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Description
What Blooms in Spring

Summary: Over a year has passed since the final defeat of Calamity Ganon. Princess Zelda takes a day off from her royal responsibilities to do research on a new species of tree with Link; the first venture the two have had in a long time. Link finds himself becoming more deeply enamoured with her, but clings to the hope that she might possibly feel the same about him. ((More chapters and lemon are on Ao3 & FF.net))

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

A soft and warm spring breeze moved slowly across the fields of Hyrule, creating a sea of gentle green waves across the grass under the midday sun. The sounds of peace were caressing the elongated ears of two not-so-young Hylians as they rode atop their loyal horses; one darkened bay and the other pure white. Tiny birds occasionally flittered and darted across their path, clearly enjoying the day just as much as them as they made their way across the Romani Plains east of the castle.

Nearing the edge of Applean Forest, Link let go of one of his horse's reins and pointed silently to a large tree on top of a rolling hill.

Princess Zelda fixed her viridian gaze to where he was pointing. "Is that the tree you told me about?"

Link nodded, taking up his horse's rein once again. "Yes."

Before he could blink, the Princess had squeezed her legs around her white steed and goaded him of to canter up the hill. Link couldn't help the tiny smile that lifted the corners of his mouth as he commanded his horse to follow along after her, knowing that nothing about her had really changed after the Great Calamity.

It had been a year and a half since Ganon was sealed away and peace had been restored. It had taken a year alone just to re-establish the kingdom back to functionality. With Impa's guidance, Zelda had settled into her role rather well. The people of Hyrule, including all the races and tribes, had the utmost respect for the Princess because she was completely honest, straightforward and compassionate, empathetic and willing to do what she could for the people. She refused to try and force her authority over a kingdom that has been forced to survive without leadership for so long. But they believed in her, and accepted her leadership despite her young age of eighteen; or one hundred and eighteen, depending on how you chose to look at it. Since taking up the role, Zelda has dedicated much of her time to seeing the kingdom restored and the people's needs tended to. All the towns that were still populated were repaired where necessary, and many towns that were in ruins before were completely revived, including Castle Town, which now bustled with people once again. Only the past six months has seen the main focus of rebuilding been on the castle, and it was near completion.

Link on the other hand, while highly revered for his efforts for saving Hyrule, not much had changed for him much to his own relief. He felt the pressure of expectation dramatically decrease finally since he took up the Master Sword for the first time. Although he still stood firmly by his knightly 'code of honor', he had opened up a lot more, being less stoic towards people like he was before. He was free to be himself, and he was more himself when he was with his Princess. They travelled all across Hyrule together since the Calamity, whether it was for Zelda's unending research on the Divine Beasts or for official royal business; they had forged a bond unbreakable.

Although, with all the planning and activity that kept Zelda preoccupied, there wasn't much time for travelling and research anymore. It had been over seven months since the two were able to travel out of the castle together like this, and the almost one hundred and twenty year old appointed knight was surprised to find himself feeling frustrated at this. He knew it couldn't be helped, since she would be having a coronation to become Queen of Hyrule in a year or two from now. Things would never go back to the way they were before the Calamity, but he would always be there as her appointed knight before he was there as her friend.

They pulled up a few feet from the tree and dismounted, letting the horses graze happily as they approached it. During the week, Link had set out for Kakariko Village to collect some old scrolls from Impa for Zelda. When cutting across the area between Mabe Prairie and Romani Plains while heading for the Rebonae Bridge, Link had passed a tree that he couldn't recognise. It looked just like an apple tree, only double in its size like an oak tree, and sprinkled about its branches were small white flowers. With the Sheikah Slate back in Zelda's possession, he had no way had taking a picture of it to show her. But after being told about it, Zelda insisted they go check it out together, under the pretext of 'needing a day off to go over plans'.

"This is incredible Link. I can't ever remember seeing a tree like this a century ago." Zelda murmured, awestruck as she quickly walked over to the trunk of the tree. She placed a hand on its surface and ran her fingers over its bark, inspecting it all over from the roots in the ground to as high as she could reach while also searching for any information on such a tree in the Sheikah Slate.

