A Discussion of Needs

~oOo~

"Oh, look, Link! There's some bird eggs just there," Zelda began, reining in her new – yet surprisingly familiar – white stallion, to indicate a bird's nest almost hidden beneath tall grass against a large stone. "Did you wish to stop and gather them for your stores?"

Link, whose gaze had been glued to her as often as it possibly could be since she'd been freed, smiled a little and reined Epona in, as well, but much to Zelda's surprise, he didn't immediately vault out of the saddle to gather the indicated eggs.

Instead, he came to her side and patted her stallion's neck before reaching up to assist her down. Curious, (and happy to take a break from the saddle) because this was rather odd behavior, Zelda blinked at her Hero, her head tilting sideways in confusion.

He left the two horses where they were to lead the princess towards the nest, and the rock they were tucked against. He assisted her to sit, then crouched down next to her. He smiled at her in that slow, soft, boyish way of his, before reaching over and deftly palming the eggs. In the blink of an eye, he had them stowed away in that seemingly endless pack of his, and Zelda wondered (not for the first time) where he'd found such a thing, because she could sure use one for herself.

"You should never take more than you need."

He'd said it quietly, which was how he said most things, really, though he was much more verbose than he had once been. Still, he didn't speak just to listen to himself talk, he always had a reason.

But now Zelda was completely confused, because his actions and words seemed at odds, and that really was surprising from Link.

"Well, then why did you go ahead and take those? I mean, you have quite a few eggs already. Some of those are bound to simply spoil – even with your appetite!"

Link just continued watching her with that easy, dare she say fond smile for another few seconds. He didn't seem to be too concerned with her accusation of gluttony, she noted with affectionate resignation and a shake of her head.

And then she stopped, enchanted, as he threw his head back and laughed.

It was, as she'd already stated, a rare sound that came from him, no matter what else it was. But laughter? Free, easy laughter, and he wasn't even trying to stop or hide it.

It was beautiful. He was beautiful.

"Well," he returned, "I guess I could have done that a little differently, but you're right. We don't need them. However, I tend to grab extra of certain things I find when I can, because there's always someone, somewhere that does need it, and for some reason or other can't get it for themselves. There are always hungry mouths to feed if you look."

And then it was Zelda's turn to laugh, the sound knowing. "Yes, and yours foremost, correct?" she taunted, playfully poking once more at his well-known gluttony. Her grin widened gleefully when Link's cheeks actually pinkened just a bit.

"You were saying?" she prompted after a moment, with a now innocent-seeming smile and wide, doe eyes.

He nodded, though his cheeks were still stained pink. "Um, well, there's a man down at Gerudo Stable that really enjoys the effects of rushrooms. He's older, and I guess having enough energy to do tasks now is much harder, which kind of throws out him being able to obtain them, considering their growth patterns."

Yes, Zelda could see the lack of energy as being a problem for someone who needed rushrooms to have any... because they pretty much liked to grow out of cliffsides. (Especially high, steep ones.) Her heart fluttered. Here was her Hero, stepping up to take care of Hyrule and its peoples without once actually being ordered - or even asked - in the same way she would. Despite everything else he had also been doing, that he'd taken what little time he'd had between tasks and responsibilities to help those who'd needed it, just proved the wisdom in Hylia's choice all those ages ago.

She tuned back in to hear him continuing his explanation.

"-also an old-timer out Serenne Stable way that really likes spicy curry, but only rarely gets a chance to have any because of the difficulty of obtaining the main ingredient – Goron Spice. Since I pass in and out of Goron City a lot, I always grab him a bottle or two. He'll trade me rice for it, so I don't lose out, either," he shrugged. "And then there's Outskirt Stable. There's not much out there, so they can always use whatever supplies anyone's willing to donate."

