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link-eats-rocks · 7 months

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The First Night Home

On the day of defeating Calamity Ganon, Link and Zelda can rest easily with all of the terror behind them.

"A bed for the young couple tonight?" asked the friendly stable-master.

They wanted to lay low, way too exhausted to cause a fuss as the knight and princess who vanquished the Calamity. So if they were assumed to be some ordinary husband and wife, they could be left in peace.

Link nodded.

Zelda lowered her head, face concealed under the hood of the cloak Link had given her. She longed to change into some ordinary clothes. She was anxious about standing out in her floor-length royal garb, even if it was covered by a cloak.

She heard the clink of rupees being set on the table.

"Ah, for that price, our best bed for the lovely couple. That's the bed on the far right."

"Seen Beedle around?" Link asked.

Zelda was still getting used to hearing that sweet, boyish voice with her own ears again. Her heart twisted when she thought of how badly she'd missed him.

"Beedle's always around," the man chuckled.

Link gave a weak laugh.

"Just inside."

Link stepped back and gently took Zelda’s arm in hand.

She leaned into his touch, moving closer until she was against his side.

Link responded by hooking his arm over her shoulders as he walked her inside.

Zelda closed her eyes and the darkness spun her head, her body begging for sleep.

"Yaya! My favorite customer! And you've brought a pretty girl with you, wowee!"

Zelda forces her eyes open and smiled at the stranger, assumedly Beedle.

He had a friendly face and was surrounded by various bags and boxes.

"Got any clothes?" Link asked.

"Whatcha got in mind?"

He tightened his arm around Zelda. "Something that will fit her."

"Sure thing! I know I have something here."

After a few minutes of searching, finding, and money changing hands, Zelda was holding a simple brown dress and a pair of boots that she could lace up to fit. Link bought her a hairbrush too.

For now, the outfit would be unnecessary. Behind a small privacy curtain in the back of the stable, Zelda washed up and changed into a long, soft tunic of Link's to sleep in.

Link silently pointed to their bed before brushing past her to get ready for bed himself.

Zelda awoke from the beginnings of sleep when the bed shifted beside her.

Link's arm fell next to hers and he sighed heavily as he pulled the blankets up over him.

Zelda turned on her side to face him.

He laid on his back. His eyes were open, fixed on the ceiling. She drank in the familiar sight of his face, unharmed, flushed, alive.

A lump rose in her throat and she placed her hand on his arm.

He turned his head to meet her eyes.

"Link," she whispered, "thank you for the clothes and the bed." It wasn't what she'd meant to say, but he did deserve gratitude for every kindness he showed her. "I hope it isn't a hardship."

A faint smile lit his eyes. "It's no trouble, Princess."

"Zelda, please."

The smile reached his lips and he turned fully to face her, folding his arm under his head. "It's no trouble, Zelda."

He'd never said her name before.

Her skin tingled and warmed. "Thank you for saving me, too."

He barely nodded, his amused expression unchanging.

"I...I missed you." Her eyes welled and her heart lurched at her own admission.

Link inhaled a deep breath through his nose and his eyes lit with surprise. "I missed you too. I didn't know how much until I saw you."

"That's how it was for me too. Although," she hesitated, dropping her eyes, "I felt it sharply all along, since I didn't get to say goodbye. My last sight of you—I tried not to think of it but..." Her eyes blurred with tears. She was overtired. She should have stayed quiet and just let him sleep.

"I'm sorry."

"No, I see you now, healthy and strong. I can breathe easily."

"Mm."

They were both silent for a few long moments, gazing into each other's eyes. Even in the darkening room, his large blue eyes took her breath away.

"I wonder if it will ever feel real. It's truly over. We're safe. And together."

Link blinked in his little way that signified agreement. "It will, Zelda." His voice was small as he tripped over her name.

The sound caused the same sensation as the first time she'd heard it. She closed her eyes, blissful. And as soon as she'd let her heavy eyelids fall shut, she was drawn back towards sleep. "I know we need to get to work. There's much to do. Many people to see." Her words were slurred. "But, I'd like to see your house. I was aware you got one while I was watching over you, but of course, I hadn't a chance to get a good look."

"I'll take you there first thing. I bought it with you in mind."

"Really?"

"Of course. Everything...had you...i-in mind." He sounded sleepy too.

Zelda was falling asleep but she couldn't stand missing a single second with Link after all this time. She wished her body wasn't fighting against her. "I wanted to tell you something once I was freed."