While she was preoccupied, Link unbuckled one of the saddlebags from his horse's saddle and sat down with it under the shade of the large tree that Zelda continued to prattle on about. He had always found some sort of unknown comfort in her voice, for reasons he never fully understood until recently. He smiled to himself as he listened to her and unpacked the small lunch he had brought along for them. He looked up as she came to sit down beside him with the brightest smile on her face and the same sparkle in her eyes she gets when she becomes excited about a new discovery.

"It's just like a Goddess Oak Tree, only the leaves and blossoms on it look reminiscent of something that would produce some kind of fruit, though I can't really determine what kind it could be. Oh my, is this your famous apple pie?" She exclaimed as he handed her a slice.

He chuckled softly as he took a slice for himself. "I wouldn't go as far as saying it's 'famous'…"

"Well even so, your cooking is incredible and your apple pie is my absolute favourite. I wish I could have the chance to enjoy it more often."

Link couldn't help but rub the back of his head while he smiled sheepishly, trying to look away as his cheeks heated. A state he would fall into after humbly accepting her compliments.

He'd fallen for her, Link knew that much. Exactly when he fell for her, he still wasn't completely sure, but he knew it was before the Calamity. He remembered he died for her. Not because it was his honor as her knight to do so, but because he would sacrifice anything and everything to keep her safe from harm. But being a knight, he knew his love would forever be unrequited despite being a noble. There were rules and traditions that he believed would keep him from expressing how he felt. But Link came to accept his fate of simply loving her from afar; enabled to stay by her side as her knight instead.

"You're as kind as ever Princess." Link offered her a warm smile.

Zelda cleared her throat rather loudly then pouted lightly. "Zelda. I thought we discussed this a year ago?" She paused, looking out over Hyrule Field. She knew it was a habit for him to address her with her title, but she couldn't help it. "I want to be just Zelda to you." She spoke softly as a slight sparkle of melancholy dashed over her eyes.

Link's expression mirrored her own as he looked to her, debating his next words. "You've always been 'just Zelda' to me."
He didn't miss the slight sharp intake of breathe he heard and the way her cheeks pinked slightly, making the constant butterflies he felt in the pit of his stomach flutter wildly. He always clung to any small amount of hope that Zelda felt the same, even if he knew it was foolish.

Zelda stood up and brushed the few stray grass blades from her legs. "I better make use of the little time I have out here and keep going with the research."

Link silently nodded, watching her approach the tree before turning his attention back to their surroundings, vigilant as ever of any possible danger.

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Hours passed, and a golden glow had settled over the land as the twilight hour approached. Link stirred from his light dozing on the grass and looked back to his Princess by the tree. She was gathering a few samples of bark and sap from the tree, slipping the samples into tiny glass vials which then were tucked into her pouch. She stepped away from the tree and took a few more pictures of it with the Sheikah Slate before approaching Link as he got up from the ground.

"I've gathered as much information as I can for now. Perhaps one of the castle botanists will know something about it and help me analyse this further. Though I only wish I could have shaken one of the blossoms free." She murmured as she turned to head for their grazing horses.

Thmp thmp thmp! "Hyaaah!"

Link sped past Zelda as fast as he could, heading for the tree. Leaping up high, he ran up the length of the trunk and grabbed for a branch before gravity could bring him back down. Next, he swung his legs up to hook around the limb of the branch as he reached up into the foliage while precariously hanging upside down.

Zelda approached her upside down knight with surprise written all over her face. "L-Link? What in Goddesses are you doing? Oh-!"

She was silenced as Link turned his upper body slightly to lock his eyes with her own and held out to her a small stem of leaves and white blossoms. It was one of the sweetest gestures she had gotten from Link, but she couldn't help but let out a soft giggle at the position he was now in. He too joined in her laughter, but it was a mistake. He began to lose his grip on the tree branch, and finally fell.

