(a/n)- This started out as me thinking about the house in Hateno, and then just sort of took on a life of its own. Also, Zelda snuck her way into it.

Any similarities to other LoZ fic was unintentional.

Before setting out to free the Divine Beasts, Link buys a house in Hateno, just on the outskirts of the village. It's bare, and feels too big for just one person, but when Link sees the construction company about to tear it down, he impulsively spends almost all of his rupees on it. Then he takes one look at the inside and leaves it, empty and mostly untouched.

He doesn't seek out the locations in the pictures. Not yet.

There's a wolf that travels with him occasionally. He doesn't know where it came from, meeting it first on the Great Plateau, or why it follows him around. He's certain that it's the same one every time. The wolf has distinct markings on its forehead, as well as an odd shackle on its right front leg. The most defining feature on the wolf, however, is its eyes. The wolf's gaze is intense; wild but intelligent, almost human, and bright blue. It is unlike any wolf or creature that Link has ever seen.

The wolf was unsettling at first, but it makes traveling a little less lonely. Link likes walking or riding his horse with the wolf padding along quietly beside him, silent but a reassuring presence nonetheless. Sometimes it takes down wild game for him, quicker and more agile than Link could ever hope to be. It even fights alongside Link when there are monsters around, often making a tedious process take a fraction of the time.

When Link makes camp at night, settling down in a forest with the protection of the trees around him, or in an open field, the wolf will curl up at his side if it's around. Link doesn't stay awake long enough to see if the wolf eventually falls asleep as well, drifting off with the wolf's alert eyes watching around them.

The wolf isn't always there. Link sometimes wonders what else it does, when it's not following around a lonely boy.

Link frees Vah Ruta with the help of Prince Sidon. He remembers Mipha, but just barely, and then he has to process the fact that someone had once loved him and he hardly even remembered her. She'd been dead for a century, and he spent weeks after waking up without a single fleeting thought of her. Now she's the only person from his past that he does remember.

Link goes back to his house and he changes out of the Zora armor, folding it up carefully. The house is still empty. There's mud and clumps of grass on the floor, blown in from the outside through the gap where a door should be. Link cleans the mess and then pays Bolson for a door and some lighting before setting off to look for a few of the locations in the pictures programmed on the Sheikah Slate.

In one of the memories he gains back, Zelda had been talking about the Silent Princess flowers. "The Princess can only thrive out here in the wild," she had said, her tone of voice implying she wasn't only talking about the flowers. Link doesn't know what he'd been thinking or feeling in that moment. Yet, now, he thinks of her words and he finds he understands Zelda a little, even if he hardly remembers her.

It's in the Rito Village where he remembers Revali, another Champion. Revali wasn't sweet and caring like Mipha was, everything coming out of his beak being some sort of dig at Link. Link wonders what he'd done to be disliked.

Vah Medoh is harder to get to, flying high above the Rito Village and shooting down anyone who dared approach. Teba helps him get in, but gets injured in the process. Link feels guilt consume him as Teba flies away, but has to push the feeling away as he enters Medoh. Teba will be fine. His job is to free the Divine Beasts and eventually take down Calamity Ganon, there's no time for much else. He'd already wasted enough time.

Afterwards, Link goes back to Hateno, and notices that there are some apples growing on the tree behind his house. He plucks one and eats it, and it's not much in terms of sustenance but as he polishes it off he feels just a little bit better. He's tired, though, weariness settling deep into his bones. He goes to Bolson, who still makes a habit of relaxing near his house with Karson, and requests a bed.

Link falls asleep easily in his new bed, but once he wakes up a few hours later, he feels wrong. There's no breeze around him, no sounds of birds chirping or Bokoblins chatting. It's too quiet, too comfortable, and the walls around him feel like they're slowly closing in. The house that had felt too big, too empty, suddenly feels small, isolating.