"Hm?"

"But it can wait until tomorrow."

"Okay," Link said airily.

She inched closer, imboldened by her own tiredness. "But I'll still be forward tonight. May I...It's been a frightening time. May I come closer?"

She felt Link moving beside her and her heartbeat sped up.

He laid on his back and draped his arm across her pillow.

She lifted her head.

He tucked his arm beneath her and rolled her to him, then dropped his other arm to her waist.

The movements were so fluid, it was as if he'd been waiting on her to ask.

She dropped her head to his chest and curled her arm around him. "Thank you, Link," she whispered, lips brushing against the soft fabric of his shirt.

"Thank you, Zelda," he mumbled in reply, running his hand up and down her back.

Again, she fought sleep to soak in the experience. But he was so cuddly and he was holding on so tight and the slow rise and fall of his chest was too powerful a sedative.

After one hundred years of waiting, Zelda spent the night sleeping in Link's warm, loving embrace.

I always write an element of awkwardness to Link and Zelda "confessing" because it's generally a nerve-wracking experience, especially for two teens who are new to the whole thing.

But then I was thinking, I never really notice them acting nervous around each other, even once the subtext is there of them developing feelings in the game scenes. So I thought I'd try writing their friendship shifting into more naturally and comfortably this time ❤️ And I like how it turned out! It was a fun little exercise for me. Hope you enjoy. Maybe I'll write more to go along with this little scene idk 🤷🏼‍♀️

#legend of zelda #zelink #breath of the wild #link loz #loz link #botw #post botw #zelink fanfiction #legend of zelda fanfiction #linkeatsrockswrites #there was only one bed

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obsidiangst · 3 months

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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

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aegon-targaryen · 8 months

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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

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dilfmansion · 6 months

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The Art of Beauty ~ Post-BoTW Zelink

words: ~900

read on ao3

“Your hair’s getting long.”

Link’s eyes flutter open, drawn by the words from the soft lull of his meditation. It was something that Zelda had recommended he try after the Calamity, when he couldn’t sleep through the night and was restless all day. It helps. Clears his mind, helps him focus. He thinks about Zelda, or the comfort of the Gerudo sun, or nothing at all. It’s nice.

Do you like it? Link signs. He tips his head back, smiling as the princess comes into view upside-down. She matches his expression, impossibly elegant.

“I do.”

There’s no school today– the children are allowed the weekend to play and so Zelda is too, the duties of teaching briefly forgotten. She sits down behind Link and curls the ends of his hair around soft fingers.

“I do believe it’s longer than mine.” She laughs, bright and easy. Her hair is cut short now. She had cut it after moving to Hateno, eager to rid herself of the symbol of royalty and opt for something more practical. Link had helped her. This new style falls in a gentle frame around her face, barely brushing the line of Zelda’s jaw. She tucks it behind her ears or braids it into a band around her head when she wants it out of the way– Link likes it best loose. When she’s just woken up in the morning and it falls over her face, glowing with sunlight. Sometimes she’s so beautiful he can’t even bear to look at her.

“It’s lovely.” Again, her words draw him from thought– she’s awfully good at that.

Link feels his cheeks flush, warm and sunny, lips quirking up into a smile as he casts his gaze down to a small patch of wildflowers in front of him.

“Thank you, Princess.”

Absently, as if she doesn’t quite notice what she’s doing, Zelda begins to gather honey blonde strands of Link’s hair and weave them together into intricate little braids that cascade down to the tops of his shoulders. She doesn’t fasten any of them, letting the plaits trail off loosely at the ends.

Link doesn’t even notice that his eyes have fallen closed. Zelda’s hands are deft and sure, trained in the art of beauty. She touches him like he’s a delicate thing. Her hands card through soft hair and her fingertips brush ever so lightly against his scalp, like some sort of worship. It makes Link want to cry. She has shown him impossible kindness, has never once wavered in her reverence. Perhaps the only one close to him, now, for whom that is true.

“Why don’t you wear your hair up more often?” Zelda asks gently, working sections into a braid that follows the curve of Link’s hairline above his ear. “It looks so beautiful.”

Link feels his cheeks begin to flush, the heat of the sun nothing compared to the warmth of her compliments. Not used to it, he signs, almost embarrassed, don’t know how to make it look nice.

Zelda’s careful, practiced movements never falter. She begins to join two braids at the back of his head, a perfect golden circlet. “Your mother never showed you?”

