Work Text:
Zelda blinks awake to see the sun.
The air tastes so clean- she cannot sense Malice or Gloom anywhere. She’s lying on her back in the grass… and she feels so warm.
So loved.
But… wasn’t she…?
Zelda sits up.
She is lying in Hyrule Field- her Hyrule Field, her Era- and Link is there.
Her Link.
She touches the Secret Stone at her neck. It’s… still there.
She’s back.
She’s home.
“Link…”
Zelda turns to look at him- really look at him- and experiences some rather potent deja vu.
There Link is.
Naked save for his underwear.
Hair loose and completely wild, like he’d been thrown around by the wind.
Unharmed, but covered in blood, dust, and what looks like monster guts.
Seeming somewhat puzzled.
But at least he has the Master Sword, so it’s not exactly like his defeat of the Calamity.
“Hi, Zelda,” Link says, smiling at her. “Why were you a dragon?”
“...er,” Zelda says, remembering the promises the Sages had given her. She had been so certain he would need them…
…it seems she was wrong.
---
It has been a little under one day, from Link’s perspective.
He says he woke up on an island in the sky. With a new arm. He’s not sure what that was about- he wasn’t listening to the ghost that tried to explain it.
But does it matter now? He’s got his old arm back. And his Zelda.
(Zelda thinks it matters very much, and she’s about ninety percent sure that arm was Rauru’s, but Link seems to have run straight past him, so she’ll probably never know.)
So Link woke up in the sky with a new arm. And sprinted here as fast as he possibly could. With only one goal: Find Zelda.
“But you killed Ganondorf,” she points out.
“Who?”
By all the Goddesses.
“The mummy, Link. The one imprisoned underground? That you killed?”
“Oh, right,” Link says. “That was an accident. I was looking for you.”
An accident. He killed the Demon King… by accident.
“What?”
“I mean, last I saw you, you were falling below the Castle… I thought that was the best place to start looking. And then these monsters attacked me, so I killed them, and this weird chamber opened up, so I went inside, and the mummy was there, and then he turned into a guy and attacked me, so I killed him, but he used some magic to get stronger, so I killed him harder, and then he turned into a dragon, so I killed that.”
“He what.”
“You helped,” Link adds cheerfully. “Dragon-You. Why were you a dragon? You haven’t answered my question.”
“I was ten thousand years in the past,” Zelda says, somewhat dazed. “I received the Master Sword from you… I swallowed my Secret Stone and became an immortal dragon so I could restore it for you.”
“Oh,” Link says, “thanks.”
“...you’re welcome.”
---
It is only when they’re halfway to Lookout Landing that Zelda remembers to ask-
“How am I not a dragon anymore?”
“I’m not sure,” Link says, examining his completely normal right hand. “It was like a dream… I was floating there, and Dragon-You was floating there, and that weird ghost from the Sky Island and another ghost showed up, and they… boosted my power, I think? And I used the power you gave me in the Temple Of Time on you. And then… there you were.”
“Okay,” Zelda says, “sure.”
There is a lot to unpack there. She’s not sure where to start.
With Purah, maybe.
---
“Doctor Purah!”
Josha looks like she might explode.
“The Swordsman and the Princess! They’ve returned!”
Purah rushes out the door looking like she’s been through a tornado.
Classic Purah.
“Where have you been,” she demands, “you’ve been missing for twelve hours- the Castle lifted into the sky, Gloom was everywhere, a dragon rose out from beneath the Castle, then fought another dragon- and the Castle-Dragon lost and then exploded, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen, and then you two just- show up here! Like nothing happened at all! And what are you wearing?!”
“Not much,” Link says, with a straight face.
Zelda puts her head in her hands.
---
It takes much longer to explain everything to Purah, because she wants to know every detail of the past, and the Imprisoning War, and what it’s like to be a dragon. She wants to know every detail of how Link obliterated the Demon King so easily, too, but Link defies explanation.
Purah is delighted to hear that there’s a Zonai spirit in Link’s Purah Pad. She practically rips it out of his hands.
Honestly, Zelda is just grateful he took the time to recover it. She wouldn’t have been the slightest bit surprised if he had run straight past the Steward Construct she left it with. But he didn’t, and so Mineru is with them.
As soon as her spirit manifests in the room, Purah is already pointing sensors at her.
Mineru pays it no attention.
“Zelda,” she says, leaning forward to look at her- “and Link, Zelda’s chosen protector… she has always had such faith in you.”
Zelda blushes.
“I admit,” Mineru continues, looking slightly amused and perhaps a bit shocked, “I did not think you were this impressive. I had faith in you. Of course I did. But… having seen you defeat the Demon King with no clothes and only the weapons you happened upon on your way… I seem to have underestimated you.”
“I had to save Zelda,” Link says.
And Mineru smiles.
“And you did it. Thank you, Link. You did it.”
---
Purah only lets them go after they promise to check back in within the week. She sets a travel point at Lookout Landing’s Skyview Tower, firmly tells them not to do anything stupid without her, and sends them on their way.
Their first stop should probably be Mineru’s Secret Stone. She left it with the construct she was intending to use to help Link defeat the Demon King.
Obviously, that is no longer necessary, but they shouldn’t just leave the Secret Stone there, so the most important thing to do is go and get it.
Unfortunately, there is a magical storm protecting it, but Mineru knows exactly how to dispel that.
The storm was triggered by the Upheaval. It was meant to react to the presence of Gloom; when it descended from the sky, it was summoned.
That Gloom didn’t last very long, but the storm is still there.
Mineru shows Link exactly where every armor piece is, and then the altar, and…
He doesn’t have a Zonai charge.
