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“You know, I’m starting to regret not simply using the Purah Pad to directly teleport there,” Zelda said, as she wiped the sweat from her brow for the fourth time in less than half an hour.
“Come on, it’s not that bad,” Link said, though he himself had to admit that Zelda had a point. The sun of Gerudo Desert could be a merciless companion. “Besides, I can already see Kara Kara Bazaar in the distance.”
It had been more than a year after Ganondorf’s defeat, and during that time, Link and Zelda had relied less and less on the Purah Pad for traveling, opting instead for the scenic route. Hyrule was, after all, the land they fought so hard to save, so the two of them felt that they should enjoy what it had to offer and take in its many gorgeous sights instead of simply warping to wherever they wanted to go.
The number of monsters had also dwindled considerably in the past year, no doubt thanks to the efforts of the Monster Control Crews and lack of a Blood Moon to bring them back. As such, surviving monsters decided to go into hiding, making travels by road considerably safer.
Additionally, this reminded Link of when he and Zelda took those trips to the springs before the Calamity struck. While they could be bittersweet, Link had fond memories of them.
And these trips would become newer, happier memories.
Right now, the duo were heading to Gerudo Town in order to pay Riju a visit. Nothing urgent, just a leisure visit to see how their friend was doing. Had the visit been for a more important matter, they would have teleported.
By the time they reached the Bazaar, it was well into the afternoon and the intense heat of the day was quickly receding, replaced by the chilling cold of the night. The duo only had a couple hours to walk around the area and restock some supplies from the general stores until they decided to turn in.
“Come on, let’s go to the inn. It will get chilly soon,” Link said, as he walked towards the building in question, but Zelda didn't follow him. Turning around, he saw his lover staring at a Hylian man and a Gerudo woman playing with a little Gerudo girl, probably their daughter. “Zelda?”
That seemed to snap her out of her thoughts. “Uh? Oh, yes, let’s get going.”
Without further distractions, the couple walked inside the inn. The number of keys still hanging behind the innkeeper showed that thankfully there were many rooms available.
“One room or two?” the innkeeper asked.
“One room, please. With one bed,” Link told her.
Despite the fact that they’ve been in a relationship for several years and sleeping together almost as long, Zelda would always cutely giggle whenever Link asked for a single bedroom for the two of them.
And no matter how many times she did it, Link never got tired from seeing it. The sun would sooner burn out before Link’s heart stopped fluttering whenever he heard Zelda’s happy laugh.
Thankfully, the inn had no shortage of available rooms. After being given the key to theirs, they started to undress and change into their nightclothes, with Link humming a merry tune as he did so.
“You seem to be in a very good mood today,” Zelda began, as she removed her shirt.
“How can’t I be, when I’m going to share a bed with the most beautiful, most intelligent, most amazing woman who has graced this world?” Link asked.
This drew a laugh from Zelda. “You’re such a flatterer.”
“Guilty as charged. Though I don’t see you complain about my compliments," he said as he finished putting on his nightclothes.
“And never will. Keep those compliments coming, they do my self-esteem wonders,” Zelda replied with another good natured laugh, having just put on her nightgown and getting into bed. “Though, I realized your bright mood isn’t something unique today. I have noticed that it seems to be the case whenever we pass through the Bazaar. Do you have a fond memory of this place I’m unaware of?”
“Nothing escapes you, doesn’t it?” Link asked, getting in bed with his lover and giving her a peck on her lips, which she readily accepted. “Yes, this place holds a very special memory. Remember when those Yigas attacked you around here?”
Zelda quirked her eyebrow. “Your fond memory of this place is when I almost lost my life to a bunch of masked zealots?”
“Okay, when you put it like that, it sounds pretty bad,” Link admitted. “I don’t mean the attack itself, but I meant afterwards, you started to warm up to me. Like how you began to ask me if I was hurt after fighting a monster, or how you started complimenting my cooking instead of just eating the food in silence.”
