#zelink fanfic

[syndxlla]

best friends don’t look at each other the way we do

A low stakes, high reward, and self-indulgent Zelink fan fiction. Canon-compliant. Takes place between BOTW and TOTK.

Heavily inspired by my Zelink thoughts

I wanted to dig into the dirty, grimly reality of being the saviors of the world and not knowing how to be the savior of yourself. But you can find that safety in another person.

Fan fiction warnings: Canon-typical violence, eventual smut (in later chapters, characters are consenting adults), references to self-harm, eating-disorders, and a lot of angst. Each chapter will have chapter-specific warnings.

Chapter one: I used to tie your shoes

Song: We’ll never have sex by Leith Ross

Summary: Fresh off Hyrule Field, Link and Zelda have to face life after the Calamity, and come to terms with the long road to physical, emotional, and mental recovery.

Warnings: Vomiting, trauma, canon-typical violence, eating-sensitivity

Word count: 3.7k words

Author’s Note: I am so excited to share this. Please share and support this in anyway. I drew this art for the cover :) chapter begins after the page break. I love you guys. Also, these chapters won’t be heavily edited. Ignore any grammatical/spelling errors pls

Time. We never seem to have enough time. Green grass burns soft red embers into the field, a horse’s mane is rebraided at the nearest stable, and the stars shine as if nothing changed. Because it hadn’t, not really. The sun will still rise in the east and set in the west. The birds will still sing their songs at daybreak and the fireflies will still flicker at dusk. Nothing changed, but everything did. The air feels lighter, the sun feels warmer and yet Zelda’s fingers still shake as if she was in the snowy Hebra peaks.

The Princess by nature, is very gentle. She’s soft and patient at heart, but was placed under such strenuous situations all through her youth that caused her to often snap or lash out. But not now. Currently she is silent, stone-cold and confused. She was in shock. And Link could tell.

“Here.” He pulls out a baked apple from his pack, handing it to her. He has to get her attention twice before she finally takes it, their hands brushing for a moment. Her awareness returns to her gaze then, her bright-green eyes meeting his.

“I-I’m so sorry.” She sighs, her voice weak. “I’m just… so tired.” Link tries not to show his distress, but she notices his demeanor change as well. “How much further?” She says, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Probably another hour and a half. It’s just through those mountains.” He points.

“Dueling peaks. I remember.” She nods. “I remember everything.”

“Everything?” He asks as he starts to dig around a pack on the rear end of Epona, searching for his rito attire. It was starting to get dark, and she hadn’t stopped shaking since they left Castle Town almost three hours ago.

Zelda nods once.

Her silence speaks volumes.

He yanks out his snowquill armor, finally. “Do you remember anything from the last hundred years?” She doesn’t answer right away, she instead takes a smaller than small bite out of the apple. “Zel? Can I put this on you? You’re still shivering.” He asks, looking at her blank, traumatized stare. “It’s from the Rito, it’s soft as a cloud and will keep you warm for the rest of the way.”

“The Rito.” She sighs. “Revali…”

Link realizes that she hasn’t had any time to process what she just went through. She had spent the last one hundred years deeply focused, probably in a trance-like state. He places a hand on her cheek. “Look at me.” His voice is gentle and welcoming, not forcing her at all. She looks at him, their eyes locking. “Breathe with me.”

They take two deep, heavy breaths. They sync their inhales, exhaling together.

“It’s over. It’s all over, okay?” He reassures her. “It’s not coming back. It’s just us now, alright?”

She swallows, still emotionless. “You’ve changed.” She says.

“So have you.” Link smiles in an attempt to comfort her. “Can I put this shirt on you?” He asks again. She answers faster than she usually had, nodding twice this time. Link bunches up the excess fabric before pulling the head-opening over her hair. He then guides each one of her hands through the arm-holes. Link takes a moment to adjust the garb around her torso until it was probably positioned around her shaking body. She immediately sighs in relief.

“You talk more.” She mumbles, looking at him as he gently wraps his fingers around her long, golden hair and softly pulls it out of the shirt, knowing how much it irritates him when his hair is loose underneath a shirt.

He smiles again, “I do. Some people say I don’t shut up.” He tries to lighten the mood.

“Like who?”

“Impa.” He sighs.

Zelda’s eyes light up with that name. “Impa?”

He hums and nods. “We can go visit her when you’re feeling stronger, okay?”

“Okay…” Zelda looked down into her lap, the skirt of her goddess dress was barely white anymore. “I am going to get stronger, right?” She asks, her voice tender and broken.

Link’s heart sinks. Not because he’s worried she won’t, but rather because he feels responsible for putting her in this state.

“Of course.” He reassures. He believed it. He wanted to believe it.

“I’m… just so tired.” She repeats herself.

“I know, come on, let's get you a bed.” He then picks her up bridal style from the ground. They had stopped in the first place to get that rito armor for her. She rests her head against his chest as he lifts her onto Epona. She smells like burnt oil and exhaustion. He probably isn’t smelling any better.

They wouldn’t get to Hateno until noon at the earliest tomorrow, and traveling wasn’t doing anything for her recovery. He gets on Epona behind her, letting her weak body rest against his chest as they make their way to Dueling Peaks Stable. The road is quiet, so much quieter than it ever has been. The pair of lizalfos always swimming in the river aren’t there, and even the crickets suppress their chirps.

It’s post-apocalyptic. Literally. Link isn’t sure how to feel.

She throws up a few hundred feet from the stable. She gags and lurches over the side of the horse, somehow managing to keep it off of anyone. Not much comes out, she hasn’t eaten in over a century, but Link frowns when he realizes the apple probably triggered it. He silently curses himself out for causing her any form of distress. She dry heaves violently, and Link tries to hold her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. When she finishes, she holds her breath.

She can’t decide if she feels like she lost a bit of dignity or not. She holds back the tears that well in her eyes. Link breathes in to say something, but she raises her hand in protest. She would rather they act like it never happened. Neither of them say anything from there on, they just keep riding the final minute of the journey.

Everyone at the stable was asleep except for an attendant… who was also treading precariously between consciousness and a deep rest behind the counter.

“Excuse me?” Link asks to wake him up, hopping off of Epona after making sure Zelda would still be comfortable in his absence. She would never admit she wasn’t.

The man stirs awake with a jolt. He yawns, slightly startled, “So sorry, young man.” Link wouldn’t necessarily call himself young. He smirks softly.

“I’d like to board this horse till the morning, and we’d like one soft bed, please.” Link nods before setting down the required rupees. The man squints his eyes, taking the money in hand.

“Ah! It’s you! Link, was it?” He asks when Link turns his back to help Zelda down from the horse. “Jeez, you haven’t passed through here in at least six months! We were holding onto that old mare for you!” He gestures to their stables where a small gray spotted horse sleeps. Link’s first horse since he woke up from his century-long slumber. He only rode her in the beginning, when he was doing chores between Hateno, Kakariko and one time a longer trip to Zora’s Domain. But she’s old and weak, which is why she was easy to catch when Link was still regaining his strength. He stopped taking her out when he found Epona in the western part of Central Hyrule.

“Yeah… you guys can let her free.” He says as he sets Zelda down on the ground. She holds her cold hands together.

“Well uhh.. we tried. You see, after four months at a stable we let go of any forgotten pony’s, but she kept coming back.” He chuckled, his voice exhibiting a distinctive nasality.

“Here,” Link hands him a red rupee, not wanting to discuss an old horse any longer when he literally has the closest thing to a God in this world resting her head on his back. “Keep her for another month, I’ll come take care of her then. Okay?” Link asks. “Can I get that bed now?” Not impolite or forceful, he never was. He’s assertive but has a comforting cadence to his tone. For being such a talented swordsman, guard and easily the most deadly hylian in the entire kingdom, he was never rude or condescending. He was welcoming, and little kids often looked up at him with intimidation when they first met him, but it didn’t ever take long until they were chasing him with tree-branches while he fled and begged for mercy, letting them take him down with ease. The kids at the stables loved him, knew him by name, and would play as him in their silly pretend games.

The stable-man replies, “Of course! But you only asked for one bed, it’s not big enough to fit both of you.”

“I know, it’s for her not me.” Link then starts to guide her into the stable, where it’s much warmer and safer. Just because it’s quiet doesn’t mean it's safe. Hyrule is a dangerous place by nature, especially if you’re two century-old Gods being hunted for sport with the faces of children.

“You won’t sleep?” Zelda asks quietly behind him.

He doesn’t directly answer, and instead guides her to the bed. She’s weary, and he’s terrified of her not waking up. He wouldn’t be able to sleep even if he wanted to. He helps the Princess sit in the bed, and kneels before her to untie her sandals. When he touches the leather, he immediately gets transported into another memory.

It rips through him, just like the memories he had images of. Suddenly, he’s kneeling in the same position, but instead he was outside of the spring of courage. He looks up to see the clear sky, it’s sunset, and then his eyes meet Zeldas. Her face is rosy, and her eyes don’t have the blank stare they possess in the current time. He looks down at his fingers, tying the straps around her ankle.

