Chapter Text
Link is tired. Exhausted down to his very soul. But he is also incandescently happy as he gazes upon Zelda’s true face for the first time in a year. He has her in his arms, by Hylia’s grace. She’s warm and real and alive. He bundles her in his arms, carrying them both out of the shallows of the pond they’ve crashed into. His shirt is missing, and the right arm now feels more like his instead of a gift from a long dead king. But… Zelda is here, and that's all he can think about.
He gently lays her in the grass, amongst a patch of wildflowers. Link is loathe to let her go, but she is still his princess, and he won’t touch her without her permission. He kneels beside her, watching and waiting for Zelda to awaken. He waits with bated breath as her eyes twitch, and finally, she starts to stir.
She blinks blearily, eerily reminiscent of their days of waking up together in Hateno, and his heart aches as she pushes herself up into a seated position. She opens her mouth as if to speak, but only a weak wheeze escapes her. She looks confused, and Link has to hold back the surge of sorrow at the realization of how long it’s been since she’s spoken.
“L-Link?” Blessed Goddess in all of her triumphs, the sound of his name has never sounded so sweet. He starts to smile as bright green eyes finally meet his. “How… are you…” Zelda trails off, taking him in as her brilliant mind starts to catch back up to speed. He watches her gaze fall, and she reaches up to her chest, where the Secret Stone rests nestled in her necklace. He almost wants to snatch it, to shatter it so it could never take her from him again. But that should be Zelda’s decision.
Zelda rubs the stone before withdrawing and looking back at him, “But I was…” Her voice is still weak, but she’s getting her bearings by the second. The Master Sword on his back chimes, ringing happily at the princess. Zelda smiles weakly, “So she reached you, after all…” Link marvels as the dulcet tones of her voice, regaining the strength he knows by heart.
“Oh!” She gasps before looking at him with awe in her eyes, “You did it! You really did it! The Demon King is gone,” She rejoices, her smile getting wider and wider with every word. “I’m not dreaming, am I?” Link shakes his head fervently, reaching one hand forward to steady her. She takes it with a grateful sigh, pressing his palm to her cheek.
“Oh, Link, I didn’t think I’d get to come home to you.”
Link doesn’t know who put all these tears in his eyes, but he’s struggling to hold them in. He’s just so happy. He brushes his thumb over the white tear painted on Zelda’s cheek. “You’re home,” He whispers in response, before bowing his head to press his forehead to Zelda’s. The floodgates break loose, and he’s crying, curled into the warm, breathing, alive body of his princess, and she’s crying too, clutching at his hand, at his hair, any part of him to remind herself that he’s here and he’s real.
She’s alive, he’s real, and they won, by Blessed Courage, they’ve won.
And it’ll take time, as all things do, for them to return to something approaching normal. They return to Lookout Landing, sopping wet and still sobbing. Purah immediately demands they both go to bed. The two of them fall asleep together in her bed, clutching onto each other like a lifeline. Zelda sleeps like the dead. She used to sleep through the sunrise, and when Link rose to start his mornings, she’d barely stir except to murmur at the kiss he always pressed to the crown of her head. Now, after watching her fall, his ever present fear of failure, and the year to get her back, the comparison makes Link anxious and fidgety enough that he can’t sleep until she wakes up enough to curl into him and hold his hand to her chest, able to feel her heartbeat. He cuddles closer, soothed and adoring, and she murmurs, “I love you, Link. ‘m gonna marry you.”
Goddess, please let this day not be a dream.
Upon waking up, Link finds his ear pressed to Zelda’s chest, and she’s surprisingly awake. Emerald eyes find him, and he can’t help but to smile, grateful. She returns the smile and bows her head to kiss his brow. “Oh, Link. Thank you so much… you’ve done everything for me.”
“What else would I do?” He answers immediately, leaning up to kiss her jaw in return. She grins in response, scratching her nails through his hair at the base of his skull.
“Would you marry me?” She asks at a near whisper as if she doesn’t want to shatter their soft moment, as if he could ever dream of saying no. He takes a moment to dream of being her husband, of always being by her side, and supporting and being supported in return. He breaks into a large smile, and surges up to kiss her, his affirmative answer mumbled against her lips.
