Link, the hero who has been asleep for the past century, is wandering the forest up near Kakariko Village. He had just visited the last Great Fairy to have her upgrade his gear for him. He had managed to defeat the Blights with what he had, but he figured Ganon would be stronger than all four put together. He looked up at the sky as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Night would be upon him soon, and he would need his sleep if he was going to defeat the Calamity.

He sat down and looked through his gear. He had plenty of weapons and arrows, but didn't feel like he was strong enough to truly face Ganon and save Zelda. While he knew that it was imperative to rescue her as soon as possible, he needed to make sure he could have the best shot possible at beating Ganon and saving Hyrule. And that meant there were a few things that sill needed doing. He still needed to get the Master Sword. That elusive weapon from his past that he never felt truly strong enough to obtain once again. He needed to visit more shrines, becoming stronger through the Monk's trials and their spirit orbs. And lastly, he needed to deal with himself.

Link hadn't shown it over the past weeks as he traversed Hyrule, going from village to village, area to area, but he was tired. Not physically tired (though he was beginning to feel more tired as the days went on) but emotionally. He couldn't stand the strain of his duty, and it was slowly consuming him. He kept it hidden pretty well so far, but he was losing the strength to keep up his stoic look. Link grabbed the Sheikah Slate and opened up the album. He scrolled through the pictures he had taken, including the pictures from his mysterious past. He recently went to Purah to see if any more pictures were missing, and after some finagling, she managed to recover the rest of the pictures. And what he saw burdened his heart even more.

He and Revali throwing back drinks as the glasses stacked up, trying to outdo the other with the other Champions laughing in the background. Daruk cheering on Link as he tries to eat a "delicious" rock roast with tears in his eyes. Urbosa resting her arm on top of his head like he were a railing as she poked his embarrassed red face. He and Mipha leaning against one another smiling into the camera, as the sun set behind them, their hands entwined with each other's.

He held his eyes on the last picture. Mipha. The Zora Princess who he had grown up with, and fallen in love with. She had made the Zora armor for him as an engagement proposal, but she never had the chance to give it to him. Not before Calamity Ganon appeared and stole her and all his friends away from him. He felt anger well up inside him, but he quashed it down. He wasn't about to break now. He couldn't. He had to be strong. He was the hero. He had to save Hyrule. He couldn't spend time crying about what was...could he?

Was it wrong for him to cry? To break down and suffer for a bit? To allow himself to feel what he should be feeling about the situation? No, he thought, it wasn't. It wasn't wrong. But he couldn't do it around other people. No one else could see him in that state. Glancing around, he saw no one else in the immediate area. He would wait a little while. Give himself some time. It had been a long time, and he feared the dam of emotions he'd been holding back might burst forth and drown him. He needed to try and take it slow. And so he started with the Slate again. He began to scroll through the recovered photos once more.

Little did he know, Link wasn't alone. He was never truly alone anymore.

The four guardians, in their spirit forms, floated around the young hero. Every time he had freed them, they moved their Divine Beasts into position, and then followed him on his travels to provide their powers as assistance.

Mipha was the first he inadvertently recruited. After the exciting aquatic battle with Sidon, he managed to board Vah Ruta and confront Waterblight Ganon. When he beat the monstrosity, she appeared before him. She had been so happy to see him, and that was the first time he nearly broke his stoic mask. Seeing her again, after so long, after what he'd been through, had almost been too much. But he held on, and accepted her power without question. After moving Vah Ruta, she began to follow him, healing him when she could, always telling him it was her pleasure, because it truly was. She wanted to help him however she could. And it also was one of the few times they could see each other again. Those few precious moments meant the world to them.

He freed Urbosa next. It had been good to see her again. He always missed the motherly aura she produced. It was always contrasted by the snarky comments she would always make. She was quite the character, and an invaluable friend to have. After he had defeated Thunderblight Ganon, and Vah Naboris was in place, Urbosa noticed Mipha following Link and decided to join her, if anything to keep her from being lonely. She would lend her power to Link whenever she could, and it always put a small, sly smile on his face when she would cause lightning to strike down on his enemies. Mipha appreciated the company more than Urbosa knew. While she had Link, they didn't truly have each other, with her having no way to communicate with him and him having little to no way of knowing she was always with him.

Daruk was next. Being that they were spirits, they weren't affected by the heat, but Link sure was. They felt a mix of worry and amusement seeing him going to great lengths to avoid the heat. Sprinting back and forth trying to grab lizards, before slowly creeping towards them to collect as many as he could. Using Korok leaves to try and cool down. Even chugging fireproof elixir after elixir, despite it tasting exactly like burnt leather.

When he finally made it to Vah Rudania, after firing Yunobo like a living cannonball, he managed to defeat Fireblight Ganon, freeing Vah Rudania and Daruk himself. Link had been glad to see Daruk, his sworn brother, again and with Daruk, the feeling was mutual. They shared a laugh and Daruk went to move Vah Rudania into place. After his job was done, Daruk decided to follow his fellow champions, providing Link with his protection against those that would harm him. As for his fellow spirits, his presence brought a certain level of amusement to them all. In their situation, they needed Daruk. They needed to laugh, to enjoy themselves as much as they could. It was too bad that Link would never get to join in.