Link landed with a grunt and cringed from the pain as he heard Zelda let out an exasperated sigh.

"For the love of Nayru…" She muttered softly as she kneeled beside him, placing her hand behind his back to help him sit up. "You seemed to have a knack for getting yourself into these situations, no matter if it's intentional or not." Zelda smiled down at him, unable to keep the humour from her voice.

When he opened his cerulean eyes, Link couldn't help but stare deeply into her viridian ones. Once again the butterflies danced within, and her bright, sunshine smile made him feel so light and carefree. He held up the blossoms he had collected and offered them to her, thankful he didn't crush them in his unexpected descent.

"Thank you Link..." Zelda whispered softly as she took them in her free hand. The look of pure admiration on her face prompted a spontaneous reaction from Link before he could think to stop it, but his heart had finally gained total control of his body.

Link traced the backs of his fingers along the soft skin of her cheek as he buried them into her golden tresses, his eyes never leaving hers as he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers delicately. Only then did he close his eyes as his lips brushed over hers in an innocent, curious and love-induced kiss. Link felt his heart soar above the clouds until his rational thought snapped him back into reality.

Pulling back quickly, Link's face was as crimson as a Goron Ruby as he stuttered out various apologies. "Z-Z-Zelda… I'm so-sorry! I didn't mean to-… to-… I mean I did but I-…"

Zelda on the other had opened her eyes slowly to find him a mortified chaos of apologies. She reached for his hand and held it tightly, catching his attention completely as it stunned him into silence. "Link…" She smiled warmly "I waited over one hundred and one years to do this myself. I'm just so glad to finally know that you feel the same as I do…" She paused as her cheeks grew a deeper shade of pink. "I love you, Link. I have for a very long time."

Link's eyes widened as he realised her genuine words, then closed them softly as Zelda herself cupped his cheeks and leaned in to connect their lips once more. They shared a kiss that was full of fervor, quenching a century old longing for the love of the other. For in that moment, time no longer mattered now that they finally had each other in a way they had only ever dreamt of until now.

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Description
What Blooms in Spring

Summary: Over a year has passed since the final defeat of Calamity Ganon. Princess Zelda takes a day off from her royal responsibilities to do research on a new species of tree with Link; the first venture the two have had in a long time. Link finds himself becoming more deeply enamoured with her, but clings to the hope that she might possibly feel the same about him. ((More chapters and lemon are on Ao3 & FF.net))

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

A soft and warm spring breeze moved slowly across the fields of Hyrule, creating a sea of gentle green waves across the grass under the midday sun. The sounds of peace were caressing the elongated ears of two not-so-young Hylians as they rode atop their loyal horses; one darkened bay and the other pure white. Tiny birds occasionally flittered and darted across their path, clearly enjoying the day just as much as them as they made their way across the Romani Plains east of the castle.

Nearing the edge of Applean Forest, Link let go of one of his horse's reins and pointed silently to a large tree on top of a rolling hill.

Princess Zelda fixed her viridian gaze to where he was pointing. "Is that the tree you told me about?"

Link nodded, taking up his horse's rein once again. "Yes."

Before he could blink, the Princess had squeezed her legs around her white steed and goaded him of to canter up the hill. Link couldn't help the tiny smile that lifted the corners of his mouth as he commanded his horse to follow along after her, knowing that nothing about her had really changed after the Great Calamity.

It had been a year and a half since Ganon was sealed away and peace had been restored. It had taken a year alone just to re-establish the kingdom back to functionality. With Impa's guidance, Zelda had settled into her role rather well. The people of Hyrule, including all the races and tribes, had the utmost respect for the Princess because she was completely honest, straightforward and compassionate, empathetic and willing to do what she could for the people. She refused to try and force her authority over a kingdom that has been forced to survive without leadership for so long. But they believed in her, and accepted her leadership despite her young age of eighteen; or one hundred and eighteen, depending on how you chose to look at it. Since taking up the role, Zelda has dedicated much of her time to seeing the kingdom restored and the people's needs tended to. All the towns that were still populated were repaired where necessary, and many towns that were in ruins before were completely revived, including Castle Town, which now bustled with people once again. Only the past six months has seen the main focus of rebuilding been on the castle, and it was near completion.