Eventually, and it is eventually, they leave the lab, hand in hand, only to be greeted by the Sages, Purah, and Josha. Josha seems to be interrogating the Sages about their experiences under the castle, trying to figure out what happened and how the Demon Dragon had even appeared. Riju senses them first; she whirls around and gasps, launching herself forward to latch onto the two of them. “Zelda! Link! By the Eight, I’m so glad you’re alright!”
Sidon swoops in next, picking the three of them up in a hug. “Sapphire’s sake, you two, you scared us so badly!” Tulin flutters around Sidon’s head, chirping wildly as he dives into the hug too. Link can feel Yunobo anxiously hovering somewhere nearby and blindly reaches out from under Sidon’s arm to wave him over too. Rocky flesh grabs his hand, and he squeezes as gently as he can.
“Oh, that was so scary, goro…” Link squeezes back hard, and Yunobo laughs quietly. “Yeah, and it’s over.” It’s… over. It’s over? Zelda throws her head back in laughter at something Riju says, and Link startles at the sound before relaxing into Sidon’s arms. It is over.
Sidon gently sets the four of them down, and Tulin gives Link a two second grace period before diving into his arms. Link holds him easily, smiling as he chirps in his ear. “Link, that was so cool! You were awesome! I’m so glad we were there with you, though. It would have been insane if you’d really gone and done it by yourself.” He nuzzles closer before letting him go and soaring a small circle above their heads.
Zelda looks over at Link and smiles freely, somehow more open than she had ever been in the last seven years or even beyond the hundred before that. Her teeth seem sharp and her eyes glint knowingly, and Link offhandedly wonders what exactly thousands of years as an immortal dragon do to a person.
Josha storms over and grabs Link by the hand, “Swordsman! Tell me everything!” He can’t help laughing at her enthusiasm, but nods and begins recounting his tale. As he does so, Zelda’s steady warm presence settles beside Link, shoulder to shoulder. He smiles as he speaks, and dreams of what the future will hold, free of the Demon King’s presence. He’s never been so at peace.
Who. The fuck. Is at his goddess damned door.
So a guy can’t get a solid three weeks of peace after literally saving his fiancée? And the world too, but that comes with the territory. The morning had started so nicely, with Zelda rising shockingly early and making her best attempt at a breakfast in bed for him. Maybe overcooked cucco eggs and undercooked rice wasn’t exactly filling, but Zelda had given him this adorable sheepish smile and tucked a silent princess behind his ear. Of course he ate it!
She’d kissed him quickly before beginning to get ready for her trip to Tarrey Town to get some stationery and maybe peruse the jewelry. He’d lazed in bed (Zelda’s orders for the Hero to relax up until their wedding), admiring her like the besotted fool he knows he is. She caught his eye in the mirror and snapped her teeth at him playfully, far sharper and gleaming white than before her draconification. The horns have thus far proven impermanent, only curling from Zelda’s temples when she’s using her powers or she’s in a heightened state of emotion.
After getting dressed, she’d leaned down to give him a kiss as she brushed her fingers over the flower behind his ear. “Love you, darling. Have fun with your relaxation, and I’ll be back to join you around noon.” Link basked in her presence before kissing her hand and turning over to go back to sleep, buried in the blankets left warm by his lover and filling his nose with her perfume.
Only to be SO RUDELY AWAKENED by whoever the fuck is banging on his door! The only people it could be who don’t have keys would be someone from Tarrey Town (of which the villagers have been expressly told (read: threatened) by his lovely fiancée to let him relax and find her instead) or the FUCKING YIGA CLAN. So he’s not in the best mood, dragging himself out of bed with a groan and not even bothering to retrieve his arm from the dresser and only throwing his ancient shawl over his pajama shorts. Growling as he pins his shawl in place with his stump, Link stomps downstairs, grabbing a knife from the kitchen in case of a particularly bold Yiga.
He flings the door open and gets as far as, “I will throw you in the pit in your base, you animals!” before the sun stops blinding his vision for him to realize he’s just shouted at eight full strangers standing in his front yard. Hm. Maybe not the best way to make a first impression.