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ibreathestories · 10 days

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Who Do You Cook For?

Link x Zelda

Requested by: No One! (Suffice to say I am open to requests :D)

Warnings: Just minor spoilers for TOTK -- set after the end of the game, so mainly the spoilers are for the Dragon's Tear quest.

[This is the first part of what is 6 one-shots at the moment, though I may add up to eight (total) = I'll link them with the parts when I post them :) ]

Part 1

___

“Dear, you are quite lucky to have such a man cook for you. Oh, isn’t it romantic; I sure wish my husband would cook for me once in a while.”

That’s what she said in thanks, the mother they had assisted at dusk that day. It was just after warm flickers of the lanterns at Kakariko village welcomed them, beckoning them to approach the eating area. That’s where they found the woman. She was a mother of two, and was in need of a specific kind of fish for her stew – her daughter would have a fit if she couldn’t make it, and the poor woman wasn’t about to break a promise with her daughter.

Graciously, and with a kindness Zelda has found herself to adore, Link dug through his pack to find the very thing the woman had requested. No need to go on any extra adventures, thankfully – the two were just trying to get home from one. I mean, Zelda loved the trips she would take with Link, she really did, but she knew her limits, and though it had been a month or two since she came home, she still found herself wobbling on her legs from time to time. And every time, Link would reach out to steady her, another trait she often found herself thinking of.

As Link had begun gathering some extra supplies (goddess forbid one of his claymores) to help the woman in preparing her meal, as she insisted they stay since they provided the main ingredient, Zelda found herself pulled aside. She smiled, politely, but with a hint of confusion. The woman looked just ecstatic, but as for the reason Zelda had no idea. Before she could get a word out, the woman burst.

“Oh my, he’s just wonderful isn’t he? Ya know if I wasn’t already married I would try and steal him from you!” She laughed, a hand pressed to her cheek as her eyes roamed greedily over her traveling partner. Zelda wasn’t sure if she should laugh or correct the woman – she wasn’t serious right?

“Oh dear, I’m just joking honey. You should see your face, you look ready to fight me for him!”

Okay, Zelda didn’t think she was that close to manslaughter, but she supposed she did need to work on her mask again – it had been, well, years it felt like since she had controlled her human expressions.

“I-I’m sorry for the confusion, ma’am. But we’re not together.”

Zelda had never seen someone go from teasingly happy to perplexed and saddened so quickly. “What? But, I was sure; my sister-in-law always says I’m the best at detecting hidden relationships. No, I’m sure.” The woman then grabbed her by both shoulders, shocking Zelda into a stiffness. “That means that either you haven’t told him, or he hasn’t told you. Am I right?”

Zelda glanced down at the woman's grip on her arms – not strong enough to bruise, but tight enough she knew that she wasn’t about to let go until she got her answer – then back up with a concealed sigh. “Ma’am–”

“Oh, call me Cottla.” She near scolded.

“Right. Well, like I said, we’re not… a couple. We just–” Her mind flashed between everywhere they’d been, everyone they had met, everything they went through together. During both bouts of darkness how they always came out of it, not unscathed per say, but together. How… they live together now. How he– She shook her head. “We’re just friends. Traveling partners, at the very best. I’m sorry to disappoint ma’am, but I can’t say you’re right this time.”

Cottla hummed. Her eyes shifted just over Zelda’s shoulder, who had yet to notice the golden haired man staring at her back. Cottla watched as he glanced over just slightly, and upon noticing her watching back he shook his head, turning back to messily adjust the finished preparations on the table.

With a slap to her arms, Cottla sighed what her sister-in-law always called her ‘motherly sigh’. Zelda nearly jumped at the sudden loss of contact (one she thought would never leave if she’s being honest). “Oh you get outta there, boy, I never said you’d have to make the stew.” Cottla crossed the floor in just three strides to shoo away Link.

He held up his hands with a guilty grin. “Oop – caught!”

Zelda could only smile quietly.

That was another thing she had found herself admiring about Link. It had taken a while for sure, when in reality she would have been willing to wait forever, but he did eventually come back to terms with speaking. They were little words at first, maybe just answers to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, and as far as she can recall, he would only speak to her for the first few months. Still, it was the little things. Eventually, he found himself comfortable speaking in sentences and for longer, with more people. She giggled a bit though, as she watched him use those silly and over exaggerated little gestures to enunciate his points.

At the sound, he looked over at her, batting his hand up to avoid being hit with that wooden spoon Cottla had gotten from out of nowhere. Zelda held up a hand of her own, beckoning him over as she turned and snuck through the kitchen door. She counted the seconds as soon as she heard more than felt the soft crinkle of grass under her feet.

One.

Two.

Thr–

“Princess.” His voice appeared behind her.

“Ah, right on time!” She spun around, a bit peeved her hair was too short to whack him in the face. Though a bit surprised at her own teasing nature, she decided to run with it. “Meet someone you like in there?”

He barked out a quick laugh, quickly looking away at the implication behind her words. “What? No way, she’s married, you know I wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t, huh?” Zelda crossed her arms. “Sure, you wouldn’t.”

His head snapped back to face her, a sly grin spreading across his face. “Oh? You don’t believe me? Well, I bet if you put me in a room with her, I certainly wouldn’t be the one to jump all over her.”

