Hunter and Apprentice; Fantasy Zelink AU (The Legend of Zelda)

Chapter Thirteen

When I woke, the first thing I saw was Link's face. He was looking down at me with a soft smile.

I blinked a few times before my mind cleared. "We fell asleep..." I said.

"We fell asleep." He held out his hand.

I took it and he gently helped me sit up. "That was unplanned..." I said with a small chuckle.

"Very unplanned," he replied. He had a sort of hesitant happiness on his face. It took me a moment to register that I hadn't seen the expression on him before. This smile actually reached his eyes... He seemed more grounded than before, even among the uncertainty I could see he felt for our... this situation.

Well... I could fix that...

I pulled the hand I still held and I enveloped him in a hug. "Unplanned, but appreciated," I said over his shoulder, then tightened my hold. "Really. I'm so glad you came here. I'm so glad that I met you."

There was no shocked moment of hesitation, Link just melted into my embrace. His arms were solid as they held onto me. "I'm so glad I came here," he said, his voice muffled. "I didn't deserve to meet you... but I thank all of the Shards that I did."

I raised my hand and ruffled his hair. "Oh you certainly didn't deserve to get stuck with me... but now you won't get rid of me."

He laughed and held me tighter for a moment. "Glad to hear it..."

I patted his head and then pushed back from him. "We need to go home, our families will be worried."

Link nodded, and I felt my heart squeeze when I saw the tears in his eyes.

"Fade can take you home, I'll run."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I can walk."

"I..." I took a deep breath. "... I haven't used my fox form in a while... and after talking about it like we did, I think I want to..." I smiled, a dash of uncertainty in it.

"That's good," he replied and smiled back as he put his hand against my cheek. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." I put my hand on top of his, then I gently pulled it away and stood up, pulling him with me.

I stooped and grabbed the blanket. I threw it into my movada without folding it then turned to face Link. "See you tonight? Start of fade?" I asked.

"See you then," he replied.

We walked down from the cliff and Fade trotted up to us. "I'm so sorry for leaving you down here buddy..." I said as I scratched under his chin. He purred and obviously didn't hold it against me. "Fade will run home once he drops you off," I said. "Just tell him 'Home' and he'll go."

Link nodded. "I hope your run goes well."

I smiled. "Me too."

Link got up onto Fade, and I directed the drake to run to the village.

Fade took off, and I watched them go before turning towards the town.

Then I focused on myself.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I opened the door to my movada and stepped inside. I sat next to the unmoving fox. As I released my breath, I made the switch. My mind went from my human body to my fox. When I opened my eyes, my vision felt sharp, and the colors were different. My nose twitched as I adjusted to my sense of smell being so enhanced. I stepped out of my movada and closed it behind me. I took a deep breath, acutely aware of every part of this body.

The texture of the earth under my paws felt different than when my human feet touched it. I could take deeper breaths with larger lungs. I stood there for several long moments as I focused on the feelings.