Zelda waits around at the altar as Link teleports back to the Great Sky Island, defeats a Construct, and returns.
And then they dispel the storm.
Link launches from the nearest Skyview Tower with Zelda clinging to his back. He ends up needing to carry her in this manner across most of the Thunderhead Isles- she really needs her own paraglider.
Link’s old one is still at their house. They should make a pitstop for that.
Still, even if Link did need to carry her almost all the way there, they reach Mineru’s mask, and it opens the way down.
And down.
And down.
“The way is dangerous,” Mineru says, as she gestures into the darkness. “It may be worthwhile to build me a new Construct body after all…”
“If it’s danger you’re worried about, don’t be,” Zelda says wryly. “Link is here. We’ll be fine.”
He smiles at her. Bright and clear like a sunny day. Zelda cannot remember the ten thousand years she spent without him; she aches with the old loneliness regardless.
“I’ll always protect you,” Link promises, and the ache fades.
---
Mineru’s Secret Stone is exactly where she left it. Even her old Construct is there…
…crumpled and decayed, with obvious signs of Gloom damage.
“Well,” Mineru says, as they carefully step around it, “that could have been a problem.”
Link shrugs. “I would have taken care of it.”
“You do seem to take care of everything,” she agrees.
---
Their next stop is Hateno Village. Their house looks just the same as she left it- of course it does. It’s only been a few days since she saw it last.
A few days, and ten thousand years.
She runs her fingers over the walls. No dust.
She looks at their bed. Still hastily made, with one blanket askew.
She looks at the photograph of the Champions on the wall.
Their spirits aren’t with her or Link right now; a few weeks (and ten thousand years) ago they’d all decided they had things to do elsewhere.
Sidon was getting married. Mipha was eager to help, to speak with Lady Yona and congratulate her soon-to-be sister.
Riju was having trouble learning to control her lightning, and Urbosa was determined to help her. Riju had certainly seemed delighted by the assistance.
Yunobo was starting his own company- and Daruk may not have known much about that, but he was providing as much moral support as possible.
Tulin didn’t need anything, but he had been demanding the opportunity to learn from Revali for months, and with the other Champions busy, it had seemed like the perfect time.
Zelda can’t help but wonder if things would have been different, if the Champions had gone below the Castle with them.
Probably not. After all, this was always going to happen. She was always going to fall. She already had.
Link puts his hand on her shoulder, and she realizes she’s been crying.
“I’m here,” he says. “I’m here.”
“You’re home now.”
Link pulls her into his arms.
---
After Zelda pulls herself together, they descend into her workshop.
Or, as it is more commonly known: the well.
It feels like so long ago that she and Link were sitting down here, as she puzzled over a recently discovered kind of lizard and braided his hair as she thought out loud.
His hair tie is still lying on the ground, from where she dropped it when he made a truly terrible joke.
She half expects it to burst into dust when she picks it up. But no. It has only been lying here for a few days.
Link is rifling through her desk drawers. Her diary is there; she can barely remember what she had written in it- but that’s not what Link is looking for. He’s looking for the jewelry boxes she keeps there- a pair of necklaces.
Zelda’s hand goes to her throat. Her Secret Stone still rests there.
Suddenly she wants a sapphire-carved Winterwing Butterfly there. More than anything.
Link passes it to her, and she removes her Secret Stone with nigh-disrespectful haste.
Her butterfly pendant is cold against her neck. It’s perfect.
Link pulls his on, as well, and she sees the gentle way he holds it, and knows that he thinks it’s perfect, too.
I’m home, she thinks, smiling as she offers to braid his hair again. I’m home.
---
By the time they return to Lookout Landing, Zelda has retrieved Link’s old paraglider and had the chance to sleep in her own bed, so she’s feeling much better.
This doesn’t last terribly long. A Rito came by while they were gone, and he’s delivered worrying news- there’s strange and troubling phenomena in four areas.
(Goron City seems to have fully recovered, however.)
“This must be the work of the Demon King,” Mineru says, and Purah hums approvingly. “Before you destroyed him, he must have sent some disasters to the locations of the other Secret Stones.”
“Speaking of Secret Stones, where’s yours?” Purah asks Mineru.
She blinks.
“Ah. It is being stored in the Purah Pad, at the moment. I am… well, a spirit. I can no longer wield it.”
“Interesting,” Purah says.
Mineru gives her a calculating look.
“Linky! Zel! If this is the work of that so-called Demon King, you’ve got to go check it out!”
“Why us?” Zelda asks.
“So Link can obliterate it, obviously! And you know the most about it, Princess. Get to it!”
“Okay,” Link says, “who do we want to see first?”
---
Goron City is unanimously agreed to be last on the list of priorities- unlike the other three, Ganondorf’s defeat seems to have removed the threat in that area.
As for the other regions, the reported problems are a blizzard, a water-contaminating sludge, and swarms of strange new monsters.
The monsters are likely the worst problem, so Gerudo Town is the first stop.
---
Gerudo Desert is covered in a sandstorm, and there are Gibdos everywhere.
Zelda supposes that it would make sense for Ganondorf to bring these monsters back immediately. She’s not sure what made them go extinct between the Imprisoning War and the Calamity, but she hopes it happens again soon. She hates these things.
“They’re weak to lightning and fire,” she says, and watches and Link mows through them like nothing.
She loves him.
---
Gerudo Town itself seems to be holding up fairly well- the entrances are fortified, and while Gibdos are attacking constantly, they’re being blown back by lightning strikes just as fast.
Riju stands proud at the entrance to the Throne Room, Urbosa beside her.
Zelda watches as she calls down another lightning strike, and a horde of Gibdos are incinerated.