Link goes outside and sits against his apple tree, looking out at the land beyond. It's almost hard to believe that he'd been out there when it all looks so far away from the serenity of Hateno.

The wolf is outside too, curled up by the back of the house. It cracks open its eyes and spots Link, then pads over and lays down, resting its head on Links lap. Link feels himself relax slightly as he runs his fingers through the wolf's course fur, and as the sun is just starting to rise, he doses off again.

He wakes up at noon due to the rain, feeling stiff and achy but well rested. After eating a few apples, Link heads off, and as he's walking away he looks back at Hateno briefly, feeling wistful for a few moments, before forcing himself to continue on. He heads towards the Great Hyrule Forest instead of seeking out the third Divine Beast or looking for any more picture locations, spurred on from memories of a blade hanging off his back and the rumors of a legendary sword that seals the darkness. After a few days journey there, and an indeterminate amount of time spent trying to navigate the Lost Woods, he's confronted with the Great Deku Tree, whose presence somehow feels simultaneously imposing and comforting. Link tries to pull the Master Sword from its pedestal and finds he's not yet strong enough to do so, despite the fact that it had once been his, had chosen him specifically to wield it. At least there was something that could tell he was no longer the hero he'd supposedly been 100 years ago, instead of expecting him to be exactly the same.

Zelda, Impa, Mipha, Reveali, The Great Deku Tree. They were all people Link had a history with, yet all he could conjure up of them in his scrambled mind were incomplete shards of memories, devoid of context, with only the phantom imprint of emotion attached.

Link goes into the body of the Great Deku Tree, where they had set up accommodations for him, and sleeps in the bed one of the Koroks made for him. It's crudely constructed, cobbled together out of leaves and sticks, but Link sleeps easier in it than in his own bed back in Hateno, with the sounds of the cheerful Koroks and the musty scent of wood and moss around him.

Link could just imagine himself staying there, the forest enveloping him until he's part of it, one with the trees and the leaves and the Koroks, watched over by the Great Deku Tree. It's a nice thought, one he holds onto as he sets off to leave the Great Hyrule Forest. Something inside him aches.

Link knows he should go to the third Divine Beast as soon as possible, that there really wasn't any time to loose, but instead of going to the villages near where the remaining ones were, he finds himself travelling back to the shrine by Hateno. It's a selfish thing to do, really, when Hyrule has already had to wait 100 years for him to wake up. Still, he finds himself thinking about the friendly faces, the safety, his house close to town but still removed enough that he feels like he can breathe, that he isn't being judged. Then he thinks about the frankly terrifying-looking thing he assumes is another Divine Beast climbing around the imposing mountain, or the other one in an area he has yet to see, about the new people he has to meet, the creatures he'll inevitably have to fight. He thinks about the castle, surrounded by Guardians and the Great Calamity itself. He thinks about Zelda. All these thoughts surround him, overwhelm him, until all he can do is sit on the ground, putting his head between his knees and struggling to regain his breath.

So he goes to Hateno.

His house still feels strange, almost like he's visiting the house of a stranger who left long ago, which isn't entirely untrue. There's dust almost everywhere except his unmade bed. Still, the house is probably the place he's gone back to the most since he first left the Shrine of Resurrection. It's forgein, but it's his.

Link goes back to Bolson and Karson and asks them to plant some trees and flowers. They don't seem to mind, jumping back to work enthusiastically. Link wonders if Bolson Construction Company has any other customers. Maybe Hudson is having more luck in Akkala.

After they're done and Link is admiring their work, Bolson suggests a sign in front of the house. Link thinks about it for a second, then shrugs. It is his house, after all. After it's made, it's strange to see, but Link finds himself smiling.

During his travels, when he's not fighting, when the wolf is somewhere else, Link has nothing but his thoughts as company. So he thinks, a lot, even when it hurts.

