#domestic zelink

[dilfmansion]

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.

[uncleskyrule]

Words: 448 Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Rating: T Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Link/Zelda Characters: Zelda, Link, Urbosa (Zelink Child), Kass (Zelink Child) Additional Tags: Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Family Dynamics, Parent-Child Relationship, Family Bonding, Humor, Post-BoTW, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, the T rating is for Link's wiggly eyebrows, Slice of Life Summary: Link closed the hand-stitched storybook. “And they lived happily ever after.”

Linktober 2022 Day 4: Favorite character

[achiepy]

Breakfast 🥞

[dryya-doesnt]

Haven’t posted here in a while!!! Have some zelink during these trying times (finals) they’re SOOOOO cute URGH AUGUHH OUGRRGHHH

[chillasscactus]

“link and zelda live together and share a bed” this and “zelda kicked link out of his own house” that………..no one wants consider the possibility that link is a rat bastard landlord who rents his cottagecore loft studio airbnb to the princess of hyrule…

[spooksier]

always looking for her

[blueskittlesart]

zelink zelink zelink ze-

(for the suggestions)

gotta get all the domestic post-botw zelink out of my system before totk inevitably rips it away from me by force

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

While I am definitely a supporter of “they shared the bed” in the Hateno house

I just know for a fact it didn’t happen instantly… instead Link would take power naps whenever Zelda worked with the kids or in her study. He can go a long time without sleeping and is more than willing to sacrifice the bed so Zelda can actually get rest. She protests at first but admittedly does understand she just fought Ganon back for a century. She needs actual sleep.

Instead, it gradually became evident that the longer Zelda was back, the more and more the trauma from the Great Calamity and the fight with Ganon presented itself. It was a slow overtake of her mind, the exhaustion and shock from it all numbing her until she began to accept the reality that she was safe. Link was safe. Hyrule was saved.

And with her guard lowered, the fear, sadness, and anger came back in the forms of internal warfare. Her rest was disturbed by nightmares, her magic completely sapped from her being. She had nothing to defend herself from it.

Well… not nothing. She had Link.

And in these weeks of getting to know each other again, of finding the Link post-Shrine of Resurrection much more open with his emotions, she knows her faith in him has never faltered. And that is how she knows she is still safe.

And it takes time to come to that level of comfort and genuine vulnerability, more because of their own individual traumas than their relationship. And that’s when they realize everything is a little bit easier when they’re in each other’s arms. The nightmares become blissful sleep, fragments of dreams comforting them, but not as much as the serenity being so close with the other brings.

It was a tentative, shy question at first. “Will you come to bed with me?” “I just can’t seem to sleep very well and I know if I’m with you, I’m safe.”

And the answer was always going to be yes. It didn’t make sense not to. Link would do anything and everything to keep Zelda safe and happy, so peaceful sleep was definitely included.

And that’s how they found themselves healing together. And it was ridiculously easy to share a bed and just sleep. To rest. To know they were doing good work all over Hyrule and still finding the time to make a home for themselves. To be that home for each other. That peace.

[sunshouting]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda) Characters: Link (Legend of Zelda), Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Original Legend of Zelda Character(s) Additional Tags: zelink, Fluff, Love Confessions, classic literature, is that a good tag?, see i'm still so new, Angst, but not too much angst tbh, it's really just a sweet little scene, Domestic Fluff Summary:

Link was hugely indebted to Zelda. She’d explained everything that had happened to lead up to his awakening in a desolate Hyrule a hundred years after his own time, even though the memories were hurtful to her. If he disturbed this faithfulness of Zelda’s with a confession, he risked destroying it. What was more, a hundred years ago, he had made an oath to protect her with his life. He had failed once, and he wouldn’t chance hurting her again. The risk and the oath comprised Link’s duty, and he accepted it. But he did love her. He even took an odd little comfort in a fantasy that floated up sometimes in the course of his ruminations: one day, when he and Zelda had grown old, he would confess, when it had no chance of hurting either of them anymore. “Zelda,” he’d say, “did you know that, when I returned to Hateno that first time after the Calamity, I was in love with you? And I’ve never loved since, either.”

Based on Chapter 62 of David Copperfield.

[phoenixcatch7]

Lights burn long

Hey guys! I don’t normally do this but I wrote a little one shot to get me back into writing, and since it’s so short I thought I’d share it ^^. Little domestic hateno fluff piece.