Link thinks better than to shake his head, humming a small dissent.

“Well, it’s not too late,” Zelda announces. She picks a small flower from the ground next to them, a little blue blossom that mimics the color of Link’s eyes, weaving its stem through the braid. “I can teach you.” Another flower is plucked from the grass to adorn Link’s hair. “I know my hair’s quite short now, but it should still be long enough to learn.”

Link’s eyes widen. The two of them had slept in the same bed every night since the Calamity. They share every meal, travel the world together, tend to each others’ wounds– yet still, the simple idea of braiding her hair makes the breath leave his lungs. He has to take a deep breath before even thinking of responding.

“Yes, please.” Link swallows, his heart suddenly pounding, the flush on his cheeks only growing darker as Zelda laughs.

“I’m sure you’ll be very good.” Zelda reaches around to press a soft hand to Link’s cheek and encourage him to turn towards her. He follows the gentle direction obediently, eyes wide and face warm. The corners of Zelda’s eyes crease with smile lines. Link can’t wait to watch them grow constant with age.

She beams at him, thumb tracing a soft arc over her knight’s cheekbone.

“I think it suits you.” Zelda leaves no room for argument.

Link can’t even summon his voice to say thank you. He signs it instead, hands more sure than his voice could possibly be.

Zelda lets her hand drift away from his face after a few moments. She lets out a sigh and falls back into the grass next to Link, smile quirking into mischief as she tugs on the back of his tunic to persuade him to join her.

It works, of course.

Link lays back alongside her and lets his eyes drift shut once more. The pleasant buzz of Zelda’s touch still plays on his skin, and he feels his heart skip a few beats when she reaches over to lace her hand in his. Not quite an embrace— just a few fingers tangled together, childish and sweet. He could stay like this forever, he figures, sun-warm and happy with her.

At least a few years should suffice.

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thesadpuffin · 15 days

Link

“There was one memory in particular that gnawed at the edge of his mind, the one that had stuck with him for many nights after he first experienced it. It wasn't even his own memory, but it had come to him through whatever magic connected him to the sword. Or maybe it was whatever magic connected him to Zelda.”

hi yes it’s taking me a while to finish the next Zelda comic, but here’s a short fanfic I wrote a little while ago! pure Zelink fluff if that’s your jam XD

#archive of our own #ao3 #ao3 author #fanfiction #zelink #zelink fanfiction #zelink fluff #loz #loz fanfic #loz botw #botw fanfic #zelda #thesadpuffin

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cooking-with-hailstones · 2 months

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To be mortal

Happy Loftwing Letters @mistresslrigtar!

This was written for the valentines gift exchange with the wonderful @zelinkcommunity, and thanks to @bahbahhh for beta-ing!

Read it here or on AO3

The strangest thing Zelda noticed, after they sealed Ganon away and collapsed into a heap together on Hyrule field, was having a body again. For a century Zelda had been incorporeal, everywhere and nowhere all at once, one with all things and yet nothing. She had been watching Link, watching Hyrule, watching Ganon struggle against the bonds that she had trapped him in. For a century she watched. And now here she was, all of her contained in flesh. It was like the sensation of returning to land after a long voyage at sea, but magnified through every cell of her being. She had cells again.

Adjusting to the limitations of a physical body took its time. For weeks after they returned to Link’s home in Hateno, she walked on wobbly legs and found herself stumbling around like a newborn calf. At first she barely recognized the sensations of exhaustion or hunger. Link began to figure it out as she got increasingly irritable in the evenings, and he would sometimes forcibly bundle her into the small loft bed, despite her feeble protests. Every time, she was out like a light within minutes. When her growling stomach forced her back into the waking world, Link would be waiting by her bedside with fresh bread and a steaming mug of soup.

There were times that she missed incorporeality. When the wind rattled the shutters of their small home, she wished that she could allow her consciousness to drift away on the breeze. When she sat by Firly pond, splashing the cold water with her feet, she longed to slip her spirit into its murky blue waters, looking at the world through the eyes of the frogs and the fish. It was strange to be contained all in one place, a separate entity from the earth and sky around her.

But she also delighted in the sensations of the flesh. Once after she came in from a long walk through the village, Link surprised her by excitedly handing her a slice of cake. Apparently he had discovered an old recipe that was bookmarked as the princess's favorite. He had spent a great deal of time perfecting it, and watched with delight as she took her first tentative bite. She relished the taste of the wildberry and apple mash in between two light and fluffy layers of sponge. The sharp tang and taste of the fruit mixing with the sweet sugars of the glaze.