Link on the other hand, while highly revered for his efforts for saving Hyrule, not much had changed for him much to his own relief. He felt the pressure of expectation dramatically decrease finally since he took up the Master Sword for the first time. Although he still stood firmly by his knightly 'code of honor', he had opened up a lot more, being less stoic towards people like he was before. He was free to be himself, and he was more himself when he was with his Princess. They travelled all across Hyrule together since the Calamity, whether it was for Zelda's unending research on the Divine Beasts or for official royal business; they had forged a bond unbreakable.

Although, with all the planning and activity that kept Zelda preoccupied, there wasn't much time for travelling and research anymore. It had been over seven months since the two were able to travel out of the castle together like this, and the almost one hundred and twenty year old appointed knight was surprised to find himself feeling frustrated at this. He knew it couldn't be helped, since she would be having a coronation to become Queen of Hyrule in a year or two from now. Things would never go back to the way they were before the Calamity, but he would always be there as her appointed knight before he was there as her friend.

They pulled up a few feet from the tree and dismounted, letting the horses graze happily as they approached it. During the week, Link had set out for Kakariko Village to collect some old scrolls from Impa for Zelda. When cutting across the area between Mabe Prairie and Romani Plains while heading for the Rebonae Bridge, Link had passed a tree that he couldn't recognise. It looked just like an apple tree, only double in its size like an oak tree, and sprinkled about its branches were small white flowers. With the Sheikah Slate back in Zelda's possession, he had no way had taking a picture of it to show her. But after being told about it, Zelda insisted they go check it out together, under the pretext of 'needing a day off to go over plans'.

"This is incredible Link. I can't ever remember seeing a tree like this a century ago." Zelda murmured, awestruck as she quickly walked over to the trunk of the tree. She placed a hand on its surface and ran her fingers over its bark, inspecting it all over from the roots in the ground to as high as she could reach while also searching for any information on such a tree in the Sheikah Slate.

While she was preoccupied, Link unbuckled one of the saddlebags from his horse's saddle and sat down with it under the shade of the large tree that Zelda continued to prattle on about. He had always found some sort of unknown comfort in her voice, for reasons he never fully understood until recently. He smiled to himself as he listened to her and unpacked the small lunch he had brought along for them. He looked up as she came to sit down beside him with the brightest smile on her face and the same sparkle in her eyes she gets when she becomes excited about a new discovery.

"It's just like a Goddess Oak Tree, only the leaves and blossoms on it look reminiscent of something that would produce some kind of fruit, though I can't really determine what kind it could be. Oh my, is this your famous apple pie?" She exclaimed as he handed her a slice.

He chuckled softly as he took a slice for himself. "I wouldn't go as far as saying it's 'famous'…"

"Well even so, your cooking is incredible and your apple pie is my absolute favourite. I wish I could have the chance to enjoy it more often."

Link couldn't help but rub the back of his head while he smiled sheepishly, trying to look away as his cheeks heated. A state he would fall into after humbly accepting her compliments.

He'd fallen for her, Link knew that much. Exactly when he fell for her, he still wasn't completely sure, but he knew it was before the Calamity. He remembered he died for her. Not because it was his honor as her knight to do so, but because he would sacrifice anything and everything to keep her safe from harm. But being a knight, he knew his love would forever be unrequited despite being a noble. There were rules and traditions that he believed would keep him from expressing how he felt. But Link came to accept his fate of simply loving her from afar; enabled to stay by her side as her knight instead.

"You're as kind as ever Princess." Link offered her a warm smile.

Zelda cleared her throat rather loudly then pouted lightly. "Zelda. I thought we discussed this a year ago?" She paused, looking out over Hyrule Field. She knew it was a habit for him to address her with her title, but she couldn't help it. "I want to be just Zelda to you." She spoke softly as a slight sparkle of melancholy dashed over her eyes.