"Somehow," Zelda replied, studying her knight levelly for a moment as he tugged her gently to her feet so as to head back to the horses, "none of that surprises me. Look at all the little things you used to do for me when we were traveling back and forth between the Springs and Hyrule Castle. Always giving me the choicest cuts of whatever you'd hunted, even going out of your way to gather up bright-eyed crab and sauteing it with goat butter, salt, and Hyrule Herb, because I love it so. You took note of the routes I liked best to take when traveling, and made sure you cleared any monsters beforehand, so we could. For the goddess' sake, you would even visit the castle's librarian before we stepped foot outside its grounds to requisition extra notebooks for me so I wouldn't run out while away. Did you think I hadn't noticed?" she asked directly at the surprised – and embarrassed – expression on his face.

"I-"

"You did, didn't you?"

Link didn't even try to reply, he just continued to look at her. But finally, unable to meet her gaze any longer, he rubbed the back of his neck and flushed hotly with chagrin. Completely deflated by now, he admitted, "I had hoped... that you hadn't. I thought you might think I was trying to... I don't know... buy your approval, I guess, if you had noticed? I didn't want that at all, so I tried to keep you from noticing."

"What?" she stared at him, dumbfounded.

Now that, she hadn't expected.

Hmm... "You thought I would believe you to be nothing more than another court toady attempting to curry favor," she nodded to herself while remounting her horse. Features going guilty at reminder of her inexcusable behavior towards him in the beginning, Zelda once more felt the horrid, gnawing regrets she'd lived with for over one hundred years because of it. She deliberately kept her now-shadowed gaze away from Link's as the memories played out inside her mind's eye yet again.

"I..." she bit her lip as she acknowledged her past folly one more time, "I probably would have, in the beginning, you were right to worry. But by the time I had noticed, I was long since over any of that unfair resentment towards you, so the thought hadn't occurred to me... well, until now, I suppose. But I know better. I would never believe such an accusation against you, no matter who made it, because I know you. You were never like that."

Seeing Zelda's reaction to his words bothered him; he hadn't said any of that to upset her or revisit any old scores she'd once held wrongly against him. He reached up and tentatively settled one hand against her knee for a moment, not sure how she would react to his advance. He only firmed his touch when it became apparent that she welcomed it and his presence so close to her, as her clear green eyes met his blues and held.

"It's okay, about all that. I told you that, back then, and just because I forgot everything for a while-" he chuckled as she snorted and rolled her eyes at his words, "-doesn't mean that I feel differently about it now. It really is still okay."

The young man turned after a few seconds spent staring into the princess' verdant eyes and vaulted into his own saddle, needing to move away from her before he lost his mind and did something stupid – like kiss her to tiny little pieces as he so badly wanted to all the time now. That was something else they were going to have to settle – but it could wait a little longer, because Link was having a hard time finding the courage with which to fund that campaign, and still wasn't quite ready.

But when Zelda directed her horse next his so closely that he couldn't have moved away, and leaned in to press her lips to his, instead, he blinked in surprise, then shrugged and tossed his previous caution out on its ear without a single regret. He grinned a little cheekily at her before returning the action very enthusiastically, and in the end both sported blushes as they pulled away to stare in wonderment at each other a few moments later.

"Then... I take it that you concur?" Zelda asked breathlessly, hope squeezing at her heart as she backed her mount away from Link's just enough to keep them from becoming skittish.

The silly grin on Link's face didn't fade. "Concur?" he parroted absently, thoughts obviously elsewhere.

His cheeks reddened a little - yet again - as she broke into peals of laughter at his lapse (and what that lapse gave away), but his grin only brightened at the lovely sound.

Never take more than you need... Well, she must be a very needy woman, then, because Zelda wanted all of him forever. And I mean to have him, too, the princess thought with a mischievous sort of smile – one that sent lightening shooting straight down a certain young Hero's spine.

"Yes, that is what I said," she replied drolly, though her smile didn't fade even a little.

"Of course I concur - anything my princess desires of me I am most eager to give," he bowed sweepingly from Epona's back, his return smile uncomplicated and all playful boy now, and Zelda acknowledged again the hold he had on her heart, even after a hundred years. If that much time and all she'd been through hadn't changed it, nothing would.

She could live with that.