It’s impressive, but it’s a stalemate that’s been going on for days. Riju must be exhausted.
“Princess! Link!”
“Urbosa,” Zelda responds, and then turns her attention to the young Chief. “Riju. We came as fast as we could- what’s going on?”
“Those damn Gibdos are sieging us,” Riju snarls, and thunder booms as lightning strikes again. “I can’t hold them off forever. I’m hoping you have a plan?”
“They should be coming from a Hive, somewhere,” Zelda says, scanning the dusty horizon. “If we can destroy that, they’ll stop coming, and you’ll just have to deal with wiping out the remains.”
“I can do that,” Riju says, as sweat beads on her brow. “Who’s your friend?”
“I am Mineru,” says Mineru, “Sage of Spirit.”
“Okay,” says Riju.
“That Hive you mentioned,” says Urbosa, “Would it happen to look like a tall, glowing mushroom?”
“...Yes,” says Zelda, blinking. “Precisely that. Have you seen any?”
“I have. There’s three, each only a little outside Town. They’re obscured by the Sand Shroud right now, but you only need to walk forward from each main gate to find them.”
“Perfect,” Link says, drawing the Master Sword. “Which one are we destroying first?”
---
The Gibdo Hives are easy pickings, with Riju’s lightning and Link’s sheer battle prowess. He carves through the Gibdo hordes as Riju destroys every Hive- it’s almost comically easy.
But the Sand Shroud still remains.
“There’s a mural, below Town,” Riju offers as they contemplate the issue. “It might have answers that we’re looking for.”
Mineru takes one look at the mural and goes, a-ha.
“This is the Lightning Temple,” she says. “I know how to reach it.”
“Then by all means, lead the way.”
---
“Who are you, exactly?” Urbosa asks.
“I told you,” Mineru says. “I am Mineru, Sage of Spirit.”
“But what does that mean,” Urbosa presses.
“It means that I am one of the Six Sages. Zelda is the Sage of Time, and the rest are… gone.”
“Gone?”
“I am the last of the Zonai,” Mineru says, looking out across the vast desert. “My people are gone. My friends are gone as well. I am here to make up for my past failures; but soon I will be gone as well.”
“Mineru, don’t say that,” Zelda says.
“It is true, Zelda. I failed to stop the Demon King, and many people suffered for it.”
“If you failed, then I failed as well,” Zelda insists, looking determined. “And Rauru. And Sonia. And all the other Sages, too.”
“We did fail,” Mineru says softly.
“We did it together,” Zelda says instead.
---
When the Queen Gibdo first attacks, Link pulls Zelda directly into his arms.
She doesn’t have an issue with that, but it does make it harder to see what’s going on. Still, the booms of thunder, flashes of light, and unholy screeching make it somewhat clear.
Link only eases his grip when the creature flees.
Zelda wants to assure him that she’s fine. She also wants him to hug her close to him again.
She settles on embracing him, quickly but tightly.
“It’s alright, Link,” she says. “I’m not going anywhere.”
---
The Sage of Lightning calls to them from within the Temple. Mineru seems familiar with the puzzles within, but Riju is solving them herself rather quickly.
She’s also striking any foe in her way with lightning, which is handy.
“You seem to have taught her well,” Link comments, as Riju blasts a Construct into oblivion.
“She’s a natural,” Urbosa responds, voice warm. “I am quite proud of her.”
---
The Queen Gibdo doesn’t have much luck the second time around, either.
Riju strikes it with lightning, over and over.
Link moves at impossible speeds, tearing into it- there are more Hives, and more Gibdos, but he doesn’t slow down for a moment- and suddenly it is collapsing dead to the floor, cut to ribbons.
Riju turns on the remaining Gibdos.
The battle doesn’t last very long after that.
---
When Riju touches the Secret Stone, there is a flash of light, and suddenly they are somewhere else.
It seems familiar to Zelda. Like a place she'd been in a dream.
And standing there is the Sage of Lighting. The old Chief of the Gerudo. Zelda and Mineru’s dear friend- Naboris.
(Zelda had done quite the double take when she was introduced to the Sages.)
“Riju, Daughter of the Gerudo,” Naboris greets. “Urbosa, my descendant. Mineru, Zelda, my fellow Sages… and you must be the noble swordsman, Link.”
“I am,” Link says.
Naboris turns her attention to Zelda. “You had said that we would need the power of the Gerudo, to defeat the Demon King… is that why you are here, now?”
“No,” Zelda says. “It seems I was… mistaken. I’m sure Link appreciates the power of the Gerudo-”
“I do,” says Link.
“-but as it turns out, he did not… need it. To defeat Ganondorf. He did that by himself.”
“So the Demon King… is gone?” Naboris asks, astonished. “How?”
“I stabbed him a lot,” Link says.
Naboris doesn’t seem to know what to say to that.
She bequeaths her Secret Stone onto Riju. Passes her the title of Sage of Lightning. Begins to fade away- her job is done. It is over.
“Zelda,” Naboris says, as her spirit fades. “I am glad you were returned to yourself.”
“As am I,” Zelda responds, swallowing her tears.
“Take care of our people, Daughter,” Naboris says to Riju. “And remember- always remember- to do what is right.”
“I will,” Riju says, confident, and the vision fades.
---
Riju whoops with delight as she tests her new power. Lightning flashes everywhere, quick and brilliant.
“It seems we have more learning to do,” Urbosa says, smiling. “I won’t be as much help with this one.”
“I would appreciate it anyway, Champion Urbosa,” Riju says, smiling back.
---
They return to Lookout Landing with the good news.
“So,” Purah muses, “the Demon King made some monsters, and you dealt with them. That’s good! I mean, the monsters are bad, but taking them down is good.”
