile to let her know that he likes it, and she returns one. They sit silently - as they usually did, before the calamity, Zelda watching Link carefully as he continues to sip his tea.
He stops for a moment, looking directly into her eyes. “You’re… okay?”
Zelda seems taken aback by his question. She lets out a slight laugh. “Of course I’m okay. You saved me, Link. How in the world could I be anything but okay?”
Link raises his brow. What an odd way to answer him. Despite his suspicion, he doesn’t push her further. Instead, he basks in the absolute pleasure that is being in Zelda’s company once more.
Of course, he remembered their interactions together before the calamity, but he’d forgotten what it felt like to be with her, to listen to what she had to say about flowers, or species of animals, or the history of Hyrule. Now that he is experiencing it again, he thinks it is wonderful.
He forgot that his hand was in Zelda’s until she lets go a moment later, pulling him from his thoughts. She sighs. “I should go. You must rest. It’s quite late, and I am very exhausted. I’ll feed your horse, don’t worry,” she adds as she pours him a little more tea.
“I’ll see you in the morning, Link,” she opens the door.
“Wait,” Link says suddenly.
She turns around and looks at him.
Stay. The word lingers on the tip of his tongue. He doesn’t want to let her out of his sight. Not after this. He doesn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her, if he lost her again, after he’d just gotten her back. She stands there, almost like she’s waiting for him to say the word so she can come running back to him, but he doesn’t say anything.
One word, and it is still too much for him to bear. Zelda sighs. “Goodnight, Link.”
They’re running through a thick forest. He can hear the sound of a guardian chasing them from behind.
He grips Zelda’s hand tightly, pulling her through the woods, but she trips on a fallen trunk. As she falls, she pulls him down as well. Link quickly shakes the mud off of him, attempting to help Zelda stand as the sound of the guardian nears.
They are too late. It is just a few metres away from them. Link holds Zelda down, covering her completely by the fallen trunk. He peeks his head up, watching the machine as it searches for them through the brush. He readies his shield to defend her.
He looks down to check on Zelda, and she is crying. He tenses, placing one of his hands to her face to wipe away her tears. He gives her a nod, silently promising that he will get them out of this. Link looks back to where the guardian should be - but it is gone.
He panics, and then he hears the whirring behind him. He spins around, but not in time. It has already shot its beam directly at the princess.
He can’t bear to look at her - so he finishes the guardian off with his sword. He cuts it into small pieces, until he is sure that it has felt every bit of pain it caused the princess. Then, he finally looks at her now lifeless body. And he screams.
Once again, Link shoots awake.
His eyes dart around the room to find her, to make sure that she is safe, but then he remembers his stupidity earlier, how he did not ask her to stay. Rapidly, he shakes his head back and forth, attempting to clear his mind.
It was a nightmare. He knows this. Though, he cannot seem to shake the feeling of terror and guilt he felt just moments earlier. Seeing the princess sleeping peacefully will put his mind at ease.
He pushes himself off the bed with all his strength - he isn’t aching nearly as much as before, but it still takes some effort to get his limbs moving. She must be sleeping in Impa’s house, she was wearing Paya’s clothes, so he decides to head there.
He opens the inn’s door and begins to make his way to Impa’s house, but he sees a figure sitting at the small pond, right near the Goddess statue. He squints - it is Zelda. He sucks in a breath and heads towards her.
He sits next to her, leaning against one of the wooden posts. He lets his legs dangle above the water. The princess turns and looks at him. “You couldn’t sleep either?”
Link shakes his head. He wants to ask why she is awake - but he figures that this is a redundant question. Instead, he watches her carefully, as he normally does. She looks at him and lets out a small gasp. He raises his eyebrow, but he relaxes when she reaches forwards to brush the hair off his face. “I’ve never seen you with your hair out like this,” she tells him. “I quite like it.”
He is thankful that they are in low lighting, for he is sure that his cheeks have darkened.
Zelda sighs, still playing with strands of his loose hair. “This is… strange to me. I can’t explain it. I just feel out of place. That’s why I couldn’t sleep. What about you? Are you aching, is that why? I can wake Ollie to host you another healing session, if you’d like. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping the hero of Hyrule.”