He wonders if he had a home before. Maybe in the castle to stay close to the princess, or somewhere in the once bustling town around it. Maybe he grew up in a town like Hateno, small and peaceful, that he had to leave behind once he was called for his destiny. Or maybe he'd always been like this, wandering around the land and never staying in one place for too long. Maybe his home had been the wilderness of Hyrule, tall peaks and sprawling grasslands and dense forests. Maybe his home had been the wind blowing through his hair and the sun warming his skin, the soft main of a horse in his hands.

Or maybe he just didn't have a home. Maybe he never belonged anywhere, was always an anomaly in a world he ultimately failed to save.

Did he once have a family? If he did, he doesn't remember. All he remembers now is snippets of his life as a Champion, every brief glimpse providing more questions than answers. Maybe there was just never anything more to him than that, being a Champion. Nothing important at least.

Link meets Yunobo. He realizes that he's unintentionally made some friends during his quest, and wonders if he'll get a chance to visit any of them once it's all over. His old friends, however, were gone, only spirits now.

Remembering a Champion has been hard every time for Link, especially when their spirit talks to him while he's in Divine Beast. He only barely remembers any of them, but he'd failed them, and they'd been trapped for so long because of it. Some of the guilt lifts once he defeats the scourge infecting a Divine Beast, but not all of it.

It's after he frees Vah Rudania that Link decided to go back for the Master Sword. He travels to the Great Hyrule Forest and tries again. The blade accepts him this time. So he was the hero, after all. The blade doesn't speak to him, like Zelda had implied it should, but it still feels right as he swings it around, testing it out.

After he'd freed Vah Medoh and remembered Mipha, Link had started to seek out the locations of the pictures. Some he actively looked for, relying on landmarks, others he'd stumbled across on accident.

Link had been skeptical about these locations giving him back any of his memories. However, with every location he visits, he remembers some piece of his old life, with Zelda in all of them. Before he knew it, he'd gone to all of the locations, including one in the castle, as well as the final one Impa directed him to.

He only has the bare bones of memories from them, though; the visuals and a remembrance of words. Though he remembers them from his own perspective, the memories feel hollow. They don't feel like his. He can't remember the sensation of the breeze, the sun beating down on him, can only imagine it from his more recent experiences. He can't remember what was running through his mind.

He does remember Zelda's frustration, how she had been suffering from not being able to live up to her namesake. How her father made it all worse, trying to mold a child into an instrument for the resistance against the Calamity, and being disappointed when she couldn't dig up her long dormant powers.

She'd been cold to Link in some of the memories, her words bordering on harsh, but Link held no resentment. Once she'd warmed up she was kinder, playful even. She spoke of her fears, confided in him. He wonders how many friends she used to have, wonders if she ever considered him one of them.

He aches for Zelda, sees how much she struggled, and thinks of how she ended up where she is now. Link becomes more determined than ever to defeat the Calamity.

Riju, the Chief of the Gerudo, is young, even younger than Link. She projects a calm exterior, but her inexperience and uncertainty still shows. He feels sorry for her. It can't be easy being so young, only a child, and to be thrust into such responsibility. Still, she does her best for her people, and braves even the terrifying Vah Naboris for their safety. Link hopes that he could be considered even half as worthy as her.

He regains a memory of Urbosa, resting on Vah Naboris with Zelda leaned against her, sleeping. Zelda looked peaceful. Urbosa showed empathy towards Zelda, said that she was special, and Link feels relieved knowing that there was someone else looking out for her.

Link takes many pictures. Sometimes of useful items, or people he meets, or monsters or animals, to commit these things to memory. Sometimes he takes pictures of a particularly beautiful view. He goes through them sometimes when he's resting. He's learned a lot since waking up in the Shrine of Resurrection, and his growing collection of pictures is a testament to that. Link looks at a picture of Sidon grinning broadly, and laughs at how the angle was a bit off since Link is so much shorter than him.

Link thinks of Sidon, and realizes that though he'd lost so many memories, and could probably never recover them all completely, he's made new ones without even realizing. These memories feel more concrete, without the static and removal the others had.