Another time, Link took her climbing along the Hateno cliffs, hiking down to the beach one afternoon after visiting Purah. They played in the waves and danced in the glittering spray of the sunset.

He also brought her silk trousers he had acquired from Rhondson in Tarrey Town, and she marveled at the exquisite softness of the material against her skin.

She was learning once again to love being mortal. To be skin and bone and sinew and muscle; that ate and drank and ached and sweated and slept. It was a journey of rediscovery, and her scientific mind, delighted and reacquainting herself with all of the molecules and atoms of herself.

That is, until she got a cold.

______________

Link had enjoyed witnessing Zelda's return to the corporeal. In many ways. It mirrored his own return to his body two years prior, when he awoke to her voice in the Shrine of Resurrection. The luxury of feeling the sun on bare skin, of drinking fresh cold water, eating a full meal and feeling your belly expand; there were so many delights to experience. He couldn’t wait to share everything he had rediscovered, that they could rediscover together.

Her brilliant scientific mind was a perfect complement to his enthusiastic experimentation. She analyzed every fruit tart, wrote notes about how her feet felt numb after sitting still for too long, lingered over the feeling of every fabric in his inventory, marvelled at the brightness of the morning sunrise.

The head cold caught her completely off guard.

“How did this happen?” she moaned from the loft as he added a dash more salt to some fortified pumpkin soup and ladled it into a large bowl.

“You were talking to the village children, and one of them sneezed on your face?” Link ventured teasingly as he walked up the steps to the loft, careful to not spill anything from the full bowl.

“Hylians shouldn’t be so susceptible to diseases from their young” she grumbled, sitting up slightly to allow him to place the soup in her lap. This was the third day in a row of such grumblings.

“One more thing for you to research once you’re healthy again.” he smiled, brushing a loose strand of chin-length blonde hair behind her ears. He liked the shorter hair. Zelda had very quickly decided that she did NOT like the sensation of long hair on the back of her neck, and now there was no one to complain if she sheared it off.

She slurped the soup loudly, an affront to any remaining royal manners that she was now gleefully forgetting, before looking up at him quizzically.

“Yes?”

“It tastes... different” she sighed in frustration.

“You’re still sick. Things taste different when you’re sick.”

“But WHY? ”

Link shrugged. Zelda muttered something to herself, grabbing her notepad from the bedside table and jotting down some questions for later. She had tried to keep working after falling sick, but Link had insisted that she rest. The pencil and notepad was a compromise.

“What good is having a nose if it’s going to behave like this?” she lamented, slurping down more of the soup. Link couldn’t help but laugh.

“Get some rest, Zelda.” he said, tucking the covers more comfortably around her. She caught his hand in her own, and gave it a little squeeze of thanks.

He paused, startled by her unexpected, tender touch. They had touched each other before, of course. Jostling each other in the kitchen, or leaning on each other while climbing down a steep cliff. But somehow this felt different. Before he could think twice, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

At that point, his brain caught up with his actions and he quickly pulled away, blushing furiously. He barely registered Zelda’s shocked face, spoon frozen halfway to her lips. Instead, he whirled away down the steps, panicking slightly and raking his fingers through his disheveled hair.

______________

Zelda didn’t see Link the next morning. Which was just as well, since she was feeling significantly better and was frankly uninterested in spending a minute more lying in bed. Still, it was unusual of him to not be at her bedside when she woke up. Instead she found another steaming mug of soup and a slice of bread on her bedside. She took advantage of the hot breakfast - which finally tasted normal again - before changing into a fresh linen shift and making her way downstairs.

Pumping some water into the basin so that she could wash up, she glanced briefly out the window. Her breath caught in her throat.

Of course, he wouldn’t have gone far.

Link was outside in the yard, drilling sword forms with an intensity she hadn’t seen from him since before the Calamity. Even in the cool morning air, he was shiny with sweat, muscles rippling across his bare back. She couldn’t help but stare. The strange fluttering in her stomach that she had felt the night before, after his unexpected but welcome kiss, came back a hundredfold.

She forced herself to look away, scrubbing the dishes with unusual vigour.