The light of the setting sun often struggled to reach the house across the bridge, tucked at the foot of Heartbreak Pond as it was. Candles were lit a half hour early, an hour in winter. Link liked to find the more expensive scented ones, sold in little shops in the towns across Hyrule. They added a pleasant smell to the twining smoke as it filled the house, casting flickering glows on the clay walls, turning them the colour of the sunset the furniture never saw.

Zelda liked lighting them, a soothing task, and she did them that night as Link gathered the dishes from a late meal, the clink of the cutlery in time with the soft snap whumph of wicks.

He piled them in the sink, jiggling the flame blade they used to heat their water until it glimmered a hot amber. Taking a handful of lye shavings from the pot behind the tub, he sprinkled it evenly into the water and stirred it slowly with a cloth, watching as suds began to trail behind his hand.

The creaking of floorboards took Zelda upstairs, lighting the last two on the desk and at their bedside, to extinguish last as they went to sleep once the moon peaked over the mountains.

As the house filled with light, Link pulled out the first plate, running the cloth over it in slow circles. The hot soapy water warmed his fingers, turning them pink.

Zelda returned, hiding a small yawn in her hand. She leant against Link for a brief moment, her hair swaying into his cheek until she rocked back.

“Sleepy?” he asked, tilting his head to see her squeeze her eyes shut. She hummed, soft and long. “See, that's what happens when you stay up late in your research, you're tired the next day. Get an early night tonight.”

In lieu of a response, she leaned into the counter, swatting at him like a idle cat until he stepped aside, keeping his hands in the sink. Throwing open the cupboard underneath with a creak, she patted around until a towel appeared, white and blue dotted and a present from Paige down at the dye shop as an unexpected house-warming gift.

“Let's get this done first,” she said. “I'd love to get to sleep without having to smell old food.”

“You sleep whether I track bokoblin guts into the house,” Link informed her, and got swatted with the towel for his troubles.

“Unlike a certain someone I could mention, I didn't get enough sleep for a century, so I like it when I get to do it without troubles,” Zelda said primly, taking the spoon he handed her and scrubbing it dry.

“That's not at all what you said last night.” This time, the towel was slightly wet, and left his ear faintly damp.

“Well you should know better than to pry me from my research, Link, really.”

“Mhm,” he agreed without sincerity, swirling his rag in the steaming water to fish out any last cutlery, and realising all the forks had sunk to the bottom. For a long moment, the home was filled with the swish of water and the clink of metal as they cleaned. The sharp smell of the lye stirred about their heads and mixed with the beechwood of the candles as the wax started to melt.

Through the windows, the last rays of sunlight started to fade, smothered by the clouds as temperatures began to drop outside. Inside, the flame blade rippled and sparked in its metal shelf, warming the house from within.

Zelda was yawning hard as she dried the last piece, hard enough that she paused her wiping to screw her face up with the size of it, tears springing to the corners of her eyes. Link took it and the towel from her, stepping into her space to put it on the rack.

“Get to bed,” he chided softly. “You had a long day.”

“Yesterday,” Zelda complained, but conceded, surrendering to his gentle chivvying and heading up the stairs. The top of her blonde head moved around over the railing as he finished the nightly preparations, getting undressed and untying her hair for sleep. He heard the gentle woosh of the candle on the desk being blown out, and then the rustle of her kicking her way under the covers.

He gathered the papers strewn over the table, a couple on the floor, shuffled them into a pile for Zelda to exclaim over his ruining her sorting in the morning, folded the blanket and hung it over the armchair back, kicked the leaves that had wandered in towards the door.

He had a few hours until he was tired, still used to being up all hours of the day and night, and so ran a finger over the well worn shelf in the side table they'd filled with books until he found an omnibus of birds and insects, and settled in the chair as he pleased, kicking both legs over one arm and leaning into the crook of the other.

The candles burned long and sweet, the sky outside fading from purple to a rich blue, and as the moon peeked its round head over the spring of wisdom Link found his head beginning to bob on his neck, the owls on the page beginning to flutter their wings and fly from the paper, singing their distant songs in his listening ears.