“Oh,” a look of guilt flashed across Zelda’s face, much to Link’s chagrin; given that he didn’t intend to remind the princess, much less blame her for how… rocky their relationship had been in the beginning. “Yes. I was… not very kind to you back then, to put it very mildly. Sorry.”
“Hey, it’s okay, no need to apologize. I’m just happy that things between us got better,” Link reassured her. “I was so madly in love with you, it kinda hurt that you couldn’t stand to even be near me. Even if we didn’t become a thing, I’d be happy with the two of us being friends at the very least.”
“Link!” Zelda exclaimed, surprise coating her voice. “Were you in love with me back then? Why? I was cold to you at best and downright hostile at worst! While I did entertain the idea that you may have found me physically attractive-”
“Someone has a very high opinion of herself~” Link said in a singsongy voice, bopping her nose. “Not that it’s unwarranted, though.”
Zelda rolled her eyes and ignored his interruption. “-there is no way that was enough for you to develop feelings for me.”
“You’re right, your god-like beauty wasn’t the only thing I liked about you,” Link said, grinning widely. “I also loved how passionate you were about the things you loved, like Sheikah tech, or nature, or Hyrule’s history. Your sheer curiosity and your desire to always learn more about everything. Your boundless energy. Your laugh and your smile.”
Oh Goddess, the way his heart squirmed inside his chest whenever Zelda smiled earnestly.
“Liiiiiiink…” Zelda whined in embarrassment at the barrage of compliments, as she covered the lower part of her face under the blankets. Even in the darkness, Link could see her face and ears reddening.
She looked so unbelievably cute when she blushed. It would be a tragic day if he would ever lose the ability to make her turn red like that.
“So yes, that day in this place was where our relationship began to improve. And now, we even sleep in the same bed. And I only had to save your life! Piece of cake,” Link chuckled, placing his hands under the back of his head. Then, his grin turned into a slight frown as a realization dawned upon him. “Though, now that I think about it… that wasn’t the first time I ever saved your life. Or even the second,” he turned his body so he would be facing Zelda. “What was so special about that time?”
Zelda pulled her face out from under the blanket, though she was still blushing. "Oh, um, well, that was because my opinion of you had been gradually improving over time.”
Now it was Link who raised an eyebrow, curiosity peaking. “Oh? That’s new. And why were you still so mean to me if that was the case?”
“Because, um, there was still a very stubborn part of me that refused to let me see you as nothing but an unwanted addition to my life,” Zelda admitted. “It was that part that encouraged me to ditch you here and rush towards Gerudo Town before you could catch up. But given that following that intrusive thought almost got me killed, I stopped listening to that part of my mind for good and decided that you weren’t the worst thing to ever happen in my life.”
Link laughed softly. “That’s reassuring to hear. But please, do tell how yours truly was able to break down those barriers you had erected between the two of us.”
“Before I do… Do you know why I disliked you so much?” Zelda asked, the memory of her hostility towards him making her uneasy.
“Yeah, Urbosa told me. I was a constant reminder of how you had yet to unlock your powers despite all your hard work, given how I was able to pull the Master Sword when I was barely a teen,” Link replied.
“That was… only part of it,” Zelda said, letting her head fall on the pillow. “It’s not just that you were fulfilling your part of our shared destiny while I was failing, but it looked like you weren’t even trying. When you were brought into the castle in order to begin your training, I saw how you easily trounced battle-hardened veterans thrice your age as if they were mere rookies. During our trips to the springs, you single-handedly took down hordes of monsters without breaking a sweat. And people at home wouldn’t stop singing your praises, gushing about how your battle prowess was near-divine. And why wouldn't it be? You were Hylia’s chosen champion, of course she had blessed you with incredible talent! And I… I resented you so much for it. Why did Hylia favor you so much, while she ignored me? How were you able to accomplish so much without putting any effort, while I had nothing to show for all the blood and tears I put into awakening my power?”
