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Chapter Text

The fluffy inseams of the Snowquill Tunic hugged his slim body, keeping him warm and snug in the frozen Hebra air. Link half-listened to Misa chatting about Cree, and how the little bird was doing such a great job at advertising the Slippery Falcon these days.

“She can convince almost anyone to wander through our archway, even if they swore they were fully stocked! Oh and she just brings out a smile in everyone. I gifted her a new headband as a thank you present last week, blue to match her feathers of course. Oh what am I saying! Its the headband the Princess Zelda gave to me and a few of the other Rito after the end of the calamity, I’m sure you remember, Link.”

The pang in his chest at the name lingered, choking him from the inside out. Link gave no reply other than a slight nod at Misa, before picking up some Tabantha Wheat and sugar cane. He had heard many other Cree stories similar to this on his trip to Rito Village. When Link had arrived three days a go, he had not intended to stay beyond the first night. However after a catch-up with Tulin, fishing for some Staminoka Bass for Genli to make a pie, and assisting Molli in building up the Rito supply stock, Link found himself waking up for the fourth time in the comfortable feather-down bed at the inn. Any menial task was better than facing his present reality, and honestly Link rather liked helping people.

He paid for his items hastily, wishing to escape any more comments about the princess. He headed up the wooden stairs, pondering how he could spend the rest of the day. He did need to cook before leaving the village, but maybe he should say goodbye to Tulin first. He and his family had been treating Link like family ever since he and Tulin fought the Colgera in the wind temple.

—

“I do not know if I did him a favour, gifting him that bow. He is already overconfident, and he won’t always have you to fight by his side, Link.” Teba conversed anxiously.

“Oh Teba, you worry too much. Tulin is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He is a better flyer than any Rito in the village even though he is but a fledgling. Just you wait until he is full grown! We have the next Revali, I am convinced of it.” Saki rubbed her husband’s arm soothingly, her pink feathers slightly ruffled. Link had heard this exact exchange several times before, at least Tulin wasn’t here this time to angrily retort.

“But dear, one mistake and he-”

“Enough. Drink your tea, Teba” She dismissed him, nudging the thermos that he was squeezing between the end of his wings. “Link, what are your plans beyond Rito Village?”

Link smiled appreciatively for the change in topic. “Kakariko village, I wish to speak to Impa about something.” He signed. Truly Link just wanted to be around somebody who understood. Somebody else who knew. Somebody who would not ask the questions he could not bare to answer these days.

“Hey Link! I haven’t seen the princess for a while, where is she?”

“Mr Link, when is Miss Zelda coming back to teach us at school?”

“Hello Sir Link, strange seeing you without Princess Zelda by your side!”

-

The three of them sat with their legs stretched out in front of them, on the large wooden platform near the family’s nest. Tulin was out patrolling, not due back until dusk. Link listened to the soft rush of windmills turning in the breeze, and closed his eyes as the late afternoon sun hit his tired face.

“Is he here?! I must find him! Link!? I was informed he was here please get out of my way this is urgent! Link!” A Hylian soldier pushed past several Rito as he sprinted up the wooden path spiralling the towering rock at the centre of the village. Link, Teba and Saki stood immediately, making their way to the source of the commotion. Link moved to the front, where a small crowd was forming led by the soldier.

“Sir Link! Oh thank goodness, please come quickly, there is trouble in Hateno Village and no one can think of anybody to deal with an issue of this magnitude other than yourself!” The soldier looked positively panic stricken, sweat running down his magenta face.

“What has happened?”

The soldier wheezed, attempting to catch his breath. “A huge monster has attacked Hateno! It is refusing to leave despite all attempts at attacking or scaring it off. Luckily it has landed on the hillside rather than the occupied houses, but Sir Link! It has destroyed the stable and the well of the house you and Princess Zelda share in the village!”

Link’s heart stopped in his chest. It couldn’t be.

She couldn’t be.

He pulled out the Purah Pad and immediately pressed to fast travel to Hateno, ignoring the confused shouts of alarm as he dematerialised in front of the growing crowd of people.