He closed the book, leaning over to slide it back on the shelf, and slid to his feet with a delicious, languid stretch. Each candle on his slow circuit of the house blew out one by one, the deadbolt on the door slid into place, the flame blade checked to confirm its dimming to a cool grey. Each step on the stairs felt like hiking a snow covered mountain, and he rested his hand on the railing as he climbed up, hiding his own yawns.

Zelda was already long asleep when he reached her, hair a golden halo in the last glowing candle, face lax in dreams.

Link shucked his clothes one by one, pulling on his worn lobster shirt and a pair of shorts. He sat on the edge of the bed as he undid his hair, running his fingers through until it fell loose again, and tied it back in a simple ponytail to keep it out of their mouths during the night.

He climbed into bed beside her, tugging the duvet free and slipping under. With a silent breath, the last candle cast the house across the bridge into deep darkness, and Link was asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

[linkvcr]

god i love drawing characters in casual clothes characters in casual clothes my best friend

[achiepy]

Free Day - @zelinkcommunity

[cooking-with-hailstones]

HOLY CRAP I wrote something! For a prompt that was posted in August! But @zeldaelmo did say there was no deadline so, yanno, I made it eventually. Thank you for the prompt, Zelmo! This was super fun to do.

Anyways, please enjoy some domestic Zelink post BOTW fluff.

Memories After Midnight

Read it here or on ao3! (Gen, domestic fluff in Hateno, established relationship)

A storm was raging fiercely overhead, thunder and lightning echoing through the hills. Link had repeatedly assured Zelda that Hateno was used to such storms, that the warm summers on the coast often brought whipping winds and lashing rain. But even now, months after the Calamity’s defeat, the roar of thunder still gave her shivers. 

Link had built up a small fire, and was busying himself making a pot of warm safflina tea while Zelda curled up on the floor cushions by the fireplace. He hummed to himself as he sprinkled a pinch of a Gerudo spice mix into the tea. Zelda smiled. He never used to sing, in the before times. Link had such a lovely voice; it was such a precious gift to be able to hear it every day. 

She sat up as he walked over to her, two steaming mugs in hand. “Thank you, my love.” She smiled as he handed her a hand-made mug glazed with a deep blue lacquer. He had acquired a stunning variety of new skills in the time since waking up in the Shrine of Resurrection two years ago - throwing pottery, woodworking, sewing, among others. Every month it seemed she discovered something else that he’d made for the house they shared.

He sat down next to her, crossing his legs and draping an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into this familiar gesture of comfort. One of the many luxuries she was now content to freely indulge in. 

“I never used to be scared of thunderstorms. But every clap of thunder just sounds too much like the roar of the Calamity...” A shiver ran down her spine, and Link pulled her in closer, tucking her more deeply into her blanket cocoon. 

“You know, I often wonder if this is how Lion must have felt,” she mused. 

“Lion?” Link’s brow furrowed. “Do you mean a lynel?”

“No, Lion. He was... your dog. Your family’s dog. Before...” 

Link froze. “Oh.”

Zelda silently cursed herself. This was not the first time she had done this, accidentally stumbled over a painful reminder that everything from Link’s life before had been ripped away—the only exceptions being the scant few memories she had been able to leave with the Sheikah slate. They had both lost everything, but at least she still had memories of life before. Every time she’d done this before, they had both immediately dropped the line of conversation. But tonight, something shifted. 

His voice was small, and so soft she could barely hear it over the lashing rain. “Can you tell me more about him?”

Her heart ached, but she blinked back her tears and swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “Of course. You told me about him on a night like this one, while we were camping out during a sudden downburst. He was golden brown and very friendly and absolutely terrified of thunderstorms. When you were a little boy, he would come running to you and curl up under your bed every time a storm rolled through.”

“Okay,” he said, his voice somehow even smaller than before. “Was there... Do you know anything else?”

“Link, we don’t have to talk about this if you don’t–”

He cut her off. “I want to.” Her mouth snapped shut. 

“...Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I... I don’t know a lot about Lion. You only mentioned him a few times, but you would often come back from a visit home absolutely covered in dog hair. I remember Captain Rusl reprimanding you about it once. That was before we were friends.” She remembered laughing about it with her maids, mocking one of his few moments of carelessness. She regretted that, now.

“Hmm,.” he muttered, his eyes closed, safflina tea long forgotten on the table beside him. 

“You told me he was big and friendly, and he would play with the children in your village.”

