After releasing hands, though not the promise, Link smiled at her and doing so brought a certain lightness and warmth to his heart. They made a promise, yes, and those meant a lot to him. But what really struck him was that she had offered. She had offered up space in her home for him, all because she could see through him, because she understood that they wanted what each other had.

They were opposites, but not true opposites, not really. They both clearly had a desire for something more - Link, to save Hyrule, and her, to live for herself and no one else. They wanted adventure, but so too stability. They wanted freedom, but structure. They wanted to live lives worth living, truly and completely. He wanted the choice to leave this lifestyle, the knightly duties and the responsibilities, and the fighting - all of it. She had made the choice to enter this lifestyle, but without all the pomp and circumstance, without the rules and regulations, without fear but with a heart full of hope...

He'd got to thinking then, truthfully and honestly, of fulfilling that promise. It was an enticing thought, that's why he'd made it in the first place. It wasn't just being able to live a normal life, it was the well-intentions behind it. She'd cared enough to offer. They were traveling partners yes, of course - but they weren't nearly as close as he thought they could be, not yet.

It was strange, no? It had to be, to offer up space in your home for someone who is still somewhat adjacent to a stranger.

Further, it wasn't just to be able to live a normal life, it was doing it with her. He trusted her. He... he cared about her, truly. He wouldn't be traveling with her if he didn't. He wouldn't have agreed to let her come with him if he didn't. He wouldn't be training her if he didn't. Something about her spoke deeply to him, cutting through the guards he had put up around his heart and his whole being.

To fulfill his end of the promise would be easy. He would grant her the adventure of a lifetime. He would make this all worth it for her. But to get to the point of his life where he might get to be there for her to fulfill her end, to allow him to live a normal life with her...

Link sighed, and would have been worried for her reaction if not for the fact that she was fast asleep. How long was he lost in his mind, ruminating in the deepest recesses of himself? He'd thought of a lot, and he could only hope he hadn't missed anything that she'd said, important or not.

Still, it seemed he wouldn't know until she woke up. He certainly didn't want to wake her, and really, why would he? There was no point. No, certainly not, not while it was still raining steadily.

But when the rain cleared, the last few drops falling to the grateful earth, the steady and soothing sound of rainfall slowing to nothing, he stretched his limbs out before him. He got to his feet and poked his head out beyond the edge of the mat, their makeshift roof, and gazed upwards. Above there were only clouds, catching what little moonlight there was left.

He ducked back beneath the canopy and sat back on his heels, wondering what to do now. He'd let the fire die out naturally, there was no point doing anything about it now. But what about her? She looked so comfy, lazed back against the rock, and she was so soundly asleep he didn't want to wake her, even now. But they had to get back to their camp, and they had to return to the journey at hand.

Deciding what he'd do, he whistled lowly, calling Epona to them. Dutifully, she trotted over, nickering happily. Link positioned himself by (Y/n), then slowly and carefully, so carefully, gathered her into his arms. He was shocked when she didn't even so much as stir as he took her into his arms, and rather, when he emerged from under their shelter and stood up, she seemed to cozy up against him.

She shifted but only once in the whole time he maneuvered her up onto Epona's back and he followed, and it was to set her cheek against his shoulder. He swallowed a little involuntarily, unsure of what else to do but hold her close and get them all back to camp safely.

So that's exactly what he did.

—

When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't sure exactly where I was. I could see rock overhead, and I recognized it as a shallow alcove built into the rock - yes, the rock of the canyon we'd been riding in on our journey to Kakariko. Oh, but wasn't I... weren't we...?

I sat up and was aware of something else - a blanket slipping off my torso and pooling in my lap. I looked down, seeing a woven blanket that I recognized Link using each night. I had my own, so why was I using this one...?

At any rate, I was warm, and the blanket was soft, and I'd had really good sleep. But where was Link? Oh, there he was. He was already up and working nearby, kneeling by a fire and tending to it. We were back in our camp. But I didn't remember coming here.

