A knock interrupted the peace and quiet of her study. Zelda didn't stop working as she said, "Enter." The door opened and Zelda flicked her eyes up only long enough to see who it was. "What is it, Mils?" she asked, moving her quill along the parchment again.

Mils cleared his throat. "The king…um…" He trailed off.

Zelda bit down her sigh. Sometimes she wished Mina would come herself rather than strong-arming her brother into delivering news. Especially if it was bad news. He was a good soldier, but he was somewhat timid. "The king what?" She tried to keep an open expression, with a small smile, to decrease whatever intimidation she put off. Zelda didn't want to be intimidating. At least, not to her people. Her enemies could be intimidated as much as they wanted.

"The king is missing."

Zelda stared at him. He stood rigid with his eyes clenched shut. She wondered for a moment what he thought she would do to him when he brought her this information. Judging by his reaction, it was almost like he thought she would pull out a sword and stab him. When he didn't leave after another few seconds, Zelda realized he was waiting for a response. "I see," she said. She didn't quite know what else he wanted her to say. "Thank you for informing me." She looked back down at her work and continued to write, dismissing the man.

After another few seconds, she realized Mils had not left. She looked back up. "Was there anything else?" To her, the matter needed no further explanation or action. If Link was indeed missing, he probably left on his own for a bit of fresh air. As the man who singlehandedly saved Hyrule, there was nothing out there that was a danger to him. And if he had gotten kidnapped, she pitied the kidnappers. This wasn't the first time he had wandered off without telling anyone, nor did she doubt it would be the last. Their guards should be used to it by now. She thought they had gotten used to it because they usually didn't tell her anymore unless she asked where he was.

Mils shifted from side to side. "He took the prince with him," he blurted.

Zelda stilled. The sigh she had bit back resurfaced. "I see," she repeated. This was new. Now, she understood why they had come to tell her.

The man tugged at his collar. "Should we send someone after them?"

She came to a quick decision. "No. I am sure they will be fine." New or not, she still did not believe there was any cause to worry. "You may leave, Mils."

Mils bowed and exited the room.

Zelda pushed herself to her feet and walked over to the window. She could see the work on Hyrule Castle continuing. When they walked away from the ruins almost ten years ago, Zelda expected to leave behind the "princess" and everything that entailed. She thought she would spend the rest of her days at Link's side, serving the people of Hyrule without being royalty.

However, within a few years, all the tribes were asking her to ascend the throne. The leaders especially wanted Hyrule reunited under a central power. So, Zelda sacrificed her freedom to become Queen. And pretty much dragged Link along to be her king. The only one she had to convince that he was worthy of the position was Link himself. They had admitted their love for each other well before that, and she would not give up her happiness with him. For her, it had been together or not at all. She and Link had a home built in the ruins of Castletown and ruled from there. They also started reconstruction on Hyrule Castle. The full restoration would take many more years to complete. For now, she and Link ruled from this house. Castletown was starting to grow around them again, though it was nowhere near the size it was before.

Zelda turned back from the window and sat down again. She did not pick up her quill. Instead, she leaned back in her chair and notched her chin in her hand. Link disappeared often. Zelda loved him and couldn't imagine anyone else at her side. He made a fantastic king, even if he still didn't often see that himself.

He loved her. That had been reason enough for her to marry him.

Every time he left, he came back having helped someone in the kingdom. So, she didn't begrudge him these trips of his.

However, she did think it was best that he left their son here when he went out.

Later that night, Zelda sat at her vanity brushing out her hair. The door opened and closed. That in itself told her who it was. Only one other person would enter the royal bedchamber (such as it was) without knocking. She turned on her chair to smile at her husband. Since he didn't have their son with him, Zelda assumed that Link put him to bed before coming here. "Is he asleep?" she asked as Link shed his gear. He nodded without speaking.

"So, where did you take our son today?"

Link stilled. "You know about that?"

Zelda fought down a smile. It amused her that five years after his coronation, he still didn't realize that people paid attention to what he did. It wasn't that he forgot his position or that he was bad at it. A lot of the work he did for the people was the same things he did before. Which, in her opinion, was part of what made him such a great king. "Of course. Mina sent Mils to tell me. Now, where did you go?" It couldn't have been far, if they made it there and back in one day.

He was silent for a moment. "The new ranch."

Zelda nodded. She knew the place. The new ranch was being built right on top of the ruins of the old one. It was a wonderful project, one that Link himself started and oversaw. It wasn't far from the town and a safe place for Link to take their son. However, that did not change her mind. "Link, I don't think it's a good idea to take him so far from home right now."

His face fell and he turned his gaze away but not before she glimpsed the pain in his eyes. Her heart pained with him, as that hadn't been her intention at all. She thought over what she said and how she said it, and she realized she needed to backtrack a bit. She laid her hand on his arm. "It's not a question of trust. I know you can guard our son better than anyone else in this world. It's…"

"What?"

Her lip curled into half a smile. "Perhaps you could wait to take him on adventures until he's a little older, hmm? He's not even one yet." And that was the core of her problem. It wasn't the fact that Link wanted to take their son with him. It was the fact that their baby was just that. Still a baby.

"He turns one next week."

"Yes, but for now, he can barely walk." Since he looked so dejected, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I know you love him. And you're excited to share all the things you love with him. I promise you, in a few years, I will let you take him on all the adventures you want."

She felt him nod against her head. Zelda pulled back and smiled at him, showing her that she wasn't angry. She moved away. "Did you have fun?" she asked as she sat down again.

She smiled as she listened to Link recount the day. There was a glow of happiness around him as he talked about the time he spent with his son and helping around the ranch. Link rarely got this animated about a topic. And it had been a long time since she had heard him speak so much. It might have been a personal choice those hundred years ago, but he admitted to her that he had gotten used to not saying a lot. "Link," she interrupted. "I changed my mind." The more she listened, the more she couldn't bear to let this stop.

He stopped talking and tilted his head to the side. His eyes lit with a question as his eyebrows raised slightly. He may be a man of few words, but Zelda had learned to read his expressions. Link didn't have to speak for her to understand what he was saying.

"I want you to spend all the time you want with him. Take him on adventures. I only have one condition." She beamed. "Take me with you."

She saw the comprehension dawn in his eyes. He pulled her to him. "Really?"

"Of course." She laughed. "Between the two of us, there won't be any threat. The people may have to get used to their royalty being on the move. There's nothing here that can't be done somewhere else. I mean, sometimes we may have to stay here or in your house in Hateno for a time. But I don't see why we can't travel where we want. So, if you want to spend more time traveling again, then that is what we'll do."

He looked so happy, and she realized that she missed it, too. The days they spend traveling, thriving on helping people. They would do this. And if the leaders didn't like it… Well, she had no problem abdicating the throne and doing it anyway. They were the ones who wanted her to be Queen in the first place.

Though, she couldn't see how they could complain when part of the reason for this was to spend their lives serving the people of Hyrule.

They might grumble and complain and, in the end, decide that four new Champions needed to be selected to protect them, but all that didn't matter. The three of them would be together. And that was the most important thing of all.