“Where was my village?” he whispered.

Zelda froze, steeling herself for what must come. “Deya.”

He nodded. “I... I had a feeling that might be it. There was something about it that hurt more than the other ruins.”

“Link, I’m so sorry...”

He slumped down to the floor, head falling into her lap as he stared into the fire. “Tell me about my family?”

She paused, stroking his hair and trying to dig up those little details that slipped out on long days in the saddle. 

“Well... Your mother was named Gineve. She was a wonderful cook, used to make a freshwater fish fillet that you complained you could never get quite right when you tried to make it yourself. I think she learned it from the Zora, but put her own twist on it. You fed me several of your attempts at recreating it while we were on the road. I never got a chance to see your house, but you told me it was small. The other guards told me that when you got your own quarters after becoming my knight attendant, you were uncomfortable with the amount of space you had all to yourself. You shared a room with your parents and your little sister, Malia. She had just turned 10, before...”

She paused. Before the Calamity. Link had been frustrated that he wasn’t granted leave to go home for her birthday, but given its proximity to Zelda’s 17th birthday and the looming threat of the Calamity, the generals had determined that it would be “an inappropriate breach of responsibilities” for him to take leave at that time. 

She couldn’t tell him that. Already she could hear him softly weeping.

“Do you want me to keep going?” she murmured, resting her hand on his shoulder.

A slight nod.

“Okay.” She took another deep breath, dredging up every possible detail she could. “Your father, Tonu, was a knight in my father’s service. Competent, but not high ranking. He was so proud when you drew the sword. I think he didn’t realize how much pressure he put you under, but he loved you so much and wanted only the best for you. I do know that he was particularly impressed with the pay raise you got when you entered my personal service.”

That got a laugh, though one that was admittedly quite damp.

“Every time you travelled, you would bring back something for Malia. I only met her once, at the ceremony for the champions we had at the palace. She was a squirmy little one, hair just like yours, but a little bit curlier. I had thought that she was going to try and run up to you in the middle of the ceremony. She wouldn’t stop fidgeting in her seat, I think it drove your mother to near distraction.”

Zelda smiled to herself as she recalled the story. She remembered Malia quite well, having been fixated on this fidgety blonde girl, half hoping she would disrupt the entire melancholy affair. She herself had done her best to disappear as soon as the ceremony was over, only rejoining the champions in the courtyard much later. 

She shook herself out of that reverie. This was for Link, not her own musings. 

“Whether it was Goron City or Gerudo Town, you always had something for her. A pressed flower, an interesting rock, a little toy from Rito Village. You always made sure to send something home, wherever we were.”

“I think...” Link started, pausing to take a few shuddering breaths. “I think I remember that. Being at the Rito general store, seeing a colourful little pinwheel, and thinking ‘this would be perfect for her.’ I couldn’t remember who ‘she’ was.”

“That must have been it.” Zelda said. “I remember you trying to figure out how to package it so it wouldn’t get squished in the post.”

Link was still gazing into the fire, but even from this angle, Zelda could tell his eyes had the glassy stare of a memory washing over him.

“My father died,” he said simply. “Before... before it all happened.”

“Yes,” she whispered. 

“...Yiga?” he asked, waiting for her confirmation. 

“Yes,” she said, shivering. “It was the closest attempt they made on us after the desert. It happened while we were on our way to the Spring of Courage. Your father was in the scouting party that discovered their ambush...” she trailed off. Link looked glassy again.

“Funeral,” he murmured. “You held my hand, covered it with your sleeve so people wouldn’t see.”

Zelda almost laughed. She had been so afraid that someone might see them, but Link had looked so wretched. He needed some comfort, even if back then he couldn’t possibly have admitted it. 

That was only three months before the Calamity struck. How small any other fears seemed in retrospect. 

She reached down, lacing her fingers in between his own. “I’ll keep holding on to you.”

He brought their clasped hands up to his lips, pressing the softest kiss onto her knuckles. “Thanks, Zel.”

She didn’t sleep that night. Link was always exhausted after any memory overtook him, and he had nodded off in her lap not long after their conversation. She had gently lifted him out of her lap, shrugging off the blanket that had been around her shoulders and draping it over him. 

