Zelda had found that Link had taken his horse from the stable. Wherever he was going, he was planning for it to be rather far. Zelda had asked to borrow one of the villager's horses and what direction her friend had gone.

"Towards the Dueling Peaks, it looked like. Not sure where he could be riding, but he looked like he was in a hurry."

In a hurry to where? The princess rambled through her mind, My dear friend, where could you be?

She galloped with the palomino she had borrowed as fast as she could urge toward the Dueling Peaks. It took nearly three hours to ride there, and it was getting very late. The moon was high, and the young woman was beginning to feel incredibly nervous. It was never confirmed whether the lives of monsters were tied to the Calamity. There had been small herds of Bokoblins since Zelda could remember, and Lionels were older than the written word. For them to just suddenly disappear…

Before she could ponder the subject further, she saw lights in the distance illuminating a large wooden horse with a tent below it. The stable! Perhaps they had seen Link. She approached the front of the tent, her hair windblown and her cheeks red from the chill.

"Have you seen a man riding a horse come through here?" She asked hurriedly, without thinking.

"Couldn't imagine why I would," The horseman at the counter commented, deadpan. Zelda huffed both at his sarcasm and her own vagueness.

"A man, a young man with dark blonde hair and a light blue tunic on?" She asked again, irritation seeping through her voice. She didn't have time for this.

"Oh, yeah! Yeah, he came through here," The man at the counter stated, making a slightly annoyed expression, "He nearly ran me over with his horse, but all he did was buy arrows from Beedle back here and ride off toward the Castle, it looked like. Missed him by about fifteen minutes. Must have had a death wish, too. There's a storm brewing, out that way."

Before he was even finished talking, Zelda was already on her stead and galloping toward Central Hyrule.

"Wait! Wait, lady?!" The stable hand exclaimed, "Didn't you hear what I just said?!"

He simply sighed and went back to his post, muttering something about how people were getting crazier and crazier.

The man wasn't lying about the storm. Rain was stinging Zelda's face as she rode, soaking her to the bone. She was nearly to the old Castletown, nearly to her friend who needed her help. As she entered the old, decrepit ghost town, she jumped as fast as she could off of her mount, her boots splashing the rainwater as she did so.

Her mind raced as she thought of places Link could possibly have gone in this area. Perhaps the old barracks? No, no, she passed those already. He was nowhere to be seen. Her study, maybe? Couldn't be there, what would he want with her old, useless, research materials? She pondered, her eyebrows knotted with her fingers gripping the bridge of her nose. If only she had caught up with him before this.

WIthout warning, Zelda began to hear a growling noise from behind her. She froze, her breath quickening. Perhaps it was just thunder? SHe was standing in the rain, after all. Admittedly frightened, Zelda slowly turned behind her.

A large monster nearly five times her size stared down the princess with what she could only assume was a grin. Drool and rain dripped from its long, blue snout as it raised its enormous spiked club, ready to squash her flat.

Run! The princess' mind shouted, but her feet stood, shaking in the spot. The horse next to her fled with a terrified whinny, leaving Zelda for royal jelly. Run, damn it! Her mind reeled. She took a step backward as the Moblin began to swing.

"S-stop!" She demanded, her hand up in defense. To Zelda's surprise, the Moblin did so, but only out of confusion as it cocked its head to the side. It began to raise the club again.

"I said, 'stop!'" Zelda commanded once more, pointing a finger. Quite honestly, she had no idea what she was doing and was just as confused as the beast in front of her. The beast's ears drooped a bit, but it tried once more to lift his weapon.

"No!" The princess reprimanded as if the monster was a dog, "Put. It. Down." The Moblin gave something of a whine. "Drop it."

Finally, the Moblin dropped the club next to him sadly.

"Good." She rewarded, standing a little firmer, "Good Moblin." The large creature sat down, slightly happy at the compliment. She wasn't aware that moblins even understood Hylian, but perhaps it was the inflection. She wasn't sure. Whatever it was, somehow, it was working. She would have to research this later.

However, what didn't need research was the ridiculously loud sound that came from the monster's stomach. Perhaps that was why it came this far out to the castle. It must have been hungry. She looked around in the small bag of holding that Link had left for her that morning. Perhaps he had left some kind of food in this thing. Soon enough, she found a large piece of gourmet meat.

"Hungry?" She asked excitedly. The Moblin perked at the sight of the raw meat, it's jaws wide in a grin. "Yeah?" The creature nodded with vigor with wide eyes, his tongue lolling out of its mouth.

"Go get it!" she replied with a hearty throw. She must have learned something from Link at some point, for it flew well outside the gate of Castle Town. The Moblin ran after with hungry eyes, grabbed the meat with a tackle, then, ran off in the opposite direction excitedly.

The princess, with a satisfied grin, let out a muffled scream through her tightly closed lips, successfully releasing the panic felt in every inch of her body. She turned about to continue searching, but it seemed her mission was complete.