Link, noticing my movements, looked my way briefly. He did a double-take, grinning widely when our eyes met. "Good morning," he greeted happily.

"Good morning," I replied easily, stifling a yawn behind my hand before stretching them both far above my head. When a contented groan brushed past my lips, I relaxed.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I did," I answered. "But I don't remember getting back to camp." And then it came back to me: "Oh, the Shrine. How did it go?"

"About as well as I hoped it would," he answered, getting comfortable now that the fire was roaring. I sat at his side, rubbing my hands together and working to get rid of the early morning chill that settled into my bones now that I was out from under the blanket. "It was an easy set of puzzles, but a long one, so it took longer than I expected."

"Oh, Hylia," I said suddenly. "We'd been talking for so long and I didn't even... I'm sorry I didn't ask you right away, Link. You weren't hurt or anything were you?"

"No," he said with a light laugh. "Not at all. You've got nothing to apologize for!"

"But I-"

"Don't do that," Link said, shaking his head, meeting my eyes with a warm, reassuring look. Well, I couldn't very easily deny him, so I relented with a smile.

"So, when did I fall asleep?"

"I don't know exactly," Link said, turning back towards the fire. "I didn't even notice until about the time the rain stopped anyway."

"Well, did I sleepwalk back to camp?"

"No," Link said through a chuckle. "But that'd be cool, right? No, I carried you back." I didn't even have it in me to be embarrassed at the thought. Instead, I only smiled and thanked him earnestly, because it really was sweet of him to do. "It was nothing," he said rather sheepishly. "You'd do the same for me."

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "You think so? I would try, but I don't think I can carry you!"

Link looked pointedly at himself, then at my arms. "No, maybe not."

"Hey!"

Through my laughter, he could hear that my offense was fake, and through his own, I knew he hadn't meant it. When he sobered up, he looked at me with lightness in his eyes and a smile that surely came right from his heart. "I was happy to do it, really. I didn't want to wake you."

"I appreciate it," I told him honestly. "But next time, it's ok to prioritize yourself. You were exhausted too, right? You didn't have to carry me, really."

"I wanted to," he said, shaking his head. "You had a smile on your face - I figured you were having a good dream and I didn't want to interrupt it."

Well, that was interesting. A good dream...? Had I had one? If I had, I couldn't remember it, nor any details surrounding it. But despite that, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had. And I didn't need to ask him about the blanket, or making sure I was comfortable when at last we returned here, because it was obvious it was all his doing, too.

So, for now, I started on a simple breakfast for us, and as he tended to the horses I watched him carefully as I tended to the meal, wondering how I might return the favor.

—

When we passed by a traveling merchant, I hadn't expected to stop. But Link, clearly having an idea only a few paces after we passed him, promptly turned Epona around and with her easy temperament, she went willingly, but not without an indignant sort - her sassy personality shining through. I followed suit, my own charge much more vocal in her displeasure at being turned around.

Link called to the merchant, and he happily obliged, and when Link slid off Epona to browse the wares, I followed suit, wondering what he wanted - and reasoning that it was probably to ask what snacks the merchant had for sale.

"(Y/n)," Link said once I was at his side, watching as the merchant set his wares up across a large blanket and unpacking every last item from his bag. "We need provisions, don't we? You said something about yours going bad."

"Oh," I said, surprised. "Yeah, that's right. We do. I cleaned out my bags yesterday and we've gone through a lot of what I grabbed."

"Well," said the merchant, "if it's fresh goods you want, it's fresh goods I've got."

With a grand gesture of his arm, he directed our attention to one side of his array of goods. Link and I sidled over, and we gathered up what we wanted. When given the total, I made to pay, but Link was way, way ahead of me and had already dropped some Rupees into the merchant's hands and an assortment of small trinkets and treasures before I had even begun to drug around for payment of my own.

"Pleasure doing business with you," the merchant chimed, that trademark sly smile sitting on his lips. 