She carefully started rummaging around in her desk, looking for... there it was! The sketch paper she had bought for making field notes and drawings. She knew she couldn’t rest until she finished this. He lost his memories in service to her. It was the least she could do to hold on to everything she could, to give back everything she still had.

Her hands trembled as she sketched under the weak candle light of the dining room table and occasional flashes of lightning. She was far more used to drawing interesting insects, curious mushrooms, and technical diagrams. This was a true test of her skills, and she cursed under her breath every time her charcoal went awry. She sketched and sketched, until her eyes blurred and the candle burned all the way down.

...........................

Link woke early the next morning, the sun just starting to peek through the shuttered windows. He stretched, turning to see Zelda slumped over, asleep on the dining room table. He smiled to himself. It was hardly the first time she had fallen asleep while going over field notes, or working on some project or other. He walked over to the kitchen to start boiling the kettle. She always appreciated some electric safflina tea to get her going after a long night of work. 

He came back over to the dining room table, wondering what work she could possibly have been doing last night during the thunderstorm. She had a small pile of crumpled papers around her, evidence of what was undoubtedly a frustrating project. He leaned over to see what she had been working on.

He froze. There, outlined in rough charcoal, slightly smudged from where her face was resting on the page, was a sketch. A man in the uniform of the royal guard, sporting a mustache that couldn’t conceal a mischievous smile and a twinkle in his eye. A serious looking woman, strong from years of farm work, holding a little girl on her hip. The girl had curly hair valiantly held back by a couple of ribbons. She was holding a pinwheel in one hand, the other wrapped around her mother’s shoulders. And at their feet, a big dog with shaggy, mottled fur. 

Link sniffled and wiped his eyes, suddenly aware that he was crying. Zelda, always a light sleeper since the Calamity’s defeat, startled awake at the sound.

“Link!” she yelped. “What time is it? Are you okay? What..?” She blinked the sleep from her eyes, focusing on what was in front of her. “Oh Link, I... I’m sorry, it’s not very good, I just -” 

He cut her off with a kiss, and she melted into him. 

“Zelda,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

She looked at him, green eyes full of grief and love that he knew all too well. 

“The least I can do is try to give them back to you.”

Thank you @ladyhoneydee and @alucanid for betaing. Genuinely the fact that y'all jumped into this story for me after not having written anything for MONTHS means so much :') Also, if you love one shots, Dee is currently doing a month-long daily fic challenge and it's DELIGHTFUL.

[fioreofthemarch]

Finding Her - Chapter 8

Link makes notes, takes photos and keeps time on his quest across Hyrule, in the hopes of finding Zelda and staying sane until he does. [ Previous | Next | First | AO3 ]

A photograph of Blachery Plain in Necluda; the ground undulates gently between small knolls and shallow ponds. Ruined walls dot the landscape, and now among them are chunks of sky islands that have fallen to the surface. Between the ruins, wildflowers grow. 

A photograph of Fort Hateno and the aftermath of a fierce battle. In the foreground is a motley crew of Hylians and a single Goron, lead by their Captain, Hoz, who carries a hand sewn Hyrulean banner. They stand with fists raised, victorious. 

A photograph of Hateno Village from a distance, the lights from its houses twinkling in the dusk. Wafting lazily across the horizon is a dragon, Naydra, a tail of silvery blue light following in its wake.  

A photograph of a lone house in Hateno, in the old pre-Calamity style. It has a single chimney and a rendered brick exterior. Beside the house is a small garden with a large oak tree and a pond that glints in the moonlight. There are frogs in the water, strategically located beneath a concert of fireflies that have gathered at the pond.  

Caption: Haven’t felt like writing. But Hyrule is still beautiful, so had to snap a few photos. 

---

Log date: 20:30 6th month, 19th day, 104AC Location: Hateno Village Weather: Mild, clear skies. 

Well Zelda, I’m here. Our house is just how we left it.  

Did we ever call it ours? It was always just ‘the house’. I’m going to stop by the house. We’re out of Hylian Rice at the house. Did you close the shutters at the house? It gets hot during the day. 

I guess I’d always assumed that, after the Calamity, you’d go back to Castle. But you said you’d prefer somewhere with people, so we came here, and I offered to sleep on a mattress while you took the bed on the loft. That didn’t last long, did it? Two teenagers, with no responsibilities or parental oversight, spending all day together and sharing a candle-lit dinner every night? I think I woke up in your arms before the summer was over. 

