The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild belongs to Nintendo. All that I own is a single copy of the game which I've played way too much.

"Master Link? Are you unwell?"

"You look like Koko did when she ate too many of Mama's pumpkin dumplings!"

"Cottla, hush! That is rude!"

Link's eyes focused into the present and he realized he was still standing in the middle of the pathway leading down from the hill above Kakariko Village. Dorian and his two daughters were looking at him, stern worry on the white-bearded face of the father, mild curiosity on the face of the younger child, and some concern on that of the elder. All three of them had just risen from their spot beneath a special tree in the village. Link blinked as he tried to adjust to suddenly being far away from the world to which his fragmented memories belonged.

"Are you all right?" Dorian asked again. His eyes darted around as if he expected to see a Yiga spy or two.

Link nodded quickly, and then pressed a hand to his forehead. His head throbbed and he felt as shaky as if he'd just battled a few dozen guardians. It was familiar enough to him, as he'd experienced those physical reactions whenever he relived a recollection of the past. Fortunately he'd usually been in peaceful surroundings and did not have to contend with monsters attacking him until he had recovered sufficiently.

"Children, why don't you run along now," the Sheikah guardsman told his children.

"O-kay!" Cottla sing-songed, and dashed away to try catching a frog in the village's little stream.

"Yes, Father. I'll go make dinner for you and Cottla." Koko sent one last look in Link's direction before she headed down the path.

Dorian turned back to the hero. "Did you remember something, Master Link?"

"Yes," he replied, letting his breath out all at once."

"I hope you do not mind that I told your story to my daughters. They grew tired of my usual tales and begged to hear a new one."

The young man shook his head. "It's all right."

"I've long wanted to thank you, you know."

Link held out his hands, ready to protest. "If this is about what you told me…"

This time it was Dorian who shook his head. "No, it isn't what you think it is. Though if it wasn't for you I might never have left the Yiga clan."

His face a study of befuddlement, Link stared. He spoke no words, but his expression cleared questioned, "What do you mean?"

"My wife. If you had been able to meet her you might see the resemblance between her and her mother. I like to think those fine looks are also with my daughters, but I suppose it's hard to tell yet when they're so young."

The hero was even further confused, which was making his head ache all the more. He was still trying to make some order in his mind after a sudden barrage of memories; those memories were like small children, as each one was clamoring to be heard and noticed.

"I'm doing a terrible job of explaining," Dorian said. "You see, my wife's mother was Vrena. She was the Sheikah you saved."

Understanding lit up Link's eyes like a fire and his face broke into a shaky sort of smile. He felt as though he should have known, should have recognized some slight resemblance, but he was relieved all the same to find a comforting connection to the life he'd known before.

"If not for you, I would never have been able to meet my wife, never have left the Yiga because of her, and we wouldn't have had two beautiful children." He grabbed Link's hand with both of his and shook it. "Thank you, Master Link. Thank you for saving us."

"What happened to her?" Link asked, swallowing lightly.

"…She passed away a few years ago. Koko can remember her a little."

The hero's eyes wandered, looking past the obstructions, in the direction of the graveyard.

Dorian followed his gaze. "We buried her there." He almost choked on his next words, barely audible. "I did not think I would bury my wife next to her soon after…"

Cottla ran by at that moment, happily waving to her father and friend. Dorian smiled back almost automatically, but then he smiled more and watched her dart down the path, thinking how he had to protect his girls. Link waved back as well.

"Well, I am late and I must go to my post. Cado will be impatient." The man walked a few steps away, but then turned back to the hero. "You should talk to Impa. She will be glad to hear about this."

Link nodded and mumbled absently, "Yes…"

Dorian raised his hand in a salute of farewell, and sprinted toward the entrance to the elder's house. Meanwhile, the hero, whose original mission had been to speak to Impa, instead mounted the hill whence he'd just come. His thoughts whirled like a desert sandstorm and his heart throbbed as though it was immersed in Death Mountain's toastiest hot spring. He did not stop at the shrine, but continued to ascend the steep hill behind it. Only when he could climb no more did he stop, staring out at the hills and wetlands yet hardly seeing any of it.

Listening to that story had brought back so many memories, like a few intersecting pieces of the gigantic puzzle which was his past. He could remember Vrena as if she had kissed him goodbye just yesterday instead of a hundred years before. He also remembered, faintly, that she had found a husband who was one of the Sheikah restoring the guardians to working condition. A tear slipped from an eye as blue as the sky and he squeezed them shut. Such a bittersweet taste was on his tongue!

With a shudder he could clearly recall his time in the passageways beneath Hyrule Castle when he was at Duvile's mercy. He always had a powerful aversion to the underground areas whenever Princess Zelda had found some reason to go down there, but as her knight he followed her anyway. He had nearly been consumed by a similar fear upon wakening in the Shrine of Resurrection and had not understood it, attributing it to the urgency he felt in following the heavenly voice.

He could finally remember his parents as more than an indistinct faces for whom he reached out in his dreams. He could remember his mother's love and he realized that the skills in cooking and knowing horses she had taught him never left him even when he was without his memories. The grief over her passing had eased over the years, but now, remembering it so suddenly, brought some of that sorrow back to his heart. He looked up at the sky almost automatically, but no stars were out yet.

Though he had not completely understood his taciturn father at times, he knew that he was more like his father than he sometimes wanted to admit. He and Rankin had traveled together under the king's orders, visited places and friends both old and new, and grown closer as the tiny family they were. They also had opportunities to travel to the land which the king had given Link and were welcomed by the tenants. On one such visit Link had accepted a man-sized challenge when he had gone out to the fields to chase off an overgrown bear which had been terrorizing the livestock. His father had clapped him on the shoulder and been fit to actually brag about his son.

Link remained on that small peak for hours, surrounded by the fragrance of nightshade and silent princesses. When he grew hungry he took some of his supplies from his pouch and ate and drank while sitting on the solitary stump on that hill. Somehow he felt it was easier to think and remember things up there on his own, half afraid that he would forget something if he went back down amongst the voices of people and all the problems of the world. Wiping his fingers on the back of his trousers, he grabbed the Sheikah Slate and began to write, just in case he later forgot any of the details which were tiny but of the utmost importance to him.

A while later he glanced toward the sun as it lowered itself into the horizon with enough majesty and color to rival even the princess's power. His eyes then moved to the castle where the purple mists of the calamity swirled while she kept its master imprisoned. She was the reason he fought, struggled and would not let himself forget for one second what she was fighting against. After all, like a goddess with white robes and shining hair of gold, she had saved him in the dark pit of the castle. She was the reason he had followed her all across Hyrule and tried to dismiss the careless words she sometimes spoke. She was his light, the sun that shone on the dark void left in the absence of his memories.

Slipping the slate back onto its place on his belt, he stood, his eyes still on the castle. He thought he saw a glimmer of light amidst its towers and his heart leapt as if to join her there. He didn't know if he was strong enough, but even if it meant braving a dark, unknown underground place, he knew what he needed to do.

"…Hold on just a little longer, Princess. I'm coming!"

~ Fin ~

Thank you all for your support throughout the course of this story. I fondly hope you enjoyed it and that it wasn't too much of a chore to read. I'm thinking I will write more Breath of the Wild stories, but at the same time I am not going to forget about the other projects I have going. Perhaps I'll see you again sometime. I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year!

12-31-2017 ~ Published