It was the look of all business people, those who could swindle someone right under their nose. Still, though I recognized the look, Link didn't seem to mind. No, he really didn't even seem to care. Maybe it was because he was so well off, but maybe... oh, that was why. I caught a look at what Link had given the merchant, and it was actually nothing. They were small trinkets, bits of useless nonsense left at the bottom of a chest he said he got from the Shrine.

I had to work hard to hide my smile. This merchant thought it was treasure, but they were just shiny bits of nothing. Fool's gold, one could say.

Well, I certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell him.

Link, catching onto the fact I caught on, sent a mischievous look my way and when the merchant looked away, Link winked at me.

"Say," Link went on to say as the merchant pocketed his payment, "you don't happen to have any leatherworks, do you?"

"Leatherworks?"

"Yes," Link answered. "Gloves, gauntlets, things like that."

"As a matter of fact," he said, "I do. In this pack here, I've got some of the highlands' finest leather goods here for you."

Link took in each product with painstaking detail, lifting up each item to look at them more closely. I watched as he did, wondering what he was even looking for, but I soon got my answer. Knelt before the merchant's blanket as we were, it was an easy thing for Link to shift to face me and take my arm into his hands.

"Link? What are you...?"

He didn't reply, only focusing on sliding a gauntlet over my arm. "How's that?"

"It's comfortable," I said. "A bit tight, though."

"Good," Link said. "Should feel that way. Now, if I fasten here..."

It was clear by now he was shopping not for himself but for me, and so I let him do as he wanted. We found a leather gauntlet that would work for me, and a pair of gloves specifically for archery. The smooth leather was stiff from a lack of use, but fit me perfectly and would be perfect.

Of course, that didn't mean Link let me pay, though.

No, once again he paid, and once again I was left to sit and watch as he offered up his own coin instead of letting me do it. And then, after expressing our gratitude and pocketing our items, we left and continued on towards Kakariko.

—

"Alright," Link said, adjusting his own glove, "let's review, shall we? Now that we've got you some protective gear, we can really get to work on your training."

"I'm excited," I said right away, because it was true. My heart was beating faster already, especially as he headed over to where he'd stowed all his weapons and retrieved a spear. Knowing already what to do, I jogged over to my own things where, leaning against the rocky wall beside my other belongings was a spear, the one he had allowed me to hold onto in case I got into any trouble.

Well, I hadn't found trouble yet, but it seemed as though Link was intent on bringing it to me. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he approached, and I wondered just what he had in mind or up his sleeves, but it seemed he wasn't intending on telling me. Still, there was a bright gleam in his eye and a proud smile on his face as we went through the drills together, spears in hand and our movements controlled.

It would take a while longer for this to all become little more than muscle memory for me, but my movements were accurate and precise at any rate. Link would state his praises simply as we went along, offering minimal guidance or corrections as we did. Most notably, it seemed only that I needed to work on keeping the spear as stable as possible. He'd tap the end of his spear to mine, reminding me to focus on it because he could see it wavering - and it was all the more noticeable when gusts of wind would blow through, of course.

After a while, it became clear he wanted to focus on my training a bit longer than usual, today.

But not long after that, it became increasingly and incredibly evident that he was not planning on traveling even a single step closer to Kakariko today, not with the way we set up a basic camp and we went through drill after drill, exercise after exercise for each weapon. We spent the longest amount of time with the spear, but then he went through strategies to use with a club, then a sword, all of his words sounding in a way to be rehearsed, as though he'd heard such talk before or had taught someone before.

I made a mental note to ask about it, but figured it wasn't terribly important right now. No, what was important right now was focusing on what I was doing.

It was life and death out here. I trusted Link to do all in his power to protect us, but I did not want to be helpless. So, I needed to pay attention. I needed to focus and learn and above all else, take his words to mind in the event that one day I might have to use that information to save my life.

Later on, we started working with longer-range weapons, much longer than even the spear. Yes, that's right: we started working with the bow again. He helped me attach a quiver to my belt, a good one he thought was pretty and would suit me. He then taught me how to hold and handle arrows. He taught me terminology, and etiquette, where to have my hands and how to have my hands along the bow which was all the more important as I got closer and closer to firing an arrow.