“Really, you don’t have to do that.” She hums. He doesn’t respond. He never did back then. He finishes wrapping the leather around itself and then stands up. His face is emotionless. She looks at him, they’re about the same height. “I won’t be long this time.” She says. “I’m not expecting much anyways.” She sighs and then walks past him, but before she can get very far, he gently grabs onto her arm, holding her back. He doesn’t say anything but she can read his expression. He’s trying to tell her to have faith this time, just one more time.

Surely the Goddess would commune with her.

She shakes her head, and wades into the warm waters of the spring. Link turns to watch her, how her hair cascaded down her back, how her hands balled into fists. She turns around to look at him, their eyes meet. She smiles.

He comes back as fast as the scene played in his memory. He blinks a few times, and looks up at her. She doesn’t look any different, very little—if any—time seemed to pass. He doesn’t usually experience memories with someone, he wonders if she realized anything happened. Link didn’t even consider the fact he would keep receiving memories after the fact. His stomach turns, he feels like he’s lived two completely different lives and is forced to remember things from one that he doesn’t even relate to anymore. He doesn’t feel like the same person, the boy he was a hundred years ago is a complete stranger to him.

Link much preferred this life.

And that scares Zelda.

“I just remembered something.” He says. Zelda hums in response, a light-hearted noise that implies an inquiry. He elaborates, “I used to tie your sandals for you at the springs, didn’t I?” He asks.

Zelda smiles for the first time since they defeated Ganon. It’s a small pull of her lips, not showing any teeth but her eyes finally light back up. After she had asked if he remembered her on the field, she collapsed, not even aware of her own exhaustion until that moment. He ran to her aid, and ever since then she felt woozy, it only got worse the further from the castle they got.

“You did, yes.” She says. “I never asked you to, but since I was in the dress, you insisted.” She sighs. Link grunts in response. “It was very chivalrous.” Zelda adds.

They look at each other for a minute. Not saying anything. It was late, and two beds down there was a set of kid brothers sleeping. Link remembered them from their last visit. One of them wanted nothing to do with him, trying to act mature and ‘cool’. Link eventually won him over, though. They don’t speak out of fear of waking anyone. Zelda’s smile slowly fades away, and Link swallows thickly. They will never be the same.

He pulls her sandals off, her feet are filthy with century-old mud. He silently smiles about that. The closest thing to a Goddess in the entire world has dirty feet. How human of her.

Then, after pulling down the heavy rito-down blanket so she can slide in, he helps Zelda swing her legs into the bed. He pulls the blanket up to her neck, she lays on her side facing him. Her hands find their way up to her face, resting her cheek against them. Link pulls a short stool over to the bed, sitting on it and looking at her, bending at the waist.

“You’re not going to leave me, are you?” She asks in a timid, sleepy voice.

Link’s heart just about breaks when she asks. “Never.” He shakes his head. He takes his gloved hand and tucks a piece of her loose hair behind her pointed-ears. He lets his fingers linger a little bit longer than they should. “I will never ever leave you again.”

“Promise?” She asks, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.

“Promise.” He whispers, “Just as long as you promise to never leave me, okay?” He asks, ignoring the lump in this throat.

“Promise.” She says, taking her pinky finger and sticking it out for him. He wraps his finger with hers, which is far daintier and softer than he's ever been. She is a Princess, after all.

“Wake up in the morning, okay?” He whispers.

“Mhm.” She hums as her eyes slowly close. He tries to disconnect their pinky fingers, but she holds onto his. He leaves his hand in that position, letting her hold it until she falls fast asleep.

Link doesn’t move his hand until he’s certain it won’t wake her up from her much needed rest. He looks at her gentle, soft face. No one even understands what she just went through, no one ever will. He’s worried sick that she won’t make it through the night, and he keeps leaning his head down to listen to her breathing, or places a few fingers against her forehead to check her temperature.

He does his best to stay vigilant the entire night, not once even looking away from her. But just before the sun rises, his body suddenly catches up with his mind. He also just had the most demanding battle of his life. His muscles started to ache, and he developed a headache. He was just a boy, after all. More than anything, his sword arm was weak, and fire-hot pain shot up and down through it. He probably overused it fightin the calamity.

He keeps telling himself that he’s fine. He has to be fine, for Zelda. His arm isn’t that bad, what really hurts was his heart. Usually he’d just down a fairy tonic and maybe go to the hot springs if he was in the area but this pain was different. A twisting and contracting ache in his chest pulled and tugged on his lungs and pulse. It’s the same pain he felt when he remembered Mipha, and more specifically, the pain he felt when he dreamed about his family before the resurrection.

The dream that gave him the memories of a little sister with blonde hair like his collecting fireflies in her pockets. Her laugh echoing, the call of an older man, the image of a royal guards sword leaned up against the dinner table. The touch of his father’s hand as he rubs Link’s back to sleep.

Link’s first sword.

He wakes up like a fire, standing up and almost toppling over. He didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep. He could hear the soft tune of the penny whistle playing the standard stable theme, and the two little brothers played tag outside. He curses and looks down at Zelda.

Her bed is empty, and his heart completely stops. He starts breathing hard and heavy, his entire nervous system feels as though it’s pulled into stasis. How could he make such a foolish mistake? He swings his sword over his back, strapping his shield to his leathers and turns around in a wild-hunt to see the Princess sitting at the round stable table, drinking out of a mug and speaking gently with an older man.

Link takes a breath of relief, and approaches the two.

“Good Morning.” She smiles up at him. Her voice sounded much better, and her eyes finally had life back into them, but she still wasn’t herself. Her skin still looked sickly, her face hollowed out and eyes droopy. Any progress is good progress, Link decides then and there.

“I… didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Link sighs. “I’m so sorry. When did you wake up?”

“Oh not long ago, maybe twenty minutes? I didn’t want to disturb you-”

“You should have.” He interrupts her and her words get swallowed out of surprise. Link realizes that he snapped at her a little, and immediately becomes apologetic. “I’m sorry, again. I just…”

“You’re worried about me. I understand.” She takes his hand, her bones frail. In many ways, she physically looked worse today than last night. But at least she could hold a conversation. He nods. Zelda notices the tension, and changes the subject, “This kind gentleman was telling me about when you saved the stable from a horde of lizalfos about a year ago.”

Link looks over at the man, Giahzo. “Oh that was nothing, it was just two green lizalfos and a blue one who wandered too close to the stable.” Link hums. Their hands were still held together by Zelda.

“Don’t be so modest!” The old man chuckled, “Without you, it would have been a disaster! The number of monsters means nothing, especially when you don’t know how to fight!”

“That’s very kind of you.” Link smiles and then realizes he and Zeldas hands, he’s the one to pull it away. “What are you drinking?”

“I’m not sure…” Zelda begins and Link immediately snatches the mug from her hand. “Hey!”

“You can’t just drink something mysterious.” Link scolds.

“Oh it’s just a bit of Hateno Milk.” The man assures. Link looks at him, then Zelda, and then into the mug to see the creamy liquid. He brings it to his nose and smells it, and then takes a sip of it. Sure enough, it was just milk.

“I’m sorry, Giahzo.” He apologizes and places the mug back down. “I’m just on high alert.”

“Do not apologize to me, apologize to this lovely young lady you’ve graced us with.” The elderly man smiles with a chuckle, his eyes wrinkling up with his age. Zelda smiles, blushing a little, “Tell me, dear, where are you from? We don’t get many new faces at this stable these days.”

Zelda looks at him, her eyes sad. A hundred years ago every person in Hyrule knew her face. She looks at Link, unsure how to answer.

“She’s from the Outskirts stable.” Link covers for her. “Her family used to reside in Central Hyrule before the Calamity.”

“Yes.” Zelda immediately chirps, “We’re headed to Hateno for…”

“A honeymoon!?” Giahzo smiles brightly. Both Link and Zelda freeze in their tracks, and Link hopes he doesn’t look as embarrassed as he feels. “Hateno is a great Honeymoon destination! Although I’ve heard Lureline is even more splendid!” He clasps his hands together.

“Research.” Zelda clarifies, “so sorry to disappoint.” She chuckles politely, making a conscious effort not to look at Link. “I’m researching… population dynamics in Hyrule.” She makes something up that sounds completely believable.

“Of course.” Link then says, “I’m just escorting her there, we are total strangers.”

That breaks Zelda’s heart.

She knows he’s just trying to be extra careful, pushing her anonymity as much as possible. And in a way, it wasn’t a total lie. But it cut her like a knife.

“I see…” Giahzo doesn’t seem convinced. “Well, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to stop by. Hopefully the monsters will start to die down.” He smiles and stands up, moving outside.

Zelda is still afraid to look at Link, and he’s a little bit shaken up by the entire interaction. He knows the Yiga are still out there, he knows that there are people who will try to take advantage of her for power or money. He has no reason to suspect anything from the old man, but he can’t help himself from being deliberate. He senses her tension and walks back to the bed to gather their things.

“You should have woken me up.” Link says as he picks up a satchel full of food and readjusts his gloves.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was timid and tired. He turns around to see her, her green eyes looking up at him apologetically. “I didn’t know it would worry you so.” He approaches her.