—

Arriving at the Zanmik shrine, Link sprinted west towards the little stone house he had called home for many years. In that first year alone after he had woken from the Shrine of Resurrection, he had used it as a base as he stumbled his way through just surviving, not to mention every being in the kingdom pushing him to find their missing princess and fight a great evil that he barely remembered. The house had been his place to sleep, cook, and store the weapons of each of his departed champion friends.

Once Calamity Ganon had finally been defeated, Zelda had accompanied Link back to the little cottage. Before Link could think to ask Zelda when she planned on getting her own place, she had come home with plans to build a school in the village for herself to teach at. Link had somehow become the school caretaker within a matter of days after opening, always sorting out any issues with materials or the structure of the building.

The princess’ possessions slowly made their way on to walls and surfaces of the little cottage, fluffy pillows on the bed and framed photographs on the wall. The champions weapons had been returned to their respective villages (partly to honour their memory where their history lies and in part because the princess could not bare to look upon them). Zelda told Link that a home environment filled with lovely things helped to keep the mind calm and happy. Link was fairly sure there was only one lovely thing in their house that was in anyway tied to his happiness.

Since the Upheavel, Link had visited the house only once. It was too painful to spend anytime there now: memories of their breakfasts over the dining table, further teaching Zelda the right way to gain a horse’s trust at the little stable, sitting by the pond on summer evenings watching the darting dragonflies together. Zelda would always be discussing some new idea or invention she had collaborated on with Purah or Robbie earlier that day, whilst Link would be munching away on a snack of some sort. If the birds came to visit, Link would toss them some crumbs purely to witness the smile it brought to the princess’ face. The sound of the insect hums and the soft splashing of Zelda wading her feet in the water filled his ears almost every evening back then.

Yet now Link could only hear the crowd of terrified Hylians, bellowing and shrieking whilst warning others to stay back. Mothers soothed their wailing infants as they ran to shelter, nervous Hylian Retrievers barked at the soldiers heels, and the cool wind breezed through Link’s long golden hair.

It was at this point that Link heard the roar. A blood-curdling, pained cry that violently shook the ground below. Did she sound afraid? He was sure he could tell, even now.

Mid sprint, the sight of the overgrown lawn and elevated off-white chimney became visible, and fear rippled through his insides. No longer did the hills stretch on unblemished for miles behind their Hateno house. A giant winding tail of white and gold lay resting over the hills that backed away from Hateno village. Jagged turquoise spikes lined the top of her huge body, glowing in the setting sun.

Link had never moved so quickly in his life, tearing through the crowds without so much as a look back at the disgruntled mumbling and cries of alarm. As he reached the aged rope bridge to the front of the house, heads turned from the creature in front to the sound of rapid footfall across the wooden planks.

“He’s here!”

“Sir Link thank Goddess.”

“We’re saved!”

Various people called and cheered to him, but Link took no notice. His blue eyes locked on the large Hylian solider holding a spear to the dragon’s sizeable snout. Link’s legs only stopped once he had placed his own shaking body between her and the soldier.

The Hateno villagers looked curiously at Link, some bordering suspicious. He signed furiously, “Please stop, leave her. She means no harm. Allow her to rest.”

The crowd took several steps back, and Link was relieved to see that the creature seemed to be almost unaware of their presence anyways. Her scales were far too thick to be pierced by a simple spear, or rather any attack a mere mortal could attempt.

“It is true the monster has not attacked, nor retaliated to your weapons.” An elderly lady directed at the soldiers. The soldiers looked confused, searching for their captain for further instruction. Link recognised Gralens, who stepped forward and spoke in a commanding voice.

“Men, I know Sir Link well. I trust his judgement and his knowledge without question. If he believes this creature to have no ill intent towards our citizens, then we have no reason to worry.” Gralens smiled at Link, and began to dismiss his men. Comments barely reached Link’s ears as he began to process what had just happened.

“Odd fellow, I’ve always said it. I don’t know what the princess sees in him.”

“Well the monster did only damage his house I suppose, we can’t really complain!”

