Hero by Heart

Chapter 10

Link sat on the big rock formation offering a good vantage point over the sea down below, as well as the Ancient Tech Lab high up on the cliff. The sun was now really setting, making the skies go orange, contrasting the dark Lab.
It was a beautiful view, but Link could not enjoy it. He was mad, frustrated, confused. He kept mentally reprimanding himself for acting so stupid. For someone who had felt uncomfortable leaving the princess alone in the Tech Lab, he couldn't believe how he had left her, standing all alone on top of the cliff.
He looked up at the Lab, hoping to see her standing there, but it was too far away, too dark.
At first he had paced around the little bay and the connecting beach, kicking at loose rocks and throwing everything he could find as far as possible.
As soon as he had been gliding through the air and felt the cold on his skin, he regretted running away. It was not something a knight was ought to do. Ever.
     All he wanted was to be alone for a while. He had to think, to go over his memories again. Everything seemed to have turned upside down. And all of that because of one almost-kiss.
     At the very least one of his questions was answered. She did feel that way about him. At least, she had. He doubted she would want to have anything to do with him after he just abandoned her like that.
     He thought back of the moment. How she had slowly crept closer to him, until he was almost certain she wanted him to react. He had gladly held her in his arms, feeling her warmth and her soft body against his.
     When she had looked up at him he had gotten lost in her beautiful green eyes, full of joy and sparkling in the evening light.
     His heart had almost stopped when she stood on her toes, her face so close he had trouble seeing it sharply. His mind had been running everywhere at once, thoughts all over the place.
     Part of him had been screaming to close the distance, to stop dwelling and go for it, but part of him was still confused. He couldn't quite place his feelings, didn't understand what his rebelling memories were telling him.
     As her nose touched his, his mind finally went quiet. Everything blew out of his head in one swift stroke. Only one thing remained. A memory, clear as if it was happening right then and there.
     Link placed his chin on top of his knees, pulled tightly against his chest. He stared at the rocky ground in front of him, as he went over it again, his mind still in shock.

They were making their way towards Mount Lanayru to visit the Spring of Wisdom. Zelda was carefully optimistic, but to Link that seemed mostly a way to cope with her disappointment. She was trying so hard to unlock her Sealing Power. Why wouldn't the Goddess grant it to her?
     The sun was going down, leaving everything in a beautiful orange glow. The arch on the bottom of the mountain was already in sight, revealing the path where they would start the trek up tomorrow. Link decided they should set up camp here and Zelda happily agreed.
     She had been acting much warmer towards him, which he noticed especially after hearing her say she was trying to be more emphatic. That obviously applied to him as well.
As they laid out camp for the night, they were merrily chatting, for once their grave purpose forgotten. Link felt a warm, happy feeling in his chest as he heard her laugh.
The night progressed rather quickly, with them preparing and eating dinner, before sitting down next to each other, trying to keep warm in the heat of the fire.
Link carefully crept closer to the princess, feeling her warmth on his skin. He smiled as he noticed her casually moving her leg, letting it rest against his. Lifting his arm, he glanced at her to gauge her reaction, before putting it around her shoulders.
Zelda's lips quirked up in a surprised smile, her eyes sparkling, as she leaned into his side.
Link felt a boost of confidence at her reaction, realising he hadn't imagined her warm feelings towards him. He smiled and pressed her even closer, for once letting himself go a little.
For a long time they sat like that, enjoying the fire, the quiet night and each others company. That was, until Zelda suddenly shifted so she was looking right at him.
He felt a little naked under her piercing eyes and nervously shuffled his feet, but she just smiled at him.
As he slowly relaxed again he stared back at her, still wondering if she was going to say something. When she didn't, he looked at her with investigating eyes, a slight frown on his face.
Suddenly he became aware of his rapid heartbeat, the little hitch in his breathing, the heat radiating off of his cheeks and the way his mouth was completely dry. He licked his lips and saw Zelda's eyes flicker down.
His breath stopped altogether at that and he swallowed nervously. As she looked him in the eyes again, he noticed the little blush on her cheeks, her shallow breathing and her hand just barely touching his.
With a sudden clarity, he was certain she wanted this as much as he did. And so, he leaned forward, closing the distance between them.
Their noses touched and he saw her small, close-lipped smile, right before she closed her eyes. It was enough for him to do the same and gently push his lips against hers.
Time seemed to stop, as he took in the feeling of her soft lips, her warm skin and the way their bodies pressed together. He smiled against her lips and gently placed one more kiss on them, before pulling away enough to rest his forehead against hers.
He could clearly see the beaming smile on her face, the way her eyes seemed to give light as they looked at him, full of warmth.
He grinned back at her and grabbed her hand tightly in his, pressing it against his chest. He bit his bottom lip, as he looked at her perfect, pink ones.

