Hero by Heart

Chapter 6

As the sun was now high in the sky, Link and Zelda got back to their little camp and started to pack it up. They worked in comfortable silence and Link enjoyed it immensely. The knowledge that he could still regain some memories had truly invigorated him.
As soon as they were ready, they set out again, climbing the road up to Hateno Village. They passed the crossroads where they had left the path the day before and now trotted up the steep slope.
The small hill they had left behind could be seen in the depths beside the path, up until they entered the woods. There the road turned away from the cliffs and headed east.
Only a few minutes later they left the trees behind them again and the gate into Hateno Village appeared before them, some way up the hill.
As they approached, a man wearing a farmers hat and holding a pitchfork kept watching them from beneath the gate. Link smiled to himself, glad to see nothing had changed.
He held up his hand in greeting and smiled at the man. 'Good afternoon, Thadd! How is everything here?'
The man waved back and greeted them with a nod. 'It's good. No disturbances anymore. But I will keep my eyes out, just in case.'
Link nodded and they slowly continued deeper into the village.
As they made their way across the main road, Link saw a lot of familiar faces and greeted them all excitedly. He then noticed Zelda looking at him strangely. He gave her an apologetic look and shrugged. 'They've been very kind to me on my travels. I helped a few of them with their troubles. I'm sure you'll get to know them soon enough!'
When they reached the wooden board where people could hang their announcements, they were suddenly tormented by little children, all screaming at Link.
He smiled and ruffled through the hairs of a girl he knew as Narah, while waving at Aster, who spontaneously started to dance. His attention was then caught by a little boy, who was tugging at his breeches.
'Master Link? Did you bring big shiny weapons?'
Link chuckled as he saw the expression on Zelda's face, a mixture of amusement and shock. She raised an eyebrow at him as if to say: "did you?". He smiled at her and pulled out his sword, showing it to the children.
'This is the famous Master Sword. No one but me can wield this blade. It's the most special weapon out there.'
All children ooh'ed and aah'ed and he heard Zelda chuckle. But at least they seemed satisfied.
He and Zelda then carefully made their way through the small crowd and continued down the road.
'They really love you, don't they?' Zelda said, as she looked around at the village. 'All these people we have already met, they all talk so highly of you. They truly adore you. I am going to meet a whole lot more of admirers am I not?' She smiled fondly, feeling strangely proud of her appointed knight.
Link apologetically spread his arms. 'I've met a lot of people and done a lot of things for them. It's just not in me to refuse someone asking for help.' He shot her a questioning look. 'Does it bother you?'
Zelda quickly raised her hands in defence. 'No, not at all. Don't worry. I like to see people happy. I'm impressed actually.'
Link didn't answer, but he felt his heart swell with pride. He tried to hide it by looking around at the villagers and greeting them with a nod or a wave.
They had made their way out of town now and spurred their horses on to a trot. They passed a few more houses and windmills on their way up the steep, winding road. High above them, on a big cliff, sat a building with smoke rising from the chimney. Link smiled, thinking of the warm welcome they would undoubtedly receive there.
As they reached a big tree with excellent view of the Tech Lab, Link raised his hand to tell Zelda to stop, a smirk on his face. She looked at him confused, but did as he said.
'How is everything looking, Azu?' Link suddenly asked.
A little boy then emerged from between the big roots of the tree, a naughty grin on his face.
'Hello Master Link, hello melady!' He exclaimed. 'Everything is quiet here', he said while saluting. 'Sefaro!' He suddenly yelled, making Zelda jump in her saddle. 'Have you seen anything?'
A little higher up, under another tree, stood a second little boy, this one almost bald except for his ponytail waving in the wind. 'No luck!' He yelled back. 'There's nothing here!'
The two boys went quiet again and returned to their watching. Link smirked at Zelda and she chuckled, her hand before her mouth. He felt a funny feeling in his stomach as he looked at her, but decided to ignore it.
They trotted on and eventually reached the Ancient Tech Lab. Link watched Zelda as she looked up at it in awe. This had not been built yet before the Calamity. The weirdness of structures built along the walls of the tower, the Guardian perched on top and the giant telescope protruding from the roof made her eyes go big.
Link watched as she dismounted and carefully approached the furnace with the blue flame burning inside. She studied it for a while and he could see her eyes glimmer in its light. Her face showed only pure fascination, as her studious nature undoubtedly surfaced.
Eventually Link dismounted as well and slowly approached her.
'It's the power that generates this facility, according to Purah. I had to bring it over all the way from some hill over there', he said while pointing vaguely to their right. Though he said it in a slight whining tone, his face showed a broad smile, while thinking back of that time.
At the mention of Purah Zelda's head shot up and she looked at him expectantly. Her eyes were big and full of hope and wonder. She then smiled and quickly walked over to the door.
Link followed her and stood behind her as she paused, her hand on the firm wood. She hesitated a moment longer and then gently pushed the doors open, stepping into the dark Lab.
     Before he could walk any further, however, Zelda stopped dead in her tracks. He looked at her to see what was up and noticed her expression of pure shock and disbelief. Following her gaze he saw Purah, standing on a stool near the table.
Link suddenly saw her through different eyes, as he imagined what Zelda must be thinking. She had known Purah while growing up, they had done research together. She had been there with Impa and Zelda when they tried to uncover the secrets of the Ancient Sheikah.