“Of course it worries me.” He sighs. “I spent three years trying to get you out of that castle, I’m not gonna lose you on the first night.” He holds his hand out for her to trade, helping her up. She must not have rested as well as he thought, because as soon as she gets on her feet, she almost topples right over him. He catches her, holding her up before she collapses. “Woah there.” He mutters. “You alright?”

She nods, “Let’s just get to that house you told me about.”

—

chapter two

#Zelink #zelink fanfic #zelink thoughts #botw Zelink #totk zelink #totk #botw #tloz #legend of Zelda #Zelda fanfic #Zelda x link #zelink smut #zelink angst #zelink fluff #zelink pining #post-calamity #tloz breath of the wild #tloz link #tloz zelda #tloz fanfic #tloz tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #breath of the wild #smut #fluff #angst #hurt/comfort #link fanfic #zelda fandom #zelda fanart

[athena-theunicorn]

Who wants to bet Link has an intense fear of robots after the guardians and has a mini heart attack every time a construct moves because they make similar machine noises.

#between them #zelink #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #breath of the wild #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #wattpad #legend of zelda fanfic #legend of zelda breath of the wild #breath of the wild fanfic #zelink fanfic #zelda x link #the memories between them #loz #loz botw #botw #botw zelink #zelda botw #botw link #zelda #legend of zelda tears of the kingdom #totk #link totk #loz totk #zelda totk #totk link #tloz

[sun-aries]

Hands (totk zelink)

OK i cracked. TOTK has me in my feels right now and I needed to write. It's been a couple months so I'm rusty, but If you like it, send some prompts and I'll whip up some one-shots!

Zelda couldn’t help but notice it. It’d started subtly enough, with his hand weaving into hers as they walked through the meadows of Hyrule Field. She’d heard the sigh as it left his lips, unbidden and trembling, but the wordless sound mirrored how she felt so precisely that she didn’t question it. It’d felt so right to touch his skin again – to be in her own skin again – that she met his gaze with a fluttering laugh and squeezed his fingers.

Yet as they got back into the rhythm of their lives, the scholar couldn’t help but notice that he’d made quite a habit of it. When they returned to Lookout Landing for the first time since her return and he’d taken her hand to climb the short flight of stairs, she’d passed it off as his typical chivalry and shook her head with mirth. “I’m fine,” she insisted, and he nodded, but didn’t reply and certainly didn’t let go.

Days had passed and it happened more and more often. Finally back in Hateno, he’d reached for her hand as she reached for a truffle, darting his eyes away when she’d looked at him curiously and yet leaving his hand on hers. Or as she lifted the woven basket into her hand, he’d covered it over the handle, avoiding her eyes as he did so.

It wasn’t as if they’d never held hands before, of course. In fact, it wasn’t the first time she’d felt his hands at all, calloused and rough against the smoothness of her skin, early in the morning or late in the nights. She couldn’t count the times on her fingers, in fact. But it’d been something different entirely - something raw - since she returned, and she could feel it in the trembles.

It was almost as if he’d been trying to make up for letting her slip through his fingers.

Zelda didn’t hold it against him - she couldn’t. She’d been there after all, felt the gravel shift beneath her feet and watched him dive after her without thought into the pitch-black chasm.

But she knew him and she knew it was eating at him – that it had been since they parted. Zelda had seen the desperation as the pads of their fingers just barely brushed one another, seen the fear in his eyes just before falling to the abyss and disappearing in a sphere of light. And now, it was as if he needed to feel the weight of her hand and the touch of her skin, to know that she was real and tangible before him.

Golden light awoke Zelda the next day in their little cottage, filtering though the windowpanes. She could hear the pan sizzle on the fire and the careful clatter of dishware and smiled to herself. After stretching out her muscles, more relaxed than she’d felt in ages, she placed her feet flat on the ground and went down to greet him.

Link’s back was turned to her, but he tensed for a moment when he heard the wood creak, as if suspended in disbelief. Then he’d resumed as quickly as he’d paused.

“Good morning.”

He turned his head to the side, a smile tightening his cheeks, and warmth bloomed through her. “Good morning.”

“That smells delicious,” the scholar commented, snaking her arms around his waist and pressing a kiss onto his shoulder as she sneaked a peek. “You’re making my favorite?”

He shrugged, but that smile was still ever present on his cheeks, and she swore it got bigger the closer she got. “You deserve it,” he simply said.

They’d plated the crepes at the table, steaming and fresh with fruits on the side, and she’d already started perusing through the papers, quickly noticing just how often her name popped up in her absence. She’d have to make quite a bit of stops at stables, it seemed.

She’d placed the paper down to take another bite when Link did it again, reaching across the table to curl his hand into hers, and she was surprised to find him studying her quite intensely. There was rosiness in his cheeks and at the tips of his ears, his blue eyes searching her, and suddenly she felt her own skin get warm under his undivided attention. “Link?”

His eyes darted down to their hands, his thumb brushing over her knuckles ever so gently. She could tell he had something to say, the words hanging on the tip of his tongue, but words never came easy to him and she was there to help now. “I’m right here,” she said finally, assertively. The noise that escaped him, a gruntled sob almost, shot through her chest like an arrow. “Look at me, Link.”

He shook his head. “I can’t-” he tried, his mouth dry, voice hoarse. He looked up and though his eyes were rimmed and red, he hadn’t yet shed a tear. But it was okay: she’d shed enough lately for the both of them. “I can’t let you go again.”

She had no words for that. It was unusual for her, especially since the Calamity’s defeat, to be at a loss of words, but she had no guarantees for him, no promises to make. It was clear then that life had a cruel way of tearing them apart.

But at the very least, they were good at finding each other again.

So then, she’d simply encompassed his hand with both of hers and raised it to her lips. “I will always come back to you,” she vowed. He took a moment just to treasure the feeling, the familiarity, and the weight of her hands.

“I won’t rest until you do.”

#aries writes #zelink #totk zelink #totk spoilers #totk fanfic #zelink fanfic #botw fanfic #breath of the wild #tears of the kingdom #zelda and link #botw zelink #princess zelda #zelda #link #legend of zelda #loz #botw link #botw 2 #botw zelda #totk zelda #totk link

[obsidiangst]

To Catch The Moon - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 of To Catch The Moon is out now! Read it on Ao3: link

Chapter art is by @between-star

#zelink #thts #to hold the sun #tctm #to catch the moon #zelink fanfic #tears of the kingdom #zelink fanfiction #breath of the wild #botw #totk

[demiboydemon]

A clip of my Zelink parents AU WIP

(I’ll probably cut this but I love writing silly scenes that I later cut hahdjsjs)

“Who’s the lucky dad?” Robbie asked.

“Link, of course.”

“Link has a penis?”

Zelda frowned. “Er… yes?”

“And it works?”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Link chimed in.

“Just sayin’. Kind of unsettling.”

“Why… is that unsettling?”

“I don’t know. You just seem like the kind of guy who would be smooth down there.”

“What the fuck, man?”

#the legend of zelda #link #princess zelda #tears of the kingdom #breath of the wild #zelink #fanfic #zelink fanfic #writing #fanfiction #zelink parent au #robbie botw #zelda botw #botw #loz botw #botw link #botw zelink #botw fanfic #zelda totk #loz totk #totk #totk link #link legend of zelda #legend of zelda #Zelda #zelda breath of the wild #zelda fanfiction #Zelda fanfic #legend of Zelda fanfic #legend of Zelda fanfiction

[illcamp]

Heavily inspired by the awesome fanfic written by the awesome @jenseits-der-sterne 🥰🥰 the beret thing really has stuck with me although in her fanfic the beret has a different destiny so far lmao, I attach the link to the fanfic so you can know what I'm talking about <3

#zelink #zelda #tloz #loz #legend of zelda #zelink fanfic #the legend of zelda #breath of the wild #botw #link fanart #zelda fanart #two fancy slippers and a spiffy beret #art #digital art #princess zelda is a thief #drawing #illustration #fanart #digital illustration #botw fanart #zelink fanart #zelda and link

[aegon-targaryen]

The Rise Before the Fall

read on AO3

Zelda cannot remember the last time Link sheathed the Master Sword.

She watches gore and Malice drip into an earth already saturated with both. It’s all she can see, just like the cold rain sliding down her neck and the blisters splitting her feet are all she can feel. Some of that blood must be Link’s. But he won’t stop. He’s only paused long enough to survey Blatchery Plain.

“We have to circle back,” she says numbly.

His fingers dig into the bark of the massive oak that conceals them from the Guardians. A gust of wind smatters their faces with rain. Someone screams from the battlefield, a thin sound of mortal terror that climbs down Zelda’s throat to seize her heart before it falls abruptly silent.

Link turns his head to look at her.

“North,” she insists. “Then south again to Kakariko…”

He points. Three Guardians crawl out of the dark mouth between the Dueling Peaks. A fourth follows moments later. The Calamity is right behind them.

“There has to be another way. We’ll never make it across that field.”

“We will,” Link decides. The words are rough and quiet, his first in hours, yet filled with that absolute certainty she once mistook for arrogance. “The road’s too open. Go east until the forest ends. Then across the field, there’s more cover on that side. The Guardians will be on me and on the fort. You’ll have a clear path to that hill.” He points north. “And then you’re out of sight. Kakariko Bridge is on the other side.”