Link sat as darkness fell around him, clouds speeding across the sky. He didn't move, his eyes focused on a particularly interesting pebble near his right foot.
     They had actually kissed before. He hadn't imagined his feelings for Zelda, the feelings she seemed to return. They were there, they were real, and over a century old.
     He imagined how she must feel. They had been developing their relationship slowly, over their entire journey together. What started out as nothing more than contempt and cold looks towards him, had transformed into... Into what, actually? Love? Had she really loved him?
     They probably never got that far, he imagined. It had been merely days before the Calamity, giving them barely any time at all to reflect on their relationship.
     She had started to like him, had developed feelings for him, and just when they had finally acted on it, everything was wiped away by Ganon. It had left her locked in the castle for years, not knowing if Link would ever fully recover.
     How awful it must have been for her. Not only the amount of time she had to wait to be free again, but she had to find out that he did not remember her. The person she had always had the strongest connection to, the one she truly cared about, he had finally returned to her, only to be a constant reminder of what they had lost.
     Link could almost feel her pain, as he thought of everything she might have felt. No wonder she had stayed away from him at first. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how painful it must have been to see him again, to interact with him, all while he treated her as if he barely knew her.
     A slow tear trickled down his cheek, as he looked up to the cliffs, now completely dark. Was she still there? What was she doing? She must be so confused, hurt even.
     He had really, really messed up. If only she knew everything he felt. He had never been good at showing his feelings and this wasn't making it any better.
     He remembered now that he had really liked her. He had maybe even fallen in love with her over time. But was that still the same? Had he really not changed at all?
     How could he know if he still felt the same, if there was so much that he didn't know. It was true that he had really wanted to kiss her, but for what reasons?
     His mind kept running in circles, constantly asking himself the same questions. Questions he didn't know the answers to. The only thing he was absolutely certain of, was that he had to talk to her. He had to explain.
     So he got up, brushed his hands off on his breeches and looked around. He had no horse, no map, no way of transportation. The only thing he could do was walk and hope to find a road.
     For the first time since defeating Calamity Ganon he really wished he had the Sheikah Slate. It would take no time at all to transport to the Tech Lab and find Zelda. Or maybe if he even had the Master Cycle Zero, it would save him a lot of time.
     But he didn't have it, so he shrugged and hoisted up his tunic. At least he always carried his Master Sword and a Savage Lynel Bow, prepared for whatever he might run into.
     Looking around, he judged it would be best to first climb the mountain behind him and find a good vantage point, from where he could maybe glide over back to Hateno.
     With a deep sigh, not looking forward to trekking up a mountain, he started walking.
     Before long he had climbed quite a bit, occasionally crawling on hands and feet when the rock got steeper. The air started getting colder, until he saw the first signs of snow on the slopes.
     He slightly regretted climbing up here, but wasn't going to turn around now. So he kept climbing, braving the cold by keeping on the move.
     Eventually it got so cold he knew it could be dangerous, so he dug in the pouch he always carried, finding the Rito headgear with the ability to somewhat shield him from the cold. He quickly placed it over his ears, under his hood, feeling immediate relief.
     He finally reached the first peak, his chest heaving heavily. His breath created little puffs in the air and he could feel his sweat rapidly cooling under his tunic.
     Even though he knew he couldn't stop for long, he took a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet. The snow seemed to absorb every little sound, leaving only his own breathing as proof that his ears still worked.
     The clouds were low here, hanging against the mountainside, obscuring the surroundings from view. All Link could see was white and grey, everywhere he looked.
     For the first time since he could remember, probably since waking up in the Shrine of Resurrection, his mind seemed to go completely quiet, mirroring its surroundings. He breathed in deeply, closing his eyes and throwing his head in his neck. There was finally peace within.
     Standing like that, Link temporarily forgot about the world. Until the cold slowly started creeping in, leaving him shivering.
     He opened his eyes and looked around, realising with a sudden sinking feeling that he did not no which way to go anymore. He could still see his footsteps, so he knew where he came from, but not where Hateno Village lay. During his climb he had occasionally gone around a part of the way that was impassable, making his route twist and turn.
     Usually he was quite good with directions and he trusted on his intuition, but up here there was only snow and cloud. One misstep and he would go tumbling down the mountain.
     He knew Hateno Village was somewhere in the general direction on his left, but how far away he did not know.
     After some thinking, he decided there was only one thing he could really do, so he started walking again, in the same direction he had already been going in.
Not long after, he reached the highest peak he could find, sighing relieved as he noticed the slope behind it going down again. He quickly walked on, half gliding through the snow, as he clumsily made his way down.
On his left side, the mountain seemed to be less rocky, going down gradually. While ploughing on, he could see some vague shapes in the distance, something what looked like a windmill. Was that the village?
He reached some sort of plateau now, a new peak rising up before him. He looked that way, and then down on his left. Looking back and forth, he decided his best bet was to try and go down here.
     It was however getting colder and darker, making it extremely dangerous to walk down the snowy mountainsides. So with a deep sigh and a lot of reluctance, he used some flint to make a fire from a few twigs and branches half buried in the snow.
     It took him a great deal of time to get it going, but eventually it gave off a little heat, enough for him to lie down to. He used everything he had on him to keep warm, hoping he would at least sleep through the night.
     As he lay down he really wished he had been smarter about this. He should have stayed at Mapla Point until the morning, traveling over the mountain by daylight, or he should have taken a different route.
     Now, however, he was stuck on a foreign mountain, covered in snow and hidden in the clouds. It was freezing cold and pitch black around him.
     Miserably he lay shivering in his tunic, at least being incredibly grateful for the Snowquill Headdress and the little fire he had produced, until he finally fell asleep.