Link was standing in the rain behind her, the most confounded look she had ever seen on anyone's face, let alone someone as stone-faced as the knight before her. The very epitome of the phrase 'what in the living Hell' was stitched onto every corner of his countenance.

"What?" She questioned, clearing her throat nonchalantly, "Poor thing was hungry. Not everyone swings first and asks questions later, you know."

Link fish-mouthed for a moment, a finger pointed at the sky as if he had a retort at the ready.

"And besides," Zelda continued, stomping forward toward the man, "You. Where did you go? You had us all worried sick!"

"That was not my intention," he sighed softly. "You didn't need to come after me. In fact, you shouldn't have. It is still very dangerous, Your Highness."

He became guarded at that moment. Zelda couldn't read him as well as he used to, but she could tell there was a flare of anger and worry in his eyes.

"Well, nonetheless, I am here with you," she stated plainly. Zelda looked to the sky and frowned. "I doubt this will let up anytime soon. We should find shelter."

Fortunately, that was what Link had gone looking for. He gathered her horse and guided them to a large cottage like building. Somehow, the building had remained relatively intact despite the obvious remains of fire damage. Remains of a large kitchen and a dining area were now rotting wood, and many of the stairs leading to the second floor were broken. The fireplace was mostly untouched, it seemed, as Link started a fire and handed the princess a blanket and a rag to dry her sopping hair.

"Thank you," she sniffled softly, wrapping and twisting her mop of hair into the rag. The knight watched, always curious how women did such a thing, however, he didn't have the courage to ask. He then began removing his very wet clothes and wrapping himself in a towel and blanket before Zelda could turn around and sneak a look at Link's 'patented brand Sheikah boxer briefs' (as Link had jokingly coined them).

Once they were both comfortable and drying off, they just sat and stared at the dancing flames before them, unsure of where to begin to mention the Lionel in the room. As Link could stand in silence for an eternity, Zelda was the one to break it.

"So, are you going to explain why you rode all the way back here, or am I going to have to deduce for myself?"

Link simply sunk slightly deeper into his blanket, now covering his nose. He know that he would have to explain at some point, and after she rode after him and was nearly crushed by a Mobin, she certainly deserved an answer. Link just didn't know where, or even how, to begin.

"Hmm. I suppose I shall just have to explain the story to myself." Zelda shrugged with a small smirk. She was good at this, and they both knew it.

"So, you remembered something about your mother. Now going by what Impa said, she was an innkeeper and ran an Inn, which we appear to now be sitting in due to the large kitchen and multiple tables. You remembered something rather terrible about her, something traumatic to you. Going by your expression, she died, possibly before your father did, which helped your drive to become a knight. Perhaps…" She stopped for a second, her expression and voice becoming soft, "perhaps becoming another reason you dislike speaking, and why you are so protective of everyone; why you brood when something is out of your control."

Zelda placed a delicate hand on Link's shoulder. "You couldn't save her…"

Link surprised the woman. He began to laugh; a sort of chortle that only came from a sense of irony.

"I could have saved her. I didn't."

It was something, at least; more than he had mentioned since they had defeated the calamity.

"If it was in your control I'm sure you would have," she replied, moving a bit closer.

He remained silent.

"Link, I know you. I know that you have trouble remembering that I know you… but I do. I know that no matter the cost, you would do anything for those you love, or even those you barely even know. I've seen it firsthand."

The young man shuffled his blanket a bit, his blue eyes brooding into the fire.

"My mother passed as well, as you know," Zelda continued, raising her still wet knees and wrapping her arms about them, "I spent every moment I could with her when I was small. I remember small things, you know, such as picking her flowers from the garden, drawing her pictures, her teaching me to read and explaining her beliefs and thoughts on science with me. She rambled quite a bit, and, erm, I suppose I take after her in that regard, ha ha…

"Then she… she became very ill. The Plague, as it was. My father wouldn't tell me what sickened her, in fear that I wouldn't understand. All that I knew is that she became so thin, and so pale… her hair even fell in clumps… She kept as much of herself covered as she so that I wouldn't be frightened by the sores. Yet… she was still so strong. She was perfect to me in every way, up until the end..."

"All good mothers are." Link replied simply. Zelda turned to her friend, whose eyes were still bewitched by the flames. However, she could see a softness there now, the same softness that was there before the 100 years of calamity. She could hear the bittersweet sadness in his voice. He opened the pages of his book to her once more.

The princess softly laid her head into the knight's shoulder with a bittersweet smile, and he reciprocated in turn.

"Zelda?" Link called, barely above a whisper.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry."

"I am sorry, as well."

It was a comfortable silence that filled the air next, as all that had needed to be spoken, had been.

Author's Notes:

Thank for reading! This was all that I had pre-written before posting, however, I have no intentions of leaving this story. (Don't let my profile of undone works scare you.)

If you have any suggestions, questions, or critiques feel free to leave them in the reviews. I'll reply as soon as I can!

Thanks and have a great day guys, gals, and non-binary pals~

-Faith