The Memories Between Them | ✔

12) Return

⚔ In which it's time for rest ⚔ 

Link

We leave for the Lost Woods the next day.

Everyone stays at the village, and we promise not to take long. We explain to the decedents the reason for the impromptu trip, and they all wish us luck, although their faces grow tense with the thought of another Calamity. But they seem to understand the want to know as soon as possible. They promise to await our return in Kakariko, since it will take no less than a day to get there and back with the warp. Despite the tension in her shoulders, Zelda is still excited to use the fast travel. It's adorable to see her excited.

We wave goodbye to everyone and go to Impa's house, to the upstairs bedroom. I grab the sword from the bedpost and strap it to my back, the weight reassuring. I'm wearing my new leathers and a plain tunic, and Zelda is in her usual leggings and blue shirt, like the ones she wore in the castle so long ago. I take a steadying breath.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Zelda asks. "If you would rather keep the sword, I would understand."

"Do you think we're rushing into this?" I counter.

Zelda shrugs. "Perhaps a little bit. You said yourself that you would rather live in ignorance if we're wrong."

I think about that for a moment, then shake my head. I'd rather get an answer than sit around and wonder what the answer could be, while it's just a warp and conversation away. Even if there is still a threat, perhaps we should know about it, so we can better prepare. "We should go," I say definitively.

Zelda nods and smiles reassuringly. I wonder if she's scared.

I hold out my hand, the Sheikah slate held in the other, ready to transport us to the heart of Korok forest. She takes it without hesitation, and a moment later we're floating above the ground.

We land again, the familiar sounds and smells of the wild overcoming me. It never fails to calm me down a little. The light passes through the trees in the noonday sun, setting the shrine in a green light, and the air smells like fresh rainfall. Nearby ferns glitter with dew.

Little voices and bells echo through the forest before we're fully acclimated. "Mr. Hero is back!" "Who is that with him?" "Isn't that the Princess?" "She looks so different." I turn to Zelda, ignoring the voices, making sure she won't vomit from the transit.

"Are you okay?" I ask, bent over to look her in the face.

She smiles in response, and although she's a little shaky she nods. I should let go of her hand, I think, but I don't make any move to. Zelda doesn't, either, and before I can spare the thought more than a moment the koroks are swarming the Shrine, asking questions and chatting among themselves.

Zelda turns to them, smiling wide. She looks at them like they're the cutest things she's ever seen, and crouches down to talk to them.

"Hello there, Peeks," she says to one I recognize, with a circular mask over his lack-of-face. "It has been some time. Did you take good care of Link's sword?"

Peeks nods excitedly. "I did just what you asked, Princess!" He pauses for a moment, then adds a bit shyly, "I'm glad you're back. I'm glad Mr. Hero saved you."

Zelda smiles, glancing at me. "I'm glad he did, too."

"What are you doing here?" another tiny voice asks.

Zelda stands again to answer. "We have a question for the Great Deku Tree," she says.

The koroks dance around our feet excitedly as we walk through the lush forest. I always found this place beautiful, how such an incredible place could reside in the middle of a forest so full of mystery and monsters and survive after a century of nothing but tragedy. Hestu dances at our arrival, singing a tune that must wake up the Deku Tree, because the whole forest seems to rumble at its movements.