“Yes,” Zelda agrees, after taking a moment to parse the sentence.
“So! Hebra and Lanyru are still in danger. You up for it?”
Zelda looks at Link and finds him looking at her. The question in his eyes is obvious; are you up for it?
“Yes,” she says, taking a deep breath and feeling the cool sapphire of her pendant. “Yes. I’m ready. Let’s go.”
---
Hebra is next. With the blizzard, it’s possible they’re starving, which would be… bad.
That would be bad.
It gets colder and colder as they near Rito Village. Mineru, being a spirit, is unbothered by the cold. Link wraps his cloak around her. He’s shivering, too, but-
She wraps the cloak around herself as tightly as she can.
It’s warm. And, better yet, it’s his.
---
“It’s you!” Tulin cries, delighted. He hops from one talon to another. “Link! Zelda! It’s been way too long.”
If only you knew, Zelda thinks.
“I am also glad that you’re not dead,” Revali offers.
“Thanks,” Link says.
“Princess, Link- we have a problem. I don’t suppose you’d noticed it yet?”
Zelda looks around at the thick blizzard. Yes, she’d definitely noticed.
“It isn’t natural. There must be some way to stop it- there has to be, or we’ll starve.”
Everyone goes quiet at Teba’s declaration. And then Tulin declares he will solve it all single-handedly and flies off.
“That chick,” Teba groans, and then turns to Revali. “He spends too much time with you.”
“I’ll have you know I could solve this all by myself if I were alive,” Revali huffs.
No, he couldn’t, Link signs to her from behind Revali, and she smiles.
---
It doesn’t take too long to find Tulin. It turns out he did have an idea of where to start- a series of ships, leading into the sky- but isn’t sure where to go from here.
Revali, who had elected to come with them rather than listen to another of Teba’s lectures about hubris, declares that the solution is obvious, but he will not share it.
You know.
For reasons.
“It seems obvious to me,” Link says, and everyone turns to him. “Go up.”
---
They go up.
And up.
And up!
By the time they’re above the storm, Zelda’s fingers are numb from holding on to the paraglider in the cold, her hair is a complete mess from being blown around in the wind, and she has a ridiculous grin on her face.
From the trampolines, mostly.
But also the view.
(A faint memory flickers in her mind- Hyrule, from high above. A memory that lasts thousands of years. But she ignores it- this is different. This is home.)
---
The Wind Temple looks almost as she remembers it, save for the snow everywhere. Medoh calls to them, just as Naboris did- he’s been waiting all this time, just as she was, to give Link assistance that he did not need.
But he does appreciate it.
Jumping around the Temple solving puzzles is quite fun- with the wind at her back and a paraglider in her hands, Zelda feels like she could do anything.
Right now she would probably like to be drinking something warm.
Link catches her blowing on her chilled hands, and puts his own hands over hers. They’re warm.
“My lips are cold, too,” she says without thinking.
Revali cracks up.
---
Unlocking the seal releases Colgera. It looks… eerie. Almost like a dragon.
There is a burst of wind as it emerges, and Link, Tulin and herself are flung back- and up.
(Revali remains where he was. Ghost privileges.)
Zelda is fumbling for her paraglider midair when Link catches her. He hasn’t even grabbed his own glider- he dove straight for her, as quickly as he could.
Zelda is breathing hard when they land on the deck. Her heart is pounding. Link is shivering against her. Tulin calls out; he sounds worried.
Colgera screeches above them.
“I’m alright,” she says to Link, shuddering in his arms. “I’m alright. We need to move.”
Link sort of looks like he wants to stay right where they are and keep holding her. (She wants that too.) But he does, with some hesitance, let go, and draws his bow.
The fight doesn’t take long after that.
---
Medoh appears once Tulin touches the Secret Stone. In that strange vision realm.
“Zelda,” he notes with some surprise. “I was not expecting to see you again. And is this your swordsman? Link?”
“That’s me,” says Link.
“Circumstances have changed,” Zelda tells him. “The Demon King is gone.”
“Gone,” he says. “Gone? Truly?”
“Yes.”
“Then I must thank you,” Medoh says as he turns to Link. “I promised to aid you once; you will not need it, but I would offer the aid of the Rito again. A thousand times over. You have saved us all.”
Link shrugs.
“He’s not that impressive,” Revali mutters.
“No, he is,” says Mineru.
---
Medoh gives Tulin his Secret Stone and passes on.
Tulin is delighted to tell his father all about his adventure. Teba seems more than a little stressed about the whole ordeal, but it’s over now and there’s nothing he can do about it.
“I am going to stay here for a while,” says Revali. “I can’t possibly travel with you until the ego boost of this new grand achievement has worn off.”
Link wouldn’t know an ego if it punched him in the face, but if Revali wants to stay and help Tulin master his abilities, she isn’t going to stop him.
---
Rather than return to Lookout Landing, Link rents a bed in Swallow’s Roost. The Rito do have terribly soft beds. Zelda doesn’t mind staying a night.
As soon as they’re both under the covers, Link wraps himself around her. She can feel him shivering. (It isn’t cold anymore.)
“I’m alright, Link,” she murmurs, cuddling closer so as to banish the phantom sensation of falling. “We’re together again. It’s alright.”
---
Impa is there when they return to Lookout Landing. It’s odd to see her in discussion with Purah. They used to look so similar, one hundred and ten thousand years ago.
“There you are,” Impa says, smiling, and Zelda immediately bursts into tears.
“So,” Mineru says, as Zelda catches Impa up, “is she your mother?”
Purah laughs. And laughs. And laughs some more.
“She’s my younger sister,” she says at last.
Mineru blinks.
“...alright then.”