She spent the rest of her morning paying fierce attention to her notes, refining all the scribbles she had written from bed during her convalescence and making a list of questions that the village healer might have some answers for. Her fluttery innards were finally starting to calm down when Link came back in, still shirtless and soaked after having briefly rinsed himself off in the pond.

She sucked in a breath. The sight of him was causing all kinds of physical sensations that she had no rational explanation for.

He paused, meeting her startled gaze, before hastily pulling out the Sheikah slate and materializing an old comfortable linen shirt.

“You’re out of bed?” he mumbled.

“Yes, I am feeling much better today, thanks to your care.” she smiled, cursing this sudden awkwardness.

The silence stretched out long and tense between them. Her stomach started fluttering again.

“Link, I - ”

“Yes?” he said softly.

“When you kissed me, yesterday...”

He blushed a deep shade of crimson. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have...”

“No!” she cut him off, crossing the space between them and grabbing one of his hands in her own. “No, its... I wasn’t sure how to react. It was, well, it was a new sensation for me.”

Link hadn’t moved away after she had taken his hand. In fact, she wasn’t sure if he was still breathing.

A sudden impulse struck her. “Would you... would you do it again?” she whispered.

A beat of silence passed between them. She was just about to apologize, to let go of his hand and say forget it, when he pulled her close and pressed another, gentle kiss to her forehead.

Like lightning in a summer storm, she felt it again what she felt the night before. The fluttering, the jolt down her spine that was entirely unlike anything she had felt since returning to her body. She shivered with delight.

“Again?” she gestured to her cheek, and he obliged without any hesitation. Heat spread across her face from where his lips brushed against her. She needed more, needed to know more, to feel more.

“...Again?” she sighed, hardly daring to point at her lips. He leaned in, this time without any hesitation, and pressed his lips ever so gently to her own.

#zelink #fanfiction #zelink fanfiction #post botw #sickfic #pre-totk #zelink first kiss #first kiss #canon compliant #musings on mortality #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #emily writes #my writing

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mooshs-crack-headcanons · 1 year

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Getting all soft thinking about the rare occasions of Link actually speaking verbally out loud to Zelda.

At one point it did bug her, ate at her, felt that his silence was a way of him mocking her failure to her role while he seemingly had everything figured out and held everyone's praise - including her father's. However, that was way before Link had actually explained his reasoning to her, the weight of the world being on his shoulders and felt it upon himself to commit to a silent vigil not to disappoint the people of the kingdom that he knows is heavily relying on him. That alone changed how the princess viewed the knight.

Now, even moreso after the Calamity, she doesn't mind. Link has ways of communicating outside of verbal speech in ways of nods, points, and his own unique form of sign language she's very much well picked up on understanding! She even likes to think she's the most expert on said sign language, a badge she wears in prideful honor.

Link is a very good listener and it helps he very much enjoys hearing the princess talk, especially about her research, he can listen to her for hours on end about scientific things that he'll admit he's not the most knowledgeable about to where at some points Zelda could be rambling about something he has no clue what even is but he still enjoys listening to her either way because it's her and talking about these things makes her happy! So he'll just nod along and sign very simple questions that relights the princess' excitement even more as she'll go into further detail about whatever and Link is just left like: :)

On the rare occasions Link does actually speak he is very soft spoken, especially pre-Calamity. Honest to Hylia Zelda nearly fainted the first time she actually heard him. One of these instances I like to think was definitely after the spring of Courage, granted it wasn't the first time I think Zelda has heard him but I feel like it was one that was definitely most impactful.

Just Link helping her out of the spring and they sit at the foot of the water for a bit, Zelda probably crying and still cursing at herself saying so much damming things about herself like she's a failure, a burden, and ect and then just out of nowhere:

"You're not a failure." Or something along those lines, just something to try to get through to her that she isn't all those cruel things her father or some gossipers said her out to be. She is so much more than that and he knows it, and he needs her to know it too.

So it's obvious given the fact Tulin seems at least a few years older than he was in breath of the wild and Riju as well seems definitely taller than she was previously shown as well that at least two or so years minimum have passed since that game, so everyone is going to go through some kind of change before the game starts and Zelda's new haircut seems to be one of them. I think it's very unlikely we'll actually see the actual hair getting cut in game and it'll realistically just be left as an unspoken thing but that just leaves room for speculation and headcanon!