Not that I’m complaining. We made our own little world here and fell in love in the quiet comfort of home. I’ll never be able to praise Hylia enough. Now that it’s been a couple years I was thinking of adding a few extra rooms. Enough space to live comfortably, for a library or a world-class pantry or… or a nursery. I never told you any of that. Why did I never tell you any of that? 

Silver linings. The house is safe, just like the rest of Hateno. I know you’ll be glad to hear that, wherever you are. 

A photograph of the pantry underneath the stairs. It is mostly empty except for a few jars of staple goods like wheat and rice, some limp looking vegetables and an empty bottle of milk. There is an old loaf of bread, tough as rock salt, and a half-eaten nutcake, blooming unpleasantly with mold. 

Caption: Need to get provisions for the house. 

---

Log date: 12:00. 6th month, 20th day, 104AC Location: Hateno Village Weather: Humid. Summer showers later in the day. 

Busy morning. My gut tells me something is brewing in Hateno, otherwise I’d be back on my horse and riding out of here by now. Started by nosing around the new well next to the house. Definitely didn’t read Zelda’s diary and definitely don’t have some new gear that she made to hunt down in Hyrule Castle. But if I did, I would be very grateful, just so that anyone reading this knows, and am sorely missing a certain someone’s expert tailoring. Because I do miss it, quite a bit. 

Anyway. Bought carrots and goat butter from the general store. Traded some nuts for milk with Dantz up on the hill. Making creamy vegetable soup for dinner. 

Popped in on Robbie at the Tech Lab. He asked if Josha managed to reach me with the Message Medallion and laughed at my shock. He said he wasn’t mad, more proud she’d been brave enough to try. To show he meant it, he added a sensor to the Purah Pad and gave me a Travel Medallion, which he swore to Kakariko and back was 100% reliable. We’ll see. 

From there wandered back down the hill. Stopped by the school. Symin looked harangued. Half a dozen kids in his care and no second teacher to help wrangle them. I promised him I’d come back tomorrow and take a class if he wanted. He said he’d just be happy to have a moment to sit down. 

Saw Mayor Reede tending his field. Tending is the wrong word. Attacking, more like. Taking to it with a farm hoe with so much vigour the dirt was flying five feet into the air. His wife Clavia saw me passing by and pulled me aside to ask if I had a moment, but seeing my arms full of groceries she said she’d find me later. Next ran into Medda by his new Hylian Tomato crops. He asked if I still wanted a garden put in at the house and I told him I’d have to check with Zelda first. Eugh. So used to saying that, in the past when her being away meant she was down at the shops or working late at the Tech Lab, or on a research trip and home soon. Medda just sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. Real sorry, we’re all real sorry, he said. 

Next dropped into Sayge to get the paraglider serviced. He said to come back in a day, and asked if I had any photographs of wild animals he could use for new designs. I showed him a photo of a cucco I took in Kakariko Village and he said ‘Everyone knows what chickens look like’. Gotta dig through the dozens of photos I have on this thing now. Gotta be something good on here. 

Finally, to Cece’s, for a new Hylian hood — except she’s not open for business at the moment. Something about a new collection of hers. Can’t say I’m holding my breath. Not really a mushroom fan. I’ve eaten too many on the road that turned out to not be mushrooms and to actually be poisonous fungi. But I suppose that’s not the mushrooms' fault, and her designs seem really popular now, especially after Zelda took a liking to them. She had this pretty mushroom dress she used to wear around town, wonder if it’s still here…  

Back at the house now, making the soup. I’ve laid out dinnerware for two, lit a candle, and said a prayer to the Goddess, which used to be done just before we ate, one hand in Zelda’s as she sat across from me at the table. Old habits, I guess. 

Overall, nothing seems amiss in Hateno, just yet. Will stay one more day. 

A photograph of the cauldron outside of Link and Zelda’s house. A carrot, mushroom and wild greens soup bubbles gently. It’s at least enough to feed four, or more. 

Caption: Maybe Medda will accept soup and an I.O.U for the garden. 

---

Log date: 16:00. 6th month, 21st day 104AC Location: Hateno Village Weather: Warm, partly cloudy.  

Nevermind, something is indeed amiss in Hateno. Should know to trust my gut. 