“Strange, the thing kept thrashing around and roaring, but as soon as Link arrived it calmed right down…”

The crowd slowly dispersed, allowing Link to finally turn around and take her in. Her golden hair fell in pretty waves, shimmering in the dwindling daylight. The spiky, pale blue horns were level with the roof of the adjacent house, her long snout stretching half way across the lawn.

The dragon looked peaceful, content in fact. She seemed in no hurry to roar again, instead following Link’s face around with her vibrant green eyes.

He waved at her.

She blinked at him with her golden eyelashes.

“Zelda?” It was worth a shot.

Could dragons…purr? The low noise of content radiating from her throat seemed to physically drag the tears down his pale cheeks. He moved forward and tentatively stroked her snout with his left hand. The purring increased in volume as the dragon’s eyes slowly closed. Link was grateful for it, he didn’t want her, any her, to see him lose control like this.

They stayed like that for a while, the dragon’s eyes stayed closed as if gifting him privacy.

-

After four days, Purah shows up.

Link assumes somebody in Hateno must have contacted her, worried for the knight's sanity. Purah had not been informed about Rauru and Sonia, nor that Zelda had been transported to the past. Link had deliberately encouraged the rumours of a rogue princess terrorising the various people in Hyrule, in fear of having to explain where Zelda truly was.

Purah wore her usual cream fluffy jacket, loose black skirt and deep red tights. Her trademark golden goggles were perched on her white hair, and she clutched at a large leather-bound notebook. She walked tentatively up to him, putting on one of those smiles that people often did when visiting someone very old and sick. “Linky! Haven’t seen you in a while huh? How’s it going?” She almost sounded like her regular bubbly self, the anxiety just seeping in her tone.

Link looked a mess, his hair flat on his head and tunic grubby and scuffed. He had been sat at the dragon’s side for almost 100 hours now, not even taking a break to run inside his own house and shower. He looked up at Purah and forced a soft smile.

“Same old I suppose.”

She gazed at him, deciding how to bring it up. The creature he knelt besides stared at Purah, following with dazzling eyes as she paced up and down the overgrown lawn.

“So…who’s your friend?”

“A dragon.” He stated simply.

“Funny, I’ve not seen this dragon before. Different to the usual elementals that have said to have roamed Hyrule for millennia huh? I wonder where this one came from?” She immediately took out her notebook and retrieved a pen from her hair, then started scribbling notes down. "Any theories Linky?" Purah attempted to get him talking, to share anything about the mysterious creature he would not leave the side of even for a hot meal, and Link loved his food.

Link stared at the ground below. He subconsciously moved further into the dragons side, his body pressed up against the side of her scaly head. Purah tried a different approach.

“You think it would let me touch it too?”

Link cringed at the pronoun. He wasn’t feeling up to correcting Purah however.

“I guess so.”

Purah stuffed the notebook back under one arm and edged closer, the dragon blinking at her. As her fingers reached the hard scales, the dragon's majestic horns glowed brightly. Purah was fascinated, the body was nothing like no material she had ever seen before. She wondered how to bring up the idea to Link of “harvesting” one for research purposes, goodness knows what properties it could possess. 

The dragon clearly did not consider Purah a threat. She closed her eyes and relaxed against the soft grass under her belly. Seeing her content put Link’s mind at ease as well. He stood up beside her and unsheathed the master sword, twirling it in his hands.

Purah stayed for another half an hour, attempting to coax Link into eating a meal or taking a nap. All such suggestions were refused with no explanation provided. As she used her own Purah Pad to dematerialise back to Lookout Landing, she viewed the scene one last time.

What on earth was Link doing?

—

“You have to come and see him, I cannot even explain what the problem is you just have to see it with your own eyes, Impa!”

Purah had travelled to Kakariko Village as a last desperate hope that maybe Impa could get through to Link. It had been weeks since the first visit Purah had made to Link as he sat on the overgrown lawn of his old residence. Every time Purah teleported back to that spot (she had Robbie set up a travel gate for convenience sake) Link remained in the same spot, skin against scales. Purah had began bringing him meals as well as elixirs to combat the smell of unwashed skin. He begrudgingly did as he was told and consumed both just to get her to stop asking.