He shakes his head again. “Are you okay, Princess?”
She laughs, just as she had before. “I told you I’m fine. You saved me. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Frustrated, he removes her hand from his face. “Princess,” he urges. He knows that there’s something she isn’t telling him.
“I told you to stop calling me that,” she grumbles, shifting her gaze to the water beneath them. “I’m not a princess. Not anymore, at least. The castle is gone. The kingdom, too. Nothing but ruins.”
Link tilts his head, waiting for her to continue. After a moment, she does. “I’m sorry. It’s selfish of me, isn’t it? I just… I woke from my slumber and remembered that everyone I care about is gone.”
She looks at him now, her eyes filled with tears. “And it’s all my fault.”
He inches his arm forwards, taking her hand in his. He caresses it with his thumb, trying to tell her that it isn’t her fault, not at all. She had done everything in her power to stop the calamity. She inhales sharply. “If I’d just… listened to my father, and continued trying to summon my power… perhaps he’d still be here. The champions would still be here. The kingdom would still be standing.”
“All I’ve ever done is fail, Link,” she says through tears. “I failed my father by being a horrible daughter, ignoring his every order. I failed the champions, I promised them that I would protect them, that I would have my power ready for the day of the calamity. I failed the kingdom, Link. So many people were lost. And all of the blood is on my hands.”
“I couldn’t even keep Calamity Ganon at bay,” she cries. “I left you to deal with it. I’m sorry, Link. I’m so sorry. For everything. I’m sorry I let you die. I’m sorry I left you. I didn’t… I didn’t mean for any of this, all this destruction and misery. I’m so sorry.”
His frown grows. He leans into her, allowing Zelda to dig her head into his neck. He takes his other hand and holds her as she cries, softly caressing her back and running his hand through her hair. He hugs her tightly, thinking of how he can put his response into words.
As she cries into him, he notices a flower beside him. He smiles softly, picking it from the ground. He waits for the princess to calm herself, and once she finally removes herself from him, he gives it to her.
It is a Silent Princess - her favourite flower. He remembers her telling him that they were almost extinct, before the calamity. Now, through his journeys to free the divine beasts, he would see them everywhere. Constantly, he would think about how happy the princess would be.
Zelda can’t help but smile. “How lovely. I guess a century was enough time for them to repopulate, huh?”
Link looks at her. “We can’t change the past.”
She is taken aback by his sudden speech. He continues, once again taking her hand in his. “But we can change the future. You did everything in your power to stop the calamity, and so did I. And we stopped it, even if we lost people we love. The only thing left to do is honour them. We will rebuild the kingdom, you and I. It is what your father would want. As for the champions - their legacies remain in their homelands. We could… build a statue. For each of them. That way, those of the future will know of their importance. What do you think?”
She stares at him for a moment, seemingly captured by his words, the soft yet determining tone of his voice, more of his promises. Link sees that a blush has crept upon her cheeks - and after noticing this, he desperately tries to fight one off of his.
However, he is a lost cause once Zelda leans forward and plants her lips on his cheek. She stays there longer than she needs to - she absolutely knows what she’s doing to him - and tightens her grip on his hand. “I think that is a wonderful idea, Link. I’m sorry for my outburst. That was quite unreasonable.”
Link shakes his head. “It wasn’t. You’ve been trapped in Hyrule Castle for a hundred years, Zelda. You are allowed to break down if you need to. I will be there to put you back together.”
At this, she leans her head against his shoulder, her hands now holding his arm. She murmurs a thank-you, but it goes unheard. It’s okay. Link knows. He leans his head against hers. He finds himself falling asleep in a matter of seconds, his breathing matching the princess’s.
He dreams of taking her to the beautiful places he’d seen during his travels, to the fields and fields of Silent Princesses. He watches her carefully, as she enthusiastically takes samples of creatures and plants she hasn’t seen before. He can’t help but smile.
After all this time of worry, confusion, and anguish, he finally feels at peace with the Princess against him.