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

Chapter 15: Catch-Up

Link ran a towel through his wet hair inside the inn. He had hung his champion's tunic and trousers on the side of his bed. Paya demanded he dry off before he tell them what happened. It made sense to him. She didn't want any of her papers tarnished... whatever those papers were.

He draped the towel over his shoulders, his hair still a little damp, and walked around in only the underwear he had woken up with in the Shrine of Resurrection. He studied the wound he had received. It wasn't too deep, yet it still hurt. He quickly flipped through some of the clothes he had recovered from his burned house. He decided on his blue lobster shirt and his stealth armour trousers.

Walking towards the door to return to the group, he looked at the nightstand next to Zelda's bed. On it was the slightly singed picture of the Champions. He instantly remembered what Impa said before she left his presence.

"All of us here say hi."

He picked up the picture and traced it with his fingers. He smiled knowing they were all looking down on him. He placed the picture back down, ran the towel through his hair once more, and started to walk out.

He took his hair tie and began to tie his signature messy pony tail. He pushed the door open with his foot and was met with Zelda waiting right in front of him: eyes wide and hands behind her back. Link froze with his hands still in his hair.

"Are you ok?" Zelda asked.

"Hmm?" Link responded finishing his hair.

Zelda had done her best to not show it, but she had been tense the entire one Link had been down in the dungeon. She had been waiting outside the door since he had walked in. The feelings she had for him were still present, but they had grown even more over the last month. It was almost unbearable.

"Are you ok?" She repeated. "Did you get hurt when you were down there?" She reached out and touched his arm. "You looked exhausted when you came out."

His mind immediately went to his left side. Link smiled, grabbed her arm, and gently put it down. Her heart fluttered.

"I'm fine, Zelda. I'll explain everything when we get back." He motioned with his head to the house. His hand was still on hers. He didn't want to admit so he could focus on the current threat, but his feelings had grown as well. He squeezed her hand a tiny bit. "Come on. Let's go."

They walked hand in hand to the house, both melting inside. Zelda looked at the shirt he had changed into. She pointed to it.

"I like this one."

He raised his eyebrows. "You do?"

"Yeah," she giggled. "It makes you look like a little kid."

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Sheik continued to figure out the ancient melody inside the house. The notes on the tattered page were faded and very difficult to see. He had been trying since Link had first gone down the hole to read it and little progress was being made. He eventually pushed the pages aside, leaned against the wall, and played his own melody. This wasn't one he had read about in his book. This was a song he had composed on his own. It was his favorite, too. He felt it reflected who he was.

As he finished, he opened his eyes to see Paya staring at him across the room. Immediately her cheeks turned bright red, but she didn't break eye contact.

"That was beautiful," she eventually said. The redness in her face started to die down.

Sheik sat up. "Thank you. Means a lot."

"You still haven't told any of us who you are," Paya said. "Yet you came in everyday to check on me. Against my orders, too"

Sheik placed his harp down. "Just checking if you were alright."