Impa's sitting room had changed since Purah had last visited, a huge slab was pushed to one wall, part of the ring ruins that Chief Paya wanted to keep close by, Impa had explained. Pink blossom trees surrounded the seating area opposite the from door, whilst various old and new documents scattered the four walls and several desks. 

Purah looked imploringly at her old friend's face. “Explain to me fully what has happened, Purah.” Impa croaked. She had to crane her neck harshly to make eye contact with her these days. Sometimes Impa wished the age experimentation had not worked so well for Purah the second time around. At least as a child Purah was easier to physically converse with, and did not make Impa feel all of her years at once.

Impa wanted to give Link the benefit of the doubt. It was to be expected that the boy would want to lay in his bed and forget the world, maybe weep for hours on end. He had just experienced arguably the biggest heartbreak anybody could face. Zelda was gone, gone and could never come back with only the light dragon as what remains of her. Impa had shed her own share of tears when she had found out what the princess had done, how she had spent thousands of years existing in such a lonely way. The worst part of it all was that she had held out a little hope that the death of The Demon King may somehow bring them closer to an answer of how to transform Zelda back into her Hylian body, but it had not. Now Impa spent hours a day pouring over any source she could get her hands on that had a mere mention of secret stones or dragons. So far she had found nothing remotely suggesting the transformation was reversible. Impa considered telling Purah the truth, but did not want to inflict the pain on her that she and Link had to endure for the rest of their lives. Purah should be allowed to have hope.

"He's behaving like a total weirdo, a dragon landed in his garden and although he claims to know nothing about this dragon I think its kinda strange how nobody has ever seen it before. I've never even heard of a legend of a white dragon in Hyrule."

Impa blinked.

"And now Linky hasn't left the things side for weeks, not even to shower! I'm using up all my stock to brew hygiene elixirs just to keep him from smelling terrible whilst I visit him. I know he's always been a little...wild but this is a lot even for him, Impa."

“Take me to him.” She instructed.

Purah looked relieved, pulling out her own Purah Pad and selecting the travel gate.

—

Impa felt all of the emotion she had experienced since she found out about draconification hit her at once, the sight of the princess’s new form too much. She stepped towards the dragon, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Princess I…I’m so sorry.” She weeped.

Purah stared at Impa, even more confused. She had expected Impa to knock some sense into Link, tell him to get back to searching for Princess Zelda. He didn’t have The Demon King to worry about anymore, so he should be able to dedicate all his time to finding her.

So why was Impa walking towards the dragon and looking at it just as Link did, with great sadness and pain? Purah looked at the dragon again, there was something to its large eyes...

Link finally broke contact with the dragon for the first time in months. He walked over to Impa and crouched in order to put his arms around her small body. Impa held him, and sobbed into his shoulder.

“I’m sorry but what is going on!?” Purah exclaimed. Link and Impa broke apart.

“I will explain.” Impa stated, making eye contact with Link. They stared at each other for a long moment, and then he nodded at her.

“Purah, sit down. There is something we need to tell you.” Impa began. Purah sat cross legged on the floor, waiting anxiously.

Impa took a deep breath. “Before Link defeated The Demon King, he found 13 memories scattered around Hyrule. Each at the place of a geoglyph, minus the final memory. Each showed a piece of what had happened to Princess Zelda on the day the upheaval occurred. Link discovered that when she fell beneath Hyrule Castle, Zelda travelled back to Hyrule's founding, to a time of legend and not records. To when the first king and queen founded the kingdom. As he discovered more memories, Link saw Zelda befriend the King Rauru and Queen Sonia, and witness a kingdom that was also under attack like our own has just been. Ganondorf was active in that time.”

“How is that possible? How could The Demon King have survived until our generation?” Purah interrupted.

