My Silent Knight

My Princess

Zelda's POV

The blade of the master sword swung swiftly through the morning air. As the sun began to rise, kissing us with it's warmth, Link continued to practice. We were on one of the hills over looking Kakariko Village, it was so beautiful in the morning. I sat in the grass as he continued to swing, practicing multiple moves, sweat beading on his forehead. 

It's been a week since the Sheikah and I rescued him from the Yiga Clan hideout. Though he's regained most of his strength, and his wounds have almost fully disappeared, the event still weighed on him with each passing hour. He became quiet, speaking to no one but me, and even then our conversations were usually short. I let him be quiet though, he needed time to process and I didn't want to rush him during that time. Each morning, he would come to this same spot and practice for a little over an hour, at first I thought he would want to be alone so I didn't join him. I soon realized I was wrong, he wants me near him. Now, I join him during his practice, sitting silently in the bed of grass below us, watching his moves.

He was wearing light tan trousers with his usual brown boots, but because Hyrule has been hotter lately, he practiced shirtless. Every time I saw him remove his shirt, butterflies filled my stomach as if it was the first time. I don't think I will ever become used to his beauty. He swung his arms to the side, back and forth, as if he was trying to cut the air itself. I watched his bandaged wrists, the bruises were almost gone with Paya's antidote working amazingly to remove the purple spots along with the small cuts. It was Link's strength that was healing him as well. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm proud of him, no matter what, he is able to pick himself up and learn to heal.

Finally after a few more swings, He placed the tip of the blade into the grass and gently rested on the handle of the master sword. His breathing was heavy, trying to cool down his body and I reached behind me to pick up a small canister of water. I crawled beside him and gently tapped the back of his leg. He quickly glanced down at me and I gave him a smile, holding up the canister to him. He returned the smile and gentle grabbed the canister, our fingers brushing against one another for a second, creating sparks that went through my whole body.

Not much has happened since our shared "I love you." Though, I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen. We haven't said it since then and as much as I wanted to, we have yet to kiss. 

I crawled back to my spot and waited for him to continue. Instead, he gently laid the sword into the grass and walked to sit next to me. He handed me the canister and nodded to say thank you and he let his back fall into the grass, looking up at the morning sky. I relaxed back with him. We shared a moment of peace together, letting the sun warm us and feeling the gentle touch of the morning breeze. Below us, the residents of Kakariko began their days. Finally, he sat up, propping up his left knee and resting his arm on top. 

"I think we should move on from Kakariko soon. Staying here in one place is only becoming more and more dangerous with each passing day." He stated.

"Do you think? I mean, Impa believes Kakariko is the safest spot for us. The Sheikah are well equipped to help defend us from any Yiga Clan ambushes." I sat up and copied how he was sitting.

"I understand, Zelda. They will find us though and I do not want to be the reason for anyone else getting hurt. Though the Sheikah can handle the Yiga, that doesn't mean they should need to. By staying in one spot, they are able to move in closer everyday." He replied. 

I paused for a moment and then stood up, overlooking Kakariko. If I'm being honest, I didn't want to part ways from the village. For the first time in what feels like forever, it felt like home. Though we were living in the inn, I couldn't help but feel like a normal villager, living through my past week in my village, along with my people. Sometimes, I didn't want to be princess, instead I yearned for a normal life. I imagined Link's home in Hateno, I imagined sharing that home with him, just us making a life for ourselves in Hateno. Sadly, the possibility of a normal life was taken away from me the day I was born, I took a breath and responded to him.

"Alright then, where shall we go?" I turned to face him and clasped my hands in front of me.

"Not sure, where ever is the safest. We should try to help others along the way and continue our original mission, but your safety is the number one priority." He stood up to meet my gaze.

"Our safety. Not just mine." I shook my head. Then began to process. "Actually, that's what they would be expecting." I walked towards him and lowered my voice to a whisper to reduce the risk of anyone hearing.

"What do you mean?" He whispered back, inching closer.

"Well, think about it. If the Yiga Clan are after us, they would expect us to hide right? They would probably expect us to go to harder reach places throughout Hyrule. But, what if we didn't, in fact, what if we went to the most obvious place ever, they wouldn't think to check there because they know that we wouldn't go somewhere easy to find us. Do you know what I mean?" I lightly reached out and entwined a few of his fingers with mine.

"So, instead of going somewhere with heavy protection, go somewhere that is purposely easy to find us. They wouldn't think to look there because they would assume we would go to those areas of high protection?" He whispered closer to me, I could feel his breath on my ear.

"Precisely, my knight." I squeezed his hand. "I suggest we first head to Hateno to prepare for the journey, and I must say, I'm quite curious about the state of Castle Town and Hyrule Castle itself. It's been a while now since they began to rebuild everything, I think we should wonder by, secretly of course." I whispered into his ear.

"Sounds like you are all ready to begin this journey then, shall we leave tomorrow in the morning?" 

"I think that would be best, allow me to say goodbye to Impa and Paya." I went to step back, but he held me close.

"Then I will prepare for tomorrow, my princess." He whispered to me, and then left a gentle kiss on the side of my cheek. 

My whole body went warm and he pulled back, releasing my hand and walking over to grab his tunic along with the sword. I watched him retreat down the hill then slowly turn back to face me, awaiting me to join him. I grabbed my bag on the ground and then stumbled to join him at his side.

The feeling of his kiss lingered on my cheek the whole day, making the whole day feel as if it were a dream.