In the morning Link was woken by the bright light of the sun. Even though it was still hidden behind clouds, it seemed to light up the snow all around him, almost blinding him.
     He carefully stretched and rubbed his body, until he felt warm enough to get up. The fire had gone out long ago and he was covered with a thin layer of snow.
     As he looked around, he could see the peaks on either side of him, rising into the clouds. In front of him was a slope that seemed reasonably passable.
He would eventually have to go down and make his way towards Hateno, so maybe this was the best chance he was going to get.
As he heard a noise behind him, he looked up and noticed a cold-footed wolf creeping through the snow. Link knew they could be vicious, but it hadn't attacked him during the night, so maybe it wouldn't do that now either.
     The wolf was looking at him, though, making him a little uncomfortable. That decided things for him. Link abruptly started walking again, half falling down through the snow as his stiff limbs protested.
Suddenly a thought came to him, a memory of something he had done during his travels. He smiled inwardly as he pulled out a guardian shield, folded in on itself so it fit in his pouch.
He quietly sent a blessing up to the Goddess, as he carefully stepped on it. As soon as his weight landed on the shield, it started gliding down, making him jump up to not loose it.
At first he was terrified, seeing the steep slope flashing around him, but slowly he felt the adrenaline of racing down the mountain like this.
The fact that he could barely see anything ahead left him a little anxious, but he went with it, hoping there wouldn't suddenly be a gaping abyss or something.
     Finally, after some heart-clenching minutes, he saw a little lake doom up from the mist, a grove of trees beside it. He stopped at the edge of rocks and jumped down, safely onto the grass.
     The thick mist seemed to disappear, as he was now below the clouds, leaving him finally able to properly see again. It was however raining heavily, drenching him in no-time.
     It was hard to find the sun from here, but judging by the light and the animal activity around him, it was somewhere in the late morning.
     As he made his way through the grove, he was greeted by the sound of a Hateno Cow, followed by the barking of dogs. A building doomed up from behind the trees, which he recognised as the Pasture.
     A wave of relief washed over him, as Link realised he made it back to town. He felt exhausted, cold and hungry, but he was back now. He could rest at home and hopefully talk to Zelda.
     Link quickly made his way past the left side of the house and onto the road, where a sign pointed up to the Tech Lab. Straight ahead Hateno Village spread out over the mountainside, the road clearly winding through it.
     He didn't waste any time and took out his paraglider again, simply flying over the rooftops, as far as he could get. He landed at a bent in the road, next to an apple tree and a lantern holding a blue flame.
     Without stopping to put away his paraglider, he clumsily stuffed it back in his pouch while running down the road. He turned onto the small path leading to his house and felt his chest tighten, afraid of what he would find there.
     Before even stepping on the bridge, he could already see that the stables were empty, the fireplace cold. Dread settled in the pit of his stomach as he dragged his feet towards the front door.
     No sign of Zelda. The bed was unslept, most of her stuff gone, since she always carried it with her. Had she not returned at all?
     As panic started rising in him, he felt his throat clamp shut, his hands starting to tremble. If only she would be okay. He could not bare it if something had happened to her. He had abandoned her, rejected her. He ran away, leaving her alone on the cliffs.
     With every fiber in his body he hoped she was still there. That she was okay, that maybe she would not hate him.
     All kinds of feelings spread through his body, his mind going into overdrive, as he turned around and started running. Running up the mountain. Running back to Zelda.