“He was born in that time, and rose to power then too. Zelda witnessed the downfall of Hyrule, as well as Ganondorf murdering Queen Sonia. They were destined to lose, and only managed to keep Ganondorf at bay by imprisoning him into a deep sleep underneath Hyrule Castle. However it cost them the life of King Rauru.” Impa continued, Purah hanging on her every word.

“So Zelda saw all of this? She was really in the past? Wait! Is she still there?” Purah was beginning to become excited. Was this where the princess had been? Maybe a plan could finally be formed to get their friend back home!

Link turned his back on Purah, and began to stroke the dragon’s snout again. Impa gazed at them sadly. “No, Zelda is not still in the past. She knew The Demon King would rise once more, and that the Master Sword had been no match for him in her current state. Link contacted Zelda in the first few hours after waking up after the upheaval, sending the sword to her in the past. Even I do not understand what magic occurred for that to be possible, but Zelda had the master sword. She decided she must do whatever…whatever it took to embalm it with the most power possible. Enough power to defeat The Demon King in the distant future.” Impa’s voice trailed away at the end. Purah was still confused.

“How could the princess give the sword more power?”

Impa went on to explain draconification: Zelda’s light and time powers, exactly what the princess had to endure, and how the secret stones had determined her fate. Purah looked at Impa in horror as she spoke, entirely lost for words for the first time in her life. Finally, Purah looked up at the white dragon that Link was still stroking.

“So you mean to tell me…” Purah whispered.

At last Link turned to face them. “This is Princess Zelda.”

—

A few weeks later, Link, Impa, Purah and Robbie sat on the lawn of the Hateno house. The group were now very used to the feel of the warm grass beneath their legs, the sun on their backs and the breeze in their hair. Link had finally been convinced to take breaks for showers, as Impa had assured him no harm would come to the princess as the other three would stand guard the entire time his eyes were off her. Impa often brought along large meals that Paya had prepared, the Sheikah chief wanting to assist in anyway she could after Impa had informed her granddaughter about what had happened to the princess. Robbie had been told the same story that Purah had heard, he removed his goggles and hung his head sadly as he listened. After the group had spent a few days in mostly subdued silence, they banded together to strategise any way of making their current situation better, even if only slightly.

Robbie and Purah had been attempting to find ways for Zelda to communicate with them. It seemed as though Zelda wanted to talk to them, but her body left her very little option to do so. Purah had suggested some sort of eye tracking chart, so the dragon could use her eyes to spell out words. Robbie was more inclined to develop a method of directly reading the dragon’s thoughts and have them automatically be read out by the Purah Pad.

“The voice automation is a good idea, but the mind reading is insane Robbie. You have to see that.” Purah said, taking a bite of a homemade dumpling. Robbie rolled his eyes at her.

“We know next to nothing about these dragons! Anything is possible I say.” He stated, turning to smile at Zelda. She blinked at him. “See! The princess agrees with me.

Impa suddenly grabbed Link’s arm and knocked half of his bowl of stew onto his lap. “Link! Have you tried asking her to blink for yes and no?” Link shook his head. Impa stood up quicker than she had managed in the past 50 years.

“Princess Zelda! Blink once for yes and twice for no. Blink three times if you understand what I just said.” She tried. For a tense moment, the four Hylians looked at the dragon’s face, hoping.

Then, she blinked. Once, twice and three times all within the same few seconds.

“It worked!” Purah shouted excitedly. “Oh the implications! I will develop a screen which will input a letter or number when the princess makes eye contact with it. She can blink to submit the phrase. Oh and Robbie we should collaborate on the text to speech software, I think we can manage to…”

All voices trailed away in Link’s mind. He attempted to fully process the information he had just received. Zelda could understand them. She wanted to talk to them, maybe she could even tell them things, things they did not yet know about her experiences in the past with Rauru and Sonia. Of course Link had inferred she must recognise him to a certain degree, after all she had purred when he first found her on the side of the hill, and her eyes always sparkled when she looked upon him, compared to the others. She even came to his aid when defeating The Demon King, making sure to catch Link on her soft golden waves whenever he leaped from the Demon Dragon.