---
Impa isn’t just here to say hello- she’s here to tell them about these things called Geoglyphs. They appeared soon after the Upheaval- she’s been investigating them, but doesn’t have any leads. So she came here for help.
“As soon as we’ve recovered the rest of the Secret Stones, I’ll be right on that,” Zelda promises.
Link grasps her hand. The message is clear: not without me.
“We’ll be right on that,” she amends, and Link squeezes her hand in thanks.
---
Zora’s Domain is covered in sludge when they get there. King Dorephan is guiding the efforts.
“Princess, it’s good to see you,” he says. “It’s funny- I almost thought I saw you, back during the Upheaval. With some sludge monster. But then you dissolved into smoke- it must have been some trick of the light.”
“Huh,” Link says. “Weird.”
---
Sidon is using his power to try and purify some water, with Mipha’s guidance. They both look absolutely exhausted, but when Zelda asks about the wedding plans, she is treated to a long and very passionate explanation of every single minute detail.
Yona arrives to return Link’s Zora Armour- Mipha tells him he looks very handsome in it- and then Mineru explains how to access the Water Temple.
Sidon and Mipha return to Zora’s Domain to ask their father if they could perhaps borrow a few of his scales.
---
Zelda has no Zora Armour of her own. She ends up needing Sidon to carry her up the waterfalls- Link would have liked to, but he’s a bit too short for it.
The Water Temple is, impossibly, even more sludge-covered than the Domain.
Gross.
---
When the Mucktorok first appears, nobody reacts too strongly. It’s small. It doesn’t seem very threatening.
The sludge-shark it summons? That’s a little more concerning.
“Link, use my power,” Sidon suggests, and Link is covered in a veil of water- and then he sprints off after the Mucktorok with intense focus and somewhat terrifying speed.
She almost feels bad for it.
---
When Sidon touches the Secret Stone, they are brought to see Ruta.
“Hello, Sage of Time, Sage of Spirit… my descendants… and you must be Link.”
“Hi,” says Link.
“It is good to see you both, Zelda, Mineru. Do you have need of my aid?”
“No,” Mineru says. “The Demon King is vanquished.”
“Vanquished,” Ruta says, shock evident in her voice. “Gone? Forever?”
“Forever,” Link says. “I watched him explode myself.”
“You made him explode,” Zelda says, who is really wishing she remembered seeing that.
“Yeah,” Link says, vaguely smug.
“Impressive, my friends,” Sidon says, explicitly very proud.
“We saw the explosion from here,” Mipha says, nodding. “You completely annihilated him.”
“It was awesome,” Sidon agrees.
---
When the conversation is over and Sidon is the Sage of Water, Zelda asks if Mipha will accompany them.
“I would love to,” she says. “But I must help with Sidon’s wedding. And…”
She leans in close to whisper in Zelda’s ear.
“...his coronation.”
“Oh,” Zelda says. “I see.”
“I would love to travel with you soon,” Mipha assures her. “But not yet. There is much to do.”
---
The final Secret Stone is in Death Mountain.
Yunobo and Daruk seem happy to see them.
“Hey, Princess, Link! Great to have you!”
“Hi, Yunobo,” Zelda says, smiling. “We heard there was trouble recently?”
“Oh, yeah. Some of the rock roast got infected with that Gloom stuff. It was real bad- but it all went away with the rest of it, so we’re good now.”
Link frowns at the ground.
“Link,” Zelda says as gently as possible, “It would have been a very, very bad idea to eat Gloom. And an even worse idea to eat Gloom-infected rocks.”
“But now I’ll never get the chance,” Link mourns.
“I heard it tasted pretty bad anyway,” Daruk offers.
Link sighs dejectedly.
---
The Fire Temple is very far down. Yunobo shrieks as he leaps into Death Mountain. Daruk laughs.
Link and Zelda paraglide down. He keeps his eyes on her the entire time.
---
Zelda hasn’t been to the Fire Temple in quite some time; she remembers there being less lava.
It used to be a little less nerve wracking to traverse.
---
When they finally unlock the main chamber, there is a large pile of rocks.
It sort of looks like it had legs. Zelda can picture Ganondorf creating a strange, Gloom-rock monster easily.
But the Gloom is gone. And so is the Marbled Gohma.
---
Rudania appears in the strange realm, just as the others did. But he knows something the others did not.
“The Demon King is gone,” he says, “isn’t he?”
“Yes,” Mineru says. “It is done.”
“How did you know?” Zelda asks.
“That monster guarding my Secret Stone… it collapsed and shriveled away! I saw the Gloom fade. I knew it could only mean one thing. Your swordsman is mighty impressive, Zelda.”
“Thanks,” says Link.
“Now I can finally rest easy. But first! I have to give you my Secret Stone, Little Rock.”
Yunobo gasps. Daruk attempts to give him a pat on the back.
---
“So,” Daruk asks later, as they leave the Mountain, “what’re you doing now?”
“Investigating these things called Geoglyphs,” Link says.
“Huh,” Daruk says, scratching his beard. “I don’t know anything about that. Sorry. Good luck!”
“Thank you, Daruk,” Zelda says, and then they return to Lookout Landing.
---
“So,” Purah says, “there’s a Geoglyph just northwest of here. Let’s go check it out!”
Zelda blinks. “Let’s?”
Purah rolls her eyes. “Yeah, of course! Did you think I wouldn’t take the chance to study a new, fascinating development caused by the Upheaval? No way! I’m going with you!”
“We’ll be happy to have you,” says Mineru.
Link gives her a thumbs-up.
---
When they arrive at the Geoglyph, Mineru frowns.
“I can’t tell for certain from down here,” she says, “but I think this depicts Rauru.”
