Night. Princess Zelda stands, wearing a flowing white dress, up to her waist in the water, her hands clasped in prayer.

“I come seeking help… regarding this power that has been handed down over time… Prayer will awaken my power to seal Calamity Ganon away… or so I’ve been told, all my life… and yet… Grandmother heard them-the voices from the spirit realm. And Mother said her own power would develop within me. But I don’t hear- or feel- anything! Father has told me time and time again. He always says, “Quit wasting your time playing at being a scholar!” Curse you! I’ve spent every day of my life dedicated to praying! I’ve pleaded to the spirits tied to the ancient gods, and still the holy powers have proven deaf to my devotion. Please, just tell me… what is it… what’s wrong with me?!”

I turned from my spot as guard, hearing Zelda’s wail, and plunge into the water, heedless of the biting chill lapping around my thighs and hips as I surge towards the crying girl.  Her body is cold and stiff as I pull her into my arms.

“There’s nothing wrong with you… Zel…”

 

I blush, remembering the first time I’d called the woman I love by the private name I’d wanted to call her.  I can still feel the shuddering gasp she’d let out as I enfolded her in my arms. I can still remember what it felt like, to hold her, shivering, before I lit a fire and helped her to dry her feet. She was so vulnerable at that moment, with the moonlight turning her golden hair silver… and she was as beautiful as a goddess…

 

Next, I make my way back towards Central Hyrule, heading for Sanidin Park, my feet flying over the dirt and rock as I fall into the soldier’s run, a long, steady pace that allows me to eat up miles without pause. I only halt when it’s too dark to see, or when hunger grips too tightly to be shaken off and ignored.  Finally, the Park ruins come into view, and I slow my pace, looking for the exact spot required to trigger a memory.

The world shifts a little and I twitch as another remembrance flows into my mind, clicking home like a puzzle piece.

 

Zelda and I are riding, side by side, in companionable silence. Leaning forward, Zelda gently pats the neck of Storm, her lips parting.

“Be sure to take the time to soothe your mount. That’s the only way it will truly know how you feel.”

She leans back to face me, a smile on her face. “Your advice was quite helpful-thank you. This little one and I are getting along quite well now.”

She gestures at Storm’s bridle and saddle. “At first, I wasn’t sure if I should outfit him with all of the royal gear. I thought maybe he should have to earn it first. But it works! He wears it like a true natural.”

She turns back to me and sticks her tongue out playfully. “I’m trying to be a bit more empathetic. Benefit of the doubt, you know?”

The setting sun limns the world in burning amber, as Zelda reins in a little, drawing right alongside me, reaching out. Her fingers tug gently on my ear, pulling me in… and she kisses me, gently, on the lips.

Upon reaching the rearing horse statue at the heart of Sanidin Park, the pair of us dismount, tying our bridles to the hitching posts. Zelda moves to look out over the low railings.

“See that mountain? That’s Mt. Lanayru… it takes its name from the Goddess of Wisdom.”

I nod. “Farore, Naryu, and Din, right?”

 Zelda nods. “You were paying attention, clever girl… Lanayru’s decree is very specific. It says, no-one is allowed, under the age of seventeen, for only the wise are permitted a place upon the mountain. I’ve prayed at the Spring of Courage and at the Spring of Power. Yet neither awoke anything inside me. But maybe up there… perhaps the Spring of Wisdom, the final of the three, will be the one…”

She looks out at the dusking light. “To be honest, I have no real reason to think that will be the case. But there’s always the chance that the next moment will change everything…. Tomorrow… is my seventeenth birthday… and thus I shall go, and make my way up the mountain…”

I step forward, reaching into my pocket, pulling something out and moving behind her. Slipping something around her neck, I clip it closed and step back as she whirls. “What?! What did… oh, you…”

She looks down, staring at the pendant I’d looped around her neck. A disk of burnished gold, with an emblem in the centre. A flower, shaped like a lily, but with blue petals and a darker stem. The very heart of the flower has a series of tiny sapphires embedded into it.

“Oh, Link… is this…?”

“Yes. A Silent Princess. I’ve been wanting to give you something special, and I thought, since those flowers are your favourites, I could make something based on them… I had it custom-made when I visited Gerudo Town a while back.”

She gasps, staring at it, before throwing her arms around me. I hug her tightly, murmuring, “Happy birthday, Zel…”

 

I gasp, turning red as I return to myself. Zel… kissed me? And I gave her a birthday present? That was… more intimate than I expected a memory to be. Shaking myself, I turn about, heading back towards Kakariko Village. Through the hills there, I’ll find the Lanayru Promenade, and my next destination. I don’t even need to check the Slate anymore, having memorized every single detail of each picture. I’m on the penultimate one…

 

Getting from Sanidin Park to Kakariko takes a few days, but my energy levels are surging, now that I’m so close to remembering everything I can.

The village is quiet as I pass through in the small hours of the morning, making my way up and through the woods on the mountain trail. By the time the sun is fully up, I stand at the West Gate of the Lanayru road. I can see Bokoblins clustered partway up the path. With Master Sword in hand, I cut my way through them, utterly fixated on achieving my goal. None of Ganon’s minions are going to slow me down!

After slaying half a dozen Bokoblins as well as a Moblin, I reach the other end of the Promenade, and almost faceplant as my eyes cross, another memory slamming home.

 

Midday. Zelda and I are heading back down the mountain, with four figures waiting for us at the gateway. A Rito, a Goron, a Gerudo, and a Zora. As we pass through the stone archway, they cluster around us, concern written across their faces.

The Goron, eyebrows furrowed in worry, rumbles, “Well? Don’t keep us in suspense. How’d everything go up there on the mountain?”