However whilst the others rejoiced in the knowledge that they could at last converse with their princess once again, Link felt positively nauseous. Zelda had been trapped at least somewhat conscious as a dragon for thousands of years. She’d existed in a fortress of solitude up in the misty clouds for eons. Almost the entire time she roamed a kingdom in which her only friends had either died or had not been born yet. It felt like his heart might break for her again. He stepped towards the remains of his princess and rested his forehead on her scaley cheek.

“I’m sorry” His voice cracked from little use, but he needed her to hear him.

She whined softly.

—

“Here you go princess! Just look at each letter to spell whatever you want to say. Then blink to get the Purah Pad to read it aloud!” Purah announced, a wide grin on her face. The four Hylians stood in front of the dragon expectantly. Nervous tension in the air.

Purah had designed a large board with letters, numbers and symbols in rows for Zelda to be able to communicate. Robbie was holding the Purah Pad up in the air by the dragon’s snout, his eyes shining with excitement.

Princess Zelda’s voice sounded from the pad. “Hello my dear friends.”

Link looked around in shock. It was as if she was stood right next to him, speaking to him directly. Robbie cheered loudly, breaking Link from his thoughts. “It works! Oh this is excellent.”

Purah smiled widely and patted Zelda on the cheek. “Nice to hear your voice princess, we hope we didn’t overstep. We had video footage of you on the Purah Pad and old Sheikah Slate and Robbie and I could use that data to produce a voice software for you to speak aloud with your own voice!” She explained. Robbie and Purah smiled smugly at each other, pleased with their work.

Impa wiped her eyes with the back of her wrinkled hand. “It is good to hear you princess.”

“It is amazing to be able to speak to you all.” Zelda’s voice rang out again. The three of them grinned.

Link’s face remained still, his eyes fixed on the ground.

“Link?”

To hear his name in her voice, his chest swelled unpleasantly. He suddenly bolted, running into the little stone house and slamming the door shut. The three Hylians looked at each other, anxiety written on their faces. The dragon whined sadly, clawing at the ground beneath her.

Chapter Text

Link stayed locked in the little white house for three days, ignoring anyone who knocked or called out for him. He could not bare to be near the dragon, to hear the voice, her voice, when he knew how much she had suffered. Suffered because he had failed to catch her on the day the Demon King returned. He lay curled in a foetal position in dirty cotton bed sheets, sweat soaking through to the mattress. Each time he managed to drift to sleep he had soon jolted awake from nightmares, his heart pounding in his ears. He swore he could hear her softly whining, crying out for him.

The noise had always stopped by the time his pulse had quietened.

Purah, Impa and Robbie had tried over 30 times in the past few days to coax Link out of the house. Robbie had tried promise of adventure and gifts, whilst Impa brought various meals and snacks and used various methods of wafting the smell up to Link’s bedroom. Purah had suggested just breaking the door down, but Impa insisted it was better he come out in his own time.

“Let’s go back to our own beds for the night, give him some space.” Impa suggested.

“But the princess?” Purah reminded her, and the three of them looked at the dragon. Zelda had been quiet the past few days, sticking to single words and animalistic whines rather than the full sentences she was clearly able to say. Her horns drooped, her eyes appeared misty, even her scales seemed duller than usual.

“Do you mind Princess?” Robbie asked her.

“I think it may be a good idea for us all to have some space.” Zelda’s voice came, and the three Hylians relaxed a little.

They dematerialised at the same time, Purah alone and Robbie holding onto Impa drop her off before returning to his own laboratory.

Zelda waited until the village was quiet, most of its inhabitants surely asleep. She then attempted to heave her long body across the lawn, closer to her beloved old cottage. After about twenty minutes of shuffling, her sharp talon was close enough to tap on the window.

—

Link jolted awake, his senses warning him of nearby danger. The walls around him seemed to vibrate, the window, (now cracked, the source of the unwanted alarm, Link assumed) rattling in its frame. Was there an earthquake? He looked towards the window and saw the entire view was obscured with those familiar scales.

Zelda had intended to knock gently on the bedroom window, but had underestimated her size and strength down here on land. She knew she must have terrified Link when she accidentally smashed the window, and looked guiltily at him as he ran out of the door and stopped in front of her.

