Memories: A Zelink Fanfiction

SILENT PRINCESS

They knelt together in a field of tall grass and flowers. Their horses grazed behind them, occasionally swatting lamely at flies with their tails.

"There's one! Oh, and another!" Princess Zelda chirped with excitement, turning the Sheikah Slate toward the flower and snapping a photo. "The flowers we have in Hyrule aren't just beautiful. They're also quite useful as ingredients for a variety of things."

Link watched her with a small smile on his lips. After their discussion by the fire, she had seemed to accept his accompaniment happily now, which made things work much more smoothly between them. He'd slowly begun to open up to her, allowing himself to be comfortable in her company. He especially enjoyed seeing her like this; excited, giddy in her research. Smiling. The familiar sensation of warmth in his chest came again, as it often did when he was with her as he peeked over her shoulder to see exactly what species of flower she was capturing with the slate.

Then she gasped lightly and lowered the Sheikah Slate. Even from behind her, Link could see that her mood had changed. Her demeanor had become less bound with excitement and more calm and serene as she leaned slightly toward a blue and white flower in full bloom.

"This one here is called the Silent Princess," she murmured with a hint of a smile in her voice. "It's a rare, endangered species." She crawled closer, gloved palms pressing into the dirt, to admire it more closely. Link followed suit. "Despite our efforts, we can't get them to grow domestically yet. The Princess can only thrive out here in the wild." She touched her fingers to the petals gently and with great care then sat on her heels with a hand near her heart. There was still that smile on her lips, but the tone of her voice was somber. "All that we can hope is that the species will be strong enough to prosper on its own."

Link thought, then, that Zelda wasn't just talking about the flower, but more about herself. He'd come to know her over the time that had passed, but she always kept things as light as she could manage considering what they were preparing for. Daruk and Urbosa had both opened his eyes to the great weight of responsibility Zelda was carrying upon her shoulders, but she'd never spoken to him about it. And he'd never brought it up. He knew she must be overwhelmed, maybe even hurting and his heart ached in sympathy for her. He lifted a hand cautiously, about to rest it on her arm in comfort when she gasped with newfound excitement and leapt forward into the grass.

"Is that what I think it is?" She squealed, then sat back again with her hands cupped together. She shuffled toward Link on her knees, holding her hands out. "Link, look at this! I don't believe it, but I actually caught one!"

"What is it?" He asked with a grin. Her eyes were alight with happiness once more.

"This delicacy is known to have very, very potent effects under the proper circumstances." She opened her hands to reveal a small, green frog. "Ta-da!"

"A frog?" Link asked, bewildered.

"Research from the castle shows ingesting one of these can actually augment certain abilities," she continued, speaking very rapidly. "We  wouldn't be in a controlled environment out here, but with your level of physical fitness... you'd be a perfect candidate for the study!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Link objected with hands raised in surrender. "You want me to eat that? Now?"

She offered him the frog eagerly. "Yes, silly!"

"You're not even going to let me cook it?" He asked with a playful grimace. "You truly are callous, Princess."

She giggled and thrust the frog toward him again, causing him to shift away. "Go on, taste it!"