Zelda halts in her slow pace, and shakes her head.

The Rito, showing an unusual tenderness for him, steps forward, softly speaking in an oddly gentle tone. “So you didn’t feel anything? No power at all?”

Zelda’s hands clench in a cupped ball. “I’m sorry, no…”

The Gerudo woman takes charge. “Then let’s move on.” To Zelda, she says kindly, “You’ve done all you could. Feeling sorry for yourself won’t be of any help. After all, it’s not like your last shot was up there on Mt. Lanayru. Anything could finally spark the power to finally seal away Ganon. We just have to keep looking for that something.”

Zelda’s voice is a hushed murmur, as the Zora girl stands there, looking like she wants nothing more than to hug the Hylian princess.

“That’s kind of you. Thank you.”

Finally, the Zora speaks. “If I may,” she says, formality struggling to stay intact, “I thought you… Well, I’m not sure how to put this into words… I’m actually quite embarrassed to say it. But I was thinking about what I do when I’m using my healing. You know, what usually goes through my mind. It helps when I think… when I think about-”

The ground shakes, and a deep, ominous rumble tears through the quiet. As everyone struggles to maintain their balance, the Rito male crouches, wind swirling around him, before he rockets up into the air in a blur of feathers.

I call up, “What do you see, Revali?!”

 Beating his wings, the Rito Champion hangs there. Before he can answer, an almighty bellowing roar breaks, and my heart sinks. We were too late. As Revali lands, he speaks two words that confirm my worst suspicions.

“It’s here.”

Daruk, the massive Goron, rolls his shoulders. “This is it, then.”

Mipha, princess of the Zora, and a friend I’ve known since I was but a child, asks, worry emanating from her whole body, “Are you sure?”

Revali nods. “Positive.”

Zelda almost collapses, and I catch her, helping her stay on her feet. “It’s awake…” she murmurs.

“Ganon!”

Purple, red, and black mist rolls across the sky, thick clouds of doom, bolts of magenta lightning crashing downwards.

Daruk turns. “Let’s stop wasting time! We’re gonna need everything we’ve got to take that thing down! Now CHAMPIONS! TO YOUR DIVINE BEASTS! Show that swirling swine who’s boss!”

Nodding at me, he roars, “Link will need to be able to meet Ganon head-on when we attack! This needs to be a unified assault! Little guy! You get to Hyrule Castle!”

Revali clicks his tongue derisively, and I quirk an eyebrow at him. Is now really the best time for attitude, you asshole?!

 Daruk makes a massive fist. “You can count on us for support. But it’s up to you to pound Ganon into oblivion!”

Urbosa, chieftainess of the Gerudo, takes Zelda from me. “Come. We should go. We need to get you someplace safe.”

Zelda, the woman who’s been my best confidant, the woman who used to resent me, but began to open up, who encouraged me to open myself to her in kind… steps forward. “No! I am not a child anymore! I may not be much use on the battlefield… but there must… there must be something I can do to help!”

 

I start back to reality, soaked to the skin. While I was trapped in the latest memory, it’s been raining. Ducking back to a secluded spot on the Promenade’s road, I light a fire and sit there, shivering. I remember, so much… names, faces, the other Champions… I know them once again… Revali, Urbosa, Daruk… and Mipha. How could I have forgotten my dear friend? The Zora girl I’d spent much time with while training some of the Zora soldiery in land-combat techniques… Looking down at my Sheikah Slate, I bite my lip. Just one more memory… but I don’t feel as satisfied as I did. I get the distinct feeling… that I’m about to witness the hour of my first death, the death of the person I was, one hundred years ago…

Back across the land I go, making my way back to the Central Hyrule plains, the Eastern edge of the plains devoid of active Guardians, heading for the last memory’s location. One more day, and finally, there it is. I swallow, steeling myself for whatever I’m about to witness…

 

I run through the torrential rain, hand in hand with Zelda, the Master Sword glowing and bright, a cold firebrand in the darkness. Both of us are covered in mud and ash, the slick ground beneath my boots giving slightly with each footfall. Suddenly, Zelda’s hand slips from mine as she falls. I skid to a halt and sprint back to her, dropping to my knees before her as she pants, “How…How did it come to this? The Divine Beasts… The Guardians… they’ve all turned against us…”

Her voice breaks a little, and I sheathe the Master Sword across my back.

“It was… Calamity Ganon. It turned them all against us! And everyone- Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk… They’re all trapped inside those things!”

Zelda’s eyes well up with tears as she stares at me, horrified, before she cries, fully breaking down.

“It’s all my fault! Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost, all because I couldn’t harness this cursed power!”

As I pull the sobbing princess into my arms, she weeps, “Everything-everything I’ve done up until now… It was all for nothing… So I really am just a failure! All my friends… the entire kingdom… my father most of all… I tried, and I failed them all… I’ve left them… all… to die…”

The sounds coming from my distraught princess, my love, my only source of light in a world where I was born wrong, are heartwrenching. I want to cry, for her and for all the pain she’s going through, as well as my own. My father is gone. I saw him, rallying as many knights as he could, before a flash of light burned him away and he was gone. The soldiers I’d trained with for years, the people of Castle Town who weren’t quick enough or lucky enough to avoid the attack…

I want to cry but I can’t allow myself to. I must be strong, for her. The Master Sword is the only thing I have that can destroy the corrupted Guardians, and they won’t stay confined to the Castle, the town, or even Hyrule Field, for long. We don’t have time to grieve, not in this place… but I can’t be so cruel to another girl who’s lost everything. I hold her, allowing her to mourn. I must not fail her. I still haven’t told her how I feel. That kiss, the one she gave me on her birthday… I still feel it, and, no matter what, I WILL protect her… my Zel…