“Rauru,” Zelda repeats. “Why?”
“Impa said there’s an old legend about images and Dragon Tears,” Purah muses. Zelda fumbles the Purah Pad and nearly drops it.
“Dragon Tears?”
“Yeah, something in an old book about Dragon Tears depicting images.”
“Really,” says Zelda, whose fingers have gone numb.
“We don’t have to look,” says Mineru.
“We do,” says Zelda.
“Heck yeah we do,” says Purah. “Imagine the science.”
---
There is a puddle of water in the Glyph’s left eye. Zelda’s Secret Stone- in her pocket- seems to be resonating with it.
She pulls it out with extreme reluctance. As soon as it’s in her hand, the water is reversed- pulling together until it is a bubble of water, floating in the air- and then there is a flash of light.
The last thing she remembers feeling is Link grabbing her hand.
---
She blinks back to awareness in the exact same spot. Still holding her Secret Stone. Link’s hand still over her own.
The Dragon Tear is gone.
The memory is fresh in her mind. From a third-person perspective, it looked a bit strange.
“What was that?” Purah demands. “What happened? What’d you do?”
“I had a vision,” Link says.
Oh.
---
“I suppose it makes sense,” Mineru says, later. “You are the Sage of Time. Your dragon might have shed tears that reveal moments in time… especially those that were important to you.”
“Do you think,” Zelda says, quietly, “the other Geoglyphs…”
“Yes,” Mineru says, staring out over the horizon. “I think it’s very possible all sorts of things are out there. But only your time powers can activate them, so you don’t have to worry about other people seeing it.”
“Link saw it,” she points out.
“Link was holding your hand.”
“Oh,” she whispers. “Oh, right. Okay.”
---
Purah tells them Impa recently sent a letter from the Forgotten Temple. She found something related to the Geoglyphs there.
Zelda hopes it isn’t anything too personal. She’s not sure she could handle it if Impa somehow saw one of her memories- especially her conversation with Rauru, which she had in the Forgotten Temple the day before he died.
Hopefully it’s something else.
(It is. It’s new.)
---
The rooms that were once their base of operations have been… changed. There is a map on the floor… and Geoglyphs on the walls. Zelda can tell that they’re in chronological order just by looking at them.
(A Gerudo Scimitar. Oh, Goddesses, don’t make her watch that again.)
Sonia’s grave is still there. A Sundelion still grows there, after all this time.
Zelda asks for a moment alone.
---
“Hello, Queen Sonia. It has been… some time.”
She pauses.
“More… much more time for you than for me, I think. I don’t remember… most of the last ten thousand years. I hope… you don’t either. It was so lonely.”
“Sonia… I’m sorry. I thought I could protect you and- I was wrong.”
“I failed you, and- I’m so sorry. I hope you and Rauru are together now. It’s… it’s done. The Demon King is gone, and your Secret Stone is no longer being misused.”
“It’s over.”
“We won.”
“Goodbye, Queen Sonia. May you rest in peace.”
Zelda gets up and goes back outside.
---
“So,” Purah says as she takes pictures of the walls, “These are the Geoglyphs. In the order they happened?”
“Yes,” Zelda says.
Mineru hums an assent from where she is kneeling in front of Sonia’s grave.
“...so, Zel, do you want to go… look at ‘em?”
“They’re my memories,” Zelda says. “I don’t need to go see them. But… I don’t want to leave them there, just… waiting…”
Link puts his arm around her shoulders.
“We can see them together,” he offers.
She’s not sure she wants him to see any of that. Sonia and Rauru’s deaths? Her own Draconification? Those are not the sort of things she wants anyone to see.
But it’s Link. So maybe it will be okay.
---
The next Geoglyph is rather close to the Forgotten Temple. Just southwest of it.
“Link,” she says, gripping his hand, “are you sure you want to watch them with me?”
“Together,” he says, decisive. It brings a smile to her face.
“Alright,” she says, and reaches for her Secret Stone.
---
Like last time, she blinks out of the memory to find that no time has passed.
“Link?” she asks.
“I saw it,” he says, and then turns to Mineru. “Rauru is your brother?”
“He was,” she says.
“Oh,” he mutters, looking briefly embarrassed before perking back up. “I saw his ghost. On the Great Sky Island.”
“I knew it,” Zelda says.
“What?!” Mineru says.
---
One short explanation later, Link sheepishly admits that maybe he should’ve listened to what Rauru had to say. But it’s too late for that now. And he did still defeat Ganondorf, so at least he didn’t miss any crucial advice.
---
The next Geoglyph isn’t too far from Lookout Landing. And it depicts the Purah Pad; it’s strange to see what she considers a modern item drawn out in the ancient style. Purah herself seems quite flattered.
“I think this is when I met Mineru,” she tells Link.
“Okay,” Link says, which is fair.
---
“Hmm,” Link says, when they emerge from the memory.
“What?”
“Do you remember your dad?”
“...yes, Link,” she says, after a moment’s pause. “I do remember my father.”
“Rauru is like the opposite of him.”
“...how so?”
“He suggested researching your power and trying things from new angles. That was King Rhoam’s least favourite thing.”
Zelda laughs, taken aback.
“I suppose you’re right.”
---
The next Geoglyph is southeast of Lookout Landing. (They really are getting a lot of use out of that particular travel point.)
It looks to be a Molduga. So Zelda knows which moment in time it is.
She is not expecting the perspective she sees it from.
---
Zelda gasps when the memory ends- a shuddering thing that makes her whole chest ache.
“That was Ganondorf,” Link realizes aloud. And then, carefully, gently, he wraps his arms around her, lowers her to the ground so she can shake in peace.
