Chapter Text
Time seemed to move slower since it had all ended. The past week since Link and Zelda had decided to properly move in to their house in Hateno village, as lovers had gone by so very slowly and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. He didn’t know if it was a side effect of using recall so many times or that he was getting old. He hoped the century or so he had spent in the shrine of resurrection wasn’t beginning to catch up on him. Afterall, he still had a lifetime ahead of him to spend with a certain straw-haired princess who lay beside him. He stretched, allowing a small yawn to leave his normally silent lips. Zelda stirred, shuffling lightly in their bed. Link could only smile back at the soft grin on her face.
Link approached the mirror nearby, grabbing the diamond-blue hair tie which had been well worn by many years of holding his rather long locks away from his eyes. His hand dove through the mess upon his head, collecting it into a confluence which he then bound back. Staring back at him was the most famous face in Hyrule, albeit shirtless and in breeches. It was twice he had spent months travelling across the vast kingdom, twice he had thought tooth and nail, brough so close to joining the spirits, twice he had nearly fallen due to believing that climbing in the rain would somehow work if he just kept jumping. And here he stood still, the hero of Hyrule twice over, the sword that sealed the darkness resting beside the wall. And now after everything, he had to just settle down with his princess and be normal.
How hard could it be?
Zelda had left to go to the lab a little after she awoke. Purah had been visiting Hateno and insisted on another interview regarding her time with King Rauru and Queen Sonia. Link had tried to object, she had been through enough and didn’t seem to want to have to relive it. But then she gave him the scientists smile. There were parts of his pre-calamity memory which remained hazy, though every time he saw it, he could remember it as though they were right there, in the fields near the castle, Zelda trying her hardest to make him ingest a frog. He remained thankful that the result of her request remained within said hazy area.
The water brushed across his hands as he scrubbed the dishes in the newly fitted sink. It had been quite a feast he had made them both the night previous. He was rather famous for not being amazing with words, but even so he still couldn’t find the right ones to explain to her why cooking in a pot on a fire was just better, and somehow easier. To him, it had become such a second nature, it was as though he simply through the ingredients in and he had a whole dish just like that. The stains slipped off into the drain, as Link scrubbed the stragglers off with the sponge.
The morning sun blasted his eyes, shining past the distant trees, nearby houses and the occasional sky island far above. He shifted his gaze for a moment, away. Red assaulted his retinas, great oranges and yellows, the heat bathing the hero’s face with just a glance. The walls of fort Hateno lay decrepit, the corpses of the traitorous, spider-like machines sitting outside of his home. The red glow of their lights passing through the blaze, the menacing blue eye, that beep which translated to near certain death if his reactions faltered for but a moment. There was a crash sound below him though he dared not take his gaze off the machine. His heart raced as his muscled channelled every ounce of strength they could to work through the fatigue. He ran up the stairs, grabbing the sacred blade from its sheath and charged out of the door. The guardians would not harm Hyrule, his Zelda, again.
The woman looked confused, and considerably concerned. Understandable, given that Link had suddenly charged from his home with the Master Sword drawn and ready to smite her. Link seemed as confused as she was, as she slowly backed away in her mushroom styled dress and hat, its reds, oranges and yellows which had passed him in the window providing only some inkling into what exactly had happened. He was still in the village, the bastion of Fort Hateno sat a mile or so away still from the settlement. The guardians were long since defeated and dismantled, and the sky was as clear as crystal, in terms of smoke.
“Are you okay Mr Link?” The woman called out.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost…”
Link’s face grew as red as a Yiga uniform and he quickly retreated inside the house without a word. He moved to return the Master Sword to its ornate scabbard, a sharp pain suddenly searing through his bare right foot. He looked down as he lifted it, shattered porcelain decorating the wooden floor, exactly where he had been standing. Blood dripped from the gash, the tingling of his nerves more irritating than fully uncomfortable.
Link returned the Master Sword, placing it against the wall once again, then made sure that not a single speck of ceramic from the smashed plate could be seen. Zelda had been through enough. She didn’t need to worry about him too. What kind of partner would he be if he only added to her many concerns. He bandaged up his foot easily enough. The gash had not been anything serious, and in comparison, to the uncountable number of wounds he had already suffered, he could at least be glad to know it probably wouldn’t be a scar.
The last thing that he, Zelda or Hyrule altogether needed, was any more scars.