That being said... Link vocally telling her point blank after maybe just one day out of the blue coming home from Kakariko Village visit (they lived together in the Hateno house, Nintendo can pry that from my cold dead hands) the moment she walks through the door, now with her hair now considerably shorter;

"You look breathtaking." Then he goes right back to whatever he was doing inside the home before she arrived leaving Zelda speechless at the doorway just: 🧍🏼‍♀️

Zelda's a bit awkward, she doesn't know how to address it but it makes her feel... giddy. Maybe she didn't know how she felt about the haircut at first when Impa presented her the mirror to check it how it turned out, at first it was a complex motion - a symbolic action that she was finally ready to leave the past behind and work towards a brighter future, but even still she had this swirling in her gut on the ride home. But now? She adores it, she's reassured of her choice. She is ready. And she's glad to have her beloved knight at her side to live out that future.

No matter what future hardships that are to come.

Coming out of writing retirement just to ease my zelink brainrot. Hope you guys are proud 🥲

#the legend of zelda #breath of wild #the legend of zelda tears of the kingdom #zelink #zelink headcanons #tloz link #tloz zelda #zelink fanfiction #mine

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bliindingfaith · 7 months

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I finally posted the first few chapters of my zelink fluff-fest. Im going to go hide in the closet now 😂

#botw zelink #botw fanfic #zelink #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #zelink fanfiction #zelda #age of calamity #loz aoc #aoc link #aoc zelda #totk zelink #totk fanfic #zelink community #zelink fic #ao3 fanfic #aoc impa #aoc purah

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writingnocturne · 3 months

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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!

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rottencandyapp1es-writeblog · 8 months

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Written in Blood

(Post-Twilight Princess Zelink) (SFE)

"Hyrule is not a kingdom of honor."

Link blinked, attempting to process Zelda's words as he stared up at her, dressed in full royal regalia, long chestnut brown hair neatly braided and fastened in place by her crown, gloved hands folded neatly in front of her. The light from a large crack in the ceiling glaringly bounced off the paldrons weighing on Zelda's shoulders, threatening to blind him.

And yet, he refused to looked away.

"There is no hope or prosperity to be found here."

She began to slowly glide towards him, her ice-blue eyes never leaving his aquamarine.

"The horrors that threatened us were tempered by our very own hands. They will always return."

Zelda stopped in front of Link, mere inches away, and placed a hand on his cheek. Her thumb gently ran over the very prominent scar upon it. His mouth went dry.

He didn't look away.

"There is nothing but pain and suffering to be had here." she said, clearly but quietly. "I must remain and atone for the sins I inherited," she hesitantly began to draw her hand away, "but you shouldn't have to. You can still go home, and leave this cursed kingdom behind for good."

Before she could fully withdraw, Link grabbed her hand with a ferocity that shocked the both of them, their eyes as wide as saucers. In a soft, clear voice, Link finally spoke.

"I'm not leaving."

#legend of zelda #zelda #loz #tloz #twilight princess #loz tp #link #tp link #princess zelda #tp zelda #zelink #tp zelink #zelink fanfiction #zelda fanfiction #legend of zelda fanfiction #ficlet

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demiboydemon · 5 months

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I read a fic description recently that I’m not going to quote or name because I’d be a major asshole, but the description was (in different words)

“Zelda knew falling in love with Link was a dangerous game. But she had always craved violence” and it was SO FUNNY TO ME.

I told my beta reader about the description and she said “Huh? Link’s love is dangerous? He’s just a guy who doesn’t talk.”

She continued, “He doesn’t talk, he sometimes wears dresses, and his pockets are full of fish. I think Zelda will be fine.”

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link-eats-rocks · 6 months

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After rescuing Zelda from the Yiga, she's suddenly treating him differently...

Link was still winded from his battle with the Yiga. It hadn't been physically tiring; running them off had taken all of ten seconds. But he couldn't slow his heartbeat after the sight of Princess Zelda with a blade aimed at her throat.

It probably made her mad to have him staring. And she was probably mad that he'd followed her, even if it had meant her life.

She must be pretty shaken too, though, since she was walking close to him at his side instead of her usual five paces ahead.

Often, when he turned to check on her, she was already looking at him. That made it all the more impossible to calm down. He clinched his fists and fixed his eyes ahead across the sprawling nothingness of the desert.

"It will be getting cold soon," The Princess said quietly.

He nodded.

"How far do you think we are from the stable?"

The Shiekah Slate didn't work this deep into the Gerudo Desert. But they'd been walking for miles. "We shouldn't be long, Princess. We'll arrive before sundown."