“That was Ganondorf,” she says. “That was the moment- the moment he got the idea to… to…”
“What did you see?” Mineru asks.
Zelda swallows.
“I saw the exact moment Ganondorf decided to steal a Secret Stone.”
She shudders again.
---
The next Geoglyph seems to depict Ganondorf himself.
It is universally agreed that they should take a break before seeing that one.
“So,” Purah says, as they rest in Lookout Landing, “wanna talk about it?”
“Not really,” Zelda answers.
Purah shrugs. “Fair enough. Hey, Mineru, let’s talk about tech!”
“I would be happy to,” Mineru says, leaning forward, and that is how they pass the next day.
Her and Link curled up together, listening to Purah and Mineru talking shop.
---
Zelda hesitates before calling up the next tear.
It’s too soon for anything terrible to happen. But if there’s another, unexpected perspective this time-
She doesn’t know if she can handle watching Ganondorf plan Sonia’s murder.
Link grips her hand.
She takes a deep breath and reaches for her Secret Stone.
---
Zelda shivers as the memory fades.
Nothing she hadn’t seen before. But watching her tell Rauru of her nerves… hearing his reassurance, while knowing just how terribly wrong it was all about to go-
Link hugs her.
She feels the cool metal of the butterfly pendant under her shirt.
She breathes in the clean air.
It is over now. It was terrible, and she’s going to have to watch it all again- but it is over now.
She must remember that.
---
They reach the next Geoglyph within the day. It’s Sonia.
(They haven’t reached the Scimitar yet. It’s not time yet. It isn’t that memory.)
Zelda is still nervous.
This may well be the last time she ever sees Sonia alive.
She grips the Secret Stone tightly, and Recalls the tear.
---
She exhales after the memory.
It was a quiet moment. A happy moment. A good way to remember Sonia and Rauru both.
Link laughs.
“You spoke very highly of me, Zelda.”
“Hush,” she scolds, suddenly sure her face is bright red. “It was all warranted!”
“Strong and dedicated?”
“Yes,” she says.
“Good and true?”
“Yes,” she says again, and begins to relax. “And after that, I told them you were very handsome as well.”
“What?” Link says, suddenly blushing furiously. “Really?”
“Of course,” she says, smiling at him. “It is true, after all.”
---
Zelda pauses when she remembers what the next Geoglyph is.
“You don’t have to watch it,” Mineru says, quiet and sad.
“But I will,” Zelda says. “I will.”
Link loops his arms around her. She feels his Summerwing Butterfly pendant press against her back.
Link is here. She can do it.
---
“I can’t do it,” she says, sitting down in front of the tear. Her Secret Stone feels like it’s burning a hole in her pocket. She refuses to take it out.
“That’s okay,” Link says, crouching next to her. “We don’t have to.”
“I want to remember Sonia as she was,” Zelda continues, beginning to cry. “Smiling with me over tea, laughing as she helps explain my powers- not… not as she died. I can’t watch it again.”
“Okay,” Link says. “Then we won’t.”
Zelda bites her lip as she regards the pool of water in front of her. That was her tear, once. She cried that.
“Link,” she says, slow and hesitant. “Can you watch it? Take my Secret Stone from my pocket, and Recall the memory yourself?”
She feels horrible asking it from him. To watch something so terrible alone.
But Link nods. He looks so understanding.
(He watched some of his worst memories, once. He understands.)
Link picks up the Secret Stone, and she watches as he is pulled into the memory.
---
Link blinks, and the tear is gone. It’s strange to see from the outside.
“Zelda,” he says, soft.
“Link?”
He sits down next to her again, and grips her by the shoulders.
“You did all you could.”
Link has told her that many times. About himself, about the Champions, about her powers.
Just a new failure to add to the list.
No.
“You did all you could, Zelda,” he insists. “It wasn’t your fault.”
A new tragedy, to be sure. But not her fault. Not her failure.
They won in the end. She must remember that.
---
She recognizes the next Geoglyph as well.
Surprisingly, so does Link.
“That’s one of the forms Ganondorf took,” he says. “It took slightly longer to kill that one than the one before it.”
“Sometimes I forget how completely terrifying you are,” Mineru says mildly.
---
Link watches this one alone, too. Zelda knows Sonia will still be there, bleeding out, in this memory. She won’t watch that.
Her last memory of Sonia is the Geoglyph where they were happy together. That will always be her last memory of her.
Sonia as she was. Happy.
That’s how she’d like to be remembered.
---
“You got away,” Link says, relieved, as he wakes from the memory.
“I’m right here, Link,” she responds, almost amused despite the serious subject matter.
He shrugs. “I worried about you.”
“I’m here,” she says again.
---
The next Geoglyph is a Secret Stone. Zelda feels mildly confident that she can watch this one.
“Ready?” Link asks, holding her hand.
“Ready,” she says, and grabs the Secret Stone.
---
Zelda smiles as the memory fades. Her friends. Together.
It wouldn’t last long, but it was good to see them.
“I liked that oath,” Link says. It takes her a moment to realize what he means.
“We should get the new Sages to swear it,” he continues. “To you.”
“Link,” she says, and then isn’t sure how to continue for a moment. “I’m not sure they’d want that.”
“I’d be happy to swear my life to you,” he says, completely serious.
“You already did.”
He pauses. “I guess so. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
---
Zelda actually doesn’t know what the next Geoglyph shows until Mineru points it out.
“It’s Sonia’s grave.”
“Oh,” Zelda says, and she knows which memory it is.
---
Zelda spends a long time debating if she wants to watch this one.
She ends up explaining the entire thing in detail to Purah, and then asking for advice. Purah’s wisdom?