The pale moon shone above the pair, several clouds littering the dark and gloomy sky. Hateno village was eerily quiet tonight, even the insects seemed to have stayed at home. Only the sound of the light breeze on the overgrown pond could be heard near the little stone cottage.

“Link, we need to talk.” That voice squeezed the air out of his lungs again, but Link knew he had to push through this time. “Please listen to me.”

He stood in front of her long face, she had lifted it from the ground now, as if posed for a serious conversation. Link could still see the princess’s true form oozing out even as the dragon. With her eyes fixed on her communication board, Link had the opportunity to really take her in. She seemed deflated, miserable even compared to the last time he had seen her. The beautiful glow of her golden locks muted, her long pale ears drooped to the grass below.

“I am okay Link, and this is not your fault.”

“If I had only managed to catch you I could have-” He argued but she cut him off.

“No, you saw the murals under Hyrule Castle. This was destined to happen, it was the only way. I chose this Link, I chose this and I am sorry. I knew it would hurt you, I chose to put the kingdom first when I knew it would hurt you and I am sorry it had to be that way. I felt guilt gnawing at me everyday, because I knew once you discovered the truth you would be devastated.”

“You broke my heart, Zelda.”

As Link’s arms fell down beside him once again, a deafening silence began. After an agonising pause, finally Link looked back up at her face just in time to catch the large tear drop falling from the corner of her familiar yet incessantly wrong eye. It fell to the ground and pooled there, just as Link had seen thirteen times before.

“Watch it, please.” She begged.

Link hesitated, then moved forward towards the dragon’s tear. The familiar process started up again, and he closed his eyes, ready for the vision.

This time, Link was not observing an unfamiliar Hyrule of the distant past, but a Hateno village of just five years a go.

—

Zelda sat at the dining table, fidgeting with the items on the table Link had laid out. A large jug of orange juice, an open pot of honey, fresh wild berries, eggs and toast were arranged haphazardly on the surface. Link may not be organised, but he certainly valued the quality and quantity of food. Zelda looked around, the house still mainly contained only Link’s possessions, but a couple of her own belongings were scattered around too. She was still nervous about bringing up the idea of them living together long term, especially when she and Link had barely approached the conversation of them.

The only sound to be heard in the cottage apart from Zelda’s anxious tapping of her fingers on the porcelain jug was a cheerful whistling and quiet sizzling from over by the stovetop. Link was flipping freshly made pancakes onto a plate ready to serve them, whilst humming a nostalgic tune. Zelda didn’t know if her knight was even aware he was doing it.

He turned around, wearing an obnoxious yellow apron he had stolen from the castle kitchens the last time Zelda had dragged him on one of her excursions there. “A reminder of all the wonderful food I have had the pleasure of eating here, plus I will be cooking for the two of us from now on! Need to have all the equipment, even the prettier pieces like this.” Link had told her, grinning widely. Those first few weeks after the calamity, Link had been so full of joy and jokes and laughter that even the princess forgot her worries around him temporarily. Things had calmed more recently, but he still insisted on wearing the apron as he cooked for her.

He placed the pancakes in the middle of the table and moved to sit in the wooden chair opposite the princess. He waited for her to take her own pancake (then stared at her intently until she took a second) before retrieving his own and slathering it in berries and honey. He munched happily as he looked around the kitchen, clearly unaware of Zelda’s current anxieties.

Typical, she thought. She had a knight that was hyperaware whenever there was issues she did not want to discuss, but blissfully ignorant whenever she would like him to take the lead and put her out of her misery.

“Link I want to talk about our living arrangement, and us.”

Link chewed more slowly, meeting Zelda’s eyes and listening politely.

“I understand that you are concerned for my welfare and are probably just being polite letting me take your bed. However I have been in a semi-coma for 100 years, and am perfectly able to sleep beside you. In fact, I would prefer that arrangement.”

Link cocked his head to one side, after a few seconds pause he swallowed. “Okay, we will share from tonight.” He agreed simply.