Link looks at pictures of Sidon, of Mipha's statue, of Yunobo, and feels more real, more like he belongs than he had in any time since he woke up.

Going to fight Calamity Ganon is the most stressful he's felt in all this time, despite the fact that he's climbed mountains, fought Lynels, done things most wouldn't even imagine doing. Still, this was the moment that everything has been leading up to.

The fight is hard, long, and tedious. Link utilizes every skill he's learned, every maneuver, pushes his body to its limit. Then, it's done. Zelda emerges, brilliant golden light surrounding her, and she banishes Ganon. Not even a trace of malice remains.

"I never lost faith in you over these many long years," she tells him. Link doesn't know how to respond.

Despite the odds, Link and Zelda had saved Hyrule, finally fulfilling their mission from 100 years ago. Now Link is free to do whatever he wants, no particular responsibilities weighing him down. Yet, he feels lost. He isn't exactly sure what he'd expected would happen after he defeated Calamity Ganon. He hadn't considered a future for himself, besides hoping that he'd be able to visit his friends. Perhaps he'd just assumed that Hyrule wouldn't need him anymore, that he'd just disappear. What happened to the other heroes after they finished what they'd been tasked to do? Did they retire, a life of luxury ahead of them? Did they stay with their princess, protecting her for the rest of their lives? Did Link even deserve to have the same fate as them, when he'd left Hyrule to destruction and despair for a century? He was sure the other heroes hadn't failed so spectacularly.

Link had defeated the Calamity, but it was too late for so many people. It was too late for the other Champions, and it felt like it was also too late for Zelda, who sacrificed so much. She didn't deserve any of what happened to her.

Link does stay with Zelda, but she's no longer a princess, and he isn't there to protect her. They set off to restore Hyrule together, but leave behind their former labels.

The wolf doesn't visit him as often, until it stops coming at all. Guiltily, Link misses it more than he misses anyone from his old life. The wolf never expected anything from him except occasional food, it was always just there to fight with him or warm him up on chilly nights. It would have a look in its eyes that was almost understanding.

He misses the wolf, but he has Zelda now, so it isn't as bad. She turns out to be good company, smart and quick-witted, and she seems to understand him better than anyone could. She never gets frustrated at Link when he still can't get himself to speak, never expects him to.

Though he has memories of her, Link finds that he has to get to know Zelda again. Partially because his memory prior to being awakened still has large gaps, and often doesn't even feel like his own, but also because she was a different person now. They both were.

They travel together, spending long stretches of time in each other's company. It's nice, actually. Link had feared at first that they wouldn't get along, or that Zelda would expect him to be someone he wasn't. She doesn't. She shows Link compassion for his shortcomings, and he does the same for her. Zelda quickley becomes Link's best friend.

He shows Zelda his house in Hateno. He feels awkward, gesturing to his weapon mounts and furniture. There's dust everywhere. It's nowhere near the grandeur of Hyrule Castle, but Zelda beams as she looks around. Something in Link's chest lightens.

When they have time, they stay at the house. The Sheikah Slate makes it easy to go back, even when they travel to the farthest corners of the land. Like Link, Zelda loves being out in nature, but he knows she also likes to have somewhere to go when she's tired. Zelda had a castle, before, but not a home. Then that castle turned into a self-imposed prison, and Link can't begrudge her for not wanting to go back. He offers his house, and he sees how she allows herself to relax. He feels warm.

Most of them time when they stay in Hateno, Link tries to get Zelda to sleep on the bed, with him on the floor beside her. She's often stubborn about the arrangement, and insists that he sleep on the bed. Eventually, one of them relents. At one point, when Zelda asks him to be honest about where he'd like to sleep, he takes her outside and shows her his favorite spots. Under the apple tree, on top of the roof, in the grass. That night she sleeps next to him among the flowers and saplings, and he thinks about her in the castle, with only windows to look out of to see the stars. That night, they seemed extra bright.