It happened in a flurry. I was back at Cece’s to bargain for a hood (really need some new, clean clothes) when Reede barged in. Stamping his foot and red as a pepper, demanding she take down the mushroom lamps, and she, unphased, called him an out of touch old fool holding Hateno back from true prosperity. Your mushroom decor is ugly! Your vegetables are boring! Pointed fingers and lots of shouting. The tension in the room was so thick I was prepared to Ascend through the roof to get out of there. 

It all came to a head when Cece proposed an election to decide the fate of Hateno. Now every other resident is asking who I’m voting for, Clavia suspects her husband is up to something, and Cece’s sister Sophie claims she has a dark secret. Plus Reede and Cece both want my help with their campaigns — Cece gave me a stack of mushrooms to hand out (like… bribes?) and Reede is trying to hunt down an old family recipe (unsure how that will help him).

It would be so easy to teleport to a shrine on the other side of the Kingdom. Or build a Zonai glider and soar away. Or throw myself into the nearest Chasm. Politics was Zelda’s expertise. And every moment I’m here is another moment I could be out looking for her. 

But. I’m still here. Hateno might not be covered in Gloom or under threat from some monster but… this is my home, and these are my people. Zelda’s too, aren’t they? It’s something we haven’t had since the Calamity. And now they’ve asked for my help. I’ve never said no to that before. It would be wrong, to start here, to start now. 

Whoever we choose as the new mayor, I hope we choose soon. 

A photograph of two large racks inside a Hateno-style house belonging to the dairy farmers Dantz and Koyin. On the shelves are wheels of cheese - a novel invention once thought lost to Hyrule. Koyin poses happily in front of her creations, blushing as her photo is taken. 

Caption: Forgot to mention. It’s cheese! Cheese! They make it out of milk! It’s gooey and rich and perfect. I bought as much as I could carry. 

---

Log date: 21:00. 6th month, 23rd day 104AC.  Location: Hateno Village Weather: Cool and clear. 

Well, sometimes the trouble sorts itself out. 

Cece’s big secret is that she likes Reede’s vegetables, and Reede’s big secret is that he likes Cece’s designs. Who would have thought. After another argument between them on Election Day, Sophie and Clavia banded together to help them see that they could just work together, and all agreed. Reede is still mayor, but Cece’s designs remain the new life blood of the town. My role in the end was to be just nosey enough to uncover all that needed uncovering, and to cook a great meal in the process. It’s Hylian Tomato Pizza all around while the town celebrates the end of the election. I managed to get a new Hylian hood from Cece, plus a hat she made that in all honesty reminds me of some of the poison fungi I once ate… 

First light tomorrow I’ll saddle up Spot and we’ll head back on the road. Earlier today I saw Naydra heading north, towards Lanayru. Was standing just outside the school when she passed overhead (I made good on my promise to help Symin out for an afternoon). One of Zelda’s students, Aster, took my hand and pointed towards the sky. ‘You see it too, don’t you Mr. Link?’ I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know anyone else could see the dragons. I just nodded and told her I was thinking of heading the same way. Lanayru is nearby, and from my map looks to be having trouble with its water. I could be there in a day. 

I’ve since checked my notes and it looks like the next geoglyph (and next clue to Zelda’s whereabouts) is actually in the Gerudo Highlands. It doesn’t change my plans. I’ll get there, in time. I want to help the people of Hyrule in the here and now, rather than chase memories of the past. I know given the choice Zelda would want me to put their safety ahead of hers, as hard as that is to accept. I have to believe that doing so will lead me to her, or otherwise go mad with worry. 

And if she really is different now? If her journey to the present changed her? I guess… we can try coming here. We can have dinner. Light a candle, say a prayer, share a meal. It’s where we started after all. I’d do it all again if it meant just one more day, with her, here in our home. 

A photograph of the school in Hateno. The children play out the front of the modern, colourful building, while Symin supervises. He wears a large sun-hat and carries a whistle. Naydra flies high overhead, heading north, and much, much higher above is a golden dragon, heading south. 

Caption: Didn’t notice the Light Dragon there too. One is an omen, two is a sign. Off to Lanayru it is.  

[dannydevitosthiccdog]

There's pictures in Link and Zeldas house. Zelda... FRAMED A PICTURE OF MAGDA!

like... I understand her horse and the Dondons...

But fucking Magda?! Flowerblight?!