A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 78: Peace in Wandering

"Zelda... Hey, Zelda... It's time to get up..."

With a groan, Zelda turned over in her sheets, ignoring the sunlight streaming through the windows next to the bed. Though her eyes were still closed, she knew he sat beside her, chuckling when she didn't respond to his call to rise.

"Come on, Zelda," the familiar voice called again. "I know you don't want to sleep in."

"I'm not that predictable, Link..." Zelda replied, still remaining comfortable with her head upon the pillow. "Sleeping in occasionally isn't so bad. I don't believe I have work today..."

With a yawn, she snuggled deeper into the sheets.

"Besides, I missed this," she said tiredly. "It feels like we haven't done this in so long..."

At this, Link chuckled.

"Really? Well, I'm here now," he said, "and as adorable as you are when you sleep, I know you'll be frustrated later on if you sleep in any longer."

Zelda groaned again, prompting her lover to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Zel... It's time to rise," he said calmly.

Gently, he tugged, coaxing her to turn her body toward him. Finally, Zelda began to open her eyes, her vision blurry from the morning light shining upon her. She could just barely make out the dark wooden beams on the ceiling of their home, the window beside their bed, and of course, the Hylian leaning over her.

"Must we get up?" she asked groggily.

"We must," Link said. "You've got plans today."

"No I don't..." Zelda moaned. "I just told you I don't have work."

"Maybe not work, but you said you have things to do," Link said. "This is why you shouldn't stay up all night planning, Princess."

"Princess...?" Zelda repeated.

"Yes, Princess, that's you," Link said again. "Come on! Rise and shine!"

With another gentle shake of her shoulder, Zelda rubbed her eyes before the world focused in. Instead of meeting Link's bright azure eyes, she found a pair of brown ones looking down at her.

"Come on, Princess!" Celessa said cheerfully. "There we go! Now you're awake!"

Surprised, Zelda bolted up from the bed, causing the sheets to tumble down her torso as she looked around to see where she was. The wooden beams she had seen were not from her house in Hateno, but the ship-shaped Lurelin inn they had checked into late in the evening the night before. Blinking, she looked over to Celessa again, who was still smiling brightly at her.

"Are you alright, Princess?" the pilgrim asked. "I know you just woke up, but you still seem a bit out of it?"

"What? Oh, no, I..." Zelda hesitated. Frowning, she looked down at the bed, her eyes focusing on the empty space next to her, a space that had been occupied by her lover a month ago. "I just had a nostalgic dream, is all. At least, it was sort of a dream."

"It must have been a nice one if you were so set on staying in bed," Celessa teased. "I wish I could've let you sleep in more, but last night you insisted I wake you up while it was still early."

"I did, didn't I?" Zelda asked, looking out through the blinds over a window of the inn. Her eyes landed on the ocean water beside Lurelin Village, the waves breaking upon the sandy beach the houses were built on. "We have a lot to prepare for, and we're behind schedule..."