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A white sheet covered Hateno Village and glistening flecks fell from the sky, being located so close to Mount Lanaryu meant the snowfall was pretty heavy during this time of the year.
It was January, a new year had started and a string of bright colourful lights still strung on their shared home from the Christmas just gone by. It’s been three summers since Link saved Hyrule and the princess from Calamity Ganon. After their victory he brought her here. This was now their place and they made the rules.
Zelda was up on the loft where their bedroom was, sitting at her desk and looking over some research notes. She thought about how much has changed. When she first met Link she thought there was a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about him. He never spoke, so getting to know him proved difficult but over time they grew closer as they spent almost every moment together. Tied by the same destiny, no one else understood them like they did each other. Maybe not much has changed after all, about them anyway. The Hyrule they once knew was long gone but returning after a hundred years led them to a more simple way of life.
It was devastating of course, the battle they dealt with and the lives that were lost. But it also freed them from their previous duties, Zelda could finally pursue things she actually enjoyed rather than her princess tasks assigned by her father before. Rebuilding the kingdom was a tough job and it would take time. However there was no rush, she got to research and plan things at her own pace.
One of her first projects being a school to be built in Hateno where the kids could learn in a safe and fun environment. Zelda loved to engage in lessons and spend time with the kids.
A hundred years ago and even now Zelda was highly suspicious that everyone who seen Link wanted him. Before she heard the way the maidens and bachelors spoke about him, they all admired his good looks and how skilled he was, his title of the one chosen by the sacred sword made him very popular. But they didn’t know him like she did. They were only young when they met but now he was a magnetic force of a man.
The sound of a pot sizzling snapped her out of her thoughts and back into her notes.
Link was in the kitchen cooking dinner, combining some fresh milk he purchased earlier that day in the local store, Hylian mushrooms Zelda picked from the woods nearby, rock salt and vegetables from their small garden they planted soon after they had settled in the village.
He hummed, lost in thought as he reminisced on the first time he met Zelda. “Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?” was one of his first thoughts about her. Meeting the princess of Hyrule for the first time was exciting but familiar, like as if they had known each other in a past life.
The creaking of stairs alerted his focus back to the pot in-front of him. “Smells good” she said as she appeared beside him. “What is it, dear?”
“Creamy mushroom soup” he held up the ladle indicating for her to have a taste. “Delicious” she smiled and he beamed with joy. Zelda’s compliments never failed to make the tips of his ears a rosy colour.
Link stirred the soup one last time and poured the liquid into two bowls as she set up the dining table for dinner. He placed the bowls on the table and they sat down to eat. Zelda watched him, never not noticing the scars on his hands. They talked about their day as they ate, she was helping out in the school while he ran a few errands for the villagers.
Zelda was showing a science experiment to the kids that day and was almost jumping with excitement to tell him all about it. “Then Symin knocked over the flask and it spilled everywhere, thankfully nothing toxic but oh my god you should’ve seen him, he was absolutely covered in blue. It was everywhere!” She laughed, Zelda sometimes happened to be over dramatic but always true. He always enjoyed her stories.
Link went onto tell her about a woman in the village who was seeking stress reducing herbs. Apparently her husband was so busy with farming, she had to handle the house and kids and it was too much for the lonely woman who wished her husband would pay more attention to her needs. “There’s a better way I can think of to reduce stress” he said and gave Zelda a wink. She laughed realising what he was implying, “Oh I certainly hope you didn’t actually say that to her” and he shook his head.
Once they were finished, Zelda cleaned up and made her way to the couch where Link was sitting sharpening a pocket knife. She grabbed a book to read as they sat by the fire for the rest of the evening. The two were curled up right next to each other. After all those years apart they always wanted to be this close.
Link had a sweet, woodsy scent that made her unable to focus, she put the book down into her lap and asked “What are your plans for tomorrow?” he averted his gaze to her “Not sure, I was thinking of heading down to Hateno Bay to check for monsters and clear them if necessary.”
“Can I go with you?” he frowned, Link didn’t like putting her into possibly dangerous situations. “How about I head there in the early morning, do my check and then come get you so I won’t have to worry about something attacking us”
She admired how much he cared about her safety. “Sounds good, darling” she smiled. Zelda loved when he took her out on his adventures and then they got to come back to their home together. He blushed at her response, he found the nicknames coming from her mouth adorable.
The fire crackled and popped. They continued to sit for a while until Zelda’s eyelids started to shut against her will, it was getting late and she couldn’t fight her tiredness, she leaned her head onto his shoulder. After a few minutes she was passed out.
Link noticed and as gently as possible moved from under Zelda and picked her up into his arms and carried her to their bed, laying her down, hearing a muffled “I love you” from the sleepy princess. “Goodnight, my sweet Zelda” he placed a kiss on her forehead before preparing to join her.
They had another long day ahead of them tomorrow, and forever.