Zelda stares at him through the rain. He’s never spoken that many words so quickly or so clearly. But her sluggish mind still rejects them.

“We can’t go back,” Link says.

“We can!” Her voice sounds shrill and childish. “I’m going back, and you’re coming with me!”

His left leg trembles beneath him when he shifts his weight off the tree. He studies his bloody clothes. His darkened blade. Her blistered ankles and useless hands. “I’ll meet you at the bridge,” he says finally. “Please, Zelda.”

“No! I can’t leave you. Don’t ask me to leave you!”

Link steps forward. His face is hard and focused like he’s already on the battlefield. One hand still clutches the sword. The other slides along her jaw. He shutters the violent blue of his eyes and presses his lips to hers.

It’s nothing like Zelda imagined, nothing like their first kiss should be. He’s burning. She’s freezing. When her hands come up around his body there’s no caution or gentleness, just raw desperation. Link shivers breathlessly in a way that has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with his broken ribs. They’re drowning in the rain, in the screams coming from Fort Hateno, in each other.

All she can think is that she waited too long. She should have kissed him when he pulled her out of the Spring of Power and enveloped her cold hands in his. When he climbed through her bedroom window with a stolen fruitcake and a wolfish smile. When he sank into stone-faced silence to escape it all. When he ignored their crumbling kingdom to let her pour seventeen years of grief into his muddy tunic.

But she’s too late. They only have this one moment, the rise before the fall, and Zelda ruins even that by sliding her hand too far down his side, where the tunic ends and his burns begin. Link makes a sound in the back of his throat, and he’s back in his ruined body, and she’s back to smelling his charred flesh.

“This is all I can do,” he says raggedly. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Zelda.”

She tries to hold onto him. To carry some of his weight. But Link is already pulling away. The last look he gives her is more open and more heartbroken than she could have ever imagined. Then he turns, and she does not understand how someone so damaged can move faster than the wind.

She clutches the tree. He disappears into the rain and the smoke. The world thins around her.

Stumbling away in the opposite direction is the hardest thing Zelda has ever done. Her legs went numb somewhere in Central Hyrule. Her mouth tastes of copper. Time slips by nonsensically. Mount Lanayru looms on the horizon, a cruel reminder of her last chance, her last moment with her friends.

She sees Mipha atop the waterfall, accepting a fate that would tear her away from her baby brother. Revali hiding his weakness at the flight range. Daruk trying to smile right before the end. Urbosa shoulder-to-shoulder with her mother, laughing the way they only ever laughed around each other. Her father’s silhouette on the ramparts, watching her leave for the Spring of Wisdom.

Zelda nears Fort Hateno in time to hear a tattered cheer rise up from its defenders as most of the Guardians move westward. All those men understand is that they’ve been granted a moment’s reprieve. They can’t know that somewhere amid the sparking pile of metal corpses, Link is trading his blood for Hyrule’s hope, just like he’s been doing since he was twelve years old.

Do you keep any hope for yourself? she asked him once. He only turned aside to hide the way his face cracked open, which was an answer all on its own.

He never expected to reach the bridge. He means to purchase Zelda’s life with his own.

She’s on her knees at the edge of the forest. Her path to the hill and the safety beyond it stands clear, as he promised, but the window is closing fast. If she makes it to Kakariko—and that seems a considerable if—what will she do? What use could she possibly be? This kingdom doesn’t need a failure of a princess.

Link does, if only so that he won’t die alone.

Zelda sprints back the way she came, keeping to the trees until her only choice is to strike out towards the maelstrom that separates her from him. Maybe he’ll hate her forever for discarding his wishes. She doesn’t care. Forever is drawing its final breath.

Link has turned the plain into a jumbled maze of dead Guardians, forcing the live ones to approach him over narrow, slippery terrain so he can pick them off and drop back into cover before his next move. Zelda feels a fierce surge of pride, to love and be loved by this boy who has retained his ruthless ingenuity against impossible odds and unimaginable fatigue. It’s almost enough to make her believe they still have a chance.

And then she sees him.

Little guy, Daruk always called him, and right now Link looks so small—a lonely figure soaked in mud and worse, trapped between the mountains of his fallen enemies. Desperate to see his face, Zelda’s mouth forms his name before she realizes he stands between her and a Guardian.

The machine compensates for its missing legs with an awkward shamble that would have invoked pity a few days ago. Now she watches it drag its dead weight around the bend and prays to a deaf Goddess that its roving gaze never falls upon Link.

But he’s waiting for just that. Pieces of him are missing. He clutches the sword between both hands and raises his head, assessing his dwindling options as the red laser fixes on his chest.

Then he moves. He’s still fast, but his legs buckle twice. He can’t possibly have the strength to end the enemy before it ends him. Zelda flounders through the freezing swamp, numb, breathless, blind.

As always, Link surprises her.

He throws himself at the Guardian, his foot finding purchase in the hollow place left behind by one of its missing legs, his fingers seizing hold of some groove that gets him onto its body. And somehow—despite his injuries, despite the slippery surface, despite the laser following his every move—Link hauls himself hand over hand up the metal shell.

Zelda stumbles forward. She can’t reach him in time. She can only watch.

The Master Sword plunges into the Guardian’s eye at the same moment the laser fires.

Link screams.

The world explodes with blinding heat. Through a cloud of steaming rain, Zelda sees him hit the ground rolling. The machine twitches and sparks and slumps over dead, but Link is not dead, he can’t be dead, not him, not the only thing she has left in the world.

Her knees sink into the swamp. She doesn’t feel it; she doesn’t feel anything. Especially not the unbearable heat radiating off him or the blackened shreds of his tunic flaking away as she turns him onto his back. Her hands roam over him helplessly, trying to stave off the blood, to piece him back together.

Link’s fingers twitch around the hilt of the sword.

Zelda gasps his name and his eyes fly open, wide and blue and panicked against his filthy face. He heaves out a horrible, sanguine cough that lasts eternities and breaks every part of Zelda that wasn’t already broken.

“Link, I’m here,” she sobs. “Can you hear me? Can you look at me?”

He tries. His eyes are glassy and unfocused. His lips part over crimson teeth. She cradles the unburned side of his face, hunching over his body to hide him from the miasmic light flickering in her peripheral vision.

“Zelda,” Link whispers faintly.

The first time he spoke her name, it was a new beginning, a light shining through the cracked surface of her. He says it like an end now, choked out between reedy gasps. But all at once, Zelda realizes she did not come here to die with him. She came here to save him, the way he saved her with every smile and every swing of the Master Sword and every stolen piece of time.

“Go,” he begs.

“Not without you,” she vows. “Get up.”

Link looks up at her despairingly. His breaths stutter out of him as if dragged by a hook. Malice cuts through the rain, drawing closer.

Zelda kisses him. This one is so brief and so soft and tastes entirely of blood. Link’s eyes remain closed after she pulls back, tears and rain carving clean tracks down his face. For a terrifying moment, she thinks: He’s gone. I finally killed him.

But his hands slide through the mud, bracing as much weight as he can bear, and together they get him upright. Through sobs of pain, her knight—her dauntless, lionhearted Link—stabs his sword into the marshy earth and levers himself onto one knee while blood and charred cloth and burnt skin slough away from his body.

Despite everything, Zelda feels an infinitesimal spark of hope. “Now run, Link. Save yourself. I’ll distract it—I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me—"

The Guardian crawls closer and closer to their pocket of safety. In one impossible movement, Link surges to his feet, his blade springing free from the muck as he staggers back. Death rattles through his lungs.

The machine’s spindly legs fold up and over the last barrier. Zelda blinks and sees Ganon in its place, all fog and fury, teeth baring for the kill. She has one thought as the red beam slices through the endless rain: It was all for nothing.

Link doesn’t run. He doesn’t lift his blade. He doesn’t look back. Everything he wants to tell her is there in his unbroken stance, in the defiant set to his chin, in the pure ferocity of his eyes. They flash to Zelda in terror when she steps in front of him, but he’s given his answer to the silent question that has loomed over them both since they were born. So she gives hers.

It sears up from a place she didn’t know existed, bright and visceral and real, filling her up and blazing forth to rend the fabric of the world. Zelda erupts into gold. Nothing in her life has ever felt so right.

But even that comes too late.

.

.

.

#my writing #loz fanfiction #botw fanfiction #zelink fanfiction #botw zelink #loz #botw #zelink #zelink fanfic

[zelink5ever]

“I told him you are my chosen hero,” Zelda said quietly, and the weight of her gaze on him was magnetic. They were getting closer and closer to each other. “You are my best friend. You …” she trailed off, the moment hanging heavily between them. “We should get married,” Link blurted out. // This is my gift for @stellarbunni for the @zelinkcommunity event Loftwing Letters 2024! Stellarbunni, I am so happy to be your Loftwing Letters valentine, and I hope you like it!