Link opened his mouth to protest, but Zelda raised his hand so he could let her finish.
“But, the more I got to know you, I realized that my opinion of you was wrong. I heard the knights at the castle mention how you would train twice as much as them. Whenever we had any downtime during our trips, you spent that time training even more. And you were so meticulous and careful, always making sure to find the best place to set up camp, to ensure that it would be easy to defend and that there were no monsters in the immediate area. Not to mention the delicious food that you prepared.” Zelda smiled fondly. “It was then when I also started to realize that you didn’t look down on me.”
That last part made Link worried, who quickly sat up and looked at Zelda with concerned eyes. “Whoa, hold on! You believed that I looked down on you? H-How? Why?”
Zelda looked a little guilty. “Well… you almost never spoke. It was hard to discern what was going through your head at the time, what you thought of me… and back then, I wasn’t in a very good place and it was very easy for me to think the worst… almost everybody considered me a disappointment, so why would you be different?”
The revelation made Link’s heart sink. “Merciful Goddesses, I’m so sorry! Had I realized, I would have spoken up much sooner! Zelda, my opinion of you couldn’t be further from that!”
Zelda gently took Link’s hands into her own. “It’s okay, Link. Now I know that you never thought that.”
Link was crestfallen, “But still… I knew how much you were suffering, and you could have used a friendly voice to reassure you. But I chose to stay silent because I was too afraid to open my mouth and somehow make everything worse…”
Zelda placed a hand on Link’s shoulder, and smiled sympathetically. “Don’t blame yourself for that, Link. I wasn’t exactly encouraging you to get close to me. It’s little wonder why you only started talking to me when I started treating you as a person instead of an unwanted pest,” she said. “We were a pair of kids who had the weight of the world placed on our backs, and that unsurprisingly took a toll on us.”
“I… I guess you are right,” Link said, much to Zelda’s relief. “Guess there’s no point in regretting over all the things we wished we would have done in the past.”
“Yes, exactly!” Zelda eagerly nodded.
“Like that time I didn’t punch the king despite how much he was asking for it,” Link continued.
“That’s what I mean-sorry, what?” Zelda’s voice went up an octave, sounding almost like a squeak. “You… you almost punched my father? Why? When?”
Link looked at her with eyes full of bitterness. “Remember that time at the castle ramparts, when he forbad you from engaging in Sheikah tech until you awakened your powers? It was shortly after we returned from the Spring of Courage.”
“Oh…” Zelda’s expression softened, realizing why Link would be so mad at the late king. “But… you were so quiet and composed there… I almost forgot you were even there with us!”
“I still knew how to play the ‘perfect silent knight’ when the situation demanded it,” Link simply said. “But yeah, I might have appeared calm on the outside, there was a storm raging inside me. A storm that begged me to let it out the more I heard your father say those horrible things to you.”
Zelda looked a bit agitated, clearly trying to reconcile conflicting feelings that were brewing inside her. Link hoped he hadn’t made her too upset, hopes that were validated when she flashed him a cute, sheepish smile.
“Well… it’s a good thing you reined your emotions in. Assaulting a member of the royal family is a serious offense. The fact that you were the bearer of the sacred blade would have protected you from a death sentence, but no doubt my father would have imprison-”
“Honestly, I don’t care what Rhoam would have done to me,” Link interrupted her, the muscles on his face tensing up with fury, before they finally relaxed. “The only thing that stopped me was that I knew such a thing would have made you upset and disappointed, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.”
It took another moment for Zelda to digest that revelation.
“Um, yes, you’re right. Despite our… strained relationship, he was still my father, and I loved him,” Zelda quietly admitted.
“Still, I felt that I should have done something. Said something. Told him that he was wrong. That you weren’t a failure. That you were working really hard to awaken your powers,” Link began, as his fingers clenched around the hem of the thick blanket. “That he had an amazing daughter with lots of incredible qualities and should appreciate her more.”