That led to now.

I reached into the quiver and grasped an arrow just in front of the feathery fletching and drew it upwards, nocking it against the string securely before lifting the bow slowly, with controlled movements. Only, as I did, a thought occurred to me, and I lowered the bow and turned to face my partner and now instructor, who was now looking at me with his confusion clear on his face.

"(Y/n)?"

"Link," I began unsurely, "you taught me all of this, but when I watch you fight, you never do it this way."

"Yes, well-" He cut himself off to clear his throat, as though to summon up his courage. To accentuate this point, he stood up a little straighter and tipped his chin upwards. "Do as I say, not as I do. All great instructors have to say that at least once in their careers."

One of my eyebrows arched upwards. "You sound like you've heard that once or twice or a thousand times."

"I have," he confirmed, smiling sheepishly. "I wasn't always the best student. I asked a lot of questions."

"So, someone did teach you to fight," I mused. "Who?"

"Uh," he began, only to shake his head. "Lots of people, over a long time. I just... It's not important right now. Anyway, what I tell you is important, so don't just copy what I do."

"Right," I said, unconvinced. "But if it's all so important, then why don't you do it? You do things that you tell me not to do for my safety."

"I've been doing this for a long time," he said, shrugging a little. "Sometimes I have to sacrifice form and protocol to get things done."

I could do nothing more than accept his answer for now, and raised the weapon once more after ensuring the arrow was nocked properly and my stance was correct. There was a target set up across the way, not terribly far but the wind here would impact my aim, surely.

I tried not to think about it too much, honestly.

Instead, I hooked the first joints of my index, middle, and ring finger around the string, my index just above the arrow and the other two below. Then I drew the arrow and took a deep, steadying breath in. I lined up the point of the arrow with the target as best I could, released that breath and at the same time, released the arrow.

It was obvious to anyone that I missed.

Link didn't let me be discouraged for long, and actually, I don't think he allowed me to feel as such for even a second before he was at my side. "That was good," he said, and to his credit, it sounded genuine. I met his gaze as I lowered the bow, releasing the string to relax my fingers for a moment as he gave his notes. "Your stance and form were great! But you have to relax your shoulders. All that unnecessary strain will use too much energy and affect your aim, too."

"Gotcha," I said, nodding as I took it in.

"You did well to lift the bow first and then draw," he said. "So, great job! Now, tell me: how did you aim?"

"I lined the end of the arrow with my target," I answered right away.

"Good, then," he said, his blue eyes intent and unwavering, and I fought to focus on his words instead of being the sole focus of his whole being right now. "This time, do it the same way. And if it's off, take note of where it lands. Chase your arrow, and focus. Remember exactly where you aimed last time, and adjust. I didn't want your first time shooting to be somewhere so windy, but it's all we got. So do your best, ok?"

"Alright," I breathed out, nodding surely. I turned away, getting into position, getting into stance, and then getting myself prepared to fire. I curled and uncurled my free hand, working the tension from them before decidedly grasping an arrow delicately and nocking it.

I lifted the bow, then drew it. I focused, aimed, and...

Missed again. And again. And again.

"Dammit," I cursed under my breath. I didn't let it deter me, though.

"You're thinking too much," he said. "Again."

Again, I thought. Honestly. Half the damn arrows are on the ground already. Does he expect me to suddenly get it now?

I berated myself internally for thinking such a way. A more rational part of my mind argued back: This is what you wanted. Focus and listen to him. Don't make him regret wanting to teach you - and don't let this opportunity go to waste.

So, with Link's steady gaze watching me closely, I made sure everything was as it should be as I prepared once more. This time, after I drew the bow, Link's eyes caught onto something. "Breathe," he told me quietly. His voice remained just as the edge of my focus, loud enough for me to hear it but not loud enough for it to shake my focus.

And so, I took heed of his words and breathed. I released the arrow when ready and hit the target, but not the bullseye where I had been aiming. Before I could get too excited, Link told me to fire again. I did, getting a bit closer. And then again, a bit closer. And then I overtook it, compensating too much for the wind. And then, finally...

