The Silence Between Them | ✔

4) Home

⚔ In which Link returns to his Hateno home ⚔

Link

I hear Zelda talking to her father in Impa's room when I enter the house in the morning. Without doors, I can listen to them ideally.

"Father, please? I promise nothing bad will happen." It's Zelda.

The King sighs. "I don't know, Zelda. You know how Purah and Robbie are. It just doesn't feel safe." They're talking about the lab. Perhaps he's less than inclined to allow Zelda to go.

Zelda scoffs. "You can't ask Link or Arn to return to the castle with me."

"And why is that?"

"Arn told me they were going because his wife is in Hateno."

I can't hear anything else for a moment. Maybe the King is surprised.

"I see," he says carefully. He clears his throat. "Fine. You can go, if you promise to be careful."

Zelda claps her hands and makes a little squealing noise. "Thank you, father!"

I hear fast footsteps coming for the stairs, and she's flying down them before I can move. Suddenly she's squealing and runs into me, knocking into me. We both clobber to the floor, and she yelps a little.

"Link!" she shouts, clearly angered. She jumps to her feet.

She stares down at me, and as I struggle to stand under her gaze, I realize a pain shooting up my leg. However, I don't mind it and clamp down on my cry as I ease to my feet. Once standing upright – mostly – I bow my head in apology.

"You're not going to apologize, not only for eavesdropping, but also running into me?" she accuses.

I would point out she's the one who ran into me, but I decide against it. And because I'm afraid that if I try to speak, she'll either yell at me or I'll start crying from the pain in my ankle, I opt to not say anything at all and instead bow again – half in apology and half in goodbye – and walk to the door, trying not to limp the way there.

Trying to get down the stairs is a struggle, and I hope nobody sees me practically slide down the railing in an attempt to keep weight off my ankle. I don't know what happened to it, but I curse myself for thinking for even a second that it was the princess's fault. I shouldn't have been listening, to begin with. I should have just gone on with my morning. But the mention of my mother in any context always makes me curious.

I make it to where the Sheikah keeps their horses and find my father there, preparing our horses. I can get myself upright again, but nothing gets by my father.

"Link. You're limping. Come here," he says.

I sigh and hobble over to where he now sits on a bench. I sit next to him.

"Let me see."

I sling my leg to his lap, and he inspects it, poking, prodding, and scanning my face for winces.

"Probably a sprain. Can you ride?" I nod. "Your mother will know what to do, but we have to get going as soon as the princess and King get here. Need help getting on?"

I slide my leg back to the ground and nod pathetically. Father grins and helps me to my horse and gives me a boost to get up on the horse.

We waited a few minutes before the Impa, Purah, and Robbie arrived and mounted their steeds, chatty as ever. And not long after that, the King and princess made their entrance. We were leaving the village a few minutes later.