Zelda’s fingers wrapped around one of his hands. “I do appreciate the sentiment, but I do believe you did the right thing by not saying anything that time. Plus, you did reassure me when he was out of earshot,” Zelda said, before looking into his eyes. “Some days you were the only thing keeping me from completely breaking down.”
Link placed his other hand over Zelda’s, and smiled at her. “You know I’d do anything to make you happy. Or, failing that, to try to diminish your grief.”
Her smile turned into an amused grin. “Is that why you never told my father about my escapades to Mabe Village?”
Zelda’s words shook him. “You… you knew I was following you?” she nodded. He scoffed. “So much for those months I spent training my stealth in Kakariko.”
“I’m pretty sure you aced the training. However,” her eyes sparkled with a mischievous glint, as she bopped his nose this time. “You forget that one of my advisors and closest friends was a Sheikah too. And she trained me to recognize when I was being followed. For safety reasons, of course.”
“Oh. Yeah, guess that makes sense,” Link said. He turned at her with a curious expression. “How come you didn't say anything? I remember it was back when you couldn’t stand me and hated how I followed you around all the time.”
“The first time… I only realized you were trailing me when I had been more than an hour there. I was expecting a scolding from my father the next day, but it never came,” she recounted. “The following times I noticed you from the very beginning. I guess I didn’t confront you since I was afraid to push my luck. With how much you followed my father’s orders to the letter back then, how come you didn’t report it to him?”
“My orders were to protect you, not to tell him where you were at every moment of the day. Mabe Village was close to the castle and the people there were honest and friendly. So as long as there was no danger, I could keep my distance, and let you be,” Link simply said.
“Oh, guess that’s true. So… thanks for keeping it a secret,” Zelda sheepishly said. “I… I needed it so badly. Those moments were so liberating.”
“You don’t have to thank me. And yes, I could tell,” Link said, smiling fondly. “How you would walk into the village with your librarian disguise, how you talked with the merchants at their stalls, danced to the tune of street musicians, played with the children… you were so full of life and joy, a sharp contrast to how you were at court. And hey, I’m sure that also helped improve the image you had of me, so win-win, huh?”
Zelda laughed earnestly, but she nodded. “It helped, yes,” she said, and her expression sobered up a little. “What about you? I know you felt the same way as I did back then. Didn’t you try to sneak away from the castle and have some fun?”
Link rested his head against the pillow, and looked vacantly at the room’s ceiling. “The thought crossed my mind sometimes but… well, let’s say that I was very socially awkward back then -hell, still am, remember I said how the day you were almost murdered was one of my happiest memories-, and didn’t have your zest and people’s skills, so I didn’t feel like I could just go and befriend a bunch of strangers like you did.”
“Had I known, I would have told you to come out and join the fun,” Zelda said. “The people of Mabe Village were both easygoing and very friendly. They would have welcomed you with open arms.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Link said. “Though, whenever I thought about sneaking out, I wanted to go back to Hateno and visit my family and the friends I had there. But unlike Mabe, Hateno was several days away on horseback, so I could only go back whenever I was on leave.”
Zelda gasped sadly. “I’m so sorry, Link. If I didn’t spend so much time bemoaning my situation, I would have seen that you were hurting as much as I did.”
“It’s okay. Guess I was just that good at being stoic and emotionless.”
“Just because you pretended to be emotionless doesn’t mean that you really were, Link,” Zelda pointedly interrupted.
“It wasn’t that bad, though. My job allowed me to be with the most amazing person in the world,” he said, smiling. He moved closer to Zelda. “Even though she took some time to warm up to me.”
Link slowly planted his lips on hers, a kiss she happily returned, even if it was a bit brief. “Well, you know what they say. Good things happen for those who wait.”
“Then the best things must happen to you, as I can’t imagine someone who has waited more than you did,” Link said, placing a hand on her cheek.
“But the best thing did happen, as the two times my wait was over, the very first thing I saw was you, my hero,” she said.
