The End / The Beginning

Link's knees hit the grass almost as if he had been struck.

Or maybe he had, but not by Ganon this time.

He watched, transfixed, as Zelda stood in front of him. An image Link was sure up until now he wouldn't see anymore, for he had been terrified at the prospect of finding her spirit within the Castle, much like he had found all of the other champions' spirits withing their Divine Beasts. Yet, here she was -alive- and more gorgeous than ever, more powerful than anything in the world; even more than Calamity Ganon. She raised her hand as what remained of the beast rushed towards her.

Link got to his feet, sword and shield in hands, ready to run and protect the princess, to give his life to protect hers.

But he stopped in his track, as a ball of light as big as the Castle of Hyrule left Zelda's palm, the Triforce pulsing for a second in the middle of the blinding blaze.

She did not need Link to save her. She had saved him a century ago, and now again, she stood between him and the Evil, shielding her knight from harm, from possible demise.

Her power hit Ganon like nothing else could. He screamed, his animal cries making the earth shake under Link's feet, and the magenta sky above him break. As Zelda's power grew stronger against the Calamity, the beast subsided, losing in strength and size quickly, until it imploded in a black and yellow ball similar to the orbs Link had been collecting since he awoken at the Shrine of Resurrection. Zelda caught the orb in her delicate hands. Hands that held powers that could not be described. The spherical object disappeared as it touched her.

The sky cleared itself and returned to its usual azure. The Calamity was gone.

"I've… been keeping watch over you all this time." Zelda said, her back to Link. "I've witnessed your struggles to return to us, as well as your trials in battle."

It was all for you, Link thought, but the words couldn't leave his mouth. Slowly, he walked to her, wondering if she was real; if Zelda was finally standing close to him after a hundred years of separation. He wanted to spin her around, hug her, maybe kiss her. But he wouldn't. One hundred years hadn't made him any less intimidated in her presence.

"I always thought-no , I always believed that you would find a way to defeat Ganon."

You defeated him, Zelda. The credit is yours.

She faced him. Her expression was soft, yet tired – exhausted. She had been fighting the Calamity alone for a century, and it showed in her gaze. "I never lost faith in you over these many years… Thank you, Link… The Hero of Hyrule." Her smile grew, as she looked at him in a way that made his heart flutter.

Frozen, he stared at her. I love you, he heard himself say in his head. His body remembered -his mind too- suddenly, how much he had always loved her. Yet, he couldn't say it, like he hadn't been able to a century ago. He always found himself mute and still as a statue in Zelda's presence.

"May I ask…"

Anything.

She took in a deep breath. "… Do you really remember me?"

Her question seemed to break the ice in which he was stuck. "I could never forget you." He heard himself reply, his mutism subsiding.

Zelda's eyes grew wide. "You… speak?"

Link laughed softly. "It happens."

They stood, face to face, in the grass of Hyrule field. A place in which they had traveled to so many times before the Calamity awoken.

Zelda laughed softly, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. Instead, she walked to her appointed knight, looked him in the eyes, and hugged him tightly. Face buried in his neck, she sobbed tears she had held back for a hundred years, fighting each instant against a monster greater than anything Hyrule had ever seen, hoping and praying for Link's awakening.

He held her tightly against him, breathing in the scent of her hair and reveling in the heat of her body against his. "You saved Hyrule." He whispered in her ear.

She looked up at him, tears had marked her cheeks. "No, you-"

"Your powers saved Hyrule. You needed me to weaken him, so you could deliver the final blow. If one of us is the Hero of Hyrule, it is you." With his thumb, he wiped the tears from her face as he smiled softly to his princess. "Your powers… They're the reason why I am here now. A hundred years later. Or I would have died when that Guardian attacked."

Zelda stared at him, then her eyes drifted down to his lips. Softly, she leaned in to kiss him. Link closed the distance.

"We did this together, Link. I never would have awoken without you." She whispered when they broke the kiss.

He smiled.

They kissed again.

Hello :)

I know I haven't published anything in a century or so (lol), but BoTW sure awoken the writer inside me.

So I hated the ending, and that's why I rewrote it (while remaining faithful).

For those of you who may be wondering, I'm slowly working on the next chapter of Twisted Legacy.