Link's expression mirrored her own as he looked to her, debating his next words. "You've always been 'just Zelda' to me."
He didn't miss the slight sharp intake of breathe he heard and the way her cheeks pinked slightly, making the constant butterflies he felt in the pit of his stomach flutter wildly. He always clung to any small amount of hope that Zelda felt the same, even if he knew it was foolish.

Zelda stood up and brushed the few stray grass blades from her legs. "I better make use of the little time I have out here and keep going with the research."

Link silently nodded, watching her approach the tree before turning his attention back to their surroundings, vigilant as ever of any possible danger.

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Hours passed, and a golden glow had settled over the land as the twilight hour approached. Link stirred from his light dozing on the grass and looked back to his Princess by the tree. She was gathering a few samples of bark and sap from the tree, slipping the samples into tiny glass vials which then were tucked into her pouch. She stepped away from the tree and took a few more pictures of it with the Sheikah Slate before approaching Link as he got up from the ground.

"I've gathered as much information as I can for now. Perhaps one of the castle botanists will know something about it and help me analyse this further. Though I only wish I could have shaken one of the blossoms free." She murmured as she turned to head for their grazing horses.

Thmp thmp thmp! "Hyaaah!"

Link sped past Zelda as fast as he could, heading for the tree. Leaping up high, he ran up the length of the trunk and grabbed for a branch before gravity could bring him back down. Next, he swung his legs up to hook around the limb of the branch as he reached up into the foliage while precariously hanging upside down.

Zelda approached her upside down knight with surprise written all over her face. "L-Link? What in Goddesses are you doing? Oh-!"

She was silenced as Link turned his upper body slightly to lock his eyes with her own and held out to her a small stem of leaves and white blossoms. It was one of the sweetest gestures she had gotten from Link, but she couldn't help but let out a soft giggle at the position he was now in. He too joined in her laughter, but it was a mistake. He began to lose his grip on the tree branch, and finally fell.

Link landed with a grunt and cringed from the pain as he heard Zelda let out an exasperated sigh.

"For the love of Nayru…" She muttered softly as she kneeled beside him, placing her hand behind his back to help him sit up. "You seemed to have a knack for getting yourself into these situations, no matter if it's intentional or not." Zelda smiled down at him, unable to keep the humour from her voice.

When he opened his cerulean eyes, Link couldn't help but stare deeply into her viridian ones. Once again the butterflies danced within, and her bright, sunshine smile made him feel so light and carefree. He held up the blossoms he had collected and offered them to her, thankful he didn't crush them in his unexpected descent.

"Thank you Link..." Zelda whispered softly as she took them in her free hand. The look of pure admiration on her face prompted a spontaneous reaction from Link before he could think to stop it, but his heart had finally gained total control of his body.

Link traced the backs of his fingers along the soft skin of her cheek as he buried them into her golden tresses, his eyes never leaving hers as he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers delicately. Only then did he close his eyes as his lips brushed over hers in an innocent, curious and love-induced kiss. Link felt his heart soar above the clouds until his rational thought snapped him back into reality.

Pulling back quickly, Link's face was as crimson as a Goron Ruby as he stuttered out various apologies. "Z-Z-Zelda… I'm so-sorry! I didn't mean to-… to-… I mean I did but I-…"

Zelda on the other had opened her eyes slowly to find him a mortified chaos of apologies. She reached for his hand and held it tightly, catching his attention completely as it stunned him into silence. "Link…" She smiled warmly "I waited over one hundred and one years to do this myself. I'm just so glad to finally know that you feel the same as I do…" She paused as her cheeks grew a deeper shade of pink. "I love you, Link. I have for a very long time."

Link's eyes widened as he realised her genuine words, then closed them softly as Zelda herself cupped his cheeks and leaned in to connect their lips once more. They shared a kiss that was full of fervor, quenching a century old longing for the love of the other. For in that moment, time no longer mattered now that they finally had each other in a way they had only ever dreamt of until now.

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