The Heroes' Rebirth - REVISITED | BOTW Sequel/Zelink (The Legend of Zelda)

Chapter 4: Hyrule Castle

After a short teleport and a paraglide down, Link was at Hyrule Castle Town. He had been here before, yet it still amazed him how much it looked like nothing had ever happened.

He walked down the main road and decided to look down some of the streets. Some were empty, some had houses that weren't finished yet, others had workers with wood beams across their shoulders.

He continued walking down the road until he reached the gates of the castle. Leighton immediately recognized him and started to get excited. He went up and patted him. So many people were working on this grand project that Link was surprised he hadn't ran into anyone he knew yet. He continued to venture into the castle.

The inside of the castle was even busier than the outside. In every room, in every hall, in all the corners of the castle there were people working hard. Zelda wasn't lying when she said that Hudson was working nonstop. At every corner he turned more and more people were laboring. Some noticed the hero walking by and stopped what they were doing to greet him. Link returned most of these greets with a nod.

He turned a few more corners and soon found a huge stone archway that had been boarded up. There were definitely people working on the other side. He wondered what could be behind it. Link definitely didn't remember there ever being a room here in the castle before. Maybe he had just forgotten. He looked and saw a loose plank in the middle of the boards, obviously used as a door to get in and out of the room. Link reached in and began to open it.

"Link!"

Link turned around to see Bolson sprinting towards his direction. He quickly ran up and slammed the wood plank back into the wall.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, winded.

Link gave him a confused look. He glanced back to the wall.

"Oh you don't want to know what's in there," Bolson quickly said. "It's nothing important. Really. Oh! I bet you're looking for Zelda, aren't you?"

Link nodded.

"She's in the dining hall right now. It's up the stairs to the left, then take a right. Can't miss it." Bolson's body was still pinned up against the wood wall. Something was obviously behind it, but Link simply laughed and turned the other way.

He eventually arrived at the dining hall. It was exactly as he remembered: the tables, the carpet, the walls. It was beautiful.

Link looked into the hall and immediately saw Zelda. She was on a ladder in the far right corner helping another woman place curtains on the windows.

As they finished propping the curtain up, the woman looked towards the entrance.

"Mr. Hero!"

Zelda nearly fell off her ladder when she heard her say this. She turned and saw Link's blue eyes meet her green ones.

"Link!" She rushed down the ladder and ran to him. Her shoes echoed across the stone floor. Her force was so strong that she almost knocked Link over as she hugged him.

"What are you doing here?" Zelda asked as she embarrassingly let him go.

"Do you need any help?" Link said rather quietly.

"O- of course! Litha, are you ok with finishing up in here?" She asked the other woman in the room.

"Yeah, Zelda. I'll be fine," she answered.

"Thank you," Zelda replied.

Every other time that Link showed up to the castle, Zelda acted like she was deep in work. She hated to do it, but there was a reason she didn't want Link around to see the construction of the castle. But for Zelda, and for Link too, it had been far too long since they had been together. She just hoped the surprise wouldn't be ruined.

Although they didn't talk much, the two worked side by side for most of the day. A good part of the construction was done so they mostly hung pictures, threw down carpets, painted rooms, moved furniture, basically anywhere they were needed, they went.

Zelda was impressed by how fast the work went. Link could finish almost anything that was needed. As he worked around the castle, Zelda noticed that he was, in fact, different than he was back when he was her appointed knight. He was much more willing to help and he could do things he usually wasn't able to. She could physically see that he had grown stronger during his quest, but she saw it wasn't just appearance, as he easily lifted items of immense weight. Zelda was amazed. She also felt that the feeling she got when she was around him was slightly different. He was more confident. More... alive. It surprised her. Although, he still kept his silent, introverted side. He let Zelda do the talking when workers would approach them. It warmed her heart to know that he was the same boy from all those years ago.

The sun began to set over the mountains to the west. Most of the workers had gone for dinner before they got a few more hours in. Hudson had asked both Link and Zelda to join him and Rhondson for his meal. The two easily agreed. The four of them sat on the open field to the left of the castle. It was peaceful sitting in the long grass. No one really talked, they all just drank in the beauty of Hyrule around them. The sun went deeper behind the mountains as Zelda stood.

"Thank you both," Zelda said. "But I think it's time Link and I head back."

"Alrighty, princess," replied Hudson. "As far as I'm concerned you won't be needed back for a while. I'll let you know if something comes up."

"Ok. Thank you Hudson. My gratitude can't be overstated. You've done so much."

"I know, princess. Now go home. Get some rest."

Link stood up and followed Zelda. He smiled and nodded at Hudson and Rhondson. They walked to where Leighton was tied. Zelda took the rope off the gate and glanced at Link.

"Do you have a way to get back to the village?"

Link pointed to the slate on his hip, implying that he had the master cycle.

"Oh right. Ok," Zelda said.

"...but,"

Zelda tilted her head at his words.

He turned to look at her. "A horse ride sounds pretty good right now."

That sentence produced the biggest smile Zelda had had in a while.

"Ok." Zelda said, unable to conceal her joy. She quickly mounted her horse and trotted over to where Link was standing. She held out her arm and Link took it. He swung over the back of Leighton and landed behind Zelda. He then wrapped his hands around her waist.

That feeling...

Zelda took a few breaths and looked behind at Link.

"All set?"

He nodded.

"Ok." She gave a quick "Yah!" and they were off down the path. It had actually been a while since Link had taken Epona out for a ride. It felt good to be on the back of a horse again, even if he wasn't controlling it. The wind in his hair and down his tunic soothed him, and riding through Hyrule took him back to the days of his adventures. He loved the wild. He sometimes viewed it as alive and felt a very strong connection to it. He looked at Zelda's blonde hair flowing behind her, sometimes hitting him in the face. That memory of the feeling came back to him as he looked at her.

Zelda wasn't really controlling Leighton: the horse knew what the path was to get back to Hateno. Zelda just savored this moment. In fact, her and Link both did. They looked at the kingdom around them and enjoyed the presence of each other. Zelda had to use all her strength not to fall back into Link's arms. But she didn't. For one, she would most likely fall off, and two, it wasn't the right time.

Not yet.