"Oh, my god," I exclaimed, excitement finding its way into my heart. Before I could do anything other than lower the bow, Link had me in his arms, hefting me up with so little effort required I thought I might have just been weightless; and perhaps I was, for so much lightness had filled my heart that I felt it swell, almost enough to burst with pride and joy and excitement. I was so caught up in the moment it took me until he spoke for me to realize I'd dropped the bow.

"You did it! (Y/n), you did it!"

I couldn't help but laugh as he set me down, but didn't dare release the hug - actually, he squeezed me even tighter against him, pressing his cheek to my head and I could feel my heart burst with joy at being the reason he felt so joyful, so prideful, and just so damn excited.

"Link, I did it," I said happily, throwing my arms around him. Laughing proudly, he lifted me up again, his eyes closed with joy and the proudest of smiles on his face.

My smile grew, too, and I ducked my face towards his shoulder, enjoying the moment while it lasted.

"I can't believe it! You're a natural, (Y/n)!"

"That's not true," I said even as I laughed. He set me down, meeting my eyes surely and I shook my head, feeling the very tips of my pointed ears burn with embarrassment at the thought. "I missed how many times? I only got it because you taught me."

"Maybe I'm a better teacher than I thought," he considered playfully.

"Maybe," I said, pulling away from him.

He bent down, picking the bow up and holding it towards me. "We're just getting started," he said. "Come on, try again."

"On it," I said, taking the bow happily and only almost forgetting to ensure my stance was right before proceeding. Only about an hour or so later or perhaps more, Link called for me to stop, and I did.

"I think that settles it," Link said, looking over at the target absolutely riddled with arrow holes and frayed thread. "I think you were an archer in a past life, (Y/n)."

"I don't know about that," I said. "I think I just had a good teacher."

"Nah," he said, waving me off. "Well... I mean, yes, but I've never seen someone progress so quickly. Not like you have."

"I think it'll take a while for me to be that good in an actual battle," I admitted. I smiled sheepishly, handing the bow back only for him to refuse by shaking his head.

"You should hold onto it," he advised.

"Really? You trust me to...?"

"I do," he answered surely, smiling warmly. "I trust you to hold onto it and, should we find some trouble, use it."

"Wow," I breathed out without really thinking. "Really? I mean... thank you."

"It's nothing," he said. "Just part of us having the best adventure of a lifetime ever, right?"

"Right," I echoed, something strange taking hold of my heart.

"Now, then," he said, turning towards the horses who were watching us intently. Epona bobbed her head up and down as though to greet us or maybe just to remark on how long it took for us to notice her, while Sky pawed the ground rather huffily. "I think they're excited by your progress, too. They look like they're ready to run. More than that, actually - they look like they're raring to go. So? What do you say, (Y/n)?"

He didn't even need to hear my answer. He just chased after me as I ran towards them, knowing exactly what he had in mind.

—

The horses were, in fact, raring to go.

It seemed that as soon as we mounted up, the horses took off. And once we did that, riding in the direction in which we had come from earlier today, the horses took over. We allowed them to, because this was a narrow canyon and there were only so many places for them to go, so there was no harm letting them have their fun. We were in control, yes; but the horses got to lead themselves along, sometimes trotting and sometimes galloping, but always going at their desired paces and never straying too far from each other.

Eventually, Sky found a rocky path heading upwards, up and out of the canyon. Well, she began up it, and Epona followed, and I dutifully guided Sky along as we reached the top. Once at the top, we weren't there for long. There was a footpath heading back down rather immediately, arching down, down, down, all the way to the river below.

And so that's where we went.

When the narrow path gave way for a wider expanse, the horses fell into step alongside each other. When rock gave way for lush grass, the horses picked it up into a trot, and they continued this pace the rest of the way down. And when at last lush grass was replaced by the thin stretch of muddy riverbank, the horses turned, riding along the rushing river.

