Unexpected | Zelink (modern AU)

The Royal Family

Hand in hand, the two chosen ones were making their way through the Lost Woods.

Link, on the other hand, had his hands quite busy. He had a torch in one, Zelda's hand in the other one, and the sword hoisted on his hip. Zelda had offered to hold it, but he didn't want her to have the burden of carrying a sword. Especially a magical sword at that.

Link didn't even have anywhere to hoist the sword, he just inserted it into his belt loop hoping it wouldn't rip apart.

Zelda handled the silence. "How long until we arrive?"

Link turned a little to smile at the girl beside him. "Soon."

"You said that, like, ten minutes ago," Zelda chuckled. She moved closer, intertwining their fingers and using her other hand to hold them together to feel safer. "Did we get lost?"

"Not...necessarily..." Link flushed, stopping where he was in the midst of the fog. "Um...it's just a little hard to see for some reason. I thought we were almost there those ten minutes ago, but the fog is a little thicker than usual."

"Hm." Zelda looked around as well, lightly caressing the back of Link's hand with the thumb that wasn't interlocked with his other hand. She tried to reassure him, stepping over to place a kiss on his cheek.

"You can do it, just take your time," she encouraged. "Don't want to actually get lost now, do we?"

Link felt better at her words and actions, smiling a little to himself to relieve the stress. He shook off his worries and squeezed her hand. Before they moved again, he placed a soft, short kiss on her lips.

"Just in case," he said.

Zelda flushed, lightly swatting him on the shoulder as he chuckled. "Don't say that."

As a way to indicate their journey continuing, he nodded his head to the side, watching where the fog moved.

It took them longer than usual, but when they finally saw the opening to Korok Forest with the Great Deku Tree—after a couple of wary minutes, may they add—it felt like they just finished a marathon.

"Finally!" Zelda groaned in relief, tugging Link along as he blew out the torch once they made it into the clear zone. Link placed his torch down by a tree, not once releasing Zelda's hand as he took the sword out from his belt loop. He was lucky the sword didn't rip the fabric from how wide its sheath was.

They had gone for a walk around the forest prior to their walk to the Deku Tree, but surprisingly, Link found it in himself to ask Zelda if they were able to go to the tree for answers on his dream. It was unlikely he would give a specific answer as to what his dream meant, but it was worth a try.

Walking up to the pedestal, Link and Zelda felt the tree open its eyes even before they saw it happen.

"Well, welcome back, kids!"

They waved at him, smiling. Zelda, the one with the greeting, said, "Hello, Deku Tree."

A smile on his wooden face was evident, and it warmed the two.

"What brings you here?" he wondered.

Link looked at Zelda, pursing his lips as he set the sword's point on the ground as it was sheathed. He turned back to the talking tree. "Um...I wanna talk about a certain dr- memory—a certain memory that I had last night."

If the tree could raise a brow, it would have. "Ahh, so you're finally accepting you're receiving memories?"

Link scoffed and looked to the side, Zelda's hand keeping him from faltering. "Yes, I guess."