This time, it was her who moved to kiss him. The kiss was more intense, and looked like it would last even longer, until Zelda stopped it all of sudden.
Link gasped for air, and looked at Zelda with surprise and a little concern. “What? What’s wrong, Zel?”
“No, nothing important. It’s just….” the Princess began, chuckling a bit. "We've been together for several years already, and only now we just learned so many things about each other’s past. Kind of funny, is it?”
But Link merely shrugged. “No, not really.”
She tilted her head at him. “Oh?”
“I always want to learn new things about you, no matter how long we've been together,” Link said. “If we knew everything there is to know about each other after just a few months of living together, the relationship would get a bit dull, don’t you think so?”
“When you put it that way…” Zelda admitted.
“Though, to give you a more serious answer, we didn’t have that much time for ourselves since defeating the Calamity,” Link stated. “We basically threw ourselves headfirst into helping Hyrule rebuild, there was barely room for anything else.”
“Right. Sometimes we spent weeks without seeing each other,” Zelda scoffed, recalling those first arduous months after the defeat of the Calamity.
“And then the Upheaval happened…” Link continued.
“Ugh, don’t remind me…” Zelda groaned. “Though, funnily enough, the destruction Ganondorf caused in this era was nowhere near as bad as the Calamity did.”
Link nodded. At least all the hard work the two of them had put into restoring Hyrule wasn’t just wiped away in a blink.
He looked at her in the eyes, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “But I still mean what I said before. We may be old and wrinkled like prunes, our hair gray and our bones brittle, and our grandkids grown adults with lives of their own, yet I’ll still try to find something about you I haven't learned yet.”
Zelda smiled warmly at the declaration, then she grinned at Link. “Our grandkids, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“You do realize there is an intermediate step before we can get to that, don't you?” Zelda asked, her voice between taunting and enticing.
“I’m aware, yes,” he replied, grinning back at her.
The topic of kids had been brought up a few times after they defeated the Calamity. Though, with how busy they were with the reconstruction efforts, they decided that now wasn't the right time for it. They were still pretty young, they still had time for that.
It was, however, the first time such a topic was brought up after the Upheaval, despite being almost a year ago. Still, the idea of starting a family with Zelda had never left Link’s mind, and he was sure the same was true for her.
The way Zelda had been staring at that family shortly before entering the inn was very telling.
Zelda bit her lip, looking a bit hesitant as she spoke again. “And… what do you think? Do you think we’re… ready?” she asked, confirming Link’s guess.
“No. I don’t think we’ll ever be ready,” Link said.
Zelda looked a little crestfallen. “Oh…”
“But in my experience, no parent ever is. Even people who think they are, they realize how wrong they were when the kids arrive,” Link continued. “But they don’t just cower and give up. They just do their best, and in most cases that’s all that it takes.”
Link took a deep breath, getting his thoughts in order as he prepared for what he was going to say next.
“Listen, Zelda. If there’s something I learned since the Calamity upended our lives, is that what we take for granted today can be gone tomorrow. We both lost so many loved ones that we believed would be there with us for our whole lives. We lost each other twice, no less. And there are so many things I regret not doing… and I don’t want to feel that way anymore. No more looking at the past and lamenting over the paths we didn’t take. If there is something we want to do, we’ll do it,” he firmly said. He then grabbed Zelda and gently pulled her close to him. “So tell me, Zelda. Would you want to have children?”
“Yes,” she replied, hesitation gone from her voice. “Yes I want. I’ve been wanting for Goddesses know how long.”
“Then let’s do it. Let’s have as many children as you want,” Link intensely said. “Even if we’re afraid. Even if we feel we’re not ready.”
Zelda didn't say anything this time, she merely brought her lips onto his again, resuming the kiss she had interrupted before, a kiss Link happily returned.
“Let’s not allow anything to stop us from living our lives the way we want,” Link said when the kiss ended.
Zelda nodded. “To live without regrets”