Revali was the last Champion Link rescued. He tried to treat all his fellow champions equally, but he wasn't exactly rushing to see Revali again. He remembered the two of them not enjoying each other's company too often, so he saved him for last. Flying with Teba had been exciting, and his fellow champions were generally overcome with worry as Link flew through the air, firing bomb arrows at Vah Medoh's cannons before catching the wind again. Mipha herself would always worry that he would not be able to deploy his paraglider in time, and she would have to watch him plummet to the ground below. To her relief, he managed to destroy all the cannons and made it inside. He defeated Windblight Ganon and freed Revali, who proceeded to move Vah Medoh into position. He was reluctant to join his fellow champions. He didn't want to watch over the hero he detested to much, but even he had to admit that staying on Vah Medoh for who knows how long could be boring compared to being with his fellow Champions again. Reluctantly, he rejoined his friends on their quest and followed after Link.

That brought them to where they were now, looking at their final Champion companion, who was scrolling through pictures on his Sheikah Slate. The spirits looked over his shoulder and pointed out memories they had from the various pictures.

"He didn't have to eat it, but he was adamant about trying it for my sake. He truly was a brother to me! Even if he spat out most of it!" Daruk laughed, recalling the face Link made after he finally finished the rock roast.

"You think that's funny? How about him and Revali drinking against one another? I always thought Rito were lightweights, but he sure gave Link a run for his money! Too bad Revali couldn't even come close to Link's record. That boy could down Noble Pursuits like a true warrior!" Urbosa recounted, chuckling at the sight of Revali unconscious on the floor as Link cheered. Revali could only scoff and turn away, clearly still sore about the loss.

Mipha, like Link, stared at the picture of him and her sitting at the East Reservoir. The picture brought happy memories back as she thought about her and Link that day. They had adventured all over the Domain before finally resting there, talking about their childhood, their responsibilities, but most importantly, talking about what they would do after the Calamity ended. He could tell something was on her mind, but she never said anything. It was that day he wanted to tell her he loved her. That he wanted to be with her after the Calamity ended. Hilariously enough, she was thinking the exact same thing. But neither had the courage to say it, and both figured they could bring it up after they had defeated Ganon. She grimaced, knowing now that would never be the case.

She was going to turn to her fellow champions to join them in their reminiscing, when she noticed something she swore she must have been imagining. A tear falling from Link's chin. She shook her head slightly, thinking it must have been her imagination, when she noticed another one fall. Then another one. Soon, she could see her hero shaking as he quietly cried to himself.

Her picture had been the last straw. The memory of not telling her how he felt would forever haunt him. He never told her, and now she may never know. He set the Slate down to rummage through his gear again, before slowly pulling out the Zora armor she had made for him. He ran his hand over the armor, stopping at the scale that came directly from her. He clenched her gift, his visage finally breaking completely. He pressed his face into the armor, crying his heart out. He howled in anguish into the armor. He screamed in anger. Anger at his memories of friends he would no longer see. Anger at the world he was forced to wander alone. Anger at the one who took all his friends away from him. But most of all, anger at himself. Anger for not spending more time with his sworn brother. Anger for not trying to be better friends with Revali. Anger for not taking the time to joke and celebrate with Urbosa. Anger for a man too scared to tell the girl he loved his feelings.

He cried like that for a what seemed like an eternity to his fellow Champions. He didn't know how long. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. But slowly, as he finally wore himself out from the crying, the sobbing, and the screaming, he slowly began to let the weight of his eyes guide him, as he passed out into the first of his many restless nights to come.

Mipha and her fellow Champions could only watch with heavy hearts as their ally and friend broke down in front of them. He had always been their constant. Their strong silent rock to hold on to even when times were rough. The last person they expected to break down and crumble before their eyes. They wanted to be there for him, to comfort him and tell him that everything was going to be ok.

But they couldn't. They could only watch their friend pass out in exhaustion, collapsing to the ground still clutching the Zora Armor to his chest. Mipha knelt down and ran her ethereal hand through his hair. "Oh Link, I'm so sorry..."

Hello again! While I love my other story "Little Link," this story hit me when playing BotW again. I always wondered why the spirits of his friends showed up when he used their powers when they were still at their Divine Beasts. So I decided to try a story where they were actually with him to use their powers. But taking on a quest like that? Saving a world where almost everyone you care about and love are all dead? I don't think I could do it, and I wanted to explore Link's psyche as he grapples with these problems as his friends try to help. So, I don't know if this is going to be a one shot or not, because I think I could have other scenarios that the other Champions can be there for, like the pulling of the Mastersword, him doing trials/quests for people (the Finley x Sasan quest comes to mind), and even defeating Ganon. If you guys would like to read that, then let me know! I'd happily continue this story if you guys want me to. Otherwise, thanks for reading! I really appreciate it!