#i should write more...

They’d reached a fork in the road, the slight dip of it causing the water to pool and form deeper puddles. A signpost stood at the fork as well, and Link drew Epona closer to read what was written on them.

The small road to the left that he’d been following went to places he didn’t recognize, but when he read where the other led he hesitated, something in his heart lurching.

Hyrule.

He was closer to the kingdom then he’d been in almost three years.

Link drew Epona to a stop, staring intently at the sign as if it would give him answers. Of course it didn’t do anything but sit there, but he eyed it anyways.

He’d already combed Hyrule for Na... his friend, he’d been to nearly every inch of the place he could. There wasn’t any point in going back right now, especially since nobody remembered him anyways. It would only bring up painful memories, it’d be better to just keep going.

But...

Zelda kicked her legs, sending a couple of drops up from the fountain in the middle of castletown.

They’d spent the day together just messing around, playing the games in town and exploring all the nooks and crannies Zelda had never seen before. Ganondorf was taken care of (again), and Impa had told them they needed a day without having to worry about anything and had practically commanded them to get out from the castle for a while. Which Zelda was more than happy to comply with.

She looked over at Link sitting next to her, setting sun casting a golden light onto her face and lighting up her hair. It looked a lot redder in this light, and Link shook himself as he realized he’d been staring at it.

“You’ll be leaving after this, won’t you,” she said quietly.

Link nodded.

She met his eyes, and Link looked back at her, gaze so familiar and yet completely and achingly not.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer?”

He shook his head.

“No. I need to go find someone. She’s... missing. And I’ve done what I needed to do here.”

Zelda nodded slowly, dipping her feet in the water again.

Then she turned and gave him a hug, which he had not been expecting at all, giving him a warm squeeze as he blinked in surprise.

“Thank you Link. I have a feeling you’ve done more for us than anyone even knows,” she whispered. “Thank you for helping Hyrule, and me.”

Link hesitated for only a minute before letting himself hug her back.

The next day she quietly showed him off, with nobody witness to their parting except for Impa watching them from a short distance away. She gave him the ocarina and a few parting words before teaching him the song already engraved into his very being.

And then he left.

Link swallowed, wiping some water from his face.

What was the point of going back just to see Zelda? She didn’t remember him from the alternate timeline, she didn’t remember herself from the alternate timeline. She knew nothing about all of what they’d been through together.

Plus he was a different person after Termina and that stupid war he’d ended up in, she barely knew him at all!

And yet...

Epona nickered gently at him, and Link realized he’d been lost in thought for a while.

“Sorry girl,” he apologized, rubbing her neck again. “I just...”

He looked up at the sign, his stomach twisting a little.

“I don’t know what to do,” he whispered, realization curling into him.

Epona leaned her head around, nuzzling his hand almost as if to say that she was willing to wait for him to make a decision. Link swallowed, and wiped some more water off his face.

He just didn’t know.

How ridiculous was that?

He’d spent the last two years making split-second decisions on the daily; anything but decisive action would’ve killed him long ago and it was pretty much the only option in Termina. He simply didn’t have time to waffle about decisions there, and in the war it was what got people killed.

He just... had to pick. Easy. Left to keep looking in places he didn’t recognize, which had a much higher chance of holding what he was looking for, or right...

I’ll never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule...

Link grit his teeth. Why couldn’t he decide?! It was just a stupid crossroads, he’d probably find another one only a little ways down the road, why was it that this one was giving him so much grief?!

Enough was enough.

He glared at the sign, swiping some oddly warm rain off his cheeks as he remounted Epona and went down the left-hand road, ignoring the way his throat tightened as he turned from the fork.

Zelda didn’t remember him. Not like he remembered her.

It was better that he stay away from Hyrule and continue onwards, away from a country that didn’t care about its hero or anything that he’d ever done for anyone. Every meeting has a parting, and there was no point in getting attached to these people again just to have them forget—

Epona neighed and abruptly quit walking, digging her hooves into the thick muddy road.

“What’s wrong girl?” Link asked, voice coming out a bit thick, and she neighed again, tossing her head.

Link knocked his heel against her side, urging her onward, but Epona shook her head and refused to go another step no matter what he did.

“Epona! Come on!” he said sternly, and his horse finally started moving again.

...in the wrong direction.

“Epona stop it, what’s the matter with you?” Link grumbled and pulled on her to try and get her to turn. But she suddenly kicked her heels up and galloped back the way they’d come, slipping a bit at the crossroads, but recovering and immediately turning down the right fork instead.

Link felt a jolt go through him.

“Epona!”

The rain lashed against his face as Epona switched to a canter, Link practically holding on for dear life as she charged down the road. He had no clue how she wasn’t slipping on the mud— how could she even see with how fast she was going?!

He wasn’t sure how far they’d gotten, several miles from the sign probably, before Epona slowed her frantic pace to a steady walk, turning her head and giving him an almost stern look.

“What are you giving me that for?” Link huffed, crossing his arms as he blinked rain out of his eyes. “We’re going the other way Epona. Turn around!”

She started to trot instead of walk.

“Turn around Epona!”

She neighed at him, letting out a firm snort.

“Epona just turn around!” he shouted, rain getting in his mouth, “we’re not going back to Hyrule! They don’t care about us, they don’t remember us! Why won’t you just—!”

Epona leveled him with a gentle look, and the fight went out of him in an abrupt rush, his hands falling to his sides.

He slumped in the saddle, bowing his head.

Epona finally stopped moving.

“You just want to go home, don’t you girl,” he said quietly, only just loud enough to be heard over the rain.

Epona gently nickered and tossed her head.

Link let out a shaky sigh.

“I do too.”

He wiped some more rain from his face, rubbing Epona’s neck as an apology for snapping at her.

“But I don’t have a home to go back to,” Link whispered, still rubbing. “Hyrule is the closest I’ve got, but nobody... they just don’t know Epona, they don’t know any of it.”

He sucked in a shuddering breath.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to try again.”

Epona pressed her face against his, and Link let out another sigh as the downpour continued on.

He slipped his hand down into his pocket after a moment, pulling out the deep indigo colored instrument inside. He stared at it, rubbing the ocarina as drops of rain pattered against it, and almost felt soft hands brush his as he fingered the mouthpiece, gloves covered in blood and dirt that clasped his hands and gave them a squeeze before pulling away.

She would want him to try, wouldn’t she.

He took a deep breath, pulling back from Epona as he held the ocarina to his lips, fingering the holes with a practiced motion as he blew a slow, gentle lullaby into the rainy evening. The song warbled a bit in the downpour, less smooth than he would prefer, but soft and comforting all the same.

As the last note faded away, Link breathed a slow sigh, feeling rather wrung out.

Epona gave an encouraging toss of her head and Link smiled at her, running his hand through her mane. He wiped the rain from his face yet again, feeling something in his chest ease just a bit as he looked down the road.