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Link watched the sun gently set over the mountains in the distance, fiddling with the bottom of his tunic in his fingertips. After defeating the Calamity, he and Zelda had moved into his house together, since the Castle was out of service. Sitting on their bed, he gazed out the window.
When a loud crash interrupted his thoughts.
”Zelda!” He immediately yelled, his legs picking his body up on instinct and sprinting down the small flight of stairs. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
”Hylia, Link,” she laughed, rolling her eyes. She was bent over a fallen cupcake tray on the ground. “Just cooking, that’s all.”
Link raised an eyebrow. “You’re… cooking. Since when did you like cooking? I thought that was always… kinda… my thing…”
Zelda smiled. “Oh, of course! You’re still the cook in this house… This is just a recipe I… already knew.”
Link stared at the cupcake tray now sitting on the counter where Zelda had placed it. “Who taught it to you? I… haven’t taught you anything with a cupcake tray…”
Zelda chuckled softly before lounging her back against the kitchenette. “My mother…” she said fondly.
Link was shocked to silence, much like the silent knight he used to be.
“I remember… before bed… out of father’s view… she would feed me these little tiny chocolates. They were absolutely delicious. One day, maybe when I was about eight or nine years old, I walked into the kitchen and found her making them. She offered to teach me how. So she did, and… that’s what I’m making now.”
”Huh…” was the only noise that Link’s throat offered to make.
Zelda looked back down at the tray, a few bars of chocolate and a stack of cupcake liners beside it. “She called them Reese’s Cups, because they were shaped like little cups.” Zelda’s voice seemed wet. “She… Her name was Zelda, of course, but all of her close friends called her Reese.”
Only then did Link realize how little he knew about Zelda’s family. What a terrible partner he must’ve been; he barely knew about her mother!
Well, to be fair, Zelda didn’t really talk about her that much…
”Anyways!” Zelda cleared her throat, and Link was zapped back to reality. “Want to help me?” She grinned.
Link smiled. “Sure thing.”
“Okay, so they have a peanut filling. Peanuts aren’t very common, I spent a long time trying to get my hands on these. They grow them near Lurelin.”
Link nodded. “Yeah, I think I may have seen the farms. That’s cool.”
”So… get a saucepan, then mix the butter… Got that fresh from the general store today… and the sugar. Set the heat to medium… yeah, that’s good.” Zelda chuckled. “Sorry Link, I keep forgetting that you’re a much better chef than I am.”
”No, no!” He smiled. “I’m still learning, of course. Had to do something to make food when I got out of the Shrine.”
Zelda shrugged, beginning to set up another cup, crumbling the chocolate in, then setting it on the stove. “Makes sense.”
Link continued stirring the peanut mixture as it began to bubble slightly. “Although, I did learn much from the civilizations I traveled to back in those early days.”
Zelda started stirring the chocolate with a small ceramic spoon as it melted upon the heat. “That’s fun. Explains why you’re so good at cooking, yet you’ve only been learning for two years.”
Link nodded. “Hey, um, I think this is ready now. Any longer and we’ll burn it.”
Zelda looked over to the bubbling pan. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She took the pan and placed it on the counter. “Um… Link?”
“Yes?”
“Do you have your Ice Rod? It could really speed up this process.”
Link chuckled slightly, before grabbing for the slate at his hip. With a few swipes on the screen, a frosty staff appeared in his hand.
“Perfect.” Zelda smirked. “Just… shoot a bit of ice onto the peanut stuff. We need it to cool down.”
Link angled the rod towards the pan and did as intructed. A wave of frost shot from the enchanted tip, immediately cooling the previously boiling mixture. Link grinned at her with a smile of contentment.
“Great!” She praised, heading back over to the melted chocolate, still liquid upon the stove. She poured a small amount into each paper liner inside the cupcake tray. “Can you start forming the filling into small little balls? You roll each one into a ball then flatten slightly. That disc should be about this diameter. You can make twelve.” She placed her fingers just barely apart.
Link nodded, getting to work. Once he was finished, he noticed a good chunk of the filling leftover. “Zelda?”
”Yeah?”
“There’s some left. Should I… just throw it away?”
Zelda shook her head. “No, I did that on purpose. I’m making her cups but she also made something even smaller called Reese’s Pieces. I can never make it the same way that she did, but I think I’ve gotten pretty close. Give me the one’s you’ve already made…”
He passed over the tray.
“Good, thanks. Alright, now just roll those into really, really, small, round balls. Don’t flatten these ones. Then cover them in this coating. Let them dry, and you can keep them in your slate for a snack later.”
“Really?!” Link’s face lit up. “I love candy.” He grinned, doing as told.
***
Link laid on his bedroll, staring up at the sky. He had tried hunting earlier, but the Gerudo Desert was famous for its little life. Even in his era though, usually the desert had Volfruit or Hydromelons; something to eat. All of his slate stores were empty and his stomach was rumbling.
He tried to not focus on the chaos around him and lurked within the depths of his mind, trying not to focus on the hunger coursing throughout his body.
He recalled the memories of his time back in his own Hyrule, his own time. These past months, as fun as they had been, had been exhausting. Hours of constant walking, constant bickering for him to listen to (and often participate in), and the countless battles, some successful, some not, had been tiring. To be fair, tiring was such an undersatement.
So he traveled to the memories of his kingdom, his friends, Zelda, his house, Hateno—
Wait.
Food.
The Reese’s Pieces…
”Guys!” He yelled, grinning and shooting up from his bedroll. “I have food!”
“You do? Thank fucking Hylia…” Legend grumbled.
“Not sure if it’s gonna be super substantial but… It’s food none the less. Candy, actually—“
“Candy?!” Wind shouted, eyes lighting up, suddenly full of energy.
Link— no, Wild, he had to remind himself that he wasn’t Link anymore, he was Wild.
Wild grabbed the slate off his hip, and muscle memory carried his fingers across the glowing screen. He couldn’t believe how he had forgotten this! That evening with Zelda, making the Reese’s Cups, how did he forget?!
“Behold! Reese’s Pieces! Flora and I made them together.”
Slowly, each member of the Chain recieved a handful of Reese’s Pieces.
“These look good!” Sky exclaimed, popping some into his mouth. “And they taste good too!”
“I don’t even care if they taste good, I just want food…” Hyrule wined. Wild grinned, moving onto the next Hero.
”Yes, candy,” Wind hissed with wide, hungry eyes.
Time recieved his silently, only nodding to Wild in thanks.
”Thanks…” Four said tiredly, having only just woken up from a nap in the hot, Gerudo sun. He quickly shoved all the pieces into his mouth at once, before dropping back down onto his bedroll and sleeping some more.
“These remind me of those stupid peanut candies we occasionally got during the war…” Warriors sighed.
”Food…” Legend’s eyes had large dark-circles beneath them. Wild gave him a few extra.
”Thank you, Cub,” Twilight said, as Wild dropped some into his hands. He gave Twilight a brotherly hair ruffling before plopping back down and eating the rest himself.
He quietly said his thanks to Zelda’s mother.
May I call you Reese? Uh… Reese… Thank you. Look after my brother’s and I, if that’s not too much to ask. And… Look after Zelda. I hope she’s doing okay.