Silent Princesses had been spreading rapidly since the defeat of Calamity Ganon. Link likes to think that it has something to do with Zelda being free.

While she'd once hesitate to pick them, with the surplus she does so more readily, putting some in her hair or Link's when they come across a thriving patch. When they take some time for themselves in Hateno, there's usually a vase overflowing with Silent Princesses in the center of their table. Link loves the smell, loves how the blue of the flowers are almost the same hue as Zelda's outfit, loves seeing Zelda's smile when he offers her one with a flourish.

Link finds he loves spending time with Zelda, and she seems much happier than she had before, when she had to conform to the expectations of her father and the people of Hyrule. Still, they have their fair share of bad days. It was inevitable that they wouldn't get through the ordeal unscathed. Zelda had spent 100 years dedicating all of herself to sealing away an ancient evil power, struggling with dwindling powers, while Link had almost died and was put in suspended animation, only to wake up with no memories and find out almost everyone he'd known was dead.

Sometimes Link goes out and just rides Epona for hours, directionless, looking around him at the now familiar landscape ravaged by time, recalling memories from 100 years ago and others he's made since he woke up. That can either help clear his head or make everything far worse.

Zelda sometimes locks herself in the house, on her bad days. She's either far too quiet, shut off, or she paces around, all nervous energy, listing off all of her failures, professing how she was a fool to think she could return Hyrule to its former glory. It's hard, seeing her like this, but Link prefers it to the alternative, when she was all alone, suffering, with no one to listen to her plight.

Occasionally, Link will ask Zelda about the past. He doesn't like to often, it still hurts to think about, and on the rare occasions Link speaks he finds it hard to express what he wants. Still, usually on the nights they lie beside each other, gazing at the stars, Link will ask. Sometimes all he needs to do is look at her, and she knows.

Zelda tells him about their time together. She tells him about her complicated relationship with her father, about the mother she hardly knew. She recounts stories of each of the Champions, laughs at Link's expression when she mentioned Revali. Urbosa was her favorite. Link thinks about the memory he has of them, and he understands.

Zelda tells him about his family, only what she had learned, or the little Link had told her himself. In one of his memories she had mentioned his father, that he'd been a knight. She tells Link about him, how he was dedicated and skilled, but ultimately died in combat. She tells Link about his grandma, who raised him and his little sister after, his grandma who had cried when he left. Zelda tells him he had a little sister. She sees his look, and gives him a sympathetic one of her own. "I don't know what happened to her, I'm sorry." Link nods, looks up at the stars again. He wonders how he should feel.

Though there are still dangers in the land, Hyrule is much more peaceful now that the Calamity is gone. Link is relieved, but the quiet also makes him feel uneasy. It feels like the threat is hiding, lurking just out of sight and waiting for the right moment to strike.

Link never puts his guard down. Every full moon, Link stays up all night and watches it, waiting for it to paint the indigo skies blood red. It never does. Link doesn't relax. Zelda sometimes stays up with him, wordlessly watching the sky at his side, or falling asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. It helps.

Link and Zelda travel, and help people in need. Zelda pursues her dream of being a scholar, reading every book she finds on Hyrule. She carries around her own notebooks, all with their own purposes. On one, she recounts the events that transpired a hundred years ago. Link can tell it takes a lot out of her, but she insists, knowing it might help in the future so that something similar doesn't occur again. In other notebooks she records plants, animal species, recipes that Link invents that she likes. She writes about their current travels, about people they meet along the way. She also keeps a diary, which is the one book she forbids Link from reading.

Link has a house in Hateno. Over the years, it becomes warm and familiar. He also has a home in the wilderness of Hyrule, in the freedom of his new life, in the presence of Zelda, who is somehow both an old and a new friend. His home is everywhere and nowhere, and he finds that it's the only way he feels truly content.