“Whatever you think is best, Princess. Now move, I’m trying to calibrate a sensor on this Dragon Tear.”
Not very helpful.
She decides to watch it, in the end. She wants to see Rauru and hear his reassuring words one more time.
---
Zelda tries valiantly not to cry after the memory ends.
“Our last line of defense,” Link echoes.
She manages a shaky smile. “You should have been our first line of defense, but I’m afraid you hadn’t been born yet.”
Link seems unhappy with this, but cannot find fault in her logic.
---
The next Geoglyph is the last. The Master Sword.
Link has handed her that very sword, for viewing this final memory. He thinks she should see it with them.
His hands are still curled around hers as she draws back the final tear, and they are pulled into the final memory.
---
When she blinks, Link’s hands are on her face.
“Link?”
“I found you,” he says, soft. “I found you.”
“You did,” she agrees, beginning to cry from the relief of it all. “You did-”
The Stone in her hands lights up again.
---
“Link! Protect them all!”
---
Zelda gasps as that memory ends. She stumbles backwards, and both the things she was holding- her Secret Stone and the Master Sword- fall to the ground as her hands start to shake.
“Zelda. Zelda, it’s alright. Calm down.”
She’s breathing rather quickly, she realizes after a moment. How could she not be? She just saw herself- herself-
(She hadn’t actually known what she’d looked like, as a dragon. Now she does. She’s not sure if that’s better or worse.)
“Zelda,” Link calls, “come back to me.”
She tries to control her breathing.
“What just happened?!” Purah yelps, frantically recalibrating sensors and pointing them at Zelda’s Secret Stone. “Princess? Link? Hello?”
“I’m okay,” Zelda tries to say, although it comes out sounding rather wispy.
“Are you alright?” Mineru asks.
“Yes,” Zelda says, this time at the proper volume. “Yes, we just… saw one more memory.”
Link cradles her face in his hands.
“Oh,” Mineru says. “I see.”
She settles down next to them.
“It sounds like some rest is in order, then. After all… it’s over.”
Zelda pauses.
That is true, isn’t it.
That was the last Dragon Tear.
They’ve recovered all the Secret Stones.
The Demon King is gone.
It really is over.
And she’s home.
---
Link does end up gathering all the Sages (and Purah) together to swear their loyalty to her.
They’re her friends- she tries to tell them they really don’t need to- but they’re all happy to do it.
Before that, though…
Mineru is fading.
“It’s over,” she says, softly, as Zelda protests. “I need to pass on. To be with Rauru, and Sonia, and all the others.”
“I know,” Zelda admits at last, “but it’s not fair.”
“Loss never is,” Mineru agrees, and lays a hand on her shoulder. “But I will always be with you. And… Doctor Purah, if you have a moment?”
Zelda wasn’t expecting that. Evidently, neither was Purah, but she does take everything in stride, so she walks up without hesitation.
“What is it?”
“I am passing on,” Mineru says. “Another will need to take on my Secret Stone and become Sage of Spirit. Will you-”
“YES,” squeals Purah. “Yes, absolutely, yes! Gimme!”
“Oh dear,” Mineru says, but she is smiling.
Zelda removes the Secret Stone from the Purah Pad.
Purah giggles maniacally as it attunes to her.
“I am sure you will do well,” Mineru says, flickering and fading. “My successor.”
She fixes Purah with a three-eyed stare.
“Be responsible with it.”
And she is gone.
---
Purah ends up needing to be quickly taught the Sages’ Oath before they can all speak it.
She’s still beaming. Zelda doesn’t think the Sage of Spirit can cause too many more explosions than Purah could on her own, so it’s probably fine.
---
Afterwards, when they are resting in Lookout Landing, Zelda looks up at the Castle and remembers something.
“Link,” she calls, and turns to him. He is eating an uncooked shock fruit. It’s a good thing his necklace is topaz, because otherwise that would likely be painful.
“Link,” she says again, more insistently this time.
“Huh?”
“I left something in the Castle, before the Upheaval,” she explains. “I need to go get it. Will you come with me?”
Link takes her hand.
“Always.”
---
Launching up to Hyrule Castle via Skyview Tower is certainly an experience.
Zelda whoops as the wind tears at her hair. Link laughs as he glides next to her. As long as she can see him, she doesn’t have to fear falling.
And it’s an awfully convenient method of transportation, too. They land right in front of the Throne Room.
“Do you have anything that can light a fire?” she asks absentmindedly.
Link gives her a flat look. Which is fair. Stupid question; obviously he has at least a hundred.
“Would you mind lighting these torches, then?”
Link does.
She pulls the new Champion’s Tunic from the revealed area. Still brand new, bright blue and lovingly hand-stitched.
A gift for her Champion.
Link gasps when he sees it.
“Link,” she starts, “I made this for you… not too long ago. I noticed that your other Tunic was getting worn down, and I thought… I could help.”
She offers it to him. Link takes it so carefully, as if it’s delicate.
It’s not. She knows the kind of shenanigans he gets up to. That Tunic could survive a thousand explosions, that’s how sturdy she made it.
“Zelda,” Link says, “I love it.”
“Only the best for my favourite person,” Zelda tells him.
Link looks up at her.
“I love you.”
“I know,” Zelda says, because if there is any truth in the world, it is that. The sun rises and sets every day. Her favourite flower is the Silent Princess. The Demon King is gone. Link loves her. She loves Link.
Zelda curls a hand around the butterfly pendant she wears. She much prefers it to a Secret Stone.
“I love you, too,” she says, because he must know that, but she’d like to say it anyway.
She takes his hand.
“I’m glad to be home,” she says, and Link smiles at her, like the sun, and it is over, and now they can begin again.
At last.