#loftwing letters #loftwing letters 2024 #ss zelink #zelda #skyward sword #link #ss zelink fanfic #zelink fanfic #loz fanfic #my fanfic #my stuff

[writingnocturne]

Got another evil au idea, but I don't know how I want to do it... vote time!

Keep in mind that the results will make things take different amounts of time. I have a LOT of wips I'm juggling, which is why I'm uncertain in the first place. I think drawing will do the idea the most justice, though. Any opinions would be appreciated!

#totk #zelda tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #totk angst #angst #loz fanfiction #loz fanfic #loz au #zelda au #tloz au #zelda fic #zelda fanfiction #loz #tloz #the legend of zelda #legend of zelda #zelink #zelink fanfic #zelink fanfiction #totk zelink #totk fanfic #fic #fanfiction #loz fic #zelda #princess zelda #link #hero of the wild #totk link #totk zelda

[liv-andletdie]

So For Once in My Life (let me, let me, let me...)

Rating: General Audiences Category: F/M Pairing: Link/Zelda BotW Summary: She was his Princess. That was important. That was the most important thing. She… she was his Princess and she couldn’t be anything other than that. And no amount of wanting and yearning would ever change that. Written for the TP Zelink Truthers Secret Santa 2023. A Missing scene set before memory 15 "The Return of Calamity Ganon"

Read on Ao3 [x]

The weather was cold on Mount Lanayru. The cap caught in a perpetual storm of ice and snow more frigid than the furthest reaches of the Hebra Province. To journey up the mountain was difficult, but to stay at her peak was dangerous. Especially without the correct equipment. 

Link thought of this now, as he stood at the peak. Frozen flakes whipped through the air, stinging his cheeks, his nose, his hands. Any inch of exposed skin was subjected to ’Nayru’s Torment’. Only the wise were permitted a place upon the mountain, but only the foolhardy stayed there. 

But Zelda had been up here for hours. Standing waist deep in icy water, her head bowed low in silent and unending prayer. She had greeted the dawn that way, the two of them travelling through the night so that she may begin her worship on the clock’s final strike. (On her father’s insistence of course). Link had hoped that his Princess may have had the chance to actually celebrate her birth before being forced through yet another round of pointless devotionals. But no. Apparently suffering and heartache were preferred to joy. 

Couldn’t that man just give her one day to herself?

Link shook himself from his thoughts, focusing his eyes back on the mountain path they had taken to get here. He needed to remain calm and vigilant. Just because they were on holy ground did not mean that she was safe. And besides, who was he to question the wisdom of his king? 

Such thoughts like that… well they bordered on treason. A fact that Link found himself caring about less and less as the days drew on. The space in his heart for worry was quickly taken up with thoughts of Her. 

He spared a second to glance back at her, her back turned towards his. Her golden hair looked like silk as it draped across her shoulders. She looked so still, frozen solid, but even from this distance Link could tell that she was shivering. 

It was far too cold up here. 

He had tried to convince her to take it easy today, to be mindful of the weather and her health. To understand that she was more important than her prayers. But she was stubborn. She insisted on staying for as long as she could, running through multiple recitations and hymns. Doing everything she could to prove her devotion to Hylia and to her people. As if she had anything to prove. 

The sun climbed higher in the sky as he watched her, the light catching on the golden shackles around her wrists and throat. Her hands clasped together in front of her, arms shaking with the effort of holding them up for so long. If he tilted his head just so he knew that he would catch a glimpse of her face and see just how blue her lips had become. He would be able to watch as they formed the words to her prayers. 

O Merciful Nayru Mother of Wisdom Sister of Hylia, Farore, and Din Hear my Prayer And grant me the Wisdom I need

The same standard prayer said in Temples all across the country. Said by every kind of person, begging and demanding for every little thing. Said now by a Princess, a young woman, desperate to be heard. Just to have someone listen. 

Bile rose up in Link’s throat. It was unfair! It was so deeply unfair, and he felt like a child for thinking so. But it was cruel. She was standing here, giving everything to a faceless being who refused to speak back! The fire that burned within him was fueled by violent and blasphemous thoughts. He wanted to curse the Goddesses, his heavenly mothers who placed him on this path. He wanted to take the sacred blade across his shoulders and throw it off the mountain. He wanted to wade into the water, take Zelda into his arms and pull her to safety. He wanted to hold her like he had that night at the Spring of Power. He wanted… 

Link wanted a lot of things. 

He turned back to face the path. No one was coming. The other Champions waited at the foot, waited for any hint or sign that Hylia had finally granted mercy. That Zelda had awoken the gold that lay dormant in her veins. And, as much as Link had wanted to take her away from this place, he dreaded taking her back down the mountain. Dreaded seeing the disappointment in his fellow Champions' eyes. No matter how hard they tried to hide it. 

Urbosa hid it well, but Link could see the strain in her eyes each time. She loved Zelda like a daughter. She treated her as one should. 

It was around midday when Link heard movement behind him. The soft sounds of water, once still, lapping up against the ancient stone walls of the Spring. He turned to look as his Princess made her way towards him. The cold had turned her lips blue, just as he had predicted, and for a moment he was caught with the terrible desire to press his own against hers. If only to warm her up. 

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he reached down a hand to help her step up from the water. The fabric of her skirts was stuck to her knees and calves, the water trapped in the material splashing onto the floor. For a split second Link worried that she might slip, but then her hand found his. 

Her fingers were like ice against his skin, her nails almost purple. Together they lifted her the rest of the way out of the Spring and she came to stand directly in front of him. Link took the moment to look at her properly. Her long blonde hair, now drenched at the tips, was stuck to her back. Her dress clung awkwardly to her legs in a way that made her look smaller than she really was. Her skin was pale, her nose red, and her normally bright emerald eyes were dull and filled with tears that she had refused to shed. 

His Zelda. So stubborn. 

He thought back to the last time they had been this close, to the last time she had cried like this. Silent and stoic, like he could be, but with an emptiness that robbed her of everything. He thought back to the Spring of Power. 

The air in Akkala had been unseasonably warm and she had stood for hours under the moonlight. He had thrown his sword at the sound of her first heart wrenching sob, had thrown himself into the water to hold her. She had clung to him then, tighter than anyone had ever clung to him, and she had pressed her lips to his. 

Her kiss had been bruising and painful, frantic and animalistic in the way her teeth crashed against his lip. Unpracticed and new and salt salt stained. It had broken his heart. And when she pulled away he had followed. 

Link wanted a lot of things. 

It had been brief and messy and desperate and when they broke apart she had looked at him with grief in her eyes. She had apologised, had begged his forgiveness, and she had promised to never do it again. Neither of them slept that night for the ache of it. 

Here in the present Link squeezed her hand in his. The fierce need to pull it to his mouth and breathe warmth back into her fingers scared him. But he refrained. He remembered their stations afterall. He remembered just who she was. 

She was his Princess. That was important. That was the most important thing. She… she was his Princess and she couldn’t be anything other than that. And no amount of wanting and yearning would ever change that. A single kiss shared months ago didn’t change that. 

She looked up at him then. Her eyes still empty, her lips pulled into a carefully blank expression. She was distraught yet unsurprised. She knew what would come next. The walk back down the mountain, breaking the bad news, seeing everyone's faces drop and then watch as they tried to hide it. The empty words and platitudes and assurances that ”Next time, you’ll get it next time your Highness.”

Link dropped her hand for a moment to wrap his hood over her shoulders. It wouldn’t do much to keep the cold at bay but it was something he was allowed to do. A small act of comfort a knight could give his Princess. 

“I suppose we should set off now,” When she spoke her voice was small and hoarse, as if she had spent hours screaming instead of whispering. “The others will be waiting.” He watched as she pulled the hood tighter around herself, the collar coming up to cover her nose, as she began to step away. To start her return alone. And Link wanted… 

Link wanted a lot of things. 

He wanted to curse his Goddesses, his King, his Champions. He wanted to throw down the Master Sword, to break his vow, to run away. He wanted to pull Zelda close, to hide her from the world and it’s cruelties. He wanted to no longer be a knight, for Zelda to no longer be a Princess. He wanted a home for the two of them in Hateno or Lurline or somewhere no one knew them. Somewhere where he could cook for her and bake fruitcakes for dessert. Somewhere where she could study history and science and Sheikah Tech without fear or ridicule hanging over her head. His brave, smart, stubborn Princess. His Zelda. 

He reached his hand out, quick as lightning, and took a hold of her wrist. The metal of her cuff felt almost frozen to his skin but he didn’t care. He pulled her close, wrapping her in his arms, her head tucked under his chin. 

“L-Link? What-”

“Shh,” He pressed her tighter against him, willing the cold to leave her bones. Hoping that the fire that burned in his was enough to keep her warm as well. “Five minutes. They can wait for another five minutes.” 

She was still for a second, her body frozen by more than the snow around them. And then he felt her move, weak shaky arms coming up to wrap around him. The fabric of Champion’s Blues pulled into feeble fists, her breath fanning across his collar. Deep breaths becoming quite heavy sobs. 

The weather was cold on Mount Lanayru, but for those five minutes Link was the warmest he had ever been in his life. 

The End.