It seemed the happiness that had encapsulated Link and myself was shared with our charges. They seemed so excited by the prospect of running, of going quickly, that they didn't dare do anything but that. They began to run, excited neighs and triumphant whinnies escaping them often as they lost themselves, much as Link and I had, too.

Link and I seemed to come to the unspoken agreement that we were racing, and race we did. When he pointed to a far-off tree, one quite a ways along the bank, I nodded and kicked into Sky's sides, urging her to go faster. And perhaps much like a storm-cloud, the wind was on our side; Sky went faster, ever faster, overtaking Epona and Link and reaching the tree first.

As though she herself understood that we won, Sky threw her head back, nickering rather affectionately when I patted her neck and she started to slow down. Link and Epona did the same, but just as I turned to call something to Link, I realized I missed my chance because he'd slid off of Epona as soon as he was able to and now he was running, seemingly continuing the race on foot.

"Hey," I called after him, laughing all the while as I got off Sky, "that's not fair!"

Sure, it wasn't fair. But it was certainly fun.

I chased after him, knowing that I wouldn't catch him and I wouldn't win but I didn't care. How could I? Chasing after him like this, running freely, laughing into the air and seeing him turn to look back at me every few paces was trophy enough for me when at last, after leaping over a fallen log, he slowed to a stop. He allowed me to catch up, but I didn't stop there; I continued to run, and I heard him call for me as I continued on, looking over my shoulder at him as though to ask if he were coming.

Well, with a wide smile, he took off after me, and so the race continued on.

Into a forested area we went, ducking under branches and dashing through underbrush and leaping over roots on our pass through. His laughter echoed through the trees to me, and as I got caught up in a thick blanket of wildflowers and didn't want to crush any, Link made to overtake me, but not for long. He doubled back right away and took my wrist in his, and I leapt over the bed of flowers and joined him then.

Neither of us were chasing, neither of us were chased. We were not racing, not competing. We were only running, and running together on our way to somewhere. The path went upwards, but only slightly, and we soon came to the end of the path, in a break through the trees that now overlooked the river. The water rushed below us, running on and on - chasing and being chased, following and followed, competing evermore.

But not us. We were still now, save only for the effort it took for us to catch our breaths.

Link did not release my wrist.

I did not want him to.

I glanced at him then, a fine layer of sweat clinging to my skin and surely his too, if the way his bangs were slicked to his forehead were any indication of that. Link felt my gaze on his profile and met my gaze, prying them from the rushing river into my own steady gaze.

Honestly, how ridiculous.

We'd been training, and somehow that led to us racing on horseback and then running along a riverbank and now led us here, breathless and near-dizzy, heaving to catch our breaths but smiling all the while.

I wondered if life might always be this fun, if it was with him.

It would certainly always be this ridiculous, that was for sure.

"What?" Link asked. "Is there something on my face?"

I couldn't help but laugh, because there was. At some point during our race through the woods, a leaf had clung to his cheek. "Yes," I answered. With my free hand I began to reach for it, going slowly and looking into his eyes for any indication he didn't want me to. There was none, so I gently pulled the leaf from his skin and showed it to him. "See?"

"Oh," he said, taking it in hand. "Thanks!"

"No problem," I said, and I watched as he released the leaf, letting it flutter down to the water below. As he watched it go, I kept my focus on his profile and he clued into this once more.

"Ok, spill it. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Everything is so fun," I said genuinely, catching him by surprise. If he meant to hide it, it failed, because his eyes widened. "Especially with you."

At that, his ears seemed to burn, as did his cheeks, and I glanced away briefly to allow him to get himself together.

"Is adventuring always like this?"

"When you're not in danger," he began, "sure, sometimes. But no, not usually. This is..." When he trailed off, I looked his way once more, finding that his eyes were already intently focused on my own. The sudden attention nearly made me shy away, but I held firm. "This is the most fun I've had in a long, long time."

He smiled, and so did I.

It was clear his past held many secrets, many of which he might never share with me. But that was alright. To be the reason this troubled, burdened soul could smile...

I could certainly be content with that.