Chapter Text
Link is determined to be a knight like his father before him, and his father before him as well. His family has a long history of defending Hyrule, serving the ruling family, and he intends to continue that legacy. That’s why he’s now training to be a soldier, wishing to serve as a member of the Hyrulean Forces who will work to protect and serve Queen Zelda. He’s doing pretty well in his training, if you ask him.
And then that’s when a sorceress, Cia, attacks.
It’s the first and harshest battle Link ever involved himself in, but he didn’t hesitate to join the troops when Cia and her dark forces of monsters pulled from several eras of the past attacked the castle.
Then Link found out he was the current holder of the Triforce of Courage, and things got a lot more complicated from there. The queen goes missing, and General Impa asks Link for his aid in finding her. In their search, they gain more allies; Sheik and Lana. Though they haven’t yet found Queen Zelda, the war around them is too dangerous to allow to go on, and their group fights through Cia’s forces in the hope of closing the Gate of Souls and putting an end to this war.
Things… go more than a little sideways, though. Cia gets her hands on the entire Triforce, and uses them to tear into the past, seeking to resurrect Ganondorf, whose soul had splintered across time.
Link and his group of allies separate among the eras, the War of Ages in full swing now. They each make even more allies in the form of heroes from previous eras; Link himself meets two other Links, who he comes to call Mask and Wake. He was grateful for their aid, of course, but he found himself cursing Hylia when he met them; he himself is young enough, only nineteen when this War of Ages had started, but Mask and Wake? They’re just children. And children shouldn’t be fighting in wars.
In the end, though it takes a year, Link and his allies defeat Ganondorf, and the Master Sword is hidden away to rest, no longer needed. He said goodbye to Mask and Wake, though sad to do so, and the War of Ages officially came to an end. It was time now to begin rebuilding.
Link stayed on as a knight of Hyrule in the aftermath, while Impa stepped down from being a general and put her full focus into advising Queen Zelda. Queen Zelda herself, at the end of the war, goes on to get married to a man named Rhoam.
Link thinks he’s an asshole and that Zelda deserves better, but oh well.
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It’s during rebuilding efforts that Link meets his sweet Asha, a young woman his age who hails from Hateno. It isn’t quite love at first sight, but it’s close; it doesn’t take Link long to fall in love with Asha.
They get married in the fall, a year after the War of Ages ended. Link speaks with Zelda about stepping back from the Hyrulean Forces, to be at home with his wife and spend time together as a family. He moves in with her in the house she owns in Hateno village.
Link is twenty-two when he becomes a father; a sweet little boy, born in the spring, with his eyes and Asha’s nose.
“Link; his name will be Link,” Asha hums, cradling their son against her chest.
“What, after me?” Link questions.
“No,” Asha laughs, “after… what’d you call them? Mask and Wake? When you spoke of the war, you mentioned they’re part of the reason you survived it. His name will be Link, after the boys who made sure I got to meet the love of my life.”
“Then in that case, it’s a perfect name,” Link smiles.
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When little Link is old enough to travel with them, Link and Asha make a trip to Hyrule Castle to see Queen Zelda and the baby girl she had a few months prior to when their little Link was born.
“Another Link and Zelda, eh? Think they’ll be friends like us, your majesty?”
“I hope so. You’ll have to bring your little one around once he’s older, let them get to know each other.” Zelda smiles.
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The princess is three when Queen Zelda takes ill and doesn’t recover, passing away in her sleep one night. Link, Asha, and little Link travel to Castle Town for her funeral. It’s a somber affair. The eulogy King Rhoam gives is plain and apathetic, and Link kind of wants to punch the man.
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“Well someone’s deep in thought,” Link greets Asha with a kiss on the cheek. Little Link is propped up on his hip, the two of them having just come inside from tending to the horses. “What’s on your mind?”
“One day, I think I’d like to move to Akkala. When our little one is older and moving out. We could give him this place, and save up for a new place of our own out that way. What do you think?” Asha asks.
“I think we better start saving up,” Link smiles.
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“Daaaaaaaad!!” Little Link, six years old now, shouts from out in the front yard. Link comes racing around from the horse’s stable, and Asha comes racing out the front door.
There’s a portal in the yard, and as Link gets closer he can feel it pull.
“I think I…” Link trails off, taking a step back from the portal.
Asha picks their son up off the ground and looks at her husband sadly, “It’s here for you, isn’t it?”
“It certainly feels like it is…” Link frowns.
“Well come say goodbye before you go,” Asha sighs.
“Asha, I’m not—”
“Of course you are, Link. I know the man I married; you’re a hero. So go on, be a hero again. But you come home to us safely, you hear me?”
“Yes ma’am,” Link nods. He pulls Asha and little Link into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to both of their foreheads.
As he pulls away he ruffles his son’s hair, “You be good for your mother while I’m gone, kiddo. Hopefully I’ll be back soon. I love you both.”
With their goodbyes said, Link finally gives in to the tugging of the portal. The last thing he sees as he steps through it is his son held in his wife’s arms, the two of them watching as he goes.
He makes a promise to himself then; whatever it takes, he’ll find his way home to them.