She sighed. "That's a relief. Y-You deserve some rest."

It took awhile to register what she'd just said. Was he hallucinating or had she just said something kind to him?

They trudged on in silence while Link’s mind spun wildly in confusion. He felt uneasy. Was she trying a new approach to run away? Would she try running away again tonight? He was about to fall over. How could she possibly have the energy to plan another escape?

Link sat down at the fire and let his aching head sink to his hands. For just a moment while The Princess was inside the inn, he could indulge his exhaustion, shutting his eyes and enjoying the heat of the fire against his hands and face.

One minute. Just a second and he'd start on dinner...

"Link?"

He snapped to position, straightening his back and looking up at The Princess.

She smiled. She was holding a wooden tray with two mugs and bowls on it.

"I bought dinner. It's been a long day. No need to cook."

He blinked, dumbstruck, as she sat down on the stool beside his, tray on her lap, and handed him a bowl of soup and a large mug of water. He should've thanked her but instead he just dug in.

He heard her spoon clink against her bowl and she laughed, genuine, melodic. He looked over slowly.

She was grinning at him. There was no malice in her eyes but he still braced himself for a jab. "You eat fast."

His eyes darted to the right. He didn't know what to make of that so he resumed eating. His headache ebbed with every bite.

By the time he'd finished his bowl and his water, he felt like collapsing into his cot.

"I got you something," The Princess said just as he was about to suggest they turn in. "When I bought dinner, I also bought us both beds for the night."

He couldn't deny it anymore. Somehow, she wasn't angry anymore.

Her cheeks were getting rosier. "The deluxe extra comfy beds."

Link bit his bottom lip, knowing he'd have to reply. "You bought...two beds?"

"Yes. As a "thank you"."

"Princess?"

"For saving me today," she elaborated.

"I—You didn't have to. It isn't worth—."

"It's my life," she interrupted. "No one has ever done such a thing for me. You put yourself in front of me. You could've died."

He dropped his head, his throat tight. "Oh. Well, of course your life is most valuable. That's why there's no sense in thanking me. There's not even a thought as to what must be done."

He was met with harsh silence.

It took awhile for him to screw up the courage to look at her. When he did, the air was knocked from his lungs.

Her eyes were filled with tears and fixed on him.

"Im sorry, Princess!"

She shook her head. "Whatever for? I am the one who ought to apologize, Link."

"No."

"Link."

Link rubbed the back of his neck, scrubbing at his hair.

"Link, I've made your life as difficult as I could. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I am sorry." Her voice rose unexpectedly and she looked away, wiping her face. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I've felt sorry since I did it, actually. You'd done nothing wrong."

"I'm sorry for always upsetting you, Princess." His voice was choked too.

They faced away from each other and sniffled.

"You didn't, Link. It's not your fault I'm upset."

With those words, a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Months of wondering where he'd gone wrong, and he finally had an answer. If she was taking out anger on him, that was easy to accept. He wish he could've understood that to begin with.

"Let's go to bed," Zelda said after a few minutes of sitting in silence, both trying not to cry, and not looking at each other.

Link nodded and stood. Out of habit, he held out his hand to help her up. It was how he'd been trained. She never let him help her, though.

As soon as he'd done it, his fingers flinched to pull away. Before he could, Zelda's soft, warm hand was in his. Electricity ran through him and he blushed.

She stood up but didn't let go, instead meeting his eyes, standing close, just a hair taller than him. Her gaze was gentle. "Friends?"

Link raised his brows. He wasn't through the shock of her hand in his or her face this close, so it was hard to process that she was speaking to him. "Of course, Princess." The words came out in a whisper.

She let go of his hand and clasped hers in front of her. "Zelda, then. Call me Zelda." She smiled shyly.

"Are you sure?" He was so nervous he was shaking. He prayed she didn't notice.

"Mm."

This time, the silence between them was even more awkward since they were standing so close. She should know by now that he was useless at conversation. Nothing would happen at this rate; he'd continue staring at his shoes until sunrise if she kept looking at him.

"Thank you again, Link." She stepped away, smiling at him brightly. "Let's get some sleep, alright?"

"Yes, Princess."

"Hm?"

He couldn't help but grin as he realized his mistake even as heat rushed to his face. "Okay, Zelda."

#legend of zelda #zelink #breath of the wild #botw #zelink angst #zelink fanfiction #loz fanfic #the legend of zelda #linkeatsrockswrites

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