#zelink #legend of zelda #legend of zelda botw #legend of zelda totk #botw zelink #zelink fanfiction #zelink fanfic #legend of zelda fanfiction #botw zelda #botw link

[lunar-system]

i remember your light

He never meant to get this far – what is he doing, he is not prepared, he is marching straight into Ganon’s maw, this is foolishness, but he is the Princess's fool, isn’t he, this is his task, his duty – but since he did make it this far, he will take that one more step.

Link finally gathers courage to venture inside the Hyrule Castle. Memories, duty, identity, it all comes crashing down during one fateful trip.

or: In which Link bakes Zelda a cake. Eventually.

second chapter up now!

#link goes on a murder spree against guardians in this one #it's juicy #botw #breath of the wild #link #zelink #the legend of zelda #tloz #tloz fanfic #botw fanfic #zelink fanfic

[syndxlla]

best friends don’t look at each other the way we do

A low stakes, high reward and self-indulgent Zelink fan fiction. Canon-compliant. Takes place between BOTW and TOTK

Chapter Five: My North Star

Read chapter four here

My masterlist

Song: August by Taylor Swift

Summary: Link and Zelda get a visitor from an old friend, and start to remember how to live for the hope of it all.

Warnings: brief and non graphic mentions of death and dead bodies, canon-typical violence and horror, PTSD (always for this fan fic)

Word Count: 3.3k words

Authors Note: finally some happy moments lol. Also this is unedited!! ALSO I KNOW I HAVE SO MANY UNANSWERED ASKS RN I PROMISE I AM NOT IGNORING YOU IM JUST BUSY AND LAZY kloveyoubye

It takes only three more days for Impa to arrive at their door, angrily pounding her staff on the wooden plank. It’s early, she beats the rooster, and Link is rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he stumbles to the door from his makeshift bed he’s made adjacent to the kitchen.

He’s shocked to see the old woman staring up at him, as far as he knows, she hasn’t left Kakariko village in decades.

“You completed the mission and your first instinct was NOT to come and tell me?” She asks, her wrinkled lips pressed firmly into a frown. Link looks up to see Cado, apologetic. His hair is down, shirt is off, and he’s barely wearing trousers. He yawns.

“Good morning, Master Impa.” He bows deeply to her and she just whacks his skull with her cane in the same manner she did the door. Link yelps and rubs the top of his head. “What was that for?” He asks.

“Where’s the princess?”

“She’s sleeping still, it’s barely sunrise.” Link rubs some more sleep from his lashes, his hand in a tight fist. “You know, most people say good morning when you see them first thing…”

Impa then lets herself into the house, pushing past him like the angry ball of spunk she is. “I’ll have tea.” She states, “And I’d like to see my friend.” Link and Cado look at each other, the Sheikah man staring at him apologetically.

Link nods, walking to the furnace and kneeling in front of it. He blows on the dying embers from the night before, placing a small log on them. Flames catch, and he’s setting the kettle over them, still full of water from yesterday. Cado closes the door and sits across from Impa at the table. Link eyes his bed roll in the corner of the room, kicking some blankets around in an attempt to make it look less disheveled, but the elderly woman just squints at the state of the house. If only she had seen it a week ago. Link was starting to feel proud of he and Zelda’s progress, wildflowers being placed in a vase on the table, and their plates polished and put away neatly for the first time. After Impa’s scrutinizing gaze, however, he was feeling all sorts of insecure again.

The air is stagnant.

“She's still sleeping…still.” Link clears his throat, his voice hushed. “She needs to rest because-“

“Link, two bodies were found just outside of the castle two days ago, the man who found them also reports seeing a Shadowy Figure, covered in what he suspects is malice.” Impa interrupts him.

“What?” He asks, startled.

“I didn’t want to lead with that, but it cannot be ignored.” She spoke in the same hushed tone. They didn’t want to wake the Princess, and they especially didn’t want to scare her.

“Treasure hunters? I mean it's still a war zone there, it wasn’t anything else… right? He was lying, surely. All the Malice disappeared…” Link asks, feeling the blood go from his face.

“The man was Me.” Cado frowns. He would never lie. “After we got your message from Purah, I traveled to the castle to confirm that the Calamity was destroyed. The bodies were hylian, two young people. A boy and a girl… I thought it was..”

Cado’s voice became too loud, and Link hushed him.

“We want to think it was leftover spells, but we don’t know. We don’t know who else to ask to investigate.” Impa says.

“Now that Hyrule is safe, it's time we start reestablishing civility, democracy.” Cado steps in.

“It’s been eleven days since I defeated him.” Link crosses his arms, “I’m still not sleeping through the nights, Zelda doesn’t have her full strength back yet. You promised me I would get to rest when it was all over.” He looks at the Sheikah Chief.

“Don’t lie to me, Link.” Impa shakes her head, “I know you can’t stay in one place for too long. No matter how hard you try.” She states. She wasn’t wrong, but recently Link has started to feel different.

The kettle starts to whistle. Link swallows his frustration and takes it off the heat, preparing three cups of green bell tea. Everyone feels discomfort. “Did the figure do anything?” Link asks as he pours the hot water into the cups, his back turned to the Sheikah.

“It just stared at me, it was tall, hunched over.” Cado describes, one could easily hear the fear in his voice. “We stared at each other, I couldn’t tell if it was from this world or not.”

“Tall like a Zora or tall like a Gerudo?” Link asks, still turned away.

“Gerudo.” Cado struggled to say it. “I drew my sword, and as soon as I did, it turned away from me and walked into the mist to the south. I never saw it again.”

Link swallows and then turns around finally, carrying the cups to the table. “And the bodies?”

“Cause of death was unknown, I checked for a pulse multiple times but they were both long gone. They were dressed in traveler's garb. Their dress seemed to be from the north.”

“If they have families they need to know.” Link sits, holding the mug of tea in his hands.

“You’re the only one who could inform them about such a thing.” Impa says. “Tabantha is a long way, but you could be there and back in an hour if you warp. We’ll stay here until you-“

“The sheikah slate is utterly destroyed.” Link admits. “I left it with Purah but she essentially told me it's beyond repair.”

“You’d have to go on foot like the rest of us.” Cado smirks.

“Why would I?” Link asks, perhaps too forcefully. “I did my quest.”

Impa stares at him, silent for a moment, “You don’t really feel that way.” She shakes her head, “And if you do, then you are not the same man who woke up three years ago.”

“I’m not!” Link almost shouts, and they all bite their tongues, listening for any sound from upstairs. “Impa… you know I care. You know I want to go find whatever that figure was, but I am tired.” His voice cracks. “I can’t just sleep this one off.” He can’t look at her, if he does, he’ll break. “This is much deeper than exhaustion. It’s… it’s traumatic.

I still see him. His eyes, the way His heat radiated and burned my skin, the sound of His laughter. He Haunts me at night, I swear He finds ways into my dreams and taunts me there. Like it was all just a game to Him. Because it was. It always was. He’ll do it again a hundred times, and we can’t ever stop Him. There will be countless more Links who lose their hearing and can’t sleep and won't even look themselves in a mirror because as long as the triforce exists, He will mock us all with His deviance.”

Link stares into his tea.

“Impa…” A quiet voice says from the stairs, and all three of them are turning to see her. Long, blonde hair draped over her shoulder, eyes sleepy and confused, hands at her sides.

She nearly trips down the stairs as she runs to the woman, wrapping her hands around her neck and crying. Impa immediately holds her back, laughing, taking an old, bony hand and stroking the top of her friend's head with it.

“Good Morning, my dear.”

Link and Cado share one more glance.

The day is spent with hugs and laughter and Zelda looking into Impa’s eyes and crying every time she sees that they’re still the same eyes. Link cooks for them, and gets as quiet as he was at the start of this war. It’s all he can think about. Did it return for other Links? Did it return this early?

Zelda must have noticed his distance because while Impa is telling Zelda all about the man she married, the Princess is glancing at Link. His shoulders tense, his head down, his voice silent. She frowns, deciding to ask him about it later.

Cado was delighted to meet the woman, bowing deeply for her. He eventually got on a tangent about his children while they ate the omelets Link prepared, but Link stayed silent. He glances over at the Master Sword, leaning against the corner of the room, staring back at him.

He distracts himself the rest of the day with Epona, tending to her constantly while Zelda tells Impa every single detail about her time sealed away. The two prayed over each other a few times. The sun gets low in the sky, Link stays silent.

They come back inside, and before Impa and Cado enter from the outside to begin their next hour of catching up, Zelda places a gentle hand on Link’s shoulder. “Link,”

He turns to look at her, everything about him immediately softening as her green eyes stare at him.

“You’re upset?” She says, her voice soothing.

“No I’m not.” He denies. She raises an eyebrow.

“I know you.” Link becomes acutely aware of her thumb that starts rubbing circles into his muscle and he has to remind himself how to stand. ”Talk to me.”

He knows he can’t tell her about this, not yet. “Later?” He asks. She smiles and nods.

“I’m here for you.”

Link begins dinner, and Zelda washes up, leaving the three alone for the first time since early morning.

Impa stares, Cado uncomfortably clears his throat. Link looks at them, frowning, knowing what they want.