The princess was taken aback, she had expected Link to put up more of a fight, to act nervous or confused. Hadn’t he forgotten everything that had happened before the calamity?

“You seem very eager to share my bed.” She expressed.

“It wouldn’t be the first time for us.” Link added confidently.

“Actually it would?” Zelda asked, confused herself now.

“Weren’t we courting before I was hit by the guardians?” Link queried.

“Well-sort of!?” Zelda exclaimed. She had sort of thought they were, but Link always seemed so oblivious to her advances back then that she always assumed he would have thought of them as merely coworkers: knight and princess, guardsman and royalty. “What do you remember?”

Link took a large bite of toast, he had already polished off three pancakes since he sat down, whereas Zelda’s sat untouched on her plate. “Oh nothing at all, other than the memories I collected back then.”

“Then why would you assume we were…having relations?” Zelda pressed.

“Well just the way you’ve always acted with me?” Link began, rubbing the side of his head sheepishly. “Were we not together?”

“I mean… we never officially discussed it. I wanted to get involved with you ever since you saved me from the Yiga Clan ambush, but by that point I had behaved…less than desirably towards you. We always flirted though.” Zelda maintained at the end, proud of herself for earning at least some of the handsome knight’s attention.

Link wiped his mouth with a napkin (one of the first things Zelda had insisted on the moment she moved in, after seeing one too many dirty sleeves of his) and looked at his princess. “Zelda, the moment you sealed Calamity Ganon away you ran to me and kissed me. Fully kissed me.”

“Well yes but…I was in the moment!”

“You then spoke to me as if we went everywhere together, made all these plans for us without ever considering we would be leaving each others side at any point. We went to a meadow and looked at flowers on our afternoons off from travelling to different cities.”

Zelda bit her lip.

“I always assumed those afternoons were our dates.” He continued.

“I suppose I can see how you might have..”

“Didn’t we kiss in a field full of those blue flowers?”

“I mean…”

“Several times?” Link pressed.

Zelda felt silly, she had been worried that dragging the conversation of real romantic feelings out of her knight would have been difficult, almost impossible even. He had always been stoic, a man of few words. Even when he signed he usually answered in simple sentences.

Here Link was having fluent conversations about them kissing and going on dates, and how he has assumed they had been in a romantic relationship this whole time. She needn’t have worried after all.

After watching her in silent thought, Link stood up and made his way over to her, crouching beside her chair. He took her face in his hands and leaned in to kiss her lips softly.

“Are we…dating?” Zelda asked.

“Yes I think so.” Link replied, they both grinned.

—

Back in the present, Link slowly opened his eyes and they fell on the current Zelda, more scaly and horned, but equally as majestic and lovely as human Zelda had been.

“I remember that morning.” Link told her. “It felt like the start of the rest of our lives.”

“It still can be, Link.”

The knight remained still, quiet. He fidgeted with the master sword’s hilt.

“…Or, you can move on.”

He looked up and glared at her.

“There’s no need for that! I was merely suggesting if you would wish to go and seek out a romantic partner, that would be okay. I know lots of men and women in Hyrule would be very interested in getting involved with the Sir Link.” The dragons large eyes flitted around a moment, before she let out a huge huff, the grass moving beneath Link’s feet like a sudden wind had picked up. “I need to ask Purah and Robbie if there is anyway to add some new features to this communications device. I would appreciate being able to laugh once more.” The princess finished.

Link thought about it.

Even though the future looked bleak for them both, they were technically together, right? And so what if Zelda couldn’t sit at the dining table for pancakes and wild berries anymore. She could still converse, she still had wants and desires, she even wanted to laugh. He was still her royal knight, despite her no longer being human, and he was, first and foremost, still technically her boyfriend.

Maybe they could move into a larger house, one where they could push a bed by the side of Zelda’s new, large head. Maybe an immortal dragon could still enjoy the taste of pancakes, even if she didn’t need to eat anymore. Perhaps they could go for a swim together, they could definitely go for flights around Hyrule together.

“I’ll call Purah.”