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With Ganon defeated, Zelda and Link have been trying their best to rebuild Hyrule. Although Zelda encouraged Link to go back to the past and live out his childhood, he just couldn’t bear the thought that this Zelda would be left alone to rebuild. So he decided to stay with her and help. However, this didn’t go so easily.
Because the king was dead, Zelda was considered the ruler of Hyrule, making her queen. Link was not at all ready for the duties of a king so he decided to become her appointed knight instead. Luckily, the sages were able to return to the mortal plane and Impa has been helping Zelda with becoming queen and safety measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again. But Link would often need to also carry on some of the responsibilities. He was in charge of getting things rebuilt and going around towns and telling folks that Ganon had been defeated.
However, that didn’t mean things were easy for him. Because he had missed out on so much of his childhood, his brain started reverting his mental headspace back to a younger age whenever he got overwhelmed, which happened a lot. This is called age regression. It was mainly a defense mechanism but it also really helped him cope with stress and the ptsd that came with defeating Ganon.
But there was one problem. 4 months after the fall of Ganon, Link was in his quarters, just waking up from another nightmare. These had become a common occurrence for him. Did he tell Zelda or Impa about it? No. To him, his problems weren’t deemed “bad enough” to require help from others. That's why he hadn’t regressed in over a month. He used to have to regress twice a week but now, he was trying his absolute hardest not to.
After getting dressed, Link grabbed the mastersword and the hylian shield and set them on his back before going to the dining room to see what the cook had made for breakfast. It was a little strange not having to scrounge for food but Link wasn’t exactly complaining.
When he got to the dining room, Zelda was sitting at her seat at the table, a book open. Link couldn’t tell if it was studying kind of book, or a pleasure reading kind of book. When he walked in, she looked up and closed her book, smiling up at him.
“Good morning, Link, how did you sleep?” She asked.
“I slept…okay, I guess,” Link mumbled. He didn’t want her to worry about him. She already had enough on her plate as it was.
He pulled his cross body belt that held his weapons off and set it next to him as he sat down at the table. He could smell the food from the kitchen, which was getting him a bit hungry.
“Are you sure? The walls here are pretty thick, but I could’ve sworn I heard you having a nightmare,” Zelda said softly, her voice filled with concern.
“It’s fine, I’ve got it handled,” Link responded. He hoped that the food would be out soon. He hated having this conversation.
“Link… when was the last time you regressed?” Zelda asked. Link paused. He dreaded this question. He knew how much Zelda worried for her hero and if he told the truth, she’d just become more stressed. But if he lied and she found out he lied, she’d lose trust in him. So he decided to answer truthfully, even though he hated being a burden to her.
“A little over a month ago…” He mumbled, suddenly feeling ashamed.
“Link-” Zelda was about to continue, when the cook suddenly brought out two plates of scrambled cuccoo eggs and two cups of juice. Link was glad that the goddess Hylia had answered his prayers and stopped this conversation from continuing.
With this new information, Zelda started to worry. That was extremely rare for Link. He usually regressed very often. The bags under his eyes and tired expression gave away the fact that he had most likely been forcing himself to stay big. So Zelda decided she was going to do something about it. She called over the cook and whispered into his ear. Then the cook suddenly took away Link’s glass of juice.
Link was confused. What did Zelda whisper to the server that made him take away his glass? Was it something bad? Maybe she just didn’t want him to have juice? He didn’t know.
Not even a minute later and the server came out with a small glass bottle with milk in it. However, there was something special about this bottle. It was the same one Link used for his regression. It had a small sippy cup like spout and held up to 16 oz of children's milk. Link blushed when he realized what it was.
“Zelda… I can’t use this,” He mumbled.
“Sure you can. It’s got a spout so you don’t spill anything,” Zelda told him, starting to eat her eggs.
“I’m not small though,” He tried telling her. He also didn’t want any of the knights he was training to walk in and see him using it. Afterall, it was a children’s bottle.
“Give it some time, I’m sure you’ll feel itty bitty soon enough,” She said.
“No! I gotta be big, Zelda!” He snapped, his words getting a bit slurred and his tone was very whiney.
“Sweetie, it’s alright. You don’t have to be big. Today will be a you and me day, okay? Mama and baby,” Zelda told him.
“But I don’t wanna make you more stressed…” Link mumbled, feeling guilty for feeling himself start to slip.
“Shhh, It’s alright, Link. Come sit in Mama’s lap,” Zelda suddenly patted her lap. No matter how much Link tried to fight it, his body moved and sat down in her lap. She bounced him a little on her knee and grabbed his milk bottle. She leaned him back a little and placed the spout to his lips, waiting for him to drink.
“You’re not making me more stressed, little prince. If anything, caring for you is relaxing for me. So let yourself be small, Link. It doesn’t bother me,” Zelda promised
Her coaxing had seemed to work because Link had started drinking the warm milk. He rested his head against her collarbone as he drank. It was a tiny bit sweet, just how little Link liked it.
As he drank, all his worries started to disappear. He was so stressed about trying to prove himself to literally everyone (he had to prove himself 12 freaking times). He really needed some little time where he could just relax and feel like he was young again.