He sighs deeply.

“I will return to the castle. Zelda and I briefly discussed returning the Champion’s weapons to their people, and can do it then.” He finally says. “Tell every leader to warn their people to avoid the castle at all costs.”

“Good.” Impa nods.

“But-“ Link holds his hand up, “I’m not going until both she and I are ready.” He says.

“What do you mean by ready?” That old woman was always so pushy.

“When Zel and I both feel ready to return to those places without it absolutely crushing our spirits, we will go. Together.”

“Hylia knows when that will be.” Cado scoffs.

“Exactly.” Link says. “Unless more deaths are reported or this shadow is seen again, it can wait. Everyone has been avoiding the castle for a century, what’s a little while longer?” Link states, silently proud of himself for sticking up for himself and not just being the obedient soldier he was trained to be. “Besides, no one should be there anyways, it’s not safe.”

“You’re in love with the Princess.” Impa states with a chuckle and Link sputters, the wind knocking out of him.

“What? Why would you say that?” He asks.

“I saw you two. The way you look at her.” Impa smirks. Link feels his ears heat up, Cado stifles a laugh.

“You are so rude.” Link replies.

“I think you two need each other.” Impa shrugs, “But do not let any worldly affection keep you in the way of what really matters here: Hyrule and its people.”

Impa always knew exactly how to remind Link that he is just a soldier.

“We will leave before we eat. At this rate we will not return home until late into the night.” Impa states, standing back up.

They say their goodbyes. Zelda promises to visit, Impa gives her a kiss on the forehead, Cado bows again. And just as the sun begins to set, the pair is headed through the bridge.

Both Link and Zelda stand in the doorway as they watch them leave. Zelda starts to sniffle, wiping a tear.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Link says in a comforting tone when he sees her cry, turning to face her. “It’s okay, we’re gonna see her again real soon.” He reassures. Zelda sighs.

“She got so old, without me.” She tries to swallow her sob but fails. She presses her tear-stained face into the crook of Link’s neck, and he just holds her for as long she needs. Zelda is the one to pull away after a moment of comfort. “I’m sorry… I know there's something troubling you, too. I shouldn’t be so selfish.” Zelda sighs.

Link swallows, “It’s nothing. Not for tonight.”

“You're sure?”

“Positive.” Link nods. “Can I show you something?” He asks, and Zelda is nodding as he takes her hand and leads her up stairs. He pushes open a hatch on the ceiling in the corner, and a rickety ladder slides down. Some dust and cobwebs fly down, but when the air clears, Link is climbing up onto the roof of their house. He helps Zelda up next, and she’s looking up at the night sky with bright eyes. It’s still not totally dark yet, but the first few stars are starting to shine.

The roof is slightly slanted, but not enough to cause either of them concern. They both comfortably find a position on the tiles, facing south, noses pointed at the heavens. There’s about a foot of space between them, and Link wants to scoot closer into her, but chooses not to. He closes the hatch from the outside, so the warm light of the house doesn’t pollute their view.

“I like to come up here to clear my head.” He says. “It doesn’t hold a candle to the night sky in Hebra or out in the desert, but it's still pretty spectacular.”

Zelda hums, “You’ll have to take me someday.” She stays looking at the sky but Link looks at her. Her profile is beautiful, hair long and cascading, ears pointed and blushed. Surely she knew he was staring, but neither of them did anything to stop.

“One day.” He nods before looking away and laying on his back. He rests his arms behind his head, crossing an ankle over his bended knee. “That one is called Haru.” He points to an especially bright star, “It’s part of the constellation Nabooru.” He then traces the warrior constellation with his finger.

“I remember, yes.” Zelda scoots into him, and he tries to stifle his smile. She doesn’t lay next to him, but now they’re a mere inches apart.

“And this is the North Star.” Link cranes his neck back to see it. “It moves though, did you know that? True north changes over time, so that one was the North Star when we were born, but over time the celestial bodies shifted and now it's that one. They didn’t even know that until I came back, because I was following the original one and ended up in Lanayru instead of Eldin. I talked with Purah and Robbie and they agreed, isn’t that fascinating?” He asks with a smile.

Zelda smiles so wide she thinks her cheeks will burst. “I never heard you speak like that before. With so much passion and eloquence.”

Link looks at her and just chuckles, “Now everyone follows the new star, but it didn’t have a name yet….”

“We should name it!” She gasps.

“Oh…I already did.” Link frowns, “I named it after I got my first memory back.” He shrugs. “I”m sorry. But there are plenty of stars without names anymore. A lot of the scientific research got destroyed with the…” He stops himself, “Well you know why. No one these days even knows the constellations anymore. I’m the only one.”

“What did you name it?” Zelda smiles.

Link looks at her again, “Zelda.”

She just about passes out from flattery, smiling down at her knees which are bent into her chest, blushing a little. “That’s very nice.”

“It was my true north.” He says. “I’d have been lost without it.”

It was fully dark now, and the sky lit up with the twinkling lights, the moon was a small sliver of a crescent and hung low in the sky near the sea.

“When did you remember the constellations?” She asked.

“They come to me slowly. It was required for all knights to know them, as I’m sure you remember.” Link described, looking to the heavens again. “I still can’t think of half of them.”

“Well isn’t that one Navi?” She points to another star.

“No, that one is Navi.” Link scoots up to her level, closing the gap further between them, and takes his hand to move her arm to the right star, his calloused and scarred flesh rough against her soft skin. “That one is the top of the constellation Hylia-“

“-Hylia”

They say it together. Perfectly in tune.

Their faces turn towards one another, locking eyes. The air freezes, time itself seems to hold.

Their hearts simultaneously skip a beat, and a soft blow of warm wind passes by, brushing through their hair.

Link makes the mistake of looking at her lips and for a split second he swears she leans in, but before anything goes any further, she’s moving away and laying down next to him.

He supposes this is alright, too.

“I wonder what she thinks of all this.” Link says.

Zelda is quiet ....“I sometimes wonder if the God’s regret making man.”

“What do you mean?” Link asks, looking at her.

“Well… man is what caused the curse of the loop anyways. If it weren’t for us, Hyrule wouldn’t have to be rebuilt every ten thousand years.” She frowns. “Maybe they wish they had left their creation to rest without our feeble beings.”

“I don’t think that.” Link shakes his head. “I think they put us here because we are flawed, not in spite of it.

I think our mistakes, our sins, our curses are what makes us special. Life would be futile if we were perfect. There would be no motivation. No growth. No passion.

You cannot have good without evil, or light without dark, or joy without pain.

That’s what’s so beautiful about life. I think the God’s know that. I think they love us because of it. That is a luxury they don’t have. I see it as a gift. To live for the hope of it all.”

Link rambles, and Zelda is stunned for a moment. She turns her head to look at him, this time he’s the one with wonder-filled eyes staring up, ignoring the gaze of the other.

“I really think you should wield the triforce of wisdom.” Zelda teases.

Link looks at her, their noses almost touching. “Oh no, I’m only profound when I’m around you.” He shakes his head, giggling. “You should see me try to talk my way through Gerudo town, there's nothing wise about it.” His tone is playful, and they both laugh over it. “I accidentally told a woman she looked pregnant instead of ordering a drink at the bar.” Link explains and then says the two phrases in Gerudo, Zelda can admit they have very similar pronunciations and the both of them are full-belly laughing at the situation. Zelda asks how he managed to get out of that situation, and Link had to describe further that he was in disguise, which made everything harder to get through. Zelda couldn’t get the image of Link in a woman’s clothing out of her mind, and Link only sets her off further when he finishes the story with him getting slapped by an elderly Gerudo Woman. It isn’t much longer until she has tears welling down her face, but this time they are finally tears of laughter and joy.

When they both finally pull themselves together, Zelda smiles at him, wiping a tear from the corner of her eyes. “Thank you.” She sighs, her stomach aching from laughter.

Zelda then takes a risk, and snakes her hand in between them before wrapping it around Link’s. They don’t lock fingers, and it isn’t even necessarily classified as a romantic gesture, but she just squeezes his hand, thankful for cheering her up, thankful for reminding her that there is still hope.

There is hope in balance.

She tries to pull it away, not wanting to overstep, but Link is holding her hand tighter, keeping it in his grip. Zelda happily obliges, and they keep their hands clasped at their sides the whole night.

—

Chapter Six

#fan fiction #tloz #zelink #zelda #botw #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #link x zelda #zelda fandom #zelda tears of the kingdom #zelda totk #zelink totk #zelink fanfic #zelink fluff #botw zelink #zelink pining #zelink smut #zelink botw #zelink angst #totk zelink #slow burn #princess zelda #zelda breath of the wild #zelda fanfic #zelda botw #link zelda #zelda fanart #zelda skyward sword #tloz tears of the kingdom #tloz fanfic

[athena-theunicorn]

I'm screaming y'all.

I just got my first ever fanart for my fic and I-

STFU ITS INCREDIBLE? I'M IN LOVE WITH THEM ACTUALLY. ITS EXACTLY HOW I PICTURED IT BUT BETTER? AND SHES WEARING THE RINGGGGG I CANT BELIEVE THEY REMEMBERED AHHHH. i HAVEN'T STOPPED SMILING IM SO INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL. I CANTTTTTTT TAKE IT AHHHHHHHH

The wonderful Chihua_draws made if for me on Twitter! Go follow them! Show them all the love they deserve!