And now here she was, looking younger than she had probably looked back then. He even wondered if Zelda recognised her at all. But judging by her look of horror, he imagined that she did.
'P...Purah?' the princess finally asked softly.
At the sound of her voice the big glasses turned towards them and the eyes behind them went wide. The weird owl-like eyes on top of her head bobbled as she jumped down and ran towards the pair, excitement written all over her face.
'Zelda!! O my Goddess, oh, Zelda! You are here. You are finally here!' She jumped up and down in her excitement.
Link chuckled a little at the face Zelda was currently making and put a hand on her shoulder, to remind her that he was still there for her.
'Purah, what..? How did you..? I can't believe it...' Zelda stammered, scanning the small girl with her eyes.
Purah broke into a massive grin and did a little twirl. 'You like it?' She ended with her hands spread wide and a little reverence. 'I must admit it was not entirely according to plan, but at least it worked!'
Zelda was still staring at her with unbelieving eyes, when they were interrupted by a man, sporting a bun of white hair in true Sheikah style.
'Welcome, Princess, it is an honour to meet you.' He said, while extending his hand. 'My name is Symin.' He grinned as Zelda shook it. 'I work here with Purah as her assistant.' He pushed back the glasses that were slowly gliding to the tip of his nose and looked at Link, greeting him with a nod.
'Pleasure to meet you, Symin', Zelda said, still looking slightly shaken.
'Oh, Zelda, I got sooo much to tell you!' Purah exclaimed, grabbing her hand and dragging her further in. Zelda let it happen and looked around at the mess of scattered books and papers. Her eyes lingered a moment longer on the Sheikah pedestal and Link could see the longing look in her eyes. He smiled fondly as he followed them to the table.
Before they were properly seated, Purah already started to rattle on about her research and everything she had found out since Zelda disappeared into the castle.
Link could see the interest in Zelda's eyes as she propped her head on her hands and listened intently to the stories. He couldn't quite keep up with it, but he didn't mind. He had learned more than enough of the ancient technology.
When they had finally sealed Ganon away, for good hopefully, the Shrines had started to sink back into the ground. They hadn't noticed it at first, but as he had passed one near Wetland Stable he had realised it was gone.
After that he had kept checking his Sheikah Slate, noticing more and more of the blue symbols disappear. Eventually even the towers started to shrink away.
When he had woken up a month after their fight with Ganon, all Sheikah creations seemed to have vanished from existence. His Slate was all that remained, but that same day he found out that all the runes were gone too. The only things that remained were his pictures and the map.
He had talked to Impa about it and she reasoned that the technology was no longer needed for the Chosen One. She advised him to bring the matter to Purah, but he hadn't done that yet.
As the two women talked and discussed all kinds of research, memories and people he had no connection to, he quietly sipped the refreshment that Symin had brought them.
He watched the princess as she listened carefully to everything Purah had to say, her eyes shining with excitement. When she talked, she waved her hands and made all kinds of expressions, giving Link pleasure just watching her.
Eventually they got up and went around the lab, Purah pointing out one thing after another, as Zelda greedily sucked up all the information. They lingered a long time near the pedestal, while Purah explained in great detail how she had gotten the runes to work.
Links thoughts were interrupted as Symin took a seat across from him. He stroked his beard as he shot Link a thoughtful look.
'You really like to have her back, don't you?' He finally asked, one eyebrow raised.
Link nodded slowly. 'Of course. I can't imagine what it must have been like, to be stuck in that place all this time. She deserves to be free.'
Symin slowly nodded, his lips pressed tightly together. 'You deserve to be free too, you know. I've seen you on your travels. You were always focused, always determined to succeed. Nothing could distract you.'
Link shrugged. He didn't feel like he had had any choice. It was his duty to safe Hyrule, to safe Zelda.
'You're different now,' Symin continued. 'You are more relaxed, you smile more. You have succeeded in your task and it's okay to let it all go now.' He smiled at Link with encouragement.
'She truly is as beautiful as everyone says, isn't she?'
Links head shot up at that, looking him straight in the eyes. 'Even more,' he then said, without thinking. He felt his cheeks go a little red and hid it behind the mug in his hands.
'It's really good to finally see the two of you reunited,' Symin said, without commenting on Links words. He smiled and started to get up. 'You should make it count as long as you still can. Who knows what tomorrow brings.' With that he turned around and headed out the backdoor.
Link was left alone at the table, pondering what the man had meant. Before he could really think about it, however, Zelda and Purah returned to him.
An excited grin was plastered on both of their faces as they looked at him. Link started to feel slightly uncomfortable and got up.
'Purah?' He started, while pulling the Sheikah Slate from his belt. 'Can you take a look at this, while we're here? Most of it is gone, just like the Towers and Shrines have disappeared.' He handed it to her and saw the slight glint of disappointment on her face.
'Of course, Linky. If you can leave it for a few days I'll see what I can find out.'
He nodded and turned to Zelda. 'What do you say if we get something to eat and call it a night?'
She nodded and they headed towards the door, Purah following them.
'Thank you, Purah.' Zelda said. 'It has been great catching up with you. I hope your research will continue to give results. As soon as we have the kingdom back in order, I'll make sure to give you the funding you need.'
Purah excitedly nodded. 'Thank you, Zelda! That means a lot.'
Link opened the door and waved at Purah, while Zelda gave her a last smile. 'Goodnight!' she said with a little wave.
'Goodnight, Princess. Goodnight, Linky.'