The two of them spent a few more days at Link's house while he recovered. Zelda did not dare burden him with more heavy memories in that time. She insisted that he needed a break to process what he had learned. Instead, she told him short happy stories to try to put a smile on his face. He was finally ready to accept his past and accept who he was, and both of them were grateful for that.

She would often be telling a story to him, staring at the table. When she looked up, she caught that familiar look in his eyes that he had worn so much in the past. Her heart fluttered like it had one hundred years ago, and she smiled because she could see him coming back. Little by little, the knight that she had once known so well was returning.

Living with him in that way, she was happy. It was very different from everything else she'd ever done, but it felt more right. They ate their meals together, did chores together, and took evening walks together. She had time to read her books, and he had time to relax, which was new to him. Zelda was patient with him and helped him recover. He was healing quite nicely, especially for the severity of his wounds.

As delightful as things were, the feeling between them was not the same that it had been in the past. Often, neither of them knew what to say or were afraid to voice their thoughts. Of course, it couldn't be expected that they'd be back to normal overnight. It would take time and self-control.

After a little while, Link was nearly healed. On a walk one evening, he proposed something new.

"I want you to help me find more of my memories." She stopped in her tracks, looking up at him.

"Are you sure? Are you ready ?" He nodded.

"You can take me to all of those places and tell me what happened... I will remember once you do." Zelda hesitated. She had mostly stayed away from telling him about the two of them, but he would have to know. She only hoped he would accept it. She took a deep breath.

"Well then, we leave for Hyrule Castle tomorrow morning."

~

The next day, the two of them set out for their first destination. Neither had been back to the castle since they were reunited, but Zelda knew that most of the memories had been there. It was a good place to start. She grew nervous as they approached-- how was she supposed to do this?

When they reached Castle Town, they hopped off of their horses and began trudging through the ruins. She stopped them at the central square, gazing sadly into the empty, ravaged fountain. After a moment of reminiscing, she turned back to Link, who was watching her earnestly. She wrung her hands together anxiously.

"Here..." She began, "one night, when the two of us were close friends, we skipped dinner at the castle and spent our time out here. And right here where we now stand is where we once danced together. We had been so carefree... if only we had known..." He looked down to the stones on the ground. After a moment, images began flooding into his mind; a happy, beautiful princess with flowers in her hair. His hands resting gently on her waist. Smiles, laughter... he remembered it all.

The princess and the knight met eyes. She smiled, her face illuminated by the colorful glow of the lanterns. Link froze for a minute, hypnotized. She could see a million things he was trying to say in his eyes, but she couldn't seem to figure out what any of them were. He snapped out of his trance.

"Do you want to..." He began, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Dance? I'd love to!" She laughed, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the crowd.

They began to dance, the princess moving with an abundance of energy. Link was shy at first, but he got used to the feeling eventually.

"I haven't had this much fun in so long!" She exclaimed, a huge grin on her face. He just smiled back.

After a moment, he snapped out of it and looked back up at Zelda.

"I... I remember." The corners of his lips tugged upward at the memory. Despite what had become of the town, he had that image with him always. The princess smiled as well, seeing his face light up.

"Shall we keep going, then?" He nodded in response to her question, and she led the two of them deeper into the ruins.

~

Their next stop was the castle courtyard. She told him about all of the time they spent together in the castle. He remembered little bits and pieces as she spoke, and everything was starting to put itself back together. She reached a specific spot and stopped.

"Here... my father threw a ball for my birthday and we escaped to come out and meet each other. I had been having bad dreams and I knew something horrible was going to happen. You just held me because we didn't know what to do or say. It was the last time I was happy at all then... after that things only went downhill."

He saw it in his mind. A sad princess, too worn down to even cry. A pale, moonlit sky. He remembered his instinctive desire to help her; to somehow make her pain go away.

Meanwhile, Link was already leaning against a pillar. He looked up as she drifted over to him, seemingly a ghost in the pale moonlight. She smiled sadly at him. When she was close, she took both of his hands. The look in her eyes made her unreadable, but Link was nervous. She seemed worried. He moved his hands to the small of her back, drawing her closer. The princess leaned her head on his chest, closing her eyes.

"I missed you today." She announced.

"Me too." He responded.

The two of them began to sway back and forth together under the moonlight. Neither of them spoke; it was enough for each to be right there.

There were so many things they wished they had known at the moment. It was their last dance together. It was their last happy moment. After that, things would be different.

And one of them would eventually lose the memory; it would drift away, far out of reach.

"Link, I'm terrified. I know that something terrible is coming." The knight felt a tug of worry like a hand squeezing his heart. When his words failed him, he pulled the princess closer.

"I remember that, too." He told her and she swallowed hard, blinking a few times.

"Then I guess we should... we should keep going." As they continued on, Link walked closer to her. Overtaken by feelings and heavily impacted by the memories, he reached out to her. Without thinking about it much, he laced his fingers with hers. Zelda looked to him confusedly for a moment, but seemed to relax almost instantly. It wasn't strange to her. It was right.

He turned and looked over his shoulder at the courtyard again. There he saw the two of them in the past, sitting in front of a warm sunset. He could hear himself opening up to her as she helped him to finally find his voice.

~

After a while, the two of them ended up in the destroyed library.

"Right here, one night, I took you here to tell you how I felt... That started our brief relationship." She smiled wistfully and stared at the broken down fireplace as Link looked at her. He remembered that night.

Zelda smiled nervously, eyes still focused in front of her.

"I know... I know that this sounds rash and silly but I don't know how much time we have left before things go badly... and I need you to hear this. Link, I- I'm in love with you." She exhaled, trying to breathe slowly and calm down. Link looked at her, but she just stared at the fire before her. He struggled to find his words, the words that he needed so desperately but could not find. It should have been easy; he felt the same. He just wanted to say it right.

"Just say something, Link. Anything." She pleaded quietly, an uncertainty in her eyes.

"Zelda..." he started, "of course I feel the same." He chuckled nervously. "I wish I had said it earlier, but I couldn't figure out the right time; I just wanted it to be-" he was cut off by the girl wrapping her arms around him.

"...you really do?"

"Yes." Zelda smiled, a big happy grin that expressed pure joy. She pulled back from the hug, holding his face in her hands. They met eyes and looked at each other for a moment. Then, Link finally closed the distance between their lips.

With the fully recovered memory in his mind, he looked at her with guilt in his eyes.

"I am so sorry" He began, "I don't know why I chose not to believe you.. Maybe I was in denial. I just... I'm sorry."

"We can't change what has already happened. But we can move on. Both of us have a lot to deal with and it takes courage to accept that. It's time to keep moving forward. And if we have each other, we will be alright."

As they stood in the center of the rubble in ruins of their old lives, Link reached and wrapped an arm around Zelda. There was nothing left there for them. The past had been a tragedy that would be with them forever, but it didn't have to shape their future. Now that they were free, they could make the world they lived in a brighter place. They could heal the land and all who lived there, including themselves.

It didn't matter if they had no place; if they were together then everything would be okay.

~

A/N - here you go you adorable little fuzz balls. This story makes no sense.

Also I would just like to ask please vote and comment your thoughts! It really makes me happy when I see you guys active on here and I love reading the things you have all have to say! So don't be shy-- I tend to shy away from commenting a lot so I'm guilty of that-- but seriously!!

Thank you for reading!