Zelda gave a mock gasp. “Why Link! How rude of you to offend her so! To insinuate that none should ever fall for her?”

“Well I didn’t say that, Princess–”

“And if anyone were to hear you say such things,” Zelda put a hand to her forehead in woe. “She’d be cast out of the courting season for the rest of her days!”

It was then that Link took a step forward, and she realized how close together they had gotten. His hand rested on a wooden fence post that she had unconsciously leaned on for support. She had barely noticed how she had brushed his other hand with her own through her theatrics. Their faces were so close she could swear she felt his breath ghost over her lips.

Suddenly he cleared his throat, stepping back to an appropriate distance. “Yes, I suppose that would be a shame.” It was certainly an attempt to finish the joke, though the both were a bit too stunned it seemed. For utterly no reason Zelda might add – though she chose not to think too hard about all that she had noticed in those few seconds in close proximity.

Gathering the courage that had no reason to flee moments before, Zelda straightened to speak, but oddly enough she was saved by the bell.

Not the dinner bell, per say. Nor was it the bell for school, which would have been odd to ring at that time of evening, but instead a hand-held bell just rang by a child trotting her way up the hill.

“Hi sir!” She all but shouted, her bell ringing slightly as she turned to face Zelda. She couldn’t be more than six. “Hi miss! I have a very important question.”

Zelda glanced at Link, who shrugged. One of those shoulder gestures that said: ‘I have no idea who this is or what’s going on but let’s just go with it.’

She knelt down to the girls level then, and asked for her name. “My name’s Zelda, and this is Link.”

And just like most times when first meeting her, the small girl’s eyes lit up with genuine sparkles. “Like, THE Zelda? Like the princess? Because that was one of my questions, since he called you princess.”

“Oh!” Zelda said. “You heard all that?”

The girl nodded her head vigorously. “And I also want to know what a colorful session is?”

That one just about stopped Zelda in her tracks.

Link appeared to be unaffected. Figures.

“Oh, you mean ‘courting season’.” Link corrected. He tapped Zelda’s shoulder.

She glanced up at him just as he squatted to their level. His hand was cupped over her shoulder now, and she was grateful the natural light was dying out so that no one would notice her red cheeks betraying her.

What is wrong with me? I’ve never been flustered over him touching me before??

No, you have. You definitely have.

“Do they still do courting rituals anymore?” He whispered. Where else really but right in her ear. To this day Zelda is proud of how she held in her shiver. It was getting ridiculous. Link was by far and large not the first man to be kind or friendly to her.

She turned to whisper back, “No, not that I’m aware of. That was mostly for advisors and royalty anyways.”

He nodded. The girl was still staring at their interaction expectantly.

Zelda found her head in the mess of clouds and just about flung thoughts back to the ground. “Well little one, a courting season is like going on a whole bunch of dates, and then getting married, like your parents did.”

The girl seemed to think for a moment, before the confusion melted off her face. “Well, my mommy and papa didn’t go on dates, they just got married. Is the colorful season only for princesses?”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be–”

“Did he color you?”

And if that wasn’t the statement of the century.

Zelda took this one in stride though. She turned nonchalantly towards Link, who she shared a smile and a small shake of her head with as they stood.

“Kids.” He shrugged, matching her smile.

Breaking his gaze, she turned back to the girl.

“It’s getting late, do you want us to walk you home?”

At her lack of response, Zelda realized what she had forgotten during their conversation. “Oh!” Zelda gasped. “What was your name sweetie?”

Just then the kitchen door behind them banged open, and Cottla called from inside. “Eca! It’s dinner time! Oh. Well it looks like you found our guests too.”

Zelda and Link turned at the same time, Eca shoving between their legs and running towards her mother.

“Hey, woah! Don’t jump on me, I’ll drop the salad; now go get your sister, we’ll be in in a moment, love.” That was all the direction Eca needed. In a flash she was gone up the stairs, already shouting at the top of her little lungs for her sibling. Cottla turned back to them with an exhausted smile. “Quite the talker, isn’t she? I’m sure you two’ll make all kinds of personalities. Oh, it’s always fun to see how the kids turn out.” Cottla’s voice faded as she went back to the counter, leaving Link and Zelda just beyond the door. “Well, come inside. Have a seat, make yourself comfortable.”

Shaking off the words of a woman with no filter, Zelda felt her basic royal teachings come back into play. “Oh, we wouldn’t want to overstay our welcome.”

“Oh it’s no issue dear. I invited you after all,” Cottla set down her mixing utensil with a smirk. “And truly, you two are the most entertaining people I’ve had over in ages. I would never be opposed to more conversation with you.”

Yeah, Zelda wasn’t sure what gave it away, but she’s pretty sure Cottla directed that last comment at her specifically.

“Now,” Cottla said, getting right back into the last touches of supper. “Shoo and sit down, I can already hear my daughters at the table.”

Upon crossing the threshold into the eating room, the daughter they hadn’t met yet piped up at the sight of them.

“My sister said you’re coloring! I want to color somebody!”

Zelda huffed, but not without letting a smile overtake her face.

Unbeknownst to the duo, this wouldn’t be the first time that the topic of food would reveal a new side of their relationship.

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