Oh, and go read the most recent chapter of Between Them if you want context for this beautiful drawing :)

#(i’m screaming crying and throwing up rn) #distant sounds of me screaming* #zelink #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #breath of the wild #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #wattpad #legend of zelda fanfic #legend of zelda breath of the wild #breath of the wild fanfic #zelink fanfic #zelda x link #wattpad fanfic #angst #fluff #romance #archive of our own #between them #the memories between them #loz #loz botw #botw #botw zelink #zelda botw #botw link #zelda

[sun-aries]

Weathering the Storm (TP Zelink)

Here's one for the collection! Just some good ole angst for the soul!

Navy flags snapped atop their poles, the glass of the windows shook against the iron grates, and the rain pelted against the shingles of the roof: an unsteady rhythm that harmonized with the crackle of the firewood. It was the kind of night that left the queen reluctant to return home to her empty chambers.  

But soon, her chambers wouldn’t be so empty anymore.

Zelda often wondered what it’d feel like, having him to come home to, to have his things mesh with hers, to crawl into bed beside him and see him dressed less than proper. Her face heated at the thought.

A long while had passed before he came to her study door, a knock so familiar under the weight of his hand that she knew it was him. At her clearance, Link entered with wet hair and a fresh set of clothes, but his boots were crusted with mud and flaking on the carpets. Training must’ve left him a mess during such a storm.

Unlike at his homestead in Ordon, knights didn't get to stay in on a rainy day. Instead, they worked twice as hard on the slick grounds and through the misty air. Needless to say, the knights were pushed to their limits and as second-in-command, Link was no exception.

“You look exhausted. You don’t want to turn in early?” She said this even though she selfishly wished he wouldn’t; she hadn’t seen him all day.

"Nah," he replied, but the tired undertone of his voice betrayed him. He'd had many worse days, of course, scouring through unforgiving temples and facing ruthless beasts. But a hard day was still a hard day, and even heroes were exhausted from time to time.

But now he had Zelda to return to, and after a nice hot bath, he was just glad to be back in her company. She was perched on the sofa before the fire, with her frayed blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a poetry book open in her palms. Her pale blue eyes were more radiant than the firelight, her small smile warmer than its heat.

The sofa shifted as he slumped into it and the fragrance from his bath oils filled the air. She set the small book aside and lifted the old blanket a touch higher. “Are you cold?”

His face stilted with a fluster. There was a pause before he smiled and carefully scooted closer. Warmth washed through him instantly, but it wasn’t from the blanket. Instead, it was the steady pressure of her shoulder and the accidental brush of her thigh against his. He often wondered what she thought of in a tender moment like this. Did it fluster her too?

Zelda turned her gaze back to the fire; though they were solemn, her eyes sparkled in the flitting flames, and her brown hair spilled over her shoulders, soft and dark in the shadows but gleaming like melted gold in the firelight.

His fingers found the frayed edges of the blanket and fixed it over his other shoulder. “Where’d you get this blanket?”

Zelda tensed. It didn’t seem like much of a question in his head but when he said it out loud, it fell heavy on the room like he’d dropped a brick in a still pond.

They were weeks away from marriage now. But there was still much about one another that they didn’t know: her status as queen had urged them to marry sooner, after all. It wasn’t typically a problem, especially on evenings like these where they could fill the silence with conversation.

But his question felt heavy in a way he hadn’t prepared for. He quickly threw more words out as if it’d ease the tension. “It seems like your favorite. Is it your baby blanket?”

She opened her mouth but nothing came from it. Instead, her pale eyes glazed over, going distant to a place he couldn’t follow. It took a moment for her to say, “No.” There was another pause, long and drawn out, where he thought she might leave it there. But instead Zelda said, “It’s from the tower.”

His mouth fell open then, the word “Oh,” slipping out without him really meaning to say it. It was a sensitive topic, and he’d never intentionally broached it. He’d seen the scars that riddled her body, fading into the smoothness of her skin; he’d heard her voice quiver with an uncharacteristic vulnerability when she spoke of it. “I’m sor-”

“It’s okay,” she interjected, clearly anticipating the apology. “It’s fine.”

But it wasn’t. Her fear still festered. It was in the screech of an iron door and the thud of heavy footsteps and the menacing torchlight pouring through a door or the raise of a hand or a voice. It was in the fall of twilight, when darkness dampened her contentment like a snuffer smothering a candle, and all she had was her blanket to shelter in.

Some irrational part of her was ashamed: thinking how foolish it was for the bearer of wisdom to be afraid of something that’s done and gone, or how inelegant it was for a queen to cower under her blanket at any unexpected noise. But until recently, she’d had the fortune of not disclosing it to anyone, of being alone at the worst of it in the privacy of her bedchambers.

Whether Link understood why or not, he’d already seen her flinch upon awakening in the desert. He’d learned that she’d suffered at the guard’s hands in the tower – and at times, she was certain he was just as fragile at the fall of night. She could share this with him.

“It’s just…one of the few things that brought me comfort. I couldn’t bear parting with it. When the time came to reconstruct the tower, I took it with me.”

Link’s hand fell on hers, sending that familiar trill from the Triforce rolling up her arm, and she suddenly realized she’d been tugging at a loose thread. “I get that,” he said; his voice had been so absent from the room that it almost startled her. But it brought her comfort instead. “I kept everything I found too.”

A skittish smile tugged at her lips. “You do have quite a bit of treasures.” When they worked out the logistics of it, he admitted he didn’t have much to bring when he’d move into her chambers. But he had a rather large trunk of odds and ends that he couldn’t seem to part with, one that started to gather dust in the back of his own closet.

He smiled sheepishly. “What else brought you comfort?”

She paused, giving his question a fair deal of thought before answering, “You,” she said. “And Midna of course. Knowing you were both defending this kingdom gave me a great deal of comfort. More than anything, for that matter.”

Guiltily, her words made his heart skip a beat. It killed him to think that she'd suffered all along, that he'd never considered it or done anything about it. They'd left her in the tower, thinking foolishly that she was safe there - as a princess ought to be - and carried on, while she stayed back and anticipated the inevitable abuse from the guard only steps away from her door.

And yet there was a strange consolation in knowing that Zelda thought of him – that thinking of him comforted her, even at the darkest of times. She’d relied on them to save the kingdom and at least in that he hadn’t failed her.

Looking down at their joined hands, he brushed her knuckles idly. “I thought about you too…” he admitted. “Me and Midna would talk about you a lot.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. Sometimes, she’d bring you up out of nowhere, but other times it was like she knew you were on my mind…” He shook his head, eyes fallen downcast, and when the fluster rekindled on his cheeks, he rose his bare hand to scratch it. “But I always worried about you. I just wish -”

She stopped him suddenly with a soft but firm kiss on his cheek. His hand froze against his face, eyes wide and staring blankly at the tapestry over her shoulder. Her lips lingered against his red hot skin; her breath filtered through her lips and carried to the hollow of his ear. “Wish nothing. You saved me.”

Her words sent his hand moving on its own accord, before he even realized that he’d broken free of his stupor, and thread into her hair, grasping her head and drawing her into an embrace. His face buried into her shoulder, catching whiff of her warm, familiar smell and holding it in his throat like it was something tangible.

“You’re safe now,” he agreed, his voice hitched with his breath, but she’d shuddered in his arms as he said it. It was a reminder – half-spoken to himself – a vow abridged to the ones they’d speak at the altar only weeks later.

When she regained some strength, she drew back far enough to find his eyes, alight with firelight - and maybe also his assertion, and said, “I know.”

#aries writes #BMTR #tp zelink #twilight princess #zelink #zelda and link #tp zelink fanfic #tp zelink fic #zelink fanfic #loz fic #tp link #tp zelda #princess zelda #twilight princess zelink #twilight princess link #twilight princess zelda #zelink fic

[obsidiangst]

To Catch The Moon - Chapter 3

"Be quiet for now, Princess, I'm not supposed to be here,"

The food could wait a few moments longer.

Chapter 3 of To Catch The Moon is out now! Read it on Ao3: link

Chapter art is by @between-star

#zelink #to catch the moon #tctm #tears of the kingdom #breath of the wild #botw #to hold the sun #thts #totk #zelink fanfic

[demiboydemon]

Two clips of the same fic that are polar opposites:

Besides, he was in a hurry. He had a self-imposed, arbitrary deadline that he took very seriously.

And

It was quiet after the beast fell; not a peaceful silence, but the kind of silence that came from something terrible being over. Link wondered if the terrible thing was the monster, or his slaughter of it.

Edit: it’s finished! Here’s the link!

#the legend of zelda #legend of zelda #zelda #tloz #loz #breath of the wild #botw #tears of the kingdom #link #zelink fanfiction #zelink fanfic #fanficfion #zelink fic #legend of zelda fanfiction #fanfic #writing #tloz botw #loz botw #tloz totk #loz totk